Survival Saturday is  a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

There’s a story that the media does NOT want you to see but you can find it on this week’s Survival Saturday. Also included is news about some science projects that will send a chill down your spine, some crybaby college kids who don’t understand life, and the rise of the Libertarians in response to the Idiocracy on parade that is otherwise known as our presidential race.

 Weird (and Wrong) Science

What the heck, Science?  Why is it that lately, scientists seem intent on pushing the envelope of ethics a little further with each experiment?

A few weeks ago I wrote about a current scientific course of inquiry – reanimating the brains of the dead. I said, “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” But that wasn’t unsettling enough, because this week, there’s something even more horrifying in the science news.

Chimeras.

Previously considered the stuff of legend, science has made them real. A chimera is a hybrid that is part animal and part human, and for some horrific reason, scientists have created chimera embryos by adding human cells into animal embryos.  They are attempting to grow human organs in animals so that they can farm organs for people who need transplants. While on the surface that may seem like a noble goal, what happens when these scientists create an animal with human cognitive function? Is it still okay to kill that creature for the use of organs? What happens if they manage to create an entirely new race that combines human and animal? Is that still cool? The ethical ramifications of this line of experimentation are simply staggering. Back in 2006, President Bush asked Congress to prohibit such experimentation, following a 2004 report from the President’s Council on Bioethics that denounced it. Clearly, no such prohibition occurred.

But that’s not all from the Dr. Frankenstein files today.

An ethics committee in the UK has given the go-ahead for scientists to modify the genes of “surplus embryos” in fertility clinic settings. The scientists say that they are looking for the genetic anomaly that causes some embryos to fail to develop, thus causing miscarriage. They purport that once they figure this out, genetic editing can improve the chances of a successful pregnancy. But will the editing end at simply increasing the chances for successful pregnancies?

I bet you didn’t know that Anonymous took down the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank, The Fed, and the Vatican this month.

Over the past 30 days, the hacktivist group Anonymous has taken many of the world’s most corrupt and bloated financial institutions offline.

But you probably didn’t hear a word about it, did you? That’s because there is a global media blackout on the attacks.

A few weeks ago, when I first wrote about the story, I shared a screenshot of what happened when I tried to share an article about it on Facebook. The link was banned from being shared.

Here’s a very thorough story about the attacks – it’s a must-read.

A spokesperson for Anonymous has said these attacks are specifically targeting central banks and the 1%.

We would just like to make it very clear that all targets of #OpIcarus have been Rothschild and BIS central owned banks. In fact most of the targets so far such as Guernsey, Cyprus, Panama, Jordan, British Virgin Isles, etc are in the top 10 places of tax havens for the elite. No on-line consumer accounts were harmed, no ATM’s were blocked and no personal client data was leaked. This has been a protest against the Central Banks and the 1% — no innocent or poor people were harmed.

I did find a small story on a UK mainstream news site about the hack attacks, but the American media remains mum on the subject.

Crybaby College Students Object to Midterms and Grades Lower Than Cs

A group of more than 1300 college students in Ohio has petitioned Oberlin College to lighten their loads and change the parameters so they can find success.  They want to abolish grades that are below a C and they would like to simply have a conversation with their professors instead of midterms.  They’ve been really busy protesting, you see, and just haven’t been able to keep up with their work due to their activism.

Then there’s this classic quote that sums up what education is all about:

“You know, we’re paying for a service. We’re paying for our attendance here. We need to be able to get what we need in a way that we can actually consume it,”student Zakiya Acey told The New Yorker. “Because I’m dealing with having been arrested on campus, or having to deal with the things that my family are going through because of larger systems — having to deal with all of that, I can’t produce the work that they want me to do. But I understand the material, and I can give it to you in different ways.”

Aw, Muffin. Wait until you have a full-time job, are a parent, and hope to actually have a life outside of your normal responsibilities. No one adjusts the parameters in adulthood so that you can feel successful.

The higher education system has utterly failed. Common sense and  cause/effect thinking are dead. If this is an example of the leaders of the next generation, we are well and truly screwed.

Is a Libertarian revolution brewing?

In brighter news, there are some people who are finally beginning to wake up to the corruption within the two-party system. Voter registration for the Libertarian Party jumped 20-fold during the month of May, indicating that people are refusing to vote for the “lesser of two evils”.  The ridiculous ballot of Trump vs. Clinton just might be enough to shake people out of their apathy.

If you’re wondering what Libertarians stand for, here’s a quick list of the main ideas. (Hint: It’s about personal freedom and personal responsibility.) This is a classic primer on libertarian thinking if you’re interested in more information.

Libertarianism is becoming “cool” too. Recently, Breitbart posted an article called “Rise of the Cultural Libertarians” which discussed an insurgent movement away from the two party system. “Authoritarians of all stripes, from religious reactionaries to left-wing “social justice warriors,” are coming under fire from a new wave of thinkers, commentators, and new media stars who reject virtually all of their political values.”

As an example, this campaign video is like nothing you’ve ever seen from the Democrats and the Republicans. I was definitely impressed.

This Week in Preparedness

Lately, those who live the preparedness lifestyle have been more concerned than ever about the events going on in the world, and for many of us,  the urgency to convince loved ones to prep is at an all-time high as worries increase. The economic collapse of Venezuela, our own shaky markets and banking system, the threat of natural disasters, and worries about cyber attacks all have the potential to become life-changing catastrophes. These are the events we prep for and we clearly understand the ramifications of facing them without the necessary supplies.

And many of us have friends and family without those necessary supplies. Have you ever tried to convince those loved ones to prep?

Here are some suggestions to help you gently persuade those who are not on board.

The cautionary tale that is the rather spectacular collapse of Venezuela continues. Were you aware that Venezuela banned guns for private citizens a mere four years ago, in 2012? Although the country was already in trouble, it seems like that was the beginning of the end.  Does this remind anyone else of the campaign promises of a certain presidential hopeful?

Read on for the history of how Venezuela lost the ability to revolt or protect themselves amidst the chaos of collapse.

The Bookshelf

Chimera’s Children: Ethical, Philosophical and Religious Perspectives on Human-Nonhuman Experimentation

We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency

Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students

The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom

The Prepper’s Blueprint

The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget

Prepper’s Home Defense

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, you should.  This summer, I’ll be co-hosting a Summer Prepping Intensive with Lisa Bedford, also known as The Survival Mom. We’ll be helping you to get prepped if you’re not there yet, recover your mojo if you’ve gotten off track, and interact with others who are traveling the same journey. It’ll be like a summer camp for grownups and I’ll be offering this for early bird sign-up in a week or so via my mailing list. (Sign-up is on the right-hand sidebar and at the top of the home page.)

Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! Please post your links in the comments below. Also, be sure to let me know what you think about today’s articles!

Lately, those who live the preparedness lifestyle have been more concerned than ever about the events going on in the world, and for many of us,  the urgency to convince loved ones to prep is at an all-time high as worries increase. The economic collapse of Venezuela, our own shaky markets and banking system, the threat of natural disasters, and worries about cyber attacks all have the potential to become life-changing catastrophes. These are the events we prep for and we clearly understand the ramifications of facing them without the necessary supplies.

And many of us have friends and family without those necessary supplies. Raise your hand if you have ever tried to convince loved ones to prep.  Yep, just as I thought. Hands everywhere.

Chances are that when you brought up the topic, your friends and family considered you anywhere on the nuts scale from “a bit eccentric” to “downright certifiable.” If you’ve ever broached the subject with them, the responses were probably one or more of the following:

“Lighten up!”

“I don’t want to sit there and think about the bad things all day long.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Live a little!”

“If the disaster is that bad, hopefully, I’ll just die in it. Who’d want to live in a world after ***fill in the disaster of your choice***”

“Hahahahahaha!!!!”

“You worry too much.”

“I’ll just come to your house.”

There’s the smug dismissal, the deer-in-headlights fear, the rolled eyes, and the outright denial that anything bad could ever happen to them. There’s the justification of “We keep a case of water in the pantry at all times” and the “I have survival skills” delusion. Most folks just don’t even want to think about it.

So. Incredibly. Frustrating.

This viewpoint, of course, makes it very difficult for you to talk with these loved ones and bring them over to the “dark side” of preparedness with you.  It’s painful to see people about whom you care, blithely going along, spending money frivolously, buying their groceries a couple of days at a time, and living in places that are totally unsustainable should disaster strike.

So, you have to try.

If you really care about the people in question, you probably feel strongly compelled to talk with them about emergency preparedness. But, how do you convince your loved ones to prep when the idea has never even crossed their minds before?

Why People Won’t Listen

First of all, it’s important to understand why your loved ones see the world through rose-colored glasses.  While they are busy casting mental health disorder epithets your way, it is actually the people who refuse to accept reality who are suffering from a psychological phenomenon called “cognitive dissonance”.

The phrase “cognitive dissonance” was coined by  Dr. Leon  Festinger in his book When Prophecy Fails, which was originally published in 1956.When two diverse values collide – the reality of a situation and the moral belief system of the person, it causes mental discomfort that for some people is quite extreme. The person must make alterations to one or the other in order to regain his mental equilibrium. According to Dr. Festinger

Dr. Festinger’s theory states that “dissonance reduction”can be achieved in one of three ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors. This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior.”

• lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors
• adding consonant elements
• changing one of the dissonant factors

This bias sheds light on why people behave in manners that are puzzling, irrational, and even destructive.

It’s very frustrating to watch otherwise intelligent people completely avoid the acceptance of our reality.  Those deeply into cognitive dissonance are simply NOT going to come around by hearing you preach to them.  If anything, it will only drive them further away from you.  The concept of, for example, a long-term disaster like and EMP or an economic collapse followed by total social failure are incomprehensible to them.

Because of this, no matter how fervently you believe these epic events to be likely in the future, it’s best to water down the reality into manageable bites.

Breaking Them In Gently

When trying to convince loved ones to prep, it’s best to break them into the concept gently. If you go too hardcore survivalist, too doomy, or too outrageous, they’ll simply shut down, as described above, and all of your efforts will be for naught. Below, you can find a few ways to introduce the concept.

• Point out weather-related events that have occurred nearby. Everyone has had an experience with the weather that inconvenienced them in some way. Because of this, it’s a disaster that seems more likely than something they’d consider far-fetched or overly dramatic.  You can easily provide recent examples, like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.   Other regions are prone to tornadoes, ice storms, snow storms, or earthquakes.  For those in regions where events like this occur, you can often persuade your loved ones to stock in at least a 2 week supply. Because you can give legitimate and recent examples of these occurrences, this can be a gentle introduction to preparedness.  You may be able to build on this base acceptance and begin to help your loved ones begin to extend their supplies. Note: always use mainstream sources when trying to gently nudge someone in the direction of preparedness. Those sources are familiar and to most people, thought to be more accurate and reliable.
• Teach them how building a pantry saves money. Another great tactic is promoting the economic logic behind a well-stocked pantry.  Prices are only going up – it doesn’t take a prepper to see this.  If you can convince someone of the investment value of a food supply, sometimes you can persuade them to prep without them even realizing that is what they are doing.  Then, when that supply comes in handy during a disaster event or a personal period of economic hardship, you can gently reinforce the lesson.
• Send them articles of interest…but don’t go overboard.  Sending gentle nudges via email is sometimes helpful, but inundating a non-prepper with preparedness advice will generally fall upon deaf ears.  Repetition of preparedness concepts without the scare tactics can help break through the normalcy bias, but it is important to limit yourself within the tolerance level of the person with whom you are communicating.  Remember, you do not want to be the Jehovah’s Witness of preparedness, knocking on the door during dinnertime while the non-prepper pretends not to be home.
• Sometimes fiction can really get people thinking.  If your loved one is a bookworm, try giving them the gift of some good prepper fiction. You don’t have to preach to them, “This is what could happen.”  Just find a good story that you enjoyed and pass it on as such. Some of my favorites are One Second After, the A. American Survivalist series, and Max Velocity’s Patriot series.  If you’re nudging teens in the right direction, this is a list of our favorite books to inspire the preparedness mindset for young people.
• Use movies as launching points for conversations. What could be better than prepper night at the movies? There’s nothing like a good disaster movie to get people contemplating the what-ifs. Host a movie night and invite your friends and family. Be sure that a discussion follows the movie – this can help you to learn what their thoughts are, which can aid you in your persuasive endeavors.  Here is a list of 40 survival-oriented movies that might help you devise the evening’s entertainment.
• Buy them preparedness-related gifts.  If it’s a person you are very close to, sometimes you can set your mind at ease a little by making certain that they have the supplies that they need on hand. Buy them supplies that they can stick in a closet and forget, like buckets of emergency food. If you’re feeling really generous, add some water, a filter, and an emergency cooking method to keep them fed and hydrated, if not completely prepared. Create an emergency kit for their car, put a multitool or Sawyer Mini filter in their Christmas stockings, or give them a pocket survival guide (this is my favorite) to stash in their purse or backpack.

What If They Won’t Listen?

Unfortunately, you have to realize there isn’t a lot you can do to convince others that preparing is vital.  People have to come to their own realizations, just the way you did.  You have to accept that constantly harping on preparedness will do nothing more than to drive a wedge between you and those you love.  Sometimes, you have to know when to give up.

But that isn’t the worst of it. Remember back in the intro to this article, that casual statement that makes every prepper grit his or her teeth?

“I don’t need to prep. I’ll just come to your house.”

As a prepper, you have to make a difficult decision.  Are you going to prepare for a few extra people, adding supplies and making room for them when the SHTF?  Or are you going to go about your preparedness business quietly, embracing OPSEC and building up your supplies with only your immediate family members in mind?

Some people state that they have absolutely no compunction turning away unprepared family members when disaster strikes, because they spent years warning them to get ready.  This is a choice that you may have to make one day, and there is no “one size fits all” answer.

If you allow unprepared loved ones to come to your house, that means there are fewer supplies for your immediate family. You’ll be sharing whatever you have and it won’t stretch for as long a period of time. As well, if they are unprepared despite your best efforts, there could be other problems down the line, like wastefulness, folks who talk too much (and to the wrong people), and loved ones who just don’t grasp the importance of every decision in an emergency. What if they can’t accept the necessity for armed self-defense? This could cause a lot of discord, and even be life-threatening if the situation is dire.

On the other hand, the guilt of turning people away will be too much for some folks to handle. Many hands make lighter work, so if the family members will do their fair share or if they have special skills, then  having them at your retreat will probably be worth the division of supplies. Plus, family is family. Sometimes you have to go beyond the call of duty for those you love.

This is not something that should be decided at the spur of the moment when adrenaline is running high. To make a rational choice, it is important to discuss this among the decision-makers of your household and present a unified front, whichever conclusion you reach.

*****

Have you been able to help friends and family see the writing on the wall?  If so, how were you able to convince them that it was time to get ready?  If not, are you preparing for extra people or are you planning on locking the doors?

With the crazy instability of the economy these days, nearly everyone has a frugal grocery budget as they struggle to cut expenses where they can. Those of us who are strong believers in building a pantry tend to pay particular attention to the variations of the prices of specific foods since we strive to purchase items for our pantry when they are at their lowest points. (You can

Those of us who are strong believers in building a pantry tend to pay particular attention to the variations of the prices of specific foods since we strive to purchase items for our pantry when they are at their lowest points. (You can learn more about shopping to build a pantry here.)  By purchasing food at the lowest price in the cycle, your family can enjoy items at yesterday’s prices while everyone else is paying far more for the same item at today’s prices.

A great way to track the change in food costs is through the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each month, the  BLS tracks the price variations of commonly purchased food items. Lately, we’ve seen a pretty dramatic increase in the costs of 10 particular foods since this time last year.

The Price of These 10 Foods Has Skyrocketed in the Past Year

Here’s the list of foods that, unless purchased wisely (or better yet, homegrown when possible) could blow your frugal grocery budget.

1. Strawberries: up 22.1%
2. Apples: up 16.4%
3. Lemons: up 15.2%
4. Grapes: up 13.7%
5. Tomatoes: up 13.2%
6. Rice: up 6.1%
7. Potato Chips: up 5% (no better time than the present to give up nutritionless snacks!)
8. Peanut Butter: up 4.1%
9. Frozen Orange Juice:  up 3%
10. Bacon: up 2.5%

(Hat tip to Money and Career Cheat Sheet)

And if you are particular about where your food comes from, the organic versions of these foods cost even more. (Check out this year’s list of the most pesticide-laden foods at the store – quite a few of them appear on the list of foods with rising prices!) For example, at my local grocery store, organic apples are more than double the price per pound of conventionally grown apples – and I live where apples are grown!

What does this mean in actual dollars and cents?

Well, when you look at the items one by one, it doesn’t seem like a dramatic increase. However, if you look at them by the cart full, or moreover, during the course of a year, it could really add up.

Let’s take apples, for example. A large apple has increased in price by about 20 cents. If you were to eat an apple a day, over the course of the year, you’d pay an additional $73 over the course of the year for your apple. If all of the members of a family of 4 imbibed in the apple a day habit, that adds up to $292 for the lunchbox snack.

Of course, I’m not telling you that you must eschew apples for the entire year.

How to get the most bang for your grocery bucks

For these (or any other foods) that you buy at the grocery store, it’s important to be aware that the prices will fluctuate. You need to pay attention to the price of food over the course of the year to really do this effectively, but starting a price book can help you immensely in your search to buy items when their prices are the lowest. (My book, The Pantry Primer, gives detailed instructions on tracking prices.)

Let’s go back to apples. If you buy them out of season, you’re going to pay the highest price of the year. However, if you buy them in season, the price will go down.

Better yet, if you buy them in season and store/preserve them to enjoy when the prices are at their peaks, then you will pay that lowest price all year long. You might store them in a root cellar, can some applesauce and apple pie filling, and dehydrate some slices for a crunchy snack. Our family spends at least two weeks processing apples to eat during the off-season. (Here’s an article from last year’s apple season that explains exactly how we make the most of several bushels of apples.)

Frugality is a survival skill

With the current economic instability, your ability to thrive on less is a survival skill that is just as important as being able to start a fire in the middle of a rainstorm with two sticks and a pile of leaves.  As prices go up and employment goes down, something has to give, and that is most likely going to be your budget.

Learn now how to make the most of the money you have by using self-reliance skills and common sense to reduce your expenses.

These books can help you to learn a new way of looking at thrift and your frugal grocery budget.

What are your favorite grocery budgeting tips? Please share them in the comments below.

Baby chicks…they’re adorable, fluffy, and incredibly delicate!  Despite their fragility, they’re actually pretty simple to raise. If you have some outdoor space and live in an area where it’s allowed, fresh eggs and meat (if you’re interested in that) can easily be yours!

This week’s self-reliance strategies are all about getting started with baby chicks.

I don’t have 20 years of experience with baby chickens, but I’m now on my 4th batch of them.  Each new batch has been more successful than the one before.  Just like any other new skill, it works best if you simply find a reliable guide, plunge in, and learn “on the job.”  Below, we’ll talk about how to get started on the most adorable hobby around. Trust me – anyone can do this! This article is long, but it contains basically everything you need to know to get started raising baby chicks.

Before you start

We’ve all read about the war on self-reliance. It seems like feeding yourself is becoming increasingly illegal. People are forced to rip out thriving front-yard vegetable gardens, raw milk is illegal in many states, and some states require an “egg handler’s license” before you can sell, give away, or otherwise distribute fresh eggs. We’ve come a long way from the days when being self-reliant was seen as your patriotic duty.

Because of this, if you live in an urban or suburban area, be sure to check the bylaws before bringing your birds home. Often, you can find information on this forum about your town’s specific chicken bylaws.

It would be irresponsible to recommend breaking the law, of course. *coughs* I’ve heard that although chickens aren’t exactly stealth animals, sometimes if you pay protection in eggs, neighbors will look the other way as long as there are no roosters crowing at 4 am or hens enjoying their rosebushes as an afternoon snack. Discretion is the better part of valor, to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare.

I really love having a source of organic meat and eggs in my own backyard. Don’t be intimidated! I started as a total newbie just about a year ago, and thanks to the internet, my personal library, some knowledgeable friends, and the motivation to try out a new skill, we’re now successfully producing protein for ourselves. If I can do this, you can do this. Don’t wait until after a disaster to get started. It took the better part of a year before I had a reliable source of food from my chickens.

Where to get your baby chicks

Baby chicks are everywhere at this time of year. You can get yours mailed to you from a reputable hatchery (that’s where my current flock of 25 Freedom Ranger babies came from) or you can pick yours out at your local feed store. (That’s where I got most of last year’s babies.) Sometimes you can even buy older chicks which are closer to laying age and out of the fragile stage. (I got 3 Barred Rock girls that way last year, too.)

Here are some articles that go into more detail about acquiring your fluffy new babies.

How to Order Hatchery Chicks

Where to Buy Baby Chicks

Mail Order Chicks and Delivery Options

However you get them, it’s very likely that the baby chicks are only going to be a couple of days old when you get them home.  Like any newborn, they’re exceptionally fragile.  You may lose a few. It’s very sad when this happens, but most of the time, it isn’t your fault. Sometimes there is a physical issue with the chick that doesn’t allow it to survive, sometimes they get sick, and sometimes an accident occurs. (They’re prone to drowning in their water, for example, but we’ll talk about precautions.)

What supplies do you need before bringing them home?

Before you bring your babies home, you need to have a few things on hand. Here is my own list of must-haves.

A Brooder

Mine is very similar to this one, but I had someone local build it for me.  We keep it in the laundry room for the first week if it’s cold outside, then on the porch, then we move it out to the coop. The good thing about using something like this as a brooder is that it can pull double duty as your infirmary if you ever need to separate a sick or injured chicken from the flock.

I plan to raise chickens for meat a couple of times per year, which makes a permanent brooder a good investment for me.  Here’s my brooder out on our back deck.

However, if you are just raising a few backyard laying hens and not planning to raise new chickens every year, you don’t have to go crazy expensive. Below, you can find some really awesome DIYs.

Here’s one you can make for less than $12!

Before I got my big brooder, I made one similar to this, except I didn’t fasten the hardware cloth to the top. I cut the hardware cloth bigger than the opening of the Rubbermaid container where it would hang down over the edges, and simply snapped the lid with the hole cut out on top of it. I’m all about the shortcuts and not always the handiest soul around.

Here are more articles about a brooder set-up.

Build a DIY Brooder Box

This link has some videos about incubating eggs and brooding the chicks once they hatch.

How We Brood Chicks (there’s another really cool DIY brooder in this article.)

A heat source

Baby chicks must stay warm, or they’ll die. If they were being raised by their mama, they would huddle underneath her to stay cozy. Since you are the mama, and if you sat on them it wouldn’t end well for anybody involved, you have to go with other methods. The least expensive way to keep them warm is by using a standard heat lamp and a red bulb. A red bulb is recommended instead of a white one so that the chicks sleep better.  This is the method that I have used for all my chicks.

But please use extreme caution when heating this way. Many a tragedy has started with a heat lamp. I had a near fire from one out in a wooden chicken coop my first year raising chicks. Luckily, I caught it just as it began smoking, but it could have been a disaster. It can’t be touching anything flammable or meltable, nor can it be too close to the babies. Be sure to hang it in a way that the chicks can get away from the heat if they get too warm.

Another excellent heat source is the EcoGlow.  This piece of awesomeness has far less risk of fire or harm to the chicks but it costs a lot more than the standard heat lamp. A friend of mine owns one and it’s a really great method of brooding chicks. You can raise it up as they grow, allowing more room underneath.

Invest in a cheap digital thermometer so you don’t have to guess about the temperature in the brooder. Here’s the rundown on the minimum temps the babies need:

Week 1:  95-100 degrees

Week 2: 90-95 degrees

Week 3: 85-90

Week 4: 80-85

Once they’re fully fledged (that means they have all their feathers instead of just fluff) they can handle lower temperatures.

Aside from a thermometer, here’s how you can tell if the temperature is right in the brooder.

If they’re all huddled together and making a lot of noise it means they’re cold and distressed.

If they’re spread far apart, lethargic, and panting, they’re too hot.

If they’re active, randomly spread out, and making happy little peeping noises, they’re just right.

My dog paid an unnerving amount of attention to the baby chicks in their brooder under the heat lamp.

Bedding

I use wood shavings for bedding, but you can also use straw. Be sure not to get something artificially scented, as this can cause respiratory problems for the delicate babies.

For the first couple of days, I put paper towels on top of the bedding so I can see their poop. See the section on health issues for the reason why.

Feeders and waterers

You’ll need some containers for feeding and watering your babies.

First, a note. Baby chicks are adorable, but they’re messy and they poop everywhere. That includes in their food and water containers. Initially I don’t like to use an open bowl for feeding for this very reason.  It doesn’t seem to bother them much, but ew.

I have a couple of different feeders for the littles.

These are awesome because they are inexpensive and they simply screw on the bottom of a regular mouth quart jar. The jars can easily be sanitized in the dishwasher afterward. (They’re less than $5 at the time of publication.)

I also have one of these. I had so many chicks in my last batch that I had to set out 3 feeders for them to be certain everyone got something to eat.

For water, it’s really important to note that a lot of baby chicks die from drowning. It’s heartbreaking to see (thankfully it hasn’t happened to us!) There are two ways to avoid this.

#1.  First, you can get a water container that doesn’t have enough room for them to fall in and die. I like the kind that you screw on to the bottom of a mason jar. You can also get them in plastic but it’s only a few cents less.  You’ll have to fill these several times throughout the day, depending on how many chicks you have.

#2. You can use a bigger one-gallon water dispenser, but line the trough area with pebbles. this way, they can still get a drink but there isn’t room for them to fall in and be unable to get out. You will only have to do this for a week or so before they’re too big to fall in.

I like to raise the water dispenser up just a little bit to keep it from getting filled with bedding. The bedding can soak up the water like a sponge, leaving you with thirsty babies. You can use just about anything to raise it up. I have a couple of pieces of scrap wood beneath my waterers.

What to feed baby chicks

There are several different types of food on the market for baby chicks. You can get some inexpensive starter, but you probably aren’t giving your chicks the best beginning with it. It’s like feeding them fortified cereal. Instead of food with actual nutrients, the nutrients are artificially added to a stripped product. They’ll probably survive, but they won’t be as healthy as chicks fed a better quality of food.

The next debate is whether or not to give them medicated feed. Some people swear by giving them medicated feed for the first few weeks of their lives, claiming that all of the medication will be out of their systems by the time you consume the eggs (or the chickens if you’re raising them for meat.)  It provides them with an immunity to coccidiosis.

Many people are raising chickens to provide them with organic eggs or meat at a better price. If that is your goal, you’ll want to go with an organic food. This starter is a high quality organic product at a reasonable price.

Another option is GMO-free feed if you aren’t worried about strictly organic. It’s a good happy medium between the low-quality “Doritoes” chicken feed and the expensive organic feed. You can usually find a good quality GMO-free crumble at your local feed store.

I always start out with crumble, which is coarsely ground, and as they get bigger, I mix the crumble with the pellets. I like pellets because there is far less waste. I also like to supplement them with fresh fruits and vegetables. However, if you are supplementing them, be sure to provide a little dish of grit to help with their digestion.

Baby chick health issues

Obviously, prevention is key. One great way to prevent illness in your chicks is to add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to a gallon of water. (Get the good kind with the mother – the cheap stuff does absolutely nothing.) You can also get those little packets of probiotics to add to their water, but mine have been just fine with the ACV.

Coccidiosis: Remember how I said I put paper towels over the bedding for the first few days? That’s so I can check their poop. It’s important to check that on a daily basis. You’re looking for anything bloody. ( Turn off the red heat light if you’re using one because you can’t see bloody stool under a red light.) If you see anything with even a tinge of blood, you need to act immediately. This is a symptom of coccidiosis.

It’s not difficult to treat. Although this medication is labeled for use with calves, it can be used for baby chicks if you water it down sufficiently, as per my local feed store. Add 2 teaspoons of Corid to a gallon of water. They’ll generally consume enough if they aren’t too sick to drink.

Here’s an article with more information about coccidiosis in poultry.

Pasty butt: I lost several chicks in my first flock to pasty butt and it absolutely broke my heart. This is evident when their vent gets sealed shut with poop. If it becomes clogged, the waste backs up in the chick’s system and they can’t pass their waste. It’s essential during the first week or two after bringing them home to check everyone’s bottom on a twice daily basis. If there is a little clump of poo on the bottom, you have to act.

You will have to very gently remove the clump on their bottoms. BE CAREFUL. Just pulling on it can actually disembowel the poor baby. Also, you need to be certain it’s the vent and not the umbilical stump.

This video shows you how to clean the chick’s bottom.

This article gives you more information about pasty butt.

This article discusses a variety of chicken illnesses and symptoms.

How to raise your new babies.

So…you’ve got your babies home. They’re safely ensconced in the brooder. What now?

You need to keep them fed, watered, and warm. That’s about it!

• I free feed my chicks and try to make sure there is always food available for the first month or two.
• There should always be fresh water in the coop or brooder.
• Keep the temperature at the right range for their ages.
• Handle them briefly and gently a couple of times per day so they get used to you. It’s much easier to raise them if they aren’t terrified of the giant human.
• Check their bottoms 2x  a day for signs of pasty butt. (You can do this while you handle them.)

These excellent resources can help you learn more about raising your baby chicks.

My absolute favorite resource is this course which teaches you how to raise them naturally even if you’re on a budget. It’s fantastic!

Here are some articles and books:

Chickens from Scratch

How to raise baby chicks naturally

Chickens: Naturally Raising a Sustainable Flock

Raising Day Old Chicks

How to Get Ready for New Baby Chicks

9 Things You Need for Starting Baby Chickens

Introducing the Chickens

Raising Baby Chicks

Raising chicks for meat? There are a few differences

This time around, I’m raising chickens for meat instead of for eggs. Since this is a first for me, I did a bit of research. While the basics are the same, there are some breed differences of which you should be aware. These articles can help you.

Getting Started with Meat Chickens

8 Pounds in 8 Weeks: Raising Day Old Chicks for the Dinner Table

When they’re big kids…

Once they graduate from the brooder, it is time to introduce them to the rest of the flock. This can entail some bloodshet, so you need to be careful and supervise them well.

My most recent batch of chicks was housed in a dog kennel inside the coop with the Bigs. We had an awful storm the other night and the kennel began to flood. I had no option but to mix the flocks immediately, and fortunately it went well. That was, in part, because they were already accustomed to one another through the safe barrier of the kennel.

Here is an article about introducing baby chicks to your flock

Why should you raise your own chickens?

First, let me get on my animal-lover soapbox for a minute. The poultry and egg industries are enough to make you sick – both physically and emotionally.

More and more information is coming to light about the horrible mistreatment of the birds that provide us with meat and eggs. It’s enough to make a carnivore turn vegan. Even if you don’t care about the well-being of the animals, don’t even get me started on the food safety risks or raising animals the way that they do. If the creatures you consume for sustenance are ill then how can you expect to be healthy when you eat them? If they must be on antibiotics their entire tortured lives to survive, then is this really something you want to feed your family?

If you want more details, here is a horrifying, graphic article about the chicken industry. (No, it’s not by PETA – it’s by a friend who eats meat.)  If you aren’t choosy about the chicken and eggs you purchase, you are, by default, endorsing this horrific abuse. *climbs off soap box*

If you can’t or won’t raise your own chickens, please, please consider finding a local farmer who raises his or her animals the traditional way and buy from them. Your business means a lot to them, and voting with your dollars is the only way to make Big Agri change their horrific practices.

On to more positive reasons.

When you raise your own chickens, you learn first-hand where your food comes from. You know what your birds ate, that they are healthy, that they haven’t been given risky supplements or medications, and that they were treated humanely.  Unfortunately, the labels at the grocery store are basically meaningless, with the exception of “pasture-raised.”  That’s a lot closer to what folks envision when they think about ethically raised poultry.

It’s also very economical to raise your own chickens. Have you checked out the price for organic, pasture-farmed eggs recently? Ouch!  My hens eat about $20 worth of food per month and spend their days controlling the bugs and weeds for me. In return, I end up with 3-4 dozen eggs per week. Now, we can’t eat all of those eggs, but they are lovely gifts for friends without farms, and our Great Pyrenees loves them as a delightful addition to his dinner.

I get a lot of joy seeing my goofy hens frolic around the backyard. Each one has a distinct personality, and because they were hand raised, they’re all pretty friendly. If I walk out into the yard, I’m instantly surrounded by happy, feathered friends.  My laying hens are like pets that provide us with eggs.

Questions or comments?

If you are a veteran chick raiser, please provide your best tips below! If you are new to chickens, let me know what’s holding you back from starting your own flock! Do you have any questions that I might be able to help with? I hope this article encourages you to take the plunge!

Tick. Tock.

Do you hear that? It’s the clock on the time bomb, and it appears to be ticking relentlessly toward our economic collapse.

It seems like every day, there is a new threat to the financial well-being of the disappearing middle class in America. Of course, less affected are the members of Congress and their buddies on Wall Street. You know, the ones that put the politicians in office to get favorable decisions made on their behalf in Washington.

But if you happen to have been ignoring the folks Obama calls “peddlers of fiction” who have been warning us all of an impending economic crisis along the lines of the last financial collapse, you might want to pay attention now, because a disturbing series of events is in motion.

First of all, the Fed just issued a terrifying warning to the biggest bank in the country.

Finally, the Fed has admitted that we just can’t take another hit without incurring an epic disaster.

And by “admitted” I mean they’ve issued a chilling warning to JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in America.

The letter is addressed to Teflon-coated Jamie Dimon, the leader of the bank (who seems to have made a deal with the Devil to become completely immune to prosecution, no matter what he does.)

It is 19 pages and heavily redacted, but here are some excerpts that should send a chill down your spine. The emphasis is mine.

The Agencies also identified a deficiency in the 2015 Plan regarding the criteria for a rational and less-complex legal entity structure. In order to substantially mitigate the risk that JPMC ‘s material financial distress and failure would have systemic effects, JPMC should ensure that its legal entity structure promotes resolvability under the preferred resolution strategy across a range of failure scenarios. Flexibility—or “optionality”—within the resolution strategy helps mitigate risks that, if not overcome, could otherwise undermine successful execution of the strategy and, more broadly, pose serious adverse effects to the financial stability of the United States.

Then there’s this:

These divestiture options do not appear to provide sufficient optionality under different market conditions.

The divestiture options in the 2015 Plan also were not sufficiently actionable, as the 2015 Plan sections fore did not contain detailed, tailored, and complete separability analyses. For example, only one obstacle to divestiture to the [redacted] key vendor contracts was adequately analyzed; the analysis of the other key obstacles cited regulatory approvals, client communications [redacted]

This is also concerning:

JPMC does not have an appropriate model and process for estimating and maintaining sufficient liquidity at, or readily available to, material entities in resolution (RLAP model). This is notable given J?MC’s liquidity profile in its 2015 Plan, which relies on the firm’s ability to shift substantial amounts of liquidity around the organization during stress, as needed. As explained below, JPMC’s liquidity profile is vulnerable to adverse actions by third parties.

Even without a degree in finance, I know this is bad:

JPMC’s 2015 Plan relied on roughly  of parent liquidity support being injected into various material entities, including its U.S. broker-dealers, during the period immediately preceding JPMC’s bankruptcy filing. This includes reliance on funds in foreign entities that may be subject to defensive ringfencing during a time of financial stress.

Here’s the long and the short of it:

Every year, large banks must create a contingency plan that explains what they’ll do if they begin to go under. The biggest bank in the country has such a lackluster, half-baked plan that the Fed called them out on it for 19 pages and warns that their nonchalance could be responsible for the financial instability of the entire country.

PS: Since this isn’t my first rodeo, I downloaded the entire PDF. It’s funny  how things have a way of disappearing off the internet when the mainstream media wants to ignore them.  You can download it yourself too at this link:

Living-Will-Letter-Issued-to-JPMorgan-Chase

JPMorgan Chase is not alone.

But they’re not the only ones.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo also saw their contingency plans rejected. Zero Hedge reports:

Three of the five largest U.S. banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) have now had their wind-down plans rejected by the Federal agency insuring bank deposits (FDIC) and the Federal agency (Federal Reserve) that secretly sluiced $13 trillion in rollover loans to the insolvent or teetering banks in the last epic crisis that continues to cripple the country’s economic growth prospects.

Are all three banks going down?

But that isn’t even the scariest part.

And just in case you think it’s just a normal day at the Fed…It isn’t just these warning letters that should make you pay attention. At the risk of sounding like I’m selling Ginsu knives, there’s more.

The Great Recession Blog posted a bullet list that should blow your mind when taken in conjunction with the news above. (Be sure to read the full article – it goes into a lot more detail.) It seems that there’s enough concern to spark a flurry of secret meetings among those in power.

• The Federal Reserve Board of Governors just held an “expedited special meeting” on Monday in closed-door session.
• The White House made an immediate announcement that the president was going to meet with Fed Chair Janet Yellen right after Monday’s special meeting and that Vice President Biden would be joining them.
• The Federal Reserve very shortly posted an announcement of another expedited closed-door meeting for Tuesday for the specific purpose of “bank supervision.”
• A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central-bank heads starts in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, too, and continues through Wednesday.
• Then on Thursday the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund meet in Washington.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta just revised US GDP growth for the first quarter to the precipice of recession at 0.1%.
• US banks are widely expected this week to report their worst quarter financially since the start of the Great Recession.
• The European Union’s new “bail-in” procedures for failing banks were employed for the first time with Austrian bank Heta Asset Resolution AG.
• Italy’s minister of finance called an emergency meeting of Italian bankers to engage “last resort” measures for dealing with 360-billion euros of bad loans in banks that have only 50 billion in capital.

How does this affect you?

Maybe you think this won’t affect you. Maybe you don’t have an account with anyone affiliated with JP Morgan Chase, BofA, and Wells Fargo. Maybe you aren’t an investor. Maybe you don’t have real estate. Maybe you are absolutely certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that your job is secure. Perhaps you have money in the bank, or maybe not – maybe you keep it stuffed in your mattress.

The trouble is, the money you are working overtime to make, the security you feel that you have by saving it…it’s perceived value can be completely wiped out by a financial crisis that occurs on a national level. That’s because if a huge bank like JPMC fails, lots of othe companies fail with it. Then this stuff happens:

• Prices will go up. We’ve seen an almost unprecedented increase in the price of food over the past couple of years, even as the quality of the food available plummets. This is due to massive droughts, early freezes, and basic cost-of-living increases.
• Unemployment will go up.  Those without jobs now are equal to the number of unemployed during The Great Depression. As the economy plummets, that number will almost certainly exceed the previous highs as businesses scramble to keep their heads above water. They’ll cut stuff to try and keep afloat, and if that fails, the jobs will be lost anyway.
• Rents will increase.  If you don’t own your home, prepare to pay higher rent as landlords try to cover their losses of income in other sectors. Foreclosures will be on the rise, which means there will be fewer homes available.
• Bail-ins could dip into your savings.  Remember a few years ago when depositors in Cyprus could do nothing when the banks there helped themselves to their savings in order to “save” themselves? Do you really, truly, think it can’t happen here?

The bottom line is, income will remain the same, decrease, or even disappear entirely for many of us.  Meanwhile, the price of darn near everything will go up.  Expect to pay more for things like keeping your utilities on, feeding and clothing your family, keeping a roof over your heads. Aside from that, those dollars you are carefully saving? They are only providing you with the illusion of security.

Aside from that, those dollars you are carefully saving? They are only providing you with the illusion of security.

Here’s what you need to do

Here’s what you need to do immediately in the event of either a market crash or further news of a bank failure. (Of course, if you wait until a bank failure has been announced, you may have waited too long.)

• Take your money out of the bank ASAP.  If you still keep your money in the bank, go there and remove as much as you can while leaving in enough to pay your bills. Although it wasn’t a market collapse in Greece recently, the banks did close and limit ATM withdrawals.  People went for quite some time without being able to access their money, but were able to have a sense of normalcy by transferring money online to pay bills or using their debit cards to make purchases.  Get your cash out. You don’t want to be at the mercy of the banks.
• Stock up on supplies.  Make sure you are prepped. If you’re behind on your preparedness efforts and need to do this quickly, you can order buckets of emergency food just to have some on hand. (Learn how to build an emergency food supply using freeze dried food HERE) Hit the grocery store or wholesale club and stock up there, too, on  your way home. As mentioned above, if you can’t get your money out, you may be able to make online or debit card purchases.
• Load up on fuel.  Fill up your gas tank and fill your extra cans also. Quite often, fuel prices skyrocket in the wake of a market crash.
• Be prepared for the potential of civil unrest. If the banks put a limit on withdrawals (or close like they did in Greece) you can look for some panic to occur. If the stores dramatically increase prices or close..more panic. Be armed and be prepared to stay safely at home. (Although this article was written during the Ferguson race riots, civil unrest follows a similar pattern regardless of the cause.)
• Be prepared for the possibility of being unable to pay your bills. If things really go downhill, the middle class and those who are the working poor will be the most strongly affected, as they have been in Greece during that country’s ongoing financial crisis.  This article talks about surviving if you are unable to pay all of your bills.

For the long term, focus on information

Hopefully there’s no need to empty out your bank accounts, stock up on last minute supplies, or lock-and-load for home protection. However, if this is an actual 1929/2008-style stock market crash, you need to take your preps to the next level. If you can’t buy your necessities, you’re going to have to produce them, something that is a complete turnaround for most folks.

Information is the key. It’s imperative that you learn everything you can so that you know what you need to add to your preps. As well, it’s essential to acquire the knowledge you need to fend for yourself. Take these two steps, if you haven’t already.

#1.  Bookmark these preparedness websites. (Free)

The internet is a wonderful place, and best of all, this knowledge can be found for FREE! The more you know about crisis situations, the more ready you will be to face them. Some sites are friendlier to beginners than others, so if you stumble upon a forum where people seem less than enthusiastic about helping people who are just starting out, don’t let it get you down. Move on and find a site that makes you feel comfortable. Following are some of my favorites, and the link will take you to a good starting point on these sites. In no particular order:

Following are some of my favorites, and the link will take you to a good starting point on these sites. (Actually, it’s wise to begin increasing your knowledge even if we get a reprieve.) In no particular order:

#2.  Build your library. (Small expense)

This is where some money could come into play. Most of the time, people in the preparedness world like to have hard copies of important information. This way, if the power goes out and you can’t access the internet or recharge your Kindle, you still have access to vital advice.

Some of these books are for just such an event, while others are guides to building your self-reliance skills.  Commit to picking up a good book each pay period until you have a library to reference during any type of scenario.

• The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Through Any Disaster (This is the be-all and end-all Bible of prepping.  I wish I could put my own book first, but Tess’s book is the most complete compendium out there, broken into easy, manageable steps.)
• The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget (This is my newest book, which outlines building your pantry while on a strict budget)
• The Complete Tightwad Gazette (While this book is about hardcore frugality, trust me, there’s crossover. There are a lot of great suggestions for creating stockpiles on a budget, living simply, and doing things the old-fashioned way. And saving money is always a good idea, so that you can use it to help you become more prepared.)
• SAS Survival Guide: How to Survive in the Wild, on Land or Sea  (I keep this little gem in my vehicle, my bug out bag, and in my kids’ backpacks. It doesn’t go into lots of detail, but if you find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere, this small book could save your life.)
• The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual of Living Off the Land & Doing It Yourself(A compendium of all things self-reliance)
• Prepper’s Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary (If you can’t protect it, you don’t own it. It’s that simple.)
• How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times (By James Wesley Rawles, who many consider to be the “Father” of the modern preparedness movement)
• The Prepper’s Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster (Quick, inexpensive preparedness steps that anyone can take)
• The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way (It’s vital to have a guide on hand that doesn’t rely on 911 for serious injuries, in the event that you’re completely on your own)
• The Organic Canner (It’s awesome to grow your food, but how will you make it last through the winter, particularly during an off-grid scenario?)
• Prepper’s Natural Medicine: Written by my friend and colleague, Cat Ellis, this book has everything you need to know about creating your own medicine and caring for your family’s health in the event of a crisis.
• Get Prepared Now: Written by the autor of The Economic Collapse Blog himself, this book will provide you with budget-friendly, practical, collapse-specific advice.
• Prepper’s Financial Guide: By prolific author Jim Cobb, this book will help you figure out how to function in a post-collapse marketplace.

Be sure to check out used bookstores, libraries, and garage sales, too. Look for books that teach self-reliant skills like sewing, gardening, animal husbandry, carpentry, repair manuals, scratch cooking, and plant identification. You can often pick these up for pennies, and older books don’t rely on expensive new technology or tools for doing these tasks.

Have they finally kicked the can to the end of the road?

Things aren’t looking good. It makes me wonder if all of the quantitative easing and can-kicking has finally reached the point that they can’t push economic disaster back any further.

This week’s Survival Saturday news discusses robbery.

Merriam-Webster says:

the unlawful taking away of personal property from a person by violence or by threat of violence that causes fear :  larceny from the person or immediate presence of another by violence or threat of violence and with intent to steal

Let’s relate that to the news.

First, there’s the fact that all of that money you’ve just been coerced to give to the government was illegally taken from you, and then there’s one of the most popular presidential candidates around, who’s so sweet and lovable that he’s like a Disney character. Except, he’s also a robber. We’ll talk about realities of socialism….even “democratic” socialism. (Spoiler.)

Survival Saturday is  a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Income Tax Is Actually  Illegal

With it being tax time and all, my renewed rage at the system had me reading quite a few articles on the topic this week. The best one I read was this piece that says income taxes are not even legal, yet we pay them anyway, lest our belongings be confiscated and we find ourselves behind bars. Former IRS Special Agent Joe Bannister discussed the fallacious taxation codes with CNBC.

“Essentially, its many pages are a work of legal fiction, operating under ‘color of law’ and used to oppress the people, and separate established wealth from everyone else.

Bannister argues that by the books, the incomes of most Americans are not subject to the tax code, but the use of intimidation and nebulous code language has prevented the vast majority from discovering the truth.”

Of course, this isn’t news to everyone. Back in 1913, Constitutional scholar Albert H. Walker said that the income tax was illegal but nobody listened. Last week, one of the blurbs in the Survival Saturday post discussed the fact that we spend more on taxes than we do any other expense. Just imagine if the income tax code was overturned and you could actually count your money as your money again.

Speaking of Your Money Being Taken by Force, Let’s Talk About Socialism…

A lot of Americans are “feeling the Bern” lately with unabashed Socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. It seems really warm and fuzzy to get all sorts of “free” stuff, like a college education, equal wages, and basically anything else a person might want or need. Unfortunately, it’s totalitarianism in disguise. (This will be the best 99 cents you ever spent to thoroughly understand the link between socialism, the Nazis, and total control. Seriously. You need to read it.)

Here’s what the Bern of socialism really feels like.

1.) Here’s the  best definition I’ve seen: If you read anything else today, read this post by Robert Gore. Here’s an excerpt with that clearly defines what he calls “the scourge.”

“Socialism is a political system whereby the state owns or controls the means of production for goods and services. It can be partial—government control of some industries, or total—government control of all industries. According to Marx, who advocated the total version, the goods and services would be produced by each according to his or her ability, and distributed according to each individual’s need: production severed from distribution. No particular acuity is necessary to see the fatal flaw. The “needy”—and those who garner political power by distributing goods and services to them—are all for this system, but what’s in it for the able? They have to be coerced to produce, and something has to be done with those who object or refuse to submit.”

2.) A lack of opportunities to better one’s self. Because really, what’s the point of hard work if you get the same thing either way? Read this blistering op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by an immigrant from a socialist country, who tells us how he really feels about Sander’s politics.(Hint: there’s a cool line in there about poison peddling.)

3.) The excruciating aftermath when it fails…again. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And in Venezuela, they’ve repeated it.  For the past two years, I’ve been writing about the suffering of the Venezuelan people, who are out of basic necessities and food under the guidance of former bus driver, current president Nicholas Maduro. Their economy wasn’t able to withstand the warm fuzzy promises, and now it’s collapsing. In the latest installment of the Collapse of Venezuela Saga, electricity, despite strict rationing, is in very short supply. But don’t worry, only the regular people have to ration and/or do without. I guess their feeling the Bern of socialism even without Mr. Sanders.

And please, smack some sense into the next person who chirps “But it’s democratic socialism.” Socialism is socialism. Period. They will take your stuff and distribute it to people without stuff.  They’ll vote on the taking of your stuff but they’ll still take it.

Are you prepared for a disaster?

Do you have the supplies on hand to face a long-term disaster? Whether it’s a natural disaster, an economic collapse, civil unrest, an unexpected expense, or a personal interruption in income that keeps you from doing your regular grocery shopping, do you have what you need to keep your family nourished?

One way is to build yourself a stockpile of healthful food. Here, I outlined how we built our own pantry, even though we’re on a tight, single-mom budget. (There are lots of lists and recipes, too!) If you’re in a hurry, buckets of emergency food are the very fastest way to prepare for the unexpected. These are the products in my long-term storage pantry that provide me with peace of mind. (Try a sample pack and let me know what you think.)

This Week’s Non-Stop Earthquakes Could Be a Sign of an Even Worse Disaster

Over the past 3 days, Asia has been the site of at least 5 large earthquakes (above 5.9 in magnitude) and Japan is dealing with hourly aftershocks as they scramble to rescue people buried alive under the rubble.  This has led one seismologist to make a terrifying prediction which was published in an article in the UK Express. Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado believes that these may not be the main event, but a precursor to something worse.

“The current conditions might trigger at least four earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude.

“And if they delay, the strain accumulated during the centuries provokes more catastrophic mega earthquakes.”

In other earthquake weirdness, one city in Japan is covered in a mysterious foam after the quake. Twitter users posted the following pictures.

Photo Credit:Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Fukuoka, the site of the unexplained foam, is 90km away from the epicenter of one of the quakes.

Would you know how to survive an earthquake? I actually learned some things from a movie last year with The Rock, proving that knowledge can be acquired in the darnedest places. However, the smart money is general prepping: be prepared to shelter in place with food and water, or if the situation is unstable, know when to bug out with your family.

Want more info for self-reliant lifestyles?

The Self-Reliance Weekly Report links you to all the best articles relating to prepping, homesteading, DIY, and independence.

This week the topic is getting a garden started to grow your own food. We all know it’s cheaper to raise food in your backyard than it is to go to the grocery store. (And since I’ve got taxes on the brain this week, you get to avoid sales tax, too!) But what about getting your garden started? That can cost you an arm and a leg, and possibly a third-born child. Good news: It doesn’t have to be like that!

Check out my round-up of the best frugal gardening ideas on the internet!

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

What’s going on in your part of the world? Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! Please post your links in the comments below. I’d love to get more local stories here so we can all have a better picture of the world!

With the price of healthful groceries going no place but up, lots of thrifty folks are starting a garden to save money on their bills this year. But what about the money to start a garden? It can be a very expensive undertaking, especially if you’ve never gardened before in your particular location.

I’ve been researching ways to start my own garden as inexpensively as possible and thought, “HEY!!! I know some other folks who would absolutely love frugal gardening ideas!” So…here they are.

Step One: What Kind of Garden Are You Going to Grow?

Of course, the very first thing to decide is what type of garden will work best for your situation. This will depend a lot on your soil, your climate, your skill set, and what you have easy and inexpensive access to. Following are some articles and books that will help you make your decision.

Pallet Gardens: Simple, Easy, Free

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

How to Build a Recycled Greenhouse

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

DIY Metal Raised Beds

DIY Super Easy Raised Garden Bed for Under $30

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed for $12

For those who aren’t build-y: Big Bag Fabric Raised Beds (I have used these with great success for veggies with shallow roots and as a bonus, you can use them on concrete if you’re gardening on a patio.)

Using Pallets to Make Free Raised Garden Beds

Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

15 Fruits and Veggies You Can Grow in a Bucket Garden

PVC Drip Irrigation System for Your Garden

How to Save BIG on Lumber Supplies for Your Square Foot Garden

Step Two: Plan Your Garden

Now that you have figured out how you’ll grow your food, you need to figure out what to grow. A lot of that depends on your goals. Are you just hoping for salad this summer? Or are you planning to grow an entire year’s worth of food for your family? These links will help you make some decisions!

FREE Garden Planning Printables

How Much to Plant for a Year’s Worth of Food

Granny Miller’s Garden Planner for Home Preservation

An Inspiring 5000 Square Foot Garden Plan

Last Frost Date Seed Planting Worksheet

Step Three: Start Your Seedlings

While it’s easy and less hassle to buy your seedlings already started, it costs a whole lot more. One plant can be the equivalent of an entire package of seeds!  Starting your own seedlings is not that difficult and you don’t need an indoor growing operation that marijuana drug lords would envy.

Seed Starting 101

Frugal Seed Starting Station

DIY Seed Starting Mix

10 Seed Starting Hacks

20 Frugal Repurposed Seed Starting Containers

How to Make Newspaper Seed Starting Pots

Another Way to Make Seed Starting Pots from Newspaper

Chicken Manure Tea for Seedlings

Why Your Seeds Aren’t Germinating

Step Four: Amend, Create, or Prepare Your Soil

No matter how sturdy your seedlings or how efficient your beds, your garden is only as good as your soil. These tips will help you, whether you’re amending what exists, creating soil, or preparing your soil to recieve seedlings.

Know Where You’re Starting Out: Test Your Soil

How to Make Your Own Garden Soil and Compost

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching

10 Tips to Improve Your Soil

Using Eggshells in the Garden

Using Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Build a Compost Bin from Pallets

Is Your Soil Getting Enough Calories?

Bonus: Pest and Weed Control

You don’t have to break the bank to keep weeds and pests at bay.  Many of the things you need are things you’d normally throw in the trash. Other DIYs are chemical-free and thrifty to make.

Natural Pest Control in the Garden

5 Ways to Naturally Control Weeds

Natural Flea Beetle Control

The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Pest and Disease Control

Repel Insects Naturally with This All-Purpose Garden Spray

Using Banana Peels in the Garden to Repel Pests

Bonus Bonus: Miscellaneous Frugal Gardening Awesomeness

These resources didn’t fit into any of the above categories but I found something useful for my frugal gardening efforts in every single one. So, I figured you guys would like them too!

10 Things That Can Be Recycled for the Garden

Cheap and Easy Gardening Tips

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible

The Top 10 Plants for Companion Gardening

Vegetable Gardening Basics

DIY Garden Hose Repair

7 Budget-Friendly Garden Tips

Build a Simple Cucumber Trellis

21 Gardening Hacks

Frugal and Free Landscaping and Garden Ideas

25 Cheap Gardening Tricks for Self-Reliance

9 Gardening Supplies You Can Get for Free

How to Start a Garden on a Budget

70+ Frugal Garden DIYs

80+ Items You Can Compost

Bonus Bonus BONUS: A Peek at My Personal Gardening Library

These are the books I have on my own bookshelf in the gardening/homesteading area. I’ve included links so you can find them on Amazon. All links are to the newest editions, so the books may not look the same as the ones you see on my shelf.

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

The Backyard Homestead

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

The Woodland Homestead

Urban Farming

Western Garden Book

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

Building a Shed

Organic Gardening (There are only a few used copies of this one on Amazon)

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible

Craft Wisdom and Know-How

The Taylor Guides

Not shown because I let someone borrow them or read the e-version:

Garden Like a Ninja

What are you waiting for?

If you are into the preparedness lifestyle, I’ve mentioned again and again what a terrible idea it is to wait until after a disaster to begin learning to garden. I’ve had a couple of bad years in a row, and I’m determined to make this one better. I have that luxury now, because groceries are plentiful, albeit pricey, at my local store.

Clearly, budget isn’t an issue! There are so many things you can do on a dime that there’s absolutely no reason for you to delay starting a garden for self-reliance.

Do you have any frugal garden tips you’d like to share? Your comments could be included in a future round-up! Post them in the section below!

The SHTF might be a lot more subtle than an EMP or a massive natural disaster. We preppers tend to think in black and white, but there are some gray threats out there that few are considering. What if, instead of a total power outage, our country suffered a serious electricity shortage?

That’s exactly what has been going on in Venezuela, since they don’t have enough problems running out of food and other supplies in a previous development of the excruciating economic collapse of the country.

In the latest installment of collapse propaganda, bus-driver-turned-Venezuelan-President Nicholas Maduro offered some beauty advice. He wants the women of Venezuela to stop using hair dryers to save electricity aside from special occasions. He said, “I always think a woman looks better when she just runs her fingers through her hair and lets it dry naturally. It’s just an idea I have.”

This sage advice came along with announcements of further cuts and suggestions. State employees will now have Fridays off for at least the next two months, and he also recommended that citizens make small changes, like “embracing the tropical heat and hanging clothes out to dry instead of using tumble dryers.” (source)

The electricity shortage has been going on for almost a year.

This isn’t a new issue, but a worsening one. In May of 2015, they tried to sugar coat the rationing of electricity by saying they were just being green. Vice President Vice President Jorge Arreaza explained:

 “This is, of course, linked to global warming and the excessive industrialization of capitalism, which never stops, nor has ever stopped, for the effects that it can have on the climate, on society and on Mother Earth.”

When the electricity concern began, public employees saw their work hours cut to 6 per day.Businesses were required to reduce their usage by 10% and new laws permitted police visits to inspect the businesses to ensure that they weren’t exceeding their allotments.

In February, citizens who were already facing shortages and long lines for items like cooking oil, laundry soap, diapers, and food were absolutely stunned when shopping centers were forced to shut off power from 1:00 to 3:00 pm and again from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in a measure to save electricity.

The rationing in Venezuela is a cautionary tale.

Here’s why we need to pay attention to what’s going on in Venezuela: It provides a modern day glimpse into what an economic collapse really looks like, much like the collapse of Greece was a cautionary tale. These are both direct case studies of what happens to the middle class during an economic collapse.

Previously, I wrote about how it could happen here. (Excerpt)

These mandated power rations, the limited amounts of food, the government-funded snitches, the tracking, and most of all, the propaganda, are all what await us in an economic collapse situation. While the Venezuelan government will be facing no limits on their use of electrical power, the people will only be allowed allotted amounts.

Do you think it can’t happen here?  Consider the forced rationing of water amidst the drought in California. Rationing that only applies to regular folks, not wealthy people or massive corporations.

It’s obvious that the state really is in the midst of an epic drought. But conservation mandates are not applied equally, much like the electricity rationing in Venezuela.

Golf courses for the rich and famous remain lush and green, while wells across the state run dry. Ordinary people aren’t allowed to have lawns or to even have vegetable gardens, and newspapers are calling upon “good Samaritans” to snitch if they feel someone is wasting water. There’s even an app for that, and Smart Meters are in place to target wasters (Unless they happen to be wealthy corporations, of course. They have different rules and snitching on them will do no good.)

One small community, Outingdale, just received word that strict rationing is now in effect. Residents will be allowed only 50 gallons per day, per person, and no outside watering of any kind will be permitted. This is not good news for folks who rely on their vegetable gardens for food. Meanwhile, the Nestle corporation is busy pumping out the state’s remaining water, bottling it, and selling it back to people for an enormous profit.

Anyway, back to electricity.

I’m reminded of the series, The Hunger Games, in which residents of the outlying districts are only allowed power when the Capitol deems they should have it, such as when they want to air propaganda “entertainment” to keep people in line.  In the movie, citizens of the Districts were relegated to cooking over open fires and lighting their rooms with candles.  No one had transportation or power.  They were not allowed to hunt to supplement their meager food allotments and in the heroine’s District, they were not allowed to use the coal the area was rich with.  Uniformed “peacekeepers” patrolled the districts to ensure that the rules were strictly adhered to and that the excruciating poverty was the standard for all residents.

With the widespread installation of mandatory Smart Meters, how difficult would it be to forcibly ration our electricity here?

They can already remotely turn off appliances they deem are using too much energy. At the press of a few keys on a central computer, our electricity usage could be  monitored to make sure we stay within the designated limits, strictly slotted to only certain hours of the day, or even cut off entirely if we exceed our rations. It may not even be direct rationing that cuts us off, as it is in Venezuela. As prices of electricity keep climbing, how extreme is it to think that one of these days, electricity might only be for rich people?

However it goes down you can be sure that no one in the government will admit to mismanagement or a desire to enhance control and dependency. It will be couched in warm, fuzzy terms of saving the planet from carbon emissions, much like the propaganda coming out of Venezuela.  It’s easy for us to see it when it happens to them, but many people here are so deeply entrenched in cognitive dissonance that they’ll swallow the green pill with a smile, moving into theirAgenda 21 microhomes and martyring themselves for the good of Team Green. (Find the original article HERE)

So…what if electricity was only for rich people?

It’s not that far-fetched, and if you don’t fall into the category of “rich people” it is definitely something you should prepare for.

What if the Big Event isn’t an EMP, but that no one could afford to pay the electric bill?  Power prices are going up – what if they rise to the point that it’s a choice between food and electricity?  What if the lights in the middle-class neighborhoods just start going out?

Let’s face it, if you really had to pick, you’d choose to feed your kids over having the lights on, right?

What a control mechanism that would be.

What better way to return to a “Lords and Serfs” lifestyle than the strong visible delineation of who has power and who does not?

The rationing of electricity or the lack of affordability would change life as we know it. Our society is incredibly dependent on the power grid, not only to keep us comfortable, but also to keep us entertained. We’ve grown soft.  As well, we depend on others having access to electricity to make our lives easier by keeping us fed and clothed, and by making the things we purchase easily accessible to us.

Here’s how to maintain your independence throughout an electricity shortage.

You don’t have to return to serfdom, though. The steps you take and the things you learn now can help you overcome any hardships presented by the lack of affordable “necessities.”

Learn to provide your own food.

If the stores are closed or supplies are limited because manufacturing plants can’t produce food, you’ll have to provide for yourself.

• Grow a garden
• Raise chickens and rabbits,
• Join a food co-op,
• Try hydroponics or aquaponics
• Sprout seeds for added nourishment
• Grow salad veggies in the windows
• Preserve your harvest through canning and drying
• Save your seeds so you can do it all again next year!

For more self-reliance information, be sure to check out this round-up manifesto with more than 300 resources!

Reduce your dependence on the power grid and use less.

If prices skyrocket, there are lots of things you can do to cut your usage. Before anyone starts arguing that this is “caving in” to the demands of those who are rationing power, (because there’s always someone who says that) sometimes it’s a matter of personal economic survival. Whoever survives, wins.

If it’s a matter of the price of power skyrocketing, your ability to use minimal electricity may allow you to still afford to use a freezer, a laptop, or a medical device. It only makes sense that the less dependent on the grid you are, the less you will be affected by a shortage.

• Lights:  Solar garden lights, candles, kerosene lights
• Cooking: Wood stove, nutritious home-canned meals that only require reheating, stock up on buckets of meals that only require the ability to boil water, cast-iron dutch ovens to use on the wood stove, sun oven, outdoor fireplace, meals that don’t require any cooking.
• Refrigeration: Pack a large cooler with snow in the winter and use it indoors, get a plastic storage bench that is lockable to be used outdoors in the winter (the lock is to keep 4 legged critters out of it), root cellar for summer, using a spring or creek to keep perishables cool, change of eating habits in summer.  (See how this family lives without a refrigerator entirely.)
• Water:  Back-up manual or solar pump for your well,  1 month supply of drinking water stored, water filtration system with extra filters, buckets along with a wagon or wheelbarrow for hauling water from a nearby source, rain barrels to collect water, direct the gray water from your washing machines to reservoirs for flushing or watering plants (Here’s a link to my book on water survival.)
• Laundry: Hand wash, hang dry.
• Entertainment: Solar chargers for small devices, read books, play games, engage in productive hobbies.
• Heat: This assumes you have power. Without electricity, see the suggestions in the next section. Run the heat briefly to take the chill off. Keep blinds open if there is some solar gain, otherwise keep windows insulated against drafts to keep the heat in.
• Keeping cool: Check out this article for ways to stay cool without using an air conditioner.

Find other ways to stay warm.

If you can’t afford to run your central heat, it’s important to have back-up methods for staying warm.

Methods that use fuel:

• Wood Heat: Everyone’s favorite off-grid heating method is a fireplace or woodstove. The fuel is renewable and you have the added bonus of an off-grid cooking method. If you have wood heat, make sure you have a good supply of seasoned firewood that is well-protected from the elements.
• Propane Heaters:  I own a Little Buddy heater.  These small portable heaters are considered safe for indoor use in 49 states.  They attach to a small propane canister and use 2 oz. of fuel per hour to make 100 square feet extremely warm and toasty.  A battery-operated carbon monoxide alarm provides an extra measure of safety when using these heaters indoors. This isn’t a great long-term option though, since propane might also be hard to come by.
• Kerosene/Oil Heaters:  Kerosene heaters burn a wick for heat, fuelled by the addition of heating oil.  These heaters really throw out the warmth.  A brand new convection kerosene heater like this one can heat up to 1000 square feet efficiently.  Click here to read more information about the different types of kerosene heaters that are available.
• Natural Gas Fireplaces:  Some gas-fueled fireplaces will work when the electrical power is off – they just won’t blow out heat via the fan.
• Pellet Stove:   Most pellet stoves require electricity to run, but there are a few of these high-efficiency beauties that will work without being plugged in.

If you have no secondary heat source, no fuel, or limited fuel, the following options can help.

• Heat only one room.  One year, our furnace went out the day before Christmas. We huddled into a small room with just one window.  We closed the door to the bedroom and used a folded quilt at the bottom to better insulate the room.  If you don’t have a door to the room you’ve opted to take shelter in, you can hang heavy quilts  or blankets in the doorways to block it off from the rest of the house.
• Cover your windows.  You can use a plastic shower curtain and duct tape, topped by a heavy quilt to keep the wind from whistling through your windows.  Take down the quilt if it’s sunny outside for some solar gain, then cover it back up as dark falls.
• Light candles.  Even the small flames from candles can add warmth to a small area.  Be sure to use them safely by keeping them out of the reach of children and housing them in holders that won’t tip over easily.
• Use kerosene lamps.  Those charming old-fashioned lamps can also add warmth to the room.
• Use sleeping bags.  Cocooning in a sleeping bag conserves body heat better than simply getting under the covers.
• Have a camp-out.  This works especially well when you have children because it adds an element of fun to an otherwise stressful situation.  Pitch a tent in your closed off room, get inside with a flashlight, and tell stories.  When you combine your body heat in a tiny space like that, you’ll stay much warmer.
• Get cooking. If you have a propane or gas stove in the kitchen, your cooking method may not require electricity.  So bake a cake, roast a turkey, or simmer a soup. You can use it to warm the room while making a hot, delicious feast.
• Heat some rocks.  Do you have a place outdoors for a campfire?  If so, put some large rocks around the edges of it.  They retain heat for hours.  When it’s bedtime, carefully place the rocks into a cast iron Dutch oven and bring this into the room you’re going to be sleeping in.  Be sure to protect your floor or surface from the heat of the Dutch oven. The stones will passively emit heat for several hours without the potential of a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning during the night.

Prep.

An electricity shortage doesn’t end with lack of lights at the flick of a switch. It can have very broad ramifications, such as a harsh cutback on manufacturing, transportation, and retail outlets. Make sure you have your preps in order with long-term emergency food, a well-stocked pantry, back-up plans, and non-food necessities. Take lessons from the way folks survived the last Great Depression and use their hard-won wisdom to survive the next one.

The great thing about prepping is that your general efforts will see you through a wide variety of disasters, even those which gradually creep up on you, like energy shortages.

Do you have any suggestions about reducing your reliance on the utility system? How would you foresee an electricity shortage affecting the average person? Share your insights in the comments below!

It’s Survival Saturday! Welcome to America, where the government gets more of your money where you do and technology has invaded our brains to the point that they are physically changing.  But there’s also some good news this week – Monsanto is losing money hand over greedy fist and Vermont has stubbornly forced some of the biggest players in the food industry to label GMOs.

^Buy It Here^

Survival Saturday is  a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

The Mastodon in the Room: Taxes

Most of the time when people discuss what takes the highest percentage of their income, they ignore the colossal mastodon in the room. We spend more of our income on taxes to fund things we do not approve of than we do housing, food, and clothing combined.  

Think about it: with anything else you purchase, you have a little bit of a choice. You can opt for a splurge of a home with a big house and property, or you can choose to be frugal with a small little cottage.  You can eat thrifty beans and rice, or you can go for the filet mignon. And either of those choices is fine if you can afford them because we’re supposedly free.

However, taxes are collected at the threat of time behind bars (nearly a hundred different taxes!) and you have no options whatsoever about how that money is spent. Do you want your money supporting the fools in Congress? Do you want it subsidizing GMO corn and soy?  Paying for the FDA to crack down on small businesses while allowing Big Pharma to poison us? Paying for wars or welfare? (Our tax dollars helped the US to become one of the top executioners of human beings in the world in 2015.) Perhaps it will go toward luxurious vacations for the President and his family that cost more than we’ll make in 10 years?

As far back as the 1950s, a few brave thinkers were pointing out that income tax was a complete violation of our individual rights, particularly the right to own private property. Frank Chodorov wrote in 1956 that income tax was the root of all evil and presumed government control over all things. Frank had it right, but no one listened. His book is short at only 90 pages, but so worth the read if you want to understand more about the giant fraud that is forcible income tax.

It doesn’t matter if you like it or not, your money is stolen at gunpoint and you have no say in what is purchased with it. You merely get to try to survive off what they leave you with, which could be why more people than ever are without money for basic necessities like groceries. (Here’s how to live off the supplies in your pantry in a pinch.)  I’m sure you can determine my strong feelings about the legalized Mafia at the IRS.

Monsanto Profits Plummet While Little Vermont Forces Big Food to Label GMO-Containing Products

Are we watching the end of an empire? Monsanto reported a drop of 25% for the last quarter, and a decline of 34% for their cancer-causing product, Round-up.  The company blamed the plummeting profits on “less-than-ideal harvests” and “pressures in overseas markets.” However, one might suspect that the grassroots backlash against their GMO offerings and their blithe violations of the protocols of science may have had something to do with it. I’m sure that the WHO’s bombshell statement last year that Round-up “probably causes cancer” probably didn’t help their bottom line, either. The free market is speaking, as people are overwhelmingly seeking organic options in response to the questionable products. Farmers must change to meet this demand if they want to stay in business. This could very well mean the collapse of one of the most hated corporations in the world.

It looks like individual states have done what Congress will not. You may start seeing GMO labels on products at your local grocery store because the state of Vermont requires that they be labeled for sale in that state. Large companies like Kelloggs, General Mills, and Mars are now planning to “voluntarily” label their products because they can’t separately label only the products destined for that state without a dramatic increase in costs. This makes Vermont the little state that could. The labels will read “produced with genetic engineering.”

Related Note: With our knowledge that Round-up causes cancer, damages the environment, etc., I was pretty surprised to see that the Conservative website, The Blaze, had a sponsored ad on their homepage for the toxic product. A sponsored ad is not like an ad network, with which something mentioned in an article ends up being advertised randomly on a page. It’s an advertisement paid for by the company that puts money directly into the pocket of the media outlet. I believe in some circles, they call that “selling out.” Here’s the screenshot from this morning. Shame on you, Blaze.

Tech Addiction: The New Drug?

These days, more and more people are completely addicted to their smartphones.  Maybe it’s the feeling of connection through social media, the access to instant information, or the constant stimuli provided by the tether that is in the hands of most Americans. One study says that it’s related to poor impulse control.

“Mobile technology habits, such as frequent checking, seem to be driven most strongly by uncontrolled impulses and not by the desire to pursue rewards,” said Henry Wilmer, a psychologist and an author of the study. “

Another study says that the average American spends a whopping 90 minutes per day on their phones – which adds up to four entire years of your life! To make matters worse, a direct link has been proven between the excessive consumption of social media and depression. What’s more, it can actually cause physical changes in the human brain. According to Nicholas Carr in his Pulitzer-prize nominated book, “Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways.”

We were recently forced to completely unplug for 10 days and it was pretty eye-opening, especially since we aren’t glued to our phones the way many of our contemporaries are. No phones, no internet, no Netflix….and we discovered we were a lot more productive with less of these things.

Classrooms to Invade the Brains of Students – It’s Educational!

Technology is doing a lot more than addicting us – it’s also spying on us and telling us it’s for our own good. DARPA wants to put EEG readers in every classroom in America to record the brainwaves of the kids. 

According to the benevolent and loving Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, “there is a great need for inexpensive and easy to use neural recording devices” aka a cheap EEG brain electrical activity recording smart app “to allow widespread use by schools and average citizens” because “having EEGs in every classroom in America would engage students in science and technology in a way not previously possible in the field of neuroscience…” and with it “students could record their own brain activity and download the data to their iPad” right there in the classroom!

Watch this chilling video and see how technology is about to invade the very brains of our children.

Are You Prepared?

Do you have the supplies on hand that your family needs to survive (and even thrive) in the aftermath of a disaster? Disasters come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is an issue that only affects your household, like a job loss or major medical expense. Other times, it’s a natural disaster, such as a storm that keeps you trapped at home and unable to get to the store. Civil unrest, pandemics, and terror attacks can all interrupt our way of life, forcing us to rely upon the products that we had the forethought to stock.

You don’t want to buy just anything though – emergency food should not be a health crisis. Shop for high quality emergency food without all of the chemicals in other buckets. Take care of your family tomorrow by taking action today.

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! You are absolutely welcome to post your links in the comments below. (Your participation is what makes this feature so unique out here in Bloggerland!)

So, recently, it probably seemed like I vanished off the face of the earth. Well, it turns out I only vanished from the virtual earth because we were without the internet.

No, I didn’t get buried under a mound of moving boxes. We’re alive and well here in the mountains, although we were somewhat disconnected for a while.   This was a huge move – while I thought moving as a prepper was an enormous undertaking, it was nothing compared to moving as a prepper/homesteader. Moving the contents of a barn, chicken coop, and house was a tremendous amount of work, even though we hired a moving company for the majority of the big stuff.

There was a great deal to coordinate on either end, such as getting the new shelters ready for the animals, getting the animals themselves over here, and making sure nothing ate them on their first night here. (We’re up in Bear Country here.) Unfortunately, we had an escapee that was never seen again: my daughter’s beloved cat that she raised from a bottle-fed, abandoned kitten.  He managed to push a screen out of the window and vanished into the forest. While we hope he found a nice home with someone, we know that was probably not his fate.

Our biggest lesson didn’t have anything to do with the shuffling of boxes, though. It came from our disconnection. The first 10 days in our new home were spent without the internet.

We rely on the internet a lot.

• My daughter’s homeschool curriculum is online.
• My work is online.
• We watch movies on Amazon Prime.
• We listen to music on Amazon, too.
• I’m a compulsive Googler because I always want to know the answers to my questions immediately.
• Our phone doesn’t work without an internet connection.
• Our relatives are pretty far away, so we use the internet to communicate with them.

I honestly had no idea how much we used it until we didn’t have it.

Insert Rant: Customer service is dead.

To ice the cake of our disconnection, I dealt with probably the worst customer service experience of my entire life getting my internet service up and running. I would so much prefer to deal with small businesses, because they actually care and provide real service, but in the case of internet out in the mountains, that wasn’t an option.

We’re talking about days and days on the phone. Literally, entire days, wasted while going from one representative to another, trying to set up a simple DSL service to a home that already had previous DSL service a week before I moved in.

First, I was told it was all working just fine. I plugged in the modem – you know, the one that worked in this very home 4 days previously, and it no longer worked to receive their signal. They wanted to send me a new modem at my own expense. However, since my cell phone (with the same company) won’t work here without the modem, I got them to agree to send me a new one at their expense.

So, I waited for 2 days for the UPS guy to arrive with my new modem. When he never did, I called back.

“Oh,” said the hapless representative who picked up my call. “Um, I’m sorry to inform you that modem never got sent. I am happy to send you a new one at no charge.”

I narrowly controlled my rage. After all, it wasn’t this guy’s fault.  “The modem was already at no charge. I am working from home and educating a child with an online curriculum. I need you to expedite the delivery of a modem.”

“That’ll be an additional $10.”

“ARE. YOU. INSANE?????”

“Sorry, ma’am, but expediting is always at the customer’s expense.”

Unfreakin’believable.

Customer service is dead. The giant corporations that are in control of our options for cell phone service, internet service, utilities, and television know that they are the only game in town, especially in rural areas. I have been gob-smacked at how horrible what passes for service really is.

These representatives who live far away and are ruled by quotas really don’t care that you didn’t get what you were promised. It isn’t their fault, either. When you have no stake in a company, why would you really care about what the customer thinks of you? When you aren’t empowered to make things right, when you have 12 bosses listening to your every word, checking to see if you’re adhering to the rules, you really only care about keeping your job.  When you are in another country, halfway across the world, earning 50 cents an hour providing service to people in the Promised Land of America, you care even less.

We live in a world that is constantly connected – often to our detriment.

So, for 10 days, there I sat, waiting for the elusive package from AT&T that I couldn’t go anywhere local to pick up. Heck, I’d have driven two hours to get us back in action.  I couldn’t even leave the house, since the package required my signature.  Aside from the fact that we had electricity, it made me think about life without internet after some kind of massive disaster.

The upside to this is that my stuff got unpacked in record time. I was incredibly productive with regard to non-work stuff.

Since my work is all internet-based, I was forced into a vacation. (I really, really enjoy researching and writing, so this was less fun than it sounds for me.) The good news is, I was able to get our entire house unpacked and settled, get the livestock moved over into their new locations, and recover from lugging all that stuff with my poor, aching 40-something body.

For the first day or so, my daughter felt like she was camping, and not in a good, vacation-y kind of way. She was unable to chat with friends, look up information at the spur of the moment on Google, and see what everyone else was up to. She couldn’t watch Netflix or even listen to music, since most of her music consisted of playlists on a streaming system.

This really got me thinking about how much many of us rely on the internet. I’m new to the whole farming/homesteading thing, so I frequently turn to the ‘net to answer my many questions.  It’s our main source of entertainment too, since we ditched the cable long ago and switched to Amazon Prime and Netflix. Even many of the things we enjoy reading are online. Our phones don’t work without Wi-Fi out here in the boondocks, so communicating with the outside world required a 10-minute drive up the hill, where we loitered on the side of the road and quickly check our messages, using up our data.

But the problem with all of this connection is that it isn’t actually that good for us. This book considers our relationship to technology an addiction, and asserts that our constant tether  is causing such ills as anxiety, depression, loneliness, attention disorders, and many more concerns. Another good read is this one, which is the journal of a guy who disconnected – his lessons were pretty fascinating. We’ve all seen reports of people walking off cliffs while they’re glued to their phones or seen groups of kids who are supposedly together, yet all isolated, staring at their own devices and ignoring the friend right next to them, breathing the same air.

Going low-tech can be fun

After a week, we got somewhat used to it, although I still welcomed my new modem with open arms and perhaps some champagne.

We dug out the old DVD player and the movies to sit down and have some quiet relaxation time before bed.  We found our old CD collection to get some tunes going during the day. We’ve spent a lot more time talking, playing games, and reading. I’ve cooked some fabulous, time-consuming meals, and my daughter taught herself how to make cheesecake from scratch using one of my cookbooks and the ingredients we have on hand.

I started using books as references again. I made great use of my Encyclopedia of Country Living and my copy of Chickens from Scratch when setting up my hen habitat.

We spent several pleasant hours exploring the woods and the creek behind the house, we bathed and brushed the dogs, and never have I had a more organized closet. I slept better, felt more relaxed, and accomplished a lot of those things I just never found the time for during my “connected” life.

Maybe with all its alluring convenience and entertainment value, the internet is actually not a good thing. Perhaps the reason why Americans are no longer a productive people is because we’re constantly connected to some invisible computer or cellphone tether.

We’re going to take a lesson from this and unplug a lot more often, voluntarily this time.

Well, after I catch up on my emails.

The tiny house movement has taken America by storm, in part because our economy is in the toilet. People are striving to reduce their expenses by embracing minimalism. They’re breaking free from the corporate grind because, as I’ve always advised, they are learning to live with less and radically reducing their expenses.

But, these days in America, you are sharply admonished when you try to live your life outside of the strictures of the 9-5 world. Is it any surprise that the government is now taking steps to limit our ability to drastically reduce our expenses? They always seem to make illegal anything we try to do to be more independent and moving into a tiny house appears to be the next on their list.

HUD has proposed the following law:

This proposed rule would modify the current exemption for recreational vehicles in the Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations.  Under the current exemption, questions have arisen regarding whether park model recreational vehicles are regulated by HUD’s manufactured home program. These park models are being produced with patio roofs, screened in porches, and other extensions that exceed the 400 square foot maximum exemption in the current regulations. Additionally, some of these models are being marketed as suitable for year round living. HUD’s proposed rule would permit recreational vehicle manufactures to certify that a unit is exempted from HUD’s regulations. Specifically, HUD’s proposed rule would define a recreational vehicle as a factory build vehicular structure, not certified as a manufactured home, designed only for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy, and built and certified in accordance with either the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1192-2015, Standard for Recreational Vehicles, or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A119.5-15, Recreational Park Trailer Standard. In addition, to provide consumers notice regarding the manufacturing standards used to construct the unit, HUD’s rule would require that units claiming the exemption display a notice that identifies the standards used to construct the unit and states that the unit is designed only for recreational use, and not as a primary residence or permanent dwelling.

That’s right – if this law is passed, living in a tiny house or an RV may become illegal in April of this year.

This week, the self-reliance report is about the resources and strategies I’ve used for setting up a prepper’s homestead quickly and inexpensively. A lot of research went into swapping environments – I moved from a low country rather dry farm to a cabin in the mountains to set up a homestead in the forest.  As always, I followed a thrifty budget to get things done.

The Self-Reliance Weekly Report is a collection of strategies, made up of the articles, books, DIYs, and products that I found useful on my own little prepper’s homestead.

Prepping

I recently spent a great deal of time searching for the perfect prepper’s retreat. This article discusses my search and offers some tips for finding your own perfect retreat. If your plan is to rely on your homesteading ability to survive when the S hits the Fan, it’s essential to get started now. There’s a steep learning curve and many will fail.

Following, find a collection of some of the most interesting prepper resources around right now.

Homesteading

The past couple of weeks my focus has been getting my new homestead set up as quickly as possible. Here are the resources that I found pertinent.

The first two projects were fencing for my dogs and shelter for my chickens.  I was able to acquire a lot of the supplies for free just kicking around the shed of the place I rented (with the landlord’s permission, of course).  I had to purchase a couple of gates for the fences and my handyman put together this super-cool swingset chicken coop from almost entirely found items. (I used some of the tips from this guide to make my coop predator-resistant.) Just for fun, here are some beautiful, inspiring coop designs.

In the midst of moving chaos, my baby chicks arrived. This time around I went with freedom ranger meat chickens. There are some differences when raising meat chicks vs. laying hens but between this article and this book, I was able to find the necessary information. My brooder did not arrive before the chicks, so they lived in my bathtub briefly. (Thankfully just for 2 days!) In a couple of weeks, I’m going to build them this little “playground” outside.

I’m considering trying my hand at straw bale gardening this year. This article has me almost convinced, so I ordered the most recent edition of a book by the man credited with creating the concept to learn more about it before I commit. I’m also planning to put up some of these bamboo and twine teepee trellises in my garden area.  I have all of the supplies on hand. This weekend will be dedicated to starting my cool weather seeds in the kitchen.

Here are a few more great homesteading resources to check out:

DIY

Farm Blog

We survived the unthinkable. We went without internet or a phone connection for 8 days. *shudder*  I really enjoy researching and blogging, so it was difficult to be so disconnected. However, it was probably good for the entire family. I got most of the house unpacked, we enjoyed some unplugged together time, and I did a lot of reading for sheer enjoyment.

Here are some photos from the new place.

This is our dog, Bella, checking out the creek in our backyard.

As I wrote above, the baby chicks arrived before my brooder, so I had to house them in my bathtub for a couple of days.  They are Freedom Rangers, which are meat birds, so they grow quickly and eat an astonishing amount of food.

Once the brooder arrived, our dog creepily stared at them non-stop. I’d like to think she is guarding them, but the more likely reason is that she’s dreaming of chicken nuggets.

We got to see our Livestock Guardian Dog in action for the first time. I happened to be standing at the kitchen sink, cutting up veggies, when I heard a frantic squawk from one of my chickens. I looked out the window just in time to see 160 pounds of angry teeth and fur rush the fence.  The silly chickens were outside the pasture (although still on my property) and the neighbor’s two pit bull dogs decided they would enjoy a nice chicken dinner.  Thor had other plans, however.  I was in awe at the fury he displayed, and apparently, so too were the roaming dogs. All 3 errant chickens escaped the jaws of death and the pitties turned tail and fled.  Hopefully they learned a lesson and won’t be back.  I was so impressed with Thor!  Of course, I’ve seen him bark protectively and display territorial behavior, but I’d never seen him in full guardian mode and it was a sight to behold. Here’s a photo of my gorgeous boy in his new backyard.

What’s going on at your farm or urban homestead right now? How’s the weather in your area? Please share your updates in the comments below!

Do you have one of those old A-shaped swingsets rusting in your backyard? If you do, then you have the basis for an awesome swingset chicken coop! (And if you don’t, watch Craigslist – there are frequently  people offering them for free to whoever comes to pick them up.) Creativity is key when you go DIY for your coop.

When we moved recently we had to leave our wonderful chicken coop behind, since it was attached to the barn. While I drooled over some of the beautiful chicken Taj Mahals that are available, I’m on a pretty tight budget so it was important to use items that I could acquire either cheap or free. Luckily, the house we moved to had some pretty interesting stuff in a shed and an old rusty swingset in the woods.

I don’t have a lot of construction skills but the guy who put up my fence does, and luckily, he was on board with my wacky, freebie-scrounging ideas.

For the price of some labor, some hardware, some chicken wire, and a fancy-dancy hanging chicken waterer, I got a snazzy new coop that keeps my chickens safe and sound.

Here’s what we used:

• A swingset with the swings removed
• 2 pieces of corrugated metal on the top 3/4 plus a strip of it over the top to help weather proof
• Some sheets of plywood for the bottom back of the coop
• A piece of chain link fencing for the bottom in order to keep out predators
• Some old pieces of fence posts for the bottom of the coop to attach the chicken wire and chain link to
• Some lumber for the door
• Chicken wire (It was cheaper from Amazon than from my local store)
• A double-hinged latch
• A chicken waterer

If you’re making a scrounged chicken coop, be creative and see what you components you can find for cheap or free.  Because most of the items used were found, this isn’t as much a how-to as it is something to inspire you.  Here are some photos so you can see how my coop was assembled.

The Scoop on my Swingset Chicken Coop

The door is very heavy, which adds a layer of security against critters that might try to get in during the night. During the day, I use a bungee to hold the door open in the event of wind so no chickens get squashed. (They’re at the door because they know they’re either getting food or getting out.)

There is also a heavy duty double hinged latch that I fasten with a carabiner at night for an added layer of security. (Order a similar latch here.)

The bottom is covered with a piece of chain link fencing that is attached to the boards that form the bottom edge of the coop.

My biggest splurge is this hanging 5 gallon water dispenser. It stays much cleaner raised a few inches off the ground, only needs to be refilled every few days, and I used the exisiting hook for a swing to hang it from. (You can order your own hanging dispenser here – it is a lower price than it was at my local feed store.)

Here’s the interior of theswingset chicken coop. The chickens like to roost on the cross bars on each end, and there is an extra bar from an old closet that was also installed. I used some cubbies from my previous garage for nesting boxes. (I probably should have taken the interior pic before I put the chickens in here to poop on everything. Of course, anyone who has chickens knows that a coop only looks clean for about 10 minutes.)

The coop in all of its glory. I’ll be painting the plywood soon to make it a little prettier.

Thor, our LGD, is happy to follow the chickens around and protect them because he realized they’re like little feathered Pez dispensers, dropping nice little egg treats around the yard for him to enjoy. I lock them in the coop a couple of days per week and that gives us more than enough eggs for our needs. The rest of the eggs get scattered around the yard for a doggie version of an Easter egg hunt. Thor’s a little skinny so the added fat will do him good. You can see him licking his dog lips in the photo below.

A lot of folks are under the impression that emergency food has to be eaten as is, without embellishment, in some grim survivalist fashion. It doesn’t have to be like that, though. You can easily and deliciously use NuManna emergency food to help extend a small amount of other foods to make it enough to nourish a group.

If a down-grid emergency happens, you’ll probably have some leftovers in your refrigerator that need to be eaten before they spoil. When we had some leftover duck recently, I decided to pull a package of NuManna’s Potato Casserole out of a Grab-and-Go pack to create a comfort food dish that was similar to a pot pie.

As I’ve written before, emergency food is indeed processed, and it’s probably not something you want to make the backbone of your everyday diet. I recommend NuManna’s products because they contain far fewer harmful additives than other brands of emergency food. The company is committed to providing food free of the following ingredients:

• No GMOs
• No High Fructose Corn Syrup
• No Added MSG
• No Aspartame
• No Soy
• No Chemical Preservatives

They also offer gluten-free products for those who have issues digesting wheat. (This was especially important for my family, since two of us are quite intolerant of gluten.)

Pot Pie made with NuManna Emergency Food

Back to the kitchen.

First, I started cooking the potato casserole on the stovetop.  Here’s what it looked like when it came out of the package.

I shredded the meat that we had left over from our roasted, home-raised duck, then stirred in some frozen mixed vegetables. You could use whatever meat you have on hand and add in either frozen, canned, or leftover vegetables. I put this in a glass casserole dish while the potato topping was cooking. Then I stirred up a packaged organic, gluten-free gravy mix with some water and added it to my meat and vegetable mixture. (I keep this product on hand for emergency cooking purposes.)

When the potato casserole was almost done, I spread it on top of the mixture in my casserole dish.  I had access to an oven, but if you didn’t, you could cook up the gravy mix and stir in the meat and veggies, then return it to you casserole dish. In that case, you’d cook the potato casserole all the way and just spread it on top of your mixture and enjoy.

Here’s what it looked like before it spent 15-20 minutes in the oven at 425.

Once the casserole reaches the desired golden-topped deliciousness, allow it to rest for 10 minutes before dishing it out.

How do you use your emergency food supplies?

Do you just cook them as per the instructions and serve them, or do you combine them with other supplies? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Be sure to visit Prepper’s Market! These are all products I’ve used myself and trust to see my own family through an emergency.

Islamic terror is in the headlines again, along with deadly vaccines, and a puzzling story that demonstrates just how far away our society has actually gotten from the original “Land of Opportunity” roots of our nation.

Survival Saturday is back after a brief hiatus. Here’s this week’s  round-up of news and recommended reading material for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Deadly Terror Attack in Belgium Blamed on ISIS

300 people were wounded and 31 people were killed in horrifying coordinated attacks in Brussels, Belgium. An airport and a subway station were bombed, and ISIS has taken credit for the attacks.

But don’t blame Islam. It’s the religion of peace, remember? At least one source says that the real culprit is a leadership that is unwilling to criticize Islam for fear of being politically incorrect. Judith Bergman wrote, “Western political and military establishments, as well as media and cultural elites, refuse to examine the political and military doctrines of Islam, and make them a subject of honest intellectual inquiry. When they are facing an enemy that uses these very doctrines as its reason for being, this refusal can only be described as gross malfeasance and reckless endangerment.” Many reports say that there were sufficient warnings before these attacks, but they were ignored, perhaps purposely.

According to some predictions, the terror in Belgium may not be over. The badge of a murdered security guard for the Tihange Nuclear Plant was stolen, the security at the plant has been said to be lax, and the ingredients for a dirty bomb have also gone missing in recent weeks. This article puts together a chilling, credible theory. (Prosecutors in Belgium have “ruled out” any “militant link” in the murder of the guard, so rest easy.)

Of course, every time there’s a terror attack, people scramble to try to guess the next target, and thus far, are never correct. While the experts may not be able to predict the next target, one thing is nearly certain: there will be a next target.  More than 400 trained fighters have been dispatched to Europe with instructions to conduct attacks.

President Obama doesn’t think that Isis represents an “existential threat,” if that sets your mind at ease.

Do you know what to do if you are among the unfortunate souls in the midst of a terror attack? Read this politically incorrect article, because someone, somewhere wishes you were dead.

Boy Mows Lawn, Media Goes Wild

Let me preface this little rant by saying, “Good for you, son” to the boy who mowed the neighbor’s lawn to earn money to take his girl out on a date. I’m a huge proponent of kids who work to earn money and this is by now means an attempt to belittle what he did.

Let me continue by saying, “How the heck is this even news?”  A 14-year-old boy hit up the neighbors to earn some money to take his girlfriend out to lunch, and somehow it made not only the local newspapers, but also got featured on Buzzfeed.

Have we become so far removed from actual work that it’s a huge deal when a kid cuts the neighbor’s grass to make money?  Isn’t that how kids have always made money since the advent of lawnmowers, lawns, and money? Heck, that’s how one of my friends in high school bought his first car.  My kids have raked leaves, mowed lawns, walked dogs, and shoveled manure to earn money and we never, ever realized that this was newsworthy. Heck, most of the things we did for fun when we were kids would get someone arrested today.

If mowing the neighbor’s lawn to take a girl on a date is this big of a deal, then I feel that we’re probably in big trouble when this generation takes the reins of the country.  There are no news articles and freebie meals in the real world, kids. How can kids who never work to earn money function in the real world? The greatest gift we can give our children to prepare them for the future is the knowledge they need to handle their finances wisely. (Hat-tip to my hard-working 15-year-old daughter, who was also aghast that this was news and brought this story to my attention. She was particularly stunned that no Buzzfeed articles have been written about her, since she cleans poop out of barns to earn her shopping and cell phone money.)

Batch of Vaccines Kill, Injure 75% of the Mexican Babies Who Received Them

Out of 52 children vaccinated for tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B in a small Mexican town, two babies have died and 37 more have been hospitalized. This article reports some very grim statistics on vaccine injuries and discusses the current drama being endured by the families in Mexico.

In other news on the vaccine debate, Robert de Niro, the father of a child with autism, pushed the Tribeca Film Festival to screen an anti-vax documentary by none other than Andrew Wakefield, amid much hullabaloo from the mainstream media. The film is called “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” Wakefield, if you remember, was the doctor who first made the link between vaccines and autism. He subsequently had has life ruined by Big Pharma, but Wakefield has fought back for years, even though his medical license was taken. Wakefield’s theories were recently supported by a CDC whistleblower who claims that studies proving the link between vaccines and autism were deliberately covered up.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to vaccinate your children, do your research about the risks of either decision. This is an excellent book with thorough and less biased information.

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! You are absolutely welcome to post your links in the comments below. (PS: I missed you guys over the past two weeks while I was moving!)