Triggers, Tipping Points, and Black Swans, by Coast Ranger

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Letting Others Know The Status Quo Won’t Hold

The purpose of this contribution is to indicate how one might approach letting others know that the status quo will not hold. It is based upon my own efforts.

There is a tendency for people to focus upon “big picture” or mass hysteria items, like North Korea and now Nazis, that might impact the future to the exclusion of the many other things that are less transparent or obvious but still extremely important. The following list of triggers, tipping points, and black swans is based upon a handout or a lecture I gave at my local Grange. I am my Grange’s lecturer, which is one of the elected offices.

With the exception of a few items below, all of the items are concerns raised by other writers and are readily available on the Internet. However, it is important to use the right search engine, given the recent changes in algorithms to prevent “fake news”. The Grangers have also been told, “Don’t trust MSM.”

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Letter Re: Food Storage Question

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HJL,

With limited storage space, cost not a concern: Is it better to store the typical dry beans, rice, etc.? Or would you obtain a higher calorie count with something like the Mountain House cans?

HJL’s Comment:

It really depends upon your budget and what means you have to store food. Dry beans and rice (and similar foods) are easy to store and can provide a basic sustenance, dense calorie count diet with very little supplementing from other food sources. However, it is a very bland existence. If just surviving is the name of the game, it will work, but I like more variety. If you are willing to add herbs and spices to your survival pantry, you will be much happier. More expensive items like freeze dried foods work very well when you need to minimize the cooking aromas (so as not to draw attention to yourself) or are on the move. They take very little time and effort to prepare and are lightweight.

I do not personally use commercially prepared freeze dried foods because we own a Harvest Right freeze drier and we prepare our own foods using that, but it is a significant expense. You also need to be cautious about commercially prepared foods because many companies use smaller portions than what you really need to eat. Rather than use their meal count, use a calorie count method to determine how much you need to store. There are several SurvivalBlog advertisers that sell freeze dried foods of high quality.

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”. Tensions with North Korea continue to escalate with the U.S. sending aircraft up the coast and North Korea continuing their threats of nuclear destruction.

Surviving an Apocalypse

Supposedly, in 1929, when Joseph P. Kennedy received stock tips from his shoeshine boy, he knew that it was time to get out of the market. If you understand the mechanics of a bubble, then you can understand the truth of that statement. I wonder if that applies to the main stream media as well? SurvivalBlog reader G.G. sent in this link to the New York Times on How to Survive the Apocalypse. Granted that it is a bit tongue-in-cheek and it’s pretty obvious the author is poking fun at us. However, it seems to me that it comes pretty close to the shoeshine boy metaphor.

North Korea

The U.S. has flown B1 Bombers (from Guam) and several F15 Eagles (from Okinawa) as an escort to them, farther north of the DMZ than they have any other time this century. Even though the B1 is no longer part of the nuclear force and the planes stayed over international waters, it was intended to send a message to Jin San Pang Kim Jong-un. North Korea’s response was to threaten to build a missile to attack any part of the U.S. Thanks to reader P.S. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.” – Romans 1:18-19 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – September 23, 2017

September 23, 1800 is the birthday of William McGuffey, a college president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of textbooks. It is estimated that at least 122 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary.

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My Recent Experience Bugging Into A Disaster- Part 2, by J.W.

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Travel Prepared- Non-Lethal and Sidearms

I always travel prepared for whatever may happen. I am older, and while still in good shape, my fight rounds are probably down to less than a minute before I get worn out (comes with age), so I travel prepared to personally defend myself and those with me in any situation. As always, situational awareness is first and foremost. On short trips, I prepare by carrying both non-lethal protection and sidearms. On long trips (my long trips average 2500 miles round trip), I carry additional long guns that are purpose minded and a reasonable amount of ammo.

I can not stress enough, should the world decide to go south and you find yourself on the interstate a thousand miles from where you would prefer to be, you simply must err on the side of that one in a million chance that you need to be better defended than the next guy or guys at least for the short term to get home. It can and will happen that fast, especially in the more populated areas like where I was traveling.

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The Editors’ Preps for the Week

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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 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,

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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”. Puerto Rico has been hammered again by yet another Hurricane. Now they have a dam on the brink of collapse.

Mitchell Flint

Mitchell Flint, the American naval pilot who helped form the Israeli Air Force in 1948 and served in Israel’s first fighter squadron has died this week. Flint was one of the founding members of “Machal”, a group of non-Israelis who faught in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Flint an other members had flown in German planes that were captured during World War II and covered the Nazi insignia with the Star of David. We will miss him. Thanks to G.L. for the link.

Community

What if some like-minded people on ZeroHedge decided to create a new community?

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:7-8 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – September 22, 2017

September 22nd in the 70th birthday of survivalist writer Joel Skousen. (Born, 1946.) Skousen authored the excellent books Strategic Relocation and The High Security Shelter – How to Implement a Multi-Purpose Safe Room in the Home

September 22nd in the birthday of the late Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly, who founded and commanded the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. He was born 1928, and he died August 9, 2010. His history of the Selous Scouts, titled Pamwe Chete, is fascinating to read, but it is a very hard-to-find book.

I should also mention that September 22nd, 1290 is the birthday of one of my favorite fictional characters, Bilbo Baggins (in Shire reckoning).

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My Recent Experience Bugging Into A Disaster- Part 1, by J.W.

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I had a recent experience of traveling into a situation where everyone else was leaving due to Hurricane Irma. I learned some valuable lessons during the process.

Homes in Both Florida and Midwest

My home is in Florida, and my bug out location is in the Midwest. I spend most of my time during the summer at the BOL due to the climate, the gardening opportunities, and most of all the simple peace and quiet living. Two weeks ago, Hurricane Irma was seven days out in the Atlantic and on a track that may bring it closer to Florida. When this happens, it’s time to load up needed items and travel home to secure everything and also to be there for the aftermath if there is anything to clean up and repair.

My Florida home is a log home. It’s well built to withstand the winds of a hurricane, but it’s not so great if the power is out for weeks in that humidity. Mold can be an issue for any home in Florida, and wood homes seem to draw moisture first. Part of my everyday living and being prepared is the notion that having two places means twice the work, twice the cost, and lots of travel in between. All of this is possible on a small budget if you think things through.

My Travel Vehicle and Contents

My travel vehicle is a 10 year old one ton GMC dually. It has an enclosed topper with a locking (as in padlock) back top glass. The side and rear window are blacked out to keep anyone from viewing all the contents. The truck has been well maintained, though it has over 200K miles, and looks very common on the highway or in a parking lot. The fuel mileage is reasonable no matter the load, and it will pull any trailer. It also can remain loaded down with tools, supplies, and spares at all times so you are reasonably prepared for situations when traveling across country, like I do often, or just out for the day.

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Freeze Dried Friday

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Welcome to Freeze Dried Friday on SurvivalBlog! We’ve been making so many things in the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer that we want to share some of them with you. If you have something wonderful you’ve prepared in your freeze dryer that you would like to share with SurvivalBlog readers, take a photo of it and send it in along with a description. We might just feature you here!

More Tomatoes!

This week was a continuation of the tomato harvest. The freeze driers are working 24/7 now and we are still canning two to three times as much as what we can freeze dry. In addition to the tomatoes, the garden has a plethora of Jalapeño peppers, onions, cilantro and garlic. Anyone that has spent time in the southwest knows what that means! Salsa! As soon as this current batch of tomato sauce finishes, we will be canning Mrs Latimer’s fresh salsa. Salsa works really well because you can reconstitute it in as small a quantity as you desire. If you’re into binging on chips ans salsa, you can reconstitute a full quart of it, or if you just want a quick snack, all you need is a couple of tablespoons in a ramekin.

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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 Monetization. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals

First, over at Seeking Alpha: Revisiting The Silver/Gold Ratio

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The Q2  Platinum Quarterly is now available.

Stocks:

Moving on to stocks, there is this at Bloomberg: Stress at the UN Is Not Shared on Wall Street

Commodities:

Over at FX Empire, here is their most recent predictive piece: Natural Gas Price Analysis

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EIA Report Kills Bullish Sentiment

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Preparedness Notes for Thursday – September 21, 2017

On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold met with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word “traitor”. It’s too bad the current crop of politicians are not held accountable for their treasonous acts.