Category: Odds ‘n Sods

AmEx (American Expat) sent this report: One Year Later: Lessons from Recovery After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake    o o o Authorities give 41 guns and 100,000 rounds of ammunition back to militia member after he is cleared of conspiring to overthrow government.    o o o New Hampshire enacts jury nullification law. Hopefully this will be the first of many “informed juries” laws, nationwide.    o o o Mike Williamson wrote to mention that the Armed Citizen Alliance (ACA) has announced their first National Armed Citizen Challenge, which will be held September 21-23, 2012, at PASA Park near …

Pierre M. recommend two great outdoors primer sites: Edible Wilds and Identifying Trees in Winter: Bark, Buds, Growth Patterns, and Lingering Seed Pods    o o o Our SurvivalRealty.com spin-off site just had nearly a dozen new retreat property listings added, bringing the number of active listings to 112. Check it out.    o o o Some great classes in Akron, Ohio. Your choice of preparedness classes and days: Survival Medicine with Doc Cindy (July 17-19), Outdoor Survival Skills with Midwest Native Skills Institute (July 13-15), and Homesteading Skills at Stone Garden Farm (July 16 and 20, 2012). These are …

A bahl tidrick–kimmies pike by moshe to Boont! The Not-So-Simple Living Fair, a weekend of hands-on workshops and demonstrations on rural living and homesteading skills, is returning in July 27, 28, and 29, 2012 to the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, California. (I should mention that Boonville is best known as the birthplace of the disappearing American lingo called Boontling. It was also the home of my branch of the Rawles family, starting in 1858, following their overland journey by covered wagon.)    o o o The latest BHO Executive Order: Assignment of National Security & Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions …

Carla A. sent this: Fears of new Dust Bowl as heat, drought shrivel corn in Midwest. Also see: U.S. Drought Monitor. Thankfully, most of the American Redoubt has been spared.    o o o Bob G. says: “Be prepared to harness the power of a Fresnel lens.”    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent a link to an article that illustrates one peril of outsourcing: Hallandale Beach lifeguard fired after participating in beach rescue    o o o The flash mobbers are at it again, this time in Sabadell, northwest of Barcelona. (Thanks to my …

Another Sustainable Preparedness Expo will be held on September 30, 2012 in Spokane, Washington.    o o o Reader RBS forwarded this: Footage shows African ‘ghost town’. JWR’s Comment: I can almost hear the echoes of some CPC politburo member’s whim: “I think blue might look nice.”    o o o It is not over yet: In West Virginia, mass feedings planned in wake of storms, heat wave. (Thanks to “CoffeeMatt ” for the link.)    o o o Long-time SurvivalBlog content contributor AmEx (American Expat) send a link to a popular video of an imperiled ice climber being rescued. …

James K. sent this report from McNewspaper: For those without power, patience wears thin, tempers flare    o o o SurvivalBlog Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Nevada Highway Patrol troopers sue over bogus K-9 program. Mike’s summary: “Dogs trained to react to cues, not drugs, to enable seizure of assets, officers claim.”    o o o Preparedness-minded folks in Holland might be interested in this site: Preppers.nl    o o o Overstocked! FreezeDryGuy has cases of Mexican Rice and Chicken Long Range Patrol (LRP) entrees on sale for a limited time. These individual freeze dried meals are …

M.N. sent: Bird flu outbreak hits chicken farms in Mexico    o o o Our Editor at Large Mike Williamson forwarded this: Picatinny engineers set phasers to ‘fry’    o o o Sun watcher J.E.B. wrote to mention: “[Sun spot] 11515 has become more complex and grown rapidly during the last 36 hours now covering approximately 1150 SM of the visible disk. During the last 4 hours the average background X-ray flux has sustained at roughly a C-2.1 level. As I indicated previously, only in a few recorded cases has it occurred that such a sustained flux was not followed by …

Greg C. sent this: Newt Gingrich on D.C. Weather: ‘Mild Taste of What an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Attack Would Do‘. Meanwhile, we read: 10 sobering realizations the Eastern U.S. power grid failure is teaching us about a real collapse. And on a similar note, there is this from Roger K. in Forbes: Power Outage Highlights Infrastructure Vulnerability. (Thanks to Jeff in Texas for the latter link.)    o o o I recently watched Ridley Scott’s movie about the Crusades, titled Kingdom of Heaven. I’m a fan of most of Scott’s films, but I quickly concluded that William Monahan (the film’s …

I will be the keynote speaker via teleconference at Charlotte PrepCon. This is an event for North Carolina and South Carolina preppers. The conference will be held on July 14, 2012 in Ft. Mill, S.C. (near Charlotte, N.C.) Phone: (800) 704-1862 for details.    o o os Reader Chris M. sent us this: History teaches why you don’t want to become a disaster refugee or an Internally Displaced Person (IDP).    o o o Don’t miss this: Pantry Paratus Interviews Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms.    o o o How to make a $1 Homemade Mosquito Bag Fan Trap kills …

A sign of the times: Amazon opens canning store. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)    o o o Pierre M. sent this: Pedestrian thrown in jail for 12 hours for holding up sign warning drivers about police speed trap.    o o o Also from Pierre: The New Crop Resource Online Program    o o o An Idaho newspaper asks: Can you text at a stoplight?   o o o Timothy J. suggested this: Minnesota action park lets you drive a tank

Ttabs has posted another one of his great flying videos. In this one he tries out some new wide angle lenses. The flight is from Elk River, Idaho to Orofino, Idaho, and back. What fun. (I’d be smiling, too.)    o o o West Nile Virus keeps spreading. (Thanks to InyoKern for the link.)    o o o What a deal! I just heard that Keep Shooting has HK91/G3 Alloy magazines on sale for just 95 cents each! Stock up, even if you don’t yet have an HK91 (or clone). These military surplus magazines range from very good condition to …

Political Correctness, run amok: Google Shopping Censors All Gun, Ammo and Accessories Results    o o o Reader Chris M. recommended this web page: Switzerland National Defense as well as this review of John McPhee’s book La Place de la Concorde Suisse. By the way, don’t miss the fascinating links included in some of the comments.    o o o I was absolutely disgusted to read about the U.S. supreme court’s weaseling decision on the mandatory “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA) socialized medicine scheme. It is noteworthy that the court’s deciding vote was cast by Chief Justice John …

Ann Coulter: The Biggest Scandal in U.S. History    o o o In addition to their existing line of Mountain House freeze dried foods in pouches, Camping Survival has just received their first shipment of Mountain House foods in #10 cans. It is noteworthy that they have the lowest shipping rates in the industry.    o o o K.D. sent this: Buckets to Backpacks    o o o SurvivalBlogger dentist Tom Loomis is teaching another Field Dentistry class in August, 2012, in Sweetwater, Tennessee.  Contact tandsloomis@bellsouth.net

Jake K. suggested this: Switzerland’s Military Defense Involves Blowing Up All Roads Into The Country    o o o Swine flu likely claimed quarter of a million lives: study    o o o $5 Billion Camouflage SNAFU: Army ditches failed combat uniform that put a target on grunts’ backs for 8 years. (A tip of the tried and true Woodland Pattern boonie hat to The Patriot Refusenik for the link.)    o o o Chad S. recommended this, over at Volokh: OSHA targets shooting range    o o o And the winner of the world’s most spectacularly failed state is…

Have you cleared that crucial defensible space around your house and barn?    o o o Snuffy sent us the PDF link to an excellent detailed analysis: Trade Off: Financial System Supply Chain Cross-Contagion–a study in global collapse.    o o o In this age of cell phones and text messaging, cultural flash mobs are quite popular, even in Russia. Of course, there is also the ugly flip side to folks having that level of organization and communication. (BTW, please don’t take the latter link as some sort of racist statement. For the record: I’m an anti-racist.)    o o …