Year: 2009

You’re Not (Yet) Prepared, by Ted B.

You saw the warning signs years ago and decided to be the ant, not the grasshopper. You found and purchased the home on land that is now your residence as well as your retreat.  You’ve gathered the materials to survive, perhaps even thrive, during the coming storms of political upheaval, food shortages, social disorder and economic distress.  You took courses on weapons use and feel confident in your ability to defend home and kin with any of the weapons in your personal armory.  You assembled canning materials and learned how to use them.  You consume, replenish and rotate those foods …



Economics and Investing:

I found this linked over at TotalInvestor.com: Worst of slump yet to come, says economist; Ann Pettifor predicted a painful end to the good times. Now she says that only radical action can prevent further gloom. Her prediction was right, but it is sad to see that she has bought in to the notion that governments can “spend their way out” of the credit collapse. GG sent this: Students Borrow More Than Ever for College–25% Increase FG flagged this Wall Street Journal piece: The Coming Reset in State Government – Governor Mitch Daniel. The governor of Indiana explains why the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Marko liked this Lifehacker article: Build a BBQ Smoker for Under $50.    o o o JRH Enterprises (one of our most loyal advertisers) is running a Labor Day special on new 3rd Generation PVS-14s for only $2,995. This is a great price, so I’m buying one! The sale ends on September 8th.    o o o Ticketing tiff ends with courtroom gunfire.    o o o Two radio towers in Washington state toppled. Possibly the work of eco-terrorists. (Thanks to FG for the link.)



Letter Re: Some Economic Indicators to Watch

James Wesley, I just had lunch today with a senior bank executive in Chicago. He confirmed much of what I have been seeing in the economy. After picking his brains, I have put together a few economic indicators to watch: – Christmas will be a financial disaster – people are reluctant to spend their cash. Weak sales will be a tipping point for many retailers – Commercial real estate is the next “shoe-to-drop” – Small businesses continue to struggle – their problems will broaden and deepen as credit is strangled – SBA loans are off-the-street, defaults may be as high …


Two Letters Re: Do it Yourself Low Temperature Casting

James J.W.G. has a great idea with the zinc pennies. When I need to fabricate a part I usually look under the hood of a junked car for something to melt, many easily-cast metals are under the hood requiring only a blown charcoal forge and covered dry steel pot. The Multimachine web site pointed me to a great source of high very quality casting aluminum: the overhead cam cylinder head from a motor that does not use separate cam bushings. Just ask a mechanic that you trust. Here in Israel there are also easily found junked brass plumbing fittings often …


Economics and Investing:

Items from KAF: Gold Increases 2.3% as Greenback Drops China Pushes Silver and Gold Investment to the Masses Hong Kong Recalls Gold Reserves, Touts High-Security Vault Retailers Report Sales Decline for August More Americans than Anticipated File Jobless Claims Sugar May Drop 24% as Demand Stalls, Supply Grows Edinburgh Hedge Fund Feel Madoff Effect as Clients Get Pickier HSBC Says Switzerland Luring More Rich Foreigners as Taxes Rise And from HH: The $531 Trillion Dollar Derivatives Time Bomb The Nightmare of Contemplating Global Derivatives Fed Secretive for Good Reason Investors Rush into Gold Like 1849 Items from The Economatrix: The …


Odds ‘n Sods:

America’s Breadbasket Drying Up (What the article doesn’t explain is that half of this drought is political–since California Aqueduct water has been diverted from many farmers. California’s water politics are Machiavellian.)    o o o When is a nickel not just five cents? By chance, I got a fine condition 1944-P War Nickel in change at the local US post office today. (These are 35% silver, with a current melt value of about 90.1 cents per coin, their numismatic value is a bit higher.)



Note from JWR:

After the large response to SurvivalBlog’s July survey on non-fiction books, I’m starting a new one: What are Your Favorite Survivalist Fiction Books? Please e-mail us a list of your top 5-to-10 favorites, with the e-mail title “Books Survey Input”. If you’d like. you can also include another list of your favorite Survivalist Fiction Books for children and young adults. I’ll post the results in about three weeks. Thanks!


Letter Re: Thoughts on Shedding Bad Habits, and Developing Good Ones

Hi Mr. Rawles, I was thinking today about a section I read either on the blog or in the book about getting rid of any habits you may have. I instantly thought, “thank God I quit smoking” and left it at that. Until yesterday. I thought of all the things I do that are my habits that would not be there in a melt down. I found some that I just had not even thought about as being a bad habit that needed to be curbed. I am keeping a written diary of my habits to see where I need …


Letter Re: A Nation of Improvisers–More About Everyday Life in Communist Cuba

First our prayers are with your family in these dire times. The first thing about surviving in Cuba was that we did not see it as “surviving”, it was more like living, we did not know anything else, as the media in Cuba is tightly controlled. I remember as a child we did not have glue so we made glue out of Styrofoam and gasoline, just mix them up in a glass container that you could close to preserve and that’s it (if you go a little crazy on the gas it would be too liquid and take forever to …


Economics and Investing:

SEC’s Schapiro Calls Derivatives Data ‘Critical’ for Probe Jeff C. spotted this: IndyMac’s mortgage struggle. How does modifying a “liar loan” somehow magically make a semi-employed borrower credit worthy? From John in Ohio: Is America still depression-proof? Reader MSB mentioned: The Shell Game – How the Federal Reserve is Monetizing Debt Oldest Swiss Bank Tells Clients to Sell U.S. Assets or Leave (Thanks to DD for the link.) Exit strategy? Fed’s Plosser: U.S. rate increases could be rapid. (A tip of the hat to Brenda C. for the link.) JWR’s comment: This is starting to remind me of the policies …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, sent this interesting article from The Atlantic: In Case of Emergency. The new FEMA Director wants American citizens to take charge when disaster strikes. Here is a key quote: “‘We need to change behavior in this country,’ he told about 400 emergency-management instructors at a conference in June, lambasting the ‘government-centric’ approach to disasters.”    o o o There is a great thread of discussion is in progress, over at TMM Forums: Use of antique or classic tractors for gulching    o o o A remake of Red Dawn? Reader B.H. sent us …