Accept The Challenge

Some Good Ideas

2013-05-16T08:11:00.001-07:00

A friend sent me an email with a bunch of photos demonstrating some damned good ideas. I thought I'd share the ones I liked best...

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Copyright 2013 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

Lampreys

2013-05-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine has a very similar business to my PM store. His is located in Napa.

He, like many other businesses in Napa, employee young, out-of-work people to be sign wavers. These kids (usually) twirl a sign around to get passing cars to notice the business. My business employs a kid to do the same thing for our business. It's very effective advertising.

The kid my buddy employs has some sort of disability. He's been out of work for over 2 years. One of the local "lend a hand" organizations in the area - Napa Valley Support Services - brought this kid to the attention of my friend, and he fit like a glove.

My friend's previous experience had been much like mine: You hire someone for the job, which involves a LOT of physical activity, and although it pays more than 33% over minimum wage, you burn through people. Quickly.

This kid was different. He loved the job. He was reliable, showed up on time, and worked his butt off.

Uhm, did you notice how the tense of that last sentence changed? Yeah, my buddy had to let the kid go. Because of a local sign ordinance.

Last February, the City Council announced plans to refocus code enforcement efforts on policing illegal signs, but the ordinance isn’t new, said city Planning Manager Ken MacNab.

“Portable signs, including signs that are movable or moving, have been prohibited in the city’s ordinance for some time,” he noted. “The council has expressed an interest in bringing these signs into conformance and we are making a concerted effort to do that.”

Why? What public cause is advanced by banning advertising by businesses that are paying your salary with their tax dollars?

Portable signage can be considered blight, MacNab said. “It’s important that signage not obstruct the views and sightlines of vehicles, and that signs not be placed in our sidewalks and obstruct pedestrians.”

Uh, what? Blight? Seriously? All the signs and the wavers don't even come close to obstructing views and sightlines of cars, since the waivers are on the sidewalk. And not one, single pedestrian had their path obstructed by the waiver.

So what now, cupcake?

“We understand that signs are a valuable tool for businesses, but we do have regulations,” MacNab said. “We believe that there are other ways for a business to reach its customer base.”

Roll that sour ball around in your mouth for a second. This SOB who has likely never owned or even worked in private business in his adult life is making suggestions on how they should reach their customers?

In government-speak, he's saying, "We've got rules - they're the only way we can exert power. We don't give a damned that the signs are a 'valuable tool for business'. Do as we say, or pay the price, you capitalist piece of crap."
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Board of Supervisors Meeting

Like lampreys, many in government - hell, MOST in government - are nothing more than a stomach with sharp teeth that clamp on to a viable food source. They keep sucking and chewing until the host dies.

Then they go find another host.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. A number of the folks in the article, and a few who commented on the article said they're going to bring their complaints to the Supervisors and raise some hell.

It may not matter. Rules is rules.

These lampreys don't seem to understand that not only is one of their citizens now unemployed as a direct result of their actions - no longer paying his own way and also paying for their salaries - but that THEY will have to dig into their city coffers to pay for his upkeep.

I'm sure it makes sense in their twisted little sucker-fish brains. They just don't seem able to grasp the concept that eventually, when all of the host fish are gone, they'll have to fend for themselves.

Now that's a fish fry I want to watch...

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Copyright 2013 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

We Can Dream

2013-05-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure how I missed seeing this video when it was originally released in February.

We can only dream of a real politician such as this....

I've never understood how the SCOTUS has been able to justify our gun laws. 2A is pretty unambiguous. It says nothing about granting the feds or states the ability to reduce the scope of 2A, "well, except when this happens," or "if enough legislators currently in office think it's a good idea".

Nope, you can either repeal 2A or, as suggested, add another amendment to nullify it. Those are your choices, not "death by a thousand cuts" as we've witnessed.

Yeah, how's that workin' out.....
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Copyright 2013 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

Internet Tax Is Doing You A Favor, You Soft, Squishy Loser

2013-04-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

Just in case you weren't paying attention, the FedGov is proposing a new Internet Tax. Yeah, it's all in the name of freedom and fairness and, damn it, it's just good for America.

Yeah.

Of course, it's none of those things. It is just another money grab. Your money getting grabbed, of course.

The talking heads on TV talk about how it makes it fair to the little mom and pop physical store in your home town. "They just can't compete with the Amazon.com's of the world. It just ain't fair!"

Frankly, I don't give a damn about fairness. And this is coming from a guy who owns a physical store - no Internet sales whatsoever - that has to compete against all of the massive (and I mean MASSIVE) online bullion stores. APMEX.com, MONEX.com and the like.

They don't have to charge tax on any bullion they sell. I, on the other hand, must charge 7.875% sales tax on all bullion orders under $1500 (it's California, so don't ask...). On top of that, because they're so big, the online guys can sell their goods at a lower per-item cost. Many times, WAY lower.

So how do I survive and thrive?

We don't compete purely on price. It's a part of the sales component, but there are a lot more things we bring to the attention of our customers.

We make sure they add in the cost for insurance, shipping and wire or credit card fees. Still, sometimes our price per unit is higher.

We educate the hell out of our customers. Grab a cup of fresh brewed coffee (our machine grinds the beans and makes a cup, one cup at a time) or a cool bottle of water, plop your butt down, and let's talk bullion. Why, how, when, where.... whatever you want to talk about. We tell our customers what we believe, why we believe it, why we personally buy (and rarely sell), and that they need to go away and make their own decision based on their own research.

Try getting that from some guy with a script on the phone.

Next, we discuss delivery. Give us money, walk out with gold or silver. It's a hell of a thing looking at a stack of silver bullion, fingering it like a pirate's treasure, and then walking out empty handed for a couple of bucks. It happens, but not often. When the big guys tell you you can get your stuff in 4 to 10 weeks, well, some of the luster comes off the dollar per silver ounce you're saving.

I think the biggest benefit is one that actually draws most folks to physical stores like ours: privacy. No matter how you slice it, if you buy online, somehow, somewhere, your name is now in a database. Entities buy those databases, including good old Uncle Sugar.

People don't like that. I tell them that we suggest not giving us their name for their receipt when they buy bullion from us. I ask them, "If you go into Walmart and buy underwear for cash, do you give the clerk your name?" They get the point. People are so used to giving away their privacy.

In short, we provide, "added value". We work hard to define and sell the idea that value is more than just price. It's the whole package.

It's hard, it's time consuming and it's costly. But we've built a business around that philosophy.
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Sorry to those of you out there that are business owners and think this new tax will "level the playing field" and mean your business will be saved. You're wrong.

If your business needs a Fair Share Law, ala Atlas Shrugged, it's already dead. That business pulse you feel is just the last drop of business blood dripping out of your system.

If your business has significant online competition, you should have changed your business model over a decade ago. And every year since. If you get soft and fat, your market share gets gobbled up by the competition, regardless of how fair things may or may not be.

You need to look at the weaknesses of your competition, and bring those to the forefront of the mind of your customers. What's important to your customers? Why are they buying this product, regardless of the source? Sell to those emotions, and convince them that they get more value by coming to your store.

Maybe you're going to have to get off your butt and actually add some value. No one ever said business was easy. Feast and famine are part of the game.

Maybe you need to diversify your business.

Like with my "gun training business". It's much more than that. We do emergency prep (for individuals and businesses), safety awareness training, pepper spray and stun gun, introductory pistol, advanced pistol, private lesson pistol. Common thread: Personal responsibility and safety.

Going back to our bullion business, we actually have 4 markets we go after. Bullion buyers and sellers, scrap gold and silver sellers, discount jewelry buyers and numismatic (collectible) coin buyers and sellers. They're all related (precious metals) but have separate supply and sales markets.

We're not trying to sell pool chemicals in an ice cream store! We do what we know, and always look to expand or develop new, related markets. We fail much more than we succeed, but we fail during tests, so our entire business is not placed at risk. When we hit a homer, we hit it hard.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
--Calvin Coolidge

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Back to the Universal National Patriotic God Bless America Sales Tax: You know how this will be sold, right?

We're now seeing all of these small business owners on Fox and CNBC whining about how tough it will be to know the 10,000 different tax rates (a valid whine, in my eyes - but come on, Man Up). So, Nanny McTaxYourAss will tell us, "No worries, children. We're going to administer this new program. Online sales will have a single tax rate (or just a couple), regardless of where the sale was made. In the name of fairness and equality and fairness and pride and fairness, the money will come to DC, where we'll ~~siphon off~~ uh, take a few pennies and send the money out to all of you little towns and hollows on a fair and equitable basis."

Yeah, they'll fix your problem of having to figure out thousands local tax rates - a problem THEY created.

Ain't that big of them?

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Copyright 2013 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

Get Some, If Ya Can

2013-04-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Marinate in this for a second -

“Perhaps more to the point for TBTF [Too Big To Fail], if a SIFI [Systematically Important Financial Institution] does fail, I have little doubt that private investors will in fact bear the losses [emphasis added. ed.]–even if this leads to an outcome that is messier and more costly to society than we would ideally like,” Stein said in remarks prepared for a conference sponsored by the International Monetary Fund. “Dodd-Frank is very clear in saying that the Federal Reserve and other regulators cannot use their emergency authorities to bail out an individual failing institution. And as a member of the Board, I am committed to following both the letter and the spirit of the law.”

Ok, who is this Stein fella, and why should I give a damn what he thinks. Well, he's a governor for the Federal Reserve Bank. You know, that group of shot-callers when it comes to our financial well-being.

In non-banker speak, he's saying that if an large American bank goes teats-up, the depositors will be footing the bill for the bailout.

What? You didn't know that when you make a deposit in your bank, you are an investor (creditor) of that bank? Yep. Your deposit amount is a credit on your personal balance sheet, and it's a liability on the bank's balance sheet. An unsecured liability, by the way.

So, when the National Bank of TooBigToFailville crashes and burns, you'll be the one holding the flaming bag of dog dung. Rest assured, though, that the friends and family members of the banksters will have already pulled their cash from the collapsing hulk.

Just like what happened in Cypress. Hmm. Hey, it all kinda sounds like Cypress now that you mention it. Who'd a-thunk it?

At least in Cypress, the Little People got to keep the government guaranteed portion of their money (the equivalent of our FDIC protection). Are we going to get the same "protections" or is Mr. Stein giving us a heads-up to the contrary with his, "messier and more costly to society" comment?
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I've noted here in the recent past that there have been shortages of product to sell in our precious metals store. For the past couple of months, getting our hands on silver, in particular, has been very difficult.

Now, it's damned near impossible. Unless a customer comes in my store selling stuff, I've got no other avenues to obtain product for my buying customers.

Here's a screen print from a recent email from one of our regional wholesale suppliers. These guys do half a billion dollars a year in business -

But wait, there's more! Here's a screen print from an email I received from a national supplier we use, NTR metals.

The three products listed on top are for bars that they produce in-house! They can't get enough raw materials to even make the stuff themselves.

At the bottom of the message, they list the other silver they're no longer making available. Like Silver Eagle produced by our government, and Silver Maples produced by Canada.

Hey, no biggee. It's just a blip in the market, right?

Not so much.

When this shortage first started showing its ugly head, the premium paid over the spot price for an ounce of silver stayed pretty constant. Roughly $5 per ounce for Silver Eagles, $4 for Silver Maples, $2 for generic silver rounds (or bars) and $1.75 for junk silver (pre-1965 halves, quarters and dimes).

Folks figured this was just a market correction, and supply would re-emerge. That's not happening. This is a real, Honest-to-God, demand exceeding supply situation! Premiums are going through the roof. $9-$11 for Silver Eagles and Maples, $7-$8 for generic silver rounds, and (holy crap) upwards of $9 for junk silver and $22 for non-collectible Morgan Silver dollars (you're just buying these for their silver content).

[VERY brief tutorial on determining the equivalent spot price when buying Junk silver - which is sold by "per dollar face". Each $1 in face amount - two halves, 4 quarters or 10 dimes, contains the same amount of silver. 0.715 of an ounce. Mix and match any way you like - one half and two quarters, two quarters and five dimes - it doesn't matter, as long as it equals $1 face amount.

If you take the cost for $1 face, and divide it by 0.715, you'll get the dollar amount you're paying per full ounce of silver. So, right this second, on APMEX.com, junk silver is selling for $23.32 per dollar face. Divide that by 0.715 and you get $32.62. That's what you're paying per ounce. If you subtract the current spot price - $23.43 - you get a premium of $9.19 per ounce over spot. You can do the same thing with the Morgan and Peace dollars, only divide by the 0.773 of pure silver per coin.

Back now, to our regularly scheduled rant.]

As you can see from the snippet taken from our regional supplier, this is now going into the gold market. Right now, the only way I can get gold Eagles, Maples or Krugerrands is if they come through our door, or I pay retail prices from the large Internet sellers. Not a lot of profit in that for the store!

Accept The Challenge

So, am I suggesting you go withdraw your life savings from your TBTF bank account and buy silver and gold at whatever price you can find it?

For goodness sake, no. But open your eyes if they've been closed to what's going on. It's REALLY time to maintain a defensive mindset with regards to money and finance.

What I AM saying is, if you've done your own personal family financial analysis, and you have a couple of bucks laying around that don't have a future purchase tied to them, get some gold and silver. Stick it in a safe or in a can in the backyard, and don't plan on spending it for the next 5 years - minimum.

What I am saying is that if you've followed my advice and have developed new, multiple streams of income, put that money into gold and silver.

What I am saying is that if you've got some crap laying around the garage you might be able to convert into cash via a garage sale or Craigslist, put that money into gold and silver.

I probably should say that if you don't think our currency will be horribly debased by all of the Quantitative Easing good old Uncle Ben has been serving up, and by the mounds of debt being piled on by Republicans and Democrats alike, and that our government would never-ever take your money (say, via a Trading With The Enemy Act and the Emergency Banking Relief Act, Part II) then don't buy gold and silver.

But you should get that bump looked at, because clearly, you've fallen and hit your head....

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Copyright 2013 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

That Whole History Repeating Itself Thing

2013-04-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today is, in my option, the most important and significant day in American history. Not Independence Day. Not Flag day, or Constitution Day, or Memorial Day. No, I believe that April 19 in 1775 was the most important day. It's the day our forefathers said, "Enough is enough" and shot back at the "powers that were" - in Lexington and Concord. The famous, "Shot heard 'round the world."

Over gun control.

They had endured, "The Intolerable Acts" - a series of punishments put upon Massachusetts by their British overlords, primarily because of the Boston Tea Party. They weren't happy about this series of acts, but they were still working "within the system" to get this fixed.

But when the British came for patriot's guns - at the militia weapons cache in Concord - the line had been crossed, and the Revolutionary War was on.
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It looks as though the idiotic, "feel good, accomplish nothing" universal background check bill that was shot down on Wednesday in DC has put some of this post-Sandy Hook hysteria to rest. For now.

Obama, Feinstein, Schumer and all of the cohorts were apoplectic that their bill had gone down in flames.

"All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," Obama said, accusing the gun lobby of lying about the bill.

No, Barry, what is shameful is the way you paraded the parents of the dead Sandy Hook children around Capital Hill like so many circus animals. Sit up. Roll over. Good booooooy!

"There were no coherent arguments as to why we couldn't do this. It came down to politics," he said.

Barry, Barry, Barry. I got lots.

How about the fact that is wouldn't have done one damned thing to prevent another Sandy Hook, or Virginia Tech, or Phoenix, or ANY of the mass shootings? That's what all of the circus animals were for, right? To make sure that the grief visited upon them was never visited upon anyone else ever again.

Tell us, Oh Wise One, which of these shooting would have been stopped if the background check had been in place.

Not a one. You can't legislate against law abiding citizens to prevent crazy citizens from acting crazy.

But that's not important to you, is it? Your intent is to increase your control, and win political brownie points. You know, those "politics" you so derisively dismissed.

I've heard others say that these background checks will keep guns out of bad guys hands. Logic and emotion might say 'yes', but reality says 'no'.

So does your own ATF -

In fact, there are a number of sources that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands, with gun thefts at the bottom of the list. Wachtel says one of the most common ways criminals get guns is through straw purchase sales. A straw purchase occurs when someone who may not legally acquire a firearm, or who wants to do so anonymously, has a companion buy it on their behalf.

As you can see in the article by that right-wing, bible-thumpin', gun totin', tea party lovin' Public Broadcast System, the ATF agent doesn't once mention that bad guys go to gun shows or private parties to get their guns.

Strawman purchases. Corrupt FFLs. Illegal gun dealers. Theft.

Not a single mention of criminals slipping through the system. Know why? BECAUSE THEY'RE CRIMINALS AND WORK OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM! Why would they voluntarily participate in a system that could wind them in jail, when they have so many other, easier methods of obtaining their guns?

We've also had others like old soft-headed Joe Biden tell us not to be paranoid. No one in the government is going to come grab your guns just because you're on some list somewhere.

Yeah. Read it and weep -

For all of our more liberal leaning readers who continue to ask "what's so bad" about universal background checks before we've even seen the specifics, this is your answer. In New York, you can be placed on a "list"of people with no Second Amendment rights on the say so of any doctor who has questions. And it already happened to David Lewis. Thankfully, he's getting his guns back... for now. But what is the larger effect of this if we put it on a national scale?

Here in California, we have no law requiring guns be registered. In fact, it's illegal to require it for purchased guns. Yet any police officer in this state can pull up in front of any house in this state, punch in your name into his computer, and know the make, model and serial number of every gun you own.

How is that possible, when our guns aren't registered? Because every gun purchaser in California must go through a background check for every gun they purchase.

Tidy, huh?

Oh, and if you're from out of state, have lost your mind, and decide you want to move here, don't think the list of guns you own will still be private information. No, when you move here with handguns, the state considers you to be ... ready for this..... a firearms importer. Seriously.

Any person who moves into California and who brings any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is considered to be a "Personal Handgun Importer" ...

You have 60 days from your arrival date to get those nasty guns registered. And if any of them don't pass muster with our list of authorized guns, they'll be seized and turned into plowshares.

You thought you were moving here for the sun and fun, and didn't realize you would be considered the same as an arms dealer by a totalitarian state. Welcome, friend!

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What are our modern, "Intolerable Acts"?

The Boston Tea Party was about taxation without representation. Yep, the Tea Act actually dropped the price of tea, but patriots held to their belief in liberty. Let that sink in: The wouldn't be bought off. Liberty was more important than their pocketbooks.

We can't say the same.

ObamaCare. Thrust upon us, but not upon those who wrote it.

The Federal Reserve Bank. An unelected bureaucracy which taxes you via inflation because of their "printing" of insane amounts of fiat currency.

We have a couple of states, and a number of cities in which no part of the Second Amendment exists.

The USA PATRIOT Act. The NDAA. Obscene regulation at every level of national, state and local living. Asset forfeiture laws which defy common sense and common decency. Roadside checkpoints - in the name of safety - which fully ignore the Fourth Amendment, yet are the law of the land.

A federal Leviathan which ignores the spirit of the Constitution, and the letter of the Tenth Amendment.

We have a surveillance state which would make Orwell shudder. All legal. All blessed by We The People.

Is there anything that could tip us over the edge? Drones over American? Or would it take a drone strike over America?

No. None of them would move us as our forefathers were moved. We're so soft and gooey, and such well-trained poodles, we don't dare nip at master's hand.

The only history we'll be repeating will be that of former great nations that declined into oblivion. We'll no longer proclaim, "Live Free Or Die!", instead replacing it with, "Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?"
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One last thought: The patriots were successful, in part, because they knew the British were coming to Concord, and they moved their weapons cache.

Oh, never mind.

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Copyright 2013 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

Rotting Our National Soul

2013-03-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a dinosaur. I'm a throw-back. I'm an idealist. And, as one of my bullion customers recently noted - only half jokingly - I'm a, "fucking idiot."

He may be right.

He recently became unemployed, and started drawing monthly UI payments. I told him how a few years back, I had been drawing $2000 each month between unemployment insurance and "Barry Bucks" - additional money coming from the federal government.

Every day, I would send out resumes, and every day I would get no response. No one was looking to hire a nearly 50 year old bank executive expecting a six-figure salary. I knew I was going to have to go into business for myself if I was going to maintain my lifestyle.

The problem was, that $2000 a month made it too easy to put stuff off. I got, "manana-itis" - why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

I had been drawing the monthly $2000 for a year, dutifully completing the paperwork, listing the companies I had contacted for work. It then struck me - hard - that this money was killing me. It was sucking the work ethic right out of my being. It was rotting my soul.

I had, at a minimum, 6 more months of payments coming - $12,000 - possibly more (I don't know if that 99 weeks of UI payments plan ever passed). I stopped filling out the paperwork to the state, and the checks stopped coming.

THIS is what drew the comment from my bullion customer. He was dumbstruck that anyone would voluntarily stop accepting free money from the state.

[BTW, this training business was up and booking students two months later, and the bullion business was up and running about a year after that,]
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My postings have been light of late because of this sense of helplessness to stop this madness. And the sense of revulsion. This obscene expansion of the Nanny State. It's like pushing a string uphill. Nothing will ever change until it all collapses.

Why bother fighting the inevitable? Yet, here I go again!

I'm sure you've all heard the latest and greatest - we have 14 million Americans getting disability payments [link].

Fourteen million Americans get most (if not all) of their "livelihood" from the federal government. That is mind boggling. For God's sake, there are ONLY 12 million unemployed Americans. Not one of those folks on disability is counted in the unemployment numbers. WTF? Do the math to figure out the real unemployment rate.

On top of that, nearly 50 million Americans are getting food stamps. Holy shit. That is more people than the entire population of Spain.

Still, food stamps are for chumps. Grab the Disability Brass Ring, and get a check (and health insurance) each month. Sweet!

Not a bad gig if you can get it, and apparently, you can get it pretty easily.
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From the NPR (shockingly) article link above on the rise in disabled persons -

"We talk about the pain and what it’s like," he says. "I always ask them, 'What grade did you finish?'"

What grade did you finish, of course, is not really a medical question. But Dr. Timberlake believes he needs this information in disability cases because people who have only a high school education aren't going to be able to get a sit-down job.

Dr. Timberlake is making a judgment call that if you have a particular back problem and a college degree, you're not disabled. Without the degree, you are.

Nice. We have doctors out there playing God with MY MONEY - giving it away to you if you've made the choice NOT to get more than a high school education. YOU'VE made the choice to limit your ability to earn a living, and are being rewarded with MY MONEY for doing so.

Think that's it? Think again. If you're a disabled kid - someone who has never worked before - you can get some Nanny Bucks as well. From the same article -

When you are an adult applying for disability you have to prove you cannot function in a "work-like setting." When you are a kid, a disability can be anything that prevents you from progressing in school. Two-thirds of all kids on the program today have been diagnosed with mental or intellectual problems.

Jahleel is a kid you can imagine doing very well for himself. He is delayed. But given the right circumstances and support, it's easy to believe that over the course of his schooling Jahleel could catch up.

Let's imagine that happens. Jahleel starts doing better in school, overcomes some of his disabilities. He doesn't need the disability program anymore. That would seem to be great for everyone, except for one thing: It would threaten his family's livelihood. Jahleel's family primarily survives off the monthly $700 check they get for his disability.

Someone, PLEASE, tell me why his family gets $700 a month. His disability has never prevented him from earning a living and contributing to the household income, BECAUSE HE'S A KID AND HAS NEVER WORKED.

If this is for special classes, or a tutor, why would the money go to the family? Why wouldn't it go to the tutoring company directly?

Jahleel's mom wants him to do well in school. That is absolutely clear. But her livelihood depends on Jahleel struggling in school. This tension only increases as kids get older. One mother told me her teenage son wanted to work, but she didn't want him to get a job because if he did, the family would lose its disability check.

Finally, some truth. Don't work. Don't aspire to greatness. Hell, don't aspire for self-sufficiency. Just sit on your ass and collect a check.

Rotted soul and all.

Accept The Challenge

If you're a "fucking idiot" like me, the thought of living off the largess of the state makes you sick to your stomach. You know if you're capable of working or not. You can't lie to yourself.

If you were hurt on the job, that sucks. Get re-trained and start back on the path to self-sufficiency. Right now, only 1 percent of the folks that are deemed disabled get back to work.

Sorry, but that's just a pile of crap. I am absolutely, positively certain that there are more folks on the disability rolls who aren't disabled, than there are folks with real needs. But the takers, the bureaucrats and the politicians have no incentive whatsoever to reduce these rolls. It's in all of their best interests to keep growing this boil, not lancing it.

When it does pop, though, it's gonna be messy.

Get off the crack pipe of government benefits before it rots your soul to the core.

For the rest of us, it becomes a defensive battle. And honestly, probably a losing one, depending on how far down the line you are in the execution of your self-sufficiency plans.

Our taxes MUST go up. This will be accomplished ala Cyprus by a bold cash grab, or as we do here in America, via the insidious silent tax of dollar devaluation. We're looking at more or increased regular taxes as well.

Carbon taxes. The IMF calling for a world gas tax. I'm certain we will see a VAT (Value Added Tax) at some time in the not-so-distant future.

The way we combat this future money grab, is to earn and deploy more cash NOW.

If we're not buying grid electricity, then we're not paying excise taxes. If we're not buying groceries, then we're not (going to be) paying for a VAT tax. If we're not having to drive to a job, we're not paying oil and carbon taxes.

The road to our personal financial salvation is - as I've said a gajillion times before - to have multiple streams of income.

A new book I've been reading on the subject is, "The 4-hour Workweek". It gives tons of practical ideas on how to build and run multiple businesses at the same time. The key concept is, "I want to be the owner, not the boss." You specifically design the product or service company to NOT need you managing every aspect of the business.

Sell something you know, to a market you know - I'm not going to sell acne products targeted at teen-aged girls because I have never been a teen-aged girl and never had acne.
Shrink your market, don't expand it - focus on a distinct segment of a larger market. I'm not going to sell to all retiring Baby Boomers, I'm going to sell to, for instance, males that like guns and shooting. This lets me focus my marketing dollars, and charge premium prices.
Test first - assume nothing. The book discusses a number of ways to float a trial balloon at your target market so see if it has any viability.
Design it to not need you - you bust your butt building and testing the market - for a couple of months - and then step away. You design it with outsourcing and delivery channels that don't include you running to the post office every day.
Repeat -

Think like the big boys. Start a Corporation, LLC or partnership (warning! warning!) via Legalzoom, move to low- or no-tax states to increase your net income. Keep each bite of the business apple a small one.

I don't want to build the next Microsoft or Ford Motor Company. That is a magnet for taxation and third-party interference in my life. I want a bunch of small, inconspicuous companies, each trickling a steady stream of income my way.

The key is to then deploy your newly acquired assets in a manner that will reduce or eliminate your need for interaction with the taxed world. Arable land and the tools and resources to work it.

Here are some ideas for businesses. Just a thought: My generation - the Baby Boomers - are retiring at the average rate of 10,000 people PER DAY. There's got to be a niche or two you can exploit in a group that large -

http://www.komando.com/columns/index.aspx?id=13852&page=1

http://thevirtualattorney.com/blog/13-top-businesses-start-2013-under-30-crowd

Trends
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224977

If you're approaching retirement age, read the Social Security rules for how much you can earn without being penalized. Corporations have the ability to disburse dividends to owners. The upside is that these "investment earnings" don't affect your Social Security payments. The downside is that they are not a deductible expense for the corporation. Do the math to see if there's a "sweet spot" where you can use the SSI rules to your advantage.

Trust me, the rich do it every day.

Lastly, if you're not good with numbers, fix that. Seriously, take a community college accounting course. If you don't know how much is coming in, where it's coming from, and how much it's costing you to make those dollars roll in, you're going to get slapped around silly.

Know your numbers.

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Copyright 2013 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

Collapse Preamble or Just More Straw On The Back of The Camel?

2013-03-03T19:47:00.001-08:00

There are a number of economic signs or indicators popping up, seemingly unrelated - but I'm not so sure. These could be nothing more than a string of mutually exclusive events which indicate nothing beyond the fact that they happened.

My gut says differently. My gut says these are indications of further degradation of our economy, that a whole lot of folks smarter than me see ugliness in our future, and they're fortifying their positions.

The snowball is a-rollin' and growing with every turn.

For example -

Billionaire stock sales - focused in consumer goods and financial stocks. Warren Buffet sold all or large portions of his positions in a number of consumer product companies. Johnson and Johnson, Kraft and Proctor and Gamble. John Paulson sold JP Morgan, Sara Lee and Family Dollar. George Soros sold mostly financial stocks - JP Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

Massive numbers of Insider stock sales

Recently announced layoffs (100,000 total?) in the financial industry.

Eight major retail chains closing between 11% and 33% of their stores.

Economy shrinking or barely growing (depending upon when you read the government, eh, statistics)

None of this sound good. Yet, you look over the other shoulder, and you've got the stock market toying with record highs. WTF?

I believe the stock market, right now, is a game of Musical Chairs. People are looking to earn more than they can get with a bank account or buying bonds. I think the only reason folks are in stocks is because it's the only thing with any kind of decent returns.

But it's wicked risky. If the aforementioned indicators are correct - everything signalling 'contraction' - we've got a pretty significant crash ahead of us. If that happens, the last guy standing will be toast. Timing is everything. Is the "smart money" already out? Or is this a false flag?

For some more head-scratching, look what's happening with precious metals. Uncle Ben Bernanke confirmed that the Federal Reserve Bank will continue devaluing the dollar via QE3 through 2016. PMs should be soaring as the dollar crumbles into oblivion.

Instead, the dollar strengthens and PMs are on life support. Again, WTF?

One of the reasons the spot price of gold has been in a slide is because our friend and socialist, George Soros, sold a buttload of it - worth over $100 million. But he didn't sell physical gold. He sold paper gold - Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This sale preceded, and perhaps lubricated, the current slide. Everyone saw Soros dumping gold, and they decided to follow.

I've yet to figure out why the dollar is getting stronger. I know it's not the dollar getting stronger on its own - that it's other world currencies getting weaker, but still... I have difficulty believing the rest of the world continues to get worse at such an alarming rate.

The bulk of the decline is due to selling. There are tools available that show how a price drop or increase is affected by the dollar going up or down, and how much is due to buying or selling pressure. For instance, if gold drops $10, it will show that $3 was due to the dollar strengthening, and $7 is due to selling pressure.

Here's where it gets a bit weird.

With all of this selling, we should be awash in silver and gold. Yet the exact opposite is true.

In our PM store, we've seen a noticeable shortage of silver, initially, and now gold. One of our biggest wholesalers has been out of most types of silver for the past couple of weeks. Silver rounds and bars, American Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple leafs, Morgan and Peace dollars, 90% Junk silver, 100 ounce silver bars.

This isn't some Podunk outfit. They do half a billion dollars in business a year. Yet they're tapped out of much of the most popular types of silver. Now, lots of common types of gold are coming up short, as well.

And premiums (the amount charged over spot prices) are rising, pretty significantly. Our wholesalers have upped the ante by 10% to 25%, and that's being passed along to our customers. There's IS a physical shortage, and the laws of supply and demand are kicking in.

What's that tell us? That the paper PM and physical PM markets are separating. People don't give a damn that PM spot prices are tanking. They want tangibles in their hands. Now. Because they know that once the dust settles, the US dollar - already only worth 4% of its former self - will join the ranks of the German Reichsbanknote and the Zimbabwe Dollar in the dustbin of world currencies hyper-inflated out of existence.

Other than numismatic (collectible) varieties, I haven't been able to keep an American Silver Eagle in my store for over 12 hours. They are usually sold to us, then they're out the door to a buying customer - all in the same day.

The only ones I can guarantee for delivery (right now) are customers that walk in with a cashier's check for the purchase of a monster box - 500 ounces in one fell swoop.
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So, is all of this madness a preamble to us going over the cliff to hyperinflation in the near future, or is it just another piece of straw being placed on the back of the camel?

I just don't know. I guess no one really could know for sure.

What I DO know with certainty is that the dollar will fail. Maybe next week, maybe next decade. Lots of things can affect the timing.

Our debt will never be paid off with our 4-cent dollars. It will either be defaulted upon, or our government will officially devalue the dollar as Germany and Zimbabwe (and LOTS of others) have done in the past. Check out Argentina to see how it's working right now in real-time.

It ain't pretty.

Ferfal - the blogger who lived through the worst parts of the Argentinian crash said that the one common thread of folks in his (now former) country was that they wished they had more precious metals when it all crumbled.

Not dollars. Not canned soup. Not toiletries.

Precious metals.

Think on it. It is unlikely you can store enough of everything you'll need during hard times. While barter is a skill everyone must master, you will eventually need something that your barter goods won't "buy". You're going to need money, and the only type that has maintained its purchasing power throughout time, is gold and silver.

Some scoff and say that you can't eat precious metals. True dat. But gold and silver have been currency for the past 5,000 years. I'm guessing they will still be good in the near future.

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Copyright 2013 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

Mouth-Breathin' Dumbasses

2013-02-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'm losing my patience.

I am so friggin' tired of seeing story after story on issue after issue where no modicum of common sense is present. It seems as though there is no attempt whatsoever to challenge a single word from this administration on virtually any subject.

If they say it, it's gospel, and common sense be damned, we're going to perpetuate the administration's position. Worse yet, is that when our mouth-breathing population is polled on these subjects, they fall in line with the administration, with a compliant, "yup".

No questions. No challenges. No nothing. "If David Gregory says it's so, well, it must be right."

There are a handful of us who write and read and bitch about what's going on, but most folks can't be bothered to even scratch the surface of these issues facing our country.

Reasonable gun control, drones being used on Americans, "Sequestering" shutting down the government, and just general economic common sense.

"Reasonable" guns control, for instance. Barry took a pile of crap ideas, flung them against the wall, and it looks like Universal Background Checks and Large Capacity Magazines might be sticking to the wall.

Here is a grammar school-level conversation that every American should be having with themselves on the background checks:

Hey, doing a background check for people that want guns sounds very reasonable.

Why? What will it accomplish?

Well, by closing the Gun Show Loophole and the Private Sale Loophole, guns won't end up in the hands of criminals. That's a good thing.

Really? Criminals, by definition, don't follow the rules. If one were to be stupid enough to go through the check and be rejected, what do you think they'd do?

Uhm, they'd probably steal one or buy one from another criminal.

Correct. So, how does performing background checks on law abiding citizens keep guns out of the hands of criminals?

Uhhh. It wouldn't.

Correct, again. Oh, and by the way, since this issue is being brought up because of the recent mass murders by insane criminals, how many of those mass murderers failed a background check?

I dunno.

Not one of them. Placing restrictive laws that will only be followed by the law abiding citizen does nothing to stop criminals. Still think the Universal Background Check will make anyone safer?

[Crickets chirping]

No matter. The dumbasses in Congress will pass this law because it feels good. Makes it look like they're tough on crime, and compassionate towards crime victims, all in one fell swoop.

In reality, they're just pandering mouth-breathin' dumbasses.

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All of these types of laws and statutes and regulations are ultimately for one thing, and one thing only: Control. Control of your actions, movement and earnings - reinforcing the idea that you must ask permission of the government to proceed with your life.

I need permission to drive.

I need permission to open a business.

I need permission to carry a concealed weapon.

I need permission to put an addition on my home.

I need permission to ingest certain drugs.

Tell me how, if I were to ignore any of these laws, would society be harmed?

It wouldn't be. If by my actions while doing one of these things, I infringed upon the rights of another citizen, THEN I would be justly punished by society.

To reinforce the supremacy of our supposed civil "servants",

I must subject myself to invasive physical searches by the government to fly on a supposedly private airline, though no probable cause warranting the search exists.

My vehicle may be stopped and I can be questioned at checkpoints when I have not exhibited any indications of illegal activity.

If their life is taken during the course of their employment, the penalty for their murder is more severe than the penalty for taking my life while I'm at my job.

The lives of their children are more valuable than the lives of my children, as many of their children attend schools with tax payer-funded armed protection. My children are afforded no such protection.

With the mere accusation - not conviction - of certain crimes, I can have my assets seized and sold, and the proceeds are given to The State.

My home can be stormed by para-military tactical police squads for non-violent criminal accusations.

And most people are A-OK with this egregious conduct. They've swallowed the Koolaid administered at our Government Schools decade after decade. "The government wouldn't do this if it wasn't the right thing to do!" bleat the sheep.

They've got their government cheese, or perhaps are just comfortable and don't want to rock the boat. Either way, things aren't so bad.

"What's the big deal with a couple of extra rules? As long as the government keeps us safe from the boogie man du jour, or keeps food in our bellies and a roof over our heads, complying is no great inconvenience."

And therein lies the problem for the rest of us.

Accept The Challenge

How do you prepare for your future when society has this mindset - this desire - to be compliant with unjust and unconstitutional laws and regulations? The assets you've acquired from your labors are not yours if the government thinks otherwise. "Fair Share" laws - frighteningly similar to those in Atlas Shrugged - require that all get an equal share of the pie, regardless of past and present effort or lifestyle choices.

If you've got more than the next guy, that's just not fair, and you need to give some of yours away. By force, if necessary. Our government has done it in the past with gold seizures, is doing it now with high taxation, and is eyeing your retirement accounts like a hyena ogles a newborn gazelle.

And know with every fiber of your being that "Whisleblower" laws will be extended to place a bounty on the head of folks that scoff at future Anti-hoarding, Anti-gold and Anti-gun laws.

So, what do you do? The long and short of it is: You've got to hide your shit. And not all in one place.

For instance, if you're eligible (or will be) for SSI, you need to ensure your other "outside income" is below levels considered sufficient to survive. SSI will be "means tested" in the future. Guaranteed. No other way for the government to even consider keeping up appearances.

Unless you really want to live in poverty, you need to have other easily disposed of assets available. Long-term food stores, farmland, precious metals, skills with which you can barter for other goods and services, ammunition, weapons, quality tools.

Multiple caches in multiple locations.

You must also keep your head down and mouth shut. Claiming poverty then buying a new car every other year is going to set off the BS meter with the authorities, and the jig will be up. Chat up your hefty silver stash, and rest assured you'll soon be making a donation to the state.

Get out there right now and develop some productive skills. If Nanny is able to take all of your stuff, you can re-build. Learn how to brew, how to distill, how to forge metal, how to weld, how to repair engines, how to sew clothes, how to plant a garden, how to load ammo, how to split logs - whatever.

Assets can be seized, skills cannot.

And learn how to cut a deal. Negotiating starts with information. What does the other guy really want? For instance, someone selling a home you want may not be willing to budge an inch on the price. Most folks would assume that meant the seller didn't really want to sell. If you asked him why he's selling, you may find that he's just tired of the upkeep and property taxes, and the money is just going into the bank so he can draw an income from the interest.

You can offer to pay him his full price, as long as he carries the loan and accepts a small down payment. Win win. He gets some cash in hand, interest income and no property headaches, and you get the property.

In the previous post about canning the grapefruit juice, my employee looked at the bushels of grapefruit on his property as a nuisance. He was thankful for me to take them off his hands. I sweetened the pot by giving him a pint of the juice as further thanks and so he'll think of me when he's got more fruit. We both benefited from the transaction.

Be creative. Be tenacious. Be consistent in your efforts.

Now go on - get to work on your very private future - mouth-breathin' dumbasses be damned!

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Copyright 2013 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

Canning Fruit Juice

2013-02-18T09:49:00.002-08:00

I've got an employee who has TONS (literally) of grapefruit. This past summer, he gave me a grocery bag full of these massive fruits. They had very thick peels, but even when the peel was removed, the fruit was still the size of a softball. Big, juicy and sweet (for grapefruit).

I had been reading an e-book by Jackie Clay of Backwoods Home Magazine that contained instructions on how to home can fruit. I was thinking I was going to have to wait until all of the U-Pick orchards in our area opened up to be able to can some fruit. By luck, my employee noted that one of his grapefruit trees was ready to snap limbs with it "winter crop", as it was so heavily laden with fruit.

I said I'd take some off his hands.

Well, he shows up the following week with 3 garbage bags full of fruit! The grapefruits were considerably smaller this time around. Still as sweet and juicy, though.

The Jackie Clay recipe said that you had to section the grapefruit before canning. Otherwise, the white membrane gives the fruit a bitter taste. I jumped online and found a couple of videos on sectioning grapefruit.

Uh oh. Looks quite laborious.

I took one grapefruit and started sectioning away. The first one took me about 10 minutes, and left me with about a half cup of fruit sections! This is not good. I decided to do a test of how many I could section in a 15 minute period. I'd go all Edward Scissorhands - blades a-flyin' - going for speed, not beauty.

I sectioned 4 fruit and ended up with perhaps a cup and a quarter of sections. Crap. I'm looking at 60 or 70 grape fruits, and it's going to take forever to get them prepared, let alone canned.

Time for Plan B: Juice.

I cut each grapefruit in half across its horizon (grasp with thumb and middle finger on the stem and flower indentations on the fruit, and carefully slice between them). This will give you a cross section of the sections, making juicing MUCH easier.

I used a wooden juice reamer. The pitcher for the juice had a very fine strainer on top to catch the pulp.

The Jackie Clay book also had instructions for canning fruit juice with the water bath method. In short, you juice your fruit, heat it to 180F, and pour it into your pint canning jars (also having been heated to 180F along with the rings and lids). Ensure the water in the canner is at least 2 inches over the top of the jars, bring to a boil, THEN start a timer for 15 minutes (adjust if you're at altitudes over 1000 feet per your canner instructions). When the time is up, pull them from the canner, let cool, then check for proper seal on the jars.

I got 8 pints of the best grapefruit juice I've ever had. Seriously awesome stuff.
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I'm actually very anxious for his summer crop of grapefruit to come in. Being much larger fruit, the sections should be big enough to justify the time needed to prep for canning.

If not, I'll have more juice in my future!

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Copyright 2013 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

So God Made A Liberal

2013-02-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

An instant classic....

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Copyright 2013 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

Front Row Seats

2013-02-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

We're getting a front row seat on how to wage a one-man, asymmetrical warfare campaign.

We've got a former sailor and LAPD officer that's running amok in southern California. It is his belief that he was wrongly discharged by the LAPD. It is his desire to correct those wrong doings, and regain his good name. It is his belief that he has taken every available avenue through the legal system, and the system has failed him because of lies from members of the LAPD. You can read his "manifesto" here.

So, I'm guessing this guy figured he had two basic options on how to exact his revenge on LAPD. Option 1 was to enter a police station or LAPD headquarters, guns a-blazin', and kill as many people as he could. He would get a body count, but he would assuredly die in the attack in fairly quick fashion, and be forgotten almost as quickly.

Option 2 is to terrorize his enemy. He understands that taking the LAPD head-on would accomplish little. But pick them off slowly, individually, methodically, and publicly, well, you kill two birds with one stone.
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What tactics is he using?

Pre-position supplies to allow your terror campaign to be extended
Publish your intent - a general list of grievances and specific targets
Kill some folks to show that you're serious

So far, his plan is working like a charm. Kill your enemies and humiliate them very publicly.

How much manpower and how many dollars are being sucked from all of these police agencies due to one man? He is running them ragged. Bleeding their coffers.

Perhaps more importantly, he's making them look inept.

Just like the NYPD cops that shot 9 civilians in Manhattan last August while trying to apprehend a bad guy, LAPD shot two old ladies in the town of Torrence because they were in a truck that looked like the one owned by the ex-cop.

Holy crap. No muzzle flash. No defiant roars from an attacker. Just a couple of old gals delivering newspapers.

Not as widely reported was another shooting by Torrence PD officers. Same deal - the truck matched the description of the bad guy. No one was hurt in that incident.

They look scared.
They look undisciplined.
They look untrained.
They look vulnerable.

As a study in what one determined, well-trained person can accomplish against a vastly superior force, it doesn't get much more vivid. It will indeed be interesting seeing how this whole episode plays out.

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Copyright 2013 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

The Mindset Of Taking A Life

2013-01-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

There was a recent story here in the SF Bay Area where an undercover Oakland cop was shot by some gang members. He was an unknown person in the wrong neighborhood, and was about to be executed.

The fact that this officer lived is amazing. He was shot as the gang bangers heard the sirens of approaching police cars. They knew the cops were almost there, but it didn't matter. They still attempted to execute the stranger in their midst.

He moved, the shot hit him in the arm. He's already been released from the hospital.

Four days later, a guy shot another Oakland PD officer in the leg. This time, the bad guy knew he was shooting at a cop.

No matter.

The Chief of Police responded to these shootings with an almost comical statement:

"You cannot shoot at police officers when they are out there in the line of duty trying to protect the community," a visibly angry police Chief Howard Jordan said at the scene of Friday's shooting.

Apparently, the bad guys didn't get that memo.

Obviously, these scumbags don't care if you're a citizen or a cop. If you get between them and their business, expect to be dealt with very quickly and very violently. If you don't have the means and the mindset to protect yourself, you'll be dead.
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A scenario: Three armed, masked bad guys enter a police station. How do you think the cops should respond?

I think most people would say that the cops would start shooting at the bad buys until the threat was eliminated. The bad guys would either be dead or would have surrendered.

I also think virtually every person in America would say that that was a proper response to the situation.

Another scenario: Three armed, masked bad guys enter your home. How do you think you should respond?

I made a horrible assumption. I believed that everyone would answer the question the exact same way as they did with the police station scenario. Your most primal instinct would kick in - self-preservation - and you'd do anything and everything possible to stop these bad guys and save your life. If you had a gun - just like the police - you'd shoot until the threat was eliminated.

Apparently, not everyone shares that view. With whom did I make this bad assumption? My mom.

Just before Christmas, my brothers and I took her out to dinner. We were chit-chatting about things and got on to the Sandy Hook School shooting. I was saying how the only thing that could have been done to stop the slaughter at the instant the crazy bastard started shooting, was for an armed person to shoot and kill him.

My mom said she could never use a gun to take another life.

WTF? No circumstance at all?

She then said that she could maybe do it if one of us or her grandchildren were being threatened, but only then. If someone with a gun (or a bat, or knife) broke into her home, she would never defend herself with lethal force.

After I brought my blood pressure back from, "She's gonna blow, Captain!!" levels, I asked her why she felt that the life of this scum bag - this maggot who had entered her home with evil intent to do her harm - was worth more than her life.

She started crying, and my brothers gave me the, "Nice Christmas present, you asshole!" looks, so I stopped. I can be a teeny-tiny bit intense about this subject....

So today, somehow, the subject came up again while we were talking on the phone. We got to the point of her placing a higher value on the life of the scumbag over her own, and she just said, "Well, I guess I do value their life more than mine." She obviously didn't want to continue with this discussion, and just cut it short.

But I'm still dumbfounded by her attitude.
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I get this once in a while when I teach one of my safety awareness classes. Someone will state that they could never take the life of another - that all life is equally precious - and they won't be a party to such madness of having the God-like powers of determining which life is more valuable than the next.

If you've got people in your life with a similar naive, Pollyanna outlook on life, take them through these questions that I ask my hesitant students.

Part 1:

I'm not here to make you feel warm and fuzzy that you took a class on safety awareness or self-defense, then praise you with, "You go girl!" or a "You da man!" I'm here to help you save your life. And sometimes, that process is unpleasant. Here goes....

Ma'am, do you have any children or grandchildren?

Yes.

What are their ages?

Two grandchildren, four and 6 years old.

Great. Picture this: You've taken them to the park, and one of those White Panel Vans pulls up. They grab you and your two grandkids. You are punched in the head, and knocked unconscious.

When you awake, you see your grandson being raped by one of the attackers. The other one is readying himself to do the same to your granddaughter.

The badguys, believing you to be unconscious, have left their guns within your reach. What are you going to do? Are you going to grab the gun and shoot them, or are you going to tell yourself that their lives are just as valuable as the lives of your grandchildren and allow them to continue with their rape?

[If they say they'll shoot, I go on to part 2 below. Some say they will point the gun at the bad guys, and hold them for the police.]

OK, being badguys, and having done this before, they don't believe you when you say you'll shoot if they don't stop. The way you're shaking and crying, they know you won't do a thing. They actually laugh out loud as they continue their rape.

What are you going to do? Allow them to continue with the rape of your grandchildren, or shoot them?

[I have yet to have a student say they would allow the continuation of the rape.]

Part 2:

I'm very glad to hear you made the decision to place a higher value on the lives of your grandchildren over the lives of the rapists. You've acknowledged that all human life is NOT of equal value. It may make you very uncomfortable coming to that realization - and that's not a horrible thing in itself.

What's important is you recognizing that there are some horrible situations where the decision of life or death may be thrust upon you. You've shown that, as unpleasant as it may be to your intellect, your ethics, your humanity or your morality, you do have the ability to place a higher value on one life over another. That, at times, it is more moral to take a life in defense of another.

That extends to the defense of your own life.

What I want you to do is to acknowledge that your life is more valuable than the life of someone attempting to end it. That this animal has no right to decide when your life should end. That the world will NOT be a better place with them in it, and you in the ground.

Your life IS more valuable than the attacker's.
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I'm not so naive as to think that even after putting folks through that very emotional gauntlet, they all suddenly take up arms for self-defense.

What I AM very confident about, is that they are thinking about it. Every one of them. They're thinking about something they may have never considered before. That's all someone in my position can do. As the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." True dat.

I can't force someone to defend themselves, I can only show them why they should do it.

I've clearly got some work to do on my mom. You think I should do it just before her upcoming birthday? ;-)

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Copyright 2013 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

Gold, Guns and Gall

2013-01-21T21:26:00.001-08:00

In case you weren't aware: There's a bit of a gold and silver rush going on right now. In our store, when we get gold or silver in, it goes out within a couple of days - tops. Many times, it's in and out in the same day.

One of our primary wholesale sources (they do about half a billion in business a year) flat ran out of generic silver rounds. Not a one to be had. They ran out of Krugerrand one ounce gold coins as well (still had American Gold Eagles, and Canadian Gold Maple Leaf's, though).

Along the same lines, the US Mint has already sold out of their 2013 American Silver Eagles. Two weeks into the year! Not enough silver around to keep the mint running.

I'm just sayin...
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It's all about purchasing power.

I get asked virtually every day I'm in our store, "How high will gold/silver go?" They're trying to get insight into when to buy and, perhaps more importantly, when to sell.

They always get the same answer: "I dunno."

I tell them that if they're not willing to hold onto their PM purchases for 3 to 5 years, they shouldn't be buying. They should be in the stock market if they're looking to gamble with their money.

Here's what I know: Until our government commits to a balanced budget - tax receipts equal expenditures - they MUST either borrow more money, print more money or do both. All of these actions weaken the dollar. All of them strengthen precious metals.

Now, the price of PMs will go up and down - like the teeth on a saw. BUT, that saw is pointed upwards. You may have short-term price drops, but over time, the value of PMs will increase until the US government stops using inflation to pay its bills.

When they actually produce and adhere to a balanced budget, that's when I sell my PMs.
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Maybe not even then. Honestly, I'd think it was a scam. I'd want to know how they could possibly cut enough cost and/or raise enough tax dollars, PLUS ensure Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid were fully funded.

I just don't believe it to be possible. They may 'nut up' for a year or two, but there's no way all of those unfunded liabilities are going to be funded for the long term. It IS a Ponzi scheme, and those always fail.

I'm guessing that folks like me - Baby Boomers, soon to enter the pay-back period of our forced SSI retirement participation - will get short-changed. Congress will either remove the COLA increases while devaluing the dollar, or will subject us to Means Testing, and cut our payments. It will be a de facto default to us, but not a political one.

My kids ain't gonna see squat out of the government-run retirement program. THEY will pay for our financial sins.
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I'm sure it's totally unrelated, but ever since Sandy Hook and Obama's plea for "reasonable gun control", my gun classes began selling out. Quickly.

I posted my first quarter classes in mid-December, and by the second week in January, I'm sold out through the end of March. Plus, I have two private classes scheduled, each full to the hilt.

I had an introductory class this past Saturday. I get to the range/classroom a half hour before the range opens to set up for the class. There were more cars than normal parked out front when I arrived. I popped out at 10am when they opened, and the line of people wanting one of the 12 lanes was out the door. Easily 30 people.

Even here in the Land of Fruit and Nuts - perhaps the bluest of blue states - we're not swallowing the swill Barry's serving.

Our state legislature is busy crafting more Look Busy/Feel Good/Accomplish Nothing Gun Regulations. They're talking about the whole fingerprint for ammo gig, licensing ammo sellers and adding many more guns to our already lengthy Assault Weapon list.

I need to look into a gun storage business in, perhaps, Nevada. If the idiots in Sacramento make currently legal guns illegal, most people are not going to give them up. We've been through this crap before.
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But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.

Those words were spoken today by the same man who had just sworn to uphold the Constitution of The United States.

Translation: Principles must not be principled, and giving up personal freedom will help to preserve those very same personal freedoms. Ouch, that hurts my head.

It's all about the hive.

Orwell would be jealous of Obama's ability to twist the meaning of words and concepts.

Arrogant bastard.
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Copyright 2013 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

Post Traumatic Stupidity Syndrome

2013-01-15T15:00:00.005-08:00

[H/t to Bruce Schneier of Crypto-Gram fame for introducing me to this term - which dates back to 2001]

Post Traumatic Stupidity Syndrome (PTSS) - the over-reaction to a disaster or significant event with actions which provide little or no resolution to the event. Nor do they prevent future occurrences of the event. Most often, the actions that are taken are nothing short of excuses for the expansion of government into our lives, and/or a usurpation of our rights.

The kicker is, most of the time, most of the American public gratefully accepts and supports these actions. "You're not free if you're dead," is a common refrain. They willingly trade freedom for safety.

At his Monday press conference, Obama used the tried-and-true, "If it only saves one child's life, it's worth doing," when talking about his upcoming assault on our gun rights.

PTSS has people lapping this up.
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In my lifetime, I can think of only one of these disasters that resulted in a positive outcome to society: The 1991 Luby's Massacre in Texas. As a direct result of that shooting, Texas citizens got a shall-issue concealed carry permit law enacted.

Texans recognized that crazy bastards exist, and that the only way to stop their rein of terror is to put them down - quickly - like the rabid dogs they are. Texans codified their God-given, natural right to self-defense.

In 1993, Californians faced a similar opportunity as a result of the 101 California Street shooting. This state took the opposite tack - instituting draconian and ineffective "assault weapon" bans.

Texas believes in personal freedom. California believes in government control. The two decades since these two states acted have told an interesting tale. Texas is a thriving, vibrant, safe economic powerhouse. California - which has seen a massive migration of its citizens to.... Texas - is a shell of its former self. We've become a crime-ridden, oozing pustule that has squandered our bountiful natural and human resources. We're the well deserved laughingstock of the nation.
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Tomorrow, I expect Obama to act much as California has acted in the past. He will use the power of Executive Orders to make it more difficult for us non-insane mass murderers to protect ourselves. He will also use his bully pulpit to pressure congress to pass additional draconian and ineffective laws towards the same ends. He may or may not succeed in the latter pursuit.

No one in the compliant media will "do the math" and ask whether any of these new restrictions or laws would have stopped or slowed the insane shooter at Sandy Hook.

They won't ask why judges, politicians, bureaucrats and movie stars rate high enough for armed protection, but our children do not.

They won't note that from first shot to first responder was a 20 minute window. He had approximately 1 minute per kill, so he could have accomplished his head count with a muzzle loader rifle.

Or a spear.

Or a sword.

Or a crossbow.

Or a lacrosse stick.

Or a tire iron.

We can only be thankful that the shooter, upon entering the Government Mandated Hunting Preserve For The Criminally Insane - also known as 'Gun Free Zones' - was as incompetent with firearms as he was mentally ill.

The only thing that could have saved the lives of those children would have been having armed citizens on campus. Police, guards or CCW holders.

It is the only thing that will prevent such massacres from occurring in the future.

Yes, we MUST examine our mental health system - very carefully - to come up with a way to identify these lunatics, but that is a long-term project. Right now, we need to protect our children.

No matter. Post Traumatic Stupidity Syndrome will carry the day. And America will be less safe. And, I fear, more kids will die.

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Copyright 2013 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

Insane Acts

2013-01-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas season, we sold a number of these bills -

It's a Zimbabwe $100 Trillion bill. We sell them for six bucks. These are not counterfeits or made on a printer in the back office. They are real currency that was used in Zimbabwe during the height of their hyperinflation driven economy.

Supposedly, at the time, they would get you an egg or a cup of coffee.

When we sell them, we kid with the customers that they should buy an extra, send it to Washington, and our nation's financial ills will be solved. No federal debt, no unfunded liabilities in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Hell, you might have a couple of extra bucks left over to do something fun with the family!

In yet another example of our own government's surreal, tenuous grasp on economic fundamentals, a proposal is floating around that would create a new $1 trillion platinum coin. This coin would be minted by the Treasury department, then given to the Federal Reserve to increase the Treasury's account balance so we can pay our bills.

With a $1 trillion coin in hand, Treasury could deposit the money into Fed accounts, and pay its debts in that manner, instead of relying on bond issuance.

And none of this requires Congressional consent. Talk about an elegant solution.

The White House unsurprisingly hasn't commented on the idea. But Rep. Jerrold Nadler is on board. "I'm being absolutely serious," he told Capital NY. "It sounds silly but it's absolutely legal."

Silly? Not even. It is nothing more than another example of the inefficiency of government.

The Treasury prints up our bills and mints our coins. A new coin will require new costs to design and manufacture. Plus, you'd have to acquire something with actual tangible wealth - platinum - to spit these babies out.

They should just start adding zeros to existing currency. Problem solved. It's not like anyone thinks the dollar has much value anyways.
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In case you were curious, at the current price of approximately $1,550 per ounce of platinum, the $1 trillion coin would need to contain 654,161,290 troy ounces to actually be worth $1 trillion.

It'd be a bitch to make change for a cup of coffee at Denny's....
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Most folks have heard Einstein's quote about insanity - it's along the lines of, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different outcome."

Has no one in DC ever heard of the Wiemar Republic in Germany? Or Zimbabwe? Or Argentina? How about ancient Greece in 400 BC?

Dionysius ordered all money handed over to the government upon pain of death. He then reminted every coin, turning each one-drachma coin into a two-drachmae coin. The tyrant was then able to pay all his debts in full; maybe no one noticed that the real value of the coinage had been halved.

Hmm. He minted coins worth less than their face amount. My bad - apparently Washington HAS been reading their history.
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You know what's sad about this trillion dollar coin idea? Common Americans aren't going nuts over the fact that their government is even considering such a scam. We, too, have a surreal, tenuous grasp on economic realities.

We just don't give a shit. Hey, there's nothing in it for us to rock the boat, so why put forth the effort? As long as the Bread and Circus' continue, we don't give a damn.

It would be insane to resist. An individual can't change our national economic path, just as we can't stop the outcome.

It would be equally insane to NOT prepare for the economic storm that's coming our way. You know it's coming.

The usual "If", "When" and "How Bad" of risk management have been streamlined. "How Bad" will be a function of time. The longer it takes to stop our current economic policies - either by austerity or collapse - the worse the outcome.

"When" it will collapse is the biggest unknown. It will be driven by the actions of the government.

The "If" is a done deal.

So deal with it. You'd be insane to not act.

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Copyright 2013 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

Skills: 12 For '13

2012-12-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

Like most folks, when the end of the year rolls around, I start making lists of things I want to get done for the coming year. I personally find that if I make lists, I tend to do much better hitting my marks.

So, in the spirit of giving, I'm not going to give you a specific list, but some guidelines. Using our "12 Impacts" approach to prepping (there are only 12 possible impacts from any sort of emergency or disaster), here are some ideas for skill building everyone should consider for 2013.

Note, it's skill building, not going out and buying a gadget. Gadgets can get lost, stolen, or fail. Skills give you the ability to adapt to your circumstances.

Come on - it's not that tough. Build one new skill once a month.

Push yourself! Develop skills in areas where you suck. If you're a big gun guy, don't learn 6 new ways to hide a pistol on your person. Instead learn how to set a broken bone, or make a shirt from cloth and thread.

I've got posts on a number of these items, which you can read by clicking here.

Broaden your horizons. Try to do one out of each category. For most folks, number 10 will be the most difficult, so make sure you do it! Barter and negotiating are outside of the comfort zone of so many people. Remember: The worst that will happen is the person you're negotiating with will say No.

Or would you rather try dumpster diving, or gathering recyclables? I've got to tell you, we have a growing number of folks coming into my precious metals store doing the whole, "hunting and gathering" gig with all types of recyclables, including gold and silver trinkets they find. Most are earning a couple hundred dollars a week through all of their finds. Great skill and a great way to build your war chest for buying prepping gear you can't negotiate for.

Here's the list and some suggestions to get your juices flowing...

No Potable Water - build a sand and charcoal filter; make charcoal; make a solar still; learn how to locate water in all types of terrain;
No Food - learn the local edible "weeds" and other flora in your area and make a salad; learn how to make 3 kinds of snares; learn to kill and clean a fish; learn how to kill and clean a small mammal; ferment food scraps into alcohol;
No Shelter (from elements) - build and test a debris shelter; learn the knots necessary to set up a tarp shelter, then set one up; sew together a simple hat from some simple cloth; learn to water proof cloth;
Lack of Safety and Security - learn to accurately shoot one handed; learn to shoot with your weak-side hand; learn basic striking techniques for quickly disabling an attacker; learn about boobie traps and early warning devices; learn to load your own ammo
No Public Utilities (electricity, gas, sanitation) - learn 2 ways on how to make fire without using matches or lighters; learn how and where to make an outdoor toilet;
No Communication Services - learn about and practice a "dead drop"; become a ham radio operator; learn Morse code;
Toxic Airborne Contaminants - make a homemade gas mask; learn to "air proof" a room in your home;
Restricted Travel - make a drag sled; map a route through a city that bypasses all public and private cameras; hike 10 miles with a pack equal to 50% of your body weight; learn how to siphon gasoline; learn how to use a compass; learn how to read and use a topographical map;
No Access to Professional Medical Services - learn indigenous medicinal plants and how to prepare them; learn how to set a compound fracture; learn how to clean and close a wound; learn how to stop bleeding; learn how to open a breathing channel;
No Money - practice bartering (without using cash) at garage sales and flea markets; learn how to dumpster dive; identify and collect the most abundant and the most valuable items in your area that can be gathered and sold to recyclers;
Lost Records - make a "Survival Bible" and put it in paper and electronic media; make copies of your most important documents - driver's license, birth certificate, mortgage papers, etc. - and put them in a geographically distant location;
Mental Health/Spirituality - learn and store games that need no electronics (dice, cards, board games); learn games that need no tools (hide-n-go-seek, for instance); memorize important passages from your religious text of choice; learn about and gather flora that contains calming/soothing properties; learn 5 yoga poses;

Everyone's list will be different. None of us knows what kind of emergency or disaster may hit. We don't know the breadth and depth of the impact. We don't know where we'll be when it hits.

So we look a probabilities, at least in the beginning. Once we acquire some skills, goods and equipment, we tend to increase our resources to cover more dire events. It never seems as though anything is enough. I don't know if this is good or bad, it just is.

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Copyright 2012 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

Still Here

2012-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

I still have a dinner with my mom this evening, so there's still time.... ;-)

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Copyright 2012 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

'Tragedies Must End'

2012-12-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Mr. President, thank you.

Thank you for recognizing that there are sick, unstable, homicidal citizens among us - crazy bastards that will slaughter children for some perceived injustice.

Thank you for having the courage to propose laws that will reverse this insane trend of disarming the good, decent citizens among us.

Thank you for proposing a reversal of laws - such as the one in Connecticut [link] - that specifically bans the most effective means of self-defense - firearms - from government institutions that house our most vulnerable and defenseless citizens... our children while they are in school.

Thank you for understanding that establishing "Gun Free Zones" is like laying out a Welcome mat for criminals and the criminally insane. You've seen with your own eyes that these tragedies don't occur at places known to have firearms, such as police stations, firing ranges and gun shops.

Thank you for instructing your Attorney General to sue states that enact laws which are in direct conflict with the second amendment. The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed does not have a qualifying statement excluding certain government facilities, such as our schools.

Thank you for recognizing that if the selfless, heroic principal at the school had not been prohibited by law from coming to the rescue of her students with a 12-gauge shotgun instead of unarmed, the carnage inflicted in Connecticut would have been significantly reduced. We could be celebrating her heroism with a parade instead of mourning her death with a funeral procession.

Thank you for screaming at the top of your lungs that if there had been more guns present at the school - in the hands of properly trained teachers - instead of none, this horrible tragedy visited upon us by an insane person might have never happened.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for using your Bully Pulpit to drill it into our nation's thick head that our current laws contributed to the scope of this tragedy. Instead of 27 dead teachers and students, we'd have one dead guy at the gates of the school.

Indeed, these "Tragedies must end". You have it in your power to influence legislation that reverses the disarmament of the vast majority of US citizens, while doing nothing to take guns from the hands of the mentally ill among us. You've seen how states that have enacted, 'Shall Issue' or 'Constitutional Carry' laws have all seen decreases in violent crime. Without exception.

Good luck, Mr. President, in doing the right thing, and getting our current unreasonable gun laws overturned so that tragedies such as this are never visited upon our nation again..

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Copyright 2012 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

Making Clear Stock

2012-12-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Arghghgh. Back to basics. DC is dead. California is dead. Get back to the important stuff.
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Every Thanksgiving I make turkey stock. Whether I roasted the bird or not, I always call dibs on the turkey carcass where ever I go.

The last couple of years, I made a good, strong turkey stock, with lots of herbs and spices. This year, I decided to make a clear stock.

It's pretty easy if you follow a couple of rules.

The main reason you'll get a cloudy stock is because the fat coming off the bones gets emulsified into the stock. It gets suspended in the stock, junk clings to it, and you end up with cloudy stock.

With my normal stock, I wanted all of that flavor and fat. After all, if the stock is being used in an emergency situation, you want to maximize calories for energy, and flavor for mental health and enjoyment.

Well, I've got gallons of the stuff in quart jars, and it kind of limits the use of the stock to chicken/turkey soup, or heavier creamed soups. This time around, with the clear stock, it can be used to add a healthful liquid to stir fry, steaming rice or veggies, or whatever you'd use the commercial stuff for. And it wouldn't scream THANKSGIVING! to all that eat it!

Start by roasting the carcass. I took the bare bones, broke them into smaller pieces and put them into a 350F oven. Twenty minutes, flip them over, twenty more minutes.

Throw them in a BIG stock pot after you removed all of the fatty skin. The one I used is about a 4 gallon pot that will produce 2 gallons of finished stock. Cover the bones and any vegetables (carrot ends, celery ends, onion ends) with COLD WATER. This is the first rule. By the stock heating up slowly, for some reason, the fat stays clumpy and floats to the top, rather than getting distributed in the stock.

Give the whole thing a big stir to make sure everything is covered, crank on the heat, and step away. NO MORE STIRRING. That's the second rule. You don't want to get that fat broken down and incorporated into the stock.

Bring it to a boil UNCOVERED. Yeah, that's the third rule. For some reason, covering the pot makes the stock cloudy. No idea why.

Once the water is boiling, TURN IT DOWN to a simmer. Dat's rule four. A hard boil, blah, blah, blah, fat. You get it. Let it simmer for about an hour and a half. Use a ladle every 15 minutes or so to skim off the fat and scum that bubbles to the top of the pot.

When it's finished, pour the whole mess through a colander to separate the bones and veggies from the stock. Put the stock - covered - in the fridge until it's cooled off. We want the fat to harden on top.

Skim off the rest of the fat. I then home canned up 7 quarts of the stock (it made 8 quarts, but my pressure canner only holds 7 quarts). I brought the stock up to a simmer, and poured it into clean, hot jars, to within 1 inch of the top. When I was pouring it into the jars, I held a very fine mesh strainer under the ladle to catch any bits and pieces that might be suspended in the stock. Wipe the rim, and pressure can at 10lbs for 25 minutes.

Below, the jar on the left is from 2 years ago. It was a "full Monte" stock, simmered just like the clear stuff for 90 minutes, but with spices and stirring. Notice the fat and herbs stuck to the upper part of the jar. The one on the right is this year's batch.

While I was waiting for the canning process to finish, I cracked open a pint of turkey and rice soup made two years ago. Good as the day I made it! Seriously, the grains of rice were still separated, and the flavor was awesome.

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On a related note to the turkey soup above, I was watching a TV cooking show about ramen noodles. Apparently, they add some sort of an alkaline to the dough that makes the noodles hold up better in the broth.

That got me to thinking.

I tried canning chicken noodle soup a couple of years back, and while it tasted good, it looked horrible. The noodles (I used spaghetti) were all clumpy and sticky and gross.

As you may have guessed, I'm going to try my hand at a canned chicken noodle using ramen noodles. I did this little test using the remainder of this year's clear broth, and the quart of the cloudy stock.

I added some thinly sliced mushrooms, scallions, home canned chicken (again, from 2 years ago), sliced ginger and a hard-boiled egg. I think, though, that I will change the size of the noodle. These were the size of the ramen that everyone lived off of in college. I want to use the thicker soba or udon-style noodles.

I'll keep you updated....

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Copyright 2012 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

Race And Business

2012-11-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know I'm not especially Politically Correct. I calls 'em like I sees 'em. What follows is partially based on my 30+ years of banking experience - specifically in my capacity ranging from being a loan underwriter up to being the Chief Credit Officer - in total, about 8 of those 30 years. Does this make it Gospel? No, but considering all of this experience occurred in the SF Bay Area - one of the most racially diverse areas of this country - it will give you a hell of an insight into race and business.

The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.

--Booker T. Washington

When I was writing the post, The Alluring Call of Socialism, there was a big racial component to what's happening. In my opinion, the socialist are using race as their tool to divide our country. They have successfully convinced blacks and Hispanics that they are victims. Vote for us, we'll give you stuff from the evil white overlords who robbed you of your chance for greatness.

Never mind that the nearly 50 year experiment with Affirmative Action has proven to be a colossal failure. Blacks, in particular, have grown accustom to being given stuff - and the need to provide for ones self has evaporated. The only requirement for continued payouts is loyalty at the ballot box.

Their community has been decimated. Approximately 3/4 of their babies are born out of wedlock. A disjointed home life - no sense of family - draws them towards gangs or "the hive" to fill that gap in their lives.

They make up approximately 13% of the population, yet are rapidly approaching 40% of welfare recipients. The numbers are virtually identical for incarceration rates.

The great socialist experiment with blacks is a failure in its entirety. Hispanics are trending in the same direction. If their "leaders" continue to covet cultural victimhood as is so warmly embraced by the black community, they too can expect similar outcomes.
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A whining, crying race may be pitied but is seldom respected.
--Booker T. Washington

I was thinking about the racial profiles of the folks that own businesses in the center where we've got our precious metals store. With only one exception, all of the business owners are either white or Asian.

If you look up the federal statistics [private study in PDF], 11% of white workers are business owners. Only 5% of blacks own businesses. Average white business have sales of over $400,000. The average black business has sales of around $74,000. Huge differences.

And then there are Asians. One of the smallest ethnic groups in the nation (less than 5% of the US population) is also one of the most successful. So successful, in fact, that the race-baiters have had to come up with a new social tag for blacks and Hispanics. Instead of being called simple 'minorities', they're now called 'disadvantaged minorities'.

Disadvantaged!? Are you serious? Blacks are the most advantaged minority group in the history of the nation. Never has so much been given to so few who personally endured no injustice. But I digress.

Asians business statistics are on par or superior to white business statistics in virtually every category. How could this teeny tiny minority group absolutely crush these larger minority groups?

It's as simple and as complicated as one single word: Culture. Their families, friends and community, regardless of social strata, expect - no, demand - success.

Instead of a culture that celebrates, 'Keeping It Real', they embrace Tiger Moms. Where Asians heap scorn on their youth for educational failure, blacks deride and ridicule their contemporaries for 'Acting White' when a black kid chooses the un-cool path of academics.

A concept drilled into the brains of successful groups is that of sacrifice. If you want success, you're going to have to give up a lot of things. Sacrifice now for something better in the future.

You can stay home and study for the algebra test, or you can go to a party.

You can spend every dime you own on boats, cars and clothing, or you can save it for investments or to start a business.

You can spend hours playing video games, or you can spend hours reading about business success stories.

Everyone in this country has the exact same number of hours available to them. How you choose to use those hours is up to you. You can choose to emulate the strategies and actions of successful people, or you can emulate the strategies and actions of The In Crowd.
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A bit of insight into my experience with the psyche of different Asian groups: I've had the most experience with three groups - Indians, Chinese and Filipinos.

Indians were almost exclusively in the services field, primarily in lodging and food service. I can't tell you how many Indians came to my banks for refinancing that started their businesses with credit cards. They'll do cash advances on 10 credit cards, and buy a business. I have seen dozens of dumpy motels bought with credit cards.

This is a low risk/high cost strategy. If you default on making your credit card payments, nothing is taken from you, as credit cards are unsecured funds. But they're very costly, so your income margins are very thin.

So, the entire family moves into the motel, thus eliminating their housing expense. They then use sweat equity to clean up the motel and increase revenue. Once it's "cash flowing", they'd come to us for refinancing.

They'd run it for a few more years, continually upgrading the facilities with one goal in mind: To qualify to become a "flag ship" motel - becoming part of a national chain. If they got the nod, we'd happily refinance them again for additional improvements.

Typically, they'd then sell the motel, and upgrade to a better flag ship company - i.e., going from Motel 6 to Holiday Inn Express.
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Chinese, well, they're just crazy! They are fearless. They will put everything they own on the line. They're willing to make a big bet to get a big payout, even if that means crashing and burning and losing everything.

When they'd come to us for a loan, we'd see a number of business failures in their past. As a result, many times, their credit scores were horrible. When you crash and burn, everything tends to get trashed, including their personal credit scores.

As a result, with these loans, we'd have to ensure we were FULLY secured, and we'd have loan covenants requiring regular monthly or quarterly financial statements and regular site visits to the business (this was obviously done for any borrower with similar business financials - Chinese just happened to be a large portion of this type).

Very often, they would sell these businesses as soon as they were gushing money to "cash out" and move on to something else. I think they like the thrill of the hunt more than actually getting the brass ring in their grasp!
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Filipinos are the lowest risk-takers of the bunch. They've mastered the concept of sweat equity. They very rarely would go "all in" on a project - always keeping cash and assets in reserve. But they will spend 20 hours a day, 7 days a week to build a business. Mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, kids, cousins, aunt, uncles - the ENTIRE extended family pitched in.

By having this large pool of mostly free labor to draw upon, most everyone could hold a "normal" job or two, and devoted their off-hours to the new business. For instance, mom and cousin work the business during the day, and work swing shift hours at a salaried job. Dad and uncle work regular day jobs, and prep/build/manufacture/maintain the business during the evening hours. Grandma, grandpa were used as needed, and the kids were pressed into service whenever they weren't in school.
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All three Asian groups employ very different strategies, but all are successful. The common thread is a culture that recognizes that sacrifice will lead to success.

Much (most?) of the black and a growing portion of white culture are unwilling to sacrifice. Poor blacks largely because of the indoctrination of economic dependency, and upper-middle class whites largely because of Helicopter Mom-ism. Both of these groups have grown used to being cared for, and are unfamiliar with the concept of sacrifice.

Hispanics used to be as business driven as whites and Asians. Many still are, but sadly, as a group, they're rapidly drifting towards the much easier path of economic dependency. I pray that Hispanic leaders will help to steer their followers away from the path chosen by black leaders such as Sharpton and Jackson. There is still a chance to keep them from this disastrous path.

There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.
--Booker T. Washington

Accept The Challenge

So how do we preppers - regardless of our race or ethnicity - use this information to benefit our lives?

The quickest way to build wealth is to own your own business. You may have current commitments that don't allow you to quit your job and go out on your own. But, you CAN start the process part-time and eventually take it full-time.

Get educated and get the right mindset. Start by reading, Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The book is actually more about setting goals and teaching you how to reach them. I can tell you from personal experience that it works.

If you know nothing about running a business, get thee to the Small Business Administration (SBA). They have TONS of free resources to help you start and run a business. If you're near a large city, they have offices with folks to help you. Also look for SCORE centers. These are staffed by retired businesspeople that can act as mentors for your business.

Two key areas where people fail are in marketing and accounting. You may have the greatest product or service ever invented, but if you can't get people to buy it, you're sunk. Know how to reach your target markets.

Similarly, once the money starts flowing, you must know how to account for it, which products are most profitable, and how to project for future growth needs.

Don't scrimp on your education on either of these points.

And of course, expect to make sacrifices. Time, money, energy will all be sucked from you at an alarming rate. But, with proper planning and knowledge, you can limit the impact and timeframe of these sacrifices.

Lastly, be prepared to be flexible. As opportunities appear and disappear, you want your business to be nimble enough to move away from sink holes and steered towards profitable lines.

What's the saying? Luck equals preparation plus opportunity.

Go get lucky!

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Copyright 2012 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

You're Just Kulak To Them

2012-11-18T21:46:00.001-08:00

[Please, don't bust my chops over semantics in this post. I use 'socialism', 'Marxism' and 'communism' interchangeably. They all embrace the idea that the hive, village or group are more important than the individual, and we all have an obligation - always forced upon us - to maintain the hive.]

Note: I've been sitting on this post for 3 days. I've read it and re-read it. It sounds bat-dung crazy to suggest and plan for the US to head down this path. But I can't see a way out. How do you feed a nation that increasingly becomes dependent upon the State for its survival?

The goal of socialism is communism.
--Lenin

In the last post, I discussed the Alluring Call Of Socialism. On paper, it sounds sweet to huge numbers of people. In practice, not so much.

Socialism has always ended the same way. With a totalitarian state. Everything is eventually nationalized. Land, business, all personal property. It's all for the good of the state.

Preppers and independent people ultimately strive to have land and property to maintain our independence. We buy land, equipment, seeds, animals, weapons, etc., to allow us to live that independent lifestyle. In America, you're not guaranteed wealth and independence, you're guaranteed the opportunity for wealth and independence. Many Americans are willing to work hard to meet those two goals.

It's the reason people come to America. To build a life of freedom and prosperity.

But that doesn't mesh with the communist ideology. In fact, it's in direct conflict with that ideology. You work for the state, not for yourself. The hive is more important than the bee.

In countries such as the US, or entire regions, such as the EU, the state starts the application of this ideology via taxation. It starts slowly, and gradually grows.

During the debates about whether the sixteenth amendment should be ratified (allowing for income tax), the proponents stated that the tax rate would never exceed 2%, I believe. Now, in addition to the constitutionally allowed excise taxes, we have more taxes and fees than you can follow. Gas tax, sales tax, a zillion telecommunications taxes, building permits, sewer fees, real estate taxes, business asset taxes, business license fees - it never ends.

In our precious metals business, I have sales tax, business license tax, special business district taxes, second-hand dealer tax, alarm tax, fire service tax, payroll tax, state income tax, federal income tax, all the telecommunications taxes, all of the gas and electric taxes, non-salable asset taxes, certified scale taxes, weighmaster taxes, and indirectly, the property tax paid by the landlord, via our lease payments. These are just the taxes that come immediately to mind.

The socialist government wonks use propaganda to brainwash us into believing that the hive is more important than the bee. We saw this when Barry Obama made the comment about how successful businesses didn't get there by themselves, but through the generosity and guidance of the state.

Jake Tapper of ABC news perhaps presented the view of the state most accurately -

The president’s argument, which is similar to one made by Massachusetts Senate candidate (now senator-elect .ed) Elizabeth Warren, revolves around the idea that business people need the infrastructure provided by the government in order to succeed. [emphasis added]

To anyone with more than two gray cells to rub together, this is a laughable statement. The government doesn't provide anything. They don't earn money to build roads, they take it. Your money. My money. Our money. The roads weren't provided by some altruistic donation from a private charity that is owed thanks. The government simply did their job!

But the hive needs more honey, and you've gotta give it up.

Soon enough, the cashflow starts to dry up, and the wonks need to get creative. A great example is what they're now kicking around with regards to the gas tax. Since cars now get better gas mileage people don't need as much of the stuff. That cuts into tax revenues.

Now, they're talking about changing the tax to a "miles driven" model. Expect some sort of government controlled odometer to be installed on all cars sometime in the near future.

Perhaps the greatest "creative response" to the need for more taxes is to promote and successfully enact a tax on air. The socialists call it, Cap and Trade.

The public sales-job started with the idea that carbon dioxide is causing the planet to heat up. Despite being roundly disproven and exposed as a fraud of the first order, the wonks convinced enough soft-headed citizens and politicians to pass Cap and Trade laws. All under the guise that they were saving the planet.

You don't even need to scratch under the surface to obliterate this scam. They fairly admit it's nothing more than a dollar grab.

All of these programs work like this: Some government agency sets a number for the tonnage of CO2 that a company can release into the air. Like the ~~fraud~~ recently conducted first auction here in California (thanks Arnold), your business is given a certain credit by the taxing authority. If you release in excess of the allotment, you can get back into the good graces of the wonks in one of two ways.

First you can buy credits from another company that doesn't need all of their allotment. You'll do this via exchanges that will facilitate these swaps. For a fee. This is the business Al "Mr. Hockey Stick" Gore started. What a great stroke of luck that was, huh? Stir this shit up, and make a profit from it! Genius.

The other way is to buy more credits from the government entity charged with setting the CO2 levels. Yes, you can buy your way out of it directly with the government.

If the government was so concerned with global warming, beach front property in the Rockies and the impending end of the planet, why in God's name would they allow these horrible, polluting companies to toss the wonks a few pieces of silver?

Because it's not about the environment, it's about tax revenues. Period, end of story. California tax receipts, for instance, will net a cool billion dollars a year for the criminals in Sacramento.
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Here's where it starts to get scary. This is where the self-reliant homesteaders and preppers start really feeling the bite of the wonks. It's also where people on both sides of the equation start dying, and not from old age.

Eventually, the tax dollars stop increasing despite the wonks dogged efforts to keep 'em flowing. The State keeps increasing its need for funding, but the well is getting dry. There's just nothing left to tax.

So, like every socialist regime before it, the new one starts nationalizing. Businesses first, then private property.

This isn't scare tactics. This isn't boogie-man stuff. It's a logical progression, and it's in your history books.

Marx, Engels et al, understood the need for productive farmland. Your title deed is hereby invalidated and your land liberated for the people!

The Russians called it 'kulak'. You have more than someone else, so you're portrayed as greedy - tight fisted, to be literal. For the good of the hive, your property is liberated.

Both peasants and Soviet officials were often uncertain as to what constituted a kulak. They often used the term to label anyone who had more property than was considered "normal," according to subjective criteria, and personal rivalries played a part in the classification of enemies.

Hmm, I'd guess that anything is considered more than 'normal' by the folks who have nothing other than the Government Teat in their mouth.

Or perhaps they'll just follow the lead of Future Chairman Mao in China. In part -

Land reform in a new Liberated Area should be divided into two stages. In the first stage strike blows at the landlords and neutralize the rich peasants. This stage is to be sub-divided into several steps; strike blows at the big landlords first, and then at the other landlords. Treatment must be different for those who are local tyrants and those who are not, and different also for big, middle and small landlords. The second stage is the equal distribution of land, including the land rented out by the rich peasants and their surplus land.

Yeah. The 'rich peasants' and their surplus land.

Accept The Challenge

Whoa. What now? All of those self-sufficient fantasies evaporating right in front of our eyes.

So how does this proceed? If the nightmare scenario of nationalizing all private assets is the ultimate goal, the PTB will want to lay the ground work to make resistance less difficult. Gun control is the first and most obvious avenue. Make it more difficult for individuals to possess guns and ammo.

Logic and empirical data tell us that an armed society is a much safer society. Every state that enacted 'Shall Issue' CCW laws saw drops in crime, and particularly in violent crime. The data is irrefutable.

And irrelevant.

The Diane Feinstein's of the world will go to the grave working to paint guns as bad, and using the MSM propaganda machine to sell their vision. Families that lost family members to gun violence (ala Brady Bunch) will be trotted out in public to sell their snake oil.

And the majority of the public will buy it. "Who needs a weapon of war, like an AK47 or AR15? Their only purpose is to kill people!"

So, tighter gun control (and ammo control) - even more than now - will be one of the signals.

Tied to that is a beefing up of domestic police forces. Why in Gods Name does every Mayberry RFD need a tactical armored personnel carrier? And a SWAT team? And a sniper squad? And riot gear for every officer?

They don't, unless it's in anticipation for some out-of-the-norm civil unrest. The Talking Points are that the gear and squads are for terrorism. Well, when much of your citizenry is considered to be a possible terrorist, I guess the term kind of loses its common meaning. If you own guns, have food and equipment storage, and are vociferous about your disgust with our government, you and everyone like you are all considered potential terrorists.

This is already happening all over our country. This tipping point has already tipped. The facade of safety against terrorism is being chugged by the masses like a drunk with his Ripple. This was easy to accomplish, as it didn't directly affect any citizen. Genius. Stock up the local police all you want, and until the hammer is used against the masses, no one cares. Hey, no harm, no foul, right?

They've now strengthened their offensive capabilities, and weakened your defensive capabilities. Time to start grabbing assets in earnest.

The business nationalization will be the first indication. It will be big stuff. Oil, coal, transportation, telecommunications, banking. Infrastructure stuff. Washington DC knows how to better run these industries, and the proceeds will now go to all of the peeps, not just to the greedy businessmen that started the companies.

When they're done with the businesses, they'll start going after the real property of individuals. They'll come for our private farms, homesteads and the like. Anything that might be able to be farmed, as per items 1, 4, 7 and 9 of the Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto.

This is the one that we preppers will need to worry about.  The indicator will be when they start taxing you for items you produce for your own consumption. The vegetables you raise, the eggs you gather, the steer you slaughter. The thinking is, just like going to a regular job, your efforts produced something, and you were paid for your efforts. In this case via turnips and hamburger. That's income, and it needs to be taxed.

Oh, and you clearly don't need all of that food you're producing, so we'll just liberate the excess. Have a nice day, comrade.  The only legal foundation they need to take your property is the desire to take it.

I see two possible outs for us.

First, buy land that is only marginally arable or productive (i.e., for cattle). Make it remote and acidic or alkaline land where with a good bit of effort via composting, and creative use of water and greenhouses can be productive on a small scale. Think the Northern Nevada, Eastern Washington State, Eastern Oregon, Southern Idaho and Northern Utah desert areas (most of Survivalblog's 'American Redoubt'). Sorry, I don't include Texas, New Mexico, California or Arizona deserts, because I think they're going to be overrun by what we currently call Illegal Aliens, and which will then be called "Dream Act" Reconquistadors.

Make the land only produce enough for your immediate family. No more. Make it land - like the Gaza strip - where the Israeli government gave the Palestinians the land, but since they had no idea how to keep it productive, it crapped out. Make the land unattractive to the socialists and their need to fill the bellies of many people. Make the cost/benefit calculation tip to the negative.

The other option is much more risky. Much more. And it requires accumulating a LOT of like-minded individuals being in one region. More than I think is possible, really.

You would need an area filled with individuals - and state and local governments - that would be willing to fight for their land together. It could include all of the aforementioned land and perhaps include the Dakota's, Montana and Wyoming. I hesitate with these last 4 states, as the wheat growing and pasture lands might be valuable enough for the socialists to fight for in earnest. Also, with the Bakken Formation (oil and gas) in Montana and North Dakota, the PTB won't give them up so easily.

So, we're talking secession of a huge chunk of America, and I just don't know how realistic that would be. I think it would only have a chance if, unlike the Civil War, it was fought like the mujaheddin against the USSR and the US in Afghanistan. Asymmetrical warfare.

You punch them in the gonads, then melt into the woodwork. You poke them in the eye, then vaporize.

Bleed them to death. Death by a thousand cuts. Death by public political pressure - It just ain't worth the effort.

This is my personal plan. Tucked away in some corner of Idaho with the hopes that if this nightmare comes to fruition, there will be enough like-minded folks in the area willing to make life difficult for the PTB.
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I know many of you that already have productive farms and homesteads are saying that you'll draw a line in the sand, and fight to the death. That will be fine by the PTB. They'll expend very little effort, you'll be dead, and they'll have your land.

And that accomplished, what? A 'moral victory'?

A toe-to-toe conflict ends up with you dead. Quickly. But a generation-long blood-letting has a chance. And maybe your kids and grandkids will have something left to re-claim after the communist system collapses.

And they always collapse.
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The zillion dollar question is, "When is this going to happen?" I think it will be some time after the dollar collapses, which I thought would have happened by now. Uncle Ben Bernanke and Company have been fortunate that Europe is in such a mess, as it's helped prop up the buck.

But the fundamentals of the dollar are doomed, and our country has an insurmountable amount of debt. When you work in the hundreds of trillions in unfunded liabilities with Social Security and Medicare, our way of economic life is toast. You can't tax enough to ever meet these obligations. It's impossible.

So there will be defaults in public debt and promises, and the government will be forced to take what it needs.

My crystal ball simply isn't strong enough to call when that happens - just that it will happen.
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You see, it always comes down to money. They want what you've earned. Your job is to keep it yourself.

Reduce the amount of taxes you pay. Legally or illegally - your choice. Positives and negatives with either option, but we must have the goal of Starving The Beast.

Hide or disguise your accumulated wealth. Have it in a bank, and it's as good as gone. You've willingly provided an accounting of how much is available for the taking. If you have a big pile of cash that suddenly disappears, they'll come looking for you. Bet on it.

Start NOW with ways to keep your money under wraps. Precious metals are your best bet here. Valuable and portable.

Establishing those Multiple Streams of Income will help you to thrive. Seriously, get on this now.

And "lose" some guns and ammo. You'll need to find them again in the future.

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Copyright 2012 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

The Alluring Call Of Socialism

2012-11-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

When a business looks to sell its product, it does something called, 'target marketing'. You identify your potential buyers, determine what they care about, and you tell them that your product meets their needs.

A car manufacturer may have an SUV they're looking to sell. To men, they may tout how this big vehicle handles like a sports car, yet can pull a big ol' boat. Show footage of the SUV flying up a windy country road towing a fishing boat.

To women, you might focus on the exemplary safety record, the big comfortable seats, and the integrated DVD player for the kids in the back. Add footage of the plush interior of the vehicle with the perfectly behaved kiddies, all in their car seats, being anesthetized by the DVD player.

Sale!

The Democrats understand this concept. Carve off a group, build a sales pitch, and sell it. Here is the key to it all: With each of their target markets, they identify the one or two key points that the group cares about, and they hammer it home.

You never, ever come off message.

They started with ethnicities.

Blacks. Marketing Pitch: You've been abused and discriminated against forever. Vote for us, and we'll fix the wrongs brought upon you and your ancestors.

Hispanics. Marketing Pitch: Love of family - even the extended Hispanic family. Repubs want to keep you out. When you're in, we give you Sanctuary Cities, we write laws prohibiting our police departments from turning you in to the federal authorities. We'll protect su familia.

Then, you hit the Cross-over groups -

Women. Marketing Pitch: You are the equal or better of any man in the workplace. Your body is your own - no man can tell you what you can do with it.

Youth. Marketing Pitch: We're the cool, loving and inclusive group. We want to invest in your future, so we'll give you easy access to grants and loans.

Private union members. Marketing Pitch: We will protect your right to organize so you can get your fair share - a living wage - from the evil, rich business owners.

Public union members. Marketing Pitch: Vote for us, and keep your job, get regular raises, a killer retirement plan and we'll make it virtually impossible for you to be fired. Guaranteed, lucrative income for life.

LGBT. Marketing Pitch: You should be able to marry anyone you wish.

Anti-war. Marketing pitch: The only reason Republicans want to send you/your children to war is to pay off their evil, rich corporate handlers.

The only group not specifically targeted are independent, successful white males. They don't need anything from government. So they're demonized. They're the evil rich with all of the money needed to pay the bills. The Dems just need the political power to take it from them so you can have more stuff given to you.
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No matter what your competitor throws at you, you counter with some variant of your target message. For instance, in the recent election, the Republicans main selling point was, "The economy is in the crapper, Obama has done nothing but make it worse, and Mitt can fix it."

The Democrats countered that Mitt would take welfare from poor blacks, take freedom from poor Hispanics just trying to feed their families, take loans and grants from students, take abortions from women, etcetera, etcetera.

Mitt will take from you, Obama will give to you.

What the Dems have done is to successfully sell the idea that The State is the parent, the family, the provider, in the minds of all of these groups. As a child, if you've had a Helicopter Mom for your entire life - covering your every need and ensuring you never have a negative outcome - do you think your instinct will be to break away from this warm, comfortable place? Of course not.
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Bill O'Reilly made a comment about what happened to the Republicans that I think is nothing more than wishfull thinking -

The good news for the Republicans is that the pressure is now on President Obama and the Democrats. If the economy doesn't improve dramatically over the next four years, the Democratic Party will evaporate -- as simple as that.

Sorry. Not gonna happen. On the national stage, the game is over. The Republicans just don't get it. They don't have an answer to the Democrat sales pitch of, "Vote for us and we'll give you things." Libertarian-leaning people like me are considered freaks who just don't get it. Personal freedoms AND responsibility? Naw, too much work.

The majority of people have shown they have no need or desire to have to struggle to pay their bills, struggle to become rich, struggle to pay for college, struggle to be independent. Why struggle and have the risk of failure and pain, when you can get by - comfortably enough - by voting Democrat?

For now, the Republican message works in much of "fly-over country" but there aren't enough electoral college votes in those states to turn the tide. The big cities in these state still vote comfortably Democrat.

Seriously, on a national level, it's over.
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You all need to watch California for what will eventually happen to our nation.

On election day, in addition to voting to increase our taxes once again via the our Proposition process, my fellow citizens did something much more frightening. Our state Assembly and state Senate has long been dominated by Democrats. They've run the joint into the ground, taking us from being one of the crown jewels of this nation in terms of the economy, education and insight, into the bottom of the barrel. So, despite a decimated state economy, obscene taxes at every level, government intrusiveness in every aspect of our lives, my fellow citizens rewarded the Democrats by giving them a Super Majority in both state legislative houses.

For decades, we've had laws that required a 2/3 vote by both houses before they could raise taxes. This has held them at bay, until now. With the new Super Majority, this is no longer an issue. They can do as they wish.

They have wrecked the state, but were rewarded with more power. They just had to promise more stuff to the peeps.
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"But Chief, it will all collapse. Every socialist/communist economy ever constructed has collapsed under its own weight. The same will happen here. That's when the people will See The Light and we'll turn things around."

Perhaps. But no one reading this today will likely see that day.

My next post will lay out my vision for what's going to happen to our country over the next few decades. It's not rocket science, and it's not pretty. And I'm afraid it's unstoppable.

I have a request, though. Prove me wrong. Point me in another direction. Show me a scenario where this socialist slide is stopped. Tell me how a society where the majority believes themselves to be a victim due recompense, is convinced to give up their "claim".

Logic is not a viable alternative. If logic prevailed, California would be a solidly red state after the decades of decline we've endured at the hands of the Democrats. If logic prevailed, America would have thrown the Charlatan In Chief out on his ear.

The "masses" are hearing the call of the socialist. Everyone gets equal outcomes. Everyone is cared for. Everyone is protected. It's an alluring call for many. Apparently, for most.

They just don't immediately recognize the cost that will be due in the future. Someone's got to pay for all the goodies they're getting.

And one way or another, it will be them.

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Copyright 2012 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

Ramblin's

2012-11-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I'm just a heartless ass (I can live with that), but when I see these people in NY, NJ, CT bitching and moaning and whining that the government isn't moving quickly enough to restore their Dependent Class lives, I feel nothing but anger and contempt.

Not pity. Not compassion. But contempt.

You incompetent, soft, lazy, Me Generation, IDIOTIC Sons of Bitches knew this mega-storm was coming. The entire nation knew it was coming 10 days in advance. Four days in advance, we all knew it was going to be an ass-kicker.

Like a normal, rational, thinking human being, did you decide to get as far away from danger as possible? No, you decided to stick around. I now see your whiny mug on TV crying about your lack of utilities, food and water. Boo-hoo-hoo! YOU put yourself into this situation, YOU get yourself out.

And shut the hell up about it.
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Since I'm in a puppy kicking and insect-wing pulling mood, I'm really getting sick of everyone and everything being a 'hero' or 'heroic'.

In my mind, a hero is someone who - in an extraordinary, selfless act - puts their life at risk for the life of another. So, contrary to what we heard during October's Breast Cancer Awareness month, just because you got and beat cancer doesn't make you a hero.

You're tough, resilient, determined, and brave for facing an event that could easily take your life. But you're not a hero. Just because you're a cop, or fire fighter or in the military, does not make you a hero.

A hero is a citizen who enters his neighbor's burning home and pulls everyone out. A hero is a cop who dives into freezing water to pull a child from the water. A hero is a soldier dives on a grenade or charges a hill by himself so his fellow soldiers may live.

We lessen the concept and importance of heroism when we attach it to any difficult task.
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Speaking of words, I HATE the word, 'empower'. "She attended the class and now feels empowered to lose 50 pounds". Or start a business. Or change her hair color. Or date a new guy.

It seems to mostly be used by women. When I glance at anything Oprah says, writes or does, it seems like "empowered" is at the heart of it.

Really? It strikes me as having gotten permission, or something along those lines. Why can't you just say, "She felt fat and out of shape, so she decided to drop some pounds."? Nope. Unless you've been empowered by some mystical class or chant or role model, you're doomed to failure.

Please.
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After Barry wins (Electoral College for sure, popular vote maybe), is anything going to change in your immediate future? I'm hoping to buy at least one gun tomorrow - two if possible (a long gun and a handgun), and I'll squirrel away a bit more ammo, but other than that, it's going to be Prepping As Usual.

I think Barry may move to restrict access to guns, so I don't want to get caught without the last couple of purchases on my To Do list. Other than that, I think the economy is screwed beyond repair, and there is nothing Mitt could do that would stop it. He might have been able to slow the bleeding a bit, but not stop it. So whether Barry or Mitt wins, my life will be about the same. Economy, USA PATRIOT Act, NDAA, QEIII - both Mitt and Barry read from the same script.

Don't fool yourself into thinking Mitt would be your savior.
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Most of you probably don't pay much attention to detailed California politics, but we've got a couple of competing "tax enhancement" propositions on the ballot. According to the pollsters, it looks like one or both may pass.

Gawd, I'm surrounded by mouth-breathing inbreds. Apparently, the "school children will be kicked to the curb if we don't vote this in," advertisements have worked as hoped. The Government schools won't see one more dime than they're now getting. While the legislation "strongly suggests" that the extra money go to schools, it doesn't require it.

Picture the crew from Animal House suddenly coming across a semi-trailer full of Jack Daniels, and you'll be able to visualize what Sacramento is going to look like in 2013.
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There's a saying, "As California goes, so goes the country." I think it's happening already.

Look at the national Republican party and compare it to the one in California. With the disaster heaped upon us by Barry, how could the Repubs NOT win this election? Every Obama promise made, broken. Every goal set, missed. This should have been an ass-whooping of epic proportions.

Instead, he's gonna win re-election.

The same thing happens here in California. Our state has steadily dropped from the tops of achievement lists, to the bottom of the barrel. Our state economy is in a shambles. The only answer Sacramento has to filling the budget gap is to raise taxes. The Dems have "owned" this state for decades. Yet they are overwhelmingly re-elected each and every cycle.

As in California, the federal government has established a permanent, dependent class. It is a huge mass of people who all know (literally) where their bread is buttered. Republicans then come in and say they're going to stop or slow the gravy train, and get their ass handed to them.

Over 100 million Americans on some sort of government payment or "entitlement" system. Nearly half of working Americans don't pay income tax. Entire generations being taught and encouraged to get in line and outstretch their palms.

And the way to win back the 'hearts and minds' of this crowd is by telling them they are going to get less if they elect you? Yeah, right. Good plan.

I'm not sure the Repubs have much of a chance of regaining national power in the future. Unless they get more into the "vote for us and we'll give you shit" game. They're OK at it with big businesses, let's see if they can extend the skill to buying votes of the little guy as well.

No one leads any more. They just pander.
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Please, oh please, let me be wrong! While a Romney win would likely give us rioting right after the election, for the medium-term, it would give us more time to prep. More time is more good!

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Copyright 2012 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

Government Has Metastasized

2012-11-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

[I wish I was clever enough to have come up with the title phrase. I heard it on the radio, and had to steal it.]

Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.
--George Orwell, 1984

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Reasonable people can disagree about the drug laws. I don't think anyone likes drug abuse. Libertarians and Liberals believe it is one of the ugly consequences of a free society. Conservatives, in general, believe it's OK to bend the Constitution to take away our privacy rights we have via the fourth amendment. Hey, if we need to bend the rules to catch drug dealers or terrorists, it's OK to give up some rights to stay safe.

Just like Liberals believe it's OK to bend the Constitution with regards to gun ownership and possession. Bend the second amendment to make it difficult to obtain a gun and carry it to defend yourself, 'cause it's OK to give up some rights to stay safe. Libertarians and Conservatives tend to think the only permit you should need to carry a gun is the aforementioned second amendment.

There's a problem with bending the rules. Given a bit of time, government always seems to find a way to apply these newly acquired powers against regular folks.

One of these "bent laws" are our RICO laws. They were enacted to catch organized crime figures, and they worked quite well. Snatch up the bad guys, seize their illegal assets, and put them out of business. The problem is, when the big mafia bosses were largely rounded up, the government was left holding this big ol' hammer with nothing to do. They started looking for something else to nail down.

One of the benefits of these asset forfeiture laws was that the local, state and federal police agencies all got to split up the booty they grabbed. They now had a financial interest - and the law on their side - in painting more and more individuals as RICO candidates.

Apparently, anyone who carries large amounts of cash, gold, gems, etc., is now a part of organized crime. Your personal property - cash, jewelry, real property, cars - are all seized and are not available to you to pay for a defense. Anything you own is presumed to have been "ill-gotten gains". What a luscious, perfectly constructed Totalitarian Catch 22: Since you are presumed guilty because you've been charged under the RICO statutes, you are unable to pay for a defense to prove your innocence.

Almost all forfeiture cases practiced today are civil. In civil forfeiture cases, the US Government sues the item of property, not the person; the owner is effectively a third party claimant. Once the government establishes probable cause that the property is subject to forfeiture, the owner must prove on a "preponderance of the evidence" that it is not. The owner need not be judged guilty of any crime [emphasis mine].

The government sues a piece of property! Holy crap. Who could have ever dreamed that up - suing an inanimate object - and what suck ass court said it's legal? How is a car, or diamond necklace, or stack of cash supposed to mount a defense?

My wife and I have been married for 26 years, and have been a couple for 31 years. I have bought her LOTS of jewelry over those years. It represents a considerable sum of money. The police could enter my home, seize all of this jewelry, sue it, and I would have to prove I bought it legally? Are you kidding me?

I don't have a single receipt for any piece I've bought her. Actually, that probably wouldn't matter, because they could just say that the money used to buy the jewelry was earned via illegal means, and I'm screwed. They don't have to prove I earned the money illegally, I have to prove I didn't earn it that way. How do you prove you've never earned an illegal dollar? How do you do that? How do you prove a negative? How do I prove that the stack of bills in that envelope are a result of hard, above-the-board work, and not some evil criminal underworld business?

I can't. No one can. And it's all a result of usurping the rights of legitimately bad guys, and those usurpation's now being visited upon society as a whole.
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Buckle up, kiddies. Here's comes the next usurpation.

A federal judge has ruled that agents of the state may enter your fenced and posted rural property, and install video surveillance devices. All without having to bother with those nasty requirements contained in the fourth amendment.

Police are allowed in some circumstances to install hidden surveillance cameras on private property without obtaining a search warrant, a federal judge said yesterday.

CNET has learned that U.S. District Judge William Griesbach ruled that it was reasonable for Drug Enforcement Administration agents to enter rural property without permission -- and without a warrant -- to install multiple "covert digital surveillance cameras" in hopes of uncovering evidence that 30 to 40 marijuana plants were being grown.

This will be upheld if it ever makes it to the SCOTUS because we need to be kept safe from drug dealing, fourth amendment be damned. And as surely as the sun will set tonight, this WILL be applied to anyone and everyone the government feels is breaking the law and needs to be spied upon.

"No, no, Chief. It only applies to large, rural properties. The feds can't violate the "curtilage" boundary." Tell that to the thousands of citizens who have had their property stolen by the state via the RICO laws that would only be used for mafia kingpins.

Seriously, does anyone think that it won't be applied soon enough to suburban, then urban properties and homes? The government's track record on this is perfect: We are all presumed to be breaking the law, and the Constitution can be warped to help the government prove it. Or to at least get paid handsomely for the effort.

In general you could not assume that you were much safer in the country than in London. There were no telescreens, of course, but there was always the danger of concealed microphones by which your voice might be picked up and recognized; besides, it was not easy to make a journey by yourself without attracting attention.

--George Orwell, 1984

I can hear it now: "Your Honor, our drone just happened to fly over the subject's house while we were looking for another bad guy. Luckily, our thermal imaging camera was on, and Officer Fife observed what appeared to be an illegal, gangland wrestling match, surely supplying the mob with illegal gambling proceeds. The subject's assets were seized and divied up. It was later learned that the subject was just having sex with his wife. No harm, no foul, right, Your Honor? Do you like our new gear? Can I get my warrant now?"

He took his scribbling pad on his knee and pushed back his chair so as to get as far away from the telescreen as possible. To keep your face expressionless was not difficult, and even your breathing could be controlled, with an effort: but you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up.
--George Orwell, 1984

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Accept The Challenge

I was talking with a friend of mine a few days ago about government. This friend has made getting around government intrusion in your life, into an art form. This person won't likely be around much longer, and I'm trying to get a Masters Course in a very short period of time.

The rules are pretty simple: Keep off the radar. Don't make a stink. Don't rock the boat.

If they don't know you have assets, they can't take them. If they don't think you might be breaking the law, they'll not peek into your life.

The whole idea of government metastasizing is so accurate and horrifying and disgusting. It's a slow cancer - difficult to notice and not entirely painful. People that are 50 years and older, see the change to our freedoms, but most are more focused on lining up their ducks for retirement - or are already retired. Very little boat rocking here.

Younger folks have never know anything different. Government schools teach them that government is good and right and just. Follow the rules. Most of them, too, don't want to rock the boat.

Continue with the Bread and Circuses, and we just don't care. Fat and happy. Gettin' by - not thriving but not hurting, either. Give us the Kardashians or Octomom, and a couple of beers or a strong shot of Jack Daniels, and all is good.

Choices, choices, choices. How to live our lives? Real freedom is all but lost. Subservience is expected. Gotta ask permission before acting. Has the flag gone up? Time to punch out?

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