Day: January 12, 2013

Note from JWR:

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 Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


The Case for the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency, by J. McG.

A major theorem of cryptography is that anything that be done with a trusted authority can be done without1 a trusted authority.  This theorem can be applied to currencies, too. Anything that can be done by a central bank can be done without a central bank .  The central bank for the United States of America, as you probably already know, is the US Federal Reserve.  The stated dual mandate of the US Federal Reserve System is:   “The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the …


Economics and Investing:

Real estate horror continues with ‘zombie foreclosures’ Peter Schiff: ‘The Dollar Is Not The King Of Anything, Except Maybe Depreciation Zero Hedge reports of the bigger, deeper crater that once was Greece: Greek Unemployment Soars To New Record, 56.6% Of 15-24 Year Olds Without Job Items from The Economatrix: Highest Ever One-Day Sales For American Silver Eagles? BofA Freezes Gun Manufacturer’s Account Cracking The 2013 Tax Code


Odds ‘n Sods:

Steve H. wrote to report: Now they’re coming for our wood burning stoves: Reduction in Air Pollution from Wood Stoves Associated With Significantly Reduced Risk of Death    o o o File under Preposterous Pedantry: Make guns smart. While you are at it “Jeremy”, why don’t you petition Microsoft to add a sanity checker to supplement their existing spell checker so that their software can’t be used to create crazy editorials. (OBTW, I always thought is was priceless that Microsoft Word’s spell checker thought “Schumer” was a typo, and suggested “Schemer” as the correction. Touché.)    o o o Egg …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain …