Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 8, 2023

March 8th is the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told in his last book, Hell, I was there! A Proto-Redoubter, Keith spent the second half of his life on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. (Keith was born in 1899 and died February 12, 1984.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …




SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This 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. — First up, over at The Burning Platform: South Africa has collapsed, here’s why. JWR’s Comments:  For many years, I’ve written about “slow slide” scenarios. This is one that is now playing out for the whole world to see. When I traveled with my family to South Africa five years ago, I got …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 7, 2023

On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. March 7, 1707 was the birthday of Stephen Hopkins, (Governor of Rhode Island) one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. And March 7, 1944 was the birthday of Townes Van Zandt, a gifted Texan singer/songwriter. (He died in 1997.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, …




SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements 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. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, news about several pieces of legislation now pending in the Idaho state legislature. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Bills on guns, militias and immigration introduced in committee. o  o  o Drag performance bill heads to House floor. o  o  o Idaho lawmakers introduce bill to …







Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 6, 2023

Today is the birthday of Georg Johann Luger (March 6, 1849 – December 22, 1923). He was the Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol and the now ubiquitous 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.  Because there are now hundreds of other 9mm pistol designs, the “Luger” name is no longer printed on most 9x19mm ammunition boxes. March 6th was also the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., born in 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5. Cooper had his exploits well documented in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff, and …




Recipe of the Week: Pancakes From Storage Oats

The following recipe for pancakes from storage rolled oats is from SurvivalBlog reader Paul B. Paul says:  “This recipe makes 8 or 9 pancakes. You might want to double this recipe if you have a large family, or if you like using leftover pancakes for peanut butter roll-ups, like I do. This uses typical storage rolled oats. Or you can substitute oat flour, if you want a more even texture.” Ingredients ½ cup of whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons of honey 1/3 cup non-fat powdered milk 1 cup rolled oats (or substitute …




Some Implications of the Blackstone Default

In lieu of my regular economics & investing column, I’m posting a brief update on the threat to global financial markets from commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Since 2006, I’ve warned SurvivalBlog readers about the systemic risk posed by disappearing counterparties, in the trillion of dollars of notional value in derivatives. If you haven’t yet read my background piece about that, please take the time to do so: Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break the Global Bank at Monte Carlo. Just a week ago, this headline was seen in newspapers around the world: Blackstone Defaults On $562MM …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 5, 2023

This is the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student, N.C. Wyeth. March 5th is also the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. (March 5, 1770. ) It was one of the key precipitating events for our War of Independence. — Well, we knew this was coming… On Friday, I received a writing contest entry that had some telltale marks of being written by an AI.  So, sadly, I had …




JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: So, Explain This To Me… How Did America Get From Major Church Denominations Shunning Homosexuals To Their Ordaining Them, As Ministers? News Links: First openly gay pastor in Pickerington spreads love, inclusion through faith, community. LGBTQ-Friendly Votes Signal Progressive Shift for Methodists. Nashville’s 1st queer female Lutheran pastor tells LGBTQ faithful, ‘God has not let go of you’, Pope, Anglican, Presbyterian leaders denounce anti-gay laws. Texas megachurch votes to leave United Methodist Church as mainline denomination fractures over LGBT issues. Sorry, Anglicans, There Is No Third Way. United Methodists Lose 1,800 Churches …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 4, 2023

On March 4, 1789 the U.S. Constitution went into effect as the governing law of the United States, the date having been established by Congress. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 …