Month: September 2010

Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: IMF fears ‘social explosion’ from world jobs crisis. Here is a link to a key PDF from the study: The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion–Discussion Document When Will Net Energy from Fossil Fuels Peak? RBS sent this: How Debt Can Destroy a Budding Relationship. $170,000? Did Ms. Eastman do the math on how long it would take to make her college education pay for itself? Siggy sent this: Tap Dancing on A Land Mine Items from The Economatrix: How Hyperinflation Will Happen In America. (This excellent essay was originally posted in Gonzalo Lira’s blog …



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Little accustomed as we are to stone buildings, it may be thought by many to erect such an one (sic) would be a great undertaking, yet it may be done without either great expense, nor much difficulty. Hammered or chiseled stone is adapted to public buildings, or the houses of the wealthy, and is expensive; but comfortable, decent houses may be built with common stone, such as we would use for good field walls. Such stones laid in strong mortar, will make an excellent building,either by facing the wall with stones, if fit for the purpose, or by rough casting …


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 …


Convince Your Loved Ones To Prepare–Even When They’re Kicking and Screaming, by Patriot Chick

Becoming self-sufficient during a financial meltdown is difficult enough, but trying to convince reluctant loved ones to prepare can be doubly frustrating. It’s hard to understand how anyone wouldn’t want to start stockpiling their pantries after watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, and more recently the devastating floods in Pakistan. We all watched the newsreels; millions of homeless and hungry fighting for a spot in breadlines. If that isn’t reason enough, the U.S. continues to be threatened with nuclear attack. Meanwhile, most of us are hanging by a gossamer thread between solvency and financial ruin. We …


Letter Re: Garage Sale Prepping

This has been covered before, but I’d like to reinforce that use of garage sales for low-key cash purchases of essential survival items. In the past two months I’ve been making weekend trips to various community garage sales – spending an average of less than $20 per weekend. Most of the items cost me less than $10 each and I often only paid $1 or $2. The following is a partial list of the haul: 2 – Complete dissection kits with scalpels, forceps, etc 1 – Craftsman toolbox, steel, in good condition 1 – 19th Century wrench 1 – Drawknife …


Letter Re: A Woman’s Perspective on Personal Self Defense

Mr. Rawles- The recent article “A Woman’s Perspective on Personal Self Defense” reminded of a situation that occurred 16 years ago. I can honestly say that the self-defense classes I took in college saved my life. I was at our local mall with my then seven month old son. We were strolling around, looking at the decorations when I noticed a guy who I thought was following me. After a little more strolling, I went into a couple of stores. Not only was the creep still following me, I caught him rubbing himself- with his hand down his pants while …


Economics and Investing:

Peter Schiff Says U.S. is Powerless to Prevent Runaway Inflation, Silver to Soar to $100 US poverty on track to post record gain in 2009. It is noteworthy that in 2008, the poverty level stood at $22,025 for a family of four. But that would have been considered “upper middle class” back in the 1940s. So part of this impoverishment can be attributed to the hidden tax of currency inflation. We need a sound currency! G.G. mentioned this item: 59% of Canadians would be in trouble if their pay was delayed by a week Another step in the staircase of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent this troubling article: ‘Cabbagegate’: Man Fined $5,000 for Home Garden    o o o Ham radio operators: The American Preparedness Radio Network has chats on Sunday and Thursday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Time in the 80 meter band on (or about) 3.818 MHz. (All the usual OPSEC provisos for public venues apply.)    o o o Record U.S. Arms Deal With Saudis Advances. David in Israel notes: “This could be spun that the Arabians are purchasing arms for a confrontation with Israel or Iran. But If you use your nose for news and Follow The Money, …




A Woman’s Perspective on Personal Self Defense, by Roxanne L. Griswold

Imagine this frightening scenario and try to envision yourself here: You’re strolling through an empty parking lot at dusk thinking about the events of the day when suddenly your arm is clasped from behind and pulled forcefully downward. Your head crashes against the unforgiving concrete. Blood gushes from your nose. Before you have a moment to process anything, your attacker is now on top of you, beating your face with open fists. Gasping for air from fear and excruciating pain, you scream and slap him in an aimless attempt to shield yourself, by which time he has secured your flailing …


Letter Re: Advice on Pre-1899 Guns and Ammunition Availability

Dear Sir: I recently read your FAQ regarding the laws involved in purchasing pre-1899 firearms. It was dated 2004. Have any of the protocols significantly changed in the past several years? I am also curious to know which pre-1899 revolvers function best with current production ammunition. Any info would be of assistance. Thanks. – Louis P. JWR Replies: My advice on buying pre-1899 guns is essentially unchanged. Prices for pre-1899 antique cartridge guns are continuing to advance much more quickly than inflation. (Just as I had predicted.) In recent years, Smith &Wesson revolvers have started to catch up in price …


Letter Re: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike

John in Texas wrote a great piece about Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike. He wrote that his neighbors have ignored the hazards of a hurricane, and that his wife still believes the money spent on a generator is a waste of money. In a somewhat similar experience, many years ago, while living in the Chicago area, we had a winter in which we had a tremendous amount of snow. Tired of shoveling the white stuff, I purchased a snow blower during the next summer. The following winter we had an unusually light snowfall. One day, while my co-workers were laughing …


Economics and Investing:

California home equity hangover: $649 billion in HELOC loans nationwide with most in California. Two Years Later: The U.S. Economy Still Needs a Spark Plug Two years after Lehman Brothers collapsed in a $639 billion bankruptcy and the short-term financial markets seized up with terror, we’ve backed away from the brink. But skittishness in the financial markets hasn’t gone away. It’s just taken a different form — for instance, driving gold prices up 56% from $805 an ounce on Sept. 3, 2008, to $1,253 Sept. 3, 2010. With spot silver now solidly above $20 per ounce, and spot gold above …