Day: December 13, 2012

Notes from JWR:

December 13th is the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York. He was quite a guy. — Today we present another entry for Round 44 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 …


Caring for the Chronically Ill Family Member in a Disaster, by Rebecca H.

Caring for a chronically ill family member takes an emotional and physical toll on the caregiver. Compound this in a time of disaster, civil unrest, social and economic collapse and you might feel there is no chance for survival. I cannot say that. There might be insurmountable odds against a seriously ill family member living in harsh conditions for very long, but it is my goal as a caregiver to ensure I have the tools and knowledge to keep that family member as comfortable; physically, emotionally and spiritually as I can. As the wife of a recent kidney transplant recipient, …


Two Letters Re: Survival Bikes

Mr. JWR: A suggestion for the old bike tubes when they need to be replaced; cut out the stem and slit them along the inside of the tube curve, all the way around.  Lay it inside the wheel and nestle the new tube inside it.  You now have an additional rubber layer between the new tube and the puncture threats of the road. – Adventane Dear Mr. Rawles, I have “lurked” for several months on your site and have learned a great deal from it. Regarding Banjo’s article about survival bikes, he did not mention these solid rubber inner tubes, …


Economics and Investing:

Bernanke’s Eternal ZIRP of Bliss: Fed Says It Will Keep Key Interest Rate Near Zero Until Jobs Come Back. [JWR’s Comment: That may be the goal, but if Uncle Sugar keeps on prodigiously buying its own bonds, then the global market may have other ideas about the direction of American interest rates.] And QE-4-Ever: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will launch a fourth round of quantitative easing (“QE4”) Foodstamps Soar By Most In 16 Months: Over 1 Million Americans Enter Poverty In Last Two Months Items from The Economatrix: Startling Look At US Job Demographics By Age …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Adam B. mentioned that the dramatic difference in population density between the eastern and western United States is apparent in this new NASA satellite photo montage. The American Redoubt is largely a dark patch in this photo, which is a good thing. On a similar note, reader Will G. mentioned this zoomable map: NightlightMap.com.    o o o Ken B. suggested this article: Thinking about backyard poultry?    o o o Reader G.K.C. set a link to a video clip of Senator Durbin (Democrat of Illinois and Senate Majority Whip) recorded last summer wherein he confuses the Right to …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“True, you still have butch T-shirts – ‘Don’t Tread On Me,’ ‘These Colors Don’t Run’ … In my own state, where the Democrats ran the board on Election Night, the ‘Live Free Or Die’ license plates look very nice when you see them all lined up in the parking lot of the Social Security office. But, in their view of the state and its largesse, there’s nothing very exceptional about Americans, except that they’re the last to get with the program…” – Mark Steyn