Day: May 26, 2007

Note from JWR:

Today we present another article for Round 10 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article for Round 10, which ends on Thursday, May …


Raising Goats for Self-Sufficiency, by Freeholder

It seems like more and more people are becoming aware of the need to grow some of their own food. Usually they start with a garden, and maybe some chickens or meat rabbits. But eventually, if the family has room for them and the zoning allows, they decide that they need their own milk supply (with a little home-grown veal or chevon [goat meat] as a bonus). Cows have their place, but in many situations goats are a better choice. They are smaller and easier to handle; less expensive to purchase; require less room; and can eat, and even thrive …


Letter Re: Stealth Vegetable Gardening

Jim: An issue with putting in a garden for food security is that your neighbors or passersby know what a tomato or broccoli looks like and may feel inclined to help themselves. While not so much of an issue on a farm, in a subdivision, this could be a problem. Consider putting in a second garden full of what other people would consider weeds. Does your neighbor know what nettles look like and that they are edible? The starving hordes could just pass by your bounty with no need to fight it out . – SF in Hawaii JWR Replies: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS mentioned an interesting article that ran in Popular Mechanics magazine, back in 2001: E-Bombs And Terrorists   o o o “Crazy” to ignore commodities plays, says a JP Morgan fund manager    o o o The derivatives bubble continues to expand, Bloomberg reports: “The global derivatives market grew at the fastest pace in at least nine years during 2006 as the amount of contracts based on bonds more than doubled to $29 trillion, the Bank for International Settlements said today.”    o o o A useful reference on EMP and TREE shielding, from TM 5-690: ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP) PROTECTION


#1 Son’s Quote of the Day:

“If the statists think that they will ever totally disarm our citizenry, then they are dreaming. Even by conservative estimates there is nearly one gun for every man, woman and child in these United States. Now to put that in context, consider the current “decommissioning” process in Northern Ireland. The whole peace process there currently hinges on less than 800 guns. The IRA won’t give them up. Now please don’t misunderstand me: I don’t support the IRA. It is clearly a terrorist group with a leadership that espouses Marxist philosophy. The reason that I mention the Irish situation is to …