Odds ‘n Sods:

A great warning of what we’re going to face as true biblical believers as we near the return of our Lord Jesus Christ– the Son of God from Nazareth.The Coming Persecution o o o We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl, a Guy Who Walked Off in the Dead of Night. – P.M. o o o Woman shoots at would-be home intruders. The intruders claimed to be with the East point Police Department. – T.P. o o o Summertime Blues: Teen Unemployment in Major U.S. Cities Tops 50 Percent . – G.G. o o o Ex-banker falls 1000ft off …



Notes for Monday – June 02, 2014

We are introducing our new economics editor “Econocobas” today. Thank you Economatrix for your long years of service to the blog. We wish you well in your endeavors. o o o It looks like the announcement for the winners of round 52 of the Non-Fiction Writing Contest will need to be put off one more day. I hope to have the complete list ready for tomorrows blog.


Guest Article: May In Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we take an in-depth look at the “what” and “why” behind the price movements of gold and silver. Precious Metals Market Drivers in May 2014 After trading in a tight range for more than two months on either side of $1,300 an ounce, gold broke down through key technical levels on the 27th. Reports of a single sale of $450 million in gold pushed prices down $13.00 an ounce through technical support, and triggered sell stops, which …


Scot’s Product Review: Officer Survival Initiative First Aid Materials

Officer Survival Initiative (OSI) says they are “a bunch of current and reformed medics, law enforcement, military, and general trigger puller types who want to help you come home at the end of the day.” That’s a great goal and one they are clearly advancing to. They have put a lot of energy into the law enforcement field, as the name implies, but they also make first aid stuff for outdoors folks and the prepping market. They were kind enough to let me look at some of their kits and modules. The Advantage II Personal Vehicle Aid Kit The first …


Recipe of the Week: Wild Turkey Pho

I am a 5th generation Oklahoman. My wife is ethnically Vietnamese. Our children are happy little mongrels with Eurasian eyes and Oklahoma accents. We often produce fusion recipes consisting of local ingredients and traditional Vietnamese ideas. Wild turkey spring season is almost upon us, and I would like to share one of our fusion recipes with the blog. Pho (pronounced fuh-uh with two syllables NOT foe with a long O and one syllable) is a simple soup dish with numerous health benefits. In its simplest form it is broth made from bones and simple herbs. The bones provide minerals and …


Letter Re: Grain Mills

Hugh, We searched for the perfect grain mill for years. We wanted one that did not depend on electricity, because none of us can be guaranteed that we will always have electricity. If you have one that is totally electric then if the grid goes down you have a good door stop. We wanted one that could be used by hand crank, but if we wanted we could attach it to an electric motor and one that would not heat up the grain. We opted for the Grain Maker, which is made in Stevensville Montana. It is very heavy duty, …


Economics and Investing:

Nonworking America: Those not in the labor force up by 12,000,000 since recession ended, a growth rate of 15 percent while the overall population is up 4 percent. o o o Three Red Flags in GDP Report. – G.P. o o o Items from The Econocobas: Video: Interview with John Williams of Shadowstats ‘Fed Will Prop Up System Until it Falls Apart’ Boom: Q1 GDP Revised Downward to -1.0% Headlines Contradict the Reality of April Home Sales World Bank Sounds Alarm on Rising Global Food Prices


Odds ‘n Sods:

Constitution is Just a Scrap of Paper. – J.W. o o o The SurvivalBlog reader, GG in the South, who wrote in about the recent spectacular claim that United States automobile gas consumption has declined by 75%, suggestive of a collapsing economy, is mistaken. The original author was confused by labeling on a government graph, which reported retail sales by United States refiners, rather than total sales. It turns out that much of refiner’s output is wholesale. The United States total automobile gas consumption is some four times what was listed on the spectacular graph purporting to show an economic …



Notes for Sunday – June 01, 2014:

Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now over, and it is a tough one. We are going through the entries right now and hope to have the winners announced by Monday, June 2, 2014. Those of you who submitted articles for the contest but did not get published in round 52 will have your articles automatically entered into Round 53. o o o SurvivalBlog has a few improvements this week that will help you navigate and print articles. The old “permalink” has been replaced. Now, the title of the article serves as the “permalink” to bookmark the …


Seven Years of Preparation, by CHG (Chicken Hating Grandma)

We work best when we have a deadline, so our preparation began in October 2008 with hopes of reaching our goal in seven years. Our son, who is a university professor, became convinced that we had seven years to “prepare”; we were not sure of exactly what we were to prepare for though. (We thought perhaps he had changed his name to Joseph, since the Biblical Joseph had seven years to prepare before the seven years of famine.) We decided to join him, because it couldn’t hurt to be ready for any calamity. Our half-hearted efforts took on urgency after …


Letter Re: A Simpleton’s Guide to Preps

Hugh, Another letter in regards to A Simpleton’s Guide to Preps‘ overrated item #8 – NBC Equipment. BH appears to have forgotten the C in NBC. If you live near railroad tracks, chances are that a good deal of chemicals transit that line. A train derailment may be all that is between you and wishing that you had gotten some NBC gear for your family. In addition to a train line not too far off, there is a local fertilizer plant that could be an ammonia hazard. Not all NBC hazards mean that WWIII has broken out.


Economics and Investing:

1 in 6 American Men Between Ages 25-54 Are Not Working. – G.P. o o o Guest Post: U.S. Gasoline Consumption Plummets By Nearly 75% o o o Items from The Economatrix: Current Economic System Is “Pure Fiction” Economists: The U.S. Economy Shrank In Q1, But Better Days Are Just Around The Corner Stocks Could Fall 20% As ‘QE Fluff’ Leaves The Market Gold Hit Again As Headwinds Mount


Odds ‘n Sods:

Refrigerator or Counter? Where to Store Some Produce May Surprise You. There are some foods that absolutely need refrigeration and some that are better off stored outside of your fridge. – H.L. o o o Why Colt Can’t Shoot Straight. An interesting read, but remember that the source magazine is owned by Bloomberg. – T.P. o o o Gun Seller Dropped By Bank Rejects Their Attempt ‘To Kiss And Make Up’. – G.P. o o o If the severe drought in the Southwest wasn’t enough to strain food growers, now they are dealing with a plague of grasshoppers: Grasshoppers cloud …