Month: October 2014

Recipe of the Week: Swiss Steak with a Kick by Mrs. HJL

This is a simple recipe that our family likes to cook using the crock pot. It’s a regular dish. We modified the traditional version to use some green chili and/or jalapeno peppers, which you can use to suit your personal tastes. 1 1/2 to 2 lb round steak, cut into six to eight serving portions 2 Tbsp flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2 Tbsp butter (or oil) 1 onion, chopped 1/2 bell pepper, chopped 1 or 2 small cans green chili, chopped 1 can tomato soup (or 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes and omit water below) 1/2 cup …


Letter: Bullet Proof 3-Ring Binder

My daughter had a science project due and she asked for my help. So, I helped her build a bullet proof 3-ring binder. Her goal was for the binder to stop a .223 bullet. The specs are as follows: The size is 12″ tall by 11″ wide The layers: The front cover: 1/4″ Ultra High Density Plastic 1/16″ Steel 1 panel of Kevlar bullet proof material from a bullet proof vest that expired in 1998. I folded the panel so the panel would fit inside the above dimensions and duct taped them in place. 1/4″ Ultra High Density Plastic She …


Economics and Investing:

The World Has Less Than 5 Days Worth Of Copper Inventories o o o Japanese Stocks Tumble After BOJ Bond-Buying Operation Fails For First Time Since Abenomics o o o Yellen says rising income inequality in U.S. ‘greatly’ concerns her. And since when is this any of the Fed’s concern? This progressive horse manure will drive our once-great nation right over a cliff. – J.H. o o o Russians and Chinese are ditching the dollar as Europeans start using renminbi in their reserves


Odds ‘n Sods:

JWR had some comments on the Ebola outbreak at the Prepper Recon Podcast. o o o Over at The Daily Sheeple: 10 Books That Could Actually Save Your Life. o o o Krayton Kerns, DVM: Main Street USA – Avalanche Lily o o o Build a working ADSB Aircraft Radar System for $ 20.00. – T.P. o o o Mental Health Issues Put 34,500 on New York’s No-Guns List. – H.L. o o o Life in Quarantine for Ebola Exposure: 21 Days of Fear and Loathing. – RBS



Notes for Sunday, October 19, 2014

Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hardcase to go with your …


Emergency Prepping, Sustainability, and the Idea of Adapting in Advance, by F.J. – Part 2

Prepping is a great cultural example of the observations that led bio-cultural anthropologists to a hypothesis that suggests human brains are hardwired to use past experience and present observations to make projections of hypothetical future scenarios following a basic “if–then” logical model. Those practices, which are inherent in all of us, form the basis of storytelling— an art form that humans alone have the capacity to practice. They say it’s an evolutionary trait we adapted to guide our decision making, since the days of our primitive ancestors, through all those stages of change that hadn’t happened yet, or were only …


Letter Re: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer

Hugh, I am seriously contemplating purchasing the freeze dryer that you reviewed. While your review was very indepth, I still have a couple questions before purchasing. I know that when home canning you can’t can beans, can you freeze dry beans? Is this something that I could make a batch of chili and then pour out on the trays and freeze dry? Also, is there a guide of some sort to how much water you need to add back to freeze dried foods to rehydrate without making them soupy? Is it like one to one, or is there some sort …


Economics & Investing:

Jim Rogers Warns: Albert Edwards Is Right “Sell Everything & Run For Your Lives” o o o Why Malpractice from the Fed Will Undermine Growth o o o How Americans go poor by spending money on housing and related expenses: Americans spend 33 percent of their income on housing-related items. Items from Mr. Econocobas: ‘Stunning’ Fed Move Put Bottom under Stocks: Traders – It’s amazing; either they really don’t understand fundamental economics or are playing dumb. An economy that lives by QE will die by QE. The hint of reviving QE is the only thing that stopped the sell-off. Another …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Trust but Verify – Avalanche Lily o o o Ammunition pulled from Walmart shelves in Ferguson amid violent clashes over the police shooting of Michael Brown. – JBG o o o Woman Sent To Jail For Overgrown Yard. – G.G. o o o This scientific article explains the difference between a so called ‘airborne’ virus and a virus that is not airborne. COMMENTARY: Health workers need optimal respiratory protection for Ebola. – A.D.


Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:1-5 (KJV)


Notes for Saturday, October 18, 2014

Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hardcase to go with your …


Emergency Prepping, Sustainability, and the Idea of Adapting in Advance, by F.J. – Part 1

“We are an exceptional model of the human race. We no longer know how to produce food. We no longer can heal ourselves. We no longer raise our young. We have forgotten the names of the stars, fail to notice the phases of the moon. We do not know the plants and they no longer protect us. We tell ourselves we are the most powerful specimens of our kind who have ever lived, but when the lights are off we are helpless. We cannot move without traffic signals. We must attend classes in order to learn by rote, numbered steps …


Letter Re: A Few Thoughts on Water Storage

Hugh, I just recently returned from a trip to New Zealand, where I stayed in private homes in small towns on North Island. I was surprised to learn that these small towns don’t have public water systems; every home in the town has its own rain catchment system. The system catches unfiltered rain water from the roof of the home, draining it into large above-ground tanks in the back yards. (It doesn’t ever freeze on North Island.) Most of the homeowners I talked to had no idea how the system worked, but I did find one fellow who said the …


Economics & Investing:

Troubled NBRS Financial Bank is closed by state regulators. – G.G. Items from Mr. Econocobas: Greece to Test Minimum Guaranteed Income Program If A Few Ebola Cases Can Make The Stock Market Crash This Much, What Would A Full-Blown Pandemic Mean? – I don’t think this has much to do with the down fall, but I’m sure it has some impact overall. Bullard Says Fed Should Consider Delay in Ending QE– Geez, you mean the Fed might not actually end QE?…What a surprise!…No one could have ever seen that coming, right?… Markets Back to Hanging on the Fed’s Every Word