Being a Good Neighbor in the American Redoubt, by 11Z

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Nobody can do it all by themselves so being a good neighbor is important. It keeps the peace and strengthens the community, both of which are no doubt important to readers of this blog. In the interest of bringing in some helpful solicitation from other readers, here are some thoughts about being a good neighbor. It’s presented for community consideration. Please bear in mind that I’m not a community organizer with an Ivy League degree and political aspirations so forgive any lack of such credibility. I grow up in the National Redoubt and retired here after years of living all over while chasing my dream of being a grunt.

A few years ago while overseas, a Special Forces Medic once told me that “…the art of conversation is lost, now bite on this because this is going to really hurt.” The last bit isn’t the important part. The gem about conversation is important. So, let’s start with that.

Don’t Overshare

It’s in poor taste to overshare those personal religious, political, or activist views with someone we’ve just met. After all, we are neighbors now, and there’s no rush to risk bias or offense in the process of making an initial impression. Since we have only one chance to make a first impression, make it the best one we can. Given time, we may get that chance to pray together in an ideal community that we desire, so let’s not rush anything.

Don’t Be Nosy

Good manners dictate that we don’t be nosy. Let’s face it; people are naturally curious about the people around them. There are boundaries that we must respect. Privacy is a precious commodity in any community. In my area there are quite a few “No Trespassing” signs, because there is so much public land that you must post your private property to keep it segregated. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect, as people don’t pay attention to the signs any more. On the other hand I’ve seen copies of threats to public officials that will probably do more harm than good posted at the end of a driveway. It’s been said that no man is an island.

Continue reading“Being a Good Neighbor in the American Redoubt, by 11Z”

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 future of the Euro as a currency unit.

Precious Metals:

Peter Hug: Gold Reacts To A Perceived Hawkish Fed

o  o  o

Gold Has “Room To Move” – Osisko CEO

 

Stocks:

Earlier this week, we saw: Dow falls 299 points after Powell signals Fed will keep raising rates to contain inflation. Yes, The Federal Reserve banking cartel is now worried about inflation and higher wages, so they will keep raising interest rates. This will slow the economy, put a damper on the current irrational exuberance of the stock market.

In essence, when The Federal raises the Federal Funds Rate, banks raise their prime rates, to match. That in turn raises business loan rates, mortgage rates, and car loan rates. So if The Fed keeps this up, look for a slowing home building industry, and a slowing car-making industry. The secondary effects are higher bond yields, higher credit card rates, less consumer spending, lower business profits, and less borrowing, in general. Rates have been held artificially low for so long that any substantial rise in interest rates will have magnified effects, compared to what had previously been seen in the normal business cycle. I see a stock slump and recession on the horizon, folks!

Forex (Future of the Euro):

The Euro has been around as an electronic currency unit since 1999 and subsequently as a printed/minted currency since 2002. It has been fairly stable on the foreign exchange (Forex) market for most of its life. But cracks began to appear when chronic over-spending led to a sovereign debt crisis in Europe’s Southern Tier countries. Then, citing oppressive trade regulation from the European Union (EU), British voters wisely opted to leave the EU. (Commonly called Brexit). Most recently, a few other EU countries have been making similar “exit” noises.  (Most notably some in Poland there is now hope for “Polexit”.) In all, the future of both the EU as an organization and the Euro as a currency unit are far from certain.

Even with the Trump Administration’s quite clear Weak Dollar policy, I have avoided buying Euros (EUR). I instead hedge by buying Swiss Francs (CHF). That currency is the better bet, in my humble opinion. I’ve done my best to buy CHF during dips in the market. For any SurvivalBlog readers who already have their survival preps squared away, and who already have some barter silver coins, I recommend that you do likewise.

I’ll post some details on how and where to buy Swiss Francs in this column on March 9th.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” – Thomas Jefferson

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – March 01, 2018

Today is the birthday of the late singer, songwriter, and cowboy poet Allen Wayne Damron. Damron was quite the Texan, through and through. (Born 1939, died August 13, 2005, in Terlingua, Texas.)

 

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  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 gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. 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).

Round 75 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.

Prepper’s Pain Protocol- Part 2, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

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If you’re like most preppers, you don’t have a prescription bottle of Morphine on hand to deal with pain. And you don’t think dosing your friend or child with a big swig of whiskey (or two) is all that good of an idea.

Over-the-Counter “Pain Pack™”

Well, one option is the non-narcotic, over-the-counter “Pain Pack™” concept described at and promoted by Next Generation Combat Medic as “just as good for moderate pain as oxycodone, hydrocodone and even codeine.”

Please read all their original information. What follows is but a small tweak of the “Pain Pack™” plan that I’d like to call the “Prepper’s Pain Protocol.” I’m not a “medical” anything, much less an “expert” in anything. But I know a good thing when I see it.

Editor’s Introductory Proviso: I’m not a doctor, and I don’t give medical advice. Mentions of any medicine or medical treatment is for informational purposes only and are in no way endorsed or accredited by SurvivalBlog.com, or its principals. SurvivalBlog.com is not responsible for the use or misuse of any product advertised or mentioned on the SurvivalBlog site. – JWR

I’ve already disclosed Strategy #1 and #2 of the “Pain Pack™” in Part 1 of this article series. It includes the use of over-the-counter medications as well as prescription pain meds and considers those meds that have been available in Canada but not in the U.S.

Continue reading“Prepper’s Pain Protocol- Part 2, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

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. Today we focus on the cowards of Broward County.  But first, this troubling news:

ATF Insider Reveals Draft Wording of Planned Rule on “Rate Enhancing” Parts for Semi-Autos

A “must see” video from the Military Arms Channel was released on Wednesday February 28th, 2018. It is an excerpt of a longer interview with Rick Vasquez. He is a USMC veteran and former Interim Branch Chief of the BATFE’s Firearms Technology Branch. In this video, Vasquez reveals that he has received insider information from ATF consultants on the draft wording of the planned rule banning rate enhancing parts for semi-auto firearms.

According to Vasquez, this ruling will have the force of law, without an act of Congress. Because of what he called “extremely broad” wording, this ruling would ban any part that would cause a faster than normal trigger reset or faster cadence of fire of any semi-auto, and presumably re-classify those parts as contraband machinegun conversion parts. In this interview Vasquez pointedly asks: “Now who is going to decide what the [normal] rate of fire is? Because if I build a device that makes my firearm reset and shoot faster, what is going to become the ‘standard’?”  This in turn begs the question: Would magazines over a certain capacity be construed as “rate enhancing”?

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – February 28, 2018

February 28th is the birthday of famed Swiss investor and economic pundit Marc Faber (born 1946).

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  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 gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. 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).

Round 75 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.

Prepper’s Pain Protocol- Part 1, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

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We are talking about a pain protocol for preppers. However, the editor’s have an important message before we get started.

Editor’s Introductory Proviso: I’m not a doctor, and I don’t give medical advice. Mentions of any medicine or medical treatment is for informational purposes only and are in no way endorsed or accredited by SurvivalBlog.com, or its principals. SurvivalBlog.com is not responsible for the use or misuse of any product advertised or mentioned on the SurvivalBlog site. – JWR

What Do We Do?

What do we do when someone has been shot, survived a grizzly mauling, has been significantly burned, or has been crushed by a falling tree or rock or vehicle accident? We do our best to get them to advanced medical care, calling for help on our cellphone or using our satellite messaging service to send rescuers our exact location. But what if none of that is available, or what if there’s going to be a long delay getting the victim to help? Is there something more we can do?

“Pain Pack” With or Without Prescription

If you’re like most preppers, you don’t have a prescription bottle of Morphine on hand. And you don’t think dosing your friend or child with a big swig of whiskey (or two) is all that good of an idea. Well, one option is the non-narcotic, over-the-counter “Pain Pack™” concept and promoted by Next Generation Combat Medic as “just as good for moderate pain as oxycodone, hydrocodone and even codeine.”

Continue reading“Prepper’s Pain Protocol- Part 1, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 “cryptos”–the volatile and seemingly unpredictable cryptocurrency market.

Precious Metals:

First off, there is this bit of information at Seeking Alpha, by Nick Barisheff: Macro Trend Changes For Gold In 2018 And Beyond

o  o  o

Next, in metals recovery news: German scientists to build machine that speeds up urban mining processes

 

Stocks:

Not all “stocks” are traditional shares in companies. Some Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have allocations in hard assets and commodities. Here are two sets of examples:

Hard Assets Producers ETF List

and,

Commodities ETF Overview

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

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. This week the focus is on restoring hand saws. (See the Vlogs and Instructional Videos section.)

Books:

A new book by Dr. Mark Hyman was just released on February 27th: Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?  Since Hyman has long been an advocate of a nutritious low-sugar diet, I expect his new book to be full of good advice.

o o o

The Survival Medicine Handbook: The essential guide for when medical help is NOT on the way

Movies:

I found a documentary on economics that is definitely worth watching.  It is: Yalta’s Last Secret: Betrayal, Bravery, & Resistance at the End of WWII. (Available on DVD, also available free streaming to those with an Amazon Prime membership.)

o o o

Star Trek.  (This is the first prequel movie, starring Chris Pine.  There are lots of inside jokes included for die-hard Trekkies.)

 

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – February 27, 2018

On February 27th, 1897, an agreement between Great Britain and the United States allowed the U.S. to arbitrate a border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana, defusing a dangerous U.S.-British diplomatic crisis and formally recognizing the U.S. authority of the Western Hemisphere per President Grover Cleveland’s interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. In the end, the border was decided in 1899, largely upholding Britain’s claims.

o o o

Ready Made Resources is giving away a Multicam PT bump Helmet with any night vision purchase right now. The Helmet is valued at $150. If you are training and don’t want to wear a full combat helmet while you use the NV gear, this is a much better option that the typical web headgear used.

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  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 gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. 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).

Round 75 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.

OPSEC Tax Preparation, by X. Liberal CPA

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Many people ask me during tax season why there’s this entry or that box on their tax form. My answer? The IRS has more information on every citizen, even drilling down into data history on their family trees, than any other arm of the Federal, State, and Local governments combined.

Why? Because you volunteer the information willingly!

Massive Tax Code

The tax code is estimated at 59,000 pages (forms + instructional booklets + adhoc tables), about 4,000,000 lines, and approximately 350,000,000 characters. Why did this massive bureaucratic enigma code not go away with the passing of the recent Bill into U.S. tax law? Well, let’s see.

Scenario of John and Jane No’Opsec

John and Jane No’Opsec (must be an Irish name with that comma) don’t file paper returns and allow the IRS to record their IP address of their personal computer, along with potentially scraping all their files from their desktop and folder tree by flagging the NSA. In addition, they keep all their previous tax returns right on their desktop, encrypted of course. However, the commercial tax program they purchase every year has hooks right into those files for ease of entry by the NSA.

Continue reading“OPSEC Tax Preparation, by X. Liberal CPA”

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 some prospects for buying a business in the American Redoubt.

Region-Wide (Buying a Business):

I recently had consulting client ask me for suggestions on “how to make the break” and move to American Redoubt.  He mentioned that he found there were very few Redoubt region job listings in his current technical occupation. Next, he asked about starting a business, or buying an existing business.  I recommended buying a business with an existing clientele. Why?  As baby boomers reach retirement age, there will be a lot of thriving businesses that come up for sale. They often already have and established name and good will built up in a community. Nothing succeeds like success.

You may ask: “Well, what sort of businesses are up for sale, at reasonable prices?” Up until that call with my client, I had only heard of a couple of businesses, by word of mouth. So I made some inquiries with friends, and I did some web searches. I was surprised at what I found so quickly. Here are some examples:

Don’t be alarmed if you are asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before even being told the name or location of a business. That has become standard practice.

Beware of scam businesses listed for sale that are actually just multi-level marketing schemes. Also be leery of any franchises with a high cost of entry or that would have nearby competition.  Remember: Any successful business must find a need, and fill it.  Do NOT start a new business that competes with an existing local business. You are much better off buying a thriving business with a good cash flow.

Do your homework. Different sorts of businesses sell for vastly different sums.  But the general rule is that you’ll have to pay the equivalent of at least 2 or 3 years worth of annual earnings. And it it is generally better to buy a business from someone who is retiring. That way, they are more likely to throw in more to sweeten the deal, and they will be less likely to be in competition with you.  (But getting the seller to sign a five-year non-compete agreement is always a good idea.)

It is often best to find a legitimate business brokerage firm, such as Lewis Business Alliance in Eastern Washington,  Arthur Berry in Idaho, or Yellowstone Business Acquisitions in Wyoming and Montana.

Please let me know if you hear of small businesses that come up for sale in the Redoubt region, and I will likely mention them in this column. Thanks, – JWR

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