The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The inexorable growth of the national debt has become The Great Unspeakable Truth. This quandary is a l’empereur sans-cullotes situation. It took 200 years for the U.S. government to accumulate a one trillion dollar national debt. But now we have a $34.9 trillion debt and are adding another $1 trillion in new debt every 100 days.  Repaying that debt is nearly impossible without the destruction of the Dollar as a currency unit. To say that our legislators are spending like drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors.  At least those sailors spend money that they’ve actually earned. The congresscritters are spending money that doesn’t even exist.” –  James Wesley, Rawles

Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 22, 2024

On July 22, 1893, the poet Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics to “America the Beautiful”.  Inspired by the scenery of Colorado, Bates wrote the words as a poem, originally titled “Pikes Peak“. It was first published in the Fourth of July 1895 edition of the church periodical, The Congregationalist. At that time, the poem was titled “America”.   The music was earlier composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met. The combination of Ward’s melody and Bates’s poem was first entitled “America the Beautiful” in 1910.  The photo above was taken by Don Graham.

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On July 22, 1918, lightning killed 504 sheep in Utah’s Wasatch National Park.

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July 22: 1926: A temperature of 108°F (42°C) was recorded in Troy, New York. This set a state record.

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Today’s feature article was written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christainason.

Ruger American Rifle Generation II in 6.5 Creedmoor, by Thomas Christianson

The Ruger American Rifle Generation II in 6.5 Creemoor is highly accurate and light, with an easily gripped and highly adjustable stock. The 20 inch spiral fluted barrel is visually striking, the bolt cycles smoothly, and the 3 position tang safety is easy to operate and intuitive. At 6.5 pounds, the rifle would be easier to carry than most on a long day in the field.

With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $729 at the time of this writing, and widely available for less, the rifle offers an excellent value for the money. If you are looking for a good bolt action rifle for hunting medium sized game, I recommend that you seriously consider this one.Continue reading“Ruger American Rifle Generation II in 6.5 Creedmoor, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:  Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Wheat Germ Muffins

The following recipe for Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Wheat Germ Muffins is from SurvivalBlog reader J.M.W.

Ingredients
  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (such as King Arthur)
  • 1 ¼ cup wheat germ (such as Kretschmer’s)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (necessary!)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

MIX TOGETHER THOROUGHLY, THEN ADD:

8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
12 ounces lean raw bacon, cooked crisp,
cut into ½ inch pieces
OPTIONAL: 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

WET INGREDIENTS
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ½ cups milk, or buttermilk, or yogurt
  • 1 stick soft butter, not melted

MIX ALL WET INGREDIENTS, THEN MIX ALL WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS TOGETHER.

The resulting batter will be thick, lumpy, and heavy.

Baking Directions
  1. Spray or grease 12 large muffin cups.
  2. Add ½ cup of muffin mix to each cup.
  3. Bake for about 20 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center of a muffin; if the toothpick is clean, then they are done.
  4. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes, remove from muffin cups, and let them finish cooling. Put a clean dishtowel over them so that they don’t dry out.
Chef’s Notes

This recipe provides a hearty grab-and-go breakfast. It is extremely high in protein, moderate in carbs, high in vitamins and minerals, and very filling. The muffins are substantial, with a light texture. Two or three make a meal.

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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!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map showing the Frontier Counties of the United States. To qualify as “frontier”, a county must have six or fewer people, per square mile.

(Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

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Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 21, 2024

On July  21, 1853, Central Park in New York created when the New York State Legislature set aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island.

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July 21st is also the birthday of Ernest Hemingway. He was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He committed suicide on July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, after being diagnosed with haemochromatosis, and after electroshock treatments failed to lift him from chronic alcoholic depression. He lived a sad life but was a great writer.

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We are in need of a few more entries for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

Round 113 ends on July 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.

2024 Political Shockwaves: Election Year Turmoil

With each successive election cycle in the 21st Century, Americans seem to be growing more divided and more strident. This political divisiveness has spilled over into popular culture, movies, and even rifts in some religious denominations. College and university campuses have become flashpoints for large protests. Policing and prosecutions at the federal level – and in some coastal states – have become overtly politicized and weaponized.  Each passing year, there is less and less “common ground.”  People seem to have been grouped into diametrically opposed camps. And, as I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, a geographic self-sorting is also underway, and accelerating.

In the 2020s, we have witnessed enormous government overreaction to a pandemic, with overreaching draconian measures enacted. These included masking mandates, enforced isolation for extended periods, the destruction of hundreds of thousands of small businesses, forced vaccinations of military servicemembers and heathcare workers, and coerced vaccinations in the public sector. Meanwhile, there were huge riots that burned many businesses to the ground and inflicted countless millions of dollars of damage to public and private infrastructure. And since then, we have seen “woke” politics and transgenderism run amok. Simultaneously, our southern border was intentionally flung open by the Bidenistas, triggering the largest rush of illegal immigration in the nation’s history. All of these had political gains in mind, or at least political implications. I suspect that all of these were seen by The Powers That Be as tests of the citizenry to gauge the limits of our tolerance and our submissiveness. Sadly, as a nation, we failed those tests. The majority of the citizenry was cajoled into taking a not fully tested genocidal “vaccine” that was actually a genetic programming tool that is even today incrementally destroying the immune systems of those who took “the jab.”Continue reading“2024 Political Shockwaves: Election Year Turmoil”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Getting Just a Graze Was a Miracle

He Must Have Invested in Miracle Ear Stock

News Link:

Trump adviser: It’s ‘miraculous’ former president turned his head ‘at the right moment to avoid the bullet’


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, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” – John 1:25-37 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — July 20, 2024

On July 20th, 1969, At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.

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Today is the birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title.

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On July 20, 1793, Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie completed the first European east-to-west crossing of America north of Mexico.

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July 20, 1868: The first use of tax stamps on cigarettes.

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Today’s feature article was written by  SurvivalBlog staffer Tom Christainason.

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We are in great need of articles for the last two weeks of Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 113 ends on July 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.

Rossi Survival Rifle in .45 Colt/.410 Gauge, by Thomas Christianson

Packing considerably more punch than the typical .22LR survival rifle, the Rossi Survival Rifle in .45 Colt/.410 Gauge is light, compact, rugged, and easy to use. It would be an excellent tool for taking medium-sized game out to about 75 yards or so. Beyond that range, the trajectory of the bullet from a .45 Colt cartridge begins to exhibit its bow-shaped arc, making accurate shooting more difficult.

With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $356.99 at the time of this writing at www.rossiusa.com, the rifle would make an excellent addition to the survival kit of a plane, boat, truck or other vehicle that spends a lot of time in the backcountry.Continue reading“Rossi Survival Rifle in .45 Colt/.410 Gauge, by Thomas Christianson”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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!

Jim Reports:

I got all of this year’s wood cut and hauled it to the vicinity of our woodshed’s “dance floor”. Most of it was Red Fir and Western Larch (a.k.a. locally as “tamarack”) in 5-foot lengths. All that I need to do now is some crosscutting to stove-length, and some splitting. Because I mainly cut discarded tree tops from a recent  USFS timber sale, only about 20% of the rounds will need to be split.

I added several antique guns to the Elk Creek Company online store. One of them is a quite nice and very scarce Charles Playfair & Company (of Aberdeen, Scotland) 12 Gauge Ejector Shotgun made in 1896. It went back to the factory in 1970 for a new set of nitro-proofed fluid steel barrels with 2-3/4″ chambers. So now it is the best of both worlds: A federally-exempt antique gun, but safe to shoot modern 2-3/4″ shotgun shells.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.” – Isaiah 10:1-21 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 19, 2024

On July 19, 1843, the steamship SS Great Britain was launched, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was the first ocean-going craft to feature an iron hull and a screw propeller. At the time, it was the largest vessel afloat in the world.

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July 19th is coincidentally the birthday of handgun designers Samuel Colt (born 1814) and Gaston Glock. (Glock was born in 1929 and passed away in December, 2023.)

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I just got some sad news: Lou Dobbs has passed away. My condolences to his family.

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We are in need of entries to round out Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 113 ends on July 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.