And of course, slavery as well: The peasants are not subhuman, just a lesser class of humans whose natural function is to work so that we may do important things that they barely understand. See Jefferson's description of this: "the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of god."

I stumbled across this and like it.  Not sure if it's Country or not, but if it's finger-pickin' then you're at least Country adjacent. 

 It looks like US forces struck Iran in a daylight raid while we slept last night.  I awoke this morning to news of the raid. Iran stuck back, sending missiles to Israel and Bahrain.

It will take time to asses the damage, but it appears we struck more than military targets. One reporter was saying that the Iranian parliament and the Judiciary was hit as part of the raid. Other reporters were talking about the number of air assets we have staged in the region.  It's a fairly hefty force.

On the home front, I've been busier than a cat in a sandbox lately.  Lots of stuff going on. None of it worth reporting here.

On Saturday, Mr. Trump announced that “major combat operations” were underway in Iran. The Department of Defense has called the strikes “Operation Epic Fury.”

On February 28, 1638, Scottish Presbyterians signed the National Covenant at Greyfriars, Edinburgh. — February 28, 1810: The first US fire insurance joint-stock company was organized, in Philadelphia. — And on  February 28, 1844 a 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton exploded, killing US Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, and other high-ranking federal officials. — Today, we present a guest piece by fellow blogger Mrs. Alaska. She is a long-time SurvivalBlog reader who lives off-grid and off-road in the interior of Alaska. — We still need entries for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction …

The post Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 28, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

The following describes my approach at pressure canning meat and dairy products, with some comments on fruit, vegetables, and other preservation methods Pressure canning cookbooks, like Ball’s Blue Book, include recipes for making and canning meat broths, but, in my experience, most do not for meat itself. Similarly, they lack recipes for canning most dairy items. However, families have canned both for generations. Below, I share my positive experience of canning meats, cheese, and butter, for shelf-stable pantry items, based on the advice of friends whose families have done so for decades, and from my own experiences over many years …

The post Home Pressure Canning, by Mrs. Alaska 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.

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and …

The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

I will be out of office until March 9. Please hold off on news tips/links. I may or may not be able to get to comments every few days or so, so best to minimize those. See ya on the other side.

The post Until We Meet Again first appeared on The War on Guns.

If you missed this morning’s program, here’s your chance to make your life complete. [Watch]

The post Firearms Friday Redux first appeared on The War on Guns.

Hey guy just a update on the case; there is no update… they have placed a full blown gag order on the case with closed chambers. So Lawrence or his lawyer is currently not allowed to find out what is developing within the case or talk about anything privileged when disclosed. [More] This is why … Continue reading "Follow the Money"

The post Follow the Money first appeared on The War on Guns.

“I believe that the crime rate would increase tremendously, and people are going to be doing whatever they need just to eat and get by and live their life,” Austin said. [More] I always wondered why my parents were such ruthless terrors in the Great Depression… [Via Steve T]

The post An Excuse for Everything first appeared on The War on Guns.

False promises are fully consistent with communist theory and practice. Communists categorically reject any objective truth or morality. [More] Don’t let the cognitive dissonance make your head spin– it’s baked in and that’s what they want.

The post Spider & the Fly first appeared on The War on Guns.

A spokesman from Thames Valley Police said: “[It is the] last week to surrender illegal Bruni black firing pistols. “If you have one of the five illegal Bruni TVBF models, hand it in safely and anonymously. “After 27 February you could face prosecution and up to 10 years in prison. [More] And Thames Valley Police … Continue reading "Meanwhile, Across the Pond"

The post Meanwhile, Across the Pond first appeared on The War on Guns.

A Stitt Storm: Oklahoma Governor Under Fire for Saying Dems Don’t Want to Turn Illegal Aliens Into Voters [More] He and his business backers have hundreds of millions of reasons. Who you gonna believe? A pandering Vichycon or your lying eyes? Cheap labor Republicans are every bit the enemy pathway to citizenship Democrats are — … Continue reading "A Stitthead Republican"

The post A Stitthead Republican first appeared on The War on Guns.

Suspect in NH shooting ambush on Border Patrol agent revealed to be trans nonbinary [More] Y’know, you “gals” are really screwing up the whole “violent white male” narrative. [Via bondmen]

The post Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before first appeared on The War on Guns.

Homan compares Vatican walls to US border in rebuke of pope’s deportation criticism [More] No, I’m not going to tell you which WarOnGuns Correspondent alias he uses. [Via bondmen]

The post Great Minds Think Alike first appeared on The War on Guns.

Ten Cuban Nationals Aboard U.S.-Linked Speedboat Intended “Armed Infiltration For Terrorist Purposes,” Cuba Claims [More] Pretty small “invasion”… The Bay of Piglets…? [Via bondmen]

The post One Man’s ‘Terrorist’… first appeared on The War on Guns.

“I ordered a high-powered ATL 36X arriving shortly, which I hope to actually use to shoot the president of the United States. I’m not kidding… This is a very high, powerful item. It’s great for a headshot at a distance. I didn’t want it to be delivered by drone because I wouldn’t want something like … Continue reading "The Nutty Professor"

The post The Nutty Professor first appeared on The War on Guns.

How Much Was the Government LYING About the Illegal Immigrant Crime Wave? [More] Interesting. The assumption is “How much?” not “Were they?” [Via bondmen]

The post Some Things are a Given first appeared on The War on Guns.

Catholic priests sure are different these days. John Snyder was a friend, colleague, and longtime WarOnGuns Correspondent. [Via WiscoDave]

The post Holy Day of Obligation first appeared on The War on Guns.

The March 2026 issue of Firearms News, including my articles “Gun Prohibitionists Siding with DOJ on NFA Registration” (p. 10) and “Gun-Grabbers Demand More Defenselessness after Brown University and Australian Shootings” (p. 12), is no available at Diverse and Inclusive newsstands throughout the Republic. Then again, you could just subscribe…

The post Shameless Plug first appeared on The War on Guns.

Proposed Minnesota legislation HF 3433 (often associated with HF 3434) includes provisions that would allow law enforcement to conduct warrantless, at-will inspections of private homes to ensure compliance with storage regulations for registered “semiautomatic military-style assault weapons” (SAMSAWs)… To retain previously owned semiautomatic rifles, owners must agree to allow law enforcement to inspect their home … Continue reading "Of Course You Realize This Means War"

The post Of Course You Realize This Means War first appeared on The War on Guns.

Relations between the neighboring countries have deteriorated recently over Pakistan’s accusations that the Afghan government is harboring the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Kentucky HB 749 Follows West Virginia in Expanding Citizens’ Access to Modern Machine Guns [More] Because a militia of the whole people without weapons war makes no sense.

The post Welcome to the Party, Pals first appeared on The War on Guns.

The post Q&A February 2026: Drones, AI, 6.5mm Cartridges, and More first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.

Yesterday’s show:

The post Daily Defense Redux first appeared on The War on Guns.

I’ll be joining the Michael Dukes Show at 10 AM Eastern. Live Stream here.

The post Firearms Friday first appeared on The War on Guns.

Court rebukes Newton, Iowa, officials for retaliatory arrests after citizen called them “fascists” [More] Streisand Effect, anyone…? [Via Michael G]

The post Fascist Is as Fascist Does first appeared on The War on Guns.

How Old Do You Have to be to Buy a Gun [More] Tench Coxe said “sixteen to sixty” as fit for militia service, but never even hinted at ownership prohibitions on either side of that range. U.S. Code says “The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of … Continue reading "An Age-Old Question"

The post An Age-Old Question first appeared on The War on Guns.

• An app that warns you when it thinks smart glasses are nearby.


• When you're finally over the effin' snow.


• Jim Grey encounters enshittification.

Those wishing to leave “should do so TODAY,” Mr. Huckabee wrote in the email, sent at 10:24 a.m. local time. He urged them to find a flight out of Ben-Gurion Airport to any destination for which they could book passage.

The embassy’s move “will likely result in high demand for airline seats today,” he said in the email, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times. “Focus on getting a seat to anyplace from which you can then continue travel to DC, but the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of country.”

The Florida Legislature is close to reforming the requirements for voluntary armed security in churches. The bill exempts voluntary church security members who have concealed carry permits from the requirements of Florida statutes which regulate the members of private security services. Private investigative,, security, and repossession services are regulated under Chapter 493 of Florida Statutes. Section 6102 spells out who the provisions of the chapter shall not apply to.

The Florida Legislature is posed to pass Bill HB 95/ SB 52. The wording in both bills is nearly identical in the operative parts. The Senate bill, SB 52 has passed the Senate committees and the Senate unanimously. The near identical House bill, HB 95 has unanimously passed the House committees and is ready to be presented to the whole House for a vote. A few members of the committees were absent during committee votes.

The bill makes a relatively minor change in the regulation of security for churches. Unarmed church security was exempt from regulation. This bill exempts volunteer church security who have concealed carry permits from the regulations of Florida statutes. The previous paragraph 13 of Section 493.6102 will not be changed:

 (13) Any individual employed as a security officer by a church or ecclesiastical or denominational organization having an established physical place of worship in this state at which nonprofit religious services and activities are regularly conducted or by a church cemetery to provide security on the property of the organization or cemetery, and who does not carry a firearm in the course of her or his duties.

The new paragraph will be paragraph 16 of Florida statutes 493.6102. From flhouse.gov:

 493.6102 Inapplicability of this chapter.—This chapter shall not apply to:

(16) Any person who on a voluntary basis provides armed security services on the premises of a church or ecclesiastical or denominational organization having an established physical place of worship in this state at which nonprofit religious services and activities are regularly conducted, if:

(a) The person providing the armed security services holds a valid license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant s. 790.06.24

(b) The security services are provided exclusively on the premises of a church or ecclesiastical or denominational organization, including any property owned or leased by the church or ecclesiastical or denominational organization for worship, education, or religious activities.

(c) The person providing the armed security services did not receive any compensation for such services. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "compensation" does not include reimbursement for reasonable expenses actually incurred and related to the cost of training or the cost of equipment necessary for providing the security services.

The reform bill appears popular, without opposition. It is expected to pass and be signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, and to become law as of  July 1, 2026. In 2021, Governor DeSantis signed HB 259, which allowed people with concealed carry permits to carry on church property unless the religious institution has a policy explicitly forbidding the carry of concealed firearms. The previous law restored the choice to religious institutions instead of preemptively forbidding the carry of concealed weapons on the grounds of churches, unless the administration of the religious institution specifically allowed it. Armed volunteers have served as church security since colonial days. During the colonial period, several colonies required members of the church to bring their weapons to church services. 

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

 Gun Watch

Rasheed Hussien reported that he and his brothers were at Wawa when a group of men was “mugging them and saying things to them in Spanish,” and then outside Diaz-Caraballo shot at them, according to deputies.

Hussien said he ran to the parking lot at 13550 SW 120 St., grabbed a firearm from his brother’s parked black Infiniti, G375, and “in self-defense, he shot several rounds” at Diaz-Caraballo, records showed.

Deputies reported finding eight spent bullet casings.

A deputy detained Diaz-Caraballo shortly after 1:55 a.m. near Southwest 120 Street and 135 Court, and corrections booked him shortly after 11:50 p.m. at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

More Here

On February 27, 1919, the first public performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” It became the inspiration for dozens of movie soundtracks, a famous English hymn, and even modern music flash mobs. — And on February 27, 1933, Nazi Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was destroyed by fire, possibly set as a false flag attack by the Nazis. The fire occurred 28 days after Hitler was sworn in. They blamed and executed Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe. Since then, the term “Reichstag Fire” has become synonymous with False Flag Attack. — Today, we present a guest piece by our …

The post Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 27, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

In July of 1917 as the fires of WWI raged across Europe, the Russian city of Petrograd was facing its own special turmoil in the form of a large scale Bolshevik insurgency. Up to 500,000 protesters, agitators and provocateurs had entered the city from across the country, many of them armed. They took over large swaths of the metropolis, hijacked private vehicles and confiscated private buildings. Some soviet leaders including Vladimir Lenin called the event “premature” and did not publicly endorse it, which may have been a calculated attempt to avoid direct blowback. The official historical explanation is that the …

The post It’s Time To Accept That Civil War 2.0 Has Already Started, by Brandon Smith appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. Economics & Investing News and Links of Interest DVDs the new vinyl records: Why Gen Z is embracing physical media in the age of streaming. JWR’s Comment: Real prepper families never trusted cloud storage and have held on to their DVDs and BluRays. At Zero Hedge: $845 Trillion Derivative Crisis as U.S. Banks Prepare for Bail-Ins. Just as I predicted, precious metals prices rebounded early this week. And not surprisingly, silver gained the most of them, up about …

The post Economics & Investing Media of the Week appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

“Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.” – Francis Bacon

The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

11 Million views can't be wrong. 

 2/25/26 Shooting News Weekly:

Darwin loves it when feloniously stupid thugs do feloniously stupid things…like trying to rob people who are walking out of a gun range. With guns on them. That’s right up there with juggling chainsaws or hand grenades with the pins pulled, but that’s what happened in Texas.

A trio of rocket surgeons apparently wanted to audition as the Three Stooges of Crime, watching for a guy to leave a gun store and live-fire range in Houston. They actually laid in wait outside a gun range looking for someone to rob. In Texas. Where “howdy” might as well as mean, “I’m packing, you packing too?”

What could possibly go wrong?

 2/25/26 CBS News:

ICE arrested 261 DACA recipients over 10 months last year, document shows

Rings

I ordered some rings to hold it in a Vixen finder base. Finding rings large enough for a 68mm OD tube was nearly impossible but these seem like they should do:

Those rings are made in the PRC and like most stuff that I am seeing made there, it is beautifully and accurately made. (I bought and returned a camera telescope adapter that looked like it was designed from a photograph: beautiful but inverted in a hard to explain way). 

I have made a similar ring set in the past of white acetal. They made the same correct choices. The base, which uses a 75 degree dovetail for Vixen finder shoe compatibility, has slots across it that the rings fit into very precisely so they will never be not perpendicular to the base. It uses 1/4-20 screws through the base into the bottom of the rings. That means that a variety of ring sizes can use that same part. It also makes machining this into three separate parts, each of which is a simple part to machine.

I really wish there were Americans willing to make products like these. Antares builds smaller rings in Canada; I buy their stuff even though a bit more expensive. These rings cost $30. I am sure that these could be made profitably here and sold for $60 and there would be buyers at that price. If I had the time, I would organize this. I have the capital, the interest, but not the time.

Eyepiece

I bought a SVBONY 25mm Plossl for the finderscope. It gives 6x and 8.33 degrees of field which is fine. It is not a crosshairs reticle. It is a beautiful eyepiece. So I went looking for instructions on adding an illuminated reticle to an existing eyepiece and I found some for an Orion 25mm Plossl, which doubtless came from the same factory.

So Donald Trump seems to be following the ravings here.  Consider this post from December: 

In general, mid-term elections favor the party out of power.  This is true so often that it is almost considered a law of nature, particularly during a President's second term.  What you don't ever see is anyone ask why do voters reject the party in power in the mid-terms? There's quite a simple answer.

Fatigue.

The voters have had some time to get used to the Administration and starts to tire of the typical amount of scandal, incompetence, and general dum-assery that any administration accumulates.

That's not at all what we see today.  The main focus of the Trump 47 administration has been border security, deporting criminal illegal aliens, economic growth, and lower inflation.  There are remarkable results for all of these, despite the legacy media's frantic efforts to hide them.

Each of these are 80% issues - i.e. the issues all get 80% support in polls.

I would go so far as to say that the voter fatigue is on the other foot.  It's the Democrats who spent the last four years stumbling through a morass of dumb-assery.  And who are all on the 20% end of the issues that voters care about.

And here comes DJT with the State of the Union Address.  Here's the TL;DR version:

Boy, those Democrats are crazy, aren't they? 

You're welcome.

Preliminary details showed that an ex-employee came to a business and started a confrontation with an employee. During the confrontation, the ex-employee began to chase the employee with a gun, Price said. 

Another employee then grabbed his firearm from his vehicle and shot the ex-employee who was chasing the employee with a gun.

More Here

Around 4:30 a.m., Gilbert police received reports of “unknown trouble” at an apartment off of the Loop 202 and San Tan Village Parkway. The 911 caller reported that an unknown man broke into their apartment and assaulted one person. Investigators say one tenant opened fire, striking the alleged intruder.

Once officers arrived, they found the suspect seriously hurt, and he was rushed to the hospital. He remains in critical condition, according to police. No residents inside the apartment were hurt.

More Here

  By Lee Williams SAF Investigative Journalism Project Special to Liberty Park Press Gannett’s flagship, USA TODAY, actually warned its shrinking readership that gun owners may call out its staffers for using fake mass-shooting data in their reporting. In a story published Monday, reporter C. A. Bridges, who writes for the USA TODAY NETWORK, first […]

The post USA TODAY Warns Readers Gun Owners may Disagree with its Reporting appeared first on Liberty Park Press.

On February 26, 1929, US President Calvin Coolidge established Grand Teton National Park. — And on February 26,1935 RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) was first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Wilkins in Daventry, England. — Today’s feature article is a guest piece by a SurvivaBlog reader who is also a podcaster. — We need entries 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 get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a …

The post Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 26, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Background I travel for work, often traveling all over the word into some not-so-friendly environments where I don’t want to be a target but I still need to remain capable. I’ve interviewed behaviorists about the science behind being memorable and I’ve also spoken with members of certain 3-letter-agencies about what they’ve learned about traveling in austere environments. This short essay is an aggregate of that information that is easily consumable and understandable. In the world of tactical preparation and survivalism, there is a pervasive image of the “operator”, that is; someone decked out in multicam patterns, sporting morale patches, and …

The post Your “Gray Man” Camouflage, by A.C. 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, Hawaii’s planned dictatorial “Emergency” powers. Hawaii Plans Expansive Emergency Powers By way of the Whatfinger news aggregation site: Hawaii Bills Would Allow Gov’t To Quarantine People, Enter Property, …

The post The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

“I’d read up on the history of our country and I’d become fascinated with the story of the Alamo. To me it represented the fight for freedom, not just in America, but in all countries.” – John Wayne

The post The Editors’ Quote Of The Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

 Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned historian and he gives us some good perspective on the buildup in the seas around Iran.

 2/23/26 The Hill:

Rapper Nicki Minaj and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Monday knocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his SAT remarks at an event in Atlanta previewing the release of his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.”

“I’m not trying to impress you. I’m just trying to impress upon you I’m like you. I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (D).

“I’m not trying to offend anyone — trying to act all there if you got 940,” he added.

The recorded clip quickly sparked backlash from the MAGA base from Minaj and Scott alike.

“His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read. This means my first read on him was correct. He’s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved,” Minaj wrote in a post on the social platform X.

Newsom is about my age so I suspect that he means his SAT Verbal and Math scores totaled 960. If so, it explains why he is the most likely Democratic candidate for President. I was not one of the smarter people in my social circles but I still managed 1390. Some of my friends achieved 1480.

Yes, tell black people that they are just as intellectually challenged as you are. That's a way to make friends!