“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.” – H.L. Mencken
Today would have been the 90th birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) Sadly, he passed away on June 13, 2023 — just a month shy of his 90th. He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title. He also wrote No Country For Old Men, which later became an even more popular movie. On July 20th, 1969, At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for a man, …
It may now be summer but it’s time to think ahead to those cold weather months. It has been said that in Maine there are only two seasons: winter, and getting ready for winter. Winter is beautiful in Maine with the white snow, blue sky, and evergreens. Winter is also dreaded by most people but a little preparation can go a long way in making it easier. It’s also a great time to get outside and enjoy the crisp, clean air (as snot freezes to the side of your face). Its soooo tempting to just forget about winter and head …
SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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. In today’s column, some reporting on a large solar flare. A Long-Duration M-Class Solar Flare SurvivalBlog reader Tracy M. wrote to mention this news at Spaceweather.com: “Big sunspot AR3363 just produced …
“The crowning feature of the federal system is the supremacy of the judiciary over all other branches of government in matters relating to the rights of persons and property.” – Charles A. Beard
July 19th is coincidentally the birthday of handgun designers Samuel Colt (born 1814, pictured) and Gaston Glock (born 1929). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), Two cases of Mountain House …
(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article) Developing your leadership skills If you work at this, you’ll gain many skills in the areas of operational communications, and in logistics as well. You’ll find the Professional Development Series will help your skillset for leading a volunteer group– whether a prepper group or an ARES group. You’ll be well accepted by the local Emergency Management folks for your willingness to help forestall the onset of anarchy in your community. Most emergency managers realize that communications is a weak spot in their own knowledge base, and if you come across as likable, …
This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — Oregon’s tough voter-approved gun limits that ban large capacity magazines ruled constitutional. JWR’s Comment: Judge Karin Immergut (a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Law and a Democrat who turned RINO in 2003) has stood the “history, text, and tradition” Bruen test on its head. She will surely get slapped down …
“The constitutions of most of our States assert, that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves, … or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press.” – Thomas Jefferson
July 18th, 1954 is the birthdate of Ricky Skaggs, an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. — At the request of a reader in Michigan, I’ve begun posting my SurvivalBlog meme creations to Twitter. You can see them here. Yes, that really is my Twitter account. Now that Elon Musk has settled in at running the show, and seems to be keeping his Free Speech promises, I decided to reactivate my moribund Twitter account. By the way, your “Follows” and re-tweets are greatly appreciated. …
On the wonderful pages of SurvivalBlog, I have read article after article about hardy souls setting up individual homesteads and gaining hard-won knowledge at significant cost. But also, of course, of people bemoaning the out-sized risks of “loners” in a truly desperate time, and the need to find some way to establish a like-minded group. That adventure is fraught with risks, as leadership, membership, and governance are sticky but important issues. I wish I were young enough and strong enough to have my own homestead, but that was not my path in life. (Someone has to be the doctor, engineer, …
This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on expanding grizzly bear territory. (See the Region-Wide section.) Region-Wide In the Northern Rockies, grizzly bears are on the move. Here is an excerpt: “Keane had lived on the plains 16 miles north of Loma, Montana, for 14 years. He married into the …
“There is no justification for the belief that, so long as power is conferred by democratic procedure, it cannot be arbitrary…it is not the source but the limitation of power which prevents it from being arbitrary.” – Friedrich A. Hayek
On July 17, 1996, TWA flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people on board; a U.S. government inquiry determined that a mixture of fuel and air had ignited accidentally within a fuel tank, though others believe the jetliner was shot down by a missile. — July 17th was also the birthdate of Erle Stanley Gardner, in 1889. He was an American lawyer and author. Though best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces, as well as a series of nonfiction …
I don’t know what your experience of the post-2020 ammo shortage has been. In our area, it seemed to go through a number of stages. In the first stage, the most commonly used calibers like 9mm, 5.56X45mm, and .308 Winchester sold out first. Then the less commonly used calibers gradually sold out in the order of their popularity. Then the most commonly used calibers gradually became available again at greatly inflated prices. Then some of the less commonly used calibers gradually became available again at even more greatly inflated prices. Then, prices gradually began to come down on the more …
