Done!

Well, Forerunner and Dennis have been returned to where they belong and I'm back home after 36 hours on the road. Looks like a couple of my chickens didn't survive the trip. Poor gals. There's no good way to transport chickens 1200 miles.

Tomorrow I'm going to take it relatively easy and spend the day finishing the new chicken coop and cleaning up the cabin site. I also need to put a latch on our back door. We can also begin transitioning into the cabin tomorrow. There's still many things we will have to rely on the RV for (electricity, plumbing, heating, cooking) but as I get those things inside the cabin then we become just one more step forward.

Almost all of the big things are accomplished at this point. I'm staring around in amazement. God has really been good to us and provided everything we needed, from the skilled labor where we lacked, to the monetary resources, to the time we needed to complete the project. What a blessing!

On Monday I'm going to resume the regular Bunker Index, but I'll still be talking about the cabin, Texas, homesteading, and off-grid living! Stay tuned!

About done!

We are almost done! The steel needs to be put up on the roof, some windows and a door needs to be finished, and the staircase to the loft needs to be built. Then the cabin is 100% livable!

About time too. The RV is just a generally unpleasant experience. I'm dissatisfied with almost every element of it. In a couple of days we start transitioning over to the cabin, which shouldn't be that difficult of a deal. It's cold enough outside still for an ice chest to be used as a fridge. Battery lanterns can take the place of interior lights for a brief time (until solar is arranged), and as soon as the water platform is complete we can get a toilet inside. How easy is that?

I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Almost done!

Amazingly enough, we're almost done. We started putting on the roof plywood today. Tomorrow we run into Brownwood to look for the steel, but we are almost done. Only thing remaining is to put up the roof plywood, tar paper the whole place, and then put up a door and a couple of windows.

What an amazing week and a half. We've moved mountains with God's help.

Rainy Day Rest

The rain is steadily falling and is scheduled to do so for the rest of the day and night. Tomorrow should be a good work day as well as the next 3 days following that. With God's grace, we'll finish up the house in that timeframe.

We needed the rest. Everyone is worn down and sore. We've been moving at a stellar clip. We're almost at the end though. The loft will get finished probably tomorrow and then we begin on the roof which should take about 3 days. Then one final day to tarpaper the whole thing and that will hold it until I get time to put the metal roof on.

I'm hunting now for the solar equipment I need. We're going to be a little short of money for a bit as we finish up the house, but I can start getting all the pieces in place. Right now we're running on batteries and a generator. Most of the day we go without power and turn everything on in the evening for one good charging before we go to bed. The RV has a fan that needs power to run or the heat won't circulate up from the furnace. With the second battery hooked in parallel I can now run that fan about 8-10 hours before the batteries drop too low. Maybe longer but that's been as long as I wanted to go.

Water isn't so much of a problem now with the 500 gallon tank filled. That cost us $50 for the delivery and the guy can come out whenever. This will cover us until the tank platform is built and we can get the rain water catchment system going. I may purchase a second tank later and keep it filled as an emergency measure until we get a well going. The well is not a small expenditure and there's some other things that need to come in first.

Our modest compost pile is holding all of the wastewater we can generate, both black and gray. Normally I put in about 30 gallons at a time and nothing runs out the bottom. Doesn't seem to be heating up yet but it is burning some water so I guess there's something going on in there. Still plenty more carbon material available to me from the flood areas of the creek.

Looks like the rain is letting up so I'm going to go empty out the wastewater tanks and top off the freshwater ones. That ought to hold us until sometime late tomorrow.

Life is good. God is great.

Another day ... another $500 in nails.

I am sore, blistered, and just generally exhausted. Dennis is beginning to drag along and even Forerunner is showing signs of exhaustion. The pace we've set is murderous, but we're closing in on this and for the first time in days I'm not wringing my hands with worry over whether or not we're going to finish in time. We're close enough now that all of the major work will be done by the 30th and there'll be nothing that I don't know how to do myself from here on out. Praise God!

North Side of the Cabin

Here's where we were this morning. Now we've got plywood almost all the way around. It's the devil trying to get the plywood up to the third layer, but once it's up there then it's there for good. Ringshanks!

Same Side Later

Here's the same side later in the day. It's not really going to be one giant plywood box. The doors and windows are all framed up but we're just nailing plywood over everything for now. I'll come back later and cut out the doors and windows with a saw when time permits. All of the windows I ordered aren't going to be in until after Christmas anyway so I wanted the place to be weatherproof until then.

Plywood goes up the wall

We exhausted our supply of plywood today. I had to order 26 more sheets which will be here tomorrow morning. I think the guy down at the lumberyard is going to send me a Christmas card. When we first went in there they sort of looked at us like "filthy hillbillies ... keep an eye on them." Now they meet us at the door, call us by name, and make special deliveries on Christmas Eve. $5000+ in building materials certainly changes attitudes. Their eyebrows sort of went up a little when I paid for it all in bills. We've been upgraded to "filthy hillbillies who pay cash".

Still Got Coffee

Making coffee has become too time consuming. Now I'm just taking in my giganto thermos and filling it up at the gas station. It would never occur to us to do without coffee.

Got My Eye On You

"What? You think these boards are going to stand up by themselves?"

Everything is a nail

Forerunner is meticulous about everything. Don't leave a millimeter of nail sticking up or you'll find him redoing your work. That starts to get embarassing after the 437th time. I can't believe how many nails are in this structure. There's a great, growing pile of empty nail boxes out behind the cabin and I've got receipts for almost $300 in nails alone stacked up on the counter.

Sugar and Caffeine

I guess you could say that soda is bad for you, but when you're probably burning 4000 calories from dawn to dusk then I don't know that it's still an issue. This is Kat's brother Dennis who has come to help us. He's in a hard spot right now having recently been released from prison. His work ethic is not at fault; if there's a job that needs doing then you just about have to race Dennis to it if you want to do it. Whenever Forerunner needs a board held, hefted, or carried then Dennis is right there to do it. I've never seen someone move so quick and without need of instruction. He's a natural to this sort of work. If this man had a homestead of his own then he'd never run out of useful work to do and most likely stay out of any degree of trouble. It's leisure time he has trouble filling. I wonder how many more people are out there like him ... cut off from productivity by a corporate-industrial system that doesn't value the individual and thus marginalized. I believe their time is coming.

Living off-grid has been an experience so far. If you want water, you've got to carry it. If you want to get rid of water, you've got to carry it. When someone poops, someone has got to carry it. If you think you might want enough electricity to light a light bulb then you've got to start up the generator or make sure the batteries are fully charged. I bought a second marine deep cycle battery to extend our electrical storage time, but until we're fully up on solar then power continues to be an issue.

Still, it's the process that is very liberating. I don't mind hauling the water. I don't mind hauling the poop bucket. We have a sizable compost pile going already with carbon materials gathered from the creek where some flood overflow had stacked up. It soaks up 50+ gallons of water without any overflow at all. If I had 4 more compost piles that size then I'd be able to easily consume all of the waste water (grey and black both) that the household could ever produce. And do it in a way that honors God instead of honoring the county's septic ordinances!

We're getting by. We're stabilizing now with everyone finding their niche and a sense of normalcy now setting in. Still ain't seen my outside cat but I guess that's what comes of a move like this. It was a risk ever letting him out of the crate but you can't keep an outdoor cat where an outdoor cat doesn't want to be.

Tomorrow it's supposed to rain pretty heavily which will bring almost all work to a complete standstill. We're a little ahead of schedule and making good time so this isn't all bad. We'll all take the time to rest and resume work with a passion on Christmas Day.

Still Building ...

Whew. I am exhausted. So far we've got a floor and two walls up and braced. By the end of tomorrow we hope to have all four walls up and be started on the loft floor. This is moving along at a great pace. We have 7 days left before we're out of time.

Here's some pictures from yesterday and today's work:

Inspecting Materials with Brother-in-Law - good stuff!

The Materials Pile shrinks and the House grows

"Booty Call" - The first wall prepares to go up.

Notice I'm in the all important "fulcrum" position of wall-raising. My purpose there is to anchor the base of the wall while the rest of the men lift it. I'd like to say it's the most important position as the safety of the entire crew depends on you, but I guess it's also where you put the heaviest guy.

Jared and his Uncle Dennis share a private joke - probably at my expense

The First Wall Rises Under a Blue Texas Sky - Uncle Dennis, Jared, and Forerunner heft it up while I hold the base.

This was a magical moment. If there had been any audience other than the wife taking the photo and the neighbor's cows peering over the fence then there probably would have been great cheers. The first wall going up represents the culmination of 15 years of philosophical change and thought, 7 years of saving money, and 3 years of planning.

Jared peers out a "window" while we brace the second part of the wall - notice how everything is double-studded and extra stout. That's Forerunner's doing.

The Littles Entertain Themselves

Despite having their little lives completely turned upside down, the kids are handling things pretty well. They're ready to have a home again but they find plenty of things to do around the homestead. The hardest part is keeping them out from underfoot while we're working.

Hot coffee should be always nearby when building.

Heading Down to Occasional Creek

The creek that flows through our homestead only occasionally runs, but there's about a 90 acre watershed there so in a good rain it can get pretty dicey. When the weather allows, enough water remains in pools scattered along the length of the creek for 3 wayward boys to find mischief in.

A Pensive Moment

I don't know what was going on when Kat snapped this photo. Was I praying? Squinting? Resting my eyes? Counting to ten? No idea. Probably praying AND counting to ten. I've been doing a lot of that the past couple of days.

Forerunner is remarkably precise in the construction. Nothing is allowed to be so much as a quarter-inch off.

The boy and I.

Throughout this project I keep remembering that this cabin we're building will likely as not be this young man's home, with perhaps a young wife and even my grandchildren.

Two walls now up!

In this photo, Jared is holding a brace to be used to help support this second wall until the crucial third wall goes up to hold them all together. In this sort of construction, all of the components work together to provide strength for each other and in the end you have something far more stable than the individual parts. Sort of like a family.

We've got 7 days left and we're $5400 in. Need a few more boards and the steel roof. I think I've found someone to haul us out some water which will get us by until the well is dug and the roof is in place to catch rain. One additional expense is going to be that we need a driveway. The rain that hit a few days ago soaked the pasture and repeated lumber deliveries and driving in and out has damaged our temporary driveway to the point that my wife's van can't make it out.

Pray for us! We're getting it done.

Still alive!

We made it to Texas, finally. It was a grueling trip full of trials and suffering and patience-building exercises. But we are HERE. We've only been here for a short time so far ... about 3 days, but we've got the RV in position and the cabin squared up. Here's some photos my wife has taken so far.

Left to right: Me, Forerunner, and my oldest son

I get Texas dust out of my eyes while Forerunner squares some holes.

Posts are set and floor supports in place

Taking a Break

We're not really such taciturn and surly fellows, but we're bone tired and both of us are fighting a cold we picked up traveling down here. We don't have any water supply yet but a neighbor down the road is helping us out and letting us fill up in her faucet. Today we were pretty much rained out but we did manage to get all of the building materials ordered and delivered, including a 550 gallon water tank to catch the rain once the roof goes up.

So far we're 3 days in on labor and about $4500 in building materials. That doesn't include roofing yet but I expect that to cost an extra $1000 all said. This is for a 16x32 cabin.

Our biggest problem right now is getting used to being in each other's pockets. We had a lot more space in our old house than we do in an RV and the weather hasn't been nice enough to let all the kids and everyone spill outside. We're also missing a cat. Our outdoor cat took exception to being hauled across the country and when we released him here he decided to head for the hills. He's clever enough to survive out here but I'm afraid we've violated his civil rights to such a degree as to never see him again. I might be the same way if you shoved me into a crate and transported me 5 states away against my will.

Stay tuned for more updates and once we're up and rolling again the Bunker Index will return to normal!

Haul It Away

The moving company just hauled off all of our stuff. We're sitting in an empty house. We've got a few things left to fiddle with and load into our truck, but then it's convoy time and we're headed south.

Tomorrow is MOVING DAY!

These guys make it look easy.

18 hours in a van with 32 chickens, 2 cats, a dog, and 5 children. Your prayers are appreciated.

Generator Field Testing

The generator is up and operational and I've been field-testing it for a couple of hours now. It's working fine. I let it sit a little too long without starting it this last time and I was worried that it might have some sort of glitch that would cause us to be without any power at all once we got down there.

So far no issues.

Once we get there and get an address set up then I'll order the battery array so the generation doesn't have to be on constantly simply to run a lightbulb or two.

Interview with MyPatriotSupply

Recently Oathkeepers published an article confirming that federal agents had went into an LDS storehouse in Tennessee and demanded customer lists and transaction information. While that story is still being ran down and confirmed, I thought I'd hit up the owner of MyPatriotSupply and get his thoughts on the matter, as he sells all manner of preparedness items to the survival and preparedness community.

What follows is a transcript of the interview. Please excuse any grammatical issues within the text as a speaking voice doesn't necessarily follow the same rules. The conversation went on much longer than this brief transcript. We covered a lot of ground and I was very pleased with what I learned of him. I think this is a man who can be trusted with your business. Hopefully I'm going to open up further communication with him on various other topics and we'll document that here as part of an ongoing series of dialogues with various Christians and patriots in our world today.

1. What were your first thoughts when you heard about federal
agents investigating an LDS storehouse in Tennessee and requesting
customer lists?

I wasn't surprised. We've heard of raids on organic and natural
food stores and SWAT teams going after the Amish, so it wasn't
surprising. We're past the point of shock and awe.

This is another maneuver we've become accustomed to, which may be
the goal, to get the public accustomed to it.

 2. What does your primary customer demographic look like?

Mostly preppers and survivalists but certainly plenty of people who
are new to this. They've seen a documentary or listened to a radio
program that made them start thinking.

This is an awakening. We're seeing the next generation of preppers
and survivalists hitting the marketplace.

 3. How are you currently set up to prevent privacy loss from either
criminals or the government?

We don't store credit card information on the server, as a business
rule. Small businesses and even restaurants are subject to identity
theft so we decided to not store the data and reduce the threat.

The nature of the internet though means we have to depend upon other companies, processors, and backbone infrastructure. Everything on the internet is ultimately trackable. They could get the information from other sources; they don't need me or the LDS to comply.

  4. Good point. Since everything is trackable, what do you think the
motive may have been?

Possibly the results of a very specific investigation. They didn't want to show their cards and request a specific individual's information so they threw out a sweeping net. Or it could be just a plan to ruffle the public's feathers and get them acclimated to this sort of thing. They could just be testing the waters and seeing what resistance is out there to these information requests.

5. We're certainly seeing more of this lately. Where do you see
this leading and how does it impact your business?

Comes down to a choice. Do you want to be part of the problem or part of the solution? The government wants to test your loyalty to your customers. Ultimately this leads to a choice: where do you stand, what are your values, and what's your belief system? Are you willing to sell out your customers because someone shows up with a badge? A lot of businesses out there are simply in the business of making money. It's not in my mindset, but a lot of companies would just turn this info over without any questions. That would not be my standpoint.

I have a value system and a belief system that is very strong. If it came down to rolling over on my customers or closing my doors then I'd just close my doors. I never started this to be a millionaire; I started this to increase my family's self-reliance. It's a vehicle. I'm providing this as a service.

 6. Your business name certainly takes a strong stand. What was the
thought process behind the name?

A patriot is someone who loves their country and their Constitution and the basic beliefs and values their country was founded upon. You don't have to be a veteran, a soldier, or anyone else. You need to be someone who takes care of your family. Anyone with that mindset is a patriot. The idea behind the name was that this would be a place where that person comes to in order to buy their supplies. Our logo really speaks to people. It captures the feeling of many of our customers, the old time guy with the rifle and the plow working the fields. A person willing to take care of themselves and provide.

It all comes down to personal choice. What side are you going to stand on? What are your beliefs? I wouldn't come out and taunt the government because that would be asking for trouble, but at the same time I know where my beliefs are. I'd rather close my doors than roll over. If you betray your customers you don't have a business. When someone gives you money you have a relationship with that person. There's a level of trust you have to uphold.

It's Official

Operation: Get the Hell Out of Dodge is officially underway. The movers are scheduled. The packing continues. The man doesn't do the Bunker Index on the weekends anyway, so I won't have to hide his computer. Probably.

Look out, Texas! We're coming home!

Michael O. Anderson

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/16210944/article-State-drops-all-charges-in-Fairbanks--241--militia-case--Anderson-released

Michael Anderson has been "arrested". Read this firsthand report of how the FBI came for him.

The information I have received is that Michael Anderson has been detained as a witness and they are trying to force him to sign some documents that are not true. They are holding him in an effort to break him.

Previously the FBI failed to stick conspiracy charges against these Alaskan militia members. They had no case. In all likelihood, there never was any conspiracy. This is our false flag government attempting to manufacture a conspiracy regarding armed militia members. Much like they tried to use Gunwalker to manufacture a causus belli for more gun laws.

Get the word out. Everyone needs to know about this.

December 9 Bunker Index - Flight of the Albatross

Well, the movers came by this morning and are now preparing estimates. We may be able to leave as soon as Monday. That means I have an ENORMOUS amount of packing to finish up. My workshop is in the same state of disarray that it always is. I have food stockpiles that need to be dispersed. I have a lot of stuff that needs to be stacked, piled, and readied for loading.

My ancestors, who piled everything in a Conestoga wagon, would be shocked to find that even as we move into a simpler and more austere lifestyle, it STILL takes a United truck to get us to that life. I think most of the stuff we're paying a small fortune to move will end up being tossed as we carve away the irrelevant stuff over the next couple of years, but right now it's got to be dealt with.

I'm going to have to suspend the news updates for a few days, but I'll keep up the posting as much as possible and give you instead updates on the moving experience.

Texan Proud

This story helped me feel better about the type of people I'll run into in Texas.

Some of them atheistic socialists in Wisconsin sent a letter to a small Texas town who put up a nativity scene. They demanded it be taken down because it offends them (all the way up in Wisconsin). The county commissioner Joe Hall said:

“We’ll remove it when hell freezes over,” Hall said. “It’s not going to happen.”

I like that guy.

As a side note, our move to Texas is being pushed forward very aggressively. Initially the plan was that I'd go down first and build a cabin so we'd be more comfortable. My wife has announced she's willing to endure the hardships with me in true pioneer spirit and so it looks like we'll all be going down together next week to begin.

We'll be living in an RV for awhile and the first week is going to be brutal while we get water and septic set up. After that life will get a little easier and we'll get started on the attached cabin to give us some dry, secure space to spread out in besides just the RV. I am very thrilled and excited to begin.

Obama Administration Imitates the Khmer Rouge

Today the Obama administration is unveiling a broad new plan to stop "violent extremism in the United States."

Considering this is the same White House who labeled the rogue Muslim soldier killing his fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood a "workplace violence incident" and not a terrorist attack, I think we all know who he means by domestic terrorists.

He means you.

If you're smart enough to read between the lines of the NPR propaganda in the article, you'll see that these new partners they're enlisting are the Department of Education. They're bringing the "see something, say something" down to the schoolchildren level. As they unveil this, watch how the children will be taught to look for certain signs in their neighborhoods, churches, and their own families ... signs like anti-government speech, excessive food hoarding, or a disdain for authority. They will then be able to report their findings back to either the school authorities or directly to the government itself.

Your children are now being used to spy on you. Just like the Nazis, the Soviets, and Pol Pot.

Let that sink in for a moment. Your children are now being used to spy on you. We saw what the next steps were with the Khmer Rouge.

Khmer Rouge Child Soldiers at the Range

December 8 Bunker Index - The Final Scene

The news lately has been pretty depressing. At Market-Ticker blog, Denninger keeps talking about something called a clawback. What is a clawback? Best I can explain it is when a bank or brokerage firm does something shady and loses everyone's money. At that point, if you've withdrawn your money from there prior to the collapse, the government can come after your assets to get it back, on the assumption that since you didn't lose your shirt like everyone else that you must have had inside info. Something to think about for those who are waiting until the last signs of banking collapse before withdrawing from the system.

The thing I'm trying to remember is that God is sovereign over all these things, and more. You're not going to lose your house unless it's in God's plan that you do so. Most of the time it seems that if we're living in accordance with God's will and His principles then we'll come out ok. Sometimes, however, He allows bad things to befall even the righteous. This is one of the mysteries that it's difficult for us to understand.

Should we stop doing His will? Definitely not. We should seek it even further.

1. The White House has a broad new plan to stop "homegrown" terrorists. If you can stomach the NPR propaganda, you'll notice a big part of it is to incorporate the "see something, say something" strategy at the school level. How many schoolkids do you think actually can provide intel on Al-Qaida? This isn't meant for Al-Qaida, folks. It's meant for you and me.

2. In this blog article, JohnGaltFLA presents a theory of how the collapse of Europe this winter could lead to Obama's reelection in the spring. Frightening stuff. I think that despite the horrible polling Obama is doing, when push come to shove he may very well win the reelection. Look at the crap the Republicans are trying to run against him. Romney? Perry? There's no way I can hold my nose and vote for either one of those.

3. Today is a great day to watch C-SPAN as both Eric Holder and Corzine have two separate hearings. I love to watch these criminals sweat. I'd love even more to see them both swinging from a rope, but I must be patient.

4. Occupy protestors disrupted a rally in support of presidential candidate Mitt Romney in West Des Moines, Iowa. Gov Chris Christia heckled them back by saying they'd all be working at the Marriott down the street. While I'm not sure he meant that as anything other than an assault on people who actually do menial work, he's probably right. The SEIU is behind a lot of these protests aimed at disrupting the Republican campaign.

5. Police cleared Occupy New Orleans and raided the San Francisco camp. In DC, dozens were arrested. Are we seeing the beginnings of a mass crackdown on the Occupy movement?

6. Is Hillary Clinton about to open up a second front against Obama? Some new rumors are flying based upon her recent actions. This would be interesting to watch in the way that a gazelle watches hyenas and lions interacting before they pounce.

Photo of the Day

I've been out and about today, dealing with banks, notaries, and other minor functionaries of the leviathan. What a day. I'll tell you ... I will NEVER be so glad to put a state in my rearview mirror as when I finally cross the border for that last time and head south.

December 7 Bunker Index - Standing Alone

There comes a time when you will have to stand against the world alone. Take heart, for speaking the word of God was never meant to win you friends and popularity. Though all of the weapons of the enemy be before you, do what is right.

I have not the time nor energy for much commentary today. I found today's news items to be simply exhausting and I still have much work to do. Today we close on the land deal in Texas. God is great!

1. Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin is being targeted for recall. You may remember how when he cut the public sector union's power in negotiations that many people in Wisconsin took to the streets and took over a government building. In this article, Walker talks about how his opponents have been harassing his family and neighbors and even targeting his children's friends on Facebook. Wisconsin was the birthplace of the American socialist movement. There's a lot of outside influence there.

2. House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that they must extend unemployment benefits to allow the jobless to "continue participating in growing the economy and creating jobs." In other words, the government gives the unemployed money so that they can go to Walmart and spend it and this makes it look like the economy is still alive and functioning. I guess it does, in much the same way that a patient in an iron lung appears to still be breathing on their own.

3. A recent fatwa released on a jihadi forum by the sharia council sheds some light on islam. The Muslim religious leader says that it is permissible under Islam for Muslims to capture the women of infidels and to rape them. He does give the exception, however, where Muslims in a country where they are the minority and too weak to successfully get away with this should refrain until they have gained the upper hand.

4. In England,  A gang of three Muslim women attacked another woman on a street corner for being white. They beat her senseless, pulled out large chunks of her hair, and repeatedly kicked her in the head. The three Muslim women, who are immigrants from Somalia, were released on suspended sentences without jailtime because the British court said that they are Muslims and "not used to drinking alcohol". They were all three drunk when they attacked the white woman. Where Britain goes, we will follow.

5. Russia's election has apparently been completely fubared. Apparently the election fraud was so widespread that it's impossible to say who WASN'T cheating.

What Does Freedom Require?

Hardship. Self-discipline. Labor.

NAACP Petitions United Nations to Investigate United States "Voter Suppression"

The NAACP is petitioning the United Nations because southern and western states think that you should have to show identification in order to vote.

December 6 Bunker Index - Lifted Hands

God's will is that all people should get into a proper relationship with Him. Everything He does is sovereign and it all fits according to that plan. Short on money? God is working in your life. Worried about drought? Flooding? Earthquakes? God is drawing you closer.

Though I know and understand this, it's difficult for me to sometimes remember in times of stress, such as this move. God has provided me with the financial means to do this, the strength to do this, the friends and allies to do this, and the time to do this. All things have been provided for me. So why do I still find myself fretting?

I want to have more faith. I want my faith to be stronger. I am praying that God makes it so in the face of all that I must accomplish and the fast decline of the world around us. Are you in a similar situation? Prayer will help.

1. The government infiltrates your church ... for the purpose of convincing you to get your flu shot. Hrm. Suspicious, eh? Normally the Obama administration has steered clear of all things religious, up to and including covering up images of Christ when he spoke at a "Christian" school. But now he's willing to use religion to convince you to get vaccinated?

2. Iran's got one of our drones. Oops. What exactly was it doing flying over their country anyway?

3. Scientists have proposed that the way to eliminate all the contaminated soil around Fukushima is to dump it into the ocean. Does that sound like a great idea to you?

4.   An atheist is pushing the military to install atheist "chaplains" in the military and to prevent military officers from praying with their men before going out on missions. This is not your father's military. This is not the military that liberated people in Europe and defeated a tyrant. This is a new military in control of an unGodly state. They openly embrace homosexuality, paganism, and deny Christ. Don't let your children join it.

5. Atheists in Virginia set up a crucified Santa skeleton on the courthouse lawn. Not real sure what kind of point they were trying to make.

6. On a trip to Greece, Biden makes the joke that we are bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to bail out Greece. Later he states that we're standing in solidarity with them. Prepare for a massive devaluing of the dollar.

Workshop Safety

I never took shop in high school. I guess if I had, I might have learned some basic safety.

Some of the blades I'm working with these days are large and heavy. Occasionally I drop some. Particularly when a really good song is on the radio and I'm having a good singalong.

I barely avoided losing a toe tonight. Were it not for my catlike reflexes (ha!), I would probably be on the way to the emergency room right now with at least one toe in a ziploc baggy with some ice.

Tips to aspiring knifemakers: always wear shoes in the workshop.

This Week's Nightmare

Because of all the delays in moving, I've had to reschedule TWO customer visits. This week I was supposed to be in El Paso/Juarez but flaked out at the last minute. There's just too much to do. Next week I was supposed to be in Michigan but that's not going to happen either. Too much to do.

At one point my life revolved around work. When commitments interfered, work always came first. Over the past few years that has changed and over this last year it's REALLY changed. Now it's taking more and more to get me out of the house and into the corporate world to do work.

Part of this is clearly the mental journey I've been on towards a life of simplicity and humble Christian living. Another part is that I don't need the money so much. As my needs have grown simpler I have become more unwilling to put up with the nonsense.

I think it will not be too long before I turn my back on it all and walk away. A humble knifemaker and beekeeper will be all that I am. The work of my hands, as God intended for a man.

December 5 Bunker Index - Pondering For the Season

It's a slow news day so far so I'll talk about something else.

I really dislike the holiday season. I won't get into whether or not Christmas is a pagan holiday and unbiblical, as I'm not clever enough to handle that topic. What I will get into is the blatant rejection of Christ that is EVERYWHERE. If you don't hang up Christmas decorations or celebrate, then you might be a Christian who believes it's a pagan holiday, or you might be Jewish. But when you specifically go out of your way to call it "Xmas" or avoid the Christian links to the holiday, you are putting forth your rejection of Christ in the world.

Maybe you work for a company that does this. I guess each of you will have to determine your level of participation in the rejection. This is something I'm still struggling with myself.

1. With all of the rapes, honor killings, and assaults on women coming out of Arabic countries these days ... Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to criticize ISRAEL for its "anti-democratic" treatment of women. More pandering to Islam.

2. A teacher was caught spending their classroom time brainwashing students in favor of public sector unions and socialism and against Fox news. I'm not surprised. The parents were lucky the teacher wasn't also molesting the students, as bad as things are in the public educational system today.

3.  You knew this would happen. The IMF is bailing out Europe, and its the Federal Reserve that is going to be providing the funds to the IMF.

4. In Seattle, the Occupy movement broke into an empty and locked building. Police responded and cracked some heads before arresting 16.

A Good Day for Shooting

I put 40 rounds through my carry pistol earlier. It's cold and wet but since I only have to walk about 30 steps outside my backdoor to the "range" I figured it was a good day for this.

The S&W 380 shoots a little low. Not so much that it'd be a problem at self-defense range (sub 30 feet) but I'd have to compensate if I shot at a target further away.

SCOTUS Fails You

The Supreme Court declined to hear what could have been a landmark gun rights case. A man was fined $150 for having a loaded gun in his truck in a national park.

The case would have dealt with whether or not it was constitutional to prohibit a citizen in good standing from ever carrying a gun for self-defense. It would have had sweeping impact across the nation, from gun-prohibited Chicago to California to Texas.

Yet the Supreme Court decided not to hear it. Too tough of an issue, I suppose. I guess now maybe some of you are realizing that you can't depend on the government to tell you whether or not the government can take away your rights.

Supreme Court Justice Views the Docket

The Desert

“Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it, against aggression.”
- T. E. Lawrence

Energy Falls Below Critical Levels

I don't know what's wrong with me today. I woke up late. Here it is almost noon and I still can't seem to get my butt up out of this chair and get to work.

Yeesh. If I don't get my office cleaned up and ready to be packed for the big move, my wife is going to come in and motivate me with a cattle prod.

Eric Holder Perjures Himself

Whoops. Seems like when Eric Holder told the investigating committee that he hadn't heard about Fast and Furious ... he was lying. A memo has surfaced now from before he made that statement where it's made clear that he DID know.

Perjury investigation forthcoming?

What Have They Done to My Texas

The Fort Worth Independent School District has banned all Christmas celebrations and Santa Claus.

Christmas Present

Can you guess what type of hobby the intended recipient of this knife enjoys?

John McCain, You are Under Arrest

You are busy cheering that the amendment allowing for the detainment of American citizens (and their targeting for assassination) by the military has been defeated in S1867.

You are wrong.

What you SHOULD BE doing is calling for John McCain's arrest. He, and some others, crafted this bill in secret. This is their attempt to turn America into a police state.

This is treason. This is sedition. They should be held accountable.

December 2 Bunker Index - The Ring of the Anvil

We woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow, the first for this year. I guess it's time to see it but I'm not thrilled. I'd hoped we'd be out of here before the first snow fell. Soon though. This one is thawing already and the hard winter snows don't usually hit until late December or early January.

From my bible devotional this morning I've been praying on a specific topic and I'm coming to an understanding. I thought I'd try and share it with you in my limited way.

When the smith first picks up a piece of metal and begans to shape it in the forge and on the anvil, he has a rough idea of what it may look like. The qualities of the iron or steel are present but they require work to bring them out. Over time and with effort, the knife begins to take shape. From a rough chunk of metal to a useful tool the item takes shape. The finished product may not entirely resemble what the smith desired, but it can be a work to be proud of regardless. It can still do great work.

We all are works in progress at God's anvil. We may not know what we are to become, but God does. We strive to be ever useful to His will and plan, though we may not recognize ourselves when the crafting is complete.

Have a great weekend and God bless you all.

1. After ambushing Bachmann on a late night television show (who watches that crap?), now the band leader is saying that "Tea Party Extremists" are hurling racial slurs at him on Twitter. Of course there's no identifying them as TP members, but clearly he believes they are. Just a little more liberal stoking of the fires of racism.

2. Herman Cain is done. After allegations of sexual harassment and now a 13 year affair, Herman Cain has announced that he'll be deciding this weekend whether or not to continue with the campaign. Frankly, it's a waste of time. Whether or not the allegations were true, his handling of the situation is decidedly weak. Who is going to give money to a campaign where the candidate has to reevaluate his candidacy every time an attack is leveled against him? How did this guy EVER succeed in business if his backbone is so weak?

3. The Washington Examiner reveals yet another Obama scandal ... "Abound Solar" was given a $400 million Department of Energy Loan. The backer of that company is one of Obama's "bundlers" who raised over $160k for his inauguration. The wholesale looting of our country by the Obama administration continues.

4. Government Motors is offering a buyback deal for all Chevrolet Volts whose owners are afraid the electric cars will catch fire. How symbolic that the flagship product for the newly nationalized automobile manufacturer will burn your house down and now is being forced to return all the money they received for this piece of crap.

5. American police officers will now be operating in Canada. Canadians are reportedly concerned. They should be! Look at all the abuses Americans are suffering at the hands of American cops.

Advertising and the Knife Shop

After a big order went through, I purchased some advertising on the Michael Bunker radio show. It was very reasonably priced and before he's even received the money and crafted an actual ad he mentioned the Possum Creek Knifework shop on the show last night. As a result, I sold one knife during the show and another knife today. I was down to only one knife in the shop at that point!

I had two other knives that were almost finished so I spent today completing them and getting them up and listed. Those are some of the more expensive blades I've done and I'm hoping that I can cover all price ranges with the shop as time goes forward. From the cheaper $30 knives up to specialty blades running around $150.

I've got about 5-6 knives in stock that I can complete and put up for sale, but all that we've got going on right now has kept me out of the knife shop to a degree. I'm not going to have more than a couple of days here and there between now and January. How very poorly thought out on my part. Here at the Christmas season and I don't hardly have any merchandise up and available for sale.

Ah well. I can't complain. The knife shop is in the black and pulling in a little extra income. I'm also encouraged that as time goes on it will be more and more profitable, particularly when I can devote a lot more time to it. I'm pleased that at this point it's becoming a real business. God does reward us when we follow His commandments.

December 1 Bunker Index - Got Their Eye on You

We're wrapping things up with our week now. Interesting news stories today. It looks like the government has about all of its ducks in a row now and soon, resistance will be impossible. When they've got drone surveillance and kill authority, a million man domestic "police force" in DHS running checkpoints on the roads, and all local law enforcement running under their control ... how exactly do you think any resistance against their future plans will go?

Folks, we're reaching the end game. I wonder how Texas will fare. Our move is back on schedule. We should close on the land deal this coming Monday (God willing) and we'll be in Texas soon after that. We're leveraging some financial assets to shortcut the work involved and to make it a little more pleasant transition. By pleasant I mean we'll be living in a RV and a small cabin as opposed to digging a burrow and living like a family of coyotes. This will give us time to build the bigger Earthbag home as we please.

I'll feel better when this is done. I keep expecting the banks to collapse or the grid to fall apart the week before we manage to escape the totalitarian state of Illinois.

1. After elections, Muslim extremist groups now control 65% of the Egyptian parliament. The Arab Spring has failed. Look to our own situation. If the Occupy movement were to displace our current form of government, what would we end up with? Not a freedom-oriented one, I'm sure.

2. An interesting development ... more than 100 Occupiers protested OBAMA outside of a New York fundraiser. This one is somewhat unusual. For the most part the Occupy movement has ignored Obama's criminality, but this group called him a corporate puppet and called him out for war crimes.

3. A former Israeli official suggested that perhaps the "accidents" at two Iranian nuclear sites weren't accidents at all but "the hand of God". With a little help from Mossad, I'm betting.

4. America has one foot in the grave already, but Obama says he needs one more term to finish the job. Where would we be in 4 more years of this? 4 more years in which Obama doesn't need to hold back because he won't be running for reelection?

5. An interesting article on the future of Drone warfare. Now consider the application of this in the United States against any resistance.

6. This article describes the recent National Defense Authorization Act as the "most dangerous bill since the Patriot Act." I'm not at all comfortable after reading that article.