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Widening the net

It looks like preppers are going to be caught up in the latest government fishing expedition under the guise of anti terrorism. I’ve touched on this situation before and although it is a US initiative we all know that with the current situation with TWoT it will be rolled out here pretty quick. It seems that in the US buying MREs, waterproof containers and other useful survival equipment is a sign of terrorist activity. They are asking stores to report people who act suspeciously.


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I cannot emphasise enough how much we need to keep our heads down. Unfortunately, this too is suspicious and makes us subject to further scrutiny.

On the plus side with the state casting the net so wide the number of false positives increases dramatically. That effectively wastes so much of the authorities time that they miss out on true terrorist activity but luckily for us this isn’t much of a threat anyway.

With the riots continuing and the state being forced to look at what to do as a long term solution there is a real possibility that what they will do is clamp down even further on our liberties. The call by the citizens is to clamp down on criminals, allow citizens to defend themselves and the police to police. Clamping down on criminals is our governments current stance with quick jail sentences, kicking those people out of council properties and the like. It sounds tough, it looks tough but I suspect that over the next few months our government will backtrack, the sentences will all be appealed, the sentences reduced and the evictions cancelled or the perpetrators already evicted in the knee jerk re-housed at our expense. Many will even be given funds to buy new beds, sofa, fridges and cookers because being evicted meant they had nowhere to store theirs.

However, it is the default solution for the sort of thinkers we have in our government that their policies cannot be wrong they just need to push them harder, quicker and clamp down on dissenters. In three months I think we will see new laws in place, the toughness gone and a further clampdown on our liberties with raised taxes and insurance premiums. This would move us closer to Russia rather than what used to be a free country and will only cause more people to become disaffected. Thus the current situation simmers while even more heat is being applied. Wonder where that will lead just in time for the Olympics next year. Good timing there.

I hope they continue they way they are now with the clampdown and they change the laws to allow armed self defence without someone with 20-20 hindsight to decide if it is justified or not and allow these criminals to be put away. That would be a step in the right direction.

In the meantime though. Be careful where you buy your supplies, how you pay for them and the items you buy together. Don’t draw attention to yourself but at the same time don’t supply ID or answer any questions that are not legal requirements. Go someplace else even if it is from Arthur Daley who isn’t interested. Let the nosey stores lose business and perhaps even go bankrupt in the current climate. You are not a terrorist and you do not want to end up on that list. Plod have notoriously twitchy trigger fingers when they come visiting and you want to keep your life and your firearms certificate.

5 comments to Widening the net

  • Skvez

    (TWoT = The War on Terrorism. It took me a while to find that)
    This is once again a law that *could* be useful if it was applied with a modicum of self restraint and sense but we all fear will all to often be applied by a bureaucrat to punish the innocent.
    The concept of “innocent until proven guilty” is really under threat here, we’re assumed guilty just for buying items that; while their primary purpose is innocent; *might* be used for an evil one.
    Given that so much of what we buy needs to be bought online as it’s not mainstream enough to be stocked in the high street and a quick search of our purchases will show up all the preppers, serious OPSEC (Operational Security) concerns.

    • Skvez

      I think the politicians are stupid to refer to it was a *war* on terror.
      A war is something you fight with clearly defined sides; you fight it for a while and then win (or lose).
      How’s “the war on crime” or “the war on drugs” going?
      There aren’t things you fight for a while and win, they are police actions where you assign resources to keep the level as low as possible but (regrettably) you can never realistically ‘win’. There will always be people who feel that they have been unfairly treated by history, circumstance or just by virtue of being lazy and some of them will feel ‘justified’ in expressing their discontent in violent ways.
      By putting into the minds of the sheeple that it’s a war; it’s one that they will eventually be perceived to have lost since it’s one that can never be ‘won’.

  • AnnieBobanny

    Speaking of where to buy supplies…Posting this here because there doesn’t seem to be a facility for members to make new posts, only reply to posts by Skean. Anyway, regarding supplies, there is a great shop in Surbiton in Surrey called Ranger that is just brilliant. I went in there a few months ago to buy some stuff and the owner, Andrew, was a great guy. Very knowledgeable, friendly, and down to earth. He gave me some good advice on some stuff. The store isn’t huge, but it’s jam-packed with all sorts of gear, from camping to military supplies. If you can’t get to Surbiton, they have an online shop. It isn’t technically brilliant, but who cares. I’d rather give my business to a mom-and-pop place (as we call non-franchise, small businesses in the States) than a big corporation when possible. Not everything they sell in the store is listed on the website. The store had some stuff that I didn’t see on the site, such as bandanas, shampoo sleeves, bug sprays, clothing items, and some other stuff. The website is http://www.ranger.uk.com. I guess it’s ok to post url’s on this site? If not I’m sure someone will let me know : )

    Happy prepping everyone!

  • Hi Skean,

    I have a fantastic store here in Nottingham called Anchor Supplies, ex military stock etc, some of their stuff is amazing it really is a preppers delight I can spend hours in there, any way a couple of weeks ago I bought an ex army machete for chopping back bushes when I`m fishing and chopping wood etc, I`ll put it up on my blog when I get time,I had to show them my passport and they photocopied it.

    I also go clay pigeon shooting, when I`ve moved house I`ll be getting a shotgun licence so I can buy my own gun, more paper work and oversight but we are at where we are at with the Guvmint, it`s annoying true and lets face reality no amount of paper work will stop criminals getting hold of guns knives etc because they are criminals and thats how they roll but no amount of snooping, form filling and hoop jumping will stop me getting what I need.

    I`m a prepper, and proud of it!, spread the word, the more of us the better.

  • Skean Dhude

    Skvez,

    You are right. However, Government does only two things well. Nothing and over react. TWoT is another one of those that they went way overboard on.

    btw: If you hover over the purple text it will tell you what it means.

    It seems to me when they have a War on Anything that is not another nation then;
    It is never ending
    Its scope increases as time goes on
    It fails in its objectives
    It costs trillions over its life
    Innocent people get caught up
    The politicians cannot admit they are wrong

    AnnieBobanny,

    Until the forum is up and running I want to keep the topics here in some kind of order. If you have an article you want to publish send it to me and I’ll put it up. Once the forum is up then you can post at your leisure.

    Thanks for the link. I’m happy with relevant links like this. Its been a while since I was in Surbiton and next time I’m down I’ll make a point of calling in. I’ll have to make a list of links like this.

    Nick,

    I wouldn’t show my passport for a machete unless it was legislated. It is places like that who encourage our politicians to roll this stuff out. I’ll go there and browse and then buy from a firm that are not quislings. Screw them.