Notes from JWR:

November 6th is the 69th anniversary of the day that Al Millspaugh’s B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down over over Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1944. I got to know Al at some John Birch Society chapter meetings back in the late 1970s. Hearing his stories was fascinating. He told me that during one part of the war his squadron flew black-painted B-24s that were used to parachute-drop weapons and Jedburgh-type OSS teams behind enemy lines to organize resistance. I also recall that he mentioned that one of his fellow internees at Stalag Luft I was a USAAF radio operator who soon …




The Cycle of Prepping: One Man’s Approach, by Steve in Wisconsin

Although I’m sure far wiser people than I have said it before, I certainly subscribe to the notion that prepping is a road, not a destination.  In other words, although the pace may vary, I’m continually prepping and always will be.  Possible exceptions to this rule, to one degree or another, are the folks who have the means to simply take one of the “list of lists” available and write a big check to cover virtually all of their needs, but even that will require some ongoing maintenance.  I am certainly not in that camp and I think it’s clear …




Three Letters Re: Hand Wood Splitting Tools

James, Here’s a wood splitter that I’ve been using for years.  The Woodwiz Splitter is easy to using and safe way of splitting wood and it’s made in the United States. Respectfully, – Tim McC.   Jim In my experience, over several decades of processing hardwoods for fuel in the lake country of mid-Ontario Canada, I found no maul which can out split the venerable “chopper 1”.   With or without operational springs on the wedge face, these axes, usually marketed with a tough composite handle in Canada would be my candidate to recommend as the “American made splitting tool …




Economics and Investing:

Alt-Market reports: International Monetary Fund Recommends Stealing Americans’ Wealth Now! 3D Printed Gun Inventor Embarks on New Project: Dark Wallet Today, America’s Foodstamps Program Gets A 6% Haircut: What Happens Next? (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Medicare docs face 24% pay cut … again Manufacturers Shake Off Effect of Budget Impasse Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at Faster Pace Than Forecast




Odds ‘n Sods:

Next on my reading pile is Richard J. Johnson’s book Redoubts: Paleopopulism at Twilight. Though ranty in spots, this looks like a cogent collection of essays.    o o o Several readers mentioned a propaganda piece in the Washington Times that quotes Chinese military planners boasting about their nuclear strike capability on the United States. In my estimation this blustering is more about China’s economic goals than it is about actual military plans. China aims to crush the United States economically in the long term, but in the near term they need the American consumer market, to keep their many …