Day: June 26, 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 …


How to Get Prepared as a Teenager, by Jonathan E.

When I discovered SurvivalBlog I was 17 years old. My friend had given me a copy of the novel “Patriots” that he had picked up on our twenty-three day trip around the United States. After I had read the novel, I realized that I was so far behind on my prepping for TEOTWAWKI. Before had I had only focused on wilderness survival and when I went hiking in the woods. I never perceived how fragile our economy was and how easily it would fall apart with the slightest push. I had to do something about my preparations. This article is …


Letter Re: A Survival Suburban Homestead: A Prepper’s Twist on the Homestead Movement

Jim, The community described by DMT seems like a nice place to live and I wish I could share his optimism and his faith in human nature. It seems to me that a community like he describes would take years to form. It might have a chance if everyone could be persuaded to store a year or more of food and stock up on agricultural equipment, but it seems to me that it would be a superhuman task to get everyone to go along with it in an emergency unless you could feed them until harvest time. Also, unfortunately, my …


Letter Re: The 50 States are Getting Desperate for Revenue!

Hello Mr. Rawles, I thought you might be interested in an article about New York state’s 12th consecutive weekly package of emergency spending bills “to keep the government operating.” This bill will raise the price of cigarettes to over $11 a pack in New York, as well as taxing the cigarettes sold by American Indian stores to people outside the tribe. The last time New York tried the latter was in the late 1990s, and it met with violent protests. They haven’t tried it since, so you know that they’re getting desperate! – E.


Economics and Investing:

Charley suggested this piece by Ambrose-Evans Pritchard: Gold reclaims its currency status as the global system unravels Brian B. flagged this: Cash Crops: Buying Farmland for Income Also from Brian: Brown Brothers Warns on Deterioration in State and Local Government Deficits, Cautions of Comparable European Collapse Items from The Economatrix: Leaders Differ on How to Nurture a Global Economy BP Shares Down Sharply in London Government Lowers Growth Estimate for First Quarter Financial Stocks Lift Market After Financial Overhaul Euro “Collapse” Could Drag Europe Into Conflict


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent me a link to a collection of photos showing Chinese military’s obsession with parades and ultra-precise formations. It reminded me of a quote from Jean Larteguy (The author of The Centurions and The Praetorians.): “I’d like France to have two armies: one for display, with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, fanfares, staffs, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general’s bowel movements or their colonel’s piles: an army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country. The …