Day: December 21, 2013

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of 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.) …


Harnessing (and Creating) the Community to Work Together in a TEOTWAWKI Situation, by Meir L.

I have recently been reading SurvivalBlog.com, and as an avid hiker/backpacker/adventurer, I am very interested in what this site has to offer. I have been reading the different TEOTWAWKI posts, and I have read different TEOTWAWKI situations, learning and understanding more and more about survival. I enjoy giving back to the community, and I have been searching for my own TEOTWAWKI situation that I can use to help myself and other people learn from it. I realized that about 1 year ago, a really serious TEOTWAWKI situation happened to my community (and family). I am a religious Jewish 18 year …


Letter Re: A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils

Jim, Regarding the recent article “A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils”:   I was involved in the Essential Oil industry for a while. There are very limited uses for essential oils, however, and this is important, there are so many scammers in essential oil sales. It is very difficult to tell, without actual spectroscopic and chemical testing, if the essential oils are actually pure, what their purity is, if they’ve been diluted, and what they’ve been diluted with. Most essential oil companies buy from farmers or wholesale dealers overseas, pay be wire transfer, and hope reputation will see them to …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Andre D. sent: Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing? Charles Hugh-Smith: A Quick Guide to What’s Fake: Everything That’s Officially Sanctioned. [JWR’s Comment: While I disagree with his viewpoint on government intervention in the marketplace and on taxation (I’m a laissez faire minimalist-government libertarian), I almost always enjoy reading Charles Hugh-Smith’s piercing observations.] Over at The Daily Bell: Forced Savings Bait and Switch Items from The Economatrix: U.S. October Business Inventories Up 0.7% Why The Budget Deal Is Bad News For Gold: Pro Is Your Job About To Be Outsourced By A Computer (The Probability Is 47%) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Former Top NSA Official: “We Are Now In A Police State”    o o o Worthy of support: Benjamin Wassell Legal Defense Fund    o o o Here comes the RIF! Reader John E. wrote to mention: Army to cut 4000 captains and majors. The Air Force, too    o o o Alan W. recommended this sound advice: Is It a Cold or the Flu? How to Tell the Difference    o o o Several readers mentioned this: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a “Prediction of a Future Crime.” Here is a key quote: “The majority’s …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall …