Today’s graphic: A world map, as issued by the government of Brazil. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) 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.
“It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.” – P.J. O’Rourke
On May 11, 1310, Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake in France after being declared heretics. — May 11, 1752: The first US fire insurance policy was issued, in Philadelphia. — Just One Day Left! The special 10-day sale on all the Elk Creek Company percussion gun inventory ends tomorrow night. Most of these are revolvers for which cartridge conversion cylinders are readily available. This includes a group of five minty Ruger Old Army revolvers that I’ve not yet photographed. Many of those are “Pre-Warning” vintage. We also have special pricing on all of our …
The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Dr. Stephen Hawking’s Visit to Epstein’s Island Has Prompted The Creation Of A New Legal Term: Nerdacious Moral Derpitude Some Related Links: What Unsealed Jeffrey Epstein Documents Say About Stephen Hawking. Legal Defintion of Moral Turpitude. Pam Bondi dismisses claim Epstein info is missing and defends delays in releasing files Pam Bondi Changes Her Tune After Covert Recording. 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 …
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith …
On May 10, 1765, per the British Longitude Act, clockmaker John Harrison was awarded £10,000 for the invention of a practical naval longitude clock. Latitude calculations had been made for hundreds of years with sextants, but the Longitude Problem was finally solved only by Harrison’s invention of a precision clock that could keep accurate time for many months. This ushered in the era of relatively precise modern maritime navigation. — May 10th is the birthday of the late Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006). — May 10th is also the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born …
“Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the …
On May 9, 1904, the steam locomotive City of Truro (pictured) became the first steam engine to exceed 100 mph. From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “…a British 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in 1903 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon Works to a design by George Jackson Churchward. City of Truro was timed at 8.8 seconds between two quarter-mile posts whilst hauling the “Ocean Mails” special from Plymouth to London Paddington on 9 May 1904. This timing was recorded from the train by Charles Rous-Marten, who wrote for The Railway Magazine and other journals. If exact, this time would correspond …
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, we look at Tariff Arbitrage in Tangibles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Despite the best efforts of the short-sellers, the precious metals bull market now seems to have been confirmed. The rise in gold now appears unstoppable. Meanwhile, the Silver Shorts are still pulling the weekly shenanigans, almost every Friday. But given the …
“The second item in the liberal creed, after self-righteousness, is unaccountability. Liberals have invented whole college majors–psychology, sociology, women’s studies–to prove that nothing is anybody’s fault. No one is fond of taking responsibility for his actions, but consider how much you’d have to hate free will to come up with a political platform that advocates killing unborn babies but not convicted murderers. A callous pragmatist might favor abortion and capital punishment. A devout Christian would sanction neither. But it takes years of therapy to arrive at the liberal view.” – P.J. O’Rourke, Give War a Chance
Today is the 80th anniversary of VE Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day, in 1945. World War II ended in Europe after Germany signed an unconditional surrender. The Brits have several days of celebrations planned. — This is also the birthday of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000. …
SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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. In today’s column, the push toward greater use of military drones. U.S. Army Plans Massive Increase in Its Use of Drones Over at The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Army Plans Massive …
“Man, biologically considered, and whatever else he may be into the bargain, is simply the most formidable of all the beasts of prey, and, indeed, the only one that preys systematically on its own species.” – William James (1842-1910), in the Atlantic Monthly, December 1904, p. 84
On May 7, 1700, William Penn began monthly meetings for blacks advocating emancipation. — And on May 7, 1867, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England. This was the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. …
Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — Reader F.J. mentioned this informative piece by Eric Peters that describes the change from car timing chains to timing belts to illustrate how government regulations spawn higher prices: The Hidden Cost of Things. o o o I recently had a consulting client ask me about my current recommendation for an inexpensive dual-band …
