"Freedom is strangely ephemeral. It is something like breathing; one only becomes acutely aware of its importance when one is choking." – William E. Simon, Secretary of the Treasury (Nixon and Ford administrations) A Time for Truth, 1978
The high bid in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction is still at $575. This auction is for a scarce pre-1899 Mauser that was arsenal converted to 7.62mm NATO. (It was converted by the Chilean national arsenal, using original Mauser tooling.) The auction ends at midnight EST tomorrow (Tuesday, May 15th.) Just e-mail me your bid. Thank We begin today’s posts with the second round of results from our current poll.
Here is the second round of responses to this question: Those who are well educated enough to see a societal collapse of some sort or another in the making fall into two groups, the merrymakers and the preparers. The merrymakers don’t see life worth living post-SHTF, so they live it up now. We on SurvivalBlog are the preparers and have chosen to survive, but why? Our children? To rebuild civilization? Because the collapse will only be temporary? Because we can and we’re stubborn with a stronger than normal will to survive? The following is the second batch of responses. A …
JWR: Through a minor power disruption event, I made some discoveries that I thought I would share. A laptop computer can be run by an inverter of proper size. A laptop can be powered by a jump pack with a 12 VDC power port. The jump box can be recharged by a hand crank 12 VDC generator. We were able to continue e-mail and business communications, since the wireless towers are generator backup powered. This is good to know in local or short term disasters. – JG JWR Replies: Thanks for mentioning that topic. In my experience, running a laptop …
Mr. Rawles: I just wanted tell let you know how much I have enjoyed your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. It was very informative and is going to really help my family get prepared for whatever may be in our future. I recently purchased the “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1” and the Rawles on Retreats and Relocation book also and those were equally wonderful. The amount of information in your course was outstanding and has really jump started our family’s preparedness program. The covering of “A years supply of everything” angle was a unique approach …
Holly Deyo’s analysis of the 2007 U.S. tornado season. It’s already a bad year! Meanwhile, we read Kansas tornado disaster renews National Guard debate o o o All states except six: Allstate Insurance to stop insuring California homes. Allstate has also stopped writing new homeowners policies in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida and New Jersey as well as in eight coastal New York counties. Perhaps they should rename the company “MostStates”. o o o Commentary from Recombinomics: Qinghai H5N1 Evolution Revolution o o o Terror Close to Home: In oil-rich Venezuela, a volatile leader befriends bad actors from the …
"Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning" (Leviticus 19:13)
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 might 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 May 30th. Remember …
The recent seizure of eGold’s gold bullion holdings by the U.S. Government may have some more far-reaching unintended consequences. I predict that it might trigger some panic selling of holdings at the various “virtual” precious metals institutions. And it might even spill over to the fairly new gold and silver ETFs. This situation also illustrates a key point that I often emphasize with my consulting clients: There is no substitute for personally holding your precious metals in tangible form. Don’t trust any individual outside of your immediate family or any institution to hold your precious metals for you–not even in …
I really enjoy sitting down and watching movies. What the radio once was to us as Americans, I believe the DVD player has become to us now. On any night of the week, people are gathered together watching movies together. That being said, The Usual Suspects is one of the most interesting movies around. I should warn you before I go further that it is not for the squeamish, or the easily offended. The subject matter is coarse, and the movie is unapologetically rough. However, there is one particular exchange that sticks with me to this day, and it’s been …
Jim: Good morning. The heightened awareness on SurvivalBlog surrounding sourcing pure drinking water, especially for the survival community, reminded me of information on this topic that I had wanted to send to your attention. There’s a bit of self-interest here, as the company is owned by my father-in-law, but the short story is that his entity is on the cutting edge of fresh water production from air. That’s right… he sells atmospheric water generators. Water Pure International is his company, it trades on the stock market under [the stock symbol] WPUR.OB (about $0.50 per share currently.) The machines are similar …
The Mogambo Guru speaks: Elements of the Dollar’s Death Knell o o o Signs of the times? Fish die offs in the American southwest and in Idaho. o o o From financial commentator Darryl Schoon: Depression, not a Recession, expected. o o o A hospital emergency room in Atlanta, Georgia: “We’re at the Breaking Point.”
"Inflation has now been institutionalized at a fairly constant 5% per year. This has been determined to be the optimum level for generating the most revenue without causing public alarm. A 5% devaluation applies, not only to the money earned this year, but to all that is left over from previous years. At the end of the first year, a dollar is worth 95 cents. At the end of the second year, the 95 cents is reduced again by 5%, leaving its worth at 90 cents, and so on. By the time a person has worked 20 years, the government …
The high bid in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction is now at $575. This auction is for a scarce pre-1899 Mauser that was arsenal converted to 7.62mm NATO. (It was converted by the Chilean national arsenal, using original Mauser tooling.) The auction ends at midnight EST on Tuesday, May 15th. Just e-mail me your bid. Thanks!
Jim: As a veteran cop and blog subscriber, I read FerFAL’s posting with interest. He makes solid points but forgets some basics about the response of “law enforcement” in a SHTF time. Additionally, US law enforcement is a different culture than say, Argentina. What kind of peace officers a particular jurisdiction has is based upon where there are. Rural towns and regions usually have a more dedicated cop that will stick around when things go bad (ala your Iowa example in [your novel] “Patriots”). They live in the area and are often either born and/or raised there. Even when the …