Category: SHTF

Funniest Headline Of The Week

Funny Stuff, Journalist Scum, SHTF

From last Friday:

Well, if Black Lives Matter, Pink Pussyhats and Earth First members aren’t going to step up after a catastrophe, then someone has to.

And just a little note to the Daily Fail:  the Patriot Front isn’t a “white supremacist” organization, even though the Anti-Defamation League may think so.  (Irony Alert:  labeling the PF “white supremacist” is per ipso pretty much defamatory.)

Then there’s this:

Militia groups, such as Patriot Front, are reportedly using the devastating hurricanes to push a narrative about a failed or corrupt government hurricane response.

It’s not just “militia groups” who are calling the federal government’s response inadequate and pathetic;  it’s just about everyone who isn’t a Lefty asshole.

And we haven’t even started to discuss how the Fedgov’s agencies are blocking privately-funded aid and -supplies from reaching those ravaged areas…

Worth Knowing

SHTF, The Gun Thing

From Friend & Longtime Reader JCinPA:

I’ve been handicapping the probability of widespread violence around the election—I mean as in nationwide—for a couple of years and now I believe any sentient person knows it is now virtually 100%. The only question remaining is which side wins the election, that will determine which side kicks off the festivities, but we will have festivities.

For any of your readers who are not firearms enthusiasts (there must be 1 or 2?), you may want to put this out as a public service announcement. Good condition S&W police surplus revolvers. Add $50-75 for s&h and processing, but in the unlikely event someone has no weapon and is now regretting that fact, these are the ticket for the non-shooter.

Along with four to five 5-gal water bottles and some 4patriot food packs, it’s time to get prepared.

All good advice and two good links.  Thankee, my friend.

I actually added some supplies to the SHTF cupboard a day or two ago, for no apparent reason.  Hadn’t done it for a while, but something must have been tickling my antenna.  And I don’t think I’m the only one…

That List, Again

SHTF

Faced with imminent risk of flooding over in Britishland, the Met Office has provided a helpful emergency list for those Brits at risk of same:

“Think about putting together an emergency flood kit with essential items that will help you cope in a flood, including: Insurance documents and list of contact numbers; torch and spare batteries; first-aid kit and any prescription medicines; warm waterproof clothes and blankets; bottled water and snacks; battery or wind-up radio and if it applies to you: supplies for looking after your baby or pet. Make sure that everyone knows where to find this kit and what to do if flooding happens.”

Of course, what isn’t mentioned is whether the flood risk involves home evacuation or simply being isolated at home (surrounded, say, by floodwaters).

I have a couple of grab ‘n go chests ready if I had to leave home, and they contain all the above along with more serious survival stuff, to be supplemented only with things I keep in the house, e.g. Rx meds, rain gear and of course my laptop computer (which contains all the documentation I need to run my life).  And as long as I have sufficient gas in the car, the power inverter I keep inside it will provide all the power I’d need.  Of take-along guns we will not speak, of course, but most Brits don’t have any of those, so their supplies are pretty much there for the taking by anyone (e.g. a criminal or police officer [some overlap] ) who can simply commandeer whatever they need.

As for staying in place at home, I think we could survive for about a month, maybe even two before being seriously inconvenienced.

In other words, I’m not too worried about the problem — unless the disaster strikes (as it usually does in Texas) during a severe winter storm, in which case things might be a little more tricky, but not insurmountable.  As our apartment is on the ground floor and overlooks a large lawn, I could always park the car next to the patio railing and use the inverter for emergency power inside the apartment if necessary.  (The complex has all sorts of rules about outdoor cooking on the patio etc., but in a SHTF situation I’d ignore pretty much everything that stood in my way anyway.)

Feel free to run over all the things you’d need to get through a catastrophe of the above nature.  It’s a good mental exercise even if you believe you’re adequately prepared, and who knows, you might find that you have a few things to attend to, e.g. getting in some more batteries or non-perishable foods.

Disaster prep:  if you don’t do it, you deserve everything that hits you.

Unsurprising

Bad News, SHTF

Our economy is sick.  I’d spend a lot more time doing an in-depth analysis, but I don’t think it’s necessary because the signs are all there for anyone to see:  high inflation, high unemployment — both shielded behind the usual lies and statistical sleight-of-hand tricks — and let’s be honest, the flood of illegal immigrants is not helping matters. The housing market is circling the bowl.  Add massive overspending being subsidized by money-printing by the federal government, and it doesn’t take an idiot to see that there’s a reckoning a-coming.

Small wonder, then, that the money boys have taken notice:

Wall Street nosedived on Monday, as fears of the United States tipping into recession following weak economic data last week rippled through global markets.

The bloodbath began in Japan as the blue-chip Nikkei index saw its biggest one-day rout, plunging 12.4%, since the infamous Black Monday meltdown in 1987.

It soon cascaded to the US on the heels of Friday’s troubling jobs report and growing concern that the Federal Reserve was moving too slow in cutting decades-high interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index plunged more than 1,033 points, capping a drop of nearly 10% since hitting a near-record 41,183 last Wednesday afternoon when Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted that rate cuts were “on the table” for September.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 3.4% as Apple, Nvidia and the other so-called Magnificent Seven companies that used to be the stars of the stock market continued to wilt.

I don’t have to say that electing a socialist president and vice-president in November will not help anything — in fact, that could be the tipping point into a black swan scenario.

Frankly, I’m not even sure that President Trump Part II will help matters, although it could make the stock market rebound a bit.  Our economic problems, however, go far deeper than the stock market, which is driven by institutional investment and the wealthy anyway.  They would be largely inured from economic collapse;  but the rest of us?  Draw your won conclusions.

I’m assuming that all my Readers have emergency supplies and -contingency plans laid in, because the next few months are not going to be pretty.

Vote Of Confidence

Lists, SHTF

…or not.  No sooner have the Commies won the UK election when we see articles like this one appearing:

Escape from Keir’s Britain with the experts’ definitive emigration guide: The best places for sunshine, big houses, high wages, no crime and top-notch healthcare – plus the hotspot with NO income tax

Of course, the smart money has already made that plan and the moolah has long ago flown over the white cliffs of Dover.  But on to the list.  Some of the countries are a lot more difficult to gain entry to, especially for permanent residence so getting there requires a lot of wishful thinking.  I’m also assuming that the target market folks are either well-off retirees or else have remote-friendly work-from-home jobs where location is irrelevant.

European countries:  Spain (a favorite already), Portugal (close second), France and Italy.  Never been to Spain, don’t care much for Italy (except in the north, which is spendy) but I could certainly do southern France.  Which is Mediterranean, as are Greece and Cyprus.  I would have a serious problem with either, because I have a problem with non-Western European alphabets, and unlike many others, I would never insist that the host people have to learn my language.  My problem, not theirs.  (I should point out that this is not the typical attitude of most Brit expats.)

Sweden:  what?  I mean, winters, dude.  Not to mention taxes (from the article:  “Income tax varies depending on the local authority, ranging from 29-35 per cent. Earners above a certain income pay an additional 20 per cent.”

Canada:  see Scandi countries above.  And speaking of socialist countries…

Oz/New Zealand:  no language barrier (more or less), but fleeing Starmer’s nascent socialist regime for the established (and venal) ones in the Antipodes doesn’t seem like a decent exchange.  (Hello, Covid lockdowns.)

South Africa:  someone has a sense of humor.  Except that South Africa is way beyond a joke. There’s a reason that Zimbabwe, Malawi and other African paradises aren’t on the list, and putting Seffrica on the list is simply a stupid nod to what the country used to be, and not what it is.  A really smart guy once said to me, many years ago, “If I went to my CEO and suggested investing in South Africa, he’d fire me.”

Texas and Florida:  leaving aside the almost impossible-to-crack legal difficulties of establishing U.S. residence, I am amused that only two states made the “cut”.  (No Tennessee?)  Whatever, I think the author has woefully underestimated the cost of living in both states.  Then again, of aaaaaaallllll the countries on the list, once you’ve established residence in either TX or FL, you can buy a gun and protect you and yours without any problems at all.  Which has to count for something.

So much for the Mail’s list.

Conspicuous by their absence from the list are some other countries.

Of course, one would think that Switzerland and Monaco would be obvious options, but they aren’t:  cost of entry, cost of living, and some really high barriers to residence take them right out of the running. Basically, the guys who could afford to move there already have.

When it comes to bang for the buck, so to speak, the Caribbean or Central American countries like Domenica, Belize and the Virgin Islands stand out way ahead of, for example, Sweden.  I’m amazed they weren’t on the list.

Your thoughts in Comments.