Notes for Wednesday – May 28, 2014:

Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of 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), 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, Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value), A $300 gift …




Total Loss Disaster and Lessons Learned, by R2

We experienced a total loss fire in January of 2014. All life, minus a few fish, made it out okay. Praise God! This story is a summation of lessons learned regarding insurance, rebuild/replacement options, storage preps, fire-proof safe survival, OPSEC, and much more. I hope you can learn and make adjustments based on this experience. We had a three story colonial home with brick front, vinyl siding, and an asphalt roof. We poured a concrete foundation with a walk out basement, and we had a well, septic system, propane heat, and electric air conditioning and appliances. Our OPSEC was compromised. …




Letter Re: Grain Mills

Hugh, The author expressed little concern for his WonderMill’s tendency to heat the flour it milled, on the grounds that the flour was about to go into an oven anyway. This logic certainly makes sense; however, heated flour can be a problem in some cases. We once had a mill, whose brand I’ve forgotten, that heated its flour quite a bit. We make a fair bit of sourdough, and our starter quite noticeably failed to thrive when fed flour from this mill. Of course we let the flour cool before feeding, so latent heat wouldn’t kill the starter outright, but …




Letter Re: Thoughts on Memorial Day

I just read your thoughts regarding Memorial Day. I’ve had the opportunity to live in both a very large megaplex city area (the LA/Orange/Riverside County area) and a very small town about half way between Sacramento and the Lake Tahoe area. I’ve noticed a major difference of behavior in the two areas regarding Memorial Day. Even in the area I lived in “down south” in south Orange County (a somewhat conservative area amidst other, more liberal areas), Memorial Day was seen far more as “a day off,” with little thought generally given to thoughts about the sacrifices of our veterans. …




Economics and Investing:

A global crisis of young adult unemployment: 12 countries in Europe have an unemployment rate of 20 percent or higher for adults ages 25 and younger. o o o Items from The Economatrix: Who Gets Your Digital Fortune When You Die? 50 Best Employers For Boomer Workers George Soros Tells America To Take Their Money Out of the Banks Before It Is too Late James Rickards-Financial Collapse And Massive Shortages In Gold Coming




Odds ‘n Sods:

The Retail Death Rattle Grows Louder. – H.L. o o o Glenn Greenwald to publish list of U.S. citizens that NSA spied on. – H.L. This is a list that I am very interested to see. o o o “Nobody Needs.” The Media Attempts To Grant “Absolute Moral Authority” To The Gun Control Movement. – B.B. o o o Now, the police don’t even need a predator drone to kill an American. The police are authorized to shoot until the alleged perpetrator is dead, even if the danger is over. What is even more disturbing is the lack of a …