Day: April 23, 2009

Letter Re: G.O.O.D. Advice for College Students

James, Our family recently found your book and blog. We are working diligently to prepare. One question I have not seen addressed: What do you think about sending a child to college? We are a conservative, Christian, home schooling family. Our daughter has been looking forward to attending a small Christian college that is about 1-1/2 hours from our home. Now that we are awake we are feeling that keeping her close to home as we prepare to relocate is best. Any thoughts? – S. in Southern California JWR Replies: A college that is just a 1-1/2 hour drive is …


Letter Re: It Takes a Tiller

Hello Jim, Anyone serious about food production needs to have a quality rear-tined tiller such as a Troy-Bilt. However the cost can be prohibitive,close to $2,000 for the seven horsepower model. But be patient and keep an eye on auctions, classified ads, etc. Two weeks ago a good friend picked up an older model Troy-Bilt at an auction for $450. We were both like kids at Christmas (I already have mine). This brings up another point. This same friend had always been a guns and ammo kind of prepper. After several months of convincing he has finally seen the need …


Letter Re: A Possible Blunder with Bulk-Packed Storage Food

Mr. Rawles, We have recently found that we have also made a food storage blunder and hope to prevent someone else from doing the same. Following the eat what you store and store what you eat advice, we store a good bit of rice. We purchase buckets at the local big box home store and thought we were doing ourselves a favor by adding one more thing to keep the rice fresh in our humid climate. We put the rice in the “clean” looking white kitchen trash bags, using them as a liner, and then in the buckets. We did …


Letter Re: A.P. Reporter Seeks Newbie Preppers in SoCal for Interview

JWR’s Introductory Note: I got the following from a legitimate reporter that has promised a fair and balanced article. Of course the usual OPSEC considerations apply… Hello. I am a reporter with The Associated Press and I am working on a story about the growing number of people taking steps to stock up on emergency food, water and other supplies because of concerns about the recession and the stability of the networks that keep our grocery stores stocked up and our power running. I interviewed Jim Rawles last week and he suggested that I post here to find people who …


Letter Re: Bicycles as Bug-Out and Utility Vehicles

Jim: While solid tires have their advantages, ordering them from the Airfreetires.com company is not recommended. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives them an F rating. Just wanted my fellow readers to know they should be leery of ordering from them. I do not speak from personal experience because I heeded the warnings I read on a wonderful resource for bicycle info: www.bikeforums.net The “Utility Cycling” area has a wealth of info concerning the type of info on foam-filled tires.- EliteT


Economics and Investing:

From frequent content contributor G.G.: Gold rush in the suburbs as shine disappears from economy D.D. suggested this: Why the bank stress tests are bunk; The Obama team has put banks under the microscope and plans to release the results. If the findings are bad, expect more market turmoil. If they’re rosy, who’ll believe them? Some sobering news in The New York Times: I.M.F. Puts Bank Losses From Global Financial Crisis at $4.1 Trillion Items from The Economatrix: Freddie Mac CFO Apparent Suicide Global Economy Expected to Shrink this Year Leading Economist Decries Power of Wall Street “Oligarchs” Five Reasons …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several items of gun news were sent to us by Cheryl: Firearm Sales Surging Since Obama’s Election — Gun Ownership Growing, Following National Trends — Shortage of Guns, Ammo Reported    o o o Cheryl also mentioned an interesting piece over at Steve Quayle’s site: Raising Catfish In A Barrel    o o o Some encouraging news: Gary in Montana mentioned that the recently-enacted “Made in Montana” Federal gun law exemption (Montana HB 246), is now being emulated in two other state legislatures: Alaska HB 186 and Texas HB 1863. I expect this trend to continue, especially in southern and …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The bulls will buy stocks believing that we have another bull market on our hands. After having lost 50% of their money since 2007, they’ll lose another 20% – 30% when this rally collapses. The bears, meanwhile, are convinced that there is worse to come. They think the stimulus spending programs will cause inflation. So they’re buying gold and commodity stocks sure that when inflation comes, it will cause mining and oil stocks to soar. Maybe it will eventually. But the first big move will probably be down. They, too, will lose big. That could be the Big Surprise of …