The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

“I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” – Rev. 3: 5-13  (KJV)

Geopolitics: How Maps Help Us Understand History, Predict the Future – Pt. 1, by Brian Miller

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Editor’s Introductory Note: The following guest article was first posted by Ammo.com. It is re-posted with permission. It appealed to me because–like the author–I adhere to the Geographic Detriminist school of history. – JWR

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“It is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.” – Henry Kissinger

American students are notoriously bad at geography, and have been for some time. In 2002, for instance – the year after the 9/11 attacks – only 17% of American students could find Afghanistan on a map. In 2016, less than one third were able to score a minimal pass of 66% on the National Geographic Global Literacy Survey. In 2015, the United States Government Accountability Office reported that 75% of eighth grade students don’t even know what geography is.

Picture your old-school geography class. More likely than not, it was a boring subject requiring rote memorization of global factoids, U.S. state names, and their capitals. This does American students a disservice, because an appreciation for the hidden power of geography helps one make sense of seemingly random historical tidbits, more accurately predict the future, and see beyond political rhetoric to what actually matters among nation-states.

When contemplating geography’s usefulness in better understanding our world, consider the following:

  1. Why is it important to the state to get a handle on its subjects and their environments, i.e., through long-established practices like land registries and the creation of permanent last names? Or more recent examples such as the census bureau, the passport system, the DMV, birth and death certificates, or just registering to vote?
  2. Why is the state seemingly always the enemy of “people who move around,” i.e., nomads and pastoralists, hunter-gatherers, Gypsies, vagrants, homeless people, iterants, runaway slaves, and serfs? All have always been a thorn in the side of the state, and efforts to permanently settle these mobile peoples seem to rarely succeed.

The answers to these questions are straightforward when the classic imperatives of the state are known – and these are taxation, conscription, and the prevention of rebellion.Continue reading“Geopolitics: How Maps Help Us Understand History, Predict the Future – Pt. 1, by Brian Miller”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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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. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I’ll be heading back to the ranch soon, with stops to visit two consulting clients. In the past month, I’ve picked up 16 antique cartridge guns to add to the inventory of Elk Creek Company. At the urging of a couple of readers, I just resumed taking orders today (Saturday, September 26th, 2020). My #1 Daughter will begin  packing orders, as they come in. But be advised that we won’t begin shipping out orders until Monday, October 5th. (We live at a remote ranch, and don’t get into town often.)

Now that the smoke has cleared, I’m back to bicycle riding 10 to 15 miles per day.

I’m anxious to get back home to the Redoubt!

Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

Preparedness Notes for Friday — September 25, 2020

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On September 25th, 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification.

This is also the birthday of Will Smith (born 1968), best known for his roles in I Am Legend and Enemy Of The State.

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Please wait until the “Book Bomb Day”, October 20th, 2020, to order your copy of my new book, The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide. Our goal is to get it ito Amazon’s Top 100, and on The New York Times bestsellers list. Thanks!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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. 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.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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!

Round 90 ends on September 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.

 

Bypassing Internet News Censorship, by M.F.

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In late 2019, I completed the ham radio Technician and General tests and to be honest I’ve yet to get started on the Extra Class test. if you are new to ham radio, then check out hamexam.org and sign up, it’s free. You can take your tests on a phone or tablet until your hitting 90s and then go schedule to take the test at a local comm center or ham club. They charge just $15 to test, and they often let you also take the next higher level test free of charge.

I managed to buy and set up a Yaesu FTM-100DR 2m/70cm radio, and a Yaesu FT450D HF radio. I put a SCU-17-USB sound card on the HF radio I and got a Panasonic Toughbook hooked up. so I can hit e-mail RMS gateways out in the Midwest and the Southeast over HF for e-mail using Winlink.  APRS is pretty useful over the 2m band. (More on this later).

I also put an inexpensive 25-watt Chinese transceiver in my truck. But that is mostly used as a scanner for keeping an ear out on local information. That was an idea that I picked up from Sam Culper of forwardobserver.com. Everyone is a sensor.

I’ve managed to get a flag pole modded to secure a diamond $100 antenna for my 2m/70cm radio. It’s got a pretty good SWR of like 1.1. For the HF radio it took a lot of work, and some trial and error, but I managed to get a 550 cord pull up about 35 feet high in the trees, and pulled up a Buckmast OCF dipole antenna.
I can’t transmit on the 160m band but I can get out on the 40 and 80m bands when they are good. I’ve talked to Washington State, Texas, Louisiana, Costa Rica, and Canada. when 10 and 6m are open, it’s interesting and really cool to hear other states and other countries-  I’ve read or heard on the radio that 2019 was the worst year for [long distance propagation] radio since radio was invented with no sunspot activity for all of the year.

A BBS Option?

In my research on ham radio, I wanted to get some kind of BBS system setup.  I found that that it’s not plug and play, nor are people really doing much with it over VHF/HF, making it hard for me to get in to. The solution I keep seeing is buying a modem from this company and it does BBS so you can have e-mail. But I really don’t want to buy anything else. I want to do stuff.  So I guess those BBSs are rare now. My basic idea is having local information using 2m/70cm and having national and international information using HF.
if you plan on copying this idea you will have to figure out what local nets are out there and monitor frequencies like 14.300 daily (as this is where the maritime mobile service network has nets that usually cover national weather broadcasts from the NWS and reports on ocean-related events like storms. I listened to broadcasts when the last hurricane hit the Bahamas)

I shoudl mention that AmRRON.com has a ton of info if your getting started in ham radio or just want info on state nets. Also, if you are just starting out and want to talk internationally get a WiresX compatible Yaesu radio (such as a FTM100-DR) and a Technician license. With that, you can chat over your laptop using a handheld — or hook in to a digital repeater with Internet access and talk to people in Germany, Japan or wherever. WiresX stuff is good as long as the power is up, and you have Internet. You can connect in to chat rooms that kind of remind me of old AOL chat rooms days, online.Continue reading“Bypassing Internet News Censorship, by M.F.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 further examine the economic impact of the Wuhan Flu pandemic. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

How silver’s 50% rally in 2020 has transformed the industry

o  o  o

Another rush to cash? Analysts are cautiously watching stocks, gold price

Economy & Finance:

Coronavirus: Hit to global economy ‘will be less than expected’ in 2020. Here is a quote:

“The damage to the global economy this year will be less than previously expected, but still “unprecedented”, a leading international body says.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development now predicts a decline of 4.5% in 2020, versus the 6% drop forecast in June.

It means it no longer expects the UK to have the deepest contraction of the major G20 economies this year.

But the 10.1% drop would still make Britain one of the hardest hit.”

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Who Bought the $3.3 Trillion Piled on the Incredibly Spiking US National Debt Since March?

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Yelp Reveals 60% Of Business Closures Are Now Permanent. Here is how the article opens:

“The virus pandemic shock is generating deep economic scarring, the likes of which many have never seen before. The virus-induced downturn has led the economy into a “liquidity trap,” in which interest rates will likely reside on the zero lower bound until 2023, and monetary policy could have trouble stimulating the real economy besides artificially inflating asset prices. As Washington pumps fiscal injection after fiscal injection into the real economy, creating unstable artificial growth, the latest lapse of fiscal support, now 46 days, has sent the economy into another slump.

For more color on the deep economic scarring, not just a deterioration in the labor market, we turn our attention to a Yelp report published Wednesday that revealed as of Aug. 31, 163,735 businesses have closed on the platform, a 23% increase since mid-July.

Yelp pointed out an increase of permanent business closures over the past six months, now reaching 97,966, or about 60% of closed businesses will never reopen their doors again.”

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” – Psalm 4 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 24, 2020

On September t1775, Ethan Allen was captured by the British.

In 1493, Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second voyage to the Americas.

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Today we present three short articles that are not eligible for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. One of them is a well-writen rant, one of them is less than 1,500 words, and one of them is a guest article.

Note that Round 90 of the contest ends on September 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.

Testing 20-Year-Old Mountain House Lasagna, by S.H. in Texas

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This article describes my experience with some Mountain House brand freeze-dried lasagna that I taste-tested 13 years beyond it’s “Best By” date.

Since I have become a bit of a “prepper”, I have noticed that the years seem to fly by much faster than before! Perhaps it’s just the usual momentum of age, but it seems every time I check on something from my “deep storage”, I find that it has been at least 10 years since it was purchased! Very disturbing. So…the question that plagues us is this: “would this be better-‘n-nothing when the SHTF, or should I just appease the wife and throw it out?”. Sound familiar?

To gain some insights into this dilemma, I have pledged to test some of my older supplies when the opportunity arises. One such endeavor with yeast, vacuum packed and frozen, was posted some time ago. I also dug into an old MRE and JWR was kind enough to share the findings. I encourage my brother and sister preppers to do the same, so that we can all learn better how to optimize the efficiency our storage space. I can think of nothing worse that settling my family down to a meal of precious storage food, when no options remain, only to find that it is spoiled beyond consumption!

Today’s experiment deals with an old “backpacker” package of Mountain House lasagna. I purchased this around 2003 or 2004 for an anticipated backpacking trip, but somehow, it survived. Since that time it has been stored in my long-term larder, at controlled room temperature ranging from 75-80° F.Continue reading“Testing 20-Year-Old Mountain House Lasagna, by S.H. in Texas”

Why Did it Have to be … Guns?, by L. Neil Smith

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Over the past 30 years, I’ve been paid to write almost two million words, every one of which, sooner or later, came back to the issue of guns and gun-ownership. Naturally, I’ve thought about the issue a lot, and it has always determined the way I vote.

People accuse me of being a single-issue writer, a single- issue thinker, and a single- issue voter, but it isn’t true. What I’ve chosen, in a world where there’s never enough time and energy, is to focus on the one political issue which most clearly and unmistakably demonstrates what any politician — or political philosophy — is made of, right down to the creamy liquid center.

Make no mistake: all politicians — even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership — hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it’s an X-ray machine. It’s a Vulcan mind-meld. It’s the ultimate test to which any politician — or political philosophy — can be put.

If a politician isn’t perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash — for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything — without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn’t your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn’t genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody’s permission, he’s a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude — toward your ownership and use of weapons — conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn’t trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

If he doesn’t want you to have the means of defending your life, do you want him in a position to control it?

If he makes excuses about obeying a law he’s sworn to uphold and defend — the highest law of the land, the Bill of Rights — do you want to entrust him with anything?

If he ignores you, sneers at you, complains about you, or defames you, if he calls you names only he thinks are evil — like “Constitutionalist” — when you insist that he account for himself, hasn’t he betrayed his oath, isn’t he unfit to hold office, and doesn’t he really belong in jail?

Sure, these are all leading questions. They’re the questions that led me to the issue of guns and gun ownership as the clearest and most unmistakable demonstration of what any given politician — or political philosophy — is really made of.

He may lecture you about the dangerous weirdos out there who shouldn’t have a gun — but what does that have to do with you? Why in the name of John Moses Browning should you be made to suffer for the misdeeds of others? Didn’t you lay aside the infantile notion of group punishment when you left public school — or the military? Isn’t it an essentially European notion, anyway — Prussian, maybe — and certainly not what America was supposed to be all about?Continue reading“Why Did it Have to be … Guns?, by L. Neil Smith”

Our Daily Passive Battle, by H.G.

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I’m firmly in the “meek” category along with most of the attributes you would assume go with it: introverted, passive-aggressive, quiet, content, peace-loving, hard to anger, patient, etc.  I can put up with a lot, get along with anybody.  I have strong opinions but I know that nobody wants to hear them. My daily intake of news consists of scanning the mostly-local headlines of one of the city television stations, reading a couple stories of interest to get a deeper picture, and relying mostly on headlines for the gist of the national happenings.  I’m not completely head-in-the-sand but I know myself well enough to either limit my knowledge of what is going on or face the same depression and frustration I see in other people.  I go to work and talk to the same handful of people each day, talk to some neighbors, family and friends, never get a wide range of opinions outside of my local bubble.  I’m not on social media, I have a hard enough time with the real thing.  I “lurk” on some sites but never comment.

Begin rant:

What I’m having trouble with is keeping up with the flurry of groups/people/businesses/brand names/entertainment choices/candidates/influences that I should not be associating with, supporting, following, listening to, voting for, or even reading upon.  This business has this flag in their window… can’t go there anymore.  This business is owned by a guy that is a you-know-what… can’t shop there.  These people kneeled, these didn’t.  I saw her wearing one of those hats, not talking to her anymore.  I heard he went downtown for that event the other day.  Hmmm, didn’t know he was like that.

The more trusted and supposedly like-minded people I talk to, the more I find I can’t add to my mental list fast enough who I’m supposed to be taking a stand against.  And this is on top of all the ones I was already supposed to be against before March of this year.  From what I do gather from the news, there are certain groups of people that are supposed to hate me because of something I can’t change.  At the same time, I’m lumped in with the group of people who are supposed to be dead-set against the people who are against me.  This is all very confusing to me and I wish there were a way I could sort this out.  Should I spend more time reading the news each day?  Which news?  If I had my choice it would for sure be this national news outlet and that one only.  Actually what would be better is to surround myself with right-thinking people and we can feed off each other, maybe join a local protest or counter-protest.  Forget it, the safest thing for a person of my particular personality nuances is to just go full isolation and stay in my own little world.  Being anti-everything is just easier.

There, rant over.

Okay, show of hands- as you were reading this were you desperately trying to figure out what category to put me in?  Race?  Religion? Political party? Gender? Geographic location?  Urban/rural?  Liberal/conservative?  Leader/follower?  Trump supporter? BLM supporter? Mask, no mask? Were you getting frustrated as you were already forming your comment to the article in your head without knowing exactly who you were either about to support or rebuke?Continue reading“Our Daily Passive Battle, by H.G.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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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 some more saber-rattling by China, with Taiwan.

Nashville Officials Conspire to Conceal Low COVID Numbers

Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson forwarded this: COVID-19 emails from Nashville mayor’s office show disturbing revelation. Mike’s Comments:  “So this was just 80 cases from bars out of 20,000 cases in that region. And they refuse to release the actual numbers without a formal Freedom of Information request. This is not about an illness, it’s about power.”

Three Arrested at Moscow, Idaho Psalm Sing

My #1 Son forwarded this recent news of a blatant double standard in law enforcement at protest events: Three people, including candidate Rench, arrested at church event in Moscow. And here is a good follow-up podcast that includes video of Rench’s arrest and a revealing conversation with the arresting officers: EMERGENCY SHOW – Gabe Rench Arrested at Psalm Sing in Moscow, Idaho.

China Threatens U.S. Over Taiwan Visit

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: China Threatens U.S. Over Taiwan Visit: ‘Stones May Become Torpedoes’

Atlanta Bureaucrat Indicted for Illegal Machine Guns

Reader Tim J. sent this: Atlanta Bureaucrat Indicted for Illegal Machine Gun Possession. Tim highlighted these points from the end of the article: “Beard allegedly ordered two custom-built machine guns to be delivered to Atlanta City Hall and paid with them using taxpayer funds to the tune of $2,641.90.  On a U.S. Department of the Treasury tax exemption form, the CFO claimed they were for the exclusive use of the Atlanta Police Department. However, investigators claim that Beard kept them for personal use.”

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