Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 27, 2020

The mainstream media hoopla over the “second wave” of COVID-19 is getting tiresome. Yes, hospital occupancy is of concern, but the number of “confirmed cases” is more of a function of a more widespread testing infrastructure than it is of actual infections, per capita. I found some recent charts that are instructive. They show that the number of hospital beds in use is back up to where it was in April. But the number of deaths relative to the number of cases (i.e. the Case Fatality Rate) is down. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that this bug has mutated …




Taurus G3 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

I’ve been a fan of Taurus firearms for a lot of years. This wasn’t always the case, however, Taurus has come a long way in improving their quality. Back in Chicago, when I was the Investigation Manager for a huge detective agency, with offices all over the USA, I also was their armorer, and most of the handguns issued to security officers, were made by Taurus. I had my hands full caring for those guns, and I kept a good supply of parts on-hand, for making repairs. Today, that isn’t the case, Taurus manufactures most of their handguns in Brazil, …




Recipe of the Week: Peach Ice-Cream

The following Peach Ice-Cream recipe is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the bonus items in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. Ingredients 1 cup fresh peach-pulp 1/2 cup boiling water 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups cream Directions Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water together …




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 examine the recent run-up in gold, silver, and platinum prices. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: First up, in U.S. Dollar terms, spot gold and gold futures just hit a 7-year high. And in Indian Rupee terms, gold futures hit at an all-time high. And who knows how gold is …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If masks work, then used ones are all potentially HAZMAT. Where are the biohazard disposal bags? We’re just tossing virus-contaminated masks and gloves in the trash or on the ground? If they’re not HAZMAT, then you’re admitting they don’t work. Over 200 BILLION masks are being trashed every month. The ecosystem is being destroyed by garbage that didn’t do anything when in use anyway. This alone is sufficient reason to make wearing masks illegal. Remember when you complained about plastic straws? Apparently, it’s A-OK to contaminate the environment now that you want an item, rather than children wanting an item.” …