Year: 2013

Betsy’s Book Review: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Publisher: Vintage Books, New York. Copyright 2012 ISBN: 978-0-307-95047-5 A National Best Seller Spoilers ahead. If you don’t like to know details about a novel before you read, you might want to skip this review. I picked up The Dog Stars by Peter Heller while waiting in an airport, and frankly I enjoy fiction, but only if its intelligent and well-written, which this one is. The world has been decimated by a flu pandemic, and it’s a few years post-apocalypse. The survivors have arranged themselves into small enclaves of existence. Told in the first person by Hig, two men with …


Pat’s Product Review: The Echo Sling

When I was younger I didn’t give much thought to a sling on a rifle or shotgun. When hunting afield, I simply carried my rifle or shotgun at the “ready” position – ready to shoulder it and fire on game. When I went into the military in 1969, I sure appreciated a sling on my M14 in Basic Training. In Infantry School, we were issued M16s, and while quite a bit lighter than the M14, I still appreciated a sling on the gun for long road marches. Over the years, I’ve tried all manner of sling on long guns, and …


Letter Re: Wearing and Carrying Safety Gear, At All Times

Dear JWR, I am an avid motorcyclist. (I’ve logged more than 300,000 miles, and I’m 40 years old.) I recently noticed a trend on bike blogs regarding ATGATT, spoken as”At-Gat.” This acronym stands for All The Gear, All The Time. In other words, if you believe a helmet (or leather jacket or good sturdy boots) to be a good idea at any time, you should wear them all the time. Personally, I wear a helmet, leather jacket, good boots, gloves, etc. whenever I’m on the bike. I usually wear them when I’m not on the bike as well, out of …


Letter Re: Rapid Progression of the Geomagnetic North Pole?

Jim: Is it true, what the rumors have been saying about the [magnetic] north pole shifting 161 miles in just the past six months? can that be true? Is it possible that there will be a pole reversal in the next few years? Should I be worried? – Elaine T. JWR Replies: This topic has been discussed before in SurvivalBlog, but mostly vis-a-vis the need to keep maps updated with current magnetic declination data. (The difference between magnetic north and true north.) The geomagnetic north pole moves laterally because of shifts deep in the Earth’s core. It is presently in …


Secure Storage Facilities Planned in The American Redoubt

Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting is developing two secure storage projects in the American Redoubt–one in north Idaho and one in Northwestern Montana. The facilities will give private members access to several storage options to store their preparedness gear until they can relocate. The undisclosed locations will feature various sizes of climate controlled vaults and safe rooms, featuring underground bunker construction and redundant security features. These facility can eliminate a prepper’s quandary: having all their crucial preps stored in one location with no ability to move it to their safe haven quickly. A retrofitted facility should be available for …


Recipe of the Week:

C. in Florence’s Hippo Valley Moon-Dae Here is an old Rhodesian home cooking recipe that some might find enjoyable. I have changed it by removing brand names from Rhodesia. i.e. Daribord Royal and also (other than in the title,) Hippo Valley Citrus. Sadly those companies no longer have meaning that they once did in my life.)   Hippo Valley Moon-Dae 3 large eggs (Separate) 3 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon gelatine 1/4 cup cold water 1/2 cup cream 1 tin of grapefruit segments (or 1 cup grapefruit juice  and one peeled segmented grapefruit chopped up)   Beat together egg yolks and honey …


Economics and Investing:

$106 Trillion Deficit? Ron Johnson’s Transformative Proposal Rail Traffic Continues To Stagnate Looming Minnesota Cigarette Tax Hike Spurs Buying Frenzy “Gold Hoarders” chastised in June of 1933. (Thanks to RBS for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: S&P Says US Credit Rating Now “Stable” Is Gold at a Turning Point? Demand Sags at $66 Billion in Treasury Auctions Amid Bets on Fed


Odds ‘n Sods:

Recently posted by the great video blogger Wranglerstar: Home-made Hydraulic Ram Pump    o o o There are just two days left in Camping Survival’s sale on Wise brand storage foods, with deep discounts. The sale ends on June 18, 2013.    o o o Census: Rural US loses population for first time    o o o The folks at Directive 21 mentioned that they have received more than 1,000 copies of the book Making the Best of Basics, and they have them sale priced at just $24.95 with free shipping. That is about half of what they cost at …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." – George Orwell, 1984


Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of John Enoch Powell (born 1912, died 8 February 1998.) He was one of the very few military men to rise from enlisted Private to Brigadier General. Similarly, in the US military, Nathan Bedford Forrest enlisted as a Private and advanced to the rank of Lieutenant General of the Confederate Army during the U.S. Civil War. (His postwar career was, ahem, less distinguished.) Chesty Puller did the same in the U.S. Marine Corps. Likewise, U.S. Army General Tommy Franks began his Army career as a Private in 1965 and went on to eventually wear four stars, as did …


Prepping For Seniors, by Retired Rev.

I became aware of the need for prepping too late to have the advantages associated with youth.  Seniors are already dealing with issues of declining physical prowess, declining health and a growing sense of mortality.  To add prepping to the list of concerns seemed more than a bit overwhelming but given the realities of our day, prepping slowly became an unavoidable necessity as I began to understand that the economic path on which our nation is traveling is clearly becoming unsustainable and is getting worse, not better. There was also the additional concern – shared by preppers of any age …


Letter Re: Re: Studying Guerilla Warfare Tactics

Sir, I recently ordered and read the book Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer. This book was published in the last few years, and therefore is quite modern and an excellent companion to Total Resistance by Major H. Von Dach. As a primer, it provides a general overview of the topic, with listed resources for further research. It has many lessons that I believe would be applicable to a TEOTWAWAKI situation. God Bless, – Andrew M.


Economics and Investing:

Pastor C. sent this: Liquidity Can Overcome Common Sense For Only So Long Jim W. liked this piece by Professor Allan H. Meltzer: Quantitative Quicksand The One Chart That Shows Just How Stuck Our Economy Is Items from The Economatrix: World Bank Cuts Global Outlook as China Slows, Europe Contracts Inflation at 53-Year Low Belies US Demand Vigor The Reality About Today’s Consumer Economy Oil Rises On Mid-East Unrest


Odds ‘n Sods:

Spotted on Craigslist in Aurora, Colorado: 1984 Chevy Blazer/CUCV/Military/Diesel/M1009 – $7,500 (Aurora, Colorado)    o o o “For the children.” SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Lawn darts banned — now not even replacement parts are allowed. Why? because just three children died over the course of several decades in a nation of 300 million people. Statistically, your chances are much higher of dying from being struck by hailstones, or dying in a human stampede, or being crushed by a toppling vending machine. If the ever-watchful Nanny State really wants to keep us really safe, then they should …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” – Luke 21:34-36 (KJV)