Day: April 25, 2013

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 46 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) 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 …


Make Yourself Worth Saving, by John G.

The end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) has probably crossed your mind lately. It might have been just a brief news flash about a silly Mayan prophecy, or maybe you have an uncle who still thinks the Russians are gonna nuke us. More likely in our generation, our societal bonds could disintegrate thanks to erosion of our financial system. If you have not given this situation much thought, it is high time to start. The first step is to take the possibility seriously. If you cannot handle this basic prerequisite, well, Devil take the hindmost. Once you …


Letter Re: A Dual Ring Village

Mr Rawles, thank you for the service you provide. A comment on the dual ring village concept. If it is advanced as a defense tactic, I would urge remembering that the walled-town versus siegecraft dynamic is thousands of years old, and the survival of walled towns and cities is only possible if they are: 1. Provisioned to last longer than the besieging force, which is of course free to forage and be resupplied 2. Fireproof 3. Relieved by a friendly force from outside. They are also utterly obsolete since the development of artillery bombardment, still more so since the airplane …


Economics and Investing:

Tyler Durden reports: Gold And Silver Physical Market And Inventory Update From The Source: “In A Word, Ugly.” The Silver Market: An ‘Operation’, Not A Liquidation Sinclair – Swiss Bank Just Refused To Give My Friend His Gold Items from The Economatrix: No Food Inflation?  Take A Look At Lettuce Leading Indices Drop Points To Slower US Growth Home Building Rises To Key Milestone


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader M.K.P. suggested this over at Instructables: A Homemade Rocket Stove    o o o Lilia sent this: WHO says new bird strain is “one of most lethal” flu viruses. Ken J. sent this: Mapping the H7N9 avian flu outbreaks.    o o o Edward Hasbrouck on Travel Surveillance, Traveler Intrusion. (A tip of the hat to Chris M. for the link.)    o o o Andre D. sent: Start-Up Lets Users Track Who Tracks Them    o o o Mercedes-Benz Unimog gets new look, engines for 2013. (Thanks to Tim J. for the link.)


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"That the several States composing, the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes — delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." – Thomas Jefferson, Kentucky Resolutions of 1798