Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 2, 2025

On May 2, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. She was beheaded following a four-day show trial. — May 2, 1924: President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the ancient lava fields in Idaho as Craters of the Moon National Monument, in order to “preserve the unusual and weird volcanic formations.” — On May 2nd, 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced that high-accuarcy GPS would be made available to the public; the satellite signals had previously been degraded for nonmilitary use. — And on May 2nd, 1803, the United States purchased …




Life With Propane Freezers and Refrigerators

Via an e-mail from reader Richard T., I recently had a special request to write an article.  His request: “From a 1975 The Mother Earth News magazine, I found an obscure reference to the Crosley “Icy Ball” refrigerator and a search found it mentioned in a SurvivalBlog article from 2009. I followed the link in the article which led me on to research it some more. Using “Crosley Icy Ball refrigerator” as a search phrase in Youtube I found several short videos on it. I then discovered this was not a lost technology but this is how RV and propane …




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 the threat of Bitcoin Wrench Attacks. (See the Forex and Cryptos section.) Precious Metals: Reuters: JP Morgan sees gold prices crossing $4,000/oz by Q2 2026. o o o Will gold hit $4,000 per ounce in 2025? Experts weigh in. o  o  o Jan Nieuwenhuijs, at Gold-Eagle.com: Can Gold Reach $16,000? o o …