Dave Duffy’s article, “Ron Paul is a disaster for Republicans and Democrats, but not for America’s freedoms” is posted today, Thursday, January 5th, at whatreallyhappened.com  (gee, I wonder who asked Mike Rivero to post this really good article….)

What Really Happened website has a vast readership (and listenership for his daily radio program on Rense radio) of people all around the globe.  So hopefully this will expand exposure for your truly cool website.

Ron Paul 2012 !!!!

Thanks very much. This is the article I wrote in my blog Dec. 28.

–Dave Duffy

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Ron Paul shows up in the coolest, most unexpected places !!

I was standing in the checkout line at my local health-food store and discovered your magazine.  And there on the cover was listed an article about Ron Paul.  Pretty amazing!

Mr. Duffy has written a clear and concise article recapping why we so desperately need Ron Paul as president, one of the better articles on the subject (and I’ve read most of them …. a huge fan since 2008).

Thank you Dave Duffy.  I am going to forward it to Mike Rivero at whatreallyhappened.com in the hopes that he posts it and gives you and your writing the exposure you both deserve.

Thank you again.

T Quigly

RON PAUL 2012 !!!!!

(Now that I’ve discovered you, will be checking out your website as I am interested in ideas about living on the land)

Thanks very much. I’m a solid Ron Paul supporter, but the article you refer to was actually written by the magazine’s long-time senior editor, John Silveira. — Dave

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I read every edition cover to cover, I read all Jackie’s Q & A’s. I have you in my Facebook feed. But nothing I have ever read has been as important as this second amendment article. It should be required reading for every person in congress. All students should read it. The government needs to remember that they work for us and that we don’t NEED them to tell us what to do.

Thank you for this. If I ever think about cancelling (not likely) I’ll remember that this one gem of information is worth more than I would pay in my lifetime. You’ve just given me, if you’ll pardon the reference, all the ammo I will ever need to go against the tide of gun control idiots!!

Thank you,

Dixie Dever

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WOW what a mag. John Silveira’s description of a Libertarian was great. He managed to hit all the bases in a very short article. And in ‘My view’ his treatise on Ron Paul true and accurate. I sure hope Claire Wolfe continues to write for you also. Apocalypse, when? was very eye opening. I’m retired and on a small budget, I’ve cut back on some of my magazines but yours is the best. All of your writers are great and Annie, you’re doing a great job.

I do have one request. How about an article on Pikeminnow fishing. I have heard some stories about some of those fisherman making a lot of money. If I could just pay off my mortgage it would really help. I almost went to try it myself this year but my wife is blind and would not go. Maybe if I could convince her it’s a real opportunity we might go in 2012. Or maybe it’s not?

Thanks anyway,

Keep up the good fight.

Dan Day in Tennessee (retired trucker)
Dolly says Hi

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Massad,

I always try to give credit when it is due, so I want to extend my thanks to you.

As a teenager and young adult the only handgun I shot was my beloved .22 Colt Woodsman, and there is no telling how many thousands of rounds I put through it.  Patting myself on the back, I was pretty darn good.  Later in life, however, I felt the need to graduate to larger calibers.  After a brief flirtation with a .357 revolver I transitioned to .45 1911s, and found that my accuracy had gone to hell.  All my rounds were hitting low to the left.  I figured out that I was pulling the trigger down to the left, and also pushing down with my hand in anticipation of the recoil, which of course greatly exceeds that of the .22 that I was used to.  I concentrated with everything I had and finally developed a decent trigger pull, but could not overcome the pre-recoil push.  A couple of days ago I was browsing the internet and came across your article you wrote in February 2004 for “Backwoods Home,” or something like that.  It was titled “How to Shoot a Handgun Accurately.”  After I read it a few times I decided I needed to concentrate on were hard grip, concentrate on the front sight, and continue to pull the trigger straight back.

Yes, I experienced the epiphany.  At 7 yards most of my rounds hit the center of my target (about the size of a coffee cup) and the others are grouped closely around it.  Not really world class yet, but I have only been to the range once to practice my new methodology, so at 72 years of age I don’t think I am doing so bad.  I intend to get back to the range more often (it’s a lot more fun when I’m hitting where I’m supposed to) and improve as much more as I can.  I’m not sure what hard grip and watching the front sight have to do with not anticipating the recoil, but it sure works. (Until it gets automatic, before each round I chant to myself “Grip, front sight, straight back.”)

I read all your stuff in American Handgunner.  Keep up the good work, and thanks again.

Jim Dorroh

And thank you for saying so, Jim.

I’m taking the liberty of passing your comments on to my bosses at Backwoods Home, who brought you the info.

Best for the holidays,

Mas

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Dear Sir,

Thank you for writing this article. Words cannot describe the frustration I feel at the lack of attention this EMP doomsday scenario is receiving. (This lack of attention is tantamount to negligent homicide by our political leaders if we are subject to an EMP attack. They have commissioned studies and conferences on this scenario and are well aware of the consequences and yet do nothing.)

To my reason for writing: I have been studying this country’s preparation for many doomsday scenarios in an effort to better prepare myself and my family. The EMP attack scenario is by far the most scary for prepared survivors, even when compared to an all-out nuclear war. (With the nuclear war scenario, we will at least have a chance at maintaining a manufacturing base, with EMP we’d better learn how to make everything by hand first in order to rebuild a modicum of manufacturing infrastructure! Imagine making everything thing by hand to get ONE manufacturing plant back on-line, much less what it would take to get the power generating facilities and conveyance on-line to get power back to the manufacturing plant! By hand! without aid of anything electrical or electronic! And how would we get the fuel to the power generating plant? It’s a nightmare scenario!)

But there is one aspect to EMP attack that a nuclear war will not have that I cannot seem to get my head around. In my thinking the two scenarios that will cause people to become unrestrained looters without regard for common decency for a sustained period of time will be nuclear war and an EMP attack. In other scenarios we should be able to present to these roving hoards at least a road to a relatively quick recovery. With nuclear and EMP, it will be so devastating that “quick recovery” won’t even be in the vocabulary. But the “downside” (in regard to my family’s safety and well being) to EMP, is that it will leave a HUGE number of people alive to roam the countryside looking for food.

And there-in lies the rub: how can I keep these huge numbers of people away from my supply without resorting to massive violence? Any attempt at deception will eventually be found out when I appear well nourished. I cannot by any means store enough for everyone. And imagine the stampede when it is “rumored” that so-and-so at such and such place has a lot of food…I couldn’t live far enough away to prevent a migration to my front door. (And that is not to mention if an EMP attack is followed up by a conventional attack by a hostile country or countries…how could I feed and defend myself against an army or militia?)

I know that it is a bit more complicated than a simple email exchange can allow, but I’m at a loss here, so any direction/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you! And I love your magazine (I just cannot afford a subscription YET!)

John M.

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After listening to Clint Smith my son got me a youth model stock for my Remington 870 last Christmas. It’s my primary night time self defense/critter weapon. It’s much handier than the regular stock and I notice absolutely no difference when firing. After having it on the 870 for ten months I can’t imagine punishing someone with the longer stock.

My son’s girlfriend has an 870 youth model in 20 gauge and loves it.

Those that share our households are going to be the only ones we can count on in a pinch. Can their be anything more important than making them comfortable with the firearms they will be using?

Thanks to Mr Ayoob for a great article.

Frank Nelson

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RE: Put your garden to bed for the winter By Jackie Clay

I planted my first (personal) garden this year. (I grew up with a family garden). And I was a bit unsure how to proceed at the end of the growing season.

I just read the above listed article and it was very enlightening, a good, fun, easy read, and very helpful.

Thank you for posting it. And, if possible, please thank the author, Ms. Clay.

Many thanks!

Briana Rae

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Hello and thank you for the wonderful article Canning 101. I agree with everything you have written in this article.

My wife and I have been canning for 45 years now and passed this procedure along to both our children (boy & girl).  We also can year round, venison or moose (when I’m lucky) chili, and stew.  One of my favorites is canning venison with just 1 teaspoon of salt nothing else added.  This makes a great meal over rice, noodles or bread as the canned venison turns out like it is in gravy.

Thanks again.

Jerry Lynch

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Dear Editor,

Truly appreciated Jackie Clay’s article on canning.

The article was informative, personable, approachable and inspiring.

All in all  fun to read.

Thanks to both you and Jackie

Sincerely,

Koa Lavery
California

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Just a quick note to say thanks for the good article. It’s good information that applies to not only several women in my family, but to me as well.

I’m 5’7″, 132lbs, and it can be tough to find quality equipment or information. I shoot a Model 7 Youth in 7mm08, an 870 Youth in 20ga, and prefer a small frame 9mm (Federal 115gr JHP).

Steen Rose

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Very good article, refreshing. I am often on Newsvine, and will put this up on there.

The sad truth of this nation seems to be that people have (also chosen) to have too little to do. I see thousands of people on Newsvine and other comment sections that believe they have nothing to do, yet every one could be contributing to food for this nation, freeing ourselves from this tyranny of which you speak, and taking care of not contributing to this social disease: government.

Good article, and glad to see I can share it.

Thank You,

Gloria T.

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Hi Claire!

I came across your blog on Backwoods Home Magazine online as a place that had linked to my website, “The New Nomads”. It took me forever to figure out where the link to me was, but after much mindless clicking, encountered the right spot. I had misused the word “monkeywrenching” in one of my blog posts about Scotland (I had) and you were using my post as an example of your frustration about lack of genuine monkeywrenching. I was hoping for a more flattering link, but I am incredibly happy about finding you and your writing anyway! In the moment.

I am working on a book about the voluntary nomadic lifestyle as a way of living outside of the system. I am planning a three year experiment of living that way myself in order to research the possibilities, meet people doing it, and of course, to have a good time. Both you and Backwoods Magazine appear to be chock full of information and potential leads for my project and I am about to dive into the archives and check it out! if the project seems like anything you’d be interested in or interested in receiving updates about ~ or ~ if you are inspired to share anything with me you know about the subject, please let me know!

Here is a link to my site  (with no further misuse of the term “monkeywrenching” :) ) and to my project on Kickstarter.

Cheers and thank you for fantastic information and writing! I feel like I have struck gold!

Kimberlie Dame

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I appreciated seeing the article on wheat in the July/August  issue.  It had some helpful information on preparing fresh wheat for storage.

I am glad the editors made comment on using trash bags in  buckets.  They are not recommended and are unnecessary when a clean  food grade bucket is used, which is the only kind that should be used  when storing wheat in buckets.

The “bulgur” described in the article is not actually bulgur.  It is  steamed or cooked wheat and can be made in several ways in addition  to the one described.  Bulgur is steamed wheat that has been dried  and cracked.  It is an “instant” form of cracked wheat.  Bulgur is  commonly used in Tabbouleh and similar salads as well as in bulgur  pilafs.  Steamed or cooked wheat is normally used in different ways  than bulgur.

There are far more grain mills available than are indicated in the  article.  One can purchase simple inexpensive hand mills, moderately  priced and expensive hand mills that can also be motorized and  moderate to expensive electric mills.  One can purchase steel burrs,  stone burrs or an impact mill which pulverizes the grain.  I’m sure  readers would have appreciated reference links for more information.

The author also indicated that flour loses most of its food value  within a month.  Since flour is primarily the macronutrients protein,  fat and carbohydrate and flour is not a good source of the most  labile vitamins found in grain, that statement cannot be true.  Flour  is quite stable but it is better to store whole grains and make your  own flour especially if you find yourself living entirely on your stored food.

Thank you for providing a variety of articles in your  magazine.  There is always something I am interested in even though I  live in the suburbs.

Cheryl Driggs
Spring TX

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Hello,

I am a long-time reader and have all of the anthologies.

Your magazine is the real deal in a market stuffed to the gills with glossy crap with more ads than content. Furthermore, you have played a part in moving my political beliefs more toward Libertarianism by laying out the concepts in a clear, consistent, non-hypocritical manner. I read your article, and the subsequent comments, about marijuana laws and recently published similar thoughts. The difference was I went even further to include gay civil unions. My point was that the more power we give government to take away someone else’s rights, the more power they have to take away ours. It’s as simple as that. Like it or not, it’s the truth. But my readers fail to get that logic. I don’t see how anyone could miss it. This fact just seems so clear to me. Could you help me understand how I can communicate to my readers without alienating them? How do you do it?

Your appreciative reader,

Everett

Everett:

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond.

My short answer is I agree with you.  I think gays should be able to form civil unions with all the rights of anyone forming a union through marriage.

I read your online post, and I’d like to respond to one paragraph in particular that reads:

“What bothers me is that the groups fighting for our personal liberty seem concerned with everything BUT our personal liberties. They focus on money issues. They focus on taxation, bailouts, being required to purchase healthcare, and laws affecting business. Meanwhile, they ignore any law that forbids someone to do what they wish with their own body, in their own time, in their own home, without harming or affecting a single other person. They are OUTRAGED at any regulation affecting commerce or freedom OF religion (nevermind freedom FROM it; that’s another topic), but don’t blink an eye when the federal or state government legislates morality.”

You are incorrect in this regard, at least as it applies to Libertarians like me and to most tea partiers that I know. This group includes TV personalities such as Judge Napolitano and John Stossel, both Libertarians who have large TV audiences. We are as concerned with government legislating morality as we are with economic issues, but in these times of severe economic recession with the American economy about to go over a cliff due to its unsustainable debt, we tend to focus more on economic issues.

Some of us may not be for gay “marriage” due to religious or traditional concerns, but we certainly have no opposition to gay rights. However, we don’t want any sort of special rights for any group, whether they are gays, ethnic groups, religions, or groups of any sort. The reason is primarily economic, in that we don’t want to have to pay for special rights with our taxes, but we also don’t want our own rights infringed by having to abide by special laws that protect special rights for special groups.

Let me respond to another paragraph in your post:

“I know what the bible says about homosexuality. I grew up in a Pentecostal church so you don’t have to tell me about the bible. But I also know that most of the stuff the Old Testimate says we should do or forbid is just downright sadistic in today’s world. “

This is where you are probably having trouble “communicating with your readers without alienating them.” You go on to site examples of Old Testament sadistic advice, of which most people would agree. The problem is you are “in their face” and denouncing a book that is sacred to many. What you say is valid, but few people respond well to “in your face” arguments. They want respect for what things they view as sacred or traditional or otherwise important to them for any number of reasons. If you give them that respect by not trying to rub their noses into some obviously bad advice in the bible, they will likely be more open to your opinion. That’s how I do it anyway.

Take care. You’ve got a good blog with good, coherent writing. That’s rare in blogs.

Dave

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I read Claire’s article with interest since I’ve been making firestarters for years once we started taking our kid’s camping. One cold, windy night with only a few sheets of paper to get a fire going was enough to convince me to make a bunch of firestarters using various materials.

I found that using petroleum jelly on a cotton ball is a wonderful firestarter, you can fit a month’s worth into a pill bottle or mint tin. Spreading the cotton over the tender helps to get it going.

Also, using dryer lint (we have lots!) pushed into cardboard egg cartons or cup carriers and then covered with candle wax makes a great starter-lasts a long time like the ones Claire discussed in her article.

After having lighters fail and matches get wet I tried making my own “water proof” matches, which works okay except they tend to be brittle and hard to ignite. Now I use a magnesium stick firestarter that never fails to work. I found mine in a camping catalog, they’re also sold at Walmarts.

I love your magazine, have just signed-up for another year.I’m interested in being as self-reliant as possible. We live in a small town on a half acre lot where I keep 4 chickens in a mobile chicken tractor that my husband and son built to my specifications (we built it on top of a garden wagon, with a pen attached on wheels. When it’s time to re-locate the hens we just pick-up the wagon handle and pull it to the next spot. We have about 30 different fruit trees, tons of ever-bearing raspberries, strawberries, etc. I ordered the trees about 3 years ago and I’m excited by the fact that my peach and one of my plum trees are both loaded with fruit and the apples are also beginning to produce.

Keep up the great articles and information.I suspect that more people will be in need of it in the near future and your magazine will be an inspiration to them.

Marie McKinney Stone
Indiana

PS. I love everything that Jackie Clay writes!!!

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I just wanted to mention that for melting wax, a double boiler works really well. Another source of wax are those little wax bottles of whatever that is. My granddaughter gives me hers when she’s done drinking them.

Richard & Georgia

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Just finished reading Hardyville Tales.  It was great.  I believe Hardyville must be just down the road from Travers Corners.

Dave Godfrey

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Hi there,

I just read the article written by John Silveira called Why I’m nice to telemarketers and I had to write you a quick message to thank you. I work as a outbound call centre agent (which is what we telemarketers like to call ourselves haha) almost a year ago, and unless you’ve worked as one yourself I’m not sure you understand how much we appreciate people like you. We talk to a lot of unhappy people every day, and we truly do appreciate those who let us finish our little speech and politely decline. My coworkers and I actually brag to each other about the nice people we talk to.

So thank you for being nice to telemarketers and for writing an article about it.

Sincerely,

Rebecca

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I really enjoyed this article, short and good. I never really knew how to shoot and it helped a lot.

Aubrey E. Ritchie
Texas

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