Potemkin Village on the Potomac

I’ll begin this essay with a bit of history, and then take a look at what I foresee in the near future of America.

The “Potemkin Village” (Potyomkinskiye derevni) was an invention of Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavricheski to impress Empress Catherine The Second (“Catherine the Great”), while she was traveling through Crimea, in 1787. As the story goes, along the banks of the Dnieper River, Potemkin had workmen erect a fake village, peopled with paid actors. This village was designed to give Catherine with the illusion of economic vibrancy in the region under the prince’s rule, as she floated by. After her boat had passed, Potemkin would have his workmen disassemble the village and then hastily reassemble it, farther downstream, to be seen the next day. As the story goes (perhaps exaggerated) his ruse went on for several successive days. The phrase Potemkin Village is now used in both the economic and political realms to describe any construction or situational artifice built solely to deceive others into thinking that conditions are better than they actually are. In modern times, North Korea is famous for creating well-stocked fake storefronts, and non-functional computers, to impress visiting foreigners.

Sadly, 21st Century Potemkin Villages are not created by just Third World dictators. It is becoming common in Western nations. There is now a virtual Potemkin Village on the Potomac River. Unlike the movable village on the Dnieper, the Potemkin Village on the Potomac centers on boasts by the Biden-Harris Regime about a “strong economic recovery” and the merits of a multi-trillion dollar “Building Back Better” spending plan. It is Joe Biden mandating inoculation with flawed vaccines.  It is the Federal Reserve creating trillions of dollars out of thin air. And it is the media and academia perpetuating the whole charade.

The governments of most western nations have become a farce. They are led by power-hungry sociopaths and financed by extorted tax dollars of the citizenries. Their laws are willingly enforced by local, state, and federal police officers and agents who are more concerned with “officer safety” and their fat pensions than they are with protecting our constitutional rights. Meanwhile, the leftist stooges of the mainstream media blather on endlessly, repeating their socialist mantras.Continue reading“Potemkin Village on the Potomac”

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 renewed strength of the Swiss Franc. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Turkey Buys All Remaining Wholesale Silver For The Year.

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Commerzbank see gold rising on higher inflation expectations.

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Gold price up as it appears inflation genie out of the bottle.

Economy & Finance:

Thorsten Polleit at The Von Mise Institute web site: A Global Fiat Currency: “One Ring to Rule Them All”.

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Republican senators slam Democrats’ proposed bank account monitoring.

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Big money managers hoard cash, dump bonds as inflation fears mount.

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At Zero Hedge: Futures Slide On Stagflation Fears As 10Y Yields Spike.

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Hedge funds edge towards USD4 trillion milestone as volatility surges.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 28, 2021

Today is coincidentally the birthday of several gun designers:

Wilhelm Bubits (born October 28, 1954) in Lutzmannsburg, is an Austrian handgun designer and creator of the Caracal Pistols (pictured) and Steyr Mannlicher M and S model pistols. As a hobby shooter and former police officer, Wilhelm Bubits used his experience and ideas about handguns to advance modern pistol design. Bubits worked for the Glock firearms company and in 1997 joined another Austrian weapons maker, Steyr Mannlicher. At Steyr, Bubits created the Steyr M and S pistols which were released to market beginning in 1999. In late 2002 Bubits worked with weapons experts from the United Arab Emirates in a UAE government-sponsored “Small Arms Project” to develop a series of modern pistols. The result of the collaboration was the Caracal Pistol line (Pictured.) Weapons manufacturer Caracal International LLC was incorporated in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2006. Wilhelm Bubits currently heads Caracal’s research and development team.

This is also the birthday of Horace Smith (October 28, 1808 – January 15, 1893) was an American gunsmith, inventor, and businessman. He and his business partner Daniel B. Wesson formed two companies named Smith & Wesson, the first of which was financed in part by Oliver Winchester and was eventually reorganized into the Winchester Repeating Arms Company

And this is also the birthday of Eliphalet Remington (October 28, 1793 – August 12, 1861), who designed the Remington rifle and founded what is now known as the Remington Arms Company.

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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.

Shake Light 40B, by The Novice

The EcoCentricNow Shake Light 40B is a human-powered flashlight. It is fairly reasonably priced, reasonably water resistant, reasonably shock resistant, and reasonably heat resistant. It is charged by a powerful magnet that presents a danger to sensitive equipment, so I do not recommend it for field use or as a children’s toy. I think it could be useful for applications like tornado preparedness kits or as a nightstand flashlight.

The Back Story

I recently submitted an article to SurvivalBlog that included a review of the IKEA Ljusa hand crank flashlight. The beauty of the Ljusa is that the hand crank charges a capacitor rather than a battery. This gives the Ljusa a virtually unlimited shelf life, since it has no batteries to degrade over time. The greatest disadvantage of the Ljusa is that it is no longer in production.

A quick search of the Internet using duckduckgo turned up only one human-powered flashlight that uses a capacitor for storage and is currently in production. It is the EcoCentricNow NightStar Shake Flashlight. With that in mind, I contacted EcoCentricNow to see if they could provide me with a sample of the NightStar Shake Flashlight for testing and evaluation.

Knowing that I write for SurvivalBlog, EcoCentricNow suggested that I test the Shake Light 40B instead. The representative indicated, “The SL40B is a well-constructed, long-lasting, human-powered flashlight, which is price point oriented to emergency preparedness, survival, and outdoor recreation audiences.” Since beggars can’t be choosers, I gratefully agreed. Five days later, a package arrived in the mail.Continue reading“Shake Light 40B, by The Novice”

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 adverse events following Wu Flu jabs.

COVID-19 VAERS: 800,000+ Adverse Events Reported

I spotted this linked at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: COVID-19 VAERS Update: Over 800,000 Adverse Events Now Reported!  Many of the cases end up in multiple categories, but the VAERS numbers total of 818,042 adverse events, up to October. These include:

127,641 Doctor Visits.

83,412 Hospitalizations.

92,017 Urgent Care.

26,199 Disabled.

10,179 Bell’s Palsy.

10,304 Myocarditis.

8,408 Heart Attacks.

2,631 Miscarriages.

17,128 Deaths.

31,753 Severe Allergic Reaction.

3,875 Thrombocytopenia/Low Platelet

18,925 Life-Threatening.

9,734 Shingles.

JWR’s Comment: Let those numbers sink in, before you consider taking the jab.

Congrats to the Souzas: A Dried-In House

The latest from the North Idaho vlogging Good Simple Living Souza family: OUR HOME IS OFFICIALLY DRIED IN! Our congratulations. Oh, and also our congrats on them now having 313,000 subscribers!

The Meshtastic Mesh Network

I heard about this Wyoming Survival article by way of American Partisan: Meshtastic Mesh Network. A quote:

“Meshtastic lets you use inexpensive (~$30/board) GPS radios as extensible mesh communicators. It’s great for hiking, skiing, climbing – essentially any hobby where you might not have reliable internet access. Each member of your mesh can see the location and distance of all other members and receive text messages sent to your private group chat. Data automatically forwards as needed, so everyone can receive messages from even the furthest member.”

Continue reading“Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace.” – Milton Friedman

Quality Products for Prepping, by 3AD Scout

Having to stop in the middle of a project to go to the hardware store for something is extremely annoying to me.  For one it wastes time; two it is an insulting indication that I have a hole in my preps.  Post-TEOTWAWKI, going to the hardware store, or any other store for something you forgot will probably not be an option. Having stuff on hand in my stores for any project is important to me as a gauge for my level of preparedness.  Recently, while building stalls and pens inside my barn, I was enlightened to another annoying lesson, that quality is sometimes much better than quantity.

I’m no stranger to prepping, nor am I a stranger to the value of a quality item.  I’m well aware of the sayings “buy once, cry once” and “one is none and two is one”.   When making prepper purchases, there is almost always a compromise between quality and price. For example, say you wanted to put away 200 cans of soup. Progresso soup, which might taste better than your local store brand will cost more but your local store brand is may not taste as good as Progresso but is probably cheaper, thus the comprise on quality allows you to get quantity and stay within your budget.  We all do this, it might be subconsciously, but we do it, unless you are making a seven-figure income.

There are probably things we all won’t consider compromising on, such as firearms and knives or other items that our lives may depend on.   But what about common consumable items such as sandpaper, paintbrushes, blue tarps, wire brushes, and driver bits?  Over the years, I’ve come accustomed to buying many of my consumables at Harbor Freight. Do I really need to spend $10 on a paint brush to slap paint on a storage shed?   So, buying items at stores like Harbor Freight allows me to buy quantities of items at a reasonable price.  That theory works with paint brushes but perhaps not everything.Continue reading“Quality Products for Prepping, by 3AD Scout”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: 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.

Simon in England passed along this instructional video link: BaoFeng Ham Radio From Noob to Skilled in 60 minutes.

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Andre reminded me to mention this, about the Cumbre Vieja volcano, in Spain’s Canary Islands: La Palma’s volcanic eruption is going strong three weeks later.

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This reporting runs contrary to the “Fauci wisdom”: Amish Covid. (Thanks to D.S.V. for the link.) Here is a quote:

“Then, last March, remarkable news. The Lancaster County Amish were reported to be the first community to achieve “herd immunity,” meaning a large part of a population had been infected with Covid-19 and became immune. Some outsiders are skeptical, and solid proof is hard to come by.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The old parties are husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines, boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly on what should be said on the vital issues of the day.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 26, 2021

Today is the birthday of Henry Deringer (October 26, 1786 – February 28, 1868). He was an American gunsmith. He is best known for inventing and giving his name to the very compact Deringer pistol. Pictured is the Philadelphia Deringer that was carried by John Wilkes Booth.

October 26th is the anniversary of the death of American-born RLI Trooper Joseph Patrick Byrne, in Rhodesia, in 1978.

Edward Wilson Very (born October 26, 1847, died March 1, 1910) was an American naval officer who adopted and popularized a single-shot breech-loading flare pistol that fired flares that bear his name.

—

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.

Consider a Shotgun as a Gift, by AJS

My shotgun and I have been together a long time. I received it for my twelfth birthday about 70 years ago. I was raised in a farming community. It was expected that a young man would contribute to the food supply whenever possible. My family considered a shotgun to be a piece of precision farm equipment that you used to get food. When I lived with my grandfather on his small farm in rural Midwest he positioned a firearm at each downstairs window. When we looked out in the morning if there was a critter poaching from our garden we could open the window slightly and collect a main course for lunch. If we got a rabbit it meant I did not have to catch one of the free-roaming roosters for lunch.

In those days in rural America people did not have indoor plumbing. Water came from the well. You went out and pumped for it. You wonder about personal sanitation and how often we took showers. The first shower I experienced was when I was in high school and had to take a gym class. Warm water coming out of the wall, what a concept. The privy was between the house and the barn. Grandpa got up early about 3 and went down to the barn. Not everyone had electricity in those days. It was a status symbol to see a light burning above the farm door. Not much time for a big breakfast. In the evening there was the milking so not much time then either. The big meal was the midday. There would be the main course usually chicken from free-roaming to table in less than two hours. There were always potatoes and apple kuchen for dessert. We ate well. That was when we had a leisurely meal and talked about important things.

The elementary school had three rooms: one for first and second grade, one for 3, 4, and 5 the last room was for grade 6 and above. By 5th grade you had learned to read, write, and arithmetic which is what schools taught in those days. Often the youths were needed on the farm so quit after the fifth grade. At age 12 I got my hunting license without an adult accompanying me. You could drive a tractor on the county road at least up to the next field. Young women could marry at that age. It was pioneer country. It was a different world.

I was proud of my shotgun. I took very good care of it. When a relative passed I acquired a rifle and shotgun as a hand-me-down. The local gunsmith said the rifle was not in good enough shape to shoot and advised I take it to the local lake about a mile away and throw it in. The shotgun was in good shape as shotguns do not wear out like rifles do. I already had mine so I gave it to a cousin who did not have one. There were always two issues with the shotgun: first the barrel was really long and second when firing it recoiled smartly. The bruise on my shoulder was a symbol of my ability to withstand pain. But it may have been unnecessary. I will get back to that.Continue reading“Consider a Shotgun as a Gift, by AJS”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we look at proposed changes to Montana’s wolf trapping and snaring regulations. (See the Montana section.)

Region-Wide

Fall color in the Inland Northwest.

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Some fascinating data: Sources of Energy, By State. Note how much hydropower is produced in the Redoubt States.

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EnerSys Among 2021 “Best Places to Work Inland Northwest”. See the full list of companies.

Idaho

Note the overt leftist bias of this article: Mainstream Republicans seek to ‘rescue’ Idaho – from the GOP. Also note that Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin did not “declare herself governor”. A Lieutenant Governor automatically serves as Governor whenever the elected Governor leaves the state of Idaho.

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Fully vaccinated Idaho mom loses battle with Covid: ‘It’s so lonely without her’.

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After 50 years, remains of missing Idaho teen identified on Oregon Coast.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”