Preparedness Notes for Saturday — July 31, 2021

July 31st is the birthday of free-market economist Milton Friedman (born 1912, died November 16, 2006.) — A reminder: I sell antique guns, through Elk Creek Company — my home-based mail order business. Per Federal law, these guns do not require an FFL, and are also exempt from paperwork under most state laws. But occasionally, I upgrade my personal gun collection, and consequently sell a few excess modern (post-1898) guns through a trusted friend who has a FFL. He is running auctions on three particularly nice guns from my collection, on GunBroker.com. Take a look. I hope that you’ll consider …




Live Not by Lies – Part 1, by Born Free

In the past few years, we have all witnessed Internet censorship, up to and including the censorship of the President of the United States. My initial reaction was, “Who cares? We don’t need the media in order to live our lives! Turn it all off. Ignore them!” Then, the stories started trickling out, mostly on alternative media platforms and via individual blogger websites. It wasn’t just the popular media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, WordPress, Reddit, etc.), the mainstream media organizations (CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.), major payment processors (PayPal, for one), e-mail providers (Mailchimp, for one), web hosting …




July 2021 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in July? Gold started July at $1,770 an ounce, which would be the low for the month. Gold’s price action would be determined by two things in July: the strength of the 10-year Treasury note, and the strength of the dollar. Gold grinded higher the first week of July, closing at $1,802 on the 7th. This was gold’s first close above $1,800 …




Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my …