Day: April 18, 2006

Responding to the Ongoing Middle East Crisis

There are a great many imponderables that have surfaced with the current saber-rattling situation in the Middle East. But one thing is clear–the uncertainty is rippling through the commodities markets. I guess you’ve all seen the higher prices at the gas pump, and the precious metals are spiking. For example, see the charts at Kitco. (To get the big picture, click on the one year chart, down at the bottom of that web page.) Silver was over $13.50 per ounce yesterday afternoon! What can you do? 1.) Pray for peace. Please pray for the survival of the people and nation …


Letter Re: A New Breed of Feral Dogs, by Buckshot

Mr. Rawles, The most vital point, I think, of Buckshot’s piece is not that feral dogs will eat us all alive, but that [applying] current attitudes in future scenarios CAN GET YOU KILLED!   You’d better get you mind wrapped around the hard decisions now the best you can.  Buckshot is exactly right: if you’re making decisions on the fly as a situation unfolds, you’re dog food.  The same goes for any, shall we say, less-than-polite social encounters with humans.  ARIES (Autonomic Response In Extreme Stress) is an acronym we used when I taught self-defense.  Most guys would pooh-pooh the …


Letter Re: Unintended Consequences of a Failure of Basic Services in a Disaster

Jim: When I was a river [rafting] guide we used toilets made of [military surplus wooden] rocket boxes.   The premise is to take a large Army rocket box (a toilet lid fits inside ) and use double lined plastic bags and plenty of powdered lime. Regular old lime for the disinfectant.   We would use on of these on extended wilderness rafting trips for 30 or 40 people.   Here’s how it works. Set up the rocket box and remove the large roll of heavy black plastic trash bags. Take TWO bags and double bag them and line the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alternately threatens to annihilate or “liberate” Israel. With these tensions is it any wonder oil an precious metals are spiking?    o o o David Limbaugh comments on “Immigration Madness“    o o o It looks as if the short squeeze that I predicted in the silver market is starting to unfold. Look for a substantial spike in the price of spot silver in the next two weeks, as the shorts panic to cover their positions. This spike may very well be followed by some profit taking, but who knows–the stair step pattern may persist.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Iran has dropped its pretense of benign intent. It has used the passing time to disperse, diversify, conceal, and protect its nuclear centers. But [the U.S.] cannot prevent this through military means—unless it is willing to commit itself to all-out war. Realism about Iran starts with throwing out any plans to bomb." — James Fallows, The Atlantic.