Odds ‘n Sods:

Matt A. suggested this video: Raising Chickens Without Grain    o o o Reader J. McC. suggested this essay by Ann Barnhardt: On Timelines and Prepping: Don’t Be a Foolish Virgin    o o o B.B. sent: Missouri bill would nullify all federal gun laws, ‘past, present or future’    o o o Janet W. spotted this item: From Saigon with Love: How Noelle Nguyen Hopes to Rebuild the American Dream (A Vietnamese refugee makes it big in America, and starts a mini-Amazon web site carrying only American-made products as a “thank you.”)    o o o R.B. sent: Men …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) …


Harnessing (and Creating) the Community to Work Together in a TEOTWAWKI Situation, by Meir L.

I have recently been reading SurvivalBlog.com, and as an avid hiker/backpacker/adventurer, I am very interested in what this site has to offer. I have been reading the different TEOTWAWKI posts, and I have read different TEOTWAWKI situations, learning and understanding more and more about survival. I enjoy giving back to the community, and I have been searching for my own TEOTWAWKI situation that I can use to help myself and other people learn from it. I realized that about 1 year ago, a really serious TEOTWAWKI situation happened to my community (and family). I am a religious Jewish 18 year …


Letter Re: A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils

Jim, Regarding the recent article “A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils”:   I was involved in the Essential Oil industry for a while. There are very limited uses for essential oils, however, and this is important, there are so many scammers in essential oil sales. It is very difficult to tell, without actual spectroscopic and chemical testing, if the essential oils are actually pure, what their purity is, if they’ve been diluted, and what they’ve been diluted with. Most essential oil companies buy from farmers or wholesale dealers overseas, pay be wire transfer, and hope reputation will see them to …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Andre D. sent: Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing? Charles Hugh-Smith: A Quick Guide to What’s Fake: Everything That’s Officially Sanctioned. [JWR’s Comment: While I disagree with his viewpoint on government intervention in the marketplace and on taxation (I’m a laissez faire minimalist-government libertarian), I almost always enjoy reading Charles Hugh-Smith’s piercing observations.] Over at The Daily Bell: Forced Savings Bait and Switch Items from The Economatrix: U.S. October Business Inventories Up 0.7% Why The Budget Deal Is Bad News For Gold: Pro Is Your Job About To Be Outsourced By A Computer (The Probability Is 47%) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Former Top NSA Official: “We Are Now In A Police State”    o o o Worthy of support: Benjamin Wassell Legal Defense Fund    o o o Here comes the RIF! Reader John E. wrote to mention: Army to cut 4000 captains and majors. The Air Force, too    o o o Alan W. recommended this sound advice: Is It a Cold or the Flu? How to Tell the Difference    o o o Several readers mentioned this: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a “Prediction of a Future Crime.” Here is a key quote: “The majority’s …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) …


The Leader’s Recon: Planning the Homesteader’s Defensive Battle Space, by Tim R.

Today, I did a leader’s recon (reconnaissance) of my small homestead.  While I was in the infantry, I would plan my future ground defense by walking the terrain with my small unit infantry leaders.  Today, I did the same, minus the team leaders.  Twenty years in the infantry, and now several years retired, and now I look at how I am going to protect my family and defend my rural homestead.  I feel that the day may be coming soon.  President Obama stated that our nation’s deficit does not concern him.  This nation is on a mad printing spree, conjuring …


Letter Re: Could America’s Pot Growers Start Growing Opium Poppies?

Dear Jim, I thought I would let you know about something interesting going on in the Gold Country of California. Some SurvivalBlog readers may be aware that the North San Juan Ridge, aka “The Ridge” is highly populated with homesteaders, [near Grass Valley, California,, in Nevada County.] Since the soil is poor, and there are many squatters or people on largely undeveloped land, few make sufficient money from growing food for themselves, so turned to growing [marijuana, commonly called] pot.   In the old days, pot was illegal and the Fed and State CAMP task force would survey and raid …


Economics and Investing:

Readers Mark A. and John in Colorado both mentioned: Taper or no taper, the Fed will never end QE: Marc Faber Camden, New Jersey: One Of Hundreds Of U.S. Cities That Are Turning Into Rotting, Decaying Hellholes Record U.S. Gold Bullion Exports Head to Hong Kong & Switzerland Items from The Economatrix: Retail Sales Rise, Signaling Stronger Economy Jobless Claims Highest In Two Months Why I Won’t Be Surprised if the Global Economy Caves


Odds ‘n Sods:

K.T. recommended this 44-minute documentary video: Advanced Sniper Technology and Tactics. OBTW, the USMC’s four-to-six-man Scout Sniper squad structure roughly parallels what I describe for the organization of the Canadian resistance army cells in my upcoming novel Liberators. (Lord willing, that should be published by E.P. Dutton in October, 2014.)    o o o A reminder that CampingSurvival.com has a 5% off coupon code “sb1” available for all of their merchandise, aside from special sale items.    o o o Wintersown Seeds: Now is the time to start    o o o And speaking of seeds, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large …



Notes from JWR:

December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (Born 1852, died May 9, 1931), the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. (Along with Mr. Morley.) FWIW, I’m related to Michelson, by marriage. By way of my great aunt Zelpha (Rawles) Michelson. — Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course …