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Sunday 31 May 2015
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New Bill Aims To Rewrite Second Amendment: Would Require Gun Owners To Have Liability Insurance
New York House Representative Carolyn Maloney has introduced a new bill that would force gun owners to have liability insurance or face fines of up to $10,000.
According to Maloney the stipulations in The Firearms Risk Protection Act would curb gun violence, much like car insurance has lowered vehicle fatalities because gun owners would be more careful.
“We require insurance to own a car, but no such requirement exists for guns,” Maloney said in a statement. “The results are clear: car fatalities have declined by 25 percent in the last decade, but gun fatalities continue to rise.”
Maloney said auto insurance carriers incentivize drivers to take precautions to reduce accidents, but no such incentives exist for firearm owners.
“An insurance requirement would allow the free market to encourage cautious behavior and help save lives,” she said. “Adequate liability coverage would also ensure that the victims of gun violence are fairly compensated when crimes or accidents occur.”
Source: The Hill
Of course, the likelihood that insurance policies are responsible for the 25% drop in car fatalities is almost zero. Rather, as noted by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety and people with even a smidgen of common sense, it’s probably more likely that improved vehicle design and safety features are responsible for the large decrease:
They found that vehicle changes — including improved structural designs, the addition of safety features and an evolving mix of vehicle types — were the main source of declining risk from 1993 through 2006.
But common sense goes out the window with politicians, raising the question of whether a bill should be introduced requiring politicians to get liability insurance before entering their respective legislative houses before they do further damage to Americans’ Constitutionally enumerated natural rights.
Case in point: Rather than liability insurance to lower the rate of fatalities from criminal gun usage, Congress should look to the car industry for solutions. Improving the safety of citizens, for example, could be accomplished by giving them free access to body armor, as opposed to the nationwide ban proposed earlier this year.
But that would just make too much sense. So, akin to stopping global warming with increased taxes and carbon credits, which do nothing but enrich carbon exchange management firms operated by people like climate change spokesperson and internet creator Al Gore, if you are a politician, especially in the liberal state of New York, the only possible solution would be to make people pay more money for the privilege of providing for their own personal defense.
Apparently, the intent of the Founding Fathers for the Second Amendment has been misconstrued for years and should have read:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed, so long as they have a government issued permit, maintain an active trigger lock, do not carry it on their person unless authorized to do so by their State of residence, and can prove they possess an up to date liability insurance policy.
To suggest that gun owners are not already incentivized to be responsible with their firearms is ridiculous on its face, considering there are hundreds of laws on the books designed specifically for people who commit murder or even accidental manslaughter. The legal mechanisms for those acting criminally or negligently with a firearm already exist. If you kill or injure someone with malicious intent or by accident you face prison time and/or financial damages to be seized from your personal wealth to compensate victims.
At every turn and on every level anti-gun politicians are attempting to supplant the U.S. Constitution. They will use any excuse and take every opportunity – including but not limited to restrictions on popular ammunition and all out import bans on guns – in their effort to disarm the American people.
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May In Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins
Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, 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.
May was a dance between gold and the greenback, as the two fell back into a negative correlation. Gold traded in a tight range between $1185 and $1195 for the first part of the month, before a weakening dollar helped both gold and silver rally to a three-month high. The dollar hit a four-month low on May 15, then rallied into the end of the month, putting pressure on commodities. Even though the dollar was gaining strength from a euro that was weakened by quantitative easing from the European Central Bank, gold fought hard and kept the $1206 support level for days. When that broke and prices fell under $1200, the $1186 support level proved resilient.
Precious Metals Market Drivers in May
(Still) Greece
The socialist government in Greece, determined not to give up its pledge to rescue the welfare state, continued its attempts to extort more bailout funds from the rest of the EU. However, their brinkmanship has destroyed much of the sympathy they formerly had from other nations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced growing opposition to sending the Greeks more German taxpayer money in yet another bailout, especially one that does not live up to the previously agreed-to provisions of the last bailout. Even members of Merkel’s own party are threatening to break ranks and would rather see Greece leave the EU than to pour more money down that hole.
One prominent opponent to letting Greece renege on its bailout conditions is the influential German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble. Schaeuble turned the Greeks’ threat to hold a referendum about accepting a bailout back against them, saying that perhaps the Greek public should vote on whether to continue under the established bailout rules or not. In a Dirty Harry “make my day” move, he has also publicly said it would be prudent for the leftist government in Athens to prepare a form of scrip (IOUs) to pay domestic bills with, if they can’t agree to terms with creditors.
Greek citizens aren’t showing much faith in their leaders, as they continue to pull billions of dollars worth of deposits out of the banking system to keep the government from seizing it. Much like the Germans during the Weimar Republic did in the 1920s, they are buying hard assets, such as gold and durable goods like cars, in case the country exits the EU and introduces a greatly devalued drachma as the new national currency.
Although the almost complete lack of cash forced prime minister Tsipras to go back on a major campaign promise and stop blocking the sale of Greece’s largest shipping port (which had been started by the previous administration,) he drew the line at reforming Greece’s bloated welfare state and government.
Things came to a head, when the Greek government used its emergency funds at the IMF to pay its bill to… the IMF. This prompted the IMF to begin work on implementing “The Cyprus Plan” on Greece, where the banks would be shut down and deposits over the insured amount seized er “exchanged for bonds in reconstructed banks” in order to recapitalize the Greek financial sector. This caused gold to spike to a three-month high and silver to jump close to a four-month high.
The Greek Interior Minister, who has no say in economic policy but is used by the leftist government to scare EU creditors, announced on May 24 that the government would not be making any more IMF loan payments without a new bailout being approved. It was learned that the previous weekend the ruling council of the governing Syriza Party had voted on pre-emptively defaulting on the nation’s debts. The final vote was 95 against, 75 for, meaning only 11 more delegates would have to change their vote next time it comes up (and it WILL come up again), for Greece to self-destruct.
Despite the fact that Greece has plummeted back into recession under the leftist Syriza Party after the economy had started growing again under the previous administration, other socialists and anti-austerity parties have been gaining ground in southern Europe. The Socialist Party of Portugal has announced that it will reverse austerity policies there if elected this fall, and the Podemos Party in Spain, often called “the Spanish Syriza,” made gains in recent elections, helped by serial political corruption scandals in the ruling party.
David Stockman, in his “Contra Corner,” gives us a look at what happens when a nation lives beyond its means until the entire system collapses, in this article on the hardships suffered by everyday people in Greece.
Start Of The Market Collapse?
The global bond market suffered a meltdown in early May and dragged the stock market down with it. Liquidity is disappearing as the “big boys” get out of the market, taking their profits while the mom and pop investors keep piling in. More than $450 billion in the bond market was wiped out, as investors found out that the “sure thing” of deflation and falling oil prices wasn’t as certain as they’d thought. Even without the Fed raising interest rates, signs of inflation heating up are already appearing. The high prices, negative yields, and high volatility of the bond market has changed bonds from being “risk-free returns” to “return-free risks.”
Older, wiser heads are warning that the stock market’s days are numbered, too. Stock prices are now 10% higher than the entire worth of all the companies. You could sell all the stocks, take the money and buy everything every company owns, down to the staplers in the offices, and still have billions of dollars left over. That doesn’t sound like a rational stock market to me, and more people are taking notice. This is why Bank of America is telling its clients that the markets are in a Twilight Zone, and they need to reduce exposure to stocks and bonds and stock up on cash and gold before it’s too late. ScotiaMocatta notes in turn that gold is a cheap safe haven right now and says a strong upside surprise may be in the cards.
Jim Rickards says that Warren Buffett already sees a Weimar-style hyperinflation scenario building, and you can tell it from what he’s investing in.
Middle East
We are perhaps closer to a nuclear war in the Middle East than we have ever been, and we’re getting closer. In addition to Israel’s nuke arsenal, Iran’s efforts to build The Bomb has prodded the Wahabbi royalty of Saudi Arabia to go public with plans to counter Iran with an atomic bomb that they will buy “off the shelf” from Pakistan. Saudi foreign aid is the only reason the Pakistani government hasn’t collapsed from its debts, and Islamabad will be more than happy to provide the protectors of Mecca with a turn-key solution to counter the Shiite threat of Iran.
Emphasizing both the betrayal the Kingdom feels has been perpetuated by Obama and the extremist views of the royalty, the Saudi King refused Obama’s invitation to a summit of Persian Gulf leaders and instead met with the most fanatic Muslim clerics of the kingdom.
The Saudi-led coalition of Sunni monarchies continues conducting airstrikes in Yemen, where they say Iran is supplying the Shiite insurgency that has forced the government into exile. Fighting along the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen emphasize the danger to the oilfields of the world’s largest oil producer, especially since the richest oilfields are in areas that have a sizable Shiite population.
Speaking of extremists, the terrorist army ISIS has conquered Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in Iraq. The Iraqi army, which outnumbered the Sunni terrorists, fled in terror instead of fighting, leaving hundreds of vehicles (including at least ten fully-functional M1A1 Abrams tanks) for ISIS to capture. Since many former Iraqi army soldiers from the Saddam era are now in ISIS, they have the crews to use these tanks against Baghdad. The only effective force the government has to counter ISIS are the various Shiite militias, including the Al-Sadr Brigade, which killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers during the American occupation of Iraq. These men hate the U.S. as much as they hate ISIS, and their prime goal is to extend Shiite hegemony (and Iranian influence).
To follow up on the stunning victory in Ramadi, ISIS took the last of three border crossings between Syria and Iraq from the Syrian army, and now they have a clear highway linking their holdings in eastern Syria and Anbar province in Iraq. Of the three border crossings between Iraq and Syria, ISIS controls two, and the Syrian Kurds control the northern-most one.
The Salafist terror group has also conquered the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, whose historic ancient ruins the jihadists have sworn to destroy. (This is only partially true. In order to raise money, they video the large buildings being destroyed, then sell the smaller antiquities on the black market after the videos have increased demand for surviving relics.)
ISIS’s next target may be breaking the government siege of rebel-held areas near Damascus, thereby winning the starving people there to their side in the final fight for Syria.
On The Retail Front
German demand for physical gold jumped 20% in the first quarter of 2015, as neither a Greek default nor more German taxpayer money being given to them were particularly appealing.
The Perth Mint bullion blog has posted a handy guide to spotting fake Perth Mint Gold Bars and cautions against buying precious metals on eBay. (Gainesville Coins is an authorized Perth Mint distributor.)
The Royal Canadian Mint, which releases reports on a three-month lag, has reported that silver demand held steady in 2014, and the Mint recorded the second-highest profit in history.
Market Buzz
Speaking of Canadians and silver, the Motley Fool says that “Silver is shaping up to be the precious metals deal of the decade.”
This report says that we may have seen “Peak Silver” in mining supply. There’s simply not been enough exploration to find enough new deposits to replace the existing silver mines that are running empty. Unfortunately, the new deposits that are being discovered are not nearly as large as the ones that are running dry.
MarketWatch’s commodities reporter notes that the frenetic pace of stimulus measures in China could mean a 40% spike in silver prices by the end of the year.
On the subject of China and precious metals prices, Jeff Clark at Casey Research thinks we will see the next gold bull market start before October, since the IMF may require China to reveal its gold reserves before deciding in October whether to include the yuan as a reserve currency or not. If it is added to the SDR basket, then the U.S. dollar, euro, and Japanese yen will have to give up some of their weighting. It looks like the demise of the dollar as the world’s most important currency is continuing.
The Financial Times notes that the power in setting the global gold price is moving from London to Shanghai as liquidity in the West dries up.
The World Gold Council reports that the first quarter of 2015 was the 17th consecutive quarter of net central bank gold purchases, and Russia added 30.5 metric tonnes of gold to its reserves in March (the latest date for which figures are available).
Austria’s central bank has announced that it is repatriating 140 tonnes of gold from England. This will bring the amount of Austrian gold reserves at the Bank of England from 80% to 30% (224 tonnes to 84 tonnes). Austrian gold held at home will rise from 17% to 50%, and the amount held in Switzerland will rise from 7% to 20%.
Austria has company; Texas is building its own state bullion depository in order to repatriate its gold from New York.
Jim Rickards thinks that central banks will need bailouts themselves in the not-so-distant future, causing the public to make a run on gold.
Looking Ahead
Janet Yellen is saying to prepare for an interest rate hike before the end of the year. While we really don’t think it will happen in June, watch the “good news is bad news” meme whipsaw both the stock and bond markets, especially since so many of the big players are taking profits and heading to the sidelines. This is going to mean less liquidity, which means large orders are going to move the market prices much more than normal.
Of course, the Greek crisis is supposed to come to a head in a couple of weeks, but that’s what we’ve been told for months. If the socialist government messes up and pushes Germany too hard, they may find themselves out of the EU and sinking near to third-world status with no one willing to lend them money (except possibly Russia). It remains to be seen if the Arab monarchies are going to do something about ISIS before it’s too late, and Iran is likely to keep pushing the Sunni kingdoms as hard as they dare.
In closing, it’s sobering to look at this chart from the Washington Post and realize that many of our children have never lived in a world where their nation was not at war: Here’s How Much of Your Life the United States Has Been At War.
- Steven Cochran is the Content Manager/Editor for Gainsville Coins
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Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game! – Part 8 of 9, by Pat Cascio
Chapter Six
Carjacking
Carjacking has become such a serious and violent crime that I decided to include an entire chapter on this all-important topic. In the past if someone wanted to steal your car for a joy ride or to use it in the commission of a crime, they did so at night while you slept. Or for that matter, they would steal your unattended car from a mall parking lot, while you shopped inside. Things have changed! People are now being seriously injured and sometimes killed by carjackers.
In the blink of an eye, it could happen in your own driveway! Most carjackings happen in as little as 15 seconds. That 15 second timeframe is from start to finish!
While carjackings represent only two percent of the vehicles stolen, about 35,000 carjackings occur annually. FBI records show that in 52% of the carjackings, the offender succeeded in stealing the victim’s motor vehicle. Carjacking is now a federal crime– a felony.
FBI Reports
The FBI has recently released some interesting facts about carjackers. First of all, the carjacker is usually armed (77% percent of the time). Fifteen large metropolitan areas account for 90% of all carjackings. Most carjackings occur between 8:00pm and 11:00pm, and nearly half of all carjackings happen on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. More carjackings occur in December (27%) than any other month. Parking lots are the favorite areas for carjackers, followed by city streets, residential driveways, car dealerships, and gas stations.
Another interesting statistic that the FBI reports is that the primary motive for carjacking is to secure transportation after robbing the driver or to obtain transportation to commit a crime. Carjackers are real scum-of-the-earth, to be sure.
Carjacking Methods
There are several different carjacking scenarios. Carjackers can attack a motorist at a traffic light, gas station, parking lot, or any other area where a driver stops or exits their vehicle, even fast food drive-thrus. Carjacking gangs often employ the old “bump and run” techniques in which the thieves in one car pull up behind an unsuspecting driver and bumps their car. When the driver gets out to inspect the damage, the thieves forcibly take control of the situation and the car.
DOJ Report
The U.S. Dept. of Justice released a survey in March 1994, NCJ-147002, that gives us further information on this fast-growing type of crime. Each year on average between 1987 and 1992, .2 per 1,000 Americans age 12 or older (or 2 per 10,000) were victims of a completed or attempted carjacking.
Here’s some information that I found of interest. Men were more likely than women (.3 per 1,000 compared to .1 per 1,000) and blacks were more likely than whites (.4 and .2 respectively) to be victimized by carjacking. Persons age 35 or older were less likely than younger people to become carjacking victims. I would have bet good money that women would have placed higher in the “victim” category. I wonder if the U.S. Department of Justice is being honest with us on this one.
Of the 77% of carjackers who were armed, handguns were the most commonly used weapon in the completed offenses but not in the attempts. It sure sounds like the serious carjackers favor firearms in the commission of their crime. The DOJ breaks this down as follows: offenders were armed with handguns in 59% of the completed carjackings and 17% of the attempted carjackings.
Carjacker Profile
Another statistic worth noting is that the typical carjacking offender’s age was between 21 and 29. About half of the completed carjackings were committed by offenders in this age group. An additional 12% were committed by offenders 18-20 years of age.
About half (54%) of all completed or attempted carjackings were committed by groups of two or more offenders, so you have a pretty good chance of facing more than one offender should an attempt be made to carjack your vehicle! A prepared and aware motorist might be able to defend himself from a lone unarmed carjacker, but the odds are against you if there are multiple carjackers who are armed.
The DOJ report states, “Carjacking, a type of robbery, is theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle by force or threat of force.” This sounds pretty serious to me, and it is! In 24% of the completed and attempted carjackings, the victims were injured. Four percent of all victims of attempted or completed carjackings suffered a serious injury, such as gunshot or knife wounds, broken bones, loss of teeth, internal injuries, loss of consciousness, or “undetermined” injuries requiring two or more days of hospitalization. On top of the loss of your car, you can expect a day in the hospital to run you approximately $1,000. Unfortunately, the DOJ report doesn’t give any statistics regarding actual deaths of motorists at the hands of carjackers. I find this omission strange, to say the least. Why did the DOJ leave this statistic out of their report?
Okay, now that I’ve made you aware of the seriousness of carjackings and probably scared the bejabbers out of you, what can you do to defend yourself against a carjacking?
Carjacking Defense
First of all, keep all your doors locked in your vehicle, even if you’re only driving down the street to the local 7-Eleven. Secondly, when you’re at the gas station, turn off your car, no matter what, whether you pay at the pump or pay inside. Third, always be aware of your surroundings. (Remember to exercise mental awareness.) As you approach your vehicle, glance underneath it to check for danger. Also, before you open your car door check the back seat for anyone who might have gotten in and be “hiding.” Fourth, install an anti-theft device that has a “panic” button that you can activate if you sense trouble. Fifth, drive in the center lane (if possible) when on highways; this reduces your chances of becoming a “bump and run” theft victim. Sixth, seek out a good, unarmed self-defense instructor, and take your training seriously. Lastly, if confronted with a carjacker(s) who is armed and intent on using deadly force against you, use your legally-concealed handgun to fend off the attack.
Firearms Training
All this brings us to the use of point shooting to defend yourself if attacked while in or near your vehicle. I know this will sure raise a “red flag” of the aimed shooting proponents, but please hear me out on this subject before you criticize my logic.
First of all, I want to stress the importance of being a well-rounded combat shooter. You MUST be trained in both aimed and point firing techniques. I believe it’s important to ALWAYS use aimed fire when you have the time, distance, light, and so forth. Unfortunately, you probably won’t have these luxuries at the hands of carjackers. As reported by the DOJ, most carjackings are over in less than 15 seconds. This hardly gives you time to react, draw your weapon, aim, and fire, and do all of this from the driver’s seat of your vehicle.
My friend and associate, John McSweeney, teaches a point shooting technique I have dubbed the “Swing”. John and I have honest differing opinions on some subjects, and our teaching techniques are somewhat different. However, when it comes to employing the “Swing” in carjacking defense, we are in 100% agreement!
I’m a “disciple” of the legendary Col. Rex Applegate. Much (not all) of what I teach in my point shooting classes is based upon the real-life combat, proven, methods of point shooting developed by Captains Sykes and Fairbairn. However, Applegate further refined Fairbairn’s and Sykes’ techniques over the years, so much so that in my humble opinion Applegate is the true father of real-life combat (handgun) techniques.
John McSweeney also teaches some of Applegate’s point shooting techniques in his handgun classes. Where McSweeney’s system differs from Applegate’s is with McSweeney’s use of the “Swing.” McSweeney has studied distances involved in law enforcement officers being killed/assaulted. The FBI report on this subject (1992) concludes that five feet (and less) were the distances involved in 367 officers being killed/assaulted. Another 127 law enforcement officers were involved in deadly confrontations from 6-10 feet, 77 officers were involved in a deadly confrontation of 11-20 feet, and only 79 officers had a deadly confrontation at 20 plus feet.
Therefore, McSweeney concludes that the greatest number of shootings (367) of police officers took place at five feet or LESS! The circumstances of a typical gunfight (if there is such a thing) involves three things:
- close range,
- low light, and
- extreme stress.
As we have seen by the DOJ report, carjackings pretty much fit the above three conditions.
No matter what I may write, there simply will be those opponents of point shooting who refuse to be swayed by the facts involved in real-life handgun combat. McSweeney relayed a real-life story to me about one of his point shooting students. A security officer in Chicago, IL was working as a bouncer in a bar on the near north side. Earlier that evening this bouncer had bounced four Mexicans out of the bar. (The bouncer was of Mexican descent as well.)
The bouncer was followed home by the above four individuals. As he (the bouncer) got out of his car, they surrounded him. The bouncer was legally armed. All four attackers had knives, which they thrust at the bouncer. He drew his 9mm Glock and fired three rounds in point shooting fashion– McSweeney’s “Swing”. He swung from one to the other. He hit three of the assailants in the gut; the range was two yards (6 feet)! The fourth assailant knifed the bouncer in the back, just missing his heart. The bouncer told McSweeney that he had no time to aim; he simply drew his 9mm and fired, hitting three assailants before being knifed in the back. Fortunately, the bouncer’s wife heard the commotion and called the police. The fourth assailant fled the scene but was captured later. All four assailants were arrested and sent to jail.
McSweeney does comment about Applegate’s method of point shooting in Applegate’s book Kill Or Get Killed. McSweeney claims that Applegate says if you “swing” this causes you to shoot before or after the target. McSweeney’s method calls for you to “swing” on to the target, then stop, then fire. The process is:
This is a mite slower than firing while you swing, but it’s 100% more accurate, according to McSweeney. I’ve tried swinging and then firing; it doesn’t work, just like Applegate said. I’ve also tried swinging, stopping, and then firing. McSweeney’s method works!
At first, it would appear that Applegate and McSweeney are at odds, when it comes to “swinging” in their point shooting methods. Such is not the case! Applegate states in Kill Or Get Killed that “you can’t swing and shoot.” He’s right! McSweeney states that you can swing, stop, and then shoot. He’s right!
Testing the Facts
Now, I have a little test for all you proponents of aimed shooting (only). Get into the driver’s side seat of your vehicle, and let’s assume you’re sitting at a stoplight. A carjacker approaches with a weapon in hand; he’s intent on using deadly force to relieve you of your vehicle. Now, draw your handgun and attempt to aim it and fire. It’s pretty difficult, isn’t it? The range is probably no more than two or three feet. Any attempt to stick your handgun out the window to aim and it will more than likely be met with the carjacker taking control of your handgun.
Now, let’s suppose that you are faced with two carjackers (read the statistics). Both are armed; one approaches from the driver’s side window, and the other approaches from the passenger side window. Draw your handgun, aim, and fire first at one carjacker and then the other. It’s probably impossible or at the very least extremely difficult, isn’t it? Again, the range will probably be just two or three feet on the driver’s side and no more than four or five feet on the passenger’s side.
McSweeney also related a story to me about two shoplifters in Plantation, FL. A parking lot security patrol officer, with his gun in hand, attempted to grab one of the suspects, who was armed. The bad guy falls on his back, draws, and fires four shots at the security officer and hits him with all four shots. The bad guy was only doing what came naturally– pointing and firing. What was the range involved? It was probably no more than three or four feet!
I don’t know how many times I’ve read the proponents of aimed fire-only claim that point shooting takes many hours to learn and is difficult to retain. To them, I say “nonsense!” McSweeney, Applegate, Brad Steiner, myself, and other point shooting instructors have found that you can train a person on a one-to-one basis in point shooting in a mere hour or two. A class of 10-12 students can be trained in point shooting in four to six hours. Plus, contrary to what many aimed shooting-only proponents claim, point shooting doesn’t require a great deal of practice on the range in order to retain the skills you learned. When faced with multiple attackers at very close range– 10 feet or less– it’s tough to beat McSweeney’s method of “swinging” from one assailant to the next.
When faced with up-in-your-face ranges of two or three feet at a stoplight in heavy traffic, the McSweeney “Swing” is the best method to use.
It would be nice if we could have our gun in-hand and have plenty of time, light, and distance to enable us to aim shoot. Unfortunately, real-life scenarios don’t provide for this.
Having deployed point shooting techniques myself, I can attest to the close range(s) involved, the low light, and the extreme stress. Under extreme stress, your fine motor skills (like aiming) a gun go out the window.
I’m sure the proponents of aimed fire-only will disagree with the Applegate method of point shooting or McSweeney’s “Swing.” I’ll not attempt to confuse them with the facts, as reported by the DOJ and the FBI. However, for me, I’ll be sure to be “Swinging” if I’m unlucky enough to be a victim of a carjacker who is intent on using deadly force against me.
I must stress that the information related to you in this article that was gleaned from the DOJ is a bit dated; it is from March 1994. If what I’m seeing on tv and reading in the newspapers is any indication of the current trend, carjackings are on the increase.
Your Best Defense
Your best defense is a good offense. Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. Make every effort to stay out of the “bad” part of town, especially at night. Use your “sixth” sense; if something doesn’t feel or look “right”, it probably isn’t, so get out of the area as quickly as possible. Keep your car doors locked at ALL times. If you have air conditioning, use it in the summertime, and keep your windows rolled up.
Remember, this is Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game!
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Notes for Sunday – May 31, 2015
May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides.
o o o
Our friends Frank and Fern have just celebrated the second anniversary of their blog. It is packed with lot of great information and some sage homesteading advice. If you have not yet visited, then be sure to check it out. – JWR
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Saturday 30 May 2015
Massive Dirty Bomb Exercise Set For June: “We Are Clearly Seeing An Undeniable Buildup To A So Far Unknown Event”
Editor’s Note: Add another military exercise to the broader Jade Helm operation be held this summer. According to a report originally published by Alex Thomas at Intellihub, at least 1,000 National Guard troops will be working with local police and utility workers to simulate a dirty bomb attack on U.S. soil. Is this drill connected to other military exercises on U.S. soil that aim to prepare America for a large-scale event that officials within the government may be privy to? Or is this just part of the new normal; just another preparedness drill looking out for the interests of American citizens?
Operation Northern Exposure: Over 1,000 troops to take part in Michigan dirty bomb exercise
By Alex Thomas
A massive simulated dirty bomb attack exercise is set to take place at the end of June in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Operation Northern Exposure will include over 1,000 Michigan National Guard soldiers and will be the first time in history that local authorities have worked with the National Guard.
According to WoodTV.com, the drill will use a city landfill as the site for the simulated dirty bomb attack and a middle school for the “decontamination center.”
“The public may notice more military vehicles in the area, as well as helicopters bringing crews to and from the sites, but the general public won’t be impacted. Local officials said traffic in the area won’t be affected.”
Hoping to quell any public fears, Kent County Emergency Management Director Lieutenant Jack Stewart told WoodTV that, “It’s all off the beaten path. There are no public highways involved other than transportation to the site and away from the site.”
“They are even taking utility workers and getting them involved in what they are calling a dirty bomb scenario, or a nuclear radiation type of scenario,” reported Dahboo777 in a recent YouTube report on the training.
This massive dirty bomb exercise is yet another military/local law enforcement drill announced in the lead up to Jade Helm.
In the last two months we have seen literally over a dozen military drills either take place or be announced. This is happening at the same time as a huge amount of seemingly random (but possibly connected) military movements are being documented throughout the country.
A breakdown of reporting going back the last two months conclusively proves this.
Military drills and troop movements
On March 13th, Intellihub founder Shepard Ambellas detailed photos and documentation of nearly 40 U.S. Army soldiers, wielding training rifles and dressed in full combat gear, participating in an urban warfare style training drill just outside the Texarkana Regional Airport perimeter.
Fast forwarding into the middle of April, a report out of Big Springs, Texas revealed that a train full of military equipment and over a dozen helicopters had arrived in the town ahead of Jade Helm 2015.
Photographs taken in Corona, California a few days later added to the Jade Helm speculation after they showed a MRAP full of what looked to be U.S. Marines driving down the 1-15 freeway. “In broad daylight with not a care in the world”
On April 24th a shocking report on Intellihub News detailed armed troops seen confronting angry protesters in a “professional news package”of riot control training released by the military
“A massive buildup, a lot of movement and its undeniable at this point,” read the headline on April 25th after a convoy was seen in Oroville, California that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Moving into May, photographs taken in Indiana showed a massive military convoy heading down the freeway. The photos, taken by a concerned citizen, show the convoy heading west on I-70 for reasons unknown.
Two days later, video footage, this time out of Texarkana, Arkansas, highlighted a convoy of Humvees driving down the highway as well as a trainload of military vehicles that was seen shortly after.
In mid May, Intellihub reporter Alex Thomas published a detailed report that confirmed that the military was indeed training to take on the American people, this time in the form of domestic house to house raids.
Literally the next day a new report, also by Alex Thomas, proved that Marines were actually practicing for the internment of American citizens.
On May 18th, a train full of hundreds of military Humvees was spotted, further revealing the increased military buildup across the country leading into Jade Helm 2015. The train was heading towards Cleveland for unknown reasons although a possible connection to planned upcoming protests had been mentioned.
This past week a massive military war game simulation called Raider Focus was announced. The war game will include the largest military convoy seen on the roads of Colorado since World War II.
On may 23th, Intellihub News reported on pictures sent to ANP that show a 1/4 mile long military train convoy near the Colorado Wyoming border.
Finally, a report published this week detailed a stunning propaganda move by the military involving a New Jersey school and the worship of the military on the streets of America. “As parents, teachers, and students looked on with joy, Marines from the Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force landed helicopters on the baseball diamond of a New Jersey school.”
We are clearly seeing an undeniable buildup to a so far unknown event.
Many believe it may be to initiate martial law this summer but most likely the training and military movements are ramping up across the country because the powers that be know a collapse is imminent and are rushing to be ready to control the population when it finally happens.
Alex Thomas is a reporter who has worked in the alternative media for over three years. His work has been featured on numerous news outlets including Infowars and RT. Alex is an exclusive weapon of Intellihub.
Read more articles by this author here.
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The Survival Buzz #171
Welcome to the weekly Survival Buzz with an update on my own preps and announcements from the Backdoor Survival blog.
Since I was traveling most of this week, my preps centered around one single task: reviewing the location of the utility shut off valves in my home and making sure that they were still functional. Don’t laugh. A few years back our water shutoff was completely frozen and could not be turned to the off position. Thankfully, we discovered the problem and had a plumber not only install a new shutoff, but check all of the plumbing valves in our home.
Understanding where your utility shutoffs are located is important but so is having the right tools to do the deed. Not to worry, though. Most of you will most like already have the tools but if not, you can get something like this 4 in 1 tool emergency tool I purchased awhile back.
I hung the 4 in 1 tool in my furnace room so I can get to it quickly.
This year, we actually attached a crescent wrench to our propane shutoff and mounted it on the side of the house so it will be right where we need it in the event of an emergency. Notice the zip ties? Very handy, indeed.
The crescent wrench is hanging right above our propane meter.
I also tested a new, cheapie flashlight this week. My newest flashlight is this hand-press type. No batteries required.
Works pretty darn good for less than $3. Here is a link: Hand Press Flashlight
All you need to do is press the lever on the side to charge it up. The 3 LEDs are good enough to help you find your way around in the dark. I have been using mine constantly all week with no issues. Mine is blue because at the time I bought it, it was cheaper. Right now, the price on the yellow one is better – only $2.81 with free shipping.
Current Giveaways
Here is this week’s giveaway.
Prepper Book Festival 8: Resurrecting Home by A. American + Giveaway
Remember, with all giveaways, winners are notified by email and have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate will be selected. Once selected, the names of winners are also displayed in the Rafflecopter on the original giveaway article. This usually happens on the Friday following the end of the giveaway.
Coming Soon: A FREE Online Class on Solar Cooking
Confused about solar cooking? Learn everything you need to know about solar cooking, using a solar oven, and the Sun Oven in particular, in this free webinar. This special class is free and it will take place on Tuesday, June 2nd at 7PM CDT.
In it you will learn:
- How to harness the power of the sun to cook and dehydrate food, purify water, and be better prepared for emergencies
- How a Sun Oven can help you never worry about burning dinner again
- How to use a SUN OVEN to naturally dehydrate fruits and vegetables
- How to reduce your utility bills while learning how to cook during hard times when normal fuel sources will be in short supply
This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for all of us, myself included. Here are the details:
A FREE Online Class on Solar Cooking
Tuesday June 2
7 p.m. CDT
Whether you have a DIY solar cooker that you built yourself, a Sun Oven still sitting in its box, or are just curious and want to learn more you will find this class beneficial. Me? I am the person that has had a Sun Oven sitting in its box unused for a couple of years.
The Final Word
I have been taking your advice and spending less time sitting at the computer and more time enjoying life. In case you did not notice, I also cut back blogging to 4 days a week instead of 5. Now to be honest, I do have some 5 day weeks coming up but for the most part, my goal is to get down to 3 by the end of the year.
What am I doing in my spare time? Last week I went to a concert in Seattle (fantastic!) and most days I take a three mile hike around what we like to call “the loop”. It is a shoreline walk and with our glorious Pacific Northwest weather, I am making time to get outside each day for longer than my typical one mile trek.
The other big news is that I believe I have found the perfect Associate Editor to help with some of the backend website cleanup work. I have a huge inventory of material that is not well categorized and hidden in the recesses on my archives. With some help, I hope to bring these articles current so you can easily find them!
All in all, I want to thank each of you that made a comment or sent an email encouraging me to take my own advice and life life beyond just prepping. I want to thank you for that. After all, this is not a dress rehearsal. A person’s lifetime, to the best of my knowledge,only comes around once.
So what about you – what did you do to prep this week?
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
If you enjoyed this article, consider voting for me daily at Top Prepper Websites! In addition, SUBSCRIBE to email updates and receive a free, downloadable copy of my e-book The Emergency Food Buyer’s Guide.
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Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials
On sale this month is the Mountain House Flavor Vault Combo that includes both the Italian Pepper Steak and Chicken Fried Rice meals that I recently taste-tested in the article A Taste of Mountain House.
The six tin combo includes the following Mountain House products:
Italian-Style Pepper Steak with Rice
Chicken Fried Rice
Oriental Style Spicy Chicken with Vegetables
Sweet Corn
Pre-cooked Scrambled Egg
Cinnamon Fuji Apple Slices
The sale price is $119.99 for all six – a 35% discount. Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Sale for lots of great deals in both food storage and gear!
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Bargain Bin: Here are this week’s picks, including a few from the newly updated Amazon Top 10 Most Wished For Items.
On Duty Emergency Gas & Water Shutoff 4-n-1 Tool for Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Fires, Floods, Disasters and Emergencies: The gas shutoff part does not work as well as a crescent wrench on my propane valve but the rest of the tool is very handy. I especially like the part that will turn water off at the meter that is located at the street. This is the same tool that is issued to members of CERT.
LED Hand Press No Battery Wind up Crank Flashlight: You can’t beat the price. Less than $3 with free shipping. In a pinch, this will work fine. No batteries required.
Solar Powered LED Inflatable Air Lantern by Survival Frog: These are fantastic! I own two and want to get more. They just work! For more information, read: Review: Inflatable Solar Air Lantern for Emergencies.
Ultra Bright LED Lantern – Collapsible: This is a new addition to the most wished for list. Oh my gosh. I want one. It uses 30 different LEDS and is powered by 3 AA batteries, including rechargeables. Instead of a switch, you turn it on by extending the lantern from its collapsed condition. With a lifetime warranty and over 1,350 close to perfect ratings, I can see why this is popular. Did I mention I want one?
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Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials
One of my favorite deals this month is this Mountain House Flavor Vault Combo that includes both the Italian Pepper Steak and Chicken Fried Rice meals that I recently taste-tested.
Another great special is their Peanut Butter Powder
which is only $12.99 this month. That is a 46% savings. All told, this month the sales at Emergency Essential are a real win!
Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials
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Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)? I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and the price is the same, no matter what.
Amazon has a feature called Shop Amazon – Most Wished For Items. This is an easy tool for finding products that people are ‘wishing” for and in this way you know what the top products are. All you need to do is select the category from the left hand side of the screen.
The Amazon Top Most Wished For and Best Selling Outdoor Items
Emergency Preparedness Items from Amazon.com
Shop Amazon Tactical – Great Selection of Optics, Knives, Cases, Equipment
Amazon Gift Cards
Help support Backdoor Survival. Purchases earn a small commission and for that I thank you!
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Are You Interested in Essential Oils?
The Spark Naturals Oil of the Month Club is the best value out there – all oils are 15ml bottles – shipped out to you once a month (on the same date you ordered the product). The price is $15.99 a month and includes shipping and tax. This is a great way to collect oils at a discounted price. Be sure to use the code BACKDOORSURVIVAL at checkout.
The Survival Buzz #171 by Gaye Levy first appeared on Backdoor Survival.
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Friday 29 May 2015
Letter Re: Historians Perspective At Natural Diets Link
Mr. Hugh,
There are significant facts to be gleaned from the post: A Plea For Culinary Modernism. This post should be read by all. This should be read slowly to glean the correct viewpoints. For example: Those who are not “prepared” will be thrust back to the 1200’s and gathering roots and berries, which will kill them due to their lack of knowledge. We have been enjoying fresh chick weed salads from random patches of weeds from our fence rows this spring. It tastes 10 times as good as lettuce from the store.
Some think that if not prepared, they will just return to the days of the “wild west” and ride horses. This is not true, because there are not enough trained horses, blacksmiths, or people who have the tools or knowledge to trim their own horses hooves. There are not enough wagons for horses to pull. Most of the horse-drawn plows are rusting away in people’s front yards as “decorations”. People today can’t think outside the box enough to improvise if a major disruption wrecks life as we know it.
As for me and my food choices, I totally reject McDonald’s. I prefer food that is not that “processed”. Everything they sell is “factory” to me. There are fast food places where I will eat. My favorite type of “fast food” is when I go to my freezer and take out a link of smoked sausage made from a pig I butchered, ground, stuffed, and smoked myself and nuke it for a sandwich. I certainly don’t want to go back to the “primitive food” days, but our society has gone too far in the other direction. At our farm we raise and can our own green beans, butter beans, purple hull peas, pumpkins, squash, and corn. We also raise our own potatoes and save seed for the next planting. I just finished butchering, cutting up, and wrapping two (250 lb) pigs. I’m making and smoking bacon and sausage at this time. I have a 600+ pound calf being fed out to butcher in a month or so.
As far as time at the “grindstone”, I have my own hand powered grain mill for grinding wheat and corn into corn meal and wheat into flour. I have a friend whose wife does not cook. They eat out or do take home most of the time. Sometimes I take him a serving of our “leftovers” of fresh vegetables, meat, and cornbread. He notices the next day how much more vitality and energy he has after he eats this. This lasts for one day, and then he returns to his previous state. I just wanted to provide a little perspective to a very good article. – MER
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Compressed Air Well Pump and Pressurized Home Water System Bubbles- Part 2, by H.W.
Acquiring Parts
To build this pump, I wandered for about two hours through the plumbing section of one of the big box home improvement stores. I love it when the guys who work there come up to me and ask what I’m looking for. I tell them I have no idea, and then I show them the back of my envelope with still-wet scribbles, as I design my project in real-time while I’m walking through the store! They see this a lot, I think. It might be called Home Depot engineering.
I’ve noticed that the big box stores have stopped carrying many of the parts I used in my pump. I guess the market for these oddball parts is not too large. However, you should be able to find them at a plumbing supply house locally. Just take a lunch and ask if you can wander through the warehouse!
To connect the parts, I used generous amounts of PVC cement. I also ran two stainless steel sheet metal screws through the end caps into the PVC pipe with some cement in the pre-drilled holes, just to be sure it would all stay together. Heating the screws before installation makes for a permanent fit. Don’t rely just on glue to hold the weight of the pump; it could be an expensive mistake if you loose the pump or parts of it down the hole!
The check valves are the most expensive parts of this pump, costing about $20 each. They are brass. My water has a lot of lime in it, but the valves have continued to work well in spite of that. You might want to put a filtered foot valve on the bottom of the pump, if your water contains a lot of silt.
One Internet source recommended removing the springs from the check valves, but this will totally disable the pumping action, so please ignore that advice.
On the compressor side, it’s a good idea to use a filter on the air line going to the pump, as you don’t want to be drinking whatever crud is in your air tank. This made me a bit leery about using compressed air, especially since we have no idea what is going into these Chinese compressors that we buy from the discount tool stores. However, I have had no problems or funny taste in the water with the filter in line.
Water Storage
After getting the water into your home, you will need to store it. You can purchase what are called “doorway tanks” from reputable suppliers. These are poly tanks that will fit through a 30” wide doorway, which are typical of residential installations. I was able to wrangle a 250-gallon tank into an isolated basement utility room with a helper. You should expect to pay about $2 per gallon of capacity for these tanks. The tanks at the farm store typically run $3 to $4 per gallon. My 250-gallon tank cost about $500, delivered on a truck to my door. This one weighs about 100 pounds when empty.
Before installation, I used a garden hose and a new floor mop to clean out the tank in the back yard, with liberal application of bleach. This was a new tank and had not contained any other materials before purchase. Once installed, I did fill the tank and let it sit for about a month before emptying it and refilling. That took care of any plastic odor or taste.
You’ll need to locate the tank on a concrete floor, as water weighs about 8.3 pounds per gallon. My tank weighs over one ton when full!
I set the tank not directly on the concrete but on a piece of concrete backer board used as a foundation for tile projects. Many sources recommended not setting the tank directly on concrete because of absorption of chemicals through the plastic. I’m not too sure about the veracity of that advice, but I compromised by using the backer board. I sprayed the board with some bleach on the bottom side, so that if the tank wept condensation at least I would not have a mold issue. So far, the tank outside has been bone dry, and the water tastes great.
To fill the tank quickly from my regular well pump, I put a tee fitting and ball valve draining into the tank from the incoming well line with an inline cartridge filter. It takes only about 15 minutes to fill the tank initially. I also add bleach to the tank if the water will be sitting for a considerable period. I use a liquid ounce of bleach for the 250-gallon tank. The odor is detectable, but not objectionable, and the water is crystal clear.
Raising Water to Upper Levels of House
I pondered how to get the water out of the tank in the basement up to the living levels of the house. Eight point three pounds per gallon is not a wife-friendly number when carried up the basement steps! I first bought some foot operated galley pumps that you might find on a boat. These worked merely okay, but they did not seem to hold their prime. I would have had to pump for a while to be able to brush my teeth.
Next, I researched electric water pumps and found that the RV industry has a ton of options. I settled on a 12V pump that has a servo controller to provide proportional pumping action, to maintain a constant pressure. This pump was about $250 at a camping gear chain store. There are less expensive pump options with the usual pressure switch at about half that price. These pumps will run dry without damage, in case the tank empties.
With the pump in hand, I plumbed it into my house’s system. I ran a spare piece of half-inch PEX from the water tank over to the pump, which is near my well pressure tank and main cutoff valve. This had to go up and over a wall, and it turns out I needed a check valve at the tank end to prevent the supply line from draining dry with the pump off. From the output of the pump I ran the line through a manual valve and then into my main water supply pipe.
I have the two manual valves situated so I can supply the main house water line from the well and pressure tank, or from the 12-volt RV water pump. The servo controller in the RV pump is confused by the pressure tank, and the instructions say to avoid using one with that pump. When the pressure tank is on the line, the servo controller generally works, but when no water is running the RV pump sometimes turns on at a very slow speed or oscillates. Turning off the valve to my main well and pressure tank line solves that problem.
The proportional action of the RV pump means that it does not run full bore when running the water slowly. When taking a shower, the pump runs flat out and makes a bit of noise in the basement, but we cannot hear it on the first floor of the house. I run the RV pump from my 12V solar batteries through a Rigrunner fused power feed block. The pump draws about 8 amps maximum (100 watts) and uses a lot less when it’s running slowly.
It is very nice to have pressurized water running through my normal house plumbing even when the power is out. My family has not expressed any reservations. In fact, the RV pump maintains a constant 30PSI, while the regular well pump with pressure switch allows the pressure to roam over the typical wider range of 25-50PSI. I actually like the constant water pressure better.
Another of the aspects of this system I like is that all the equipment down in the hole is not electric, and so it is not susceptible to EMP. If you keep your air compressor and power source shielded, you can have water whenever you need it.
Expense
As for my costs, not including solar power, here is the breakdown:
PVC pump parts: $100
PEX tubing, 500ft: $129
Wire rope, 1/8 inch: $61
Well cap: $15
Air compressor, 20 gal: $250
Water tank, 250 gal: $500
Air valve control rig: $75
RV water pump: $250
Total: $1380
I hope my experience will help those of you with electric well pumps have some other options to get water out of the ground after the lights go off. Keep your powder dry, water wet, and be ready for constitutional reconstruction after the crash!
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