A Look Into the Economy of the EU from the Eyes of the Youth

A young Italian woman fashioned a poignant collage of stories of the youth of the European Union.  Their stories are heartbreaking.  Will the young people in our country say the same thing in a few years?

Dynamic First Aid Class - A Great Course

I spent all of Sunday in a first aid class aimed at the gun community.  I took lots of notes and will share what I learned in the coming days.  I hope you will take time to learn or brush up on first aid skills in 2012.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/28/europes-lost-generation-young-eu

Contact Your U.S. Senator - Tell Them To Sponsor and Support S. 570

Senate Bill 570 would prohibit the Department of Justice from tracking and cataloguing the purchases of multiple rifles and shotguns.  It's none of the government's business how many guns you decide to purchase at any one time.  Tell your Senators to stand up for freedom and liberty.  I've already told mine to support this bill, which currently has 33 co-sponsors. 


Tomorrow's Training - Dynamic First Aid

I will be in class tomorrow learning more about this subject.  I was a medical responder years ago with the volunteer fire department, but it's a skill set that has substantially atrophied over the years.  This course will be a good refresher on trauma care.

Being prepared is not about stocking up on guns and ammo and MREs and camo.  It's about being prepared for multiple contingencies, many of which have nothing to do with George Soros' funded civil unrest or Al Qaeda.  Being a good citizen means being ready to step up and help others in their time of need.  In turn, we set a good example and by our actions encourage others to prepare as well.

George Soros: Team Owner

In my efforts to get people to start paying attention to what's happening, I'm rarely handed a gift like the one I am going to share with you this evening.

There seems to be a fair amount of evidence George Soros is supporting the Occupy Wall Street crowd.  He also predicts violence in America.  Seriously.  I know this sounds too Glenn Beck for most people, but as you read the article, it's all quite clear.  Some quotes:

• "In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether."
• From Soros: "The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”
• "Critics already allege he is stoking the fires by funding the Occupy movement through Adbusters, the Canadian provocateurs who sparked the movement." (a claim he denies, although there seems to be a fair amount of circumstantial evidence his critics are correct).
• "As anger rises, riots on the streets of American cities are inevitable. 'Yes, yes, yes,' he says, almost gleefully. The response to the unrest could be more damaging than the violence itself. 'It will be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.'”

One might say Soros is simply saying that because he's invested in such a way where he will profit from such events, and as a result, needs those events to come to fruition.  Regardless, he is clearly not holding back in telling the world what he thinks will happen.

If you won't listen to me, will you listen to George?


The Six Week List

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to travel five hours across Texas with two co-workers.  With that much windshield time, we had plenty of opportunity to talk about a number of things.

Both of these co-workers are smart, successful people.  They aren't lawyers, so they don't come with the typical lawyer hang ups (i.e., they don't see danger everywhere they look).  And so I like to ask people like them whether they are fearful of some sort of civil disruption and what they plan to do to prepare.

Like a lot of people, they read the news, and they reported they had concerns about the global economy, the issues with Iran, and the effect of those things on our economy here at home.  If those things came to fruition, they reported they are concerned about our economy not being able to function properly.

One of them asked me: "so what should we do to prepare?"  Later that evening, sitting in the hotel room, I sketched out a basic six week supply list I think is within reach of most Americans.  These include:

• Six weeks of food per person.  This need not be expensive - canned goods and dried goods (such as beans, rice and pasta, all of which you can get at the store) will work.
• Cash - $500 per person.  Note this isn't an expense.   Rather, it's part of your savings.  Rather than keep it in the bank, you keep it in a lock box at home, for true emergencies (such as the ATMs don't work and you need food or gas).
• Water purification.  I'd buy $20 worth of bleach.  If you have extra funds, spent $200 on a Berkey water filtration system.  You can use it year round (we use ours daily).  Berkey filtered water is excellent.
• Paper towels/toilet paper/kleenex.  Buy enough for each person in the house for six weeks.
• Prescription meds.  Get a six week supply.  Talk to your doctor about how to do that.
• Multivitamins.  Get a six week supply, per person.
• Laundry detergent.  Six week supply.  You'll also need a way to wash the clothes if the power is out.  A five gallon bucket with a little detergent and water works great.  You'll also want some rope in order to create a clothes line.
• Water.  Ideally, for six weeks, you'd have 100 gallons per person.  That's tough to do, but if you have a way to store a number of 55 gallon barrels in an out of the way place, it's not impossible.
• Silver/Gold.  I would suggest storing $100 worth (market value, not face value) per person.  It's unclear whether we would need it, but the market seems to indicate the metals will continue to go up in value.  This isn't an expense, either, as it's part of your savings.
• Matches.  Six boxes of high quality matches should suffice.  You'll want these for candles, lighting stoves, etc.
• Candles.  Quantity varies.  Think about the last time you had a power outage.  How many did you use, if any?  Note candles necessarily involve an open flame and thus some risk, but properly managed they can be a great tool.
• Batteries.  There's never such a thing as too few batteries.  If you don't need the extras, your neighbors will be happy to use them.
• Basic First Aid Kid.  Rather than buying one that has lots of a few items, buy one (or make one) that has a few number of many items.  Diversity is your friend when it comes to a good first aid kit.  This includes obtaining a good supply of over the counter meds.
• Gun.  Yes.  If you are serious about being prepared, you need one.  There have been books and articles written on what's the best one gun for preparedness if you can only have one gun.  If it were me, I'd want something that shoots .223 ammo.  That leads me to either an AR-15 or a Ruger Mini-14, with a strong bias towards the AR.  This will likely be the most expensive acquisition on your list, so if you already have a quality rifle in a caliber larger than .22 or a quality shotgun with at least a five round capacity, I would use my funds to obtain other things on this list.  Of course, I'm inferring you'll also need plenty of ammo on hand for your gun as well.
• Battery powered AM/FM radio.  This will become your new best friend in an extended emergency.  If you want to splurge, get one that has shortwave radio capabilities to enable you to hear news from around the world.
• Propane stove with spare propane tanks.  You can cook a lot of food with a propane stove.  Just make sure you have plenty of propane on hand to feed it.

Now before you start nitpicking my list, remember - it's a basic list.  If you have these things on hand, you should be able to ride out some short term emergencies without much trouble.  It may not be fun, but it will be tolerable.  Our forefathers made do with far less.

With the exception of the gun and the possible Berkey water filter system, this isn't an expensive list.  Think of it as insurance....you make the investment now and hope you never have to use it.  But if you do, you know you will make it.

SDS Briefing for Monday, January 23, 2012

More Talk At Davos....On Food Security

I know this may not be the most exciting topic for many people, but we in the Suburban Dad Nation don't simply read up on guns and MREs and Rambo knives.  We focus on the true threats to our lives.  And one of those is the issue of food production and food security.

The global elite meet in Davos, Switzerland this week to talk about the global economy.  One of the topics on their agenda is global food production.  Lest we think food shortages is something that only happens to "those people" and does not affect us, it clearly does affect our food prices and global security.  In this month's newsletter, financial newsletter publisher Porter Stansberry writes we should expect commodities - like food - to spike up in Q3 this year.  We'll see if he's right.

SDS Briefing for Sunday, January 22, 2012

Please Bookmark This Site...

For those of you visiting when prompted by my Facebook posts, please note fewer prompts will be appearing on Facebook in the coming days. 


Reuters Talks About Preppers

I always find it interesting to read articles on how the main stream media portrays preppers.  Here's the latest missive.

Weekend Readings for Friday, January 20, 2012

Your Weekend Reading

• Supermarkets and farmers are wasting food.  This trend must stop, especially given the growing population and the strains on the ag sector to feed it.  Game ball to Jahna the Gladiator for sharing this story.
• What would a Greek default look like?  Here's CNBC's prognosis.  Pay attention to the very last slide.  It's the most important one of all.
• Rick Santelli, once again, explains why we are screwed.
• Inflation update: oil, food down; core CPI up.
• "One is too many; two is too many.  Three should send an alarm."  Mexican drug cartel-style beheadings seen in South Texas.  The influence of evil from these godless cartels continues to drift northward.
• Stratfor is out with their global food commodities update. 
• Permabear Marc Faber says U.S. bonds are junk.  He says we're in the mess we're in due to excessive debt load and excessive leverage.  He is bullish on commodities and even some stocks. 

SDS Briefing for Sunday, January 15, 2012

Don't Worry: Bank Of America Can "Sell Branches In Some Parts Of The Country If It Needed To Raise Capital In An Emergency."

From the "I'm Not Making This Stuff Up Stack," Reuters reported late last week that Bank of America's leadership indicates it could sell branches and other assets if needed to raise capital "in an emergency."  Note "emergency" is their word and not mine.

Ask yourself:  Why is BoA having to reassure the Fed it can meet capital requirements if it needed to in a pinch?  We're not talking about First Community State Bank in Somewhere, Iowa.  Bank of America is the second largest bank in the U.S. by assets and fourth largest by market capitalization.  Does it concern you a bank that size is having discussions about "emergency" liquidations to meet capital requirements?  Moreover, are other banks in the same league as BoA having the same discussions with the Fed?


No Surprise Here: More QE Likely On The Way

Frequent readers of this blog will know we've been discussing the likelihood of more quantitative easing - the injection of more money into the economy - as a way to prop up the economy.  CNBC reports the make up of the Federal Reserve board will likely increase the possibility of yet another round of easing. 

If this comes to fruition, I would expect the stock markets to continue to on their recent upward trend.  However, if the volume of shares traded remains low, I would not expect the rally to last for long. 


Unemployment Rate To Rise?

That's what one official with the Federal Reserve fears.  The short article to which I've linked is good; many of the comments to the article are even better.


Don't Mess With Michael Leon Ward.

Just take my word for it.  Given what he's done, hurting you is nothing.  But if you want to know why he should be left alone, you can read about it here.  And be sure to read the comments to this article, too.