Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 3, by J.B.H.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)

Despite the unclear science, there are several other things that I think one can do of practical value in this environment. This is very important, since, as previously noted, coronavirus may have always been a bigger issue than the flu that everyone has been talking about for decades. And it may continue to be a bigger issue.
First, stay flexible and keep a close eye on the vaccine situation. Watch the current vaccines. Look for new vaccines. Collect what data you can including data from personal friends on their safety and effectiveness. Above all, be flexible. If you are unvaccinated and over time a new vaccine comes around or the old ones appear to be working, get vaccinated. If you are vaccinated, and what you were vaccinated with appears to be dangerous or ineffective, don’t get vaccinated again or wait for a new, better vaccine.

Perhaps if you are young, it may make sense to forego the vaccine for a number of years but then start getting it later on as you get older and perhaps your risk from the disease gets higher in relation to vaccine risk. There might be a “crossover point” between the disease risk and the vaccine risk. The virus is mutating and will continue to which will change the vaccine decision-making process. The vaccines available will possibly change which will change the decision-making process.Continue reading“Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 3, by J.B.H.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

We had another snowy but fairly restful week, here at the Rawles Ranch.

The Jet Stream has been over the top of us, about half the time, for the past couple of weeks. So… I did a lot of snow plowing. I had to be out there almost daily, to keep up.  Lily and I also drove a half-mile down the road to one of our nearest neighbors, to plow their road open. They bought that property less than a year ago, and they are still living mostly out of state. They are hoping to move up here full-time, this summer. We want to keep their road passable for them, for when they come up for a planned ski trip, in February.

As an aside, I’d like to reiterate my thanks to the more than 100 readers who responded to my annual post on Tuesday, requesting Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions. Several folks sent $100, one sent $200, and one gent sent  $365–presumably as a “catch-up’  payment for a decade of reading the blog without subscribing. Your generous support is greatly appreciated!

Both our half-grown puppies and our cats have been getting into mischief. With all of them spending so much time indoors in the cold weather, I suppose this was inevitable. Surprisingly, the newly-arrived interloper dogs and the well-established cats haven’t many outright conflicts. They seem to have some sort of truce in effect. The cats have strategically moved to higher ground: The top of the piano, on a tall cabinet, and perched up on the backs of our ancient couch and our aging Barcalounger. I’m not sure if they will ever be on friendly terms, but for now, they seem to be coexisting without destroying the house.

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Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.

The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.

Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.

Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. – Jeremiah 50:24-32 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 7, 2022

January 7th, 1963, was the birthday of Senator Rand Paul. Happy 59th birthday, Rand!

And also the birthday of Cresson Kearny (born 1914, died December 18, 2003.)

This is also the birthday of Bent Faurschou-Hviid, known as The Flame (born 1921, died October 18, 1944). The Flame was a red-haired Danish resistance fighter in the Holger Danske Group during World War II. His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 ends on January 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.

 

Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 2, by J.B.H.

(Continued from Part 1.)

The Viral Distribution of Influenza-Like Illnesses

This subject has received little attention in the press that I have seen. I started thinking about this in response to various comments and memes talking about the lack of influenza cases in the last year. Many noted that in most years you have 10s of millions of flu cases estimated/recorded but this past year nearly none. Many viewed this as evidence that the COVID pandemic was nonsense, and perhaps they are right. However I went in different direction in my mind that I saw no one else going. What if the yearly “flu season” was not real? Or more specifically not really flu? So I did some research.

First I asked around among friends, family and acquaintances if they had ever had the flu. Most said yes. I asked if they had ever been laboratory tested for the flu. All but one said no. Interesting.
Then I looked for data on yearly flu numbers. I looked at this page at the CDC site.

I found this information:
“CDC estimates that the burden of illness during the 2018–2019 season included an estimated 35.5 million people getting sick with influenza, 16.5 million people going to a health care provider for their illness, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths from influenza (Table 1). The number of influenza-associated illnesses that occurred last season was similar to the estimated number of influenza-associated illnesses during the 2012–2013 influenza season when an estimated 34 million people had symptomatic influenza illness.”

That is a lot of illness, doctor visits, hospital visits and deaths. So how do we know if they had the flu? What is our typical testing like? I found this at the NIH web site:

“U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating laboratories and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System laboratories, which include both clinical and public health laboratories throughout the United States, contribute to virologic surveillance for influenza. During September 30, 2018–May 18, 2019, clinical laboratories tested 1,145,555 specimens for influenza virus; among these, 177,039 (15.5%) tested positive, including 167,529 (95.0%) for influenza A and 9,510 (5.0%) for influenza B. The percentage of specimens testing positive for influenza each week ranged from 1.7% to 26.2%.”Continue reading“Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 2, by J.B.H.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 the prospects for King Dollar. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Yesterday (Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022) morning, spot silver was down 4.66%, gold was down 1.08%, and platinum was down 2.75%.  Dips like these are good buying opportunities.

o  o  o

U.S. Mint sees strongest gold coin sales in 12 years, sells 1.25 million ounces in 2021.

o  o  o

Gold Was The Best Performing Precious Metal For 2021.

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An Extraordinary Rise In U.S. Debt In Just The Last Two Weeks.

Economy & Finance:

Over at the Mutual Fund Investor Guide blog:

“The 10-year Treasury yield started the year at 0.90 percent and finished at 1.51 percent, making a high at 1.75 percent in March 2021. If inflation is not controlled in 2022, the 10-year could move above 2 percent over the next few months. Bond investors anticipate the Fed is correct about inflation declining in 2022 though, hence the very low interest rates on longer-term bonds.”

o  o  o

Video: Jim Cramer shares his outlook for 2022: Rate hikes and tangible profits.

Equities:

Nasdaq falls for a third day as tech stocks struggle, Dow loses 170 points.

o  o  o

Watch out, folks… It looks like he is shifting largely to cash:  ‘The Big Short’ investor Michael Burry sold most of his US stocks last quarter – but added three new holdings.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 6, 2022

January 6th, 1745 was the birthday of Jacques and James Montgolfier, the twin brothers who pioneered hot air ballooning.

Today is also the birthday of musician Earl Scruggs, (1924-2012)

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A special prayer request:  Mike, a good friend up in the great white north, wrote to tell me that he has just been diagnosed with advanced cancer in both lungs, and several other organs. Please say a special prayer for Mike, for miraculous healing.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 ends on January 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.

 

 

Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 1, by J.B.H.

Like many, I have spent arguably too much time over the last few years researching COVID 19 and many things related. I have listened to Presidents (Okay I don’t listen to Biden), health officials, pundits in the news and friends. I have read more medical studies than ever before in my life. I have read numerous articles from all sources and read thousands of comments regarding those articles, many of which have sent me to yet more articles and studies.

The country, and world for that matter, is clearly divided on many of the issues surrounding COVID 19. How severe was it really? Do masks protect you, harm you or do nothing at all? Do lockdowns protect you, harm you or do nothing at all? What about the vaccines? These subjects have been argued at great length but many of the arguments are over things I cannot personally control. I have my opinions on these matters but those opinions are not of much practical value in most cases. I would like to present some information that I hope has practical application not just with COVID 19, but in other scenarios as well.

I should note what I mean by practical application. Most of what I will cover I hope will assist you in the way you think and approach this pandemic and other situations. Not much gear, medicine, food, or specific skills, etc. This is largely about attitude and mindset as well as physical and mental preparation for adversity and uncertainty.

My favorite information is information published prior to COVID 19 ever being on anyone’s radar or COVID data (not advice) from state health departments. I will cite my sources although I will provide some anecdotal information as well.Continue reading“Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 1, by J.B.H.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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 collapse of empires

Inside The Rock: Operation Tracer

Over at Notes From The Bunker, my friend Commander Zero offered this amazing bit of WW2 history, inside the Rock of Gibraltar: Operation Tracer.

The Latest Threat: Suicide Drones in Iraq

An article linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Two suicide drones shot down while trying to attack US troops in Iraq.

Spiking Death Rates in Younger Americans

I saw this at The Gateway Pundit: “Highest Death Rates In History” – Indiana Life Insurance CEO Says Deaths are UP BY A WHOPPING 40% Among People Aged 18-64 in 2020 – Only a Fraction From Covid Deaths. JWR’s Comment:  “Nothing To See Here, Move Along…”

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Rather than seeking to stem the tide, our educators, politicians, and judges aid the advance of godlessness. This cannot continue if our children and grandchildren are to live in a country that still recognizes God and upholds religious liberty.” – Franklin Graham

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 5, 2022

My sincere thanks to the 83 readers who responded to my post yesterday, requesting Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions. Several folks sent $100, one sent $200, and one sent $365–presumably as a “catch-up’  payment for a decade of reading the blog without previously subscribing. Your generous support is greatly appreciated!

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January 5th, 1855 was the birthday of King Camp Gillette (pictured), who invented the safety razor.

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Today is also the birthday of actor Robert Duvall (born 1931.) His roles in Open Range and Apocalypse Now are unforgettable.

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This is also the birthday of General Courtney Hodges (born 1887 – January 16, 1966). Kicked out of West Point for low math scores, he enlisted as a private but soon became a maverick officer and went on to a distinguished career.

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Today’s feature article was written by the newest member of our staff, Thomas Christianson. He will become Field Gear Editor, when Pat Cascio semi-retires, to become our Field Gear Editor, Emeritus. Pat plans to gradually reduce his writing schedule. Since it was staff-written, today’s Review article is not part of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest judging.

Tom provided this biographical sketch and introduction:

My motto as Field Gear Editor is taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

I grew up in a small town in a semi-rural area in the Midwest, where everyone was acutely aware that food came from a farm before it ever came from a grocery store. We learned gun safety in school, and on the first day of hunting season, all the young men were absent from school.

I began writing as a stringer for a local newspaper while still in high school, and have enjoyed writing ever since.

After college and seminary, my wife and I spent a decade overseas as missionaries. We then returned to my hometown where I joined the staff of my sending church. One of my responsibilities there is to care for our missionaries. Sometimes I have opportunities to test field gear while on trips to work with our missionaries.

If you happen to know of any field gear that would be helpful to SurvivalBlog readers, please contact me at ThomasKChristianson at gmail dot com to tell me about it.

 

Review: A Light, A Battery, A Book, and A Radio, by Thomas Christianson

Editor’s Introductory Note:  This review was written by a long-time content contributor to SurvivalBlog who wrote his articles under the pen name “The Novice.”  Thomas Christianson just had his name added to our masthead. Since he will be a paid member of the SurvivalBlog editorial staff, he will no longer be eligible for our writing contest.

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From time to time in my daily life, I run across items that may be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This article is a collection of short reviews about some of those items. These items include a heat-powered lantern, a battery bank, a book, and a radio.

A Heat-Powered Lantern

Recently, a powerful windstorm swept through our area. Our electricity was down for a couple of days. Fortunately, we have a generator. We ran it for a couple of hours each morning and each evening. This kept the food in the refrigerator and freezer adequately cooled and provided us with hot and cold running water for a portion of each day. Our woodstove kept the house warm, so all in all, we were well provided for.Continue reading“Review: A Light, A Battery, A Book, and A Radio, by Thomas Christianson”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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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Reader Jim. L. sent this: How tech’s richest plan to save themselves after the apocalypse.

o  o  o

An interesting study that I heard about by way of the American Partisan site: The effects of QuikClot Combat Gauze and Celox Rapid on hemorrhage control. JWR’s Comment: It appears that QuikClot provides superior clotting. But note that some of their products are “heat free”, while others reportedly  generate considerable heat that could cause necrosis.

o  o  o

SurvivalBlog Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson spotted this article: Indy’s First Shipping-Container House Just Listed.  Mike’s Comment: They put vinyl over the wood, and they want $700,000 for 1,200 square feet (by my math) of container space. Pass.”

o  o  o

John A. sent this: The Criminalization Of Preppers In Turkey: Will Your Country Be Next?

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This piece from Laurence Vance at the Libertarian Christian Institute dates back a decade, but it provides a quite concise and well-reasoned view: Romans 13 and Obeying the Government.Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Speculative stock #bubbles ultimately see the gamblers take on too much debt. #MarginDebt popularity accelerates at peaks. At this point the market is dancing on a knife’s edge. Passive investing’s IQ drain, and #stonksgoup hype, add to the danger…

…The first step is to recognize that 5:1 is not a natural ratio. It is a product of a paradigm. So what will continue this paradigm? What may reverse it? This is the knife’s edge, because we are at 5:1. It may go to 100:1. Or become -5:-1. But parabolas don’t resolve sideways.” – Dr. Michael Burry, from March 2020 tweets commenting on the ongoing passive investing bubble.