Finding a Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft

I’ve observed that survivalists tend to fall into two schools of thought: those that are loners and those that are community-minded. The loners would prefer to disappear into the wilds and essentially find a mineshaft to crawl into–somewhere they can lay low, whilst things sort themselves out, back in civilization. That is both a naive and selfish starting point for preparedness. Short of moving to the roadless interior of Alaska, it is not realistic to expect that you can find a remote rural property where you’d have no contact with outsiders for an extended period of time. We live in …




Letter Re: Comments on the 2008 Financial Collapse and the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB)

Hi Jim, This [current economic news] is nauseating. Now, not only are we in the insurance business, but we the taxpayer are going to be forced to purchase all of the bad and recklessly created debt generated over the last eight years. We know it’s bad, it’s even been called “toxic debt”. We’re not going to be given a choice on whether or not we want to purchase it. It’s being purchased in our name and we have no say about it. I can think of no better definition of socialism. If this is not the end of the world …




Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for the Parents of a Newborn Infant

Mr. & Mrs. Rawles, I hope you and the family are doing well. I have been reading your blog for over a year now and it has been quite helpful. We are making our way slowly in our preps but now I have a new issue. My wife has blessed our home with a child. We had been trying for 12 years with no luck, I guess God decided it was time! My daughter is now two weeks old and with all the excitement I hadn’t put any thought into preps for a new born. Maybe the Memsahib could give …




Odds ‘n Sods:

From the folks over at The Oil Drum: How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? An Update    o o o More on the MOAB, from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Bailout Plan Calms Markets, But Struggle Looms Over Details    o o o Another slug of cheer from SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Stocks Soar As Investors Look To Gov’t Rescue Plan — Current List of Failed Banks (another bank failure was announced on Friday) — Wall Street Dumps Mortgage Corruption on Taxpayers — New Wall Street Crisis Will Create a New Financial World Order — Forecast: US Dollar …