Day: July 18, 2025

Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 18, 2025

On July 18th, 1914 the US Army Air Service was established, as part of the Signal Corps. Pictured are four U.S. Army Vought VE-7 test planes undergoing NACA tests, in 1921. — July 18th, 1954 was the birthdate of Ricky Skaggs, an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. — Today, we present a guest piece by our friend Patrice Lewis. It first appeared in her excellent Rural Revolution blog. Patrice is also the author of The Simplicity Primer. — We are in need of …


Croutons to Die For, by Patrice Lewis

Editor’s  Introductory Note:  This article was written by friend of the Blog Patrice Lewis. She is the Editrix of the long-running Rural Revolution blog. She and her husband Don have truly lived the prepping/homesteading life for decades. They homeschooled their two daughters, gardened, raised cattle and poultry, preserved foods, ran a home-based business, and much more. Lily and I first met them 15 years ago, when they lived on a ranch about 40 miles southeast of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. More recently, they moved to another ranch in an undisclosed location, elsewhere in Idaho. That ranch is more remote, and in …


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 LMBA’s nascent silver short squeeze. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals The Comex shorts did their best to hold down the price of silver again this week. But the Asian traders kept bidding it back up into the $38.20 to $38.50 USD range. The word is out that the LBMA …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites. … Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” – Edmund Burke