Month: May 2009

Odds ‘n Sods:

US and South Korea On High Alert After North Korea Renounces Truce    o o o Jim Wiseman (a pseudonym), the prepper that was featured in the recent AP wire service article on survivalism was interviewed for three show segments (45 minutes) on the nationally-syndicated Marc Germain Show, and he will soon be be featured on CNBC, as well.    o o o Clearly, the preparedness movement seems to have struck a chord with America’s collective psyche. Even assorted Greens and left-wingers are jumping on the band wagon, as evidenced by this article from Philadelphia: Survival of the Fittest (not …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Globalization creates interlocking fragility, while reducing volatility and giving the appearance of stability. In other words it creates devastating Black Swans. We have never lived before under the threat of a global collapse. Financial Institutions have been merging into a smaller number of very large banks. Almost all banks are interrelated. So the financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks – when one fails, they all fall. The increased concentration among banks seems to have the effect of making financial crises less likely, but when they happen they are more global in scale and hit us very hard. …


Note from JWR:

Welcome to the thousands of folks that have discovered SurvivalBlog because of the recent AP wire service article on survivalism that was picked up by umpteen news outlets. In the two days since, our number of web site visits has almost doubled. To come up to speed, I recommend that you read the SurvivalBlog About page first, ad then my page on my Precepts. Keep in mind that there are now nearly 7,000 archived articles and letters, all searchable and available free of charge. If there is a topic related to preparedness that interests you, odds are that you can …


Letter Re: Advice for Newcomers in a Community–Overcoming the We/They Paradigm

Good evening Mr. Rawles, My name is Ignacio, I’m a Cuban-born American. The three best days in my life were when I married my wife, when I became an American citizen and when my daughter was born (in this country). I am an avid reader of your blog, and working hard to get prepared, we bought a small place (1.5 acres in southwest Florida, it’s in the woods) it was the only thing we could afford to get ready. But I am very concerned that my neighbors might not like us because we are Hispanic (although my wife is blue-eyed …


Letter Re: DIY Baking Powder Solves a Shelf Life Dilemma

James: Regarding storing baking powder. Reader LCHS wrote: • Baking Powder does not have a long shelf life and will let you down if it’s old or improperly stored, but some things cannot be made without it. • Baking Soda has multiple uses; besides the original anti-acid and an ingredient in toothpaste, adding some to the filling of pies will cut the need for sugar as it cuts the acidity. It cannot, however, be substituted for Baking Powder. This suggests that availability could be a problem post TSHTF. A quick web-searching expedition confirms that Baking Powder does not, as LCHS …


Letter Re: A Ship’s Belated Flu Quarantine as an Object Lesson

Hi Jim, Here is a bit about the progress of Swine Flu in Australia with this article about a quarantined luxury cruise ship. We now have a cruise ship, the P & O Pacific Dawn, being quarantined at Willis Island on the Great Barrier Reef – with 2000 people on board. Yesterday the ship was photographed flying the yellow quarantine flag! Our “brilliant” state health departments let 20 infected people disembark at Sydney and they [then] flew throughout Australia . [Some background:] 13 of these people turned up at the Robina Hospital at the Gold Coast and the staff at …


Mexican Flu Update:

Hazardous WHO Phase Daze “The constant rewriting of the phase system to avoid calling a phase 6 pandemic a phase 6 pandemic does significant harm in the monitoring of the pandemic, as well as raising public awareness of the seriousness of the evolution and spread of swine H1N1.” NYC Confirms Two More Deaths 56 Cases Confirmed In New Jersey


Economics and Investing:

Frequent content contributor GG sent this Los Angeles Times article: Early retirement claims increase dramatically Cities disincorporating? Towns Rethink Self-Reliance as Finances Worsen. (Thanks to GRK for the link.) I found this linked at The Drudge Report: IRS tax revenue falls along with taxpayers’ income Items from The Economatrix: Carmakers’ Woes May Cost Six Million Jobs Oil Down to Around $61 Ahead of OPEC Meeting Stunning Reversal: Russian Economy Shrinks 23% Is the US Dollar Heading for a Mighty Crash? The Credit Default Swaps Cancer Inflicting the Financial System “CDS is the root-cause of systemic risk which connects hundreds of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Roman suggested an article that ties in nicely with my suggestion of the “Three Ks” concept for recession-proof jobs: The Case for Working With Your Hands    o o o Cheryl mentioned this book review: Vaccines: Crossing Immunological Boundaries    o o o I recently had an Internet retailer contact me about advertising on my blog. I made some inquiries, and it turned out that about 60% of their merchandise is made in mainland China. Unless or until China does away with the laogai system of prison factories, I will not accept advertising from any companies that have a more …



Notes from JWR:

Would you like to be on NBC’s Today television show? A producer of the show contacted me and asked for some background information on the growth of the preparedness movement, and for help in locating a guest for a taped interview. They are looking for a “typical suburban survivalist” somewhere within 200 miles of New York City, for an interview. E-mail: Josh Weiner of NBC. — Today we present two more entries for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First Prize: A.) A course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of …


Learning to Cook on a Wood-Fired Stove by Deborah

When my companion and I began our 18-month transition period of moving to and living in the woods, we also began a period of education. We discussed and planned much. We bought books and magazines and took classes on everything from solar collecting to gardening. One subject evaded me: cooking on a wood-burning stove. Every time I saw a magazine that flashed headlines on wood stoves, my hands would tremble in anticipation as I reached for it. However, the wood stoves in question were for heating, not for cooking. Since we were looking at a self-sufficient lifestyle and wood on …


Wood, the Alternative Energy for the Rest of Us, by Bill S.

Solar and wind electric generation systems are affordable and efficient, but there are a many areas of the U.S. where wind systems are not feasible, and few localized areas where solar systems are not feasible. A diesel powered generator with a large underground tank is reliable, but under adverse conditions the tank could run dry. Fortunately there are two systems capable of generating electric power with wood, a fuel readily available in most parts of the country. Gasification is a process of burning wood or other solid biomass in a specialized combustion vessel (basically an upside-down wood stove) that generates …


Letter Re: Questions on EMP Protection

Hello Jim, I recently finished reading [the recently-released novel] One Second After [by William R. Forstchen].The potential realities of this story can grab you. [In the novel] a young girl who dies because her insulin supply deteriorated. Lack of adequate refrigeration degraded the quality and effectiveness of the insulin. I was reviewing some bug out literature and ran across a list of equipment that included a portable 12 VDC cooler unit. This would be great for transporting heat sensitive pharmaceuticals during a move of some distance. My question is this: What effect would an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack have on …