Year: 2012

Economics and Investing:

Steve C. chalked up this one: Social Explosion Concerns in Greece Following Election Pierre M. sent: Debt crisis: Greek government will be forced to seek third bail-out B.B. suggested this: Thanks Obamacare: 83% of Doctors Surveyed Say They May Quit Spanish short-term debt costs reach alarm levels. (Thanks to Sue C. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Europe on the Brink as Greek Crisis Comes to a Climax City By City, Here’s Your Guide To The Painfully Slow Economic Recovery Signs Of US Weakness Mount As Confidence, Output Fall Payrolls Climb In 27 US States, Jobless Rate Rises In …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Another Self-Reliance Expo will be held in Dallas, Texas, July 27-28, 2012. Their most recent event (in Colorado Springs, Colorado), was a huge success. OBTW, wear your SurvivalBlog T-shirt or hat and see who you meet.    o o o Michael R. suggested this scholarly piece in Science magazine: Generic Indicators for Loss of Resilience Before a Tipping Point Leading to Population Collapse    o o o David Nash of the excellent Shepherd School web site wrote to mention that their extensive free reference library (thousands of military and firearm manuals) has just been revamped to make it better organized. …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I keep picturing a stranger from outer space. He lands on my farm and wants me to tell him about our world. I try to put the best face on things that I can, but he keeps going back to the monetary system: ‘You use what for money?’ I’m so embarrassed I want to dig a hole and crawl in.” – Franklin Sanders, in The Money Changer


Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 41 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 …


Don’t Stockpile, Get Global — Conversations with a Rhodesian Expat and Being Financially Global, by Peter H.

Some friends recently bought a self sustaining bit of farmland in the American Redoubt. Part of it was a desire to get back to the land, part of it was for safety and security in a future TEOTWAWKI situation. I wished them well and was impressed with the desire to get back to the land. But deep down I don’t believe that a remote farm is necessarily safe, defensible, or a better bet than being mobile. It comes down to a conversation I had with a Rhodesian (Zimbabwean by passport, but he called himself Rhodesian) expat in Thailand about a …


A Taste of TEOTWAWKI, by Anne S.

I never realized how dark and eerie our house could be.  Even at night, there were usually two or three nightlights casting their brave glow to prevent midnight mishaps. But on this evening, there was no electricity to power this smallest of luxuries.  Another thing I noticed as I kept vigil over my sleeping loved ones by emergency candle light was the extreme, echoing silence.  There was no fan humming in my son’s room. There was no whir of the compressor cycling on and off in the refrigerator.  There was no air blowing through the central air unit of our …



Letter Re: Advice on Canadian Nickels

Mr. Rawles, This is a response to Patrick S. letter concerning Canadian Nickels. I previously sent a post to you on the topic of sorting Canadian pennies and there was an excellent response related to Canadian nickels. Since then there has been a development in that the Canadian government has discontinued issuing new pennies. To this effect, I no longer bother sorting pennies.  In the spirit of your recent post concerning the possibility of bank holidays in the US (which I believe will could happen in Canada), I keep every penny I find regardless of if they are debased or …


Economics and Investing:

Ed H. sent this: European press: Hollow victory in Greece. Meanwhile we read: Euro crisis far from over, stock analysts warn. (In essence, the EU is just forestalling the inevitable.) Michael H. sent this: Get Ready for the Coming Social Security Fight The global addiction of central banking stimulus – Contagion spreads to Spain as 10-year edges to 7 percent. Life in a perpetual quantitative easing world. Mike in Pennsylvania suggested this: Bank: We’re defaulting, but don’t you dare F.G. sent this: Chaos: Spanish Coal Miners Fire Homemade Rockets at Police to Protest Austerity File under Caching and OPSEC: Ashland …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Hold your horses, folks! I just noticed that my upcoming novel “Founders” has jumped from #100,000 to around #3,400 in the Amazon Best Sellers ranks. Please wait until the release date (September 25, 2012) to order your copy. By using the “Book Bomb Day” method (concentrating thousands of orders on one day), I hope to maximize the “splash” of the book, and drive its rankings to the Top 20 on Amazon.com, and to the Top 100 of the New York Times bestsellers list. Many thanks for your patience!    o o o Cheryl (The Economatrix) found this: It’s Almost Time …




Essential Medical Skills to Acquire – Part 1: Introduction, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

If society collapses and you’re on your own, what medical skills seem the most essential?  The answer likely depends on your age, health status, and stage in life.  For those of child-bearing years, midwifery skills may be paramount.  For those advanced in age, diagnosis and treatment of chronic disease becomes primary.  For the otherwise young and healthy, treatment of injuries and infection tops the list. Our current compartmentalized society has deemed that doctors should perform these tasks, though turf wars abound over what nurses, physician assistants, pharmacist, paramedics, and others should legally be permitted to do.  Recent decades have also …


Pat’s Product Review: Grip Pod and Light Rail

I’ll start this review by mentioning that I’ve never really cared for the vertical fore-grips on my ARs or AKs, and for good reason: Many of them are just plain junk! I’ve tried several fore-grips on rifles over the years, and they all had one thing in common – they would either break or get so loose that they were of no use to me. I had several of the fore-grips completely break off the rail on ARs over the years, and I attempted to repair them with epoxy, all to no avail. While I believe a fore-grip is a …


Letter Re: A Husband and Wife’s Thoughts on The Crunch

My wife, our children and I live on our family’s farm. Our lives are quite unburdened by the daily cares of most folks. We live debt free, have never owned a new car and have never taken a vacation. There’s just simply no other place we’d rather be than home.   We do have quite a few visitors here, with people stopping by to tour the 19th Century era museum and village we have created, or folks coming to the homesteading classes we teach, or neighbors coming for eggs and honey. But, even with the daily company and the rarity of a dinner …