3 Quick Shelters (The Last One is Invisible!)

The most powerful thing about being in the wilderness is the idea that there is zero concern about your wellbeing. Whether you live or die or get eaten alive by a black bear the leaves still dance in the wind and the squirrels still jump from limb to limb.

In today’s world we have become so accustomed to a world that is truly concerned about the condition of others. It’s a beautiful thing but can often times leave us unprepared for the reality of our adventure

More people are hitting the woods now than ever before. There is a movement towards adventure and exploration.

My theory is that people are so inundated with the electronic world that nature is providing a decompression. Our minds are tangled in diodes and Ethernet cables but forests give us the chance to disconnect.

People get lost in the woods. People need shelter to survive in the unforgiving environment that is nature.

This article will offer up three very easy shelters to put together. These shelters are all made using tarps and emergency blankets. They will offer you solutions a survival situation where you will need shelter.

Emergency Blanket Shelter

All of these shelters will require paracord and some form of anchor i.e. rocks, bricks, stakes or something along those lines.

You will want to start this shelter with two good and sturdy trees. Check the area for any dead trees that could fall onto your shelter. That would mean certain death and we are talking about survival here, right? Tie a strong knot and assure that your line is taut between the two trees as this will hold up your emergency blanket.

You will want your line to be about 2 feet off the ground which will allow you enough room to anchor the blanket to the floor of your location.

Once you have the line tied and taut unpack your emergency blanket. The desire will be to width wise over the cord as that will appear to provide you a larger shelter area. These emergency blankets are not big enough for this. You will want to fold it over the cord lengthwise and anchor it with some sort of weight or stakes. I prefer weight for these thin blankets because they tear easily and that creates issues with stakes.

If you have two emergency blankets you will have a very comfortable shelter. Using just one is very minimalist but this will keep you dry and conserve heat which is the point of all shelters. That said this shelter will not hold up to high winds. The material is simply not durable enough. It is also a great shelter for storing clothes, food or other things you want to stay dry as well.

Poncho Shelter

The poncho shelter is part of standard operating procedure in the military. This is a step up from the previously discuss shelter. For many of us when we travel we do so with a poncho or two in the car or in the bag. This shelter will also require some paracord and anchors as well. The material is much stronger and will stand up better to the elements.

Begin by using the same setup as mentioned above. We want two sturdy trees and a safe area to overnight. When you setup your paracord this time, however, make sure instead of a taut line that runs parallel with the ground you want the line to be tied and slope down slightly. I have also seen these shelters built with sticks using an A frame design. Since we are talking quick and shelters I would rather use the paracord method.

Once you drape the poncho over your line your will need to anchor the four corners of your shelter. For the wider front opening of this shelter you will want stakes or sticks sharpened down to be such. The front of this shelter will want to slide down as it will be sloped. Your stakes will keep that from happening. The back of the tent could also be staked or anchor weighted.
This shelter is time tested. It’s in the manuals of our military and has proven itself to be the most powerful quick shelter you can make from a poncho. You can store your belongings and yourself inside one of these and be comfortable. Of course my advice is the same as above. Carry two ponchos and you will have even more to work with.

The “JW” Tree Trunk Shelter

This is my answer to a quick shelter using a tarp. I wanted to offer something very easy here that could be used as shelter and as concealment. It will require a large tarp without holes. The best tarp would be colored brown or camo. I used this blue tarp because it was a good size and at arm length. It also helps you to differentiate from where the tree end and tarp begins very easily.

You need to find a tree with a low hanging branch like the one you see here.

Wrap the tarp around the tree and tight a tight knot in both ends that meet at the branch. This branch will keep the tarp up and basically hold the shelter up. If you find the right tree this will be an easy step.

The tree will essentially work as a tent pole in the center of your shelter. Depending on the size of your tarp this could be a very comfortable shelter. You will want to inspect the base of your tree for things like ant nests. It would be terrible to setup your shelter only to find out through the night that you are covered in carpenter ants.

Wrap your tarp around to meet the other side. The holes in the tarp can be sewn together by using a piece of paracord. I will sew them around the top and leave the bottom open. Then shape the bottom of your tarp to resemble the root system of a tree.Make sure the shelter tapers out the way a tree’s base would in nature. Once you have achieved the perfect shape anchor the bottom of your shelter in several places.

Now imagine this image with a brown or camo tarp. In the dark of night you could walk right by this thing and not even realize it was a shelter.

My intent was to create a shelter that would blend in with nature. This shelter does just that and with the proper use of color would be nearly indistinguishable at a distance even in daylight.

MOD: You will want to wrap a few lengths of paracord around the top of the shelter just below where the knot is tied. This will keep the rain out. Otherwise it will let moisture in.

Fire, Water, and Shelter are the basics of survival and I hope you give some of these quick shelters a go on your next trip out into the wilderness. Like I said they may not be a Coleman but if you find yourself in a pinch these shelters will greatly increase the likelihood of your survival and hopefully provide you with a decent night’s sleep.

The most powerful thing about being in the wilderness is the idea that there is zero concern about your wellbeing. Whether you live or die or get eaten alive by

EMP Commission Chief of Staff Issues Dire Warning to America

Anyone who’s done more than glance at this site will know that we take the threat of an EMP attack very seriously. It deserves it. Unless there’s a major nuclear war, or an extinction-level event on the magnitude of a giant asteroid hitting the planet or the Yellowstone supervolcano finally blowing its top, a properly executed EMP would inflict more damage on the USA than anything else you could imagine.

So, considering how destructive an EMP attack would be, you would expect the government to be working hard to protect us against one. After all, if there’s a legitimate reason for governments to exist in the first place, this is it – protecting the American people from a threat that could kill most of us and change the survivors’ way of life forever. If governments at all levels, from your town selectmen up to the White House, have time to mess around with gender-free restrooms and arranging welfare payments for illegal aliens, surely that means they’re well on top of the important stuff like protecting us from an EMP?

No. Dead wrong. The fact is that, despite the massive damage an EMP attack would inflict on the USA, our government has done almost nothing to protect us against it. They haven’t invested the money in hardening key infrastructure or preparing to recover from an attack. They haven’t put anyone in charge of making those preparations. They haven’t even told the American people the full extent of the threat.R

All Talk, No Action

In fact, all that’s really happened is that, round about the turn of the century, Congress set up the snappily named Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, usually known as the EMP Commission. Nothing much happened and the commission basically faded away, unlike the threat, but in November 2015 the National Defense Authorization Act re-established the EMP Commission and funded it through to June 2017.

It’s fair to say that the government hasn’t thrown its full weight behind the EMP Commission. In fact although there were enough funds to keep it running past June 2017, the DoD withdraw most of its support when the original funding date passed, leaving the Commission to do the best it could on its own. Luckily the Commission had some dedicated people on board, including experts on intelligence, communications, electronics and nuclear weapons. They include a retired USAF general, several ex-professors from national nuclear laboratories and a former director of the CIA; this isn’t just a handful of political talking heads.

How Bad Is It Anyway?

Last July the EMP Commission released a report on the USA’s preparedness for EMP attack, and it makes grim reading. The government has been warned for years about the potential consequences of an EMP; but there’s been almost no action on any of the recommendations. Some of the worst problems identified were:

• There has been no effort to expand backup electricity sources for the national grid. The technology exists to build large battery backups that can keep essential services running until repairs can begin – in fact these backups are actually being installed in Australia right now. They’re not being installed in the USA, even though the manufacturer is Tesla, a US company. Battery backups can’t replace power stations even for a short time, but they can provide enough power to assist repair workers.
• If there are repair workers, of course. The Commission found that there are very few people with the skills to repair or rebuild the power grid after an EMP. There are still homes in Puerto Rico without power almost a year after Hurricane Maria hit, and the main reason for that is a shortage of technicians who can repair the damage. If we struggle to repair downed power lines and water-damaged transformers on one territory, how will we cope when the entire grid has been damaged by EMP? Unless more technicians are trained in a hurry the lights could be off for a very long time.
• We have almost no ability to “black start” the grid – get it up and running again after a total blackout. Most procedures for repairing and restarting damaged sections of the grid rely on having power available from the rest of it. As it stands, even if sections of the grid can be repaired quickly we might not be able to get them running again.
• There’s been almost no attempt made to harden power stations, transformers or even power cables against EMP. The North American power grid isn’t in great shape. It’s at risk from natural events like a coronal mass ejection; in 1989 a fairly small CME knocked out power across the whole of Quebec and parts of New Jersey. In its current state, the grid would be devastated by an EMP attack.
• Nobody has overall responsibility for EMP defense. That means even if government departments and agencies to start preparing for an attack, their work won’t be coordinated. That wastes taxpayers’ money, which is bad enough – but it also risks leaving gaps in preparedness that could undermine the whole thing. The Commission has asked the government to appoint someone to coordinate planning for EMP defense. It hasn’t happened.
• The DoD is withholding information from the public. Commissioner Peter Pry says seven key reports on EMP, containing information that would help the American people understand and prepare to survive the threat, are still classified; Pry blames holdovers from the Obama administration for the failure to publish this vital data.

So Now What?

It’s not all bad news, of course. The EMP Commission has praised President Trump’s Executive Order 13800, aimed at protecting the electrical grid and other networks against cyber attack. Commissioner Pry is urging the administration to include EMP as one of the threats covered by the EO, as it’s on the same spectrum as cyber warfare – an attack on infrastructure, not directly against the American people.

However, even if the government finally starts to listen to advice and steps up their preparations for an EMP attack, it’s going to be years before they accomplish anything. Upgrading the grid to a pint where it can be quickly reactivated after an EMP could take 15 years or more. Hardening computer networks would be quicker, but computers aren’t a lot of use without power to run them. There are hostile countries that could attack us with EMP now, and there will be a lot more by the time the government gets anything done – even if it starts now.

The ugly truth is that it’s going to be a long time, if ever, before our politicians do anything useful to protect us against electromagnetic pulse weapons. If you want to survive an EMP event, you’re going to have to take action yourself. That means being ready to do without electronics – and electricity itself – as much as possible, and ensuring you have a robust power supply and EMP protection for the gadgets you do need. It would be a lot better if the government invested in a grid and generation system robust enough to withstand an EMP, or at least be quickly restarted after one. But they’re not doing that, so as usual we’re on our own.

Anyone who’s done more than glance at this site will know that we take the threat of an EMP attack very seriously. It deserves it. Unless there’s a major nuclear

Is Gun Control Good or Bad?

In the words of John R. Lott, Jr., “More Guns, Less Crime.” I first meet Mr. Lott in 2000 when he came to testify against the Glendenning “smart gun” legislation. I presented him as an expert witness to counter every aspect of the former Maryland Governor’s initiative to restrict firearm ownership from law-abiding taxpayers.

One of the first things I learned that year is everything in the legislature is orchestrated. Everything. And the conductor is not We the People. In spite of the solid facts economist, Lott put forth, Glendenning’s legislation passed. The bill signing took place in the State House Rotunda in Annapolis with the then POTUS Bill Clinton in attendance.

THE DEBATE

There was no doubt the bills would leave the House and Senate judiciary committees un-amended. This was the Governor’s “Legislative Package” for that year and he’d be damned if it would be changed in any way during the committee process. Democrats had their marching orders and if they fell short, sanctions included not having a leadership role or benefiting by other preferential treatment of the majority “leadership.”

Politics is the epitome of “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” On the surface, it can appear to be adult negotiation all in the best interest of We the People. However, it is not at all. There are so many individual agendas it is nearly impossible to repeal any laws. Consequently, the “power” that permeates through the hallowed halls of the Maryland General Assembly does not have “to the people” as a tagline. Unfortunately, our elected officials soon forget their elected position is a responsibility and not power.

Under the historic, stained glass dome crafted by Tiffany and presented to the people of Maryland in 1902, in the round Joint Hearing room, the Senate and the House judicial committees convened to hear the second reader testimony from citizens. During the joint committee debates, pro-second legislators argued for days against any and all legislation that was against our United States Constitution to no avail.

We did everything we could to slip in an amendment to the extent Glendenning sent his goons in to monitor the committee room. Lurking in the back, they would serve as a stark reminder to the Democrat members to accept no amendment. So regardless of the evidence presented to curtail the myths of “evil” guns, there was no way the minority would ever win.

The hearings on these bills lasted well into the night with 100’s of “average” law-abiding, taxpayers and experts such as John Lott, Jr. showing every reason gun control is not in our best interests. The presence also put pressure on the chairman to move things along to minimalize any risk of an amendment. It was in preparation of the Third Reader floor battle that it became apparent my purpose was to don my armor every day, dodge knives, and throw grenades. We would never win against the liberal gun grabbers but our voices would be heard.

FOR WEEKS leading up to the “third reader” debate, every time Glendenning had a news conference, I was there. I would stand directly across from him, stare him down, and hope the media would report my rebuttal to everything he said.

I became his worst nightmare to the point where one day we were walking across Lawyers Mall from opposite directions; he from the State House and me from my office in the House Office building. As our eyes met, he began to turn around but then quickly walked into the Legislative Services building. I felt a bit victorious; as it was apparent, the commie gun grabber did not like me and dreaded crossing my path.

On the third reading, the majority Democrat party gave us, however reluctantly, the opportunity to voice the opposition. They really were quite aggravated that the Rules required it. In their minds, it was a done deal and a waste of their time to hear otherwise. At one point, during my debate, the majority leader at the time John Adam Hurson, a delegate from Montgomery County was forced to come back to the floor from the legislative lounge, take his microphone, and debate this Freshman Delegate from Carroll County.

In the end, unfortunately, it was a basic party-line vote albeit for a few Dems who were pro-gun. And I promise they were only given a pass on the vote because it was wrapped up and so they still could “save face” with their gun community constituents, win reelection, and return to help keep the Dem majority power.

The anti-second amendment legislation passed.

STATS v. FACTS

In the “third edition” book, “More Guns, Less Crime,” Lott presents the results of his unbiased factual analysis of crime data for every county – 307 counties in all – in the United States spanning a 29-year period from 1977 to 2005 (1st edition through 1998). The facts revealed show very clearly a few things.

First, the very areas where firearms are desperately needed for protection are the areas the government hits first when seeking to restrict our right to bear arms. Therefore, the inner cities where there are many law-abiding, taxpayers are the center target. Then the government will use the stats of injuries, deaths by guns including gang-related incidents as well as deaths of “kids”/juveniles under age 18 and sometimes they will include stats for under 21 in an effort to distort the facts. The Center for Disease Control also will skew the numbers in their favor.

This is by design so that they can use the murder, gang-related stats to further the agenda. We all know that in areas where we have gun-free zones or laws that prohibit the good guy from firearm ownership are going to help produce, not prevent crime.

It is incomprehensible THAT those who are anti-God-given rights:

1- Cannot see the demise of a free nation with every restriction to our God-given right. It is incomprehensible that they want to restrict honest Americans and in essence with these “pretended laws” make an innocent into a criminal.

2- Always want to blame the inanimate object and not the criminal for the illegal use. Someone needs to tell the gun grabbers hands that firearms are not sold with hands and fingers attached.

Dr. Lott’s, study also shows where there are fewer laws on firearms, crimes is not as prevalent. Of course, that only makes sense when no one is armed there is a better chance of a crime being committed. That is why gun-free zone laws are rotten. It makes everyone a sitting duck when no one in the gun-free area is armed and have no way of protecting self and/or others from some criminal who wants to hurt someone.
When we have no gun-free areas, and there is a possibility that a good guy with a gun may be present, the risk to the criminal is higher, and so the crime potential decreases.

GOOD GUYS with guns save lives

The stories the Mainstream media never disseminate happen all the time. At least 6,850 times a day, a life is saved because a good guy somewhere had a gun, and was at the right place at the right time, according to Gary Kleck. A criminologist, Professor Kleck does not work for nor compensated by either side of the gun debate. His book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America reveal that each year armed good guys lawfully kill 1500-2800 criminals.

Just this past June, an armed citizen shot and injured a crazed shooter in Lyman, S.C. According to police and witnesses, the shooter was in an argument that turned heated and he shot three people in front of a nightclub. Prevented from further harm to others by the good guy’s bullet.

Other such incidents:

September 11, 2016: Shawnee Kansas a woman was attacked in a parking lot, and two good guys came to assist. One had a gun and he shot the attacker.

September 7, 2016: Richland County, S.C. a clerk responses to an armed robber with the barrel of a firearm in his face. The robber fled.

September 2014 in Oklahoma, Alton Nolen of Moore beheaded a co-worker at Vaughan Foods. Mark Vaughan, a reserve sheriff’s deputy and the company’s chief operating officer, who used his personal firearm to wound, halted his rampage.

Shortly after her husband died in 2012, an 18¬-year-¬old mother saved the life of herself and her baby in Blanchard, Oklahoma. There, a knife-wielding intruder was attempting to enter Sarah McKinley’s mobile home. She fired and killed him. The additional intruder fled the scene…

In 2007, a former cop and volunteer security worker, Jeanne Assam, saved the day at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thousands of people were exiting from Sunday mass that day as the shooter opened fire. However, Assam ran toward the line of fire, killing the shooter and saving countless lives.

And even as those type of incidents continue, the gun-grabbers continue to win with more and more restrictions on our rights. In my time, the Glendenning “Smart Gun” legislation was the…

…BEGINNING OF THE END

The night before the day that legislation was signed, I sobbed with a broken heart. As I sat in the old Maryland Inn treaty of Paris bar the same area where patriots including Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson convened and schemed the succession from King George III, I told my tales of that battle to whoever would listen.

I warned everyone I saw that night to buy guns now because the extinction has begun. The battle had left me weary. I wept for a Nation under siege. I prayed for more strength and I heard Ben Franklin repeatedly say “A Republic if you can keep it.”

On signing day, I awoke to the sound of a rotating mast of rotor blades from a helicopter batting through the skies over the harbor of downtown Annapolis. It was making its way to the Naval Academy for landing. Clinton was aboard. He would then be driven to Maryland’s historic statehouse.

My eyes swollen shut from all night crying, I still managed to go to the window and give the finger to whoever was in the whirlybird. I was sick to my stomach and my heart. I saw no pleasure in the irony that General Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief marking the end of the Revolutionary War and the slap to his face with the signing of the Glendenning anti 2A legislation.

This is what we have; a political system filled with gangsters who believe they always know what is best for us, politicians who continue to say one thing and do another. Elected officials who only work to further the One World Order agenda snub facts, like those presented via the hard work of Dr. Lott, and Gary Kleck. The only way to conquer a free society is by disarmament. Any legislation that goes against our God-given rights should be damned. It is the duty of every patriot to nullify these pretended laws.

In the words of John R. Lott, Jr., “More Guns, Less Crime.” I first meet Mr. Lott in 2000 when he came to testify against the Glendenning “smart gun” legislation.

Control Through the Illusions of Narratives

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. – George Orwell, “1984”, part 3, chapter 3,

Tyranny:

1 : oppressive power  especially : oppressive power exerted by government

4 : an oppressive, harsh, or unjust act : a tyrannical act

It is a fact the election of Donald Trump exposed certain undeniable realities in the United States for those willing to see. Perhaps first and foremost of the various revelations is the bona fide existence of The Collective. Also known as the Uniparty or The Establishment, The Collective is comprised of the following:  The Democratic Party, Republicans in Name Only (RINOs), Neo-conservatives (Neocons), the Mainstream Media, the Corporatocracy, globalists, elite bankers and unelected government bureaucrats and officials; also often referred to as The Deep State or Military Industrial Complex.

All of these entities have attained singularity through the decades while, for the most part, retaining some “plausible deniability” of their collusive connectivity prior to the 2016 Presidential Election. But now the veil has been lifted. As The Collective has unified in polar opposition against everything Trump, so has its immorality and lawlessness been additionally exposed; like nude streetwalkers performing dirty tricks in broad daylight on busy corners.

Over the past half century, if not before, The Collective has politicized, and weaponized, everything it could subvert.  From the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to the courts, from professional football to late night comedy, from Hollywood to advertising, from social media to education, from race to gender, to sex. Especially sex; and in ways seemingly derived from the nightmares of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.

Paradoxically, however, it is more often the values of conservatives only that are called into account. The Collective will string up blacks like Clarence Thomas via high-tech lynchings and bully free-thinking Afro-Americans like Kanye West, Candace Owens, and Stacy Dash by labeling them “Uncle Toms”. The Collective will pass judgement on conservative Supreme Court nominees with no evidence beyond slander and innuendo. In fact, it is The Collective desiring One World Under Them, which wields Orwellian Newspeak terminology such as racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobe, and Islamophobia, like the proverbial pitchforks and torches.

The Collective sows the politics of personal destruction in order to reap the whirlwinds of division. It shills rancor and broken dreams in order to form a new reality in its own image. A world where timeless moral principles are set aside for (they claim) the good of all.

Notwithstanding, The Collective’s new religion is as phony as Michael Avenatti’s concern for clients.

Now social media companies have purged “thought criminals” on their respective platforms, even as the rogue special counsel investigator, Robert Mueller, has exploited imaginary crimes in order to conceal actual government corruption and, likely, treason. The Collective preaches the tolerance of transgender men in the bathrooms of our daughters and wives while actively bullying and defaming those they consider as dissidents. Falsehoods from contrived, and illegal, government “leaks” are published and broadcast as being true while real facts are slandered as “fake news”.

A PUBLIC THAT CAN NO LONGER DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TRUTH AND FICTION IS LEFT TO INTERPRET REALITY THROUGH ILLUSION. RANDOM FACTS OR OBSCURE BITS OF DATA AND TRIVIA ARE USED EITHER TO BOLSTER ILLUSION AND GIVE IT CREDIBILITY, OR DISCARDED IF THEY INTERFERE WITH THE MESSAGE…

WHEN OPINIONS CANNOT BE DISTINGUISHED FROM FACTS, WHEN THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD TO DETERMINE TRUTH IN LAW, IN SCIENCE, IN SCHOLARSHIP, OR IN REPORTING THE EVENTS OF THE DAY, WHEN THE MOST VALUED SKILL IS THE ABILITY TO ENTERTAIN, THE WORLD BECOMES A PLACE WHERE LIES BECOME TRUE, WHERE PEOPLE CAN BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT TO BELIEVE. THIS IS THE REAL DANGER OF PSEUDO-EVENTS AND PSEUDO-EVENTS ARE FAR MORE PERNICIOUS THAN STEREOTYPES. THEY DO NOT EXPLAIN REALITY, AS STEREOTYPES ATTEMPT TO, BUT REPLACE REALITY. PSEUDO-EVENTS REDEFINE REALITY BY THE PARAMETERS SET BY THEIR CREATORS. THESE CREATORS, WHO MAKE MASSIVE PROFITS SELLING ILLUSIONS, HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN MAINTAINING THE POWER STRUCTURES THEY CONTROL.

– HEDGES, CHRIS (2009). “EMPIRE OF ILLUSION”, NATION BOOKS, NEW YORK, NY, 2009, PAGE 51

Kabuki Theater? Or Political Darwinism? Either way, conservatives lose political ground whenever they swallow the moral premises of The Collective. This is because The Collective utilizes deception to conceal their actual motives while simultaneously gaslighting and blackmailing conservatives by means of conservative values.

In a manufactured reality, pseudo-events are designed to create consensus in order to manipulate outcomes. In other words, The Collective spins illusion by means of narrative.

In the gun control and immigration debates, for example, The Collective doesn’t really care for “the children”. In truth, they use “the children” as a means to consolidate political power. Certainly, The Collective weaponizes the morality of conservatives against said conservatives; and whenever the twisted virtue of The Collective is accepted, the new global religion expands.

Consider the Kavanaugh debacle. Underlying all of the Supreme Court nomination theater, the desire of those opposing the judge is simply this: To project a woman’s right to choose. Whether or not Kavanaugh is actually a threat to that right is beyond the point. He is perceived as a threat to “Roe v. Wade” by his opponents. This means a man’s reputation has now been slandered, and without any real evidence, in order to protect a woman’s right to abort her fetus at will.

At the same time, it’s quite possible The Collective has staged the Kavanaugh production in order to further decimate America’s institutions in pursuit of global objectives.

You win, they win. You lose, they win.

Dirty politics are merely a subset of politics; and politics define Man’s relations with Man. If the U.S. Constitution was set-up to facilitate political, economic, and religious freedom – then wouldn’t an ideal system designed to control the masses, tear down these same conceptions?

And how would such a system take hold? Perhaps by combining opposites through a twisted sort of immoral ecumenicalism: law plus corruption, androgyny, race and gender divisions by means of political correctness, slander, accusations, and lies – and all for the purposes of a new global singularity.

It’s no surprise how The Collective confounds the logical. It loudly laments children being separated from their parents at the border AND Judge Kavanaugh for threatening the freedom of mothers who choose separation in the womb. If old-fashioned virtues such as logic, reason, morality, and law, no longer apply in politics today, then progress now simply requires faith; or, rather, what people believe. Even so, who says the theological premises currently conveyed by The Collective should be accepted at all? They do. That’s who.

Unfortunately, in all circumstances electronically programmed, or manufactured, the consensus remains real nevertheless.

Therefore, the actual enemy of common sense and decency currently, is not only The Collective, but moreso those who support The Collective with their votes, and by believing its lies, innuendo, accusations, and slander. Therein also lies the dialectical dilemma of the mushy-minded middle; including Republican Senators like Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski:  As The Collective descends further into criminality, corruption, and dishonor, these blind centrists now lament the lack of “cooperation” and “compromise” in America.

TURNING AND TURNING IN THE WIDENING GYRE

THE FALCON CANNOT HEAR THE FALCONER;

THINGS FALL APART; THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD;

MERE ANARCHY IS LOOSED UPON THE WORLD,

THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE IS LOOSED, AND EVERYWHERE

THE CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE IS DROWNED;

THE BEST LACK ALL CONVICTION, WHILE THE WORST

ARE FULL OF PASSIONATE INTENSITY.

– YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER (1920). “THE SECOND COMING”.

Only one of the bimodal goalposts has significantly moved over the past six decades, yet the lukewarm lament the widening gyre and blame both teams. In the long term, these people cannot save the nation.

So is it all just politics, or reality television? The differences, of course, are in the consequences. Reality can never be denied for long and this is reality: We’ve passed the point of no return. America is circling the drain. All of her institutions are under attack currently and, barring any great and unforeseen circumstances, won’t survive. In order to truly drain the swamp, a lot of people would have to die. Conversely, so, too, must others be removed prior to the establishment of the New Faith.

Therefore, a larger question remains:  Who dies and who survives?

The Russian investigation has decimated the trust of fifty-percent of the country in the voting system. The credibility of the FBI and Department of Justice (DoJ) has been destroyed in the eyes of the other fifty percent. Half of America hates Trump as Congress now experiences abysmal approval ratings. Most recently, the Kavanaugh affair has acted as a splitting maul in a country of felled trees; while the Supreme Court nomination process, and likely the Court itself, now falls to the sound of “timber”.

Is it that simple? As easy as left and right, he said, she said, and black and white? Either way, there are no participation trophies awarded in Political Darwinism. Many on the right are playing the voting game while The Collective establishes its new religion. In truth, The Collective will sacrifice everything you have and blame you all the way down. Be assured it is their plan because compromise is no longer an option. The Rubicon has been crossed and there are those who will die to defend their New World Order. How about you?

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. – George Orwell, “1984”, part 3, chapter 3, Tyranny: 1

25 Things To Improve Your Home Security

With the state of the world today, it’s likely that you’ve begun to see some changes in your neighborhood. If you’ve witnessed increased activity in your area at night or an increase in “strangers” that seem to be visiting your neighborhood at various times of the day and night, it may be time to step up security.  Luckily, there are some quick things to improve your home security that you can do gradually or in phases, without breaking the bank to do it.

#1. Use Your Locks…

…that are already in place to keep would be intruders out. You’d be surprised how many thieves will simply move on to the next home if doors at your house are locked.

#2. Beef It Up…

by swapping the standard short screws in your locks and door frames with longer less easy to compromise screws. This reinforces your existing locks quickly and easily. When feasible invest in a metal frame and metal door.

#3. Leave the Light On…

…outside to make it more difficult for would be thieves to sneak around your yard and get close to your house, shed, or garage without being spotted.

#4. Keep Your Mouth and FB Status Shut.

You’d be surprised how many would be thieves and other criminals monitor social media and eavesdrop at local businesses to find out who will be out of town, when, and for how long. Be careful who you brag to about that next vacation or your latest big purchase, it could cost you everything.

 #5. Security System Warning Sign…

…may not do much to deter intruders once SHTF but up until then, just getting a decal for your window or sign in the yard can be enough to make would be robbers think twice.

#6. Home Automation…

…via light bulbs, smart curtains, and other tricks to make it appear like you are home when you are out of the house.

#7. Keep a Clear Line of Sight…

…between your house and the neighbors on each side as well as the street by trimming bushes and hedges down below eye level. This not only lets you see what’s out there but makes it more likely a neighbor or passerby will intervene if they see something going down at your house.

#8. Take Advantage of Technology.

Whether it’s a simple game trail camera in the backyard or a more sophisticated security camera, installing cameras around your home lets you see if someone is casing your home and sends a clear signal to thieves that you are watching.

#9. Make Getting In Harder.

Reinforce sliding doors and all entry doors with floor locks and put window stops on the windows to make it that much harder for intruders to get inside. Sure they can break glass but that’s noisy and they risk attracting the attention of your neighbor or waking you. Add safety glass window film to windows. Most thieves will take the path of least resistance.

#10. Build Your Network.

You don’t have to share all your secrets with your neighbors but keeping in occasional touch with them and playing nice can make them more likely to give you a heads up when they see someone lurking about your house.

#11. Capitalize on Cynophobia.

Many people have a fear of dogs. It won’t work on all thieves but you can capitalize on this by putting up a beware of dog sign and some other little things in plain sight such as dog toys, a huge dog bone, and a food bowl or dog chain by your back door.

#12. Install a driveway gate and keep it locked.

Don’t allow people access to your property unless you can verify their identity, especially in times of crisis.

#13. Hang something noisy over doorways at night…

…to give you a heads up if someone is getting in and possibly startle them enough to make them run the other way. Anything that will make noise such as bells that brush the top of the doors when they open will work. The downside is you have to remember to drop them down low enough each night before bed and hook them up in the morning or listen to them any time someone goes in or out.

#14. Make Use of a secure indoor safe…

…for valuables, documents, and weapons. If someone does get in when you aren’t home, don’t make it easy for them to get your most valuable items.

#15. Use solar powered lights or solar powered motion sensors…

…to keep your outside lighting working for you even when the power is out. Power outages are an opportune time for people to try to break in, don’t make it easy for them.

#16. Use unfriendly plants and other landscaping around the perimeter of your home that will deter intruders…

…and even those who are just curious. Thorny plants or flowers, impenetrable hedges, and even a lattice with vining or climbing plants can deter unwanted company from coming onto your property.

#17. Don’t hide your spare key in the usual places

Any thief with experience and even most new thieves know that people hide spare keys under the welcome mat, above the door, or in a fake rock or other item near the door. Don’t use these usual hiding spots.

Use an item that blends into the surroundings that is away from the door where thieves won’t think to look. On the side of the house beneath your bedroom window or behind the shed or the barn will be less obvious. Better yet use a key vault with a code like real estate agents do.

#18. Have important mail sent to a PO Box rather than to your home mailbox…

…to keep your most critical mail safe. I doubt even SHTF can stop the U.S. postal service so better safe than sorry.

#19. Eliminate hiding places around your home

Cut back shrubs and trees or bushes near or under your windows and around your doors or along the driveway.

#20. Identify and gradually fortify a safe room or area

No matter what security measures you take, there is always the chance that you will fail and an intruder will get into your home. Once this happens your best bet is a safe room or area that you’ve fortified in advance.

#21. Use decoy supplies and weapons

Most thieves won’t know in advance if you have weapons or supplies. They’ll take what they see or can find easily and be happy with that. If you leave an old gun and small bills where it can be easily found, you may trick the thieves into thinking that’s all there is and they won’t look further.

#22. Email a list of serial numbers and photos of appliances, electronics and other assets to yourself every three months.

If things are stolen during non-SHTF times, you’ll have something to start from for insurance purposes.

#23. Close It Up

Don’t leave your garage door open during the daylight hours for everyone to see the great toys and other things you have that they may want. You’d be surprised how often thieves decide their targets by cruising through and checking out open garage doors.

#24. Keep your vehicles locked up

This includes your car, motorcycle, ATV, boat, or RV. You’d be surprised how often vehicles are ransacked simply because the thief found it unlocked.

#25. Stay Alert and Learn Self-Defense

Two of the best ways to improve security around your home are to stay alert to your surroundings and learn self-defense. Both of these skills may mean be the reason you get to keep your life in some situations and can certainly help deter a would-be thief.

With the state of the world today, it’s likely that you’ve begun to see some changes in your neighborhood. If you’ve witnessed increased activity in your area at night or

9 Ways to Heat Yourself Post-SHTF

When SHTF, the first things most people will focus on is trying to find food and water. But if you’re a prepper you know that while water is critically important to your long-term survival, the ability to stay warm and to heat yourself post-SHTF can mean the difference between life and death.

Frostbite and hypothermia can set in very quickly, in less than five minutes on cold days when the wind is blowing, and even in moderate weather if you are wet.

So, one of the major things that preppers need to plan for when SHTF is how to stay warm in your home or other shelter and how to heat yourself if you are stranded outdoors unexpectedly for any length of time. In fact, knowing and planning for ways to heat yourself and stay warm is important even for short-term emergencies like a power outage.

Ways to Keep Your Body Warm

Understanding how to stay warm is critical to being able to heat yourself post-SHTF. The best ways to keep your body warm is to prevent heat loss as much as possible.

1. Conduction

Prevent the direct transfer of heat from your body by using a sleeping bag if you are outdoors or a pad of thick blankets or thick layer of dry debris between you and the cold ground. Anything you can put down between you and the ground or use to raise yourself up off the ground will help to slow your loss of body heat and will keep you warmer.

2. Convection – Cover Up

Body heat is lost when air moves over exposed skin, also called wind chill. We all know that if you are outside it’s a good idea to have gloves, a scarf, and insulated boots in the colder climates. If your mother was anything like mine, she told you to cover your head because she was convinced that you lose most of your body heat through the top of your head.

This old wives’ tale has actually been proven false in recent years. In truth, you lose the same amount of heat through the top of your head as from any other body part with a similar area of exposed skin.

But even though you don’t lose most of your body heat through your head, you can still have a body heat loss of up to 10% by leaving your head exposed. So, in addition to covering other body parts, covering your head with a hat, blanket, or scarf, can help you retain body heat and therefore stay warmer.

If you find yourself in a survival situation without layers, or if you are still cold, you can use a heat reflecting blanket such as a space blanket or even paper, newspaper, or any kind of dry debris such as grass or leaves to stop wind from getting through your clothing to your skin if you have nothing else.

3. Radiation – Layers to Trap Air

Another good way to heat yourself post-SHTF is to always wear layers of clothing. Layers help to trap the heat your body dissipates naturally.

The middle layer serves as extra insulation. It needs to be something that moist air can pass through. Fleece, down, even wool are great options for the middle layer. The outer layer is the shell and should be both breathable and waterproof.

Nalgene Bottle filled with boiling water and slipped inside an old wool sock will keep a bed warm for up to 10-12 hours. You can also heat bricks or rocks in a fire or stove and put them under your blankets near your feet and they will radiate heat.

Share Body Heat

If you have at least one other person in your survival group, you can cuddle up to share body heat. If there are more than two of you, put those most vulnerable to the cold between the others, those in the middle of a body heat sandwich are the warmest.

4. Evaporation

One of the best ways to heat yourself post-SHTF is to control the amount of heat that evaporates from your body. Evaporative loss happens when we get too sweaty.

This is why when using clothing layers, the layer closest to your skin should be something that breathes and wicks away moisture, such as merino wool or a synthetic blend. Any kind of barrier, such when mom used to put plastic bags over your sock feet, will limit the heat loss by evaporation.

Hand Warmers or Body Warmers

If you’ve planned ahead and included a few air activated hand warmers or even body warmers in your bug out bag, you can use these to help stave off the cold and heat yourself in a survival situation.

If you didn’t plan ahead, you can even make your own hand warmers by filling pockets of insulating material such as fleece or flannel with grains of rice and heating them for five minutes on the top of a wood stove.

Keep Moving

If you’ve spent any amount of time outdoors, you probably know that you feel warmer when you are moving then when you are sitting still. This is because heat is generated by muscular work. To put it simply, movement causes your body to produce heat. So another way to heat yourself post-SHTF is to keep moving as much as possible.

Ways to Heat Your Home or Space

5. Permanent and semi-permanent fixtures

Fixtures installed in advance, such as a fireplace, can be used to heat your home post-SHTF well. But if you have the option to choose, go for a something like a wood burning stove, wood-fired cookstove, or even a rocket stove heater, or a potbelly stove.

These can not only be used to heat your home more efficiently than a fireplace, but they can also be used more easily to cook food and heat hot water in a long-term SHTF situation. Get a stove that can use a variety of fuels including wood, peat, coal, and even used vegetable oil so you can use whatever is available to you.

Additional things you can do in advance of a SHTF situation include ventless gas wall heaters such as the Thermablaster or stormproof furnace units like the Empire Blue Flame which kicks on if you lose your main heat source. If your home has southern exposure, you can install a solar room with a collector and solar powered fan.

In an outdoor space, a campfire, Swedish log fire, fire pit, Kotatsu (Japanese fire table) or chimenea can provide warmth for those around it. The type of outdoor fire you use will largely depend on whether you plan ahead and whether you are on the move or have the luxury of bugging in.

6. Portable Heaters

Many people are familiar with kerosene heaters. These do not require electricity but instead use kerosene fuel to operate. The larger ones are 23,000 BTUs and will be great for larger spaces. For those with smaller spaces or who are on a budget, the smaller 10,000 BTU heaters work well and uses less fuel. Make sure you buy and install battery powered CO2 detectors if possible and use plenty of ventilation.

Another option for a portable heater are the Mr. Buddy and Little Buddy propane heaters. These run using propane tanks from 1 pound to 40 pounds. The larger heater has connections for two tanks, the smaller has one connection. The reflector model screws directly to a 20-pound tank. You can find old tanks at flea markets or yard sales or even abandoned in a SHTF situation. Just one pound of propane will operate the heater for 5-6 hours on the low setting.

The portable Frontier Stove or Traveller Stove are two other ways to heat yourself. These can be used outdoors or even inside a tent or yurt with the proper fire safety precautions.

7. Lanterns

Obviously, propane lanterns, oil lamps, or kerosene Lamps are not designed to be used for heat. But they can give off a small amount of heat that can raise the temperature in their immediate area if you need to heat yourself post-SHTF in a survival type situation. Using lanterns for heat inside an enclosed space or for an extended period of time should be a last resort option and is not recommended due to safety issues.

8. Stop Drafts and Slow Heat Loss

One of the biggest ways to stay warm in your home and heat yourself is to stop drafts coming in and stop heat going out.

● Insulated Window Treatments

● Bubble Wrap on Windows

● Caulking around windows

● Use a draft blocker or towel on bottom of exterior doors.

● Add weather stripping around doors

● Install storm doors

● Use plastic window film for windows and sliding glass doors

9.Eat the Right Foods

Believe it or not, there are certain foods you can eat that will kickstart the thermogenesis process in your body. As you digest certain foods your body begins to produce energy. When the mitochondria get involved in digestion, heat is produced.

So, one of the ways to “heat yourself” is to eat root vegetables such as kale, potatoes, cabbage, and sweet potatoes, or carrots, which are more effective in raising internal heat as you digest them.

Other foods that help raise internal body temperature include peanuts, brown rice, coconut oil, and fresh ginger. Hot peppers increase circulation and can raise body temperature slightly.

Warm meals may provide immediate short-term temperature increase and possibly stop the shivers long enough for you to make a more substantial meal, but it won’t last near as long as eating raw vegetables.

Final Words
The best way to heat yourself post-SHTF of course is to plan ahead as much as possible so that you have a heat source that doesn’t require electricity and is sustainable for a longer-term period. But it never hurts to be prepared with the knowledge of some of the other methods to raise your body temperature. If you get caught without a backup heat source or if you have to bug out, the odds will be more in your favor.

When SHTF, the first things most people will focus on is trying to find food and water. But if you’re a prepper you know that while water is critically important

School Shooters Aren’t Born. They’re Made.

Let me start this post by saying that, while I am a gun enthusiast who believes in the right of the people to keep and bear arms, I do NOT condone the use of guns in the senseless killing of innocent people. And that’s the only way I can think of to describe what school shootings are; senseless killings of innocent people. Horrible tragedies that take the lives of innocents, devastate families and send communities reeling. There is no excuse for that kind of slaughter. No excuse. But there IS a reason for it. A reason behind it. And it has nothing to do with guns.

Instead of wringing our hands and posting anti-gun rants on social media, we need to understand what motivates a kid to plan and execute mass murder. Parents need to be talking to their kids. What is their school day like? Who are their classmates, and how do they treat each other? What does it feel like to be in school today? We, as parents and families and friends and neighbors need to look up from our televisions and smartphones and pay attention. We need to be more aware. We need to get to the root of WHY a kid would want to brutalize his school. How does a child get to the point where he wants to exterminate his classmates? How does he get there without his parents and family taking note? We need to talk to each other.

We need to listen to each other.

School shooters aren’t born, they’re made. And as long as we continue to ignore abuse and mental illness in schools, blame guns for gun-related violence, and make school shooters famous, we will continue to have school shootings. It’s as simple as that.

After the most recent school shooting, a well-meaning co-worker came to me and spent ten minutes trying to convince me that I didn’t need to own a fully automatic assault rifle. She did the hand motions demonstrating the cycling of a new round into a bolt-action rifle and told me that I should buy a hunting rifle that takes much longer to shoot. That I should only own a shotgun if I wanted to hunt ducks. And that a pistol makes more sense for home defense than an assault rifle. I didn’t waste a whole lot of time arguing with her. I just said that I don’t own a fully automatic assault rifle. That I already own all of the other firearms that she spoke of. And that I don’t use any of them to hunt ducks.

The truth is, I took the easy way out. I should have steered the conversation to the WHY of school shootings. I should have asked her to think about what might be driving kids to mass murder — social isolation and peer persecution, for example — but I already knew from the previous conversation with her that my efforts would be fruitless. Because school shootings involve guns. And when it comes to guns, she simply doesn’t think. She gets all whipped up into a lather about how guns are the evil of our society, but she can’t tell me why. Because she’s a willing disciple of today’s news and entertainment media, and the politicians who use it to control the masses.

It used to be The Church that controlled the people, from the throne and the pulpit. For many centuries — millennia — societies were ruled by religion. Even here in the U.S., with the separation of church and state, for most of our nation’s lifespan, our communities have been governed by Sunday sermon. But it’s not that way anymore. These days it’s The Media that pulls our strings. Hollywood movies, tv news shows, sitcoms, soap operas, cop shows, and an ever-expanding chunk of the worldwide interwebs influence and direct and control our thought. Those things shepherd us. The Media is the new church. And my coworker takes its communion religiously.

So I took the easy way out. Because I’ve learned there is little I can say to sway her from her Media Catechism. Voicing my opinion only results in her defensive regurgitation of anti-gun rhetoric. And since most of the media sermons after a school shooting revolve around guns and gun control, she has plenty to regurgitate. She really believes that guns are at fault. She really believes that new laws must be made to protect children attending public schools. She really believes that the NRA is evil. She really believes that AR stands for Assault Rifle (it does not). And she believes all of this because The Media tells her so.

♪ Guns are ba-ad, this I know, ♪
♪ for The Media tells me so. ♪

The Media tells us so. Over and over and over again. Every time we turn around. Guns are bad. Especially if they start with A and end with R. After a school shooting, you can bet there will be TV reporters who have never handled a firearm brandishing ARs in front of tv cameras and preaching that no one outside of the military should own such a deadly weapon. They are simply too ignorant to know better. So is the majority of their audience, surfing from channel to channel and refreshing CNN’s homepage every five minutes to feed on the latest juicy details.

Our hunger for spectacle propels these shooters. And every school shooting it gets worse. The media frenzy is a fast-lane to fame for the tortured, isolated, angry child who wants to go out in a blaze of glory because he’s so beaten down that his life isn’t worth suffering through anymore.

It sickens me. The whole news media spectacle of exploitation and sensationalism masquerading as news coverage of school shootings is painful to watch. We shouldn’t even be there. For most of us, thankfully, the tragedy doesn’t apply. It’s not our loss, our grief, our agony. We are only spectators to the horrific happenings of a community limited to those of genuine affiliation with that school. The rest of us should give space and respect to those who are suffering through the horror. Let those who know them, and love them, take care of them. The rest of us should stop using their misfortune as our entertainment.

Offer sympathy. Offer support. And stay out of the way.

If we really want to help, if we really want to prevent school shootings from happening in the future, we need to start addressing the problems that brought these shooters to such an enraged state. Their emotional and mental breakdown is the real issue. And in all but the most extreme cases, that can be prevented. Let’s talk — and listen — to our kids. Parents, families, friends, and neighbors. Let’s rebuild community. Let’s rebirth social responsibility. Let’s put aside our distractions and get to know each other again.

Because school shooters aren’t born. They’re made.

Let me start this post by saying that, while I am a gun enthusiast who believes in the right of the people to keep and bear arms, I do NOT