Recipe of the Week

Debra P.’s Homestead Beans With the shorter and colder days of winter, our thoughts here out in the country turn to making sausage, preparing for deer camp, readying the barns for winter & finishing the fall harvest.  One recipe that we like uses the last bits from the garden, allows us to use some of our food storage items and makes use of whatever meat leftovers we might have at hand. This is a great item to practice using your cast iron dutch oven or any large heavy pot.   You will use both the cooktop and the oven or bury …


Economics and Investing:

Niels Jensen: Are equity markets in a massive bubble? Doug Casey: “We’re Really Close To The Edge of The Precipice” Uncle Sam’s New Year’s Binge: Borrows $1,088 Per Household in 1 Day Items from The Economatrix: World Manufacturing Ends 2013 On A Strong Note Manufacturers Ramp Up Hiring; Housing Strengthens Cramer:  First Day Decline: An Omen Of Trouble?


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mountain House just introduced a new Breakfast Bucket which is now being offered by Directive 21. The introductory sale price of $79.99 with free shipping ends on January 10th, so order soon.    o o o Luke D. was the first of more than two dozen readers who sent this: The Congressman Who Went Off the Grid: Roscoe Bartlett spent 20 years on Capitol Hill. Now he lives in a remote cabin in the woods, prepping for doomsday.    o o o Detroit police chief: Legal gun owners can deter crime. (Thanks to Peter S. for the link.)    o …



Notes from JWR:

January 5th is the birthday of the late John Pugsley (born 1934, died April 8, 2011) a well-respected libertarian and economics author. Pugsley was well-known in preparedness circles as the author of The Alpha Strategy. (The book is out of print, but a PDF is available for free download.) This is also the birthday of General Courtney Hodges (born 1887, died January 16, 1966.) After he was kicked out of West Point for low math scores, he enlisted as a Private but soon became a maverick officer and went on to a distinguished career. — Today we present another entry …


Common American Plants, Trees, and Weeds for Surviving TEOTWAWKI Survival, by Christine W.

I once read a very interesting article from a survivor of the Bosnian Collapse of the late 1990s.  This was a true end of the world as they knew it event, and it was fascinating and eye opening to read. One of the things the author talked about in his extensive article was the most useful skills to possess. Medical knowledge was the highest on his list. Lacking real world medical training, people with the knowledge of the uses of herbs and plants were able to trade and use that skill to survive.   Most people in America can’t identify even 1% …


Letter Re: Connecticut Corralled: The Slippery Slope of Gun Registration

Jim,   The article forwarded by J.B.G. re: the Connecticut gun registration photo/article for ARs and high capacity magazines (‘Looks Like Weimar Germany’: The Viral Photo Out of Connecticut That’s Giving Some Gun Owners Chills) is really just the tip of the iceberg. This legislation was really designed to ultimately refine and maintain the firearm registry in the state that is already in existence for all firearms. The State police have been collecting and storing all firearms transactions for many years here. The Federal Government by law must destroy all the data gained from background checks for firearm  purchasing. The Connecticut state police have no …


Economics and Investing:

Martin Armstrong Warns Europeans Of The Coming Expropriation Of 10% Of Everyone’s Accounts. (Thanks to James W. for the link.) The Historic Gold-Oil Ratio Forecasts A Much Higher Price For Gold Items from The Economatrix: Market Crash In the Works: “A Canary May Have Just Keeled Over” Is America About To Reach A Breaking Point? Anger Grows As Unemployment Benefits Get Cut Why Don’t the Jobless Get the Same Tapering Touch as Banks? Economists say the U.S. will turn a corner in 2014


Odds ‘n Sods:

Which U.S. states are booming, in four charts. (Thanks to Tom K. for the link.)    o o o Violence In The Face Of Tyranny Is Often Necessary    o o o Reader H.L. sent: Here Are the Rights You Have When Interacting With a Police Officer in One Detailed Infographic    o o o Texas Court Throws 2nd, 4th Amendments Under The Bus


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. And in all things that I …


Notes from JWR:

January 4th is the birthday of George Hyde. (Born “Heide” 1888, in Arpfingen, Germany.) He was the chief gun designer for the Inland Division of General Motors (GM) in Dayton, Ohio during World War II. Hyde was best-known as the co-designer of the M3 “Grease gun” SMG and the Liberator pistol. But he also designed the Bendix-Hyde Carbine, and the M2 Hyde submachinegun. He immigrated to the United States in 1927. A gent at the Nitro Express Forums mentioned some details on his life before World War II: “Before 1935 Hyde was the shop foreman and metal man at Griffin …


Fishing Kits and Survival Fishing Techniques, by Henry D.

Fishing was born out of necessity for man to feed himself and his family. Over time it has evolved into a recreational pastime and moved away from a generational skill passed down from father to son. Food can so easily be acquired at your local convenience store that fishing has become a lost art form to most. If we ever find ourselves in a situation where we are lost, without food, or the world as we know it ends. It will be particularly important to know how to procure food for you and your family. The following information is on …


Two Letters Re: Bakken Oil Development has Ended the Peak Oil Debate

Dear Mr. Rawles: Like the author of the letter concerning peak oil and domestic fracking, I too regularly follow your blog but have not felt the need to add comment. However, the author makes several assertions about both the theory of peak oil and the state of oil production that require clarification. The primary hypothesis behind peak oil, the Hubbert peak theory, does not state that after a certain point a nation, or mankind in general, will “never discover any more oil”. Rather, it simply says that oil production at some point reaches a maximum rate, after which it enters …


Economics and Investing:

Producers Panic as Ethanol Mandate Loses Support G.G. suggested: 1930s-style debt defaults likely, says IMF research Items from The Economatrix: 2014 promises faster growth, but no leap forward Unemployment benefits expiring: Should special help continue beyond 26 weeks? 2014 will be the year of the currency reset and gold backed trade note


Odds ‘n Sods:

Over at Zero Hedge: Presenting DROPOUT JEEP, your phone is their phone, by The Bard of the American Redoubt    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson mentioned this obscure text: Obliterating animal carcasses with explosives.    o o o By way of blog reader Alan W. and the editors of Infowars: Motorist checkpoint in Reading draws questions    o o o Bucky Fuller’s Forgotten WWII Shelters Rediscovered In New Jersey    o o o Jay B. sent: Inside TAO: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit