Month: July 2013

Economics and Investing:

Life in free fall: Horrific Retail Sales In Greece Illinois ends fiscal year $6.1 billion in red The latest from Pepperdine University law professor Paul Caron’s blog: Hedge Fund Billionaire Who Gave $9.6 Million to Obama in 2012 Skirts Tax Law to Pay 15% Tax Rate A Rise In Interest Rates Could Disrupt The Derivatives Market Items from The Economatrix: Fed’s Stein Hints at September Taper Consumer Numbers Send Confusing Signal Business Activity In US Cools More Than Forecast


Odds ‘n Sods:

For those following Orange Jeep Dad: He just got his grandfather’s 1949 Ford 8N tractor running!    o o o The Montrose a Prepper recently had some interesting observations of the threat that feral dogs will pose, come TEOTWAWKI, in a piece that was cross-posted at Lew Rockwell’s site.    o o o Please ask your congresscritters to support this bill that would at least partially secure America’s power infrastructure: H.R. 2417: Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act    o o o And speaking of our technological infrastructure, see: EMP Attack and Solar Storms, Part II: Cascading …



Notes from JWR:

A wicked DDOS (“Ping”) hacker attack on SurvivalBlog began just before midnight, GMT, on July 3rd. This was obviously timed for maximum effect, since the hackers assumed that the Sys-Admins at our server site would be on vacation. Thanks for your patience while we get the site back up and running on one of our backup servers. — Happy Fourth of July, America! Please pray that our liberty is restored. Plan, purchase, train, and set the course of your actions to make that happen! — The U.S. Merchant Marine sustained the highest per capita losses of any service group in …


Survival Is Not Fun, by Wild EMT

Bug-Out! A friend and I recently discussed some of the possible physical difficulties that might be associated with a rapid exfiltration from a devastated area during a major grid-down scenario.  We thought it would be interesting to explore the personal effects of increased stress, combined with decreased caloric intake, which might be encountered while “bugging-out.”  We wanted to move away from academic knowledge to personal experience, so we created a seven day bug-out “challenge” for ourselves.   Background note: my survivalist friend was a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam and then spent his career working on computers.  I’m a 46-year-old …


Letter Re: Corn: Our Best Ally Against Starvation

We have begun our corn harvest. We just finished canning the corn from 2 rows of hybrid sweet corn. We planted two rows 100 feet long. We made approximately 400 ears of corn. From this we ate all we wanted and canned 39 quarts and 12 pints whole kernel. We don’t can any cream style, because it doesn’t do well. Many times the corn has a musty taste. We put it in jars rather than the freezer to protect it from a grid down scenario. We gave 20 ears to a local widow, and 48 ears to a local gentleman …


Economics and Investing:

Brian C. sent: The Eight Least Expensive States to Live in the U.S. Argentina Legitimizes Black-Market Currency With New Dollar-Backed CDs. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.) Preppers Beware : Our “Hoarding” Can Be Deemed Illegal Items from The Economatrix: Consumer Spending, Jobs Data Point To Lukewarm Growth Meredith Whitney:  Did The Fed Just Torpedo The Muni Bond Market? New Data On Incomes, Spending, Jobless Claims; IPO Problems


Odds ‘n Sods:

In their latest podcast, the folks at the Pantry Paratus blog interviewed Pete Kennedy, the president of Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund.  They represent small farmers who are being targeted through government policies and regulations.  An interesting podcast!    o o o Hikers rescued trying to reach famed ‘Into the Wild’ bus. JWR’s Comment: Someday, a spectacularly unprepared hiker visiting this Shrine to Lack of Preparedness is going to die of exposure. OBTW, a similar locale exists in Utah, where people want to visit the spot where Aron Ralston was forced to amputate his own hand.    o o …



Notes from JWR:

Today (Wednesday, July 3, 2013) is the last day of Freeze Dry Guy’s 25% Off Special All Mountain House #10 Cans. And meanwhile, Camping Survival has started their own 25% off sale, which runs until July 7th. — Today we present another entry for Round 47 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 …


Teaching Opportunities, by J.L. in Pennsylvania

My story begins as another closet prepper.  As many of you, I did not have the support of my spouse for my new found drive to prepare for the unknown. Often I would attempt to sneak items that I planned to lay up long-term into the grocery bill without her noticing. I would even have online purchases delivered to a neighbor claiming to him that it was for her birthday or our anniversary. Needless to say, I usually (always) got caught, which would lead to long discussions about me “wasting money.”  As fate and the good lord would have it, …


Letter Re: Why Precious Metals?

James, I think that you are off base when it comes to buying guns and precious metals. Both could go down in price. The same for ammo. And it has a shelf life. So why not buy stock in companies that that do well in both good and bad times? People always buy booze, and cigarettes and Pampers and Cheerios. So why not invest in the companies that make those? What is so [deleted] special about “tangibles”? Thanks For Your Time, – G.D.C. JWR Replies: First, I must mention that ammunition has a shelf life of at least 60 years, …


Economics and Investing:

The “Cyprus Model” Is Gaining Traction. (Thanks to F.J. for the link.) G.G. suggested this piece: 76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck Not Darkest Africa, but Darkest Nigeria – 120 Million Without Electricity Reader B.C. sent: The Eight Least Expensive States to Live in the U.S. Items from The Economatrix: Consumers To Factories Point To Durable US Expansion Dr. Doom:  A Lot Of Problems Are Coming … Revolution … Social Strife Bank Bailout:  Germany Requires Compulsory Levy of 8% To Savers


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Lee M. sent: Take a Look Inside the Hidden 100 Year Old Caverns Underneath Kansas One Man Says Could Save Humanity    o o o I just noticed that someone updated a list of my quotations at the Wikiquotes page. Thanks!    o o o Calgary, Oil Capital of Canada, Could be without Power for Months.    o o o Some good commentary over at Ryan and The Other Ryan’s blog: How Much Is Enough?    o o o D.S. wrote to recommend: The Trash Can EMP Shield.    o o o The FBI has pulled a ‘most wanted …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The federal government was not intended to be a charity, nor an insurance or retirement agency, nor doctor, pharmacist or health advisor, champion of the poor or rich, changer of foreign regimes, protector of the planet, educator, space explorer, diet and nutrition czar, arbiter of interest rates or prices or wages, nor trafficker in currency unsecured by gold or silver. As legally constituted it may neither promote nor restrict transfats, sugar, tobacco, alcohol, coal, gasoline, drugs, salt or food of any kind; nor may it enact legislation favoring or victimizing or exempting any gender, race or ethnicity. In short, those …