Category: Rational Prepper - neoTerra

The 2nd

3/5/2023

Joe Biden's Pledge
Joe Biden is at it again... recently declaring "But guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water.”

Let's ignore the Unconstitutionality of this pledge for a moment and focus merely on the dishonesty and deception.

An AR-15 (or similar) is NOT an 'assault weapon". By military definition an 'assault weapon' is fully automatic (i.e. a machine gun) while the AR-15 is semi-auto.
- If the Democrats were at all honest they would state that they seek to ban ALL semi-automatic weapons... instead of invoking scary 'assault weapons'.
Over the past two years, Joe had both the House and the Senate... and they did nothing. Now that Conservatives control the House his pledge is disingenuous at best.

The 1994 Assault Weapon Ban
Joe goes on to brag about the effectiveness of 'his' 1994 Assault Weapon Ban, which is also total deception. In the 1994 AWB an 'Assault Weapon' was defined as follows:

A semi-automatic rifle with the ability to accept a detachable magazine and at least two of the following banned features.
1. A folding or telescoping stock.
2. A pistol grip.
3. A bayonet mount.
4. A flash suppressor or threaded barrel.
5. A grenade launcher

I'm not aware of anyone ever robbing a convenience store at bayonet-point... AND... grenades were (and are) illegal as 'destructive devices'. Manufacturers merely removed the 'banned features', except for the pistol grip and continued to sell warm, cuddly 'Sporting Rifles'.

The rifle in the top picture is a vicious 'Assault Weapon'... see the bayonet lug protruding below the front site. The lower picture is an identical Colt AR-15 with the bayonet lug milled off...

Joe's 1994 AWB was an epic failure. There was no decrease in gun violence.

The ban also greatly increased interest in the AR. Prior to the ban there were fewer than 1 million ARs in circulation but that number increased rapidly after 1994. Today, it's estimated that there are 20 million civilian-owned ARs.

With 20/20 hindsight, many view Joe Biden as the greatest AR booster in history.
www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/04/08/the-1994-assault-weapons-ban-in-review/

I encourage y'all to watch this 1-minute video from Katie Hopkins. [12/30/2023] - Unfortunately the socialists censors at YT have removed the video.

The Rational Prepper - Let Them Eat Turnips

2/26/2023

Inflation and shortages are definitely taking a toll here in the United States. But Europe, with it's Climate Change obsession is getting pummeled (which they rightly deserve).

Inflation in the UK, for example, is almost double what it is here. Food inflation is at 16.8% for January, while petrol (aka gasoline) is up 129.4% and electricity is up 66.7%. Many, MANY Britons are being crushed and forced to choose between heating and eating.

In a world of wokeness, Therese Coffey, the UK Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated... if people can't afford food then they should "work more hours or get upskilled to get a higher income."

I'm not sure how long it takes to get 'upskilled' but I bet your kids will starve before you get a higher income.

To make matters worse, there is such an extreme shortage of fresh produce that stores have started rationing things like peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers... three to a customer! It is hard for me to comprehend a national shortage of tomatoes.

Seriously... don't they have greenhouses in the UK?? Well, yes they do. BUT many have been shut down because of restrictions on fertilizer and the soaring cost of energy needed to heat and light the growing areas.

Here again, the helpful Secretary had a brilliant solution saying that Britons should eat turnips instead of tomatoes. Apparently, there's no shortage of turnips... which really doesn't surprise me.

The only difference between Marie Antoinette and this government buffoon is that Marie was skinny enough to shove into the guillotine! It does not appear that Dr. Coffey is getting by on turnips.

Rational Prepper - No Place Is Safe

2/21/2023

Several months ago I wrote a couple of posts about body armor. Some of you may have thought I was being melodramatic... but I WASN'T.

This past week, in yet another example of white-supremacist violence, a 26 year-old mother of two was shot in the back and murdered in broad daylight in a Kroger parking lot.... on Valentines day... in a small South Carolina community.

Apparently, the killer backed into the victim while victim was loading groceries into her parked car. Some words ensued, which were, perhaps, disrespectful to the killer. SO, when victim turned away to finish loading her groceries she was shot in the back and killer drove away.

Guess which woman was the victim.

In a world with Democrat District Attorneys, Democrat Prosecutors and Democrat Judges... No Place Is Safe.

The Rational Prepper - Sustaining Civilization

1/11/2023

I started the Rational Prepper segment several months ago with a discussion regarding location. My theory is simple; the best way to prep for disasters is to avoid them. Just move somewhere that doesn't have earthquakes, hurricanes or toxic waste dumps.

There are MANY areas in the United States that are beautiful and relatively immune from natural disasters. For us, the ideal area is in the southern Appalachians.

As a bonus, many man-made (or self-inflicted) threats can be avoided by moving to rural America.

Robbery and violent crime are escalating to epidemic proportions in Democrat cities while they defund Police and while Progressive DAs release hardened criminals without bail.

Here in the mountains, the situation is a bit different.

Yesterday (January 10th), a scumbag (with a pair of women's panties pulled over his face as a disguise) attempted to rob a convenience store in Ellijay, Georgia. Within moments, three armed customers subdued the robber and held him for police. No shots were fired... even a stupid criminal is smart enough to surrender when the odds are three against one.

Unlike Chicago, the perp (and his wife) are being held without bail and they WILL go to jail. The three armed citizens are being honored as heroes.

Sorry Democrats... guns are not the problem... YOU ARE!

news.yahoo.com/armed-customers-stop-husband-wife-192809057.html

The Rational Prepper - I Screwed-Up Edition

12/25/2022

Though I do try to plan/prepare for the most probable disruptions, we all get complacent from time to time. I spend a lot of time thinking about things like inflation, recession and maintaining health. Today, on Christmas Day, .. I must admit that I didn't properly prepare for the Big Chill.

Yesterday, on Christmas Eve morning I awoke to discover that we had no water. Overnight, the temperature dropped to a record -5 degrees and the well-head froze. The well is insulated but the pink fiberglass had deteriorated over the years and I was too complacent to check it or take proper precautions against freezing. Shame On Me.

Ironically, we are so 'green' at neoTerra that we don't have any incandescent light bulbs (that get hot). It was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find something to defrost the well. Ms. Terra suggested the iron... you know for ironing clothes (I'm surprised the Democrats haven't banned them yet).

200 feet of extension cord, an iron, an old beat-up blanket and several hours later the pipes were defrosted. Then, the BAD news... the pipe had fractured and water was gushing out. NO WATER.

I called our 'well guy'. I was honestly surprised that he called me back in less than 10 minutes... on Christmas Eve and I could hear his family talking and preparing dinner in the background. (that is one of the great benefits of living in rural, traditional America).

The bad news is that he had 80 calls ahead of me and we won't get our well repaired for at least 5 days. The good news is that there are at least 80 other people as dumb as me :-).

Fortunately, we have awesome friends and neighbors so I was able to get 20 gallons of water for flushing toilets and washing dishes... which allows us to reserve our 10 gallons of distilled water for drinking/cooking.

Ironically, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's like camping in the desert. No laundry, no showers and restricted flushing... but it is definitely not as bad as what people in the UK or Germany are going through. The sun has warmed the Great Room to 77 degrees... we have LOTS of firewood (firewood is now illegal in Blue San Francisco), and we have rib-eye steaks ready to go into the broiler.

This makes me realize that our 'disaster' is merely an inconvenience.... an inconvenience that could have been avoided. An inconvenience we will easily get through and learn from.

Well, my friends, it's time start those rib-eyes and make the most of our Christmas 'camping' experience!!

Merry Christmas to All !!

The Rational Prepper - Aging In Place

10/25/2022

Introduction and Recap
As mentioned in previous posts, I'm NOT a Doomsday Prepper. I look at the probability of possible situations and how that situation might effect us. I consider how much a particular 'bad' situation might cost versus how much it might cost to deflect or mitigate that scenario.

I know that sounds abstract so I will try to provide some examples.

Reality vs Anxiety
There are real, or at least probable, threats to our well-being and happiness. AND then there are endless fantasies that are improbable or impossible. Since the fantasies are more dramatic they tend to distract us from reality.

I try to be rational. I don't concern myself with apocalypse scenarios. For example, a Zombie Apocalypse is impossible (0% probability) and a killer asteroid strike cannot be mitigated.... so don't worry.

That said, I try to plan for situations that are inevitable or (at least) probable.

Considering The Inevitable
Aging, for example, is inevitable. Declining health and vigor are an unavoidable part of life, but we can all take steps to sustain health and energy for as long as possible. Don't smoke, try to eat healthy and keep weight under control, avoid stupid accidents, get some exercise.

However, even with our best efforts, aging gradually extracts its due. If you want to sustain a certain level of independence then you have to accept and accommodate the inevitable.

The first design of neoTerra was two-stories with a basement... similar to Chi-Terra. This is the most cost effective way to build since it minimizes foundations and roof which are very expensive.

As we saw elders in our families declining we reconsidered. We studied the concepts of aging-in-place and went back to the drawing board. It set us back a few months in design but neoTerra became a home we could spend 20 or more years in.

Aging-In-Place
I will give you a few small examples from aging-in-place.
www.nia.nih.gov/health/topics/aging-place

Mobility and Accessibility
Many people think that you need to dramatically downsize as you get older. This is not entirely correct.

An older 'family' of two has very different needs than a young family of five. But the the 'elders' may genuinely need almost as much physical space. Fewer bedrooms, perhaps, but more space for movement.

In residential construction, the typical interior doors are 30 inches (sometimes as small as 24"). However, you can't get through a 30" door with a wheel chair or even with a walker.

While I try to avoid thinking about one of us being constrained to a walker, I sure don't want to be forced out of our home. We went back to the drawing board and expanded doorways to 36"... we expanded the hallway from 36" to 48" and we expanded the areas in the kitchen to allow someone with a walker to be self-sufficient.

The most expensive adjustment was the deck. We have 6+ acres of woods so the original deck concept was small.... basically just a balcony. However, if one of us becomes mobility impaired then all that land becomes inaccessible. We more than tripled the size of the deck. There may be a point where we can't walk together down a mountain path, but we will still be able to enjoy each other's company and a mountain sunset.

Balance
Household falls are a serious concern, especially for women who tend to develop osteoporosis as they get older. Obviously, stairs are the most dangerous aspect of a home but they can't be eliminated unless you are designing from scratch. But, there are many small things that can be done when remodeling or renovating.

I was surprised to learn how many seniors are injured just trying to operate a two handled faucet, because they needed to keep one hand on the counter of sink to steady themselves. Replacing them with single-handle faucets eliminates one small risk.

Having a seat and a grab bar in the shower is another consideration. Many people are injured each year from falls in the shower.

Conclusion
Aside from aging and taxes ... Nothing in life is guaranteed.

The Rational approach is to focus first on situations that are inevitable... and then focus on situations that are probable:

Shortages
Inflation
Recession
Crime
Natural disasters

Future Food

10/16/2022

Introduction
I've been writing about bug-burgers and maggot-ranches for awhile, but I've decided to expand the topic to cover Future Food in general. There is some interesting and exciting technology being developed... but it is also dangerous.

I won't be writing about bugs today. You can click the pic to go back to one of my earlier posts on bugs.

3D Printed 'Meat'
Israeli company Redefine Meat is entering the fake meat field in Europe producing 3D printed plant-based steaks instead of the typical plant-burger alternatives. Unfortunately the fake meat costs more than real beef so I imagine the only people who will consume this crap will be virtue-signaling Progressives.

Please watch the vid and let me know if you really want 3D printed soy-steaks. The comments from Progressives are so awesome!!

Genetic Editing
I know y'all look at food labels and try to avoid GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) food. Right?

Well SURPRISE! In 2018 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) followed the UN and decided that most genetically edited foods are not GMO and do not need to be regulated.

So, in the world of woke-speak... Genetically Modified = BAD.... while Genetically Edited = OK

Based on this deception, the number of patents for Gene-Edited foods has gone through the roof and Genetically Edited crops have been approved and are being grown. (Click the pic to see the full article)

In all fairness, Gene Editing is different than the older techniques. The earliest technique was transgenic, which means the plant or animal was modified by inserting genes from another species (often a bacteria).

Gene Editing, on the other hand, uses CRISPER technology to modify the DNA directly without introducing any foreign genes. Here's a link on CRISPER for those who want a deeper dive: sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/crispr-a-game-changing-genetic-engineering-technique/

Scientists believe that Gene Editing is safe because it does not utilize alien DNA.

I'm not so sure. Tampering with a genome that has achieved perfection through millions of years of evolution or thousands of years of domestication seems like it just might have unintended side-effects. On the other hand, the rejects can simply be discarded and the scientists can pull the handle on the genetic slot-machine to make another batch. YAY!

Prophecy
I predict that a girl will be born in the near future and she will grow up to become one of the world's leading geneticists. Thirty years from now, she will develop genetically engineered plants to feed the genetically engineered bugs that feed the humans who have been genetically compromised by countless mRNA jabs.

Conclusion
Grow a garden using heirloom seeds and/or develop a relationships with local farmers to get unmodified food. Going to a local Farmer's Market is a great way to meet people growing quality food.

Baker Creek is a good source for heirloom seeds. www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables

The Rational Prepper - Canning Food Update

10/6/2022

No pictures today. Just an update.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was disappointed that two (of eight) jars did not seal on my last canning attempt. I have now used the Canner five times and always had at least one jar that didn't seal.

Upon inspection, it seemed that the two jars that failed to seal were very full. The instructions say that there should be 1 inch of empty 'headroom' in the jar before you seal and place in the Canner.

This rule is annoying... a pint jar should hold 16 ounces which would be about 1 lb of meat. However, with an inch of headroom the jar only holds about 14 ounces... and I'm stuck with leftover product. Sometimes (often) I overfill the jars.... as an engineer I expect that a 16 ounce jar should hold 16 ounces.... dammit!

Anyway, Tuesday afternoon I went to Kroger and they had bulk Italian sausage on sale. I thought 'hmmm, I don't have to cut this up or weigh it, I can just pack it into the jar with the correct headspace and no liquid'. Honest, a little cartoon bubble appeared over my head with those exact words.

I had four empty jars left from the case of 12 so I did two jars of Italian sausage and two jars of ground beef (with a few sweet peppers thrown in). As expected I had about three ounces of sausage and three ounces of beef left over, but the jars had the proper headspace.

When I checked the jars this morning they were all properly sealed. YAY!

Of course, an experiment with just four jars doesn't prove much... but it is encouraging. From now on I will 'under-fill' the pint jars.

As an aside, regular canned-goods (beans, carrots, potatoes, etc) are in 14.5 ounce cans. I always thought that was just deceptive... but maybe a canned pint has always been about 14.5 ounces. This could be a long standing, and well concealed, deception by the Matriarchy... to short the men by 10% on every pint!!

In conclusion, what to do with six ounces of leftover pork and beef?? Maybe a mini meatloaf for tonight's dinner.... and a real, 16 ounce pint of beer.

The Rational Prepper - Canning Food

10/4/2022

One of the best ways to fight inflation (or plan for zombies) is to learn how to can your own food

Pressure canning can be very time consuming and I'm lazy so I decided to buy a Presto Digital Pressure Canner. It's pretty smart and it won't blow-up your house if you happen to wander off to take care of other projects (or sit on the deck with a cold one).

I used my Presto a few times earlier in the year and then got distracted with summer projects. Yesterday I decided to put my training-wheels on and give it another go. Kroger had chuck roast on sale a couple of weeks ago so I bought a couple... about 7 lbs overall.

In my previous attempts I cooked the food and then canned it. That is double work... this time I decided to "raw-pack" the meat.... in other words it goes into the canner raw.

I partially froze the beef so I could cut it into thin slices. I decided that I would can half plain and I would marinate the other half in beef broth with Italian spices to see if it might come out like Italian Beef (YUM!).

The digital canner is pretty simple. There is a bit of babysitting for the first stages (warming the jars and venting once the jars have been filled). But once venting is done you can just walk away for several hours.

The Presto Canner will can and cool the jars, which takes 3 - 4 hours. Then you take the jars out and wait for at least 12 hours to check the seals.

I'm a bit disappointed. In my previous attempts, one or two jars (out of eight) would not be properly sealed. These 'renegades' go into the refrigerator because they have to be consumed within a few days.

Yesterday's attempt was no different. Two jars did not seal so I'll be eating beef stew this week.

I have followed the instructions. I wipe the tops of the jars with vinegar after filling to insure there is no grease or food that might compromise the seal. I put the lids on just finger tight. I'll just have to keep trying until I get it right.

The Rational Prepper - Victory Gardens

9/28/2022

There is a looming global food shortage created by bad (Green) energy policies and exacerbated by drought and the Ukraine War. I don't think people will be starving in America but we will be paying ever higher prices for food.

It's time to start a garden! (I know that many of you already do some gardening).

History
Of course rural folks have always had gardens. During WW2 the gov encouraged people everywhere to plant home or community gardens and they called them "Victory Gardens".

Back in the 1940's we were a patriotic nation united in a great battle of good vs evil. Today we are fighting fake catastrophes created by the elite Progressives at the WEF. (hmmm... perhaps it is still Good vs Evil... it is just that we are no longer united). The two following pictures illustrate Then Vs Now.

1940's

2022

Europe Is SO Screwed
Rationing was another aspect of the War era that may be coming back to America in 2023. Brandon has drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to buy votes in the midterms and the Administration has now exhausted every dishonest option at their disposal. Rationing of gasoline and diesel could happen in 2023.

Europe is totally screwed and the puppet-masters at the WEF will be calling on Brandon to bail Europe out at our expense.

People in Europe are already facing a "Heating vs Eating" crisis and I firmly believe Joe will bring that crisis home to America. Ironically, it currently looks like the northern 'blue' states will be punished the most... so perhaps there is a bit of Karma at work.

A neoTerra Victory Garden
I never considered gardening because neoTerra is so shaded by large trees (and I'm lazy).

However, to get Starlink working, I had to have several trees north of the house topped. (and I'll have to top more). There is now a partially sunny area north of the driveway. I also got about 2 face cords of firewood for 2023 and a BIG pile of mulch.

I'm thinking about putting in a small (20x16) garden, kind-of like this, before Spring. It will need to have an electrified fence to keep Bambi and Yogi out.

With the trees cleared, the next step is to bring in a couple truckloads of topsoil so I can level the area. Then, I can install the fence so it will be ready for Spring.