“We like market research because it provides certainty – a score, a prediction; if someone asks us why we made the decision we did, we can point to a number. But the truth is that for the most important decisions, there can be no certainty.” – Malcolm Gladwell
On April 15, 1989, a small group of students initiated a pro-democracy protest on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The death of reformer Hu Yaobang triggered the demonstrations, which grew in size and were brutally dispersed in the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4. April 15th is traditionally Tax Day, but I prefer to remember it as Roy Clark‘s birthday. He was born April 15, 1933. April 15th, 1912, is the anniversary of the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic. 1,517 people lost their lives on the maiden voyage. As research into the incident has progressed over the last 100 years, it …
It is said that time flies when you are having fun. In that sense, the Taurus TX22 is a time machine. I can pick it up at the range, and suddenly find myself transported two fun-filled hours into the future. One factor that makes the TX22 fun is its magazine size. Chambered in 22LR, the TX22 holds 16 rounds in its magazine. This sets it apart from most other 22LR handguns, which can only hold 10 rounds in their magazines. This makes a mag dump with a TX22 more fun than a mag dump with a typical handgun chambered in …
The following simple recipe for “Poverty Soup” — a hamburger-vegetable soup is from SurvivalBlog reader F.C.. It serves four adults. To save money, home-grown tomatoes and vegetables can be used instead, if you are a veggie gardener. Ingredients 1 to 1-1/2 lbs of ground beef (or venison, or ground turkey) 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies (or Rotel) 16 oz. package of frozen mixed vegetables 6-8 potatoes, peeled and diced to spoon size 1 small onion diced, or equivalent in dehydrated onion flakes. 6 beef bouillon cubes 8 cups water Salt, to taste Pepper to taste Directions …
Today’s graphic is a map that shows States with the Highest and Lowest Per Capita State Income Taxes. Note that this map uses data from 2015. Taxes have increased substantially since then, but the relative differences between the states are still about the same. (Graphic courtesy of Maptitude / Caliper.com.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable, for detailed viewing. — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.
“We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.” – Milton Friedman
On April 14, 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, The Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming. His enterprise eventually grew into a large chain of J.C. Penney stores. — On this day in 1865, just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning. — On April 14, 1828 Noah Webster published An American Dictionary of the English Language; based on the principle that word usage should evolve from the spoken language, the …
(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) typically involves fighting with boxing gloves and no shoes; classical systems usually have no hand gloves and no shoes. Fighting without shoes is totally unrealistic for street fighting, as footwear is worn everywhere in waking life, except perhaps the beach, and shoes, as the French savate system shows, can make kicks more dangerous, especially with steel-capped boots. But even worse is the use of boxing gloves for striking. This is done not for mercy to opponents, but to protect the hands, which can easily break from strikes to …
The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: The Clowns in D.C. Claim That The Federal Budget is “Sustainable” With One Trillion Dollars in New Debt Added Every 100 Days. And $870 Billion Just in Interest Payments in 2024 News Links: The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days. Interest Costs on The National Debt. For comparison, the planned combined U.S. Military budget for 2024 is $842 billion — which is less than the national debt interest payments that will be made in 2024. — Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just …
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way …
On April 13, 1943, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in East Potomac Park on the south bank of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.. Jefferson was born April 13, 1743. (He died on July 4, 1826 just a few hours before the death of John Adams. How patriotic of both of them to pass away on the Fourth of July.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 112 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% …
(Continued from Part 1.) The knives that I have in mind for fast draw, and for defeating unarmed Mixed Martial Arts types, are those that do not dangle in a sheath by one’s side, but rather sit tucked into the belt, such as the Afghan Khyber knife/Indo-Persian pesh-kabz (but not the sword versions, such as the otherwise excellent Cold Steel version), facon of Argentina (Cold Steel has a smart version of this), the Arkansas toothpick, and Scottish dirk. Cold Steel’s Marauder, has a 9-inch blade, 4.7 mm thick, and is used by pig hunters (see Gideonstactical, YouTube, “Pig Sticker OR …
To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both 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 the Odds …
“Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed …
On April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands, came under fire from Confederate guns in Charleston, South Carolina, thus initiating the American Civil War. April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre, with his first novel, The Hunt For Red October. Coincidentally, Tom Clancy’s first literary agent is now my agent, Robert Gottlieb. — Joshua at Ready Made Resources wrote to mention: “For the month of April, anyone placing …
