Month: August 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 …



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 …



Note from JWR:

Today we present the first 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 …


SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Winners — Round 29

We’ve complotted the judging for Round 29 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The winners are: First prize goes to Old Dog in Wisconsin for Getting My Lists Together, posted on July 15th. He will receive all of the following: 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.) …