August 2, 2016 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

Prepping:

• "Prudent Prepping: Back to the Basics"--Blue Collar Prepping. An overview of some sources of information for beginning prepping.
• "How to Build a 30-Day Emergency Food Supply…Fast"--The Organic Prepper. This is an article on the basics needed to quickly put together a 30-day food supply: as in, if you were to go out and purchase or order everything today. The author begins by noting the basics categories of food you need, then discusses putting together food buckets, and finally, some sources of food that are already pre-packaged for you. This may not be the cheapest way to start (I recommend starting by purchasing two of what you normally buy and, if you don't use much in the way of canned foods, setting aside canned goods). Although not mentioned in the article, you really also need to plan on some way to prepare the food, such as a cooking stove and fuel.
• "The Quick Start Guide to Getting Prepared"--The Survival Mom. A PDF file that gives a very brief overview of prepping, organized into 14 steps.
• "5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Emergency Food Storage Area"--Prepared Society. Considerations for where you will be storing your food to provide easy access, protect against spoilage and pests, and OPSEC. 
• "Reconditioning an Old Axe"--Bow and Blade. As the author explains: "Sometimes you get lucky at a garage sale and find a diamond-in-the-rough." He provides instructions and tips for turning that rusted ax blade back into a serviceable tool.
• "Butchering a Pig: A Field Style How-To"--Knox Gardner.
• "Corn Pone, a Pioneer Staple"--Preparedness Advice. How to make corn pone--a simple cake made from corn meal.
• "Potatooooooes!"--Neo-Survivalist. Instructions and diagrams on growing potatoes in a sack.
• "Power your bug-out bag"--Backwoods Home Magazine. Some suggestions on equipment necessary to recharge batteries (such as for flashlights or radios) and other electronics (cell phones, e-book readers, etc.).
• "The 'Sneak and Peek' Kit"--The Loadout Room. The author explains: "The kit includes tools that would allow me to sneak into places by opening doors, cutting fences, twisting wire, etc. It also serves and an impromptu (albeit not fully stocked) SERE kit." You might also want to include a set of shims for defeating padlocks.
• "Intelligent Survival"--Outdoor Self-Reliance. The author explores certain logical fallacies that are common among survival articles, that prevent us from obtaining the most accurate and up-to-date information on survival techniques.
• "Training or Gear – A Sobering Perspective"--The Firearms Blog. The author's focus is on an infographic that compares the cost of turning a Glock 19 into the "perfect" combat or competitive pistol versus the amount of ammunition you could otherwise have purchased. The same principle applies to prepping overall, though: the extra cost for the "best" or "coolest" is money that could have otherwise been spent on other preps or pay down debt or go into savings.

Other Stuff:

• "Over 50 Black Organizations Released A Joint Platform That Goes Beyond Police Reform"--Huffington Post. The article indicates:

The policy demands include ending the war on black lives, providing reparations, stripping institutions that criminalize black people, investing in education and health reform, fostering economic agency, allowing communities to have control over policies that impact black people and making black political power a reality. 

If you go to the group's web-page, however, you will see that in addition to reparations for slavery and all perceived wrongs since, they also want zones or regions that are semi- or fully-autonomous from local and state governments. 

• "Surging world growth makes a mockery of Brexit panic"--Telegraph. Short version is that Brexit was not the financial disaster its opponents predicted.
• "U.S. Launches Airstrikes Targeting ISIS In Libya"--Huffington Post. Hillary's war--the result of her decision to destabilize Libya by removing Qaddafi from power--is heating up.
• K-selection continues in the Philippines: "‘Don’t follow me, I am a pusher’: Chilling note left with bodies of dealers shot dead by 'unidentified gunmen' in Philippines' bloody crackdown on drugs - as president orders corrupt officials give up or be shot on sight"--Daily Mail. According to the article, there are now more than 500 suspected drug dealers that are dead, and over 100,000 people that have voluntarily turned themselves into police. 
• "Trumping Hillary"--Everyday Joe (h/t Vox Popoli). While the thrust of the article is to explain why Trump is the best choice for President, I was more interested in this comment from the author: "There’s a better than fair chance, and a better chance than we’ve had since Reagan who, at the time, had bigger sturgeon to slice, for us to have someone in the White House who may actually purge the bureaucracy that’s taken over the country."

This raises the obvious question of whether the bureaucracy (and those that depend on the current system for their power and profits) will allow a major overhaul. Frankly, the developing situation brings to mind Chapters 6 and 7 of 3 Nephi, where the chief judge, Lachoneus, began to prosecute corrupt judges for crimes, and otherwise attempt to reform the political system, which resulted in his assassination and breakup of the Nephite nation. 

• "Gay Meningitis Continues to Advance Like Wildfire"--Anonymous Conservative. Health officials have no idea why meningitis is hitting the gay community in particular. As AC notes, this does not inspire confidence in our health officials. He writes:

It is impossible to imagine why gays may be getting infected at a higher rate. Remember – these are the eggheads whose brilliance will save you when the big one hits. If limiting the spread of the pandemic requires these characters acknowledging that gays may be semi-responsible due to irresponsible behavior, a lot of people are going to die.