Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 2, 2019

On December 2nd, 1823, what became known as the Monroe Doctrine was declared by President James Monroe to Congress outlining a foreign policy initiative that forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts. — Michael Z. Williamson (our Editor At Large) is a prolific science fiction writer and anthologist. His latest anthology, Freehold: Resistance, will be released tomorrow, December 3, 2019. It will be available both in paperback and Kindle formats. I’m confident that it will be greatly enjoyed by sci-fi fans as well as by anyone interested in resistance …




Writing Contest Winners Announced — Round 85

We’ve announced the winners of Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The top three prize winners will share more than $12,000 worth of prizes. The winners are… First Prize Winner: First prize goes to M.B. for his four-part article Black Powder for Self-Reliance, which was posted on October, 8th, 9th,10th, and 11th, 2019. He will receive: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or …




Rock River Arms LAR-15 Carbine, by Pat Cascio

This may come as news to some readers, but not all AR-15-style firearms are equal. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that, the brand-new Gee-Whiz AR you just bought, brand-new in the box, for $500 is the equal to the Wow AR that was next to it for $1,200. It just ain’t true – and I don’t care what the guy standing behind the gun counter might tell you. Don’t be taken in by their sales pitch. I actually own a couple of lower-end (in price) ARs and they are good performers, and would probably last for the the rest of …




Recipe of the Week: R.J.’s Turkey Tetrazzini

What will you do with that leftover turkey from that big Thanksgiving bird?  Reader R.J. says: Make Turkey Tetrazzini. Ingredients 1/2 lb. egg noodles, cooked Olive oil (for oiling your baking dish) 7 Tbs. unsalted butter 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 shallots, minced 1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced 3 cups chicken broth 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper 3 cups of shredded cooked turkey leftovers 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 cup bread crumbs, preferably fresh 2 green onions, chopped Directions Cook the noodles first, drain them, and set them aside. Pre-heat an oven to 450°F. Oil a …




Reader Letter: Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolutions in Virginia

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: I live in New South Maryland, formerly known as Virginia, where our black-face-sporting Governor Northam is brewing gun control legislation plans with the other liberals. In anticipation, 22 Virginia counties have adopted second amendment sanctuary resolutions. My county was among them. I went to the recent public hearing regarding this matter and was joined there by several hundred patriotic Americans in support of their right to keep and bear arms. Many speakers boldly noted to the Board of Supervisors that the Second Amendment is not about hunting, but maintaining an armed citizenry to inhibit government tyranny. The …




Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 rare postage stamps. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold prices holding steady, waiting for potential trade fallout after Thanksgiving holiday o  o  o H.L. sent us this: Poland Repatriates Gold From Bank of England Storage to ‘Show Strength of its Economy’ Economy & Finance: Martin W. Armstrong:  …










Escaping the HOA Hole

Suburban America is sinking into the Homeowner’s Association (HOA) Hole. About 24% of the nation’s population (about 63 million people) now live under the rigid strictures of HOAs.  According to some fairly recent statistics from PropertyManagement.com, there are: 40 Million households living in HOAs 351,000+ HOAs in the United States 8,000 new HOAs formed every year in the U.S. 24%+ of U.S. population is living in HOAs HOAs usually have lengthy sets of rules and bylaws that are subject to the interpretation of either elected or un-elected HOA boards. These rules are generally called Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs). Some …




The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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 honey bee hive health. Rescue Honey Bees from Famine on the Farm A little prairie can rescue honey bees from famine on the farm, study finds. (Thanks to reader C.B. for …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same …