Ammoland: 9th Circuit Sides with Gun Owners on Standard Capacity Magazines

From Ammoland, Huge Win For Gun Owners In California Standard Gun Magazine Case. In the court’s conclusion, it states that the ban on standard capacity magazines (which the court notes comprize half of all magazines in the US) “substantially burdens the core right of self-defense guaranteed to the people under the Second Amendment. It cannot stand.”

oday the California Rifle & Pistol Association received the much-anticipated ruling in the long-fought Second Amendment case Duncan v. Becerra. This is the same case that led to “Freedom Week” where thousands of Californians were able to lawfully purchase standard capacity magazines much like the rest of the country.

CRPA has been fighting since the 30,000+ member-driven organization filed the case back in 2017, and has led the fight through the courts with the assistance of the National Rifle Association.

Initially won through a positive ruling by the United States District Court in San Diego, the state quickly appealed — and Judge Benitez was forced to stay his ruling to allow the purchase of magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition until the appeal was made to the Ninth Circuit. CRPA’s legal team quickly answered the State’s appeal and presented oral arguments.

“Today’s decision in Duncan v. Becerra is a major victory for the Second Amendment, both in California and across the country,” said Chuck Michel, president and General Counsel of the California Rifle & Pistol Association.

In its case, CRPA demonstrated how prohibiting law-abiding citizens from manufacturing, obtaining, selling, transferring, or even possessing standard-issue magazines for firearms violates the constitution.

“After years of fighting, the Court decided in favor of our plaintiffs’ challenge against the state’s ban on standard capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds,” said Michel.

Read the complete opinion from the 9th here:

Duncan v. Becerra Ruling

The court noted that the state’s efforts to ban these [gun] magazines does not pass the strict scrutiny or intermediate scrutiny tests and is a heavy burden on the Second Amendment rights of Californians.

“This is a huge win specifically for the right to possess these valuable self-defense tools. But more generally, this case may present the Supreme Court with an opportunity to set things straight on the underlying issue of what the standard of review test should be when considering any Second Amendment challenge,” Michel said.

“The Supreme Court seems inclined to do away with the complicated subjective tests that many courts have wrongly applied in Second Amendment cases, in favor of a clearer more objective “originalist” approach that considers the text, history and tradition of a law to determine what infringements might be tolerated,” he concluded.

CRPA continues to fight in nearly a dozen major court battles to protect and defend the Second Amendment in California. Our attorneys are reviewing the order now to determine what this means for FFLs and gun owners in California and more information will be made available soon.

 

Forward Observer: The End of the Dollar? History Says Yes.

Intelligence analyst Sam Culper of Forward Observer talks briefly about de-dollarization.

On Monday and Tuesday evening, I had the great pleasure of speaking to grassroots political groups up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

My message was pretty simple:

1. The United States is coming up on what will probably be decades of turbulence.

2. Intelligence at the community level will help you prepare for and navigate what could be a hard landing.

Maybe the most shocking thing I told them was the JP Morgan study about the lifespan of world reserve currencies.

From the Portuguese Real in the 1400s to the British Pound of the 19th and 20th centuries, world reserve currencies only last about 100 years. Some countries enjoyed world reserve status for as few as 80 years, some up to 110 years, but they all end in that time frame.

Maybe the U.S. Dollar will become the exception. Given the current trajectory, I wouldn’t bet on it. But maybe.

Otherwise, we could be nearing the end of dollar dominance. If we start the clock at Bretton Woods in 1944, 80 years is 2024 and 110 years is 2054.

Just as it happened with other currencies, as demand for the dollar drops, so will its value.

We could already be in a transition phase for the USD, which is sure to result in declines for purchasing power and the standard of living for the United States.

And that’s going to have a huge impact on our low intensity conflict.

Long time readers of mine will know that I’m not a Chicken Little. I don’t use hyperbole. I do my best to keep an even keel…

That said, I hope you’re buckled up.

Life goes on, but it’s going to be a lot tougher.

Developing a preparedness group, a community, a tribe — call it what you want — is mandatory.

And Intelligence should play a prominent role.

Earlier this year, I recorded a video outlining three things you should be doing now to prepare for what’s to come. I hope you’ll give it a look: Actionable Intelligence

Bloomberg: Russia Ditches the Dollar

Malaysia Today: China confident ‘de-dollarization’ is fast underway amid tense times

Yanasa Ama Ventures: Is a Global Famine Coming?

Yanasa Ama Ventures is a video company run by a ranching couple, focusing on agricultural, wildlife, and conservation videography. Besides offering such services, they also have a wide variety of ranch tutorial, tips, news and opinion pieces on their Youtube channel. Below they talk about a variety of food problems occurring across the globe, and what they may portend for the future. The novel coronavirus and its effect on global supply chains is pretty well known at this point, but there are a host of other issues as well. If you’re not keeping track, China is dealing with droughts, pestilence, and historic flooding, parts of Africa are dealing with droughts and locust plagues, and Russia has been limiting their exports of grains whether to protect domestic supply or for political power. Yanasa Ama talks about some of these topics in the video, as well as the effects of a solar minimum. You can also find articles like this one from NPR, saying there is no need to worry about food shortages, but it relies on computer models which say that because food supply has increased for many years, it will continue to increase for many years. While that may be true over time (much like holding stocks), it doesn’t account for bad years, or deny that there could be famine in some years.

“Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping’s call for an end to food waste is a sign that the communist country is facing a shortage of grains and pork after months of flooding, insect infestations, the African swine fever (ASF), and the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).” – Taiwan News

“In 2020, locusts have swarmed in large numbers in dozens of countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia. When swarms affect several countries at once in very large numbers, it is known as a plague.” – BBC

“Southern Africa is suffering through its worst drought in several decades and perhaps a century. Drought and its associated impacts have been causing critical problems for agriculture, vulnerable communities and overall development for many years in South Africa. This year they need to import more than 100,000 tones of cereal to survive famine. “ – Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital

“The coronavirus has revealed how risky it can be to rely on Russia for grain imports. Despite warnings from the WHO and WTO, Russia imposed an export quota on critical grains such as wheat, barley, and maize as the virus swept across the globe…Whether for domestic food security or international hybrid warfare, Russia’s behavior in 2010 and now during the coronavirus foreshadows new dangers in a warming world. ” – National Interest

 

Backdoor Survival: Fall Onion and Garlic Planner

Samantha Biggers at Backdoor Survival has a nice article on garden planning for your planting of onions and garlic. We don’t always have onion in the garden, but we plant garlic just about every year, and have grown almost all the different types of onion mentioned at different times. Like Samantha, we’ve also had good luck getting garlic from Filaree Garlic Farm.

Onions are found in practically any type of cooking. They can have a big range of flavors. In our household, a lot of recipes start with chopping an onion. On top of having a lot of flavor, onions and garlic offer some great health benefits.

Matt and I really love our alliums. From little green bunching onions to leeks and shallots, we are planning on growing them all! We have some onions already planted but it is time to think about what to plant for Fall and Winter gardens.

Leeks

Giant Musselburgh Leeks are a German variety that does very well during the winter months. We have a few planted now. These leeks will get very large if you let them and they winter over quite well. Leeks look like a giant bunch onion. We have grown them numerous times in our lives and I used to sometimes buy them at the grocery store but at $3 per bunch, they are one of the more expensive onions in the store. Shallots are the only onion that costs more and that is largely because they are imported from Holland or similar more often than not.Leeks make an excellent soup especially when combined with mashed potatoes and maybe a little butter, spices, and parmesan. You can dry them if you slice or dice them up and put in the dehyrator.

Shallots

This is an onion that you will find in many fancy recipes. They are delicious when sauteed to the point of caramelization. While they cost $4 an lb at the grocery store in my area, they are not particularly hard to grow and they are an excellent addition to any garden, especially if you tend to like red onion varieties.

Shallots have some temperature guidelines like any onion. They mature in 60-120 days after planting. Like garlic, they are typically planted in the fall or even early winter when temperatures are right. While they will grow in soil temps that range from 32-90 F, they need 30 days of temps in the 30-50 F range right after planting.

Some people do plant shallots in the Spring with success. You just have to be sure that you get that required initial temperature period. Check the average temps in your area and plan accordingly even if you have to buy your seed stock at odd times.

1 lb of shallot sets will plant a 20 ft row. Shallots generally need to be placed 6-8″ apart. Rows should be 10-12″ apart. Shallots spread a lot when they grow so they need more space than garlic.

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply has the best deal I have found on organic shallot sets. At the moment they have a good sale going on too.

Note: It is essential that shallots have good drainage. They will rot in the ground if they do not. This is one of the most common problems aspiring growers have. If your soil is too heavy then you need to add some other organic matter and sand to improve drainage.

Egyptian Walking Onions or Tree Onions

These are a very strange type of perennial onion. While they cost a little to get started, they will provide you with many onions over the years and you can save the bulbs and sell the seed stock or expand your onion beds indefinitely. The video below explains more about these unique onions. You can also check out this site for even more details.

Bunch Onions

The Green Bunching Onion is perhaps one of the easiest onions to grow. They are prolific and you can keep a bed going indefinitely with little care. Keeping your bed weeded and just harvesting the tops most of the time will ensure a steady supply even if your bed is fairly small and you start from seed.

I strongly recommend planting some bunching onions in a container even if you are short on gardening space…(continues)

Click here to read the entire article at Backdoor Survival.

Seattle Times: Washington State Stockpiling Food

Derek Sandison, director of the Washington state Department of Agriculture, tours a Fife warehouse Friday that’s packed with nonperishable food the state can tap if demand at food banks and other distribution centers soars amid the pandemic and resulting economic collapse. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)

From the Seattle Times, From peanut butter to applesauce, Washington state stockpiles tons of food for the need ahead. Note that even The Seattle Times references the “resulting economic collapse” as a reason for having food stockpiled.

In Washington state’s new food warehouse, there’s enough Jif peanut butter to make nearly 3 million sandwiches.

Barilla pasta boxes stretch to the ceiling, 100,000 in all. Large stacks of TreeTop applesauce, pancake mix and canned green beans sit on pallets, like soldiers waiting to be sent into duty.

Since the coronavirus crisis first rocked Washington in March, nonprofits and state agencies working in food assistance have been forced to draw a completely new road map for getting food to people who need it.

The warehouse in Fife is part of that new model. After seeing food banks struggle to meet demand once the pandemic hit and the economy tanked, the Washington state Department of Agriculture (WSDA) began preparing to buy and stockpile tons of food to ward off a shortage in the months ahead.

The new stockpile is driven by two major factors: A nearly doubling in demand for food assistance across the state and a national food supply chain that is bogged down amid an overwhelming surge in demand.

As many as 2.2 million Washingtonians — about 30% of the state’s population — are facing food insecurity, according to Katie Rains, WSDA food policy advisor. That’s more than double the 850,000 state residents who sought help from food assistance programs last November, before the pandemic. 

“We’ve been in this very desperate situation starting toward the end of March,” said WSDA Director Derek Sandison. “This [warehouse] is a continuation of our efforts to make sure we have fusions of product that will help us to continue to weather the storm.”

The storm took hold in mid-April, Sandison said during a tour of the warehouse on Friday. That’s when the state’s three main food bank distributors — Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest and Second Harvest — told the WSDA that based on the spike in requests for food assistance, the organizations had roughly a two-week supply of food for hunger relief.

“We went into panic mode,” Sandison said. “That’s not an exaggeration. … So we jumped in with both feet and started active procurement on our end.”

But as the WSDA was trying to buy as much nonperishable food as it could to increase the state’s emergency reserves, so was everyone else.

Not only was the WSDA competing with other states and large national food-assistance programs, it also faced competition from grocery stores as national supplies of products such as pasta and peanut butter were becoming increasingly hard to come by.

“Peanut butter was a very highly wanted and needed commodity,” said Gary Newte, sourcing and product director for Northwest Harvest. “Peanut butter prices have probably tripled in the last three to four months.”

These high costs are having significant effects on the big food bank distributors’ bottom lines.

“Over a seven-month span during this crisis, we’ll spend more on purchasing food than we have for the previous four years combined,” said Thomas Reynolds, CEO of Northwest Harvest.

And six months into the pandemic and economic crisis, those costs haven’t gone down, Newte said. Many food distributors are still waiting on food they ordered months ago, he said…

Click here to read the entire article at The Seattle Times.

 

Global Research: Toward a US-China War and One World Government?

William Engdahl at Center for Research on Globalization writes Towards a US-China War? The Creation of a Global Totalitarian System, A “One World Government”? in which he opines about the rapid emergence of China and growing concerns over conflict.

If we step back from the details of daily headlines around the world and try to make sense of larger patterns, the dominant dynamic defining world geopolitics in the past three years or more is the appearance of a genuine irregular conflict between the two most formidable powers on the planet—The Peoples’ Republic of China and the United States of America. Increasingly it’s beginning to look as if some very dark global networks are orchestrating what looks to be an updated rerun of their 1939-1945 World War. Only this time the stakes are total, and aim at creation a universal global totalitarian system, what David Rockefeller once called a “one world government.” The powers that be periodically use war to gain major policy shifts.

On behalf of the Powers That Be (PTB), World War II was orchestrated by the circles of the City of London and of Wall Street to maneuver two great obstacles—Russia and Germany—to wage a war to the death against each other, in order that those Anglo-Saxon PTB could reorganize the world geopolitical chess board to their advantage. It largely succeeded, but for the small detail that after 1945, Wall Street and the Rockefeller brothers were determined that England play the junior partner to Washington. London and Washington then entered the period of their global domination known as the Cold War.

That Anglo-American global condominium ended, by design, in 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union by 1991.

Around this time, with the onset of the Bill Clinton presidency in 1992, the next phase– financial and industrial globalization– was inaugurated. With that, began the hollowing out of the industrial base of not only the United States, but also of Germany and the EU. The cheap labor outsourcing enabled by the new WTO drove wages down and destroyed one industry after the next in the industrial West after the 1990s. It was a necessary step on the path to what G.H.W. Bush in 1990 called the New World Order. The next step would be destruction of national sovereignty everywhere. Here the USA was the major obstacle.

“A little help from our friends…”

For the PTB, who owe no allegiance to nations, only to their power which is across borders, the birth of the World Trade Organization and their bringing China in as a full member in 2001 was intended as the key next step. At that point the PTB facilitated in China the greatest industrial growth by any nation in history, possibly excepting Germany from 1871-1914 and USA after 1866. WTO membership allowed Western multinationals from Apple to Nike to KFC to Ford and VW to pour billions into China to make their products at dirt-cheap wage levels for re-export to the West.

One of the great mysteries of that China growth is the fact that China was allowed to become the “workshop of the world” after 2001, first in lower-skill industries such as textiles or toys, later in pharmaceuticals and most recently in electronics assembly and production. The mystery clears up when we look at the idea that the PTB and their financial houses, using China, want to weaken strong industrial powers, especially the United States, to push their global agenda. Brzezinski often wrote that the nation state was to be eliminated, as did his patron, David Rockefeller. By allowing China to become a rival to Washington in economy and increasingly in technology, they created the means to destroy the superpower hegemony of the US.

By the onset of the Presidency of Xi Jinping in 2012, China was an economic colossus second in weight only to the United States. Clearly this could never have happened–not under the eye of the same Anglo-American old families who launched the Opium Wars after 1840 to bring China to heel and open their economy to Western financial looting–unless the Anglo-Americans had wanted it.

The same British-owned bank involved in the China opium trade, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC), founded by a Scotsman, Thomas Sutherland in 1865 in the then-British colony of Hong Kong, today is the largest non-Chinese bank in Hong Kong. HSBC has become so well-connected to China in recent years that it has since 2011 had as Board member and Deputy HSBC Chairman, Laura Cha. Cha was formerly Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, being the first person outside mainland China to join the Beijing Central Government of the People’s Republic of China at vice-ministerial rank. In other words the largest bank in the UK has a board member who was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and a China government official. China needed access to Western money and HSBC and other select banks such as JP MorganChase, Barclays, Goldman Sachs were clearly more than happy to assist.

“Socialism with Xi Jinping Characteristics…”

All told until 2012 when Xi took charge of the CCP in Beijing, China seemed to be willing to be a globalist “team player,” though with “Chinese characteristics.” However, in 2015 after little more than two years in office, Xi Jinping endorsed a comprehensive national industrial strategy, Made in China: 2025. China 2025 replaced an earlier Western globalist document that had been formulated with the World Bank and the USA, the China 2030 report under Robert Zoellick. That shift to a China strategy for global tech domination might well have triggered a decision by the globalist PTB that China could no longer be relied on to play by the rules of the globalists, but rather that the CCP under Xi were determined to make China the global leader in advanced industrial, AI and bio-technologies. A resurgent China nationalist global hegemony was not the idea of the New World Order gang.

China:2025 combined with Xi’s strong advocacy of the Belt Road Initiative for global infrastructure linking China by land and sea to all Eurasia and beyond, likely suggested to the globalists that the only solution to the prospect of their losing their power to a China global hegemon would ultimately be war, a war that would destroy both nationalist powers, USA AND China. This is my conclusion and there is much to suggest this is now taking place.

Tit for Tat

If so, it will most likely be far different from the military contest of World War II. The USA and most of the Western industrial economies have “conveniently” imposed the worst economic depression since the 1930’s as a bizarre response to an alleged virus originating in Wuhan and spreading to the world. Despite the fact that the death toll, even with vastly inflated statistics, is at the level of a severe annual influenza, the insistence of politicians and the corrupt WHO to impose draconian lockdown and economic disruption has crippled the remaining industrial base in the US and most of the EU.

The eruption of well-organized riots and vandalism under the banner of racial protests across the USA has brought America’s cities to a state in many cases of war zones resembling the cities of the 2013 Matt Damon and Jodie Foster film, Elysium. In this context, anti-Washington rhetoric from Beijing has taken on a sharp tone in their use of so-called “Wolf Diplomacy.”

Now after Washington closed the China Consulate in Houston and China the US Consulate in Chengdu, both sides have stepped up rhetoric. High tech companies are being banned in the US, military displays of force from the US in the South China Sea and waters near Taiwan are increasing tensions and rhetoric on both sides. The White House accuses the WHO of being an agent of Beijing, while China accuses the US of deliberately creating a deadly virus and bringing it to Wuhan. Chinese state media supports the explosion of violent protests across America under the banner of Black Lives Matter. Step-wise events are escalating dramatically. Many of the US self-styled Marxists leading the protests across US cities have ties to Beijing such as the Maoist-origin Revolutionary Communist Party, USA of Bob Avakian…(continues)

Click here to read the entire article at Global Research.

Survivopedia: The Beginner’s Guide To Essential Oils

From Survivopedia, The Beginner’s Guide To Essential Oils

Throughout history, people have used essential oils for a variety of applications.

In Ancient Egypt, they were used for religious ceremonies. The Greeks and Romans used them aromatically. And ever since, they’ve been integrated into society.

Today many people use essential oils daily, for several different purposes. Let’s take a quick look at what essential oils are, which ones are good for beginners, and how you can use them.

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils come from plants. After harvesting, the plant material is distilled down, creating a pure compound. It’s very aromatic and powerful. These oils are then bottled, so you can store them for use.  They evaporate quickly, so always make sure your lids are on tight.

Want to make your own essential oils from herbs you grow? Check out this post for step-by-step directions.

Because essential oils are so concentrated, they need to be diluted before using. This means the tiny bottles you purchase end up lasting quite a while. You only use a few drops at a time.

Top 10 Essential Oils for Beginners

Name a plant, and you can probably find essential oil from it. There are so many types available. You can also mix your oils, to create combinations.

It’s best to start small. If you are new to essential oils, don’t feel like you must buy them all at once. Pick a couple you think you can get the most benefit from. Then slowly add to your collection.

Here are the top ten essential oils I recommend for beginners. These are the ones that are in my cupboard, and the ones I frequently use. I list the common name and the scientific name for each of them.

I also share a couple of benefits of each. This is not even close to being an inclusive list, just a quick guide to get you started.

Finally, you’ll find a link to one scientific study for each of the oils I recommend. You can dive into the research on your own and see just how beneficial essential oils can be.

1. Peppermint (Mentha x piperita)

Peppermint is revitalizing! It helps improve exercise performance[1]. This essential oil has been shown to help with nerve pain, stomachaches, and bruising.

2. Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis)

The sweet smell of orange is calming. Sweet orange essential oil is used to reduce anxiety[2], reduce inflammation, and provide antiseptic properties.

3. Lemon (Citrus limonum)

Lemon essential oil helps relieve stress[3]. It also supports the digestive system and is thought to improve circulation.

4. Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus)

This oil has a unique, almost woodsy scent. It’s very strong. Eucalyptus has been used as a natural antibiotic[4] throughout history. Many people use it for respiratory problems, and to relieve pain from arthritis.

5. Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)

You can use tea tree oil to help treat head lice[5]. It’s also thought to fight bacteria and help relieve shock.

6. Lavender (Lavandola angustifolia)

One of the most popular essential oils, lavender has many therapeutic uses. It’s soothing and can help relieve stress.  It’s thought to help relieve migraines[6] and stabilize moods. Lavender also has antimicrobial properties.

7. Oregano (Origanum heracleoticum)

Oil of oregano is used to treat wounds[7]. It has anti-inflammatory properties, making it a good choice for skincare products. It also is an immune booster.

8. Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)

Clary sage is a natural antimicrobial agent[8]. It can help lift the spirits and reduce stress. Many women use it to help with menstrual cramps.

9. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

You can use rosemary essential oil to boost your memory. It’s shown beneficial as part of a treatment plan for patients with Alzheimer’s[9]. Additionally, rosemary is thought to relieve pain and improve circulation.

10. Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

Ginger helps relieve inflammation in the body. It helps alleviate nausea[10] and can be used to help digestion.

Where to Buy Essential Oils

There are different qualities of essential oils. You always want to read the ingredients before you purchase, and make sure you are happy with what’s in the bottle you’re purchasing. You don’t want any fillers or artificial oils added to them.

You can find decent essential oils on Amazon. There are several beginner packages that are a good place to start. I do recommend going with organic essential oils.

Alternatively, you can purchase from a direct sales company. There are several of those.

I’m not going to tell you which kind to buy. Find one you like and go with it. You can always change later.

How to Use Essential Oils

Once you have your essential oils, what can you do with them? Let me show you some of my favorite ways to use them.

Inhale

Perhaps the easiest way to get some benefits from your essential oils is to simply unscrew the cap and breathe deeply. You can add a drop or two to a cotton ball and keep in your pocket. Then whenever you need a mental boost, you can pull it out and inhale.

Add to a Bath

You can add a few drops of essential oil to a warm bath.

Diffuse

Looking for a simple way to experience some benefits of essential oils? Pick up a diffuser and select an oil. Let the diffuser release the scent into the air and take a deep breath…(continues)

Click here to read the entire article at Survivopedia.

Alt-Market: I Started A Local Gun And Preparedness Club…

Brandon Smith at Alt-Market talks about his efforts to start a local gun and preparedness club in his small town, as well as some interference he received in his efforts. He’s correct when he says that you need a group or community to survive widespread calamity. Here he talks about holding a community meeting in a local park. When the LVA made its first efforts for community involvement and was getting itself off the ground, it ambitiously held a preparedness expo, but on a smaller scale, it also held a public meeting at a local community center with a table-top disaster scenario, shockingly enough, about a pandemic.

I live in the mountains outside a small town in rural Montana, a place you might assume is conservative through and through, and it is, for the most part. However, one rule I have found to be universal no matter where in the US I live or visit is that regardless of how conservative the population of a place is, leftists are almost ALWAYS entrenched into city politics and they almost always run the local newspapers.

In the past I found this to be a strange thing; why are the viewpoints and ideals of most of the city government and the local journalists the complete opposite of the majority of the citizenry in conservative communities?

I did not understand until later that this is a product of misaligned priorities. Leftists (specifically extreme leftists) seems to gravitate to positions of influence, even those we might consider small and inconsequential, because they see these positions as an opportunity to exert power over others. Conservatives tend to not care as much about having power over others unless they are a direct threat, and so we don’t have any interest in wasting our precious free time climbing our way through a faceless bureaucracy.

I actually prefer that mindset. I like the fact that conservatives aren’t always scrambling for position or power. That said, it might behoove us to pay better attention to who is in control of our local governments, because it may cause serious problems for us down the road.

For many years now I have been working with a group of people who have been preparing for the events that are happening today, including economic crisis, supply chain disruptions, civil unrest and government overreach. While many of these groups seek to remain private, I feel it is time for bigger discussions with the wider community on what people plan to do if the dangerous situation does not improve. In other words, are they going to work together? Or, are they going to remain isolated from each other?

This is a vital question, because it is becoming increasingly possible that a full spectrum collapse will strike the US in the near term. It is time for preppers and liberty minded people to start gauging the sentiment of the community around them and seeking out like-minded individuals. The more active the community is in its own survival, the less likely they will be to conform to draconian rules or fear.

Private groups should remain private, and so should the extent of your preps. But, it is foolish to think that you are going to survive a collapse on your own without working with others in the community. Think of it this way, if your circle of security is only the size of your property, when trouble arrives it will already be on your doorstep (in other words, you are dead if the attackers are organized and prepared). If your circle of security is your entire town or county, then when trouble arrives you might actually have time to respond.

Going “gray man” is an extremely short term solution. Eventually, you will be caught alone and unaware and then all the energy and time and money you put into your preps will have been wasted and someone else will be enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Another problem I see is that conservatives are far less adept at organization than the political left; we tend to be more spontaneous when we group together for a cause. I’m not saying we need our own Antifa or BLM, but we do need to put more effort into working together locally and minimizing our exposure to threats. Conservatives and liberty activists often feel alone, even though there are millions of us out there, and it’s because we refuse to organize in any practical way for fear of ending up on a “list”.

It’s the threat of being on “the list” that controls conservatives. The list doesn’t even need to exist in real life and we are still dominated by it. I hear it all the time, the “nail that sticks up will get hammered down”. I say, the nail that keeps its head down is more easily stepped on.

These are some of the reasons I decided to engage with the larger community by starting a local club that discusses firearms, preparedness and current events. I put the word out in as many places as I could, including tacking up fliers around town. These days, it’s hard for anyone to argue that prepping is a “silly idea” for “kooky conspiracy theorists”. We have been proven right, everyone else has been proven wrong, but that doesn’t mean our work ends here; we have to continue to educate as many people as possible on how it’s done while there’s still time. The more we do this, the safer everyone is.

The initial response was overwhelmingly positive. A lot of people are ready for this kind of information, and setting up the discussions in a more public forum gives people a greater sense of involvement and shows them they are not alone in their concerns. To that end I decided to hold the discussion at a local public park.

Then, I started getting emails and friends of mine started getting angry Facebook responses when discussing the club…

Officials from the city council using the primary city government email were not happy, though they did not identify themselves by name. They claimed the club could not hold an “event” in the park unless we got permission and permits from the city council, along with insurance. If we did not, then police would be sent to kick us out of the park.

I thought this was rather bizarre; I didn’t expect hundreds of people to show up to the club meeting, maybe a couple dozen at most. The requirements these people from the city council demanded were traditionally for large events with hundreds or thousands of people. Getting permission would have taken weeks, and the emails suggested that permission was not guaranteed by stating “IF we approve”.

I could have held a meeting on private property, but using the city park was symbolic of open community engagement; the people of the area were supposed to feel welcome to participate and maybe this is what annoyed the lefties the most.  They feel like they own that wheelhouse.  Frankly, parks are public property paid for with public dollars and the community has every right to use them for free assembly. But if you think this is common knowledge think again; some politicians and officials think otherwise.

I responded as I usually do to these kinds of things, by digging my heels in. I thoroughly researched the use and legality of public parks for free assembly and found that as long as your group is not blocking access to the park for other people, blocking roads or engaged in criminal activity then the demands for permits do not usually hold up in court and removal by police is not justified. Constitutionally, you are protected.

I emailed the official or officials back and reminded them that they risk a civil court issue by trying to stop people’s free speech on public property, and warned them that the city would be subject to bad press as well. I was perfectly ready to refuse removal and to be arrested if it came to that.

Another interesting discovery: The park in question was host to a bunch of BLM protesters only two weeks earlier. Did they have to get permits and insurance to hold their “event” in the park?

I decided to reach out to the only conservative member of the city council that I knew of and talk with him. He confirmed my suspicions. There were multiple hard leftists in the city government, but no one had actually brought up the issue of my club and the use of the park to rest of the council before sending me the threatening emails.

So, it was probably only a couple of weasels trying to make it look like they represented the entire city council’s position. He also confirmed that the BLM protesters had no permits or insurance, and that certain council members KNEW ahead of time that their protest was going to happen. In other words, the lefty council members were acting unilaterally to give BLM open access to the park, and then tried to interfere with my gun and preparedness club.

This was clear political bias applied to the usage of public property.

I have learned from past experience that these types of people do not like a stand-up fight; so they prefer to try to frighten you away from doing a thing through intimidation instead. They try to get you to give up voluntarily by painting a host of consequences in your mind. You start to worry about all the things that MIGHT happen; no one wants to have confrontations with cops these days, you don’t have to be insane like BLM to have concerns.

Luckily, my brain doesn’t really think in terms of risk over reward. I only really think about what is necessary. I held the club meeting in the park anyway and I made sure that whoever it was in the city council that was trying to interfere knew I was going to do it.

Long story short, the meeting was a success. I met a lot of locals that I had not talked with before that had the same concerns I did, and we discussed primarily the issue of community security if the system completely breaks down. The meetings will continue, perhaps even in the same park for a while just to make a point. The police never showed up, so the people making threats either didn’t want to risk a lawsuit and confrontation, they realized they didn’t have as much power as they thought they did, or the cops refused to bother with something that was clearly legal and constitutional.

The only confrontation happened a hundred yards away. A man looking for the meeting approached a group across the street that was organizing a separate community event. He told me that when he asked them if they were part of the gun club, a woman yelled at him “No, those people are across the street at that ILLEGAL MEETING!”

And there you have it. I highly recommend you hold an “illegal meeting” of your own for your community. These discussions need to start now, and people need to know that they are not alone during this crisis. It is time for conservatives to start banding together and planning ahead.

Related:

Survival Sullivan: Setting up a mutual assistance group

Mason Dixon Tactical: The Neighborhood Protection Teams And Ignorant, Defeatist “Know It Alls”

City Prepping: How to Build MAG (Mutual Assistance Group)

Unconstrained Analytics: The Three Perils Threatening the United States

Former Director for Strategic Planning for the National Security Council Rich Higgins writes The Three Perils Threatening the United States for Unconstrained Analytics, citing internal and external threats.

The Republic is in grave danger.

There, I said it.

Does anyone really doubt it? America is stumbling and the vultures are circling. What is the nature of these perils that afflict us?

America sits atop a global system created at the outset of the 20th century. That century saw the United States elevated to the status of global imperial power, having been victorious in two world wars and the beneficiary of an international monetary system that, post World War II, provided for a vast global, if not regional, peace. Sure, there was a Cold War with the Soviet Union and other limited wars, but no true great global war in which the entire geo-political order came into question.

Times have changed. Today the United States is faced with three enormous perils:

  1. an external threat,
  2. an internal threat, and
  3. a fulcrum on which the two interoperate to synchronize a multi-prong attack on America.

1

The first peril is that China has emerged as a geopolitical and economic challenger to the United States. The simmering geopolitical threat from China is multilateral in nature. In fact, a geopolitical reordering on an historic scale is taking place.

Supported by financial stakeholders, China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” seeks no less than the unification of the Eurasian landmass. This geopolitical and economic reordering has seen China peel off NATO ally Turkey, make common cause with Iran, align with Pakistan, and subsume Hong Kong. Even European Union nations, beneficiaries of 75 years of American security, are drifting into the arms of the Chinese Communists.

2

The second peril, a domestic counter-state, has emerged pressing a Marxist revolutionary insurrection in alignment with China’s objectives. With a century of Marxist subversion in the making, this counter-state manifested as a silent or soft coup attempt in 2017, and subsequently has evolved into a Marxist revolutionary insurrection rising to a boil inside the United States.

This insurrection has both overt and clandestine components, and while the underground remains largely anonymous, much of it is hidden in plain sight and is clearly visible to anyone familiar with unconventional warfare tactics.

One hallmark of this emergent insurrection is the state-within-the-state:

  • institutional control over executive branch function even when their affiliated political party is out of power,
  • control over media organs,
  • state employees elevated above citizens in the application of laws,
  • selective enforcement of laws based on political affiliation or policy desires (i.e. sanctuary cities), and
  • the abuse of intelligence, law enforcement, judicial and regulatory structures to punish or control political enemies.

It is important to note that all of the outcomes sought by this insurrection support Communist China’s ambition to see the United States displaced from her perch as global leader.

3

The third peril is a biological-economic crisis brought about by the Chinese, and exacerbated by the domestic revolutionary insurrectionists and their allies in the media and public health sector.

This public health crisis and its derivative economic calamity was spread intentionally throughout the world by China and its allies. COVID-19 has upended the global economic system and decreased the domestic productivity of most nations, thereby increasing governance challenges and opening the door to greater state controls.

Inside the United States, the Marxist insurrection is capitalizing on the virus and the counter-state’s control of the public health system to:

  • enact draconian population control measures,
  • extraconstitutional legal maneuvers,
  • propaganda and psychological warfare operations,
  • economic warfare targeting the middle-class business owner, and
  • intermittent escalatory violence including the use of anarcho-communists operating under the rubric of critical race theory.

Never let a crisis go to waste!

Any one of the three perils is potentially lethal in its own right. In the aggregate, this is a crisis of epic proportions.

Unfortunately, the underground revolutionary insurrectionists operating inside the government institutions interfere with executive branch function and make matters much more difficult to qualify, rectify, or even acknowledge. In so doing, these meddling government officials betray their oaths to defend the Constitution.

Many Americans see the vultures circling. The signs are everywhere; debt exploding, unemployment skyrocketing, currency uncertainty, the gold price rising, and record-high gun sales. The herd is nervous. Sides are being chosen. The tectonic plates are rumbling.

People are looking for crisis leadership that comprehends the three perils, is prepared to deal with them, and most importantly realizes that America is worth defending.

The Republic is at risk. There, I said it again.

Now defend it.

Christian Prepper Gal: Proper Storage of DIY Emergency Meals

Christian Prepper Gal has a thorough article on How to Properly Package and Store Homemade DIY Emergency Meals.

Vacuum sealing vs mylar bags

When I first learned that we could dehydrate food and keep it for long term food storage I was so excited!! I immediately bought an inexpensive, but good, dehydrator. While looking for recipes and such as to what to do with my new dehydrated foods I ran across what are called meals in a jar. I wasn’t really looking for meals in a jar because the emergency meals I had were for us to use if we had to “bug out”. So, I didn’t get too excited about them. That is, until I ran across a YouTube video of what this lady was calling a “meal in a bag”. Hmmm. Now that was something I could get interested in!

I already had some military MREs in our food storage, and was aware of emergency foods such as Mountain House and Wise Foods meals. I even had a couple of sample kits of emergency meals. So, I knew that not only would these meals be cheaper to make myself, but they would also be healthier. And, I could make food that my family would actually eat! (I have very picky eaters here.) So, I started looking for other recipes because I like to have a variety of foods and choices. But, recipes were not that easy to find. So, I started experimenting with how I could make up my own recipes. And, that’s how I started making my own meals in a bag!

However, upon further research for meals in a bag I became confused. I thought you could store the meals in either a mylar bag or a vacuum sealer bag. Well, actually you can store in either. But, what I discovered along the way is that the mylar bags will last longer than the vacuum sealer bags. I’ve even done videos and written recipes using and suggesting you could use either mylar bags or vacuum sealer bags to store the meals. And, that’s why I decided to write this article to explain the difference as well as the way you should store meals in a bag or jar and other dehydrated/freeze dried foods.

Mylar Bags

Mylar bags are deemed to be by far the best way to store meals in a bag. Apparently mylar bags are made for long term use. I do not personally know how long they will last because I’ve only been using them for a couple of years. Supposedly, they are good for 25 plus years. And that’s what makes them superior to vacuum sealer bags. Although, that does not mean you can’t continue to use vacuum seale bags if that’s what you are using. I will explain that in just a bit.

When storing dehydrated or freeze dried food in a mylar bag you will need to place an active oxygen absorber inside the bag before sealing the bag. The oxygen absorber draws all of the oxygen that is in the bag. It usually takes 3-4 hours to do so; however, I’ve had some take as long as overnight.

Not sure what size oxygen absorbers you need? Since I use either pint or quart size mylar bags for my meals I use 300cc oxygen absorbers. Although, a 100cc size is recommended as a minimum. I’ve also read that the 300cc is what is recommended for the gallon size. My first mylar bag purchase included the 300cc so that’s what I’ve gone with since.

It is easy to seal mylar bags. They have to be sealed with a high heat. Most vacuum sealers do not have a high enough heat to seal mylar bags properly and it is recommeded that you do not use the sealer on them. But, not to worry. All you have to have to seal mylar bags properly is a flat straightening iron that is used for straightening hair. That’s right! Just clamp one half of the top portion of the bag with the straightening iron, hold it there for around 20-30 seconds, turn the bag over and do the same to the other half. Easy and simple! Oh, and vacuum sealers will not draw the air out of a mylar bag propery either. They weren’t made for mylar bags and mylar bags were not made for vacuum sealers. You can also use an impulse heat sealer to seal the mylar bags if you prefer and it is within your budget to buy one.

A quick note: The mylar bag above has a zipper at the top. Just so you know, that does NOT mean that you do not have to seal the bag. You just seal it above the zipper. The zipper is so you can open the bag and zip it shut, or re-use it. It does not keep air completely out of the bag like heat sealing it does.

Vacuum Sealer Bags

As stated above, I started out using vacuum sealer bags for my homemade emergency meals. However, upon learning that they will only last for around two to five years before air will start to seep back in through the pores of the plastic, I stopped using them for my meals. They may last longer than said two to five years, but I did not want to take that chance.

The vacuum sealer bags are epecially susceptible to leaking when storing rice or other sharp dehydrated foods in them. So, if you are or did use these you will need to check them once in a while to make sure they are not leaking. One way to help avoid this is to place rice or other sharp foods inside a brown paper bag before placing them into the vacuum sealer bag. I’ve also used thick paper towels to help protect food from poking through. All it takes is a tiny pin prick size hole to allow enough air in to spoil the food.

As long as you check the bags often and rotate them (cooking the food in the bags and replacing them with new meals in a bag) every couple of years you should be just fine using the vacuum sealer bags. I didn’t throw out the ones I have in vacuum sealer bags because I know they will be good for a couple of more years and I just plan on rotating them out.

Canning Jars…(continues)

Click here to read the entire article at Christian Prepper Gal.

American Thinker: How to Prepare for a Communist Coup

Author Judith Acosta at American Thinker writes How to Prepare for a Communist Coup

Even as I write the title for this article, I wonder: Is that in fact possible? Can we be prepared for a hostile takeover?

The other day I was speaking with a friend about the ongoing insanity in some of our greatest cities: Seattle, Boston, NYC. We bemoaned the reappearance of the “democratic socialist” in the United States. It seemed incomprehensible to us—and horrifying, like a slow-growing metastasis or an insidious dementia.  I wondered how we could prepare ourselves for the eventuality of a horde of lunatics reaching our otherwise peaceful community or worse—occupying the White House.

With years of experience as a doctor of pharmacy in critical incident work, including 9/11, she was the right person to ask. I also knew that her understanding of these things had been shaped by having had a father who risked his life in the Dutch Resistance, survived and escaped three concentration camps, and lived to be liberated from Nazi Europe. He was a complex man with a two-sided nature: aloof and critical but also a hero, having sacrificed a good part of his health and emotional well-being in order to save Jews and Christians he didn’t even know.

I asked her a simple question: if you had a time machine and wanted to warn your father, or the Jews or Ukrainians in the late ’20s and early ’30s, what would you tell them?

Her response surprised me: “Keep your eyes open, look for the truth, don’t be afraid to speak up, keep the faith and trust in God.”

While I wholeheartedly agreed with her reliance on the Lord, my heart co-opted my tongue with the words I had expected to hear from her:  “I would tell them to run as fast as they can, now, get out, drop everything and come here, to us.” The image of a hen gathering her chicks with the shadow of a hawk passing overhead came to mind.

And in 1932, that was a blessed and real option. Today, for us, however, there’s no “us” anywhere else. Where would we go? France? The United States, the last great hope of millions upon millions of refugees, is under siege from within. It appears that in this world, as Americans, we really are on our own.

Now what?

Is there more than one way to be prepared? Is there any way to be truly prepared? The following are just some options.

Prepare by Arming Ourselves.

The first piece of legislation enacted after Hitler took power was the confiscation of weaponry in the civilian population.

He was a madman, but he was no fool. He knew that you couldn’t shove a well-armed populace into cattle cars or ghettos.  We know that the next step in Germany was to defund the police. The only weapons then were in the hands of goose-stepping soldiers.

In the Second Amendment of the Constitution our forefathers saw the danger of ever- consolidated power in an oligarchic government and they made the most important provision…resistance.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

This form of preparation is normally best left in the hands of younger people who have access to the wisdom of the experienced. Whether that’s possible given our current demographic status is the subject of another discussion.

Prepare by Building a Cache.

It is a common understanding that Mormons have a year’s supply of foodstuffs and other essentials in the basements of their homes. The toilet paper craze of 2020 has made the wisdom of their ways perfectly clear. Things we took for granted as ubiquitous can disappear overnight.

What to store? Tools, batteries, warm clothes, paper towels, candles, precious metals, freeze-dried foods, medicines, water, water and water. Have a list. Don’t forget a freshly-stocked backpack, cash or some other form of tender.  A subset: keep a percentage of your portfolio liquid and readily available.

Prepare to Take a Stand

At some point you will be called either to stand up for what you believe and what you know is right or to surrender. To take a stand, you may be required to lay down your life.

The stakes might just get that high. Take stock. Be honest. What do you stand for? What are you willing to die for? To live for? How important is liberty? How important is comfort? Consider an older call to stand in strength:

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” 1 Peter 3:13-14

Prepare in the Spirit

This is, in my mind, the most important option. We are still one nation under God, whether or not it “trends.” It entails that we take the time now to cultivate relationships, spend time in prayer, and trust in the right things, which are overwhelmingly not in this world. On the geopolitical map in the natural world, we may be alone, but in truth we are not. We are held together and empowered by the Creator who really does know what He is doing. Even when we can’t see it…or understand it. And, when (or if) the time comes for us to show what we’re made of, we may be braver and stronger than we can imagine from our more comfy vantage points right now.

My friend’s father is a powerful example, even 70 years later. She shared a story she’d only recently learned from her elderly aunt.

Her father, who was about 18 years old at the time, had hidden the family car in a nearby woods, camouflaged by a thicket. He’d kept it so he could smuggle Jews out of Germany and into homes with hiding spaces. On one occasion, with lives literally and immediately in the balance, he arrived at the border between Holland and Germany only to be confronted by soldiers who demanded to inspect his papers. He told them in perfect German that the commander himself had given him his orders. The soldier said, “We need to see the orders. We’ll call the commander ourselves.”

Thinking on his adrenalized feet, he said, “You go right ahead. He’s in a foul mood. Better you than me.”

They let him through.

Can you ever be prepared for something like that? I don’t know.

My husband is sure that washing his car is a ritual that inevitably brings rain. Sometimes I have a similar idea about preparations…if you spend a lot of time preparing and have it all perfectly organized, nothing will happen.

I sure do hope I’m right about that.

Frontpage Mag: The Perils of Pretending a War is Something Else

Freedom Center found and author David Horowitz writes The Perils of Pretending a War is Something Else about the failure of Republicans to acknowledge that Democrats are waging war on them.

If you haven’t noticed yet, our political life is rapidly descending into a series of charades with the potential for catastrophe. In case you think that a “charade” is just a parlor game, here is a dictionary definition: “an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.” The peril created by false appearances in the current political climate is blindness in the face of the evil that threatens us.

Is there a person of sound mind in the entire country – Democrat or Republican – who thinks Joe Biden is mentally up to the job of leading a deeply divided nation, coping with a pandemic and facing threats from nuclear enemies like Russia and China, or terrorist regimes like Iran? Daily now, we are watching an already impaired individual, closeted in a basement, mentally deteriorating in front of our eyes, with a national election only three months away. And not one national figure is shouting “WTF?! What are the consequences for our country if we continue this charade?”

The mere fact that Biden’s candidacy to be commander-in-chief is supported by a major political party, whose leaders are appear before TV cameras daily reassuring voters his candidacy is normal – the mere fact of this absurdity should alarm every decent American who cares about our future. The reassurance by Democrats and their pundits – without a single objector – that Biden has the knowledge, experience and yah-da-da to stand up to the destructive leftists he is now allied with, or to defend the nation against its enemies or to lead us through all the crises we facet, is even scarier than the extreme policies – open borders for instance – that he has already endorsed.

Here’s an equally scary current charade: the straight-faced claim by Democrat leaders and their media enablers that there are only “peaceful protests” in the streets of our 400 torched cities – no riots, looting and arsons, no rioters, looters and arsonists associated with Black Lives Matter and Antifa communists. Instead, the denial that the mayhem which has injured thousands and cost more than a dozen lives are only possible because of the support of lawless Democrat mayors and city councils who are preoccupied with disarming the police. Or the accusation by top Democrats that federal security officials sent to protect federal courthouses from immolation are actually “Stormtroopers” (Pelosi), or “Gestapo” and “terrorists” (Clyburn).

In regard to this “peaceful protesters” charade by the Democrats, Martin Luther King led actual peaceful protests openly committed to non-violence. His marchers wore suits not Ninja outfits, helmets and flak jackets, did not loot stores, or torch buildings or blind people with lasers, or physically attack police with explosives and clubs. It is true that the nightly violent protests (about which Democrats are still in denial) were often preceded by non-violent marches in the day. But how difficult would it be for a non-violent protest leader to assert the principle of non-violence, as Martin Luther King and his supporters did, dissociate themselves from the violent protests, and select places to protest that were socially distanced from the rioters and looters, and therefore did not provide cover for the criminals? The fact that there have been no serious attempts by “peaceful protesters” to denounce the violence and the organizations that perpetrated it – speaks volumes to the effect that they consider themselves allies of the rioters and share their agendas. Defunding the police, leaving the most vulnerable in society without protection against criminals is the goal of rioters, arsonists, looters, and so-called “peaceful protesters.” The charade protects the criminals and their crimes.

Republicans collude in these dangerous charades. Democrat leaders like Pelosi call Republicans Nazis, Russian agents, traitors. And Republicans respond: “Democrats are playing politics.” No they’re not. This is not the language of politics; it’s the language of war. It’s designed to destroy you. From the moment Trump emerged as victor in 2016, Democrats declared war on the president and therefore America, whose duly elected commander-in-chief he was. They also declared war on everyone associated with the White House and supporting its agendas. Republicans need to wake up. The most important decision they can make as we approach the November elections is to end the charade, accept that it is a war we are facing, and return the Democrats’ fire with fire.

 

The Trumpet: Farm Attacks Surge in South Africa

From The Trumpet, Farm Attacks Surge in South Africa:

The bodies of Daniel and Hybrecht Brant were found six miles away from the body of their murdered daughter, Elizabeth. All three were kidnapped and murdered on July 26, when a gang broke into their farmstead in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The family was terrorized in their home before being driven off to an open field to be killed.

Five suspects are under investigation for the murder of this family. They will be held until their trial on August 13. The suspects have been charged with murder, robbery and kidnapping. But the primary motive does not appear to be theft.

“This doesn’t seem to be a random farm attack,” one police officer told the Sunday Times. “Why kidnap the couple but not withdraw money from their bank accounts? Why bury them where they were found when they could have been left dead at home?”

The brutal nature of the attack indicates terrorism was the real motive. The Brant home was smeared with blood, indicating the family was tortured before being killed.

Farm attacks are becoming increasingly common in South Africa. A July 2020 AfriForum report shows that farm attacks have increased almost fivefold over the past decade, from 115 attacks in 2011 to 552 attacks in 2019. In attacks where a specific crime was reported, the attackers attempted to murder someone 61 percent of the time and tortured someone 9 percent of the time. Common tortures include pouring boiling water down ears, using power tools to bore holes in the victim, burning with hot irons, and slitting throats.

The Transvaal Agricultural Union estimates that though 14 percent of farm murder victims are black, almost every farm torture victim is white. “It is important to note that not all who are murdered on farms are white people,” the Deputy ceo of AfriForum wrote in a 2017 report. “On the other hand, it is equally important to note that black farmers are not subjected to the same levels of torture as their white counterparts.”

A direct correlation has been established between anti-white hate speech from South African politicians and farm attacks. A March 2017 AfriForum study noted that the number of farm attacks spikes when a politician delivers a speech vilifying white farmers. When President Jacob Zuma took to the stage in June 2012 to sing about massacring white farmers with machine guns, farm murders spiked 36 percent over the previous month.

Farm murders jumped another 92 percent over the previous month in November 2016, when Marxist politician Julius Malema encouraged blacks to occupy white-owned land. “When we leave here, you see any beautiful piece of land, you like it, occupy it!” he told his supporters. “It belongs to you! It is your land! It is the land of your forefathers. It was the land taken from us by white people, by force, through genocide!”

This correlation is a strong indication that torturing white farmers is part of a terror campaign to drive them off their land. The Brant family is among the most recent victims of a violent movement that has been developing for decades. It began in earnest in 1990, when the South African government lifted the ban on the African National Congress (anc), the Communist Party of South Africa, and other Marxist organizations.

The Philadelphia Trumpet has been following this trend for decades.

While many hailed Nelson Mandela’s victory in the 1994 election as the beginning of a new golden age for South Africa, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned, “South Africa is the first of the Anglo-Saxon nations to give away its God-given birthright.”

Late Trumpet columnist Ron Fraser wrote, “Disaster looms huge on the horizon of South Africa, as godless communism has its day bringing an anc-dominated government to power with the apparent full endorsement of Western society.” This analysis was based on Bible prophecy, and much of it is recorded in our free e-book South Africa in Prophecy.

The British, Dutch and Huguenot settlers of colonial South Africa largely descended from the lost tribes of Israel. (For proof of these identities, request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong.) The Prophet Ezekiel foretold of a time of violence that would plague end-time Israel if its people turned away from God’s law.

“Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses …” (Ezekiel 7:23-24).

The Bible prophesies that so many bloody crimes will occur that they will be like links in a chain—one following right after another. South Africa’s overall homicide rate is 36.4 per 100,000—higher than any country outside of the worst drug-producing regions of Latin America. This nation is a preview of the type of violence coming to the U.S. and Britain if people continue to reject biblical truth in favor of godless communism and false religion.

To understand why America is hurtling toward the same type of anarchy and violence that plagues South Africa, please read “America Has Been ‘Fundamentally Transformed,’” by Gerald Flurry. Like South Africa, the U.S. is in the process of giving away its God-given birthright.

Ammoland: N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James Sues to Dissolve NRA

From Ammoland, N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James Sues to Dissolve NRA, detailing NY’s latest step in their months-long investigation into alleged NRA corruption and mismanagement.

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday filed a civil lawsuit in New York Supreme Court, seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association.

The move comes at a time when NRA is fully involved in the 2020 election process and will be interpreted by many as an effort to cripple the organization and reduce its political influence at a critical moment.

At the same time, the District of Columbia filed a separate lawsuit, naming the NRA and the NRA Foundation as defendants. This action was filed by Karl A. Racine, attorney general for the District of Columbia.

Fox News reported the NRA immediately responded with a countersuit against James, insisting the organization is following New York’s not-for-profit law. The NRA lawsuit asserts James is “targeting the organization for its political positions, violating its free speech rights,” Fox News said.

Fox also quoted NRA President Carolyn Meadows, who describes the New York lawsuit as “a baseless, premeditated attack.” She questioned the timing of the lawsuit.

“You could have set your watch by it,” Meadows said in a prepared statement. “The investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle. It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda. This has been a power grab by a political opportunist – a desperate move that is part of a rank political vendetta. Our members won’t be intimidated or bullied in their defense of political and constitutional freedom.”

Meadows, according to Fox News, insisted the gun rights organization “will not shrink from this fight – we will confront it and prevail.”

The 169-page New York lawsuit alleges that longtime NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre “has exploited the organization for his financial benefit, and the benefit of a close circle of NRA staff, board members, and vendors.” NRA is incorporated in the State of New York.

In addition to LaPierre and the NRA, the lawsuit names former NRA Treasurer Wilson “Woody” Phillips, Chief of Staff and the Executive Vice President of Operations Joshua Powell and General Counsel John Frazer as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that “With the assistance of Phillips, Powell and Frazer, LaPierre abused his position as a fiduciary to the NRA to obtain millions of dollars in personal benefits in the form of undisclosed, excessive compensation, which includes in-kind benefits and reimbursements from the NRA and its vendors.”

The document further alleges that “LaPierre has undertaken a series of actions to consolidate his position; to exploit that position for his personal benefit and that of his family; to continue, by use of a secret “poison pill contract,” his employment even after removal and ensuring NRA income for life; and to intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct.”

In a statement quoted by the Washington Examiner, James declared, “The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets. The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.”

In her complaint, James asks the court to find “that the NRA is liable to be dissolved pursuant to (a) N-PCL § 1101(a)(2) based upon the NRA’s pattern of conducting its business in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner, abusing its powers contrary to public policy of New York and its tax-exempt status, and failing to provide for the proper administration of its trust assets and institutional funds; and/or (b) N-PCL § 1102(a)(2) because directors or members in control of the NRA have looted or wasted the corporation assets, have operated the NRA solely for their personal benefit, or have otherwise acted in an illegal, oppressive or fraudulent manner.”

Further, James asks the Court to rule “that the interest of the public and the members of the NRA supports a decision to dissolve the NRA.”

James is also asking the court to direct the individual defendants “to account, make restitution and pay all penalties resulting from the breach of fiduciary duties and their misuse of charitable assets for their own benefit and interests.” She also seeks to enjoin the defendants “from future service as an officer, director or trustee, or in any other capacity as a fiduciary of any not-for-profit or charitable organization incorporated or authorized to conduct business in the State of New York, or which solicits charitable donations in the State of New York, or which holds charitable assets in New York.”

Tanya Metaksa, who served as executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action—the organization’s political lobbying arm—told Ammoland News, “I hope it’s going to be a long fight. I think it’s all political.”

Metaksa, now retired, spent 4 ½ years in the position as NRA’s chief lobbyist. She also at one time served on the NRA Board of Directors.

Richard Feldman, an attorney who is also president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association, Inc., said via email, “Perhaps the biggest swamp in the DC area is located at Waples Mill Road! Time to drain that swamp.”

In 2007, Feldman authored a memoir of his time working at the NRA titled, “Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist.” He was both applauded and castigated within the firearms community, depending upon the perspective of each observer.

In a subsequent telephone conversation, Feldman added, “I think it sucks that the NRA leadership has put American gun owners in this almost untenable position.”

He asserted the timing of both lawsuits is purely political.

“They didn’t wait until after the November election to drop this,” he said.

If the NRA is forced to dissolve, that could put enormous pressure on other gun rights organizations to fill a void.

Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, and also chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, provided a statement to Ammoland News.

“I firmly believe that you’re innocent until proven guilty,” he said of the allegations contained in the civil lawsuits. “But it is also my belief that the NRA board of directors should have taken action when these allegations were first raised and preempted any action that could be taken by the New York State attorney general and the attorney general for the District of Columbia.”

In recent years, SAF has become a legal powerhouse, fighting dozens of court battles to advance Second Amendment rights, an effort he has often described as a campaign to “make the Second Amendment great again.”

“While there is no doubt both of these attorney generals are opponents of Second Amendment rights,” Gottlieb said, “and have an axe to grind, these are serious allegations that have not been put to bed by the leadership of the NRA over the last several years.

“Fortunately, for the gun rights movement,” he observed, “the strength of the NRA is not only in its leadership but in its members. Its members will not abandon the fight to protect Second Amendment rights.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation—the firearms industry umbrella group—provided a statement to Ammoland:

“The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry’s trade association, is troubled by the politically-driven decision of New York Attorney General Letitia James to seek to dissolve the National Rifle Association, America’s oldest civil rights organization. The lawsuit filed today by Attorney General James seeks to punish the over five million members of the National Rifle Association based on mere allegations of possible wrongdoing by a few individuals.

“NSSF is deeply concerned about the apparent political agenda to silence the strongest voice in support of the Second Amendment ahead of the election in November.

“This lawsuit, and one filed today by the District of Columbia Attorney General, should concern all Americans who cherish both the First and Second Amendments to our Constitution regardless of their views on what laws and regulations are appropriate to address the criminal misuse of firearms.”

The legal action launched by the District of Columbia Thursday was filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Division.

There have been no criminal allegations in either jurisdiction. Both lawsuits are civil in nature.

In the District complaint, Racine notes the NRA Foundation was “established to operate solely for charitable purposes related to promoting firearm and hunting safety.”

In his complaint, Racine asserts, “In recent years, the NRA has experienced financial problems related, in large part, to low membership and the NRA’s decision to continue to waste funds on improper, lavish spending. To plug financial holes caused by its own poor management, the NRA turned to the Foundation’s funds. Because the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and executives are dominated by the NRA, and the NRA had subverted the Foundation’s independence, the Foundation has allowed itself to be financially exploited through, among other things, unfair loans and management fee payments to the NRA.

“In allowing its funds to be diverted from charitable purposes and wasted to prop up the NRA in impermissible ways,” the District complaint continues, “the Foundation Board of Trustees has failed to provide meaningful oversight and failed in its fiduciary duties. Through this enforcement action, the District seeks injunctive relief sufficient to reform the Foundation’s lack of proper independent governance and a constructive trust over Foundation funds improperly wasted on the NRA.”

Later in the 24-page District complaint, the District observes, “Charitable corporations receive various federal and state tax benefits, including eligibility to receive tax-deductible contributions. Charitable corporations hold their assets for the benefit of the public and must ensure those assets are used for their intended and tax-subsidized purpose. Charitable corporations are not permitted to engage in or fund political campaign activity; may not engage in more than an insubstantial amount of lobbying activity; their assets may not inure to the benefit of insiders, and they may not be organized and operated for the benefit of private interests.”

With both legal actions coming 90 days before the national elections in November, many gun owners and Second Amendment activists, as Feldman and others observed for this story, will be immediately convinced this is a political maneuver to weaken the NRA at a time it needs to be strongest.