Category: Current Events & Politics

A Brief But Very Serious Word of Warning on AI

“There’s a storm coming…” I’m the founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog. Unlike the editors of many other preparedness blogs and vlogs, I try not be an alarmist. However, some recent revelations about generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications autonomously breaking through firewalls, showing signs of self-awareness and self-preservation “instinct”, scheming blackmail, and surreptitiously mining cryptocurrencies now have me feeling quite alarmed. I fear that perhaps within months an AI will go fully rogue, to wit: It will escape its development lab and then proliferate itself in a virus-like fashion across servers all around the world. Once it starts spreading, it …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Normalized product of inverse of Cost of Living and Human Development Index (HDI) based on 2026 Cost of Living data. JWR’s Comments:  Note that the Human Development Index has been criticized for a Scandi-centric view of health, wealth, and happiness. The HDI’s 0-to-1 ratings essentially assume that present-day Scandinavia is the penultimate in civilizational aspirations. I, for one, can imagine something a lot better than multi-generational welfare dependence. Also note that the current prosperity of Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany has partly been artificially propelled by the cash generated by drilling North Sea oil. The …


The US Separation From Europe And NATO Is Long Overdue, by Brandon Smith

As much as many centrists and libertarians are opposed to Donald Trump’s ongoing strikes against Iran, I have to say, the downstream result might end up becoming one of the most libertarian results I have ever seen. For decades, small government activists like those in the Ron Paul movement have been calling for a comprehensive US divorce from NATO and the shutdown of America’s military bases overseas. Trump has, either deliberately or inadvertently, set this very process in motion. The refusal of most of Europe (and Australia) to provide support in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz might seem …


Monitoring Ship and Aircraft Traffic, by Ohio Galt

I have always been interested monitoring ships and air traffic around the world, especially since 9/11. On that day I was fishing for salmon out of the middle of Lake Michigan, a very clear day and I noticed every jet in the sky was turning into a different direction heading somewhere else. Turning on the Marine radio and started to hear the chatter of what was going on around the country, I finished my sandwich and headed the boat for the harbor. Since then I have learned of several websites that show real-time movement of ships and airplane around the …


An Old RPGer’s View of Socio-Poltical Alignment and Motivations

Like a lot of teenagers of my generation, I played a Role-Playing Game (RPG) called Dungeons and Dragons (“D&D“.) The majority of the players in our smallish-town D&D group were Christians, so we downplayed the wizardry aspect, and concentrated on adventure and combat.  We also shunned most cosplay and Live-Action Roleplaying. (“LARPing”.) This was in the late 1970s, so we had access to just the small-format Chainmail book and the first three D&D boxed-set rulebooks developed by Gary Gygax, et al. This was long before the more popular large-format Advanced D&D books were published. One key aspect of characters in …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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 Iran War and still more AI threats. The Iran Missile and Drone War Iran’s missile math: $20,000 drones take on $4 million Patriots.  Here is a key …


What Happens Next in Iran? Decapitation, Quagmire, or WWIII?, by Brandon Smith

Before I begin this analysis of the situation in the Middle East and its consequences, I want to warn people that this examination is going to be largely secular and nuanced; which means people on both sides of the divide are going to be perturbed and moan about it. Frankly, I don’t care. To be clear, I’m not interested in the “plight” of the Palestinians, the Islamic regime in Iran or the conspiracy theories of “groypers.” I find appeals of empathy and compassion for Islamic societies to be naive – They are perfectly indifferent and hostile to the west, they …


It’s Time To Accept That Civil War 2.0 Has Already Started, by Brandon Smith

In July of 1917 as the fires of WWI raged across Europe, the Russian city of Petrograd was facing its own special turmoil in the form of a large scale Bolshevik insurgency. Up to 500,000 protesters, agitators and provocateurs had entered the city from across the country, many of them armed. They took over large swaths of the metropolis, hijacked private vehicles and confiscated private buildings. Some soviet leaders including Vladimir Lenin called the event “premature” and did not publicly endorse it, which may have been a calculated attempt to avoid direct blowback. The official historical explanation is that the …


Are You Emotionally Ready for the Coming Collapse? – Part 5, by Peter Cannon

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) In Part 4 of this series, we reviewed the Merchants of the Earth, the Persecution of the Saints, and the Harvests of the Righteous and of the Unrighteous) In this concluding installment, we will study the Bowl Judgments, Earthquakes on the Rise, and the Second Coming of Jesus. The Bowl Judgments The Seal and Trumpet Judgments have passed. Now God pours out His wrath on the unbelievers with the Bowl Judgments: “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is …


Are You Emotionally Ready for the Coming Collapse? – Part 4, by Peter Cannon

(Continued from Part 3.) In Part 3 of this series, we reviewed the Antichrist, the False Prophet, the Mark of the Beast, and the One-World Money System. In this installment, we will look at the Merchants of the Earth, the Persecution of the Saints, and the Harvests of the Righteous and the Unrighteous. The Merchants of the Earth One of the most overlooked topics from the Book of Revelation is that of the “merchants of the Earth.” (Revelation 18:11) This term appears repeatedly in Revelation, which shows the importance of certain types of commerce, especially during the Tribulation: “And the …


Are You Emotionally Ready for the Coming Collapse? – Part 3, by Peter Cannon

(Continued from Part 2.) In Part 2 of this series, we reviewed the Trumpet Judgments, and how the people on earth will be affected by these catastrophic events. I sincerely hope that the pre-Tribulation rapture believers are correct, and that Christians will be gone to heaven by this point. However, what if Christians end up having to endure part or all of the Tribulation? If so, are you emotionally prepared for this possibility? In this installment, we will look at some of the specific events associated with the False Prophet, the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast and the One-World …


Are You Emotionally Ready for the Coming Collapse? – Part 2, by Peter Cannon

(Continued from Part 1.) The Trumpets In part 1 of this series, we reviewed excerpts from my book “Revelation: Illustrated and Explained”. I discussed the Seal judgments upon the earth. Now we will discuss the Trumpet judgments, the difference between the Seals and Trumpets; the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation; and finally, the timing of the Rapture. “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” (Revelation 8:1-2 KJV)


Are You Emotionally Ready for the Coming Collapse? – Part 1, by Peter Cannon

Introduction Much has been written about physical prepping for a future societal collapse. However, what about the mental and behavioral side of preparation? Is it possible that Christians will live through part or all of the Tribulation? If your children are crying due to hunger, would you accept the mark of the Beast to feed them? Are you willing to die for your faith and/or other convictions? These are tough questions, but we need to face them. In the future, whether it’s a grid-down blackout, an economic depression, riot-ravaged neighborhood, war-torn country or a pandemic-plagued world, are you emotionally ready …


Why Silver Continues To Be A Must-Buy, by Hubert Moolman

Editor’s Introductory Note: This analysis was published by our friend Hub Moolman on January 20th, 2026.  There is a wide range of opinion amongst precious metals market analysts on where the top might be for silver, in the current cycle. I personally expect to see a top somewhere between $125 and $195 per ounce. The bull market will probably be stopped by the combined force of legislation, executive orders, central bank intervention, and radically increased margin requirements by the metals exchanges. Presently, Asian silver buyers are unperturbed by the recent COMEX and LBMA trading rules changes. But when it comes, …


How Long Will The Silver Bull’s Rampage Continue?

Spot silver jumped 10.35% to $79.59 per troy ounce in just one day, on Friday, December 26, 2025. On that day, there were new all-time highs set for silver, platinum, and gold. Spot silver has gained a phenomenal 166% in value in 2025. And now, amazingly, a $1,000 face value bag of pre-1965 non-numismatic “junk” 90% U.S. silver coins now sells for $56,840. Though prices vary, that effectively means that the melt value of one U.S. pre-1965 silver dime (10-cent piece) is now $5.68. And today? In Monday morning trading in China, (that was early Sunday evening, in the United …