Month: September 2010


Odds ‘n Sods:

Roman sent us to a web page with some “outside the box” thinking: How we turned an old backyard swimming pool into a self-sufficient garden in a desert city.    o o o Following her recent training with Louis Awerbuck, Tamara weighs in about Tacticool Mall Ninja fashion consciousness. And she’s right. Looks don’t kill. Well-aimed projectiles do.    o o o ‘Don’t tread on me’ flags start disputes around the country. (Thanks to Judy T. for the link.)    o o o Pastor Chuck Baldwin (former Constitution Party presidential candidate) is wisely relocating his family from Florida to Montana.


Letter Re: Returns on Investments

James: Being married to an accountant, former government financial inspector and a finance director for a company opened my eyes to the concept of getting a return for my investment. For large tangible items, that concept is important. Oh, I certainly could fill a wall with a 55 inch plasma television, but what do I get in return for that investment? A wannabe movie screen that has a limited lifespan and sucks a chunk of energy? Will it help my long term bottom line of being financially independent and ready? The idea of investing in tangibles in a serious downturn …


Letter Re: Recommendation for “The Hunger Games” Trilogy

Hi, I just recently found your blog, and it’s really useful. I’ve recently become interested in self-sufficiency, and it’s a great resource. I wanted to share a book recommendation that I think might be interesting to your readers, a book series called The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. It is a trilogy of young adult novels about a little girl who lives under a completely authoritarian state. The state requires ‘tributes’ from all 12 districts, children from age 12-18, one boy one girl. All are put in an arena to fight to the death, to show how much power the …


Economics and Investing:

Gold Rallying to $1,500 as Soros’s Bubble Inflates. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) From The Daily Bell: WSJ Discovers the Austrians & Boettke – but not the Mises Institute Mort Zuckerman bemoans BHO‘s band of fools: The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History. (A hat tip to Patrick S. for the link.) Oregon man pleads bankruptcy fraud, hiding gold. Apparently, he failed Cache Construction 101. From K.A.F.: Problem bank list climbs to 829 Items from The Economatrix: Top Economists: The Second Great Depression Has Arrived Struggling Cities Shut Firehouses in Budget Crises Mish: 10 Leading Retailers Close Stores; …


Inflation Watch:

You’ll pay 6 to 7% more this weekend for your steak and hamburger. This one is from Pravda (so my usual jaundiced eye proviso applies) Doomsday Scenario: Food Prices to Shoot Through the Roof. Some more about the CPI hedonics trickery that I mentioned: Chris Martenson on fuzzy numbers. Reader Jim P. mentioned that his local politicos in the Shenandoah Valley are doing away with a decal but keeping the fee! County Decals No More; $20 Fee Will Appear On Personal Property Tax Bills JP Morgan: Food Prices Are Actually Rising, It’s Just That Retailers Haven’t Passed It On… Thanks …


Odds ‘n Sods:

My recent interview on Doc and Reginald Kaigler’s Watchmen podcast is now available via YouTube.    o o o LVZ in Ohio notes that there is a home brew Pelton wheel project described here: Micro-hydro Power Bucket.    o o o Rod McG. pointed to the BBC’s Dimensions web page as a useful tool for visualizing disasters.    o o o N.R.S. mentioned this opinion piece from a as Northern California newspaper: Maybe the NRA’s right to be paranoid.    o o o I noticed that Darrell Holland’s Long Range Shooting video is now available on YouTube. Buy a copy …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"A wayfaring man, traveling in the desert, met a woman standing along and terribly dejected. He inquired of her. "Who art thou?" "My name is Truth " she replied. "and for what cause, " he asked, "have you left the city, to dwell alone here in the wilderness?" She made answer, "Because in former times, falsehood was with few, but is now with all men, whether you would hear or speak." – The Fables of Aesop, Henry Altemus Company, 1899


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 …


Two Retreat Options Without Buying Land, by Brad in Texas

No one has to tell a prepper that land is expensive, and purchasing suitable retreat property without financing it is difficult or impossible for most. Worse yet, as things continue unraveling a rural alternative seems to become more necessary by the day. Here are two seldom-considered options. Option 1: A Retreat May Be Looking For You Country people, who own and live on vast swaths of rural America, are used to dealing with assorted disasters, ranging from crop failure to blizzards to droughts. That makes many of them closet preppers, at a minimum, and some have gone much farther with …


Letter Re: A German Army Think Tank Sees Dire Consequences for Peak Oil

Hello Mr. Rawles, A report on the political and economical impacts of Peak Oil by a think tank of the German Army was recently leaked to the Internet. It is, of course, in German. The think tank draws pretty drastic conclusions. I currently do not have the time to translate the essence of it, but this might be useful or interesting at least to your readers who are fluent in German. Here is a summary: Bundeswehr-Studie warnt vor dramatischer Ölkrise, [also in German] by Der Spiegel. Kind regards, – Chris K. in Germany JWR Replies: Thanks for alerting us to …


Economics and Investing:

Bernanke: Fed Will Take “Unconventional Measures” If Needed. “…the Fed will consider making another large-scale purchase of securities if the slowing economy were to deteriorate significantly and signs of deflation were to flare.” (A hat tip to Deborah M. for the link.) Its Official: China is Unloading its Treasury Bonds John Williams of ShadowStats Says Economic Data Will Get Much Worse. Trapper Mike sent this: Ron Paul questions whether there’s gold at Fort Knox, New York Fed. To clarify, part of his concern is that physical gold may indeed be stored there, but that it might actually belong to other …


Inflation Watch:

In 2008, shortly before the currency was effectively abandoned, the inflation rate in Zimbabwe hit a ludicrous inconceivable 897,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 percent per year. (An 89 sextillion percent inflation rate!) So now instead of Zim dollars for practical currency, they are using the South African Rand, the Botswana Pula, the British Pound Sterling and the United States Dollar for most transactions. It will be ironic, if and when the US Dollar begins to inflate. Like us, Zimbabweans may soon feel “stuck”, holding withering US Dollars. OBTW, some bad news from Zimbabwe, that came to us by way of Cathy Buckle’s blog: “Enter …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Kevin J. mentioned this opinion piece: Looters and the lessons of Katrina. It has some typical liberal hand-wringing, but it is nonetheless a thought-provoking piece. |    o o o D.T.D. pointed us to this interesting article: Man has lived without money since 2008. Apparently, he also swore off wearing shirts.    o o o Cheryl N. suggested this essay: Collapse Survival Will Be Tribal: Begin Recruiting Now    o o o Did you ever wonder why you might want to add a .50 BMG rifle to your battery? Watch this.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success, than against those of the rulers of an individual State. In a single State, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens …