Preparedness Notes — July 7, 2026

This Week in History: On July 7, 1850 Scottish explorer Edward John Eyre (pictured above) reached Albany, Western Australia. — July 8,1731: Theologian Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon “God Glorified in Man’s Dependence” in Boston. This was later his first published sermon. — And on  July  10, 1553 Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was proclaimed Queen of England, succeeding Edward VI,. In June, the dying Edward VI had written his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, whereas Jane was a committed Protestant …


Thoughts on Prepping and on America’s Drug Addicts, by Big John

Pre-1965 silver is kinda like buying a fire extinguisher. Whether you pay $14 or $40 for the fire extinguisher is not really relevant. If it prevents a $4,000 kitchen fire is the point. There is a saying in the stock market: A bull makes money, and a bear makes money but a pig never makes money — It gets slaughtered. Point being, you can make money by going long or going short, but if you try to catch the absolute top or bottom, then you are bound to mess up. So you just go get some Pre-1965 silver, just close …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map showing how the USA would have looked like if every historic treaty made with Native American tribes had been fully honored and implemented. The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.         (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


Economics & Investing Media of the Week

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. Economics & Investing Links of Interest Newsweek: From $71 Million to $39 Trillion—U.S. National Debt’s 250-Year Climb. First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax “Must Not Stop At Billionaires”. “Big Short” Investor Michael Burry Is Now Betting Against Micron, Nvidia, and Tesla. Should You Be Worried? The UK’s Latest “Debanking” Scandal Should Give Everyone Pause. Reader K.D. in Montana sent this: Millionaires in America: How common is it to have a 7-figure net worth? JWR’s …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, more about both drones and Flock cameras. Drone Crime May Be Coming To A Sky Near You This article is a bit dated, but still useful: Drone Crime: It …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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. — From the right-leaning Issues and Insights site: Two SCOTUS Wins For Gun Rights, But Questions Remain About The ‘History And Tradition’ Test. o  o  o U.S. murder rate approaches a record low. JWR’s Comments: The statist/socialist NPR editors surely had to grit their teeth to report that news.These same anti-gun leftists at …


SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

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. REDOUBT NEWS LINKS Idaho Registration Stickers Discontinued; Nampa Police Explain Manual Plate Checks. Montana: Photos show impressive size of grizzly bears. In Spokane: Man who threatened a Gonzaga student with a gun will serve 4 and a half years. (Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a 1-year sentence for manslaughter.) Oregon’s minimum wage has increased. But in rural eastern Oregon, not so much. Holy Cow! Montana Rancher Spots ‘Herd’ Of …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: NPR’s “Veteran Correspondent” Incorrectly Reported The Retirement of 76-Year-Old Justice Samuel Alito. Perhaps it is Time for 82-Year-Old Nina Totenberg to Announce Her Own Retirement News Link: NPR reporter explains retracted story on Alito’s retirement. Notes From JWR: 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.


The Editors’ Quote Of The Week: 

“We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction. We maintain that this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on his free mercy, without any respect to human worth, while those whom he dooms to destruction are excluded from access to life by a just and blameless, but at the same time incomprehensible judgment.” – John Calvin


Editors’ Quote of the Week

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” – John Adams, in a letter to his wife Abigail, 1776


Preparedness Notes — June 30, 2026 

This Week in History: As we prepare for the semiquincentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence, Americans reflect on the meaning of our liberty and independence. — Happy birthday to actor/director Mel Brooks, who turned 100, on Sunday! — In June, 1786, Bishop Alexander Macdonell and more than 500 other Roman Catholic highlanders left Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario. — June 30th is the anniversary of the tragic death of 19 hotshots in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. — June 30, 1908: A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteor, flattened …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for a Simple Apple & Cheese Salad is from SurvivalBlog reader D.G.. Ingredients 4 Apples (select crisp and firm ones) 1 teaspoon Juice of ½ lemon 4 oz Mozzarella cheese 1 tablespoon Spring onions, chopped Scallions, Green Onions, or Chives 1 tablespoon Olive Oil or Coconut Oil ⅛ teaspoon Salt (to taste) Directions Wash the apples, and cut them into slices vertically. Lay down each piece of apple and cut them into long rectangular sticks French Fries shapes. Add the chopped apple sticks to a bowl and toss them with lemon juice. Cut the block of cheese …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map that shows the most often misspelled word in each state.  No offense, but I had to chuckle when I saw that “School” was the tough one, for Floridians. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.         — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


Economics & Investing Media of the Week

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. Economics & Investing Links of Interest Investor Who Scored 900% Win in 2008 Crisis Has New Big Short Bet. (Pictured above is Lee Robinson of Altana.) In The WSJ: California’s Billionaire Tax Kicks Off a Democratic Civil War. “Unlike Anything I’ve Seen In 40 Years”: Explosion In Data-Centers And Memory Costs Fueling Third Inflation Wave. EIA: Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. At the leftist Politico: Inflation hits 3-year high, pressuring Fed to raise rates as election nears. …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, more about Wikipedia’s blatant bias. Wikipedia Bans One of Its Founders First up, there is this piece by Larry Sanger at The Free Press: I Co-Founded Wikipedia. Now …