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Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website. You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day. These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]Cool video here about what purports to be an F-16 dropping munitions on an MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System). Personally, I have no clue what an F-16 cockpit looks like. He could be flying a Beechcraft for all I know.
Still, it's cool video and that MLRS site ain't a threat anymore.
The English language has evolved for basically as long as there has been English. A great book on this subject is Robin MacNeil (and company) in The Story Of English (highly recommended if you are a history nerd like me).
Well, via a link from someone I've forgotten (sorry! Midwest Chick? A Large Regular?) there is a fabulous demonstration of this where the writer starts in the present and where each paragraph goes backwards in time 100 years. I started getting lost around 1200 AD, and I've messed around casually with Old English before. I would catch the odd word before 1200 but the overall gist was a mystery.
And I love the URL for his site. LOL.
But at the end of his post he links for a Youtube video of a guy who speaks the different versions of English, starting in 400 AD and going forward 100 years at a time. I found this a lot harder than reading, only starting to pick up some comprehension around 1500 AD. But when he turns on transcriptions it's amazing how far back I recognize a lot of words.
Wild. I've embedded it here. Highly, highly recommended. And I guess I'm not the only one who's interested - 1.2 Million views in two months? Yowser.
We live in a golden age which far surpasses all previous golden ages. Some call it the industrial revolution. Some say it is the digital revolution. This correspondent calls it the petroleum age.
The cost of firearms and ammunition, in terms of labor, is near an all time low. .22 Long Rifle cartridges can be had for under six cents a round, with free shipping, on the Internet. The all time low, in constant dollars, would be about five cents per round, not including sales and seconds, from 1993 to 2006. Nominal prices are higher, but costs in labor are much lower.
A .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle can be had for $150 or less. A serviceable AR15 type rifle can be had under $300. The cost of effective arms for the common man has never been so low. Multiple, effective centerfire pistols are available for less than $200, on sale.
Those who live in golden ages seldom consider themselves to be living in a golden age. To them, having been born in, and growing up in a golden age, it is simply normal, what is. Some, perhaps after the golden age is gone, may reflect on what was lost.
The petroleum age differs from all previous ages because it is where we learned to extract energy from the earth, and make that energy available to the vast majority of people. The precursor was the age of coal. Coal replaced wood for heating in many cities by 1850. 270 million short tons were being produced in the United States by 1900. That was 3.5 tons for every person in the United States. But coal was not nearly as accessible to most people as petroleum has become.
Enormous benefits accrued to many people during the age of coal. The benefits are small compared to those brought by petroleum. Coal is still important in the petroleum age. Today we consume 27 tons of oil and 1.7 tons of coal for every person in the United States every year.
The benefits accrued from the availability of cheap energy have become common in the golden age of petroleum. They include:
- Indoor plumbing and clean indoor pressurized water supply.
- Electric utility service capable of powering our many labor saving devices, including safe, flame free lighting, air conditioning, and communication devices which work at the speed of light.
- Fresh, healthy food available all year round. Food checked at multiple points to insure the absence of parasites, germs, and toxins. Malnutrition is a rarity caused by mental illness, drug use, or war.
- Clothes so cheap many people keep large closets full of apparel. Specialty shoes, weather gear, and "sports" clothes are common.
- Medical care available to nearly all for most ailments. Numerous diseases have been conquered and nearly eliminated. Many current diseases are the product of prosperity. Obesity is not a problem in countries subject to famine. Obesity was associated with wealth, not poverty.
- Increase in life span. The average lifespan has increased from 48.0 years in 1900 to 78.7 years today, an increase of 64%, or 30 years gain in 125 years.
- The ability to search and find information thousands of times faster than any library system which existed before 1980.
- Individual to individual communication throughout most of the world, easy quick, and relatively reliable, cheap enough for the common man or woman.
- World commerce with the ability to buy and sell between continents with ease.
- World wide travel is available to most, with intercontinental travel time measured in hours, not years or months or weeks, or even days.
- The average person in the First World has luxuries commonly available which pharaohs, kings, and emperors before 1800 could barely comprehend or dream of.
- "Retirement" is available to most. Between 1880 and 2000, old people "outside the labor force" grew from 22% of men over 65 to 82.5% of men and women over 65. In 1880, "retirement" meant a "few years of dependence on children at the end of life". In 2000, "retirement" meant an "extended period of self financed independence and leisure".
In the 134 years between 1890 and 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased from $3430 to $45,742, in 1996 dollars, or more than thirteen times as much. Nearly all of this growth has happened because we have harnessed energy which exists under the ground, to benefit people today. The United States has done this better and more efficiently than any other nation on the planet. In this correspondent's lifetime, the gdp/capita increased 4X!
Will the petroleum age end? Of course it will. The amount of petroleum available is finite. We do not know how long it will last. The golden age need not end for a very long time. Nuclear fission can supply energy for a couple of hundred years, and nuclear fusion, once harnessed, offers thousands of years beyond that, just from resources available on planet earth. Elon Musk is showing we can access the resources of the solar system. The Moon, alone, offers the potential of fusion energy for a hundred thousand years. In the next hundred or thousand years, we may find a way to access the stars. As Elon Musk has noted, solar energy in space is continuous and reliable. The optimum orbit to harness solar energy changes constantly with available technology.
This correspondent believes God, not man, is ultimately in charge. Perhaps God's plan includes using humanity to spread life across the universe. God has work for us to do in the new heaven and on the new earth.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
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A burglary involving a knife-wielding man changed course dramatically when the homeowner pulled a gun and took the suspect prisoner, according to investigators in North Carolina. It happened around 11 p.m. Sunday, March 1, in Aberdeen, and ended with a 21-year-old suspect facing multiple felony charges, Aberdeen police said in a March 4 news release.
Today is the 75th birthday of Texas singer/songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey. He was born March 5th, 1951. He is best known for his songs Northeast Texas Women and Muskrat Candlelight (aka Muskrat Love.) The latter became a hit when it was covered by both the bands America and Captain & Tennille. Oddly, Ramsey only had one released record album. — This is also the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most …
The post Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 5, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Before I begin this analysis of the situation in the Middle East and its consequences, I want to warn people that this examination is going to be largely secular and nuanced; which means people on both sides of the divide are going to be perturbed and moan about it. Frankly, I don’t care. To be clear, I’m not interested in the “plight” of the Palestinians, the Islamic regime in Iran or the conspiracy theories of “groypers.” I find appeals of empathy and compassion for Islamic societies to be naive – They are perfectly indifferent and hostile to the west, they …
The post What Happens Next in Iran? Decapitation, Quagmire, or WWIII?, by Brandon Smith appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
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, hopes of a proper interpretation of the Hughes Amendment. Re-Opening the Federal Machinegun Registry? Reader D.S.V. flagged this good news: States Working on Gamechanging Plans to Give Civilians …
The post The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“Let us never forget that our constitutions of government are solemn instruments, addressed to the common sense of the people and designed to fix and perpetuate their rights and their liberties.” – Joseph Story
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
I posted about this 15 months ago. Midwest Chick has an update:
The New Zealand navy was so proud and happy to have a lesbian from Britain come on board that they gave her a $100M survey and dive vessel, which she crashed and sank.
The lesbian “diversity hire” captain of a Royal New Zealand Navy ship that ran aground and sank off Samoa has been charged with negligence along with two other officers over the loss of the vessel.
The $100 million HMNZS Manawanui, which was under the command of UK-born homosexual Yvonne Gray, crashed on the south side of Upolu on October 5, 2024, due to human error including failure to turn off autopilot, an inquiry found last year.
This is the official inquiry report which is leading to Commander Gray's Courts Martial. Obviously the entirety of His Majesty's New Zealand Navy is a bunch of dirty misogynists ...
Midwest Chick adds this tidbit that I had missed:
This isn’t the first time that a NZ naval diversity hire damaged a ship. It happened in 2024 with a different female captain.
And that’s what happens when you choose diversity over competence. Wonder if the New Zealanders will actually learn from this??
Now maybe our own Navy could do something about our (multiple) female commanders who run into ships on the high seas.
Iran the air conditioner in the shop today. Came in the house and turned the thermostat from heat to cool. Looked outside and noticed that a little shower had popped up. I wasn't expecting that.
Looking at the news, I see that the Navy's Mark 48 torpedoes seem to be working. First time since WWII that a submarine has taken down a ship with torpedoes. I bet that crew was pumped! Years of maintenance and training comes down to one good war shot. The Iranian frigate Sulemani is now on the bottom of the Indian ocean.
By Dave Workman In the wake of Monday’s historic Supreme Court hearing on whether the federal prohibition on gun ownership by marijuana users should be allowed to continue, NBC News reported that the justices “appeared sympathetic” to the challenge. The Los Angeles Times reported the high court seemed “skeptical” about the Trump administration’s defense of […]
The post Will Supremes Say ‘Yes’ to Pot and Gun Ownership? appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
By Dave Workman Did Minnesota House Democrats conducting a hearing on two gun control bills—crafted in response to last year’s fatal shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis—because it didn’t follow their narrative? It appears that way, but they ultimately allowed Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, speak […]
The post Did Minnesota Dems Try to Squelch Important 2A Testimony? appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
A cruise ship got stuck in the ice off Antarctica, and the Coast Guard (by chance) had an icebreaker nearby. Well done.
Texas held their congressional primaries yesterday, and I see that Jasmine Crockett lost her bid to become a US Senator. Republicans John Cornyn and and Ken Paxton are headed for a runoff in May.
We're going to miss Jasmine. She gave us some incredible sound bites.
Watching game-tape has been a proven method of improvement for decades, but doing that through your scope isn't easy. Until now.Absence of a gun is not usually a problem:
Rockville, Md. (1968)
01/25/1969: The son, 15, murdered his mother and three siblings with “a hatchet, knife, croquet mallet and kerchief garrot.”
Category: family
Suicide: no
Cause: unknown
Weapon: blunt, knife, hatchet, strangle[1]
Cyprus: Drones struck the British Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, pulling the U.K. and the European Union into the conflict. Cypriot press reported the strikes likely came from Hezbollah.
And Starmer had refused to give U.S. permission to use bases in the U.K. Fat lot of good it did them.
NATO air defenses shot down an Iranian ballistic missile heading toward Turkish airspace, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday. It was unclear whether the missile was targeting Turkey, a NATO member state bordering Iran.
An attack on Turkyie (or however they want it spelled now) seems unlikely. Perhaps the Iranians in their confusion are just pressing red buttons at random. But such an attack requires NATO members to come to their defense.
It is fashionable to imagine that ICE is engaged in random arrests of people who it thinks are illegals. 3/3/26 KTVB:
BOISE, Idaho — Nearly a month after a father was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near a Boise daycare, the agency is responding publicly for the first time, saying the arrest was targeted and tied to a prior conviction.
In a statement to KTVB, ICE said the man has a 2024 conviction in Boise for “theft by alteration.”
The agency described the arrest as “targeted” and said officers were never at a preschool, adding that the man was detained about 200 yards away.
The man’s family has asked that his name not be released at this time for privacy reasons.
Attorney J.J. Despain said theft by alteration typically involves switching price tags in a store to pay a lower price, rather than removing merchandise without paying.
Despain said even relatively minor offenses can draw renewed attention from immigration authorities.
“It could be, I haven’t seen this happen so much in Idaho, but in other places in the country, they really are just looking up old cases because they want to boost their numbers,” Despain said.
Or enforce the law. If you are here unlawfully, you get immediate deportation. Even if you do not break any other laws, you are here illegally and are subject to immediate deportation.
3/4/26 Reuters:
GALLE, Sri Lanka/WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, dramatically widening Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister said at least 80 people were killed in the attack on the frigate IRIS Dena, which was heading back to Iranfrom an eastern Indian port.
I am sorry for the sailors aboard. I have no idea if they were conscripts or not. Unfortunately, Iran has been at war with us since 1979 and we are finally dealing with it.
According to Sec. Hegseth, this is the first submarine sinking since 1945.
- IRIS Dena, an Iranian frigate, has been torpedoed and sunk by US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka.
- White House arranges evacuation of some social media influencers from Qatar.
- The Royal Navy is dispatching the HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, to assist in the defense of Cyprus from drone and missile attack.
The post Adventures in Surplus! Type 38 Arisaka Carbine in World War One first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan police, when officers arrived, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds who died at the scene. A second man, identified as 39-year-old Robert Aguilar Jr., was found a few blocks away on Kell Lane suffering from gunshot wounds and transported to the hospital with critical injuries.
Police said the victim who died at the scene was openly carrying a firearm and had just left a business when he was approached by Aguilar, who demanded the victim’s gun. The victim pulled his firearm, and the two shot each other.
On March 4, 1774: The first sighting of the Orion nebula by William Herschel. — March 4, 1908: A fire at Lakeview Elementary School in Collinwood, Ohio, killed 172 students and two teachers: a boiler room blaze trapped many victims in the building, prompting changes in school design and procedures nationwide. — Today’s feature article is by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We still need reader-written articles for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $981,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 123 ends on March 31st, so …
The post Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 4, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) LinuxLite Attempt One Since I was more satisfied with the Linux apps that I was running under Chrome OS Flex than with the native Chrome apps, I decided to experiment with another Linux OS. I went to www.linuxliteos.com and attempted to downloaded LinuxLite 7.4 . That was easier said than done. That site was so choked with ads and deceptive links leading to other software that it was virtually impossible to find a link leading to the correct download. After more than 30 minutes of searching, I finally gave up and decided …
The post Rejuvenating and Old PC with Linux Mint Xfce – Part 2, by Thomas Christianson appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
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. — In the Leftie/Greenie Washington Post: Good night, stars. We are on the cusp of turning darkness into day. o o o Reader H.L. mentioned that she found some cogent analysis on the Iran War, over at the Gold and Geopolitics substack. JWR’s Comments: Obviously, the global oil market and the precious metals …
The post SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“The tyranny of a prince is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” – Charles Montesquieu, 1748
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Ortega v. Grisham, 148 F. 4th 1134 (10 Cir. 2025):
New Mexico enacted a law in 2024 that imposes a categorical seven-day "cooling-off" period for nearly all consumer purchases of a firearm. No matter how urgent the need, or how much physical danger a prospective buyer might be in, buyers must wait seven days before New Mexico deems them safe to carry arms. Even buyers with previous firearms background checks or security clearances are not eligible for waivers from the prohibition. In short, the law requires no individualized reason to conclude that a prospective consumer is a danger to himself or the community, nor can anyone be excused from the waiting period because of personal danger.
Asserting their rights under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, Samuel Ortega and Rebecca Scott sued the State of New Mexico to enjoin the Waiting Period Act, N.M. Stat. § 30-7-7.3. The district court declined to preliminarily enjoin the law. It found that a seven-day wait did not infringe on Second Amendment rights since the right to acquire a firearm does not impede the right to keep or bear a firearm, and, in any event, the Second Amendment tolerates cooling-off periods.
We disagree, and REVERSE and REMAND. Cooling-off periods infringe on the Second Amendment by preventing the lawful acquisition of firearms. Cooling-off periods do not fit into any historically grounded exceptions to the right to keep and bear arms, and burden conduct within the Second Amendment's scope. In this preliminary posture, we conclude that New Mexico's Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens. We also conclude the other preliminary injunction factors are met and that Plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction.
Yes, waiting period laws are modern. My knowledge confirmed in this decision is that California imposed the first waiting period law in 1923 to give police time to do a background check. If New Mexico wanted a waiting period to do that, then completion of the FBI's background check should be enough time. But really, what drives this is a belief that guns are icky and any barrier we put in the way, makes us righteous and pure. The alternative is admitting that there are people who are evil and need to be confined.
In the past week I picked up a Warsun T7 pocket sized flat flashlight from Amazon. It's a handy little light for when you need to get some work done and don't need or want something super bright.
It charges via USB-C and has multiple modes, all controlled with a single button.
The case is made from aluminum. One end has an LED while the opposite end has a magnet so you can hang it to provide area illumination, e.g., under the hood of a car.
Here are some pictures showing its size, next to a quarter for reference.
Not counting the pocket clip, it's 0.30" thick, 4.4" long, and about 0.95" wide. It slips comfortably in a pocket like a thin pocket knife.
It's plenty bright for walking around in the dark. Today I took advantage of the side light while working to clear a slow drain. It was perfect for illuminating under a bathroom vanity.
I can't comment yet on run time but it should be at least a few hours when used on low. If I have one criticism it's that it relies on one button to cycle through all the modes, and I'd just assume that it didn't have a strobe mode for the side LED. But for $12 on Prime (or $23 for a two pack) I can't complain.
Designed to pack as much firepower per square inch as humanly possible, the B&T KH9 Covert is the best piece of gun-origami you can find!
I tell my students that if anyone tells them only bad people carry guns, they might wish to respond with the fact that a number of universally respected US Presidents among others have been known to pack iron. One of them was Dwight Eisenhower. Though his most famous personal hobby was playing golf, another was […]
“When deputies arrived, they found a male with first aid being provided by others at the scene. Deputies began to apply first aid until EMS arrived and he was pronounced dead at the scene,” said Sheriff Sions.
Sions confirmed the gunshot victim was free on bond and a stipulation of his bond was he was not allowed to go near the home. Sheriff Sions added there had been previous law enforcement visits to the home for other domestic incidents. He was asked if it was a case of self defense.
On March 3, 1863: Congress authorized a US mint at Carson City, Nevada, with its coins identified by the mint mark ‘CC’. — And on March 3, 1791, the first US internal revenue act was enacted, taxing distilled spirits and carriages. — We are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser: Heaven’s Harvest. This Georgia-based company offers a full line of long-term storage foods (freeze-dried and dehydrated) as well as heirloom (non-hybrid, open-pollinated) seeds. Use the coupon code “SURVIVALBLOG” at checkout for a 10% discount on any order! They offer free shipping for any $99+ order sent to the U.S.. About …
The post Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 3, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Our Motto; “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do or Do Without”. Getting the most out of what you already own instead of buying something new is a good way of using your resources more effectively. Then your resources can be used instead for something that will bring you more long-term benefit. Extending the useful service life of an older computer is one way of utilizing your existing resources more effectively. JWR Adds: Given the huge number of online books, web archives, offline copies of Wikipedia, service manuals, military manual PDFs, e-Book Bibles and Bible commentaries, and other …
The post Rejuvenating and Old PC with Linux Mint Xfce – Part 1, by Thomas Christianson appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
This weekly column features media 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. Pictured is a train trestle near Winchester, Idaho, at the edge of the Camas Prairie, Idaho. (Photo by JWR.) News and Links of Interest: Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and partners battle invasive grass on Camas Prairie. Big Sky, Montana was ranked Expedia’s #1 travel destination for 2026. Video: The $Billion Rewilding Agenda Nobody Wants to Admit. Video: We Regretted Selling It…So We Bought It Back — 1980s House with Everything …
The post SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“A state is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state.” – George Mason
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Surfing tonight, I came across a video about an airframe that is beloved by the Army. As a young trooper in 1973 we sang songs about it during our morning run.
"C-130 rolling down the strip, Airborne Daddy gonna take a little trip."
That was back in 1973, and while I never went to parachute school, the C-130, while owned by the Air Force, is beloved of the Army. It is out Uber, carrying us where we need to go, and it is our Door Dash, bringing is the 3-Bs (beans, bullets, band-aids).
The more I thought about it, the more I was impressed with the longevity. I was a rookie in 1973 and the Army was already singing songs about it.
I had a productive day. Belle and I came in the house at about 4:00 and Belle declared Happy Hour. She poured herself a glass of wine, and I stayed in the kitchen to finish up a phone call. The kitchen was dark, no lights on. I finished he phone call and found my cocktail glass to pour myself a drink.
The kitchen was late afternoon dark. No lights on, just the diffused light from the window. I filled the glass with ice, poured a healthy shot of bourbon, the grabbed the Coke bottle. Filled it, took a big sip, and spit that nasty taste across the kitchen. Gagged. What the hell?
I turned on the light, looked again and found that I had poured myself a bourbon and Worcestershire sauce. Who put that bottle over there?
I got out the mop and told Belle what had happened. She collapsed in a gale of laughter. I can't blame her, that is funny, right there.
I like Wash-your-sister sauce, I do. But it is no good in Bourbon.