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Forget about the Internet and security for a moment - you already own something with a firewall. Your car has one between the engine and the passenger compartment, even if your car isn't a sweet 1969 Dodge Charger.
The firewall in your car is designed to contain engine fires to the engine compartment, not letting the flames spread to the passengers. Firewalls have been around cars for a long, long time - certainly since the 1930s, and probably a lot longer.
Now back to the Internet and security. Internet firewalls are designed to keep bad things (and Bad Guys) out of your network, so they don't burn down all your devices. Yes, I stretched that metaphor, but that's exactly where the name came from.
An old Internet wag once described a firewall as a device that "keeps the bad guys out while letting the good guys out". That's a really good description. Internet firewalls have been around for basically as long as there has been an Internet, say from around 1990. The technology is very well understood, and very mature. That's the good news.
The bad news is that there are a million ways to set up your firewall so it's more full of holes than Swiss cheese. This post will try to help you avoid this.
More good news: your Internet Provider almost certainly has a firewall capability in hte box that gives you Internet access. For example, if you get Internet via cable TV, you have not only a cable box that changes channels, you have a separate box that gives Internet. That thing has a firewall built in, so yay.
You an check this yourself via a web site that I've linked to a number of times over the years, Steve Gibson's Gibson Research. You should see something that looks like this:
Green is good.
So what went on when you ran that? There are a bunch of Internet services like web, email, and so on. Each uses a "port" - email is 25, web is 80, there are a bunch of others. What Gibson's app did was to try to connect to all of these posts on your IP address. Ideally, your firewall (like mine) dropped these connections in the trash can.
So from a first cut, your firewall is letting you out onto the Internet (so you can read this, hello!) but keeping the Bad Guys out.
But the devil is in the details of how we (and our devices) use the Internet. The next post in this series will explore this: Secure Your Home Network: Can (and should) you trust your devices?
Carrollton police said its officers responded to the call and found out that the 16-year-old had gone to the hospital and died from his injuries.
Officers found out that the shooting happened in the roadway between two vehicles: one occupied by the 16-year-old who died and four other teenagers and another with a 20-year-old Carrollton resident. Police interviewed the other four teenage passengers and found out the five teens were meeting the 20-year-old man" under the pretense of selling illegal substances, with the intent to commit a robbery."
Police said the 16-year-old male brandished a firearm, which resulted in the 20-year-old acting in self-defense. The four teenagers were all charged with Aggravated Robbery, and the 20-year-old man has not been charged, police said.
"Now I will not lie, it feels kind of like cheating making fun of this Ready-Player-One-ass car. Can you imagine rolling up to the club in this shit? The wealthy of our era are so jaw-droppingly tasteless they have finally invented a Rolls-Royce that you could not get laid in."
-sometime automotive journalist Victoria Scott on a Bespoke program Rolls-Royce
Just some excellent writing there. Like, John-Phillips-at-the-1990s-height-of-his-powers cackle-out-loud funny. I'm legitimately envious of a few of those turns of phrase.
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On January 10, 1776, the “Common Sense” pamphlet by Thomas Paine was first published, advocating American independence. — January 10, 49 BC: Julius Caesar defied the Roman Senate and crossed the Rubicon, uttering “alea iacta est” (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war and his appointment as Roman dictator for life. — And January 10th, 1776, was the day that North Carolina Governor Josiah Martin issued a proclamation calling on the king’s loyal subjects to raise an armed force to combat the “rebels”. This ultimately led to Colonel Donald McLeod leading the men on an assault on …
The post Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 10, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) The final aspect of emergency cooking stoves that I cover are biomass units, in particular the Kelly Kettle. I appreciate the ability to configure these units to either “cook” on or quickly boil water with. The small feed openings at the bottom or the chimney opening on top of the kettle do restrict the size of materials used to feed the flames when compared to other small biomass cookers. None the less, the kettle’s speed and efficiency for boiling water as well as its lower weight and ruggedness impress me. The final …
The post Introducing Your Community to Emergency Preparedness – Part 3, by A.F. appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …
The post Editors’ Prepping Progress appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, …
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
It did not last long. The Duma had a quorum problem because so many MPs were outside getting free bibles.
Today's weirdness. 1/8/26 Times of London:
The United Arab Emirates is restricting students from enrolling at British universities over fears that campuses are being radicalised by Islamist groups.
Officials with knowledge of the situation told The Times that federal funding was being limited for citizens who hope to study in the UK, citing concerns about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood among other issues.
This CBS News report includes what the officer saw. You can hear the collision when she struck him.
Police say that a man who was found dead at a construction site in Pomona over the weekend was killed while trying to steal copper wire.
Residents in the surrounding area said they could hear the explosion just moments before thousands of homes lost power on Sunday at around 2 p.m. ...
Police say that the man wasn't a worker, but that he was instead stealing copper wire from the vacant strip mall that was in the process of being demolished.
Today I took several .38 handloads up to the range, along with my Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk chambered for .357 Magnum, and my S&W Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece, chambered for .38 Special. Here are the results:
All strings below are 10 shots.
From a Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk .357 with 4-5/8" barrel:
.38 Special
21 grains Swiss 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers
MV 845.5 FPS
250.9 Ft-lbs.
ES 61
Max 881 FPS
Min 820 FPS
SD 16.7
.38 Special
21 grains Schuetzen 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers
MV 655.9 FPS (Weak sauce)
151.2 Ft-lbs.
ES 94.7
Max 712.9 FPS
Min 618.2 FPS
SD 27.8
From a Smith & Wesson Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece with a 4" barrel:
.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.7 grains of Unique
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers
MV 842.5 FPS
249.8 Ft-lbs.
ES 162
Max 906.1 FPS
Min 744.1 (WTF?)
SD 47.8
.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.4 grains BE-86
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers
821.1 FPS
236.6 Ft.-lbs.
ES 42.8
Max 842.8
Min 800
SD 14
The BP load with Swiss would be decent for defense. This is probably comparable to the original black powder .38 Special round in muzzle velocity, with the same weight bullte. In contrast the Schuetzen load is so slow it performs closer to the weaker .38 Smith & Wesson round.
I crunched the numbers on the Unique load after dropping the low shot. It gave an average muzzle velocity of 853.5 FPS for 256 Ft.-lbs. of energy. Bumped up to 5.0 grains it averages 925.4 FPS and 301.2 Ft.lbs. of energy. That's a very solid woods or defense load.
The load with BE-86 exceeds most standard pressure 158 grain .38 Special loads in performance. Not bad at all. With a couple extra tenths of a grain it could probably exceed 900 FPS and give .38 +P levels of performance.
These books represent years of painstaking research and labor. The information presented is invaluable and the cost of producing limited run copies is great. [More] Knowledge is power. Those who have it know that.
The post Amazon Cutting Off Second Amendment Author from Being Able to Sell His Book first appeared on The War on Guns.
Hat tip to Gary Hughes for bringing this "Wild Bill Hickok vs. Major Frank North" drill to my attention.
From The American Mercury, October 1937:
"Did you ever see Wild Bill Hickok shoot?"
"Many times."
"Was he pretty good?"
"Yes. But Frank was better.
Even Bill said so."
"Just how well could they shoot?"
You put up a letter envelope ten paces away, and if you could keep all six shots in the envelope you were counted good. One of the sbots had to be in the stamp which was pasted on the back of the en-velope, in the center."
"How big were the envelopes?"
"Five inches square. And the stamp an inch square."
Course of fire:
- 10 yards
- Primary hand ONLY
- Six shots
- All must hit within the 5" square
- One must hit the center stamp, 1" square
- No time limit
I shot it today with three of my pistols. I passed easily with the Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk, shooting my .38 Special black powder handloads.
I did not pass this test shooting two of my double action revolvers: my S&W Model 432UC .32 H&R Mag and my S&W Model 15-3 shooting .38 Specials. Shooting double action with only one hand I have a tendency to push the point of impact to the right, which caused shots to lands outside the 5" square. While I can nail these targets shooting two-handed, I need to work on my one-handed double action shooting.
I actually did better with the 432UC J-Frame than the Model 15 K-Frame, but I shot the Model 15 last and had already done a fair amount of shooting by that point. I.e., I was tired.
Give it a try. You may find it more challenging than you think.
Link to the target: https://thetacticalprofessor.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hickok-v-north-stamp.pdf
Edit: Most likely this is the Major Frank North referred to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_North
This could be our salvation– these psychotics are incapable of moderating their behavior and their actions may end up horrifying a critical mass. Unless psychotics in government beat them at it. [Via Michael G]
The post A Silver Lining? first appeared on The War on Guns.
Newsom Press Office: ‘Activist’ 9th Circuit Judges Want ‘Gunslingers’ in Streets [More] Funny, nobody took me up on my hundred bucks challenge… Via bondmen]
The post DODGE CITY! BLOOD IN THE STREETS OVER FENDER BENDERS!!! first appeared on The War on Guns.
“Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney Stanak, Senate President Phil Baruth, and members of Gun Sense Vermont will gather at the Statehouse on Wednesday to renew their push for a bill banning guns in Burlington bars.” [More] I wonder what text, history, and tradition have to say about that? [Via bondmen]
The post Bar None first appeared on The War on Guns.
Venezuela’s Most Dangerous Socialist Diosdado Cabello Warns They Have ‘Monopoly on Weapons’ in New Show of Strength [More] Yeah, that’s the plan here, too. [Via bondmen]
The post Everycountry, Everytown first appeared on The War on Guns.
Teen charged with 2022 murder claims to have shot 400 people in lifetime [More] I’d suggest my namesake law, but I just found out it’s racist. [Via Steve T]
The post Speaking of Being Overrepresented in the Criminal Justice System… first appeared on The War on Guns.
Newton Grove Police Chief Greg Warren was arrested Wednesday on charges that include secret peeping and indecent liberties with a minor. [More] Life imitates art. [Via Steve T]
The post We’re the Only Ones Peeping Enough first appeared on The War on Guns.
NYC Leftist Protesters Call for Hanging of Kristi Noem and the Execution of ICE Agents [More] Gee, wherever do they get ideas like “an ICE agent murdered Renee Good” from? What J6 rhetoric did they go after Donald Trump for again? [Via Michael G]
The post Speaking of Seditious Conspiracy first appeared on The War on Guns.
Surprise, surprise, surprise! So, why aren’t we hearing this from any “real reporters”? And I could swear DOJ has some forensic accountants and RICO laws at their disposal… [Via Michael G] Related UPDATE Growing List Of Democratic Billionaire Kings & Queens Funnel Millions Into Terror-Tied Nonprofits [More] That won’t turn the tumbrels around. [Via bondmen]
The post Follow the Money first appeared on The War on Guns.
Is it too late to investigate if a vulnerable prosecutor was coerced into dropping the case? Because his “justification” held no water. [Via WiscoDave]
The post Justice Delayed? first appeared on The War on Guns.
Step inside America's infantry museum! Located in Columbus, GA this is one of the must-visit museums.What are we still even doing in the UN? [Via WiscoDave]
The post Thinking Globally, Acting Locally first appeared on The War on Guns.
A Boston police officer is on leave after he was arrested and charged with domestic assault last week, court records show. Ricardo Alexandre is charged with strangulation or suffocation and assault and battery on a family or household member… [More] And that’s after ” “sustained findings … for violations of ‘Conduct Unbecoming,’ ‘Alcohol off Duty,’ … Continue reading "We’re the Only Ones Porcine Enough"
The post We’re the Only Ones Porcine Enough first appeared on The War on Guns.
Man fatally shot, police sergeant injured during standoff in Mass. town… Shots were fired as police attempted to conduct a wellness check on a man who had made a call to the FBI that “sparked mental health concerns,” officials said. [More] Maybe they should have sent in some of those “violence interrupters”… National Threat Operation … Continue reading "We’re the Only Ones Worsening Enough"
The post We’re the Only Ones Worsening Enough first appeared on The War on Guns.
Trump Threatens to Denaturalize U.S. Citizens If They ‘Deserve’ It [More] They say that like it’s a bad thing…
The post It’s Only Natural first appeared on The War on Guns.
Florida Carry invites you to join us for an Advocacy Day Wednesday Jan 28th 2026. We will be meeting with Senators and House Representatives. Our main focus will be regaining the Constitutional Right of 18,19, and 20 year old Floridians to purchase firearms. [More] Moms’ll be there. Will you?
The post A Capitol Idea first appeared on The War on Guns.
It’s from 2017 and there is context. Bull$#!+ context, true… [Via JG]
The post On the Hijab Training first appeared on The War on Guns.
Texas’ homicide rate declined… [More] You’d think with open and permitless carry there’d be blood in the streets.
The post So Much for Dodge City over Fender-Benders… first appeared on The War on Guns.
None of this is done to disparage recognized and deservedly lauded good and unprecedented positions being taken by DOJ that would, admittedly, never have happened under any other administration to date. But that does not require Second Amendment advocates to turn a blind eye to when those positions turn cognitively dissonant. [More] “Friendly fire” can … Continue reading "Gun Prohibitionists Siding with DOJ on NFA Registration"
The post Gun Prohibitionists Siding with DOJ on NFA Registration first appeared on The War on Guns.
Paul Howe is one of the nation’s recognized experts on the use of firearms in life-threating stress situations. Here he talks about the importance of using the manual safety on powerful weapons deployed under extreme pressure. If you’ve never heard of Paul Howe, I’m glad we caught you in time. When this man talks, professionals […]The buoy strategy has already faced legal and diplomatic challenges, with the Mexican government and left‑wing activists arguing the floating barriers endanger illegal crossers and may violate treaty obligations on use of the Rio Grande. [More] They had me at the headline. They didn’t need to sell me. Still, what’s this got to do with … Continue reading "Buoy, Am I Glad to See You!"
The post Buoy, Am I Glad to See You! first appeared on The War on Guns.
Two wounded in Portland shooting involving federal agents after DHS says vehicle ‘weaponized’ against them – Border Patrol agents stopped a vehicle that DHS says was being driven by a Tren de Aragua gang member [More] For some reason, the Alice’s Restaurant line about one, two, three, then 50 people joining in came to mind. … Continue reading "And Friends, They May Think It’s a Movement"
The post And Friends, They May Think It’s a Movement first appeared on The War on Guns.
The post Israeli Mauser K98k Sniper Rifles: Wild Heerbrug & Nimrod first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.
- Elon's deepfake non-consensual porn and CSAM generator catches even more heat.
- Rejecting Reality in the Age of AI
- The Most Underrated Sports Car of the 2000s
Hattiesburg resident Tristan Young, 25, has been identified as the armed robbery suspect who died after a victim fired in self-defense during a shooting Monday in D’Iberville, according to Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer.
D’Iberville Police Chief Marty Griffin said officers responded around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 to a reported shooting in the 11000 block of Cinema Drive.
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Cold Hits Don’t Lie: Measuring Real Shooting Performance I like starting every shooting session with a consistent drill I shoot cold to track my performance over time. In this article, Tatiana suggests several good […]By Dave Workman New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced plans to “strengthen” Empire State gun control laws by, as stated in a news release from her office, “cracking down on 3D-printed and illegal firearms.” Hochul, a Democrat, has her sights set on 3-D printed guns and so-called “ghost guns,” and according to her press […]
The post NY Gov. Hochul Threatens More Gun Control in ‘26 appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
On January 9th, 1580, Francis Drake‘s ship the Golden Hind struck a reef off the Celebes islands. It fortuitously slipped off the reef at high tide the next day and sailed onward to Java, and then around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Plymouth, England. — January 9, 1839: Louis Daguerre demonstrated his ‘daguerreotype‘ photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences. — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are selling rapidly, in pre-ordering. The limited number of them packaged in steel keepsake tins have sold out. But there are still plenty of the standard sticks …
The post Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 9, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
(Continued from Part 1.) The next topic is water. I begin with the low hanging fruit of having water stored at all times. It hurts my soul to thoughtlessly parrot the “one gallon per person per day minimum” tripe we have all heard so many times. My recommendation is to store no less than three gallons per person per day or ten gallons each. I follow this up by encouraging each family set a goal of having a five-gallon water jug set aside for last minute filling for each person. For those who lament storage space, I recommend the collapsible …
The post Introducing Your Community to Emergency Preparedness – Part 2, by A.F. appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
After some huge price swings in the last week of the year, the Silver Bull has resumed his charge. As of Tuesday afternoon (January 6, 2026), spot silver was at $82.06 USD per Troy ounce. I expect a few gasps of short-selling today, but $70 seems to be the new floor for silver. I’m holding to my prediction that silver and platinum will continue to outperform gold’s gains. The formerly languishing price of nickel has spiked. Surprisingly, we still have the opportunity to stack Nickels (U.S. 5-cent pieces) at face value. The U.S. Mint recently stopped producing pennies. I believe …
The post Economics & Investing Media of the Week appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
We went to Shreveport this morning to pick up Belle's daughter at the airport. She's going with them on the cruise.
We stopped in Natchitoches for a bit of history and a bite for lunch. Belle's favorite restaurant is closed this week for a thorough cleaning and remodeling. We went around the corner to another restaurant and ate po'boys.
This is the beginning of a new series about what (mostly) non-technical readers can do to lock down their home networks to a decent level of security. I need to start with some caveats here:
- It's pretty easy to protect yourself from "script kiddies" (Bad Guys who just use canned exploits without knowing much (or anything) about you or your home network. Hopefully the posts in this series will make you, if not impervious to, at least unreasonably difficult for these attackers.
- It's harder to protect yourself from a knowledgeable and determined attacker. Someone with skill, time, and motivation to attack you is a dangerous opponent. Hopefully the posts in this series will increase the required time, skill, and motivation needed for these Bad Guys to succeed. Basically, it raises the cost for them to attack you which is A Good Thing.
- At the end of the day, you can't protect yourself from NSA or FSB (the KGB successor organization). Or the Chinese, who are quite active and skilled. Even keeping them from sniffing out your traffic is really, really hard. If you think that any of these organizations are likely to want to access your computers, then you should unplug from the 'Net right now. Not kidding.
So if you're interested in this kind of thing, and are willing to spend a nominal amount of time and money to raise the bar on your home network security, follow along on this series of posts.
Tomorrow's post: What is a Firewall and why do you care?
Getting in and out of the bush isn't always easy, but a good ride makes it a lot easier. For comfort and utility, you can't beat a good Can-Am.
Hunting of Ursus Arctos (grizzly bears/brown bears) was banned in British Columbia on December 18, 2017. At the time opponents of the hunting ban warned there would be increasing bear/human conflicts. From British Columbia Wildlife Federartion executive director Jesse Zeman:
“When the hunt was closed, we predicted that over time human-grizzly conflicts would increase, but we also know that bears that learn bad behaviors teach those same behaviors to their offspring,” said Zeman. “This will keep getting worse until science-based wildlife management is reinstated.”
Over the last ten years, ursus arctos/human conflicts in British Columbia have doubled from about 300-500 per year before the ban to almost a thousand per year after the ban. This is the same pattern seen over the world as large predator populations are over-protected. The populations grow and spread and come into conflict with humans. The predators have not learned to be afraid of humans because hunting is banned or severely limited. The aggressive predators are not selected out of the population by hunters. Prior to the attack on a large group of school children in Bella Coola, problems with ursus arctos (grizzly/brown) bears had been increasing for some time. Here are examples: From CityNews.ca:
“And what had happened is that a grizzly — it looks like a sow and her two almost full-grown cubs — had gone in and found the fridge and dragged the fridge actually halfway out and across the bed and everything else.”
The animals had completely demolished the kitchen.
“I’m talking counters, cupboards, drawers, glasses, plates, and everything else,” she said.
The couple also has a trailer on the same property, and Munro says the damage there was even worse than in the house.
The Munro couple were extremely careful about not having bear attractants on their property. They had complained to B.C. official about previous problems. Now they are leaving the area. The BCWF also document these conflicts:
- A neighbour watching his two young children in the house had a grizzly opened a lever-handle door to enter his garage and cause a ruckus; he was forced to shoot the bear at close range in front of his kids.
- A disabled, elderly man had his cedar siding and plywood wall ripped apart and building contents ransacked by a bear, despite his installation of steel doors—an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to prevent the bear from re-entering after it had broken through his regular door.
- Neighbours had their garage door destroyed by a bear who returned the next night and caused further damage.
- An elderly woman living alone had a grizzly break into her home, destroy her mudroom, and drag her freezer onto the lawn—all while she was inside.
The is the same pattern seen across the United States, in Europe, and in Japan. Large predators are protected and hunting is outlawed or severely limited. The large predator population expands beyond wild areas and start encroaching on rural populations and even some urban areas. Japan doubled the fatalities by bears in 2025 past the previous record from 6 in 2019 to 13 in 2025. Fatal bear attacks in Europe, especially Romania, have increased with increasing bear populations. Florida had its first recorded black bear fatal attack. Arkansas recorded two fatal black bear attacks in 2025, the first in over a hundred years. California recorded its first ever fatal black bear attack in 2024. Fatal mountain lion attacks are increasing. Only 9 fatal attacks were recorded before 1970, with 19 recorded from 1971 to 2026. Human wolf conflicts are increasing with the re-introduction of wolf packs into the lower 48 states.
Analysis: These numbers are fairly small compared to human homicides. The dangers are very low unless you spend time in areas with significant predator populations. Nearly all of these attacks can be prevented if humans take the trouble to arm themselves with modern handguns. Only one human who fired a handgun in defense against bears has been killed in over 200 recorded incidents. No human who was armed with a firearm has been recorded as killed by a mountain lion. No armed human has been killed by a wolf pack in a recorded incident. Several incidents have been recorded of armed humans stopping attacks by mountain lions and wolves. Modern cartridge handguns are exceptionally effective in stopping predatory animal attacks.
The people killed and mauled by predatory animals pay a high price for the animal worship currently pushed by deep-green environmental groups and Neo-pagan nature worshipers. The numbers killed and injured are small and self correcting. As more people are mauled and killed, more people will effectively defend themselves and their property. Those facts will be reported in our disseminated media. The stories are too interesting to dismiss. In the United States, rights protected by the Second Amendment are being restored. As more people arm themselves, more aggressive predators will be killed, and balance will be restored. People who arm themselves in wild areas do much to protect those who use those areas unarmed. Large predators learn humans are dangerous and learn to avoid them.
Fellow humans in Canada, Europe, and Japan are not so fortunate. Expect more stories of fatal large predator attacks on humans in those areas.
©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
On Monday just before 8 a.m., Gavilan entered the City Hall building through a locked back door and went up a stairwell to the fourth floor of the building where he broke out a window within another secure door to enter the office area.
Police said employees recognized Gavilan as an intruder and an on-duty court security officer encountered him, announced his authority and asked him to put his hands behind his back. Gavilan did not comply to the security officer, police said, and instead began fighting the officer.
On January 8, 1297, Monaco gained its independence. Pictured are Buffalo Bill Cody and Prince Albert I of Monaco, in 1913. He was the first reigning European monarch to visit the United States. — On January 8, 1610, German astronomer Simon Marius independently discovered the first four moons of Jupiter, just one day after Galileo‘s lunar discovery. — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are available for Pre-Ordering. This year, we are also offering a limited number of them in steel keepsake tins, with keychains. Both types have been selling very rapidly. Orders should start to be …
The post Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 8, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Back in 2016, the organizer for a local church’s senior citizen ministry approached me regarding a program she wanted someone to present on family emergency preparedness. In the two previous years our area experienced a “thousand-year flood” and the wind effects from a passing hurricane. Several of the seniors had requested a speaker who could help them think through steps that could be taken to minimize the impacts of another storm or similar short-term disaster. This article is a summary of what that presentation has become after multiple iterations over the past ten years. My hope in sharing is that …
The post Introducing Your Community to Emergency Preparedness – Part 1, by A.F. 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, an increase in fallow farm ground. Georgia Farmer Warns of Fallow Farm Ground Reader Robert W. sent us this: Farmland Shock: Georgia Grower Drops 3,000 Acres, Warns of …
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“When America’s early pioneers first turned their eyes toward the West, they did not demand that somebody take care of them if they got ill or got old. They did not demand maximum pay for minimum work, and even pay for no work at all.” – Paul Harvey
The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks. I've heard that old saying a hundred times, often when trying to train an old dog as our home has been home to 2 senior rescues since we lost Barkley.
It's not so much that being older makes one less able to learn, short of cognitive issues. It's just that we get used to a certain way of doing things and don't wish to change. My teenage grandchildren would be mortified to know I still have a flip phone. It's not that I can't use a smartphone; the cockpit of an A-320 makes a phone's technology look like something Fisher Price built. But this brick of a phone has survived being kicked, dropped in a puddle, run over by a bike, mawed by a medley of dog teeth, and it just keeps working and has done so for less than $50 plus the monthly fee to keep it connected. It has "the ringing app," the only one I really need, as when the desk computer shuts down, I wish no further electronic leash to the world.
But I notice now that I'm retired, I do tend to get into a routine. Up before 7 each day, the dog out for some exercise with me, coffee and a bowl of hot cereal (the pancake breakfasts are for Saturdays, the rest of the time it's "Honey Bunches of Gruel"). Then, outside of the volunteer work I do 3 days a week and the occasional consult for someone in a suit who will pay big $$ to pick my brain to prep for a trial, my time is my own.
But am I going to take up knitting, put my feet up, and watch my hair go grey? (Something that my hair so far seems reluctant to do, red hair apparently being as stubborn as the rest of me?) No.
I couldn't do that at 30; I'm definitely not going to do it now. No, I will leave my comfortable chair and head out, as inconsequential a move as a bird leaving a trusted branch. Something just draws me out of my solitude, a whisper, the sound of a train, the wind in the trees, and I'm heading out, be it on foot or wheels. Just as it was when I was working, I'm constantly looking all around me, noting the people rushing about, their eyes disregarding the sun, their shadows unaware of the branches that wave over them, chattering with the tweets and calls of life. Rushing about until the days are gone until that last one, where all the words of hope and defiance, of great joy and great risks, which take wing so easily into the free immensity of a living sky, fall wearily into that newly dug grave.
Then I will go home and make some music because that special intensity of existence we think is reserved for the young is calling. For you see, long after my "youth" was gone, I went out and bought a violin.
I was always good on the piano and the clarinet, but as far as the violin was concerned, I had the musical gift of a dyslexic tree sloth, but I tried. My fingers were a bit stiff, but the music was still in me, even if only Barkley was around to be the music critic.
It's not much different than taking that first solo in an airplane. You have been given the tools, you have the capabilities. But it's the fear of what you don't know that holds you back, while upward, a huge unknown, the sky, beckons. You've learned through your experience, through your lessons, that the sky is sometimes gentle, sometimes capricious, sometimes frightening, never the same two days in a row, almost human in its passions, almost spiritual in its quiet, and almost divine in its vastness. And you're just a little afraid of it at this point.---But it calls to you, and you know you are going to go forward. It's time.
By Dave Workman A writer at Michigan News Source is reporting how anti-gun Democrat lawmakers are “nowhere near finished” pushing restrictive gun control in the Great Lake State, even after passing gun laws steadily over the past few years. Among those measures, according to writer J.P. Isbell, are mandatory safe storage requirements in homes with […]
The post Report: Michigan Dems Not Through with Gun Control; Likewise Elsewhere appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
Bourbon has a number of criteria that must be met before it can be called bourbon. At least 51% corn, distilled in the US, aged in new oak barrels, barreled at no more than 125 proof. Straight bourbon is two years old.
Many of you know my fondness for Evan Willians Bottled in Bond. It's my bouse whiskey, aged at least four years, bottled at 100 proof. It's good hooch.
I also like Buffalo Trace. One of the products of that distillery is Benchmark. It's a bottom-shelf, straight bourbon whiskey. Over the years, I have consumed my share. I was in the liquor store today and found a bottle that they call Full Proof. Bottled at 125 proof, this hooch is not watered down.
For $25 out the door, not a bad deal. I brought a bottle home and we'll try it on in a little bit. If nothing else, it should be a good mixer for cocktails.