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With the very exceedingly, super contentious, unprecedentedly violent (really? two assassination attempts on a presidential candidate?) US election coming up in a little more than a month, we have some prepping to do…

1. Start a small garden (even on a windowsill is a good start; have seeds on hand for larger garden projects)
2. Have two week’s to a month’s supply of stored water
3. Find alternate sources of water and have methods to purify the water
4. Have two to six months’ worth of stockpiled food
5. Have an emergency fund in the bank to cover six months’ worth of living expenses
6. Have cash safely stored in your home to cover a few months’ worth of expenses
7. Be able to heat your home/a room if utilities go out (ie: propane heater/extra propane)
8. Have gas for your vehicle safely stored on your property
9. Have a way to cook food if the utilities go out (ie: camp stove/extra fuel)
10. Have a battery bank/solar panel on hand to make your own electricity if needed
11. Have winter survival gear on hand (winter clothes, boots, sleeping bags, etc)
12. Stockpile consumables (toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, etc)
13. Refill your prescriptions if possible (ideally try to pick up a three month’s supply at once)
14. Fix any current problems (example: if you have a painful tooth, go to the dentist now)
15. Revamp your bug out bag/bug out vehicle so you will be ready to go if necessary
16. Have lots of non-electric entertainment on hand (books, games, art supplies, etc)
17. Clean your firearms and stockpile extra ammo
18. Get your home ready for winter (and bugging in if needed)
19. Backup all of your files, photos, survival guides, etc onto a secure thumb drive
20. Start exercising every day (even going for a daily walk will help you get in shape; and probably provide valuable intel as well as you walk around your neighborhood)
21. Install solar-powered lights around your property
22. Get your HAM radio license and a HAM radio and practice using it
23. Build a hidden safe room
24. Secure your home (install deadbolts, break-proof window film, etc)
25. Install inexpensive bidets on your toilets (this saves a lot of toilet paper)
26. Make sure your home safety equipment (smoke detectors, CO detectors, fire extinguishers, etc) are up to date/have fresh batteries/are fully charged
27. Have basic tools on hand so you can make simple repairs if needed
28. Have “fix it” supplies on hand (duct tape, plywood, plastic sheeting, electrical and plumbing parts, etc)
29. Get a fireproof safe and store all of your legal documents and cash in it
30. Have a battery-operated radio you can use to receive news if the power goes out
31. Go radio silent (ie: don’t post your activities/opinions on social media, take political signs out of your yard, etc)
32. Take some first aid courses and have first aid supplies on hand
33. Don’t tell your friends/neighbors/family about your preps (you can encourage them to prepare but don’t tell anyone about all of your gear and stockpiles)
34. Emphasize the need for prepping secrecy with your family
35. Revamp your EDC kit (so you will have a level of preparedness if you are away from home when things start to pop off)
36. Have a paper map of your city/state/country
37. Assemble your “grey man” costumes (so you will be able to blend in to the crowd)
38. Watch as many survival videos on YouTube/Rumble as possible (anonymously on the Brave browser of course)
39. Stay anonymous (degoogled phone, linux on your laptop, secure router, VPN, anonymous sim, etc)
40. Plan your activities accordingly (avoid crowds, avoid protests and roving gangs of people)
41. Learn some de-escalation/interpersonal relations skills
42. Solidify your friendships (especially with neighbors and other people in your community that can help you in difficult times)
43. Plan multiple routes into and out of your city (try traveling these routes now, at night, and fix any problems with your plan)
44. Determine a couple of bug out locations (not just “into the mountains” as that is everyone else’s bug out plan)
45. Go camping/backpacking during the next few weeks and fix any gear issues
46. Make sure your vehicle is in good working order (change the oil, put air in the tires/replace the tires if needed, etc)
47. Devise a way to hide your preps (you don’t want every neighbor in your subdivision to see your food stockpile when you open your garage door)
48. Devise a communication system for family/friends near and far should the grid go down
49. Make special preparations for other household members (the elderly, babies/infants, pets, the ill/infirm, etc)
50. Reverse chronic diseases if possible (you would be surprised how much difference eating a whole-foods diet can make in 40 days when it comes to diabetes, high blood pressure, etc)
51. Consider your self defense plans based on your own personal circumstances (firearms, taser, pepper spray, fighting skills, etc)
52. Scan the local, regional, national, and international news on a daily basis and watch for signs of impending trouble (note that mainstream media can be horribly biased and not cover important topics while social media can make the smallest thing into a national incident; check a variety of news sources. Check out S2 Underground’s daily reports on YouTube.)
53. Set up an exterior security system at your home and consider having a drone on hand for an “eye in the sky” to observe local incidents
54. If you feel compelled to participate in civil unrest activities, do so covertly (and for the love of God don’t bring your cell phone with you or otherwise make yourself identifiable)
55. Have a written (and digital) contact info list for family, friends, and other people you may need (lawyer, doctor, vet, etc).  Make sure each family member carries a copy of this list.
56. Teach everyone in your family survival skills (first aid, AED, CPR, hunting, bushcraft, firearms, etc)
57. Keep a handle on your kids (often kids, especially teens, will act first and think later; going off on whatever tangent during dangerous times is not a good idea)
58. Establish meet-up locations with your family (in your neighborhood, in your city, across the country, across the world) in case you get separated
59. Play hide-and-seek with your family (and play like your life depends on it; during a civil breakdown it could)
60. Consider volunteering in your community as a way to help your fellow man, make some useful contacts, and learn some vital skills (examples: EMT, CERT, SAR, etc)
61. Figure out if you are able to work from home instead of going to the office during times of unrest (this may be in your employee handbook)
62. If you do get stranded at work during a civil unrest incident, have the means to bug in at your office for a period of time (clothing, shelter items, food, water, etc)
63. Download your community’s (Department of Emergency Management/Fire District/etc) disaster plans, Mass Casualty Incident plans, etc so you will be aware of how things may work in your community after a disaster
64. Make plans on how you would evacuate your pets, your farm animals, your disabled family members, etc. if you needed to leave your home during a time of massive unrest in your community
65. Know what your children’s school’s disaster plans/lock down plans are and get on the school’s list for emergency notification texts (many schools will lock the kids down and not release them if an incident has already started)
66. Sign up for any community alert messages in your area (generally through your county DEM, etc)
67. Play by the rules (or pretend to) so as not to draw unwanted attention to you by TPTB (watch Chris Rock’s video on YouTube on ‘how not to get your ass beat by the police’ which pretty much sums up all you need to know about dealing with authority figures during high-stress incidents)
68. Check your home owners/vehicle insurance to see if it covers acts of civil unrest
69. Consider changing travel plans if they are scheduled before, during, or right after the election
70. If you are away from home when civil unrest occurs, know your options (embassy locations, local safe places you could hide, have a map of your location, know how to fashion a weapon if worse comes to worst, etc)
71. Know what to do if you are trapped in certain locations (on foot in a crowd, in your vehicle, in a store) if a civil unrest event suddenly occurs (there are lots of videos and articles on this topic online)
72. Pre-stage survival tools that could be useful during an incident (ie: fire extinguishers, ladders to escape from the second floor of your home, firearms, door barricade supplies, etc)
73. Prepare to go off-road in a bug out situation (if there are roadblocks or miles-long stretches of gridlocked traffic, can you escape via mountain bike/ebike/motorcycle…maybe even a boat in some areas?)
74. Are you prepared to deal with multiple incidents at once (ie: civil unrest and a medical incident; grid down and a massive winter storm, etc)?
75. Have all of your preps together at least a week before the election (there should be no reason you NEED to leave your home if an incident pops off—such as the way people run to the store at the last minute before a hurricane is set to hit their area)
76. Be able to cook from scratch.  If you solely rely on restaurants and Uber Eats for sustenance, these may be unavailable during a major civil unrest incident
77. Prepare for things to not go as usual during a massive event (grid down, protest, etc).  911 systems may be overloaded, fire departments and hospitals may lock their doors to keep people out, ATMs may not work, stores may be closed or looted, etc
78. Download important records that could be wiped out during a massive cyber incident (bank statements, investment account statements, medical records, etc)
79. If you have a bugout location like a cabin in the woods, considering going there a week before the election and coming back home a week after the location (it will either end up being a relaxing vacation or a preemptive effort to avoid a mass civil unrest event)
80. Learn ancient bushcraft skills (how to start a fire without matches, how to make arrowheads and arrows, how to make animal traps, etc)
81. Go foraging now and learn what wild edibles are common in your environment
82. If you have never been fishing or hunting, go now and learn how to catch an animal, dress it, and cook it over a fire
83. If you have never bartered, try it now (also stockpile some things that would be useful for bartering in the future)
84. Go room to room with a pencil and paper and list anything you would need to buy/fix/replace if you were unable to leave your home for a month or two (then get to work acquiring/fixing these things)
85. Don’t believe everything you hear from social media/mainstream media/your friends/your coworkers (there is a lot of election-related propaganda/misinformation going on now so do your own research before making decisions)
86. Don’t panic. If a scary situation develops, think clearly and examine all of your options before making decisions based on facts not fear
87. Plan for random acts of violence/home invasion (there are several YouTube videos on this). In a civil collapse, manners, morals, and values tend to go out the window
88. Be situationally aware, wherever you are at. At school, at work, at a store…no matter where you are, watch how people are acting/what they are doing, know where the exits are, and have a secret word or phrase that you use with your family to alert them it is time to immediately leave the area
89. Have survival gear caches at home, at work, in your vehicle, in your bug out location, and hidden in a secure off-site location in case you can’t go home and get your stuff or can’t get back to your vehicle
90. If you’ve thought about getting a dog, now might be a good time to do so; they make excellent early warning systems (most of them anyway)
91. Create a tactical nightstand in case your home is broken in to while you are asleep (note that in the event of civil collapse, some family members should be on watch while others sleep for the safety of all)
92. Get in the habit of being predictably unpredictable (I can set my watch based on the times my neighbors leave for work, take their kids to school, etc. Don’t be predictable in your routes, comings and goings, etc)
93. Check on elderly neighbors and others who may have difficulty during a civil unrest/societal collapse event. While you don’t want to give away all of your preps, you do want to help out when you can and be seen as useful to the community
94. Look at how other major civil unrest events have been handled in the past for useful ideas (ie: Rooftop Koreans, u loot, we shoot signs posted in neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina, small towns hauling out the heavy equipment to drag logs to block major roads into town to keep outsiders away, etc)
95. Learn some unconventional warfare tactics (Google and YouTube can help you with this)
96. Beware immediate compliance with government mandates after a SHTF event (‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you’…LOL)
97. Keep a low profile no matter what. Don’t show off the things you have; if you have to travel, travel at night taking back roads; when people commiserate about the terrible conditions, commiserate with them, etc
98. Consider “fasting” once a week or so. Fasting from food, fasting from electricity, fasting from electronic devices…if there is something you couldn’t think of doing without, do without it for a period of time and see what happens
99. Be able to pivot. In trying times with sudden major changes, all of your plans may go out the window; be ready to pivot/change course/change direction at a moment’s notice
100. Vote

Ideally, we should all be able to do our own thing–work, hang with friends, take care of our families–and generally enjoy the time we have on this planet. In reality, it seems like the powers that be are out to get us on a daily basis (just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you). Here’s what you can do…

1. The ultraprocessed foods you eat are killing you, with the blessing of our government. What you should do: eat organic whole fruit, vegetables, beans, and grains with the occasion naturally-sourced fish or other creature (FWIW deer season starts soon).
2. Lack of exercise is doing the same. Several decades ago, life revolved around lots of exercise–at work, around the homestead, at school–as most activities involved manual labor. These days, thanks to big tech, you don’t even need to leave your recliner to shop, work, be entertained, or have restaurant food delivered right to the table in front of you. What you should do: exercise at least three hours a day. Yes, really. Walk, dance, hike, row a boat, climb a mountain…moving about doing physical labor/exercise is good for your body (and your mind).
3. Lack of nature is also negatively impacting you. We used to walk a few miles to and from school in decades gone by but these days kids are driven to and from their home to the front door of their school, thus making them fat, weak, and sadly lacking in vitamin D. And this is considered normal. In fact, letting your kids walk to school could be a criminal act these days. What you can do: get a couple of hours of outdoor exposure each day–breath fresh air, get some sun, walk on the grass, and otherwise experience nature (sans cell phone/music/social media) while marinating in your own thoughts.
4. Social media is destroying your mental health, but that seems to be fine by the government as they are using it to manipulate you as well. You are a rather intelligent person with intelligently reasoned opinions yet you jump into a forum and state your opinion and you are suddenly hammered with downvotes and people telling you how stupid you are so you rethink, and possibly change, your opinion to something that doesn’t even make sense because, well, conformity. What you should do: realize it isn’t you, it’s them. You are right, they are wrong. Screw conformity. Or just avoid social media and talk to real people in real life. It’s better for your sanity.
5. Ditto mainstream media. I thought I must have been in the Twilight Zone when, over the past few appearances of Kamala Harris, she literally couldn’t put an entire sentence together by herself. And that is objectively the truth, but when I opened up mainstream news sites, everyone was fawning over her. WTF??? Again, it’s them, not you. What you can do: realize that the intake of mainstream media may make you question your sanity and possibly turn you into a sheeple. Avoid mainstream media as much as possible and find balanced sources to get your information.
6. Don’t depend on the government. Would a government that cares about its citizens allow its regulatory bodies be bought and paid for by the very industries it regulates? This is what happens when it does (yes, that’s 112 pages of recalls and market withdrawals). Would a government that is supposed to protect its people allow illegal immigrant (or any) gangs to run wild in their cities? What you should do: I guess we have devolved as a society to the point where we call in other citizens for help instead of law enforcement. Note that this has worked before.
7. Big pharma would like to keep shareholder dividends high and the average person dependent on opiods and/or prescription medications for, like, the rest of their lives. What you can do: stay healthy and, if necessary, reverse chronic disease so you aren’t dependent on pharmaceuticals.
8. The fear of persecution is being used as a manipulation tool by our (and other) governments. Let’s see…Tulsi was put on a government terror watch list for (factually) pointing out Kamala’s flaws. The UK is releasing violent criminals from prison in order to make room to jail citizens for hate speech. And, the government told (forced?) Zuck to use Facebook to manipulate certain information on the platform. What you can do: learn about digital privacy skills and, more importantly, use them.
9. The presidential election is coming up. No matter who wins (TPTB are heavily hoping it will be Kamala, word on the street is it will be Trump), it is going to be a shitshow. What you can do: vote, of course, then be prepared for the worst (civil unrest, massive cyber attack, etc).
10. Finally, realize that every single thing that you do is being monitored, recorded, evaluated, sold, and monetized. What you can do: according to Albert Camus, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” In that spirit, go analog, pay for everything with cash, watch an interesting livecam (snakes or bears), enjoy time spent with friends and family, go backpacking, meditate, enjoy (non electronic) hobbies, etc.

I never (never, ever) thought I would write such a title but at this point, Trump is the only option for president. The past several months have been a nightmare of third-world political oppression I never thought I would see in America. For example…

1. Donald Trump, our former president and current presidential candidate, was, either through extreme incompetence and or extreme complicity, nearly assassinated. The current administration is in charge of his “security”.
2. Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman and military officer, was placed on the Quiet Skies terrorism watch list as a method of political intimidation because she doesn’t agree with the current administration.
3. People are being arrested in the UK for posting social media messages on political issues, to the point that UK leaders said they would also come after Americans if they post anything negative about the UK. Normally the president would immediately and publicly respond to such outrageous behavior by any other government but in this situation…crickets.
4. It’s clear that President Biden’s cognitive function has fallen off a cliff in the past several months. Shouldn’t someone in the executive–or any other–branch call for the 25th amendment be enacted? Again, crickets.
5. Kamala Harris is alarmingly unfit for office (examples here, here, and here). Added: this interview

Let’s recap…

• June 27th: Biden and Trump participated in a televised national debate. Trump, who could have went all Trump on Biden, didn’t do so as he (and everyone else) could see that Biden had significant cognitive issues and it would have been like kicking a baby. Why Biden’s handlers ever put him on national TV with anything other than a prepared speech on a teleprompter makes one wonder…
• July 12th: Austin Private Wealth massively shorted Donald Trump stock. Massively. Check out the people behind this company…and start connecting the dots.
• July 13th: Donald Trump was at a public rally for his presidential campaign and someone(s) attempted to assassinate him.
• Cue all kinds of backpedaling from the AWS folks to the Director of the Secret Service with her “steep roof” excuse.
• July 19th: CrowdStrike crashed, well, most of the world’s tech. Again, check out the people behind this company…there are more dots to connect.
• July 21st: President Biden announces that he will not run for reelection.

Some nice summaries here (first half of the video, skip the ad part), and here (ditto the ad part).

And they aren’t done yet. Prepare accordingly.

By now you have no doubt heard that our former president and the Republican front-runner for our next presidential election, Donald Trump, was nearly assassinated a few days ago. Here’s some observations…

• The tactical aspect of this shooting is being analyzed, ad infinitum, over on YouTube. There is a lot of good information to be gleaned from these analysis as many are coming from current and formers trained operators who know what they are talking about.
• Mainstream media leans hard left, to the point that it took outlets like CNN a few hours to change their headlines from “gunshots were heard at the Trump rally” to “attempted assassination of former president Trump” when they saw the video with their own eyes, immediately after the incident, and they knew that Trump had been shot.
• Social media wasn’t much better. An hour after the shooting, r/news has only one posting about the shooting and r/conspiracy posts were disappearing as quickly as they were being posted. Shadow banning and deleting posts about the incident were also happening on other social media sites.
• Some information is getting out and it doesn’t look good (examples here, here, and here). Someone(s) wanted Trump gone and it looks like it came from much higher up than some random kid who wanted to off Trump. At his point, the “conspiracy theories” sound much more plausible than the official narrative.
• The comments on these videos are fairly interesting. They ranged from “definitely proof we are living in a simulation, Trump dodged that bullet like he was in The Matrix” to “definitely two shooters–the dumb kid who is now dead and maybe got off a couple shots into the crowd, and the real shooter who is probably still wondering how Trump avoided a near-perfect head shot”.
• The whole massive Trump stock short stinks to high heaven. Austin Private Wealth massively shorted Trump stock the day before the shooting. Several days after the shooting, the company put an “oops we didn’t mean it” notice on their website. And removed their page that showed their Board members (thanks to the Wayback machine we know what the page said). Pay particular attention to the co-founders of this company.
• tldr; the Secret Service can not possibly be this incompetent; if I was Trump I would hire my own security; it wouldn’t surprise me if this isn’t the last “unfortunate incident” that someone tries to unleash on Trump; I am seriously hoping Trump makes it to the elections in November (he’s pretty much guaranteed to win at this point), and can take office in January(!). If anything happens to Trump from this point forward, be prepared for civil war. Maybe a country-wide grid shutdown. Consider the worst possible outcome and plan accordingly.

It’s been ridiculously hot here in the desert southwest and while the locals are fairly used to this, the number of people who have no idea how to handle hot weather is readily apparent (usually via headlines of death and near death situations). Here’s how to handle hot weather…

1. Reconsider normal activities if they take place outdoors during hot weather. Stay inside instead. (exhibit A, exhibit B).
2. Don’t hike in hot weather(!). (exhibit A).
3. Reconsider swimming in excessively hot weather (exhibit A, exhibit B).
4. And reconsider swimming in the ocean at any time (exhibit A, exhibit B)
5. When on vacation (or even in your own backyard), know what the dangers are (exhibit A, exhibit B).
6. Sometimes you can’t avoid being outside during periods of high heat so know how to mitigate the situation (exhibit A).
7. And remember that things like hot pavement can be dangerous too (exhibit A, exhibit B).
8. Of course, never, ever, leave a person or pet in the car during hot weather (exhibit A, exhibit B).
9. Be sure to stock your car for summer emergencies (exhibit A).
10. Whether you are on vacation, working, our just enjoying the outdoors, know how to handle high heat emergencies (exhibit A).

In a time when it seems like everything revolves around technology and the infrastructure it takes to sustain said technology, it pays to have as many no/low tech items on hand as possible…just in case.

1. Bicycle/spare parts
2. AM/FM radio (battery/hand crank/solar powered)
3. Books
4. Music CDs/CD player
5. DVDs/DVD player
6. Buckets and rags
7. Hand tools (hammer, ax, pliers, etc)
8. Non-electric gardening tools (shovel, rake, etc)
9. Baseball/bat/gloves
10. Bow and arrows
11. Board games/playing cards
12. Whistle
13. Ferro rod
14. Knives (for cooking prep, pocket knife, fixed blade knife)
15. Solar garden lights
16. Paper map and compass
17. Backpacking gear
18. Firearms/ammo
19. Solar panel/battery bank
20. Folding wagon
21. Telescope
22. Magnifying glass
23. Volkswagon Beetle (pre 70s model)
24. Non-electric kitchen tools (hand crank grain mill, cast iron cookware, non-electric can opener, etc)
25. Push lawnmower
26. Candles/candle-making supplies
27. Canning supplies
28. Solar oven
29. HAM radio/HAM license
30. Repair supplies (glue, wire, duct tape, rope, electrical and plumbing supplies, etc)
31. Hygiene supplies (soap making supplies, garden pressure sprayer for showers, etc)
32. Garden seeds
33. Arts and crafts supplies (paper, crayons, paint/paint brushes, scissors, etc)
34. Non-electric kid toys (dolls, cars, etc)
35. Beekeeping supplies
36. Fishing supplies (poles, line, hooks, etc)
37. Butchering supplies
38. Sewing supplies (needles, thread, fabric, etc)
39. Woodstove
40. Non-electric laundry supplies (clothes line, washboard, wringer, etc)
41. Rechargeable batteries
42. USB lights/fans/handwarmers/etc
43. Composting toilet
44. Hand pump/siphon hose
45. Writing supplies (paper, pens, pencils, markers, etc)
46. First aid supplies
47. Maintenance kits (knife sharpening stone, gun cleaning kit, oil, etc)
48. Safety gear (foam ear plugs, gloves, safety glasses, etc)
49. Garden hose
50. Building supplies (lumber, fencing supplies, tarps, nails, screws, etc)
51. Water storage containers
52. Fuel storage containers
53. Cleaning supplies (bleach, scrub brushes, broom, mop, gloves, etc)
54. Slingshot
55. Wine/beer making supplies
56. Human-powered generator/battery bank
57. Clothing/shoes for all weather conditions
58. Large plastic storage bins/garbage cans
59. Livestock/livestock supplies
60. Small battery banks
61. Drone
62. Insulated ice chest
63. Balls (soccer ball, basketball, football, etc)
64. Smoke/CO detectors
65. Backups of personal necessities (glasses, dentures, cane, hearing aids, etc)
66. 35mm camera and film
67. Alcohol/cigarettes/cigars/etc.
68. Water filters/purifiers
69. Seasoned fire wood
70. Baby/pet/elderly/ill person supplies (medications, etc)
71. Manual bidet
72. Pest removal supplies (traps, dCon, etc)
73. Technical work supplies (welding, locksmithing, gunsmithing, blacksmithing, etc)
74. Musical instruments (piano, violin, harmonica, etc)
75. Boat (canoe, kayak, sail boat)
76. Pets/pet supplies
77. Locks (padlocks, cable locks, etc)
78. Binoculars
79. Watch
80. Winter sports gear (skis, sleds)
81. Knitting/weaving/quilting supplies
82. Over-the-air antenna
83. Manual typewriter/paper/White Out
84. Composting bin
85. Hardcopy backups of all important information/photos/etc
86. Fire-proof safe
87. Cash/gold/silver
88. Exercise gear (weights, jump rope, resistance bands, yoga mat)
89. Foraging/edible plants books/survival skills books/first aid book
90. Rainwater collection system
91. Homestead chemicals (fertilizer, lime, lye, etc)
92. Food processing supplies (dehydrator, smoker, etc)
93. Edible and medicinal herb garden/fruit and nut trees/kitchen garden
94. Faraday bags
95. Alternate energy devices (water power, wind power, etc)
96. Demo gear (sledgehammer, crowbar, machete, etc)
97. Survival tablet (with all of your documents/photos/music/videos/books on the SD card)
98. Outdoor games (frisbee, croquet, cornhole, horse shoes, etc)
99. Holiday supplies (Christmas tree holder, ornaments, etc)
100. Signaling supplies (spray paint, fluorescent fabric, etc)

First, I would like to wish you and yours a happy and safe 4th of July.

Next, I would like to remind you how we got here…

• History of the Fourth of July
• The Declaration of Independence
• Common Sense
• Articles of Confederation
• The Constitution
• The Bill of Rights

Then I would like to invite those who govern us to read these documents then read them again as it is clear from the current state of our government that none of our leaders have read and/or understood what these foundational documents mean. You can read, point by point, the grievances the population had against the king in the Declaration of Independence and then note that our current government has created the same grievances in the current American population. I wonder where we will go from here?

Your INCH (I’m Never Coming Home) bag should include the following items. Note that this bag is to be used in addition to your Bug Out Bag at a time when you literally plan to never return home again (wild fire, flooding, total societal collapse, etc).

1. A second passport (obviously acquire this long before it is needed)
2. Cash (in a variety of currencies collected over time)
3. Prepaid credit cards
4. An aged, deGoogled burner phone and anonymous SIM
5. An aged Linux laptop
6. Gold coins in a variety of denominations
7. Silver coins in a variety of denominations
8. Jewelry
9. Hard copies of all of your important documents
10. A secure flash drive with all of your documents/photos/videos/medical records/financial records/etc on it
11. A 1tb micro SD card with ALL of the information you may need on it (maps, books, translation dictionary, survival guides, contacts, how-to videos, etc)
12. A firearm and ammo (depending on where you are going)
13. Any sentimental items that are small enough to carry and you don’t want to part with
14. Non-lethal self defense items
15. Items you can use for bribes or barter (ie: the fake wallet with lower denomination bills in it, keep your real wallet hidden; cigarettes, small bottles of whiskey, etc).
16. Prescription medications and copies of your prescriptions that can be filled anywhere
17. Backup of critical items (glasses, contacts, hearing aids, dentures…if you can’t live without an item, you need two or three back ups just in case)
18. A small, portable solar battery charger
19. Items for anyone traveling with you (notarized letter to allow you to travel with your children; some airlines won’t let you on the plane without permission from the absent parent); medical info/next of kin info for someone traveling with you; contact info for overseas hosts, etc)
20. A plan. Don’t wander off willy nilly. You need to know where you are going and how you are going to get there (ideally with two or three possible locations) instead of ending up with the refugee hoards.

Note that completely disappearing can range from possible (the people looking for you have limited resources and limited skills) to virtually impossible (ie: the government wants you). Depending on your threat model, here are some tips if you want to leave and never be found…

1. Start planning a year or so in advance. This gives you plenty of time to work through your plan and get your ducks in a row before you head out.
2. Determine if you need to get away or completely disappear. As an adult you don’t need to answer to anyone, you are free to go where you want (unless, of course, you are hiding from the judicial system) and can avoid contacting anyone from your previous life if you want to. On the other hand, if you are in a particularly sticky situation (domestic violence, mob informant, etc) there are agencies that can help you disappear (see also WitSec).
3. Stack cash starting immediately. And don’t make it obvious. You don’t want to withdraw your entire paycheck every two weeks because that will draw attention so take smaller amounts of money out of the bank, sell stuff for cash on OfferUp or FB marketplace, etc. and squirrel your money away bit by bit. Also, use cash to buy prepaid visa cards occasionally. Obviously, you want to store this cash and cards in a super secure location until you need it.
4. Don’t leave a trail of your “how to disappear/where to disappear to” research on your computer/tablet/phone. Some ideas for safer surfing here.
5. Buy a Pixel phone, with cash, along with an anonymous prepaid mobile sim/plan, then let these items sit for several months before turning the phone on (not while on your home network!), installing the Graphene OS to the phone, then activating the pre paid sim when you are about ready to disappear. Also, keep this phone turned off and in a faraday bag when not in use.
6. Ditto a laptop. Same stuff as above but install the Linux OS, never do this when on your home/work network, and keep the device off when not in use. An important note, once you are gone, you never, ever access any of you online/banking/etc accounts ever again; if you do this you will be easily found.
7. Slowly remove yourself from social media and people in general. If you are the most social person on social media and/or in person then you suddenly disappear, your absence will be noted (and probably start a nationwide search!). If people don’t really know your schedule or expect you to be around, they are less likely to know you are missing.
8. Be consistently inconsistent, all the time. Again, if you are always at the same place at the same time doing the same thing and suddenly you aren’t, that will cause people to worry. If you are usually travelling, working odd hours, and not really attached to any place or activity, your disappearance will be more likely to go unnoticed. You will also want to quit your normal 9-5 and start doing a variety of cash/temp jobs so your co-workers/employer don’t report you missing.
9. When you do leave, you leave behind everything–credit cards, vehicle, home, etc. Take only what can fit in a non-descript backpack and leave via untraceable public transportation.
10. When you do relocate, move (a few times) to a city where you can blend in (small towns are notoriously gossipy and your every move will draw the attention of the neighbors).
11. Come up with a new name, new back story, new hobbies, new habits, new look, and possibly new ID (the legalities of this vary from very illegal to legal if facilitated by certain government agencies).
12. Consider how you will earn money. Working for cash in a way unrelated to previous ways you have earned an income is probably your only option if you wish to remain untraceable as opening any kind of financial account leaves a trail directly tied to your name/social security number.
13. Depending on how desperate someone is to find you, you may have to move often.
14. You will need to master the art of omission and deception. Your backstory has to be rock solid in your mind, you need to answer immediately to your new name, and when people are talking about travel or their childhood or any other topic you know like the back of your hand, your two cents needs to be made up, generic, and not provide any information that can be used to identify the real you (this is harder to do than it seems).
15. You will need to live a very unstable life. Unstable housing (renting a room for cash as opposed to renting in your name or owning property), unstable work (cash only), unstable travel (no foreign travel as using your passport will give you away), unstable transportation (walk, bike, moped, bus as opposed to renting or owning a car).
16. Some things to never do once you leave: never access your email or online accounts ever again, never use a bank ever again, never contact any of your former friends or relatives ever again, never own property that can be linked to you ever again.
17. You will need to remain “grey man” for the rest of your days. Anything that is unique to you–your face, your gait, your particular hobbies or skills, your accent, your personality, your habits like smoking, the clothes you usually wear–can make you memorable and thus easier findable so you will need to change all of these.
18. You will need to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Again, depending on how determined someone is to find you and how persistent they are, you will always be looking over your shoulder and will always need to be able to grab your stuff and go with little to no notice. Can you do this?
19. A bunch of pitfalls…if you own property (like a house or car) and don’t sell it before you leave, this may causes several issues. If you disappear and someone like a spouse gets you declared dead so they can cash in your life insurance, this can be construed as fraud. You can’t take your kids or pets with you (pets who are microchipped can identify you, kids can be reported as kidnapped if others report them missing). If you were a high-earning expert in any field, that life (and income, and prominence) is now gone. You want to pay off any bills/child support/legal fines/etc. so your disappearance doesn’t become a legal case.
20. And some other things…once you are disappeared, you want to stay far away from the legal system (something like getting pulled over by the cops can get you arrested/identified/and into an easily searchable database). You want to avoid ANYONE taking photos (your face showing up on the front page of the local newspaper or randomly on Facebook can lead people directly to you). You want to have a lot of cash at your disposal but carrying a lot of cash can make you a prime target for robbery (or even civil asset forfeiture in some cases!). Any relationships you develop will be based on lies.