Inflation Watch:

From the NIA: Inflation to Make All Americans Billionaires By 2020 Bernanke Sees Case for `Further Action’ With Too-Low Inflation Peter Schiff: “It’s Scary How Clueless Bernanke Is” Veteran economic observer Howard J. Ruff chimes in on inflation.




Odds ‘n Sods:

R.F.J. mentioned this at Cool Tools: Footbike    o o o California man killed by rattlesnake.    o o o Like something out of a novel… Panic at the pumps: French motorists swamp petrol stations    o o o Until the end of 2010 Ready Made Resources is offering a new “Grand Slam Package” of storage foods, at 30% off. They are also offering a one ounce U.S. Mint Silver Eagle for each complete case of six cans of Mountain House foods ordered, as long as the spot price of silver stays below $30 per ounce. At the rate that …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“People will survive this; some because of luck. If you have no food to eat, no warmth in the deep of winter, it doesn’t matter whether little green men or Muhammed broke your world. You will still die frozen and hungry. But if you have enough to eat, just enough, and if you have some shelter and safety, again just enough, then maybe your living or dying might have something to do with whether you fall to madness and superstition, or whether you hold onto your rationality.” – The fictional character Sergeant Fryderyk Milosz, Polish GROM special forces unit operator, …




Note from JWR:

Today we present two entries for Round 31 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 We are Making Changes, and Our Lessons Learned, by K-Dog

After college (in the early 1990s), I was educating myself about finance even though I was not employed in that industry, I felt that if I was going to be responsible for my own financial well being during life I better start my education. I learned quite a bit, but failed to act on any of the information.  I was constantly seeking more and more info, then I had a series of jobs changes and got married, our first house and hence missed the “dot com” stock rally on all levels. Looking back I associate this with information paralysis. Lesson:  …




Lessons Learned From a Rainy Day, by John G. in Southern Pennsylvania

After a 19 day dry spell, we were hit with one heck of a storm here in southern Pennsylvania last week. I thought I would share with Survivalblog readers the lessons to be learned from this event. The first 29 days of September had been warm and lovely here, with only about 3 inches of the normal 21 inches of rain we should normally see by the end of September. On the last day of September we received the missing 18 inches. With the long period of dry weather preceding the storm, the ground was incapable of absorbing much of …




Keeping Cool: People and Food by P.J.

I’m writing from the Mid-West – the sea of corn (mostly) and other grains. As of this writing we are getting some relief from the humidity. “Hearsay” says corn is a guilty culprit for contributing to our high humidity. Corn is in high demand for purposes of food and fuel. Besides corn syrup, a byproduct is humidity, and perhaps, rain – which eventually leads to the subject of this letter – ice. Something that I think will be tremendously missed, is refrigeration – either for food or humans. Having stated the obvious, think of keeping leftovers at a safe temperature, …




Economics and Investing:

Susan H. sent this: The Real Horror Story: The U.S. Economic Meltdown Swiss Finish Sets New Standard for Global Bank Regulation Run over by the Grain Train Bernanke sees case for more Fed easing G.G. sent this: Dollar fall sparks stability warnings From K.A.F.: How High Will Corn Prices Go Before Usage is Rationed? Items from The Economatrix: Debt Market Strips US of Triple A Rating No Shock: 85% Angry About The Economy Expiration of Bush Tax Cuts: How Will It Affect You?










Note from JWR:

Today we present two entries for Round 31 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 …




The Threat of Cyber Terrorism and Cyber Warfare, by Jeff M.

Cyber warfare sounds like something out of a Hollywood action movie, but it’s something we need to take very seriously. There has been some speculation of possible cyber attacks in the past, power outages in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 could have possibly been caused intentionally. The United States was affected by a power outage in 2003 that blacked out the entire northeastern region and was widely publicized. The truth of what happened in these instances may never be known for national security reasons. Power outages are only the tip of the iceberg though, we have yet to see the …




Letter Re: Survivalist Media–A New Frontier

No one will deny that self-empowerment comes from the additional accumulation of knowledge. Studying, research, and even just plain reading can be devastatingly powerful, if one possesses the willpower as well as knowing how to focus their information gathering. However, other forms of media do retain the potential as knowledgeable gold mines, provided they are constructed in such a manner as to instruct their audiences at least as effectively, if not more, than reading materials. As a blogger, podcaster, and YouTuber (among other things), I am, at least, moderately versed in written, audio, and video forms of media. I understand …




Letter Re: A Source for Free Firewood

Hi Jim, I know you hear it every day, but I highly appreciate the time and effort that you put into your web site. I see that there has been some discussion on burning wood cargo pallets. Tom Baugh has written has a couple of articles about pallets that explain how they can be used in other applications. The reading may be useful to SurvivalBlog readers. The first article (Pallet Projects) goes in depth on the anatomy of a pallet, while the second is an article about a Goat House project that walks the reader through step by step. – …




Economics and Investing:

K.A.F. sent us this: Financial regulators planning worldwide rules for large firms Jim Rogers advises silver, tractors, and rice. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) J.D.D. flagged this: Drowning Homeowners Face ‘Tsunami‘ Damon S. forwarded this PDF link: Optometrists encouraged to barter. Items from The Economatrix: How to Prepare for the Bond Market Bust Securitized Mortgage Debt: The Shot That Will Kill Many Financial Entities Currency Wars: The Phantom Financial Menace Gold Versus Treasuries: Which Do You Believe? $5,000 Gold = $100-$350 Silver — Here’s Why The Fed’s Zero-Rate Policy is Destroying America Recession Job Losses Worse Than First Thought