Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 26, 2019

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On July 26th, 1931, a swarm of grasshoppers descended on crops throughout the American heartland, devastating millions of acres. Already in the midst of a bad drought, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota suffered tremendously. The swarms was said to be so thick that it blocked out the sun and one could shovel the grasshoppers with a scoop. While America has not seen infestations on such a scale since then, North Africa and parts of the Middle East continue to experience them. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in the corn market and stocking up on phyisical corn, for preparedness. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

We’ll start out with this piece by Gary Christenson: Silver Prices – The Next 5 Years

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Avi Gilburt (at Seeking Alpha): Sentiment Speaks: My Biggest ‘Fear’ For Silver

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Insanity: Now even JUNK bonds have NEGATIVE yields

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Wolf Street reports: Another UK Fund Just Slammed its Doors Shut on Investors

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Citing higher minimum wages in Seattle, Portland, and SF, West Coast restaurant chain files for bankruptcy

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Another at Wolf Street: Everything’s Fine Until Suddenly it Isn’t: How a “Leveraged Loan” Blows Up

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London Housing Bust: Prices Fall, Sales Plunge to 2009 Level

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Every citizen will see, and I hope be deeply impressed with a sense of it, how exceedingly important it is to himself, and how intimately the welfare of his children is connected with it, that those who are to have a share in making as well as in judging and executing the laws should be men of singular wisdom and integrity.”  – Samuel Adams, Boston Gazette, April 2, 1781


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 25, 2019

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I just heard about the passing of actor Rutger Hauer, at age 75. You will probably remember him for his roles in films such as Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, and Batman Begins. — On this day in 1897, Jack London sailed for the Klondike. While in the Klondike, London began submitting stories to magazines. In 1900, his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf, was published. Three years later, his story The Call of the Wild made him famous around the country. London continued to write stories of adventure amid the harsh natural elements. During his 17-year career, he …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we’ll focus on a gator break-in. But first: South African Army is Tapped Out Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson forwarded this: South Africa’s army has run out of money – here’s how bad …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 24, 2019

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The late Jerry Ahern passed away on this day, July 24th, in 2012. His survival-themed novels created an entire genre. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value), A …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies that have any tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food as and food storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. This week the focus is on Raspberry Pi hobby microcomputers. (See the Gear & Grub section.) Books: The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Intellectual freedom is essential — freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship.” – Andrei Sakharov


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 23, 2019

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On July 23rd, 1982, outside Santa Clarita, California, actor Vic Morrow (of Combat! fame) and two children were killed when a helicopter crashed onto them while shooting a scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present first part of a four-part article. This is another entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at the demise of the Federal Solar Tax Credit. Hydro-Powered Idaho Retreat – Reduced I just heard that there was a recent $60,000 price reduction on the home on 13 acres …



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 Redoubt region. Today, we focus on North Idaho vloggers.   (See the Idaho  section.) Idaho Several North Idaho homesteading vloggers recently held this event: Meetup With North Country Off Grid, Essential Mountain Homesteading, Plus many more!! Be sure to check out their vlogs. They include: Good Simple Living And Homesteading Essential …



Recipe of the Week: J.J.’s Cornmeal Dry Mix

Reader J.J. kindly sent us this recipe for a multipurpose cornmeal dry baking mix. This was tested as a 9-cup batch  (1 cup equals 5 ounces.) Ingredients 4 cups (18 ounces) finely ground cornmeal 4 cups (18 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) granulated sugar 3 1/2 tablespoons (42 grams) baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) table salt Dry Mix Making Directions Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large container with a tight-fitting lid (15- to 16-cup capacity), until thoroughly mixed. Seal in an airtight container, label and store at room …