Psychological and Physical Survival – Part 2, by K.B. MD

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(Continued from Part 1.)

Part 2 – Disaster: Depression, Grief, and PTSD

Yesterday in Part 1, I covered types of stress and began to touch on tools and techniques for control. Today in Part 2, I will discuss disaster’s effects including depression, grief, and PTSD, while Part 3 will focus on numerous preventive strategies. While I am a licensed M.D., retired disabled, I am not a psychiatrist and remind our readers that I am neither diagnosing nor prescribing. Please obtain prompt medical care from licensed practitioners as long as they are available.

Who Is Susceptible?

People who survive disasters may experience depression, grief, and PTSD among other psychological conditions. In addition, they may also have more serious and long-lasting adverse effects on physical health. Who is susceptible? Everyone.   Let’s begin with children. After Hurricane Sandy, as many as 35% of children experienced signs of moderate to very severe PTSD at 9 months post-event and still 29% at 21 months. Often people don’t even think about the emotional impact of disaster until 6 to 8 weeks post event when survival becomes easier. Until life eases, adults and children just trudge along untreated. Another study of survivors (all ages) of mass shootings revealed that 28% develop PTSD and approximately 1/3 have a resultant acute stress disorder. Level of impact on emotions depends upon disaster, proximity, and duration. First, what was the type and severity of the disaster? How close was the person to the crisis? This second factor ranges from being in the middle of a terrible catastrophe as the worst to merely learning of it on the media as the least. First responders, assisting family members, and other workers are in between in severity. Gender also has an effect.   Women and girls are more susceptible to adverse impact on emotional health than men and boys. (No, I’m not being sexist!

I, myself, am a woman so please no accusations. Thank you.) Since some of today’s college students are needing cry rooms, emotional support llamas, bouncy castles, cookies, and coloring books just to endure the “rigors” of college, consider how poorly they will survive a genuine disaster!

What Can Help?

What can help? The support system of family and friends is crucial to having greater resilience after a disaster. This cannot be over emphasized. If this is not possible, there must be hope for help from the government and charitable organizations, plus counseling. Even if family and friends cannot help each other, it is very healing for survivors to have the opportunity to gather together and share their common experiences.   In the TEOTWAWKI, we must keep hoping, stay positive, and help one another as much as possible. The church or other area structure/organization can serve as a site for gathering to share memories of the common event and to discuss solutions to problems. Information intake forms could serve to note the expertise and various professions represented in the surviving community.

Psychological Effects of Disaster

Depression, grief, and PTSD will be all too common. We need to be aware and watch for the danger signs of these and other psychological conditions among our family and friends. There is no way to become a quick expert, but we can all learn some of the most common signs and symptoms and have a list to refer too. I suggest a few mnemonics below, but others are available if you prefer.

Depression

For depression, my mnemonic is SAFE with two points for each letter:

S- Sad- Expresses feelings of hopelessness, pessimism. Suicide risk or reckless behavior risk?

Sleep disturbance- May exhibit either insomnia (especially in early morning) or excessive sleeping.

A- Angry- Is irritable, short-tempered.

Activities- No longer interested in favorite hobbies nor in sex. Unable to feel joy or pleasure.

F- Focus- Displays a decrease in mental concentration, memory retention, and /or decision-making.

Food- Decreased or increased interest in food with a 5% weight change up or down.

E- Energy- Is lethargic and lacking in initiative, or perhaps agitated.

Esteem- Expresses self-hate and/or feelings of guilt, worthlessness.

 

Is this person “SAFE”? Does he/she have a sad expression and feel that there is no hope for the future?

Do they wish that they would not wake up in the morning or that they had never been born? (Suicide danger signs) Have they considered committing suicide or have a plan? Is their normal sleep pattern disrupted? Are they no longer interested in the things that used to make life seem worthwhile? Are they eating less or more? Are they unable to concentrate or make normal decisions such has what clothes to put on in the morning? Is their behavior sluggish and lethargic or perhaps agitated and restless? Do they have survivor guilt or think that they are worthless and don’t deserve to live?

If the answer is “yes” to a number of the above statements, the person needs help. If suicidal, do not

leave them alone. They need to be under constant observation until out of danger.

Grief

Well, I’m sure we can all identify grief, but consider the known acronym DABDA.

DABDA—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

These are the five stages of grief according to the Kubler-Ross model.   Please keep in mind that a person will

not necessarily experience all of the stages, nor in any particular order.   It is not unusual to deny/refuse to believe that someone is dead. “He/she is just asleep and will wake up soon.” Anger may be expressed as, “He promised not to leave me!” An upset person may also make a bargain with God, “I promise I’ll give up……….. if he comes home safe.” Those grieving need kindness, spiritual comfort, the closeness of supportive family and friends, a chance to verbalize their loss vocally and perhaps also by journaling, plus encouragement to continue normal activities of daily living (eating, sleeping, etc.) The grieving process cannot be rushed and will last however long is necessary.

PTSD

RISK FACTORS

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will unfortunately be a more common occurrence after a catastrophe.

Again the intensity of the experience plus the length of time living under the life-threatening situation will increase the possibility of developing PTSD. Some of the risk factors for developing PTSD include the following:

  1. A high risk, dangerous, or stressful job such has being a first responder or member of the military
  2. A history of early life trauma or abuse
  3. A family history of depression or anxiety
  4. Predisposing temperament
  5. Variations in brain function and structure

People with a naturally smaller pregenual anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, an area that regulates emotions, are more prone to develop PTSD. It is a vulnerability factor. After trauma, the size of the orbitofrontal cortex, an area that eliminates fearful memories, may actually decrease in size.

Keep in mind that one may develop PTSD without being In the actual center of the event. For example, a mother who knows that her children are in dreadful danger in a natural disaster and cannot reach them may develop PTSD as a result of her separation from them. She experienced a time of extreme personal vulnerability ie intense feelings of helplessness and fear.

SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of PTSD are usually of four types. My mnemonic is “RAIN”. Just remember that having PTSD will definitely rain on your parade. I am not being flippant in saying that. PTSD can cause great distress and disruption in lives, and those individuals are deserving of compassion and assistance.

RAIN –

  • Reactions
  • Avoidance
  • Intrusion
  • Negativity

First, reactions are changed. A person may be hypervigilant and easily startled. There may also be feelings of guilt and self-destructive behavior such as excessive drinking, drug use, racing of vehicles etc.

Second is avoidance of anything associated with the traumatic event eg food, location, sounds, activities. This may also include detachment from others, emotional numbing, and flattening of affect. Third, are uncontrollable intrusive thoughts and memories with resultant severe anxiety and impaired functioning of the patient. Flashbacks and nightmares are other intrusive elements. Fourth is negativity. The person possesses negative feelings about himself, others, and the world. He/she suffers from a sense of hopelessness along with an inability to experience positive feelings such as joy, love, etc. Other components are negative effects on concentration and perhaps lapses in memory of the traumatic event. Please note that children 6 years of age and younger may act out the traumatic event during play and experience nightmares. If a patient exhibits warning signs of suicide do not leave him/her alone. Always seek prompt professional psychological treatment if at all available. The sooner treatment is begun the better and faster the patient will recover.

Tomorrow we will conclude with Part 3, preventive strategies which may make a crucial difference in survival not only of an individual, but also of entire communities. We can start preparing now! Don’t wait!

Some Useful Links

The following are a few of the many helpful sites I’d recommend to supplement what I’ve presented in Part 2.:

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(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 3.)

 

 

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on a Argentine Model 1891 Mauser rifle. (See the Featured Antique Gun of the Week.)

Books:

One of Avalanche Lily’s recent reads, following a recommendation by reader W.F.: Eating On The Wild Side.

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A good general reference: Mauser Military Rifles of the World

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The Rocket Mass Heater Builder’s Guide: Complete Step-by-Step Construction, Maintenance and Troubleshooting

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The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook (Old Farmer’s Almanac (Paperback))

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 25, 2020

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February 25th is the birthday of bluegrass music legend Ralph Stanley (1927 – 2016). His harmonizing and high tenor solos had an almost haunting sound to them.

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Be advised: I will be putting Elk Creek Company on a Shipping Hiatus, starting February 27th. (I’ll be traveling for the month of March, and gathering and a cataloging new inventory.) I’ll resume shipping orders around April 4th. Please mark your calendar to check back at the Elk Creek Company store page on April 7th. You can then expect to see the addition of at least 20 more carefully selected antique guns. Thanks for your patience. – JWR

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $10,000 worth of 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 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 (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made 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, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. 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. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 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.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $100 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 87 ends on March 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.

Psychological and Physical Survival – Part 1, by K.B. MD

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The three parts of this article will describe:

  • Part 1 – Stress- Types and Tips
  • Part 2 – Disaster, Depression, Grief, and PTSD
  • Part 3 – Preventive Strategies

—

Part 1:

Everyone has experienced challenges in life such as illness, injury, bereavement, unemployment, financial loss, social dislocation, overwork, sleep deprivation, hunger, pain, cold, loss of power, civil unrest, etc. The chance of encountering some or all of the above skyrockets during times of prolonged disaster or TEOTWAWKI.  How will you or your loved ones, adults and children, fare during disasters? In reality, all of us will feel tremendous stress and over a third of us will be afflicted with a psychological condition (see Part 2). There will be no escaping it, and stress threatens survival by negatively impacting upon our emotional and  physical health. It even suppresses our immune system and makes us more susceptible to viral disease.

No one is immune to emotional stress, no matter how resilient we may think we are or how determined we may be to triumph over any situation. Eventually stress will manifest itself and can impact upon physical health even to the point of causing death. Consider a few of the possible results such as hypertension, unrelenting tachycardia (rapid heart rate), or myocardial infarction (heart attack). Remember that stress affects not only the individual but also reverberates throughout the entire household and community.

Today in Part 1, we will cover types of stress and begin to touch on tools and techniques for control.

Part 2 will discuss some of disaster’s effects such as depression, grief, and PTSD, while Part 3 will focus on numerous preventive strategies. While I am a licensed M.D., now retired disabled, I am not a psychiatrist and remind our readers that I am neither diagnosing nor prescribing. Please obtain prompt medical care from licensed practitioners as long as they are available.

This series covers information that may be helpful in the event of TEOTWAWKI and I invite our readers to share other positive tips that they may have, especially after careful study of the full 3-part series. While I encourage the reading of all 3 parts, the third section is especially important as a component of survival preparation which may make the difference between living and dying.

Types of Stress

I encourage you to take a look at the Holmes and Rahe stress scale, one for adults and another for children. These show us a point system for 43 life events. For example the death of a spouse is 100 points, dismissal from work is 47 points, and a change in financial state is 38 points. If one’s yearly total is 300 points or more, there is a definite risk of illness. This total and more could easily be reached during a prolonged disaster. Dr. Karl Albrecht published his model of four common types of stress in his 1979 book, Stress and the Manager. These are: time stress, anticipatory stress, situational stress, and encounter stress. There are other ways of subdividing stress, but we will now discuss Albrecht’s stress categories, with a TEOTWAWKI application.

Time Stress

After a disaster, chores will abound and there will not be enough time to accomplish them all.

Time stress will require prioritizing tasks and assigning them wisely to those best able to finish quickly. In order to avoid burnout, consider switching chores around to provide variety and change in type of work stress, both physical and emotional. Remind workers to stop, stand up, and take a few deep breaths when they feel pressured, if the situation permits. A lot more time if necessary and continue to encourage the group and promote a sense of supportive community.Continue reading“Psychological and Physical Survival – Part 1, by K.B. MD”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 focus on the Greater Idaho Movement. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

DSV was the first of several readers to mention this: Secession in the Pacific Northwest? Some Oregon residents petition to join Idaho. JWR’s Comment: If the Idaho and Oregon’s legislatures are agreeable to a Greater Idaho, then I’m agreeable to a Grander American Redoubt. (And beachfront property for Idaho!)

o o o

Here is some video commentary from Vincent James: Oregon Counties Trying to SECEDE to Idaho While Virginia Secession Talks ESCALATE.

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Greater Idaho movement wants to ask Douglas County voters to leave Oregon for Gem State

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Trump has flipped the 9th Circuit — and some new judges are causing a ‘shock wave’

Idaho

You’ve gotta love Idaho: Idaho girl, 11, brings AR-15 rifle to gun legislation hearing

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A new listing near Grangeville, at my #1 Son’s spin-off SurvivalRealty.com site: Idaho Homestead with solar power on 33 acres

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Case of missing children tied to doomsday beliefs, three deaths. Digging in to this news, this just gets more strange.

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Take a look at this company that I just heard about, headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho: Bright Lights Solar

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 24, 2020

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A couple of folks who have bought our waterproof 2005-2019 Archive USB sticks have had questions about how to use them. Hugh Latimer has provided the following explanatory notes:

The SurvivalBlog Archive stick is an offline copy of the web site. As such, it requires a web browser in order to display the contents. However, the web browser does not need to be connected to the Internet. This has been the case with every archive year, produced in the past. Because it is “offline” that means there is no way to provide and index or search function because those are things that the web server provides. To use it, insert it into your computer and open it with your file browser. In the root folder of the drive, there is a file named “index.html“. Simply double click on that file and it will open up just like the web site does on your computer sans the “search” function.

Every article contains a “print” function (seen in the form of a small printer icon at the top of each article) that can be used to provide a print-friendly format of the article that will expose the internal links, replacing them with footnote markers with the actual link used spelled out at the bottom of the article. This is the same functionality as the “online” version hosted at SurvivalBlog.com.

The extensive bonus content (expanded again for the 2005-2019 edition) has been incorporated into the navigation links on the right hand bar of the archive.

The archive can be used with smartphones and tablets as long as you have a USB adapter that fits both the phone and the drive and your device can see USB drives as attached file storage. It will require a relatively new(ish) computer (with an operating system from within the last six years or so) because the drive is formatted in the industry standard Microsoft “exFat” file system. Old computers will probably not be able to see the USB drive.

Oh, and by the way, we are now down to less than 125 USB sticks, from what might be the final batch produced in 2020. If you want to buy any, then don’t hesitate!  I expect them to sell out in the next 10 days.

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Today, we present an product review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

MCK Micro Conversion Kit for Glocks, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve always been of the mind that the less you do to a firearm, in the way of customizing it, the better off you’ll be. I’ve come to this way thinking for a number of reasons, first and foremost is the problem of liability. So I don’t like to do a lot of custom work on a firearm for my own use.

The grand old 1911 is the most customized handgun in the world – has been for a lot of years. I used to do a lot of custom work on 1911s – not only for myself, but for some of my customers, when I was doing gunsmithing work. Now, with that said, I’ve seen this happen in court, and I’ve read about it numerous times. If you are involved in a shooting, and you used a customized firearms, the prosecuting lawyer will rake you over the coals, with questions like: “isn’t a factory gun good enough for you, but you had to have custom work done on it, so it’s more deadly?” “Why did you put a hair-trigger on your gun, so you could shoot people faster?” How about handloaded ammo? ”Doesn’t factory ammunition kill good enough for you, that you had to reload your own ammo, making it more deadly?” These are just a few of the things you might face if you shoot someone. So, I keep “customizing” to the bare minimum these days.

The Glock handguns are the second most popular firearm when it comes to customizing. There are all manner of simple drop-in parts you can install yourself on a Glock. I prefer night sights on my Glocks – some come with them, and some don’t. The reason for night sights is because I don’t want to purposely shoot at a person that might not be the intended target. Secondly, I also like the fiber optic sights, those really allow you to see the sights so you can better hit what you are aiming at. Okay, so far, so good – nothing much a lawyer can tear you apart for. I’ve installed some lighter trigger (pulls) on some Glocks over the years. However when it comes down to it, I don’t do that any longer – I don’t want to be accused of having a “hair-trigger” on my self-defense handgun. I think, with a little bit of practice, anyone can master the “mushy” trigger pull on a Glock, no need to replace the factory trigger.

So, this is why I prefer, for the most part, to keep most of my handguns “as-is” from the factory, I don’t need to be questioned in a court of law, as to why I changed something on a self-defense firearm. Now with that said, there are some “customized” parts for a Glock, that I think are worth looking at. I don’t mind an extended slide release in the least. And, installing some after-market rubber slip-on grips – not a big deal, either. But today, we’re looking at a Glock accessory that is fairly new and worth checking out, the Micro Conversion Kit from Roni.  It is being sold all over the place these days, at some great prices, too.  The original Roni kit was just “okay” but it was pretty spendy, and it just wasn’t “right” to my way of thinking. But now they have improved on it, with this newest version.

So, what is a Micro Conversion Kit for a Glock? Well, in a nutshell, it is a device that turns your Glock into something akin to a short-barreled rifle – but not really. This is hard to explain, but let’s see if I can do it. The MCK is a polymer device that allows you to insert your Glock handgun into it – and it latches on to the front Picatinny rail, and on the rear, so that locks the Glock into it, solidly. Takes just a few seconds to do, and many police departments are buying the MCK for their officers, who might have to do a building search or go into a hostage situation, because it makes the Glock more accurate and it locks solidly into your shoulder – even though it has an “arm brace” on it – that the BATFE now says you can shoulder.Continue reading“MCK Micro Conversion Kit for Glocks, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: OkieRanchWife’s Cauliflower Tabbouleh

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Reader OkieRanchWife. kindly sent us her recipe for Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad.

(Tabbouleh is a Lebanese salad that traditionally is made of parsley, mint, tomatoes, adn bulgur wheat. It is usually seasoned with lemon or lime juice, salt, and olive oil.)

OkieRanchWife notes: “This a wonderful lo-carb substitute for bulgur tabbouleh. Since this is my own recipe I cannot claim that it is gluten-free; however, my ingredients are comparable to commercial recipes that are labeled gluten-free.”

Ingredients
  • 2 small heads Cauliflower, riced or grated. You can buy already riced cauliflower but if you are thrifty like me you can grate the florets on a box grater
  • ½ lb Tomatoes, small dice
  • ½ large Cucumber, grated
  • ½  cup Oil, I use extra light Olive Oil
  • ½ cup Lemon or Lime Juice
  • 1 bunch of Green Onions or 3 Leeks, sliced fine
  • ½ bunch of Italian Parsley, chopped fine
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Seasoned Salt (Aldi’s has a seasoned salt without MSG)
  • 1 Tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
Directions

Mix all ingredients and chill for two hours before serving.

SERVING

Can be served by itself, or over lettuce. Tabbouleh is often used as a side dish for a meat main course.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

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 look at Swiss watches versus Apple wathes. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Surges to New All Time Record Highs in Euros at EUR 1,456 Per Ounce

o  o  o

Week ahead commodity report: Gold, Silver & Crude Oil Price Forecast [Video]

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: China Is Disintegrating: Steel Demand, Property Sales, Traffic All Approaching Zero. The article opens with this:

“In our ongoing attempts to glean some objective insight into what is actually happening “on the ground” in the notoriously opaque China, whose economy has been hammered by the Coronavirus epidemic, yesterday we showed several “alternative” economic indicators such as real-time measurements of air pollution (a proxy for industrial output), daily coal consumption (a proxy for electricity usage and manufacturing) and traffic congestion levels (a proxy for commerce and mobility), before concluding that China’s economy appears to have ground to a halt.

That conclusion was cemented after looking at some other real-time charts which suggest that there is a very high probability that China’s GDP in Q1 will not only flatline, but crater deep in the red for one simple reason: there is no economic activity taking place whatsoever.“

o  o  o

Ecommerce Spikes by Most Ever. Brick & Mortar Melts Down. Department Stores are Toast. JWR’s Comment:  The Wuhan flu scare will likely accelerate this trend.

o  o  o

Another at Wolf Street: It Gets Surprisingly Ugly: US Freight Shipments Plunge 9.4%, Steepest since 2009

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 23, 2020

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Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836).

February 23rd is also the birthday of Captain Isaac Davis (February 23, 1745 – April 19, 1775), a militia officer and gunsmith who commanded a Minute Company in Acton, Massachusetts during the Battle of Concord.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $10,000 worth of 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 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 (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made 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, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. 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. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 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.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $100 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 87 ends on March 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.

The GSM and the NWO, by H.M.

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  At SurvivalBlog we do our best to present a variety of opinions. The following  article is highly opinionated. Some might say that it borders on a “rant.” If that bothers you, then simply skip reading it. Please keep your comments civil.

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I have been a prepper for more than thirty years, without really knowing why. I knew that something was coming and have since then come to the realization that a group of very powerful people want to end life as we’ve known it and return the world to the feudal system of the Middle Ages. To do this, the world population must be reduced to a level that can be controlled. Don’t believe me? Look up the Georgia Guide Stones, where the first goal of the New World Order (NWO) is to reduce world population to 500 million people, a level they can more easily control. As many of you know, this is being undertaken with the help of Big Pharma, our conventional medical system, and the poisoning of our food, water, and the very air that we breath. They pushed the Global Warming scam as far as it could go. We did have a warming cycle but that ended in 2008, so the Climate Change narrative was invented.

I recently heard an interview of David DuByne, author of the book “The Coming Grand Solar Minimum”. He looked back at the weather over the past thousand years and applied the dates of solar activity to significant events in history. What he found was that many of the wars, famines, social upheaval, and revolutions corresponded exactly to periods of reduced solar activity, which is indicated by the occurrence of sunspots. He also determined that the most significant solar minimums occurred about every 400 years, with the last one taking place in the 1600s-1700s. There have been 27 Grand Solar Minimums (GSMs) in the past 11,000 years, with 407 years average time between each of them. The effects on crops, due to less intense solar rays, have caused famines bad enough to be a major factor in the French Revolution. The Year Without A Summer in 1816, was caused by volcanic dust from the Mount Tambora eruption in April 1815, blocking the already reduced sunlight reaching the earth.

As I’m writing this, more than 50,000 armed patriots peacefully are gathering in Richmond, Virginia to protest the efforts by the Virginia Governor and Legislature to subvert the 2nd Amendment. I believe that former President Barak Obama is calling the shots for this scam from his residence in Washington D.C. The NWO cannot take down America as planned if its citizens are able to resist. The 2nd Amendment is not about hunting, it was given to us by the Founding Fathers to be able to withstand the efforts of a tyrannical government, which history has shown will always turn on its people. During this same week, part of the NWO true agenda has been revealed by a Project Veritas video of a Bernie Sanders campaign manager who brags that they will incite violence this year in order to start a civil war and prevent President Trump’s reelection. He also said that if Sanders is elected President, patriots like us will be herded into “reeducation camps” to be brainwashed or killed, something Hillary Clinton called “fun camps” a few years ago.

After extensive research, I have come to the opinion that the New World Order has known about an imminent Grand Solar Minimum for decades, and have been making plans for their survival and control of the aftermath, while at the same time implementing policies and agendas that will ensure our demise. They have called their program Agenda 21 and have quietly imposed its draconian measures through the United Nations. The U.S. Federal Government has done so through its alphabet agencies, and through state and local governments. The Agenda 21 draft came out of the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “21” is supposed to refer to the 21st Century, and its goals were covered under the phrase “Sustainable Development”. The document was 350 pages, broken down into four sections, and 40 chapters, and was adopted by 178 government representatives at the conference.Continue reading“The GSM and the NWO, by H.M.”

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 a new test for poisonous mushrooms.

New Test for Poisonous Mushrooms and False Morels

Reader C.B. sent this: New test identifies poisonous mushrooms. Here is how the article leads off:

“A simple, portable test that can detect the deadliest of the mushroom poisons in minutes has been developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues.

Eating toxic mushrooms causes more than 100 deaths a year, globally, and leaves thousands of people in need of urgent medical assistance. Amanitin is the class of mushroom toxins that cause the most serious issues.

The new test can identify the presence of as little as 10 parts per billion (equivalent to 10 cents out of $10 million) of amanitin in about 10 minutes from a rice grain size sample of a mushroom or in the urine of someone who has eaten a poisonous amanitin-containing mushroom. The test also works with dog urine, as dogs are known to indiscriminately eat mushrooms.”

Mac Software Threats Increasing

Also from C.B.: Mac software threats climbed 400% in 2019, more than Microsoft Windows, report says

Archery Hunter Kills 700 Pound Black Bear in New Jersey

Reader DSV sent us this: 700-pound black bear shot in New Jersey sets world record. Here is a snippet:

“A bowhunting organization says a 700-pound bear shot in New Jersey last fall has set a world record as the largest black bear killed with a bow and arrow in North America.

The Pope and Young Club, a bowhunting and conservation organization, said the bear killed Oct. 14 in Morris County toppled a record set in 1993 by a hunter in California. The new record was announced after a special panel of judges was assembled Feb. 8 in Harrisburg during the Great American Outdoors Show, the group said.”Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”