Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – December 26, 2017

On December 26th, 1777, after crossing the Delaware River, Washington led his men against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans, significantly boosting their flagging morale.

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Don’t forget that the holidays are an excellent time to finish up that article you’ve been wanting to write but procrastinating. The prizes are awesome!

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Time, Effort, and Attitude (TEA) and Keeping Focus, by E in the North Woods

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I think a lot of us who are doing our best to prepare for a SHTF scenario usually had some moment when we popped our heads out of the sand and were pushed to that point. I look back on it, like I have heard others explain, as the red pill versus blue pill moment from The Matrix movie.

Once you have your eyes opened and decide to take action in living a prepared lifestyle, it feels like you just got ripped from your comfy cocoon and are now standing at the base of a mountain looking up at all the ground that needs to be covered. Especially in the beginning, it can become down right depressing to think about all that you need to accomplish and with a newfound urgency (panic). You will likely at some point wonder if you made the right choice with that darn red pill and if you can just find that hole in the sand to reinsert your head.

Background

Some quick background on my continuing path. I took my red pill about eight years ago while living in a city in Colorado. Living in a suburban environment, I did what I could to begin climbing the mountain, thinking mainly about all of the thousands of steps it was going to take me to get some level of preparedness. I was frustrated by living in the city, frustrated that so many things I wanted to do didn’t make sense for city prepping.

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on the new Boar’s Head Highland Butchery.

Region-Wide

First off, here is the latest from The Sandpoint Reader‘s lengthy series of articles: The American Redoubt Series: Ruby Ridge to Redoubt–A brief history of anti-government sentiments in North Idaho. JWR’s Comments:  The earlier installments of their series were relatively free of bias. But here we see much more blatant bias and outright Guilt by Non-Association. The writer (Ben Olson) started off with the caveat: “To be clear, these are separate movements with distinct precepts from the Redoubt, but past ideologies in North Idaho influenced a climate that can still be felt today.” Say what?  Why, Mr. Olson, are you mentioning these movements in the same context? One could infer that the subtext is: “Here is a chance to roll out SPLC propaganda to smear a movement. We’ll do so by dredging up 25+ years of history of completely unrelated movements, to form a subconscious connection, in the minds of our readers.” For Olson to suggest that a profoundly anti-racist movement like the American Redoubt movement has somehow been influenced by defunct racist movements is absurd.

For the record, once again: The American Redoubt movement is not racist. Nor are we anti-Semitic. (Most of us are in fact outspokenly pro-Israel.) Nor is the Redoubt movement “anti-government.” We are distinctly pro good government.  To me, that is generally synonymous with minimalist government, with few regulations, little intrusiveness, no residential building codes or permits, and low taxation. (In sum: “That which governs least, governs best.”)  To incorporate descriptions of the radically anti-Semitic Christian Identity movement and the overtly racist KKK into the American Redoubt movement article series is more than just shoddy journalism. It is a none-too-subtle smear, and I wish to condemn it.


Idaho (Boar’s Head Highland Butchery)

Congratulations to fellow blogger Enola Gay of the great Paratus Familia blog. She and her family just opened a butcher shop in Weippe, which is in north central Idaho, just above the Clearwater River Valley. It is called Boar’s Head Highland Butchery. Please pray for their safety and success.  For some details, see: A New Chapter – the Grand Opening!

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Police seek leads in Clark Fork murder case

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Idaho is Nation’s Fastest-Growing State, Census Bureau Reports.  (JWR’s Comment: I’m confident that the American Redoubt movement has contributed to this substantial growth, to some degree.)

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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 “HJL”. In an update on Puerto Rico, we can see that this is fertile ground for church missions.

Easy Vegetables

Reader T.J. sent in this video from GrowingYourGreens on what he believes are the top three easiest vegetables to grow. This is actually a pretty interesting vlog because most of this gardening is done in an urban area on very small plots of land. If you are stuck in the city or suburbs, this is a good channel to follow. Just don’t stay in the city too long when SHTF hits.

Christmas Power Outage

While much of New England had a white Christmas, about 20,000 people in Massachusetts were in a blackout condition. The cause was a quick change of temperature and high winds. Most of the outages were on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. The loss of power really isn’t a big deal in itself, but it underscores the need to have backup sources of heat. Even if your house is heated with fuel oil or propane, most modern heating system require some form of electricity to operate. While this power outage was quickly dealt with, you don’t want to be in that situation where you are weeks without heat in your shelter. Thanks to G.P. for the link.

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Preparedness Notes for Monday – December 25, 2017

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To those who are celebrating the Advent of our Lord and Savior, the team at SurvivalBlog wishes you a peaceful and meaningful Christmas. For those who choose to celebrate our Lord through the Biblical feasts, stay safe out there during this holiday season. Our prayer is that each and every one of you enjoys the family time and stays safe on the roads.

Glock 21 .45 ACP, by Pat Cascio

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The Glock 21 .45 ACP pistol is under review in this article. I was most fortunate to have been able to test one of these pistols before they even came on the market, when I worked for the late Col. Rex Applegate.

Handguns for SHTF

Many people believe that they can get by, when the SHTF, with just a handgun. Maybe they can and maybe not. I’m inclined to think that a handgun is an up-close and personal defensive weapon, not one that was designed for offensive use. However, a good handgun can perform both duties, given the limitations of the round that the gun is chambered for.

Many readers will, no doubt, have a favorite handgun that they consider their “end of the world” handgun, and I have no problem with that so long as it is a well-built firearm, chambered in a man-stopping caliber: 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, or one of other similar handgun calibers. Like most, I have my own ideas about which handgun and caliber are the best to have around when the SHTF. My thinking on this doesn’t come lightly. As a gun writer with more than 25 years experience, I’ve had the chance to fire thousands of firearms over the years and have formed my own thoughts on this subject. I’m not saying I’m “right” and you’re “wrong”, not in the least. I’m just saying I have a lot of experience in this matter and have formed my opinion based on a lot of things.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in vintage motorcycles and mopeds. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Prices Expected To Trend Higher In Quiet Holiday Week

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2018 Gold Price Forecast: A Major Bottom Is Forming

 

Stock Markets:

Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Finish Lower After Trump Signs Tax Bill Into Law

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Husbands are not Christ. But they are called to be like him. And the specific point of likeness is the husband’s readiness to suffer for his wife’s good without threatening or abusing her. This includes suffering to protect her from any outside forces that would harm her, as well as suffering disappointments of abuses even from her. This kind of love is possible because Christ died for both husband and wife. Their sins are forgiven. Neither needs to make the other suffer for sins. Christ has borne that suffering. Now as two sinful and forgiven people we can return good for evil.” – John Piper

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – December 24, 2017

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December 24, is the anniversary of when John Joe Gray’s legal troubles began. He and his family were self-sufficiently holed up in their Texas ranch for a few days short of 15 years, in defiance of a warrant for his arrest. This was the longest standoff in American history, in which he has faced the administrations of four different county sheriffs before the district attorney dropped the charges.

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A Christian Prepper’s Perspective on Giving- Part 4, by R2

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Four Types of Giving

Yesterday, we started describing the four types of giving outlined in the Scriptures, starting with an offering to the Lord. Today, we’ll finish up this series with the last three types of giving, on which we have instruction. The most controversial one, and the one that is probably on most people’s mind, is next up.

2) Tithe

This is the method of giving that most think of when we talk about giving to the Lord. It is the most controversial one, because the basic church structure today depends upon it to survive, yet there is no mention of it in the New Testament. Doesn’t that strike you as ironic that many churches that teach that the Old Testament has little to offer the modern believer, particularly with respect to laws and commandments, will go to the Old Testament commandments on giving to justify their very financial existence? I am approaching this from the perspective that there is one Bible and that both the Old Testament and the New Testament are part of that Bible. We derive God’s lessons for living life from both parts of the Scriptures.

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Letter: Concerns on Chemicals During Tornados

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Dear editors,

Our family includes small, climbing, curious children, and so all our hazardous chemicals are on high shelves in our first-floor utility/laundry room (the one space we have in our home that is currently inaccessible to them).

I recently have been wondering what would happen if a tornado were to hit our house – we have numerous chemicals that are not to be mixed with the others on pain of toxic clouds of death. On the other hand, tornadoes are hardly precision instruments (the bleach might as well end up 30 miles away as on top of the ammonia, for example). What are the SurvivalBlog reader’s thoughts on whether this is worth being concerned about?

Thanks for your service to all, – M.R.

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 “HJL”. Good news! The pending Defense Authorization Act has provisions to transfer thousands of Army surplus 1911 firearms to the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

The Age of Junk Science

John Stossel had an interesting segment on his show: The Chocolate Hoax and Media Sensationalism. A media science writer put together a piece on how you could lose weight by eating one chocolate bar a day and used twisted data and facts, ignoring the real science. He then published this piece in a new science journal that did not depend upon peer review for acceptance. The media news, including ABC and TV affiliates along with magazines like Prevention ran with the article. It is a good warning to be skeptical of anything you pick up from the general media.

First Amendment

In a glaring example of why the founders included the First Amendment in our Constitution, a London assembly has stepped off the deep end. The assembly has voted to have pro-life Christians arrested and prosecuted for peacefully protesting abortion clinics and praying for women. Video documentation shows that the protesters stand quietly, offering support and prayer, but not blocking or harassing. Anti-protesters, on the other hand use bull-horns, shouting, insults and even occasionally violence in response. Guess who gets targeted by the government for “harassment”? If not for the Constitution, that would be us. Thanks to D.S. for the link.

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