Notes for Monday – October 5, 2015

October 5, 1703 was the birthday of Jonathan Edwards. He was a prolific Calvinist theological writer. Many of his writings were later collected in the multi-volume book The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, edited by John Gerstner. Edwards died March 22, 1758. o o o We are pleased to announce that we are adding one more new prize for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest, starting with Round 61, which is in progress. DisasterStuff.com is kindly donating one of their Berkey-compatible 5-gallon bucket filter systems, complete with four black Berkey filter elements. This is a $245 value. It will be …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Ruger’s Precision Rifle

When I worked full-time for the Illinois National Guard I was on their rifle and pistol team. At the time I was only 18 years old – but I was an Expert (military earned) shot with a long gun. We were issued match-grade M14s and all matches were shot with open sights – and our team used to beat the pants off of other shooters, with scoped rifles. I was a “novice” or so they rated me as such, and I handily bet every shooter I was placed against. I can’t attribute my shooting skills to the military training. I …


Letter: Getting Practical and Tactical With Baofeng Hand-Helds, by Wrangler

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: Imagine for a moment that you are a licensed ham, operating in a tactical situation, observing your target. It is pitch black outside, and suddenly a team member calls you on the radio. Your radio goes “beep” and the screen lights up so brightly that you can be seen for half a mile. That is not a good situation! One very popular hand-held radio available in the U.S. is the Chinese-made Baofeng UV-5R handheld dual-band transceiver. They cover two bands: 136-174MHz and 400-519.995 MHz. These hand-helds are mass-produced, so they are often bargain priced at less than …


Recipe of the Week: Minestrone Soup, by C.S.

This is my favorite Minestrone soup. Ingredients: ¼ cup cooking oil (I use peanut oil or olive oil) 1 clove garlic, minced or (1/8 tsp. powder) 1-1/3 cup onion coarsely chopped 1-½ cup celery with leaves, coarsely chopped ½ can (6 oz.) tomato paste 1 Tbs. parsley 1 cup carrots, sliced fresh or frozen 4-¾ cup cabbage, shredded 4 cans diced tomatoes (28oz. cans) 1 can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed (black beans also work well) 1 ½ cup frozen peas 1 ½ cup green beans 1 tsp. sugar Dash of hot sauce (optional) 11 cups of water 2 cups …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Emily G. suggested this interesting New York Times article: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece Items from The Economics Team: ConAgra Foods Lays Off 1,500 (Salt Lake Tribune) Chesapeake Energy Lays Off 740 (KFOR News Channel 4) Whole Foods Lays Off 1500 (CNBC) 20 Largest U.S. Layoffs in 2015 (ZeroHedge)


Odds ‘n Sods:

Killed for their faith: Tennessee lieutenant governor calls on all Christians to carry handguns as it’s revealed Oregon gunman slaughtered those who admitted religion o o o Obama Admin & UN Announce Global Police Force to Fight “Extremism” in US Cities o o o Germany Ethnically Cleanses its Own People to Make Way for Muslims o o o Reader Peter R. recommend this review of compact shortwave radios: Mega Review: the Tecsun PL-880, PL-660, Sangean ATS-909X, and Sony ICF-SW7600GR go head-to-head




Guest Post: The Difference Between Gold and Debt, by Gary Christenson

Simple version: Gold is good. Sovereign debt is bad. The world has added approximately $60 Trillion in debt since 2007, much of it sovereign debt created from deficit spending on social programs, wars, and much more. In that time the world has mined perhaps 30,000 tons of gold, or about 950 million ounces, worth at September 2015 prices a little more than a $Trillion. It is easy to create debt – central banks “print” currencies by borrowing those currencies into existence. Debt increases, currency in circulation increases, and until it crashes, life is good for the financial and political elite. …


Economics and Investing:

India Versus COMEX: Physical Silver Demand Will Destroy Paper Rigged Markets o o o There are Five Times More Claims on Dollars Than Dollars in Existence (Zero Hedge) Items from The Economics Team: Glencore Could Spark a Lehman Moment for Miners The More Americans Know Congress, the Worse Congress is Rated Atlanta Fed Slashes 3rd Quarter Estimates for Growth (Reuters) U.S. Factories Vulnerable to Chill in Global Economy (Reuters) Investment Banking Business is a Horror Show (Business Insider) Demand for Physical Silver through the Roof (Zero Hedge)


Odds ‘n Sods:

Greg suggested this great piece by Eric Barker: 8 secrets to grit and resilience, courtesy of the Navy SEALs o o o Reader C.M. suggested this interesting Kickstarter project funding campaign:= “ZeroDay” Minimalist Survival Kit ZDSK o o o Over at The Middle East Forum: Saudi Arabia is Not Our Friend



Notes for Saturday – October 3, 2015

October, 3, 2015 is the 22nd anniversary of the Mogadishu, Somalia raid. The 18 Americans killed were: MSG Gary Gordon, 1st SFOD-D SFC Randy Shughart, 1st SFOD-D SSG Daniel Busch, 1st SFOD-D SFC Earl Fillmore, 1st SFOD-D MSG Timothy Martin, 1st SFOD-D CPL Jamie Smith, 3/75 Ranger SPC James Cavaco, 3/75 Ranger SGT Casey Joyce, 3/75 Ranger PFC Richard Kowaleski, 3/75 Ranger SGT Dominic Pilla, 3/75 Ranger SGT Lorenzo Ruis, 3/75 Ranger SSG William Cleveland, Jr. 160th SOAR SSG Thomas Field, 160th SOAR CW4 Raymond Frank, 160th SOAR CW3 Clifton Wolcott, 160th SOAR CW2 Donovan Briley, 160th SOAR SGT Cornell …


Praise For Chris Walsh and Revolutionary Realty

Over a period of time I have accumulated many letters of recommendation for Chris Walsh and his real estate agency, Revolutionary Realty. (It is a two-man agency that specializes in retreat properties in The American Redoubt.) I’ve actually received nine letters of recommendation for Chris, but the latest one reminded me that I’ve been remiss in mentioning Chris in the blog. So from the nine letters, I picked just six particularly succinct ones to post, as a representative sample. Note that some of these are just excerpts from longer letters. And I’ve redacted a few details to protect the privacy …