On April 18th, 1521, the trial of Martin Luther began its second day and Luther refused to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication.
Also on this day in 1942, the Doolittle Raid on Japan was carried out. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagoya were bombed. While strategically ineffective, the raid had a huge impact on the moral of the United States, showing that Japan was not “out of reach” like they believed.
I’m one of these people who doesn’t brag very often about my accomplishments in life. The walls in my office are lined with various certificates I’ve earned over the years, from all types of training, too, and I only have about half of my certificates displayed.
One of my few military training certificates I’ve managed to hang onto over the years is from the United States Army Marksmanship Training Unit. It’s from April, 1970 and certified me as completing the Rifle Instructor and Coaches clinic. I’m extremely proud of this earned diploma. Oh, it’s not that I didn’t know how to shoot a rifle before this. I earned an “Expert” rating in Basic Training with the M-14. However, once again, it wasn’t the military that taught me how to shoot. It was some country cousins, Moe and Abner, back in Kentucky, who taught me how to shoot rifles.
I’m also a certified NRA Rifle and Pistol instructor, but I don’t teach many classes any longer and will soon retire from teaching at all, at least NRA classes. I don’t make it a habit of showing off my shooting skills during a class, unless I absolutely am forced into demonstrating that I can also shoot as well as teach. My students are amazed at how well I shoot handguns but are blown away at how well I can shoot rifles. Again, I’m not bragging, lest you think I am. It just comes from learning some of the tricks of the trade and from doing a lot of shooting all my life.
Sometimes I hear from SurvivalBlog readers asking me why I don’t post pictures of my groups when I’m shooting for accuracy. Well, there’s a good reason for that. Anyone can shoot a group and claim it was shot from “X” distance, when it wasn’t. A picture proves nothing! Many of the gun writers I know all joke about one particular gun writer, whose name I won’t mention out of respect. This writer claims to be one of the best handgun shooters who ever lived and who ever will live; at least that’s what he says in his articles. However, when watching him shoot in one of the TV shows sponsored by one of the big name gun magazines, he is a lousy shot. Why his editors don’t question his claims as to how small of a group he gets all the time in his articles amazes me.
I remember reading one article that this writer did claiming he shot a ¼-inch group at 25 yards with a 1911 handgun that was five shots into a quarter inch. Now, let’s stop and think about this. The .45 ACP round is, well, .45 inches in diameter. Even if this writer had gotten five shots through the same hole, his groups would have been more than a quarter inch! I think maybe, just maybe, he was drinking some cheap wine, standing on his head, and typing his article backwards, when he made that claim.
The reason for the background on my own firearms training is this– most rifles (and handguns) are more accurate than just about any of u can shoot, when it comes to accuracy. However, that’s not to say that some guns aren’t more accurate than others; they are! Then again, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a lot of accuracy, especially when it comes to rifles. Enter the Savage Arms AXIS II XP package rifle in 30-06, which is what my oldest daughter gave me as a combo birthday and Christmas present last year. I’m always on the lookout for bargains when it comes to firearms, and I don’t like spending more money than I have to. Our local big box store in the Pacific Northwest, called Bi-Mart, had the Savage Arms AXIS II XP on sale for $329 with a $50 rebate! It was available in 30-06 or .270, and I love the 30-06 so requested that caliber when my daughter went shopping for it.
I don’t like boring our readers with specs on firearms, but I wanted to list what this AXIS II XP has to offer. First of all, as already stated, it is in 30-06. The barrel is 22 inches long with a 1:10 right hand twist to it. Overall length is slightly more than 43 inches. The matte blue/black finish covers the receiver and barrel, for a nice subdued look. There is a very nice recoil pad on the stock as well as sling studs on the stock, too. The gun comes with a detachable 4-rd box magazine that stays locked in place. Some Savage rifles have had a problem with detachable mags just dropping free of the gun under recoil; this one doesn’t!
The AXIS II XP was topped with a Weaver 3-9X40 Kaspa scope, and Weaver produces some outstanding glass for rifles. I did some searching on the Weaver website and found that this particular scope retails for just about $150! Wait? Huh? That can’t be. The rifle with the scope was only $329 with a $50 mail-in rebate that brought the cost of the gun down to $279, and it came with an outstanding Weaver scope that retailed for $150, which means the price of the rifle alone was $129!?1 That can’t be, but my calculator came up with these numbers several times, and my public school math said the same thing.
Then we have one of the best features of the AXIS II XP, and that is the adjustable Accu-Trigger, which some other gun companies have copied. The trigger is easily adjustable for pull weight. I left mine as it came from the box right at 3.5 lbs with very little take-up and a very crisp let-off. There is that “Glock-like” trigger lever in the center of the trigger for a little bit more safety, too, as well as the safety on the receiver.
The Weaver Kaspa 3-9X40 scope gave me an outstanding and very clear view, second to none. I’ve had scopes that cost two and three times as much that weren’t as clear as the Kaspa is. It is also shock proof and water proof to boot! The scope came mounted and bore-sited from the factory, and it only took me a few minutes to get the scope fine-tuned to my liking. I zero all my high-powered rifles for a 300-yard zero, too.
Savage Arms rifles are one of the best kept, or maybe that’s worst kept, secrets in the gun industry when it comes to accuracy. They are some of the most accurate rifles to be had, period! Yeah, I know, I know. Some of the earlier Savage Arms high-powered rifles just didn’t flow when it came to looks, but that’s in the past. Current Savage center-fire rifles are just as handsome to my eye as some of the more expensive rifles. I certainly prefer synthetic stocks in my area because of all the rain we get; wooden stocks tend to warp while synthetic stocks don’t! Oh sure, sure. Nothing beats a beautiful wood stock for looks or highly polished blued barrels and receivers, but you pay for that; you pay a lot! To me guns are tools, and they can also be a thing of beauty. However, to my eyes, they are working tools first!
The bolt-action was as smooth as smooth can be, too. The bolt locked and unlocked very nicely. Yeah, I’ve had bolt-action rifles that had a much smoother bolt throw, but believe me, under stress, you can’t tell the difference between bolt operations, so long as the bolt opens and closes without any problems.
For my testing, the nice folks at Black Hills Ammunition provided me with a good quantity of their outstanding 168-gr Hornady A-Max ammo. This is an outstanding round for medium to big game hunting. To be sure, with the right bullet and bullet weight, you can take any big game in America and that includes the brown bears. However, I’ll readily admit, I’d prefer a heavier hitting caliber than the 30-06, but it will get the job done with proper shot placement. I used to believe that the .300 Winchester Mag was the do-all caliber for me, and anything less was, well, less! However, a friend of mine, who is now long gone, pointed out to me that if you look at the down range ballistics of various calibers, like the .300 Win Mag, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, and others, the bullet “drop” isn’t all that different. I just never took the time to really compare this aspect of things, always thinking that the magnum rounds shoot “flatter”. While they do, compared to non-magnum rounds, the difference really isn’t all that great, to my thinking, and I’ve never shot a deer at more than 150 yards. Most deer I’ve taken have been at 100 yards or less, so “flat” shooting magnum calibers weren’t really needed.
Now, before you fire off letters to me saying that the .300 Win Mag or any other magnum caliber is better for long(er) range shooting, I’ll agree with you, if I’m taking sniper shots out to 800-1,000 yards. In that case, the magnum rounds are more effective, no doubt about it. However, I’m no longer in the military or doing very long range shooting any more. My last “long range” competition I shot was at 200 yards; I beat everyone and never got invited back to shoot with those guys. They thought 200 yards was “long range” shooting. Go figure.
For many who read SurvivalBlog, we think about survival and keeping the bad guys at bay, if possible, to save our lives and the lives of our loved ones, and protecting our supplies when the SHTF! I have no problem with that thinking, but I just don’t see myself taking out people at super-long distances. First of all, I don’t know how I’d justify killing someone at those distances who may not even pose a threat to me, so act according to your own conscience and beliefs before pulling the trigger.
Let’s get back to the accuracy out of this Savage AXIS II XP in 30-06. My shooting was done at 100 yards over a rolled-up sleeping bag over the hood of my pickup truck. My first three round group measured a dead even 1inch! Yeah, you read that right; it was a once inch group. Most gun writers know when to put the rifle down and start writing. Surely, it won’t get any better than that, but I don’t consider one three round group as a test to how well any gun can shoot. The Black Hills 168-gr Hornady A-Max round comes from their Black Hills Gold lineup; it’s premium ammo, not low-cost big box, big name ammo company economy ammo. So, I expected some great accuracy from the Savage and the ammo combo. I was disappointed.
Over the course of several outings, I managed to get some groups just slightly below an inch, and some were well over an inch. It depended on if I was on my game that day and, of course, depended on the weather conditions and other factors. In all my testing, I fired more than 150 rounds downrange and wasn’t disappointed in the gun and ammo performance. If I was on my game, 1-inch groups were the norm. Now, I’ve had some readers ask me why I don’t shoot at longer distances. Well, the norm for testing rifle accuracy is at 100 yards, and, quite honestly, I don’t enjoy walking back and forth at longer distances over rocky logging roads or through heavy brush. I believe most will agree that 100 yards is a fair test of rifle accuracy!
So, my oldest daughter spent $329 for my combined birthday and Christmas gift and got a $50 rebate inside of six weeks. That’s outstanding service from Savage. I don’t know where else you are going to get this much gun with this much accuracy for so little money with a Weaver Kaspa scope on it. It can easily serve as a sniper or counter-sniper rifle in a serious survival situation, or for that matter in a combat situation if it came down to that. All this just goes to prove that you don’t always have to spend a lot of money to get a lot of gun. I’m keeping my eyes open to see if this sort of deal comes along again. This one was just before Thanksgiving, when everything goes on sale. If this sale comes along again, I’m going to pick up another AXIS II XP in .270, just because.
– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio
At a recent gun show here in The American Redoubt, I had an interesting conversation with a Vietnam War veteran who is mostly a dealer in ammunition handloading components. As we spoke, he was sitting at his table behind a quite tall pile of cardboard cases of cartridge primers, packaged with 5,000 primers to the outer case. The subject of the upcoming presidential election came up, and I asked him if that is why he had such a large inventory of primers. He responded in the affirmative and then added: “Every time there is some sort of political crisis, I sell out of primers within a couple of weeks. Sometimes the shortages of primers and some types of powder go on for months. So this time I stocked up pretty good. What you are looking at here is not my entire inventory; I have more than twice this many primers sitting in reserve at home.”
This dealer, who has been active at gun shows for more than 40 years, recounted the period of 1994 to 2004, when our nation had a poorly-conceived ban on the manufacture semiautomatic rifles with a list of “assault” features, as well as a ban on the manufacture or importation of 11+ round magazines. He said that one of the happiest days of his life as a gun show dealer came when that law expired, under its built-in sunset clause. He described those 10 years as “crazy times”. (During that decade-long ban, a standard plastic Glock magazine was selling for $75, and a Glock 33-round magazine sold for $120. Meanwhile, a 100-round Beta C-MAG dual drum magazines sold for as much as $525.)
When discussing the presidential candidates, the dealer said that he had mixed feelings about Donald Trump, who he described as “an opportunist” and “Machiavellian, at heart.” As for Cruz, he said that he trusted him as “solidly pro-gun”, but he added that he had nagging doubts about his wife’s connections to the banking elite and the CFR. When the subject turned to Hillary Clinton, he said, “That woman is pure evil. If she gets in [the White House], then we’re sunk. She’ll unleash a bunch of ‘gun control’ through executive orders. But the worst of it will be her supreme court appointments. They will all be hard core anti-gunners. We can kiss the Second Amendment goodbye.” He also warned: “If she gets nominated, the gun store shelves will get stripped clean, and prices will skyrocket.”
Keep in mind that the Democratic National Convention will be held the week of July 25, 2016. Get ready for its probable aftermath by topping off your ammo supplies, your magazine supplies, and rounding out your gun collections well in advance of that week. Because starting in the first week of August, if Hitlery Clinton is indeed nominated, it is safe to predict that battle rifles, full capacity magazines, and military caliber ammunition will have their prices at least double, almost overnight. So it is in your best interest and in the best interest of your progeny that you stock up in quantity, and do so soon.
Remember: Stocking up before a crisis is legitimate investing, but doing so during a crisis might be misconstrued as hoarding. Regardless, it would be foolish to buy these items after their prices are elevated. Leave that to the sheeple. – JWR
Makes 8 chicken rolls. Serve with sauce.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
Hugh,
I saw the “Odds and Sods” post about tens units. The writer was disappointed that his unit was 9 volt and did not use AA. There are a few ways to convert 9 volt systems to run on AA, but I thought I would share this way, as it is the easiest. Obviously there are other versions out there, so it doesn’t hurt to shop around. I hope this helps. – R.M.
Deutsche Bank Confirms Silver Market Manipulation In Legal Settlement, Agrees To Expose Other Banks
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Obama Has Collected $18,764,164,000,000 in Taxes–$124,003 Per U.S. Job – Sent in by B.B.
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Items from Professor Preponomics:
US News
Shoe Company: Obama Admin Pressured Us to Stay Quiet on TPP (The Weekly Standard) Excerpt: “Tariffs on shoes are steep, and New Balance is one of a handful of shoe companies that still manufactures shoes in the United States.”
Panama Papers Offer More Evidence that Free Trade isn’t Really Free (Huffington Post) Excerpt: “But what about the United States — why haven’t our usual suspects, the parade of moneybags we’re used to seeing flaunt their wealth even as they do their best to conceal vast portions of it — made an appearance in the leaked data? Let’s go back to that golf game in Martha’s Vineyard.”
Swiss Banker Whistleblower: CIA Behind the Panama Papers (CNBC) Excerpt: “Birkenfeld, an American citizen, was a banker working at UBS in Switzerland when he approached the U.S. government with information on massive amounts of tax evasion by Americans with secret accounts in Switzerland.”
The $146 Billion Obamacare Mistake (Government Waste Fraud and Abuse) This is the story of a very serious forecasting error. Unfortunately forecasting errors are all too common.
Out of Pocket Healthcare Costs Outpacing Costs Covered by Insurance (Washington Free Beacon) Excerpt: “Higher out of pocket costs paired with these skyrocketing premiums means that Americans are paying more for insurance up front and getting less coverage.”
Feds Announce Program to Cut Debt of Underwater Homeowners (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “Principal reductions will be available to borrowers whose loans are owned or guaranteed by Fannie or Freddie, have less than $250,000 in debt, are at least 90 days behind on payment and whose loan balances are at least 115 percent of the value of their home.”
International News
Venezuela: The Land of 500% Inflation (CNN Money) Excerpt: “Inflation in Venezuela is projected to increase 481% this year and by a staggering 1,642% next year….”
Personal Economics and Household Finance
Fake Irish Water Emails and Six Other Common Online Scams (The Irish Times) Excerpt: “It claimed Irish Water was performing annual account maintenance and needed more information from recipients, who were asked to follow links that would take them to a dodgy site. Although the utility being used as bait was new, the phishing scam is anything but.”
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McClatchy News reports; The Panama Papers Scandal Grows–Now is Sticking to the Formerly Teflon Clintons
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Venezuela nears total collapse as government now unable to provide food, water, electricity and protection for citizens – Sent in by C.L.
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Jane Fonda, stumping for Hillary Clinton – Predicts Violence due to “Toxic Masculinity” – Will somebody, please tell this Marxist shill that her 15 minutes of fame ended while she was seated on a Hanoi Anti-Aircraft gun in 1972? – T.P.
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Nothing to see here… move along; there is no corruption here: Texas Judge resigns after being caught texting instructions to prosecutors to help win convictions – B.B.
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Poll: Vast majority of Americans don’t trust the news media. There is no surprise in this result, other than the media is still operating on funding derived from perceived viewer/readership. While people say they don’t trust them, they still read/view them. – G.G.
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” – Thomas Paine
On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Due to the Cuban/Soviet intelligence network as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, which was repeated in U.S. and foreign newspaper reports, the Cuban government knew, in advance, of the planned invasion. The Washington Post also reported that the Soviets knew the exact date of the attack, that the CIA was aware that they knew, and that the CIA did not inform President Kennedy.
Many in the Bible trusted God’s promises, went through a preparation period, were humbled, and did or saw great things with the hand of God moving upon them and around them to protect them, use them, and bless them and others. Noah trusted in God, but He had to build the ark. Abram’s faith of believing God’s promises was counted unto him as righteousness. He was the recipient of a mighty covenant that we are still seeing fulfilled today, and it is through His people that the nations of the world are blessed. (Gen 15, 18:18, and 22) Yet, the story of Abram (later called Abraham) is that he was called to leave the security, honor, and inheritance of his earthly father, and he chose instead to receive the inheritance offered by our Heavenly Father. This was a huge step and act of faith that I believe is difficult for most of us to grasp in our civilization of today. Furthermore, Moses had to go before Pharaoh and stand against the leader of the world’s super power of the day, go before a holy, and at a time an angry, God in petition to save the rebellious people, and then lead these stiff-necked bunch of Israelites, including sojourners and others who joined with them, totaling in the hundreds of thousands of men and their families, through the desert. None of these jobs were for the weak of heart.
Each of the Bible personalities mentioned had acts of preparation and humility that were present before God’s mighty hand was evident. We see this in the story of Esther and of Ruth also and other women of the bible, too. The apostle Paul was blinded for a time and certainly neither accepted by the Pharisees after his encounter with Jesus nor initially fully trusted by most of the followers of Jesus either. These “greats of the Bible” had to take action, like we, as survival-minded individuals must prepare for hardship that we see coming, but they also had to have faith and listen for individual instruction. If their eyes and ears were not tuned into God but were overemphasizing and focusing their gaze upon the distractions– problems, issues of the day, and so forth– to the point that they could not draw near to God, they could not obey His voice or feel His peace or find security. These are the people who did not survive. We read in the Bible about the Jews fleeing into the hills ahead of the destruction of the temple. This was because they had been warned by God to do so. They had been “marked” as belonging to God and were protected.
I’m still hearing today how God is doing supernatural works among those who trust in Him. People are healed, miracles are performed, and there are daily stories, just those coming out of Israel, that are of biblical proportion. I hear how knives bent like a rubber banana as a terrorist attempted to thrust it into the neck of an Israeli. Thousands of rockets are launched and relatively few are killed or wounded there. A coin put in a pocket for donation to charity stopped an assassin’s bullet that was accurately aimed at the heart. We have also heard stories of cannibals seeing bright giants with swords standing between them and Christian missionaries in the jungle. I, personally, have had a life-threatening experience that I can only explain as God’s intervention, because medically there is no other explanation. First, the police did not expect anyone in the car to be alive and didn’t even come right away to check on our vehicle, as “no one could survive it”. Then, the doctors could not understand how I lived, but I know the one who holds life in His hands and I’m here to tell you that you can too.
Do not focus your eyes on vain things. You must watch what is happening and see the economics, the threats of Islam, the weakness of our grid, and so forth, but your focus, your passion, and your heart must be first for God and then for your husband and family above anything else. When your priorities are correct and you are obeying God’s word, then you need not fear. Walking near the LORD, you hear His whispers and know what to do. You will know when the enemies come. You will know who is a threat. Ladies, we are naturally more emotional beings. There may be some who are frightening, but there should be none who earn your respect or have your eyes fixed upon them other than God and, secondly, your husband.
When the people of Israel had found no fault in the prophet Samuel, he spoke to them saying,
It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king. Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: but if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:6-25 emphasis added)
“…consider how great things he hath done for you.” This is worthy to repeat. We should remember the joy of our salvation and the blessings of God in our lives. We should put up reminders of God’s power and promises to help strengthen the peace and confidence in the Lord. We should read our Bible, which is filled with messages of instruction, examples of our God’s justice, righteousness, mercy, grace, love, power, and strength. Just as a young child crawls up into her strong father’s arms and feels secure, we should feel secure in the shadow of the wings of God (Psalm 36:7). We can only be in His shadow if we are close to Him. So, have a healthy respect for the One who has the power to create with His mere words, yet remember that He desires relationship and readily receives a repentant and contrite heart (Psalm 34:18 and Isaiah 57:15).
Let’s talk about a reminder of our relationship to our Savior. It is also yummy to eat and nourishing not only for the body but for the spirit. I make Challah (pronounced “Ha-la”) Bread, almost every week. (I’ll post the recipe at the end of the article.) In making this, it is a physical representation of something spiritual. Ladies, we are emotional beings and we respond to things that trigger our memories of fond thoughts and events. We tend to place pictures, arts, flowers, sweet sayings, and such in our homes, on the walls, on tables, and on our mirrors because they make us happy and remind us of what is important– people, times, places, events, and also attitudes. However, with all of these things, especially those that are representations of spiritual truth, it is important that we not fixate on the physical and forget the spiritual. This bread is so good to eat and beautiful, but it is of paramount importance that we not loose the significance of God’s provision and forget to give Him the praise that He is due for everything we enjoy. Through the picture of this beautiful braided bread, sprinkled with salt and sesame seeds, sitting in my bread basket I am reminded of God’s physical, spiritual, and emotional provisions in my life, and I am encouraged. I cannot experience a scary fear when my heart, mind, and spirit are fully focused upon the Lord and giving Him due praise; I only experience a reverent fear in the same way a little child respects the strong (though sometimes disciplining) father she knows loves, protects, and cherishes her.
The first reminder of the spiritual comes from the overall theme of bread. Jesus is the “bread of God” and the “bread of life”, according to John chapter 6. Jesus also says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 So, in this, all bread, and not just hallah, is a reminder God’s Word– instruction for abundant living provided in the Bible and especially through Jesus, who said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
So, as we look at our braided challah bread, we think of the bread of life that sustains us and we give thanks for Jesus and His provision for giving us wheat from the earth to also sustain our bodies while giving us truth from His Word to sustain our minds and spirits.
The challah bread is braided, traditionally in three stands but sometimes six or other numbers of braids. We read in Ecclesiastes 4:12 that “a threefold cord is not quickly broken” and are reminded that we, who are in Christ Jesus, are never alone. The Son and His Holy Spirit petition on our behalf to the Father, just as our prayers are sweet aromas also. When we as believers come together, we know we are strengthened to hear the testimonies of one another. Jesus prayed to the Father, in John 17, before He went to the cross: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” Some also point out that God presents Himself to His people as the Father, Son, and Spirit– three in one.
The mounds on the bread, created by the braids, look like mountains, and we read much in the Bible about mountains as a place of sacrifice, prayer, and place to meet God. Before the tabernacle and temples were built and became the only acceptable place for God’s altar for sacrifice, altars to God were sometimes built on the mountains. Those sacrifices were sometimes covenant and thanksgiving sacrifices, though some were sin offerings, where the animal substituted for what the human deserved in his sin against a righteous God. We remember that we, in our hearts, are to sacrifice our selfishness before God and take on His will and desires for our own. We, too, as wives, are to prefer our husbands over ourselves. In this, we honor not only our husbands but also God (I Peter 3).
Salt physically, in reality, suppresses the taste of bitterness. Like salt, we need to emotionally and spiritually guard against and be peace makers in respect to feelings of bitterness, harbored resentment, and harsh tongues. Salt is also a purifier and healing agent. In general, the salt on the bread is representative of us as believers, because Jesus said: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:12-14) Furthermore, in Mark 9:50, Jesus instructed “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” Then, Paul wrote in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” So, let the salt remind us to not have bitterness toward one another and that in our speech and life, we may be a witness as the “light of the world” and “a city that is set on a hill.”
The seeds (sesame or poppy) that I use on top of the bread remind us of the sheep of His flock– us! We are reminded that we are His sheep and to survive we must listen to our Shepherd. When the wolves come or the cliff is ahead, our Shepherd will protect and guide us to safe pastures. Even, when this body is done, we will go to His Kingdom and have peace with Him for eternity.
So, shall we let fear paralyze us and become the focus of our attention? Shall we push aside Biblical truth in an effort to push for answers about our nation’s elections or economic solutions? My answer is a resounding, “No!” We will continue to seek the best answers we can find for the practical issues we face, but our highest focus and desire of our heart should obedience to the Good Shepherd who will lead us to safe pastures and, if we are married, to serve and trust the protector, leader, and head of our own household– our husband.
I encourage you to make the challah bread recipe below and be reminded of God’s great provision for you through His Son, His Word, His physical provision in what grows from the earth, and remember that you are His Sheep, He is your Shepherd, and He has given you another shepherd in your home, if you are married, who is instructed to look after you, protect, and provide for you, and make sacrifice of himself for you. Surely, your God and your husband deserve your respect, your diligent efforts, and the focus of your attention above any anxious fear that you might be feeling. There is a beautiful old song that goes “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” Be happy. Trust and obey! Focus on this as you go about your gardening, target shooting, sewing, and homesteading activities…in peace and joy!
Serve warm and pull apart, as in “breaking bread together” with clean hands, while praising the LORD who has provided this for you.
Blackmail on a national scale: Saudi Arabia warns of economic fallout if Congress passes 9/11 bill – A.C.
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Why Is The Msm Covering Up Recessionary Data?
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Items from Professor Preponomics:
US News
Arizona College Includes Fee to Pay for Illegal Alien Scholarships (Townhall) Excerpt: “If you’re attending Prescott College, you might want to tell mom and dad that a new fee has been added to the tuition bill, one that will help establish scholarships for illegal aliens.”
Ten-Step Checklist for Revitalizing America’s Immigration System (The Heritage Foundation) Excerpt: “Exhibit one is the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744).” …and a follow up piece also from The Heritage Foundation: Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the US Taxpayer
We Need to Crack Down on Illegal Immigrants Wiring Money Out of the US (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: The GAO “estimated that nearly $38 billion was remitted by foreign-born residents in the United States to households abroad.”
Puerto Rico’s Other Crisis: Impoverished Pensions (Reuters) Excerpt: “When Puerto Rico attempted to shore up its chronically underfunded public-employee pensions in 2013, Francisco del Castillo “knew grown men and women who wept”.
International News
Greece’s Financial Crisis Rearing Its Ugly Head Again (The Globe and Mail) Excerpt: “The country is still in recession, still mired in debt that it cannot afford to pay, still suffering from crushing unemployment and still a ward of its bailout creditors – the EU and the International Monetary Fund.”
The World’s First Cashless Society is Here – A Totalitarian’s Dream Come True (Ron Paul Liberty Report) Excerpt: “The War on Cash and negative interest rates are huge threats to your financial security. Central planners are playing with fire and inviting a currency catastrophe.”
Banking’s Biggest Mess Has Legs (Bloomberg Gadfly) Excerpt: “Italy’s bank chiefs gathered in Rome this week to discuss what could be done to solve the industry’s woes. So far, they have announced precisely nothing.”
Personal Economics and Household Finance
Every Survival Community Needs a Town Library (Backdoor Survival) In a time of serious crisis, lending libraries with books in print form will become tremendous sources of economy for people in need of information. Excerpt and Commentary: “In the survival community, as I have defined it, there is a centralized location where members can meet and share news of the day. In the old days, this was often referred to as the Town Hall.” JWR’s SurvivalBlog Bookshelf is an excellent source of library development ideas.
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
Facebook to Use Image Recognition Software to Crackdown on Gun Sellers? – And we continue to use these social media giants, freely giving them that which is most valuable to them.
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Scientists Fear ‘the Big One’ is COMING as FOUR Major Earthquakes Strike in 48 Hours – Sent in by DSV.
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SurvivalBlog reader DMS writes in: “An odd piece of equipment for your preps. A tens unit. I use one almost daily and see many uses in TEOTWAWKI, especially instead of pain meds you don’t have. They can be bought at any pharmacy, but if you can get a doctor to prescribe a medical grade one…..even better. I will say, unfortunately, they run on 9v batteries and I was hoping for AA. All my rechargeable are AA. Sigh. Also, buy Scotch double-sided tape and you can make an electrode last a year!”
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It’s all your money: US aiding business start-ups — for illegal aliens – Sent in by B.B.
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From the desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor At Large: WWII German arms cache found – I might tell a museum, or not, but I wouldn’t handle old explosives, and I wouldn’t unload artifacts onto the ground.
“Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” – 1 Timothy 1:4 (KJV)
April 16th is the birthday of two notable novelists– J. Neil Schulman and Samuel Youd.
Agorist-Libertarian activist J. Neil Schulman (born April 16, 1953) is best known as author of the novel Alongside Night.
The late Samuel Youd (born 1922, died February 3, 2012) was the British novelist who was best known for his science fiction writings under the pseudonym John Christopher, including the survivalist novel Death of Grass(titled No Blade of Grass, in the American edition) as well as the Tripods Seriesof young adult sci-fi novel series. A fascinating man, Youd wrote prolifically, using eight pen names. He was a good friend of sci-fi novelist John Wyndham, and both of them were famous for writing what are often called cozy catastrophes.
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SurvivalBlog has had several readers tell us that emails to “editorATsurvivalblogDOTcom” are being returned as undeliverable. We are currently looking into the situation to find out why some are receiving that message.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 64 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 64 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
My husband and I fall into the category of people known as “preppers”; we store food, weapons, supplies, and money for when it will be needed in the not too distant future. We track our stores and make sure that we won’t be caught short on many different things. However, one thing both of us have found is that all this prepping is not really enough. What do you do when something breaks or wears out and the stores are closed or it just can’t be found? What happens when you need something out of the norm for a project? The prepping sites just don’t go that far into the how-to.
We have found that in order to make it through and beyond hard times, we need to be much more prepared for the everyday and special needs we will have to see us through. My husband and I are not rich by any means, nor are we in the middle income ranges. Actually, we are just at or slightly below poverty level, and we have found that going out and buying what we need isn’t always possible. Our family has one gold rule– reuse, repurpose, and recycle. That’s it. This has served us well now for almost 11 years.
Let me give you some examples. We live on what they call a sand ridge, which is great for when it rains as we’ll never flood, but when it comes to gardening it’s another story. So, we went to the local tire store and got them to give us the throw-away tires for free. These tires when stacked up two or three high make wonderful planters for various vegetables. Filled with the right composite of soil for that particular plant, it holds the heat during the winter and allows great drainage while keeping a small backup supply in the wells of the tires.
When my husband and I met 11 or so years ago, I wish I was versed enough to describe the look on his face when I suggested that we stop and check out a dumpster we had just driven by, because I had spotted a nice batch of lumber near and in it. Truthfully, I think that’s when he fell in love with me. We took home a nice supply of lumber to put up for some miscellaneous projects we had in mind. Over the years, there has been no place safe from our collecting. Furniture store dumpsters supply the plastic we use for our winter greenhouses for plants, and home centers like Lowes and Home Depot supply the lumber in their throw away piles to build the cold frames. Most people don’t know that pallets make beautiful fences and furniture at no cost. About two years ago, my son needed a bed and we just didn’t have the funds to buy one, even at the thrift store. My husband went out to look at what we had stored up in various supply areas around the property, and from pallets, drawers that had been dumped by a furniture store, and a few other odds and ends two weeks later my son had a new bed. All we had to buy was the mattress. I wish I could show pictures of it, as it is a truly awesome sight. It’s queen size with two shelves at the head, six drawers along one side, and a door at the foot of the bed for storage.
There have been so many things that we have built over the years that have filled needs for our family and have cost us nothing but the time it took to scavenge the bits and pieces and build the item, from Dutch door fence gates to actually building a barn out of scrap lumber that we scavenged from local supply stores. A year or so after we met, we started a business. At the beginning it was to help my son get into the rabbit breeding arena, but for some reason we have yet to figure out, it exploded into a full animal farm where we supplied any animal that people needed. Whether we had it on the property or not, we could come up with whatever creature was needed. In the process of building this business, we managed to create quite a variety of enclosures and pens for the animals on the property, and that meant we had to increase our scavenging runs. We found that we needed to house birds, like turkeys, guineas, and peacocks, as they were in high demand, so off we went and two weeks later my husband had built an aviary that at the peak of business was housing over 140 birds of various varieties. This aviary was made from scavenged wood, purchased wire for the enclosure, and hold on to your socks, the whole roof of the enclosure was made from recycled billboard vinyls. To give you an idea of how large this thing is, it still stands today at 10 years old now and is 40 feet across and built in an octagon shape with a height in the center at 16 feet. At the lowest area, it’s seven feet tall. As our business grew, so did our imaginations; an old fiberglass satellite dish became the pond for the ducks and geese we had for sale. Old throw away PVC pipe 4-inch round or better became feeders and water devices for livestock. Simply seal each end, cut it in half lengthwise, and there you go– you have a feeder. A scavenged trucker’s tarp found on the side of the road became a gigantic pond liner for the geese. The real imagination came through in the chicken compound. We couldn’t afford nest boxes, so old tossed out dressers became the nest boxes. With a 4-drawer dresser, you could house about a dozen chickens nesting. Culled out lumber became the breeding boxes for the rabbits, and recently because the rabbits are now gone the boxes have been repurposed into bird feeders and houses that have cut the number of irritating bugs in half around the house. Old barrels– the plastic ones that used to hold washing liquids and such– got cut in half lengthwise and cleaned out to became the larger livestock feeders. We were coming home from a rare night out to dinner and I hollered for him to pull over; he looked at me like I had lost my mind, because there was nothing he could see as the reason, until I pointed out an old tossed out slide from a child’s play set. Yup, that became a slide for the pygmy goats, and they loved it. Customers would stand around for hours watching them climb up the tire jungle gyms we had built and slide down the kiddy slide. A friend of ours had not covered up their bags of concrete well enough and they got wet and solidified, useless for them and our benefit, but those 14 bags became my new fire pit, and it still serves us well to this day. Here’s a good one for defense; this works great if you live in the south. Find some clump bamboo and start growing it, make sure that you cut it back fairly frequently and plant it around you perimeter. In less than five years you will have a border of punji sticks that no one is getting through, along with a beautiful privacy fence. We found that out by accident, but it works great.
When we see something on the side of the road, we don’t see garbage; we see possibilities. Recently my husband spotted a couple of roadside headboards that someone had tossed out for the trash collection; he snatched them up, and they are well on the way to becoming a beautiful gun rack for all our long guns. Most of the time after the recycling process is done, you really can’t tell what it was to begin with. For instance, we wanted a privacy fence around our above ground pool (also scavenged), so we brought in as many wood pallets as we could find. After they were nailed together and put up, my husband cut the top of the boards into pikes that will definitely make anyone trying to climb it have second and third thoughts.
When we think of prepping, we look at the possible needs we will have to fill beyond those that most people think about. We look at the needs of the house and the what-if’s, and then we keep a sharp eye on what we see tossed away as trash. Many people have this capability to think outside the box but have fallen out of practice as they grew to adulthood and fell into the throwaway society we live in. To be a true prepper, I think we need to nurture that skill again. We need to be able to see how torn or outgrown clothes can become a nice thick quilt for those cold nights, how an old aluminum mesh satellite dish can become the thermal dome cover for a pool, or how gathering up bubble wrap from furniture store dumpsters will keep your plants alive during the freezes in the winter. We need to be able to see that sturdy boxes can be broken down and stored in case we need a splint for a broken limb. We need to see the possibilities that we used to see as children, when a couple of chairs, a few boxes, and blankets all put together can build a fort or a pirate ship. For our family, prepping isn’t only about putting away for when it’s needed; it’s also about seeing the possibilities of things that can be used to make our lives easier. So, start cruising the free section on Craig’s list, go to the yard sales in the neighborhoods, and check out the piles of throw away items on the larger trash collection pick-up days. Always remember that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
