Notes for Friday – May 06, 2016

May 6th is the birthday of Tuvia Bielski (born 1906). You may remember him as the main character in the movie Defiance. This movie was based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec. o o o Please lift up our neighbors to the north in prayer – ‘Catastrophic wildfires’ force thousands to flee in Canada o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 64 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 …




Maintaining Your Household in the Post-SHTF World- Part 2, by S.T.

Wood Stove Cooking The same recipes that you use in the summer with a wonder oven you can also cook in the winter on a wood stove. The Ice House Keeping Food Cold or Frozen in the Hot Summer I do not have ponds or horses and buggies to move large blocks of ice during the winter, so I must improvise. During summer, when cutting and splitting firewood, this will be done over a tarp so that the sawdust can be collected and saved in buckets. When winter is full force, I have 10 each of the 20-gallon Rubbermade totes …




Letter Re: Velcro on Tactical Gear

Dear Hugh, A very nice alternative to velcro pouches is made by the folks at UW Gear. They use a “tuck tab” feature that doesn’t use velcro, snaps, or buckles. This uses a stiff piece of webbing that “tucks” into the tab on the front of the magazine pouch. There is nothing to wear out here and should be easy to clean if snow or mud somehow gets in there. They make chest rigs, bandoleers, and standalone pouches. To my knowledge, they currently can make these for 5.56, 7.62×39,5.45, and 7.62×51. It is a little bit of a wait time …




Odds ‘n Sods:

A beautiful prayer by film producer/author Alex Kendrick speaking at the 2015 National Day of Prayer in Washington D.C. o o o This link is to an article from Tech Insider on the ease with which a penetration team (white hat hackers) completely compromised a power utility within 24 hours. It is a good eye-opener to just how much at risk such things still remain, as well as a good lesson for those of us responsible for computer security generally. How easy is it to compromise a utility? – M.P. o o o Baltimore police warn motorists of armed carjackings …




Economics and Investing:

Every Time This Has Happened, A Recession Followed o o o New banking normal where lending $2 increases GDP by $1: US bank credit up 44 percent since 2008 while GDP up 21 percent. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Inflation as a Policy (Mises) Excerpt: “…the more evident the evil consequences of inflation became, the more rabid became the demands for still more inflation to cure them.” Investors Look for Signs of Future Fed Action (Financial Times) Excerpt: “You don’t get the sense going into this [meeting] that there is a solid consensus,” Ms Swonk said. …




Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Liberals believe government should take people’s earnings to give to poor people. Conservatives disagree. They think government should confiscate people’s earnings and give them to farmers and insolvent banks. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one’s property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage.” – Walter E. Williams.