The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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 plunging photovoltaic power prices, even in the midst of inflation.

The Cost Of Solar Power Has Fallen Quickly

First up, at CleanTechica.com: Just The Facts: The Cost Of Solar Has Fallen More Quickly Than Experts Predicted. Here is a quote:

“The price of residential solar, for example, was at $2.65/W in the first quarter of 2021, down from $7.53/W in 2010; utility-scale solar was $0.89/W compared to $5.66/W a decade ago.

Those plunges were driven in large part by higher module efficiency and lower module cost. The price of different module technologies — including crystalline-silicone, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium diselenide — are forecast to lessen in the coming years with more efficient manufacturing.”

How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in 2022?

This summary article was recently posted over at MarketWatch: How much do solar panels cost in 2022?

Why the Ozarks is Mecca for Doomsday Preppers

This article that dates back to 2018 is some quite useful reading: Why the Ozarks is Mecca for Doomsday Preppers.

In Remote Alaska, Meal Planning Is Everything

Linked over at the great Notes From The Bunker blog: In Remote Alaska, Meal Planning Is Everything.

The Terminal List: Series Review

GunMag Warehouse posted this review: The Terminal List — Series Review (With Guns!) Here is an excerpt:

“The show has a fairly simple plot. After a series of tragic events, James Reece seeks justice while dealing with a mixture of his own personal demons and a potentially terminal ailment. The terminal list is his list of people who deserve to die. The book hits the general plot points, but there is a fairly large departure from the books in some ways.

Certain subplots and characters are dropped. It is more of a thriller and conspiracy flick than an action novel, though, there is plenty of action. A lot of events occur a bit differently in the show than they do in the movie, and some characters are also changed fairly substantially.

At the same time, there are scenes taken directly from the book. The one that stands out the most is Reece using his Echols Legend rifle to snipe the driver of a moving vehicle on a country road. The scene plays out exactly how I pictured it in my head when I read the novel.

One thing I appreciated is that show kept things nice and trim. It’s not overly long and convoluted. Streaming seems to be getting better about telling a concise story. The eight episodes hardly waste any time moving from plot point to plot point.”

He Built a Home to Survive a Civil War

Reader Kim L. suggested this piece from The New York Times: He Built a Home to Survive a Civil War. Tragedy Found Him Anyway. Here is a quote:

“After Sept. 11, 2001, former Kentucky state Rep. Clinton Wesley Morgan was so shook that he spent $2 million to build a mansion in Richmond, Kentucky, with a 2,000 square foot fallout shelter 26 feet underground.”

Mark Dice: He Tried To Warn Everyone

In a 9-minute video, Mark Dice breaks down the full implications of the past four years of big tech censorship, starting with Alex Jones and extrapolating the planned end game of the censors: He Tried To Warn Everyone.

Lessons From the Spanish Civil War

I received an e-mail from a reader, asking me why I bring up the history of the Spanish Civil War, so often. I do so because it is a fairly recent example of a modern western nation with a fairly cohesive and homogeneous society that broke down on factional lines — first with words, and eventually in open warfare.  This war, from 1936 to 1939, was mostly over ultra-polarized political differences. Take note that I don’t gravitate to either side in that war, because in essence, they were both bad sides. Thus, there could be no good outcome. This was an internecine affray primarily between fascists and communists — both were strident totalitarians, just of different stripes. There were no “good guys” in leadership although one army had a lot of well-intentioned but naive volunteers from free nations arriving to join their ranks. We are witnessing the same sort of naiveté today, with foreigners volunteering in fairly large numbers, in Ukraine. Another similarity is that the Spanish Civil War and the war in Ukraine are both examples of proxy wars of larger, more prosperous nations. For that matter, so is the ongoing war in Syria.

Aspirin Alters Colorectal Cancer Evolution

Reader C.B. found us this article: Researchers find that aspirin alters colorectal cancer evolution.

ATF Agents Demand a Law-Abiding Homeowner Play Show and Tell

And lastly, reader D.S.V. sent this troubling news story by Todd Starnes, with an accompanying doorbell camera video: ATF Agents Demand Law-Abiding Homeowner Show His Guns. Here is a pericope:

“The older ATF agent told him they were assigned to a task force investigating straw purchases. A straw purchase – a federal felony – occurs when someone buys a firearm on behalf of another person, who is unable to legally purchase a firearm themselves,” the website reported. “The agent said they were verifying that people who bought multiple firearms still had the guns in their possession. The homeowner had bought seven firearms since January 2022.”

The men acknowledged they did not have a search warrant.

Meanwhile, the homeowner recorded the entire encounter on his doorbell camera.

You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Thanks!