Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Artisanal Wheat On the Rise. The article begins: “Giving factory flour the heave-ho, small farmers from New England to the Northwest are growing long-forgotten varieties of wheat.”    o o o Ready Made Resources has announced a special bonus deal: With the purchase of a Augason four person 1-year dehydrated food package, SurvivalBlog readers will also receive a free stainless steel Big Berkey water filter with two white ceramic filters. As usual, they offer free shipping  and the flexibility of customer-requested substitutions allowed for equally-priced Augason dehydrated food items.    o o o Do any SurvivalBlog readers know of a …

Thanks for your patience as we get the kinks worked out in SurvivalBlog’s new primary server in Sweden. The new server can 5 terabytes of traffic per month. Overall, it is looking good. But we still have some issues with false McAfee anti-virus warnings. We hope to have that resolved soon.    o o o Mongolian Nomads Build a Yurt in an Hour, You Can Watch It in Two Minutes. (Thanks to F.J. for the link.)    o o o AmEx (American Expat) sent this: Tiny rustic farms battle for survival in Los Angeles area.    o o o A …

The inevitable end result of several years of drought in Texas and high feed prices, nationwide: National Cattle Herd Drops to 1958 Low    o o o Troy H. sent a link to a fascinating TED Talks series lecture on Thorium salts power reactors.    o o o Vic at Safecastle mentioned that they’ve launched a new 7-month “Foodbundle” variant, for about $1,800.    o o o Reader Lee M. suggested this: How to get alerts of an emergency

I just heard that Kent Lomont passed away on Saturday, after a long battle with bone cancer. This is a great loss to the shooting community. Kent was very well known in the Class 3 world. I can remember being inspired by Kent’s many articles about the AutoMag pistol, back in the early 1980s. Kent spent many of his youthful summers shooting and handloading with Elmer Keith at his ranch near Salmon, Idaho. It has been noted: “In the seventh grade, when most adolescents acquired and traded baseball cards, Kent obtained an exclusive franchise to manufacture Harvey Jugular jacketed handgun …

A good man is hard to find: Can You Spot The Sniper?    o o o Recently at Glenn Beck’s site: How to prepare: What should you put in a go bag?    o o o Lee M. sent a link to a piece about a medical app for smartphones. That article has a link to a blogsite with this downloadable app along with other medical apps for your smartphone.    o o o To repeat a previous post: I was recently interviewed by Doug Belkin, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal for an article that he is writing …

I heard that there is another Self Reliance Expo scheduled for February 10-11 in Dallas, Texas. The keynote speaker Mike Adams of Natural News.    o o o Bob G. flagged this video by Wayne Allyn Root: Home Schooling To Harvard.    o o o Reader Alan W. mentioned an improvement to the classic USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. “For the first time, the map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended, and as static images for those with slower Internet access.”    o o os Cheryl (aka The Economatrix) sent this: …

Dan P. suggested an alarming white paper, published by the normally non-alarmist IEEE: A Perfect Storm of Planetary Proportion: The approach of the solar maximum is an urgent reminder that power grids everywhere are more vulnerable than ever to geomagnetic effects    o o o An editor at BoingBoing wrote a nice variation on the recent Reuter’s wire service article: Preppers: suburban survivalists.    o o o Check this out: 1LessonSelfDefense.com    o o o Seed for Security has announced a new bonus promotion that will enable gardeners to get a head start on their harvest. A Spring collection, which …

I was recently interviewed by Doug Belkin, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal for an article that he is writing about the growth of the preparedness movement. He would like to interview a few preppers that are chiropractors (an unusually large segment of the SurvivalBlog readership), to ask them about why being preparedness-minded fits in with their career and their world view. Send him an e-mail, if you are interested. For your privacy, I would recommend that you use a pseudonym.    o o o I just heard about this new blog: Salvation And Survival: A Woman’s Perspective On …

Mary F. sent the link to this sobering video, that has a quite post-apocalyptic vibe: Dismantling Detroit. The accompanying article states: “The past is achingly present in Detroit, and the way its citizens interact with the hulking physical remnants of yesterday is striking… The young men… were the cleanup crew in a shaky empire.”    o o o Reader David A. wrote to note that restaurants buy salt in bulk, so if you visit a restaurant supply store or a mailorder outlet or a web site like TheRestaurantStore.com you can purchase 25 pound bags of salt for less than $5 per …

H.D. in Ohio mentioned this fascinating paper in the medical journal Nature Neuroscience: How unrealistic optimism is maintained in the face of reality. In essence, some people’s brains aren’t wet-wired to accept the the prospect of calamity. This may explain why trying to convince some of your family members to prepare is like talking to a brick wall.    o o o Some good privacy news: High Court Rules Warrantless GPS Tracking Unconstitutional    o o o A new M9 solar flare has everyone’s attention. It is the biggest since 2005. BTW, I recommend signing up to receive free solar …

I was briefly quoted in a Reuters article that was a featured link in The Drudge Report: Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse. The same article more extensively quotes Michael T. Snider, who writes the excellent blog The Economic Collapse.    o o o I just heard about a new blog on the scene: Prep-Blog.com. Check it out.    o o o Getting Out of Dodge, by Doug Casey    o o o My editor at Penguin Books confirmed that my nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” is now available Costco …

SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson spotted this little gem: Kitchen Renovation: How to Make a Secret Toekick Drawer    o o o Federal official in Arizona to plead the fifth and not answer questions on ‘furious’    o o o Fairbanks man accused in ‘meat for heat’ case hires lawyer. [JWR Asks: Why is it that in many of the United States that only Native Americans can legally sell or barter wild game? As long as bag limits are respected (to maintain stable game populations), then what you do post facto with your meat from legally-harvested game should …

Solar blast heading our way.    o o o This medieval solution probably wouldn’t be used in western countries, for fear of lawsuits: Indonesian railway stringing concrete balls to deter roof riders. (Needless to say, the Indonesians are not famous for The Subtle Approach.)    o o o George S. found an interesting series of articles by a journalist in Washington, DC who wanted to buy a pistol: Emily Gets Her Gun. This is a lengthy chronicle of her travails, jumping through all the fiery hoops to get permission to buy a gun in the District of Criminals. And even …

Reader V.P. wrote to mention that advance Chapters from the new edition of “Where There Is No Doctor” are now available for download at the Hesperian Foundation web site.   Look under the ‘Downloads’ tab.    o o o Fast and Nefarious? Here is an article that reveals an even greater depth of iniquity for the Treasury Boys: Another ATF weapons operation comes under scrutiny.    o o o Kevin S. mentioned a great source of free information on metal casting: My Home Foundry.    o o o What would John Wayne think? Even the venerable .30-30 lever action is getting a …

Roman sent me a link to a fascinating blog piece the summarizes an academic paper titled Baffles and Bastions, published in the Journal of Archaeological Research. Some food for those for those of us designing defensive architecture. Note that masonry baffles also stop (or deflect) bullets.    o o o F.J. sent this one: Back in the DPRK. This article includes an interesting observation on the high cost of fuel, and families doubling up in homes that have traditional charcoal stoves. Hmmmmm…    o o o Inside A $1.5 Million Cave House. (Thanks to Judy T. for the link.)    …