Economics and Investing:

The latest at Dr. Housing Bubble: The financial psychology of negative equity – 1,880,000 California mortgage holders have no equity in their homes. California home prices will fall 15 to 25 percent in the coming years. 1 out of 3 California mortgage holders at risk of walking away or defaulting. What’s the Difference Between 1 Gold Karat, 1 Diamond Carat and 1 Troy Ounce? Ben S. suggested this: Normal Interest Rates Would be a Disaster for U.S. Debt Items from The Economatrix: Fears of a Slowdown in Japan Push Stocks Lower   Quake Selloff Wipes $287 Billion Off Tokyo Stock …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader J.B.G. sent this: Panic Buying Adds to Shortages After Japan Quake. JWR’s Comment: I predict that next they’ll try to cast blame on folks that stocked up before the earthquake. (True “hoarding” is something that occurs after a the onset of a crisis.) Meanwhile, in Tokyo: Japan’s nuclear emergency prompts panic buying in Tokyo    o o o Don’t miss this essay by Victor Davis Hanson: The Fragility of Complex Societies. (Thanks to Z. for the link.)    o o o Six Lessons for Preppers from the Japanese Earthquake / Tsunami / Nuclear Meltdown Disaster    o o o …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


What is a Well-Stocked First Aid Kit?, by K.M.

We’ve all heard the admonition: “You need to have a well-stocked first aid kit!” The first step to following that advice is an understanding exactly of what “well-stocked” means. Recently, I read an article on SurvivalBlog about a man who treated his wife for a serious arm laceration during an ice storm. After running out of bandages, he was forced to drive to the store in dangerous weather conditions to get more supplies. I posted a response to the article that elicited an e-mail asking, “Well, what does a good first aid kit contain?” Let me start with some background …


Low-Light Tactics and Options, by Officer Tackleberry

I have had some people ask how I as a police officer can defend the concealed carry rights for citizens and private gun ownership as a whole along with personally teaching firearms and self-defense to citizens.  To me the answer is an easy one.  I believe all of us have the God-given right to defend ourselves and our loved ones and firearms are a very good option in doing so.  I also believe that if there would have been citizens/students at the tragedy at Virginia Tech and other venues who were armed, trained and willing, then the death/injury tolls wouldn’t …


Letter Re: Encapsulate Your Own Potassium Iodate

Dear Editor: With several Japanese reactors threatening to meltdown, knowing that I am downwind and would have less than a few days’ notice, I quickly did some research on how to protect my family. The choices for thyroid protection (apparently the most common disease) are either Potassium Iodate (KIO3) or Potassium Iodide (KI). I found an old SurvivalBlog article that showed that KIO3 has advantages to KI. So I placed an order for enough pills to cover our family, plus extras to give away. But while doing some additional research I happened upon the bulk form of KIO3 at PureBulk.com. I …


Economics and Investing:

John R. recommended a piece over at Lew Rockwell’s site by David Stockman: Why Deficits Do Matter. Tamara over at the View From the Porch blog mentioned this: Normal Interest Rates Would be a Disaster for U.S. Debt. “None of this can go on forever. The Fed can’t print money forever. The U.S. can’t borrow huge fractions of GDP forever. Austerity is coming. The only question in my mind now is whether we’ll have a currency collapse and hyperinflation first.” Greg in Vermont sent a link to a piece in the leftward-leaning Washington Post, where columnist E.J. Dionne tells us …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Japan earthquake and tsunami death toll expected to exceed 10,000; survivors worry about dwindling supplies, food.    o o o Robert J. flagged this: Japan ‘overwhelmed by the scale of damage’ 1,000 bodies are found scattered across coastline; body bags, coffins in short supply. Here is a quote: “”I never imagined we would be in such a situation” Watanabe said. “I had a good life before. Now we have nothing. No gas, no electricity, no water.” He said he was surviving with his family on 60 half-liter bottles of water his wife had stored in case of emergencies like this. …



Notes from JWR:

Notes from JWR: I’ve been deluged with questions from readers–especially in Alaska and Hawaii, about the risk of radioactive fallout from Japan. First, I must mention that the trans-Pacific fallout map purported to be from Australian authorities now circulating is a fraud. I don’t think it is likely that any significant radiation would make it to Hawaii, Alaska or the west coast of CONUS, even if there are multiple melt-downs in Japan.  But as I’ve written previously, keep your potassium iodate or iodide handy, buy some dehydrated milk, and keep close track of radiation levels. Pray hard, folks! Do not …


Medication Dependence and TEOTWAWKI — 10 Tips for Survival, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Thyroid disease, diabetes, heart disease, back pain, asthma, COPD. If you suffer from any of these chronic illnesses, you may be medication dependent.  What will you do when the supply of pharmaceuticals dries up?  Do you have enough medication stockpiled for the rest of your life?  What are the consequences of doing without?  Will you die or merely suffer?  Is there any way to prevent what appears to be inevitable? And if not you, what about your parents, grandparents, and other loved ones? Although complete answers to these questions would require hundreds of pages and perhaps years of study, here …


Pat’s Product Review: Benchmade Auto Stryker 9101

Right off the bat, I’ll tell you, I like tanto point knives, for some strange reason. Maybe its because of that secondary cutting edge, or maybe its just the cool-factor. What we have here for review is the new and improved Benchmade Stryker automatic folder, Model 9101. For those of you in free states, where you can legally own an automatic knife, this one is worth looking at. If you live in a state that won’t allow an automatic knife, then Benchmade has several manual opening folders in the Stryker line-up as well.   The new Auto Stryker incorporates a …


Letter Re: U.S. Treasury Seeks Input on New Coinage Compositions

Mr. Rawles,   The U.S. Treasury has announced that it is seeking public comment on revised compositions for U.S. coinage. They are seeking comments from us mere citizens about what we think of changing the metal content of coins to even cheaper metals than the copper, zinc and nickel currently used.  I think that all Survival Blog readers should comment – let the Treasury and the rest of The Powers That Be know that we don’t like how they’ve already debased our currency, and we don’t want them to do it to an even greater extent.   Of course, the …


Letter Re: The Real Value of the U.S. Dollar

Dear Mr. Rawles The Inherent Value of U.S. Paper Currency I have recently decided to obey the law–Gresham’s Law and start converting my paper dollars into “Golden Dollars” including the Sacagawea and Presidential Dollars as well as into the Kennedy Half Dollar. I am mostly doing this for symbolic reasons but I have found that it is a way to get people to talk casually about concepts like inflation, fiat currency and fiscal policy without scaring them off. A US dollar weighs 1 gram, on average. From Earth Works Recycling‘s web page we find that paper is worth between 0 …