Day: March 14, 2011

Notes from JWR:

Notes from JWR: I’ve been deluged with questions from readers–especially in Alaska and Hawaii, about the risk of radioactive fallout from Japan. First, I must mention that the trans-Pacific fallout map purported to be from Australian authorities now circulating is a fraud. I don’t think it is likely that any significant radiation would make it to Hawaii, Alaska or the west coast of CONUS, even if there are multiple melt-downs in Japan.  But as I’ve written previously, keep your potassium iodate or iodide handy, buy some dehydrated milk, and keep close track of radiation levels. Pray hard, folks! Do not …


Medication Dependence and TEOTWAWKI — 10 Tips for Survival, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Thyroid disease, diabetes, heart disease, back pain, asthma, COPD. If you suffer from any of these chronic illnesses, you may be medication dependent.  What will you do when the supply of pharmaceuticals dries up?  Do you have enough medication stockpiled for the rest of your life?  What are the consequences of doing without?  Will you die or merely suffer?  Is there any way to prevent what appears to be inevitable? And if not you, what about your parents, grandparents, and other loved ones? Although complete answers to these questions would require hundreds of pages and perhaps years of study, here …


Pat’s Product Review: Benchmade Auto Stryker 9101

Right off the bat, I’ll tell you, I like tanto point knives, for some strange reason. Maybe its because of that secondary cutting edge, or maybe its just the cool-factor. What we have here for review is the new and improved Benchmade Stryker automatic folder, Model 9101. For those of you in free states, where you can legally own an automatic knife, this one is worth looking at. If you live in a state that won’t allow an automatic knife, then Benchmade has several manual opening folders in the Stryker line-up as well.   The new Auto Stryker incorporates a …


Letter Re: U.S. Treasury Seeks Input on New Coinage Compositions

Mr. Rawles,   The U.S. Treasury has announced that it is seeking public comment on revised compositions for U.S. coinage. They are seeking comments from us mere citizens about what we think of changing the metal content of coins to even cheaper metals than the copper, zinc and nickel currently used.  I think that all Survival Blog readers should comment – let the Treasury and the rest of The Powers That Be know that we don’t like how they’ve already debased our currency, and we don’t want them to do it to an even greater extent.   Of course, the …


Letter Re: The Real Value of the U.S. Dollar

Dear Mr. Rawles The Inherent Value of U.S. Paper Currency I have recently decided to obey the law–Gresham’s Law and start converting my paper dollars into “Golden Dollars” including the Sacagawea and Presidential Dollars as well as into the Kennedy Half Dollar. I am mostly doing this for symbolic reasons but I have found that it is a way to get people to talk casually about concepts like inflation, fiat currency and fiscal policy without scaring them off. A US dollar weighs 1 gram, on average. From Earth Works Recycling‘s web page we find that paper is worth between 0 …


Letter Re: Advice on Classic Books for Homeschooling

Mr. Rawles, This is in response to Paula S.’s recent letter requesting information on classic books for homeschooling. I just returned from a homeschool convention in Memphis where I was introduced to Memoria Press. They have curricula for parents interesting in providing their children with a classical education. I have looked at the early elementary sets–they include books for the kids to read aloud and other books to be read aloud to the children. You do not have to buy their material to see the list of books that they use–the lists are posted on their web site under each …


Economics and Investing:

  Items from The Economatrix: Quake & Tsunami Blow To Fragile Japanese Economy  Regulators Close Small Banks in Oklahoma and Wisconsin   More People Sought Unemployment Aid Last Month   January Trade Deficit Jumps To $46.3 Billion   21 Signs Of Impending Doom For The 2011 Economy   8 Reasons Why Silver Is The Investment Of The Decade  Q.E. Money Printing Negative Feed Back Loop To Hyper-Inflation Oblivion 


Odds ‘n Sods:

Nicole W. was the first of several readers to send this piece: US farmers fear the return of the Dust Bowl: For years the Ogallala Aquifer, the world’s largest underground body of fresh water, has irrigated thousands of square miles of American farmland. Now it is running dry    o o o Chad S. sent this piece datelined Worchester, Massachusetts: 2,000 rounds of ammo found during traffic stop. Oh, my goodness! They nailed this bad man with “…four counts of possession of a large capacity feeding device, and possession of ammunition without a Firearm Identification Card.” Cue the wailing, teeth-gnashing, …