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:

This week we had some guests visiting at the Rawles Ranch, so we didn’t get too much prepping work done. That is one of the perils of living in a scenic part of the American Redoubt: Receiving a lot of house guests every summer!  But we do love entertaining guests and blessing them.

Avalanche Lily Reports:
This week, in addition to hosting our guests, (we took them canoeing on the river that flows through the Rawles Ranch, and hiking), I spent a lot of time pulling and weed whacking weeds in the Annex garden and in the orchard. I also harvested from our garden and froze: black raspberries, some red raspberries, brocolli, and the first of our zucchini squash from our main garden.  The fall bed in the greenhouse has germinated many of its seeds that I planted a week and a half ago.  It is looking very good.  I’m sorry that I haven’t been giving too many details on are gardening, lately.  We’ve just been very busy enjoying the summer and working on projects and hosting friends.  I’ve received a few personal e-mails that I intend to answer very soon, concerning gardening.  Maybe I’ll even write an article concerning those questions.

Many Blessings to All, – Jim Rawles and Avalanche Lily, Rawles

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”. Migrant riots in Spain start up as they rush the Spain/Morocco border.

Missing Safe Deposit Boxes

Think your valuables are “safe” in a bank’s safety deposit box? Bank of America is in trouble because they have been drilling the locks on boxes and disposing of the contents. The law states that the bank has to make an effort to contact the owner before such action is taken, but in many cases there is question as to how much effort the bank put into the action. Some people are reporting that they showed up at the bank to access their box and the contents were just gone. Others claim the bank canceled the rental, drilled the box, dumped the contents in a bag and mailed it to them. Many items were missing or damaged in the process. One of the people actually worked for the bank when her box was drilled. You might want to reconsider a safe at home. Thanks to KAA for the link.

Cash is King

Reader DSV sent in this article (part four in the series) on the things you can do with cash that you can’t with a debit/credit card. Interestingly, he compares it to Bernie Sanders complaint that there are over 23 different kinds of deodorant at a grocery store. We are a rich nation, not because of the 23 kinds of deodorant, but because we have the choice of 23 different kinds of deodorant. With cash, you have far more choices than you do with a debit/credit card. There are discounts available to you and much less tracking of what you purchase or where you go. I’ve experienced this myself when looking to buy a used car.

I was able to take the right deal at the right time because I had the option of cash. If I didn’t have the cash on hand, the deal would have been gone by the time I arranged financing. Cash is king!

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

Guest Post: War on Americans, by Gary Christenson

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Wars benefit the political and financial elite. Most wars are on-going, whether they include formal Congressional declaration or military actions. The following wars will continue.

  • Drugs.
  • Poverty.
  • Cash.
  • Reality based statistics.
  • Savers.
  • Students.
  • Purchasing power.
  • Pensions.
  • Real money.
  • Accountability and honest accounting.

Drugs.

This war has cost the U.S. government over $1 trillion in direct costs. Check with your teen-aged children for the easy availability of illegal drugs to confirm its failure. Powerful forces want this war to continue – profits from drug sales and money laundering are huge.

Poverty.

The U.S. has fought this war for decades and made little progress. Per the Heritage Foundation the cost since President Johnson declared war on poverty has been (inflation adjusted) $22 trillion.

Cash.

This is a recent “war.” Financial and political control increases when individuals have no alternative for their savings except commercial banks. Remove an individual’s ability to convert assets into cash and financial privacy is gone.

Continue reading“Guest Post: War on Americans, by Gary Christenson”

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 buying used, collectible guns. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

We’ll start of with this piece by Alasdair Macleod: Valuing Gold In A World Awash With Dollars

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Gold Production In South Africa Continues To Collapse – Plummets 85% From Peak In 1970 (Video)

Commodities:

Trade War And Commodities – Bearish Short Term, But Bullish Long Term

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Top US Shale Oil Fields Decline Rate Reaches New Record….Half Million Barrels Per Day

 

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Preparedness Notes for Thursday – July 26, 2018

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On July 26th, 1931, a swarm of grasshoppers descended on crops throughout the American heartland, devastating millions of acres. Already in the midst of a bad drought, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota suffered tremendously. The swarms was said to be so thick that it blocked out the sun and one could shovel the grasshoppers with a scoop. While America has not seen infestations on such a scale since then, North Africa and parts of the Middle East continue to experience them.

Defensive Handgun Training, by B.E.

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Before taking a defensive handgun training course recently, I posted on Facebook that we were taking our trailer to to an RV Park for the weekend. My wife would be with the kids and grandkids during the daytime while I attended an NRA Intermediate Training course. That all worked out great!

“Gun Fighting” Training; No One Wants To Be In a Gun Fight

For me, it was three days of focused “gun fighting” training. Don’t take that wrong. No one at that class, including the instructors and me for sure, ever want to be involved in a gun fight.

Thoughts When I Carry

I always carry several thoughts with me when I carry:

  1. There is an attorney’s name attached to every bullet that comes out the end of my barrel,
  2. I’d better be ready to be bankrupted and spend the rest of my life in prison for what I do, and
  3. I may have to live with a killing the rest of my life. But it if comes to me and can’t be avoided, I need to be prepared, prepared to either die or live, in some cases. When a gun is needed, nothing else will do.

Continue reading“Defensive Handgun Training, by B.E.”

Letter: Question on the Size of Your Prepping Group

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Hugh,

I recently came across a book called the 150-Strong: A Pathway To A Different Future written by a “Subsistence Engineer”– Rob O’Grady. The book author’s thesis is that there is a threshold in which human beings can maintain good relationships.

I believe that this holds some importance in a post-collapse civilization. For example, in my military unit of less than 150 members, I am able to personally connect with every member. Rank becomes somewhat irrelevant. At times we are friends unified towards a common cause. Most of the times we speak to each other on a first name basis. Things get done in a military manner. We talk of our families and our lives. There is something deeper to our bonds, regardless of rank.

In larger units, I have to rely on rank in entirety on building relationships for the majority. In past times I have become so out of touch with some of the officers that sometimes I only see them at special events. Despite the fact that many of these officers share much commonality with myself, in these units I feel you sometimes seem to need to pick and choose your friends, because of the sheer number of people. The situation becomes predatory for some, all about increasing your rank to get your voice heard.

Continue reading“Letter: Question on the Size of Your Prepping Group”

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”.

Heat and Drought

Noting that today is the anniversary of one of the worst grasshopper invasions in the U.S. ever, reader H.L. sent in this article showing that the heat and drought conditions in the U.S. are similar to those that occurred in the 1930s. Weather patterns like this haven’t been this widespread since the dust bowl of the 1930s. Almost the entire Southwest is in drought conditions with many farmers reporting that irrigation water has already been shut off. Agriculture production has been devastated and major lakes, rivers and streams are rapidly becoming dry. Even the wild horse populations are suffering because of the drought.

Power Grid

The Dragonfly group of Russian hackers began attacking the powergrids of American and European power companies in 2011 according to Symantec, but they went dark in 2014. The group had a three pronged approach: Phishing emails to senior employees, malware embedded in websites that employees visited, and fusing malicious code with common JavaScript software. While the hope had been that they disbanded, they simply retooled, but this time attacking primarily American targets. Now they are focused on reaching the operational side of the grid. malicious code is even embedded in employee resumes. The threat to the power grid is a real as ever according to Symantec. Thanks to P.M. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It is a fact that throughout human history humans have attempted to enslave one another.  So long as one can compel someone to work in some fashion that does not reflect economic pressures you can profit from this, and some percentage of people will.  That person or organization will succeed on a profit basis where others who do not adopt that policy will fail.  This inevitably encourages such behavior until only those who engage in it remain in business!

As such the only constraint on such behavior is laws that are actually enforced so that the cost of such behavior is higher than the benefit.” – Karl Denninger

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – July 25, 2018

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On this day in 1897, Jack London sailed for the Klondike. While in the Klondike, London began submitting stories to magazines. In 1900, his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf, was published. Three years later, his story The Call of the Wild made him famous around the country. London continued to write stories of adventure amid the harsh natural elements. During his 17-year career, he wrote 50 fiction and nonfiction books. He settled in northern California about 1911, having already written most of his best work. London, a heavy drinker, died in 1916.

Guest Article: Central Banks Are Using The Trade War To Hide Their Direct Influence On Stocks, by Brandon Smith

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There has been a lot of confusion lately in the mainstream economic media as well as in independent media circles as to the behavior of stock markets in the wake of the recently initiated global trade war. In particular, stocks suffered one of the longest runs of negative days in their history in June, only to then spike just after Donald Trump “officially” began trade war tariffs in July. The expectation by many was that the headlines would cause an immediate and continued downturn in equities markets, but this was not the case. Many analysts have been left bewildered.

This is an issue I have touched on multiple times since the beginning of this year, and it is something I predicted long before Trump’s election in 2016. But it is obvious that the schizophrenic nature of stocks needs to be addressed in a very concise, no-holds-barred fashion, because there are still far too many people who are looking at all the wrong causes and correlations.

First, let’s be clear: stock markets are NOT tracking the news headlines. The past month should have proved this if there was any previous doubt.

It is hard for investors and some analysts to grasp this fact, primarily because for at least the past few years it appeared as though stock markets were utterly dictated by headlines out of Bloomberg, Reuters and other mainstream media outlets. Once investors and analysts became used to this narrative it was difficult for them to adapt when the dynamic changed. They are still living in the past based on an assumption that was never quite correct to begin with.

Continue reading“Guest Article: Central Banks Are Using The Trade War To Hide Their Direct Influence On Stocks, by Brandon Smith”

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 the Indian government’s war on gold.

 

Precious Metals (War On Gold):

First up, at The Economic Times of India: Gold can be best viewed as alternate currency, not investment

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Also from The Economic Times of India: Gold imports dip 31.25% during April-May 2018-19: Government. JWR’s Comments: That figure is for reported gold imports. The black market import and export of gold in India is big, and getting bigger. This is an escalation of the Indian government’s long-running war on gold. (They foolishly look at private gold accumulation of gold as a “drain” on the economy.) Whenever a government attempts to control or tax free markets, people understandably will seek alternative channels of trade.

 

Commodities:

Is The Oil World In Panic Mode?

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WSJ: 2.5 Billion Pounds of Meat Piles Up in U.S. as Production Grows, Exports Slow. JWR’s Comment: Wait for sale prices and then freeze some, but mostly can it, cure it, make jerky or make biltong!
Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”