Month: March 2009

Economics and Investing:

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar. (Kudos to Laura H. for the link.) The Appenzell Daily Bell reports: AIG world of $1.6 trillion derivatives trouble England may be unable to sell all of its bonds: UK overhauls debt issuance protocol. In related news: Dollar falls sharply on Fed statement. And, meanwhile in Japan: BoJ ramps up purchase of government bonds. Sounds like a race to the bottom, to me. (Thanks to G.G. for all three of those links.) Three More Banks Go Down: Teambank, Paola, Kansas; Colorado National Bank, Colorado Springs, Colorado; FirstCity Bank, Stockbridge, Georgia. And in the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Mike S. sent this: Gun sales going ballistic: Fears of regulation, crime spur sales of firearms and ammo. Here is an important paragraph was buried near the end of the article: “One northern Warren County resident found out recently the government is paying attention to such ammunition sales. West said a customer of his recently stocked up on .223-caliber rounds, a caliber often used in assault-style weapons. The customer bought 1,000 rounds a few months ago through a mail order company. Shortly after the purchase, he received a visit from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, whose interest was …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, [who is] worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 21 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: 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 21 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for …


Emotional Stressors During Societal Collapse by Campcritter

As determined men and women of yesteryear made their way west to make for a better life, pioneer women often kept journals of their life on the great prairies or sent letters home to their sisters back East. In those letters they described the silence as the most unwelcome guest. These brave women wrote about being left for weeks on end alone, lost in an endless sea of grass with only the wind for company while the men hunted or went for supplies. In some cases the quiet was so severe that it became unbearable and the women developed mental …


Letter Re: Our Hurricane Rita Evac Proved a Point–Timing is Everything!

Dear Mr. Rawles, I was in Kingwood Texas, a suburb of Houston, and as keeping an eye on the Hurricane Rita projected tracks. When the “yellow cone of death” was centered squarely on Houston, I started to seriously access my situation. That Tuesday evening, everything still seemed sort of normal. The wife came home from work about 5 p.m. and we took the dog for a walk around 6 p.m. When we passed the local gas station that normally has 0-1 cars in it and there was a line 10 cars deep, I knew it was “time.” I told the …


Letter Re: Storing Peanut Butter

Morning Sir. I just wanted to add a quick note to the letter about peanut butter. As people purchase peanut butter, they should make sure it’s the “nothing but peanuts” variety. Most store brands and name brands are full of sugar and miscellaneous garbage. A good natural peanut butter will have a layer of oil on top. I’ve always found it quite useful to pour off the oil and save it…how much of a premium people pay for peanut oil all on its own! The rest of the jar of peanut butter doesn’t suffer for the lack of the oil. …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this editorial at US News & World Report: Obama’s Out of Control Spending Dwarfs the Wasted AIG Bailout Money Markku sent this: For Sale: The $100 House Items from The Economatrix: WH: Agenda on Track Despite Worsening Deficits Growing Transatlantic Tensions on Eve of G20 Summit UK Car Production Slumps 60% Sacramento Tent City to Be Relocated US is Already Bankrupt China Backs Russia’s Call to Replace Dollar as Reserve Joel Skousen: AIG Bonus Outrage–How Insiders Will Defuse It (Excerpt) Treasury Throws $5 Billion to Auto Suppliers The Mother of All Depressions (MOAD) “The meeting of the G20 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent us this:White House to break ground on ‘kitchen garden’ SurvivalBlog reader Don W. quipped: “Hey, they already have the guns and the gold. And that Marine [One] helicopter makes one heck of a Get Out of Dodge vehicle.”    o o o From Markku: FCC raids gang-sponsored pirate radio station in Florida    o o o So much for CCW in National Parks: (Thanks to Bill N. for the link.)    o o o From reader FloridaGuy: San Diego [California] Police Fear Growing Number of Activists Carrying Guns Openly. California’s quirky open carry law dates back to …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $550. This auction ends on April 15th. It is for a large mixed lot, which includes:: 1.) A Warrior Aid and Litter Kit, donated by Ready Made Resources. This is an advanced medic kit package that includes a Talon II 90C folding handle collapsible litter, which normally retails for $560, just by itself. This truly a “full up” tactical trauma kit! This sophisticated medic kit normally retails for $1,500. 2.) A “be ready to barter” box of 26 full-capacity firearms magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box …


Letter Re: Storing Peanut Butter

James, Thanks for the extensive resource that is your web site. I am fairly new to prepping but was raised in the deep south so I have a lot of related experience. One thing I’ve noticed in most lists regarding food storage, is the bulk of the food is grains, rice and beans. I completely understand the importance of these 3, but also think another option is often overlooked – Peanut Butter. First of all, I’m biased, since I love the stuff (Store what you eat!). We eat the reduced fat variety, and in a 40 ounce jar (typical large …


Letter Re: A Test Load-Up Shows a G.O.O.D. Inadequacy

Hello Mr. Rawles; First and foremost, thanks for the site, the info is invaluable and a must read every morning I am writing to add a few simple thoughts (perhaps state the obvious) on the subject of survival vehicle – really just some comments on G.O.O.D. I recently sold my house and am in the process of trying to get into a better situation, and during the move decided to attempt a “live” exercise. I took the opportunity to see how quickly I could load up my truck and bug out. I wanted to time the load of my truck …


Letter Re: Military Surplus Field Telephone Commo Wire Variants

Dear JWR: In the 19 March Odds ‘n Sods you noted that: Ready Made Resources just got in another small batch of 1000-foot long rolls of WF-16/U (2-pair) commo wire.This type of wire is fairly scarce on the surplus market. It can be used with TA-1s, TA-312s, and the newer TA-1042 (DNVT) digital field telephones. Just so, and WF-16/U works as well with the older and long-standard pre-WWII through Vietnam era EE-8 “bag phones”.which my maternal grandparent helped develop while a Signal Corps officer at Ft. Monmouth.The old double-E-Eight is also compatible with the TA-1 and TA-312, though I’ve never …


Economics and Investing:

A recent headline grabbed my attention. It mention the “bottoming” or real estate price. That made me chuckle, because we are nowhere near the bottom yet. I did some searching, and I found a chart posted last year at the Calculated Risk blog. If you thought the subprime mortgages caused a lot of foreclosures, just wait until the Option-ARM resets peak in 2011. Methinks that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Reader HPD mentioned this at Forbes that quotes Peter Schiff: CPI Rises Despite U.S. Recession GG sent this: Merkel adviser warns US on …