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 a new Native Bee pandemic. Boom in Camping After Months at Home ‘Everyone wants to get outside’: boom in camping as Americans escape after months at home A Fast-Spreading Mutation …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Man’s cleverness is almost indefinite, and stretches like an elastic band, but human nature is like an iron ring. You can go round and round it, you can polish it highly, you can even flatten it a little on one side, whereby you will make it bulge out the other, but you will never, while the world endures and man is man, increase its total circumference.” – H. Rider Haggard


Note From JWR: We Took a Day Off

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In August we will be celebrating our 15th blogiversary.  In all of those 15 years, I’ve only missed a couple of days of posting. (That lull was just after my first wife passed away.) But generally, I have always posted seven days a week with one feature article per day, along with my regular columns, and quotes. Once in a long while, Lily and I need to take a full day off. Tuesday was such a day. We traveled from 5 AM to 11 PM (with several stops), to pick up a large set of shelves. We also have an enjoyable …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“‘Tis easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile When everything goes dead wrong; For the test of the heart is trouble, And it always comes with the years, But the smile that is worth the praise of earth Is the smile that comes through tears.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Worth While


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 14, 2020

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July 14th is the birthday of Colonel Einar A. Malmstrom. He was born in 1907 and died August 21, 1954 near Great Falls, Montana, in the crash of a T-33 jet. He was a decorated Air Force pilot, a Luft Stalag POW survivor, and test pilot. Malmstrom AFB was one of the settings for my novel Founders. (The base was named in his honor.) — I just heard the news that the Washington Redskins have bowed to the Altar of Political Correctness and are soon changing their name and logo. I have a recommendation for the team’s new name:  The …


Back On The Reservation: Implications of McGirt v. Oklahoma

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Most SurvivalBlog readers have seen news and commentary pieces like this one, inked over at the Whatfinger.com aggregation site: Supreme Court Just Gave Back Half Of Oklahoma To Native Americans, Leftist Judges Uphold 1866 Treaty. The ramifications of the recent McGirt v. Oklahoma decision are huge. I predict that this court ruling will be a key precedent and have some far-reaching Implications. It may even open the door for the Balkanization of the United States. This case sets a key precedent. Folks living on land that was formerly part of a reservation should particularly take note. Many reservations have had …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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: A plan to sell $30 “in advance’ tickets for entrance to the still partly-closed Glacier National Park.  (See the Montana section.) Idaho Massive boulders fall, extending Highway 95 closure in Central Idaho o  o  o Reader Cathy N. sent this: Gov. Little pushes for in-person …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I have a 1913 bond certificate that I keep around for perspective. The bond was issued by the Government of the Chinese Republic: the 5 percent gold loan of 1913 for the Lung-Tsing-U-Hai Railway. The financing was remarkably international for the day. The bond certificate is printed in both French and English. The loan is denominated in British pound sterling. And the bonds were issued in Brussels. I purchased the bond certificate complete with some associated coupons, payable every six months on January 1 and July 1, from January 1943 to January 1961. No one had ever tried to collect …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 13, 2020

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It has been reported (but not yet confirmed) that Ol’ Remus, the Editor of the weekly Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report passed away just a few months after the death of his wife. A terse comment at American Digest stated: “Remus passed away on July 8th. He was diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks prior.” Again, this has not been confirmed, but if it is true then we’ve suffered the loss of a great man. His wit and wisdom were legendary. Our condolences to his family. — On this day in 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance structuring settlement of the Northwest …


Recipe of the Week: Apple Brown Betty

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The following Apple Brown Betty recipe is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the bonus items in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. That 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. Ingredients 1/4 cup melted butter 1 pint bread crumbs from center of loaf 1 pint sliced apples 1/2 cup fruit juice or water 1/2 cup …


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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the accelerating urban exodus (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold stocks surge as spot price continues to rise. JWR’s Comment:  This month would be a good juncture to trade some of your physical gold for physical platinum. When I last checked, spot gold was at $1,804, while …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“American families are leaving dysfunctional cities such as New York City, Seattle and San Francisco and heading for Montana, Colorado, Maine and upstate New York in the Catskill Mountains among other safe havens. Big cities have always offered a trade-off between higher taxes and urban stress in exchange for entertainment, great restaurants, museums and intellectual buzz. Today the venues and buzz are gone, the crime rates are soaring and all that is left is the stress and taxes. So people are getting out. Changes like this are not temporary. Once people move out, they don’t return ever. Their children may …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 12, 2020

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On July 12, 1865, George Washington Carver, the African-American scientist whose numerous discoveries helped to improve agriculture in the South, was born. He died on Jan. 5, 1943. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for …


Tyranny Theory, by A.T.

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It’s been said that left to itself, government will naturally devolve into tyranny.1 The natural tendency of government is to continue to grow and bloat ever larger, to the point that the state has almost complete control over every aspect of the individual’s life. Freedom often dies a slow death by a thousand cuts. The Founding Fathers of America understood this and did everything they could to prevent this from ever happening in the United States. As a result, The U.S. Constitution is the best government document ever written by man. However, I would like to propose a theory on …