Category: Note

February 1st is the anniversary of the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28th, 1861 and on February 1st, by a vote of 166-8, adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. It’s important to note that not all Texans favored this act and the state Governor, Sam Houston, while being loyal to the union, refused offers from President Lincoln to keep him in office and was subsequently deposed as governer. We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and …

On January 31st, 1950, President Harry S. Truman publicly announced his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Truman called it the “superbomb” in his public announcement. His decision was driven by the discovery that Klaus Fuchs, a top-ranking scientist in the U.S. nuclear program was a spy for the Soviet Union and that the Soviet likely knew everything the U.S. did about building a hydrogen bomb.

January 30th is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman (born 1912, died February 6, 1989). She wrote some of the most engaging history books JWR ever read. January 30th is also the anniversary of the 1945 Great Raid on Cabanatuan Prison Camp where US Army Rangers and Filipino Guerrillas liberated Allied prisoners. See Rescue At Los Baños, by historian and bestselling author Bruce Henderson. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator …

Complete, Unedited Video of Joint FBI and OSP Operation 01/26/2016 – 26 minutes starting with the pursuit and ending with the death of Finicum and the arrest of the others. Warning: graphic content. I see nothing in this video that contradicts Victoria Sharp’s testimony as she saw it. The video is inconclusive, but Finicum did not have a weapon in hand when he was shot. When did the agents fire? Are Finicum’s hand movements a result of being shot? He was shot three times and that certainly coincides with his hand movements. Lest anyone forget, Victoria also makes the claim …

January 28th is the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him– The Dozier Drill. o o o Malheur Link Dump – January 27, 2016

January 27th is commemorated at International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day, Soviet troops liberated the remaining prisoners from Auschwitz death camp. Sadly, most of its population had been evacuated and sent on a forced death march. Only those too weak to travel had been left behind. This is also the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. o o o We have completed the move to our new server and are now working out the small bugs. You should see several improvements including: Faster, better …

January 26th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Established in 1941, Auschwitz was composed of a group of three large and 40 smaller camps used for slave labor, unethical medical experiments, and monstrous killing grounds where prisoners were gassed and cremated. As the Soviets headed for Auschwitz, the German Gestapo began a murder spree and began destroying the facility in an attempt to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the Soviets arrived, they encountered 648 corpses and more than 7000 starving camp survivors along with storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of …

January 24 is the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the View From The Porch blog. This is also the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. o o o Today is the day we move to our new server! We expect a few hiccups along the way in the move but hope to be stable by tonight. o o o Don’t forget that we are nearing the end of Round 62 of …

January 23rd is the birthday of John Moses Browning, born 1855. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. The latter is still in service in at least 95 countries, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still in service in 2075 or even 2100. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from …

January 21st Eliza Moore, the last surviving individual born into slavery before the Emancipation Proclamation died on this day, in 1948, in Montgomery County, Alabama, at age 105. Since 68 years have now elapsed since her death and 151 years have now elapsed since 1865, JWR perhaps presumptuously hereby declares that it is now fully high time for Americans to Get Over It, and instead focus on current slavery issues, like the uncounted thousands of slaves now being held by Muslims in North Africa. There is no cause for so-called White Guilt in our generation, but we should feel badly …

Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. …

January 19th is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living, which was re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.

In 1942, Germany began the deportations from Warsaw to Treblinka of Polish Jews. Within the first seven weeks of Himmler’s order, more than 250,000 Jews were taken to Treblinka by rail and gassed to death, making it the largest single act of destruction of any population group. After a four month pause, the deportations started up again on January 18th, 1943. A German SS unit entered the ghetto and began rounding up its denizens, but they did not go without a fight. Six hundred Jews were killed in the street as they struggled with the Germans. These Jews refused to …