Month: November 2012

Economics and Investing:

The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever. (Thanks to R.D.F. for the link.) Over at The Motley Fool: Three Facts About the Economy That Should Freak You Out Hyperinflation Alert: QE Infinity Is The Only Thing Delaying A Complete Systemic Collapse But Now The Fed Is Out Of Short Dated Bonds Items from The Economatrix: Labor Department “Working Hard” To Ensure Jobs Report Released On Time Firings Highest Since 2010 As Ford To Dow Face Slump Russian Ship Missing With 700 Tons Of Gold Ore Real Fiscal Cliff–Currency And Bond Collapse Food Stamp Creation 75X Greater Than Job Creation Economists Say Jobs …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Dana H. suggested this in The Wall Street Journal: Lessons from the Ultimate Safe Houses    o o o In New York’s Public Housing, Fear Creeps In With the Dark. J.W.R.’s Comment: Now extrapolate this to a situation where there is no natural gas pressure, and no water pressure for the fire hydrants. Oh, and what if there was no prospect of grid power being restored for weeks… Somehow, I think I’ll be much safer here in TUWS.    o o o A Utah Perspective on Sandy (No, not Sandy, Utah, but rather Hurricane Sandy): Caught in the dark: …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The idea that living within your means is a form of austerity, and not (other than in exceptional circumstances) the elementary moral duty of people of honor, shows that, underlying the economic crisis is a profound moral crisis in western society." – Theodore Dalrymple (A retired prison doctor and psychiatrist, contributing editor of the City Journal and Dietrich Weissman Fellow of the Manhattan Institute.)


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 43 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 $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


Letter Re: Possible Survival Uses of Theatrical Blood

As the Halloween season came and went, I had to accompany my  boys to the seasonal Halloween store that opens up for about 2 months in some obscure, rented building. My trip with them looked at masks, costumes and an aisle or two dedicated to make-up supplies as well. I passed by the face paint, the hair coloring and the fangs, but then my eyes spied a series of tubes containing “blood”, and then small bottles of it and even a couple of very large containers all containing the bright red, sticky, usually non-toxic theatrical blood. Being a prepper at …


Four Letters Re: Hurricane Sandy After Action Reports

Dear Editor: I live in southeastern Connecticut. I am far from wealthy and I live in a section of town while certainly is not what one may consider a ghetto, neither is it in any way “nice”. I would not label myself as a prepper nor a survivalist, instead I have common sense. I have a good stock of food and water, preparations and gear in case I have to leave, not for some cataclysmic disaster but because I live in a world that has hurricanes and natural disasters. Our Governor here in Connecticut recommended that my area evacuate. I did not. Though I am on the coast, …


Letter Re: Self-Reliance Versus Governmental Reliance Mindsets

JWR: Stories like these only help to illustrate the wide range of problems that come to the surface when the thin veneer of society is striped off due to an event like Superstorm Sandy.  The compression of people in high density population centers like metropolitan New York etc, is just asking for chaos and confusion when their normally well organized and managed structure of life is quickly changed for the worse. Our world is now comprised of what is known as the inverted technology pyramid.  When one side is  weakened in can quickly topple over and leave the entire structure …


Economics and Investing:

Obama’s 2008 campaign rhetoric on deficit reduction, versus reality: Conservatism Is Calling U.S. Winter-Wheat Condition Worst in 27 Years as Drought Lingers . (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Biggest NY harbor oil terminal resumes partial operations Items from The Economatrix: More Tungsten-Core Gold Bars Are Turning Up Consumer Spending In US Increases 0.8% As Incomes Climb State Budgets In Jeopardy As Nation Nears “Fiscal Cliff” The $100 Billion Storm:  17 Things You Need To Know About Hurricane Sandy


Odds ‘n Sods:

UPDATE: Wiser heads (than Doomberg) have prevailed and the marathon race has been cancelled. His Honor The Mayor’s True Colors: Bloomberg Diverts Needed Food and Generators Away From Desperate Staten Island to NYC Marathon. (Thanks to reader J.B.G. for the link.) They are running a marathon through this? ‘It’s like the Wild West’: Lawlessness and fear take over the outer boroughs as millions in misery endure a sixth day without power    o o o Reader “Nexus” mentioned another piece of evidence of a insidious, lamentable and systemic decline in our Constitutional rights, reported by Declan McCullagh: Court OKs warrantless …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:22-25 (KJV)


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 43 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 $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


Forget Codes: Using Constructed Languages for Secure Communication, by Snow Wolf

Egyptologists tell us that the last hieroglyphic inscription was carved in 394 A.D., and within a few decades all memory of the ancient Egyptian language was lost. For the next fifteen hundred years the world’s greatest scholars tried to translate hieroglyphics, but it was only when Jean-Francois Champollion had access to the Rosetta Stone in the 1820s that the dead language spoke once more. The Rosetta Stone, which had an identical inscription in three languages, was the key which allowed Champollion to begin translating the forgotten language. You may be wondering what this has to do with preparedness. I believe …


Four Letters Re: Hurricane Sandy After Action Reports

Good day, Mr Rawles… Here in West Virginia, we have experienced a wide variety of weather from Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy.  Last Friday, it began raining well ahead of storm making landfall. Rains continued off and on thru the weekend, gradually increasing in steady rains all day Sunday and well into Monday. Around 7 pm our local time, that rain turned to snow and that’s when things began to get interesting.  I tend to be a light sleeper so it was the ‘sound’ of power going off at 2:34 am on Saturday morning that awakened me for the day.  I got coffee …


Economics and Investing:

Without Electricity, New Yorkers on Food Stamps Can’t Pay for Food. (JWR Adds: “Food Stamps” are no longer stamps–they are EBT cards. Part of the House Of Cards that we are building for future societal collapse.) Real Economy Still Sliding As ‘Eating Out’ Continues to Go Down G.G. sent: Japanese city with huge debts puts its name up for sale. Maryland Woman Has Kept Track of Every Tax on Her In 2012–$26,000 So Far Items from The Economatrix: Celente – It’s Not Just Germany’s Gold That’s Missing Netherlands Citizens Group Demands Central Bank Reveal Location Of Country’s Gold Reserve Consumers …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Crazy Mike” recommended an instructive creative carpentry video that shows a great method for hiding valuables in place sight. The magnetic locks are clever.    o o o For any who doubts that there is a liberal bias in academia: Law Professors back President Obama over Mitt Romney 72% to 19%, according to Brian Leiter’s poll.    o o o Readers Mike S. and Matt H. both sent an interesting article with a very poorly-written (or quite biased) headline: Seattle residents refuse to arm themselves. (I would have instead titled it: “Washingtonians arm themselves in record numbers.”) But of …