Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 9, 2026

On May 9, 1754, the first newspaper cartoon was published in America. It depicted\ divided snake with the words “Join or Die” by Benjamin Franklin. It was published in The Pennsylvania Gazette. — May 9, 1916: A wind-blown fire in Ellendale, North Dakota destroyed three blocks of businesses, a church, and 21 homes. — Today’s feature article is a guest post from our friend Brandon Smith, the editor of the Alt-Market.us blog, which we highly recommend bookmarking. – JWR — We still need entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have …




Gold, Debt And The Inevitable Global Housing Market Crash, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at Birch Gold Group and is re-posted with permission. Maybe the most prominent economic discussion circulating today is the fear that the vast majority of people have been priced out of housing markets for the rest of their lives, regardless of the country they live. Gen Z and even Gen Alpha teens are already planning for a future in which buying a home is impossible. Those that are buying are aiming for cost efficiency and they are buying alone (prioritizing savings and home ownership over marriage). This …




Editors’ Prepping Progress

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 …




The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and …