Month: August 2008

Letter Re: Survival Fiction Recommendations

Mr. Rawles; I really enjoyed your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”.] It was great, and I was amazed at the quantity of useful facts that you squeezed into a piece of fiction. I’ve read it three time and have given away a copies to a couple of my friends and to my dad. It helped him extract his head from the sand. For that alone, I am very grateful. What other “survival” fiction do you recommend that has any real educational value? (Not just motivational or “what if” situations.) Are there any novels like yours, or perhaps some movies …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Perennial content contributor Cheryl N. found this “must read” MSNBC piece: Credit Crisis Prompts Unprecedented Response. It squares nicely with what I have been writing since the Spring of 2007: The global credit collapse is unprecedented, and will be both deep and prolonged. We are nowhere near the bottom yet!    o o o From The Guardian: Greenspan warns more banks may be bailed out. (A hat tip, again, to Cheryl N. for the link.)    o o o John R. recommended a brief speculative piece on state secession, penned by fellow SurvivalBlog reader Bill Buppert, recently posted over at …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Am I optimistic for the long-term? Absolutely not. I still believe we’re due for the mother of all market crashes, and that the U.S. economy is running on borrowed time — and I do mean borrowed. I think most baby boomers are in serious financial trouble, and that oil will climb above $200 a barrel. Inflation will also increase, causing more pain for the poor and middle class.” – Robert Kiyosaki


Letter Re: Of Bulls and Bears–Some History and a Glimpse at the Future

Dear Mr. Rawles, Thanks for the great blog, and your “Patriots” novel. Reading your site has become a daily routine for me. One thing that I am finding amusing in today’s investment market is this mythical line in the sand of when we are officially in a Bear market. At present the market seems to be fighting to stay just above this line and almost daily some market pundit states how one average or another has “officially’ entered an intraday Bear Market. Few people know, especially those in the investment market, the origins of the terms Bulls and Bears. In …


Letter Re: The Novel The Road is Now in Movie Production

Mr. Rawles, As you seem to enjoy a bit of fiction with your survival preparedness I thought you would be interested to know that Cormac McCarthy’s best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Road”, is being made into a Hollywood movie. While certainly not the world’s greatest survival fiction it isn’t a bad morality play of the mindset required to survive a pervasive society ending disaster. The movie is set to release in November by John Hillcoat and star Viggo Mortenson, Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and 12-year-old Kodi Smit McPhee. It could be good but the sheeple will …



Letter Re: Preparedness Versus Reliance on God’s Providence and Protection

Jim, I’ve struggled with the paradigm of preparing versus having faith in God to provide for our needs and protection. There are many Biblical references/analogies regarding both. Would you be willing to share your thoughts? Sincerely, – Short-ckt JWR Replies: For some relevant Bible passages, please see the latest additions to my Prayer page. In particular, see the sections under these headings: Clarification on Christianity and Physical Preparedness Food Storage Self Defense Charity May God Bless You and Yours!


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Cheryl N. sent us this article that ran in Australia’s The Age, back in June: Talk of financial system breakdown moves from the fringe to the mainstream    o o o Both Dean and KAF mentioned an EMP article, in The Wall Street Journal.    o o o Cheryl N. also flagged this: 2007 Mortgages Going Bad at Faster Pace. “Mortgages issued in the first part of 2007 are going bad at a pace that far outstrips the 2006 vintage, suggesting that the blow to the financial system from U.S. housing woes will be deeper than many people earlier …




Letter Re: Some Practical Experience with WVO Conversions for Diesels

JWR, Some waste vegetable oil (WVO) information for you: My 2001 Excursion 4WD runs on WVO, and I’m presently in the process of converting my recently acquired 1996 Ford F250. For my first conversion, the Excursion, I bought a conversion kit from a company and I recommend that all first timers on straight vegetable oil (SVO) start with a kit from a reputable company. I’m building my second conversion kit on my own and I expect it to cost around $800 for all the conversion parts except for the second tank for the WVO. (I picked up a L-shaped 105 …


Letter Re: Advice on Finding a Retreat

Mr. Rawles Regarding GvO’s letter that was posted on Thursday: I think that “finding a retreat” is not as important as finding people to work with, and while time may be getting short, I still believe the answer is primarily about people, not places. GvO obviously has skills that would be useful even before the Schumeresque season arrives. So, I can tell you what worked for us. We found an online group that was devoted to Homesteading, after a year or so when the group decided to have a Meet-N-Greet, we went, and met the founders, and some of the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Tom from Atlanta wrote to ask me about the recent drop in oil and precious metals, and the simultaneous rally in the US Dollar. He asked: “Does this mean the credit crisis is over, and that commodities will tank?” My answer: Not even close. Just take a look at the US Dollar Index chart. Print out that chart, slap a ruler on it, and draw a trend line. Now ask yourself: At the macro level, is there anything that has changed that will make the USD substantially stronger in the next few years? NO! So we can conclude that the …