Month: February 2017

Odds ‘n Sods:

The recent publication of the much-discussed BATFE White Paper on possible loosening of firearms restrictions is an oddity. It strikes me as some sort of frantic backpedalling. It is as if a thirteen-year-old was left at home in charge of his younger siblings, and they’ve spent an entire day acting like cruel, slovenly, brats. Then comes the sudden realization that their parents will soon return. “Quick, clean the house and get the cat out of the clothes dryer, or Dad is gonna spank us, for sure!” Well, in this case it wasn’t just one day. It has been more like …



Notes for Thursday – February 09, 2017

February 9th is the birthday of Major George Charles Nonte Jr. (born 1926, died June 30, 1978). I had the privilege of attending ROTC Basic Camp at Fort Knox in the same company with his daughter Yvette, in 1981. Some of the stories that she told me about her father were amazing. He was quite a guy. Cadet Yvette Nonte went on to a career in Army Intelligence, retiring as a Colonel. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First …


A Mother’s Perspective, by B.H.

Prior to 2000, my husband and I had already begun to prepare for the Y2K that, well, never happened. Although this event never took place, we learned valuable lessons on what we were missing, and we were not parents at that time. First aid was not at the top of my priority list. We were planning on bugging in, and we naively thought we would be good with staying put in our sleepy town of 1200 people. I remember that we spent $10,000 on preparing for that event. We had more disposable income (again, we had no kids yet), so …


Letter Re: Baking Soda

Sarah, I just finished reading your article on “all about baking soda” and found this to be very informative. Thank you for your time in researching and writing it. Now I know the technical details of this wonderful product I had been using, same as you, for many years! I also had my question answered as to why my quick bread recipes worked by replacing the valuable egg with vinegar. The seven years my husband and I were sailing with our two children around the world, eggs were very dear when our passages were 1-3 weeks at a time. One …


Economics and Investing:

Are These OPEC Members Sabotaging The Output Deal? Increased oil production from OPEC member states Nigeria and Libya could undermine the OPEC deal in H2 2017. o o o Oil Trading Alert: Gold And Oil Link – What Does It Say? o o o Workers Set to Strike at World’s Largest Copper Mine o o o Russia Shows Why China Should Just Stop Burning Up Its Reserves o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.


Odds ‘n Sods:

Three Gun and other competitive shooters are anxiously awaiting the release of the Keanu Reeves movie John Wick 2, on February 10th. Reeves does nearly all of his own stunts in this film, and his countless hours of REAL WORLD firearms and martial arts training is apparent. o o o RepackBox.com (one of the loyal supporters of our bi-monthly Writing Contest) has expanded their line to include many more cartridge box varieties, desiccants, and now special heavy duty storage bags for loaded magazines. Don’t overlook this important prep! – JWR o o o A good reason to have several day’s …



Notes for Wednesday – February 08, 2017

On February 8th, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. For 100 years, the BSA stood as a strong bulwark of conservative, libertarian, moral values. They successfully united boys from diverse backgrounds, different religions, and different ethnicities– uniting them based upon the principles required for a boy to become an upstanding man. The BSA was attacked from all sides for their righteous stance and even persevered and won their case (Boy Scouts v. Dale, 2000) in the Supreme Court. Sadly, they have in recent years caved from within. Reportedly, their desire to fill the executive board with allegedly amoral, …


Prepping with a Terminal Illness, by D.P.

About a month ago I was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of brain cancer– glioblastoma. There’s no cure, and the chances of long-term survival are pretty slim. It’s referred to as “terminal” cancer. However, there are some long-term survivors, and I’m hoping to add to that number. If not, without a shred of doubt I have been one of the luckiest and blessed people I know. I’ve been blessed with a beautiful and caring wife, two young boys I love beyond measure, wonderful family and friends, and not least importantly from long ago an appreciation for the wonder of …


Letter Re: Intellectual Survival

HJL, I enjoyed reading D.W.’s article on Intellectual Survival and liked the anthology list of resources listed. I know that there are free digital downloads of the Harvard Classics on at least three sites from Open Culture. The links to The Gutenberg Project and Internet Archive are provided. While the digital downloads are not the annotated version, a third link, below, provides a page scan version of the Harvard Classics that are annotated. While not a hard copy, these can be stored in one’s electronic library for use on several platforms. Regards – A.C. Ohio


Economics and Investing:

US government’s 2016 net loss “more than doubled” to NEGATIVE $1 trillion o o o Utah Bill Would Set Stage For State Gold and Silver Depository, Further Encourage Use of Metals as Money – G.P. o o o How to Store Silver Bars and Coins at Home – DSV o o o Iranian Oil Will Not Be Stopped By Trump. While tensions between Iran and the U.S. continue to escalate, it is unlikely that the Iranian oil industry will be significantly impacted. o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books: All Wrapped Up In Paracord: Knife and Tool Wraps, Survival Bracelets, And More Projects With Parachute Cord The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II Movies: Braveheart Akira Kurosawa: Four Samurai Classics (Seven Samurai / The Hidden Fortress / Yojimbo / Sanjuro) (The Criterion Collection) Television: The Pacific The Civil War (Ken Burns Documentary) Music: The Very Best of Ralph Stanley Jonas Kaufmann: Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven & Wagner Instructional Videos: Build Your Own Copper Coil Alcohol Burner Stove Wall Tent Platform Build JWR’s Comment: Be sure …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Number-One Mind-Control Program At US Colleges – H.L. (Editor’s Note: I’m not sure I trust the site or the author, but the information is interesting and deserves more investigation. It certainly falls in line with what we know about those who commit gun violence. However, correlation does not necessarily equate to causation.) o o o Ol’ Remus (in his oft-quoted Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report blog) has published a detailed analysis of the orchestrated riots at UC Berkeley that stopped Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking. Whether you love him, hate him, or just tolerate him, the man still has the right …