Notes from JWR:

I’m happy to report that “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” will soon be published in Portuguese by Sextante Publishing of Brazil. There are now eight foreign publishing contracts in place, for editions in seven languages. — 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 …


Medical Asset Evaluation, by Dr. C. in Flyover Country

The evaluation of “Medical Assets” depends greatly upon the evaluator and the mission. For the purpose of this discussion, I consider people, places and things collectively and individually as “assets”. This discussion is meant for a group of non-medical personnel who need to assess whether a person, place, or thing will further their short and long term goals (mission). But how do you make that assessment or know when it has been done properly? Base assumptions: 1) The group has little to no medical knowledge. 2) The needs include general medicine, surgical procedures, veterinary medicine, and dentistry. 3) The most …


Letter Re: Our Experience with a Chimney Fire

Dear James, I have been a Survival Blog reader and Ten Cent Challenge subscriber for about a year or so. Thanks for all you do. The advice I read in SurvivalBlog from a rural firefighter — to keep on hand a 10 pound bag of baking soda to throw on the fire in case of a chimney fire — just came in handy! My husband and I were just enjoying our first fire of the year in our brick masonry fireplace. We have our chimney cleaned about every three years. I was upstairs and my husband called out “we’re having …


Letter Re: The Tire Shop Option for Nitrogen Packing Food Storage Buckets

Sir: For those interested in preserving food in bulk containers in larger numbers in a quick easy fashion. Most of your up to date tire shops now offer nitrogen gas instead of air for your tires. The biggest advantage of this over normal pressurized air is that the nitrogen machine removes all the water from the system. No water, no water vapor, less change in air pressure while you drive your car. The shop can give you lots of reasons why you want nitrogen, but mostly, its just dry. For a comparison, watch a tech hook up an air nozzle …


Three Letters Re: Enriched White Rice: A Perfect Long-Term Food Item

Jim, the letter about the value of storing enriched white rice was good, but I think a little more emphasis needs to be put on stocking up on lots and lots of spices to “liven up” the rice. I buy a couple pounds of dried or powdered spices a week–cumin, cayenne, garlic, dried onion, red pepper, fennel seed, cajun seasoning, anything with a strong flavor that can really “amplify” meals–and label them, date them and seal them up in quart-size mason jars. The danger of food fatigue/appetite fatigue is real–there’s plenty of research out there showing that some people (especially …


Economics and Investing:

Kelli C suggested: 99 Weeks: When Unemployment Benefits Run Out Jay B. flagged some “Scary New Wage Data” from Tax.com B.B. sent this: Dollar at Risk of Becoming ‘Toxic Waste’: Charts Also from B.B.: Treasury Shields Citigroup as Deletions Undercut Disclosure Puru speaks: The US Dollar is doomed. (Thanks to Brett G. for the link.)


Odds ‘n Sods:

John G. in England sent this: Nuclear bomb shelter for sale in Devon    o o o Emerging Threats File: Three men posing as ATF agents break into home, kill resident. (Thanks to K.T. for the link.)    o o o “Exterminator” armored truck in Illinois. (Thanks to regular content contributor Jason M. for the link.)    o o o RBS sent: Just how bad is Facebook applications privacy problem?


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Everyone is waiting for the Fed’s November surprise. They are waiting for an announcement of a major new plan by the Fed to print up hundreds of billions of dollars. This is ‘quantitative easing,’ also known as ‘Bernanke as a drunken sailor on a spree.’ So deeply Keynesian are the nation’s financial analysts that they think this will be a great benefit to the economy.” – Dr. Gary North, The Daily Reckoning e-newsletter


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 between $500 and $600, 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 …


Enriched White Rice: A Perfect Long-Term Food Item, By M.R.

Having a back stock of emergency food is a great idea, but not many are able to set aside as much food as they would like to have. It’s expensive, consumes a good amount of personal storage space, and rotating stock can become difficult to manage over time. However, those who don’t have large budgets, big closets, or the time needed for food rotation schedules can still build an emergency food supply which meets their needs. But, first, we need to have the right mindset when it comes to the idea of building an emergency supply of food. During a …


Letter Re: Advice on Constructing a Hidden Basement Room

Greetings Jim, I am finally closing on my house next week and have been putting together a plan (on paper) for turning the back half of my basement into a secret room accessible via a hidden staircase from one of the main-floor bedrooms. The basement is currently accessible only via a door in the floor of a utility room on the back side of the house and I plan to build a closet over the door to conceal it. However, making another hole in the floor to add a staircase leading to the basement will require far more skill than …


Letter Re: Cleanliness–Maximize Your Productivity and Protect Your Investment

Letter Re: Cleanliness–Maximize Your Productivity and Protect Your Investment James, Please remind your readers that there are two bars of soap that you should always keep a good supply stocked: The first is Lava hand soap. Lava bar soap will lather up even in cold salt water – so then there are no excuses that you can’t “clean up”. The second bar of soap is Fels-Naptha laundry soap. Fels-Naptha bar soap is so very important because it will lift urushiol from the skin when you get into a poison patch and keeps it suspended long enough to wash it from …


Letter Re: The Northern Philippines as a Retreat Locale

I have been reading your bug out articles for awhile now and I think that there are things missing in the discussion of disaster preparedness in the US. Based on several other “end of the world” scenarios that have played out in the past 60 years or so, there are situations that really have not been discussed. I have listed several disasters that happened and how they played out. 1. The Iraq war. For the Iraqi people it was the end of the world as they knew it. I witnessed this personally and have been in the war zone here …


Economics and Investing:

R.F.J. sent a piece about the far-reaching effects of China’s embargo of rare earths: You Don’t Bring a Praseodymium Knife to a Gunfight Sue C. forwarded this: Fed’s Fisher: Policy Makers Must Be Aware of Dollar Impact B.B. suggested this piece by Bob Chapman: We See Totally Surreal Markets Thanks to Susan O. for this one: 75 Ways That The Government And The Financial Elite Will Be Sucking Even More of the Life Blood Out of the American People in 2011