Today, We Go To Our Friend James Reeves Of TFB TV To See Which Of The Current Crop Of Bullpup Carbines Is The Best.

 Once again, another, another well done review of the Pros and Cons of the current selection of Bullpup carbines. So get yourselves a cup off coffee, or maybe your favorite adult beverage, and get comfortable.

 

U.S. Senator Bob 'Gold Bar" Menendez Comments On His Indictment

 This quote from Senator Menedez has been seen and or heard on virtually every major media outlet. And It's priceless.

 “excesses of these prosecutors is apparent,” and the prosecutors are misrepresenting normal constituent services of a Congressional office".

So Bob, I have to admit that I wasn't aware that Egypt was now part of New Jersey!

Who knew?          🤣🤣🤣

Hot Tuna At The Beacon Theater 9-23-23 - The Last Electric Ride

After 50 years Jorma and Jack will no longer be doing any Electric concerts. Both are in their 80's now and have decided that it's become a bit too much. Accordingly, while they aren't  retiring, they will be doing the less demanding material. Went to the show last night that was billed ad 'The Last Electric Tuna Show" and they gave it their all and a good time was had by all!

US Senator Robert Menendez And His Wife Indicted On Multiple Charges Of Corruption

 

  "Gold Bar" Bob Menendez never seems  to learn

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/22/4-key-points-bob-menendezs-colorful-indictment/

Today James From TFB TV Reviews the S&W FPC

 A couple of the Blog followers have mentioned an interest in Smith & Wessons new Folding stock Pistol Caliber Carbine.

Well, here you go guys.

 

I also have a link to a written review From Shooting Illustrated. 

 https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/review-smith-wesson-fpc-carbine/

When You Can And Cannot Draw Your Firearm From USCCA

 Info you need to know, if you don't want to spend your life savings on legal fees, or end d up in prison.

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Sept 23, 1989 - The Day Off Duty US Army Rangers Engaged In A Shootout With The Tacoma Washington Crips

 Not a good day for the Crips. 

 

Worlds Largest Known Lithium Deposits Discovered In Nevada

After locking up the mining rights to the two Largest Lithium mines in The Peoples Democratic Republic Of The Congo, and just last week making a deal with Bolivia for the rights to mine Lithium in the Bolivian Salt Flats which, up Until 2 days ago, was considered to contain the largest lithium deposits in the world, a figurative 'Bombshell' hit.

Apparently, what is now considered to probably be the new largest Lithium deposits in the world were discovered contained below an inactive supervolcano crater in Nevada. There are still more tests to be made, and even if the estimates are accurate, the discovery has been lambasted by local Native Americans who say the area is on sacred tribal land, as well as environmentalists.

Still, in spite of the several issues that are involved, the deposit is apparently worth nearly 1.5 Trillion dollars, and would put a very major dent in China's Lithium mining near-monopoly.

www.sciencetimes.com/articles/45907/20230911/massive-lithium-deposit-unearthed-nevada-oregon-volcanic-caldera-game-changer.htm

Two Fall From Rollercoaster And Survive **Graphic**

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Notes From The Recent Hurricane Idalia Down In Florida

 So the Blog is going Prepper today people. The following write-up was from an exchange of emails I had with one of our fellow Blog Followers. He hasn't posted in a few years, but he's back now with some first hand insight on dealing with  the decision to 'Stay In Place' or 'Bug-Out'.  As well as the mindset of a lot of people in how they sometimes bury their heads in the sand as opposed to making even the slightest preparations for an emergency.

Also, if any of you have ever thought about getting a back-up generator for major sustained power outages, he has some interesting tips for you. Particularly about one "minor item" the generator companies don't mention in their advertisements.

In any event, I'm sure you'll all get some insight into what goes into the decision making process that goes into  preparing for impending emergencies.

Notes On Hurricane Idalia

by Steve Forester

Speaking of hurricanes, I am keeping a close eye on TD #1 as currently heading our way. I saw it included in your Early Warning Brief today. Thanks for that, BTW. I have done extensive hurricane prep research and come to the conclusion the best solution is just not to live by the coast - period.
 
Storms are so unpredictable that it will most likely be too late to do any long distance evacuation by the time it becomes apparent you should do so. And can't pack up and leave early at every tropical system that comes along. Best is to prepare to shelter-in-place as best you can and be prepared for an emergency evacuation to a storm shelter if necessary. Which would be if the home will be underwater.
 
The Gulf water is hot tub warm right now and if the TD tracks more north and allowed to develop it could easily turn into a CAT 5 in a matter of hours. Or just fizzle out and be nothing at all.
 
Now, if I can just escape getting blown away in a hurricane we should be fine. LOL!
 
We are experiencing tropical storm conditions right now. Winds are 25 mph sustained, with gusts to 40 mph, and heavy rain.
 
It comes in bands and is kind of neat to watch on radar and see the band sweep in and look outside and actually experience it.
 
The hurricane should make landfall well to the north of us - up around the Big Bend area. Tampa was freaking for awhile as it looked like going right into the bay but it won't be as bad as it could have been. The storm surge is the big threat there.

I am, of course, over prepared. I conned the wife into doing a shelter route recon yesterday and she said not to tell anyone. LOL!! We are having a FEMA MRE this afternoon to see how they taste. We got them during Ian last year and they expire next year. We might eat some if they are palatable.
 
Anyway, we are good. Just basically a heavy thunder storm, but lasts much longer than a normal storm. Probably be like this into tonight.

The FEMA "Ready Meal" wasn't all that bad. Compared to the older military MRE's anyway that contained so many chemicals it left an after taste for days and you couldn't poop for a week. I read the ingredient list and nothing too noxious. No worse than any processed food in the store anyways. They’re even low sodium.

It had a flame less heater like the MRE, but without the good accessory pack like the MRE. I guess FEMA cheaped out on that. The one we opened was a chili like connection with noodles, beans, and tomato sauce. Also had a chocolate protein bar that wasn't bad and a sweet potato-bannana smoothy that neither of us ias brave enough to try.
 
We got 10 cases of them that expire next year so got to do something with them. We kept going to the FEMA distribution center a good while after Ian had passed and I think they were just trying to get rid of stock. They kept piling cases of Ready Meals, bottled water, and blue tarps, in the car.
 
I am a soft core prepper and I noticed the new thing is the grow your own food movement instead of stocking long term freeze dried food. Maybe someone actually ate some of it, I don't know. They now are talking "No Grid" instead of "Off Grid".
 
I developed a fridge/freezer/pantry plan backed up with some long shelf life freeze dried food that we could probably probably make last 2-3 months if we only ate 1 meal per day. I don't know about growing my own food, though. There are ways to do so with minimum space, but animals and other people would steal.
 
I told my sister our Mom & Dad were the best survivalists even if they didn't know it. We lived on a farm and they had a huge garden and canned food. We had cattle for meat and milk, a chicken coop for chicken and eggs, and hogs for smoked hams. My Dad knew how to butcher and preserve the meat after growing up on a farm in the Depression. We had a wood burning stove and cast iron cookware for cooking and heat. We never had a/c. We has a cistern for water.

My grand mother was even more primitive. She had no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and a well with a hand pump for water. She had oil lamps, a wood burning stove for cooking, and a pot belly stove for heat. And she raised 9 kids by herself like that!
 
She was the one I described on-line as keeping a revolver in her apron. She was Scots-Irish, a descendant of the original settlers in KY, and she was tough as a pine knot.
 
What preppers call "off grid" was just normal everyday life for her. People couldn't cope with that today, though. We have all become dependent on inter-connected grids and inter-connected supply chains.

Yes, we are watching Invest 93 closely. I used to just be interested in hurricanes from a scientific standpoint, but now been in two major hurricanes since I retired and I take things more personally now. It is not lost on me the last two major hurricanes were Irma and Ian and Invest 93 would be Idalia. All "I" named storms.

Experience has taught me a lot about hurricane prep. I normally opt for shelter-in-place, but we could have to evacuate due to water. Water and fire being one of the few reason to evacuate.

One big thing I learned is it will be almost impossible to long distance evacuate simply because only two major interstates out of FL that will quickly become jammed. One can say to just evacuate early, but would you in this case? Right now, just an unorganized system that may not develop at all. Could go anywhere from the panhandle to SW FL as anything from a weak TS to a CAT 5 hurricane.

I told the wife if we were going to evacuate we would need to leave by Sunday or early Monday morning at the latest. She just looked at me like I was nuts. lol

I keep bug out bags packed, but by the time we see more what is happening with the storm this weekend and doing things like getting the house prepared for impact and getting all her cosmetics and fashion items packed it will be too late to start up I-75. 50 mile traffic jams and stations running out of gas. No thanks. I'll take my chances on shelter in place unless a mandatory evacuation ordered and then it then will have to tough out in a local shelter.

I could talk a lot about things I've learned about hurricane prep, but since no one else here is affected by hurricanes would be no point. I can say it is funny how few here take hurricanes seriously and how few make any preparation. I would guess if I ask our friends and neighbors that no one would even know about Invest 93.

I just saw the Dep Dir of the Hurricane Center on the Weather Channel and they asked if he knew what 93L would do over the weekend. He said no, but he knew what people in FL would do - which is nothing. They will do nothing unless 93L becomes a major storm heading for them and then they will flock to Home Depot and WalMart and clean out the shelves. Then, head out on I-75 when they get scared, and contributing to the 50 mile traffic jam.

It is the same every disaster. Everyone scoffs until they can't ignore anymore and then they panic. Doesn't give me a lot of faith in human nature.

"Those of you not in the path of incoming storm should use this as a reminder to take a look at your own preps and make sure everything is topped off and ready to go.

After all, it’s better to shore up when there isn’t a sense of panic and rushing".

This is SO true in every endeavor. Something that FEW do, however.

One thing I can vouch for sure is: "IT IS BETTER TO PLAN AND PREPARE BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS".

Or, as Retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson put it: "A crisis is a terrible time to make a decision".

When SNS stress kicks in, the brain's ability to make rational decisions goes right out the window.

One thing I know for sure is, if you don't have a pre-made plan in place when a crisis happens, one's brain will turn to mush.

I remember in Ian, which was a relativity low-level stress event for us, but my wife commented at how she seemed to be confused and making bad decisions. Not something she is normally known for.

SNS stress makes good decision making impossible. Why I have disaster checklists, and pre-made plans for personal security.

When something goes down one will just react according to pre-made plans, or freeze in fear and information overload.

Situational Awareness and a Plan are the corner stones of a Survival Mindset. I see articles written on this topic that make it overly complicated, but this is the gist of it.

Awareness gives you a little warning. Having a plan gives the mind a path to follow under chaos.

Simple as that!

We didn't have that much impact here, but more than the wife expected. We have experienced tropical storms before and the wife joked she wouldn't have been able to tell it was a TS if someone hadn't told her. It just seemed like a regular thunder storm.

This time was a little more. It was pretty breezy Tuesday afternoon til yesterday afternoon. About 24 hours of 25 mph sustained winds and 40 mph gusts. And periods of heavy rain. It was sort of cool how you could look at the sky and see the bands moving over. The sky would be blue and when a cloud bank would move in very fast and bring the wind and sheets of rain that last a few minutes and then it would move on and blue sky again.

Still no damage though other than a lot of palm fronds down.

Ian was different and we lost power, water, internet, phone - everything for several days. We had the whole house Generac generator but the community propane tank ran out after 3 days of several generators running full time. I think 4 generators working off a 500 gal tank. If I had known that I would have put my own tank in.

Generators in general are something I now have mixed emotions about. Great when they work, but other than running out of propane, many generators didn't work when the power went out. They require a LOT of maintenance: a yearly routine maintenance that is about $150, and a lot more maintenance after they have run for several days. About $800 dollars worth. And the guarantee runs out after 10 years which about how long they last.

I think of I had to do over, I would consider a solar generator that would just run the fridge and a few lights. The solar power means no noise, no fumes, etc. and can keep inside the house. Of course have to run the connecting cords to the solar panel, and then plug everything in, but much cheaper than a whole house generator. Of course, in FL there is lots and lots of sunshine to power the panel. Other places might not work so well.

In term of plans and preparation, my plan has changed 5 times since moving here based on hard experience. Still, any plan is better than no plan. After a lot of research I have finally come to the conclusion it is best just to hunker down at home and go to the local shelter if water forces you out of the home. The reason why is rapidly changing conditions in a hurricane make it impossible to know when to make a planned evacuation (as opposed to the emergency evacuation) in time to beat the crowd up the interstate. And, no matter what the "experts" say local evacuation isn't really viable. Where are you to go? Hotels will either be closed or lose power and now sitting in a hot, dark, hotel room with no restaurants open or gas stations. And big hurricanes cover much of the state. One of my previous bug-out locations was right in Idalia's path and much worse conditions then where we were.

Some new things I’ve noticed regarding emergency planning.

1. I notice the new prepper term is "no grid" instead of "off grid". Orientating now more toward growing their own food instead of stockpiling food. I don't know. Seems a little over the top to me. I personally, think the most likely man-made disaster is an economic collapse, or severe depression. I looked to some lessons-learned books people in Venezuela and Argentina wrote about their experiences rather than plan for a TEOTWAWKI situation.

2. I was discussing Tac-Med with my swat team member nephew recently. He said the latest thing is to ditch the expensive hemostatic guaze and Israeli type bandages, and just use rolled gauze and self adhering bandages (ACE bandage) from Wall Mart. This a dirt cheap and according to him work just as well. He has really done wound packing and TQ application on several occasions and he seemed satisfied with how the cheap stuff worked.







































 
 
   

Minnesota Democratic Party Chairwowman Who Called to Defund And Dismantle The Police Dept. Assaulted And Carjacked

 And now she's singing a different tune.

What can I say.......Irony Abounds

https://www.theblaze.com/news/democrat-sathanandan-carjack-violent-defund

More Classic Carl Cestari Footage Circa 1990"s

 This was before he developed the curriculum he started teaching in the late 90's/early 2000's.

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Have A Definitive Carl Cestari Classic Movie

 For all you guys who are too lazy to break out the DVD (Or VHS Tape if you've been around long enough), I bring you  "The Fairbairn Seminar" starring Carl Cestari and a cast of several dozen willing victims,  er, ahh, I mean training volunteers.