Notes for Saturday – May 16, 2015

SurvivalBlog just successfully weathered our fourth hack attack in the past five years. A reminder, folks: You need to bookmark and/or write down our two prominent dotted quad addresses. Why? Because far greater malice on the Internet might someday be perpetrated by the Hitlery Clintons of the world, who could direct their bureaucratic minions to steal domain names from their rightful owners, all in the name of “fairness”. I can anticipate something far worse than the pranks of a few malicious hackers: That would be a deranged government doing horrible things to our First Amendment rights under color of law, …


Optimizing Training for the Committed Prepper, by F.M.

Almost everyone who reads this column knows that most Americans are woefully unprepared to face a post-poop hits the fan, WOTROL, grid down world. Equally sad and dangerous is the fact that most in the prepping community fall into one of the following categories: Someone who thinks about prepping and sees the need but hasn’t really gotten started, Someone who buys a lot of “stuff” but doesn’t really know what to do with it, or Someone who has “stuff” and reads a lot of books and columns on prepping but still hasn’t tried to live it. I suppose that even …


Letter Re: Reverse Mortgage

Hugh- I wanted to know what you and/or Jim’s and/or The Econocobas’ opinion is of reverse mortgages. The missus and I have moved to the Redoubt and own our location outright. I was mentally extrapolating the possible outcomes of a reverse mortgage should the balloon go up, but I always value other people’s thoughts. Also, forgive me if this has been addressed previously. – D in Southern Idaho HJL Responds: I have never considered reverse mortgages, as I always considered the land worth something but the cash out value as a loss due to inflation. Call me old fashioned, but …


Economics and Investing:

House of Cards – Will It Collapse? “It is unwise to scramble in front of an oncoming steam-roller in search of dollar bills when real money, gold and silver, is still available at “bargain” prices.” – Gary Christenson o o o Capital Controls, Gold Confiscation, Bank Holidays, and Everything Else o o o You can’t afford to live in California: It would take the typical family 35 years just to save for a 20 percent down payment in San Francisco. o o o U.S. Farmers In “Dire Straits”: JPM Warns Of Imminent Liquidity Crunch


Odds ‘n Sods:

I spent a few hours today watching some reruns of “Doomsday Preppers” on Netflix and was struck by a common thread I saw. Granted, television’s job is to garner ratings and this show seems to do that by ridiculing preppers, but the point is valid nonetheless. Physical fitness seems to be a sadly overlooked prep. How Does 1960s High School PE Compare to Today? It Doesn’t. – HJL o o o Sadly, it is true that history often echos itself: The Vatican Against the Jews o o o A good grounding article for your communication preps. – RBS o o …




Letter Re: A Decade of Prepping

Hugh, I absolutely agree with the dedicated wife in what she wrote in ”A Decade of Prepping, Do’s and Dont’s” that women are an integral part of being prepared. Farm women are very hard to find, even for me (a woman) to be friends with. I spent several years living in a city and didn’t understand why I never fit in with my city friends. Then I found a mentor, an older Christian lady who was married to a farmer, who explained to me that I wasn’t wired to be a city girl; I was wired to be a farm …


Economics and Investing:

Global Debt Now At $200 Trillion o o o Student and auto debt fuel credit bubble 2.0: Student loans carry the highest delinquency rate of all debt classes. Student and auto debt up $1.15 trillion in last decade. o o o Here’s how Americans are eating into their savings . – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Moody’s Downgrades Chicago Debt to ‘Junk’ with Negative Outlook Five Reasons Chicago Is in Worse Shape Than Detroit 5 Big Banks Expected to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges – And not much of anything will happen U.S. Retail Sales Disappoint Again …


Odds ‘n Sods:

DHS caught busing in illegal Somalis from Mexican border. – P.M. o o o California senators approve ban on grand jury investigations into police deaths. – H.L. o o o University Launches Insult-Reporting System That Records Offenders’ Social Security Numbers. – B.B. o o o Eeben Barlow Speaks Out: Tactics Used to Destroy Boko Haram. – J.M.



Notes for Thursday – May 14, 2015

With over 30 million turkeys and chickens killed due to Avian Flu and with the disease apparently spreading and driving the cost of meat up, Yoders canned meats are Amish made, high quality, and an excellent way to avoid the whole issue. Get them at Ready Made Resources while they are on sale! o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 58 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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), A …


Letter Re: Comment on Communications by J. B.

Greetings, Morse code is still encouraged and is definitely a useful skill. He also mentions ARES. In addition, there is another group of emergency communication volunteers, RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service), which is called into action in the case of a major emergency. If interested, I would encourage an Internet search for more information. By and large, his article is very useful. – S.S.