Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the dozens of readers that renewed their voluntary Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions subscriptions today, or signed up for new ones. It is gratifying to see that so many of you feel that they get your daily ten cents worth from SurvivalBlog! — Today we present another entry for Round 26 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, …




Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist, by Cowpuncher

The SurvivalBlog thread on wound-clotting agents got me thinking about this subject and its apparent lack of dissemination amongst the “survivalist” community. I decided I would write about it. I know the recent military vets will probably have heard about it, and some (most) will have practiced it. Many will have used it in action. For the record, I received Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or TC3) training in the beginning of the program, so any new information I have gleaned since 2002 is based on studying the protocols as presented in the SOF Medical Handbook and the Ranger Medics …




Economics and Investing:

Chad S. spotted this: Lower home appraisals appear to be up; Deals get killed as foreclosures, short sales make valuing property difficult. JWR’s Comment: The continuing waves of house foreclosures are bound to ratchet down both sales prices and in turn assessed valuations. This will lead to more state budget crises. The bottom line: If they can’t raise your home’ assessed value, then they’ll raise property tax tax rates. A corollary exists with income taxes. As more people lose their jobs or have their payroll hours cut back, then states will be forced to raise income tax rates. The 50 …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Panic room saved artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist assassin. (Mentioned by numerous blog readers.) Every home and retreat should have a stout room that can be a place of temporary refuge against home invasions.    o o o Dale W. was the first of several readers to mention this: Court upholds police pointing gun at lawful carrier. [JWR Adds: This is a bad legal precedent, but the main underlying problem is prevailing attitudes. If you don’t live in a region where open carry is legal, and where concealed carry is considered normal, then you are living in the wrong state–or …