Odds ‘n Sods:

“Thunder”, one of the senior members and moderators over at The Claire Files Gulching/Self-Sufficiency Forum just posted a couple of useful URLs on various designs for homemade backpacking stoves. See: http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html and http://fallingwater.com/pct2000/gear/KissStove.asp.

The last time I checked, the spot price of silver was at $8.99 per ounce and gold was at at $522.30 per ounce. Those of us in the contrarian “Gold Bug” minority camp are finally feeling vindicated. There will probably be a profit taking dip soon, so stand ready to throw some of your spare change at this charging bull.  OBTW, you can get live quotes on precious metals with our free ticker down at the bottom of the SurvivalBlog Investing page.

I spotted an interesting background piece on Able Danger over on GovExec.com. See: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1205/120705nj1.htm