Day: July 17, 2009

Notes from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 23 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 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 a retail value of at least $350. Third Prize: A copy of …


Three Rules for Living Through the Second Depression, by Chaz Valenza

I believe we are on the precipice of the Second Depression. Though President Obama is working valiantly to turn the country’s financial ship, it appears to me that the lack of a genuine economic engine to create sufficient, sustaining, value-adding jobs will come too late. What should the common man do? Much of the advice on how to live through such hard times is often too specific, not specific enough or draconian. How many of us are ready or should even consider survivalist methods? Who among us can afford to completely restructure their finances on a moment’s notice? Which of …


Letter Re: GPS for Day-to-Day Use and Survival

Hi Jim, I enjoyed that excellent GPS article [by Mike S., “GPS for Day-to-Day Use and Survival”.] It squares well with my personal experience. GPS on-board mapping has many errors. Seems worse in the hinterlands. Also pretty bad where new construction is concerned. I was amused while driving in MA that for about a half mile my GPS unit thought I was driving down railroad tracks. While snowshoeing with friends, my buddy had to demonstrate the GPS on his iPhone. All it showed was a dot in the middle of a blank screen. We were beyond the reach of cell …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

LJ in England sent us this: Swine flu deaths in Britain soar to 29 as 12 die in four days Andrew in England sent this from Yahoo UK: Pandemic threat ‘worse than terror’ From Cheryl: Great Pandemic Flu of 2009 is Coming and No One Can Stop It! Cheryl’s comment: “This is a 2006 novel, Another Place to Die by Sam North, called a blueprint for survival tips for the coming pandemic. Worth checking out. It might deserve a place next to Patriots.” SR recommended this: Fight for swine flu vaccine could get ugly


Economics and Investing:

Reader IJS flagged this: Ron Paul: Obama Will ‘Destroy the Dollar’ Jim Sinclair (of JS Mineset) mentioned this chart posted at Contrary Investor, showing levels of derivatives exposure. Jim Sinclair raises and interesting question: Where does Goldman Sachs actually have the majority of their derivatives plays? And this chart is also illuminating. In the same piece, Sinclair included a link to this: Mobius Says Derivatives, Stimulus to Spark New Crisis. I have been warning folks for years that the derivatives market is like a ticking time bomb! A full-scale derivatives implosion could make the current economic crisis seem trivial, by …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Some unexpected fallout from the Kahre American Eagles legal tender case: U.S. Attorney Wants Newspaper to Name Names. (Thanks to Chad in Missouri for the link.)    o o o F.G. mentioned this guaranteed-to-choke-you-up commercial from Ford.    o o o Reader KAF brought this piece in IBD to my attention: It’s Not An Option; Congress: It didn’t take long to run into an “uh-oh” moment when reading the House’s “health care for all Americans” bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal. Meanwhile we read: Congressional Budget Director Warns Health Care Bills …