Day: June 23, 2010

Note from JWR:

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 #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of …


Surviving With Pets, by Alex C.

In our day-to-day lives most people seem to take our pets for granted. They are a welcome sight after a long day’s work, and a loyal companion with whom we can share our deepest darkest secrets. Our pets love without condition, and many of us return that love to our pets when our lives seem to be going well. However, far too often our animal friends are either left out of survival plans unintentionally and left to fend for themselves, or removed with cruel forethought and left to suffer alone. It can be understandable that a person would want to …


Letter Re: A Source for Rifle Racks and Build-It-Yourself Rack Plans

Jim, I found an Internet vendor who makes and sells gun racks right here in the USA! His prices are good and he publishes the dimensions of the racks on his site so anyone who is handy can build them at home. I know you hear this everyday but I’ll say it anyway. I sincerely enjoyed your books and SurvivalBlog. I am sorting my way through the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I want you to know I appreciate your attempts to open the public’s mind to the crisis which is coming to our country. Knowledge gained and then …


Letter Re: McAfee Report Highlights the Vulnerability of SCADA Systems

Hello, McAfee recently sponsored and published a report on global cybersecurity gives some startling statistics on the preparedness of critical infrastructure in various countries to attack. It is available for free download, as a PDF. Here is a brief excerpt on security for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) , which run our infrastructure: Executives generally reported very high levels of connection of SCADA systems to IP networks or the Internet, despite widespread acknowledgment about the risks involved. Seventy-six percent of respondents with SCADA/ICS responsibilities said their networks were “connected to an IP network or …


Economics and Investing:

Brian B. kindly sent this link: Financial Reform Is a Disaster For Banks, Consumers: Bove. Did you notice how the key topic of derivatives trading wasn’t even mentioned per se in this article? California on ‘Verge of System Failure’. (Thanks to Brett G. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Global Systemic Crisis/Second Half of 2010: The Global System’s Four Single Points of Failure The Euro’s Inevitable Failure Will Be Horrendous for All of Us Spain Could Test the Euro to its Limits Finding Gold in the Mainstream Fresh Economic Worries Trigger Fresh Rush into Gold Three Reasons You Should …


Odds ‘n Sods:

There has been an e-mail widely circulating, with pictures of a Zeta drug cartel camp that was found near Higueras, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. They uncovered quite the little arms cache–enough guns to make even my old friend “Dan Fong” envious. These photos were recently posted to a web page. It is noteworthy that the Zetas are just one of the many Mexican drug cartels. By the look of it, the majority of the weapons came straight from the Mexican Army. No doubt some very large stacks of cash changed hands with some Generals. And to answer one criticism: no Nancy …