Month: May 2010

Odds ‘n Sods:

K. in Vermont sent this Trunews link: Grasshopper plague in Plain States this summer    o o o More evidence that Peak Oil might be real: Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014    o o o Niklas sent this link that could be useful in evaluating retreat locales: Preliminary Spreadsheet of Eruption Source Parameters for Volcanoes of the World    o o o How Al Gore is reducing his carbon footprint, and preparing for the dramatic sea-level rise that he predicted: Al Gore, Tipper Gore snap up Montecito-area villa; The Italian-style home has an ocean view, fountains, six …



Notes from JWR:

Please say a prayer for the folks affected by the “worst case scenario” oil spill on the Gulf Coast. OBTW, if George Bush were still in office, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the use of a Plowshare device, to stop this spill. I don’t think Barack Obama would have the nerve. — Today we present another entry for Round 28 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include: 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 …


Note from JWR:

The following is the second half of a draft chapter from my latest novel, tentatively titled “Veterans”, now in development. (Part I was posted on April 30th.) It is a sequel to “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse”. Unlike most novel sequels, the storyline will be contemporaneous with the first novel. This sequel novel is scheduled to be released by the Atria Books Division of Simon & Schuster in early 2011. Thanks for your patience. I’d appreciate your feedback.


Novel Sample (Draft) Chapter From “Veterans” (Part II)

Just before they stepped out of the Mercedes, Ian straightened his borrowed silk tie.  Blanca whispered: “Bring your video camera. My papa will want to see pic-tu-ers.” After the maid ushered them in, they met Blanca’s father on the screened patio.  Haltingly, Ian made a formal introduction in Spanish. He did this fairly well, since he had practiced it with Consuela, but he was obviously nervous. After shaking hands, Aurturo Araneta asked: “So, Lieutenant Doyle, My daughter tells me you are a pilot of F-16 fighting planes.” “That’s right, sir. Pointing to the rucksack on his shoulder, he said:  “I …


Two Letters Re: Preparedness Digital Archives

Hi Jim, On Friday, Angus suggested downloading the different sections (Body Armor, Sanitation, etc) of SurvivalBlog for keeping on a USB drive. May I suggest that people download by the month instead of [by the topical] section. This way, when JWR has archived a months’ worth of articles, you can easily update your archives on your USB by downloading the most recent month, rather than updating every different section. I love the Blog! – Ryan in BC, Canada   James, When I make a backup of SurvivalBlog, I use the following command: wget –recursive –no-clobber –page-requisites –html-extension –convert-links –restrict-file-names=windows –domains …


Economics and Investing:

Steve H. recommended this article: Era of paper assets may be winding down Reader S.K.F. recommended: While the Greece Fire Spreads, a Trade War Begins A.C.L. mentioned some frightening charts published by The Chicago Tribune: A Tsunami of Red Ink. JWR Adds: I can remember back in 1977, writing fervent letters to my congressman, urging him to help keep the National Debt under $1 Trillion. Now the debt is 20 times that! BTW, that congressman who ignored my letters was Fortney “Pete” Stark, (Democrat) of California. He is still is Washington D.C. (a 37- year incumbent!) And Stark is still …


Odds ‘n Sods:

If you do web searches, you’ll find that there are some very inexpensive retreat properties available, like this parcel 6o miles out of Rawlins, Wyoming. But of course remember: Land is often inexpensive for a reason, such as when the access is poor, power lines are distant, the climate is severe and water wells–if available at all–must be drilled very deep. That one in Wyoming looks like it might qualify as “all of the above”, on those detractors. For some more realistic retreat-worthy parcels in more hospitable climes, see our spin-off web site: SurvivalRealty.com    o o o During the …