SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

—

Reader C.B. sent this: 8-year-old survives ‘extraordinarily rare’ cougar attack inside Washington’s Olympic National Park.

o  o  o

From Mike D.: New Evidence Suggests Vaccinated Can Transmit Covid-19 Vax Antibodies Through The Air.

o  o  o

Avalanche Lily alerted me to this article at The Hill: High school boys are trending conservative.

o  o  o

Wikipedia Founder Larry Sanger to Glenn Greenwald: “CIA and FBI Use Wikipedia for Information Warfare”.

o  o  o

At Reason: Say Goodbye to Permissionless Travel. Starting in 2024, Americans will need to pay for a visa to visit Europe. This might take up to two weeks.
Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Socialism has no moral justification whatsoever; poor people are not morally superior to rich people, nor are they owed anything by rich people simply because of their lack of success. Charity is not a socialist concept – it is a religious one, an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over property, a sovereignty the Left utterly rejects.” – Ben Shapiro

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 8, 2023

On August 4, 2000, the sunken wreckage of the Hunley, a Confederate submarine that was lost during the American Civil War, was raised from the ocean floor near Sullivans Island, South Carolina. It had been the first submarine to sink (1864) an enemy ship, the Union sloop Housatonic.

—

SurvivalRealty.com is running a special late summer promotion for any new property advertising customers. You can use coupon code “summer23” for 20% off your first two months of advertising. The promotion is available to both real estate agents and “for sale by owner” sellers.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, 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.

Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 1, by Michael X.

With the current state of decline afflicting many of the institutions of our country, many people may feel our country is at a tipping point and our lives will revert back to near-pioneer status. Those who feel they are prepared to continue living on separated from the sagging society and decaying government may soon be isolating themselves at their preferred location, whether it is the bug out location, homestead, suburban ranch, or even a bug-in location in a populated area. Once you are at your preferred location it could be for the long haul and things will get harder and harder as time goes on. Good health and being able to maintain a healthy, strenuous lifestyle will be extremely important. Over the long term a person must depend on themselves and be in top form physically.

Preppers often focus on how to do first aid and treat injuries. But in the event of an injury, even with good care the recovery time may be very problematic. This article will focus on personal safety and safe behavior for day to day living to prevent injuries and safety incidents.

Very recently my wife and I were sitting on the couch, doing nothing. The reason? I had strained ligaments in my foot while doing some chores, and she had put a deep cut on her left pointer finger, while cutting some cloth. So, we wasted the better part of a day making no progress on any of our usual tasks. I hope we are both more careful going forward.

If you get even a small injury and are unable to perform your normal tasks, you will be in trouble. Doctors may be hard to find, and travel to and from a remote location to a doctor’s care will be difficult or impossible. Many preppers have good first aid skills, but it is best to avoid the unsafe and risky situation altogether. And the way to avoid that type of situation is – PREVENTION! Ensure you have a safe environment to do all your work tasks around your place – AVOID THE INJURY!Continue reading“Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 1, by Michael X.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, some more attacks on the Redoubt  movement.  (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

‘A spiritual war’: Are Christian nationalists threatening to turn the US into a religious state?

JWR’s Comments:  I was surprised to see the SkyNews run this blatantly biased piece. Quoting a strident axe-to-grind anti-fundamentalist liberal like Bradley Onishi was the journalist’s first mistake. (Onishi, an “ex-evangelical minister” is the co-producer of a podcast titled: “Straight White American Jesus.”)

Note the way this paragraph is phrased, to make me seem to be some sort of racist:

“First coined in an online essay posted to a survival blog by former US Army intelligence officer James Wesley Rawles in 2011, the so-called American Redoubt refers to a mountainous area where around 90% or more of the people are white.”

There is of course no mention that I’ve consistently denounced racism in all of my writings, from an early age. For the record: I chose the Redoubt region for its low population density, not its racial makeup. I get along just fine with all of my neighbors, regardless of their skin tone or their religion. Notably, I have had a little disagreement with our valley’s one outspoken liberal. And he is a fellow Pale Face. Liberals are the minority that chafe me. Thankfully, liberals like him are outnumbered by about 90-to-one locally, so his vote won’t be shifting the polls. He is an irrelevant nuisance. But I should also mention that my opinion of his kleptocratic politics doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t help to tow his car out of a ditch, if he slides off of an icy road. He is still a neighbor that lives just a few miles away, and I treat him with courtesy.

o  o  o

And here is yet another liberal hit piece: Oregon’s Greater Idaho movement echoes a long history of racism in the region.  JWR’s Comments:  Note how this article attempts to conflate The American Redoubt Movement with the long-defunct Aryan Nations bigots. Liberal journalists are incredibly consistent in evoking the memory of that racist group that left Idaho 23 years ago. This is what I refer to as the “guilt-by-non-association” smear tactic. I suppose that they’ll still be mentioning those Aryan Nations clowns another 20 years from now, to try to tar the image of North Idaho and Redoubters.

o  o  o

The cost of a state line: Eastern Oregon wants to join the state of Idaho. But can Oregon afford to shrink?

Idaho

Kohberger Attorney: He was taking a ‘long drive’ the night of the Idaho murders.

o  o  o

Idaho Republicans establish March presidential caucus, tighten ranks during summer meeting.

o  o  o

Process Begins to Extradite Lori Vallow Daybell to Arizona.

o  o  o

Level 1 evacuation issued for Ridge Creek fire near Hayden Lake.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Hand Sanitizer-Fueled Stove, by Thomas Christianson

My wife, “Kari” and I have some good friends with whom we have a Bible study each week. These friends, “Cool Hand Luke” and “Betsy Ross”, have become concerned about the direction our society is taking, and the potential disasters and disruptions that might result. They have begun stockpiling food and other supplies in order to help them better weather these potential disasters and disruptions.

During a recent Bible study, Betsy mentioned that although they had begun stockpiling food, they did not yet have a good way to cook that food in a grid-down situation. That comment served as a catalyst for a project that I had been contemplating about for quite some time.

I have previously written in SurvivalBlog about liquid hand sanitizer as a fuel for alcohol stoves. If it contains at least 80% ethanol, liquid hand sanitizer seems to burn just as well in alcohol stoves as the denatured alcohol marine stove fuel for which they are designed. The hand sanitizer can also be used for a host of other purposes such as disinfecting wounds, cleaning oral thermometers, treating athlete’s foot, thinning aftershave, and even sanitizing hands.Continue reading“Hand Sanitizer-Fueled Stove, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Amy’s Simple Alabama Corn Pudding

The following recipe for a simple Alabama corn pudding is from SurvivalBlog reader Miss Amy. She says: “With our summer corn nearing harvest nearing, I wanted to share this recipe. This recipe is best with freshly-harvested corn but frozen corn will do.”

Ingredients
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons of flour
  • 1/3 stick of real butter, melted
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups of corn off the cob
  • Salt and pepper, to taste.
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs.
  3. Mix in the sugar.
  4. Mix in the flour.
  5. In a small saucepan, melt the butter.
  6. To the egg mixture, add milk, corn, salt, pepper, and melted butter.
  7. Mix it all, briefly.
  8. Pour the combined mixture into a small (1-quart) casserole dish.
  9. Bake at 375 degrees F. until the pudding has set — about 45 minutes.
SERVING

Remove the pudding from the oven and serve it while it is still warm.

—

Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the prices of gold, silver, and platinum. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold and silver prices have been surprisingly strong. Typically in the summer months each year, the precious metal prices have slack sails, drifting around in the doldrums. But because we are seeing prices this strong in early August, I suspect that there will be bullish markets in the fall. Gold could possibly be going north of $2,075 per Troy ounce, by late October. If it does, then silver will rise, correspondingly.

Oh, and if there is “recession” in the headlines, then don’t expect much of a return from your platinum, since it is more of an industrial metal than monetary metal. – JWR

o  o  o

A rise in U.S. money supply will drive gold, silver prices to new highs – Wells Fargo’s John LaForge.

o  o  o

At Gold-Eagle.com: Fears Of Recession Support Gold Price?

Economy & Finance:

Fitch Downgrades US Credit Rating to AA+.

o  o  o

Biden Blames USA Downgrade On Trump.

o  o  o

The reservoir of ‘helicopter money’ is drying up.

o  o  o

Forbes: Deutsche Bank’s top minds put U.S. recession chance near 100%—and say avoiding a hard landing would be ‘historically unprecedented’.

o  o  o

Over at Zero Hedge: Yields Surge After Treasury Boosts Auction Sizes More Than Expected, Sees Debt Issuance Tsunami On Deck.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“‘Moderate Republican’ is simply how the blabocracy flatters Republicans who vote with the Democrats. If it weren’t so conspicuous, the ‘New York Times‘ would start referring to ‘nice Republicans’ and ‘mean Republicans’.” –  Ann Coulter

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 6, 2023

On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 a.m. (Japanese time), an American B-29 bomber – the Enola Gay – dropped the world’s first war-time atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people were killed as a result of the blast, with another 35,000 injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. History is always written by the victors, so the reasoning and justification for this will be argued for years to come. But one thing is for sure: this action officially ushered in the nuclear age in war and has generated mass fear ever since, even though the firebombing of Japanese cities caused far more damage and loss of life.

—

On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (spoken “one-seven”) was shot down while transporting an Immediate Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board – 25 US Navy Seals, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan interpreter, as well as a U.S. military working dog.

—

Today’s feature article is a guest piece by Brandon Smith, the editor of Alt-Market.us.  We highly recommend both his website and his newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.

—

We are now accepting entries for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, 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.

“Bidenomics” Is A Fraud Based On Deliberately Misrepresented Stats, by Brandon Smith

Economic issues are some of the most politically abused issues often because the data politicians exploit is easy to present out of context. The vast majority of the public doesn’t spend their time immersed in the intricacies of monetary policy, unemployment stats and the processes of inflation vs deflation. They hear a soundbite on the news or social media once in a while, assume it must be true and then go on with their day.

This is how economic crisis events always seem to take the population by surprise – The establishment tells people all is well and no one questions the narrative in the face of numerous warning signs. Sometimes, the populace continues to believe that everything is fine despite the financial framework burning down around them, all because the “experts” continue to convince them that recovery is “right around the corner.”

There are numerous incentives for government officials and mainstream economists to mislead the citizenry with tales of imminent prosperity in the midst of instability. Primarily, the goal is to keep the middle-class population as docile as possible so that they don’t revolt until it’s too late (the middle class being predominantly conservative, and the greatest threat to any corrupt regime). Understand that economics is the root of power, and economic perception is the key to influencing the masses.Continue reading““Bidenomics” Is A Fraud Based On Deliberately Misrepresented Stats, by Brandon Smith”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Senator John Fetterman Has Stepped Up From Wearing Short Pants and Hoodies. He Was Just Seen Wearing a Suit and Tie.

It Seems That He’s Putting On The Ritz

Links:

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provide that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” – John 1:11-23 (KJV)