Day: November 18, 2008

Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $710. The auction is for a large mixed lot that includes: A.) 15 brand new 30 round M16/M4/AR-15 magazines from JWR‘s personal collection. These include four scarce and desirable brand new HK steel “Maritime Finish” magazines, and 11 new USGI alloy magazines made by Center Industries. (Note that most of these were made during the 1994-2004 Federal ban, most of them have restriction markings, but those became null and void after the ban sunsetted.) Even if you don’t own an AR-15, these magazines are great to keep on hand …


Letter Re: UCLA’s Eye-Opening Colloquium on the Worldwide Financial and Economic Crisis

Hi, Yesterday [Friday. November 14, 2008] I attended the Marschak Colloquium on Mathematics in the Behavioral Sciences at UCLA {University of California, Los Angeles] . This thing is attended by lots of UCLA and USC [University of Southern California] economics professors, including many retired faculty members and other local luminaries. (Two seats to my right was author Alvin Toffler of “Future Shock” fame.) The main speakers presented for an hour, and then the whole group asked questions and discussed the topic. Here is the brief abstract that announced the talk: “The current worldwide financial and economic crisis is the greatest …


Letter Re: Where to Find the Funds for Your Preparations

Dear Jim, So many people are struggling to find ways to make ends meet, much less have any extra money to make purchases for their preparedness plan. There are a lot of things people can do within their own means. 1. Make a budget. Income minus expenses. Is there anything left over? You are ahead of the game. If not, now is the time to: 2. Trim the budget. Distinguish needs versus wants. Eliminate anything that is not needed. 3. If after trimming the budget, you still cannot find extra money, get a second job, have a yard sale, etc. …


Two Letters Re: Procuring Reliable Workhorse Bikes — Take Advantage of the Single Speed Fad

James I am a daily multi-modal commuter taking an armored bus into Jerusalem and then cycling from the bus station to my kollel. Before my move to Israel, I only drove my 4×4 truck several times a month and did about 50-to-70 miles a week by pedal power. I did once try using Slime in my tubes but this makes for a difficult ride, wasting immense amounts of effort due to the natural imbalance of slimed tires. I also found that it is also impossible to patch slimed tires. My advice is to get a good tire like the Kevlar …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Arclight” mentioned that here is a DEA newsletter, formerly restricted to Law Enforcement, called “The Microgram.” Arclight’s comment: While some of it dry and technical, there are some fascinating stories of how drug operations are hidden, items are smuggled through customs, etc. The Microgram and the newsletters also available on the site give a fascinating look into who is running this trade and how. Good intel reading for the good guys.”    o o o I recently updated my M14 / M1A Magazine FAQ, to include a link to the set of excellent Counterfeit USGI M14 Magazine Detecting Flowcharts …