We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
In the wake of Helene, recent CA fires, recent cellphone outages, etc., I was asked about establishing communications plans for families and groups using radios. IMHO, one should start with GMRS with the expectation of getting a technician class amateur radio license. These two licenses will ensure an ability to communicate in the event of disaster or cellphone breakdown/overload.
Before I start, you may want to take a look at a blog by Kevin Macaraeg of ICOM America on the differences between VHF/UHF. The characteristics of these frequency ranges should be considered when building a solution. Link: https://blog.icomamerica.com/2021/11/17/differences-between-vhf-and-uhf/
There are "free" and no license spaces in these radio spectrums. Information on these can be found as follows:
Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is a channelized VHF service: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/multi-use-radio-service-murs
Family Radio Service (FRS) is a channelized (low power) UHF service: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/family-radio-service-frs
Whether you choose to (or not) pursue an amateur radio license, I would encourage you to get a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license [Link: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs]. This is a channelized UHF service allowing more power, detachable antennas, and repeater functions. It does share channels with FRS which allows a GRMS operator to communicate with users of blister pack FRS radios when needed.
I would strongly encourage pursuing at technician class amateur radio license at a minimum. Here's the FCC site: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service.
Study links and walking through the process:
https://www.rars.org/HowToBecomeAHam.php
https://hamstudy.org/
https://hamradioprep.com/ham-radio-study-guide/
There a number of apps to aid in studying. Once you consistently pass the practice tests, start studying the next higher class until you go to testing. If you pass the technician class test, take the general. If you pass the general (even if you have not studied for it), take the extra exam.
🇺🇸 #Oklahoma high school principal (Kirk Moore) seen charging at and disarming a school shooter.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, was a former student who said he wanted to shoot up the school “like the Columbine shooters did.” While taking down the shooter, Moore was shot in the leg. He is expected to recover.
When the Principal woke up that day, he never thought he would be tackling a gunman.
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🇨🇳🛢 How much strategic oil does the world actually have in reserve?
Global strategic crude oil inventories stood at ~2.5 BILLION barrels as of December 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
China holds by far the largest stockpile at 1,397 million barrels, more than 3 times the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve of 413 million barrels, which itself sits at only 58% of its full storage capacity of 714 million barrels.
China added an average of 1.1 million barrels per day to its strategic inventories throughout 2025, with preliminary data suggesting it continued building stockpiles in early 2026 ahead of the Iran War.
Japan holds the 3rd-largest reserve at 263 million barrels, followed by OECD European countries at 179 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the US is releasing 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to suppress oil prices, part of a broader 400 million barrel coordinated release agreed by 32 IEA member nations in March.
🔗 ...
🛢 JP Morgan Warns Oil Market Out of Balance, Prices Must Rise
🔸The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows, has removed 13.7 million barrels per day from global supply in April alone. A JP Morgan research note warns the market has no good way to replace it.
🔸Normally, spare production capacity in Saudi Arabia and the UAE acts as the market’s shock absorber. But that buffer has effectively been removed, eliminating the system’s first line of defense.
🔸With spare capacity unavailable, markets turned to inventories
➤ Global stockpiles are now being drained at ~7.1 mbd in April, an extraordinary pace, according to the note.
🔸Meanwhile, demand is collapsing because supply simply isn’t reaching users — “forced demand destruction.”The hardest hit sectors include:
▪️ Petrochemical plants across Asia are shutting down or slashing output as LPG, ethane, and naphtha flows from the Gulf collapse
▪️ Airline jet fuel ...
🛢⛽️ Global oil inventories are heading toward RECORD LOWS:
Global visible oil inventories have fallen -255 million barrels since the start of the conflict on February 27, to 7,864 million barrels.
Total estimated oil draws, including non-OECD refined products storage, have accelerated to 10.9 million barrels per day in April, the largest monthly draws on record since 2017.
Cumulative estimated draws since the start of the war now stand at 474 million barrels, with Hormuz flows holding at ~10% of normal, or 2.0 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, even in an optimistic scenario where Strait of Hormuz flows begin recovering by late April, it is unlikely to prevent global visible inventories from reaching all-time lows, according to Goldman Sachs.
As inventories keep falling, physical oil markets are likely to require sharply higher prices for immediate delivery, since buyers cannot wait months for cheaper futures delivery when stocks are running critically low.
Goldman also warns...
