Odds ‘n Sods:

While surfing around the net looking for ammo suppliers, Tim in Maryland found an ongoing firearms forum thread that tracks .308 prices from all the various online outlets. Tim notes: “It lists the supplier, the country of origin, year of manufacture, whether its sold by the case, battle pack or box, and cost per round. This could save people a lot of time spent comparison shopping.”

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In an e-mail to JWR, the editor of TheTraderBlog.com mentioned two interesting news articles with repercussions on the value of the US Dollar: China Expected to Shift Reserves to Gold and Commodities, and The Dollar Will be Devalued By A Large Margin.

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Nearly a dozen readers sent us the link to this New York Times article: Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More

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As of January 1st, a 30% Federal tax credit for grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) power systems will become available in the US. I predict that this will create a huge surge in home PV system installations and consequently create a painful shortage of PV panels. My advice: Buy your panels now, before the panel shortage develops. (These purchases will still qualify for the tax credit if you install them later.) OBTW, to see the state-level credits and incentives that are also available, visit the DSIRE web page. Although I’m not generally an advocate of grid-tied systems, I think that SurvivalBlog readers in the US should now take full advantage of the new tax credit, and and install a grid-tied system with a substantial battery backup. In the event of a grid-down situation, you can then simply disconnect your system from the grid and operate independently. Stock up on panels, soon! (BTW, please patronize out advertisers, first. Several of them sell PV panels and inverters.)

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From readers KAF: Iran switches reserves to gold