Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 23, 2020

Today is the anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death speech. It was delivered to the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention meeting at St. John’s Church, Richmond, on March 23, 1775. This is also the birthday of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He directed 30 films. His samurai films (many of them starring Toshiro Mifune) such as Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Ran are considered legendary in the cinema world. — Now that I’m back at the ranch, I have reactivated the ordering system for Elk Creek Company.  Thanks for your …




Kimber Custom II, by Pat Cascio

I’m a sucker for well-made 1911 handguns, especially when chambered in .45 ACP. It is just hard to beat this combination. I don’t think that John Moses Browning had any idea that his 1911 design would be popular for so long. We are closing in on 109-years since the 1911’s adoption by the U.S. military. Who would have believed that a gun that was first designed around 1904 would still be alive and kicking more than a century later. In fact, .45 ACP M1911 variants are still in limited issue by the U.S. Marine Corps, as the M45A1. The USMC …




Safety Versus Security, by Michael Z. Williamson

I have a few brief observations: Your typical citizen is a pushover who’s all-in on living in a police state to be “safe.” Example 1: A while back, I had an Australian woman perusing the wares in my booth. She looked at a reproduction rapier. “Very nice. But we wouldn’t be allowed to own something like that. Keeps us safe, though.”* “Oh, are random rapier duels in the street something you worried about in Sydney?” You could almost see her neurons engage. *Swords are not, in fact, banned in Aus. But that she assumed they were proves my point again. …




Recipe of the Week: Tom’s All-in-Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

Reader Tom in New Hampshire kindly sent us his All-in-Skillet Macaroni and Cheese recipe. You can cook it in 12″ to 14″ diameter deep skillet that is oven-safe. It serves four adults. Ingredients 4 tbsp. White or whole wheat flour 4 tbsp. Butter, sliced into pats 3 c. Whole milk or cream, warmed 8 oz. Rigatoni, (or similar pasta noodles) 8 oz. Sharp Cheddar, grated coarsely Salt, to taste Ground pepper, to taste 10-oz. Butternut squash cubes 3 oz. Baby spinach (about 3 cups) 4 oz. Potato chips, crushed (about 3 cups) 2 tbsp. Chives, finely grated 2 tbsp. Parmesan …




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 the recent run on guns, nationwide. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: I noticed that spot silver rebounded a bit on Friday, to $12.33 per Troy Ounce. I still consider silver a strong “buy”. That is IF you can find any physical silver for sale. Most dealers have …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day

“I told y’all yesterday that we have a government of the banks, by the banks, and for the banks, and today proved that in spades.  Federal Reserve announced it is re-opening its Primary Dealer Credit Facility  (PDCF) through which it created $8.6 trillion in the 2008 crisis. These bailouts follow the Garbage Can Principle, like the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the 1990s Savings & Loan Crisis.  There is a ton of bad debt, so where does the government hide it?  They create a “garbage can” to hold it until the crisis passes.  In 2008 the garbage can was the Federal …