One of our neighbors–and where we live, the term “neighbor” means anyone in a 10 mile radius–mentioned that she recently obtained 20 dozen Mason-type canning jars offered gratis on Freecycle. The boxes of canning jars almost entirely filled up the back of her SUV. In my experience, Freecycle and Craig’s List should be watched diligently by preparedness-minded families. The tighter your budget, the more crucial these resources are! And, BTW, if you benefit from Freecycle, be sure to return the favor, by offering the things that you no longer need.
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Bob G. mentioned an informative piece that explains the spread between physical metals and spot futures metals, over at Financial Sense: Precious Metals: Price Disparity Equals Opportunity
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For any SurvivalBloggers that read Norwegian, see this article: Klar for dommedag: Survivalistene gjemmer seg ikke lenger i skogen. Nå bor de i fine forstadshus
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T.A. flagged an article about he possibility of a European-style VAT tax scheme for the US. T.A.’s comment: This is probably the way the government is going to collect the tax money for the MOAB.”
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“C” told us about this Newsweek article: ‘Depression Economics’, Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman on America’s financial crisis. And on the topic of the economy, these items were sent to us by The Economatrix: Jobless Rate at 26-Year High, Factory Orders Drop — Oil Dives Below $44, New Gas Low — AT&T to Drop 12,000 (4%) of Staff — November Worst Retail Month Since 1969 — Citi Reaps Fantastic Deal in Fed Bailout — Credit Suisse to Cut 5,300 Jobs — Interest Rates Dive Around the World — China Devalues Yuan–May Worsen World Crisis — Millions of Chinese Grads Go Jobless — Private Sector Lost Another 250,000 Jobs in November — What’s Really Going on With Gold and Silver? — Fed: Economy Darkens Heading into the Holiday Season — The Treasury Market Reaches Breaking Point — The Grapes of Wrath — Record Number of Americans Using Food Stamps — The Last Thanksgiving Before GD2? Here is a key quote from that last article: “About five years back I began scrutinizing US T-bill holdings. Three years ago to my great surprise it appeared that both China and Japan had stopped accumulating US debt. Out of nowhere came a new category of buyers referred to as “Carribean Banks” [sic]. My understanding is that this is a nice euphemism for Fed-owned hedge funds who serve as a shill buyer to keep up the appearance of demand for US debt.”