Month: January 2011

Economics and Investing:

This could happen in America, too!: European nations begin seizing private pensions. Mark my words. I predict that the politicians and policy wonks will say: “Nationalizing the IRAs and 401(k)s is the only thing that will save Social Security.” Oh, but they’ll probably call he whole socialist scheme “privatizing”, to sugar coat it. I noticed that silver took a dip on Tuesday morning. In a long term bull market, you should watch the tickers closely and buy on the dip days! George Soros: The United States Must Stop Resisting The Orderly Decline Of The Dollar, The Coming Global Currency And …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Getting Out Of Dodge: In-bound migration to Idaho strong over past two years, United Van Lines study shows. (A hat tip to Steve S. for the link.)    o o o Reader R.L.H. spotted this: End of the world? Tune into WBT-AM. (Does anyone have a list of the similarly-equipped stations?)    o o o J.C. suggested this re-cap: The 10 Most Underreported Stories for 2010    o o o Steve S. also sent a link to a web page with some absolutely magnificent photos shot by Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock from the International Space Station. The preparedness tie-in? The …



The SurvivalBlog Ten Cent Challenge — Annual Reminder and the Silver Dimes Option

I only post one reminder each year about Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions, and this is it. Unlike Jimmy Wales at Wikipedia and the whining leftist hand-wringers at PBS, I don’t do endless pledge drives. I depend on my readers to help pay the bills to keep SurvivalBlog up and running. Our web hosting on a dedicated server costs $650.00 per month, and our local ISP bill is $129.00 per month. We also have other expenses including liability insurance, phone bills, computer hardware, software, accounting, subscriptions, writing contest prizes, and so forth. My appeal is simple: If you feel that you …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 32 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 $795, 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 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


A Well Pump Failure Dry Run, by Major Dad

My wife and I woke up on Christmas morning to discover that we had no running water in our Alaskan home.  When we checked out the problem, we discovered that the pump to our well was not functioning.  Waking up to find we had fuses blown and mud in the water lines is always great news, especially on Christmas morning.  It seems that some recent small earthquakes in our area had messed with our water table, and where once we had water, now we have silt, sand and mud.  Of course, all of this comes to light on Christmas Day when all the stores and businesses were closed.  So we got to spend …


Letter Re: Some Practical Experience With Concertina Wire

Sir, Since I served as an NCO, 11B (Infantry, Ranger) for many years concertina wire (“C-Wire”) is something I am very used to working with. As with many skills and tasks concerning TEOTWAWKI, the tricks and short cuts can make things so much easier. When deployed it is SOP that all vehicles have a roll of C-Wire. We tossed it on the hood and used it all the time, not to mention all the wire we set up around our outpost for physical security. Each squad was issued a pair of those fancy expensive leather gloves that has staples or …


Letter Re: New Year’s Eve and The Thin Veneer

Happy New Year! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and have gotten a lot more prepared than I was in the past. As a law enforcement officer (LEO) for the past nine years, much of the information on human behavior mentioned in SurvivalBlog hasn’t been a surprise to me. I particularly enjoy reading the articles you post from other LEOs due to the fact that they tend to have 20+ years experience and thus impart a lot of knowledge. I wanted to share my experience with you in reference New Years Eve celebrations this year. I live …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

America has been “dumbed down” by 40 years of lamentable Least Common Denominator public schooling and mass media. Here is some evidence: Ezra Klein’s imbecilic punditry. I suggest reading the book: The Dumbest Generation. Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: I just finished Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was a great read, and quite thought provoking. One thing that struck me is society’s dependence on a handful of high technology specialists, rather than generalists with a broad set of skills and knowledge. People tend to specialize in just one particular field, …


Economics and Investing:

For the Horrible Irony Department: White House Warns Failure to Raise Debt Ceiling Would Mean Economic ‘Crisis’. (Thanks to Chad S. for the link.) John R. sent us this: Never Forget the Fed Caused the Economic Downturn      Also from John: Bernanke Only Adds Fuel to the Fire with Quantitative Easing   Albert Edwards: China is a “Freak Economy” and it Will Crash, and Take Down the Rest of the World. (Our thanks to Siggy for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Commodities Beat Financials Making Silver Top Pick   Credit Card Withdrawal-Banks Pull Plug on Consumer Revolving Debt …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Readers E.D.M. and Jonathan R. suggested Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre’s extraordinary photographs documenting the dramatic decline of a major American city: Detroit in Ruins. These scenes look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie like The Book of Eli. I think that Detroit has had a few too many mayors like Louis Miriani, Coleman Young, and Kwame Kilpatrick. It is no wonder that Paul Verhoven chose Detroit for the locale in his movie Robocop.    o o o One week after the blizzard: The “Big Apple” Looks Like The “Big Dumpster”. So how would sanitation be in New York …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Ben Bernanke made a fatal error by launching QE2 too early, with an incoherent justification, by dribs and drabs for fine-tuning purposes. The QE card cannot easily be played a third time. If he now tries to print money on a nuclear scale to crush all resistance and hold down Treasury yields, he risks exhausting Chinese patience and invites the wrath the Tea Party Congress.” – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard


Notes from JWR:

The new year is a reminder to make tax deductible donations. One charity that I highly recommend is the Anchor of Hope Orphanage and Mission School in Zambia. This is the charity that my late wife (“The Memsahib”) designated for her Memorial Fund. This is a very deserving charity, so please give generously! Please mention the Linda Rawles Memorial Fund when you contact them. — Today we present another entry for Round 32 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 …


No Matter Where You Live, The Most Important Thing Is, by E-Grandma

America, Australia, Europe or Antarctica. No Matter Where You Live, The Most Important Thing Is… Water?  Food?  Firearms?  A good Bug-out Location, or reliable vehicle to get to it?  There are probably as many answers to the important question of  what the most important thing to have in a survival situation as there are those who would call themselves Survivalists.  Go to any internet board which purports to be survivalist-related, and you will see many conversations telling the new and scared Survivalist- wannabe what they need to have in order to make it past the pole shift, the imminent crash …


Letter Re: Extreme Couponing

James, I read your book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” and immediately began my prepping. I was watching a program on television last night about “Extreme Couponing”. I think this might be a great topic for those of us who are prepping but have limited financial resources.   The gist of the show was individuals took advantage of coupons, grocery store membership rewards and in-store sales all at the same time. One example on the show was a woman had over $1,000 worth of retail groceries and after coupons and other discounts offered …