Month: March 2012

Homeschool for Less Than $30 a Year, by Kathryn T.

It’s that time again.  Spring, you say?  No, it’s curriculum sale time!  Every spring, homeschooling support groups used book sales and homeschool conventions sprout like tulips.  March, April, and May are the season for planning and obtaining next year’s curricula. If you have considered homeschooling as an educational alternative for your children or would like to stockpile educational materials for potential hard times ahead (whether or not you homeschool currently), now is the time to be looking.  Homeschooling does not need to be expensive to be effective.  In fact, it is possible to home educate well for under $30 per …


Letter Re: A Prepper’s Guide to Beginning Ethanol Fuel Distillation

James Wesley: The author of the article “A prepper’s guide to Beginning Ethanol fuel distillation” is using the wrong recipe for his mash.  Corn will not ferment unless it is “malted” either by sprouting the grain and then drying and crushing it, or by treating crushed corn with the enzyme diastase.  The old, illegal, moonshiners did this by sprouting and then drying whole, fresh corn.  The enzyme treatment is usually done by incubating the crushed corn with a malted barley high in diastase content, such as malted six-row barley. When your author ferments his corn/sugar mix the only thing he …


Letter Re: Fire – Your Partner in Survival

Jim:   D.P. ‘s article “Fire -Your Partner in Survival was very good!    I would like to add that firewood storage life depends greatly on the type of wood.  Oak and other similar types can be stored for well over 20 years with no problems. (Especially if split and covered with a quality tarp or stored in a woodshed with a good roof.) But in contrast, un-split white birch will start to rot in a single year. Poplar and some other species also degrade quickly.   D.P. is right on about the type of heater to use.  When I …


Economics and Investing:

B.B. sent this: Geithner: My Debt Ceiling Threshold Would Make You Uncomfortable. Commentary from Doug Casey: The Ascendence of Sociopaths in US Governance Items from The Economatrix: IMF Sees $160 Oil Risk Despite Libyan Boost The Truth About Minimum Wage that Will Make You Gasp California Cities Scramble to Avert Insolvency Why 3.5 Million Job Openings Isn’t Great News


Odds ‘n Sods:

A very useful article over at the Radio Free Redoubt blog: How to Receive Ham Radio Digital Communications. (Text messaging, via HF radio.)    o o o Roger E. mentioned ShowMy Street. Roger’s comment: “Very scary to see your house from the air and the street just by typing in the address!”    o o o More charming news: ICANN Confirms That It’s Going To Make It Easier For Governments To Seize Domains Around The Globe    o o o Hotdogging like this is not career enhancing.    o o o F.G. sent this: Is Eight Hours of Electricity a …



Note from JWR:

Today we present two more entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a …


Fire: Your Partner in Survival, by D.P.

Eons ago when people lived in caves, one of their most important tools was fire.  Its ability to keep them warm, cook food, provide light, and scare away predators was of the utmost importance.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that a societal upheaval will mean returning to a stone age existence, but when the systems that keep our everyday life humming along go down, fire will once again have a huge impact on our ability to survive. This fact was brought home to my wife and me two winters ago, when a February blizzard knocked …


Survival Basics: The Tropics, by G.S.

Sometime in the not so distant future our lives will be turned upside down by yet another natural or manmade emergency. Start now by doing your research and figure out which type of emergency is most likely to affect your life. Then get ready! Once the stores close their doors and the gas stations are no longer pumping gas, it’s too late! Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Remember that the survival basics are similar even if the emergency or climatic conditions are different. I’m going to talk about survival in the Tropics. I was born and raised …


Three Letters Re: How to Take Control of Your IRA

James, The recent article by Gordo on Individual Retirement Accounts was informative.  Another, at the SHTFPlan blog was also quite useful. The video linked in the article urges viewers to get out of their dollar-based tax-deferred retirement accounts. There seem to be two options available for protecting your tax-deferred retirement accounts: 1) Cash out, take the early withdrawal penalty, and pay income tax on the withdrawn amount 2) Create a self-directed IRA entity and transform the account into a hedge against the dollar The IRS will let you acquire specific gold and silver coin and bullion, but you cannot take …


Letter Re: National Defense Resources Preparedness

JWR, Thank you for posting the article regarding Executive Order-National Defense Resources Preparedness. It was a very illuminating article regarding where our country is currently at economically, politically, and militarily. I understand that some of the vague language used in government documents often allows the government to exercise more power than may be found on the surface of the writing. The best example in this document is, as you pointed out, Section 201b. However, I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves in saying that the government will show up in times of peace and magic away our preps. …


Economics and Investing:

T.L.S. suggested this interview: Greyerz – Gold Will React to the $120 Trillion of Additional Debt Kurt T. sent this: Bernanke says gold standard wouldn’t solve problems. Statists will always oppose any measure that limits their ability to spend beyond what they tax. Worried About $6 Gas Prices? Try $8 U.S. Treasuries: This Is The End? Items from The Economatrix: Gold Up On Central Bank Buying Talk But Outlook Weak Meredith Whitney:  “Tidal Wave” Of Muni-Bond Defaults Still Coming Central Banks Pounce On Falling Gold Dire Finances Leave Detroit Stalled US Stocks Decline as Energy Shares Drop on Profit Concern


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Lee M. suggetsed this useful chart: Food Storage Shelf Life    o o o Cheryl sent this: Protect Your Computer Now    o o o Chris M. spotted this: How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp    o o o The latest from Nanny State California: Rocklin Considering Banning Residents From Smoking Outside Their Own Homes. And in Nanny State North Star State: Minnesota man arrested, jailed for home siding code violation. And meanwhile in Nanny State Britannia: Schools ban children making best friends. (This sounds too much like something out of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, Let him combat for that of his neighbours; Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome, And get knocked on the head for his labours. To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan, And is always as nobly requited; Then battle for Freedom wherever you can, And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.” – George Gordon, Lord Byron, November 5, 1820


Note from JWR:

Today we present two more entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a …