Note from JWR:

I’ve noticed that despite my protestations, my upcoming book Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse is now ranked around #700 in Amazon’s overall sales rank. Please stop pre-ordering, folks! Wait until its release date (September 25th), which is also our planned Book Bomb day. Thanks!




Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution

It is called Revolution. The pilot episode of the new post-power grid collapse television series is now available at the NBC web site, and on Hulu.com. The series will begin airing on September 17, 2012. It will air on Monday evenings at 10 PM in most time zones and 9 PM Central Time. Missing a huge opportunity to instruct preparedness, self-sufficiency, and survival skills, the show skips over the first 15 years of the blackout. And like a Kevin Costner flashback, they of course portray militias as bad guys… From the little that I’ve seen of it, I can predict …




Pat’s Product Review: Eberlestock Gunslinger II Pack

I have literally lost count of the number and different types of backpacks I have owned and tried over the years. And, to be sure, there is no one backpack that suits everyone the same. I believe backpacks are a very personal thing, and you can’t select one for someone else. Everyone in my family has a different type of Bug Out Bag – always have! At one point, when I was quite a bit younger, I used a US military CFP 90 pack – and that thing could hold something like 6,500 cubic inches of stuff. Fully loaded, it …




A Critical Thinker Book Review: Hunt Gather Grow Eat

We all benefit from the wisdom and experience of those around us. For someone with a beginning passion for a subject, a mentor is extremely valuable; and for those that have achieved a reasonable amount of competence, a respected peer can be a great sounding board for exploring issues and alternatives. For those with a general interest in self sufficiency or a specific interest in food independence, the new book from Jason Akers comes very close in replicating those relationships. His book, Hunt Gather Grow Eat: Your Guide to Food Independence, is a very readable and useful survey of self …




Letter Re: Alternative Treatments for Auto-Immune Disorders in the Absence of Traditional Health Care

Dear James, I’m a long time SurvivalBlog reader, first time responder, and serious prepper.    This article by J.F. has some excellent information but there is a glaring omission.  In most auto immune diseases, there is an assault on your body that invokes a response by your immune system. At times, such as the case of the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, your body gets confused by various threats and “brings out the big guns, namely a cytokine storm that effectively neutralizes the threat.  Unfortunately, this also does “collateral damage” in the form of severe oxidative stress to surrounding tissue.   …




Recipe of the Week:

John E.’s Lefse                         Lefse is also known as Norwegian flatbread, or “Norwegian tortillas.” Growing up in a mostly Norwegian community, I learned at an early age the joys of a warm rolled lefse fresh from the griddle that had been slathered with butter and sprinkled with sugar.  In later years I enjoyed them rolled with thin sliced gouda cheese, summer sausage, and a little mayonnaise with mustard.  Lefse in both forms was a welcome snack while sitting in the middle of a snow filled slope after several hours of skiing. My grandparents always boiled more spuds than …




Economics and Investing:

Jim W. recommended this “must watch” interview that mentions the coming derivatives implosion: Greg Mannarino – People Are Going to Suffer on a Biblical Scale Marc Faber – The Most Dangerous Trend Facing The World Today. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.) G.G. flagged this: Regulators close small bank in Minnesota for total of 41 US failures so far this year Items from The Economatrix: June Food Stamp Recipients Hit All-Time High As Three Times As Many Americans Enter Poverty Than Find Jobs 8 Reasons Why No One Should Ignore The Coming Economic Collapse Unemployment Benefits Claims Fall 12,000 Inflation …




Odds ‘n Sods:

I’m pleased to announce that my old associate Todd Savage has officially launched www.SurvivalRetreatConsulting.com. Todd is both a former real estate agent and a Marine with a good tactical eye. He offers his on-site services for selecting and upgrading retreats in Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington, and Northwest Montana. His rates are quite affordable.    o o o R.B.S. sent: The power of the Sun: Now NASA reveals Video of a 500,000 mile ‘solar whip’ that caused an aurora on Earth    o o o Another Sustainable Preparedness Expo will be held on September 30, 2012 in Spokane, Washington.    o …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I was born and raised in that religious atmosphere which for three hundred years has never varied in its extreme devotion to peace. Yet I know that peace comes in the modern world only to those nations which are adequately prepared to defend themselves. The European Allies are now paying in blood and disaster for their failure to heed plain warnings. With adequate preparedness they might have escaped attack.” – Herbert Hoover. May 27, 1940, from the recently-released book, Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover’s Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath