Year: 2012

Letter Re: Living With a Non-Prepper

Sir, I met a wonderful woman nine years ago and have been happily married ever since. I lost my job 3 years ago, (but I thank God that I am employed now), and that was the turning point in my life as far as researching the economy, world events, digging back into Bible prophecy, starting a garden, renewing my pistol permit, joined a club, bought a few more guns, in response to the writing on the wall due to the research I’ve done into current events and legislation that are changing this nation fast. I live in a suburban area …


Letter Re: U.S. Employment Figures

Mr. Rawles, The following paragraph is excerpted from John Mauldin’s excellent FrontLineThoughts.com newsletter this week: “The longer-term picture of labor force withdrawal is kind of shocking. Total household employment is down by 4.4 million since the Great Recession began in December 2007, and the number of unemployed is up by 4.9 million. The civilian population is up 9.6 million – but the labor force is up just 447,000. The number classed as not in the labor force is up by 9.2 million – and those not in the labor force and wanting a job is up 1.7 million. In other …


Recipe of the Week:

Jackie’s Venison Jerky 2 to 2-1/2  pounds venison roast, fat trimmed, sliced very thin  (an electric slicer works well for this) Ingredients for marinade: 11/3 tsp. garlic powder 4 tsp. onion powder 1 -1/3 tsp. black pepper 4 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned salt 4 tsp. Accent Dash of meat tenderizer 1 cup Kikkoman low-sodium teriyaki marinade and sauce or regular soy sauce depending on how much salt you want to add 1 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce Add dry ingredients to a large bowl. Add the teriyaki sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir with whisk until well blended. Add sliced venison …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this: Delaying retirement: 80 is the new 65 Reader AmEx sent this: Taxmageddon: Massive Tax Hikes on the Horizon The chicanery between the Fed and ECB – twin balance sheets near peak levels and many European nations back in recession Items from The Economatrix: Gross Says US Economy Suffering From “Structural” Unemployment (Not “Cyclical”) April Jobs Report: What It All Means US Economy Faces “Fiscal Cliff”:  Fed Officials Warren Buffett’s right-hard man, Charlie Munger doesn’t grok gold: “…Gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939, but I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our mid-year 25%-off sale on the SurvivalBlog Archive CD-ROM ends on May 31st. The latest six year compilation includes my book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” in digital format. At the sale price, the CD-ROM is $11.25 and the Digital Download is just $7.50. Be sure to order your copy before the sale ends.    o o o K.A.F. was the first of several readers to send this: Space weather expert has ominous forecast –Mike Hapgood, who studies solar events, says the world isn’t prepared for a truly damaging storm. And one could happen soon.    o o o An …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Whether we like it or not, we are in an era of colliding crises that will culminate in a transition to a new social and economic system. Humanity always has burdens and troubles—that is the nature of a changeable world interacting with human nature—but there are decades in which little happens and years in which decades happen. We are in just such an era, and we will all be swept along by events that no longer respond to the Status Quo’s financial magic.” – Charles Hugh Smith, in his blog Of Two Minds


Notes from JWR:

A reminder that this is the last day of Safecastle’s big sale on Mountain House canned freeze dried foods with the maximum allowed 25% off, free shipping, and buyers club member incentives and rebates. The sale ends at midnight on May 6th. It is expected that Mountain House can prices will be going up very soon, so take advantage of this opportunity. — Today we present another entry for Round 40 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 …


Prepping: A Nickel, A Dime, a Dollar at a Time, by, T.J.

Many years ago, when I was a young teen, I started a hope chest. My grandmother had taught me about having a hope chest during the depression. She said that as a young girl, living in hard times, the only hope she had of having a dowry was her hope chest. So she embroidered on used pillow cases to make them seem nice, and even special. She learned to darn old tablecloths and repair small tears and holes, and she would put these in her hope chest. Small things really, and admittedly, not necessary, but things to make her future …


Letter Re: Don’t Be Blind-sided By a Secondary Event

Mr. Rawles, Bill W. recently wrote about some of the possible consequences of nuclear power plants when the SHTF. Although I agree that a minimum safe distance during an individual plant emergency is 50 rather than 20 miles, I have to wonder if distance is that important 4 – 6 weeks out during a continent-wide event. I work for an electric cooperative and live less than 25 miles north of the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Virginia. During last summer’s earthquake, an electrical engineer told me the plant had tripped offline. I could not find this out from any news outlet on …


Three Letters Re: A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Silver on eBay

Mr. Rawles, Gil G. had some very informative information and almost all of his instructions can be transferred to purchasing silver in a local coin shop. I have had nothing but a positive experience with buying “junk” silver on eBay. On two separate occasions, my order was missing some required coins. I had purchased $5 face value (FV) in dimes. In one order, I had only received 49 dimes. I sent an email to the seller and they promptly (within hours) refunded my account with the price of the dime. In another order, one of the 50 dimes was a …


Economics and Investing:

Spain’s poorest region suffers 32% unemployment. (Thanks to Pierre M. for the link.) People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 Each Child Born Today will Inherit $1.5M of National Debt, Study Shows Items from The Economatrix: Euro-area Unemployment at 15-year High as Slump Deepens Private-sector Hiring Slows In April, Stirs Concern April Turns Weak For Retailers Jobs Report Preview:  Traders Fear Evidence of a Downtrend


Odds ‘n Sods:

Lee M. mentioned this fascinating web page: Worldometers.    o o o An interesting blog on penny-pinching, gardening, and couponing: One Hundred Dollars a Month.    o o o The latest ultralight flying video from Ttabs, in eastern Washington: Pterodactyl Terror – Trike Flying – Elk. Eastern Washington seems to be greening up early, this year.    o o o CAN’T WE END ALL THE SHOUTING? Here is an editing tip that I learned from Patrice Lewis (of the excellent Rural Revolution blog): There is a handy tool available at ConvertCase.net to automagically convert those ALL UPPER CASE SHOUTS into …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 40 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 …


The Prepping Imperative, by P.B.

Growing up in a fairly large family with a work at home Mom, and a truck driver Dad, we learned to “make ends meet”.  One of our favorite dishes was “teedl-oh-bow” as Dad called it…wild rabbit (or squirrel) with biscuits and gravy.  Some even call it, ahem, “Stuff On A Shingle”.  Made many a supper meals for a family of six.  Mom even “barked” a squirrel once and it’s still a standing joke that Dad tells on her.  “Couldn’t find a bullet hole anywhere in the darn thing!” Breakfast was nearly always oatmeal, cinnamon, and honey with mixed powdered milk …