Note from JWR:

For those of you that have been waiting, I just got another case of 10 copies of the latest edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. This massive three pound, 870 page compendium is a must for every prepared family’s bookshelf. If you look around, you can sometimes find used copies of the latest (Ninth) edition at local used book stores, or through Internet vendors. If you can’t find a copy locally, new copies are available through our Catalog page.




Letter Re: Advice on Retirement Plans and Precious Metals IRAs

Helo Jim, Just a note to let you know what a great job your doing with the blog. I have a question that as far as I know you have not addressed. Most of my individual retirement account (IRA) money is in a 403b at work. [A 403(b) is a tax deferred retirement plan for the employees of nonprofit organizations.] I had wanted to roll this over into a precious metals IRA. However I am not allowed to do this until I leave my current job. Is there anything you would advise that I can do to protect my 403b …




US Food Riots Much Closer Than You Think, by Robert Felix

(The following is re-posted with permission, from IceAgeNow.com) Recently, I said “we’ll be fighting in the streets for food long before we’re buried in ice.” I say the same thing in my book Not by Fire but by Ice. I just received an email from a reader that sums it up better than I did: “I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job, I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. …




Odds ‘n Sods:

I found Cathy Buckle’s most recent letter from Zimbabwe well worth reading. The ravages of hyperinflation are hard to appreciate except when seen first hand, as related by someone like Cathy.    o o o California Fire Battalion Chief – Whoever Did This Knew What They Were Doing    o o o Alphie mentioned that the October Backwoods Home Magazine e-newsletter is now available.    o o o The Black Swan’s lessons–The value of considering improbable possibilities