One of the problems with reviewing a cookbook is that to do it properly you have to try at least a few of its recipes. That’s why I’m late to the party reviewing The Prepper’s Cookbook by Tess Pennington whose ReadyNutrition.com is rightly beloved among preparedness devotees. When her publisher, Ulysses Press, sent the cookbook … oh, back in April, I think … it sure looked like a great (and even fun) resource. But I had to try a few dishes to be sure. Having done that, I can say it cooks as good as it looks. —– The full…
Category: Preparedness
It was sunny yesterday, O wonder of wonders. I spent the day painting the back porch. It’s a tiny porch, but has four different colors and a couple different wall textures and it kept my body occupied for hours. But my mind had better other things it wanted to do. —– I found myself thinking about Amy Fischer, the “Long Island Lolita” and her main squeeze with the perfect tabloid name, Joey Buttafuoco. Why the heck would I be there in the sunshine thinking about some long-eclipsed “crime of the century”? I have no idea. That’s so 1992. —– I…
For crass commercial purposes To encourage you to support this blog Because people have been buying some interestingly useful stuff via my Amazon links,* I thought I’d start a semi-regular feature on what’s hot at Amazon for preppers, self-sufficient types, rebels, Freedom Outlaws, libertarians, free-market anarchists, and general hellraisers. I’ll kick it off by featuring a theme: preparedness items. If you just happen to see something you can’t live without, you’ll be contributing to this blog (and me!) by using these links. (Even if you don’t buy a featured item, everything you do buy at Amazon after entering via one…
Funny how freedomista books can turn up out of the blue, disguised as something else. Two such landed in my hold box at the library this week. I went online, searching for the parody The Dangerous Book for Dogs. In the mysterious ways of the library’s search engine, the words “dangerous” and “dogs” popped up a few other titles, as well. Children’s books. Hm, I thought. Pretty soon both Dangerous and two other titles were waiting for me. While I expected to be just mildly entertained (because a good kid’s book is a good book, and usually easy on the…
Because, you know, “survival-types aren’t known for being the most socially suave category of people…” (Tip o’ hat to C^2)
Tsk, tsk. As usual I’m behind in noticing that one of my print articles has gone online. This time it’s “Preparedness Basics” from the current (June 2013) issue of S.W.A.T. magazine. I’ve been doing a series of preparedness-related articles for them. And they’ve been doing some other excellent preparedness articles covering everything from canning meat to vehicle survival kits. Although cool! guns! cool! gear! smart! tactics! is still their focus, I love they way they’re returning to their survivalist roots. My current article is a checklist of fundamental preparedness needs. Take the challenge and see how ready you are. If…
Community Emergency Response Team training started tonight. Here’s what I got out of it: Well, that a big, fat binder filled with such scintillating (and useful!) information as “At the end of this unit you should be able to identify the roles and responsibilities for community preparedness, to include government, community leaders from all sectors, and the public.” I kept wondering why “the public” and “leaders” were always separate things in the CERT book when in every real-world disaster, “the public” becomes the leaders. I kept wondering how I ever — ever! — got through high school. Or heck, not…
Was growling over last week’s semi-useless disaster preparedness talk and pondering the wisdom of some of your comments. Then I came upon this: John Longenecker’s thoughts on why emergency management (EM) “experts” are having such a hard time getting through to the rest of us. (Tip o hat to the Dutchman over on Sipsey Street.) Longenecker says (in short) that the fact that millions are buying guns shows we’re more than willing to take responsibility and prepare for danger. We’re just not buying the elitist, top-down, “do it to us” (as opposed to “do it with us”) approach to disaster…
Went to another disaster preparedness presentation yesterday. This one specifically on tsunamis. Presenters (3) outnumbered attendees (2), but gamely soldiered on. In the first half, the earnest young AmeriCorps worker who has become the public face for emergency management in the county gave an excellent backgrounder on tsunamis. In the second, reps from the state did their PowerPoint bit. Their presentation began with an exhortation for us all (2) to become “Preparedness Superheroes” and ended with an order to “don your capes!” But in between they offered no actual preparedness information (unless you count the offer for free NOAA weather…
So have you been watching the catastrophe in Cyprus? It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. The abuse of language surrounding it would also be amusing if it weren’t so Orwellian. The original plan was for even the smallest bank depositors to pay a “tax,” a “levy,” or a “fee,” or “take a haircut” on their deposits. Nobody in the MSM ever used the proper term: confiscation. Now that Ma and Pa Cypriot have been “allowed” to keep their allegedly insured deposits and the EU is free to take all they want from the rich the moderately well-off…