Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, a closer look at the natural gas and propane markets. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: Silver prices surprise with a 5% selloff, but its structural bull market remains in place – analysts. o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Forecast – Fiscal Crisis and the Next Great Depression by 2030. o  o  o Drainage: China’s …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — May 14, 2023

May 14th, 1686 was the birthday of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, who invented the thermometer. On May 14th, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, reestablishing the Jewish state after 2000 years. In an afternoon ceremony at the Tel Aviv Art Museum, Ben-Gurion pronounced the words “We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine, to be called Israel,” prompting applause and tears from the crowd gathered at the museum. Ben-Gurion became Israel’s first Prime Minister. — Today’s feature article is too short for consideration as an entry for Round 106 of the …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 13, 2023

May 13th is the birthday of firearms engineer Theodor Koch (born 1905, died 1976.) Koch, along with Edmund Heckler and Alex Seidel salvaged tooling from the bombed-out Mauser factory at Oberndorf, Germany, and with it founded Heckler und Koch (“HK”). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 106 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. …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“ The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 12, 2023

In May of 1921 a solar storm began, dubbed The Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 1921. These were some of the headlines: “Telegraph Service Prostrated, Comet Not to Blame” — declared the Los Angeles Times on May 15, 1921. “Electrical Disturbance is ‘Worst Ever Known’” — reported the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Sunspot credited with Rail Tie-up” — in the New York Times. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 106 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 …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at inflation and deflation. (See the Inflation/Deflation Watch section.) Precious Metals: Gold to outperform silver this year as recession risks build, says Bloomberg Intelligence. o  o  o A very informative video: Why 90% “Junk” Silver Coin Prices are Out of Control! o  o  o Zimbabwe to issue a redeemable gold-backed digital currency: Buying …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walk.” – Thomas Jefferson


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 11, 2023

On May 11, 1949, Israel was admitted into the United Nations. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 106 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 value), Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of …


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, we look at the ATF’s planned arm brace felony prosecutions. Just 20 Days to Draconian Arm Brace Arrests Unless Congress or the Supreme Court intervenes, the ATF’s announced …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Three millions of People, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Beside, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of Nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.” – Patrick Henry


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 10, 2023

May 10th is the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born 1925, died 15 June 2007). He was one of the last of the Forest Brothers anti-communist resistance fighters. He came out of hiding, after five decades, to obtain a Latvian passport in 1994, after the collapse of Eastern European communism. (He was never issued any communist government identity papers and by necessity lived as a nonexistent “ghost” during the entire Soviet occupation of Latvia.) The history of the Forest Brothers movement certainly deserves more recognition. May 10th is the birthday of the late Col. Jeff Cooper. He was born …


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. — Coming from the geographical determinist school of history study, I found this 20-minute video fascinating: Facts In Geography Never Taught In Schools — Thomas Sowell. For some further reading on geographical determinism, I recommend the book  Zones of Conflict. o  o  o A special request from JWR: A close family member of …