Notes from JWR:

Glenn Beck is going to be covering “food storage for hard times” on his television show on Fox today. (Thursday, November 18, 2010). Don’t miss it. — Today we present another entry for Round 31 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 …


Survival Gardening, by Delia L. in Oregon

As we near to the end of the days of the dollar as reserve currency for the world, feeding our families becomes much more important. Most gardens go in over a late spring weekend with little thought given to trying to keep a family fed during the winter. My focus is on growing food year round with an emphasis on nutritional content. There are ways to keep tomatoes growing later in the season, or trying to keep greens growing year round. What can we grow that can be stored without electricity or canning. What can we save seed from in …


Letter Re: Bernanke’s Absurd Quantitative Easing Jobs Claims

JWR,   You can’t make this stuff up.  Seriously.  Ben Bernanke claims that the $600 billion QE2 will create 700,000 jobs.  Even if he’s right, that’s $857,142.86 per job created.  Even if you believe the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, more appropriately called the “BBS”) thei figure of 14.8 million currently unemployed Americans, that means that the U.S. would need to have just over 20 more infusions of $600 billion to employ all of our unemployed.  20 x $600,000,000,000… (drumroll, please)… $12 Trillion!   I think that it’s doable.  Let’s get QE3-to-QE22 underway.  Maybe SurvivalBlog readers could start a grassroots movement to get this …


Economics and Investing:

John R. sent a link to a map that shows the global race to the bottom: The global debt clock Panel sounds foreclosure warning, industry downplays. (A hat tip to B.B. for the link.) John R. spotted this post over at Karl Denninger’s site: The EU’s Lies Blow Up In Their Face. B.B. sent: Poverty in America, The Big Picture Euro under siege as now Portugal hits panic button Matthew Lynn asks: Who’s next? First Greece went bust. Now Ireland is on the brink of a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Items from The Economatrix: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The folks at Everlasting Seeds have added a new product. They call it their “EverGreens” assortment, specifically prepared for sprouting, although they could be used for planting just as easily. The “EverGreens” assortment two pounds of Organic Alfalfa seed, a half pound of Organic Waltham Broccoli seed, and a half pound of Organic Radish seed. They are running a special just for SurvivalBlog readers for only the next week: A 10% discount for the new “EverGreens” product, and a 5% discount on all their other products. This EverGreens assortment is not yet described at their web site, so either e-mail …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 31 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 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum …


The Art of the Cache, by James C.

I am sure many of you have planned for the possibility of a wide scale disaster, but you cannot carry all of your equipment when you get out of dodge. So caching is the best option however your cache cannot just go anywhere. Obviously certain locations experience heavier traffic, so in time of natural disaster, large scale riots, or terrorist attacks, it is good to choose locations away from this traffic. These caches also need to be on your bug out route, so if you have not prepared an escape route, do not plan your cache locations yet. These locations …


Letter Re: Ship Captains as Source for Prescription Medicine Stockpiles

Dear Jim, Having discussed with my doctor (seldom seen in 12 years – since I’m mostly healthy) a “blizzard cupboard” of useful medicines to have on hand – he said “great idea”. I live in a rural area – about a 5 hour drive round-trip to doctors and drug stores, and we have been snowed in for as long as 4 days. I took several “wilderness medicine” courses, then returned to him two years later with a list of prescriptions I wanted. He said “no way” – that he was the doc and I was not. He is moving to …


Economics and Investing:

Gary Shilling Sees `Significant’ Stock Selloff Within 12 Months From Dr. Gary North’s e-newsletter: “There is a cartoon video all over the Web that discusses “quantitative easing.” It is a riot. This is very, very bad for Bernanke. When the public starts laughing at a senior government bureaucrat, he is in trouble.” John R. sent this: Nassim Taleb Says Fed Doesn’t Understand Risks of Quantitative Easing Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Finish Mixed As Dollar Gains   Retail Sales Rise Is Led By Higher Auto Purchases   Credit Card Writedowns Continue Decline In October   The Worth of Gold and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. spotted this video clip: An overview of the deFNder™ Medium Station — a remote-controlled .50 Browning Machinegun. Makes me wish I was wealthy…    o o o A reader sent a link to a farmer that has an interesting approach to home-made biofuels: Farm Grown Diesel Fuel. This gent has a lot of do-it-yourself ingenuity, but he desperately needs a spell checker…    o o o Pegging the Absurdity Meter: Taurus Tactical Operator. Are they serious? Methinks this is the ideal gun for someone who is totally ignorant about .410 shotshell ballistics. Crud, when I have to lug around …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 31 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 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum …


Survival Through Adaptation, by Jason G.

Regardless of what you may or may not believe about evolution, it’s hard to argue that the organisms best able to adapt to changes in their environment are generally the ones that survive.  While organisms with less intelligence do this over generations, we humans were gifted with the ability to think and adapt on the fly.  Sometimes this is not a good thing when we are manipulating currency on the fly or making decisions that can adversely affect our survival.  But dealing with those circumstances with adaptive ability is the other edge of said sword. After TSHTF neither I, nor …