What good people will do in a bad economy: Harare residents find ingenious new ways to survive – A.P.
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Arrests Made Over DC Surveillance Cameras Being Hacked Prior to Trump Inauguration – D.S.
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NRA Wins Victory as Congress Reverses Obama’s Social Security Gun Grab – DSV
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Donald Trump Threatens to Cancel Berkeley Federal Funds After Riots Shut Down Milo Event – D.B.
“Property is a central economic institution of any society, and private property is the central institution of a free society.” – David Friedman
February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905, died March 6, 1982). She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While I sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), I admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty.
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Since the 1,000 SurvivalBlog 2005-2016 Archive USB sticks sold out so quickly, we’ve had to revert to offering it on DVD. It is now orderable here, for just $19.95.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 69 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.
Sitting here in the living room with a hot fire in the wood stove and arctic winds blowing the snow across our property, I smile at just how lucky we are. The power has been out for a couple of days, and the snow and ice make driving into town not worth the risk. Just over twenty years ago, we decided life in the city was no longer for us. Now, reflecting on how good we have it, I would like to write my first post and share with those of you considering a move into rural life.
The first thing we did right is move years before we planned. It was a nice summer day and we decided to take a drive into the country to look at a piece of land that had been for sale for over a year and kept coming down in price. We planned for a move in the future when we were closer to retirement. Both of us worked in an office building in downtown Portland, and we lived only eight miles away from work.
The drive into the countryside was nice, as we worked our way out of suburbia and deeper into the rural farmland. We saw a guy standing on the side of the road pounding in a For Sale sign. He was at the start of a gravel drive that disappeared into the tall fir trees on both sides. After a brief conversation, we drove up the driveway to see a small ranch style house. The place was magical, on the top of a little knoll out of view from the road, a panoramic view, with open fields of fire and defendable terrain, tall fir trees, and a large field with good southern exposure covering one third of the acreage for growing crops. We made the owner an offer on the spot and sealed it with a handshake. All of our friends said it was like a Green Acres episode. That was over 20 years ago, and we have never looked back. Here are a few tips that I wish someone would have told us back then.
You can’t live more than a couple of days without water. When you are out as far as we are, the power company can take days to get your power back on. The first winter the power was out for just short of two weeks, and we did not have a supply of water stored for emergencies. We had no way of getting the water out without the electric pump. The generator was the first real step into being self-sufficient. Our first generator was a nice portable one that I could hook into a couple of circuits, including the pump, and get by without loosing the food in the freezer or refrigerator. The first year I had to go out ever couple of hours and pour gasoline into the tank on the top of the hot generator. I could see a Darwin award in my future, if the wind ever let the gas vapor ignite. It was not smart!
We added a nice, small wood stove. This allowed us to have a nice, dry heat in the wet Oregon weather and have heat when the power was out. My wife wanted a gas range, so I had the local propane company install a propane tank and change out our old electric water heater for new gas/propane ones. Now we could cook, take hot showers, and power the generator without pouring gas into it every couple of hours. I ran the gas line to the new portable generator and converted it to propane. One thing to keep in mind about propane companies is that they are in business to make money, and the larger ones have to show increased profit year over year to keep their stockholders happy. They leased the tank and water heaters to us for well under a hundred dollars a year combined. The downside is you can only buy your propane from that company. No other company will fill your tank no matter how much you’re paying the leasing company for gas. My advice is to buy your own tank from day one; don’t wait like we did. That way you can shop for the lowest rate for propane. We paid for our tank the first year with the money we saved. The second part of buying your own tank is get the largest one you can afford, even if you have to take out a small loan, so you can buy a year’s worth of propane when the rates are at the lowest. This will put lots of money in your pocket, since propane increases substantially every winter when you need it the most.
With the money we were saving on overpriced propane, I was able to install a much larger automatic standby generator to power more circuits in the house and our whole shop building. We built a nice large wood shed and put up over ten cords of wood to dry and season for future use. This is one reason to make our move into the country while I was still young enough to deal with firewood and building a shop/kennel building, barn, and wood shed. I added a large pond in our back yard and stocked it with Rainbow trout. The downspouts on the house all feed into the pond to keep the water level up, and the trout can be eaten in a pinch. The pond is also large and deep enough to serve as an emergency water source for drinking and fire suppression. We now have animals that serve double duty of helping keep up the property and serving as a renewable food source should long-term social disruption occur in the future. You will have to fence off your large garden area to keep your critters out, but you need to do that anyway unless you’re just growing to feed the deer.
A couple of other improvements I made are a manual pump for the well and secure long-term food storage in my shop building. The shop has power, septic service, and water and is set up to serve as living quarters for family, if needed. We lived there for almost a year when we remodeled, so there is a bathroom, washer/dryer hookup, wood stove for heating, and a land line phone just in case. While you have a backhoe installing the septic tank, consider adding a large buried poly tank with a man hole cover to be used as a cache location. (There are examples on the Internet.) We also added a large gate to our fenced property with a push button call box that connects to our cell phones, so we can answer from anywhere and the person outside the gate will think we are up at the house.
The latest addition is an Internet camera system. Almost anyone can install one if you by a plug and play kind like the ones Costco sells. The system we installed is wireless, has infrared lights to see at night, and records every camera on one DVR located in a secure hidden location to provide video if anything were to ever happen, such as a burglary. We can see all of our cameras from our cell phones from anywhere in the world that we have cell service. I also have the cameras showing on an iPad next to where I sit in the evening so I can keep an eye out for predators.
The last thing I would like to mention about moving out to the country is that we now have neighbors with a wide range of skill sets we can depend on to be there in a pinch. One neighbor even has a large nursery plant business and has a number of large green houses that would come in real handy in a long-term crisis. The real sense of community is one of the most important benefits that come from living in a more rural setting.
If you plan on country life at some point in your life, take my advice and don’t wait. There is no better time than the present. Growing up in rural America will give your kids a whole new world to explore and instill a work ethic that is proven to help them the rest of their lives. On a final note, it pays to choose a location that is not on the way to anywhere. This ensures that your commute times to work and shopping are not bogged down in rush hour. You are also much safer from the city and the predators that will come in search of what you have when there is nothing left in the city.
HJL,
What a great list. I happily read this, as I travel frequently. I appreciated the list and agree with the items and responses already listed. I would just like to add a couple comments. LED lights are great, but living in Alaska, where at times we have 20 hours of darkness, I would add buying a head lamp. This is a basic $20 head lamp that slips in a pocket and is great for hands-free light. I also would add that I carry a packet of silver coins along with the cash. I have a length of paracord and duct tape, basic supplies that live in my bag, and a couple of heavy duty contractor garbage bags. These have a number of uses, including shelter.
I would like to emphasis the importance of practical clothing. I may be traveling for work and need to be wearing dress clothes, but I am not going to travel in clothing that restricts my movements or puts me at an increased danger in an emergency. I’m going to wear durable, practical clothing, including hiking boots or running shoes, a belt, natural fibers that are more fire retardant, et cetera.
If you are frequently traveling through the same airports, do you know where you could quickly pick up a couple more bottles or water and snacks in an emergency? Do you know the quickest way to exit the building, et cetera? Think of possible emergencies and what your response would be. Doing this ahead of time will give your mind a frame of reference in a future emergency. – L.R.
The Alternative Fact Of The Cashless Society
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What Will Happen, How to Prepare For The Imminent Global Economic Collapse 2017 – B.B.
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Fed Unlikely to Make Its Next Rate Move Wednesday
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Endowment Gains Aren’t Enough for Schools Facing Rising Expenses
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
The Chinese counterfeiters are back to their old tricks, producing shoddy fake Cold Steel knives, including some Rawles XL Voyagers. They are definitely fakes, since Cold Steel only made Rawles XL Voyagers with ONE blade style and ONE blade color! Please take a minute to go to the lower right corner of the eBay page and click on “Report Item”, and ask that this seller be banned. Thanks! – JWR
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A new Tennessee listing at our SurvivalRealty spin-off is captivating, since it is the lowest-priced property that I can recall that includes on-site caves: Secluded Wilder Mountain Acreage – Caves, Waterfalls, and More.
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Far Beyond Crime-Ridden Depravity, Darknets Are Key Strongholds of Freedom
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Doomsday Bug, Resistant to Every Drug, Found in L.A. – D.B.
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How To Grow A Whole Bulb Of Garlic From A Single Clove – DSV
“The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.” – Albert Einstein
February 1st is the anniversary of the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28th, 1861 and on February 1st, by a vote of 166-8, adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. It’s important to note that not all Texans favored this act and the state Governor, Sam Houston, while being loyal to the union, refused offers from President Lincoln to keep him in office and was subsequently deposed as governor.
We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
This was a tough contest to judge as there were so many good articles published in Round 68, but decisions have to be made. Any article submitted but not published will automatically be rolled over to Round 69. Without further ado, here are the winners:
First prize goes to J.U. for “Prep Your Ride – Part 1”, “Part 2”, and “Part 3” published on January 3rd, 5th, and 6th, 2017. He will receive the following prizes:
Second prize goes to N.K. for “Hurricane Preparedness Experience – Part 1”, “Part 2”, “Part 3”, and “Part 4” published on January 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2017. He will receive the following prizes:
Third prize goes to T.H. for “Prepping for a Five Star EOTWAWKI Experience – Part 1” and “Part 2”, published on December 7th and 8th, 2016. He will receive the following prizes:
Third Prize:
Honorable mention prizes ($30 Amazon.com gift certificates via e-mail) have been awarded to the writers of these fine articles:
Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Chochran of Gainsesville Coins where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers.
December 30th saw gold end 8% higher for the year, for the first annual increase since 2012. The trend continued for gold in January, as prices moved upward for nearly the entire month. Starting January (and the year) near $1,152 an ounce, profit-taking and safe haven demand played tug-of-war the first week. Afterward, gold and silver trended higher, assisted by a weaker dollar, until the end of the month. Monday the 23rd saw gold book its last gain for the month. Rising business sentiment after Trump reversed the ban on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average close above 20,000 for the first time ever and unleashed the “animal spirits”in equities.
Where did gold end in 2016 in major currencies other than the dollar?
A lot of this movement was due to the performance of each nation’s currencies as well as safe haven demand. The euro was weaker across the board against the dollar in 2016, and Brexit shredded the value of the pound sterling.
The big outlier in gold prices was Russia. However, lower gold prices in Moscow are due to their ruble recovering from a currency crash caused by lower oil prices and economic sanctions. The Russian currency ended the year 21.3% higher to be one of the best-performing assets of 2016.
Reuters noted that stocks ended higher on the day of Trump’s inauguration, the first time in more than 50 years that a President has seen the stock market log gains on his first day in office. John F. Kennedy was the last to see this welcome economic sign. Stocks hit new records in January, riding a wave of expectations that Trump will begin enacting business-friendly deregulation soon. This euphoria on Wall St has pulled some money from gold and into equities.
The Mexican government gave Trump its own inauguration gift, extraditing infamous drug lord “El Chapo” Guzman in the middle of the night to face charges in the U.S. Mexico has borne the brunt of Trump’s anti-globalization remarks and would like to get into his good graces. Worries about possible trade restrictions between the U.S. and Mexico has sent the peso into a tailspin. These fears have also weighed on automakers and other heavy industries that make parts in Mexico, then ship them to the U.S. for final assembly. This has lent a bit of support for gold.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who supported Hillary for President, says that he overwhelmingly supports Trump’s Cabinet picks. “I feel that way no matter who is president, the CEO – which I am – should have the ability to pick people that help you run a place.”
Even the Fed says Trump is good for the country, forecasting an accelerated economic recovery due to The Donald’s tax and stimulus policies. However, they warn that the increased inflationary pressures they will cause down the road will force the Fed to raise rates faster than first expected. The Fed needs to get on Trump’s good side, because they are going to face severe pressure from the White House over monetary policy. It may not matter, because Trump is positioned to replace most of them in the next two years.
All the supporters of the “Audit the Fed” or even “Abolish the Fed” may be getting good news soon, as President Trump remakes the Fed in his image. There are two vacant seats on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors that Trump will be able to fill immediately. If he nominates two candidates very soon and the Senate confirms them with no delay, Trump will have two of his people voting in the March FOMC policy meeting.
If things play out right with expected resignations, Trump can control the entire Fed Board of Governors and have an unbreakable majority in the FOMC by the end of 2018.
Oil prices began the year on a positive note, with most traders believing OPEC statements that production cuts had really begun. Things turned a bit sour later in the month, as U.S. fracking operations began putting more rigs in service to take advantage of higher prices. This was foretold by several analysts, who say that American shale fields will expand production to take market share from OPEC, and put a lid on price gains.
The U.S. Mint had a good first day of sales for its 2017 bullion coins on January 9th. American Gold Eagles of all sizes sold the first day totaled 68,000 troy ounces. The 9999 fine gold American Buffalo 1 oz coins saw 20,500 go out the door to authorized distributors, and 3,747,500 American Silver Eagles were purchased by wholesalers.
Totals so far for January 2017 show 104,500 oz worth of Gold Eagles, 4,897,500 Silver Eagles, and 29,000 Gold Buffalos sold.
For the first time since 2014, the U.S. Mint is offering a 1 troy oz American Platinum Eagle. Initial sales totaled 20,000 coins, which already exceeds the 16,900 sold in all of 2014.
In other U.S. bullion coin developments, the U.S. Mint has confirmed that it is looking at minting fractional Gold Buffalo coins. Unlike the 22K Gold Eagles, which come in four sizes, the .9999 fine Buffalos is only offered in a single 1 troy oz size. The only time that fractional Gold Buffalos have been minted was for a special four-coin set in 2008.
Gainesville Coins is offering special PCGS “First Strike” 2017 Silver Eagles that have been graded a perfect 70 or a nearly perfect 69 by PCGS, one of the top grading companies in the world, sealed in a protective slab with a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag label.
A Russian medallion company has minted a gigantic sterling silver coin in celebration of Donald Trump’s victory in the Presidential election. Weighing more than two pounds and measuring more than five inches across, only 20 silver and five gold coins will be made. The owner of the company producing these coins has asked Russian diplomats and businessmen with connections in the U.S. to help arrange a meeting with President Trump in order to present him with the first of the coins struck.
Calling it the “scariest night of his Presidency”, Obama confided in an interview that he almost ordered the trillion-dollar coin minted to save the United States from defaulting on its sovereign debt: “I think it was the moment when it seemed that [former Republican House Speaker] John Boehner didn’t seem to generate the votes to make sure the U.S. didn’t default on our debt,” said Obama. “We had to start drafting a speech.”
This month’s report by the World Gold Council details actions in the gold market by 25 central banks for the month of November.
China’s central bank did not officially buy any gold in November, perhaps since it was spending the money to halt a major slide in the yuan.
Turkey had it far worse, as President Erdogan refuses to allow the central bank to raise interest rates to battle the plummet in the lira. The bank’s only other course of action was to sell the nation’s gold reserves for the money to intervene in currency markets. (It didn’t work.) To fund this, the central bank sold a huge 28.77 metric tons of gold just in November. For the first 11 months of 2016, Turkey sold off 139.57 metric tons (307,700 lb) of gold to finance currency intervention. This is over 25% of the nation’s gold reserves, and the intervention shows no sign of letting up.
On the other end of the dial, Kazakhstan bought 3.07 metric tons of gold in November. The large Central Asian nation has increased its gold reserves every single month since September 2012.
Russia also continued to help its domestic gold companies and the nation’s forex reserves at the same time, buying 32.13 metric tons of gold. Russia’s gold miners are restricted by economic sanctions from selling gold in the West, so the Kremlin is picking up the slack. Through November, Russia bought 200.64 metric tons of gold in 2016.
Leading hedge fund Blackrock said this month that inflation is growing on several fronts, and investors should add gold and stocks that perform well in high inflation. Blackrock analyst Russ Koesterich believes that the Fed likely won’t see what’s happening until it’s too late. He notes we are experiencing another housing bubble, that healthcare costs did not see the slowdown promised by Obamacare, and wages are rising as the employment market tightens.
Casey Research agrees, saying that Americans are in for a ride on the Pain Train that not even Trump can prevent. They recommend dumping bonds and loading up on hard assets, like gold. “Think about it. If inflation is rising, it’s going to take more dollars to buy an ounce of gold, barrel of oil, or pound of copper.”
Peter Schiff will ruffle the feathers of Trump supporters with his latest: He warns that Trump’s “America First” plans could very well put an end to the artificially high standard of living Americans have grown used to. He says that all these trade deficits are actually helping the U.S. government keep the economic Ponzi scheme going. “Trump doesn’t really understand, or underestimates the fact that, we have been riding on the global gravy train for decades. We get a free ride. The world is subsidizing America … They’re not taking advantage of us; we’re taking advantage of them. If we’re actually going to make America great again by basically severing these relationships … the biggest winners are going to be our trading partners.”
The “Bond King” Bill Gross warns folks to watch the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond.
Marc Fabertells Fox Business News that with stocks overvalued and the dollar so strong, now is the time to move into precious metals.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to reduce the nation’s trade deficit has government officials looking at reviving abandoned gold mines that were first worked during the British Colonial era (the Raj). The mines are thought to still hold $2 billion USD in gold ore. The Economic Times of India reports that the state-owned gold mining company was forced to cease operations in 2001 due to mounting losses, the result of a large, unproductive workforce and dated, economically unviable methods of mining.
In the 15 years since the mines were closed, the federal and state governments have fought in court over who has jurisdiction over the land. If India’s governments can overcome their socialist tendencies and turf wars, a revived gold mining industry would go a long way in reducing the $30 billion a year the nation spends on importing gold. The government is probably making a big mistake by not inviting established gold mining companies to form a partnership to bring the mines back on line. Instead, they’re making… another state-owned, socialist mining company. Good luck, guys.
The greedy government in Cairo is making sure that the gold of the Pharaohs stays in the ground. Egypt had hundreds of small gold mines during ancient times. Now, the government wants to sell leases to foreign mining companies to develop what may be a bonanza, not only of gold but titanium, lithium, and other valuable metals. The problem with this plan is that no mining company is willing to accept the ridiculous terms the government is offering. They want millions and millions in bogus fees and high royalties.
Good news for those looking to get or stay off the grid: Solar power panels are being set up at a record pace in the United States, which is bringing panel prices down. Even the traditional utility companies are getting into the act and building solar farms. For those not completely off the grid, some states allow you to sell excess power generated by your solar installation back to the power companies. Of course, the untold millions of Kilowatt hours worth of solar panels being installed world-wide will support silver prices.
Know those ugly horizontal copper wires in your car windshield that heat up to get rid of ice or frost? Volkswagen has invented a new type of windshield that gets rid of those filaments and replaces it with an invisible sheet of silver between the windshield layers. Not only does it heat more evenly and allow greater visibility, it is going to launch more industrial demand for silver when other car makers follow VW’s lead.
Everyone from banks to steelworkers are anticipating an economic boost from President Trump and the Republican Congress. German banking giant Deutsche Bank is already giving Trump credit for pushing back the recession that analysts were expecting by five months. Estimates now expect a recession to begin in 27 months (August 2019).
The January Federal Reserve policy meeting will be on January 31st and February 1st. There’s no policy meeting in February. Trump’s two hand-picked Federal Reserve Governors should be confirmed and present for the March FOMC meeting, which occurs on the 14th and 15th.
Coin experts are cautioning buyers not to expect a big payoff down the road for any of the many “Trump Coins” now being sold. There are plenty that are very attractive, but buy them as a memento of Trump’s historic election, not as something you will be able to flip at a profit.
We wrap up the month with a follow-up to the story of the brazen thief who walked up to the open back of an armored car in New York’s “Diamond District” last November and staggered off with an 86-pound drum of gold flakes estimated at $1.6 million. He has finally been caught by police in Ecuador, after a two-month manhunt. The gold was nowhere to be found.
HJL:
I just attended my insurance agent’s coop annual meeting where a “behavioral economist’ spoke. One of his points is that GDP growth is limited to 1.5% by the available labor, even allowing for the higher percentage that is U-6. He says the gap has narrowed but always present. I look at the change in the tax code to promote repatriation of funds held overseas and a potential repeat of the accelerated cost recovery rules on depreciation that powered the Reagan revitalization along with the convergence of robotic technology and wonder if any jobs would be produced by the wave of productivity increasing investments that will occur in the next two years. It turns out that that would be in harmony with our current situation.
As I have said before, Star Wars is instructive. There are warriors, slaves, and owner of the tools of production (robots). It is important for us to embrace or acquire an understanding of computers that control devices. Raspberry PI is a perfect learning platform. Welding (brazing, soldering) is another essential survival skill in the coming world. The “collapse” of the world as we know it does not necessarily mean traveling back to the 1880’s to become subsistence farmers. That paradigm can contain its own “normalcy bias”. It is important to acquire diverse skills and keep your antenna up for the rapid change coming at us. Don’t stop at just knowing how to feed your family. – R.V.
Donald Trump Has a Goldman Sachs Problem: Derivatives
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He’s still at it: The Find Of A Lifetime…120 Silver Half Dollars!
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Not that there’s any inflation, but . . .
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
When The Rich Become Preppers, It’s Time To Worry
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance by Vin Suprynowicz
All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew
The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music
Rags to Riches the Essential Hits [of Scott Joplin]
AR-15 Upgrades Overview (from IV8888)
Art Of The Tactical Carbine by Chris Costa
Wranglerstar: AMAZING Room Transformation
SOG Traction EDC Pocketknife (Under $15!)
Harris Bipod Model 1A2 (Adjustable 6” to 9”)
BSA…Living up to only the first two letters. Goodbye, Boy Scouts of America. You spineless cowards. – D.S.
Article Excerpt: “So, if I haven’t been clear, here’s how this works: You give the leftist bullies every last thing they want, and in return you get nothing. Whatever you already had, you lose. Those who supported you while you were being attacked, no longer support you. The people who hated you still hate you and the people who loved you now resent you for betraying them. You are now officially in a lose/lose/lose/lose-unto-infinity scenario…But hey, at least the media will write a few nice articles about you.”
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Mexico Vows $50 Million Legal Fund to Fight U.S. Deportations. Funny comment on the article below from a commentator: “Mexico’s cost for the wall just went up by $50 million. We also have a bill to submit to you for the welfare, housing assistance, health care, cost of their imprisonment, and other financial goodies they have taken from tax-paying American citizens…while they were illegally living in America…as well as for the pain and suffering they have caused to American’s by their illegal actions.” – D.B.
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Secret Rules Make It Pretty Easy for the FBI to Spy on Journalists – P.M.
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The Cloud Party Declares War – B.B.
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