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We have always been very careful to avoid making any libelous statements in SurvivalBlog. But after a lifetime of being free of any ligation I now have apparently been named as a co-defendant in an upcoming defamation trial in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio. (I have not yet been served with court papers, but I’ve been warned that indeed I soon will be.) All of this stems from just a two-line mention (with a link) about a reportedly disbarred attorney in Tennessee–variously surnamed Akart, Akard, and Okard–who reportedly had at least two convictions in the past for swindling....

ASKED by an out-of-stater where the nearest shooting range is, Patrick Leavitt, an affable gunsmith at Riverman Gun Works in Coeur d’Alene, says: “This is Idaho—you can shoot pretty much anywhere away from buildings.” That is one reason why the sparsely populated state is attracting a growing number of “political refugees” keen to slip free from bureaucrats in America’s liberal states, says James Wesley, Rawles (yes, with a comma), an author of bestselling survivalist novels. In a widely read manifesto posted in 2011 on his survivalblog.com, Mr Rawles, a former army intelligence officer, urged libertarian-leaning Christians and Jews to move...

Digital Currency: The Key Tool of 21st Century Monolithic Nanny State Tyranny   January 28, 2016 - 6:47 am | Current Events & Politics, Economics & Investing There has been talk of doing away with paper currency for several decades, but up until now that has mostly been idle conjecture and mostly bluster. Gradually, however, the building blocks of such a system have indeed been developed. These enabling technologies include: Credit cardsDebit cardsPostal metersCredit and debit card enabled pay phonesCredit and debit card enabled vending machinesCredit and debit card enabled “pay before you exit” parking garage kiosksGrocery and warehouse...

Fighting Words: An Open Letter to Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. The New York Times just published the newspaper's first front page editorial in 95 years. It urged America's legislators to outlaw civilian ownership of semiautomatic battle rifles. This editorial twisted words to castigate our militia arms as follows: "These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection." The editor went on to urge: " Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible...

Based on the study, the differences between men and women, and boys and girls, are biologically programmed. These are not learned differences. What difference does that make? A whole lot. Whether a boy or girl believes they are different from the opposite sex in profound ways, or not, they are different. In profound ways. A movement toward a genderless, and gender-identity-based society is gaining traction, in academia, and in law. The movement is based on the belief that Gender is performative, it is comprised of routinised bodily and speech practices, rather than the manifestation of an ‘inner essence’. This is...

As I heard Paul’s story, it became obvious to me that while we often have a laser focus on preparing to survive the impending collapse, his community had gone farther and made preparations for survival after the collapse. In other words: yes, he had to have practical necessities and skills to make it through whatever came his way – but what then? After the world as he knew it ended, was his community prepared to help create a new one?

I often have SurvivalBlog readers forward me alarmist e-mails, warning of "total disarmament" of the civilian populace. While there indeed may be plans or schemes to disarm Americans, I don't consider these threats credible. Let me explain why: I would conservatively estimate that there are about 316 million firearms in private hands in the United States. Of these, less than 10% are logged in any formal registry. Perhaps another 30% have Form 4473s filed with the FFL dealers where they were first purchased, but that is a fractured mishmash of records with a quite perishable life span. It is notable...

Somewhere West of the Rockies - -(AmmoLand.com)- AmmoLand.com’s featured Gun Blogger of the Month, for August 2009, is the SurvivalBlog.com. James Wesley, Rawles (JWR) is a survivalist author and lecturer. JWR is also the editor of www.SurvivalBlog.com. “I’m also a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, and now work as a full-time blogger and freelance writer. This blog reflects my interests. I’ve been an enthusiastic survivalist since my teenage years. I grew up in the Bomb Shelter era, and that mind set just never wore off” says James Wesley, Rawles. The first amazing thing about the SurvivalBlog.com is JWR has not...

So, a title shoots to the top of Amazon.com’s sales ranking within days of its release and libraries are caught off-guard—only a handful have it on hand and another few wait for its delivery; it’s already on backorder at Baker & Taylor (B&T). This scenario occurred with the April 7 release of Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles, which hit #6 last week on Amazon but was #33 today. (The book, initially published as shareware and then by a Christian publishing house and POD house Xlibris, has been reissued by Ulysses Press, which...

In my survivalist novel "Patriots", I included lots of descriptions of firearms used in various situations in order to illustrate that there is no single "perfect survival gun." Different situations are best handled by using different firearms. There are several requirements that must be considered in selecting guns for use on a farm, ranch, or survival retreat. First, and foremost, they must be versatile. A single gun might be pressed into service for shooting crows or starlings at 10 yards, rabbits or coyotes at 100 yards, or rattlesnakes at five feet. While there is no single gun that can handle...

Sunday October 4 2009 Notes from JWR: I'm scheduled to be guest on the Laura Ingraham syndicated talk radio show tomorrow (Monday, October 5th), to discuss preparedness topics, from 11:15 AM to 11:45 AM Eastern Time (8:15 AM to 8:45 AM Pacific Time.) She is heard on more than 300 radio stations, on XM Radio, and on the Internet in both live streaming and podcasts.