This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.
Firstly, and most importantly, there is this encouraging news: Federal Judge Overturns California’s Assault Weapons Ban [1]. The full text of the decision can be seen here [2]. JWR’s Comments: Be advised that the automatic stay leaves the door open for a very likely appeal, anytime in the next 25 days. So we can expect this to advance to a Ninth Circuit three-judge panel, and then if they overturn Judge Benitez’s ruling, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court. That appeals process could take several years.
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Reader Tim J. sent this news from Florida: Nikki Fried Amends Financial Disclosure Ahead of Campaign Announcement [3].
“Nikki Fried’s amendment of her financial disclosure forms three days before she announced her gubernatorial candidacy made state and national news.
The report revealed Fried failed to report approximately $280,000 in income from a marijuana company she lobbied for in 2018.”
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Drug cartels attack enemies and spread terror with weaponized drones in US, Mexico [4].
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Reader H.L. sent this: If California is Facing a Rare Mega-Drought, Why is the State Releasing Water from Reservoirs? [5]
Over at The Epoch Times comes this report of folks voting with their feet: Taxpayers Fleeing California Take $8.8 Billion In Gross Income to Other States [6].
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Reader T.C. wrote to mention that a new batch of military surplus U./S. M1 Carbines [7] has hit the market. He indicated that he might buy one. So I sent him this advice:
“While the M1 Carbine has great collector’s and historical interest, I don’t recommend it as a survival gun. In many ways, it was “the original PDW”. It shoots an under-powered cartridge, and that ammunition is now both scarce and expensive. It uses magazines that are finicky, and it was not designed for optic mounting.
Yes, it is a handy little gun, but so is a Mini-14 or an AR-15/M4gery. And the ammo for those is much more widely available, more effective, and less expensive. Spare parts for ARs are ubiquitous. And even Mini-14 parts and magazines are more readily available.”
Animal House mentioned these items:
“When the system is entirely corrupted and dominated by a criminal cabal, there are no systematic solutions which will change the current paradigm.”
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“These results should be cause for alarm for one simple reason: soybean oil is the most widely consumed oil in the United States,” writes Scott. “Indeed, there has been a 100-fold increase in soybean oil consumption during the 20th century. Soybean oil is everywhere, especially in the processed foods which make up a significant portion, even a majority, of the diets of most people in America and much of the rest of the developed world.”
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Harold wrote us:
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Mass scale manipulation of Twitter Trends discovered [14]. (Thanks to C.B. for the link.)
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Reader H.L. suggested this, from the statist Washington Post: Colonial hack exposed government’s light-touch oversight of pipeline cybersecurity [15].
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Professor Wagstaff had this comment:
“A quick comment regarding “An Electric Car for TEOTWAWKI? by S.B.”:
For those not familiar with internal combustion engines that run on wood smoke, here is an Oak Ridge National Laboratory report [16], showing how to make a wood gas generator to run your tractor or whatever… ( its a simplified WW-II era “Imbert” wood gas generator). Apparently back in 1989 someone in the Gov. thought it was a good idea to get this info. out …just in case… things that make you go, hmmm…”
Long-time blog content contributor D.S.V. sent us this link: Innocent Until Predicted Guilty. [17]
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With the current high price of lumber, there is a lot of interest in small chainsaw mills — commonly called Alaskan Mills. Avalanche Lily spotted this review: The Seven Best Chainsaw Mills of 2021 [18].
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And lastly… Sometimes gridlock ad Fillibustering are good things: The Senate Parliamentarian Just Ripped The Heart Out Of The Democrats’ Agenda [19].
Please Send Us Your Snippets!
Please send your snippet items for potential posting to JWR [20]. or AVL [20]. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact [21] form.