Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 2, 2024

On February 2, 1709, British sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued by explorer and pirate William Dampier (pictured) after being marooned on a desert island for five years. His story inspired the book “Robinson Crusoe.” — On February 2, 1980, the FBI‘s undercover criminal investigation known as Abscam was revealed to the public; it resulted in the convictions of various elected officials on an assortment of bribery and corruption charges. — On February 2, 1653, New Amsterdam (later named New York City) was incorporated as a city. — Today we present a guest article by Montana-based economist and commentator Brandon Smith, …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced – Round 110

We’ve completed the judging for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  Round 110 began on December 1, 2023, and ended on January 31, 2024. (The contest runs in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 110 are: First Prize First Prize goes to A.F., for Winter Plumbing Preparedness, posted on January 13-14, 2024. See: Part 1 and Part 2. He will receive the following prizes: 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 …


Cultural Replacement: An Engineered Immigration Crisis, by Brandon Smith

There is absolutely no doubt – Elements of our own government are deliberately encouraging the acceleration of illegal immigration across the southern border and they are actively sabotaging any attempts to stop the madness. There are two questions we need to ask: Why are they doing this? And, what can be done to stop them?’ In a move that I think debunks any claims that the Biden Administration wants a secure border, the federal government recently challenged Texas efforts to install border fencing and barbed wire to prevent the massive influx of foreigners raiding the US. This is after several …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, a special examination of the anti-green agenda revolt by European farmers. (See the European Farmers Anti-Greenie Pushback section.) Precious Metals: Silver Use in India Solar Projects Is Skyrocketing. o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: How Much Does a Pound of Gold Cost? Economy & Finance: Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 1, 2024

On February 1, 1790, the first session of the Supreme Court of the United States was held, in New York City. On February 1st, we recognize the birthday of the late Dr. Gary North, in 1942. North was a prolific writer on Christian Reconstruction and economics topics. He passed away on February 24, 2022.  His more than 50 published books are a lasting legacy. He also assembled a free online library of books by other godly writers, through his Institute For Christian Economics (ICE). Those free books, totaling 38,000 pages, are all still available online, They are a great resource …


Encouraging Plant Pollinators, by Steve R.

Editor’s Introductory Note:  Over the years, we’ve published several articles on beekeping in SurvivalBlog. But this is our first fundamental article on pollinators.  If you want to have abundant crops, then you should encourage pollinators, locally! – JWR We are getting help with crops, fruits, nuts, and vegetables from little flying, crawling things you probably know little about. They are animal pollinators of plants. A book about pollinators has a first sentence of the first chapter that says it is impossible to overstate the service they provide to plants. You can do a lot to help pollinators, no matter where …


January 2024 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, presented by Gainesville Coins. Each month, we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. We cover gold’s performance and the factors that affect gold prices. What Did Gold Do in January? Spot gold started the new year at around $2,060 an ounce. It dropped as low as $2,023 in the second week of the month as everyone rushed to dial back over-optimistic expectations of an interest rate cut in March. Prices recovered to above $2,050 on the 15th before the bottom fell out, recording a $49 drop from …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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, a more in-depth examination of the Texas border tiff. Texas Border Standoff Posturing Continues In Eagle Pass, a tense border standoff between Texas and the federal government is …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 31, 2024

On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union, more than three years after the country voted for “Brexit.” On January 31, 1606, Guy Fawkes was scheduled for execution for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against Parliament and King James. As he was being marched up the steps to his gallows, he fell and broke his neck and died, depriving his executioners of any satisfaction. In recent years, Guy Fawkes masks have become a symbol of resistance to big government, worldwide. Also on this day in 1872, American author Pearl Zane Grey was born. He was …


Heating Your Home With Wood, by Hollyberry

Nothing beats stepping into our toasty cabin on a subzero day to a nice, warm wood stove. Having had experience with all types of heat and fuels, wood beats all! As soon as friends come in, they stand right in front of the stove to warm up. The dogs fight over who gets to lay directly in front of the stove on the hearth rug. Our Jack Russell Terrier usually wins that argument. We do not have access to piped natural gas in this part of the state but there are many ways to heat your home. After trial and …


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. — “You Need An F-16, Not An AR-15” – Biden Once Again Suggests US Government Could Murder Gun-Owners. JWR’s Comments:  So… Coupling that statement with the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, I must ask Mr. Biden: To keep us on an equal footing with the active military, when are you going to release …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 30, 2024

On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson became the first American president to experience an assassination attempt. Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol building and shot at him, but his gun misfired. A furious 67-year-old Jackson confronted his attacker, clubbing Lawrence several times with his walking cane. During the scuffle, Lawrence managed to pull out a second loaded pistol and pulled the trigger, but it also misfired. Jackson’s aides — including Davy Crockett — then wrestled Lawrence away from the president, leaving Jackson unharmed but …