Day: October 16, 2016

Notes for Sunday – October 16, 2016

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig (in 1813). This was largest battle in European warfare prior to WWI. In this battle, Napoleon’s forces were defeated by the combined forces of Prussia, Austria, and Russia. This is also the anniversary of abolitionist John Brown’s raid against the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. Although the raid failed, it inflamed sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown’s raid helped make any further accommodation between North and …


A Life Submerged: The Gray Man Existence, by A. Smith

This article explores concealment and the Gray Man mindset and lifestyle in The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) and survival in contemporary society. The tactics, techniques, and procedures I’ll describe are taken from a military point of view.  It is not intended as an end all. It is merely a perspective on some experiences of deployments in 30 years of service to many backwater countries.  Hopefully my shared experiences will help better understand and prepare you in case something really goes wrong with our economy, natural or man-made disaster, etc. 


Letter Re: Hurricane Matthew–Some Lessons Learned

JWR & HJL: That was another great article [on Hurricane Matthew]! A suggested alternative that I have adopted is buying a turbo diesel automobile and truck.  The benefits are simple and yet many people still have not discovered the option. Here are a few:My VW tdi as an example gets about 43 miles per gallon, so with a 15 gallon fuel tank it achieves about 600 miles plus on a  tank, and by adding three NATO style 5 gal metal cans (15 gallons total) in the trunk I have a 1,200 hundred mile cruising range. That is hard to beat. …


Economics and Investing:

We were already tipped off long ago about gold in a world of negative interest rates.  Now consider Ray Dalio’s Long-Term Debt Cycle Charts (over at Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture.) o o o From Mr. Econocobas: Deutsche Bank Considers Thousands More Job Cuts: Source – Keep watching this. I fully believe that they don’t want this to happen and will do everything they can to help paper it over. But if Deutsche goes down then  it will make Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers seem like just a walk in the park.  It is noteworthy that Deutsche has some of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

One of my phone consulting clients recently asked about a recommendation for a low power (QRP) high frequency (HF) AM and FM single-sideband (SSB) capable transceiver.  I suggested one of the most popular ones. It is the Yaesu FT-817ND.  It runs on 12 volts DC and is VERY compact!  (They are even used for backpacking, as seen in this video.) They are ideal for voice, CW/Morse, and digital work, and cover the Amateur 160 through 10 Meter bands, 50 MHz, 144-148 MHz (the 2 Meter band), 430-450 MHz, as well as the Alaska Emergency Channel at 5167.5 kHz.  When sending …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” – Matthew 24:21-24 (KJV)