Month: August 2010

Odds ‘n Sods:

J.P. sent us this: Study shakes up scientists’ view of San Andreas earthquake risk: Researchers find major quakes on the southern section, on average, every 88 years — three times as often as previously thought. It’s the strongest evidence yet that we’re overdue for a massive quake.    o o o Reader N.C. recommended the new Earth Changes Central – Survive PX web site. (Membership is required for most of the content.)    o o o Tamara linked to a pitiful video clip, at her blog: Tactical Tips. At least he sounded sincere. OBTW, don’t miss the comments, that follow. …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I started noticing in the 1980s the growing gulf between the country’s thought leaders, as they’re called—the political and media class, the universities—and those living what for lack of a better word we’ll call normal lives on the ground in America. The two groups were agitated by different things, concerned about different things, had different focuses, different world views. But I’ve never seen the gap wider than it is now. I think it is a chasm.” – Peggy Noonan in an August, 2010 essay titled: America Is At Risk Of Boiling Over, in The Wall Street Journal


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 …


Community Crisis Planning for Societal Collapse, by J.I.R.

I believe that in a severe crisis, most of the problems are going to have to be solved at the local level. State and federal government are too big and dependent on technology to survive a severe crisis once the grid drops and all services start to erode. Local governments, too, are ill prepared to assume this crushing responsibility, but they are much more resilient because their scope of control is smaller. Most of them have never even considered what they would do. This article is a discussion piece to stimulate thought on the subject of small community recovery after …


Letter Re: Gold Is Glittering Again. Why?

Dear James: A recent headline asked: Gold is glittering again. But why? I can give you my opinion why gold is “glittering”: * Tax law will change with respect to gold purchases on 1/1/2011 * Taxes are going up dramatically in 2011; that will kill the economy. Look for 15-20% unemployment. (I think they are lying through their teeth about the unemployment rate. If you look at the unemployed, underemployed, discouraged — and even ignore the disgruntled, left the workforce, women becoming pregnant, “frozen in place” workers I think the current rate is presently around 20%.) * Taxes are going …


Economics and Investing:

K.T. sent this: The New Auto IRA Is Just Highway Robbery. Here it comes, folks. This is just first step in nationalizing IRAs and 401(k)s! Brett G. suggested this item: Many Homeowners Expect Home Values to Fall Further. Items from The Economatrix: Spike In Layoffs Feed Fear of Faltering Recovery California Home Sales Drop by 22% in July It’s Going to Get Worse…A Whole Lot Worse UK Sinks Deeper Into the Red Entering A Death Spiral? Tensions Rise In Greece as Austerity Measures Backfire Death and Joblessness Regulators Shut Down Big Chicago ShoreBank, 7 Others And So it Begins: Gold …


Inflation Watch:

“David 5.7” wrote: “I live here in the north east. all brands of toilet paper have gone from 4.5 inches in width to 4 inches, with a slight increase in price. so if you buy and 8 pack roll your are actually getting one roll less per pack than you would have 10 months ago.” Attributed to inflation: China Current Account Surplus Declined 8%. (Stocks in China region dropped after Shanghai city inflation increased to 3.9% and China’s current account surplus declined 8%.) South African Linked Bonds Get Bids for 7 Times Amount Offered. (Thanks to Damon for the link.) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From Alaska Dispatch: When a bear wants to join the hot tub party, what’s an ex-governor to do?    o o o Hooray! After recognizing that the predominantly gray ACU uniform was a costly mistake, the U.S. Army is adopting MultiCam. OBTW, once the old ACU uniforms start to get sold inexpensively as surplus, anyone that lives out in sagebrush country might want to pick up a few sets. Sagebrush is one of the few foliage backgrounds where the ACU pattern blends in well.    o o o SurvivalBlog Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent word of a scary …



Notes from JWR:

Do you have any favorite quotes that relate to preparedness, survival, self-sufficiency, or hard money economics? If so, then please send them via e-mail, and I will likely post them as Quotes of the Day, if they haven’t been used before in SurvivalBlog. Please send only quotes that are properly attributed, and that you’ve checked for authenticity. Many Thanks! — 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 …


Temperate Climate Famine, by William V.

There has only been one famine in the last twenty years in a country with a temperate climate that is similar to the northern part of the United States.  That country was North Korea.  Many of the observations offered below are taken from the book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, a very gifted reporter. Most of us think of North Korea as a poor, underdeveloped country controlled by a dictator that lags far behind its South Korean neighbor economically.  However, until about 1980, North Korea had a higher GDP than South Korea.  It has …


Letter Re: DC to DC Converters

Hi Jim and Readers, Some of our TEOTWAWKI preparations tend to lean toward running electronic equipment off charged DC battery sources. I work in electronics, and have built several radio stations for ministries around the world, I have found that DC to AC inverters especially the cheaper models are very inefficient to run higher powered equipment. I have gone another direction when powering equipment off of 12 or 24 volt DC power systems. Many people will purchase a DC to AC inverter to run a laptop through the supplied AC to DC converter. The newer switching supplies are very compact …


Economics and Investing:

Ellen Brown: Could 62 Million Homes Be Foreclosure-Proof? (Thanks to J.H.B. for the link.) Brian F. forwarded this: Jobless claims rise to highest level in nine months. RBS sent this: Sugar beet growers worried there might not be 2011 crop Items from The Economatrix: Obamanomics is Why There is No Recovery Connecticut May Have Just a Week’s Worth of Cash Double-digit Jump in Bankruptcies 12 New Ways to Safeguard Your Money China Doubles Korea Bond Holdings as Asia Switches from Dollar


Inflation Watch:

Reader B.L.W. notes that the price of a box of girl scout cookies will be $4 per box this year. Gee, 12 Tagalong or Samoa cookies for $4. That is 33 cents per cookie! BLW also mentioned that Troops are required to sell cookies, or else they can’t hold any other fund raising events this year. As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog: Wal-Mart Quietly Raises Prices. (A whopping 5.8%) Speaking of Wal-Mart, Kelly in Kansas mentioned: Okay, so I know Wal-Mart can be tricky, but I bought a 25 lb bag of Great Value Sugar (I am canning like a crazed …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Patrice Lewis, over at the Rural Revolution blog recently posted an excellent article: Hoarding.    o o o J.M. in Michigan suggested this article about coronal mass ejections that ran in The New York Times: The Sun Also Surprises.    o o o P.D. spotted this: Israel’s “Judgment Day” Shelters    o o o KAF sent this one: WHO calls for monitoring of new superbug.