Category: Current Events & Politics

March in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. What Did Gold Do in March? Gold had a bit of a roller coaster ride in March. Prices surged after the Fed did not raise benchmark interest rates at its March 16th policy meeting. Later in the month, a series of very hawkish speeches by five Federal Reserve regional presidents pushed gold down from its …


Letter Re: Prepper Auctions

HJL, In my 26 years as an auctioneer I have conducted over five of these type auctions. Three were defaulted storage auctions. Normally, we don’t know what we have until the door is opened. The first one that I remember was around 1993. It was a 10 X 20 unit. In it were three crossbows, boxes of climbing gear for mountain climbing (crampons, pitons, ropes, and harnesses), first aid kits with blood expander, packs and pack frames, firearms, various brands of dehydrated food, small cook stoves, and so forth. The next one I remember was a 5 X 10 heated …


Letter Re: TATP

JWR, Regarding the Brussels terrorist incident: While I don’t doubt that TATP was used, something is wrong with this! TATP is an “entrophic”; I believe that is the word, a reaction. There was lots of gas but no heat or fire. The Brussels explosions show fires in several areas. Something else must have been used in conjunction with TATP. The question is what and how did “something else” get past the sensors, dogs, et cetera? As a retired deputy, I still have several law enforcement contacts. Several months ago I was talking with one. He mentioned they were being trained/briefed/educated …


Lessons Learned at a Prepper Auction, by LCA in WNY

Last weekend, my spouse and I attended a very interesting auction. The auction was advertised as “Apocalypse Prepper Estate Auction.” It listed a large gun collection, large quantity of ammo, tools, household items, and four vehicles. The advertisement caught my eye, so off we went. We arrived in time to preview some of the items. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I stood there thinking it seemed as if he had used SurvivalBlog.com as a checklist. He had purchased every item ever mentioned in this blog. Then, I had to chuckle as I spotted a table with a dozen …


Letter Re: Cashless Society

Dear Editor, The move to a cashless society appears to be on track, but some will resist the final withdrawal of paper and coin money from circulation… unless they have a compelling reason to voluntarily give it up. I’ve thought for years that the only thing needed to cause people to shun cash is a report of a pathogen that rides from person to person on cash. All we need is a report from the CDC, which doesn’t even have to be true, that they are investigating some cases of hepatitis infection where cash was the vector. The cashless infrastructure …


The World Through Pink-Colored Glasses: Wikipedia’s Leftist Editorial Distortions

Wikipedia, launched in 2001, now has more than 39 million articles. It is now informally used by millions of students as a reference by students and journalists—usually as the starting point for researching nearly any topic. Wikipedia’s entries are given great weight by search engines, such as Google, placing their articles at the top of search rankings. In the 21st Century Internet age, one can safely say: All Roads Lead to Wikipedia. Most SurvivalBlog readers have noticed that I refer to Wikipedia as LeftistAgendapedia. I do so for good reason, as a I will explain in this essay. Because it …


A Random Walk Through The Risks of Silicon Valley, by Epaminondas

As a technology executive who has worked extensively with most of the big, high-tech firms (Microsoft, Google, Verizon, Dell, Qualcomm, and more), I thought that it could be helpful to share a perspective on the general role of technology on prepper thinking and planning. This readership is much more sophisticated than most, but the hard fact is that most of us cannot live an independent, off-grid lifestyle for a variety of reasons. Technology is the great enabler and force multiplier that can make it much easier to work remotely, maintain close contact with family and friends while benefiting from the …


Sarah Latimer: Inspiring Family Unity and Heroic Identity- Part 2

Some suggestions for activities with these Bible stories, include: For young children, tell them the story of Noah’s ark. Make a paper ark by using a brown paper grocery bag, animal crackers, crayons/markers, construction paper, and hot glue. Take a brown paper grocery bag and cut across from side to side, leaving the bottom and about four inches for the bottom and side. Now, take the top, cut away portion of the bag and cut five 2”x5” strips; fold these strips in half so that they are now 2”x2½”. Have your child draw full-figured Noah and his wife and three …


The Fallacy of Hunting as a Survival Technique, by D.V.

Many people rely on wild game as a regular part of their diet. In Michigan, where I live, deer season is a holiday with schools and companies at minimal staff, as a healthy part of the population is out in the woods partaking in one of our oldest traditions. And like all great endeavors, some hunters are successful and some are not, depending upon skill, preparation, and just a little bit of luck. For those hunters who were able to kill a deer (if they are traditionalist), they are able to provide their families with meat. For some, this can …


Avalanche Lily’s Morning Dew: The Mark of the Beast Explained

Good Morning! Since high school, I have been aware that we’re living in the last days. Through the years I’ve been a watchwoman reading many prophetic articles and magazines. I’ve also been a news junkie watching world events, and Israel in particular. In doing this, I’ve continually sifted through the information, watched the times, and measured the progress of the One World Order, the Mark of the Beast, and Cashless society. I’ve always wondered how and when it would happen. Nearly all of the world’s population has electricity and can go digital with the enabling technologies of wireless Internet, cell …


Why I Started Prepping, by KB

Several years ago, right after the election of Barrack Hussein Obama as President of the USA, a feeling crept over me that things were about to change. It is at that moment that I seriously began to start preparing for what now is evident, that our country and the world are in a severe downward spiral. CEOs of America’s top companies were so busy exporting our jobs for the sake of the bottom line, keeping shareholders happy, and avoiding high U.S. corporate tax rates that one day we woke up to find that the middle class in America was disappearing. …


Off-Paper: The Importance of Making Private Arms Purchases

Firearms sales in the United States, as measured by the number of completed National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks, are near an all-time high. In February, 2016, there were a whopping 2.6 million background checks! But those sales numbers only reflect the sales of new guns sold by Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders. The bigger and largely unreported news is of the upswing in the sales of used guns (“secondary sales”) by private parties. At a recent gun show, I observed that the folks who were there selling guns from their private collections were met by very …


Sarah Latimer: Inspiring Family Unity and Heroic Identity- Part 1

We’re preparing to see lots of green, and I don’t mean money. Irish Americans and actually Irish everywhere, as well as many who aren’t Irish but enjoy the celebrations, are gearing up for the annual festivities of St. Patrick’s Day, so “green” items are in all of the stores and either are or soon will be in the ads as well as notices about special events. So, what does this mean for us in the survival community? Well, I was thinking about the ethnic and national pride surrounding this day. On this day those in our communities who we had …


Letter: William Tell

Dear Editor(s), I don’t mean to be subversive … but all this Finicum material makes me think of William Tell. William Tell, if I recall the story correctly, never set out to oppose authority so much as he set out to mind his own business and avoid tyranny. He was placed in a difficult situation by events that were outside of his control. But he rose to the occasion. The events described led to the Swiss confederacy, perhaps one of the earliest efforts at democracy in Europe and surely an influence upon intellectuals in the centuries after. My own reading …


Avalanche Lily’s Morning Dew: The Lesser of Two Evils

I have felt inspired to write to you of what is on my mind and heart. I’ve decided to publish “Avalanche Lily’s Morning Dew” as a column that will intermittently appear in SurvivalBlog whenever the inspiration strikes. It is my hope that my thoughts enlighten you and exhort you to draw closer to our Lord in these Last Days! I recently read an interesting essay by Rachael Dawson that was titled: Should You Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils? That piece articulates some of the same thoughts I’ve had during the past twelve years. I’ve often pondered whether I …