Month: May 2017

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Government In typical bureaucratic fashion, the U.S. government agencies have a miserable track record on security. According to BetaNews, 34 percent of US government agencies have had data breaches in the last year. Sixty-five percent of them have had a data breach sometime in the past. These are the same agencies that hold all of your sensitive and private data. Sent in by G.G. o o o Also sent in by …



Preparedness Notes for Friday – May 19, 2017

Writing Contest We are coming up on the end of Round 70 of the SurvivalBlog Non-Fiction Writing Contest. There is still time to get your article finished and submitted for these fantastic prizes! With over $11,000 worth of prizes, it could be well worth your time. If you’ve been putting it off, get it finished and sent it! Blog Tips Several readers wrote in about having to jump back and forth between the main page of SurvivalBlog and each individual article. An easy way to avoid this is to enter the first article and then use the article navigation links …


We Must Rightly Discern 21st Century America

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It is now fully apparent that American society is slowly sliding into oblivion. The signs are all around us, in a quiet chorus muttering the same word: “Decay, decay, decay.” We also live in a nation that is increasingly polarized. As evidence of the latter, simply study a map of the polling results from the November 2016 election. “And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” – Matthew 16:3 …


Letter: JIT Amazon/Walmart Food Delivery

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Hugh, Just a thought, many in media are not mentioning the trend of Amazon food delivery. Just in time ( JIT ) to retail is risky. The next evolution opens the door for tyranny and chaos. Centralized distribution centers are easier to control. If retail stores are collapsing, we have to consider that grocery stores are retail stores too. It appears that food vendors are moving to JIT direct delivery. Folks need to expect civil disorder in suburban neighborhoods to happen way earlier into a serious event. – GP


Economics & Investing for Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor): Precious Metals: Worries about continuity of the Trump Administration threw a scare into to the gold market this week. After a jumpy day of trading on Wednesday, the gold futures and spot markets saw some profit taking on Thursday, with gold closing below $1,247. Ditto for silver, with …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“To the grumbler who complains about the unfairness of the market system only one piece of advice can be given: If you want to acquire wealth, then try to satisfy the public by offer- ing them something that is cheaper or which they like better. Try to supersede Pinkapinka by mixing another beverage. Equality under the law gives you the power to challenge every million- aire. It is—in a market not sabotaged by government-imposed restrictions—exclusively your fault if you do not outstrip the chocolate king, the movie star and the boxing champion.” – Luwig von Mises, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality 


Preparedness Notes for Thursday – May 18, 2017

Want to live in Idaho? Your knowledge of tax is your ticket! Today’s Preparedness Notes has a job opportunity for someone to move to the Redoubt or for someone in the Redoubt to obtain gainful employment. If you live in Illinois, you need to be watching the Gun Dealer Licensing Bill and talking to your representatives about it. Job opportunity: Boutique public accounting firm with high-end clientele is seeking CPA with 3+ years of heavy tax experience. While our primary need is tax, candidates with interest in obtaining ABV credential may fit well with our thriving valuation and litigation support …


Planning For Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI To Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 2, by A.R.223

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You must plan nutrition concerns  before TEOTWAWKI. We’ve begun to look at myths, including that TEOTWAWKI will be a good time to diet. We left off right in the middle of our examination of necessary vitamins and minerals, specifically looking at the B vitamins. Let’s continue. Vitamin B (continued) A wide variety of foods contain Biotin (vitamin B7); however, beef liver, soybeans, butter, split peas, lentils, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and brewer’s yeast are especially rich sources of this nutrient. Symptoms of deficiency include brittle fingernails, hair loss, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis in the form of a scaly red rash …


Letter: Canned Gasoline Question

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Hi, I ran across this canned gasoline at my local Walmart that was available in both 2-stroke and 4-stroke. (I’ve included a pic, which also shows the price.) My question would be about the viability of using the 4-stroke as an emergency fuel for my car, keeping one in the trunk “for just in case”and a few in the shed for long-term storage. Although quite expensive, the octane is correct. I am amazed at the claimed shelf life of five years in the can and two years in the tank. I was under the impression the even with Sta-bil added, gasoline would …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Second Amendment Wondering what could possibly be wrong with universal background checks? Reader DSV sent in this article from The Truth About Guns telling us exactly what is wrong with it. The freedom to own must include the freedom to purchase. What other constitutionally guaranteed right has such controls on it? o o o Also from The Truth About Guns comes this article on a sub-$200 suppressor, the Black Aces Po’ …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“The deal is always advantageous both for the buyer and the seller. Even a man who sells at a loss is still better off than he would be if he could not sell at all, or only at a still lower price. He loses on account of his lack of foresight; the sale limits his loss even if the price received is low. If both the buyer and the seller were not to consider the transaction as the most advantageous action they could choose under the prevailing conditions, they would not enter into the deal.” – Ludwig von Mises, Human …


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – May 17, 2017

New Blog Format Today’s preparedness notes focuses on change. The change readers have seen in the blog makes finding information easier as well as introduces the blog to new readers.  SurvivalBlog has changed its format, but the same high quality, original content is still there. We have a new schedule for Odds ‘n Sods as well as Economics and Investing. Odds ‘n Sods will now be published on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday under the name The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. Economics and Investing will now be published on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday under the name Economics & Investing for Preppers. Both columns …


Planning for Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI to Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 1, by A.R.223

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Knowledge And Diet Changes Required Now Planning for better nutrition during TEOTWAWKI isn’t merely about eating delicious foods we’re already accustomed to so that the transition from our present state to the coming chaos is as seamless as possible. It is really more about saving our loved ones. However, in order to save our loved ones, the aforementioned transition needs to be seamless. To make it seamless necessitates increased knowledge of nutrition as well as changes in our diet now. Our future will include the confrontation of diseases and conditions that most of us cannot comprehend. We can’t grasp them …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

This column appears every Wednesday. Here are JWR‘s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers:

Books:

Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, 3rd Edition

Storey’s Guide to Growing Organic Vegetables & Herbs for Market: Site & Crop Selection, Planting, Care &  Harvesting


Movies:

The Pacific

Dazzle: The Hidden Story of Camouflage (2015).  A very informative documentary.

Note: This documentary is also now on Amazon Prime.


Instructional Videos:

Dutch Oven Cooking 2: Basic Meals (Courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife)

How To Build a Yurt

Podcasts:

The Sow Edible Podcast

The Prepared Homestead Podcast …