Day: August 21, 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 …


Livestock Breeding and Plant Propagation, by Mike O.

Propagation is a great and cheap method of producing offspring in both plants and animals.  Propagation is usually thought of in the context of plant, so let’s briefly cover animals first.  I read recently with sadness about readers on survivalblog having problems with their rabbits being good mothers.  This is the first characteristic I look for in a new breed of livestock.  Modern breeds of cattle and poultry, in particular have been specialized for particular traits and mothering ability has taken a back seat.  This is one reason I prefer heritage breeds listed through the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  These …


Letter Re: What Do Sonic Booms Do to a 911 System?

JWR, On Tuesday, President Obama made a hop into Seattle. A 30 mile “no fly zone” was established. A small float plane owner did not read the daily Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and flew into the zone by visual flight rules (VFR). This caused the Secret Service to have NORAD scramble two F-15s from the local [Air National Guard] air interceptor group based at Portland International Airport. Naturally, they requested and got clearance to go supersonic. This resulted in at least two sonic booms being generated. What happened next was, well, interesting: A Newspaper Account A Seattle Television News Story …


Economics and Investing:

Yikes! $1.342 trillion budget deficit for 2010. (Our thanks to Rourke for the link.) B.B. suggested this article over at Zero Hedge: The Dallas Fed Reminds That The Economy Is Doing Much Worse Than In The Administration’s Worst Nightmare US Says Bankruptcies Reach Nearly Five-Year High. (A hat tip to KAF for the link.) M.L. recommended: When Will Financial Armageddon Begin? Norman A. spotted this: Marc Faber – “Don’t touch US bonds” Also from Norman: Tensions Rise in Greece Ex-Bank of England Official: Dumping Bush Tax Cuts May Bring Depression Items from The Economatrix: Unemployment Spreads Like a Plague Accountability …


Inflation Watch:

Reader Tyson R. notes: While shopping with my wife, I picked up a bag of corn chips for the girls and didn’t notice a big difference in price, $3.99. That has always been the price as long as I can remember. The bag was the same color, about the same size as before and assumed it was the typical 16 ounce bag, to my dismay when I looked at the content weight it was only 10 ounces. Inflation doesn’t always come in the price tag but in the shrinking of the volume you get. Calculating the inflation on corn chips …


Odds ‘n Sods:

N.C. liked this article: Are you ready for a world without antibiotics? Here is a key quote: “Doctors and scientists have not been complacent, but the paper by Professor Tim Walsh and colleagues takes the anxiety to a new level. Last September, Walsh published details of a gene he had discovered, called NDM 1, which passes easily between types of bacteria called enterobacteriaceae such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and makes them resistant to almost all of the powerful, last-line group of antibiotics called carbapenems. Yesterday’s paper revealed that NDM 1 is widespread in India and has arrived here …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk ‘his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor’ on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children and can never be anything else.” – The fictional character Jill Boardman, accepting the challenge to oversee the safety of the Man from Mars, in the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein