Prepography
The Art & Study of Self-Reliance
Situational Awareness – An Introduction (1,333)
Don’t Be ‘That Prepper Guy’ (872)
Fan of the Ammo Can – Top 10 Uses (640)
Prepping with Garage Sales (541)
Top 10 Preparedness Uses of Mineral Oil (496)
Top 10 Initial Steps to Preparation (477)
OCOKA – A Key Survival Acronym (438)
Top 10 Prepper Mistakes (348)- Difference Between .223 Caliber & 5.56mm (344)
Prepper SALUTE Report – An Observation and Reporting Tool (325)- Best Prepper Caliber? (321)
Jefferson’s Top 10 Commandments for Living (312)
Book Review: American Sniper by Chris Kyle
I recently finished the book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. Kyle’s wife Taya wasn’t credited but also contributed significantly to the book.
When I bought the book I expected it to be an account of the weapons and tactics that led Chief Petty Office Chris Kyle of S.E.A.L. Team 3 to become the most ‘lethal’ U.S. sniper in history surpassing the legendary Marine Carlos Hathcock’s Vietnam era record by over 50%. I expected Kyle’s book to be very similar to Hathcock’s Carlos Hathcock: Marine Sniper : War Stories And Tactical Tips From The Master Sniper which is also a great read…but what I ended up with was a love story. Don’t get me wrong, Kyle’s book has lots of war stories and countless humorous anecdotes of his life as a Navy S.E.A.L., but he didn’t focus nearly as much on the mechanics of shooting as he did on the decisions, situations and loves that led him placed him in the positions that led to his lethal record.
I love a good military autobiography and the psychological makeup of snipers makes their stories particularly compelling. As I mentioned above I’ve read Hathcock’s book as well as the autobiography of Vassili Zaitsev, NOTES OF A RUSSIAN SNIPER
Kyle told the story of his life, his S.E.A.L training, peacetime duty, and his four tours of duty in Iraq (including his contributions to the Second Battle of Falluja, the Battle of Ramadi, as well as various incursions into Sadr City) interspersed with the story of and the conflicts between his three great loves.
Love of Profession Continue reading
Kyle on Iraqi WMD – Today’s Quote
At another location, we found barrels of chemical material that was intended for use as biochemical weapons. Everyone talks about there being no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but they seem to be referring to completed nuclear bombs, not the many deadly chemical weapons or precursors that Saddam had stockpiled.
Chris Kyle
Middle East Escalation in a Dangerous World
The news reports have been particularly troubling lately especially considering our increasingly dangerous world. It almost makes you long for the stability of the Cold War and Détente. Here are a couple of examples out of the Middle East.
An apparent Israeli incursion into Syria…
Israel must defend itself but now we’re mixing Israel, Hezbollah, Iran, U.S. interests, European interests, Russian interests and the rest of the world interested to boot. Complicate that by having Persian, Shia’, Iran assisting Sunni, Arab (Ba’ath Party) Syria and the situation gets very volatile. Oil supplies are in jeopardy, there’s risk of violence escalating generally throughout the region and one of Israel’s other neighbors (Egypt) is being run by the Muslim Brotherhood…where there’s rioting in the streets.
Conflicting accounts emerged Wednesday over an apparent Israeli airstrike inside Syrian territory earlier in the day—with several regional and Western officials saying Israeli jets had struck a convoy of trucks carrying arms near the Lebanon-Syria border, while Syria’s state media described an Israeli strike on a military facility near Damascus.
via Syria Says Israel Struck Military Site, as Accounts Diverge – WSJ.com.
Iranian response for an attack on Syria?
Issuing Tehran’s strongest warning to date, a top Iranian official said Saturday that any attack on Syria would be deemed an attack on Iran, a sign that it will do all it can to protect embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made his comments as Syrian troops conducted offensive air raids against rebels and discovered a trio of tunnels they were using to smuggle weapons in their fight to topple Assad.
Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Chicago, Libya, Mali, Philippines, oh my it’s a dangerous world! Are you prepared for this dangerous world?
News to Know
Situational awareness is a key element of survival and today, situational awareness must be global. Today we present news to know from the past week with a dab of commentary:
Security Threat News:
DHS Admits It Is Unprepared for EMP Threat: The Department of Homeland Security says that our electrical grid is even more vulnerable to an Electromagnetic Pulse attack than we were a few years ago.
Al-Qaeda blamed for Europe-wide forest fires: If true, Al-Qaeda has found an extremely efficient and low risk way damage Western society.
‘Killing Is The Solution,’ Gang Member Tells Walter Jacobson: A disturbing look inside the thought process of a street gang member. Give some thought to what’s between your family and people like this…then take appropriate steps.
Communication News:
Britain in talks on cybersecurity hotline with China and Russia: In all the old movies the nuclear hotline phones are red…what color will the cyberhotline phone be…hope it’s not an IP phone.
Financial News: Continue reading
News to Know
Situational awareness is a key element of survival and today, situational awareness must be global. Today we present news to know from the past week with a dab of commentary:
News that could be ripped from the pages of an Ian Fleming Novel:
- China unveils first aircraft carrier to enter service: That aircraft carrier is the former 33,000 ton Admiral Varyag, a late Soviet era Russian, Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier. The Soviets never finished the thing and the Russians wanted the quick cash so they sold it to a Chinese front company who claimed that they were going to make it into a floating casino anchored off Macau. The only games the newly redesignated Liaoning aircraft carrier is going to see played are geopolitical.
- Spy device disguised as rock blown up near Iran nuclear site: Rock beats scissors.
Security Threat News:
- Ahmadinejad Meets With Louis Farrakhan, New Black Panther Party While in NYC: Maybe the after-party was at the Legion of Doom’s clubhouse & lair…
- Iran could launch pre-emptive Israel strike-commander: This according to an Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Quods) force commander. Continue reading
The Drums of War, Israel, Iran and the Logistics of Oil
The Drums of War…the most strategic piece of oil real estate in the world is being threatened and our leaders believe that Iran has the capability to block the strait of Hormuz. I believe it’s just a matter of time before the Judeo-Persian War. Iranian leaders have stated that they will wipe Israel from the face of the map, Israeli leaders have said they won’t tolerate a nuclear Iran…at this point it’s just a question of who will strike first.
If you’re an Ian Fleming fan read a little about the what’s been happening to Iran’s dwindling pool of nuclear scientists in recent years…the spymaster himself couldn’t have come up with more interesting plot devices including limpet mine attacks on cars…hmm, wonder who’s behind that? Continue reading
Today’s Top 10 Prepping Motivators
September is Preparedness Month. Here are 10 headlines from the past few days on diverse topics to help keep you focused on your prepping:
- Yosemite doubles scope of hantavirus warning to 22,000; third death confirmed: Many diseases including hantavirus can be prevented through proper pest control and sanitation (personal and environmental). Stock what you need and know what to do. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) information on preventing hantavirus can be found here.
- Drug shortages down overall, but some linger longer: Stocking the medicines your family needs to stay healthy is important for both mundane ‘drug shortages’ as well as societal upsets that could potentially break down the medical or drug distribution systems. Make sure you stockpile legally by talking with your doctor or hiring a new one like Dr. Bob Olson. Until recently Dr. Olson conducted his consultations by telephone to help preppers safely and knowledgeably stockpile critical medications. The State of Missouri actually changed its law to close down Dr. Olson’s tele-practice. You can still visit him in person or find a like-minded medical provider in your area.
- Rescuers told to keep at it after China quake kills 80: Nature’s fury can strike anywhere at any time. Keep on prepping and if you want to see a map showing 2.5 Magnitude or greater quakes for the last week…check out this map at the U.S. Geological Survey (as of this writing the earthquake map looks a lot like the Pacific’s Ring of Fire…it usually does).
- Yet another pig flu virus infects people: Zoonotic diseases (capable of cross species transmission) aren’t just creepy…they’re also scary because of their ability to mutate. We wrote about this particular flu strain earlier this summer in Beware the Fair. Continue reading
Why Prep, Part 2 Historical & Current Examples
Note from Andrew: The complete Why Prep Series has now been consolidated HERE.
Last week in Why Prep, the Introduction we briefly discussed the fragility of the status quo and clarified that preparedness is not about getting ready for the ‘end of the world’… it’s about building the skills, resources and resilience to endure the transition periods following dramatic financial, environmental, societal or individual life changes. If you haven’t read the introduction yet, I recommend that you read it before continuing by clicking on the hyperlink near the start of this paragraph..
Today we’re going to take a look at some current and historical situations and events that are/were much more survivable (financial and otherwise) for those that took the time to prepare. For brevity’s sake I have chosen a small sampling of the historical examples available and have chosen not to include many areas of perpetual warfare (Cyprus, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Palestine/Israel, Northern Ireland, etc.).
Note: The links included go to articles or preselected internet searches (to make results more timely) in case you’re interested in doing additional reading on that subject. For convenience, these examples are listed by continent although many of the events/situations spanned multiple continents. Continue reading
Iran Expects War & Victory
The Revolutionary Guards have more than 1,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching all U.S. bases in the region, all of Israel and some capitals in Europe. In collaboration with China and North Korea, they are also working on intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Great article written by a former CIA clandestine operative within the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Incidentally, the Gen Hossein Salami mentioned is a senior IRGC commander. This force is charged with exporting ‘Islamic Revolution’ outside of Iran’s borders. These guys are responsible for much of the anti-American unpleasantness in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
