Prepography
The Art & Study of Self-Reliance
Situational Awareness – An Introduction (1,344)
Don’t Be ‘That Prepper Guy’ (883)
Fan of the Ammo Can – Top 10 Uses (644)
Prepping with Garage Sales (573)
OCOKA – A Key Survival Acronym (528)
Top 10 Preparedness Uses of Mineral Oil (513)
Top 10 Initial Steps to Preparation (509)
Snake Eater – How to Field Dress a Snake (497)
Prepper SALUTE Report – An Observation and Reporting Tool (336)- Best Prepper Caliber? (319)
Jefferson’s Top 10 Commandments for Living (316)- Difference Between .223 Caliber & 5.56mm (315)
Chamber of Big Brother
When did so many of our fellow citizens start expecting ‘Big Brother’ to make the majority of our decisions for us? I’ve written before about themes from George Orwell’s book 1984 that I see playing out in the world around me. Now… socialism isn’t anything new, and considering it’s complete and total failure whenever it’s been allowed to run its course you’d think that it would be relegated to the history books…but it continues to rear it’s head in some of the most unlikely places. One such place it reared up recently was my local Chamber of Commerce…or maybe we should begin calling it the Chamber of Big Brother.
I live and work in a small town. I didn’t always live here. I grew up in a good size metropolitan area and traveled the world before settling down here to raise my kids. One of the ways I went from being an outsider to becoming a ‘local’ was by getting involved in community groups that I shared values with. One of the first groups I joined after moving to my corner of God’s country was the local Chamber of Commerce.
If you’re not familiar with what a Chamber of Commerce does it’s basically a civic organization that supports the local business community as well as offering networking opportunities among businesspeople, local officials and members of other civic organizations. I’ve made good friends through my Chamber participation, learned which tradesmen can help me with I’m over my head on a project and worked on a number of civic projects that improve my community.
At a recent Chamber of Commerce leadership meeting we were presented with letter from a community member that both amazed and saddened me.
You Didn’t Save That!
First “You didn’t build that” and now apparently you didn’t save that (or at least it’s not all yours anymore). Are your savings safe?
There’s value in monitoring what other governments around the world are doing… seeing what other governments do (and attempt) is often the best crystal ball to see what in our own future. European governments are particularly useful as our crystal ball as we continue to model U.S. governance and tax policies on post war European socialist models.
In a radical departure from previous aid packages, euro zone finance ministers want Cyprus savers to forfeit a portion of their deposits in return for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for the island, which has been financially crippled by its exposure to neighboring Greece.
The decision, announced on Saturday morning, stunned Cypriots and caused a run on cash points, most of which were depleted within hours. Electronic transfers were stopped.
The originally proposed levies on deposits are 9.9 percent for those exceeding 100,000 euros and 6.7 percent on anything below that.
via Cyprus works on last-minute deal to soften bank levy | Reuters
Yes… you read that right! The European Union is asking Cyprus to seize up to 10% of private deposits in Cypriot banks in order to provide yet another European buyout. Remarkably, the news of the demand led to a bank run which will further damage the Cypriot economy.
The Real Hunger Games
If you’ve read The Hunger Games book or seen the movie you’ll recognize some common themes in the article excerpted below. For those of you who’ve served in Korea this will be a heartwarming story from one who escaped.
Make no mistake, evil isn’t just something you see in book/movie villains.
As to the Hunger Games movie…one of the first movies I ever saw (after reading the book) that didn’t disappoint me…the only thing wrong with it is that it’s way too short at 2 Hours and 22 minutes.
International – Blaine Harden – Born in the Gulag: Why a North Korean Boy Sent His Own Mother to Her Death – The Atlantic
Shin was born a slave and raised behind a high-voltage barbed-wire fence. His mother beat him, and he viewed her as a competitor for food. His father, who was allowed by guards to sleep with his mother just five nights a year, ignored him. His older brother was a stranger. Children in the camp were untrustworthy and abusive. Before he learned anything else, Shin learned to survive by snitching on all of them.
Love and mercy and family were words without meaning.
In Camp 14, Shin did not know literature existed. He saw only one book in the camp, a Korean grammar, in the hands of a teacher who wore a guard’s uniform, carried a revolver on his hip, and beat one of his primary school classmates to death with a chalkboard pointer.
