Day: June 29, 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 …


The Winter Salad, by Tom in Colorado

Most of us reading SurvivalBlog have some amount of food stored. We are aware of the problems with the most commonly stored foods as well: sufficient nutrition, a large enough assortment to provide variety, and a good enough taste to keep people eating. I’m going to offer another alternative here to help provide these three things in the dead of winter while sparing our stockpiled food. If you have a window that receives a decent amount of sunlight (south facing is best in the northern hemisphere) then you may well be able to provide entire fresh salads or ingredients for …


Is Modern Society Doomed to Collapse? Understanding the Complexity Trap

I’ve often written in SurvivalBlog about the over-dependence of modern societies on technology. Our level of dependence on high technology is large, and steadily growing. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle summed up over-dependence on technology in their novel Lucifer’s Hammer: “Whole nations depends on technology. Stop the wheels for two days and you’d have riots. No place is more than two meals from a revolution. Think of Los Angeles or New York with no electricity. Or a longer view, fertilizer plants stop. Or a longer view yet, no new technology for ten years. What happens to our standard of living? …


Letter Re: Growing Your Own Tobacco

Dear Mr. Rawles: I know…I know…I know…it is bad for you. But I do enjoy my two cigarettes a day. I am also tired of reading apocalyptic books and watching movies in that genre where everyone is running around hunting down tobacco. So, last year I bought 250 tobacco seeds via the Internet. A fine blend of Virginia Gold for $5.00. The seeds arrived. Each seed was the same size as a grain of salt. Thinking it would never grow I planted them in a corner of my greenhouse in late February. They sprouted. In May I had about 75 …


Economics and Investing:

Yishai sent us this (by way of Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit): Foreign Central Banks Going for the Gold RBS tells clients to prepare for ‘monster’ money-printing by the Federal Reserve. Here is a quote: “We cannot stress enough how strongly we believe that a cliff-edge may be around the corner, for the global banking system (particularly in Europe) and for the global economy. Think the unthinkable.” (Thanks to Brian B. for the link.) S.M. sent this: Biden: We Can’t Recover all the Jobs Lost Items from The Economatrix: Derivatives Blow for Wall Street Banks Under Historic US Reforms. Translation: The …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Lee C. sent us a link to a BBC radio segment: Parts of residential Detroit have gone feral. Derelict crumbling houses, human gangs, dog gangs…    o o o Reader R.B.S. wrote to mention that Michael Yon has expanded his article series on Gobar Gas. (Home biogas production.)    o o o Now that’s a mess! (A NASA photo taken back on day 67 of the Deepwater Horizon spill.)    o o o Brian B. was the first of several readers to send this: High Court’s Big Ruling For Gun Rights. That was a narrow 5-4 decision. Let’s pray that …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In 1868, our nation made a promise to the McDonald family; they and their descendants would henceforth be American citizens, and with American citizenship came the guarantee enshrined in our Constitution that no State could make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of American citizenship. The rights so guaranteed were not trivial. The Civil War was not fought because States were attacking people on the high seas or blocking access to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The rights secured by the Fourteenth Amendment were understood to include the fundamental rights honored by any free …