Month: December 2019

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 13, 2019

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After spending nine months on the run, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured on December 13, 2003. During his 24 years in office, Saddam’s secret police, charged with protecting his power, terrorized the public, ignoring the human rights of the nation’s citizens. While many of his people faced poverty, he lived in incredible luxury, building more than 20 lavish palaces throughout the country. It was fitting that, in the end, he was hiding in nothing more than a hole in the ground covered by plywood. — December 13th is also the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York.


Frederic Bastiat’s The Law – Part 4

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(Part 4 of 6) — Socialists Ignore Reason and Facts With the amazing credulity which is typical of the classicists, Fenelon ignores the authority of reason and facts when he attributes the general happiness of the Egyptians, not to their own wisdom but to the wisdom of their kings: “We could not turn our eyes to either shore without seeing rich towns and country estates most agreeably located; fields, never fallowed, covered with golden crops every year; meadows full of flocks; workers bending under the weight of the fruit which the earth lavished upon its cultivators; shepherds who made the …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at Mosin Nagant carbines. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) It is Friday the 13th, but I’m not superstitious.  In fact, I’m wary of any day, in the frenetically-paced 21st Century global markets! Things can go badly very quickly, so keep your investments diverse, hedge into tangibles, set some firm stop …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Regimes that are losing public support always make the same mistake: rather than fix the source of the loss of public trust–the few enriching themselves at the expense of the many– the regime reckons the problem is dissent: if we suppress all dissent, then everyone will accept their diminishing lot in life and the elites can continue on their merry way. What the regimes don’t understand is dissent is the immune system of society: suppressing dissent doesn’t just get rid of pesky political protesters and conspiracy theorists; it also gets rid of the innovations and solutions society needs to adapt …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 12, 2019

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On December 12, 1989, the Queen of Mean was sentenced to four years in prison, 750 hours of community service, and a $7.1 million tax fraud fine in New York. Leona Helmsley, nicknamed the “Queen of Mean” by the press, became the object of loathing and disgust when she quipped that “only the little people pay taxes.” Helmsley died in August 2007 at age 87. She famously left $12 million to her dog, Trouble.


Frederic Bastiat’s The Law – Part 3

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(Part 3 of 6) — Law Is a Negative Concept The harmlessness of the mission performed by law and lawful defense is self-evident; the usefulness is obvious; and the legitimacy cannot be disputed. As a friend of mine once remarked, this negative concept of law is so true that the statement, the purpose of the law is to cause justice to reign, is not a rigorously accurate statement. It ought to be stated that the purpose of the law is to prevent injustice from reigning. In fact, it is injustice, instead of justice, that has an existence of its own. …


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 “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at how your Apple iPhone is tracking you. Reduced Soil Tilling Helps Both Soils and Yields Reader C.B. suggested this, over at Phys.org: Reduced soil tilling helps both soils and yields. …




Frederic Bastiat’s The Law – Part 2

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(Part 2 of 6) — The Fatal Idea of Legal Plunder But on the other hand, imagine that this fatal principle has been introduced: Under the pretense of organization, regulation, protection, or encouragement, the law takes property from one person and gives it to another; the law takes the wealth of all and gives it to a few—whether farmers, manufacturers, shipowners, artists, or comedians. Under these circumstances, then certainly every class will aspire to grasp the law, and logically so. The excluded classes will furiously demand their right to vote—and will overthrow society rather than not to obtain it. Even …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week we shift the focus more toward  potential Christmas and Hanukkah gifts. Pictured is a Goal Zero Nomad 7 folding …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are basically monopolies. They are the new public square. Outside of those three, there are few other options. I would argue that concentrating so much power into the hands of so few corporate entities and so few billionaire oligarchs like Mark Zuckerberg is a far bigger danger than my snarky Facebook posts or my video rants about modern art and brutalist architecture.” – Paul Joseph Watson, in a May, 2019 interview. (He is still making quite pointed videos.)


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 10, 2019

On December 10, 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication. — On this day in 1942, my great uncle Lt. Robert I. Kinsella was killed when his B-24 bomber (part of the 90th Bombardment Group, Heavy, 320th Bomber Squadron), flying from the Iron Range Airfield in Northern Queensland, Australia mysteriously went down in the South Pacific. — Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is continuing their big 15 Days of Christmas sale.  One of the specials they are offering is their PSA 16″ 5.56 NATO 1:7 Midlength Nitride 13.5″ Lightweight …


Frederic Bastiat’s The Law – Part 1

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(Part 1 of 6) Copyright Notice:  This translation was copyrighted in 1950 by The Foundation For Economic Education (FEE), a non-profit research and educational institution. They kindly granted blanket permission for reprinting. — Editor’s Introductory Note:  The Law is perhaps one of the most important books on economics and government ever written. Because it distills the vagaries of human nature down to their essential elements, it gets to the core of the human dilemma: How we can live together without slaying one another, yet also live in a free society without oppression. Striking that balance is the exception, rather than …