Month: January 2015

Notes for Sunday – January 11, 2015

January 11th is the birthday of Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804.) It is also the natal day if the late Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sonsteby, who was born in 1918. He was the most decorated hero of the Norwegian resistance under the German occupation. He died May 10, 2012. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 56 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 …


Tactical Aging, by G.D.

The above title to this article was drafted tongue in cheek, but it seems correct for the points that I hope to make. The article will contain a lot of “I”s and “me”s, but I promise that I am not a raging narcissist. I am only relating events as they have happened to me and how they helped me to navigate the uncertainties of the future. I would like to take credit for planning each positive event, but a lot of it was due to dumb luck and good fortune. Hopefully, however, there may be something in this narrative that …


Letter Re: Getting By In Wyoming

Hugh, Concerning the Sears Catalog serving as toilet paper, I can personally vouch for the effectiveness, reliability, and expedience of this method of providing for that part of the daily routine. Before being married, I would make regular (once, maybe twice yearly if I had a lot of company) requests for what would become my favorite supplier of this resource– an electronics supply company called Digikey. Their catalog is both free and voluminous with the added benefit of being printed on thin, matte paper. This method served myself and the occasional fellow young, single buck just fine for years. However, …


Economics and Investing:

Record 93 million Americans now not in the labor force: The non-working American recovery added 451,000 to the not in the labor force category in December alone. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: This Isn’t Investing … It’s Russian Roulette Old vs Young: The Story Of America’s Two Labor Markets Labor Participation Rate Drops To Fresh 38 Year Low; Record 92.9 Million Americans Not In Labor Force December Employment Gain Caps Best Year for U.S. Since 1999; Wage Gains Lag – Here’s your Bloomberg spin on those same numbers.


Odds ‘n Sods:

From the National Geographic Channel: The Ultimate Black Market Weapon. – G.P. o o o Venezuela: Military Supervises Food Distribution. – H.L. o o o Owner dies after shootings at suburban Kansas City gun shop. – T.J. o o o Waste to water. – G.P. o o o PA Man Arrested for Refusing to Hand Over Camera to Police Officer. – T.P.



Notes for Saturday – January 10, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 56 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 hard case to go with …


Watching Out For Scammers on the Ham Boards, by R.B.

I’m a Ham operator and recently got scammed. I want to share my story and to give some pointers to those less educated, concerning what to look for when buying Ham equipment from ads posted online on any of the various Ham forums. I’m not talking about buying in person; I’m talking about buying sight unseen, like non-Ebay or non-Amazon purchases. My Story I was looking for an ICOM radio amp and found one. The price was reasonable for a used amp, so I contacted the person. He said, in broken English, that it was still for sale and he …


Letter Re: Emergency Car Kit

The article by Z.M. was a good start for a car kit. I would recommend a few additional items. A set of road flares. These are multipurpose. Clearly they can be used for signaling. (I personally prefer them as a driver because they are more visible in my opinion than reflective triangles.) Additionally, they can be used to help start a fire in an emergency as well. Regarding food, two types of food may be helpful as very few foods are shelf stable in the high temperatures that the inside of a car can reach. I highly recommend Datrex Emergency …


Economics and Investing:

U.S. to Shutter 15 European Bases Under Cost Cutting Plan. – G.P. o o o The Part-Time Economy Consuming America. – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Credit Card Debt Tumbles Most In 1 Year As US Households Resume Deleveraging – Understand the author’s point about how it shows people are not optimistic, but deleveraging is actually what is needed and what happens in a depression. However, also understand in our debt based monetary system, deleveraging will collapse the system, and that is why central banks around the global are trying to print their way out of deflation …


Odds ‘n Sods:

‘Catastrophic’ earthquake and tsunami brewing off B.C. coast. – CDV o o o I just read this online about a former Miami Dolphins NFL football player who accidentally fell off his boat while it was on autopilot and he was alone. He ended up swimming nine miles back to shore, which took him somewhere around 15 hours of swimming. That’s quite a tremendous feat, but it’s more of a great reason to always make sure you stay in shape because you never know what can happen. It’s amazing how quickly you can get into a life-threatening situation. – EJS o …



Notes for Friday – January 09, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 56 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 hard case to go with …


Food Security in Beans and Peas, by CJ

In recent years, I have thought a lot about food security. Food security means not relying on a “just in time” (JIT) delivery system that would, not could, fail in the event of a major national disaster. Just in time delivery is part of an automated inventory control system used by major grocery store chains. It allows a store to only order and stock in the warehouse what has been predicted to sell within a given time period. The advantage of this system for the local store is less waste and spoilage, and a smaller warehouse footprint provides an overall …


Letter Re: Car Emergency Kit, by Z.M.

Hugh, First, I’d like to compliment Z.M. on a well written post regarding a Car Emergency Kit. For most car related situations, this kit would be very useful if not down right critical for self preservation! These things need to be in each vehicle in every season of the year. However, I need to point out that this is not a winter survival kit for a car. A winter survival kit needs everything mentioned plus a lot more! I live in a region of the country where blizzards and heavy snow can strand hundreds of vehicles on Interstate highways overnight …