Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at four inflated currencies headed for the ash heap of history. (See the Forex section.)

Precious and Base Metals:

U.S. Mint Bullion Coin Shortage Continues During Pandemic

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William Luther at the Cato Institute: Where Have All the Coins Gone?

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Interview: Gold FAQs: Prices, Privacy, Taxes, Portfolio, & Storage — Andy Schectman

Economy & Finance:

From a liberal think tank:  Chart Book: Tracking the Post-Great Recession Economy

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At Zero Hedge: The “Too Big To Fail” Banks Are Getting Ready For Their Worst Quarter Since The Financial Crisis

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At Wolf Street: Unemployment Claims Hit New Record: 32.9 Million State & Federal. Week 16 of U.S. Labor Market Collapse

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Take heart in knowing that this fight is far from over… Conditions are difficult, but we must press on. Even when defeat seems to be a foregone conclusion, it is not inescapable, and victory may actually be close at hand. Leftist Tyrants, Marxists, Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, and Agitators want you to believe that a second term for President Trump will lead to more hardship, and surely they will try to make it so — at least in the short run. But remember this… If the Left installs Biden (a Trojan horse), there will be no end to the suffering or the severity of it. Muscle through this, America. Vote in November, and vocally hold your election officials to the requirement that election results be free and fair. Stay the course. Do not waiver. Every one of us who believes in the cause of our Constitutional Republic, and everything good for which it stands, is counting on every other believer to stand up and speak, to stand up and vote.” – SurvivalBlog Reader Telesilla of Argos

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 16, 2020

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July 16th is the anniversary of the first successful atomic bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1945. This portentous event heralded the advent of the age of nuclear weapons. Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb by the Allies were established as early as 1939. In 1940 the federal government granted a total of $6,000 for research, but in early 1942, with the United States at war, the limits on spending were removed. The total cost was in excess of $2 billion. Germany was also feared to be working on a bomb as was Japan, though neither of those nations could bring the requisite resources to bear in time before their defeat. With that, the nuclear age was born.

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July 16th is the anniversary of the death of American volunteer Hugh John McCall, in Rhodesia, in 1979.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  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. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. 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)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 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!

Round 89 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.

Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 1, by The Novice

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We saw images of looting and burning everywhere. In the midst of chaos, some civic leaders promised to eliminate their police department. Other civic leaders abandoned a portion of their city to anarchists. The world seemed to be going mad.

Some people paid attention. They decided they needed to take steps to protect themselves from the madness. One of these people was my friend, “Hawkeye.” He stopped by my office one day, concerned about what he was seeing in the news. He asked, “Can you help me find a gun for home defense?”

I knew Hawkeye was from a family of gun owners and was most familiar with shotguns. So I expected that he had a shotgun in mind. But he surprised me by indicating that he was looking for a handgun. Hawkeye has three young children at home. He wanted something that he could put in a moderately sized safe and place high on a shelf. He wanted advice on what to buy and how to use it.

I told him that there is an almost infinite variety of choices. I said that all other things being equal, I would probably recommend something in 9mm because it is typically widely available and relatively inexpensive. He gave my heart joy by responding that 9mm would be good, because he wanted to be able to afford to practice a lot. Hawkeye indicated that he was looking for something in the mid to full size range, since it might be easier to control while firing than some of the smaller options.

I told him that I could set up a range day with some mutual friends. This would give him the opportunity to try a variety of different handguns. Then he would have a better sense of what might work well for him. I also said that I would try to get my hands on at least one “entry level” gun, since cost was a concern for him.

Eventually, he settled on a SIG SP2022 (pictured at the top of this article.) But in the interim, we did some shooting with several other guns–including a Rock Island Armory MAPP FS, which is described in detail in this two-part article.Continue reading“Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 1, by The Novice”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at a new Native Bee pandemic.

Boom in Camping After Months at Home

‘Everyone wants to get outside’: boom in camping as Americans escape after months at home

A Fast-Spreading Mutation of H3N2 Common Flu

Reader B.C. sent us this: Fast-spreading mutation helps common flu subtype escape immune response.

“Crunch Time” Arrives for Coronavirus

Here is confirmation about my prediction on declining Wu Flu case fatality rates: “Crunch Time” Arrives And… Was Everyone Wrong About The Coronavirus?

AR Seized from Missouri Home Defenders

Readers C.B. and A.K. both suggested this news item: Missouri couple who defended home have rifle seized during police search: report. JWR’s Comment:  So much for  “Castle Doctrine” legal protections…  A.K.’s Comment:  Not sure why it was okay for the police to seize their gun? If they can legally possess them, why should they be taken away? The wife shouldn’t have had her finger on the trigger but other than that, they were right to feel threatened. It seems to be okay for black-clad gun-armed BLM sorts to march through communities threatening them like in Stone Mountain Park and no one says anything but they take the guns from a white couple?Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Man’s cleverness is almost indefinite, and stretches like an elastic band, but human nature is like an iron ring. You can go round and round it, you can polish it highly, you can even flatten it a little on one side, whereby you will make it bulge out the other, but you will never, while the world endures and man is man, increase its total circumference.” – H. Rider Haggard

Note From JWR: We Took a Day Off

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In August we will be celebrating our 15th blogiversary.  In all of those 15 years, I’ve only missed a couple of days of posting. (That lull was just after my first wife passed away.) But generally, I have always posted seven days a week with one feature article per day, along with my regular columns, and quotes.

Once in a long while, Lily and I need to take a full day off. Tuesday was such a day. We traveled from 5 AM to 11 PM (with several stops), to pick up a large set of shelves. We also have an enjoyable afternoon picnic with some old friends. We’ve just returned to the ranch. Sorry that we didn’t have a chance to moderate comments for more than 12 hours.

Since we typically do our editing a day in advance, all that I’ll be posting today (July 15, 2020) is this note and a Quote of the Day. Sorry to disappoint you. Thanks for your patience and understanding. – JWR

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“‘Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong;
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
But the smile that is worth the praise of earth
Is the smile that comes through tears.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Worth While

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 14, 2020

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July 14th is the birthday of Colonel Einar A. Malmstrom. He was born in 1907 and died August 21, 1954 near Great Falls, Montana, in the crash of a T-33 jet. He was a decorated Air Force pilot, a Luft Stalag POW survivor, and test pilot. Malmstrom AFB was one of the settings for my novel Founders. (The base was named in his honor.)

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I just heard the news that the Washington Redskins have bowed to the Altar of Political Correctness and are soon changing their name and logo. I have a recommendation for the team’s new name:  The Washington Greenbacks. Their logo could be a Dollar symbol ($). That would be apropos since the entire District of Criminals (DC) is mainly motivated by greed.

Back On The Reservation: Implications of McGirt v. Oklahoma

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Most SurvivalBlog readers have seen news and commentary pieces like this one, inked over at the Whatfinger.com aggregation site: Supreme Court Just Gave Back Half Of Oklahoma To Native Americans, Leftist Judges Uphold 1866 Treaty.

The ramifications of the recent McGirt v. Oklahoma decision are huge. I predict that this court ruling will be a key precedent and have some far-reaching Implications. It may even open the door for the Balkanization of the United States. This case sets a key precedent. Folks living on land that was formerly part of a reservation should particularly take note. Many reservations have had their boundaries truncated, over the years–and many of those boundary line changes were made at the state and federal level in abrogation of original treaty terms.  That was the crux of the McGirt decision.

In the 21st Century it is difficult for most Americans to recollect the broad expanses of land that were once inside of tribal boundaries. Most of these lands were expropriated more than a century ago, long before most of us were born. Here is just one example: The Nez Perce Tribe’s original and later tribal reservation boundaries. If subsequent court cases that rely on the McGirt case as a precedent side with the tribes, then a lot of land area may end up back inside of new, much larger reservation boundaries. Here a link to a zoomable map to study. It was drawn circa 1892. (This map is also shown in low resolution at the top of this article.)

Take a close look at the zoomable map that Tim Pool referenced. That map shows not just reservation boundaries but also “traditional” tribal land areas–some of which overlap. With those boundaries in mind, the McGirt ruling could have ramifications in just about every state in the Union except for within the original 13 colony states. As western expansion continued, America’s aboriginal tribes were progressively pushed “out of sight, and out of mind.” The Trail of Tears experience–with forced relocation of tribes to Oklahoma and then the subsequent Cherokee Strip land rush debacle–are black marks on American history. And the case might even have a secondary effect in places where no treaty was ever in force, but where “traditional tribal lands” have been identified. For example in Florida, the Seminole tribe refused to enter into a treaty with the United States government. If the courts are sympathetic, then they might be seen as holding antecedent rights not protected by a treaty, but rights, nonetheless.Continue reading“Back On The Reservation: Implications of McGirt v. Oklahoma”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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: A plan to sell $30 “in advance’ tickets for entrance to the still partly-closed Glacier National Park.  (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Massive boulders fall, extending Highway 95 closure in Central Idaho

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Reader Cathy N. sent this: Gov. Little pushes for in-person instruction in Idaho schools this fall. Cathy’s comment: “Does it not seem that the feds and state governors are getting quite worried about getting kids back to school? They must have figured out that parents have woken up and realized that they can do the teaching themselves.”

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Why Idaho Hasn’t Stopped Shaking Since March 31. (Thanks to W.W. for the link.)

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I have a 1913 bond certificate that I keep around for perspective. The bond was issued by the Government of the Chinese Republic: the 5 percent gold loan of 1913 for the Lung-Tsing-U-Hai Railway. The financing was remarkably international for the day. The bond certificate is printed in both French and English. The loan is denominated in British pound sterling. And the bonds were issued in Brussels.

I purchased the bond certificate complete with some associated coupons, payable every six months on January 1 and July 1, from January 1943 to January 1961. No one had ever tried to collect these coupons, because there was no point to the attempt. The loan had been rescheduled to 1/2 percent in 1936, with interest payments rising gradually to 4 percent in 1941 and thereafter. But then the war intervened, and payments ceased altogether. And there was a revolution in China. And somewhere, some small investor who had expectations of an easy life of clipping coupons until the Year 1961 was forced to abandon his vision and return to the drawing boards.

Foreigners who put their faith in China are apt to be disappointed.” – J. Orlin Grabbe

Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 13, 2020

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It has been reported (but not yet confirmed) that Ol’ Remus, the Editor of the weekly Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report passed away just a few months after the death of his wife. A terse comment at American Digest stated: “Remus passed away on July 8th. He was diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks prior.” Again, this has not been confirmed, but if it is true then we’ve suffered the loss of a great man. His wit and wisdom were legendary. Our condolences to his family.

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On this day in 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance structuring settlement of the Northwest Territory and creating a policy for the addition of new states to the nation. The members of Congress knew that if their new confederation were to survive intact, it had to resolve the states’ competing claims to western territory.

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Today we present another product review by our faithful Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Compact Survival Radios, by Pat Cascio

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Today, I’m describing some of my experiences with compact survival radios: Both the good and the useless.

To start, I should mention that I don’t have a landline home phone any longer – just a phone line for my Internet service. I’m fine with that, because 95% of the calls I got on my home phone were people trying to scam me or sell me something. So, I don’t miss a hone phone line. When I was 25-years old, I lived for the phone, because l was dating three girls – all named Cindy. (True!)

My wife and I both have cell phones, and to tell you the truth, I could live without mine. Once again, lots of calls from telemarketers, and people trying to sell me something – so I can live without the cell phone, if I don’t know who’s calling me, I don’t answer it any longer – if it is important, the caller will leave a voice mail for me.

Our big screen television is on several hours a day, but it is in the living room, not my office. I have it on for some background noise, other than my German Shepherds barking when the UPS driver goes by, or when a driveway alert goes off. I rarely watch (or listen) the mainstream “news” on the television – they all read from the same script these days. In my pickup truck, I have a stationed that plays a lot of “Oldies” music – from the mid-1960s onward. Personally, I believe the best music ever was from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, but that’s just me and my generation. We have two Christian radio stations in our area, and I tune into them once in a while, but their playlist is very limited – get tired of hearing the same 40 or 50 songs all the time.

Communications are important if you are a Prepper – you need to know what is going on in the world, in your state and your community. Of course, we can get some second-hand information from our friends on the cell phone – but it is usually unreliable or exaggerated when we hear it. So, I tune in to the radio, or the Internet for the real news. Communications come in several forms, for most people it is the cell phone, however we really need to have radios to stay on top of the news.Continue reading“Compact Survival Radios, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Apple Brown Betty

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The following Apple Brown Betty recipe is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the bonus items in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. That 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021.

Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 pint bread crumbs from center of loaf
  • 1 pint sliced apples
  • 1/2 cup fruit juice or water
  • 1/2 cup sugar or molasses
  • Juice and grated rind of a lemon or orange
Directions
  1. Arrange alternate layers of buttered bread crumbs and thinly sliced apples in a pudding-dish
  2. Sprinkle with sugar and a little cinnamon or other spices.
  3. Finish with crumbs
  4. Pour mixed molasses and water or fruit-juice over all.
  5. Cover and bake for one-half hour
  6. Remove the cover and bake for another 45 minutes.
Variations

Stewed peaches, apricots, or rhubarb make a good substitute for the apples in this pudding.

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Do you have a favorite 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 and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!