Strategic Relocation Briefing: Costa Rica: One of the Oldest of the Expatriate Destinations

by | Jul 19, 2014 | Emergency Preparedness, Headline News, Strategic Relocation | 305 comments

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    Editor’s Note: Finding the perfect relocation or emergency bug-out property is unique for every individual and family. For some, the idea of leaving the United States is difficult to stomach, but thousands of people do it every year with success. The option is certainly one to consider, especially if you are looking for a more hands-off government, lower taxes, and a change of scenery. One of the oldest expatriate destinations for Americans is the Central American country of Cost Rica and it’s the topic of this week’s Strategic Relocation Briefing from well known survival retreat expert Joel Skousen. While the beaches are lovely and the prices make relocation financially feasible, there are also some important considerations that need to be made before you decide to leave your home country.

    Whether you ultimately decide to expatriate or prefer to stay in the United States, the tools available at StrategicRelocation.com can help make your transition easier. With new For Sale By Owner home and property listings weekly, it’s a great starting point to help you find that perfect home or retreat.


    Weekly Strategic Relocation Briefing

    by Joel Skousen, author, Strategic Relocation and The Secure Home

    costa-ricaThis week, we are going south of the border to examine one of the oldest of the expatriate destinations in Central America: Costa Rica —located between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the southeast.

    Expatriates have also been particularly attracted to Costa Rica because of its political stability, relatively low cost of living and low property prices, but now with over 50K Americans in the country, all that has changed.  Prices are much higher and real estate is no longer cheap. Still there are advantages and Americans keep coming. The national health care system is modern and low in cost with affordable health insures for around $200-$300/mo. Expatriates are exempt from tax on overseas income, and there are lower property taxes than in the U.S. and no capital gains taxes. Costa Rica also offers generally drinkable tap water, “high-speed” Internet (that actually isn’t very fast) and good phone service. Taxis and buses are abundant and not too expensive, but beware of being charged extra by Taxi drivers who see a gullible foreigner.

    On the downside, Costa Rica is very humid in the lower altitudes, which always produces a lot of insects and bugs—so, naturally, the better places to live are at the higher elevations. While there are no taxes on foreign retirement income, gasoline in this country is expensive at more than $5 per gallon. There are also a lot of home break-ins and property theft, though not a lot of violent crime (murder rate low). There is, as in all Latin America, a good deal of corruption in government, police and business. Unemployment and poverty are high among the less educated. But wages are low, so hired help is cheap.

    In Pacific beach towns, you can expect to pay $4,000 a month or more to live on the beach. You have to get away from the favorite American hangouts in order to get reasonable housing. A persistent problem all over Costa Rica is “Gringo Pricing” —(especially high prices for Americans), and unless you are fluent in Spanish and know what the real prices should be like for the locals, you’ll be taken advantage of on a regular basis.

    A lot of Americans complain about everyday “Ticos” (what Costa Ricans call themselves) being liars—that you can’t trust what they say. Part of the problem is endemic to much of Central America—the lack of precision in their expectations about everything, including verbal responses to questions. In other words, it’s almost impossible to pin anyone down about a certain price, procedure, or direction to get somewhere. It is very frustrating to get 5 different answers to a precise question and then see those answers change the next day. It’s not necessarily pernicious, as much as sloppy mental thinking habits and a lack of commitment to being precise and correct. The higher classes however, are a lot better at accurate communication and keeping commitments.

    Most expats live on the coast or in more rural areas of the Central Valley.  Here are a couple of specific locations to recommend:

    San Jose: (about a million people in the metro area) is the capitol of Cost Rica—rich in culture, commerce, and expensive housing for the wealthy. It has the best shopping and dining possibilities in this nation the size of West Virginia, and you have a full choice of imported (more expensive) items found no where else in Costa Rica. There are also a lot of amenities that Americans are used to like health clubs and movie theaters, jazz clubs, art festivals, and museums.

    The City starts at 3,000 feet in altitude and has even higher hills surrounding the city.  So, despite its tropical latitude, it has a very temperate climate—rarely hot, and never cold.  Buying good housing in San Jose is expensive but renting is cheaper.  As one expat wrote in International Living, “A large two-bedroom house perched on a hill in San Antonio de Escazú is $450 a month unfurnished. One of the highest points around San José, it offers amazing views of the entire metro area. A high-end three-bedroom condo near the best shopping in Escazú is $875 a month unfurnished.”  Security is pretty good in peaceful times in the suburbs and middle class areas of San Jose—but there are a lot of poor areas, as in any Latin American city that you don’t venture into at night.  But don’t expect these conditions to remain in a major crisis or world war where masses of people will be out of work and tourism dries up.  Best to be very rural when that happens.

    Atenas: This is a town of about 5K people in central Costa Rica with very moderate temperatures due to the higher elevation—about 60 and 80 degrees year round. Many expats live up in the rolling hills near town, with homes that overlook the region’s patches of emerald forest and sprawling sugar cane and coffee plantations, as well as cattle ranches and orchards. The city center is small and quaint—about six square blocks surrounding the typical central plaza and park, with a handful of cafes and restaurants. It’s very centrally located, some 45 minutes from the beaches on the Pacific and a half-hour from San Jose, the capitol.  San Jose is where all the action is, but most expats prefer the cheaper and slower lifestyle in the smaller towns.  When they want shopping malls, theater, museums, major hospitals, they come to San Jose.

    Nosara:  This is a beach town on the Pacific of about 5,000 people, but away from the big tourist destinations.  It is an older, planned community that has never been targeted by the major developers.   A good portion of the area is protected forest, and the Ostional Wildlife Reserve marine park is fairly close. As with all beach towns, it’s more expensive than it’s rural neighboring towns, but much less expensive than many coastal towns in the US.  The average coastal property rents for about $2,000 a month.  The down side is the distance to San Jose and any major hospitals—a five-hour drive—but you have to get that far away to get decent housing prices near the beach.  The nearest international airport is a two-hour drive.

    San Ramon:  This city of about 15k is a cultural center and university town, away from the hustle of San Jose—about an hour’s drive away. San Ramon is home to the University of Costa Rica—the top university in the country—and a couple of museums. It’s a regional center for the area so you have the full range of commercial facilities as well as cultural opportunities including a symphony, orchestra, and movie theaters. San Ramon is also about 45 minutes from the Pacific beaches.

    There are two basic types of residency in Costa Rica:

    Residency for Pensioners or Retirees (Pensionados or Rentistas). If you earn $600 per month from your pension, or $1000 a month from your investments you can qualify for these permits.

    Residency for investors (Inversionistas). If you invest in a local business in Costa Rica, according to the Center for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (PROCOMER), the current priority investment areas of business are ornamental plants, leather articles, spices, fruits and vegetables, processed foods, wood products and tourism. You will be required to invest at least $50,000 US dollars in one of these areas. If you prefer an area of investment not listed by PROCOMER, you must invest $200,000 US dollars in that business.

    Costa Rica is still one of the safest in Latin America, especially compared to Guatemala and Mexico where crime and kidnapping is a real problem for foreigners.  But don’t ever make your decisions about going south based on current expat experiences as extolled in all the many expat web sites.  This won’t last.  Every country in Latin America has a lot of Marxists and people who hate Americans—and many of them are in academia, the press and the bureaucracies.  Someday when tough times hit, and Ticos look for people to blame, and the government looks to “tax the rich” the foreign expats will be a prime target.

    In summary, my basic recommendation is, enjoy it while you can but don’t buy land—rent—and don’t burn all your bridges back to the states.  It is also harder to get a foreign bank account in Latin America due to FATCA bank reporting requires which the IRS is imposing all international banks that want to do business with the States.  So, even if you can get an account, keep only 2 or 3 months reserves in it and use ATMs to transfer money directly from the states.  And, use ATMs only in established banks.  Many insecure or outdated ATMs are subject to theft and hacking of your account back home.  Your other foreign compatriots can advise which ones are safe.

    Best, Joel Skousen.


    Be sure to check out all the new survival/rural property listings on www.StrategicRelocation.com. Over a dozen in Costa Rica and more from Southern Idaho/Wyoming, a Missile Base in North Dakota and last but not least the first 10.0 rated property by Joel Skousen, the Ozark Mansion Fortress.

    SRC: If you decide to relocate and purchase property in Costa Rica, it’s fairly easy to find property that has multiple sources of water and alternative energy production, in a wide variety of price ranges from $99,000 all the way to $1.5 million US. The property characteristics range from massive fresh water springs, streams and rivers some with gigantic waterfalls with enough hydropower capability to power multiple homes, to excellent sun exposure for an Iron-Edison Solar system.

    There are really no real estate laws and regulations in Costa Rica, which is a nice change from the sometimes-draconian nanny state laws here in the US. However, this does lead to some issues, so many of the top franchises in the US have opened offices in Costa Rica bringing best practices to the local real estate business. But, many of the best properties are still sold from local to local or to ex-pats that have been in country for many years and understand the market. If you are serious about making your relocation please contact me directly and I will personally refer you to a trusted contact. Please be aware that ‘serious’ means providing proof of funds and booking your tickets. No palm tree kickers allowed.

    With Gratitude, Todd Savage

    URGENT ON GOLD… as in URGENT

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      305 Comments

      1. i’m partial to san isidro area, then over towards the osa. it’s changing rapidly , san jose is a dangerous shithole.. stay away from limon too.
        yep- cost of rica indeed.. panama is way cheaper , we’ll see how the chinese canal for the nicas goes.

        • My personal experience is that Costa Rica is an extremely poor country — There is a definitely an income divide, not dissimilar to what you might find in the United States.

          However, as an expat destination for Americans — You can live like a king if you play your cards rights.

          As is normally the case for preppers, we want to stay out of major cities. In Costa Rica you can do that very easily, and affordably.

          Personally, I prefer the Western side of the country — check out highway 34 which runs all the way down the coast… You can go beachfront along this corridor or move inland and have hilly/mountainous terrain (and in some cases a Pacific view but from hundreds of feet up).

          If you do ever have to get out of Dodge and leave the U.S. for whatever reason, this isn’t a bad spot to think about going to.

          • When it all goes down your paper’s gonna be just as worthless in Costa Rica as in the U S of A. And down there, when it does go down, you’re gonna be the “white-eyed devil” that all the poor can’t wait to get even with.

            Enjoy ‘paradise’ while you can, it will be hell on earth when TSHTF.

            • And I don’t mean you Anon, when I say “you.” Just anybody thinking they’ll be safe down there when the WORLD collapses.

            • Really

              And you don’t think for one minute that all the expatriated citizens will be hunted down by the ptb?

              Why not stand and fight like the rest of us will have to should it all come down??????

              Good God..is this what we’ve come to as citizens here??

              Run away with all your wealth to escape the inevitable rather than standing with our sovereign patriots here..

              This is disgusting!

              Go ahead and run away..

              The rest of us will be here fighting to the death..

              If one can not stand for what one believes in and chooses to run..than suffer your fate..

              I for one will stand and fight!

              As will many more ..

              Shame on you!

              possee

              • STAND and BE Counted….and make THE Difference..

                • I’m with you Feisty and possee – I was born an Aussie and while I suppose it’s possible I’ll die somewhere else as I travel a bit I’d prefer Aussie to be my final resting place.

                  Consider here though guys, we aren’t much different y’know – except you guys have an accent and drive on the wrong side of the road 🙂 and there are a lot of advantages to being here, not the lest of which is being a hellava long way from the fan if the manure hits it.

                  I like the USA though and parts of it would suit me well.

                  Aussie

                  • @Mac:

                    So now my comments are being “moderated?”

                • Feisty Old Broad ..

                  Remember a week or so ago concerning a reset due for July 20 2014 from Christine Legarde with her reference to numerology..?

                  Oh well. here we are..

                  Thought so..

                  possee

                  • Moderation?

              • There will be no safe place..Look and believe all the BS you want.A study in the book of Daniel and Revelations of the HOLY BIBLE is all that is necessary

              • oh hell. another gi joe internet warrrior. when/if the ptb get rolling you might have visions of shaking your AK at them screaming “WOLVERINES” but anyone stupid enough to do that is going to be dead.

                I myself have 6 AKs and a crap load of ARs and other firearms and ammo cached, and a loose affiliation with a group of preppers. We have a retreat site and a very loose game plan for what to do if the wheels come off.

                If things go south, NO ONE is going to “stay and fight” in the sense of standing up to a unified powerful central government.

                The reason you won’t then, is that you aren’t doing it NOW. Kids to feed. Bills to pay. Being stupid and dead won’t help them, and that is going to trump any romantic nonsense about “fighting” a ruthless tyrannical centralized military.

                If there is any “fighting” done (and there may be), it will be one sectional area in civil war against DC to prevent a breakup. I might actually return to the states for a conflict for that purpose….. but that is not what the blood-in-your-eye crowd want.

                Easier to just leave, and let the brave warriors who were talking that kind of crap wave to me from the FEMA camp. I will drink a beer in your honor looking at that tv feed from the bar in Quetzaltenango, or Oaxaca, or David, or Limon, or Granada… or … well, you get the picture.

        • And when the global SHTF expect all these places to be in the same turmoil as the rest of the planet. Everything still revolves around the USD. When that goes the way of the dodo bird, expect all hell to break loose and don’t get me started on the Chinese Yuan….please!

          • For radioactive fallout, Costa Rice is within the zone where the air currents are almost constantly rising and spreading out towards the poles, this is a good location for getting as little death from the air as possible. Get some elevation and you have good growing conditions and some safety from the Earth changes that are ongoing and will be more intense after the world lights up the planet with nukes.

            The higher elevation also is where there is less disease. One issue with this country is RABIES, as this is quite well spread everywhere. People don’t give their animals and pets rabies shots and it is rampant in some areas. On top of the vampire bats that often have rabies and prey on any blood source. Getting above it will help with the other tropical diseases. As mentioned this country is poor and the people in poor countries almost always don’t understand sanitation. These are critical issues to think about. Even if you are isolated, there are some problems with not only disease but a wide variety of very poisonous animals, especially snakes that require you to have antivenin to stay alive if you get bite. Pluses and minuses anywhere you go.

            By the way a new earthquake cycle is ready to begin as the Own Fracture Zone just had a 6.0 and this same spot has not been hit for 21 years. In the past everytime this point is hit there is a major earthquake within 15 days. Right now the danger areas are Tonga, New Guinea, Kamchataka Peninsula and Kuril Islands, Bering Sea and western Alasks, Turkey to Pakistan, Philippines, Japan, Mexico, and yes Costa Rica. This list will change perhaps with new precursor earthquakes. Look for a 6.5 to high 7 between now and August 4 in one or more of these locations, maybe adding a few other danger zones later.

            • I know a lot of people from here in the islands who surf a lot and own property in CostaRica, is almost the same climate as here, people are poor but many dont know it,
              But, third world country is a third world country, if you want to move there to take a step back to a simpler time, i say awesome, if you are a wealthy so and so thinking you will live like a king, i say go somewhere else. Too many people try to exploit these spots.

            • 6.6 earthquake, 1 and 1/2 hours ago exactly as forecasted above in the Kuril Islands.

              This is a little fast as I thought it would be a couple of days later or longer, but it shows that these precursor earthquakes predict major earthquakes. Waiting for more precursors for different spots, still regard the warned other areas as dangerous until August 4.

              • Nice job BI keep a sharp eye out for a 7.5+ precursor near Vanuatu that we need to be concerned about. 🙁

          • This information is all well and good, but I’d like to see some other things mentioned. Sure, having a nice climate, low taxes and such are good to know, but that isn’t all we need to decide whether to look into it further or not.

            Like, how does the govt there feel about citizens owning guns? Will we be arrested if they catch us with our guns? Are there any govt hoops to jump through to have personal protection?

            What about self-defense? Can people stand their ground and legally defend themselves, or do the authorities generally shoot and ask questions never?

            How about transportation other than buses and taxis? Do we need a driving permit/license to drive a personal vehicle? What does it take to get one, and is it expensive enough to keep poor people from driving?

            I couldn’t care less about symphonies, orchestras, and movie theaters. What about gas stations, markets and mail delivery services, in case I need to order things by mail…or CAN THEY even order online?

            What if we have to relocate with minor children? What about the schools other than the University?

            What about educated people who want to relocate, that want to work? Is there work to be had, other than services for tourists? What if we want to start a small business for extra income? How much resistance from the govts would there be?

            I’d like to see a little something for the less-than-rich people please.

            • I must say, I am amazed at the amount of uninformed responses I have read regarding Costa Rica as a retreat location. In your response SIXPACK, you asked some honest questions that I will attempt to answer. First I would like to say that I was born in the U.S. but moved to Costa Rica 22 years ago. I am a Costa Rican citizen and passport holder, and proud to be. In those 22 years, I have never once been bothered by the police or the “corrupt” bureaucracy. I feel much more free here than in the U.S. We eat healthy home grown meals, live in a cozy farm house on 4 acres that doesn’t require heat or air conditioning and pay an electric bill of $50 or so a month. Our taxes are around $200 per year. Our water bill is $15 p/m or so. Complete health coverage is $55 per month for two. I have a carry permit and pack a Glock 19 and a 38 revolver. My shotgun is by my bed. I lock my door at night and if anyone forced entry they would face a blaze of glory. The “castle” doctrine applies here. The police do not shoot indiscriminately. It horrifies us to read about the killing of pets AND citizens in the U.S. That does not happen here. Most expats own a car. Drivers licenses are not hard to obtain. Buses are everywhere and cheap. There is even a few trains running again in the Central Valley. Schools are in Spanish. Private schools exist too and they are multi lingual. Mail service, internet, buying on E-bay all happens here. We even have CNN, (UGH) As for starting a business, that is the only way you can work here until you have your residency. I should address the uninformed about the Costa Rican people in general. They are peaceful! Even timid could be used for most of them. We have no army. It was disbanded in 1948! We do not have the trained and brainwashed military assassins that will cause all kinds of havoc in the U.S. when the SHTF. Know one knows how it will all play out in each area of the world, but I have to say that I am happy I chose Costa Rica!

              • Tico, thank you for giving us the real deal on what is and is not. I myself would like to live in Peru S.A. where my inlaws live and thrive. Yes, I know anywhere we call home, has it’s problems, but if anyone can name a place on this third rock from the sun that is perfect, please let us all know…
                Thanks again…

              • Thank you Tico Tom. It has been frustrating for me to try to research possible relocation locations because all of the info seems to be geared towards adult-only retirees with plenty of money and resources. After visiting many web sites, the info was all the same. Scenery and land purchasing options.

                As for the language, I have working Spanish. French and a little Russian and a touch of German, so I can learn just about any language.

                It sounds like the best way to relocate to South America, is if you have people already there to help you get on your feet, or you have enough money you don’t need to get on your feet.

                • My wife just informed me that our Costa Rican National full coverage (no pre conditions) health insurance is $97 per month for both of us, as of the last payment. I had given you a figure from the last time I paid the bill. The health care system here is not perfect and there are long waits for heart transplants etc. Most drugs are free and a doctor check up in our village clinic is first come, first served.

            • Six Pack you do no t have t o look any futher than the HOLY BIBLE there will be no safe place.

            • Just imagine, a world without taxes. The only world I know where that exists is heaven.

            • The only way to get answers to these questions is visit.

              I think your questions are good. I can assure you that there are people who leave the US, don’t come back, and do NOT sit around pining for the golden years when they lived here. Leaving the US and going to another country is not for everyone, I admit. It takes a certain amount of flexibility and a willingness to “step outside” the way you are used to living. It is hard. Some people simply cannot make the jump, so if they prep, their plans should be limited to the USA. They should associate with a group of like minded persons and make some plans (I have been published in the Survival Blog on that subject… prepping with a culturally diverse group)

              However, there are some real advantages to considering third world countries. People with ideological blinders, like some of the commenters here in this thread, could never see them in a million year, mostly because they are prejudiced and stupidly so.

              I read descriptions of Costa Rica as some disease ridden scumhole and immediately know that this is coming from an idiot who has either never been there, or never gotten off his all inclusive resort except to drive in (probably on a resort sponsored bus) from the airport. Costa Rica is a wonderful place. I have a number of experiences there. The first of which was when I hitchiked through the entire country many years ago. I met pathetic US citizens then whose ability to explore and appreciate other cultures was limited to whining about golf courses not being exactly like they liked them.

              Again, not everyone needs to pack up and move. Maybe the USA will right itself (excuse me while I pick myself off the floor from laughing… fell out of my chair!), and maybe we will break up the way the old USSR did into disparate states with some more committed to freedom than others (my best hope), or maybe we will slide into complete victimized totalitarianism (my worst fear).

              However, you should know that most Ticas do NOT want to emigrate to the USA. Their lives, while most of them are not on a financial plane of the USA (though more are than you would imagine!), are rich in terms of relationships, personal freedoms (legal and otherwise… everyone pretty much ignores the law and when you get caught, a small bribe settles most issues….. a hell of a lot cheaper to pay a cop 20 bucks for a stop sign than a 200 dollar ticket, a point on your insurance and 200 dollar increases on your bill for three years).

              The snottiness of Americans who disdain “third world countries” irritates me some, but the IGNORANT snottiness (which was not yours so much as the tone of several posters) is a thing of wonder, if simply for the raw stupidity and assumed knowledge that is not there…. like a person who imagines himself an expert on people from Tibet because he watched a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC special or something.

              I am headed to Mexico for a month, then back home, selling the house, and hoping to be gone for good by years end. I will probably locate to Guatemala, Nicaragua, or maybe Colombia or Ecuador. I am not Latino, but am Mr. Whitebread Anglo. I am just 59 years old, and don’t really see anything good on the horizon for the USA unless we have a MAJOR shift in societal attitudes. If I am going to try to retreat, why not REALLY retreat and just go someplace where Uncle Sam can’t get his grubby little hands on what I have been able to put away?

          • Exactly Rodster…the world still depends on the FRN.

            Those that say the new BRICS bank will kill the FRN are wishing on a star. What are the reserves of that bank denominated in? DOLLARS, yes dollars…FRNs…pretty pieces of paper and ones and zeros logged into the banks.

            They didn’t even have the nads to use a basket of currency or PMs. Dollars it is. pussies….

            • The volcanoes in Costa Rico are active and very dangerous. You may as well be living 70 miles from Mt St Helens as to live in San Jose; or in California when the Big One hits. Do you really want to be a white refugee in Central America when they go off?

              Folks you cannot run and hide from the NWO. Their goals are global. America is the world’s last chance to defend personal liberty and freedom from Totalitarianism. It is the epic center in the fight against tyranny. You can make a difference, just like the folks in Murrietta and elsewhere.

              America belongs to US and OUR children’s children. Defend it. Make OUR Founding Fathers proud of US for the gift they gave to US.

              Kill the FED. Death to the New World Order. 🙂

              • DK, I rarely agree with you. The words you typed above I can not find any fault in.

                • Outlaw; I must be doing something wrong!!! 🙂

              • DK: While your geographical analysis if the region is spot on you, and some others, keep alluding to some nonexistent NWO. It’s something created by the weak and frightened folks we all refer to as TPTB. They are really more like the wizened old man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz, all bluff and no stuff. They’re all ‘smoke and mirrors’ without any real substance. Want proof, Proof 1: A 29 y/o contact employee, not a seasoned veteran employee, walks out of NSA HQ with all their secrets on a thumb drive and makes it all the way to China before they even find out; some “All Seeing-All Knowing” agency this NSA is—NOT! Proof 2: One badly wounded teenager evades the door-to-door search by over a 1000 federal, state, and local cops near Boston and is found by a citizen, not the cops. So much for a militarized police force that couldn’t find its collective butt with two hands and flashlight. These are the clowns we’re suppose to be so afraid of?

                • Except they are trigger happy and have way more guns than I do… At least in Nam we didn’t open up whenever something moved, jeez, they shot the hell out of a defenseless boat…
                  and it wasn’t even mouthing off… The Boston debacle: the cops never found the perp. until they lifted the bunker-in-place order then the home owner came out and found the guy…This guy is not worried about a supposed NWO…

                  • Greg8: The New World Order is very real and it is a pie in the sky socialist IDEAL that the PTB fascists sell to the Sheeple while tightening the noose around their necks, limiting their freedoms one UNCONSTITUTIONAL Rule, Regulation, and Executive Order at a time.

                    I suggest you Google “New World Order” and spend the next three months reading the links. Or you might try the UN website and begin with Agenda 21. You will have to take your head out of your ass first.

                    It is this NWO that wants to establish a North American Union,eliminate the US Constitution and Bill of Rights and replace it with a Merger Agreement between Mexico the USA, and Canada,under the auspices of the United Nations.

                    The NWO wants to eliminate the fact that American Rights are derived from Nature’s God, and replace it with the idea that Citizens derive their rights from Government; rather than understanding that Governments derive their power from the CONSENT of the governed.

                    Engage these MFRS or be enslaved by them one UN Resolution at a time. 🙂

            • JRS: All the BRIC’s can do is eliminate the IMF; probably not even the World Bank. $100 billion dollars is PEANUTS!!!

              Worse, it will be managed by them. And they are worse managers and more corrupt that the GB’s. What the GB’s do is deliberate. What the BRIC’s will do with that $100 billion will be totally corrupt and mismanaged; with large sums squandered. 🙁

              • Totally agree. China makes the Federal Reserve and the US Govt look like honest and competent choirboys. When China has dumped more than $27T worth of monopoly money into system, when they build ghost cities just to pad their GDP, when they can’t find 300,000 tons of copper and several hundred thousand tonnes of aluminum, and when they are rehypothicating both their missing copper and aluminum.

                That sure is hell doesn’t instill any confidence that they’ll do the right thing. Brazil is an economic basket case, so is India and Russia is the best of the bunch because of the LNG.

                • Rodster: Couldn’t have said it better myself. In a world of midgets, even a dwarf can be King!!! 🙂

                  • DK says:

                    “In a world of midgets, even a dwarf can be King!!!”

                    I think someone is speaking from experiance.

                  • YMWW: Physically, I am 6’1″ and 235 lbs. I go to the gym every day. I bike three to five miles a day; usually only three because I am lazy. I am in peak physical condition, especially for a man of my age. My IQ is 132 plus, which is well above average. I have noted my educational and professional achievements before.

                    You must be looking at your dick when you say that, or fantasizing about mine. Faggot!!! 🙂

                • The BIG BAD WOLF is just about ready to blow the “House of Cards” to Kingdom come…..

              • Bricks has no chance. It is just a leverage for china because they want the yuan as the fifth currency in the default basket of currencies that comprise the IMF’s special drawing right.

                On another note, the shot heard round the world that no one heard was that South Korea, makers of samsung, lg, Kia, etc agreed to bypass the dollar and do business directly with china using the yuan.

                This now has created a Far East trading block of Australia, China, New Zealand, and South Korea. The Thai baht is next. Then, when brics collapses, India too will join that block.

                Gotta love it, we buy all kinds of trinkets from china, we outsource all our technology services to India, and we buy samsung galaxy’s, lg tv’so, and Kia’s by the boat load…and what thanks do we get?????

                • Cellar Spider: Actually, I don’t think China wants anything to do with the IMF, considering that they ignored LeGarde’s trial balloon plea for legitimacy by moving to China.

                  China wants BI-LATERAL business relations with every nation because it can dominate and extract concessions from any nation who wants access to the Chinese market and its consumers.

                  That wasn’t a shot. Just a backfire. 🙂

                  Recent numbers show that the Euro was used in 43% of all global transactions, the Dollar in 31% of all global transactions, and the Yuan (RMB) in less than 2% of all global transactions.

          • I agree in many respects. The problem I have with relocating to a country we wouldn’t normally live-Costa Rica,the dollar implodes, The Costa Ricans will say, get the Gringos out of here. We don’t want them living off our economy.Just like the Illegals coming here to the US from Mexico. When the Dollar collapses they’ll probably kick Ventura out of Mexico too…
            done venting now…

          • Yeah, and then when SHTF, then the Locals take it out on Americans, hold you hostage for ransom. So can Americans carry weapons? Probably not. And every local Police Federally that stops you will be a shakedown for money. Its more corrupt than in America, and good luck going to any court with the jury of the local peers. Other than that the weather and scuba diving is spectacular. lol Watch some YTube – NoStessMike vids on Central Am. He lays it all out about cop shakedowns down there.

          • rodster

            re comment id number 3186301

            couldn’t agree with you more
            and i have some experience in the whole travel south of Mexico bit

            went down to Belize about 8 years ago looking at a possible BOL and small farm

            went down there on some one else s dime ( time share scam ) and stayed for 6 days all on there money
            all i got was ” your a rich gringo you have everything etc etc

            what i did see was Soul crushing poverty greed corruption bribes etc
            Politics is about as crooked as say Iraq or some other hell hole
            the time we were there the Govt sent armed troops down to protect a Beauty contest because the neighboring country ( Guatemala ? or Honduras don’t remember
            claimed they were going to ruin the competition because there local girls were not invited.

            Belize is tied to the US dollar at a 2 to 1 ratio
            was hustled by another time share with my dear wife and we walked away never buying a thing and the second time share group gave us each $ 200 us dollars 4 coupons for dinners in 2 restaurants
            Gift cards to 2 gift stores each one worth $ 150.00 us
            so basically double the US value

            The folks in Belize have the idea that whats yours is there’s and they have a 5 finger discount mentality

            BUT they whole country is crap to actually live in for most Americans

            Guns ?? forget it you have to have
            (1) a legit reason to own one and it cant just be ” i am afraid of the night or some other lame excuse
            if you work for a security company based in Belize you might get a permit but don’t bet on it

            (2) only 9mm 38 spl and a few med caliber rifles or a 12 20 or 410 shotgun NO big bore rifles no 50 cal etc NO semi auto except handguns

            they cost $ 200.00 to $ 300.00 each !!! and have to be renewed each year. and you also get to pay a few bribes to the local police etc. and if you have an illegal gun and you say have the local police show up to investigate then EVERONE IN THE ROOM !!! goes to jail no exceptions
            and yes i said Everyone men women friends neighbors
            AND the person closest to the weapon gets the added charge of being the owner and can get an extra 5 to 10 years Even if its actually owned by some one not in the room or house.

            Belize citizens actually go into the Belize/Mexico free trade area and RENT guns to commit crimes. and then get them back the the person they rented them from in Mexico

            children are most likely sent to a foster care home or orphanage

            5 years hard labor and no plea bargain

            and forget trying to sneak one in with your belongings because every thing is searched at the Border or the dock if you ship it in by container ship
            Your stuff is removed from the truck container etc spread out in a warehouse and searched
            and then thrown back in the truck etc

            even if you live down there for years and become a citizen you have no real rights you cant vote till you’ve been a citizen for at least 2 years

            every one has there hands out looking for bribes and to get any work done takes about $ 500.00 to $ 1,000.00
            in bribe money

            Most of central America is a hell hole you will be ripped off have most of your stuff stolen or just plain walk off. nothing is really safe from theft
            and people living in the back country or jungle get to deal with basically superstitious un educated villagers

            while i was there two children were killed by a croc ( aligator ) and the local villagers went after the local Americans because they had a wild life sanctuary on there property
            they killed ALL the animals and even the two small gators

            and threatened the Americans with death if they didn’t leave

            skittle shittin unicorn

          • These places are screwed up beyond belief before things go to hell. You must be deranged to think that you will be better off there. You are not one of them and they will remember with resentment how well off you were/are. If you are Hispanic and speak fluent Spanish from the start you will probably be fairly safe as long as you don’t flash money around.

          • One very, very important detail seems to be overlooked by Skousen. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think that I’ve ever read about ANY of these turd world, banana republic flavored, tin-horn dictator led Mestizo run nations allowing their residences to own firearms.

            I know for a fact that the turd dump nation which is nicknamed ‘Mexico’ certainly does not allow its citizens to legally own firearms, and right now, we’ve got at least one if not several U.S. citizens who are rotting away in filthy, cockroach and rat infested Mestizo jails because they either stupidly or mistakenly crossed over the US-Mexican border and had a firearm in their vehicles.

            So, based on the world-wide, all encompassing epidemic degree of raw, festering hatred that the jewish owned and controlled American media have been brainwashing the brown skinned masses of humanity to feel towards White European people – cranking out endless hate Whitey flicks like ‘Machete’, ‘Machete II’, ‘Inglorious Basterds’, ‘Django Unchained’, ’12 Years a Slave’, ‘The Butler’, ‘Save dat Last Dance fo me’ and hundreds of other movies that demonize the White race and which are deliberately intended to incite racial hatred and animosity towards them in the minds of the world’s non-white masses – I would consider it to be absolutely insane and suicidal for Whites to choose to relocate to any nation that prohibits the private ownership of firearms.

            Why do I get the feeling that Joel Skousen didn’t mention this little detail on purpose?

        • As I read it, he’s saying “Don’t go there, because I don’t own any land there to sell you. Now, I do have this nice piece in Idaho…….”

        • Folks need to think things through. When the dollar collapses and the Social Security or pension check either becomes worth 2% of it’s value today, or just stops coming, your ability to live abroad just vanished.

          Expatriates are sustained by cash flow, and nothing else. When that is gone, things will get very bad, very quickly.

          • Men of Harlech stop your dreaming
            Can’t you see their spear points gleaming
            See their warrior’s pennants streaming
            To this battle field

            Men of Harlech stand ye steady
            It cannot be ever said ye
            For the battle were not ready
            Stand and never yield

            Form the hills rebounding
            Let this war cry sounding
            Summon all at Cambria’s call
            The mighty force surrounding

            Men of Harlech onto glory
            This shall ever be your story
            Keep these fighting words before ye
            Cambria will not yield

            Semper Fi 8541

      2. No Thanks

        • Exactly! Do you not think that the locals would know that a rich Gringo has a farm with food water and women? DO you really think these people will NOT show up demanding everything or your life?

          I would rather be in downtown Detroit.

          • Downtown Detroit ? Really ???? Go for it.

            • In Detroit they won’t wait for SHTF. Heck the won’t even wait until tomorrow.

          • I rather doubt that a Gringo would be given a choice of “your money or your life”.

        • Month Python syndrome “Run Away”. So who will be left to fight for Liberty and Freedom while you rich guys run away. What makes you think you will be welcomed back
          Live free or Die
          Talon1776

          • Monty Python and the Holy Grail of Costa Rica..retarded and cowardly

            • Love Monty Python, so many comedy skits, what are the best? Hard to pick, my fav is “It’s only a flesh wound”…

              Bought 20k of ERBB, and of course it went down in the last two days, but I think in time it will rocket, but if not, not much lost in the whole scheme of things…

              • I’m gonna need ERBB…dispensaries will be among the first locales that will get whacked…hope they leave the medium grade for me…not likely though…I’m still holding and hope it doesn’t split 1/100 or worst…stay long brotha!

                • Amen Talon, with you all the way, like I have said before, if GOD put a plant on this Earth for our use, why does our government say we cannot use it? Yes, I know it is all about control and power, and one day we all may be able to control our own life….

            • chill, love Monty python

        • Hey Navy,

          Agreed…those who leave should never be let back in…
          And the ones that think they’ll live like kings….just wait until their “investments” are “bailed in”…and then become penniless…

          I see gnashing and gnawing in their future.

          I have nothing but contempt for these cowards…

        • You got it mate! I’ve got all this happy horseshit half mile down the road. This part of town we call Tacoville and Fajitaflats. Hells fire, I got the “furrin” country right in my own backyard.

      3. Sorry out of reach for most. No plans here to leave my home country, born here and will die here!

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • River Rat, I’m with you. This country is the only home I’ve ever known and I’m not leaving it. I will stay here and fight and if necessary die to stop the NWO.

          • America, love her or leave her. She’s been too good to me—I’ll not leave her.

          • I’m looking forward to the New American Revolution. Stick around ya’ll, be a part of History, and something you can tell your Grand children about years from now. America is a great place, less the Tard Tyrant Sociopaths messin’ it all up right now.

            • I’m not going anywhere.

              Maybe to Wal-Mart.

              Hahahahaha!

          • Even after SHTF it will still be better here than there doing good times. Especially after the money runs out. They are only nice to you because you have what they want.

          • Wanted 10 million souls that believe that America isworth saving from the communist ass holes that has invaded Washington DC.Each soul must be armed to the teeth and be ready to give their life for their neighbor and their country..No others need apply.

            • Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
              John 15:13 KJV

              “God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. … And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”

              Live Free or Die
              Talon1776

          • If you want to “stand and fight”, you may want to reconsider the “stand” part.

            Check out the original guerilla warfare which was fought in South Carolina during the REVOLUTIONARY WAR! Francis Marion “wrote the book” on hit-and-run warfare against the British, and was highly successful, earning the nickname “Swamp Fox”. He was the basis for the movie “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson.

            This is the sort of knowledge that may very well make the difference for a few of us to prevail.

            • Thanks, Diogenes! I just bought “The Life of Francis Marion: The True Story of South Carolina’s Swamp Fox” in Kindle edition. I actually like late nineteenth century prose. Recently read “Sailing Alone Around the World” by Captain Joshua Slocum, and that was a joy to read.

              I also got “Forest Brothers: The Account of an Anti-Soviet Lithuanian Freedom Fighter 1944-1948” recently because someone on Western Rile Shooters Association mentioned them. I actually learn a lot from comments like yours.

              By the way, you might enjoy a visit to WRSA; it’s a good site.

      4. Philosophy of “no fear, no mercy, no limit”.
        NO FEAR — of the heavy-handed tactics of authorities acting unlawfully.
        NO MERCY — for the oppressor, or for those who have sold us out.
        NO LIMIT — to our courage and resolve. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. In the end we shall prevail.

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • Can We Be Neighbors??

      5. I’m sure most have already heard of the 4 plague cases in Colorado

        here’s an interesting little article from over on SurvuvalBlog

        Potential Bioterrorism Agent Found in Colorado, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

        http://survivalblog.com/potential-bioterrorism-agent-found-in-colorado-by-cynthia-j-koelker-md/

        and a couple other interesting items

        Study: Mount Rainier will erupt again – magma rising in enigmatic volcano

        http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/study-mount-rainier-will-erupt-again-magma-rising-in-enigmatic-volcano/

        New Los Angeles earthquake on same fault could be deadlier than ‘Big One’

        http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/los-angeles-earthquake-fault-deadlier-than-big-one

        • The estimates of only 1800 dead from a 8+ San Andreas earthquake is probably a huge misnomer. A thrust fault going off right under the LA basin would cause 10000 deaths if it was a 7.5. This would be similar to Kobe, Japan. The biggest miscalculations with the San Andreas is not taking into account just what heavily populated areas it runs under. San Bernadino and Riverside for two. Also the smaller cities all from the Salton Sea such as Palm Springs all the way through Lancaster and Palmdale.

          The other problem with this estimate is the time duration. The fault running under LA basin would be 30 seconds. The San Andreas would be 3 minutes long, and if the northern section broke also it could be upwards of 6 minutes. The San Andreas would do something else that a much shorter thrust fault would not do, cause widespread fires for hundreds of miles.

          Now IF this fault connects with the Whittier-Elsinore fault and breaks from this point all the way to the Mexico border, then you have the potential of a high 7 to low 8 on a thrust fault and this could be worse than the San Andreas and kill 100,000+. The San Andreas still is the most dangerous because it is likely to trigger some of these thrust faults just like a fault like the San Andreas did back in Mongolia decades ago.

          Mt. Rainer erupts every few hundred to few thousand years and will again.

          The ultimate nightmare bioterrorist weapon is a totally antibiotic resistant pnuemonic plague germ. This thing kills almost 100% of the people without antibiotics and is catagious to other people from the coughing much like the flu is.

          • The volcano under Mammoth Mountain in California is the one to watch. Not much is said about it but geologists consider it a bigger threat than the others.

            • @ John W. The Long Valley Caldera is capable of an eruption just one notch under Yellowstone. Back in 1980’s there was four earthquakes between 6.0 and 6.6 in the Mammouth region and they thought there could be something. It is probably no coincidence that Mt St. Helens blew beforehand. Like Atka in Alaska that gets active and Yellowstone follows, the Cascade Mountain range is likely connected to the Sierra Nevadas. Devil’s Postpile around Mammouth is an example of just how volcanic this region in. You can find all sorts of evidence all over Owen’s Valley of past very violent volcanic activity. Yes, Mammouth is one of the most underestimated spots in this country for volcanic danger.

        • DO NOT disregard the rising caldera in Yellowstone which is predicted to be an “ELE” event.

        • Thank you, Satori. Here is what I posted to my group about Dr. Koelker’s article on SB:

          Dr. Cynthia J. Koelker is the author of http://armageddonmedicine.net/. Here is an assessment of her practice on healthgrades.com:

          http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-cynthia-koelker-xc34v

          I provide that preface to the following article that she wrote on survivalblog.com to confirm her credibility. It’s about pneumonic plague in the US. The causative pathogen of pneumonic plague is the same as the one that causes bubonic plague (or “Black Death”), Yersinia pestis. I read the article, and as far as I can see, everything in it checks out except that the link to the study “Lessons Learned from a Full-Scale Bioterrorism Exercise” on the CDC site gives you a 404. I did find the commentary about the study in PDF on the NIH site here:
          http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2640923/

          –nimrod

          http://survivalblog.com/potential-bioterrorism-agent-found-in-colorado-by-cynthia-j-koelker-md/

      6. I would expect them to turn against the gringos after there’s a worldwide economic collapse.

        • Since I flat refuse to spend a thin dime of my hard earned money to see any movies that the greasy, nauseating, self-hating, self-loathing, anti-white liberal Matt Damon appears in, I have never seen the movie ‘Elysium’.

          But, from what I’ve read about it – the basic story line is sort of a futuristic ‘Camp of the Saints’ with outer space becoming a refuge for rich gringos.

          Incidentally, I believe that the virulently anti-White, anti-Western Civilization, hate filled Cultural Marxists who own and control Hollywood – have, for many years, been making movies (and TV programs) that are filled with horrific and frightening themes and scenarios that are designed to rub our noses into the nightmarish future that they have planned to foist upon us.

          I sense that ‘Elysium’ was one such attempt. Django Unchained was certainly another one.

      7. Regardless of where you go, it’s not going to be easy.

        • Not gonna be easy is correct, Confederate.

          Two things i like about Costa Rica; It has sea & mountains, and it has almost perfect year round temps. I can’t say from experience, but it appears to have plenty of fresh water availability.

          After deducting about 50% of “suitable for homsteading” land, for steep mtns., and 25% tied up in National Parks, the whole country gets smaller than the state of Rhode Island.

          With 14 volcanoes and six of those active in the last century; and, add in ten earthquakes of 5.7 or higher in that timeframe and the place could get real small in a hurry.

          But hey; if you love coffee, bananas and pineapples, and like living risky, it wouln’t be a bad place to spend the last days, sightseeing for the 840 species of birds. I don’t think constipation would be a problem either.

          We are gonna ride out the storm at the ole mtn. retreat. At least we can get clean potable water everyday, and don’t have to worry about learning a new language, or dealing with folks that may not want to barter.

          Barter is a relative term, because we won’t be advertising to have anything to barter with.
          If things get bad enough, and we have travelers coming by; we plan to offer the “friendly” (with young and/or elderly), a few meals to see them onward.

          No hanging around or camping out by anyone. We don’t even like “ourselves” all that much, and sure as hell don’t like or trust strangers.

          Trying to make new friends, can, and most likely, “will” be a fatal mistake for folks in a true SHTF situation. People that are hungry are usually on the mean side. Heck, I have severe hypoglycemia, and get mean as a striped snake, if i go more than four hours without carbs.

          I’d hate to think how mean and crazy some would get, after four days without food.

          Just sayin’
          PWTW

          • Good points. Costa Rico is NOT paradise. Just another promo for those who want to sell you real estate there and a security analysis of your new homestead. 🙁

            • Exactly, these articles are nothing more than a boiler room sells scam. I don’t blame Mac for taking on another paying client. Keeping this site up takes cash $$$$$, I just hope nobody falls for it and sells all they have for a pipe dream in a third world country.

        • Yep, Confederate, I’ll take my stan in the great South Land.

          Dum Spiro Spero
          Deo Vindice!

      8. I’m very torn. In 2008 when the crash was upon us there was ranting and raving about getting out of the stock market, save on your own, gold and silver, prep prep prep blah blah blah. So I did. Or at least I stopped contributing to the 401K and started saving on my own. Now here we are 6 years later and all that money I could have been putting away in the market would have skyrocketed my 401K. I’m 37 and taking a hard look at reality thinking – what are the REAL chances that I’ll lose everything on the market? Because the last thing I want is to have to work during my retirement.

        Sure I expect the bubble to burst, but even at that, I think it would come back before my retirement. So the only other thing on my mind is a reset, and I have to admit, I just don’t see it coming anymore. What are others doing with regard to 401K and personal savings?

        • “What are others doing with regard to 401K and personal savings?”

          – I paid the house off four years ago, which was a $1,050/month raise. I have no other debts.
          – Invested more in precious metals.

          • You will make or lose nothing but corp paper in the corps markets.

            Had you took that money and invested it in silver, water and food, you will come out of the other side a wealthy man.

            Don’t fret about the paper prices of anything. It is measured in a dying currency that in 5 years will be about as valuable as toilet paper.

            The thing is to ELIMINATE counter party risk. If you can’t hold it, and don’t have it in your possession, it is either worthless or not yours.

          • Haven’t put money into the 401k since 2008 using all the money to acquire tangibles. Land, equip. investing in my personal knowledge of gardening, canning, natural medicines, hoping to high Heaven I never need any of it. Sadly the Hope will be beaten down by the reality coming.
            Haven’t bothered to pay the mortgage off as it is just $600 with taxes and Ins. making it currently about $800. Figured it it is really bad I can’t stay there anyway let the bank have it. If it is so so bad I believe the ability to make that small sum to pay the Mortgage/Taxes is doable. Have also been buying some metals as using this requires some civilization operating in an orderly fashion. Think our “Feudal Tax system”. Near term lead and brass will buy more in trade I think oh and High Cap. mags. Figure any govt will tax gold/Silver at 90% if authority exists, or you need to save it until it has all settled down and by then we will have past on leaving it to our kids imagine. My two cents.

          • Can’t eat gold brotha… It’s all valuated on the dollar..when that collapses..what valuation will your gold have?…a BIG FAT DONUT!…mmmmmm donuttttt… Arggggggggh….

            • Makes one wonder, what is TRUE worth???

          • You are a liar you do not belong to the real world.

        • The maxim is to always buy when it’s low and sell when it’s high. So I plan to cash in my 401k soon. We like to hedge our bets, so my husband will probably keep his and I’ll sell mine – that way either way we’ll still have some money. I haven’t decided whether to leave the cash in the 401k or to close it. There are plans in the works to nationalize the 401ks and force people to invest in government bonds, which they will then devalue.

          • GET THE MONEY OUT AND IN YOUR HAND.

            Then you can use it to buy things you will need in the future when there is no standard money and commerce is not flowing smoothly.

            If you are going to sell high, better start today. If the market goes up, it is really the value of the dollars in your pocket going own.

            • Agree with GC…and important to remember…you will get a chech when you cash out. The banks can only give you quantities of cash less than 10 grand at a time otherwise you will jave to fill out forms for the IRS and the Fed explaining why you want your money. And…banks dont have that much money on hand. They must order it from Fed Res. To cash out your 401k check, depending on how much it is could take you a couple of weeks.

            • I took some of mine out and paid off the last balances of CCs and We’re putting new windows in the house. my windows are currently 150 years old and drafty as an ocean breeze. We cut our oil bill from 1800 gallons a year to 600 just by getting the wood stove. I anticipate cutting that by another 1/3. we should only have to heat the upstairs in average winters here. Oil is for our hot water as well. If we had a newer wood stove, I would consider using it to heat the water, but the system is not set up in a way that encourages that.

            • You nailed it. Right now the unsophisticated investor is being lured into the ever higher stock market by yields that are higher than bonds or money market accounts. That’s no accident. The smart money is getting out. Company insiders are heading for the door. When the next ‘downturn’ comes, people won’t be able to get their money out. The markets will lock up. The time to get out is NOW. But like warning people to start storing food, people don’t listen. Check out the VIX, people. When the VIX is low, people are totally complacent. This is where one day everything seems fine, and then you wake up the next morning and turn on the news and find out that while you were sleeping, the SHTF overseas and the US stock market will be opening 2000 points lower. If it opens at all.

              • CD, as Mongo in Blazing Saddles says “Mongo is just a pawn in the chessboard of life”…
                Ever feel like that????

              • Right. When you go to “cash out” of your stocks, who’s gonna buy them?

          • Sell both immediately. The market is headed for a crash.

            • Cashing out your 401K will suffer the 10%-15% Tax penalty. Call up your 401K administrator and tell them to move you out of all equities, and put the money in a safer fund with in the 401K plan, with no penalty. Like all in a money market fund or fixed bonds for a few percent. Anybody in equities still going long right now is a fool. Pigs get slaughtered. The last 2 years in gains were a massive gift.

              • Well , you can pay 25% penalty now or collect 100% of nothing later. If it’s written on paper, it’s worth the paper it’s written on!

              • If its really your money, why is there a penalty for withdrawing it? Anne Barnhardt is right. If you can’t stand over it with a rifle, you don’t own it.

          • Wall Street is one massive pump and dump

        • I know what you mean about: “what if I had kept all that in the market and invested all that I wasted over the past forty-five years”.

          I spent most of my fortune on whores and alcohol, the rest i wasted.

          • So, you lived a life of sin and you’re proud of it??? You should know what the wages of sin are.

            • i see you are ignorant about being a christian, Barn Cat.

              i never said i was “proud” of any of my mistakes.

              But, as a christian, i sin in some capacity, everyday.

              What sets me apart from some so-called christians is the fact that as of right now; I am sin free, and there is nothing held against me in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. Why?

              Because, i just asked for forgiveness for all my sins. No record in my “book of life”.

              What about you?

              The old saying holds true once again.

              Keep your mouth shut about what you don’t know the truth of and be considered a fool; or open it and remove all doubt.

              PWTW

              • Can I get an Amen!

          • WC Fields quote, let’s be sure and give credit.

        • My retirement plans are diversified.

          On the investment side, I’m self employed and I have a self administered IRA through Charles Schwab . I’m not too educated of an investor and I don’t have the time or desire to become one either. I keep it simple, a few stocks and some mutual funds and I don’t really watch them that closely. What I do have though is a stop loss placed on everything and I update it as their prices rise. The MFs are not the best but they pay a dividend and it’s reinvested. I haven’t been buying stocks or mutual funds other than the dividend reinvestment. I contribute something every month to the money market portion of the account and I’ll buy when there’s a market correction.

          On the home front, I’ve been transforming my one and a quarter acre home to a homestead with gardens, solar, hand pump well, small farm animals, fruit and nut trees and a work shop with a forge.

          Non investment finance, I’ve been working on paying off all debt, I have a about 4 more years to go before my home is paid off. I keep a credit card for business. By the time I retire I’ll have been debt free for a while.

          Personally, I’ve been learning new skills that uses low tech, can be don’t here at home and is satisfying and can be used to barter or for selling at a saturday market. Cheese making, sausage making, blacksmithing, growing and drying medicinal and tea herbs.
          I’ve also been learning to play the guitar, I’ll be able to sit on the street corner with an open guitar case and be a troubadour for tips.

          Health wise, I quit drinking, don’t smoke, I exercise, eat mostly home cooked meals from ingredients that we grew, raised, fished, hunted, foraged or bartered for. What I do buy from the store is along the line of toiletries, cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, seasonings, cooking oils, bulk legumes, rice and flour.

          Tightwad side, my vehicles are paid for, the newest one is a 1998 dodge truck, I will spend 6 grand to repower it, paint and upholstery before I’d buy a new rig. When I want something the first place I look is craigslist, if it’s there then I will try to barter or make a lower offer. The money I save by not buying new goes to making us debt free which is in my retirement plans. When I do buy new, I pay cash, it has to be quality and I look at labels, I try not to buy anything with a made in china label, it’s not easy though.

          • Rick in Oregon;
            Judging from where you fish out of and a lot of your comments I think I am probably a fairly close neighbor of yours. I too make sausage, garden extensively, hunt, raise domestic animals for butcher etc. We must be a little older because I am retired and my wife is close. We have done pretty well but are hedging bets. I’m guessing you are west of Portland. We have probably flipped each other off in traffic. Just Kidding. Last year I read one of your posts about picking chantrelles and po-poo’ed it. Then went out in the woods next morning and lo and behold, there they were. Keep up the good work. All Oregonians are not commies!

          • My retirement plan is quite simple, requires no cash an I will collect immediately upon death…FAITH. Because I will be working on this Earth until the day I die…..merely to survive….”deep heartfelt sigh”

            • Thats my plan,,,
              No choice, but am good with it.

            • The current concept of retirement is an anomoly in human history.

        • Everyone who got out in late 2008 and stayed out is regretting it.

          • God do you have that right. I will never be a gambler and it cost me in that case!

      9. More bad advise .

        • more bad advice ? YOU betcha !
          My favorite line :
          “Every country in Latin America has a lot of Marxists and people who hate Americans—and many of them are in academia, the press and the bureaucracies”

          Just tap yer toes and say , theres no place like home……..theres no place like home……
          GEE , it sounds JUST like home.

      10. With the whole world seemingly going down the tubes, I am hard-pressed to believe there is any truly safe country to go to. I could see a life outside the big cities being an improvement for a while.

      11. Here’s a old one for everyone…
        Enjoy

        Never
        Choke in a restaurant in the Country

        Two
        hillbillies walk into a bar. While having a shot of whisky, they talk about
        their moonshine operation.

        Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is
        eating a sandwich, begins to cough. And, after a minute or so, it becomes
        apparent that she is in real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and
        says, ‘Kin ya swallar?’

        The woman shakes her head no.

        Then he
        asks, ‘Kin ya breathe?’

        The woman begins to turn blue and shake s her
        head no.

        The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress,
        yanks down her drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his
        tongue. The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm and the obstruction
        flies out of her mouth. As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks
        slowly back to the bar.

        His partner says, ‘Ya know, I’d heerd of that
        there ‘Hind Lick
        Maneuver’
        but I ain’t niver seed nobody do it!’

        • If there’s lick er in the front, there’s poke er in the rear.

      12. Any ‘global’ reset will be hard anywhere. We are trying to demonstrate that food trumps bullets (well at least for a period of time…) and that you must be able to grow food year round with minimal resources. Any warm and wet climate (at the right elevation) makes for a great place to grow food. In Costa Rica you do give up some of the security element but may fair better than some places in CONUS when the food riots/water wars arrive.

        Yes, you can use alternative energy to grow food in year round greenhouses in the middle of a Montana snow storm, we know that. But a drink on the beach may beat that for some folks.

        Either way, it’s really about exploring and finding what region and locale makes you happy. Hiding in the woods for doomsday is not what a Strategic Relocation is about, it’s all about finding a place where you can Thrive.

        • I can thrive anywhere because I can do WHATEVER is necessary to adapt. I prefer the desert foothills because few people can survive there.

          I can. 🙂

          • DK, you are correct about adapting, in any situation. I can walk into aparty, and by the end of the night, can make friends with most with humor, just another adoption…

            • I hate spell check!!!

              • “adaptation” 🙂

      13. Anybody have a water-pumping windmill? I bought a used one to restore and install on my well, in addition to my submerged 220 v. demand pump. Any tips for a newbie to windmills?

        • The only windmills I know anything about, kept the troughs full of water for the cows…

          • Everyone should own at least ONE wind turbine. Make it yourself (see Google videos), or try Southwest Wind Power in Flagstaff. They make a really good one.

            I have no connection to the company. 🙂

            • DK,

              Thanks for your reply, I know you are a fellow Arizonan from some of your previous posts. I did some research a couple months ago on the “Northern AZ Wind and Sun” website, but I had already invested in the windmill. If it seems like too much work, I may sell it and go with a solar well pump. Decisions, decisions…

              SSS

              • SSS: Here’s the link. SWWP has been purchased. I didn’t know that. 🙂

                http://www.windenergy.com/

        • For all I have been able to research on the old timey windmills, like seen in the Old West movies; to get something dependable and repairable in a SHTF situation, you probably will need to spend five or six grand on one. and that doesn’t include access hole to water and support foundation for the tower.

          A good location that gets enough wind would be a “must”.

          Otherwise, put your $$$ into a solar powered pump,batteries, and a good reservoir tank. Another investment of five to ten grand for something big enough to supply all your needs, including water for irrigating the garden and watering the livestock.

          • 3S,go to builditsolar if you have not already,they have a section on just water pumping windmills,also try mother earth for info.

            • Warchild,

              Thanks for the tip. I checked builditsolar, and they had great info and more links.

              Thanks again!
              SSS

              • Shovel,glad you like the site,has good stuff/projects from build it from your scraps to buy it all and just attach,check out mother earth to as has some good old time(tested/simple/proved)projects for self reliance/sufficiency,tis why I love this and other good sites,exchanging info that is helpful,along with a few laughs!

          • I will probably have about $2k in it by the time I’m done, depending on if I need to hire any help or not. I researched solar set-ups, but I had already bought the windmill. It will be a fun project anyway, and picturesque as hell if nothing else

        • SSS’
          Did you get a vintage Aeromotor? Neat stuff. Did you get a tower for same? I have wanted one forever and just keep putting it off as they get more expensive have been told that they can pull water up from incredible depths, although not quickly. Please post the type of unit you purchased and what was included. I’m sure you will get some feedback on how to proceed. Where are you located approx. and what is ambient wind as a rule?
          Now this is the kind of shit people should be talking about!

          • Skeptic,
            I bought a vintage Dempster 10′ annu-oil #12 from a friend. It needs some work, but they are still in business and have parts available. I still need the in-well pump, rods, and tower. My neighbor seems to have a line on a used tower for me; I have to talk to him again. I live in the Sonoran desert in AZ. I think there is plenty wind, but I do not yet have a way to quantify it. I know of several working windmills within 15 miles of me, mostly for cattle water. I got the itch after reading an article in Backwoods Home magazine detailing the “wind pump and elec. pump in the same well” set-up and decided I wanted to try it. I figure I can get through anything as long as I’ve got water and a little shade! I am also going to build a small swamp cooler that will run off 12 v. charged by solar panels. Should be fun.

        • We had a hand pump well when I was a kid. Works well if the water is not too deep.

          • John,as I have mentioned before there are a fair amount of hand pumps that easily beat the 300′ rise,a bit pricey in the 3-5 hundred range but then we are talking waterBison comes to mind but expensive,are others out there that are good for less.

          • John,as I have mentioned before there are a fair amount of hand pumps that easily beat the 300′ rise,a bit pricey in the 3-5 hundred range but then we are talking water.Bison comes to mind but expensive,are others out there that are good for less.

      14. Whenever word gets out, prices go up.

      15. It sounds like in a crisis it could be even worse than here. The only advantage may be if you’re on a roundup list. And I’ve heard they will have international cooperation in the roundup, and “everyone” knows where the gringo lives.

      16. Many have said all that needs to be said about “Escaping” to a foreign location. It is simplistic thinking to assume as a “Refugee” you will be safe in a Global reset scenario while hiding out in a foreign land.
        I was Born here, know the customs, geography, know much of the bug and creatures that are dangerous, much of the edibles and will die here, when that happens maybe one of you will get my weapon all I ask is use the dam thing!

      17. A friend from Brazil told me that in times of crisis, people who lived in remote areas with no neighbors were often attacked by marauders and tortured until they told them where their food or whatever was hidden. That will probably happen here too.

        • yep ..definetly
          thats why I want to be in a country where my guns will make them think twice about it

          and if they are too stupid to think of that outcome ..than im one step ahead of them and the surprise will be on them when they think whats mine is theirs

          • It’s much easier to bury things, where there isn’t a lot of concrete and asphalt…

          • VRF:
            Took out the Nagant this afternoon.
            I took your advise. Had some 203 gr. and I think 175 or 180’s, and some 147/150 gr.
            The 203 kicked but the lighter bullets didn’t hardly kick at all.
            I like the 147Gr FMJs they shot very well, Has some 150Gr. soft points and they shot great very accurate less that a one inch group at 75 yards. Would make a great Deer or Pig round.
            THANKS FOR THE ADVISE!!!!
            Sgt.

            • Sweet
              Sounds like a perfect food tool to me
              Were you using the iron sites?

              • VRF
                yes I was impressed!!! To say the least.
                Thanks again for the advise.
                Sgt.

        • Isolation is a double-eged sword.

      18. Obama’s Relocation plans for the illegals…

        Why isn’t Obama sending illegals to states with vulnerable Dems?

        “Tens of thousands of teenagers and families from Central America have poured into Texas, drawn by the Obama administration’s lax enforcement policies. There should be an emergency response to this unprecedented crisis, featuring military backup, tent cities, expedited processing and uncompromising rhetoric.

        Instead, the illegal immigrants are simply being released into the United States with a summons to appear in immigration court. The majority will ignore the summons with impunity, but it allows them to reside and travel here legally until the court date, leading to its being nicknamed a “permiso,” or permit.

        The administration’s frivolous approach to the deluge is clear from a recent request for an extra $3.7 billion to address it. The majority of funds would go NOT TO ENFORCEMENT but to efforts at RESETTLING the illegal aliens in the United States.”

        “That concern is being expressed by ordinary citizens in their communities. Residents of Murrieta, Calif., were the first to act, blocking buses to prevent the relocation of illegal immigrants from the Texas border.

        Virtually the entire town of Lawrenceville, Va., came to a community meeting on relocating illegal-immigrant juveniles there, causing the federal government to back off. Similar resistance has happened in Vassar, Mich.; Oracle, Ariz.; Greece, N.Y.; Escondido, Calif.; and elsewhere.

        The story isn’t over in those communities, where illegal immigrants have already been relocated. Come September, thousands of illegal-alien “minors” (many of them adults lying about their age) will be entering unprepared public schools, creating a new wave of outrage.”

        “Perhaps one particular decision by the White House highlights how concerned the administration is about public reaction: As of now, not a single illegal-alien detainee seems to have been sent to Louisiana or Arkansas, the states bordering Texas that are closest to the site of the border deluge.

        This is no accident. Those two states have Democratic senators up for re-election who are vulnerable enough to lose, but who might still be able to prevail. The White House appears to have decided not to send any illegals there to avoid the potential for political damage.”
        – Washington Times

        • New Obama rule could FORCE cities to house illegals

          “Regulation fits perfectly in line with promise to transform America.”

          “The Obama administration, in July 2013, quietly introduced a new regulation that critics say will dramatically increase Washington’s power over local zoning laws in every city and town that accepts federal block grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

          “Some say the new rule will lead to “racial quotas” and will be exploited by HUD to aggressively absorb the nation’s swelling population of illegal immigrants into communities that are trying to keep them out.”

          http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/new-obama-rule-could-force-cities-to-house-illegals/

          • I fully expect him to decree that people give up their homes or take these parasites in and care for them.

        • WE can make a difference. Be loud. Be foul. Be obnoxious. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

          “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” -Barry Goldwater

          Engage these MFRS or be over run with foreign nationals that YOU must subsidize at the tune of $1000.00 per day! Kill the FED.

          Death to the New World Order!!! 🙂

          • When tyranny becomes law….
            ….Rebellion becomes Duty.

            Thomas Jefferson

        • I gotta say, having lived there, that Lawrenceville, for it’s small size, really stepped up to the plate! kudos, Lawrenceville! proud of ya! Now, if you could just get the literacy rate in Brunswick County back up to 90% or so, I’d consider moving back…..

      19. Shit, just move down to the Tex/Mex border and you’re there.

        • Maybe I can match eppe?

          A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE hits Mexico . Two million Mexicans die and over a
          million are injured. The country is totally ruined and the government
          doesn’t know where to start and is asking for help to rebuild. The rest of
          the world is in shock.

          Canada is sending troopers to help the Mexican army control the riots.
          Saudi
          Arabia is sending oil. Other Latin American countries are sending
          supplies.

          The European community is sending food and money.

          The United States , not to be outdone, is sending two million Mexicans to
          replace the dead ones.

          • They should’ve at least made it a “two’fer”…

            • Six, know what you mean. Here is one of my favs from Ron White on how to deal with what is going on now…
              Enjoy.

              h t tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO5EFYY6P14

              I have always thought that we should just make them part of us, but what do I know???

      20. I see these types of articles about leaving the country to *survive*, and It makes me think of all the various nationalities that I work with/come across everyday. Several of these people are fun to talk and kid around with.
        All have a variety of reasons that they left their birth country,and some actively think and behave in ways that try to mimic and change this country into what the left from.
        The jist of my post here is that I look at all of these people as cowards. They all claim to love their country..but damned if they will risk a thing to try and make things better. Easier to run away. It`s gotten to the point I see immigrants, and refugees especially, and coward is the first word comes to mind. And yes, for Americans that bail on America, I`ll think the same. Do what you feel you must, but Never let me hear how you love your country when you run away.Your actions, like those of people I`m around, say differently.Only time will tell if I have made much difference in life, but I will not run,and oh so many things I will NOT obey in any form.

        • These U.S.Corporations that have used this country and resources to create all their wealth and are now bailing out to foreign lands to avoid paying U.S. taxes, should be banned completely doing any more business in the US. Then confiscate their land and buildings for back taxes, and give it all to new upstart growing business to stay here,to hire Americans especially for manufacturing. These traitor corporation should be punished severely to set an example of what not to do.

      21. I’m going to stay in Montana.

        • Shoot they will rob you there.

      22. Trust me
        you can run
        but you cant hide
        all of this is short term..globalization will catch up with you no matter where you run, along with a ton of other wrong shit with this world

        I have too much patriotism to walk away from my country and what it should be, Ill die on my feet fighting for whats right and my republic that i want back and am willing to fight for.

        Sorry this American is staying an American and im going to do my best to make these bastards pay if they step to me
        sorry ..just how I roll
        no bravado no thumping chest..this is how my blood runs in my veins and i cant do shit about it

        sure I like to travel , I like to visit other areas , hell my lovely wife is from SA, Peru’ ..we love it there, but obviously she came here because there sucked( to a certain degree)..Im going to stay up until they park my ass under a granite stone , or throw my dust across the Appalachia
        Im not proud of my government , but I dam sure am proud of my country and the real people in it that make it great.
        were gonna beat this , but there is going to be suffering , its just the way it is, Ill go down fighting thank you very much

        • VRF, my sentiments exactly.

        • My wife’s father was from Peru also, so I can relate…

      23. Retiring In Costa Rica: The Dream And The HARSH HARD Reality

        The Dungans retreated back to the states, two years after their misadventure began, losing their home and their investment. They came to Costa Rica with a shipping container full of their possessions and with hearts full of hopes for the good life. They left Costa Rica with just whatever they could fit into four suitcases.

        http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/may/30/retiring-costa-rica-dream-and-reality/

        puff

        • Costa Rico is NOT paradise. 🙁

          • Paradise was Southern California up until about 1980.

        • The only country to even consider in South America is Chile.

      24. I said it last weekend in response to “strategic location” article and will again.Home state a out of control govt.,left,will draw line in sand and go no further!I have family considering out of country and though respect that decision how ever they go am done running.I have my back up against the wall,well,won’t be for a firing squad.I really have nothing to lose and as a cornered rabid weasel may die but will take a few to the rock with me,till then will enjoy today,finished my few preps for tomorrow already.

      25. amerikan expats are fleeing costa rica with only what they can carry for a reason.

        there are better places to live cheaply off the beaten track stateside.

        puff

      26. When they take your guns,home,belongings,money family and everything be a true Christian and turn to the Bible for guidance not in terms of forgiveness that we can leave up to Jesus but more like the guidance of Moses and pick up a rock and bash in their skull and then flee to the wilderness to fight another day

      27. What about gun ownership in Costa Rica?

        I’m still thinking when the collapse comes its going to be global. I would rather be on terrain that I know, than terrain that I don’t know

        • I don’t know about gun ownership in Costa Rica; but, they have banned/outlawed sport hunting.

          How would one get a small artillery into the country?

        • The only country in South Amerika that allows citizens to have firearms, is Chile…but that will change soon.?

          • I retract my statement on Chile being the only SA country allowing its citizens to own guns. Others do, but with such stringent requirements and compliance that make it repressive for the average citizen to own a firearm let alone renewal fees for having one. Here is a link
            http://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-gun-laws-latin-america%E2%80%99s-six-largest-economies
            All theses countries have gun registry as a requirement…and we know what gun registry does.

      28. From my experience, it is better to stay mobile and global. Don’t fix to one country since there are too many variables to control. This may seem crude but I think you should pick a country where the women are beautiful. Life is nothing without the simple daily pleasures and women play a big role in that. Even if you are well past it and uninterested in sex, seeing many young, beautiful women around is just that little extra joy that makes life worthwhile.

        There are countries where things may be cheap but the women are in shackles or just butt ugly. I wouldn’t go there.

        Most of Asia is very good. Parts of Africa can be good, the Middle East is very problematic, Latin America has great places in parts, Europe is good all over. Make your plans based on that.

        • Really Frank, seriously.

          “This may seem crude”…

          It was.

        • Michigan has some of the ugliest women I have ever seen. Quebec city has an inordinate share of hotties, as does the old USSR. You are right about Asian girls, but only while they are young.

          • The only fucking your gonna get is one in the head

          • My travels have shown me the following to be true: all of Asia is packed with beautiful women and the obesity crisis has not hit there that badly. Asia is very good. As for the rest of the world, you have to be careful because of the obesity crisis and pick places where women still have self-respect. Parts of Latin America are amazing (Argentina, Chile) but other parts have been hit badly by the obesity crisis (Central America). Africa is also a mixed bag: some places amazing; others hit badly by the obesity crisis and like getting on the Number 10 bus in Detroit.

            Most of Europe – east and west – is good apart from the UK, which is full of some of the most disgusting women in Europe. In North America, go to Canada, which has a very mixed population and many beautiful women and also go to the Nordic countries. And finally, Australia is amazing and highly recommended.

      29. Maybe I missed it but what about owning firearms? Last I knew it was very difficult to own guns here, so IMHO , this country sucks.

        • You can own a slingshot there. As in most of these foreign country only Nationals can own firearms.

        • The US is just about the only civilized nation where the peons are allowed to buy firearms legally over the counter and use same. All you idiots thinking about bugging out overseas better think twice. Most of you sound like spoiled little children having a tantrum. If you cannot make it in the country you and your parents were born in them maybe you are the problem.

      30. This article’s information on legal residency requirements and rent costs are years out of date. The author should be more careful about the currency of his facts.

        Thst said, Costa Rica has been great for us for the past nine years. We live in the mountains outside Grecia where the climate is better than that of Atenas regardless what some say.

        • Mexico 13 Pesos to the $1 Dollar. You can get a huge Steak dinner for $5.

      31. If you were to cook 2 cups of rice every other day in an emergency situation how much rice do you really need for 1 year?
        The results:
        5 lbs. of rice = 12 cups
        183 days (365/2) x 2 cups of rice cooked each of those days = 366 cups of rice
        Divided by 12 cups in a 5 lb. bag
        = 31 total (5 lbs. bags or 155 lbs. of rice)
        How much water would be needed?
        If you cook rice 1:2 cups water you’d have to have 732 cups of water to cook 366 cups of rice which is 46 gallons of water… just for the rice!

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • Thanks River Rat. Puttin that in my emergence book.

        • 2-1/2 Cups of water for every cup of rice.

        • RR
          Thanks for the advise.
          Who is the moron that gave you a thumbs down?
          Sgt.

        • RR,
          I grew up on rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and for an active young person, one cup of rice a day is not enough carbohydrates. Our estimate was about two cups a day per person. Some times even more! Rice stores very well when kept dry and sealed. It should be rotated, consumed and replaced. It is easy to cook, even in very harsh environments, if you have water and some source of heat to bring water to a boil. We grew our rice and so it was a readily renewable source of food. Rice planting requires water either from rain or from irrigation. Harvesting and milling rice needs to be done under dry conditions and is an operation in itself. Supplemented with beans, lentils, corn, and other vegetables, you can live quite well.

          • LA, my wife makes a killer beans and rice, and marinates red onions in red vinegar to put on them afterwards. With some garlic bread, your tounge will beat the top of your head to get to it….

            • eppe, I would like to try it someday! By the way, your anecdotes are the best!

              I always take rice with me when I go camping. It is as compact as it gets and cooks easy. A little salt, pepper, or Tony Chachere to spice up what you can find/catch in the wilds is all you need. Everything else is extra. The orange lentils prepare easy and quick and add protein to the diet. In a bind you can even cook it with the rice.

              • LA, thanks, this place gets tooo racial and backbiting to me, hence the reason I post jokes…
                Take 1lb+- of pinto beans in a crock pot, cook 6-8 hours, saute garlic, bacon fat, salt, onoins and olive oil for 6-10 minutes, add to the beans and take a potato masher and mash all together and let cook for another hour or more. Do the rice separate. First time she made this I was hooked. My daughters can cook like this too. I have told them often,’the way to a man’s heart is thru his stomach’…

                • Pepe, Thanks for the recipe. Will try it out and let you know. We often eat Pinto beans cooked with smoked meat (ham, turkey, etc.) You have given the best advice to your daughters! There husbands/families will be lucky!

        • So basically your telling me I need more rice. Shit… math never was my strongest subject.

      32. I didn’t care for Costa Rica or any of the other countries in central America that I visited. I saw why they were coming north…they wanted out of that swamp too. I’ll stay here make in the mountains of Va. You don’t mess with us mountain people!

      33. No Knead Bread
        6 cups flour,
        1 TBS yeast, I used 2 packets,
        1 TBS salt.
        3 cups of room temp water.
        Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly and then mix in 3 cups of room temp water. That’s it; you will have a sticky, stringy batter type conglomeration that sort of reminds you of a sourdough mother. I mixed mine in a 5 quart plastic ice cream container (empty of course) so it didn’t stick to the sides. Cover with a dish towel and let set for 8 to 24 hours. I let mine go the full 24 hours and it had a very nice sour smell too it. At the end of the wait, 8-24 hours, pour out into a greased glass or ceramic bowl that is oven proof. Cover and let sit for another 1 hour, then pop into a 375 preheated oven for a minimum of 45 minutes or until golden brown.
        Garlic Bread:
        Added 1 TBS of garlic powder, I believe 1-1/2 TBS would be even better, but it made a nice garlic bread that was not overpowering. However, I have noticed that if you do use more than the 3 cups of water, your bread can be a little doughier when done and perhaps another 15 minutes baking time would help with that.

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • You can smell that bread baking for 2 miles. I don’t plan on cooking anything smelly for about 2 months after SHTF. After that, over half of the population will be dead. You might be able to cook your bread, and other great smelling foods after that time period. Good luck.
          PS: Don’t think because you live in the middle of nowhere that nobody can smell your food cooking. I can walk outside and smell a fire burning 5 miles away.

          • Agreed…
            Be quite, odorless and unseen… two months sounds about right…maybe a little longer…

            • What makes you so sure that you will be one of the still alive ones?

              • Great question John,
                Who are you… 🙂
                As I’ve stated and eluded to in past posts…
                I don’t know…
                But do have the same knowledge and skill set as my pursuers… Are you one?

                And besides, I slept in a Holiday Inn more than once… 🙂

                Just a little anecdotal thought…
                I’ve been teaching some of that “skill set” to friends and family…
                They’re all now knowledgeable, to varying degree’s, in/of “situational awareness” and just how important it is.
                However, they still need more time…I just hope there’s enough.
                For obvious reasons I’m not going to get into the curriculum/means & methods.

            • I hate misspelling words…guess which one… 🙂

              • jerry, I didn’t find the misspelled word, but perhaps we would be the right group of people for you to share your survival curriculum. I am always open to learning. There is so much to learn!

                • Sorry Eagle…

                  You can only learn so much from a book…
                  This blog is essentially one…

                  If I remember correctly, you’re an attorney…yes?
                  I’m sure you know “people”…just ask them how important awareness of your surroundings are when you’re trying to evade…
                  The next time you go into a courtroom count how many red and blue ties your colleagues are wearing…
                  Then the next time how many different shades of red and blue…then vary the exercise to include and exclude any number of criteria you can think of beforehand.

                  See my point? You can only learn so much from reading.

                  The misspelling was really a typo…fat fingers…

                  Quiet, not quite what I wanted to type… 🙂

                  Godspeed to all.

                  • There’s only one word in the English language that is always misspelled.

                  • jerry, Thanks. I could’ve been an attorney but I chose to be a physician instead. I once had great visions of ‘helping’ people but multiple doses of reality have tempered my view. I discovered late, that, tyrannical governments did more to harm and kill innocent people and tear up society than any pestilence or epidemic I have faced in my life time.

                    A priest once told me that a lot of health and well-being issues get better when people get right with God. Through the years, I have concluded that he was absolutely right.

                    I do agree with your thesis that there is just so much you can learn from a book. In the medical field we are submitted to years of internships, residencies, and fellowships with the idea of exposing us to real life situations. Lack of situational awareness in dangerous circumstances can jeopardize life and limb. The prepared mind, the trained person is more likely to respond appropriately in a difficult situation or in unexpected situations. Enough said. God Bless you too.

                    Louisiana Eagle

        • Bannock Bread Recipe In a Ziplock Bag Mix

          2 – Cups of Flour
          1 – Cup of Buttermilk
          1 – Tablespoon Baking Powder
          ½ -Tablespoon Baking Soda
          1 – Teaspoon Salt
          ½ Teaspoon of Sugar
          2 – Tablespoons of Bacon Grease

          •Mix ingredients in a zip lock bag, mix and twist till mixed, stretch over a Green debarked Stick over a camp fire, rotate till cooked.

          Let er’ Rip!!

      34. It would sure be nice to make those coming here invest $50,000 in a business or have $1,000 a month in residual income!

      35. Many countries have made their entrance/immigration/retirement requirements a lot more stringent. Moving to another country can take years.

        And… Canada has an agreement with the United States that we will not accept any American “refugees” when the American economy collapses. The Canada/US border will be closed and will probably be done so instantaneously. The American government will make you a prisoner in your own country, once SHTF you will not be going anywhere.

        • Yeah I bet when SHTF, there will be road blocks all over the country. Not let you in certain cities or areas, unless you have a valid proof you live there. That’s what they do for mandatory evacuations for Hurricanes here in Florida, mostly to stop looters.

      36. Anyone who leaves the U.S. is a COWARD!

        • Only COWARDS would thumb this post down

      37. I found something very interesting.

        A Cooler That Uses Dirt to Keep Your Beers Cool
        (But think bigger)

        Created by Demark-based eCool, the “earth cooler” is installed underground in your backyard and uses the deep soil under it to keep your favorite beverages chilled to perfection. No ice or electricity required.

        http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235161

        • 53 degrees is not what i consider to be, “a cold beverage”.
          Especially when it comes to beer, or my milk. Ice cold 1% milk will be one of the hardest things for me to give up. An ice cold cup of milk and a piece of chocolate cake at night; sleep like a baby.

          Wine may be OK at that temp.

          • I was thinking about the concept for keeping perishables for longer in hot weather, by keeping them coolER than room temp.

            Gotta give you a thumbs up, just for the chocolate cake and milk…

          • Yuk, 1%. Milk from a strained tit. Whole milk for me and I’d eat the cream on top if I could still get it.

            • I buy my milk from the Amish neighbor. Ice cold and two bucks a gallon. I pour one gallon into a glass sun tea container with the spout at the bottom. When it separates, I drain the milk out the bottom and save the cream. Makes the BEST home made ice cream and real butter.

            • Exactly. I consider “pasturized” and “homogenized” supermarket milk in the same category as “roadkill” – it’s dead and tasteless. Why do you think they keep adding vitamins and other chemical crap back into it?

      38. 7-20 on the horizon.

        • Tomorrow will tell…

          • Suns up. Six a.m. here. Electric is still on, got salted mackerel simmering on the stove in my ‘ol cast iron skillet, biscuits in the oven. Gonna have a fine breakfast. Maybe a bank holiday tomorrow?

            • I hear ya, PO’d, P.

              Fish for breakfast? When i tell people we used to have fish for breakfast, they get all puke faced.

              I spent about half my summers for five years,when i was a kid, staying with Grandpa and grandma and working on the farm and orchards. No pay basically, just a dollar each week. but, could eat all we could hold.

              We started at sun-up and worked till about 8:30 and then came in for a nation of a breakfast. Grandma always had three or four different types of meat and at least three days a week, she fixed fried perch.

              Golden brown and crispy off the old wood cookstove.
              Fish and scrambled eggs go good together.

              Bowls full of gravy,eggs,grits and cat-head biscuits. Plenty of molasses,honey, and cooked apples with cinnamon and brown sugar.

              • Mmmmmm. Sounds like the kinda meal we had when we “done-up” hogs. When dinner time( some folks call it lunch) rolled around the women always had the table full of roast beef or chicken, gravy, taters, biscuits or rolls, string beans cooked down with a piece of fresh pork, and dessert. Then when the men got done and went back to work the women would sit down to eat. This went on for four days. Sunday was clean up day. My fish for breakfast went much like yours. On Sunday my Dad and I would go up to Nan and Pop’s house (his parents) and the mackerel would already be simmering and the table all laid out with fresh cantaloupe, coffee, biscuits and jam. My son, daughter and wife don’t eat salt mackerel and can’t fathom how I can eat even cold leftover fish for breakfast from the night before.
                I just laugh at them.

              • Fish and grits! Shrimp and grits! Damn, I’m glad I live in Charleston!

          • eppe

            It’s now 1048 est 7/20/2104 here on Cape Cod and all is well

            Guess we’ll wait til 11;59;59 and see if anything tilts by then..

            My prediction..

            zero zipnada..

            possee

            • posse, with you on that, more DOOM PORN, and I really do not put much faith in what I read, maybe some, but not much, just was commenting on what has been said before.
              Still wished I had a crystal ball, even if just saw the future 24 hours ahead. Wow, what could be done, hit lotto a few times, money problems solved.
              Here in Jawja all is well also, but the day is still young, don’t get me wrong, just stating that we really cannot predict the future and Israel could sling a few nukes in all directions, and this world could change tomorrow. And you are correct, probally nothing will happen.
              Hope for the best, prepare for the worst….

              Does everyone realize how great it is to be able to come here and vent???

            • Go get a styper or a blue,have a cookout!Hmmmm…,perhaps even visit kids in N.H. and decide to bail on Mass!Me mum lives on the rock so if it all doesn’t fall apart will visit during the fishing/hunting season,they just blend right into one another,vittles if you are willing to work for em!

      39. I lived in Canada 8 years while married to a dual American/Canadian citizen.
        Although I enjoyed it much, my status stayed as a permanent resident till I returned to the states.

        I never applied for citizenship.
        Had no intention to swear allegiance to another country.
        This is the place of my birth.

        I will never live anywhere else.
        Appalachia is my home and I understand the culture here.

        This Republic is where I shall stand.
        To live free or die.
        We must stand for her against all enemies.

        God bless us all in these troubling times.

        Not One More Mission!

        • Amen

      40. WTH would you want to move to Costa Rico for? They described all the corruption, especial pricing for the gringo. I’m trying to get away from the brown wave. Last thing i would do is move to the source.

        • rednek101,
          Best most sensible post of the day.

      41. As far as ‘relocation’ to another country…there are many other factors to consider besides the ones covered by the Author.

        1. Does the location allow private weapons ownership? Not talking about civil war era relics either. Modern semi-autos and hi-powered bolt action rifles. What about pistols? Reloading? You get the drift. If the country does *not* allow it now, chances are it won’t in the near future either. Next.

        2. Potential for Tsunami/Volcanoes/Earthquakes? Face it, when your number is up, it’s up. If the aforementioned events were to occur, not much you can do on an island. Miles of real estate to escape across are not an option.

        3. Food/ Natural Resources/ Employment. You know…the basics. Are your skillsets inline with the country you have chosen? If not you may need to rethink that one.

        4. Stability. This of course if a rapidly changing dynamic around the world, so it may be a matter of time where nowhere is ‘stable’.

        When I add it all up, the U.S.A. is still my home and I’ll fight to the death to protect it from all enemies foreign or domestic. I’m not ‘relocating’, running away or bugging out.
        TPTB, the U.N. and the ‘Elites’ would *love* to see us all pack up, scatter and try to relocate, find utopia, etc… but I’m doing the opposite:
        I’m going to stand my ground and shout MOLON LABE! If just half the US does the same… we will prevail.

      42. H O W T O B E A T S W A T
        To enforce his reign of tyranny, the oppressor relies on SSG and SWAT. SSG stands for Surveillance Specialist Group — that’s spy talk for a surveillance team. SWAT stand for Special Weapons and Tactics — that’s doubletalk for a paramilitary death-squad.
        Over the years, SSG and SWAT have gone by many different names. But a goon by any name is still a goon. Up to now, the lethal combination of SSG and SWAT has proven disastrous for underground activists and their movements in the USA.
        Is SWAT effective? Yes.
        Does it get results? Absolutely.
        Is SWAT invincible? No.
        Despite their massive firepower and use of brute force, SWAT teams have weakness that can be exploited. A typical SWAT element is composed of five people — a Team Leader, a Scout, a Backup, and two Assaulters.
        The Team Leader is the most experienced of the five. He is the nerve center and tactical command of the team. The Team Leader is in direct voice-contact with the other four members of the SWAT element, who each wear a hands-free UHF transponder with an earpiece and a throat-vibration microphone.
        The Scout performs on-scene reconnaissance. The Backup carries a 12-guage riot shotgun. He provides security for the Scout. The two Assaulters each carry Heckler & Koch 9mm MP-5 submachine guns. All members of the SWAT element usually carry handguns, often a .45 or 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
        SWAT members often wear balaclavas for the purpose of intimidating suspects and bystanders. The balaclava also keeps them anonymous — this is handy because they reside in the same communities whose citizens they execute. SWAT members wear military helmets and bullet-resistant body-armor. These guys are goons in the true sense of the word. They’ll kill you and go for lunch five minutes later. It’s nothing to them. Because of their myopic training, they figure the solution to every problem is massive application of force, preferably lethal.
        Once it’s arrived on the scene, SWAT never withdraws. In a typical call-out, the SWAT element is reinforced by duty police officers who form a containment perimeter at a distance from the suspect’s location. Police snipers may also be present. More than one SWAT element may be on the scene. A Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) is often mustered. CNT is somewhat of a misnomer, because their actual role is to obtain intelligence for an assault by SWAT — and to fatally distract the suspect in the moments preceding the assault. Ambulance and Fire personnel are also usually deployed.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #1 — LACK OF MOBILITY. Their combat gear prevents them from sprinting long distances in pursuit of a suspect fleeing on foot.
        A number of suspects have escaped in exactly this scenario. This is the reason behind the containment perimeter. The regular cops pin you inside the “holding pen” while the SWAT goons methodically stalk you and then dispatch you, preferably from behind.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #1 — If you know the terrain, you’ll often be able to beat the containment ring. The cops on the perimeter cover the escape routes and checkpoints. The ring has gaps you can exploit. The cops seldom cover hidden routes that the only the local residents know about.
        Do your homework. Gather accurate intelligence. And rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #2 — THEY DON’T THINK. Their training has ingrained them with the mindset that the solution to every situation is force.
        SWAT is not motivated or inclined to negotiate or compromise. And they never withdraw.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #2 — Plan your operation so that political considerations and/or public relations are more attractive to the authorities than a lethal resolution of the crisis by SWAT.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #3 — OVERHEATING. Their balaclavas, gloves, shooting goggles, helmets, and combat fatigues mean that they can easily overheat in urban situations. It doesn’t take much activity to get them sweating.
        Literally.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #3 — Plan an operation that will require lots of physical movement by the SWAT members. Give them lots to crawl over, though, and around. Even big tough guys don’t have much stamina when they start to overheat.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #4 — PERIMETER OVER-RELIANCE. They always set up perimeter control. They have become dependent on the “holding pen” strategy.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #4 — Post an accomplice (i.e. sniper) outside their perimeter and SWAT becomes vulnerable to a flanking attack.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #5 — ONE TRICK PONY. They are trained to attack fixed targets. They are befuddled and confounded by a moving target. Especially a target they are continually losing contact with.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #5 — Hit and run. Hit and run. Hit and run. Then disappear. Your key to tactical success consists of carefully planned escape routes, accomplice drivers, and prearranged support (i.e. hiding) from the local population.
        SWAT WEAKNESS #6 — LACK OF INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE. Without their body-rig communication sets, SWAT members are lost. UHF frequency range is often less than a mile. Range deteriorates in locations with reinforced concrete and metal debris.
        TACTICAL RESPONSE #6 — Forcing or duping a SWAT member to transmit bogus messages over his transponder is an effective tactic for disorienting the entire team. Seizing a transponder and issuing your own messages is effective psychological warfare. Your voice is right inside their heads — and these guys aren’t exactly the brightest specimens our species has produced. Selecting a location that interferes with UHF transmission is a sound tactic.
        3 RULES FOR BEATING SWAT: RULE #1 — Surround the SWAT element, including its perimeter force.
        RULE #2 — Fight scattered, never in a compact body.
        RULE #3 — When attacked, never stand and fight. Retreat, then counterattack.

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • Seems a communications electronic jammer on a small scale would be a useful device on many levels in life.

          • If you could build a DIY ultra low frequency weapon, they wouldn’t know what hit them. Look into THAT River Rat. 🙂

        • SWAT original name: LAPD Daryl Gates originally named the platoon “Special Weapons Assault Team”; however, this name was not generally favored and was rejected by his manager, deputy police chief Ed Davis, as sounding too much like a military organization. Wanting to keep the acronym “SWAT”, Gates changed its expanded form to “special weapons and tactics”.

          But as we see today, it is all about being a “Military Assault Team” Therefore “S” with “MAT” is where they like to put everyone they encounter. Shot on the MAT.

      43. Leave Costa Rica to the Costa Ricans, who the hell would want to live there anyway?, their peasants are among those fleeing to and inside U.S.’s southern border. Canada, screw you, we will come there when TSHTF just like you lily pastewhite skinned as well spouters pour here to escape the winter there. Your border guards won’t stop the influx. Forget about it.

        • Yes, the border with Canada in WA, ID and MT is VERY porous….its laughable that the Mounties can keep folks out….with all the beer over there.. 😉

      44. Since the first American died in France to keep the world, in the words of our first socialist president, Woodrow Wilson, “Safe for Democracy.” Americans have been subject to the “progressive” notion that this nation was founded upon, and ruled by, the principles of democracy. This Hitlerian style “Great Lie” has over the years, flushed America down the sewer of altruism, leaving it to sink slowly into the rancid cesspool of liberalism, tribalism, internationalism, and socialism. The RESISTER’s opposition to democracy is simply that democracy ultimately must, by definition, result in totalitarianism.
        The theory of democracy is equality. The principle of democracy is for people to administer their government in person. The premise of democracy is majority rule. The postulate of democracy is societal leveling, social equality, and egalitarianism. The presumption of is that all people are equal in status, equal in ability, and equal in reason. Thus the practice of democracy make the incompetent the equal of the competent, the inept the equal of the able, the lazy the equal of the industrious, and the ignoramus the equal of the intelligent. In the exercise of law this is just. In the exercise of government this is tyranny. In short, this country was not founded on democracy but upon it’s opposite — individual rights — which can neither be abrogated by majority opinion nor subverted by minority plotting.
        “From this view of the subject, it may be concluded, that a pure Democracy, by which I mean a society, consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be flat by the majority of the whole; a communication and concert results from the form of government itself, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party, of an obnoxious individual. Hence it is, that such Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives, as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their persons and their passions.”
        James Madison, November 22, 1787
        All men are _not_ equal in competence, ability, or intelligence. Because the combined efforts of the incompetent, inept, lazy, and ignorant can (rightfully), never hope to equal the individual efforts of competent, able, industrious, and intelligent the former will, out of envy, form factions against the latter.
        These factions are never organized for the purpose of raising the low to the standards of the high; instead they are formed for the expressed purpose of dragging the high down to the level of the low. The concept of democratic government expressed by the socialists of the Democratic Party, their antagonists of the quasi-socialist Republican Party, and the international socialist of the New World Order, is nothing less than an intentional effort to make the competent slaves of the incompetent, the able slaves of the inept, and the intelligent slaves of the ignorant.
        Democracy is government by mediocrity. Democracy is nothing less than the rule of the mob.
        Oppose democratic process by a simple 51/49 majority. If an issue is important enough to vote on there must be a clear 2/3 majority for it to carry. If not, the issue is subject to the whims of factionalism, where lies carry the equal weight of truth and the irrational is the equal of reason.
        Under our Constitution an individual is legally free to take any action he pleases (so long as he does not violate the rights of others), while a government official is bound by law in his every official act. A private individual may do anything except that which is legally _forbidden_; a government official may do nothing except that which is legally _permitted_.
        Democracy is use by the incompetent, inept, and irrational to abrogate individual rights enumerated by the Bill of Rights to the Constitution by the whim of a simple majority voting without any pretense of thought, logic, or reason.
        We often hear the phrase, “But this is a democracy,” when the mediocrity of the many is eclipsed by the excellence of the few. When we hear this twaddle we know we are in the presence of wilful, cultivated evil.
        Alexander Davidson

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • Good article. Can’t even tell you how many of these inept I see doin’ their chaos/disrupt thing every single day. The only effective way to fight them is walk away. Let them try to float in the cesspool they have created.

      45. Come on now, a good idea but as practical as taking a shower in your car. Really, are you crazy. You won’t have a choice when and where to relocate. Maybe if you’re worth a few million you might beat the stampede out on you helicopter, but for most it’s going to be hell on earth right in the neighborhood. Not practical at all unless you’ve got money to burn. This topic has been discussed in a free book. It covers the situations most of us will face. What’s the surprise? It’s every man for himself. Meanwhile the citizens who elected the mentally deranged politicians that created the S that is about to HTF, are faced with a disaster of unparalleled proportions. All the political and economic indicators point to the inevitable conclusion that sooner, not later the S will HTF. If you’re intelligent enough to understand the acronym you have the possibility of mitigating the nasty circumstances your politicians have created. The citizens voted these mentally disturbed beings into office and are partially responsible for the deadly mess they are faced with. Now you want to know how to survive. Or maybe your better half is still deeply stuck up your lower half, and you actually think that Uncle Sam is going to be there to change your pants when the SHTF. No, no, when you find yourself starving you’re going to need uncle spam not Sam, and much more. Get a manual written by a person who survived the implosion of the Soviet Union. This is tailored for Americans who are about ready to be left up the river without a paddle. Believe me, this is cheap or free at AMAZON, it’s called Yankee Anti-Zombie Survival Manual, it gets right down to facts, 101 rules to save your self and family. Others have seen and smelled TSHTF in their own countries. Only experience can be transferred. Read and survive. This approach of heading for the hills is too idealistic. Check this manual out – people have survived the zombies.

        • Hey (thumbs down) got a better idea? Going to get in a helicopter and go where people hate gringos? And I suppose you are fluent in the language. Nothing going on up stairs, Yankee, or are you already zombified, the brain completely fluoridated, saturated with corn syrup and aspartame. Only zombies refuse free good advice, they didn’t take it, so why should you.

          • Stop advertising for the fucking book. Its getting old.

      46. With all do respect to bugging out….lets put it plainly…becoming a refugee… What thought process has ANYONE put into leaving country on XYZ when SHTF… how does one plan on staying in a foreign country with no way of maintaining an income? Lets say dollar collapses… First the gringo effect will make you a complete target, and your US retirement investments etc are zero. Id rather be IN the US where one speaks the language and can look the most non decript then trying to figure a way to survive over seas.. unless you have the property completly paid off, how does on e plan on continuing to pay?

      47. I am staying in Texas and help save my country!

      48. I am staying in Texas and help save my country!

        • Hmmm….,still haunted by the “double tap”?Eh,big country,perhaps it needs to be said twice!

      49. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hit back at Attorney General Eric Holder on Saturday for criticizing her call to impeach President Obama over the border crisis.

        “I don’t need lectures from Eric Holder, a guy – get this – so incompetent that he denied voter fraud existed even after someone claimed that they were Eric Holder and they got his ballot and they voted in D.C.,” Palin said at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver.

        h t t p://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/212770-palin-i-dont-need-lectures-from-eric-holder#ixzz37xvFBHoJ
        Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

        • Sarah Palin, the irrelevant one??!!?? I thought she crawled back under the rock she came from. Of course Holder is a scumbag, he is a member of one of the two(supposedly different) political parties that run the day to day operations in America. How is Sarah Palin any different from Holder, she is a scumbag shill, as well. No wonder America is in trouble, the ignorance of it’s populace knows no bounds.

      50. With all do respect to those who want to leave the USA. That is your call, but for me I’m staying, and willing to fight to protect her!

        If you walk away from her you might just stay where you went, because we really don’t want you back. I might think you have my back just to find out you ran away.

        This country need people with the BALLS to stand and fight for her. Like I said earlier leave if you want, but DON’T COME BACK!!!

        AIM SMALL MISS SMALL
        Sgt.

        • Thumbs up !

        • Sgt

          You just substantiated my comment above..

          Kudos

          possee

        • Agree but me dad is a older man/not in great shape/not much of a shooter/camper,understand why he may leave.He did very well in this country business wise and along with friends(well known in business circles) tried to halt the economic damage,probably characterized politically best as a libertarian,believes in free markets but no crony capitalism(i.e. welfare),he just wants as many do to live his last few years in peace as many do.He does bail though owes me nothing(I owe him!),am sure would leave a bit of capital behind to help in the fight for our country.

      51. ***OFF TOPIC***

        This is directed at people like Be informed who do all the Earthquake predictions. The USGS has just released the “2014 Update of the United States National Seismic Hazard Maps”. This data basically uses newer modeling and methods to show where the ‘hot spots’ in the U.S. are seismically. This is good information to know. Many of you have the older maps from 2008 may want to compare or overlay them with the new ones…I think you’ll see some interesting changes.

        Site and PDF of the report here:
        h t tp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1091/

      52. islam is the enemy of the world….

      53. Is this a joke ? I thought this site was for the people who had common sense. Who is flying to Costa Rica , in a emergency situation. Most people couldn’t go on a good day. They would skin you alive, Joel must work for the government , making big money off other peoples fears.
        Keep gas in your vehicle , a bug out bag with your extra meds, papers,money, food ,water first aid kit,some sort of protection,and a family plan.
        At your home base, keep a supply of food and water,candles,and keep family near.
        A sever weather situation is the most common thing. There very well could be civil unrest after wards. Be prepared for that, you may have to relocate, or defend your property, if so pre plan.

        • The US on it’s worst day is better than Costa Rica on it’s best. You old people with chronic health issues want to live in a third world sewer? Insane.

      54. Sounds like this writer thinks Americans should do what so many despise Mexicans for doing: cut and run, hide in someone else’s country. Any American who thinks they’ll be safe south of the US border after TEOTEAWKI is a true and complete idiot.

      55. (This may be older but I belive it may be right read this)

        End Of Days for US and AU and World Economy total economic crash predicted by Geneva

        by BBC UK 10:14am, monday January 21 2013 from london UK

        End Of Days for US and AU and World Economy total economic crash predicted by Geneva think tank headed by Arthur Swenson depression 20x worse than 1930′s
        A Think tank in Geneva tracked Dr Swenson. Stated World Economic downturn 20x’s worse than Great Depression to start in Fourth quarter of 2014. Peaking in 2015 and lasting till 2017. Money will have no value all basic sevices will be off, you will have to be prepaired to ride it out. Geneva think tank states comoditys will be the currency during this Depression the likes of the World has never scene. Arthur Swenson states the best things you can do to ready yourself and your family are.Buy all the Silver you can untill May 2012 to retail some wealth. Find a small home or peice of land in an unpopulated area if you can not buy a small home put a camper on the land and drill a well have a pump. Things you need a generator and fule to run the generator 6 hours a day for 2 or more years. Buy a ham radio (there will be no internet)buy 2 or more guns and cartriges 300 or more each. Stock pile canned/dried goods and everything else you would need. Put togeather a medical kit with antibiotics and a medical referance book plus instuments. (there will be no emergency rooms in operation)Also have packs of seeds to grow squash is easy to grow as is Swiss Chard and beets.Have a 4 wheel drive car and extra basic parts for it most importsnt a battery, and 2 100 liter drums of fule for the car incase you need to get out of the area your in.REMEMBER thoses who did not plan will attempt to steal from your and your family and group. If desperate they may even attempt to kill you trust no one outside your group.

        Over a million Americans Have Been Making ready to survive in isolated areas. They are stockpiling Supplies to last years.

        The 3 best spots to build a secrete refuge are Montana Vermont and Colorado. Anyone who fails to prepare is going to not weather the Economic crash. Predictions range from Other think tanks. 2012 to 2016. Genius DR. Swenson predicts April 2015 as the final collapse thats the date Americas debt interest will equal the GNP product but fast downturn will start Fourth quarter of 2014. Swenson states I started hoarding supplies last year and expect to have 10 years worth at My Vermont refuge.

        • So while those who can’t build “secret locations” are on the front line, in the fray, taking and experiencing great personal lost for Freedom and Liberty…people like you are gonna go hide? I truly question your patriotism…your gonna be an easy take down cowered in your little hole if not by them..certainly by those who actually fought for Liberty and Freedom. My advice to you is if you hide..don’t ever emerge….

          Live Free or Die
          Talon1776

        • ???? Vermont prides itself on being full of liberals. The northern half of Colorado is so fed up with the libs in the southern half of the state that they recently tried to separate themselves from them. I think you need to rethink your choices.

      56. Why did my post disappear, even after a couple of people responded to it?

        I ranted about being manipulated by the media. Chip agreed and said my rant fit him perfectly and RBH thumbed me up, and said he always enjoys my posts. I went back several articles and it’s gone. Why is that?

        • Who do the voodoo that he do.

        • My point is, Mac doesn’t censor even marginal posts, so what happened to the posts, and who might have done it? Even the replies are missing and there was nothing wrong in the replies.

          • I found the post…must’ve had mud in my eye or something…

      57. AWARE OF WHAT WE ARE EXPOSED TO WITH REGARD TO OUR FOOD.

        Smithfield Farms, the largest pork producing farm in the USA was sold in September to China with the unanimous support of its stockholders. The hogs will still be raised here, but slaughtered and packaged for sale there before being sent back here. This includes labels: of Morrell, Eckrich, Krakus, Cudahy , Premium Hams, Cook’s, Gwaltney. The same is true with chickens under these labels. They can now be shipped there, but when they come back all that needs to be on the label is that they… WERE RAISED IN THE USA . Not that they were processed in China . Our great FDA at work. The chickens under these labels will all be processed and most sold to fast food restaurants, schools and supermarkets. The China slaughter and processing requirements are, for the most part, unregulated and far inferior to requirements of the U.S.A.

        We recently learned that Starkist Tuna is now owned by Korea and is in conflict with the U. S. concerning quality, safety, and records keeping, which Korea refuses to produce.

        I read several articles on Google about this, and even one that was defending the eating of tilapia fish said to avoid the fish that came from China . Also, I had just returned home from buying Albertson’s 4-day special of 4 bags of frozen tilapia for the price of one. Sure enough, on the top of the bags it read “farm raised”, and on the bottom, in small print, it said: “China.

        Recently, on TV, a Food inspector said he had lived overseas and he had seen the filthy conditions their foods are raised and processed in. It is enough to make you throw-up. Some foreign workers have to wear masks as they work in these places because the food is so rotten and filthy, it makes them want to throw up. Many of their fish on Fish Farms are fed raw sewage daily. He said he has seen so much filth throughout their food growing and processing that he would “never” eat any of it. They raise this filth, put some food coloring and some flavorings on it, then they ship it to the USA & Canada for YOU to consume and feed to YOUR families. They have no Food & Safety Inspectors. They ship it to you to buy and poison your families and friends.

        Imported food we eat is junk :

        Green Giant frozen vegetables are from China , and so are most of Europe ’s Best. Arctic Gardens are Okay. So is Birdseye.

        Never buy the grocery store garlic unless it is clearly marked from USA or Canada , the other stuff is grown in people’s… dung (even worse than chicken poop). China is the largest producer of garlic in the world; U.S. is next.

        Buy only local honey. Much honey is shipped in huge containers from China and packaged here.

        Cold-FX is grown and packed in China and is full of fecal bacteria. Doesn’t work anyway; it is a big scam.

        If the country of origin on a product is not clearly marked, “beware.” If the product is produce, ask an employee.

        Watch out for packages which state “prepared for,” “packed by” or “imported by” or “distributed by.” We advocate mandatory labeling, especially the produce.

        The country of origin should be clearly shown on the item in the store.

        Go to the local farmers’ markets in season for your produce and keep a wary eye open the rest of the year.

        Please read this very carefully, and read to the very bottom. It’s important for all of us.

        The above facts indicate how it is possible to ship food from China cheaper than having it produced in the U.S. or Canada.

        PLEASE NOTE–THE “OUR FAMILY” BRAND OF MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN ‘FROM CHINA ‘. SO, FOR A FEW MORE CENTS, BUY THE LIBERTY BRAND. GOLD BRAND OR DOLE ARE FROM CALIFORNIA.

        Beware, Costco sells canned peaches and pears in a plastic jar that come from China.

        ALL “HIGH LINER” AND MOST OTHER FROZEN FISH PRODUCTS COME FROM CHINA OR INDONESIA . THE PACKAGE MAY SAY “PACIFIC SALMON” ON THE FRONT, BUT LOOK FOR THE SMALL PRINT. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS COME FROM FISH FARMS IN THE ORIENT WHERE THERE ARE NO REGULATIONS ON WHAT IS FED TO THESE FISH.

        Recently The Montreal Gazette had an article by the Canadian Government on how Chinese feed the fish: They suspend chicken wire crates over the fish ponds, and the fish feed on chickendung.

        If you search the Internet about what the Chinese feed their fish, you’ll be alarmed; e. g, growth hormones, expired anti-biotic from humans. Never buy any type of fish or shellfish that comes from these countries: Vietnam , China , Philippines.

        Check this out personally. Steinfeld’s Pickles, are produced in India – just as bad!

        Another example is canned mushrooms. No-Name brand comes from Indonesia.

        Also check those little fruit cups. They used to be made in Canada , in the Niagara region, until about 2 years ago. They are now packaged in China . Most sold in Aldi stores.

        While the Chinese export inferior and even toxic products, dangerous toys, and goods to be sold in North American markets, the media wrings its hands! Yet, 70% of North Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.

        Why do we need the government to suspend trading privileges? THIS IS A YOURSELF PROJECT.

        Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says ‘Made in China ‘ or ‘PRC’ (and that now includes Hong Kong), simply choose another product or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

        THINK ABOUT THIS:

        If 200 million North Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that’s a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor… fast! The, downside? Some Canadian/American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of inventory.

        Just one month of trading losses will hit the Chinese for 8% of their North American exports. Then they will at least have to ask themselves if the benefits of their arrogance and lawlessness are worth it.

        Start reading labels more closely and buy something else even if it costs a few cents more

        River Rat at the ready!!! NOMI///MOLON LABE!

        • Thank you for that, River Rat. Vital Information.
          You are a real asset to us.
          I’m glad to call you a friend.

        • River Rat,

          That was an outstanding post filled with great information. THANK YOU!!!!

      58. I worked with a kid that was from San Jose, Costa Rica……..he said a lot of folks are starting to put security bars on their windows in San Jose……..he stated this was due to the ramping crime rate, due to the influx of Nicaraguans and Panamanians…………

        I also remember we docked in Limon, Costa Rica while on cruise……….I have never in my life seen so much barbed wire/razor wire…houses were covered with this stuff……I even saw a small doghouse that was covered in razor wire…….Limon made East Los Angeles look like some upscale suburb………However I have also been told that Limon is the armpit of Costa Rica….

        I would really think twice about living there….at least now that I now about the increasing crime down there………….

      59. Riots in Paris.
        Protesters in London

        Nothing on the US News Circuit.

        Don’t want to upset the Muslim’s here?

      60. After reading a lot of the comments that have been posted I cannot for the life of me and mine understand why moving to another country makes any sense.

        I am and will stay and do whatever I have to do to right here in the good old contiguas USA. Even though I hate my government right now I still love my country. With that said I will do whatever I can to reverse the course America has taken and try to re-insitute traditional values we once had before WW2.

        We cannot expect LEGAL immigrants let alone illeagal immigrants to respect our culture if we do not do so. Why in the world would we expect anyone else to have any respect for us as a nation when the majority of the people in our country don’t?

        BigB

        • I would only amend one thing to your brilliant post…we need to restore the traditional values of OUR COUNTRY to what it was before December 23, 1913. Thanks a lot Woody…what a dickless lame fuck of a President he was!!!

          Live Free or Die
          Talon1776

      61. To all of us boomers here, I may have posted this before, but many have not seen it, so be kind…
        If you had some same experiences in life as this (I had too many to count)post what you have done in your lifetime that you look back on and say “How did I survive till now”….

        Those Born 1930-1979!
        TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the
        1930’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !!

        First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
        They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

        Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs
        covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
        We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .
        As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
        Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
        We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
        We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
        NO ONE actually died from this.
        We ate cupcakes, white bread ,and real butter and drank kool-aid made with
        sugar, but we weren’t overweight because –

        WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

        We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
        No one was able to reach us all day.
        And we were O.K.
        We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
        bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

        We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s,
        no CELL phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms…….
        WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them and played!

        We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

        We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

        We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

        We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

        Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t
        had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

        The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

        They actually sided with the law!
        These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever!
        The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
        We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
        If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!
        You might want to share this with others who have had the oppurtunity to
        grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives!
        And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave
        (and fortunate) their parents were.
        Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t
        it?!
        The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
        “With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,
        severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,”Are we sure this is a
        good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”
        For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us….go ahead and delete this.
        For the rest of us…..pass this on.
        If God brings you to it – He will bring you through it.

        • History will record that this post will be referred to as the most defined and as close to divine expression from a true Patriot…
          Thank You eppe…

          Live Free or Die
          Talon1776

          • Thanks sir, I often want to write a book (for my kids) about the adventures I have experienced in my 55 years of life. I am often wondering what does GOD have me here for.
            With that said, everyone should post thier best experience (or worst) in life. I should have died mannnnny times by now, but for some reason, I am still up and running…

        • ooppps that is PAY LIKE A TICO.

      62. Subject: Questions for Seniors…………

        Some of you I know are not at the 60 mark yet, just wanted you to see what
        you have in store for yourself!!

        Questions for Seniors

        Q: Where can women over the age of 60 find young, sexy men, who are
        interested in them?
        A: Try a bookstore under fiction

        Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause?
        A: Keep busy. If you’re handy with tools, you can finish the
        basement.
        When you are done you will have a place to live.

        Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your 60+ year old husband?
        A: Tell him you’re pregnant.
        Q: How can you avoid spotting a wrinkle every time you walk by a mirror?
        A: The next time you’re in front of a mirror, take off your glasses.
        Q: Why should 60+ year old people use valet parking?
        A: Valets don’t forget where they park your car.

        Q: Is it common for 60+ year olds to have problems with short term memory
        storage?
        A: Storing memory is not a problem, retrieving it is a problem.

        Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly?
        A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

        Q: Where do 60+ year olds look for fashionable glasses?
        A: Their foreheads.

        Q: What is the most common remark made by 60+ year olds when they enter
        antique stores?
        A: “I remember these”.

      63. wherever you decide to strategically locate, it cannot be within a 200 mile radius of a nuclear power reactor. Check out this amazing video about Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, just 40 miles from Ground Zero. It could take out 20 million Americans, and nobody seems to be talking about it as a potential terrorist strike.
        http://www.frontlineofdefense.com/semper-paratus

        • The only comment I’d add here is, that many nuc plants are on ocean coasts, where there is a strong and prevailing wind. The danger zone is very likely not symmetrical, ie may extend 500 miles downwind but only 30 or 40 (or ?) cross or upwind.

      64. Some well-gathered words from a late American President:

        “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith
        becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American… There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American Flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English Language…
        and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American People.”
        — Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

        • He also said…”to call yourself a hyphenated American…is the most Un-American thing you can do”

      65. I am going out on a limb here (non-OSPEC), but I am having a SHOOT-A-POOLAZA at my compound Sept. 6th. If anyone in Georgia or surrounding state would like to attend, please email me @ [email protected]

        We teach gun safety, gun handling, and are safety minded with 20+ attendees that come and shoot each others guns.
        This is our 6th year doing such, and everyone has a great time, and it is only for 3-4 hours long. So anyone who would like to attend, shoot other peoples guns, meet like minded people, please email me, and I will send you the directions….
        The hard part is the weather, who knows if it will be raining or not, but we are bringing canopies in case it does…
        If you respond, place your ‘moniker’ in the name so I know who you are…
        Our first one had 15 people, 25 guns, and in 3 hours time we blew off 5000 rounds. It has grown over time, and people are always asking “when is the next one?”

      66. DID YOU SEE THAT THERE WERE 40 SHOOTING IN CHICAGO OVER THE WEEKEND.

        WHAT DO YOU THINK EVERYONE THERE HEAD FOR THE BOARDER STATES?

        IS THERE ANYWHERE SAFE IN THE WORLD?

        • no

      67. hi eppe,

        thanks for the invitation, will let you know soon.

        cheers mate.

      68. It’s interesting that your article looks at some of the major towns and cities in Costa Rica. Personally if I were looking to “bug out” there I’d be aiming for the more rural areas. Head down to one of the quiet beaches on the south coast for example, for much cheaper property and as much seafood as you can eat.

      69. It is easier in a third world country…… not because the governments are any more committed to freedom. Usually they are much worse and more confiscatory of firearms. The difference is that they are horribly inefficient, corrupt, and so occupied with just avoiding a coup de ‘etat that they don’t worry as much about some gringo living off to himself. It is not like America, where you cannot drive down the street without leaving 15 different atm camera/security cam photos, some cop scanning your car, and a government technologically advanced enough that you have to watch what you say on a chat board, lest some goon come knocking. Governments here are horrible, corrupt, stupid, arrogant and intrusive. Governments there are horrible, corrupt stupid arrogant and broke.

        I will vote for broke.

        I am leaving the country on Sept 8. I will be back in a month, but plan to be gone for good by Jan 1. Sold my biz, selling the house, cached my guns and ammo.

        So long, suckers. Let me know how the shooting war you talk about goes.

      70. BTW, Guatemala is the only country in the western hemisphere where RTKBA is guaranteed in their constitution.

        You people are so F***ing ignorant it makes my head hurt to read your spew, sometimes.

        Mexico… guns are illegal and no one can get them, but everyone can and does have them. I bought mine from the local police chief last time I was there. Full auto AR. Cost 400 dollars. “You are an honest man. If you have to shoot someone with this, shoot your walls a few times and tell everyone you took the gun away from him and killed him. I will take care of things.”

        Guat listed above

        Honduras Probably the easiest country outside Guat to buy weapons. Full auto ak or ar can be had for 350 dollars on the street. Why would anyone want full auto, though? I had much rather have a Joe Biden special. Saigas are legal to import there, with a full drum. Whoopsie!

        El Salvador. I know nothing about it.

        Belize I know nothing about it

        Nicaragua Citizens can carry. Foreigners can’t…… legally. 30.06 is fine for rifles. 9 mm for handguns.

        Costa Rica. Shotguns and 30 cal rifles are fine. Gotta register them. Handguns are (I think, not sure) topped out at a .380. I know glock market their 380 there and in Mex.

        Panama. 9 mm and 30 cal rifles permitted. Mag or drum shotguns forbidden.

        The key, though, to all these is to remember that EVERYTHING runs on “mordida” A bribe makes anything go away. ANYTHING. If you are a relatively law abiding person, this really works to your advantage, as you have to put up with much less foolishness. Now, if you move into Michoacan state in Mexico and start screwing with the cartel, you are going to die and I ain’t going to send flowers to your grieving widow… ‘cuz you are stupid. Just as stupid as going to Cabrini Green in Chicago or the Northeast quadrant of DC and trying to organize a local Klavern of the Ku Klux Klan. These are violent, unsafe, insecure areas and I stay away from them, armed or not, in the US or not.

        It really boils down to common sense, and whether you are adaptable to a different sense of justice and law.

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