Day: August 2, 2010

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 30 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 Zombie Banks are Ruining the Future, by James D.

The banks of the world are in a mess, but thankfully they are sorting out their problems. Except that they’re not. In the boom years, banks gave out more and more mortgages to riskier and riskier home owners, with the understanding that if things turned really bad, these mortgages would be terrible loans that would lose a fortune. So when things did turn bad and the home owners could no longer pay for the mortgages, these mortgages bankrupted the banks that gave them out. Except they didn’t. The problem with mortgages for banks is that they don’t know how bad …


Letter Re: Coupon Warrior!

Mr. Rawles, I was very happy to read the recent SurvivalBlog article about the importance of couponing as a means of stocking up. Without using coupons there is no way my family could have the variety of food storage it has. I would like to add a couple of tips GRITS didn’t mention though. I like to use this web site Coupon Database to find coupons on products I want. You simply search for a product and it comes up with a list of everywhere you can find the coupon, whether you can print it online (coupons.com doesn’t seem to …


Letter Re: How to Bypass Blocked Web Sites

My Dear Mr. Rawles, I am writing in regards to Tamara W.’s letter. I am an IT manager tasked with keeping data and people secure – in that order. As a prepper with an enlightened self interest for the well being of my fellow preppers, I would strongly encourage your readers to not necessarily follow all of Tamara’s W. advice. When your readers are at work, they should understand that the IT Department has full access to their PCs and all their records and e-mails. Your readers are playing on the IT Departments’ networks and the IT Departments literally make …


Economics and Investing:

Marc Faber recommends: invest in a farm surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by Dobermans. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) I spotted this over at NewsMax: Gingrich: Obama Repeating Mistakes From the Great Depression. K.A.F. flagged this: What to Expect if Bush Tax Cuts Expire. The congresscritters in Washington are so desperate for revenue that they will likely reanimate both the higher income taxes and capital gains taxes. I predict that this will shut down the economy. Some optimists will call it a “double dip” recession. I ‘ll describe it more accurately: stepping off a cliff, a la Wile …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Ron L. sent a link to a “how to” video on making nifty aluminum can alcohol stoves. These stoves were mentioned once before in SurvivalBlog, but this clever design deserves a repeat.    o o o Laurence W. forwarded a link to an article about a new mesh communication system. I predict that in another few years, fully distributed mesh networks will transform both telephony and our current conception of the Internet. “They can’t stop the signal!”    o o o Reader Tony B. spotted this: Emergency Response to a Disaster – from a paramedic viewpoint    o o o …