Day: January 17, 2025

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 17, 2025

On January 17, 1746: In the Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeated Hanoverian forces. — Acting for Hawaiian sugar interests and their American allies, a committee led by Sanford Ballard Dole deposed Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani on January 17, 1893 and installed a provisional government with Dole as president. — On this day in 1994 the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people. — Today is the last day to take advantage of the introductory sale price for the new two-volume Red State Relocation Guidebook. It …


Practical Utility: A Braced 9mm AR Pistol, by Francis, the Semi-Prepper

Editor’s Introductory Note:  I am belatedly posting the following article that was submitted to SurvivalBlog back in August of 2021. I held off running it because at the time the owners of arm-braced pistols were in legal limbo.  But as of January 15, 2025, the BATF has finally conceded to the Fifth Circuit Court’s November 8, 2023 nationwide injunction of not enforcing their on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again ban on arm-braced pistols.  That was reinforced by an Eighth Circuit Court decision in August, 2024 that called the ATF’s ban “arbitrary and capricious.” — I refer to myself as a …


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, we look at credit cards and their proper use. (See the Credit Card Use and Credit Card Debt section.) Precious Metals: China’s central bank purchases 10 tonnes of gold in December, analysts say it’s nowhere near done buying.  JWR’s Comments:  Those are just the official numbers on Chinese gold purchases. The word in the Comex …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be reflected in arbitrary external relations. The suppression of public opinion, the abolition of public competition for power and its public exercise opens the way for the state power to arm itself in any way it sees fit. … A state that does not hesitate to lie to its own people will not hesitate to lie to other states.” – Václav Havel