Day: March 2, 2009

Reviewer’s Copies of New “Patriots” Edition Available This Month! (Seeking Mailing Addresses)

Review copies of the new edition of my novel “Patriots” available sometime in March. If you publish book reviews, or know of someone that has a large readership/audience and that is likely to write a favorable review, please e-mail me their current snail mail addresses. Be advised that there will probably be only about 120 review copies available, so I will have to be very selective about who they go to. My publicist will of course be sending copies to the New York Times Book Review and the other major reviewers. But the list that I am developing is for …


Letter Re: Advice on Contact Lenses

Mr. Rawles I’ve worn contact lenses for all of my adult life. On your published advice, I’ve also bought two pair of inexpensive glasses, from LBEeyeware–a company mentioned in SurvivalBlog That was great advice. ($23 per pair, complete? You can’t beat that!) The glasses are the correct prescription, but after so many years of wearing contacts, glasses feel downright “clunky” to me. I worry about breaking them, much more than I ever worried about losing or tearing a contact. My question is: What should I do about spare contact lenses and solutions? Should I skip them–and just plan to wear …


Letter Re: Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

James, The need for usable skills in tough times, goes without need for embellishment. The grand question is: which skills are the most valuable? In any situation the basic needs are obvious – food, shelter, and clothing. Choosing what I would concentrate on learning, became predicated on what I could do, and what the community could provide in stressful times. I moved some time ago from the gulf coast to Tennessee to retire and begin preparing for the coming events. I moved into a community which is pretty much self sufficient, mostly by religious choice. Livestock husbandry ranges from cattle …


Letter Re: The Risk to Reward Ratio in Getting Concealed Carry Permits

Greetings – Regarding non-resident concealed weapon permits [recently mentioned in SurvivalBlog], folks should be very careful. Anyone thinking of doing this should consult a lawyer or carefully read their home state’s firearms laws. In many states, another state’s concealed firearm permit is invalid if you are a resident of the state [in which you do not have a CCW permit.] In other words, if you live in Georgia, Georgia may have a law that says your Florida non-resident permit is invalid for concealed carry in Georgia, because as a Georgia resident, you must have a permit issued by Georgia. Consult …


Economics and Investing:

JWR’s Introductory Comment: Gee, in light of all the following very bad economic news, can someone please send me something cheery to post? Perhaps some more articles about gun makers making record profits and building huge order backlogs? Frequent contributor HPD sent this: Brown told us not to question banks on risky practices, says City watchdog Reader “Bigbird” mentioned a piece in The Australian by Niall Ferguson with some biting criticism of Keynesian economics: The Great Repression CJB flagged this news story on the Chinese economy: China warns of unemployment risk GG sent us this one from Smart Money: Nothing …


Odds ‘n Sods:

KAF forwarded this: Depression Cooking Teaches You to Cook Really, Really Cheaply    o o o Ben B. sent this: Jim Rogers sees civil unrest in the US    o o o A bit of food storage humor, courtesy of reader Larry T.: The “Worst Food Product Ever” May Have Been Found. Is it cheaper in case lots? 😉    o o o Fitzy in Pennsylvania flagged this Lou Dobbs Journal piece on CNN: 2nd Amendment Under Attack


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or not, their main purpose is the elimination or neutralization of the independent individual — the independent voter, consumer, worker, owner, thinker — and that every device they employ aims at turning man into a manipulatable “animated instrument,” which is Aristotle’s definition of a slave.” – Eric Hoffer, The Ordeal of Change (1963)