Day: April 26, 2009


The Mexican Flu and You

In the past 24 hours I’ve received dozens of e-mails from SurvivalBlog readers about the emerging Mexican Flu. Some news stories have included cryptic comments from heath officials, implying that the mechanism of infection makes this particular virus “very difficult to contain.” This leads me to conclude that those infected have a long latency period during which they are infectious, yet, they do not display frank symptoms. This does not bode well for any hopes of containing the spread of the virus. Then we hear a CDC official stating: “The swine flu virus contains four different gene segments representing both …


Letter Re: Atheism and Choosing Your Neighborhood

James: I am a new reader to SurvivalBlog and a big fan of “Patriots” ., I have been reading all the archives and old posts, and I would just like to clear one thing up. I am an atheist. I don’t believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove the existence of a supreme power. This does not make make me a bad person. There have been some posts about choosing your neighbors that have said Christians and Jewish people make best neighbors because they are “God fearing” etc. Just because I don’t believe in a god does not mean …


Letter Re: Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency

Jim, I’d like to add an additional perspective on the letter on “Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency” — the conscious competence learning model. I’d like to pull back the shade a bit on why ‘just buying stuff’ and reading books isn’t going to cut it when the balloon goes up. Many folks are ‘buying things’, reading books, searching the internet with the thought that when the time comes, they will begin living the self-sufficient lifestyle in the country. The aforementioned letter points out the folly of this approach. I just want to take a step back and look at why …


Economics and Investing:

Herb Dennenberg of the Philadelphia Bulletin warns: US Marches Toward a Financial Disaster Worse Than Anyone Thinks. (A tip of the hat to “The Other Jim R.”) GG flagged a Forbes column by Steve H. Hanke, warning that inflation will roar back with a vengeance: Fed Up Items from The Economatrix: Rush to Universities to Escape Recession GM to Default on $1 Billion Bond Payment IMF Predicts World Recession Will Deepen Morgan Stanley Reports Four-Month Losses of $1.47 Billion Geithner: Worst Trade Bust Since WWII Soaring US Budget Deficit Will Mean Billions in Bond Sales “Millions of lost jobs mean …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. spotted this at Wired News: The Great Brazilian Sat-Hack Crackdown    o o o Ben M. mentioned that the NTIS is having an unusual clearance sale on some government publications.    o o o Reader G.K. sent this link: Army Sharpshooters to Get SEAL Sniper Rifle. Gee, if the US Army had adopted the AR-10 some 40 years ago, they wouldn’t now be reinventing the wheel. (It’s too bad that the AR-10 wasn’t a more mature design by the time of the T44/T48 trials.)    o o o Be sure to bookmark www.GunBlogs.org. They do a great job …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but …