Today’s graphic: Population density of the world. (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.
“You win battles by knowing the enemy’s timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.” – Miyamoto Musashi
On April 12, 1811, the first US colonists on the Pacific coast arrived at Cape Disappointment, in what is now the state of Washington. — April 12, 1933: US Navy commissioned Air Station Sunnyvale (later renamed NAS Moffett Field) in Santa Clara County, California — at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. — April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre, with his first novel, The Hunt For Red October. Coincidentally, Tom Clancy’s first literary agent is now my …
Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see this link to his article posted on July 13th, 2025: My Quest for a Wife: I’m Willing to Move, and in his February 24, 2026 article on rural migration starting at the …
The latest meme created by JWR, based on an idea suggested by my brother Bruce Rawles: Meme Text: This Bird’s Problem is Medical… It Has Irritable Owl Syndrome Notes From JWR: I was pleased to see that this meme was included in a meme video by Johnny B, on Friday. (I sent it to him early.) Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included. …
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For …
The Battle of Ravenna was fought on April 11, 1512. French forces under Gaston de Foix defeated the Holy League in this major battle of the Italian Wars. — April 11th is the birthday of John Milius, who was born in 1944. He both wrote the screenplays and directed the films Dillinger, The Wind and the Lion, Big Wednesday, Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn, Farewell to the King, and Flight of the Intruder. He also wrote the screenplays of the first two Dirty Harry movies as well as the first draft of the screenplay for Patton (before Francis Ford Coppola …
As a busy CPA, I was always looking for ways to save time. I would occasionally go to the library and scoop up an armful of time management books. I would take them back to the office and skim through them. They all kinda said the same thing. Make a list, prioritize it and put estimated times to complete by each item. Do the A’s first, then the B’s and then the C’s. It was better than nothing. But it had holes in it. Under the C items was get new tires. But this never happened till a tire failed …
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 …
“And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in …
On April 10, 1633, the first imported bananas went on sale in London in the shop window of Thomas Johnson’s apothecary. Pictured are some banana vendors and their wares in Chennai, India. — And April 10, 1827 was the birthday of General Lew Wallace. He wrote books (author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ), sculpted, practiced law, painted, played the violin and made them as well. He was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. And he served as the Territorial Governor of New Mexico. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …
I’m still reeling over what happened on the recent Easter Sunday. It was early in the day when I trekked down to the barn to check on one of my heifers that was due to calve. I had been watching her carefully as we got closer to her due date. She wasn’t over-due. In fact, she was right on time. I had purposefully not made any Easter plans so I could be home if there was trouble. And indeed, there was trouble. Her water broke at about 7:30 a.m. and I waited and waited for those two little hooves to …
In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. The thumbnail below is click-expandable. Economics & Investing Links of Interest France just pulled all its remaining gold out of the New York Federal Reserve. Forbes: Gold And Silver Hit 3-Week Highs After U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Agreement. US government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national debt—equal to spending on defense and education combined. US employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 jobs last month, rebounding from a weak February. Economics & Investing …
“Our global economy is much more fragile than many of us realize.” – Robert Kiyosaki
On April 9, 1388, the Battle of Näfels was a major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for self-determination against the Habsburg overlordship of the Duchy of Austria. (The public domain photo of Näfels, Canton Glarus, Switzerland, was taken by Marco Zanoli.) Note that in January 2011, Näfels became part of the municipality of Glarus Nord. — April 9, 1869: Hudson’s Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada. — And on April 9, 1959 NASA named the first seven astronauts for Project Mercury. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round …
