Month: January 2009

Odds ‘n Sods:

Thanks to Laura H. for this link: California prepares to stop paying bills: Come Feb. 1, tax refunds, welfare checks replaced with IOUs    o o o From The Appenzell Daily Bell: U.S. ratchets up pressure on UBS. Banking privacy may indeed be another casualty of the global economic crisis.    o o o Bill N. suggested a short article on using the shotgun for defense.    o o o More economic news, starting with this from Scott N.: Thousands stuck in property funds as Standard halts exits. (Does this sound familiar? As I’ve been warning people for two years, …



Notes from JWR:

The current high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $1,160. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:: 1.) A “be ready to barter” box of 36 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 12 – Used original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) steel 20 round magazines, 6 – Used original Austrian FN-FAL steel 20 round magazines, with cartridge counter holes, 10 – Used AR-15/M16 USGI (all Colt made!) alloy 20 round magazines, 6 – Excellent condition original Glock Model 19 9mm 15 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch), and …


More Predictions for 2009, by Roger Wiegand

Our new president was inaugurated and we wish him well for the sake of our nation and others throughout the world. We do not want to be cynical but must be realistic. We think this year will be the worst one of this longer recession-depression cycle and our new leader, we suspect is going to take a merciless pounding from a heap of troubles domestically first and foreign later. Thankfully, the spending of TARP #2 and whatever billions-trillions are added for emphasis, should give us the Obama Market Bounce lasting perhaps 90 days or so. While this economics plan has …


Another SurvivalBlogger’s Experiences at Front Sight

Mr. Rawles, I finally had a chance to use the Front Sight certificate that I won in your writing contest. I took the Practical Rifle class and it was great. My shooting improved dramatically in just a few days. I wanted to get out of the Washington, DC area for the inauguration of Barack Obama and shooting an AR-15 rifle seemed like an especially good diversion. Its a long trip for me but it was worth it and I hope to make it again and send my boys when they are old enough. I was able to use frequent flyer …


Odds ‘n Sods:

My mentor Dr. Gary North recommended a video slide show over at iTulip,com. Gary’s description: “A Low-Budget, Four-Minute Video Makes the Strongest Case I Have Seen for the Magnitude of This Crisis“    o o o The folks at Seed For Security (one of our advertisers) have expanded their web page of free self-sufficiency reference articles. BTW, my philosophy on gardening is to concentrate on non-hybrid plants. the “open pollinated” or “heirloom” varieties. Gain experience gardening with those varieties, and practice harvesting and saving seed. “Buy what you plant,and plant what you buy.”    o o o Reader T.U. wrote …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 20 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 up to $4,000 value! Second Prize: A three day course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing Round 20 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. …


The Weakest Link, by M.M.

I would like to address a concept that is a common thread in our discussions and our thoughts as people who emphasize characteristics that strengthen our individual freedoms while trying to ensure our families’ safe pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. It’s the concept of the weakest link; and as I recently discovered, it has a nasty habit of exposing itself at the most inopportune times. Most of you know of which I speak. Every system, every group, every method boasts the greatness of its strength only to the degree that its weakest part can sustain a force great enough …


12 Letters Re: The Gray Man in the Coming Storm

Jim: Contrary to your apparent slew of letters, I thought that the Gray Man article article made a lot of sense. Come the time that the government actually moves against [gun owners] to that extent, we can be picked off one by one, leaving a lot of widows and orphans, or we can survive and live. A dead patriot does no one any good. The “Gray Man” theory is thoroughly fleshed out in a book by Jefferson Mack, entitled “Invisible Resistance to Tyranny.” I was deeply affected by this book, and encourage others to read it. For the record, I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric. L. suggested watching this interview with John Williams of ShadowStats.    o o o Jim Sinclair mentioned this Daily Mail article in his e-newsletter: Revealed: Day the banks were just three hours from collapse. Ben H. forwarded this very disturbing article: Bernanke Risks “Very Unstable” Markets as He Weighs Buying Bonds. Trent sent us this: Nationalization of U.S. banks gets a new, serious look (From the International Herald Tribune). And then Cheryl forwarded all these bits of news and commentary, starting with a link that was also sent by more than a dozen readers: Iceland’s Government Collapse Amid Financial …



Note from JWR:

The current high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $1,010. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:: 1.) A “be ready to barter” box of 36 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 12 – Used original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) steel 20 round magazines, 6 – Used original Austrian FN-FAL steel 20 round magazines, with cartridge counter holes, 10 – Used AR-15/M16 USGI (all Colt made!) alloy 20 round magazines, 6 – Excellent condition original Glock Model 19 9mm 15 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch), and …


The Big Roller Coaster is Picking Up Speed

The following are few random observation on current events: 1. Economic News 1A. The recent turn for the worse for Great Britain’s economy has sent shock waves around the globe. I expect this bad news continue, and intensify in the months to come, especially once the full implications of the Credit Default Swap (CDS) derivatives fiasco become known. 1B. It is interesting to see that the COMEX spot silver and spot gold markets are breaking out of their doldrums. Apparently, the big investors have come to realize that there are simultaneous credit market-spawned economic problems in North America, Europe and …


Letter Re: Some Observations on Finland from a Finnish SurvivalBlog Reader

Dear Mr. Rawles, I’m a long-time lurker of SurvivalBlog, but thought I’d pass on some links of interest. For the record, I’ve read your novel [“Patriots“], and I am coming from a “Peaknik” viewpoint. But still have my original copy of “Life After Doomsday“. Currently I’m living in Finland, which has its pros and cons. “Russian bombers over your home” is not a theoretical concept to Finns and they don’t grow enough food for themselves [for a self-sufficient economy.]. A Nordic socialist government with high taxes and cost of living might not be of interest to many SurvivalBlog readers, but …