“I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.” – H. L. Mencken
“I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.” – H. L. Mencken
“Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.
There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” – Psalm 72 (KJV)
On May 24th, 1775, John Hancock was elected president of the Second Continental Congress. He is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he jested the British king “could read without his spectacles.”
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Today we present another entry for Round 82 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
Round 82 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. This part concludes the article.)
I like flea markets, since it is like attending a hundred yard sales without spending all day driving from one end of the county to the next. I find that flea markets have basically three types of vendors. One type is the seasonal vendor who is there each week, often in the same spot. These folks are dealers and I find that their prices are higher, they don’t haggle as much, and each week it is just about the same inventory as last week. At the flea market I go to, these dealers are mostly up front towards the entrance and at the end of rows. Some however, they are also in the last row. Why is this important? When I go to this flea market, I skip the known dealer areas at the beginning since I am familiar with their inventory and I know I won’t get the “Best” deals from them. Instead, I skip to where the non-regular sellers are at.
The second type of vendor is a dealer but doesn’t always attend one particular flea market. Like the regular vendors, their prices can be higher and they may not haggle as much but their inventory may be new to you if you have never seen them before.
The last type of vendor is my favorite, they are the “I just want to get rid of this stuff” vendors. They might be looking to down size, make room in their home, or even be getting rid of a deceased family members property. Profit isn’t their main motivator. Not wanting to pack stuff up at the end of the day is their main goal. That isn’t to say these vendors will give their stuff away but they will haggle and their prices will be very reasonable for the most part. This last type of vendor is who you should go to first.
A few other tips and tricks about flea markets, those vendors that are there every week well guess what? As Ma and Pa “I want to get rid of this stuff” are setting up, those regular vendors, who are dealers, will swoop in like buzzards looking to cherry pick their wares. Then the seasonal dealer will walk back up to their table and put a new tag on the item with double the price on it. How can you level the playing field? Well ,our flea market charges 50 cents per person for admission. Dealers typically pay $5 for a space. Pay the $5 and enter with the dealers. Park your vehicle and start to walk around as others are setting up. When you are done looking, set up and sell your surplus goods to put back into prepping.Continue reading“Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 2, by 3ADScout”
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. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in antique swords and sabers. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
News from Canada: June 1, The Hunt Is On For $100K In Gold And Silver. JWR’s Comment: This is a wild golden goose chase, but at least it beats Pokemon Go.
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Gary Christenson: None Dare Call It Nonsense. Here is an excerpt from his essay:
“The Big Picture:
H.L. sent us this at Wolf Street: US Home Sales Drop, Drop, Drop Despite Lower Mortgage Rates. But Mortgage Applications Jump. What Gives?
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St. Louis Fed Promotes Still More Free Money For Banks (And Hiding It All)
“Democracy: The state of affairs in which you consent to having your pocket picked, and elect the best man to do it.” – Benjamin Lichtenberg
On May 23rd, 1934 Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed by police and two deputized former Texas Rangers near Gibbsland, Louisiana. This ambush and the events in the months leading up to it were dramatized in the recent Netflix movie, The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner.
May 23rd is also the birthday of George Lars Kellgren (born 1943 in Borås, Sweden), the founder and chief engineer of Kel-Tec. According to LeftistAgendaPedia: “He designed many firearms earlier for Husqvarna and Swedish Interdynamics AB in Sweden. He moved to the US in 1979 and his original US designs were for Intratec and Grendel brand firearms. He founded Kel-Tec in 1991.”
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Today we present another entry for Round 82 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
Round 82 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.
I’ll start by saying that most of the Prepper resources in your community will probably not be advertised or presented as Prepper or Survival resources. That isn’t to say that none will be advertised as for Preppers and Survivalist. We need to be aware that many resources that are in our community, that are Prepper or Survival related, may appeal to many people outside the Prepper or Survivalist Community. The good news in this is, that since these resources are of interest to the “mainstream,” your use of them doesn’t automatically identify you as a Prepper or Survivalist.
Community Prepper resources are classes, courses, lectures, places, and or events that provide Preppers with knowledge, skills, equipment or supplies. Some of these community resources will be very obvious but others may not. I will use the many years of working and living in my community to demonstrate various resources that you might find in yours. The Community that I live in has a county population of about 300,000 residents with about equal urban, suburban, and rural land use. What is available to you will be influenced by where you live, Urban or rural as well as other factors.
Grocery stores are obviously a community Prepper resource. But grocery stores are not the only place where you can purchase food for storage. Farmer’s markets are a great place to purchase fresh locally grown produce for canning, dehydrating or freeze drying.Continue reading“Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 1, by 3ADScout”
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”. Today, we look at preparedness and large families.
The ongoing churlish decline of American television culture has reached a new low. Consider, if you will: The New TWILIGHT ZONE Has A Swearing Problem. (Warning: In describing the show’s foul language problem, author Scott Wampler uses foul language.)
Here is some documentation for whet we’ve recognized anecdotally, for many years, over at Ammo.com: Prescription For Violence: The Corresponding Rise of Antidepressants, SSRIs & Mass Shootings
“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.” – Thomas Jefferson
May 22, 1859 was the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later.
After medical school, Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. Holmes enabled Doyle to leave his medical practice in 1891 and devote himself to writing, but the author soon grew weary of his creation. In The Final Problem, he killed off both Holmes and his nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, only to resuscitate Holmes later due to popular demand. In 1902, Doyle was knighted for his work with a field hospital in South Africa. In addition to dozens of Sherlock Holmes stories and several novels, Doyle wrote history, pursued whaling, and engaged in many adventures and athletic endeavors. He died in 1930.
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Today we present another entry for Round 82 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
Round 82 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.
What figure looms larger in the prepper imagination that the rugged mountain man? Let’s examine the contents of their packs and saddle bags for our own purposes and to inspire all of us to get back to basics. In the romanticized image, the mountain man is the ultimate minimalist, with nothing but his rifle and tomahawk, but this isn’t entirely correct, as mountain men would have had quite a bit more in their kit, especially at the base camps they operated from. We’ll find that their kits remains relevant today, even with technological advances.
Rifle and pistol – What could be more iconic than the mountain man grasping his Hawken muzzzleloading rifle? Of course the rifle was the mountain man’s most treasured possession, as it fed him, defended him, and earned him money. In addition to his rifle and a pistol, he would have carried lead, a cast for bullets, powder, and other necessities for shooting. Romance aside, this is one part of the mountain man’s kit that isn’t directly relevant to the modern mountain man. While a .30-06 with black plastic furniture will never be as beautiful as a Hawken with walnut furniture and brass hardware, I’d prefer the former for getting meat. Continue reading“Mountain Man EDC, by S.J.”
Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on green Pelican cases. (See the Gear & Grub section.)
Unfreedom of the Press, by Mark Levin. This much-anticipated book was just released yesterday (May 21st), and it is solidly ranked #1, overall on Amazon.com! (But don’t expect to see that news mentioned in the mainstream press…)
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Reader Monica X. suggested the book No Mercy: True Stories of Disaster, Survival and Brutality, by Eleanor Learmonth.
50 States, 5,000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do
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Gunsmithing the AR-15, The Bench Manual
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The Gun Digest Book of the Remington 870
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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. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in Valmet rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Allen Sykora: Sentiment Upbeat On Palladium, Less Dubious Of Platinum: UBS
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“I’m Not a Gold Bug – You’re a Dollar Bug!”
At Zero Hedge: Is It Time To Start Worrying About China’s Debt Default Avalanche?
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Blog reader H.L. spotted this: America’s largest cities drowning in debt, with Chicago leading the way, study finds. The Fox News piece by Frank Miles begins:
“America’s 10 largest cities, largely Democrat strongholds, are drowning in municipal debt, according to a new report from government watchdog Truth in Accounting.
The report sought out “to determine what … overlapping financial entities mean for taxpayers’ bottom line.” Truth in Accounting said its purpose was to “calculate the various bills (and surpluses, when available) at the city government level and divide them out to determine a per-Taxpayer Burden.”
The two cities with the highest burden: Chicago and New York City; Chicago’s combined taxpayer burden: $119,110; New York City’s combined taxpayer burden: $85,600.”
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Deutsche Bank Death Spiral Hits Historic Low. European Banks Get Re-Hammered
“It is interesting to hear certain kinds of people insist that the citizen cannot fight the government. This would have been news to the men of Lexington and Concord, as well as the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The citizen most certainly can fight the government, and usually wins when he tries. Organized national armies are useful primarily for fighting against other organized national armies. When they try to fight against the people, they find themselves at a very serious disadvantage. If you will just look around at the state of the world today, you will see that the guerillero has the upper hand. Irregulars usually defeat regulars, providing they have the will. Such fighting is horrible to contemplate, but will continue to dominate brute strength.” – Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006