Getting back to basics: Manufacturing boom: Trade school enrollment soars. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)s o o o Reader R.B.S. mentioned this handy site: U.S. Gun Law Reciprocity Guide o o o Rare Colorado Tornado Second-Highest in US History. (A nod to George S. for the link.) o o o Several readers mentioned this over at Alt-Market: The Most Often Forgotten Survival Preparations o o o G.G. flagged this: Burglars loot Long Beach apartment building while tented for fumigation
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." – Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays
This is the birthday of Oregon cattleman David Lawson Shirk (born August 2, 1844). He was my great-great-great uncle. He was the first man to document the early cattle drives from Texas to Idaho, just after the Civil War. His journals were published in the book The Cattle Drives of David Shirk: From Texas to the Idaho Mines, 1871 and 1873. This rare book also describes his later life, establishing a large cattle ranch in the Steens Mountain region of eastern Oregon, and his subsequent range war with famed cattleman Pete French. This is a scarce and collectible book. — …
History is our best teacher and we can learn a lot about human survival strategies of the past. Our ancestors somehow survived famine, drought and a host of natural disasters. Some used brute force to take what they wanted; others were skillful thieves or were just lucky. A few of these ancestral survivors actually thrived. They thrived because they used their wits and prepared for any unforeseen disaster. Beyond natural disasters there has always been the most un-natural of all disasters, war. War is arguably the most difficult of all conditions to survive, soldier and civilian alike. We can …
Goal: To help organize medical supplies into easily accessible modules of like items within your medical kit(s). Two years ago I was looking at pre-packaged medical kits on-line and noticed one with various items organized in colored bags. For example the red pouch had everything a person needed for simple wound care. Some ambulances carry trauma and pediatric bags with contents organized by color. The kit on the internet was over my budget, but I was intrigued by the idea. On my next trip to town, I was looking for office supplies and noticed zippered pencil pouches, which are intended to …
Jim: I’d like to recommend a great web site: Listening to Katrina. The author weaves his personal Katrina story together with fresh and different survivalist advice in a page-by-page format. He gives advice that I don’t believe I’d seen before. As a survivalist for years before the event, he explains the mistakes made and lessons learned. His section on protecting your wealth is outstanding. For example, if you had a regional disaster and needed to bug out/relocate within 60 seconds, would you have your resume, education certificates and references updated and ready to grab, so that you could start a …
RBS flagged this: 5% of Americans Spend 50% of Health Care Dollars Are Fiat Currencies Headed for Collapse? Items from The Economatrix: Shares Fall As Stimulus Hopes Fade Manufacturing In U.S. Probably Stagnated as Spending Cooled Fed to Signal More Easing But Stops Short of Big Steps
Reader C.D.V. spotted this: Build a Self-Regulating, Automatic Plant Watering System with a Plastic Bottle and a Tray o o o Power restored after huge Indian poswer cut. Enormous demand for power, aging grid infrastructure… o o o Cheryl (aka The Economatrix) suggested this: Create Your Own AR-15 Semi-automatic Pistol At Home Legally o o o Brett G. mentioned the Short Lane brand chamber adapters, as well as this video: Shooting 9mm from a 12 gauge? o o o Study shows that water fluordation lowers the intelligence of children. [JWR’s Comment: So General Ripper was right, …
General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk… ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children’s ice cream. Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: [very nervous] Lord, Jack. General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began? Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I… no, no. I don’t, Jack. General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without …
We’ve completed the judging for Round 41 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. But first, I’d like to mention that starting with Round 42, we are adding a new prize to the First Prize package: a $200 gift certificate, kindly donated by Shelf Reliance. This certificate is good for the purchase of any of their products. (These include: top quality canned food rotation racks of their own manufacture, Thrive brand storage foods, pre-assembled bug out bags and first aid kits, water filters, tents, sleeping bags, various field gear, PV panels, flashlights, Esbit stoves, Aqua Mira, blast matches, sanitation gear, hatchets, …
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why by Amanda Ripley Crown Publishers, New York, 2008. 266 pages including eight pages of color photos, source notes, bibliography, and a thorough index. ISBN 978-0-307-35289-7 Paperback edition is available at Amazon.com and other booksellers. This is not a psychobabble volume readable by a few academics. The author writes in plain English about a complicated subject that she makes easily understandable. She has interviewed hundreds of survivors, scholars, and scientists to obtain her information. The book is divided into three parts: Denial, Deliberation, and The Decisive Moment. Inside the three parts …
About this time last year, I did a review for a print publication on the Masterpiece Arms MPA10T – a semiauto only .45ACP MAC-style pistol. The gun was fun to shoot, and worked 100% of the time. The only thing I didn’t care for was the weight of the gun – it was heavy, and a little bit bulky, especially with the 30 round magazine in-place and fully loaded. If you’re interested in a short history of the MAC-style of submachine guns, check out this web page. When I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado some years ago, a friend …
JWR, I thought this might appeal to the “low-tech” electricity free oriented people. Two designers got a $19,500 grant to bring the “GiraDora” into the real world. Designed from seeing the plight of those living in slums in Lima, they wanted to reduce the work load of poverty stricken people earning $4 to $10 a day. They created this. It uses less water than washing by hand! There is some more info here. Respectfully, – Erik K.
Signs of the times: For More Pianos, Last Note Is Thud in the Dump. In a depressed economy, few can afford to have old pianos restored. Oh well, at least a few weary pianos get to go out in a blaze of glory. Items from The Economatrix: Rats at IMF and BIS are Leaving the Ship Heading for a Crash The US Retail Collapse Accelerates CNBC Admits We Are All Slaves to Central Banks Beer: A Reflection of the World Economy
James K. was the first of several readers to mention this grid collapse calamity: 620 million without power in India after three power grids fail o o o Pat Cascio sent this article: Obama will ‘evaluate’ bill to ban online munition sales. JWR’s Comments: There are billions of cartridges manufactured each year. For .22 rimfire alone, the number is around 4 billion rounds per year. So with of all these cartridges made, what percentage of them are used in violent crimes? The violent crime rate is 403 per 100,000 people. So we are talking about a lot of decimal …