Day: September 20, 2006

Notes From JWR:

The bidding is now up to $125 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail. Tonight will be the first airing of the new CBS television series “Jericho.” I hope that this show is long on practical skills and short on sentimentality, but I suspect that the reverse will be true. Regardless, I …


Letter Re: New Jericho TV Series

Dear Jim: CBS will air its new drama Jericho tonight, where a small Kansas town is suddenly faced with a nuclear explosion in the distance. As Larry from Kansas in Yahoo groups points out, there is in fact nowhere in Kansas where one can stand on a roof top and see mountains in the distance. While it will no doubt be entertaining to see what other liberties Hollywood takes, I do hold out great hope of this new take on nuclear war as a continuing drama, and that for the first time, many folks will suddenly realize: “Hey, I might …


Letter Re: Winter Fuel Blends and Fuel Storage Life

Jim, If [liquid fuel] prices continue to plummet then a good thing to do is stock up on winter fuels when prices bottom out. Didn’t you say winter/cold weather fuels have an advantage over warm weather production? – Jason in North Idaho JWR Replies: Yes, gasoline formulations do vary seasonally here in the United States. Here is a good reference on the subject, although I think that it overstates the risk of vapor lock running winter blend gas in the summer. The most notable difference is that winter blends are oxygenated in some regions of the country (typically with a …


Letter Re: Investment Recommendation: Palladium

Dear Jim, My recommendation for an investment metal is palladium. The first thing we need to look at in relation to this is rhodium. As can be seen in the Kitco charts, rhodium’s value has gone to insane levels, due to a combination of supply troubles–Russia and South Africa are the primary sources, and neither is tremendously stable–and demand issues. As China and India develop, all the commodities will be more in demand, and India has made great strides in the last few years as is noted from this Indian American blogger. So the industrial metals in limited supply will …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Jim K. sent this one: A bright kid put together his own flamethrower. Jim K. says “…and it seems to work like a charm.” My comment: If this could be done safely, it would be just the ticket for weed control. But where are the safety precautions? Where is the obligatory head-to-toe silver fire suit with hood and face mask? Where are his buddies standing by with fire extinguishers? Do not attempt this at home!    o o o Steve Quayle on Ammo Shortages and Price Increases    o o o Reader “Desert T” mentioned that there was an …