Day: November 3, 2008

Notes from JWR:

I was quoted extensively in a recent article at Forbes.com, titled Surviving The Apocalypse. BTW, both the article and the “In Pictures” sidebar slide show was remarkably free of errors. Sometimes journalists manage to get things right. Tomorrow is the last day of the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course pre-election 33% off sale. Don’t miss out! Today we present another entry for Round 19 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: The writer of the best contributed article will be awarded two transferable Front Sight  “Gray” Four Day Training Course Certificates. This is an …


Adapt to Survive, by Elizabeth B.

You are incredibly mistaken if you think you can store up enough to see you through bad times. You are wrong, dead wrong. When I say store up, I’m talking, food, provisions, tools, barter equipment, and whatever. The key to survival will be adaptation, just like in nature. Those who survive will be those who can readily adapt to a changing environment. I know many of you are sitting on little mountains of barrels, cans, packages and feel like you have an edge. Simply put, you will not be able to squirrel away enough. What happens when the stash runs …


Letter Re: When Unprepared Folks Show Up on Your Doorstep

Mr. Rawles; With the current state of the country more and more people have been stepping up their preparedness. The question I get asked most is what to do with the people who say they will be over when everything falls apart. I know you have addressed this in the past, but it is something people need to think through with the current state we are in. With my preparedness consulting I have had story after story from preparing people of family, friends and people who know they are preparing, but do not prepare themselves saying they will be there …


Letter Re: Useful References on Metalworking

I recommend two books to help our readers understand metalworking. They might never need these, but they’re at least useful for understanding what’s involved:. 1. Wayne Goddard’s $50 Knife Shop 2. The Modern Blacksmith And if you want to go a step further, there’s a nice compendium called “Useful Farm Implements”, though I suspect we’ll just focus on more immediate books like “Gardening When It Counts” though I personally recommend not using animal protein powder as a soil and feed amendment [as recommended in that book]. Prions, ya know? On a more personal note, I remain stunned that the economic …


Letter Re: The CDC’s Suggestions on Preparing for Future Flu Pandemics

Mr Rawles: My sister-in-law works for one of the large food bakeries. They make a well-known cracker that is purchased by a large portion of the US population every day. She manages health and safety for a number of their bakeries and recently attended a conference on pandemics hosted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC is holding these conferences for companies producing staple foodstuffs as they say it isn’t “if” we will see a flu pandemic but “when”. The conference was a real eye-opener for my sister-in-law. The CDC says that we will either have a flu …


Odds ‘n Sods:

More gloomage from Cheryl, our Economic Editor: Germans Freeze £21 Billion in Property Fund (“Nearly €30bn of German property funds were frozen between Tuesday and Friday last week in what industry experts fear could foreshadow a UK commercial real estate collapse.”) — The Federal Reserve is Inflating at 341% Per Annum — Cash Was King, Now Gold Is God — Fed Interest Rate Cut May End Up Making Matters Worse (“The Federal Open Market Committee’s half-point cut in its Federal Funds target does not address the leverage and credit issues in the banking system.”) — Gold, Faith And Credit (The …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of …