“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)
After being out of print for nearly three years, the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course is available again. It is now sold only via digital download, but the good news is that it is now priced quite affordably for SurvivalBlog readers. — I heard that an editor at Wikipedia just nominated for deletion the articles about my novels Survivors and Founders, claiming that they are “non-notable.” (Even though they were both in Amazon’s Top Ten and on the New York Times bestseller list.) Release of the book prompted dozens of radio interviews and more than 200 reviews at Amazon.com …
Fire Statistics The following statistics from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are for fires in the USA in 2009: There were 3,010 civilian deaths from fire, 2,565 of which occurred in the home. There were 260 civilian deaths from motor vehicle fires. Only 105 civilian fire deaths occurred in non-residential structures. US fire departments responded to an estimated 1,348,500 fires resulting in an estimated $12,531,000,000 in property losses and 17,050 civilian injuries. In general, fires cause more loss of life and property in America than all natural disasters combined. Every year, fires are responsible for more loss of life, …
I’ve received numerous requests from SurvivalBlog readers to review the new Ruger 10/22 Takedown .22 LR rifle. I literally lost count of the number of e-mails I got from SurvivalBlog readers, but it was probably close to a hundred requests. Now, I hate to admit this, but I never (personally) owned a standard Ruger 10/22 rifle of my own – my wife and youngest daughter owned them, and I shot them, but never owned one myself. So, this was a good time to lay claim to a sample for this article. I’ve recommended the Ruger 10/22 rifle to untold numbers …
Jim: I did some research on the storage life of yeast. I started with this article: Red Star Yeast which sates: “Each package and jar of dry yeast is stamped with a ‘Best if Used by’ date. This date is two years from the date the yeast was packaged. The month and year reflect when you should use your yeast by. The last 4 digits are for manufacturing purposes and have nothing to do with when to use the yeast by. “Example of code: FEB 2010 08 09 – Use by February 2010 “Unopened packages and jars should be stored in a …
G.R’s Beer Bread Here is a very quick beer bread recipe that is great when you don’t have time to make a normal loaf of bread. Ingredients: 3 cups sifted flour (sift through sifting screen to avoid making the bread hard) 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1 12 oz can or bottle of beer 1/4 cup melted butter Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Mix dry ingredients and beer in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to avoid dry spots. Mixture will be stiff. 3. Pour into greased loaf pan. 4. Pour melted butter …
Panetta Sounds Alarm on Cyber-War Threat: “It is the kind of capability that can basically take down a power grid, take down a water system, take down a transportation system, take down a financial system.” Standard of living, meet falling US dollar – how a falling US dollar benefits banks at the expense of working Americans. Prosecutors seek criminal charges in London Whale fiasco. Charles Hugh Smith: About That “No Recession” Call… Items from The Economatrix: Roubini Foresees Spain’s Doomed Despite Bankia Nationalization The Horrific, Worst-case Scenario for Spain S&P Cuts Spain Crediting Rating To Near Junk Jack Welch: I …
James C. pointed me to this 1969 FBI training film: Shooting for Survival. o o o Ol’ Remus suggested this piece over at the Shenandoah blog: Guerrilla Radio Listening and Broadcasting. And speaking of radio, don’t miss this handy Ham Radio Cheat Sheet, over at the excellent Off Grid Survival blog. o o o An audio clip from a talk radio caller in Fargo, North Dakota: Please Move The Deer Crossing. This call (possibly a spoof) adds a new entendre to the term “dense population.” (Thanks to Steve C.) o o o A speaking of density, Pierre …
"In my view, the Christian Religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed…no truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian Religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." – Noah Webster, Reply to David McClure, October 25, 1836
Our friend Tam over at the always entertaining and often hilariously funny View From The Porch blog reminded me on a more serious note that today is the 100th anniversary of madman John Schrank’s assassination attempt on the life of President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy, a statesman who was obviously made of sterner stuff than many of our contemporary politicians, went ahead with presenting a lengthy speech that day, even though a .38 caliber bullet was lodged in his chest. (The bullet went through a steel eyeglasses case and a 50-page speech manuscript, slowing it down considerably. Roosevelt carried that bullet …
If you’re just now catching on to the need to prep, it’s not too late, but to be done effectively, it will cost you some money up front. There are plenty of suggestions and web sites galore for the budget-challenged to prep ranging from buying a little extra each week—see the LDS shopping list for newlyweds—to hunting, fishing and foraging on state land. At the other extreme are those who can afford survivalist-consultants to build and stock extensive underground bunkers, which require the employ of a staff including farmers and Blackwater-type security. But, since no one else is, I’m going …
Mr. Rawles: I just wanted to share that there is an excellent book for this, called The Incredible Edible Landscape by Joy Bossi. It is an excellent book, especially for beginners. Regards, – Elizabeth C.
Reader P.D. sent: US Nears Fiscal Disaster: ‘Washington Doing Nothing’ Kurt sent this: No Currencies Will Survive What Lies Ahead, But That’s OK Mac Slavo: Warning Signs: FedEx to Slash Thousands of Jobs Citing “Weak Global Economic Conditions” Items from The Economatrix: Confidence Among Small US Businesses Cooled in September Price of Gold Could Reach $2,400/oz. By Next Summer Is Housing Recovering Like People Think It Is? Greece’s Debt Nightmare Just Got Worse
Jon C. suggested this article: Five Great Reasons to Grow Vegetables Vertically o o o M.K.P. sent an article from Chile about the many pitfalls of building… The Microhydro Plant. This clever fellow even wound his own transformers! And BTW, he also has nice taste in old tube radios. o o o Gregg mentioned: The next human pandemic o o o B.B. sent: Massive Manure Pile Delivered to Ohio Democratic Offices. For better effect, take a lesson from our English cousins. The misexcremants should have fired up a power manure spreader just inside the front door, and …
“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. [For the Son of man is] as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, …