Notes for Wednesday – January 06, 2016

Today, we present another entry for Round 62 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 that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. …




Blueprint for Rebuilding- Part 1, by GRC

Timelines differ, and predictions of what causes mayhem differ. One thing we all agree on is that the time to prepare grows short, not time as we modern Westerners understand it, after all our civilization was built and rebuilt over the course of 2000 plus years, but the expiration date is surely fast approaching. Each day brings thanksgiving mixed with surprise that the thin veneer of our existence has lasted another sunrise. And while those who prepare for an uncertain tomorrow welcome the opportunity to tick another item off the to-do list, the rest of the world laughs at such …




Letter Re: Some Harsh Lessons of Beekeeping, by Keith K.

Hugh, Regarding the Harsh Lessons of Beekeeping, I began raising bees five years before relocating to the Redoubt from SC. I was stung often back East. One hive came with us in a trailer with the “mountain useless” motorcycles. When I purchased five nuc hives to build out our bee population the following spring, I was stung and had a dramatic trip down the mountain to the ER. The second year, while working the frantic hives in spring (six died and six were near starvation, suffering from bad weather), and I was stung AGAIN and went to the ER again. …




Economics and Investing:

This may be a little hard to grasp, but it’s important to understand. Please read and take necessary precautions to protect your savings. Unimaginable 247 Trillion In Derivatives Could Trigger “Financial Armageddon”. Warren Buffett referred to derivatives as “financial weapons of mass destruction”… – L.G. Items from Mr. Econocobas: China Stocks Rout on First Market Day of 2016 Trips National Trading Halt China’s Seven-Minute Selling Frenzy That Shook Global Markets The Year Nothing Worked: Stocks, Bonds, Cash Go Nowhere Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Puerto Rico is Greece and These Five States are the Next to Go (Zero Hedge) …




Readers’ Recommendations of the Week:

J.M. wrote in: I recently re-read Leon Uris’ Exodus and can highly recommend it. o o o SurvivalBlog reader R.S. suggested “The Big Short”, which released Dec 23, is an amazing, funny, horrifying, and astounding “true story” look behind the curtain of the banking sub-prime mortgage fiasco. While rated a hard R, it is definitely worth seeing without the kids. It uses almost a documentary style taking complicated banker lingo and mindset, then translating into concise, understandable concepts (those are the horrifying parts) what actually happened inside the financial industry between 2005 and 2008. Highly recommend, but WARNING, it will …




Odds ‘n Sods:

It appears that one of President BHO’s new executive orders (due to be signed on Wednesday) will expand the definition of “engaged in the business” selling guns, and this will hurt gun collectors and our gun shows. It appears that they are going to try to corral more INTRAState transactions of used merchandise into Federal jurisdiction, via the Commerce Clause, which is all about INTERstate commerce of newly-manufactured merchandise. They can “hope and change” this all they want, but it is unconstitutional. And we all know what Marbury v. Madison says about unconstitutional laws: We can ignore them. (“Lex malla, …




Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The Union was formed by the voluntary agreement of the States; and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their Nationality, nor have they been reduced to the condition of one and the same people. If one of the States chose to withdraw its name from the contract, it would be difficult to disprove its right of doing so.” – Alexis de Tocqueville