“When America’s early pioneers first turned their eyes toward the West, they did not demand that somebody take care of them if they got ill or got old. They did not demand maximum pay for minimum work, and even pay for no work at all.” – Paul Harvey
On January 7th, 1558, Calais, the last English possession in France, was retaken by French troops under Duc de Guise. (The Pale of Calais had been an exclave and parliamentary borough of England across the Strait of Dover from 1347 to 1558.) The painting above, The Siege of Calais was completed by François-Édouard Picot in 1838. — January 7th, 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa and Ganymede. — And on January 7th, 1930, French physicist Marguerite Perey discovered Francium (Fr), the last naturally occurring element to be found. — Today’s feature article is a guest …
Editor’s Introductory Note: The alarming trend that is described in this article is also taking place in many other book genres. It is possible that at least one of the author names cited in this article may be genuine, so I’m preemptively stating: Jennifer Rader’s article is an attempt to accurately describe the extent of A.I.-generated trickery in contemporary publishing. If the she has mentioned any actual living human authors by mistake, our apologies. We will be glad to update this article with corrections or clarifications. – JWR — As a preparedness author, the meteoric rise in the number of …
Our 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. — Federal court strikes down California open carry gun ban as unconstitutional. Here is an excerpt from the article: “A federal court in California on Friday struck down the state’s law that prohibits people from openly carrying guns in most public places, ruling that the state law was unconstitutional because it violated the …
“The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.” – Milton Friedman
January 6, 1799 was the birthday of Jedediah Strong Smith, one of America’s greatest trapper-explorers. He was born in Bainbridge, New York. Smith explored a huge area of the American West during his short life. “He began his western voyages in 1822, when he joined the pioneering fur trader William Ashley on a trip up the Missouri River. Unlike earlier fur traders, who depended on Native Americans to actually trap or hunt the furs, Ashley eliminated the Natives as middlemen and instead sent out independent white trappers like Smith to do the job. To escape dependence on Native Americans, though, …
(The photo above, courtesy of Openverse, was taken by “Terren in Virginia“, a witness to a 2008 baseball team “fan rivalry” brawl at a New York sports stadium.) The following is what I learned about security at lunch one day: Scenario One Tuesday, about six weeks ago, I stopped for a late lunch at a local upscale family restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that is part of a well-known chain. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and it seemed to be a quiet place to have lunch and prepare my Sunday school lesson. I selected a seat near …
This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. The photo above was shot from the east side of the Snake River Canyon. The United States Congress designated the Hells Canyon Wilderness in 1975. It measures 217,927 acres, with about 83,811 acres in Idaho, and 134,116 acres Oregon. The wilderness is jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service. (Photo courtesy of the BLM.) Redoubt News Links: Adventuring down the deepest …
“Without sovereignty, a nation cannot exist. Without borders, it can’t be defined or protected.” – Geert Wilders
On January 5, 1477, the Battle of Nancy (now in France) was won by the Lorraine-Swiss forces led by René II, Duke of Lorraine. More than 7,000 Burgundians were killed, including Duke Charles The Bold. Thus ended the Burgundian Wars and the Burgundian State. — On January 5, 1914, industrialist Henry Ford announced his $5 minimum per-day wage. This doubled most workers’ pay from $2.40 for a 9-hour workday to $5 for an 8-hour workday. — January 5th is the birthday of the late John Pugsley (born 1934, died April 8, 2011), libertarian and economics author. Pugsley was well known …
Each year, I only post one reminder, encouraging voluntary Ten Cent Challenge tip subscriptions, and this is it. Back in August, we celebrated our 20th blogiversary. Thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a success! There are now more than 41,400 archived articles and columns. SurvivalBlog is well-established as the world’s most widely-read daily blog on family preparedness. Hopefully, some readers appreciate the fact that I only post an appeal once a year. And I’m confident that most readers appreciate that SurvivalBlog is one of the last of the “Old School” blogs that is still posted with fresh content from blog readers …
The TriStar KR22 rifle has many excellent features. It is well-balanced and feeds smoothly. The synthetic stock is nicely weather resistant. It comes with two magazines. The comb can be adjusted for height, making it easy to get a good cheek weld while using optics. The receiver includes an integrated Picatinny rail. The stock comes with sling studs installed. The barrel is threaded to accept muzzle devices. The magazine-well accepts Ruger BX-series magazines. For me, the KR22 functioned most effectively with a red dot sight. To be useful for pest control, a rifle should be capable of consistently shooting two-inch …
The following recipe for Old Fashioned Boiled Dinner is from The New Butterick Cook Book, copyright 1924, now in the public domain. That is just one of the dozens of bonus books included in the 2005-2025 20th Anniversary Edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick that is now available to pre-order. Ingredients 6 pounds corned-beef brisket 1 cabbage 3 white turnips 4 carrots 6 potatoes 6 beets Vinegar Directions Put the meat into the pot over a brisk lire with enough cold water to cover it. Bring it rapldly just to the boiling-point, then remove the scum, set the …
Today’s graphic: A map showing the Overlap of the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, as of January, 2026. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail below is click-expandable. — Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.
“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism. It cannot be expected, that America would yield, without a magnanimous persevering and bloody struggle. The testimony of past ages, and the least knowledge of mankind, must suffice to convince us of the contrary.” – Alexander Hamilton
