Month: October 2016


Notes for Friday – October 28, 2016

This is the birthday of Eliphalet Remington (born October 28, 1793 – August 12, 1861), who designed the Remington rifle and founded what is now known as the Remington Arms Company. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 67 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 …


When and How Do We Fight? That is the Question, by X. Liberal

This message is more on a serious note. Before we get started I want to make an attribution to Lavoy Finicum. My wife and I had the privilege of being present in Utah to pay respects to him and his loved ones as we were driving back from our final Redoubt Property inspection in Montana while traveling home to Nevada. His sacrifice sparks this message: “THEY” say Lavoy Finicum and his cohorts were illegally occupying the Wildlife Refuge in Burns Oregon. THEY say nothing about the Occupy Wall Street Movement illegally occupying City Squares. THEY say that it was unsanitary …


Economics and Investing:

Making this up, as they go along: Deutsche Bank’s Dominic Konstam on Making Negative Rates Work (Video) o o o Jim Willie: Broken Central Banks: 4 Quick Pix o o o Amazon is failing to steal Costco’s customers o o o Sterling hits a two-day high after positive ‘Brexit’ comments, but is this just a short term opportunity? (Joseph Wright)”  (Some analysts like Karl Hammer in Sweden predict a strong British Pound in the long term.) o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent this: Miami treehouse grandma Shawnee Chasser keeps up fight for home. JWR’s Comments:  This illustrates the essential problem in the very nature of government:  This is an age when someone must apply for a “license” or a “permit”,  or make themselves subject to a “building code” and “inspections” to live our everyday lives. This is an age of legislated tyranny. In 21st Century America, we have too-willingly abandoned our essential freedom to live our lives unhindered. Most people don’t stop to think that a government-issued license or permit is: “permission to do something that would otherwise be …



Notes for Thursday – October 27, 2016

I was saddened to hear of the death of Bob Hoover, one of the world’s most skilled pilots. He was a fighter pilot, test pilot, exhibition flyer, and airshow promoter. He was 94 years old. When Bob put on his flying exhibitions at air shows, it was often in a Shrike twin engine passenger plane–a plane that was not designed with aerobatics in mind.  Most of those flights were done with one of the engines turned off and the prop feathered, and then he shut down the other engine, and continued to do aerobatics, often landing dead stick!  He absolutely …


Lessons Learned in Livestock – Part 2, by C.K.

(Continued from Part 1) The following are the varieties of livestock that  I would not consider for a prepared homestead: Guinea Fowl. I raised over 300 per year. Feed requirements can be met with them running loose, but that also meets the cat’s requirements on little keets. Also a guinea looks for the best hiding spot for eggs. And if allowed to roost outside they will help your owl population by supplying a midnight snack. And they wander to far from home and make way too much noise. The amount of bug reduction is nice but, chickens and ducks also …


Letter: Advice for Disabled Suburban Retiree Preppers

HJL and JWR, I’m seeking links or tips on how a 77-year-old disabled person can defend his property in case there’s TEOTWAWKI. My wife is 72. We live in a middle class subdivision 45 miles from Cleveland, Ohio. Because of physical disabilities (neuropathy, bad knees and legs) I am not very mobile. I use walker/cane most of the time. We are moderately prepared (food, guns, ammo, junk silver, etc. A retired Marine lives at the other end of the block but says he will bug out if SHTF. Nobody else on the block seems even to be aware of the …


Economics and Investing:

Obama administration confirms double-digit [Obamacare] premium hikes. o o o Signs of the times: America’s biggest banks are closing hundreds of branches.  JWR’s Comment: Whenever The Powers That Be get around to instituting their long-dreamed-of Cashless Society, there will be no need for brick and mortar banks. Nor will there be any privacy about what you buy and sell. Every transaction made with electronic currency will be permanently cataloged and cross-correlated with your social media interactions.  Thus, the entire lives of most citizens will be transparent to police and intelligence organizations. To mitigate this, I recommend both: A.) Creating a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

On a recent road trip through Ontario, Canada, I noticed a surprising number of houses equipped with photovoltaic (PV) power panels–both roof-mounted and ground rack-mounted. I suspect that these these PV systems were nearly all both:  A.) Grid-tied, and B.) Partly paid for by generous incentives. One of these incentives is called the Feed-in-tariff (FIT), wherein a grid-tied renewable energy producer is paid a premium for excess power fed back to the grid, for a limited number of years. For small producers (under 10 kW) the available term is 20 years for PV, and 40 years for hydro power. – …



Notes for Wednesday – October 26, 2016

October 26th is the anniversary of the death of American-born RLI Trooper Joseph Patrick Byrne, in Rhodesia, in 1978. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 67 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 …


Lessons Learned in Livestock – Part 1, by C.K.

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  Some details in this article were deleted or slightly altered, to protect the anonymity of the author.- JWR A brief history of my background and education: My family has been farming since they came to this country in the 1840s. My Father was a farmer like all the previous generations, but also started working livestock auctions in 1961. Now I work auctions only on a part time basis, and attend about thirty auctions a year. My life took a change on my second marriage. Not only did I get a beautiful wife; she also came with the …


Letter Re: Water Storage Options for Suburbanites

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Hi, I was reading SurvivalBlog’s special page with info for newbies and I realized we are behind the eight ball. But my husband and I are Christians and we are both over 50. I am on disability but I am a retired Registered Nurse and I also sew, crochet etc. You mentioned that we needed to have an underground water tank and I don’t see that as possible for us, however we do have a pool just off the back deck. Any advice?  Thanks, – Carol C. JWR Replies: My mentions of underground water storage tanks were intended for people …