Keep Your Head on a Swivel

It's called "situational awareness." Take the ear buds out of your ears, quit stairing at your phone while walking and make sure you look at people around you for starters. If you're driving in unfamiliar territory, keep doors locked, purses out of sight and give yourself an out if possible. I'll run over a perp to get out. If you can, conceal carry. Better to be tried by 12, than carried by 6.

I carry concealed everywhere I go, especially when I have to go into Atlanta...

A close family friend who grew up in the 1950s Algeria war zone, snapped at us many years ago to, “be aware of your surroundings!”

Be armed, be trained, be aware....be safe. Also....be far away from NY, SanFran, Chicago, DC and maybe Boston. The bigger the city, the more likely some 7th century barbarians will see it as a fat target. Out here in fly-over country, less likely that they'll even know where Kansas is located.

I carry concealed everywhere I go. I routinely encounter signs at restaurants and theaters stating that weapons are not allowed inside; just as routinely, I disregard them. I’m always looking around for anything suspicious or threatening. I notice that 90% of the people around me have no situational awareness.

quickstop gas, aka stop n robs, are especially treacherous - choose wisely and don't let tank get below one quarter. Sig p365 is my cc of choice but .380s and j-frames have their place. A toboggan knit cap makes a great hide in plain sight for console car carry.

An absolute must read. Many of us are already there on this, but even so the article has some info that you really don't think about, the footwear thing being a prime example.

Re #7, yes, footwear is a big deal. I see people out and about in this ridiculous beach or pool wear Crocks or flip flops, even in Kansas, in winter. In any event of needing high speed departure, those "shoes" will be a huge hindrance, especially if it is necessary to go across even a few vacant lots or rougher terrain. I learned long ago to always have sturdy shoes on, even dress shoes are top brand leather shoes with laces. I rarely wear dress shoes after retirement, most often hiking/walking combo light boots for everyday wear. And in winter....I see people in shorts and T-shirts in 30 degree weather, here in the midwest, depending entirely on the heater in their car for their lives. If there is a traffic jam, and/or a serious threat, forcing them to flee on foot for miles (like the Israelis did in the music festival attack) they are at a huge disadvantage, and this could be a fatal choice. And how many have a generator and fuel, and know how to to connect it up to at least run their furnace in a winter power outage? Do you know that you cannot siphon fuel from a modern car? So a full fuel tank will not power your generator. You need a full (fresh, non-ethanol) gas can or four. Gas goes bad in a year or less in storage, ethanol free does better.

I have been doing this for years. One of the things I do in a public place is to always be able to watch the doors - and to have an escape route.

If your neighborhood is unsafe, move. Growing up, I was jumped four times, think my brother was jumped once. Dad was assaulted in his convenience store and the store was burglarized. Mother was found unconscious on the street, but she didn't remember anything. Her face was badly bruised, and she might have been the victim of an attempted mugging. She hadn't been robbed. Guessing she fought back, the attacker panicked and ran. At home, neighbors poisoned our cats. People vandalized our house. Dad's car was vandalized with a BB gun to the point he couldn't own one because it kept getting vandalized. Neighbors kept trying to get the house condemned out from under us because it was an eyesore. I remember my parents fighting the condemnation orders in court on at least two occasions. Eventually our house was torched, and we lost it. All of this was over 40 years ago. Always be aware of your surroundings. If they are unsafe, move.

The objectives of Russia and China may be to support Iran actions until the US sets sanctions in place and break Iran. Once Russia puts in enough pipe lines into China and sanctions are in place on Iran, they can control all the fossil fuel markets in the world. OPEC will be shut out by lower gas prices and they won't be able to compete with Russia. The USA is insistent on shutting off all fossil fuel. How can the USA fly defensive aircraft and operate tanks in the USA (let alone internationally) or ships at sea that consume gallons a day?.