Day: January 17, 2024

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 17, 2024

On January 17, 1995, a large-scale earthquake struck the Ōsaka-Kōbe (Hanshin) metropolitan area, killing an estimated 6,400 people and causing major damage. 30 years ago today, (January 17, 1994) the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people. On January 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, establishing Prohibition. By one account, 286 distilleries, 992 breweries, and more than 300,000 bars and saloons were closed. And today is the anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. This small battle was the turning point …


Our Practical Uses of Amateur Radio – Part 1, by Mr. & Mrs. Alaska

For nearly two decades, SurvivalBlog has featured many excellent articles about ham radio, written by authors who were very knowledgeable about the engineering of radio communication. The following article is far less technical. The intended audience is people who have not explored the value of radio communications because they are not sure why or how they should.  Maybe some old amateur radio equipment languishes, dusty and ignored, in a corner of the attic. My husband and I utilize walkie-talkies as well as local, regional, and national radio communications every week at our remote home in Alaska.  We have gained friends, …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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. — National Park Service Plans to Remove William Penn Statue From Philadelphia Park. JWR’s Comment:  This trend of politically correct historical revisionism has completely escaped the bounds of rationality.  While they are at it, they should just as well rename their state “Fettermansylvania”.  They could erect a bronze statue of John Fetterman, complete …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important … so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth.” – Robert A. Heinlein