Day: February 14, 2013

Notes from JWR:

February 14th is the birthday of Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lucas (born 1928, died June 5, 2008). During the Iwo Jima campaign this 17 year-old won the Medal of Honor “for unhesitatingly hurling himself over his comrades upon one grenade and for pulling another one under himself. One of the grenades exploded, and Lucas absorbed the entire blasting force of it with his own body.” PFC Lucas was the youngest Marine ever to receive the Medal of Honor. (He was just just 13 when he forged his mother’s signature, to enlist.) — Now a bit long in the tooth …


Staying Sane (and Happy) at Your Winter BOL, by Mrs. Icebear

I laughed my way through the entertaining and informative (even for me – I had no theoretical knowledge of waxing skis whatsoever, just did “what the other kids did”) recent article on the “exotic Norwegian” cross country skis. So I thought that maybe a couple of other Norwegian experiences might be of interest to survivalblog-readers: Having lived the first 30 years of my life in Norway and had ample experience with both skiing and offgrid living as a part of everyday life, I have some personal tips on not just surviving offgrid, but actually having a good time even though: …


Details From American Jurisprudence on Unconstitutional Laws

In my recent (and now notorious) Burn Barrel essay on civil disobedience, I made reference to a legal summary in the 2d edition of American Jurisprudence. But at the time I didn’t have access to the important case citation footnotes. SurvivalBlog reader and legal scholar S.G. very kindly sent me an extract with full case cite footnotes, from American Jurisprudence 2d. This was from Volume 16 (Conflict of Laws to Constitutional Law 1-359). This came from the latest edition, so it cites cases as recent at 2009. Here it is: § 195 Generally The general rule is that an unconstitutional …


Five Letters Re: Addictions That Could Be Your Undoing

Mr. Rawles, The article written by Z.T. was spot on. As I write this, I have been five days caffeine free. For the past several months I have intentionally been cutting back on coffee. I was a chronic coffee drinker and had been for about 20 years. As many as four pots of coffee a day by myself. I loved coffee. Many years ago I spent several months in the woods camping and was stuck with no coffee. I learned first hand how debilitating ‘minor’ addictions can be. For the first two weeks I was useless. Couldn’t do anything but …


Economics and Investing:

Some more “Voting with our feet” news: State taxes and the Great Income Migration. The Kindle book cited in the article (How Money Walks – How $2 Trillion Moved Between the States, and Why It Matters) has all the details. (Thanks to Mark A. for the link.) Prosecuting the Messenger: Chief Greek Statistician Threatened with Jail. (Thanks to Peter S. for the link.) And speaking of “slaying the messenger”: Federal, State Governments to Sue S&P Over Mortgage-Bond Ratings Items from The Economatrix: The Economy Is Much Worse Than The Data Show Central Bankers One Wild: What Can Investors Do? Marc …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Ken D. suggested this over at Instructables: Stylish Two Drawer Faraday Cage    o o o The 25% to 35% off sales for Mountain House canned long term storage foods with free shipping and bonuses will end soon at both Ready Made Resources and Safecastle. Be sure to place your order before these sales end!    o o o Rick D. sent us an article that provides a microcosm of urban high rise housing in a grid-down collapse: Carpets soaked in urine, sewage running down walls and onion sandwiches for dinner: Passengers reveal dire conditions of US cruise ship …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." – Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackston, W. Virginia Board of Education v. Burnette, 1943