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 …




Living In A Non-Residence, by Scrap Metal Man

I have been reading SurvivalBlog for a few years now, and have noticed that many folks think outside the box on a variety of issues, but when it comes to building or modifying a structure for a retreat – or even a full-time place – they lapse into conventional thinking.  So many times I have come across the words “house”, “cabin”, “home” or even “residence”.   I guess the idea is that we have to “reside” somewhere, and the rest of the world may as well know where that is.  Allow me a chance to share some of my thinking on …




Letter Re: Riots and Civil Unrest in America

Mr. Rawles, I had one more observation to add to B.B. in California’s letter about the 1992 Los Angeles riots. At the time, I was living in Bakersfield, a city a two hour drive from L.A., and I vividly recall watching the news coverage of the events. This was followed by stories of similar, albeit much smaller, incidents of ‘unrest’ in cities as far away from L.A. as Fresno, and Oakland, California. The most alarming thing was this: Each of these cities, indeed, even the city I lived in, had already sent some of the Police Officers (mostly California Highway …




Seven Letters Re: A Doctor’s Thoughts on Antibiotics, Expiration Dates, and TEOTWAWKI

Hi Jim, In response to the letters sent to you regarding my article, the FORTE version of the antibiotics described would be appropriate for full-grown men and all but the most petite women (less than, say, 100 pounds or so). Children would be best served with the 250mg fish antibiotic dose. Frequency of these medications is from 2-4 times a day, depending on the individual drug. The risk of under-dosage would be suboptimal progress in healing. Overdosage often manifests itself as diarrhea.. Treatment length is usually from 5-10 days. A good internet drug index can be found at rxlist.com. If …




Economics and Investing:

Flagged by G.G.: Jim Rogers predicts a new recession in 2012 Also from G.G.: Drip after drip of deflation data I was doing some web wandering, and found this over at Gold Eagle: The Coming Silver Supernova Reader K.S.B. sent a link to a CBO report on the U.S. debt crisis that is a must read. The key word: unsustainable levels of debt. There are some articles discussing the CBO report in The American Spectator and in The New American. John L. mentioned an article about counterfeit silver coins. Frequent content contributor KAF sent this: North Dakota, Alaska lead US …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Remember what I wrote about cross-border threats in my book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”? Well here it is, even before TEOTWAWKI, folks: Mexico Drug War Spills into U.S. (A hat tip to B.B., for the link.)    o o o Phil K. sent this item: Power grid upgrades could pose security risks, experts says. And meanwhile, we read: Power grid hacking fear grows as industrial-targeted virus emerges. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.)    o o o National Guard troops to head to border states August 1st. (A hat tip to John B. for the link.)    o o …