Odds ‘n Sods:

Ben M. sent this: Did an Ancient Volcano Freeze Earth?    o o o Concern over Ebola virus in pigs; Ebola can cause deadly disease in some forms. A form of Ebola virus has been detected in pigs for the first time, raising concerns it could mutate and pose a new risk to humans. (Thanks to Andrew H. for the link.)From    o o o Cheryl flagged this: Frail Kim Jung-Il May Have Only Months To Live; Youngest Son May Not Be Successor Due To China’s Disagreement




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Welcome to a depression. Not such a bad thing, really. Just a period of adjustment…a time for fixing, re-organizing, downsizing, and mending. There’s a time to every purpose under heaven. This is the time to take stock and shape up. But wait again. It doesn’t feel like a depression. Where are the soup lines? Where are the Okies packing up and moving to California? Where are Ziegfield Girls, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Eleanor Roosevelt? How come this depression’s not in black and white? Well…because this is a 21st century depression. This depression is in living color…and it comes to …




Note 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 …




How to Build a Deeper Supply of Prescription Medications, by Pat C.

Most well-prepared individuals with chronic health conditions want to keep a deep supply of medications on hand, in the event of disaster that would disrupt normal chains of supply. Medical insurance plans typically have a 30-day limit on the amount of medication that can be obtained at one time. There are various reasons for these limitations – medical complications, FDA regulations, and cost-containment by your insurance company. However, there are ways to get around these limits and build a deeper stock of meds as part of your survival planning. Multiple Scripts Ask your physician to write several prescriptions, each of …




Letter Re: Net Producer-Net Consumer Equations for Self-Sufficiency: Getting Out of the Pit

James, Adding to the understanding of yesterday’s fine article “Net Producer-Net Consumer Equations for Self-Sufficiency: Getting Out of the Pit”, there is some serious historical data that your readers should be aware of. The Ludwig von Mises Institute has posted a book called “When Money Dies” on the experiences of the hyperinflation of the Weimar [Republic of Germany], which reads like headlines out of today’s newspapers. Remembering that history never repeats, it always rhymes, many of the underlying themes — the differences between country and city — will likely be similar. Because governments also have access to the same historical …




Influenza Pandemic Update:

Argentine Businesses Hit By Swine Flu Swine Flu Vaccine Likely to Be Ready in Mid-October Swine Flu on Main US Afghan Base Canada: Tamiflu Resistance In Saskatchewan Jonesy sent us these last two flu items: Tamiflu Resistance in San Francisco “The case suggests swine flu – a form of influenza Type A, subtype H1N1 – is capable of not only developing drug resistance but also spreading between humans in that resistant form, said Dr. Arthur Reingold, professor at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.” “[The] patients in Japan and in Denmark were taking Tamiflu prophylactically [as a preventive measure], said …




Economics and Investing:

GG flagged this Forbes article: Nouriel Roubini: “Brown Manure, Not Green Shoots” Several items from Reader DD: Buffet’s wants another stimulus GM on the road again Another retailer bites the dust Oil speculators under pressure Hawaiian K. sent word of a grim statistic: Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Fell 0.6 Percent in May from April Items from The Economatrix: US Apartment Vacancies at Historic High 565,000 New Jobless Claims “Lowest new claims since January” However, “Continuing claims, meanwhile, unexpectedly jumped to a record-high.” Retailers Report Weak June Sales Goldman Sachs Loses Its Grip on its Doomsday Machine Nation’s Banks to …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Is “Sea-burn” a topic of interest to you? Richard H. mentioned that Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Information Analysis Center (CBRNIAC) has a newsletter that is available for free distribution.    o o o Reader Sandra E. suggested: ” You can buy 500+ coffee filters for as little as $1, and a box of 500 takes up little space and is lightweight. They can be used for toilet paper, paper towels, filtering things other than coffee. Also, if you’re growing in flower pots or buckets with drain holes, put 1 or 2 filters in bottom of pot,and this allows …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"History is not merely what happened; it is what happened in the context of what might have happened. Therefore it must incorporate, as a necessary element, the alternatives, the might-have-beens." – Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper, Regis Professor of Modern History; Oxford University, valedictory address 20 May 1980; quoted in History Today, Vol. 2, Issue 7, July 1982, p. 88




Note from JWR:

Please refrain from trying to have me join you Twitter, Facebook, or any of the other social networks. Getting more than 150 e-mails per day is overwhelming, but an extra 20 to 30 e-mails proclaiming that “John Smith is following you on Twitter” is distracting to to point of annoyance. I don’t respond to any of these requests. I simply don’t have twime to tweet. Thwanks!




Survey Results: Your Favorite Books on Preparedness, Self-Sufficiency, and Practical Skills

In descending order of frequency, the 78 readers that responded to my latest survey recommended the following non-fiction books on preparedness, self-sufficiency, and practical skills: The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery (Far and away the most often-mentioned book. This book is an absolute “must” for every well-prepared family!) The Foxfire Book series (in 11 volumes, but IMHO, the first five are the best) Holy Bible Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens The “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course Crisis …




The Case for Accumulating and (Eventually) Using Silver Coins

I recently did a study of prices (food and gasoline) comparing the costs in the early 1960s with 2009 prices for the same items.  I chose the early 1960s because that was the last time 90% silver coins were in circulation.  It was common back then for people to go into a grocery store or gas station and pay for purchases with a few quarters or dimes.  The prices were that cheap back then. For my 2009 food prices I looked at the prices in my local Safeway store in Portland, Oregon.  I was careful to only look at the …







Economics and Investing:

New climate strategy: track the world’s wealthiest. This is the sort of fallacious logic that foments envy, and inevitably class warfare. Yes, Americans do use a disproportionately large portion of the world’s natural resources. But we also create correspondingly more with those resources. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the US is tremendous. Here is an illustration. (California, just by itself is the sixth largest economy in the world.) Consider this: Why does Kenya Airlines have Boeing 747s in their fleet? Because someone in America builds them. Could those planes be made in Kenya? No, because they have neither the …




Odds ‘n Sods:

H.H. and Hawaiian K. both mentioned this piece over at the Backwoods Home site, by Claire Wolfe: Preparing for Civil Unrest    o o o Randy K. sent us this history lesson: How the potato got hot; The foodstuff was once viewed as unnatural and dangerous. Its rise to a global staple may tell us something about today’s genetically modified crops.    o o o Richard S sent us a link to an amazing story: Do or die; A fellow soldier was impaled by a live RPG. For medics and a helicopter crew, there was only one choice    o …