Day: August 3, 2010

Note from JWR:

Headlines like this one (from Monday, August 2nd) serve as wake-up calls: NASA scientists braced for ‘solar tsunami’ to hit earth; The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion of the sun, scientists have warned. Are you prepared? Have you prepared your family for the big Coronal Mass Ejection(CME)? The one big enough to take down the power grids? Have you thought through all of the implications and interdependencies, and made adequate preparations, accordingly? I pray that you are already well-prepared. If you’ve been reading SurvivalBlog for a …


TEOTWAWKI: Getting Folks to Recognize the Possibility, by M.G.K.

This article is about something that many preppers think about, convincing friends and loved ones that TEOTWAWKI could happen at any moment.  For most of us this idea hadn’t occurred to us until we stumbled across it or a good friend hinted at it.  The important thing to remember is that we had to come to believe it ourselves for it to make an impact on our lives.  I think the greatest fight all of us have is getting people that we love to actually consider that TEOTWAWKI can happen and that it is a reality that looms in front …


Three Letters Re: Real World EMP Effects on Motor Vehicle

Sir, I read the report in the government document regarding the effects of EMP on vehicles. The vehicles were only tested at 20k V/m then up to 50k V/m if they survived the first test. The reason that they were not tested beyond 50k V/m is that is what is the “known” maximum that would be released. The Russians have purpose-built EMP warheads that are speculated to emit 1m V/m to 2m V/m (100k V/m to 200k V/m). These weapons would completely destroy sensitive engine management controls. To put this in a little more perspective, the Starfish Prime test in …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Brian B. wrote to re-emphasize the importance of the recently-released CBO report titled: Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis. Brian’s comment: “Many people submit links to economic news to alternative media, but when the CBO (government entity) unveils a document that reaffirms the poor state of the economy, it becomes completely unnoticed by mainstream media. Perhaps your readers can reassure themselves how the outlook of the next decade might shape up to be.” From M.E.W.: Greenspan Says Home-Price Drop May Bring Back Recession M.M. sent us this editorial by former Reagan White House staffer David Stockman: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader A.S. wrote to mention that he liked a piece by novelist Matt Bracken, posted over at the WRSA web site: Bracken: The CW2 Cube — Mapping The Meta-Terrain Of Civil War Two. Please don’t mistake his comments on racial demographics as racism. Matt Bracken is not a racist. He is a realist.    o o o Chicago Times – Cops love iPhone data trail – Evidence Never Deleted. Here is a quote: “Every time an iPhone user closes out of the built-in mapping application, the phone snaps a screenshot and stores it. Savvy law-enforcement agents armed with search warrants …