The latest meme created by JWR:
Meme Text:
If Inflation is Under Control…
Then Why Does Their Acronym Keep Getting Longer and Longer?
News Links:
Ontario NDP urges legal protections for drag shows.
You never thought totalitarianism would look like this.
2SLGBTQQIA+ people are ‘running out of letters’
JWR’s Comment: When a country’s law reaches the point where it criminalizes making “harmful remarks” about perversion, then the law and the nation itself has become truly perverted.
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” – Matthew 28:1-7 (KJV)
To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
I’m still down with a cold. I hope to be back to posting the full roster of blog posts by Monday or Tuesday. Lily will fill you in on what has been going on at the Rawles Ranch.Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.” – Psalm 22: 1-19 (KJV)
I’ve come down with what seems to be a bad cold. I’m hoping that this isn’t the dreaded Omicron variant of the WuFlu.
For the first time ever in 18 years of writing and editing SurvivalBlog, I’ll be taking a few sick days, to recuperate. Don’t worry, folks. I’m only 62 years old and I’m doing all of the right things: Plenty of fluids, bed rest, extra Vitamin D3, Vitamin C, and Zinc. I’m also taking a five-day course of 12 MG Ivermectin tablets.
As I’m writing this on Thursday afternoon, I’m still sick abed but now actually feeling a bit better. Sadly, this nasal-throat-chest crud has already robbed me of several days of productive writing and editing time.
Thanks for your patience! – JWR
P.S.: On another note, you may have noticed that gold hit a one-year high on Tuesday. (Spot Gold up 2% for the day to $2,037.60, and Spot Silver up 4.7% for the day at $25.16.) There were some pull-backs on profit-taking, with gold back down to around $2,020. But silver was still at a solid $25.18 on Thursday afternoon.
I told you so.
Today is the birthday of famous American newsreel and radio journalist/narrator Lowell Thomas.
This is also the birthday of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world.
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Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $800,000 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 105 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.
(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)
In my case, retiring early and cashing out most of my 401k took a leap of faith to say the least. It helped that I was debt-free and willing to put up with almost any inconvenience and suffer financially if necessary if it meant finally getting to live my dream life in the country. That was my primary goal above all else. How to get by if the funds ran dry was only a secondary concern that I’d deal with later if necessary. That’s how bad I wanted to make it happen. If I had to stock shelves at my local grocery store until my social security checks started rolling in, so be it. If I had to live off my preps for five years, what an opportunity!
For those who want their own little place in the boonies but think they just can’t make it happen, I can’t stress enough this mindset of taking a leap of faith, tossing convenience to the wind, adopting the attitude of sucking it up, toughing it out, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen. If it becomes your primary goal in life you can make it happen. And I’m not just parroting Vince Lombardi here. There are much cheaper ways to build a residence than I did, I just had a certain kind of house in mind since way back when. Sheetrock and paint are much less expensive than wood walls inside. Some people can start out in a mini house and then upgrade later, then generating income by renting the mini as an Airbnb. The norm before mortgages were invented was to build a very small one- or two-room house when the family was small, designed to be added on to later. An addition was added as the family grew, and often a second addition later on, if needed.Continue reading“Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 3, by St. Funogas”
SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at the near-record snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains.
ABC television: California’s historic snowpack and the runoff’s potential impact on farmland.
“After historic snowpack levels in California, the concern now is for how fast the snow melts and the rate of runoff’s impact on farmland.”
SurvivalBlog reader C.B. sent this: Now we know how a solar storm took out a fleet of Starlinks.
Peter sent us this: Detectives release sketch for attempted kidnapper after woman is attacked at roadblock. JWR’s Comments: Be armed and vigilant folks. Generally, you should stay in your vehicle, and don’t forget that it too is potentially a weapon.
“Ever since the decline of the Arabian Empire, more than a thousand years ago, generals, sultans, and califs have attempted to unify the peoples of Arabia, and particularly of the province of Hedjaz, because it contains the two sacred Mohammedan cities. None were successful, but where they failed, Thomas Edward Lawrence, the unknown unbeliever, succeeded. It remained for this youthful British archæologist to go into forbidden Arabia and lead the Arabs through the spectacular and triumphant campaign which helped Allenby break the backbone of the Turkish Empire and destroy the Pan-German dream of world dominion. The way in which he swept the Turks from Holy Arabia and temporarily built this mosaic of peoples into a homogeneous nation, now known as the Kingdom of the Hedjaz, is a story that I should have failed to believe had I not visited Arabia and come into personal contact with Lawrence and his associates during their campaign.” – Lowell Thomas, from With Lawrence in Arabia
Today is the birthday of Baron Arisaka Nariakira (April 5, 1852 – January 12, 1915.) He was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. The inventor of the Arisaka Rifle, he is regarded as one of the leading arms designers in Japanese history, alongside Kijiro Nambu.
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On this day in 1614, Pocahontas married John Rolfe which ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.
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Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $800,000 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 105 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.
(Continued From Part 1.)
Every place I’ve ever lived had a large living room and a smaller kitchen. I made the kitchen the largest room in the house since we spend a lot of time cooking, baking, and playing board games. There’s a loft on both sides of the kitchen leaving an 18’ ceiling with a large skylights above, giving the room a much larger feeling as well as making it bright and cheery, even on cloudy days. There’s a large 4’ x 6’ picture window to enjoy the view. The cat wanted 8” wide window sills, he got 12”. When the sills are not covered with trays of tomato seedlings in the spring, he’s stretched out catching some rays and napping while he dreams about where to hunt next after he wakes up.
Solar panels were a must and my son and I installed them while Uncle Sam was still paying for 30% of the cost in the form of a tax credit. The shop was designed so the south-facing roof was at the precise angle needed for solar panels at my latitude.
The plumbing/sewage system needed to be more bomb-proof than most and built with lots of stubs for adding various plumbing projects later on. These included an outdoor shower, solar water heater, rocket-stove water heater, sink for the garden shed, Amish clothes-washing system, and my backup water system which runs off a 12VDC RV water pump. The main waste line is one long straight run with each individual item plumbed straight into it. The kitchen and bathroom sinks, the shower and toilet plumbing all have their own dedicated line to the main waste line.Continue reading“Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 2, by St. Funogas”
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.
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Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson suggested this 2011-dated CDC report: Noise and Lead Exposures at an Outdoor Firing Range. Here is a key quote from the report:
“The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce students’ or instructors’ noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.”
Mike’s Comment: Hey, liberals! We should follow the science!
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Matt Christiansen’s latest: On the Senate’s Massive Spy Bill Lindsey Graham Didn’t Even Know He Co-Sponsors — The Restrict Act.
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Bill Buppert’s recent podcast (Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast) that centers on the 1984 movie Red Dawn, is worthy of your attention.
“The brilliant John Milius helmed this production in the thick of the cold war waning with the USSR. This will be the first episode where we examine the collision between irregular warfare and popular culture.”
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Reader C.B. sent this: Dennis Quaid documentary ‘Grid Down, Power Up’ explores dangers of sudden electric grid failure.
II love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ’Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
On the 4th of April, 1291 the siege of Acre began. A 220,000-man strong Mamluk Muslim army besieged 15,000 knights of different orders — including the Teutonic, Templar, and Hospitalier. This was one of the most important battles of the Crusades. Despite being outnumbered, the knights fiercely-defended the city, meanwhile evacuating women and children. The city fell on April 18. And 10 days later the last seaside Templar tower was conquered. The surviving Christians were enslaved. This was the end of the Jerusalem crusades.
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Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
—
More than $800,000 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 106 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.
With winter ebbing and spring headed our way, some folks are probably thinking a little more frequently about getting out of the city once and for all.
Having “been there done that,” it saddens me to read comments on SurvivalBlog from people wanting to start living a simpler more self-reliant lifestyle in the country but they just can’t seem to make it happen. For some of those, I’m confident they could turn their hopes into reality if they could learn to think out of the box, rethink normalcy, toss some of their fears aside, and make some sacrifices to make it all happen. Once settled in and growing accustomed to their new lifestyle, the “sacrifices” they made will seem trivial in comparison to the lifestyle they’re now enjoying.
I hope by sharing my own story of how I was able to finally start living the dream the reader might be inspired to take a fresh look at their life and see what kinds of trade-offs they can make to achieve their goal of getting out of the city. While it’s never too early to start preparing for TEOTWAWKI, even if it never happens the joys that come from living a lifestyle in a rural area cannot compare to the way of life many are living at the present time in cities and suburbia.Continue reading“Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 1, by St. Funogas”
