Month: October 2013

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader AmEx (American Expatriate) sent: What the Government Does with Americans’ Data o o o Over at my friend Commander Zero’s blog: Feds Say Possession of “Large Amounts” of Weapons May Indicate Terrorist Activity. JWR’s Comment: The linked article has a photo of what could best be described as a “starter” gun collection (a couple of ARs, a FAL, an AK, and a few handguns.) If that constitutes a “weapons cache”, then the agents must be from some gun-deprived eastern Nanny State. They would surely have a fit of apoplexy if they walked into JASBORR. This somehow reminds me of …



Notes from JWR:

October 20th is the birthday of actor Viggo Mortensen (born 1958.) Part of each year, he lives on his ranch in North Idaho, deep in the American Redoubt. Also at his ranch is his horse-for-life “TJ”–one of the five paint horses that were used in the filming of the movie Hidalgo. — This is also the birthday of exhibition shooter Ed McGivern (born 1874, died December 12, 1957.) His classic book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting is still in print, after 75 years! McGivern was born in Nebraska, but was a long-time resident of Butte, Montana. — Today we present …


Keeping Time When The Schumer Hits The Fan, by Brad F.

I am a retail jeweler that is nearing retirement and am looking forward to my move to the Redoubt where we already have a house with some land to grow and raise things on. So in reading the SurvivalBlog, I have been thinking how we will keep time after the watch batteries run out and the mechanical watches stop working, and of course the electric clocks have stopped. There are multiple ways to achieve accurate time keeping when the power is off, some temporary and some permanent. My first solution is to buy a solar powered wrist watch, then make …


Letter Re: Jewish Resistance During WWII

James, Your mention of Zus Bielski’s birthday and the film Defiance. (and the book upon which it is based) brought to mind an excellent 90-minute documentary by PBS, “Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans,” produced in 2001. It is available online at Vimeo.  (or from PBS Home Video on DVD) It includes interviews with many partisans among them Aron Bielski, the youngest of the brothers (still living). After more than half a century since the holocaust, the myth still persists that all of the Jews just walked peacefully to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis.  Nothing could be …


Letter Re: Preparing for EMP and DEW — A Layman’s Guide

Dear Editor: In answer to Norm’s question: Yes, insulating items that are already inside a Faraday shield appears to be superfluous. As long as the shield works (is unbroken and made of the right materials and configurations to counter the frequencies targeted), the overwhelming vast majority of the energy does stay outside. This has been verified in our tests and is a basis for the products we make. For example, we tested our laptop EMP shield against an EMP simulator made by APELC in Texas – no visible upset was observed despite their machine throwing over 150 kV/m at our …


Economics and Investing:

ZeroHedge reports: Creeping Capital Controls At JPMorgan Chase? Bob in Virginia liked this piece: Two views of our current economic and energy crisis Commentary from The Money GPS: QE3.5? ~ The Fed’s New Scheme. Don’t miss his comments at 2:08 on total long-term government obligations. K.N. sent: China’s soaring fiscal deficit rings alarm bells Items from The Economatrix: Jim Rogers Blasts “This Is Going To End Badly… And The Rest Of The World Knows It Early Stages of Hyperinflation Next Year-John Williams Slowly At First, Then All At Once


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader E.B. suggested this movie review: Dragon Day: Red Dawn for Intellectuals    o o o H.L. sent: Bitdrop app beats NSA surveillance with anonymous encrypted file transfers    o o o Fascinating photos: 10 Unique Ocean Landscapes    o o o File Under F Troop Follies: Sacrebleu! ATF threatens French-style firing squad for agents who leak secrets    o o o Andrew Dickehage hospitalized after being attacked by three coyotes in Boulder County. Just imagine if this had been three wolves, instead.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.” – John 16:1-4 (KJV)


Notes from JWR:

October 19th is the birthday of three notables: the late Alexander Zeisal “Zus” Bielski (born 1912), investor Jim Rogers (born 1942) and James Howard Kunstler (born 1948.) Kunstler is well-known to SurvivalBlog readers as the author of the novel World Made by Hand and the nonfiction book The Long Emergency. A fictionalized portrayal of Zus Bielski is seen in the movie Defiance. (This movie was loosely based on the excellent book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans written by Nechama Tec.) — Today we present another entry for Round 49 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $8,730 worth of prizes for …


A Tale of Quail, by KD1

Always trying to learn and become better prepared I thought our family needed to start pursuing livestock and learning the ins and outs to raising them.  Since I deplore powdered eggs I thought we’d start with poultry.  After reading how easy quail were to raise I decided to give them a try this spring.  After all, it met many of the requirements I needed for raising poultry.  The chicks are easy to raise and inexpensive.  They take very little space.  I live in a subdivision so had only a small area to house them in as well as city regulations …


Some Shameless Self-Promotion: A Conversation with James Wesley, Rawles on His Latest Novel: Expatriates

Introductory Note: The following is an edited transcript of my conversation with my Publicist from E.P. Dutton, Emily Brock: 1.) Expatriates is the fourth novel in your Coming Collapse series.  What inspired you to write about survivalism?  Do you believe a real-life collapse is in our near future? I believe that global economic instability is rising substantially, so the risk of economic collapse is greater than ever before.  Along with instability comes the risk of civil wars, regional wars, and perhaps even a Third World War.  It is indeed time for people to stock up, team up, and batten down …


Two Letters Re: Being Charitable When the SHTF

Mr Rawles, Thank you for taking the time to read my articles and to comment on them. I appreciate the points you raised regarding charity via the church and other local organizations. I was possibly a little unclear and maybe should have stressed more that I was referring to the time during a collapse when getting supplies to organizations in order that they can disperse them could be difficult if not downright dangerous. I disagree that I am your diametric opposite Mr Rawles. I am neither a thief nor a looter and I agree with your assessment that a collapse …


Economics and Investing:

Lack of Economic Data Hiding True Health of Housing Market The Baltic Dry Index (for transoceanic shipping rates) is still in the dumpster. H.L. sent: As U.S. averts default, Japan and China brace for next dollar drama And for some humor: Hitler Learns About the Obamacare Exchanges Items from The Economatrix: The Sun Is Setting On Dollar Supremacy, And With It, American Power Gas Prices Could Dip Below $3 by Year-End Ron Paul Fears The Future Under Janet Yellen “Is Grim Indeed”


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader C.D.V. spotted this: 93-Year-Old Homesteader Living It Up In The Wilderness    o o o Former Army Captain William Swenson to receive Medal of Honor at White House    o o o Colorado Governor Hickenlooper tells gun-control groups to ‘stay away’    o o o Cato Institute: The NSA: Future Crime Unit (interview with Jim Harper)