Preparedness Notes for Friday – May 19, 2017

Writing Contest

We are coming up on the end of Round 70 of the SurvivalBlog Non-Fiction Writing Contest. There is still time to get your article finished and submitted for these fantastic prizes! With over $11,000 worth of prizes, it could be well worth your time. If you’ve been putting it off, get it finished and sent it!

Blog Tips

Several readers wrote in about having to jump back and forth between the main page of SurvivalBlog and each individual article. An easy way to avoid this is to enter the first article and then use the article navigation links at both the top and the bottom of each article to move to the next article. Thanks to S.J. for that tip.

Another tip for those who print articles: If you want to print the article without the comments, bring up the print page through the printing icon, then look for the “open” and “close” links on the right hand side of the page between the article and the comments section. They open and close the comments. When you close the comments, the links included in them also dissapear from the printed article making it clean. However, on some articles, the discussion is very good so you may want to include those comments.

We Must Rightly Discern 21st Century America

24

It is now fully apparent that American society is slowly sliding into oblivion. The signs are all around us, in a quiet chorus muttering the same word: “Decay, decay, decay.” We also live in a nation that is increasingly polarized. As evidence of the latter, simply study a map of the polling results from the November 2016 election.

“And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” – Matthew 16:3 (KJV)

The Bygone Era

If you read nearly any 19th Century or early 20th Century book, you will get a glimpse of a bygone society that in the middle and upper classes was substantially more literate, courteous, reserved, and considerate than we see in the early 21st Century. It was a culture that had a rich vocabulary. They were often schooled in music and well-versed in scripture. Families that aspired to send their children to a college or university insured that they studied Latin and usually at least one modern foreign language—usually German or French. (Or perhaps, it was Spanish for those living in the southwest.)

It was standard practice in many schools to memorize not just Bible verses but also poems of moderate length. Parenthetically, I should mention that my paternal grandfather could rattle off the full text of Longfellow’s Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie in dactylic hexameter, with nary a pause, 60 years after he left high school. I’m pleased to report that my homeschooled children seem to have better recall and a wider base of general knowledge than I gained in public schools. So, perhaps there is hope for us!

The Public Fool System

Take a few minutes to read Harvard University’s entrance examination, for the year 1869. That would be considered almost graduate school level work today.  And, again, that was considered entrance level, in 1869. How far we have fallen, America!

Continue reading“We Must Rightly Discern 21st Century America”

Letter: JIT Amazon/Walmart Food Delivery

13

Hugh,

Just a thought, many in media are not mentioning the trend of Amazon food delivery. Just in time ( JIT ) to retail is risky. The next evolution opens the door for tyranny and chaos. Centralized distribution centers are easier to control. If retail stores are collapsing, we have to consider that grocery stores are retail stores too. It appears that food vendors are moving to JIT direct delivery. Folks need to expect civil disorder in suburban neighborhoods to happen way earlier into a serious event. – GP

Economics & Investing for Preppers

1

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 quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):

Precious Metals:

Worries about continuity of the Trump Administration threw a scare into to the gold market this week. After a jumpy day of trading on Wednesday, the gold futures and spot markets saw some profit taking on Thursday, with gold closing below $1,247. Ditto for silver, with a 2.02% drop to $16.56.

o o o

Sarah Benali over at KITCO reports: Is Silver a ‘Strong Buy’ Right Now? This Analyst Thinks So…

Continue reading“Economics & Investing for Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“To the grumbler who complains about the unfairness of the market system only one piece of advice can be given: If you want to acquire wealth, then try to satisfy the public by offer- ing them something that is cheaper or which they like better. Try to supersede Pinkapinka by mixing another beverage. Equality under the law gives you the power to challenge every million- aire. It is—in a market not sabotaged by government-imposed restrictions—exclusively your fault if you do not outstrip the chocolate king, the movie star and the boxing champion.” – Luwig von Mises, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality 

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – May 18, 2017

Want to live in Idaho? Your knowledge of tax is your ticket! Today’s Preparedness Notes has a job opportunity for someone to move to the Redoubt or for someone in the Redoubt to obtain gainful employment. If you live in Illinois, you need to be watching the Gun Dealer Licensing Bill and talking to your representatives about it.

Job opportunity:

Boutique public accounting firm with high-end clientele is seeking CPA with 3+ years of heavy tax experience. While our primary need is tax, candidates with interest in obtaining ABV credential may fit well with our thriving valuation and litigation support practice.

Outstanding opportunity for professional seeking to practice their craft while living an active, outdoor, Idaho lifestyle.

Excellent pay and benefits. Responsible CCW encouraged. Top-notch “Redoubt” properties nearby.

Email your resumes.

Continue reading“Preparedness Notes for Thursday – May 18, 2017”

Planning For Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI To Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 2, by A.R.223

4

You must plan nutrition concerns  before TEOTWAWKI. We’ve begun to look at myths, including that TEOTWAWKI will be a good time to diet. We left off right in the middle of our examination of necessary vitamins and minerals, specifically looking at the B vitamins. Let’s continue.

Vitamin B (continued)

A wide variety of foods contain Biotin (vitamin B7); however, beef liver, soybeans, butter, split peas, lentils, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and brewer’s yeast are especially rich sources of this nutrient. Symptoms of deficiency include brittle fingernails, hair loss, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis in the form of a scaly red rash around the eyes, nose, mouth, and genital areas. Pregnant women are at high risk of biotin deficiency. So if you have someone of child-bearing age in your group, it might be wise to store a Biotin supplement. Fortunately, deficiency is rare. Intestinal bacteria actually synthesize biotin. Unfortunately, we do not yet understand whether biotin is synthesized in adequate amounts.Continue reading“Planning For Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI To Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 2, by A.R.223”

Letter: Canned Gasoline Question

40

Hi, I ran across this canned gasoline at my local Walmart that was available in both 2-stroke and 4-stroke. (I’ve included a pic, which also shows the price.) My question would be about the viability of using the 4-stroke as an emergency fuel for my car, keeping one in the trunk “for just in case”and a few in the shed for long-term storage. Although quite expensive, the octane is correct. I am amazed at the claimed shelf life of five years in the can and two years in the tank. I was under the impression the even with Sta-bil added, gasoline would only be usable for maybe two years. Are you familiar with this fuel? If so, do you know how it’s able to last so long and if it safe for a car?

Continue reading“Letter: Canned Gasoline Question”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

7

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”.

Second Amendment

Wondering what could possibly be wrong with universal background checks? Reader DSV sent in this article from The Truth About Guns telling us exactly what is wrong with it. The freedom to own must include the freedom to purchase. What other constitutionally guaranteed right has such controls on it?

o o o

Also from The Truth About Guns comes this article on a sub-$200 suppressor, the Black Aces Po’ Boy sent in by W.W. With the National Hearing Protection Act in the works, this is exciting news. Even with the NFA regulations, the can costs less than the tax stamp to own it!

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

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“The deal is always advantageous both for the buyer and the seller. Even a man who sells at a loss is still better off than he would be if he could not sell at all, or only at a still lower price. He loses on account of his lack of foresight; the sale limits his loss even if the price received is low. If both the buyer and the seller were not to consider the transaction as the most advantageous action they could choose under the prevailing conditions, they would not enter into the deal.” – Ludwig von Mises, Human Action

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – May 17, 2017

New Blog Format

Today’s preparedness notes focuses on change. The change readers have seen in the blog makes finding information easier as well as introduces the blog to new readers.  SurvivalBlog has changed its format, but the same high quality, original content is still there.

We have a new schedule for Odds ‘n Sods as well as Economics and Investing.

  • Odds ‘n Sods will now be published on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday under the name The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods.
  • Economics and Investing will now be published on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday under the name Economics & Investing for Preppers.

Both columns will still have as much information as they used to but with an expanded commentary in them. This will allow us to focus more in-depth on subjects as they come up. We now publish the columns every other day, but you will see more than double the information in each column.

In addition, the main page will only contain a 150-word excerpt of each article. If the entire article fits within that 150 words, you need go no further, unless you want to participate in the comments. If the article is longer than 150 words (as most feature and guest articles are as well as Letters to the Editors), then a “Continue reading →” link will show up. You can click on that link, the article title, or the graphic attached to the excerpt to jump to the full article with comments. If you just want to participate in the comments, click on the “comments” link just below the article title.

Continue reading“Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – May 17, 2017”

Planning for Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI to Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 1, by A.R.223

5

Knowledge And Diet Changes Required Now

Planning for better nutrition during TEOTWAWKI isn’t merely about eating delicious foods we’re already accustomed to so that the transition from our present state to the coming chaos is as seamless as possible. It is really more about saving our loved ones. However, in order to save our loved ones, the aforementioned transition needs to be seamless. To make it seamless necessitates increased knowledge of nutrition as well as changes in our diet now.

Our future will include the confrontation of diseases and conditions that most of us cannot comprehend. We can’t grasp them because we haven’t lived in third world countries. Most who read this blog have always had an abundance (or overabundance!) of food. Most have never seen the effects of a lack of fat, protein, or even vitamins in diet. And even if we have read about malnutrition, we still are not fully prepared to prevent it in our families.Continue reading“Planning for Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI to Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 1, by A.R.223”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

This column appears every Wednesday. Here are JWR‘s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers:

Books:

Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, 3rd Edition

Storey’s Guide to Growing Organic Vegetables & Herbs for Market: Site & Crop Selection, Planting, Care &  Harvesting


Movies:

The Pacific

Dazzle: The Hidden Story of Camouflage (2015).  A very informative documentary.

Note: This documentary is also now on Amazon Prime.Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

Economics & Investing for Preppers

This column is posted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 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 quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):

Precious Metals:

First of all, some news from The SRSrocco Report: Chile Silver Production Down Stunning 26%

o  o  o

Here is latest coin hunt video from Silver Searcher: Huge Coinstar Haul. Crazy Amount of Coins! (Note that these are free (forgotten) coins available in the machines’ external “reject” trays. I have found a few silver dimes using this method.)  OBTW, the “Sverige”-marked coin he mentioned is from Sweden, not Russia. It is probably a pre-Euro era Swedish Krona coin.Continue reading“Economics & Investing for Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

3

“The time is now at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own…The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.” — President George Washington, July 2, 1776