Fellow Patriots,
Good morning!
Happy Post-Valentines Day. BTW, by this being a leap year, Valentines Day about him this year.
Woo hoo. A hot sexy camo back pack with a 12 pack of cashews works just fine.
We hope you enjoyed a blessed week wherever you may be. Thanks for hanging out with us.
I don't know about you but I'm having trouble sleeping at night because I'm so excited for Heritage Life Skills in May. I'm excited to see those of you who can attend. I hope you can make it.
If you live in the south like us, you are probably feeling like you are living the life of a duck. Sooo much rain and standing water. Lots of flooding and road closures. Have you given any thoughts to "what would you do" if your vehicle was suddenly trapped in high water? Keep your mind working at all times. What would I do? How would I react or respond? What is my plan? Do I keep trash bags in my Everyday Carry Bag in the event I have to get out of my car in rising waters and attempt to make it to shore as a last resort? Maybe I should ask "do you keep an Everyday Carry Bag in your vehicle? You may need to pull the trash bags out and blow them up as flotation devices to help you get to shore. Always have a plan in mind to help you stay one step ahead.
We had a nice visit home to East TN. Had family visiting from WV. About noon Saturday we enjoyed a beautiful snowstorm that covered the grass within an hour. If only I could have grabbed my backpack and headed out to the hills to spend the night. Oh wait, that was in my former life. Instead we hung out by the fireplace and enjoyed family time together. I did enjoy the snow for a bit. I was able to sneak out and go do a quick podcast for our Hope For Survival Facebook site. Lesson learned. My hair is thinner than 20 years ago and cold wet snow on the scalp equals a cold head. I do have hats, I just chose to not have it on. Silly me.
More to follow... Time is precious so let's move ahead.......
HEALTH ALERT: The Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc throughout China and the numbers continue to grow in and outside China. Keep monitoring it and be safe. I posted more on this topic in my thoughts for the week.
There is another health risk in America we all need to be aware of and simply be cautious. No one is talking about it. That is Influenza. Some may have taken the annual flu shot, so no worries. I wouldn't bank on that one. While we see the Coronavirus numbers and some folks created panic, there is minimal discussion on the Influenza numbers and we have about four months remaining in our annual flu season. Check this out. According to the CDC's latest "Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report," so far in the current flu season, which has four more months to run, 19 million Americans have gotten influenza, with 180,000 hospitalized and 10,000 deaths. Have you heard anything discussing the number of deaths? In 2019 61,200 died and in 2018 80,000 died of influenza.
My point is, monitor the international threat of Coronavirus but also stay alert to the flu and influenza because it is a closer threat and here in the homeland.
These are other notable virus issues that surfaced this week:
German Bird Flu - https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/germany-reports-outbreak-highly-pathogenic-h5n8-bird-flu-virus - It appears this is in the early stages as Germany is killing lots of chickens. Reports are stating this is under control. Time will tell. Pigs in China. Pork and Beef in the US of A, and now Chickens in Germany.
Brazil Puzzling Virus - https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/yaravirus-scientist-discover-puzzling-virus-unknown-origins-without-recognizable-genes -
Nigeria - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-disease-mystery-virus-deaths-benue-state-abba-moro-a9325806.html - Fifteen dead in a week...many sick.
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
NOTE: Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and authors of this site are not responsible for hurt feelings or thin skinned readers. We do our best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. We take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay.)
Thoughts for the week -
I got to have a couple long chats with the mountain man himself. Between busy schedules and other waiting priorities, Festus and I seem to encounter a lot of voice mail messages the past couple of weeks. We do chat. We just haven't had the quality conversations we have shared over the past 10 years. We had a nice long chat on the Coronavirus. What is real and what is not. Are the numbers being fudged maybe? Differences in opinion on how best to treat the virus if contracted. Could the virus have been weaponized? We then discussed the Titan Solar 1000 and 1500 solar generator system. On and on we went. I do believe we made Ms. Lucy's head hurt a few times.
One of the important points of our chat is this. Several folks reached out and asked about possibly getting together at some point during Heritage Life Skills 2020. We want to make this happen. Based on my current schedule, as it is, it would be impossible to break away from the HLS site and go to some location and share a meal and chat. It would be possible to meet after 8 pm on one evening but the following day I have classes to teach from 830 AM till 630 pm. I'm old-er and Ms. Lucy says I get cantankerous as I tire. I tried to explain to her it was Festus who is this way and not me because he is older than me. I lost.
I made a command decision and we will be in Waynesville, NC around 530 to 6 pm on Thursday evening, May 7, 2020 to do a rally type event to meet and spend time with folks who would like to attend. A location will be announced in the coming weeks. If you want or plan to attend please email me to let me know in the next few weeks so I can plan accordingly. Hope you can make it.
Next...
Ms. Lucy and I got to enjoy some snow during our time at home in East TN. The snow was absolutely beautiful. Is that possible? Sure it is. Looking out across the field to see the flakes blanketing the field took me back in time for a few minutes. We don't see much snow these days in the south. I often like to reflect on life and my thoughts took me back to my former life and a trip to a location about an hour south of Budapest Hungary. One of my first days I was out walking the streets of the mid-sized town to survey the environment. This was shortly after the Berlin Wall tumbled down and Communism had departed the region taking about anything and everything that could be stolen, moved, or destroyed. It was a cold morning and snowflakes fell on the town. It reminded me of growing up in small town America. What caught my attention was the few folks out on the streets rode old bicycles down the sidewalk. The big heavy bicycles like Dorothy rode in the Wizard of Oz. Thick coats and holy gloves and hand knitted toboggans. They had to be 75 years or older. They looked very tired but very prideful. Each stared without a smile but nodded their heads at me. I walked for another few blocks taking in the noises and movements around me. I rounded a corner and noticed a long line of people down the side of a few town buildings. I discovered these folks would line up daily to hopefully get to the front before the daily bread loafs sold out. This really didn't make a lot of sense to me yet because it was my first time visiting a former Soviet country. In my mind, things had to be better. Later in the afternoon I discovered a local corner grocery store on the street and ventured in to find minimal to no food on the shelves. Here in America we are spoiled because we have ten types of canned beans or corn. These folks had one type of bean or corn and less than ten cans on the shelf. This was daily survival. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the pride and determination to survive each day by the elderly. Their pockets jingled with their life savings being used to buy food or a few sticks of firewood for the day. In America, I wonder how many people would have the same determination to survive if placed in the same circumstances as the elderly Hungarians. My time spent in Eastern Europe was a true lesson in life.
Next ...
I don't know if you have been following the Coronavirus but something smells like a rat. I'm not going to go down the "Tin Foil Highway" ...yet,... but something is not adding up. Stories are surfacing out of China that the numbers of dead and sick are far higher than being reported. As I said a few weeks ago in the Health Alert posted as a single post on the website, one of the big worries is the Chinese government being open and honest on the virus, size of the virus, origin of the virus, and updated information. I do not believe the information being reported is honest or correct. Something that went off in my WV noggin. I remembered back in December the arrest of the Harvard Professor and a few others for covertly working with the Chinese government and specifically Wuhan University Chemical and Biology Department. So what?
My memory took me back to a time between 1998 and 2000. I was working in the "dark" world, as some like to call it, and I was told I needed to take a trip and attend a briefing with a gentleman I had not heard of at the time. Okay, sure, I will go. Traveling over 300 days per year already, what's another week. I attended a brief and got my socks blown off. The world where past imagination became real. Of course the speaker was not using his name (understandably so) and went by the name on his upcoming book. So, today, when I read more information about the Coronavirus bells and whistles keep singing "ding, ding, ding" in my head. It could mean nothing. It's just something stands out. If you are curious, I would recommend you locate and read a book titled "BioHazard - The chilling true story of the largest covert biological weapons program." The authors name is Ken Alibek. https://www.amazon.com/Biohazard-Chilling-Largest-Biological-Weapons/dp/B002JH8RQG/ref=sr_1_9?crid=25SEVJQKK7G54&keywords=biohazard&qid=1581507748&s=books&sprefix=BIOHAZARD%2Cstripbooks%2C154&sr=1-9
Back to current day. I was invited last evening to join some likeminded individuals here in North Alabama who meets weekly to discuss world news and preparedness. The topic was the Coronavirus. I watched a 30 minute video that was a compilation of video clips from inside Wuhan and around China. When I arrived home afterwards I told Ms. Lucy, I was lost for words in what I witnessed. I have been exposed to a lot of not so pleasant stuff in my life and this video more than captured my attention. At this point in life, I have to say it takes a lot to blow me away. I'm not going to go in to graphic detail of what I witnessed and I am working to get a copy of the video to share with you so you can put my words in to reality. I am not a doctor, nor a scientist, nor this or that. Based on experience and what I witnessed with my own eyes and processed with my own brain without any discussion from others to influence my thoughts, it is my opinion this cannot be a virus in the form we are being told. I witnessed to many variances of effects of whatever this may be. Not possible. There is no way the numbers we are hearing is close to being right. This is some wicked stuff. An attendee watching the video leaned over to me and said "I bet these people wished they had read your book, "Hope For Survival." I told him, "Anyone who watches this video and then doesn't run straight to the store to stock up on lots of food and supplies is crazy." The video showed a clip taken at night and you could hear thousands of quarantined people screaming from the high rise apartments, from pain and starvation. Evidently the video was taken from the top of a building near the other high rise apartments.
I say to you, don't panic or go off the deep end. Remain calm and be prepared. This has been my point all along, be prepared and capable of separating yourself from any threat by having food, water, shelter, security and applicable medications. Create distance and the ability to be self-reliant. If you read my book, this would be a time where I would suggest starting to go from green light to yellow light. Meaning, turn down the radio, slow down, and pay closer attention. You aren't lost and you are still in control. Simply be more alert and pay attention to things around you. There is nothing to convince me the threat is elevated here at home. We just need to be alert and prepared.
Next...
Thanks to everyone for their emails and conversations over the past week(s). It is great hearing from you. I enjoy reading your thoughts and progress within your own preparedness steps. There's a lot of preparedness work taking place in many homes. Keep up the great work and keep charging.
Okay, the world awaits us, let's move ahead.
Preparedness News
1. From Courtney Wollam - The Survival Mom - https://thesurvivalmom.com/preserve-eggs-milk/ - The author provides good information on methods to store milk and eggs for long term storage.
2. From Guest - The Prepping Guide - https://thepreppingguide.com/5-reasons-chickens-may-be-a-risky-option-for-preppers/ - This is simply an opinion only. We should consider our best options based on our needs and situation.
3. From Selco - The Organic Prepper - This is a topic I have written on and spoke about often. Misinformation. Learn to think outside the box. Do your own research and homework. Learn to pick and choose what you need to include in your information evaluation for today and later.
4. From Tess Pennington - Ready Nutrition - https://readynutrition.com/resources/week-1-of-52-two-weeks-of-food-and-water_06042011/ - This was one of the first books I purchased when we amped up our Preparedness efforts. The Preppers Blueprint is a great book with a step-by-step guide to help prepare for disasters. She offers a 52 week plan to build your resources to a respectable level. If you want it faster, simply move through her weekly suggestions that tells you what to accomplish for the week.
5. From Tim Makay - Modern Survival - https://modernsurvivalonline.com/camouflage-for-survival/ - Excellent article on camouflage and you. This is one to print out for your library. The author provides a lot of good suggestions for different applications. There are certainly other scenarios not mentioned in the article. Like anything we read, this is just one person's suggestions and opinion.
6. From Bill White - Bio Prepper - https://www.bioprepper.com/2020/02/04/is-the-us-power-grid-collapsing/ - 7. From Doc Montana - Survival Cache - https://survivalcache.com/the-bear-essential-the-glock-43-as-a-bear-gun_buffalo-bore_9mm/ - Good article on guns and bears.
Other News -
1. From Tyler Durden - Zero Hedge - https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/oil-heading-mid-40s-few-weeks-lack-demand-starfuels-brokerage - You may have noticed in some locations the quick decrease in the price of fuel when you tank up. Keep your eyes on this one. The problem isn't availability. The problem is a lack of demand. A drastic 15% decrease in demand has set off alarm bells around the world. Sure, we love cheap prices. However the oil providers are feeling the impacts of Coronavirus around the world. If middle east providers see the price per barrel racing towards the $40 price, watch them slash output drastically which will drive the prices back up. China currently gets about 70% of its massive oil output from the middle east.
2. From James Bovard - The Future of Freedom Foundation - https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/gun-seizures-could-lead-to-civil-war/ - So which right is it that the Federal Government has? The right to take your rights to own firearms or the right to defend the 2nd Amendment of the citizens? Good read.
3. From Shepherd Farmer Geek - Survival Blog - https://survivalblog.com/letter-wuhan-virus-shepherdfarmergeek/ - This is good information to consider. Remember, I'm not a doctor and the author isn't a doctor. This is just a suggestion. The question remains, how long will you possibly have the virus to move through your system before you feel symptoms to then react with a treatment?
4. From John Rutherford - The Rutherford Institute - https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/on_the_front_lines/citing_harm_to_environment_rutherford_institute_urges_u.s._supreme_court_to_stop_construction_of_gas_pipeline_through_appalachian_trail - If you have never witnessed the impact of big boom corporate destruction in smaller poor communities of America you should check go check it out. Having grown up in southern WV, I witnessed the boom of the coal industry through the 1970s and then witnessed the departure of the boom and the staggering impact on the poorer small communities. Then the new strip mining occurred and parts of mountain tops would vanish while coal was pulled using a newer method. Years ago I was on leave from the military and visiting my family. We took a drive through the neighboring county to witness the results of the coal boom aftermath. Entire towns boarded up, traffic lights turned off for years, citizens having to rely on public transportation systems to transport them to the next county to fill prescriptions and shop. Then the drug lords moved in and what remained wasn't safe to transit after dark. Then massive rains would pass through the region and flood after flood would ravage the towns. After big coal departed the area, the stripped land couldn't hold back the flood waters. After multiple floods FEMA told the residents they would not return in the future because the citizens refused to leave the land that would eventually flood again. Terrible situation with no hope in the future. I certainly hope the Appy trail doesn't end up similar.
5. From Brandon Smith - Alt-Market - https://www.alt-market.com/index.php/articles/4094-the-eternal-relationship-between-gold-and-global-crisis - Good read. A bit above the clouds but good information from BS.
6. From Peter Tchir via Academy Securities - https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/garbage-garbage-out-uncertainty-goes-viral-baltic-dry-crashes-near-all-time-low - You rarely hear anyone discussing the Global Market or National Market and include news from the Baltic Dry Index. Zilch. What's shaking and moving is important in order to see who is buying, shipping and receiving, globally. As noted in this article, the BDI has been slow to dry for a while and continues to tank month by month. The Chinese Coronavirus is making matters worse. The BDI is a good index to keep your eyes on if you like to watch the markets and monitor how things are going. I have heard some call the BDI the true temperature of the global picture. 7. From Michael Klare - Tom Dispatch - http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176661/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_war_in_the_arctic
- This is a good article discussing where and why some believe the next WW could take place. Most pay little attention to the Artic region. Why would they? It's cold with lots of ice and snow. But, you can do your own research over the past 10 to 15 years to read of all the major military movements between Russia and the US of A in this region. Notice all the articles you cross paths on regarding senior US officials travel to the region. Why was John Kerry near Antarctica on the eve of our current President's election? We will never know this.
8. From Tyler Durden - Zero Hedge - https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wuhan-400-coronavirus-1981-novel-predicts-virus-origin - Okay, be creative mentally and let your mind wonder. Now check this out. Having spent a lot of my former life in the dark world, ....yea, this is interesting to me. 9. From the Burning Platform - This article is a good read with interesting insight from the past, present and future. Sometimes we know A, B, C, and D seems wrong but when we consolidate to see everything in a big picture to realize the problem is not single but multiple problems feeding off one another.
Drum roll........... That's all my Patriot brothers and sisters.
Thank you for your time to read the PENL. I hope you found something to help you in some way. We don't take your time for granted. Keep your feet and minds grounded as the world around us spins out of control. Keep the faith and do great things. Find someone who is down and out and give them Hope.
Please keep our great nation, our elected leaders, military and first responders in your thoughts and prayers. I know several of our readers would appreciate you adding them to your prayer list as health and worldly struggles remain. We also have a Patriot sister recovering from a recent surgery and now going through rehab for complete use of her hand and arm. We should also pray for the citizens around the world infected with Coronavirus. Please pray for a Patriot brother and sister who has departed the mainland US of A going on a long trip abroad. Please pray for a Patriot sister who was in an accident a couple months ago and rear ended in her vehicle. She is currently recovering after brain surgery. I pray for each and every one of our Patriots. May we all be protected from the growing evils surrounding and attacking our families daily. Amen.
Thank you. Keep charging and have a safe week.
Blessings,
Bravo Echo Out,
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