Day: June 22, 2013

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 47 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) 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 $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 …


Low Budget Firearms Selection for a Novice, by S.G.

As a new ‘prepper’ on a budget, I would love to get the latest gadget gun in multiples, but have very limited disposable income to invest. Most of us are not independently wealthy or have a six figure salary to support our new found hobby. Emotionally, there is a gun collector inside all of us that likes the latest and greatest gadget to show off to our friends and that we know outperforms everything else on the planet. However, the rational brain must govern over the emotional appeals of these wonderful objects. Therefore, visualizing the likely uses for a firearm …


Michael Z. Williamson Re: Mass Versus Bullets (and Hail Stones and Gamma Radiation)

Dear Jim, I notice that 5.56 is again getting an unrealistically bad rap.  It’s not as powerful as many other rounds, but some online epithets seem to suggest you can hide behind a sheet of paper and be safe. As a reminder, I’d like to repost the following demonstrations from the fine folks at Box O’ Truth: 5.56 will go through four interior walls. It will shoot a hole into an engine block. A steel front door may stop shotgun pellets, but WILL NOT stop 5.56mm. Level IIIA body armor without plates will not stop 5.56mm. Car doors will not …


Economics and Investing:

Has inflation fueled the two income household trap in the US? How inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the working and middle class. Canada has its own woes, including some mayors with a low regard for the law similar to that exhibited by many members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns pressure group. B.B. sent: The Tax Man Cometh—For Your Bitcoins Items from The Economatrix: Watch Your Cash: New BAIL-IN Rules Will Force “Failed Bank Losses On Investors” The 50 Best Employers For Boomer Workers Housing Starts In US Rose In May To 914,000 Annual Rate


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader B.K. sent: Lights out: House plan would protect nation’s electricity from solar flare, nuclear bomb    o o o Eli sent us this video link where a “20-Something” with apparently mixed feelings about guns journeys into the wilderness to unleash his Inner Charlton Heston: Shooting the Biggest Guns Money Can Buy – The Big Sandy Shoot. BTW, that shoot looks like a lot more fun (and a lot safer) than attending a Saudi wedding.    o o o B. in Idaho sent an interesting article about Syrian militias competing.  B. noted:  “It is notable that one militia that was …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty [is] a fading flower, which [are] on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, [which] as a tempest of hail [and] a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: And the glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, …