The Artifacts are a throwback hip-hop duo from Newark, NJ. Their music reflects and emphasizes three of the four elements of true hip-hop culture: MCing, DJing, and their specialty, graffiti writing or "bombing"; both Tame One and El the Sensai are proficient at all three. With unique styles that play off each other well, Tame and El's graf-rap was well-received by underground audiences and continued in the Jersey rap tradition of Redman and Lords of the Underground. The crew scored an underground classic with their debut single in 1994, "Wrong Side of The Tracks," serving notice to their graffiti bombing missions and their Jersey heritage. The debut album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, followed soon afterward. Tight, funky production provided the duo's B-boy stance the chance to take shape. Although it contained more of the same, the 1996 follow-up album, That's Them, was not nearly as successful critically, getting lost amid the burgeoning kingpin gangster attitude of Jay-Z and Nas.

The Artifacts were hard-nosed backpack hip-hoppers in the halcyon days of hip-hop's golden age revisited, before hip-hop's mainstream explosion and the elevating gangster hardcore style that led to the violent deaths of Tupac Shakir and Notorious B.I.G. The duo split in 1997 and now release singles as solo artists. ~ Michael Di BellaLike any other field of study, self-reliance and preparedness have languages of their own. As an aid to understanding some of the lingo we sling around here at APB, I offer this glossary of acronyms, slang, and phrases. Some you’ll find on many prepping web sites, and others are peculiar to APB. AAR – “After-action report.” A summary of some notable event, including a discussion of how it was handled, what went right, what went wrong, and how to improve next time. ADS – “Area denial system.” Anything that can exclude people or vehicles from some defined area. A fence is the simplest example, but it could be a berm, a moat, a wall, etc.

APB – “Applied Paranoia Blog.” The blog you are currently reading. It was started in March of 2013, and aims to provide information on modern survivalism, self-reliance, and personal freedom.vip i3 03 laptop backpack BOB, Bug-out Bag – A backpack or other contrivance filled with supplies intended to sustain a person for a short period of time, enabling the act of bugging out quickly.monster ncredible backpack BOK – “Blow-out Kit,” a specialized first aid kit that provides the supplies needed to rapidly treat a major wound, such as a gunshot wound. advance adgility backpack vacuum bagsAt minimum, contains a combat tourniquet, trauma dressing, hemostatic agent and gauze for packing wounds.backpack rugzak waar op letten

BOL – “Bug-out Location,” or where you go when it’s time to bug out BOV – “Bug-out Vehicle.” tvu backpack costA vehicle in which one bugs out. backpack osprey hornet 46Generally selected based on lack of electronics, so as to survive an EMP attack or CME, and for all-around robustness, for clearing out swarms of zombies. BZK – Benzalkonium chloride, a topical antiseptic found in wet wipes and hand sanitizers. CME – “Coronal mass ejection.” An event where a solar prominence collapses suddenly, resulting in a huge stream of charged particles that head out into space at high speeds. If the area of the sun that collapses is pointed right at Earth, and the event is energetic enough, the particle stream can cause problems with orbiting satellites, and possibly even ground-based electronic and electrical systems.

Similar to EMP, but potentially more energetic. There’s historical examples of CMEs interacting with Earth-based systems – see the Carrington Event of 1859 for details. EMP – “Electromagnetic pulse,” a momentary spike in radio-frequency energy produced by a number of means, but typically and most destructively by the detonation of a powerful thermonuclear device in the atmosphere. EMP is said to be able to permanently destroy all unshielded modern electronics at the chip level, and is somewhat fancifully thought to be a weapon that can revert a modern society to the 1800s in a heartbeat. Possible, but not likely, and probably not worth prepping against, IMHO. EWS – “Early warning system.” Anything designed to give you a heads up about intruders. It could be as simple as a string of tin cans on a fence line, or  as complex as motion sensors and wireless video cameras. FOB – “Forward Operating Base,” any secured forward position that is used to support tactical operations.

GHB, GBB – “Get-home Bag” or “Get-back Bag.” A kit of supplies you keep in your vehicle so you can get home if your vehicle becomes disabled and no help is coming. IWB – “Inside the waist-band,” a method of concealed carry where the holster is tucked inside the beltline, leaving only the handgun’s grip exposed. JWR – James Wesley, Rawles, uber-prepper, author of the Patriots series of novels, and editor of The Survival Blog. I’m not sure what the deal is with the comma between the middle and last names, but that’s how he spells it. Mrs. Paranoid – Mr. Paranoid’s long-suffering spouse. NBC – “Nuclear, Biological or Chemical.” Sheeple, Sheople – Portmanteau of the words “sheep” and “people,” with the implication that most people are sheep that will blindly follow the flock and do what they’re told. Stack – To accumulate one or more types of precious metals. Refers to the actual physical metal, not paper assets based on them.