Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 7, 2025

On July 7, 1908, the U.S Navy’s Great White Fleet departed San Francisco Bay.  The U.S. Atlantic Fleet then visited Honolulu, Hawaii; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Melbourne, and Albany, Australia; Manila, Philippine Islands; Yokohama, Japan; Colombo, Ceylon. The ships arrived at Suez, Egypt, on January 3, 1909. — July 7, 1905: A high temperature of 127°F (53°C) was recorded in Parker, Arizona. This was a state record that held until 1994. — July 7th, 1907 was the birthday of science fiction novelist Robert A. Heinlein. He passed away on May 8, 1988, at age 80. — Please keep praying for …


Recipe of the Week: Whole Wheat Flour Sugar Cookies 

The following recipe for Whole Wheat Flour Sugar Cookies is from SurvivalBlog reader E.J.. Ingredients ¾ cup vegetable oil 1 cup sugar ½ cup powdered sugar 1 tbsp. water 2 large eggs ½ tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cream of tartar 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour 3 cups of all-purpose flour 2 oz. white chocolate, melted (optional) Buttercream frosting (optional) Directions Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars until combined. Add the water and eggs, soda, cream of tartar, extract, salt and flour and mix until just combined. Note: Don’t overmix the dough. Using …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic:  The silent spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), caused by prions, among Deer and Elk populations in North America. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit, using USGS data.) 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:

“America’s contemporary police officers now almost reflexively say: ‘Show me your I.D.’  I see hardly any difference from the familiar old German Gestapo demand: ‘Deine Papiere, bitte.’  (‘Your papers, please.’) Or, less politely: ‘Zeig mir deine Papiere.’  (‘Show me your papers.’) If you are stopped by police but not placed under formal arrest, then you are not obliged to give your name or produce identity documents unless an officer can state a reasonable articulable suspicion of an actual crime that has been committed or that is about to be committed.  Without that reasonable articulable suspicion (under the Terry v. Ohio doctrine), …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 6, 2025

On July 6, 1415, following his trial (pictured), Bohemian proto-reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake in Constance, Germany.  The later Hussite revolution, led by Jan Ziska, used Hus’s name as a rallying cry. — On July 6, 1699, pirate Captain William Kidd was captured in Boston. — On July 6, 1917, Arab forces led T. E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks. This was later dramatized in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. — And July 6th is also the anniversary of the 1994 Storm King Mountain wildfire that took the lives of 14 firefighters. — …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: A Zero-Dollar Tax on SBRs, SBSes, and Suppressors? So, Can I Please Also Have a Zero-Dollar Income Tax? News Link: Big Beautiful Bill Passes Senate, Back to House with Zeroed Out NFA Tax Intact. Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.  


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — July 5, 2025

On July 5, 1601, the siege of Ostend began when a Spanish force under Archduke Albert VII of Austria, with 12,000 men and 50 siege guns, laid siege to a small garrison of fewer than 2,000 Dutch at the strategically important fortress of Ostend, Flanders. — And on July 5, 1891, an intense hailstorm killed 16 horses near Rapid City, South Dakota. — Please pray for all of those affected by the floods in Texas! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 4, 2025

Happy Independence Day! Today, Americans go through the motions of celebrating the remnants of our once preciously cherished liberty. Please don’t refer to it as just: “The Fourth of July.”  Give it meaning, and do your best to help restore our freedom and rein in the size and power of the state and Federal governments. – JWR — Independence Day is also the birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) and of General Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) — Today’s feature article is by SurvivalBlog’s founder and Senior Editor, James Wesley, Rawles (JWR). — We are in need of entries for Round 119 of …


Political Machinations: The 2026 Midterms May Be A.I.-Manipulated

The recent Democratic Party mayoral primary election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City does not bode well. It illustrates that the Hard Left Democrats now have a stranglehold on New York City politics. I suspect the same for all of the East and West Coast Blue States, as well as Illinois. I heard it suggested on talk radio that artificial intelligence (A.I.) was used to exert influence on the New York mayoral primary via concerted social media bot traffic. This may have swayed “on the fence” voters toward Mamdani. I’m curious to see if this manipulation can be documented.  …


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. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, six months into Donald Trump’s second term in office, a special look at Trumponomics 2.0. Precious Metals: Rep. Massie Introduces Bill to Audit U.S. Gold Reserves. o  o  o Gold Price Forecast June 2025: What’s Driving Gold Prices Right Now?  JWR’s Comments:  In the past week, gold rose 3% and silver was up about 10%, in …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“When Freedom from her mountain-height Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night, And set the stars of glory there. She mingled with its gorgeous dyes The milky baldric of the skies, And striped its pure, celestial white With streakings of the morning light. Flag of the free heart’s hope and home! By angel hands to valour given! Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in heaven. Forever float that standard sheet! Where breathes the foe but falls before us, With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet, And Freedom’s banner …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 3, 2025

On July 3, 1250, Louis IX of France was captured by Baibars’ Mamluk army at the Battle of Fariskur while he was in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade. He later has to ransom himself. — On July 3, 1890, the Idaho Territory became the 43rd state in the Union. — The “Big Beautiful” Budget Reconciliation Bill failed several key votes in the House of Representatives yesterday and last night. That means that the bill is now being reopened to amendments!  So, Rep. Clyde’s amendment may be offered again, with the SHORT Act removing SBRs and SBSes from the NFA, as …