Notes from JWR:

Good News! It took many moons, but the archiving project for the early years of SurvivalBlog posts is now complete. You can now use the “Search” box at the top of the right-hand bar to search every SurvivalBlog post, all the way back to the blog’s launch in August, 2005. Thank you for your patience. — Today we present another two entries for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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. …


Thoughts on 2011 Silver Investing, by Texas Tony

Disclaimer:  This  article represents the opinions of one individual.  Keep in mind my views are more extreme than the mainstream.  For example, I am anticipating significant worldwide financial upheaval in 2011, which could include any combination of collapse and bailout of European economies (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, or Italy); devaluation or collapse of the Euro; loss of faith in the US Dollar as a worldwide trading tool (note that Russia and China recently agreed to price trade deals in their sovereign currencies, not dollars); further “bailouts” and “Quantitative Easing” in the US Economy;  and widespread municipal bond and municipal pension …


One View of The End Of The World As We Know It, by John Y.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is how many viewpoints and perspectives there are out there that can save a person a lot of time trying to articulate his own.  And I found one that suits me and mine.  If you haven’t taken the time to explore the SurvivalBlog.com do it.  I have barely scratched the surface and have found so many interesting things.  I generally download or copy and paste the stuff that I think has value and add it to my growing digital library.  That’s actually another project that I encourage.  I have multiple digital folders divided by topics …


Letter Re: Lessons from the Tunisian Revolution

Greetings Mr. Rawles, In the ongoing chaos of the Tunisia revolution we are able to watch a real life SHTF scenario being played out. Well worth the time to observe and learn from. Even though the head of the government has fled, it’s body is still alive and flailing creating havoc. The resulting chaos has caused breakdowns in food distribution and security as evidenced by the following quotes in the Washington Times. I thought it interesting that how quickly the neighborhoods have formed their own militias to protect themselves. The following are some quotes from a Washington Times article: “Ordinary …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: I just finished reading the novel Life As We Knew It, a 2006 “young adult” novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  It is a survivalist story.  An asteroid strikes the Moon, knocking it out of orbit and closer to the earth.  As a result, the earth’s gravitational forces are changed, causing high tides, tsunamis, earthquakes and major volcanic eruptions.  The coastal cities world-wide are wiped out, weather patterns are completely disrupted, causing floods and droughts, terrible thunderstorms and blizzards and earlier, colder winters.  Food is scarce.  The story is a …


Economics and Investing:

Sue C. suggested this: The Black Swan Events of 2011? RVL sent: Record $14 trillion-plus debt weighs on Congress. The article begins: “The United States just passed a dubious milestone: Government debt surged to an all-time high, topping $14 trillion — $45,300 for each and everyone in the country.” Thomas Sowell: Honest Answer to Government Woes is Bankruptcy Wait for complete package on debt crisis: Merkel Weak Dollars and Strong Commodities? (Thanks to John R. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Homelessness Increases As Help Decreases   10 Things That Would Be Different If The Federal Reserve Had Never …


Odds ‘n Sods:

China’s control of rare-earth metals poses risk to U.S. solar future.    o o o Rourke spotted this: Inexpensive perimeter alarm. Keep in mind that those units are NOT weatherproof, so they should be installed in weatherproof enclosures, and buy plenty of spares!    o o o The Queensland Floods: Next shock will be high food prices    o o o James C. recommended this videotaped interview with Dimitri Orlov: “America Will Collapse”. It should come as no surprise to SurvivalBlog readers that Orlov predicts very high crime rates and that country dwellers will fare better than urbanites. He calls …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Since it’s not considered polite, and surely not politically-correct to come out and actually say that greed gets wonderful things done, let me go through a few of the millions of examples of the benefits of people trying to get more for themselves. There’s probably widespread agreement that it’s a wonderful thing that most of us own cars. Is there anyone who believes that the reason we have cars is because Detroit assembly line workers care about us? It’s also wonderful that Texas cattle ranchers make the sacrifices of time and effort caring for steer so that New Yorkers can …


Note from JWR:

Today is Martin Luther King Day in The United States. While his civil rights goals were admirable, he was a documented chronic plagiarist. Because of that mar on his record, I don’t think that he is worthy of remembrance for a national holiday. My suggestion is that the holiday be replaced with Dr. Walter E. Williams Day. In my estimation, he is a man that is much more worthy of admiration. In his honor, all of SurvivalBlog’s Quotes of the Day for this week will be quotes from Dr. Williams.


Pending Magazine Ban Legislation in the U.S.

Just as I anticipated, in the wake of the Tucson shootings, the mainstream media and the congresscritters are on the war path! Mayor Bloomberg has the propaganda machine running overdrive with this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek cover story.  The cover of the Jan. 17, 2011 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek is midnight black with nothing but a Glock 19 pictured and the words “The Killing Machine” in white boldly superimposed over the gun.  The article summary states “America’s Gun – How Glock became the weapon of choice for U.S. cops, gun enthusiasts, and mass killers/psychopaths like alleged Tucson gunman Jared Loughner.” A recent …


Letter Re: Observations on Atlanta’s January 2011 Ice Storm

Hi JWR: One of the parts of SurvivalBlog that I enjoy the most is when folks contribute their real life experiences after going through some sort of hardship. Reading the examples from others helps me to fine tune my preps. Let me participate by providing my observations from the ice storm, amusingly titled Snowpocalypse 2011, that hit Atlanta recently. The roads were impassible due to the city’s lack of snow removal equipment, and pretty much the entire city was stranded in their houses. What would’ve been a blip of a storm in the north ended up crippling this city, and …


Letter Re: Resources for Preppers in South Africa

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Dear Editor: This letter is a primer for new preppers in South Africa. The reason for this is simple, we don’t have the equivalent of a SurvivalBlog in South Africa and our family and confidants have had to find out the hard way where and what to buy. (Subtle hint to a South Africa-based prepper looking for a home business) That said, this is not to be considered a definitive resource for the South Africa prepper, it is a list of known suppliers to us that we have purchased from, specifically for reasons of preparing. We have never had a …


Economics and Investing:

A chart published by The Financial Times says it all: America: Paydown problems You’re insane if you don’t own gold, investors told Muni Bonds Crashing For Third Straight Day, And This Is The Worst Yet. (A hat tip to Yishai for the link.) John R. sent this by Gonzalo Lira: Why Democracies Will Always Go Bankrupt The Latest Gold Fraud Bombshell: Canada’s Only Bullion Bank Gold Vault Is Practically Empty. (Thanks to Michael H. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: At Least 10 States Have Introduced Gold-As-Currency Bills Industrial Production Rises By Most in Five Months   Holiday Spending …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Pierre M. sent a link to a fascinating blog written by a wife and mother who lives deep in the interior of Alaska: The Last Frontier. Their main access to the outside world is via bush pilot flights. The blog is posted only sporadically, since they have to fly in the gasoline to run their generator. Now that is remote!    o o o Leading computer expert warns of cyber attack on National Grid. (Thanks to Dave B. for the link.)    o o o From Chris S. comes a news account of YOYO time: Brazil Mudslide Survivors Carry Food, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The essence of exchange is the transfer of title. Here’s the essence of what happens when I buy a gallon of milk from my grocer. I tell him that I hold title to these three dollars and he holds title to the gallon of milk. Then, I offer: If you transfer your title to that gallon of milk, I will transfer title to these three dollars. Whenever there’s voluntary exchange, the only clear conclusion that a third party can make is that both parties, in their opinion, perceived themselves as better off as a result of the exchange; otherwise, they …