Day: March 1, 2008

Notes from JWR:

Today we welcome our newest advertiser, Uncle Howard’s. They are a builder that specializes in barns, shops, combination house/shops and combination house/RV garages. Their designs maximize storage space, which is important for those that are preparedness-minded and have a lot of logistics to store. Their construction costs are very low. Be sure to visit their web site. Special thanks to reader “RK” who very kindly sent his 10 Cent Challenge subscription payment in the form of a 1/10th-ounce American Eagle gold coin. That was very kind of you! Speaking of gold, I noticed that the spot price of gold briefly …


Letter Re: Being Prepared for an Avian Influenza Outbreak

Sir, Please pass on a reminder to people to prepare themselves with a plan and supplies to deal with for the inevitable event [of an Avian Influenza outbreak]. Begin by practicing impeccable agricultural hygiene and discouraging any visitation of persons near their barn yards, hen houses and migratory wildlife flocks of geese or ducks on or near their ponds, open water sources or feed sources. This is best done with a couple of good herding type dogs who don’t mind getting their feet wet in the ponds or on the property watering holes. Our chickens are free range, yet they …


Letter Re: NOAA Weather Spotter Training

Jim, I recently attended a presentation by the National Weather Service (NWS) which was intended to educate volunteer weather spotters. The training is put on by NWS meteorologists, and is focused on the weather typical for your area. Throughout the night I felt like this information would be especially useful in light of a SHTF scenario, where regular weather alerts may not be available. Worst case? It’s free, only takes a couple of hours, and it could put you in touch with other volunteers who might be more receptive to a preparedness mindset. To find out more about schedules and …


Letter Re: The “Invention Nation” Documentary Television Series

Jim, I don’t know if this has been posted here or not. I have finished watching a series on the Science Channel called “Invention Nation“. The show primarily feature inventors who are inventing ways to “go green”. Many of these inventions and ideas fit in perfectly with being self-sufficient. Some of the topics are; used cooking oil for diesel engines, solar power technology, passive solar for heating homes and water, bicycle generators, etc… The series will rerun starting in March and may be worth a look for the preparedness minded. See the Invention Nation web site. Thanks to you and …


Letter Re: The EconomicIndicators.gov Web Site

James, It looks like the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Indicators web site now will continue to operate and they are going to enhance the site to boot. Here is the recently updated notice from their web site: The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) has decided to continue the economicindicators.gov web site. Featuring the economic releases from ESA’s Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the site was started by this Administration in 2002 to give greater awareness to these economic statistics. ESA initially planned to discontinue the service due to cost concerns but given …


Letter Re: Sizing a Retreat AC Power Generator

Mr. Rawles: In attempting to size an emergency generator for my home, I have run across some interesting questions that I hope you and/or your other readers will be able to help me with. I lived through the blizzards of the 1990s here in the southern West Virginia coal camps, and I will never forget us and all of our neighbors being without power and unable to get out of our own driveways for 23+ days in 1993. It marked the very beginnings of my awakening to the necessity of being properly prepared. With that in mind, I am attempting …


Letter Re: Lessons from Brazil, Circa the Late 1990s

James, I was chatting with a friend of mine who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil and we got to talking about their economy. What really caught my attention was what life was like about the time they went their economic collapse, I think he said around 1998. Brazil had several years of increasing inflation and finally reached 50% per month! At that rate people were paid weekly instead of monthly and everyone would convert paychecks to hard goods and consumables. I told him there would be riots in the streets and marches on the White House if we ever had …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Daniel K. recommended an essay about dependence on grid power, posted over at the Jeff Rense site: Worst Drug On Earth Stops In 8 Milliseconds    o o o Freddie Mac posts $2.5 Billion Loss in Fourth Quarter of 2007    o o o I just heard that “The Armchair Survivalist” weekly Internet radio show is expanding to shortwave, on WWCR, starting tonight. Kurt covers some interesting topics and he has some great guests. He also still operates Survival Enterprises (that you may remember as a former SurvivalBlog advertiser). They sell a variety of storage foods and gear at …