Day: June 18, 2010

Note from JWR:

Just three days left! The special sale price for the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course will be discontinued on June 21st. So order yours, soon! — Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 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 …


Loose Lips Sink Ships, by Margaret

The title of this piece is a motto used during WWII by which the population was being warned to be circumspect about what they discussed and with whom they discussed it. It seems to me that it may be timely for the motto to be recycled for use by the Preparation Community. I’ve read over and over in this excellent blog and in other articles “find someone or a group of people you can trust”. I think that instruction is much more difficult and more time consuming than stocking up on beans, Band-Aids and bullets. Although I live in Australia …


Product Review: Timbuk2 Backpacks

I can’t speak highly enough about Timbuk2 and their products. I received one asa gift in 2003. Since then, I’ve carried it all over the world including a war zone, on business, to conventions, while driving. I’ve stuffed it to the point where I needed a knee to apply enough pressure to close it. It’s been dragged, carried, tossed, shoved, buried under luggage and cargo, through airport security hundreds of times, and there’s not a loose seam or worn zipper anywhere. It seems to be as indestructible as textiles get. While this style is no longer available, it’s demonstrative of …


Letter Re: Motorcycles and Motorcycling Skills

Dear Jim, The roads are getting worse, gas prices are high, and the taxes keep going up. Something has to give. So far road maintenance seems to be one of the breaking points. I have witnessed roads evaporate. I have witnessed them get consumed in vegetation. I have traveled in the Sierras in places where the 4WD was getting stuck and knew an off road or dual sport motorcycle would cross these places easily. I can’t help but think while I’ve learned to shoot rifles and purify water and stitch wounds, shouldn’t I put at least as much effort into …


Economics and Investing:

And so, inexorably, the The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) grows: Obama Officially Begins Push For New Bailout of the States. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) D.D. sent this: “Housing Still Sluggish”—Harvard study uses the “D” word to describe the real estate market From the ever-cheery Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: AXA fears ‘fatal flaw’ will destroy eurozone. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Y.K. suggested a recent audio podcast interview of Gerald Celente by Lew Rockwell. Brett G. flagged this: Volcker Warns: We Are Running Out Of Time Items from The Economatrix: EU Chief Warns “Democracy Could Disappear” in Greece, Spain …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Here is a link to the Milo Nordyke interview on CNN that I previously mentioned. Nordyke is a proponent of peaceful uses of nuclear bombs–including the possibility of using nukes to seal off deep sea oil leaks.    o o o J.M. in Michigan sent me a link to some videos about “off grid” projects. Go to Vimeo.com and in their search box enter: emas. This takes you to about 10 pages of videos on topics like High Pressure Hand Pumps, Rain Water Harvesting, Water Storage Cisterns, Ferro Cement Tanks for Water Storage, Using the Sun to Heat Homes, Latrines, …