Economics and Investing:

Frequent content contributor B.B. spotted this: Offshore Gold Rush: AngloGold, De Beers hunt gold under Atlantic Eric Rosenbaum asks: Should the US Raise Its Debt Ceiling… or Default? The piece includes this: “Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this week found himself in the unenviable position of representing the US government in the role of a delinquent credit card customer asking for a higher credit limit. In place of that line on a credit card account statement that reads ‘available credit’ insert ‘national debt ceiling.’” (Thanks to reader C.D.V. for the link.) G.G. sent this: Bank intervention as euro debt crisis deepens …


Odds ‘n Sods:

<<p>Frequent content contributor C.D.V. sent us the link to an interesting (and beautiful) “heat map” which may aid is selecting retreat locales. It shows locations that are furthest in travel time from major cities.    o o o W.T. suggested this piece over at Grant Cunninghan’s site: Firearms Lubrication 101. (Thanks to W.T. for the link.)    o o o Reader Jenn. C. mentioned an article that she penned for The Sarah Connor Charm School blog site: Survival Food Strategies for Real Food Minded Modern Warriors.    o o o One Poor Harvest Away From Chaos. (Thanks to Cheryl N. …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch-22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy really recovers, long-term interest rates will increase, further depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden for the US, therefore increasing the deficit. A recovering economy would result in more production and consumption, which would result in more oil consumption, driving the price above $100 per barrel, therefore …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


Situational Awareness, by P.S.

“Stop Look and Listen” – That is the phrase that used to be plastered on every railroad crossing sign from Maine to California. What is true for safety crossing the tracks is true for all of us in our daily lives.   The ancient Chinese curse is: “May you live in interesting times”. Well, I think we can all agree, these times are interesting, if not a bit scary.    Let’s give some thought about being aware – knowing where you are, what is going on, what your options are – regardless of the situation. At this moment, I am …


Gun Grabbers Pounce on the Tucson Shootings–America’s Hungerford?

Just as I predicted, the headlines are already full of shrill cries for civilian disarmament. Never mind the fact that these were the actions of just one man who was mentally unstable. They aim to disarm the 99.9% of us law-abiding gun owners in the hopes of disarming the remaining 0.01%–the dangerous lunatics. This is something akin to the Hungerford Massacre, where the actions of one sick individual were used as the pretext to disarm an entire nation. Most of what I’ve read so far is just the expected statist knee-jerk reaction. But there was one well-reasoned response. And, despite …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

This week I’ve been busy homeschooling and house cleaning, so I’ve slacked off on my usual reading. Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: Well, I haven’t dug in to Survivors, yet. (It had been next on my list.) However, Jim was previewing its second season of the television series this past week, and as I was passing by him in the office, I stopped and watched the first ten minutes with him. The show was very intense and dramatic. So I am suspecting that the book is just as dramatic as the show. I’m presently …


Letter Re: In Defense of the Fortress Mentality–and Architecture

CPT Rawles: Rolled [woven] cattle wire and green landscaping cloth strike me as something that could be whipped up into a do-it-yourself HESCO barrier. And then there’s good old-fashioned Basket Weave from saplings. (which is still in the current US Army Engineer field manual, believe it or not) To save on wire (i.e.: Eliminating the end panels on a HESCO that but up against each other), perhaps two parallel fences can be run with posts and filled in between them with rock, dirt, etc. Also, I grew up on a farmstead in New England that was built in the 1760s. …


Economics and Investing:

John R. pointed us to a piece by Mike Whitney: Printing a Recovery. While our politics don’t always mesh, I’m in full agreement with Whitney on the re-animation of the credit bubble. Also from John R., a piece over at Lew Rockwell’s site by Terry Coxon: The Long Swim – How the Fed Could Become Insolvent Silver Demand Surges Six-Fold in India and World’s Richest Man Enters the Silver Market B.B. recommended a well-produced video from Gold Core: GoldNomics – Cash or Gold Bullion Reader B.J.G. flagged this item: Brazil Threatens Trade War Against US, China John S. sent this: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

B.B. suggested an essay by Eric Peters: Where We’re Headed…    o o o The first hand account of Air Force One pilot Col. Mark Tillman’s experiences on 9-11-01 are well worth the watch. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Troy H. suggested this National Geographic article: Seven Billion: By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain?    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson pointed me to this new product: The Rifle Integrated Power Rail (RIPR). Mike’s comment: “I’m not a huge fan of …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The universal practice of carrying arms in the South is undoubtedly the cause of occasional loss of life, and is much to be regretted. On the other hand, this custom renders altercations and quarrels of very rare occurrence, for people are naturally careful what they say when a bullet may be the probable result." – LtC Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, HM Coldstream Guards, 24 May 1863


In Defense of the Fortress Mentality–and Architecture

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I recently got an irate letter from an outspoken Peak Oil commentator who often stresses “community agriculture” and “sustainable development.” He castigated me for “advocating a fortress mentality…” and “encouraging gun-buying…” I think that he meant those as insults, but I took them as compliments. I am indeed an advocate of the fortress mentality, and fortress architecture. The two go hand-in-hand. As I pointed out in my book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”, modern American architecture with flimsy doors and large expanses of windows is just a 70 year aberration from a global …


Letter Re: Archery Equipment for Those Living in Gun-Deprived Locales

Hey James, I just got into SurvivalBlog after reading “Patriots” and “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” in consecutive nights.  I have checked out  a lot of posts on many helpful topics so far.  I wanted to post a question on the blog if possible, or simply ask you.  What is the viability of using crossbows in the survival situations we are all talking about?  I am also interested in compound bows as well.  I live in a country where I cannot legally own firearms, though the mafia here do, but I can legally …


Letter Re: An Alabama Snowstorm

James Wesley: It is beginning to snow in Alabama.  In small towns all around, the grocery stores have been stripped down to the shelves.  People were buying food to cook in fear that they might not make it to the grocery stores when they need to.  Milk is all but gone.    I went to the grocery store Sunday morning to pick-up a few doughnuts for our Sunday school class.  I saw one of my wife’s friends on the junk food aisle.  She is a single mom of two.  She said, “I have $40 to buy groceries to get us …


Letter Re: Storing Fats and Oils

Dear Editor: There are many in the medical field who will dispute Dave the R.N.’s assertions in his recent post on fats and oils. A recommendation that is more in line with the mainstream thinking is to store 3 liters (three quarts or approximately 90 ounces) of oils or fats for each person-month of preps. The assumption is that everyday life will become intensely physical and a per-person calorie budget of 2,500 Calories (or more!) will be required.  Three liters of oil will provide 30-35% of calories-from-fat which is consistent with mainstream wisdom.  Other stored foods and supplementation with produced …