Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 21, 2021

On November 21, 1916, Britannic, the sister ship to the Titanic, sinks in the Aegean Sea, killing 30 people. In the wake of the Titanic disaster, the White Star line had made significant modifications to the design of the ship, but on its way to pick up wounded soldiers near the Gulf of Athens, it was rocked by an explosion causing even more damage than that which had sunk the Titanic. Many of the dead were from some of the crew who attempted to launch lifeboats while the Captain tried to run the ship aground. The lifeboats were sucked up into the propellers, killing all of those on board. The cause of the explosion is still unknown, but many suspect that it hit a mine.

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Our George Patton’s Birthday sale is continuing, at Elk Creek Company.  Check out the reduced prices on all of our pre-1899 antique cartridge guns, percussion replicas, percussion conversion cylinders, bayonets, and knives. The sale ends on Saturday, December 11th, 2021.

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Today, a guest article, written by Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD. It was first posted by Sunshine Profits.

Inflation Risk: Milton Friedman Would Buy Gold Right Now, by Arkadiusz Sieroń

Editor’s Introductory Note:  This guest article, reposted with permission, was authored by economist Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD. It was first posted by Sunshine Profits.

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Powell maintains that inflation is transitory, but the monetary theory of inflation suggests otherwise. So, elevated inflation could stay with us!

Some economists downplay the risk stemming from elevated inflation, saying that comparisons to the 1970s style stagflation appear unfounded. They say that labor unions are weaker and economies are less dependent on energy than in the past, which makes inflationary risks less likely to materialize. Isabel Schnabel, Board Member of the European Central Bank, even compared the current inflationary spike to a sneeze, i.e., “the economy’s reaction to dust being kicked up in the wake of the pandemic and the ensuing recovery”. Are those analysts right?

Well, in a sense, they are. The economy is not in stagnation with little or no growth and a rising unemployment rate. On the contrary, the US labor market is continuously improving. It’s also true that both the bargaining power of workers and energy’s share in overall expenditure have diminished over the last fifty years.

However, general inflation is neither caused by wages nor energy prices. Higher wages simply mean lower profits, so although employees can consume more, employers can spend less. If wages are set above the potential market rates, then unemployment emerges – not inflation.Continue reading“Inflation Risk: Milton Friedman Would Buy Gold Right Now, by Arkadiusz Sieroń”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” – Matthew 16 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 20, 2021

Today is the birthday of Ed W. “Too Tall” Freeman (November 20, 1927 – August 20, 2008). He was a United States Army helicopter pilot who received the United States military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War. During the battle, he flew through gunfire numerous times, bringing supplies to a trapped American battalion and flying dozens of wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman was a wingman for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions.

On November 2, 1920, the radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh produced what is often cited as the world’s first commercial broadcast. However, it is noteworthy that an experimental station in San Jose, California was operated by Charles “Doc” Herrold, much earlier. Herrold started broadcasting daily from 1909 to 1917 — long before the advent of KDKA. He began playing record albums on the air in 1912. Herrold’s station was licensed as KQW (in 1921) and later KCBS. In the fall of 1916, after the De Forest Radio Telephone & Telegraph Company began operating an experimental radio station, 2XG, in New York City. They were the first broadcaster to operate commercially, airing advertisements.

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Like most Americans, I was relieved to hear that on Friday, Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty, on all charges. But I am quite troubled to see the incredibly biased mass media still referring to the men he shot as “victims.”  They were the aggressors. Kyle Rittenhouse was the victim.  Perhaps if he were of a different skin tone, or had a different political persuasion, the mass media would characterize the incident differently.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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 $150 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!

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, 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.

Reflections In the Mirror, by Richard T.

Many years ago when my son came to the age of needing to shave he asked me to show him how. He is a grown man now and in no need of further instructions, and yet I am offering him an update on my original advice. I’m now 73 years old and have been learning that shaving is more than cutting whiskers. Shaving is one of those few moments in a man’s day when he can reflect on his thoughts as his face reflects in the mirror. For me, it has become a time of reflection of what my life looks like, inside and out. What has happened outside of me because of what was inside of me as well as the reverse:  Reliving regretful experiences and harvesting lessons from them, overhauling habits, seeking wisdom from acts of folly, and most of all developing self-acceptance and gratefulness. It isn’t easy to do in those few minutes in front of the mirror.

Let me start with this; gratefulness. Taking a shower, sitting down on the throne, shaving your face; these are those daily duties we just do and take for granted as well as the access to the facilities to do them. It struck me recently to read about the plight of a man who was denied such simple and basic everyday needs. What initially caught my attention was that he was referred to as an elderly man, but he was two years younger than me. I read the article; he had been held hostage in an American gulag for the “crime” of being at the nation’s Capitol on January 6th of 2021 in a constitutionally legitimate gathering in support of a political issue. This is his account:

“On January 6, 2021 I was arrested and taken first to this place I can only describe as a dungeon. But Websters definition does not do it justice. It says, “A dark cell for prisoners”. That is just a start. Its dark alright. With 2 people in a cell about 5×7 with a commode, no sink, no water, and no toilet paper. If you needed a drink you had to get the guards attention and at his pleasure, he would bring you a 6oz cup of water. If you needed to poop you had to call the guard and ask for toilet paper. The guard would take a roll of toilet paper and depending on the roll size, he would roll off maybe 5 or 6 loops and he would leave. If that wasn’t enough, you had to call him back for more”.

I’ve been able to do what this man has not been allowed to do every single day since he and others have been imprisoned nearly a year ago for absolutely no legitimate reason.Continue reading“Reflections In the Mirror, by Richard T.”

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 took a three-hour drive to purchase several ewes and a disrelated ram. These are from a fairly rare breed, so we were excited to find a breeder so close by. (By Redoubt standards, a three-hour drive is “close by.”)

I’ve been fully engaged in the last week with writing, editing, shipping out Elk Creek Company orders. There have been a lot of orders, since we are running our biggest sake if the year, until December 11th.  For example, one gent ordered four knives and a Leatherman tool. There have also been a lot of projects around the Rawles Ranch. These included tacking-up burlap flaps to the fronts of our henhouse nest boxes, beefing up some fences to make them more bull-proof, re-hanging a tube gate, and rebuilding an old sheep corral, to make it once again sheep-tight. A lot of that work was done just after we’d received four inches of fresh snow. We also did some renovation of our old small livestock shed — since it has been several years since we’ve kept any goats or sheep in it. Most recently, it had been used to house our chickens.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.

He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” – Proverbs 14: 7-23 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 19, 2021

On this day in 1863, U.S. President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, at the dedication service for the National Cemetery in Pennsylvania.

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Less than two weeks left!  Get your entries in for Round 97 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, 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.

The Curse of The Cult of Kanban

In 2007, I began warning SurvivalBlog readers about global over-reliance on Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management. This system — also called lean inventory management or kanban — was first developed by Toyota in Japan, in the 1950s. There, with largely internal chains of supply that were all clustered around the major cities on Japan’s largest island, Honshu, the kanban system worked with wonderful efficiency. Kanban soon branched out to the other three primary islands: Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Manufacturers were able to cut costs by keeping their parts inventory small, and placing frequent orders to their supplying wholesalers and component parts makers. Kanban became very popular in Japan in the 1960s.

The Japanese lean inventory way of doing business was so successful that it caught the attention of American and European efficiency experts. They soon adopted it, preferring to use the term Just-In-Time (JIT). The bean counters earned nice Christmas bonuses, and both CEOs and shareholders were happy with a fatter bottom line. By the late 1990s, in many industries JIT became the norm. Even in worldwide trade, kanban proved to be efficient, if allowances were made for the lag time created by transoceanic shipping. American companies also found lean inventory beneficial in states with outdated inventory taxes.

Seeing the success of JIT in industry, wholesalers and retailers emulated kanban practices. This widespread adoption was seen most dramatically in supermarkets. Most new stores that were built after the early 1990s omitted having a large rear storeroom for “overstock”. What you see on the shelves is all that they have available in the store. Increasingly, it is route drivers and jobbers from third party companies that actually stock supermarket shelves. This started first with bread shelves, but now entire swaths of store shelves are stocked by people who are not store employees. This shelf-stocking activity largely goes on between 2 AM and 6 AM every morning, so most customers are oblivious to this hum of activity.Continue reading“The Curse of The Cult of Kanban”

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 strengthening U.S. Dollar. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold gains as inflation worries offset strong dollar.

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Gold Is Back in Vogue With Bulls Loving Faster Inflation Again. Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo article:

“While bullion is often bought as a way to protect wealth when consumer prices are climbing, this year’s inflation had weighed on the metal as investors bet that it would spur the Federal Reserve to scale back huge stimulus measures. But with the Fed determined to keep rates low while unemployment remains elevated, worries about out-of-control inflation are boosting gold’s allure.

That was clear on Wednesday, when gold jumped to break out of a 15-month downtrend after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose the fastest since 1990. On Thursday, spot prices rose as much as 0.9%, before paring some of the gain.

Inflation “is not transitory,” said Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS (Switzerland) SA. “It’s injected some bullish momentum. That’s a change from the previous ‘thinking’ since the Fed’s taper threat is out of the way.”

Taxes:

Biden’s Vaping Tax Sparks Concerns People Will Go Back to Cigarettes.

o  o  o

“Fair Share”? Here’s Every State’s Top Tax Rate Under Biden’s Massive Spending Bill.

o  o  o

$283,927,000,000: Federal Tax Collections Set Record in October.Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“These observations bring out the fact that, whenever liberty is regarded merely as the power to do something which it is desired to do, the tyrant need only base himself on the desires of the masses to suppress the liberties cherished by a few. But can anyone fail to see that the very concrete problem here posed is the problem of the sation of satisfactions, and not the problem of liberty at all? How, then, has it come about that we have drifted away from what we were discussing? This is the very definition of liberty which we allowed as our starting-point. Its development makes it clear that the thing discussed does not merit the fair name of liberty.
It is certain that every man desires addition to his power and chafes at the obstacles which stand in his way; it is also certain that the quest for a power which is wider binds him to a growing dependence on other men; it is certain, lastly, that this dependence creates a growing tendency to quarrel about distribution. All that is important, but it is the story not of liberty but of human imperialism. And whoever thinks to see the essence of liberty in the power of man is is utterly lacking in any true feeling for liberty.” –  Bertrand De Jouvenel, Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 18, 2021

On this day in 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. This incredibly tragic occurrence introduced the term “…drink the Kool-Aid” into our parlance, since poison-laced punch was the vehicle behind most of the deaths. This serves as a stark warning and reminder to anyone who would join with like-minded friends under the leadership of a charismatic leader. Always know who you are following!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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 $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, 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.

 

Food Shortages – The Hype and The Reality – Part 2, by SaraSue

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

In Part I, we discussed a bit about where the real food shortages are and some solutions. The primary advice was: buy in bulk if possible, buy single ingredient whole foods, identify alternative food sources, cook from scratch, grow your own, and avoid processed foods wherever possible. It’s pretty straightforward stuff, right? Then why is the “prepping community” “stacking it to the rafters” if there’s plenty of food? What’s going on underneath the surface? What’s not so obvious, generally? Why are people, seemingly, panicking about access to food?

Conspiracy Theories

Let’s get all the conspiracy theories out of the way first: global warming, global cooling, the government wants you dead, the government is going to make you eat crickets rather than steak, the government is going to compost human beings for you to fertilize your garden with, “you will own nothing and be happy about it” (World Economic Forum), one day people will be half human and half robot (transhumanism), etc, etc, etc. I love conspiracy theories because they allow me to exercise my brain in creative problem-solving! For instance, let’s take the Grand Solar Minimum. I fully believe that the earth and the solar system go through extended weather cycles, and that God created it to work that way. We, as human beings, do not know everything about how things work; but we know what recorded history and observation teaches us.

It is possible we are in a Grand Solar Minimum right now. How does that affect us? Well, it depends upon where you live and what a “normal climate” looks like to you. It could be colder and the snow deeper for many areas of the country and world (think: greenhouses, lots of firewood, etc). It could be warmer, hotter, for many areas (think: heat-loving crops and water systems as very important). It could rain barrels of water in an area that was previously very dry with potentials for landslides, sinkholes, rotting crops (observe and react in advance). I’m not saying I know anything. I am saying that for each “conspiracy theory”, there are elements of truth worth a look. An old adage: Don’t put your eggs all in one basket.

Let’s take the weather first. If we are truly in a Grand Solar Minimum, there could be crop failures in certain areas of the country, and around the world. We do so hope that the major companies who grow food are in tune with weather cycles. I kind of suspect they are, even if they don’t say it out loud. If they aren’t paying attention they’ll go bankrupt, so it’s their primary job to pay attention even if the information is obscure. Smaller farms, homesteads, and ranches should be paying attention too, and prepare for the worst, to the best of their ability. For instance, if you run cattle in Wyoming, you might think about having available shelter and extra hay for the animals when previously it wasn’t needed. If you live in the Southern states, it could be colder there too, or hotter. Plan for both.Continue reading“Food Shortages – The Hype and The Reality – Part 2, by SaraSue”

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 wars and rumors of wars.

Would America Survive a Second Civil War?

Some serious food for thought and grounds for further research:  Would America survive a civil war? Here is an excerpt:

“But 2021 is a different world to 2015. Talk of insurrection, secession, civil conflict and civil war is no longer the chatter of the gullible and the mentally ill. It’s entering the fringes of polite society. Some support this ‘national divorce’; others are opposed to it. Others claim they would actually prefer to declare war on their recalcitrant countrymen rather than let them go their own way unmolested.

None of this morbid interest in civil conflict is irrational, given the times. The year 2021 has thus far been a spectacular year for signs of political decline: the US has now seen all the notable “horsemen of the apocalypse” that historically herald strife and revolution appear, one after another. Political division among its elites, increasing loss of legitimacy in the eyes of the population, military defeat abroad, and a new and very ominous crisis in the real economy, with no end date in sight.

Any one of these crises would be bad enough on their own; taken together, they represent a truly serious threat to the stability of the current order.”

China Threatens Taipei’s Pro-Independence ‘Diehards’

China threatens to punish Taipei’s pro-independence ‘diehards’.

Baltics Warn of Military Escalation at Belarus Border

Kenny sent this: Baltic states warn of possible military escalation at Belarus border.

Russia May Be ‘Attempting to Rehash’ 2014 Invasion of Ukraine

Blinken says US is concerned Russia may be ‘attempting to rehash’ 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Here’s a quote:

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States is “concerned by reports of unusual Russian military activity” and the possibility that Russia may be “attempting to rehash” its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken’s comments came a week after Russia’s powerful security chief did not deny that Moscow was moving troops or assuage the US’ concerns about Russia’s intentions during a meeting with CIA director Bill Burns, according to four people briefed on the discussion.”

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