Day: February 12, 2008

Letter Re: The More Naive Peakniks Need to Learn to Exercise OPSEC

Dear Jim: I found an interesting article about local Peak Oil preppers. It illustrates to a “T” the naivete of some of the Peak Oil crowd you have mentioned previously. In the article (“Oil crisis ahead? ‘Peakniks’ build for future”) there is a good balanced coverage of the problem. Featured is a local architectural engineer who is building a sustainable home called “FoodWaterShelter”. His full name, the street he is building on, his current neighborhood, his wife’s occupation, etc., etc., are all put out for public consumption. Heck, he is even in a photo. It took under a minute to …


Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness

James, To amplify on the excellent recent letter from SoCal titled “Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness”, I have some suggestions that all of us SurvivalBlog readers should implement to keep a low profile in our online activities. Anonymizer and Comprehensive Risk Solutions (both mentioned in the letter) are great ideas. They are cheap insurance. I can also recommend a few other measures, to wit: 1.) Use the Scroogle Scraper for web searches. This allows you to use Google through an intermediary site. That way Google cannot create a profile on your searches. On background: Google is notorious …


Letter Re: Advice on .223 and .308 Semi-Auto Rifles and Optics?

Jim, I’ve decided to finally purchase an AR-15 type .223. I’ve decided on a DPMS Lo-Pro 16 for my .223 carbine. I’m looking into a Mueller lighted-reticle scope, in the area of 2-10×40 or so. Mueller has prices that are quite decent, given the quality, and the reviews I’ve read. I also have a friend with a Mueller setup on his AR-15. For a .308, I’ve looked over many of the FN-FAL and G3 type rifles and their clones, but an AR-type platform has been highly recommended to me: The Rock River Arms LAR-8. It uses the AR-15 design from …


Letter Re: Comment on the Planned U.S. “Economic Stimulus” Tax Rebate

Jim, Not directly related to survival but more aligned with money management, please note that the Bush administration’s tax rebate is in fact an advance on 2008’s tax refund, and most or all of it will be deducted from taxpayers’ refund within a year. So if one spends it, plan to be short that amount next year. Be sure to thank most of your current crop of presidential candidates for supporting this fraud. – Bruce F.


Odds ‘n Sods:

One of our readers that works as a locksmith and welder in Denver, Colorado reports: “I thought you might want to know, that a year ago I would open houses for foreclosure investors, and that market was only about 5% to 10% of my business. Now it is 70% to 90% of my business.”    o o o Reader D.C. recommended an article that has some implication for any readers that own an unattended retreat: Keeping Track From Afar. My personal preference is for a service called uControl Home Security. (They are one of our former advertisers.)    o o …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“There’s something cool about the thought of being totally off the power grid. It’s a psychological thing. I could rationalize being off the grid by saying it would come in handy if the rest of the world runs out of energy. But realistically, the big worry in that case wouldn’t be powering my iPod so much as not getting eaten by cannibals.” – Cartoonist Scott Adams.