“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” – Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV)
May 20th, 1942 The birthday of Carlos Hathcock (died February 23, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills.
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Also: Happy birthday to my old pal, Brad C. We are friends for life!
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Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging
Editor’s Introductory Note: This article will prove to be instructive for anyone preparing for a grid-down societal collapse, where public services are disrupted.
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Living off-grid, a 20-minute flight from the nearest road means not only that we receive no electricity, but also no municipal services at all, including those for disposal of garbage, trash, sewage, and gray water. So we have become very intentional about what we buy, make, and use, because we have to figure out how to dispose of or repurpose what remains.
The following are some examples of what we do with wood ash, packaging, vegetable and meat leftovers (including bones), animal and human waste, and construction debris. Some ideas are pertinent to suburban and urban homes, too.
Wood ash:
As a fertilizer, wood ash reads 0-1-3 and softens acidic soil, which is exactly what our property needs. Hardwoods are higher in the desired nutrients than softwoods, according to the U of Oregon extension office. Do not use wood ash on potatoes or the related families of blueberries/azaleas/rhododendrons, which like acidic soil. I also toss it with the chicken straw in the coop
as a deodorizer. The hens seem to like to dust their feathers with it to discourage mites.Continue reading“Handling Trash and Garbage at a Remote Home, by Mrs. Alaska”
Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at collectible cars, as an investment. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Weak demand for platinum evened out by PGM supply pressure – Johnson Matthey
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Freedom And Sound Money: Two Sides Of A Coin.
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I noticed that there is a surprising amount of coin pricing data available free of charge, at the PCGS web site.
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Reader R.R. sent us this: Russia may boost platinum market as automakers switch from palladium, WPIC says.
Here’s what just happened that triggers stock market drops 71% of the time, warns Credit Suisse.
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At Zero Hedge: Homebuilder Sentiment Slumps In May Amid “Growing Challenges” In Housing Market.
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Four reasons the economy looks like it’s crumbling — and what to do about it.
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Bank of America Clients Hoard Cash at Highest Level in Two Decades.
“I don’t sell cars; I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free since something has to hold the engines in.” – Enzo Ferrari
On May 19, 1796, the first game law was approved in the United States. The law created penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian Territory. Modern American fish and game laws make “living off the land” nearly impossible, outside of Alaska.
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Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging
(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Have a Plan
The key to preparing for a disaster —both emotionally and physically—is to plan ahead of time. Make sure you know what your role is during a disaster. During an actual emergency, you may be literally incapable of thinking clearly as life suddenly and drastically changes. Knowing what to do should this happen can lessen your anxiety during an emergency. Being less anxious can help you think more wisely and logically and thus reduce the risk of injury or death.
In addition, research suggests that knowing what to do during a disaster can help you cope better after the disaster. One research study looked at the effect of preparedness on the mental health of Hurricane Katrina survivors. The researchers found that those who were not prepared with a plan before the event had a more challenging time meeting their basic needs and finding refuge during the hurricane. As a result, they had a higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the storm. This suggests that not having a plan led to more significant stress and anxiety, thus increasing the risk for PTSD.
Practice Ahead of Time
Having an emergency preparedness plan is essential, but equally important is knowing the plan like the back of your hand. On September 11, 2001, the head of security for Morgan Stanley, and Vietnam veteran Rick Rescorla, was credited for saving more than 2,700 lives. One of Rescorla’s job duties as head of security was to evaluate the risk for terrorism and other disasters. Rescorla was particularly concerned that the World Trade Center was a convenient target for terrorists. Therefore, he developed an emergency evacuation plan, and he required Morgan Stanley employees to practice religiously. Rescorla was so adamant about knowing the routine ahead of time that he had frequent surprise drills in which employees would be required to evacuate.
When the first plane hit the North Tower, Rescorla was ready. In spite of being told to stay put by authorities, He calmly and cooly ordered employees to perform the evacuation procedure. They knew the procedure and were ready. As a result, most of the employees were able to make it to safety.
Practicing emergency procedures ahead of time can help you feel calmer and more in control. When you practice the steps that you will take in an emergency ahead of time, your actions during a disaster become automatic. Less thought and planning are required during the emergency. This is beneficial because our ability to make logical decisions is often impaired during a disaster. That is because anxiety or fear makes you behave in an emotional manner rather than in a logical manner.
Tend to Your Physical Wellbeing
Your physical health plays a significant role in your mental health. Focus on maintaining a healthy diet, frequently exercising, getting enough sleep, and seeing your physician regularly. It will be easier to draw upon your mental reserves when you are physically healthier.
Know How to Cope With Mental Health Symptoms
If you have a pre-existing mental health condition, make sure you work with your therapist or psychiatrist to develop an emergency crisis plan for what you can do to manage your symptoms during a disaster.
Stock Your Emotional Disaster Preparedness Kit
I recommend building a disaster preparedness kit that includes emotional tools that can help you build resilience during a disaster or other challenging situation like a pandemic. Here are some things that you can include in your toolkit:
Relaxation Techniques
During an emergency, important tasks needed for survival like giving CPR, calling 911, and providing assistance to others require that you stay collected. Wondering how to stay calm and collected enough to be able to do these things? Having relaxation techniques in your toolkit can help. I recommend practicing these techniques regularly. The more often you practice, the more benefit you will get from them during a crisis.
Meditation
Meditation is something that should be practiced daily. Although we usually associate meditation with becoming more self-aware, it can also help us manage stress. The best part is that meditation is an easy practice that almost anyone can do to feel calm instantly. It requires no special equipment or skills.
Spiritual Resources
Drawing upon spiritual resources can help you get through a disaster by promoting resilience. Utilizing your spiritual resources can also give you the strength to better help your family, community, and others. Simply write down some short prayers or verses that you can read/recite during great stress.
Gratitude Journal
It’s tough to feel grateful when you are facing a crisis. You may only be able to see the negative initially. The problem is that this brings dispair. Gratitude has the power to help you get through a crisis by bringing hope. Gratitude can help you deal with difficult situations without feeling completely overwhelmed.
So, find several gratitude journals to include in your emotional toolkit. Ideally, you will want to choose ones that include meditation and other relaxation exercises.
Games
During a disaster, you may have a long period of time in which you are just waiting for news. Instead of spending the time worrying, why not use this as an opportunity to do something fun that you wouldn’t normally do in a day? Having something enjoyable to help you pass the time, such as board or card games, can help you maintain a more positive outlook throughout the ordeal.
Emotional Comfort Supplies
What things bring you comfort when you are stressed? Maybe listening to music is what calms you down. If so, be sure you include headphones. Perhaps you find that sipping on tea keeps you calm. Tea contains the amino acid L-theanine, which helps reduce physical and mental stress. So, stock up on various calming teas.
Know the Facts
There’s often lots of misinformation during emergencies and disasters. For example, consider all of the misinformation that was spread during the pandemic. This phenomenon made it difficult for governments to get the pandemic under control. Misinformation also contributed to increased anxiety, fear, and paranoia. It led people to make less rational decisions during the pandemic. Making decisions based on fear and paranoia during a disaster can impact the chance of survival. Therefore, it’s important to make sure you are paying attention to credible sources during disaster situations. Research and know ahead of time which sources are credible. Take actions based on information that you receive from sources that you trust. Limit your exposure to news reports that primarily focus on destruction and damage.
Remind Yourself That You Are in Control
Believing you are in control of your own reactions during a stressful situation can help you manage your reaction to stress. If you are faced with a disaster, remind yourself that you have control over your emotions, reactions, and what you will and won’t do.
Forgive Yourself
Shame and guilt are very common emotions that occur after a disaster. The tendency to feel these emotions following trauma is often called “Survivor’s Guilt.” These feelings may be triggered by thoughts about things you did to didn’t do during the disaster. You may also feel ashamed of how you responded during the event. You may ruminate over your reactions during the event.
The problem is that Survivor’s Guilt is often related to “Hindsight Bias,” which is an internal bias that causes us to overestimate our ability to influence the outcome of an event. So, really, you are blaming yourself for things that you had no control over. The problem is that holding onto guilt can cause problems with your sleep, relationships, and even physical health.
Deal With the Emotional Aftermath
No matter how well you plan for disaster, you’ll likely experience feelings of sadness, anger, or guilt following a crisis. Additionally, disaster situations and events like pandemics can leave us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. This can lead to isolation and other issues like using drugs or alcohol to cope. Don’t ignore the impact of a disaster on your mental health. Mental health therapists can help by providing treatments to help you cope with emotions surrounding trauma and disaster.
Here are some things that can weaken your emotional resolve during a disaster and make it harder for you to cope.
Use of Drugs or Alcohol as a Crutch
During the pandemic, alcohol abuse rose sharply. Compared to the year before, there was a 54 percent increase in alcohol sales on March 21, 2020. It can be hard to cope with the harsh realities of war, pandemics, and terrorism. This fact explains why so many people try to numb the pain with drugs or alcohol. There’s no quick fix for managing stress during a disaster or other challenging event.
Ignore Your Own Needs
During a pandemic or another disaster, you might be focused on helping others. This is important. However, it’s equally important to take care of yourself and tend to your own needs and feelings.
Disasters are an inevitable part of life and something that you want to be prepared for. Yes, emergency preparation is important. it’s vital to stockpile supplies and food for disasters. But it’s just as important to include emotional supplies, as well.
It’s critical to know how to emotionally prepare for a disaster at home. Being prepared mentally for disasters can produce a better outcome for you and those who rely on you during an emergency.
Todd Albertson is the co-founder of Caredness, a platform specializing in employee mental wellness. He blogs at ToddAlbertson.com.
SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the baby formula shortage and a practical workaround.
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Over at Vox: Why baby formula is in short supply — and who is most at risk. Here is an excerpt:
“The shortage can be traced back to a contamination problem at an Abbott factory that produces much of the Similac formula, as well as several other brands, for the US market, Abbott voluntarily shut down the factory in February, amid consumer complaints about contaminated formula that was linked to two infant deaths. As of mid-May, it’s still not up and running again.”
And here is some other coverage: Tucker: They are hoarding baby formula.
Avalanche Lily suggested this: A homemade baby formula for those unable to get commercial brands. This is a very important recipe to keep in your files.
Over at Republican American: Growing alliance: Sweden ends neutrality, joins Finland in seeking NATO berth. A pericope:
“Sweden’s prime minister announced Monday that Sweden will join Finland in seeking NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a historic shift that comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country.
The move, which is likely to upset the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, came after neighboring Finland announced Sunday that it too would seek to join the 30-country military alliance.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson called it “a historic change in our country’s security policy” as she addressed lawmakers in the Swedish capital.”
Reader H.L. spotted this article: Utah, Wyoming, and Oregon Are Cutting Big Game Tags Due to Drought Conditions. Will Other States Follow?
“As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.” – William James
On May 18th, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, causing a massive avalanche and killing 57 people. Ash from the volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota.
Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens, which is 96 miles south of Seattle, began on March 16. A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded four days later and then, on March 23-24, there were 174 different recorded tremors. The first eruption occurred on March 27, when a 250-foot wide vent opened up on top of the mountain. Ash was blasted 10,000 feet in the air, some of which came down nearly 300 miles away in Spokane. The ash caused static electricity and lightning bolts.
Throughout April, scientists watched a bulge on the north side of Mount St. Helens grow larger and larger. Finally, on May 18 at 8:32 a.m., a sudden 5.1-magnitude earthquake and eruption rocked the mountain. The north side of the peak rippled and blasted out ash at 650 miles per hour. A cloud of ash, rocks, gas and glacial ice roared down the side of the mountain at 100 mph. Fourteen miles of the Toutle River were buried up to 150 feet deep in the debris. Magma, at 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, flowed for miles. The 24-megaton blast demolished a 230-square-mile area around the mountain.
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May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel Baird Wesson (of Smith and Wesson fame).
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Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging
Supplies like water, food, and medical supplies are essential during a disaster. However, these may not be enough. Research into past tragedies demonstrates that our mental resources may play a significant role in survival in emergency situations.
We have been told that it’s essential to prepare for disasters throughout history. In the Bible, Genesis books 41 and 42, God directed Joseph to stockpile enough food to survive seven years of famine.
During the Middle Ages, people gathered and preserved as much food as possible during the summer months. This helped them get through the cold winters in Europe without starving. It also helped guard against the constant threats of war, drought, and famine that were common during those times.
Throughout both World Wars I and II, the United States and other nations encouraged their citizens to grow “Victory Gardens” to help keep the country fed during a time of food rationing. The idea of self-sufficiency became so popular that by 1944, more than 20 million victory gardens were planted within the United States and produced over eight million tons of fruits and vegetables.
Indeed, it is essential to be prepared during an emergency. Most disasters are unexpected by nature and leave little time to prepare. Also, during disasters, just as we saw with the COVID-19 pandemic, people tend to engage in panic buying and other fear-driven behaviors despite being told not to by authorities. So, yes, preparation well in advance is vital. The problem is that most of us are leaving out a key component of disaster planning.Continue reading“Beyond Beans Bullets and Band-Aids, Part 1, by Todd Albertson”
This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.
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Dinesh D’Souza’s latest documentary film has been released. This one proves voter fraud in the 2020 election: 2,000 Mules. (Thanks to Brad F. for the link.)
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I just heard from our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson, that his three-book Target Terror novel series is about to be released in an omnibus edition. It is available to pre-order at BooksAMillion.com (BAM). You can find it there, or at many other online booksellers via its ISBN: 9781982191917
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Two Researchers Ran an Experiment to Test Hunters’ Beliefs on Deer Movement, Weather, and Moon Phase. Here’s What They Found. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)
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In The New Yorker: The Turkish Drone That Changed the Nature of Warfare. Here is a pericope:
“The Bayraktar TB2 is a flat, gray unmanned aerial vehicle (U.A.V.), with angled wings and a rear propeller. It carries laser-guided bombs and is small enough to be carried in a flatbed truck, and costs a fraction of similar American and Israeli drones. Its designer, Selçuk Bayraktar, the son of a Turkish auto-parts entrepreneur, is one of the world’s leading weapons manufacturers. In the defense of Ukraine, Bayraktar has become a legend, the namesake of a baby lemur at the Kyiv zoo, and the subject of a catchy folk song, which claims that his drone “makes ghosts out of Russian bandits.””
“It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
On this day in 1769, George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. He brought a package of non-importation resolutions, drafted by George Mason, before the Virginia House of Burgesses. This initiated a chain of events that led to Britain’s House of Lords demanding that men involved in the extra-legal Massachusetts convention of towns be tried in England. Britain’s plan backfired and created an American identity where before there had been none.
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Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging
Amateur Radio Operators (“hams”) have a tradition of public service. Indeed, the FCC rules, section 97.1 (a) states one of the purposes of Amateur Radio is: “Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.”
Commonly, that public service is rather mundane, providing communication support for, by way of examples, the Boston Marathon, Michigan’s Consumer’s Energy AuSable Canoe Marathon, and the annual Marine Corps Marathon which starts and ends in Arlington, Virginia.
Commonly, hams interact with other, non-ham folks, as in the AuSable Canoe Marathon, where race officials receive time reports from several designated timing stations. In rural Michigan, as exemplified by some reaches of the AuSable River valley, cellular phone service is either spotty or absent.Continue reading“Ham Public Service Communications, by Reltney McFee”
