Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large “Mad Mike” Williamson alerted me to this uplifting news story about The Made In America Challenge. (Not surprisingly, the contractor lives in Bozeman, Montana, deep in The American Redoubt. Quite few of the vendors are in the Redoubt, too–such as Potlach, for their plywood.) Here’s the list of U.S. vendors that the contractor uses.    o o o Another from Mike, and also sent in by reader Eric M.: DARPA’s Shredder Challenge Solved. Obviously, using a crosscut shredder is now insufficient. Wet mulching or burning your shredder’s “confetti” output is a sure bet.    o o …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It is obvious what’s been going on. You have to start acknowledging these people for what they are, and that is moral degenerates who are basically sociopaths and psychopaths. Meaning they don’t feel any sympathy or empathy for other human beings. The only thing they care about is themselves. They will do anything. They will steal. They will lie. They will cheat. They will lie to your face. They will look in the camera with this tremendous earnestness and lie with fork tongues through their teeth in order to advance their wealth and power. And if we, as a people, …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …


“I Can See You” — A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations, by Dave X.

Foreword:  I design and operate databases for a living.  The newest of these are assembled on analytic platforms structured to “draw conclusions” for clients in a wide (and formerly random) variety of scenarios.  One of my developers is an analytic tools assembly expert who also works for some “security, emergency, and enforcement” government agencies in Washington, DC – all formerly separate agencies, and because of advancements in the technologies — now “interoperating”.  I am also a prepper with a Bug Out locale that fulfills my “survival vision” and inherently has most of the natural survival essentials on site, but one …


Pat’s Product Review: Kahr Arms CM9 9mm Pistol

The first 9mm handgun that I ever owned was the S&W Model 39. I carried that gun on-duty as a private investigator for a long time. I had a lot of confidence in that gun. And, back then, it was considered a real light-weight pistol at around 28 ounces, and it held 8+1 rounds of 9mm ammo – more than enough to stop most hostile actions, with a spare 8-rd mag on-hand, it was a hot seller. The Model 39 wasn’t exactly a compact pistol by any stretch of the imagination. If you wanted something smaller, many folks went to …


Letter Re: How to Drain an Abscess

I have to agree with the recommendations for using Ichthammol for treating splinters and abscesses.  Put it on the toughest, tiniest sliver and overnight it is out.  Another extremely helpful use is to treat ingrown toenails, a condition that might necessitate minor surgery otherwise.  It is truly wonderful stuff!  Anything that smells that bad has got to be powerful medicine. – Maine Cruiser


Economics and Investing:

Gerald B. recommended: The Engineered Euro Crash – William Engdahl on GRTV. Engdahl explains how the Greek government concealed the extent of their debt by using exotic derivatives provided by Goldman Sachs, and how Greece was later slammed by George Soros and “the Big Boys”. JWR Adds A Bit of Humor: But don’t blame Goldman Sachs, since any Greek will tell you that derivatives were invented in Greece. (After all, everything was a Greek invention.) Zero Hedge reports another Latvian bank run. Gold Model Forecasts $4,380 Gold Price. [JWR’s Comment: I’m generally anti-chartist, but this provides some food for thought.] …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The often-cited “Selco” forum posts with first-hand accounts of surviving the war in Bosnia have been gathered and edited by the Editor of TacticalIntelligence.net: SHTF Survival Q&A: A First-Hand Account of Long-Term SHTF Survival.    o o o “The Old 16R” sent stumbled across a fascinating account while doing some research on food storage.  He summarizes: “From what I can tell from the somewhat garbled [automated] translation, it seems that a chunk of old masonry fell from the second floor of a building on the grounds of a hospital in Germany.  When the blocks fell they revealed an attic storage …



The Gray Market Role of Defunct Coinage in a Cashless Society

I’ve received several e-mails and letters from SurvivalBlog readers, asking me if and when I believe that a “cashless society” is coming. My response is: Yes, I do believe that it is coming, but I can’t say when. There are some that have argued that a currency collapse will be used as the pretense to implement a multi-continental or even global digital currency. Most likely it would be in the form of a debit card, similar to what has been popularized in Germany with EuroCheck (EC) Cards. I mentioned these cards in my most recent book, “Survivors: A Novel of …


Two Letters Re: How to Drain an Abscess

Hi Mr. Rawles,  I am happy to see the additional information to address abscess drainage in a SHTF situation. Thanks to Dr. Prepper for the  drawing salve idea. I did a pub-med search and found the icthammol does have antibiotic properties although I could not find the mechanism for white cell migration to the surface. I know ranchers use this stuff and modern medicine doesn’t always have all the answers. Thanks. Ladydoc is exactly right about using a big enough incision to get wide drainage without going into healthy tissue-very good addition. I also liked the fact she clarified that …


Economics and Investing:

Jim Rogers: “The U.S. Federal Reserve Is Lying To Us” By way of Tamara’s View From The Porch blog: Like it or not, the euro is doomed. Tam’s comment: “Formerly the province of goldbugs, nationalists, and other assorted doomsayers, predictions of the Euro’s imminent demise are going mainstream. This is the inevitable result of letting Arthur Bach and Ebenezer Scrooge share a joint checking account.” An interesting 20 minute interview with Jim Sinclair. He discusses: increasing precious metals market turbulence is looming, MF Global, a key change in bankruptcy laws (that benefits derivatives holders), hypothecation, and a fundamental shift in …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I deliberately held off on mentioning anything about the “FBI pressures the LDS cannery for lists of customers” brouhaha that was created by Alex Jones, even though I had more than 150 e-mails from readers in the past four days urging me to cover the story. Something about the incident just sounded fishy to me. So now the truth comes out, in SouthernBellePrepper’s video blog: Answers on Mormon cannery controversy. (Credit to M.D.C. for the link.) o o o Life imitates art: Police to test laser that ‘blinds rioters’. (Thanks to Morris for the link.) o o o I read …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Because all of the large nations in the Eurozone are still suffering from deficits above the supposedly required debt-to-GDP limit of 3%, none of them is in a position to bail out the PIIGS without borrowing even more. The PIIGS’ solution — which is nothing but a stopgap measure — is for the semi-profligate governments in the North to co-sign on the bank’s loans for the totally profligate PIIGS. The banks will lend to the North, and the North will then buy Eurobonds, which do not yet exist and are unconstitutional. The semi-solvent North can delay immediate default by PIIGS …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …