Free Republic

When it hits the fan America’s population centers will explode in violence, looting, and total breakdown of law and order. It’s a theory put forth by numerous survival and relocation specialists, and one that makes complete sense if you consider what happens in a truly serious collapse-like scenario. Survival Blog founder James Rawles calls them the golden horde: Because of the urbanization of the U.S. population, if the entire eastern or western power grid goes down for more than a week, the cities will rapidly become unlivable. I foresee that there will be an almost unstoppable chain of events: Power...

Some special operations medics in Afghanistan now have a new device that helps save soldiers with the most common cause of preventable death in combat: a traumatic pelvic wound. Unlike a hemorrhage in the arm or leg where a tourniquet can be used to shut off bleeding, there was no way until recently to do the same for wounds in the lower torso, which can kill a person in a matter of minutes. It was “a noted capability gap on the battlefield: How do we treat bleeding where we can’t use tourniquets?” said John Croushorn, a former Army doctor. After...

Walmart (WMT) reported earnings of $1.24 a share this morning on revenues of $116.2 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.25 on $118.5 billion. Sales in stores open more than a year declined 0.3%. Walmart also guided lower for the full year citing a "challenging sales and operating environment." The stock is off sharply and at risk of going negative for the last 52 weeks. Those are the numbers, but not the whole story. Walmart is the thermometer of the American economy. Disregard the government data. Jobs and GDP and all the rest are at best inaccurate measures of the economy...

When I was channel surfing, I came across this show and it looked and sounded ridiculous. But once you give it a chance, it really draws you in. Contestants (1 named mand and 1 naked woman as a team) are dropped off in a remote and harsh location and are given nothing except 1 item which they can bring along. They must surviive using nothing but those items and their cunning for 21 days. Give it a chance. I am hooked.

Campers and preppers : I'm finding these chafing heaters at 99 cent stores. They will burn for 2 hours with enough heat to cook a small meal.

Though most Americans go through their day thinking everything is now returning to normal, the fact of the matter is the situation is anything but stable. With crime rates skyrocketing, home prices dropping to under $500 for a house, and the local government out of solutions, the city of Detroit is the latest to join the likes of Stockton, California, having just defaulted on its loans from creditors. Despite promises to the contrary, it should come as no surprise that the city is unable to meet its obligations. And it won’t be the last. City and state governments all over...

FReepers, want to know how you can prepare? Start rucking. But 101stAirborneVet, I was never in the military! What is "rucking"? Explained here, it is essentially walking quickly, over rough terrain, with a load on your back. But 101stAirborneVet, why in the world would I want to do that? How is that helping me to "prepare"? One of the basic tasks (if not the basic task) of a person who finds themselves in a combat situation is to move. That means getting from point A to point B, usually with supplies/ammo/weapons/correspondence/food/water, as quickly as possible. If you can’t get yourself...

The most remarkable thing about civil unrest is that there hasn't been more of it. Politicians are making a hash of this country—and much of the rest of the civilized world. We know it. They know it. They know we know it. But we don't feel we can do anything much to stop them. That right there is the pre-condition for civil unrest—when people are frustrated and politicians are nervous. Worse, that was how things stood before last fall's crash. Before pols on both left and right launched the biggest mass transfer of wealth in history—transferring our wealth (what we...

Imminent: “I Don’t Think Obama is Going to Finish His Second Term Without the Bottom Dropping Out” Mac Slavo June 3rd, 2013 One year ago this month it was revealed that throughout the course of this crisis some 40% of all wealth in America had been vaporized. It was a stunning number to be sure, and one that many analysts predicted would reverse as the Bernanke/Obama recovery took hold. Now, a full year on, the news has not gotten any better. It’s gotten much, much worse. According to a new report, the average American household has lost 55% of their...

You May Be A Dangerous, Paranoid Doomsday Prepper If… Tom Chatham April 15th, 2013 Project Chesapeake Commentators are always quick to link guns and emergency stores to dangerous and paranoid actions that they consider to be tell tale signs someone is going to commit a crime. They always focus on these areas because it is a trait mostly seen in conservatives that know enough to question the governments’ ability to take care of every problem that emerges. In short, if you are not a Liberal that needs the government to make all of your decisions for you and care for...

1. Thou Shall Live 2. Thou Shall Be Free 3. Thou Shall Be Self-Reliant 4. Thou Shall Be Fruitful 5. Thou Shall Seek Simplicity 6. Thou Shall Gather Your Resources 7. Thou Shall Seek Redundancy 8. Thou Shall Increase Your Skills 9. Thou Shall Be Charitable 10. What Thou Cannot Defend, Thouest Does Not Own

Cyprus Triggers Preference For Goods, Gold And Silver Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013April 02, 2013 - 07:10 PM GMT By: Alasdair Macleod Almost certainly prices for goods in Cyprus will rise as a result of its banking crisis, because the imposition of capital controls will restrict imports, leading to supply bottlenecks. In addition residents will no longer be complacent about keeping money on deposit, but seek other alternatives. Large depositors may be trapped, but smaller local depositors will draw them down for cash to stock up on things needed tomorrow while they are available.Cypriots will therefore change their preferences...

In recent conversations about girding for the uncertain future I have often suggested that folks accrue the means of productivity, beginning with water, dirt, and seeds to grow food, followed by skills, tools, and raw materials to fix and create useful things. I am not certain if I have mentioned a helpful reference in this matter but it does reflect the course I am following. Thirty years ago I discovered the book "The Alpha Strategy" (available in its entirety at several web sites including http://zombieprepdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/book2-preface.pdf) and have found it to be instrumental in forming my thoughts. Pete Ferron featured it...

A whole two-level home in Arkansas is on the market for less than the cost of many brand new cars, but there’s a reason. It’s only 128 square feet settled on 43,124 square feet of property. The Dover home, which is described on the listing as like a “doll house,” has its living room, full kitchen and bathroom in the first level. A bedroom is in a lofted upper level. The house is on the market for $22,900....

Staten Island residents already suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Sandy say they are now seeing their neighborhoods infiltrated by squatters and looters. As CBS 2’s Dick Brennan reported Wednesday, when darkness sets in on Wavecrest Street in New Dorp, people say squatters make their move – crashing empty homes wrecked by the hurricane.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — First responders from across Los Angeles County are practicing for the “big one” Thursday in a drill designed to measure the response to a magnitude-7.8 earthquake. The exercise is hosted by the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management and will take place downtown from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “It’s our game day. The NCAA basketball tourney is starting, it’s their game day. It’s our game day for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Offices, Office of Emergency Management,” Emergency Manager Kenneth Kondo told KNX1070. This year’s functional exercise will feature the California Integrated Seismic...

1. King of the playground SHTF, and there are no rules anymore, and you can go out and do whatever you want. You can use force in order to do whatever you want. You can fulfill your dreams. Everyone is gonna be scared but you are powerful and dangerous, you are the king of the playground. 2. SHTF and what the f… am I going to do? You wake up one morning and SHTF, you are devastated, waiting for electricity to come back to see on TV what is going on, while people outside demolishing local mall and taking home...

The point here is not one of doom and gloom, and that everyone should be amassing food in great store, digging underground bunkers, collecting water by the 100’s of gallons; of which we have done none of these things. It is simply to illustrate that if one is still wearing rose-colored glasses, as I was, now may be the time to take them off and consider what is really happening around us. It is not only gas prices; it is the exponential increase in any number of items that the rising fuel prices have caused. Take a moment, although I...

prepping present participle of prep (Verb) Verb Prepare (something); make ready. Prepare oneself for an event.

If we keep talking about it, one day we might actually jinx Hormel's (HRL) stock -- but we're not there yet. Shares of the Austin, Minn., food company were up 1.6% Thursday to $36.74, a level that, if it holds, would be an all-time closing high. This came after the maker of Spam, bacon and canned chili raised its full-year profit forecast following a first quarter in which it met estimates of 48 cents a share. Sales of $2.12 billion were slightly under the $2.14 billion consensus.