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”. Can a Christian practice martial arts? One reader asks that question today. Perhaps a better question is “Can a Christian protect his family?”

Wildfire Survivors

We already ran an article last week on Brad Weldon who stayed to fight the wildfire in Paradise, California and was able to save his home. Now he says he will not vacate even with a mandatory notice. He is among a small group of fire survivors who have defied orders to leave and decided to stick it out in the blackened and smoldering landscape. Butte County Sheriff has stated that he doesn’t know how many people were living in the evacuation zones but that they won’t force them to leave. If deputies encounter someone, they confirm that they live in the area, but won’t take any other action. Several of these survivors have stated that they feared that deputies would draw weapons on them when they refused orders to leave, even after the fire danger was over. This one is an interesting article profiling many of these survivors.

Is the 2A Obsolete?

I’m sure you’ve heard the argument that the Second Amendment is obsolete, either from a friend or a politician. Reader C.H. sent in this article that is a brutally honest essay on why this is not a correct assessment. History has shown that every genocide has been preceded by the disarmament of the people. This time around would be no different. (Note: a language warning must be placed on this article.)

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“People must understand that the funding for so much of what goes on today comes, at least in the United States, from our great tax-exempt foundations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation and the Pew Foundation. They have fabulous amounts of money – hundreds of billions of dollars – which they then disseminate to religious, political and cultural organizations. Their priority is to change the message of the Christian churches. They’ve certainly infiltrated the Catholic Church and her seminaries; indeed their agents are working at the highest levels of the Catholic Church today, which is why that Church has protected the pedophile priests who have been molesting boys here in America. In the Protestant churches they’ve done similar things; they’ve changed the message there too. People who want to be ministers go to seminaries, and there they learn what they think is the truth. But they don’t understand this: If you want to change the message of the Protestant faith, you must infiltrate the seminaries with people who will subtly change the message while merely professing to believe in Christianity.” – Dr. Stan Monteith, author of Brotherhood of Darkness

 

 

 

Preparedness Notes for Monday – November 19, 2018

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In an unprecedented move, Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat traveled to Jerusalem on November 19th, 1977, to seek a permanent peace settlement with Israel after decades of conflict. Despite heavy criticism from Egypt’s regional allies, Sadat continued, eventually reaching a peace agreement with Israel at the Camp David accords in Maryland. While Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace prize for their efforts, the peace accord was not admired by the Arabs, eventually leading to Sadat’s assassination. Despite this, the Egyptian-Israeli peace continues today.

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Don’t forget that classified ads without pictures are now free on SurvivalBlog! This is a great way to get a jump on your spring cleaning and make a little money on the side.

Ruger EC9s, by Pat Cascio

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve carried a second (or backup) handgun to my main handgun, and these days we have quite a selection of small, compact handguns to pick from. We’re looking at the new Ruger EC9s 9mm handgun today. It is one super, little, concealed carry piece.

Ruger- Affordable Handguns

I’ve stated this before, but I will say it again; for the most part, Ruger www.ruger.com is producing guns that are for us blue collar workers. Now that’s not to say that they aren’t producing some outstanding upper-end firearms, because they are. However, many of the handguns produced by Ruger are in the very “affordable” price range, if you ask me, and that’s a good thing. I’ve been a fan of Ruger for more years that I can remember, easily more than 40 years.

I don’t believe that you have to spend a lot of your hard-earned money to get a lot of handgun from Ruger, far from it. Many of Ruger’s semiauto pistols are rather “plain Jane” looking, if you ask me. Then again, who really cares, so long as the gun is accurate and goes “bang” when you pull the trigger? I know, I know; save the hate mail.

Continue reading“Ruger EC9s, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Leftovers Shepard’s Pie, by G.B.

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Traditionally, this recipe is made with mashed potatoes and ground beef, but we like our Sunday Pot Roast. We almost always make this meal with the leftovers from that meal and will often make a much larger pot roast than needed, just to have enough to make this dish the following day.

Ingredients:

  • Roast beef – cooked, trimmed of fat, and shredded.
  • Baked potatoes, sliced about 1/2” thick
  • Carrots, cubed about 1/2”
  • Peas and/or Green Beans. If using green beans, cut about 1/2” long.
  • Any other savory leftover from that Pot Roast that you want.
  • Sliced Swiss Cheese
  • Ground Pepper

Continue reading“Recipe of the Week: Leftovers Shepard’s Pie, by G.B.”

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:

Bank of England’s refusal to return Venezuela’s gold sets a worrying precedent

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Does China Have Enough Gold To Move Toward Hard Currency?

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Commerzbank: Palladium Creeps Closer to Gold Price

 

Economy & Finance:

Graham Summers: The Time to Prepare For the Next Financial Crisis is NOW

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Household debt hit a record high of $13.5 trillion last quarter. Here is a quote: “Total household debt is now $837 billion higher than its previous peak, which was in 2008 before the recession.”

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At Zero Hedge: Foreigners Dump US Treasuries As They Liquidate A Record Amount Of US Stocks

 

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Preparedness Notes for Sunday – November 18, 2018

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On this day in 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. This incredibly tragic occurrence introduce the term “…drink the Kool-Aid” into our parlance, since poison-laced punch was the vehicle behind most of the deaths. This serves as a stark warning and reminder to those in the prepping/survivalist community who would join with like-minded friends under the leadership of a charismatic leader. Always know who you are following!

Guest Post: Asymmetrical Warfare and 4GW: How Militia Groups are America’s Domestic Viet Cong- Part 2

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This article first appeared on the Ammo.com web site.  It is re-posted with permission. If you’re looking for great prices on good ammo, you need to check their site out!

Is 4GW Coming to the Developed World?

Is fourth-generational warfare coming to the developed world? Quite possibly, especially when you consider the spectre of failed states in the West.

Many Western states are not quite as stable as they are made out to be. Sweden and France in particular have extensive problems with No Go Zones. Other parts of Europe want to secede, such as Catalonia in Spain, and are being violently suppressed from doing so.

Elsewhere around the world, previously first-world countries like South Africa are deteriorating in the span of a generation due to government mismanagement. The United States, for its part, is in what some have described as a “Cold Civil War,” with many futurists agreeing that the potential for outward civil war is greater than you’d like to think.

How might such a 4GW scenario play out in the West? There are two potential scenarios, one for Europe and one for the United States. Each of these is worth considering.

Continue reading“Guest Post: Asymmetrical Warfare and 4GW: How Militia Groups are America’s Domestic Viet Cong- 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”. The U.S. – Canadian Border may now present a danger to the U.S. due to Canada’s political actions.

Solar Minimum

As we enter into what may be one of the lowest solar minimums of the space age, there is yet another problem that crops up. According to this article sent in by reader R.T., there is an atmospheric cooling that takes place during solar minimums. As the atmosphere loses heat it literally shrinks, decreasing it’s radius. This shrinkage decreases the aerodynamic drag on satellites in low-earth orbit which is good for their lifetimes. Sadly, it also delays the decay of space junk, resulting in more clutter in orbit. This, in turn, can be really bad for low-earth orbit satellites and things like the international space station.

The Nomadic Lifestyle

From reader DDD:

With the discussion of Nomadism yesterday your readers might enjoy this series on YouTube. It’s the one I like the best because her videos are done so professionally. Not boring! And if the cost of living where one lives is becoming burdensome, RVing may be a viable alternative because it can be done so cheap. She explains everything eventually. But the above will give you an immediate clue as to whether you want to stay around and listen. For many, limiting the financial burden in life has been the impetus toward the lifestyle. Many have stayed. I’m in the research stage of my journey.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” – John 1:45-47 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – November 17, 2018

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On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. They differed from the Constitution in that they emphasized the primacy of the states. This brings to mind the dangers of convening a Constitutional Convention, because the last time this happened the Articles of Confederation were thrown out and totally replaced by the Constitution. Do you honestly believe that our politicians today could craft a document that so thoroughly protects the rights of the individual as they did then?

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SurvivalBlog has heard the feedback from our readers about our new Classified Ads section. While the ads are doing well and things are getting sold regularly, we are changing things to encourge more participation. You can now list your items for free (without pictures). Meanwhile, the price of the full feature ads (with pictures) have dropped to only $4. There is also an option for additional pictures if you need more to illustrate the items you are selling.

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With Black Friday coming up, be sure to visit our regular advertisers (in the right column and also the text ads between articles.) If you can’t find what you need from them, then you can also check out our new Affiliates page. If you click on one of those links and place and order, then SurvivalBlog will get a small commission, which will help us keep the lights on.

Guest Post: Asymmetrical Warfare and 4GW: How Militia Groups are America’s Domestic Viet Cong- Part 1

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This article first appeared on the Ammo.com web site.  It is re-posted with permission. If you’re looking for great prices on good ammo, you need to check their site out!

“It is interesting to hear certain kinds of people insist that the citizen cannot fight the government. This would have been news to the men of Lexington and Concord, as well as the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The citizen most certainly can fight the government, and usually wins when he tries. Organized national armies are useful primarily for fighting against other organized national armies. When they try to fight against the people, they find themselves at a very serious disadvantage. If you will just look around at the state of the world today, you will see that the guerillero has the upper hand. Irregulars usually defeat regulars, providing they have the will. Such fighting is horrible to contemplate, but will continue to dominate brute strength.”

Col. Jeff Cooper

When one discusses the real reason for the Second Amendment – the right of citizens to defend themselves against a potentially tyrannical government – inevitably someone points out the stark difference in firepower between a guerilla uprising in the United States and the United States government itself.

This is not a trivial observation. The U.S. government spends more on the military than the governments of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, United Kingdom, and Japan combined. Plus, the potential of a tyrannical government is arguably upon us – with the federal government spying on its own citizens, militarizing local police departments with equipment and tactics from the War on Terror, and repeatedly searching Americans, which desensitizes them to this invasive process.

Continue reading“Guest Post: Asymmetrical Warfare and 4GW: How Militia Groups are America’s Domestic Viet Cong- Part 1”

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

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers:

Turkey slaying season is in full swing (pardon the pun), here at the Rawles Ranch. Some of the dozen Toms and Hens that we raised this year are for our own consumption, but most are being given as Thanksgiving gifts to neighbors and friends. (Before then, they will already be gutted, plucked, cleaned, and chilled.) There is nothing quite like butchering a turkey outdoors on a sunny but very cold day. Recently it has been so cold that I can’t wait to have a turkey stop flapping. Then I can empty its lower abdomen into the gut bucket and then have the opportunity to plunge my hands into the chest cavity, to warm them. Yes, it has been that cold.  As the fictional Han Solo famously said: “This is gonna smell bad, kid, but it’ll keep you warm…”

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Ewwwww, Jim!  Did you have to write that?

Yes, we had a second round of butchering this week.  It was more peaceful, because we were a bit more prepared physically (more organized with equipment and familiar with the plan of steps for  butchering and cleaning of the birds) and emotionally ready for it.  Remember: When you haven’t butchered something for almost a whole year, you have to give your brain and muscle memory a kickstart. We have now reestablished the routine which makes it easier.  We will be doing in a couple of more batches of birds during this coming week.  We believe in the division of labor for many jobs.  In this case, Jim, does the killing, main gutting, plucking, or skinning, and brings them to the house.  Here, at the kitchen sink, I finish gutting out the lungs, kidneys, extra fat, skin flaps and wash the bird thoroughly.  I then either bag it for whole chickens/turkeys or cut up the birds, for legs, breasts, and wings.  We usually freeze our meat. If we chop up the birds, the left over carcasses get turned into chicken broth.  I boil them down for two to three days with a little bit of apple cider vinegar.  I then strain the broth and freeze it.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

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”. There is a newcomer in the tactical tourniquet market that shows some real promise today.

Awesome Company to Work For

Reader R.S. sent in this article about a Wisconsin family owned business that sounds pretty great to work for. The company produces wiskey, beer and shot glasses with a decorative bullet embedded in them. During a company meeting last month, the company announced that they wanted to give their employees a gift that they could use for personal protection. They decided to give $500 towards the purchase of any firearm that the employee wanted. All 16 of the staff were allowed to pick out any firearm at any local gun shop. If you spent less than $500, you could use the remaining money for any firearm accessories. The staff is a mixture of veterans, experience gun owners and first-time gun buyers. Now that’s a great company!

Tactical Tourniquet

I typically carry a CAT tourniquet in my kit as they have always been one of the best. As an EMT though, I learned that you have to be careful when buying these as the airsoft industry has created cheap look-alikes that will typically break when used. When your bleeding out is not the time to find out that your tourniquet isn’t a real one. Anyways, one of my complaints of the CAT tourniquet is how difficult it can be to put on one-handed. Not being a combat veteran, I’ve never had to use one this way, but I’ve always practiced the skill. It is difficult to teach that to someone who won’t practice regularly though. Now, reader G.P. sent in this article profiling a new tourniquet that promises to be just as effective and much easier to use one-handed. I’m definitely going to get a couple of these to try out.

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