Day: June 23, 2009

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 23 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. I think that you’ll find this one both informative and quite entertaining. First Prize: A.) A course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day OnPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with …


The Jump Kit, by Skyrat

Inside the trunk of my vehicle is a near duplicate of the “jump kit” or “Green Bag” used in my days with the Detroit Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Service Division. When I come across a roadside collision before the local medics, everything I need to start patient care is in the green canvas bag I sling over my shoulder. The supplies in my personal vehicle are very much like those I carried in my street medic days, and reflect a strong basic life support/trauma bias. Basic life support includes those interventions that do not go past the skin, and generally …


Letter Re: Societal Collapse: The Albanian Experience (Circa 1997)

Mr. Rawles, I’m a new SurvivalBlog reader, and your blog goes along a lot with many of my own thoughts and precautions; things many people these days consider ridiculous, but that an old instructor of mine (from a gov’t agency that shall go unnamed) would probably call “maintaining a healthy level of paranoia”. In browsing your blog and its archives, I have been surprised to find no mention of the Albanian crisis in 1997. I believe that it offers a strong example of how quickly and unexpectedly a (relatively) advanced society can descend into chaos, and how drastic the consequences …


Letter Re: Feedback on The American Empire is Bankrupt

JWR: I was puzzled by the piece by Chris Hedges (The American Empire is Bankrupt, from truthdig.com) that you linked to in Friday’s SurvivalBlog. There are two huge, crucial, inestimable, incredibly fundamental flaws in Hedges’ article: * One is his assessment of the primary cause of the American national bankruptcy, * The second is his conclusions as to who will be causing the greatest social disruption in our nation as that bankruptcy starts impacting our daily lives. First, the fundamental causes of the American bankruptcy. Hedges quotes heavily from an article from & interview by The Financial Times’ Michael Hudson. …


Economics and Investing:

Harry Schultz warns Bob Chapman’s newsletter readers of a possible upcoming “bank holiday.” From KAF: A Fake Financial Fix Glenn M. recommended this article and the accompanying video clip: Thirty Years of Inflation Coming, But “Deflation Scare” Not Over Yet, Cycle Maven Says Karen H. sent this: Derivatives Get Second Look From U.S. Congress That Didn’t Act. I warned SurvivalBlog readers almost four years ago about the threat posed by derivatives.(Please take tee time to re-read that article.) The frightening thing is that we have not yet seen the derivatives bubble fully implode–just one sector.. Also from Karen: States Turning …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From frequent contributor KAF: This gardener grows enough to share    o o o Pets Pass MRSA Superbug to Humans (Thanks to Jim F. for the link.)    o o o Sam L. sent an interesting article about potential catastrophic earthquakes in Southern California    o o o Reader Susan K. flagged this: In a St. Paul lab, scientists race to defeat a wheat famine ‘time bomb’