SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 Bend, Oregon news. (See the Eastern Oregon section.)

Region-Wide

SPLC vs the American Redoubt

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Apparently, one gent considers my novels cruise-worthy reading.

Idaho

Man who stabbed stranger doing yardwork at Boise home found unfit to stand trial

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US to shut down Idaho nuclear waste processing project

Montana

Big Sky Country Bitmining: Questions, no answers from CryptoWatt

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Butte man gets 15 years in prison after squatting in deployed service member’s home

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I just noticed that Shield Arms (in Bigfork, Montana) has expanded their line of machined aluminum pistol magazine extensions. They’ve added new models and new colors. Nice!

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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”. More information on NJ’s plan for Gun Mags this week as they refuse to rule out house-to-house searches in their enforcement.

NJ’s Plan for Gun Mags

New Jersey has now declared war on hundreds of thousands of previous law-abiding citizens. With the stroke of a pen, the state has transitioned them from citizens to felons. The New Jersey State Police have told Breitbart News that they will not rule out house-to-house checks in the enforcement of this unconstitutional law, instead referring to the generalized statement that “We do not discuss enforcement strategies.” This whole episode proves yet once again that registration always leads to confiscation. Ammoland.com has a simple reminder list of what you can do if they show up at your door. They have advice for four scenarious: Police raid, police investigation, police wanting to talk to you, and intimidation letters. If you live in New Jersey and can’t vote with your feet, this is a must-read. Thanks to DSV for the links.

Licensing Private Security

Aparently, a private security contractor falsified firearms qualifications of his armed guards who provided security to an IRS office in central California. For three years, the Fresno IRS building was guarded by people who were unqualified according to federal standards but who potentially had the authority to shoot you. Apparently, since they part being falsified was their shooting scores, that technically meant that they were authorizing people who were likely to shoot innocent bystanders. Multiple people were involved in the fraud and several will now be facing jail time. Thanks to S.B. for the link.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their family.” – Self-described “Democratic Socialist” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in an interview on PBS Firing Line, July 13th, 2018

Gerber Gator Machete, by Pat Cascio

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It’s often forgotten, but a machete can come in handy in many wilderness situations. Under review today is the Gerber Gator Machete.

Machetes

I own several machetes of different sizes and from different companies. Some came without a package, so I have no idea who made them, other than to guess that they were made in China, as is this Gerber Gator Machete. All of my machetes are rusted. They are all manufactured out of carbon steel, and all were fairly inexpensive. However, they all work.

Gerber

I’ve been a fan of Gerber products for a lot of years, and it wasn’t all that many years ago that all of their products were made in the good ol’ USA! Such is not the case these days. In order to compete with other knife companies, some of Gerber’s products are made in China. This machete is no exception, and it was difficult to find the tiny print on the package that stated it was made in China.

Specs on the Gator Machete

Some of the specs on the Gator Machete are that it is made out of forged carbon steel and has an 18-inch blade. The blade itself is 18 inches long and is 2.4 inches at its widest point. Also, it weighs in at slightly more than a pound. The saw back portion of the blade is about 15 inches. I love the Gator Grip rubberized handle; it’s outstanding. There is also a lanyard hole with a lanyard attached. A heavy duty nylon sheath that is riveted is included as well. There is also a limited lifetime warranty on this product.

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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. 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 full capacity magazines (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold In 2019: Fed Pausing Could Mean Everything For Gold

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This Market Will Drive Gold Price In 2019

Economy & Finance:

Debt Worldwide Hits Record $184 Trillion, or $86,000 Per Person. JWR’s Summary: Bankers and government collude to create debt-based funny money–out of thin air. Consumers then go on a low-interest rate buying spree. They become deeply indebted to the bankers, who rake in billions in interest, fees, float, and stock profits. When banks do fail, taxpayers bail them out. When will people wake up an get out of their debt slavery, and demand honest money? Oh, and as a correction to that headline, reader Mark in New York points out: “$184 Trillion divided by 7 billion souls is more like $26,285. per person, not $86K.”

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Mark Zuckerberg Lost $15 Billion This Year, More Than Any of the 500 Richest Billionaires in the World

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Preparedness Notes for Sunday – December 16, 2018

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December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug use and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures.

Guest Post: Weapons of War On Our Streets – A Guide to the Militarization of America’s Police – Part 2

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This article was originally published on Ammo.com.

The Role of Civil Asset Forfeiture

Civil asset forfeiture (CAF) is a major driver in the militarization of the police force. Put simply, CAF is a legal principle that allows police to seize money and property from “suspected” criminals, which they can do without a warrant because the suspect’s property doesn’t have the presumption of innocence. Note that police do not have to convict or even indict. Indeed, indictments are not even filed in over 80 percent of all cases. Police can simply seize property, more or less at will, with some property harder to seize than others. Seizure of anything under $20,000 will almost certainly stand because that’s about what it’s going to cost you to fight CAF in court.

Most of the money raised through civil asset forfeiture is filed under “other.” This can be anything from a $600 coffee maker to a tank. Because the burden of proof is so low and the benefits are so high, CAF is effectively a legally allowed form of theft by police officers, allowing them to purchase military-grade hardware with stolen property. Here is a short list of military hardware purchased with civil asset forfeiture funds:

  • $5 million helicopter for the Los Angeles Police Department
  • $1 million mobile command bus for Prince George County, Maryland
  • $227,000 for a Lenco brand armored vehicle in Douglasville, GA, a town with a population of 32,000
  • $54,000 for 27 M-4 assault rifles in Braselton, GA, a town with a population of 9,476

While not the sole, nor even the primary, means by which the police are becoming militarized, this is a significant method for police departments to bankroll their own militarization.

Continue reading“Guest Post: Weapons of War On Our Streets – A Guide to the Militarization of America’s Police – Part 2”

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”. An interesting article on A.I. Soldiers is profiled today.

Fallen Star

A former Army Green Beret has been charged with the murder of an Afghan terrorist. The heart of the issue is that the terrorist planted a bomb that killed numerous people including two U.S. Marines. He was captured and held, but had to be released because prosecutors could not find enough evidence to charge him with the crime. Major Mathes Golsteyn tracked the suspect down after his release from U.S. custody and shot him. As much as it pains me to say it, I believe the charges are appropriate given the evidence that I know. What sets us apart from savages is the adherance to the “rule of law”.

Had the suspect been killed during the initial capture, I think things would have been different, but to track him down and kill him after a lawful release, no matter how painful that release was, was wrong. War sometimes frustrates those in the military and in every war there are those who cross the lines of humanity and do the wrong thing. It is my personal believe that we must conduct ourselves as men of integrity even during the atrocities of war. My heart breaks for those who have reached the point where they have difficulty understanding that. Thanks to DSV for the link.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

In a nearly unbelievable fit of stupidity, a new New Jersey law proves the words of Forrest Gump to be true. New Jersey’s law limits all firearms magazines to no more than 10 rounds of capacity. The problem, other than the obvious one at face value, is that there is no exception for law enforcement. It would appear that all duty firearms of law enforcement officers in New Jersey contain more than 10 rounds of ammunition. In one fell swoop, idiot lawmakers have made it so that an off-duty police officer is denied the ability to carry his duty weapon without becoming a criminal.

They can’t even have those weapons at home unless they leave the high capacity standard capacity magazines at work. The law even applies to those officers that are “on-call” meaning that an officer must show up at his place of work to retrieve his magazines before responding to an incident.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.” – Luke 6:9-11 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – December 15, 2018

The 15th of December, 1923, was the birth day of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In 1943, he was arrested for illegally carrying a gun and sentenced to six years in prison. However, he was pardoned and released in 1946, serving less than half of his sentence.” He is, of course, remembered as the inventor of the famous Uzi submachine gun and the short-lived Ruger MP9 (an improvement to the Uzi). Uzi Gal is not to be confused with Israel Galili, the chief weapons designer for Israeli Military Industries (IMI), who along with Yaacov Lior designed the Galil improvement to the AK-47.

Guest Post: Weapons of War On Our Streets- A Guide to the Militarization of America’s Police- Part 1

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This article was originally published on Ammo.com.

The claim often heard from those attempting to pass more gun control legislation is that all they’re trying to do is get the “weapons of war off our streets,” but it’s simply untrue that “weapons of war” are available to the general public. You’d last about three minutes in a real war with an AR-15, even with one of the most aggressive builds you can get your hands on. The truth is that the only people with “weapons of war” on America’s streets are, increasingly, the police.

Thanks primarily to the Pentagon’s 1033 program which allows law enforcement agencies to get their hands on Department of Defense technology and the Bush-era War on Terror, American police have received a startling amount of heavy-duty, military-grade hardware. Between 1998 and 2014, the dollar value of military hardware sent to police departments skyrocketed from $9.4 million to $796.8 million.

And just as when “all you’ve got is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail”, militarized police have become more willing to use their new weapons when carrying out law enforcement tasks. For example, the number of SWAT raids in the United States grew dramatically from about 3,000 in 1980, to a whopping 50,000 SWAT raids in 2014, according to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

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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. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR

Here at the Rawles Ranch, we received just a few inches of inches of snow this past week. Much of that melted on Wednesday and Thursday, when the temperature soared to around 36 degrees F. Our old reliable snow plow is now attached, but I haven’t yet put it into service this year. We’ll wait and see how the winter weather pattern develops.  Perhaps it will be much more mild than last year.

I recently helped a consulting client select a gun vault to give to his son, for his new home. I recently began recommending vaults from Rhino Metals. That is a company located in Caldwell, Idaho. They are now one of our affiliate advertisers. Rhino is currently offering a 15% discount on their safes and 25% off all their safe accessories. When sales like that come along, I encourage folks to jump on them. My client says that he will be not only helping his son and daughter-in-law with the vault purchase, but also by stocking it well with a variety of investment tangibles, primarily for his grand-kids. A wise and oft-quoted old American saying: “Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket.”

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Most of our family was down with the Common Cold this week. But early in the week I took the one-hour drive to town for shopping errands and made a special trip to a Dollar Store. There, my goal was to stock us up on some additional first aid supplies. These included: An ice pack bottle, several three-packs of 2-ounce dispensers of hand sanitizer (also useful for kindling fires), some foam toe bandages, 10 packs of paper dust masks, rolls of bandage gauze, boxes of individually-packaged alcohol prep pads, rolls of waterproof bandage tape, and some 4-packs of single use 1/2-gram Super Glue (CA glue) tubes. That glue is quite handy for wound closure. Total expense: $34.

I’m hopeful that we’ll get over these colds and be more productive, next week!

– Jim & Avalanche Lily, Rawles

 

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