Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 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 assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value.) Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing …




Underground Survival Shelter Construction and Security–Learn from My Mistakes, by B.B.

In the summer of 1995 I decided to build an underground multipurpose survival shelter. I purchased the book Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney and went to work. If you want to know about shelters and what it will be like living in one, then purchase his book. My brother helped me for a while with the construction, but I did the majority of the work alone and it took me two years to complete the project. Let me say up front that I’m an amateur who used a brilliant book to build a shelter. Along the way …







Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011 This was linked over at the Total Investor blog: China Warns Developed Nations of Inflation, Currency Threats Straycat sent this one: Hunger Hits Detroit Items from The Economatrix: Cash for Clunkers Gets $2 Billion Refill Job Losses Slow to 247,000; Jobless Rate Dips AIG Reports 2Q Profits, First Since 2007s Oil Rises Over $72 as Job Loss Slows Fannie Mae Loses $15 Billion, Seeks $10.7 Billion in Aid After 2Q Loss The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) will not stop growing for at least a decade! Mish …




Odds ‘n Sods:

What varmint is killing your chickens? Ellen F. suggested this informative predation web site.    o o o Slate conducts a thought experiment: The End of America 2009: How it will happen.    o o o In case you missed it when it aired in June, the US ABC television network’s “what if” documentary Earth 2100 has been posted to YouTube. Although it has plenty of Al Gore-style guilt-ridden “we ruined the environment” hand-wringing, it is still worth watching.    o o o Some rules of civilization (outside of a handful of cruel exceptions like the Ik tribesmen) are almost …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“How quiet, calm, and solemn, not at all like when I was running,” thought Prince Andrei, “not at like when we were running, shouting, and fighting; not at all like when the Frenchman and the artillerist, with angry and frightened faces, were pulling at the swab – it’s quite different the way the clouds creep across this lofty, infinite sky. How is it I haven’t seen this lofty sky before? And how happy I am that I’ve finally come to know it. Yes! everything is empty, everything is a deception, except this infinite sky. There is nothing, nothing except that. …