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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Damage Control

I'm having difficulty getting bent out of shape over what's going on in Libya.

No, it's not that I think it's a good idea.  It's unconstitutional, it's un-American, it's illegal.

And entirely expected.

I'm ambivalent because I know there is absolutely, positively nothing that can be done to change what has happened.  With disturbingly few exceptions, Congress is up on The Hill with their thumbs up their butts, quiet as church mice.

Our president totally side-stepped the American Congress, went straight to the UN to get their blessings and started lobbing missiles.

Is anyone surprised at this?  Obama is a globalist and he's behaving like one.

Those New World Order wacko's don't seem quite so wacky once you've actually witnessed the process in action, huh?
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The only solace I get from all of this is that the soft-heads who voted for Obama must feel VERY betrayed right now.   Chalk up another lie -
  • Transparent government
  • No lobbyists
  • Out of Iraq
  • Out of Afghanistan
  • Out of Gitmo
  • No "Wars of Choice"
  • Lower Unemployment
  • Green shoots
Yeah, I missed a bunch more, but I can only handle so much glee in one day.  ---

Do any of you out there that vote Republican think a John McCain or Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich would have done anything differently if they were residing at Pennsylvania Avenue?

Yeah.

Accept The Challenge

It all comes back to, "What can I do to minimize the damage to my life?"

How might this impact our lives?

>>Gas prices will likely continue to increase.  Instability in the region and uncertainty about future supplies will cause prices to soar.

So, where possible, reduce your usage of gasoline.  Also, if you can do so safely, store some gasoline at home.  It is prudent to expect supplies to eventually be impacted, and it would suck if you couldn't get somewhere (like Out Of Dodge) if you had to.

Be sure to add a gasoline stabilizer.

>>This war is another expense we can't afford.  Here's an off-the-wall, "crazy-talk" prediction:  Uncle Ben Bernanke will use this war as justification for an "emergency" issuance of more monetized debt:  QEIII.

The dollar will be further de-valued as a result.  Pick up some precious metals.  Seriously.  Even if you're only buying a silver round a week, it will help to maintain your purchasing power over time.

>>I don't see how this would impact the availability of food supplies, but it will certainly affect the price - mostly because of increased fuel costs to get the food to market.  If it continues for an extended period of time, it COULD affect availability, as farmers/ranchers reduce the amount of food produced to meet the lower purchase levels caused by high prices.  Ye Old Vicious Circle.

Continue putting food away.  It's as simple as that.   Buy as much extra shelf-stable food as you can afford.

And whether you grow it yourself or buy it at farmer's markets, take advantage of the coming summer bounty.  Practice canning, dehydrating, pickling and curing - methods of preservation that allow you to store food without needing refrigeration.  Assume you'll lose power, or will need to travel with your stores and not lose your food due to spoilage.

>>We've got a whole lot of the world pissed off at us now - lots of it residing in the Middle East and North Africa - and radical Muslims here in the states could start demonstrating their displeasure.

It could be peaceful, vocal protests.  It could be violent like we've seen around the rest of the world.

Tea Party folks may be joining the fray, as might soon-to-be-cut-off state workers, welfare recipients, college students and the like.

Stay close to home.  Stay armed.  Stay alert.

>>The economy as a whole could take another dumper.  Conserve cash where possible.

Make minimum payments on non-secured debt (such as credit cards).  Spend money on tangible, needed items, not on fluff.  Buy used goods from garage sales, Craigslist and want ads.

The main idea is to PLAN your purchases - don't buy impulsively.

>>Get healthy.  Walk, run, lift weights, do push ups, squats, ride a bike - whatever.  Just get healthy.

Get your teeth fixed.  Get that elective surgery.  Do what you can while services are still readily available.

Quit puttin' it off, ya big wimp!


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Copyright 2011 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com

11 comments:

357Chaos said...

Well said.

suek said...

Did I hear you refer to the NWO???

It's coming...unless??

http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/2011/Unreported_Soros_Event_Aims_to_Remake_Entire_Global_Economy.html

What does this mean to us??

Honestly, I just don't know...

Terrie said...

Great post again...I agree..but I guess you didn't see on Fox news today Your World with Neil..they are using the Japan crisis for evertbody raising food prices..I just ordered some dry #10 cans of milk and some veggies..just got here today..I ordered them 3 weeks ago..usually it only takes them less than a week to get here..what kind of silver rounds are you talking? don't know much about them..I use to get ssilver dollars but this last year they are to expensive..also being in hurricane land we usually store about 6 five gallon cans of gas for the generator in the end of summer..we usually get hurricanes the end of summer like Sept. we already have four filled and are going to get 6 more,,plus my husband has deisel stored for his truck..makes for a full garage.along with extra feed..think food is sky high try buying goat and chicken food its thru the roof.

Terrie said...

Chief,
Speaking of food..I know you have this thing for ready meals with lots of nutrition that can be bagged up in small portions and ready to go in your bulk storage..check out this website..something you might like

.http://baconandeggs-scifichick.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-year-supply-of-food-storage-under.html

Joseph said...

The main idea is to PLAN your purchases - don't buy impulsively.
+1, just don't spend too much time planning. Make it a priority now.

Interesting how many minds are thinking along the same lines. Last night I sent my wife a graph showing the Adjusted Monetary Base from the St. Louis Fed Rez. How can anyone think this is going to end with only light damage?
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE

Once larger chunks of this money start to work through the system we will wish we could go back to our current 'heightened' food prices.

suek said...

Checking out Craigslist for a Foodsaver for my daughter...

Found an older model, plus a "brand new" Seal-a-Meal being offered by the same person. Anyone have anything to offer in the way of comparison between the two brands?

Older Foodsaver being offered at $45, "brand new" Seal-A-Meal being offered at $30. Opinions welcome!

Chief Instructor said...

C, thanks.

Sue, you trying to kill me? ;-) Soros is simply pure evil. As individuals, there is nothing we can do other than financially prep. If the dollar is replaced as the world's exchange currency, it will no longer have any value whatsoever.

Terrie, I'm seeing so much more of the price of something staying the same, but the amount you get going down. Instead of a half pound of honey, it's 6 oz. Pasta in 12 oz packs instead of a pound. On and on.

Silver rounds are silver coins minted by private mints. They weigh (usually) 1oz and are pure silver (.999). One thing to be careful about is making sure they're not sterling silver (.925). You should only buy ones that are stamped .999 and 1oz. They are usually priced about $2 over spot silver prices.

That One Year of food thing is interesting. I like the idea of making that into a Just Add Water item.

I don't have any kidney beans in my preps. They're included in the One Year recipe, which says it needs to be boiled for 2 hours. Is that enough time to make the kidney beans edible? Most other large beans (i.e., pinto beans) take 4+ hours, and that's after they have soaked overnight. Any experience with kidney beans?

Chief Instructor said...

Joseph, that graph from the FRB is an incredible gut-punch. I wish I was better with graphing. I would like to have a graph that showed the increase in the monetary base, and the price increases of gold and silver. I'd guess they track pretty closely...

Sue, I can tell you that I have used FoodSavers since 1988 and have been very satisfied. My first one lasted 15 years. I got a lemon for the second one (lasted less than a year), but the current one has been in use since then.

I'd suggest bringing a cup of dry rice and have the current owner demonstrate the machine. It should end up as a very compact, tight package.

suek said...

This is the best I've found so far, I think...

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/444825

suek said...

If the silver rounds are sterling, but there's an adjustment of price to compensate, is that 'ok' or is there some other problem?

Chief Instructor said...

Sue, that's a great deal of feedback on both sealers. I've never used a Seal A Meal, but I'm a walking advertisement for the FoodSaver!

Sterling silver rounds: They have a MUCH smaller market demand. When we buy them in our shop, we buy them for scrap silver prices, which is substantially below adjusted spot prices. We probably end up melting 95% of the sterling rounds we buy, since few people purchase it.