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. On Monday (January 26, 2026), spot silver touched $116.59 per Troy ounce in Comex trading. That brought the silver-to-gold price ratio down to 43.3-to-1. (It was 102-to-1 in late May of 2025.)  I expect the ratio to drop perhaps to as low as 28-to-1, in 2026. Friday PM Update: In reaction to news about Trump’s pick to head the Federal Reserve, there was some strong selling this morning in New York that brought silver down to below …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms, and false reasoning, is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced, that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator, to the whole human race; and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice.” – Alexander Hamilton, “The Farmer Refuted,” 1775


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 29, 2026

On January 29, 1944 USS Missouri (BB-63), the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy, was. launched. It was decommissioned in 1992, and was donated for use as a museum and memorial ship on May 4, 1998. It is now on display near the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. — Today, we present a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader. Because it is partially promotional for a published book, it is not part of the judging for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running …


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, a warning on possible terrorist threats to Starlink. (Pictured above is a Starlink ground station in Ketchikan, Alaska. Photos courtesy of Reddit.) Starlink’s Achilles Heel In a recent …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“The idea that The State is capable of solving social problems is now viewed with great skepticism—which foretells a coming change. As soon as skepticism is applied to the State, the State falls, since it fails at everything except increasing its power, and so can only survive on propaganda, which relies on unquestioning faith.” – Stefan Molyneux, from “The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives,” The Ludwig Von Mises institute of Canada, January 6, 2011.


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 28, 2026

On January 28, 1754, British writer Horace Walpole (pictured), in a letter to Horace Mann, coined the word serendipity. — January 28, 1915: The first US ship lost in WW I, William P. Frye. It was sunk by cannon fire from the Imperial German Navy raider SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich. The William P. Frye had been carrying wheat to the UK. — And on January 28, 2014, DNA analysis confirmed that the 6th Century Plague of Justinian was caused by a variant of Yersinia pestis (the same bacteria attributed to the Black Death.) — A USB Archive Stick Update: All …


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. — A century in the Siberian wilderness: the Old Believers who time forgot. Here is an excerpt: “The Lykovs were proud of their ability to read their smoke-stained Bible, though it was so thoroughly blackened that the words were no longer visible. Akulina had taught her children to read and write in Old …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 27, 2026

January 27, 1939: First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane. Pictured is a P-38 at an airfield in Panama, in 1945. — January 27, 1944:  The siege of Leningrad ended, after 880 days, and the deaths of 2 million Soviet citizens. — Today, we present a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader. Because it is partially promotional for a published book, it is not part of the judging for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 123 of the writing contest …


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.  There was recently a solar storm that caused a nice Aurora Borealis display in parts of the American Redoubt. We missed seeing it here at the Rawles Ranch, due to local cloud cover. But many other folks in the Redoubt got a real treat. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.       Recent Redoubt News Links Hard Truths About Wyoming Ranching: ‘You Don’t Make Money, You’re Making a …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 26, 2026

On January 26, 1887, ground was broken and construction began on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.   It was completed on March 29, 1889, in time for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. The Eiffel Tower then surpassed the Washington Monument as the world’s tallest man-made structure — a record that it held for 41 years. But it was eclipsed by the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York City, in 1930. — And on January 26, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, was established. — All eyes are on the Comex market this morning, after Friday’s surge to $103.91 …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Italian Cherry Tomato & Cheese Bake is from SurvivalBlog reader Connie S.  She writes: “I have a spot in my garden where cherry tomatoes have volunteered for the last five years.  I give away plants to whoever needs one and then pull up the remaining plants leaving the two or three strongest-looking plants to grow for the season.  Leaving only a few plants and giving away cherry tomatoes to anyone who will take some, I still have extra cherry tomatoes.  I don’t like trying to use them in things like salsa, or sauces because of the …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week 

Today’s graphic: Drug overdose deaths in the US per 100,000 people, by state, based on 2023 data. (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.


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“The establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive which induced me to the Field – the object is attained – and it now remains to be my earnest wish and prayer, that the Citizens of the United States could make a wise and virtuous use of the blessings placed before them.” – George Washington to the Reformed German Congregation of New York City, November 27, 1783