Expatriating to the Philippines: 12 Years to Reflect, by M.B.

Twelve years ago, I moved to the Philippines to escape U.S. economic pressures—tax hikes, healthcare mandates, and a struggling economy. Now, with over a decade of experience, I’ve gained a perspective on life here. This guide, refined for aspiring expats, covers natural disasters, construction, security, education, a unique location in Subic, and critical considerations for accessing specialized services like medical care.

The Climate and Agriculture

The Philippines offers a year-round growing season, but gardening is tough. Red clay soil demands effort, and ants and weeds are relentless. The dry season—hot and arid—requires irrigation or hydroponics. Fresh produce prices spike during dry and wet seasons, especially outside hubs like Angeles City. Most food comes from valleys north of Manila, so remote areas face higher costs and less fresh goods.

Food and Markets

Beef is expensive, often limited to low-quality imported cuts. Pork, while cheaper, has doubled in price over 12 years. Fish is a luxury unless you’re in a fishing village; city fish suffers from middlemen markups and poor refrigeration. Wet markets, the main source for fresh goods, are often unhygienic, with odors of decaying meat. Exceptions exist, but cleaning standards like bleach or pressure washing are rare. I buy only dry goods or thoroughly cooked items, avoiding raw meat.Continue reading“Expatriating to the Philippines: 12 Years to Reflect, by M.B.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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 more A.I. fakery. (Pictured above is a still from the 1970 predictive sci-fi movie Colossus: The Forbin Project.)

More A.I.-Generated Fakes!

You’ve surely already heard that we do not allow any A.I.-generated articles in SurvivalBlog. This week, I received yet another article submitted for the blog’s writing contest that had many telltale signs:  There were zero typographical, grammatical, or phrasing errors.  There were no first-person mentions. There were no dropped words, no misused words, and no homophone errors. All of the paragraphs were of uniform length. There were no personal writing or formatting quirks, and there was nothing to indicate any sort of personal writing style. Real humans just don’t write that way. It all looked too slick, stylistically uniform, and “A.I. Vanilla”-sounding to be believable as something that had been personally written. And, furthermore, I’d never before heard from that alleged writer.  Spare me the A.I.-generated Bravo Sierra!  Getting these fake submissions makes me feel violated, as an editor.  I also want to say that I really appreciate the genuine readers of SurvivalBlog, who write so many great and genuine articles! – JWR

Justice for Victims of Explicit Deepfakes

And speaking of A.I.: Victims of explicit deepfakes will now be able to take legal action against people who create them.

Fake AI Tools Used to Spread Noodlophile Malware

Fake AI Tools Used to Spread Noodlophile Malware, Targeting 62,000+ via Facebook Lures.
Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Man…
Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law—
Though Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shrieked against his creed.” – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) ‘In Memoriam A. H. H.’ (1850) canto 56

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 21, 2025

 

An important and time-sensitive legislative update:  Please contact your congresscritters TODAY and encourage them to pass both the HPA (removing suppressors from the NFA) and the SHORT Act (legalizing short-barreled rifles and shotguns), as part of the pending Federal budget reconcilliation. Thanks! –  JWR

—

On May 21, 1799, Napoleon and his forces abandoned their siege of Acre, after two months. This was a turning point in the French invasion of Egypt and Syria.  The city of Acre is now known as Akko, Israel.

—

May 21, 1819: The first bicycles (“swift walkers”) in the US were introduced in New York City.

—

On May 21, 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, landed in Paris after the first solo air crossing of the Atlantic. Soon after landing, a large portion of the plane’s fabric covering was sliced with pen knives and stolen by French souvenir-seekers.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 $2,000.
  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 Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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 TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  4. 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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 3Vgear.com is providing an ultimate bug-out bag bundle that includes their 3-day Paratus Bag, a Posse EDC Sling Pack, and a Velox II Tactical Backpack. This prize package has a $289 retail value.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Prepping: Things That I Got Right – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Our first home had a gas forced air furnace and a wood fire place. I had a natural gas ventless heater installed in our basement. A few days after our daughter was born, we had another major storm and power outage. With a two year old and a new born we decided to bug out to her dad’s house until our power came back on. Before we left, I turned the ventless heater on low and left the basement door cracked open. When our power came back on just shy of 72 hours later, our house was still 55 degrees in the dead of winter.Continue reading“Prepping: Things That I Got Right – Part 2, by 3AD Scout”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our 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 R.D. sent us this: “I started collecting them and already have over 650”: a user has been powering his home with laptop batteries since 2016. JWR’s Comment: The charging method pictured in the article has “lithium battery charging thermal runaway fire” written all over it.  (Pictured above is a lithium battery fire in Moss Landing, California.)

o  o  o

I heard that Stanley Ridgley — one of my old active duty Intelligence Corps pals — has published two timely books: Brutal Minds: The Dark World of Left-Wing Brainwashing in Our Universities (in 2023) and DEI Exposed: How the Biggest Con of the Century Almost Toppled Higher Education (in March, 2025). Stan’s first hitch in the Army was as a 98G linguist NCO. He spent five years stationed in West Berlin (which was then encircled by communist East Germany), and in West Germany on the Czech border. When I met Stan, in 1985, it was soon after he’d graduated from OCS. He eventually earned his Ph.D., and most recently, he has been a professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Dans les champs de l’observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits prèparès.” (Translated: Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind.) – Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) From an address given on the inauguration of the Faculty of Science, University of Lille, December 7, 1854

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 20, 2025

On May 20, 1736: Royal Approval was given by King George II to construct the original Westminster Bridge across the River Thames, in London. The 1747 painting above (titled “Westminster Bridge, with the Lord Mayor’s Procession on the Thames“) was by the Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (aka Canaletto.)

—

May 20, 1774: The British parliament passed the second of the Intolerable Acts: the Massachusetts Government Act. This gave the British-appointed governor wide-ranging powers.

—

May 20th, 1942  was the birthday of Carlos Hathcock (died February 23, 1999). He was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 $2,000.
  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 Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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 TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  4. 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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 3Vgear.com is providing an ultimate bug-out bag bundle that includes their 3-day Paratus Bag, a Posse EDC Sling Pack, and a Velox II Tactical Backpack. This prize package has a $289 retail value.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Prepping: Things That I Got Right – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

In a recent SurvBut ivalblog article, I shared with readers the things that I wish I could re-do in my preparedness journey. It only seemed logical that I also share some things that I got right in that journey as well.

Starting the journey

Number one has to be that I started the journey into preparedness. Many people write about preparedness being a lifestyle but I think it starts with a particular mindset. I can tell you the event that started me on my journey. It was one Spring in the early 80’s when I got home from middle school and the television and radios all started to blare tornado warnings. I had no idea what to do. I stopped and listed to what one of the television weather meteorologists was saying about where to take shelter. It dawned on me at that time that my parents had bought a faulty house that did not provide good protection against tornadoes. The feeling of knowing that I was not very well protected gnawed at me, and I hated the feeling of being vulnerable. Continue reading“Prepping: Things That I Got Right – Part 1, by 3AD Scout”

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 located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, news about some horn-hunting National Guardsmen.  (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Teen cited for reckless driving after popping wheelie on electric dirt bike in traffic.

o  o  o

Bryan Kohberger back in court for pre-trial hearing, trial begins in August.

o  o  o

Security guards plead not guilty to battery in north Idaho town hall incident.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It cannot but happen…that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in
equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces…This survival of the fittest implies
multiplication of the fittest.” – Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), from Principles of Biology (1865)

Preparedness Notes for Monday — May 19, 2025

Tom Christianson sent this important update: Smithsonian posted this report: Sun Launches Its Strongest Solar Flare of the Year So Far, Causing Radio Blackouts Around the World. (The May 18, 2025 photo above is courtesy of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA / SDO.)

—

On May 19th, 1515, George, Duke of Saxony sold Friesland for 100,000 gold guilders to Charles of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. He was later named Emperor Charles V.

—

On May 19, 1796, the first game law was approved in the United States. The law created penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian Territory. It bears mention that modern American fish and game laws make “living off the land” nearly impossible, at least outside of Alaska.

—

Today’s feature piece is a review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

—

We still need some entries for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

KA-BAR Dozier KA4065, by Thomas Christianson

With a price of only $20 at the time of this writing at the Dozier Knives website, the KA-BAR Dozier KA4065 Folding Knife is the best value for an everyday carry (EDC) knife that I know about today.

The knife has a three-inch hollow ground blade made of AUS 8A stainless steel that is 0.11 inches thick. The blade can be deployed with one hand ambidextrously by using a thumb notch. A lockback latches the open blade securely in place. The unlined Zytel handle provides an excellent grip surface. It is light and thin and easy to carry.

The knife was designed by Bob Dozier, and manufactured in Taiwan (Free China.)

If you need a good EDC knife but are short on cash, this is the one to buy.Continue reading“KA-BAR Dozier KA4065, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Raspberry Streuseled Muffins

The following recipe for raspberry streuseled muffins is from SurvivalBlog reader V.F.. She writes:

“With raspberry season coming up, I thought that I’d share this recipe that was e-mailed to me by a good friend, two years ago. I have successfully doubled this recipe with no problems.”

Ingredients
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Slightly heaped 1/2 cup measure of granulated sugar
  • 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • Half a medium lemon
  • 1 large egg
  • 2/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries (will measure from 1-2/3 to 1-3/4 cups.)
Directions for the Streusel

In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, pinch of salt, and 1 cup of the flour until it forms a clumpy mixture. Next, scoop out 1/4 cup and set it aside in a small bowl, since this will be your streusel topping.

Directions for the Batter

Finely grate the zest of your lemon half into the large bowl with the remaining streusel in it, then juice the lemon half over it too. Add the yogurt and egg and whisk to combine as smoothly as you can, but if the batter doesn’t fully even out, don’t worry. Sprinkle the surface of the batter with baking powder, baking soda, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and whisk to thoroughly combine, going several times more around the bowl than would usually seem necessary. Add the remaining 2/3 cup of flour and all of the berries and stir gently, just until the flour disappears.

Heat your oven to 375° F.

NOtes on Prepping your Muffin Tin

Very lightly coat the top surface of your muffin tin with nonstick spray or swipe it with butter. This ensures any muffin spillover releases easily. Line 6 cups with parchment muffin liners. If you’re using a 12-cup pan, space them out and pour about 1 tablespoon of water in each empty cup, which will keep the empty pockets from burning.

Pouring And Baking

Divide batter between six prepared muffin cups; go ahead and heap it as much as is needed. Divide reserved streusel between muffin tops and use your fingers to push any that lands on the muffin tin back to a nearby muffin.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted from the top to the center of the muffin comes out batter-free. Let them cool completely in the pan.

STORAGE

These store quite well, either in their baking pan or on a plate, uncovered. (If you cover them, then they will get mushy tops.)

—

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: A map showing forest cover density across the continental U.S.. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

—

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