Month: November 2015

Economics and Investing:

Items from Mr. Econocobas: China Welcomes IMF Backing to Make Yuan World Reserve Currency Car Loans Hit $1 Trillion for First Time Japan Relapses into Recession in July-September, a Blow to ‘Abenomics’ Items from Professor Preponomics: Nordstrom: The Religion of Consumption Has Proven Unfulfilling (Market Watch) It’s Official. Obama Wants to Help You Manage Your Retirement Savings. (Zero Hedge) Jury Finds Ernst & Young Liable for Millions in Damages Related to the Madoff Ponzi Scheme (Reuters) Postal Service Tallies $5.1B Loss Even As Revenues Rise (U.S. News) 100 American CEOs Have More Wealth Than 116 Million Americans (My Budget 360) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader D.E. writes in with the comment: “It’s a sad day in the land of the free and home of the brave when Microsoft must move it’s data centers to Germany to give their users a smidgen of data privacy from their own government.” o o o From D.S.: Texas warns Obama: No Syrian refugees here! – The lines are being drawn. Texas, Idaho, New Mexico and others are saying no; Washington says yes. Which state did you want to live in? o o o B.B. sent in this link to an excellent article on the average Americans response …



Notes for Monday – November 16, 2015

November 16th is the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague, Charles Sanders, and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. JWR’s novel Survivors …


Schrade SCHF3 Survival Knife – By Pat Cascio

It’s probably been at least 20 years since I owned any sort of Schrade knife, and the last one I had was a fixed blade hunting knife. It worked just fine, near as I can recall, dressing out a deer. Schrade has been around for a long, long time, well, sorta. Schrade is now owned by Taylor Brands, and I’m not sure when this takeover took place. As far as I know, all Taylor Brands cutlery is produced in China. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. I recently purchased a Schrade SCHF3 fixed blade survival knife for …


Recipe of the Week: Native Persimmon Pudding, from OkieRanchWife

Hello, Jim and Hugh! Here is another recipe for the blog. It is a great time of year for preserving the harvest, whether it is planted or foraged. I am fortunate to have numerous native persimmon trees, Diospyros virginiana, on my property. It’s free foraged food, and this year I was able to get to them before the deer, coyotes, or the cows. If you have not ever tried a ripe persimmon, the best description I can give you is to imagine a honeyed apricot. The taste is fantastic. Always be certain that it is a ripe persimmon. Green ones …


Letter Re: Multi-Caliber Firearms

Hugh, I was wondering what were your thoughts on rifles capable of shooting multiple calibers? Examples are the Sig Sauer SIG556xi and Colt MARC 901. I can see the utility of pistols having this capability, but I was wondering if you thought the extra investment would be worth it for rifles? HJL responds: I haven’t tried any of the new offerings on the market, but the Thompson Contender has long been a staple of my collection. I have both the original frame and an Encore frame with a barrel for each caliber for which I reload. I use it as …


Economics and Investing:

Americans are buying tons of gold November 12 Sent in by G.P. o o o Despite their own economic woes, the Chinese continue to chip away at the U.S. dollar dominance on the world scene: China welcomes IMF backing to make yuan world reserve currency – P.S. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: Four U.S. Firms with $4.8B in Debt May Default at Any Time: Energy Sector Losses Continue (Zero Hedge) Social Security: The Long Slow Default (Mises Institute) Obamacare’s Co-op Failure Contagion (Wall Street Journal) ECB Says Further Policy Easing is Coming to European Markets Next Month (Reuters) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

J.C. sent in a link to an interesting article on gardening in Colonial America: How Americans Gardened 260 Years Ago o o o You are probably already aware of most of this content, but while the media wants to claim that ISIS came out of nowhere, the truth is far more concerning. U.S. policy has direct links to its creation. Video: Origin of ISIS. Sent in by J.C. o o o Still not convinced that all of Islam is bad? How about hearing from their own lips that there is no such thing as Islamic Extremists; there is only Islamic: …




Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 6, by Militant Medic

Let’s Treat Some Patients (continued) 5) Your other grandson (again with no vaccinations) has broken out with a fever, runny nose, and rash, which consists of small fluid-filled blisters on bright red spots on his skin. They itch and when one area gets better another bunch crop up elsewhere. Diagnostic features: fluid-filled blisters on red skin occurring in crops, non-vaccinated. Diagnosis: Chickenpox Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care with spontaneous resolution without complication in 99% of kids (80% of adults). 6) Your third grandson (again with no vaccinations) has headache, vomiting, muscle aches, a fever of 104.2, and weakness …


Letter: The Free Rider Problem

Hello, Your Nov 10 blog entry contained a link to Wikipedia’s “free rider problem“. That article in wikipedia is extremely biased. I’d like to suggest you also provide a link to this article as well. I had one experience that might be illustrative. I lived on a gravel road with eight other families. Eventually, we decided (after a lot of discussion) that we wanted it paved with asphalt. The decision was that everybody should pay equally. As we went around to get contributions, it turned out one would not pay and another would only pay $1000. The first was understandable, …


Economics and Investing:

Sent in by G.P. – Fed Official Says Gold Standard Touted By Cruz Is ‘Unworkable’ “Doesn’t provide stability” is the answer given. I can sort of see that too. To just map the current money supply onto physical gold would push the price of physical gold into astronomical numbers simply because of all the free printing that has gone on in the last 30 years. o o o How Many More Recession Confirmations Do You Need? Yep. Every time I buy groceries, I am reminded that this is not a recovery. Sent in by J.Q. o o o Items from …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Avalanche Lily suggested this link to Frank and Fern’s Blog: One More Wake Up Call Paris is indeed a tragedy, but are you prepared for the eventuality of the same kind of issues here? o o o SurvivalBlog reader P.J. states that Patrice Lewis hits that nail on the head with this article about the recent Million Student March: To The Tantrum Generation: Forget College and further notes that it dovetails nicely with our third place winner in round 53 of the Writing Contest, Getting A Real Education– Why Becoming Self-Sufficient Is Better Than Going To College, by D.T. o …