“We must distinguish between a man of polite learning and a mere scholar: the first is a gentleman and what a gentleman should be; the last is a mere book-case, a bundle of letters, a head stuffed with the jargon of languages, a man that understands every body but is understood by no body.” – Daniel Defoe ‘The Complete English Gentleman’ (written in 1728.)
On May 14, 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the United States. — May 14th, 1686 was the birthday of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, who invented the thermometer. — We are running a two-week-long sale in all of our percussion revolvers at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, May 18th, 2026. Please note that there are cartridge conversion cylinders available for many of these guns — particularly the Ruger Old Army revolvers and the Pietta and Uberti brand clones of the Remington Model 1858. This provides a great opportunity to acquire un-papered …
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: Even more Agentic AI risks. An Agentic AI Destroyed a Company’s Database and Backups The Telegraph reports: AI ‘agents of chaos’ run riot inside companies. Could Claude Mythos …
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.” – C.S. Lewis, as quoted in in Chapter 31 of Cyril Connolly’s ‘The Unquiet Grave’ (1944)
On May 13, 1916 the Lafayette Escadrille, a volunteer American air force unit under French command saw its first combat at the Battle of Verdun. — May 13, 1958: The trade mark “Velcro” was registered. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This is the final round of the contest. There will not be a “Round 125”! The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value). American Gunsmithing Institute …
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. — Video: Rep. Chip Roy: Government-Mandated Kill Switch in Cars Violates the Fourth Amendment. o o o For those of you with Smart Phones, I heard about an interesting new inventory control app for preppers: PPantry. o o o
“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.” – Hippocrates (c.460-357 B.C.), from ‘Aphorisms’ sect. 1, para. 1 (translation by Chaucer). Often quoted in Latin as Ars longa, vita brevis.
On May 12, 1215, English barons served an ultimatum on King John. This eventually led to the creation and signing of the Magna Carta. –– May 12, 1942: A German U-boat sank a American cargo ship at the mouth of the Mississippi River. In 1942 and 1943, German submarines sank 56 ships in the Gulf region and damaged another 14. To prevent panic, the U.S. Office of Censorship limited press coverage of the sinkings. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This is the final round of the contest. …
This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. Redoubt News Links Yellowstone’s first bear attack of 2026 leaves two hikers injured and a swath of the park in lockdown. Glacier National Park’s First Fatal Bear Attack Since 1998 Underscores Anomaly of Lethal Encounters. JWR’s Comments: Folks often ask me if I carry Pepper Spray when I leave my ranch house. Yes, sometimes I do. But I far more often carry Lead Spray. Thankfully, open carry and …
“Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us O’er the world’s tempestuous sea; Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, For we have no help but Thee.” – James Edmeston (1791-1867), from Sacred Lyrics (1821) ‘Lead Us, Heavenly Father
On May 11, 1910, Glacier National Park was established. — In the second week May of 1921 a solar storm began, dubbed The Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 1921. — Starting June 2nd, we will be switching to a weekly posting format for SurvivalBlog, with most posts on Tuesdays. — There are just 20 days left in THE FINAL ROUND of the SurvivalBlog Writing Contest. This is your last chance to get your entry in and win a prize. After Round 124 ends, we will only be posting staff-written articles and guest articles from readers.
The following recipe for Lemon Marinated Pork is from SurvivalBlog reader Mrs. Alaska, who writes: In a one-gallon zip-loc bag, combine the following: Zest of one large (or two small) lemons, juice of one or both lemons, ½ cup olive or other oil, one tablespoon each of two herbs of choice, such as thyme and rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper or cayenne, five cloves of garlic, chopped. To the marinade, add less than two pounds of pork chops or pork loin, cut into steaks. I generally use 5 or 6 pieces of 1/2 inch meat for this …
The week’s graphic shows the results of a US opinion poll on which rights someone would rather lose. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) JWR’s Comments: This poll illustrates two things: 1.) The visceral reaction of liberals, and 2.) The failure of liberals to realize that we can always “vote from the rooftops” (or, more tactically, vote from behind the treelines.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable. — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.
“They can think for themselves. They can decide how to do a task, which may be different than what you intended. They can grant privileges to each other. They can decide that they want to access something that you didn’t want them to access just because they need it to complete a task. They’re doing it with your credentials or your identity.” – Avihay Nathan, Senior Vice President of CyberArk, describing agentic A.I. risks
On May 10, 1775, the Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga, New York. The Green Mountain Boys were led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold. They surprised and captured the fort’s small British garrison. The cannons and other armaments captured at Fort Ticonderoga were later transported to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the siege of Boston. — May 10, 1837: New York City banks failed and unemployment reached record levels. (The Panic of 1837.) — And on May 10, 1971 US special delivery rates were increased from 45 …
