Month: October 2015

Letter: Who Runs the Political Process?

Good Morning Hugh, The world is filled with interesting news today. It’s interesting because even The New York Times– one of the mouthpieces of the establishment– is pointing out the fallacy of our “democracy”, by the fact that almost half the presidential campaign money comes from only 158 families. Here is a quote from the article: “The pluralist stance of American politics contends that true power in the United States has been constitutionally vested in “the people” through mechanisms like the electoral process, freedom of speech, and the ability to establish political parties. The traditional view is that these aspects …


Economics and Investing:

Tesla Model X Buyers Get $35,000 Tax Break o o o The Fed Just “Discovered” Another $2.7 Trillion In Debt: “Quietly Boosted Total Credit” o o o Items from The Economics Team: Fed Quietly Raises Debt to 350% of GDP (Zero Hedge) China is Becoming a Big Red Flag for U.S. Stocks (Market Watch) The Greek Crisis (GreekCrisis.net)


Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS sent this: Matt Drudge: Copyright Laws Could Outlaw Linking to Websites (Infowars) o o o And here is a related headline: The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared o o o Camping Survival just announced that they have added a used knife section to their online store. Check it out.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“All taxation is the funding of government programs by force with threat of being taken to jail or even a summary execution – i.e. the eventual midnight SWAT raid which will surely come if anyone does not pay those taxes and refuses court orders, et cetera. So here is the rub for the Liberal Mind: You want to fund your ‘compassion’ with my tax dollars, and if I don’t agree, then you want to send men with guns to my house to either take me away, or kill me (and possibly my wife and children and certainly our dog), right …


Notes for Wednesday – October 14, 2015

Safecastle (one of our loyal advertisers) is running a 35% to 51%-off sale on Lindon Farms Foods, until October 16th. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case–a $1,700 value. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate …


How to Use Paddle Wire for Survival by Prepper Ray

A couple of weeks ago one of my prepper friends stopped by and said: “Check this out” he hands me a small spool of green wire. I was intrigued, what is it? Trip wire? Snare wire? “It’s both and much more,” he said. After he told me a few of the ways it could be used, it became clear to me that Paddle Wire was the one missing component in my survival gear. If you don’t have a good supply of Paddle wire or never even heard of it, you wouldn’t be alone. Paddle wire is a low-cost 22 to …


Letter: Grain Milling Muscles

JWR and HJL: We bought a grain mill—the Wonder Mill Junior to be specific–from one of your advertisers and we are pleased with the purchase. However, I must warn my fellow readers that if you have bought one of these and just threw it on the shelf alongside your the stack of #10 cans and food storage buckets, then you made a mistake. Unless you regularly start your Ford Model T with a hand crank, then you are in for a morning-after surprise. This is another example of the importance of “practicing your preps.” A seven year old cannot turn …



Economics and Investing:

B.B. sent this Reuters article: Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes: study o o o An interesting price comparison chart: Gasoline prices, worldwide. (Venezuela has the lowest price, at just $0.06 per gallon!) Items from The Economics Team: It’s Time to Start Talking about RECESSION Fed Seems Ready to Deploy Negative Interest Rates in the Next Crisis The Worst Slump in Commodities Prices Isn’t Over


Odds ‘n Sods:

I was really pleased to see that the late, great, “discontinued” Woodpile Report (edited by Ol’ Remus) is getting some new posts! o o o DSV sent this item at Kim Komando’s site: Creepy website shows how much Facebook knows about you o o o Homeschooling Gun Owners Sue NJ for $60 Million for Unconstitutional ‘Home Intrusion’. (Thanks to T.P for the link.) o o o NBC News (text & video): Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Before U.S. Supreme Court



Notes for Tuesday – October 13, 2015

Editorial Updates: The posting queue for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now quite short, so we encourage you write an article and send it in, soon. You can share your knowledge with others, and you will be eligible to win lots of valuable prepping prizes. Given the unusually short queue of entries we’ve already received, any articles that we get this week will likely be posted within 10 days! o o o Hugh J. Latimer will soon be returning from his vacation, and resuming his duties as Managing Editor. Thanks for putting up with my sometimes fumbling HTML editing …


Internet Auction Sites for Preppers, by B.F.

I suspect most of us who are interested in self-reliance are preparing on a budget. While it would be great to order a year’s worth of food at a time, and rotate them by donating them to the local food bank, that is just not practical for most of us. Likewise with equipment, tools and other survival needs. It would be easy to just go to Amazon and order whatever we want, but I for one will need to wait until I win the lottery first. The Internet is full of places you can buy supplies, tools, food and anything …


Letter Re: The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities

Mr. Editor: Regarding the recent discussion of the “Golden Horde” concept (in Patrice Lewis’s guest article The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities) — it seems that a review of the history of Germany’s 30 Years’ War (from 1618 to 1648) would be in order. You may recall how Wallenstein rejected the idea of a 40,000-man army, demanding 100,000. Austria protested that such a large army would be too expensive. The reply was, that the larger army would finance itself [through what was euphemistically called “foraging”, on a tactical scale, and “plunder” on a strategic scale], while the smaller …


News From The American Redoubt:

Viral disease killing hundreds of deer in the Palouse region o o o Who knew? It has now been documented that the perennial favorite rockabilly song Hot Rod Lincoln was originally written as a reminiscence of a race between the author’s Lincoln and a Cadillac up the Lewiston Grade, in north-central Idaho. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.) o o o Idaho: World Relief confirms that they will NOT be resettling refugees in Northern Idaho. (A hat tip to Michael H. for the link.) o o o I heard from a consulting client up in north Idaho that The Woodsman’s …