Bring Back Asylums: Transgender Fatigue In America, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This essay was first posted at Brandon Smith’s Alt-Market.us. It is reposted with permission. — Transgenderism is not a civil rights movement; it’s a social engineering experiment. The LGBT movement is not a struggle for equal rights; it’s a covert war for political control. The agenda of the people involved in the spheres of trans-activism are radical zealots hellbent on the destruction of their enemies by any means necessary – And if you believe in logic, objective reality, biological science, and moral imperative, then you are one of their enemies. A prime strategy of the trans movement …


The Art and Science of Tool Making, by Grandpappy

Introduction The rule of “Two is one, one is none” applies to almost all preparations. But what happens if once we’re safely in our shelter, we discover we’re missing a tool? In a WTSHTF situation, with no way to go out to a hardware store or have an online store deliver it to your doorstep, this situation would be catastrophic unless you had basic tools and knew how to build your own. With makeshift materials (as some military manuals call them) when there isn’t anything else suitable available, you can build a tool for yourself that will do the job.


Review: Ramen Bae Topping Mix, by Mike in Alaska

DISCLAIMER: I paid out of my own pocket for this food and Ramen Bae did not sponsor this review article in any way. Some folks love Ramen, but others say if you eat it you’ll die a horrible, painful death. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch; bottom line is that as food it’s not the same as say a prime rib dinner. But then it doesn’t need you to take out a second mortgage to buy, either. After all the years I’ve eaten food that some might call questionable, ramen isn’t anywhere near the top of the list …


Data Collection in Our Lives, by Anonymous in Ohio

With all of the recent discussion of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) threats in SurvivalBlog, I want to share a recent experience with what I assume was an A.I.-intervened technology. We were recently moving some of our supplies across state in a small cargo trailer to our cabin. We had unloaded the trailer and were returning home when I saw flashing lights in my mirror. I thinking to myself, I can’t be trailer lights, everything is rewired new, new tires, bearings, doors were locked. The State Trooper came up to the window and tells me that my plates on the trailer registration …


Goldilocks Fire-Starting Kits, by C.S.

The Problem In the spring of 2009, a group of adventuresome whitewater kayakers dipped their boats into the meager headwaters of the North Fork of the Virgin River above Zion National Park. The weather was cold, but spirits were high. The paddlers had read about kayaking through the Zion Narrows in the preeminent whitewater guidebook for the southern Rockies. Confident their paddling abilities were more than up to the task, the group shrugged off having to frequently drag their boats through early shallow stretches. They knew the North Fork of the Virgin River picked up most of its flow from …


Chiming in on A.I., by SaraSue

This is purely my opinion and may be of no use to you.  My “tone” is sarcastic and rude and confident on purpose.  I am not that kind of person, but there are certain topics, such as Artificial Intelligence, that rub me the wrong way.  Maybe I am, or used to be, smarter than most.  Maybe the opposite is true.  In any case, I seek to put A.I. in its place, in a box, lock it in there, sit on the lid, and laugh. It is always going to be true that human beings are flawed (original sin, if you …


Fully Practicing Your Preps, by A.C.

In our world of unpredictable emergencies, from natural disasters to personal crises, a common saying always holds true; “You don’t rise to the occasion, you revert to the level of your training.” This isn’t just my cynical view of human nature; it’s a powerful call to action, especially to us self-described preppers. It emphasizes that true readiness isn’t about spontaneous heroism or “hoping for the best”.  Instead, it’s actually about the deliberate, often unglamorous work of turning preparation into an ingrained, automatic response. When the “stuff” hits the fan,  our carefully laid plans are only as good as our ability …


The A.I. Danger Approaching, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

It was amazing to see St. Funogas’ article today (8/22/25) entitled “My Concerns With Artificial Intelligence.” Hopefully my thoughts below will add to his insights! Great minds think alike! 🙂 I deny being a Luddite, but I must confess I’m concerned about the rapidly growing utilization of A.I. in our lives. It’s kind of shocking how many devices are connecting to some A.I. flavor or the other, and I suppose – eventually – just one or two super-A.I.s, directly or indirectly. Smartphones (for all their utility, essentially a government eavesdropping device), home security systems, Alexa, cars, and even computers/laptops are …


My Concerns With Artificial Intelligence – Part 1, by St. Funogas

I appreciated JWR’s comments in his August 19th article on artificial intelligence. I’ve also had a lot of thoughts on AI recently, which I’d like to share. JWR’s informative article addressed many of the societal changes and threats we’ll experience just as sure as the grass is green. At this point, my concerns are mostly on a personal level of how things will affect my grandchildren, and to a lesser extent, how they’ll affect my children and siblings. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? When people ask me to define what artificial intelligence is, I give them my country-bumpkin definition: Human intelligence …


An Everyday Pellet Gun, by Lodge Pole

Where I grew up, we called them pellet guns, not pellet rifles or air rifles. I am by no means a pellet gun expert. Nearly all of my experience is with a single-shot, break-action pellet gun. The knowledge and advice I offer in this article is solely based on my experience and familiarity of single-shot, break-action pellet guns. Depending on your age, physical build and desired purpose of use, pellet gun actions vary, though in application, the concept remains the same. There is an option for everyone. About twenty years ago, I was camping with a friend who had a …


Soft Cheeses Made Without Rennet, by M.J.E.

There are nearly endless kinds of cheeses. Among the variables that result in so much diversity are the mammal that the milk is from (most commonly cattle, sheep, goats, reindeer, yaks, and water buffaloes), what these animals were eating at the time they were milked, and how the milk is processed. Some people swear by raw milk rather than pasteurized, but raw milk may contain harmful organisms, and organisms that might adversely affect the cheese-making process. On the other hand, raw milk has a slightly different battery of enzymes that can affect the final cheese. Ultra-pasteurized milk, while shelf-stable, does …


My Grandfather’s Wisdom: Ernest E. Rawles

JWR’s Introductory Note: This is an expanded edition of a piece that I posted in SurvivalBlog in November, 2005. I have added more excerpts to bring it from 730 words to 2,300 words, to provide better context on his times, surroundings, and circumstances. — My paternal grandfather, Ernest Everett Rawles (1897-1985), was a largely self-educated man. Coming from a pioneer family (his father and grandfather came out west by covered wagon in 1857), he had a profoundly practical outlook on life. Ernest grew up on a 6,000-acre sheep ranch near Boonville, in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County, California. Part …


FNIRSI GC-03 Radiation Detector: An Evaluation, by Mike in Alaska

Introduction This article is not a full review. It is just a cursory evaluation. Several weeks ago, I ordered a Multifunction Nuclear Radiation Detector from a eBay seller who imports these units from China. FNIRSI also sells several other electronic test equipment units, one of which I bought was the multi-function oscilloscope hoping that I could use it on the bench as well as for portable operations. Alas, I didn’t like the unit because the probe connections for the oscilloscope don’t fit well into the connector (BNC type) on the top of the case and because of that issue I …


Sanitation for Preppers, by A.C.

Okay, folks. This is it: The unavoidable conversation that every prepper just pretends isn’t important; we’re going to talk about your poo. In the world of survivalism and prepping, the conversation almost always revolves around a predictable list of essentials: food, water, shelter, warmth, and weapons. These are the “sexy” parts of the apocalypse, the elements we see glamorized in movies and books. But in a real, long term grid-down situation, a far more mundane and devastating threat looms large, one that is almost never discussed and rarely planned for; sanitation. The truth is, without a proper plan for managing …


As America Soul Searches, The Rest Of The West Is Falling Apart, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This perceptive essay was first posted at Brandon Smith’s Alt-Market.us. It is reposted with permission. — In terms of geopolitics one could argue that allies don’t have to like each other, they just have to provide a mutual benefit that serves the greater purposes of peace. One could also argue that through cultural exchange the good habits of one country could easily influence the bad habits of another, but that kind of influence can also happen in reverse. Though we might think of American culture as the content driver of the planet, the reality is that our …