Month: January 2016

Notes for Friday – January 22, 2016

Between 1861 and 1865, more than 50,000 civilians died as a direct result of the American Civil War. In the years between 1914 and 1918, more than 7,000,000 innocent civilians died as a direct result of World War I. From 1939 to 1945, more than 23,000,000 innocents died as a direct result of World War II. (This number includes the 11 million deliberately killed in concentration camps.) Between 1905 and 1941, Stalin purged Russia of anyone whom he considered a threat or disloyal, murdering somewhere over 25,000,000 innocent people. Mao Tse-tung murdered more than 45,000,000 people from his own country …


My Truck Gun and How I Chose It, by M.M.

I don’t care how many times you get into a discussion about guns, there are at least as many points of view as there are people talking. Exponential growth in opinions happens when you talk about ammo, especially calibers. Yet, for all the vast sea of opinions, there are good ideas and empirically verifiable facts that can help us narrow down our list to which firearms we ultimately go with. For this article, I will share with you my primary criteria and then go through my thinking process for how I landed on the truck gun of my choice. Your …


Letter Re: The Year In Review of Starting a Small Business(es), by T&BR

I’ve owned and operated a painting contracting business in the American Redoubt for the last 30+ or so years. Something that stands out about T&BR’s experiences is their start up and the dollar amount of their losses. With all do respect and absolutely no disrespect intended, they need to hear some words. Those numbers don’t reflect a small business startup failure. They reflect the flawed thinking that throwing enough money at your problems can fix them. The problems they experienced weren’t a result of the size of their equipment. It was the job out-sizing their ability, their experience, and their …


Economics and Investing:

Mason jars in the backyard better than the markets for now – D.S. o o o San Francisco housing mania: Badly charred home that is uninhabitable sells for $186,000 over asking price.. In the S.F. Bay Area, the Housing Bubble now includes Rubble. What madness! – JWR o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Big Banks Brace for Oil Loans to Implode (CNN Money) Excerpt: “The oil crash has already caused 42 North American oil companies to file for bankruptcy since the beginning of 2015, according to a list compiled by Houston law firm Haynes and Boone. It’s …


Friday’s Vlogging Pick:

Pneumonia is always a concern for those who are at risk. Individuals who are bed-ridden, have other ailments or infections that migrate to the lungs, or a myriad of other issues that can compound into pneumonia. What happens when you don’t have access to a doctor or antibiotics? The Patriot Nurse walks you through some basics, from preventative maintenance to primitive care. What to do for Pneumonia


Odds ‘n Sods:

French Toast Warning! (Get your Milk, Eggs, and Bread now.) – Or better yet, just check your pantry and make sure everything is in order. More than 75MILLION people brace themselves for the wrath of Jonas – the monster East Coast snowstorm – as FIVE THOUSAND flights are canceled and panic buyers clear the shelves – JBG o o o Reader BLW wrote in to tell us that while the east coast is expecting a major snow storm in the next couple of days, an unexpected clipper roamed through his area Wednesday night and it crippled the city. Only one …



Notes for Thursday – January 21, 2016

January 21st Eliza Moore, the last surviving individual born into slavery before the Emancipation Proclamation died on this day, in 1948, in Montgomery County, Alabama, at age 105. Since 68 years have now elapsed since her death and 151 years have now elapsed since 1865, JWR perhaps presumptuously hereby declares that it is now fully high time for Americans to Get Over It, and instead focus on current slavery issues, like the uncounted thousands of slaves now being held by Muslims in North Africa. There is no cause for so-called White Guilt in our generation, but we should feel badly …


2015 – The Year In Review of Starting a Small Business(es), by T&BR

In our goal of self sufficiency, we established that being self employed was at the top of the list. We also wanted to apply the idea of redundancy to this area, meaning multiple businesses. Our criteria: Income now, income during a collapse, and income in the recovering of a collapse. Allows us to be good stewards of the land. Something that allows us to strengthen our community by providing jobs and affordable services. Web Store One of our ventures started from a failure. We saw the sale listing for the Homestead Store site and business. We weren’t able to get …


Letter Re: The Latest Wave of The Sagebrush Rebellion, Response by N.E.

I was glad to see JWR and SurvivalBlog writing about this topic. There are many historical aspects to this situation that seem to be lacking information. From a macro perspective, what is interesting to me about the entire discourse of the BLM and the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act is how the entire law was largely about resources. The Oregon situation is also about resources. Sure, there are many narratives and news stories that provide different information and details about differences in perspective. However, let us not lose sight as prudent people to a major theme that surrounds …


Economics and Investing:

The U.S. Is At The Center Of The Global Economic Meltdown – D.R. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: World faces wave of epic debt defaults, fears central bank veteran – Folks on the inside are starting to let it out. These are very interesting times; stay alert. Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Stocks Drop as Oil Prices Tumble (Fox Business) Excerpt: “…the International Energy Agency on Tuesday said it expects excess supply to keep the oil market oversupplied through late this year, which the IEA said could make 2016 the third-consecutive year of supply exceeding demand by …


SurvivalBlog’s Podcast Pick of the Week:

Prepper Recon.com recently had Dr. Kirk Elliot of McAlveny Financial on their podcast. Titled Market Meltdown-Weathering the Storm, Dr. Elliot gives the listener an update on the massive market upheaval we currently see and some tips on how to prepare to survive it in this two part Podcast. Additionally, Dr. Elliot gives some tips on becoming financially fit in 2016. Each Podcast is roughly 27 minutes long and is well worth the time spent listening to it. Head on over to Prepper Recon.com and get both parts: Market Meltdown-Weathering the Storm with Dr. Kirk Elliot – Part 1 Market Meltdown-Weathering …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalRealty has what I would term the “coolest” survival property ever in it’s listings. It’s a 165 acres located in the Western USA with a half mile tunnel (20 feet wide, 30 feet high and 2,400 feet long) on it. The property is 200 feet wide and seven miles long. o o o K. in Tennessee sent in a link to 25 PVC projects. While some of these rate high on the coolness factor as well as the impracticality scale, some actually look useful. o o o Reader GJS sent in the link to this article that explains What Amending …



Notes for Wednesday – January 20, 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. …