Notes for Tuesday – June 09, 2015

On June 9, 1954, Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy’s attack on a member of Welch’s law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Welch said, “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 59 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from …


Letter: Food Shortage

Dear HL and Readers of SurvivalBlog, We all know that in a TEOTWAWKI situation, people will panic. After what I saw this week, I believe it will happen sooner and to a worse degree than I previously thought. I live outside a small town in the Midwest. We have one mom-and-pop grocery store, a “milk store”, two convenience stores, Walmart, and Kroger as our choices for local grocery shopping. I noticed the shelves at Kroger were somewhat bare the last two times I shopped. I was wondering why this was the case but just thought the employees were not doing …


News From The American Redoubt:

News Video: Flash Floods Devastate Lusk, Wyoming o o o Feds release final plan for recovering Snake River sockeye o o o Over at Radio Free Redoubt, host John Jacob Schmidt recently posted links to a two-part podcast that related to the need for underground churches in the United States, in the near future: The Coming Underground Part 1. The Coming Underground Part 2. o o o In The East Oregonian: One man tasked with keeping small town of Ione operating o o o Magic Valley Legislators Respond to Refugee Center Concerns – RBS


Economics and Investing:

Gold At $64,000 – Bloomberg’s ‘China Gold Price’. – B.B. o o o 103 Years Later, Wall Street Turned Out Just As One Man Predicted. – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: U.S. Authorities Say “Uncomfortable” with Strong Currency; Dollar Drops Experts Worry that ‘Phony Numbers’ Are Misleading Investors – This is far from the only smoke and mirrors in the room… Stay Out Of Harm’s Way—-The Casino Is Fixing To Blow


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Maine and Texas governors are poised to sign open carry bills. The Maine law will be Vermont-style Constitutional Carry (unrestrictive–with no permit whatsoever), while the Texas law will require training and a permit. Despite a couple of recent setbacks in Montana and West Virginia (where their Democrat Party governors both recently vetoed Constitutional Carry laws) freedom is on the march, folks! o o o Michigan: ‘Urban’ military training exercise damages downtown building. – JBG o o o SWAT team destroys man’s home to capture shoplifter. – M.R. o o o $30 Geiger Counter for Android/IPhone – Works! (on Android) …



Notes for Monday – June 08, 2015

On June 8th, 1776, Canadian Governor Sir Guy Carleton defeated American Patriot forces under John Sullivan. After taking heavy losses and the loss of General Richard Montgomery at Quebec, the Patriots were pursued by Governor Carleton. Halfway between Quebec and Montreal, at the Trois-Rivieres, the Patriots turned to fight. The Redcoats and German mercenaries killed 25, wounded 140, and captured 236, but Carleton allowed the rest of the 2,500-man force to complete their retreat. This battle changed the priorities of the Patriots, and Arnold wrote “let us quit and secure our own country before it is too late.”


That Pesky Little First Amendment

Over the weekend, by way of the NRA some troubling news spread across the Internet: “Commonly used and unregulated Internet discussions and videos about guns and ammo could be closed down under rules proposed by the State Department, amounting to a ‘gag order on firearm-related speech,’” This stems from an Obama Regime reinterpretation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The State Department is updating the ITAR, which implements the Federal Arms Export Control Act (AECA). The net effect of this new ITAR amplification would be to reclassify gun blogs, forums, chat rooms, and firearms “how-to” web pages as …


Scot’s Product Review: Survival Skills DVD Set Sigma 3 Survival School

I was very impressed with this $49.95 two DVD set. It was well produced and the material clearly presented. There were perhaps three times I wished for captions to identify some of the gear and once a drawing would have helped me understand a point about knife blade grinds, but those are small nits to pick out of an excellent video. It even explained and showed knots so well that I could make them, which is no small task as I am knot deprived. I am going to jump to almost the end of the two DVD’s to get a …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: CRKT Hootenanny Folder

One of the most prolific knife designers that I’m aware of is Ken Onion, who resides in Hawaii. Ken actually got started designing and making knives as a result of working on a motorcycle. He knew there was “something” there that he could use. It’s been many years since I interviewed Onion for an article I was doing for Knives Illustrated magazine, back when I was the West Coast Field Editor. Ken and I spoke for more than an hour via phone, and he is an absolute wildman, to put it lightly. It was great fun interviewing him about a …


Recipe of the Week: Fresh Strawberry Shortcakes And Cream

It’s strawberry season, so I am always looking for yummy things to do with our strawberries. Of course, we make jelly, fresh fruit salads, and even make homemade strawberry ice cream and strawberry-banana smoothies, but we also really love these shortcakes for dessert. They are fancy enough to serve company but easy enough for any day with the family. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 Tbsp white sugar 1 teaspoons salt 1/2 cup frozen unsalted butter, grated 1/2 cup cold buttermilk 1 Tbsp heavy cream, divided 2 Tbsp turbinado (raw) sugar …


Letter Re: Air Lift Pumps

Using compressed air to lift water from a well does work as described in the previous article; however, one must insure the compressed air comes from an oil-free compressor. If the air compressor has an oil-filled crankcase, the delivered air will have oil vapor/oil mist in it, which is not something one should have suspended in their drinking water. Do not trust an oil/water separator on the compressed air unit to remove oil vapors; they will eventually saturate and become pretty much useless. To confirm what your compressor is doing, check the condensate drain on the air tank. If it …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Your Facebook, Twitter and blog are about to be monitored for references to the Government. – H.L. o o o JWR joins Prepper Recon for a podcast: Time is Short, Wake Up! o o o More and more, the words once shouted with such emphatic fervor, “Never Again!” are being changed and mumbled as “Never mind.” – Brazil starts counting their Jews – B.B. o o o Public Locked Out of Miami Biscayne National Park – No Fishing. – T.P. o o o 5th person dies of MERS virus in South Korea. – G.P. (Warning: This page has a text …