Influenza Pandemic Update:

UN warns over swine flu in birds; The discovery of swine flu in turkeys in Chile raises concerns about the spread of the virus, a UN agency warns. How many recombinations will we see? New York Mayor To Announce Plans To Combat H1N1 In Schools Colombian President Uribe Ill With H1N1 Flu Hands-Off Plan: Schools Ban Touching to Fight H1N1 Advice on when flu needs TLC or a doctor’s care She’s walking the tightrope on flu; Minnesota’s top flu fighter balances the worst-case scenario with plans and hopes for avoiding it.


Economics and Investing:

This may be one of the most important pieces of economic news in many months, yet is did not receive much mainstream news coverage when the wire story was circulated yesterday: Beijing’s derivative default stance rattles market. This implications of state-owned Chinese industries being given carte blanche to nullify derivatives contracts are enormous. You’ll probably recall that I have been warning about derivatives counterparty risk for almost three years. And it was there that I specifically warned about the risk of “disappearing counterparties”. This new turn of events will likely shake the very foundations of the global derivatives markets. If …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious.But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victim, and he wears their face and their garments and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. …


Notes from JWR:

Courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader M.E., I have posted a new downloadable Excel spreadsheet: Silver World Coin Melt Value Calculator. You might find this a helpful shortcut, especially since circulating coin weights are expressed in grams, while silver is typically sold (and quoted daily) by the troy ounce. In assembling the table, M.E. used the oft-quoted coin weight data available in books like the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000, and in the Charlton’s Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins. This spreadsheet will be kept available at my Investing static page, indefinitely. Thanks, M.E., I owe you a favor! Thanks also to …


Developing Our Family’s Survival Strategy, by FBP

We started prepping about 18 months ago. I have felt like a chicken with its head cut off, going wildly in all directions. I’ve learned a lot about a lot, some by research, but have learned most from doing. Being prior military (I served six years in the Army Captain, and as a civilian, I was a financial planner), I started identifying mission statements and initiating plans, backwards (aka backwards planning) in order to get them accomplished on time. The first mission: “How do we survive hyperinflation?” My readings led me to believe that the best protection is to plan …


Letter Re: Old Boy Scout and Girl Scout Handbooks are Available Online

Mr. Rawles, I loved seeing the recent mention of the older Boy Scout Handbook on your site. I know I have been writing you back and forth for ten years or so now and I can’ t ever remember mentioning my Boy Scout history and the materials I have collected from the various Boy Scout books over the years. First off I am an Eagle as are both my brothers, as is my father and all of his brothers, and as was my grandfather and all of his brothers who were young enough to participate in scouting (his older brothers …


Economics and Investing:

Brendon sent this: “Zombie suppliers” haunt manufacturing sector From H.H.: Italian banks may take ham and wine as collateral Cut my pay … please! As the number of layoffs mount, more workers are ready and willing to take significant pay cuts to find employment. (Thanks to Ben M. for the link.) From DD: Small retailers feel sharper pinch; Cuts in consumer spending hit mom-and-pop shops hard Reader KAF spotted this: As Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit U.S. Stocks Fall After China Markets Trigger Global Sell-Off Damon flagged this: Daily Commodities Fundamentals: China Takes An Overnight Plunge, Oil …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Norman in England recommended this article about a solo documentary filmmaker’s experiment in the Yukon: Fifty days and nights in the wilderness. Note that even in warm weather he reached the psychological breaking point in just seven weeks. This adds credence to my assertion that going solo, playing “Batman in the Boondocks” wouldn’t work for 99.9% of the population. Please make realistic plans, and establish a well-stocked and fairly self-sufficient retreat. It takes faith and friends to survive!    o o o From DD: Continued l.os Angeles fires double in size. And, speaking of the fires, here is a YouTube …



Letter Re: Old Boy Scout and Girl Scout Handbooks are Available Online

Sir, For those who don’t have an “old” copy of the Boy Scout Handbook, the 1911 edition is available from Project Gutenberg in a variety of electronic formats. Also, they have the Girl Scout Handbook, 1920 edition. There is some overlap with the Boy Scouts handbook, but also much that is unique, especially in regard to care of the home, growing a garden, storing food, outdoor and indoor cooking, and a good section on first aid and home health care. Regards, – Andrew H. JWR Replies: For any families with teenagers, or pre-teens, I recommend getting hard copies of these …


Letter Re: Stockpiling Dimes?

Sir, I have a question what is the metal makeup of dimes [US 10-cent coins]. I am saving the nickels [US 5-cent coins, as suggested in SurvivalBlog, since 2007]. I have a small amount of dimes and was wondering if they are worth saving? – Curtis M. JWR Replies: Stockpiling dimes would not be wise. See the base metal value data at Coinflation,com. As of Saturday, August 29th, the base metal value of a post-1964 dime is $0.01704, (less than 2 cents) but the acquisition cost fro each coin is the face value of ten cents. Meanwhile, the base metal …


Two Letters Re: Precious Metal and Base Metal Composition of Foreign Coins?

Mr Rawles,s My family really enjoys and has benefited from reading your blog. Thank you for putting together such a quality reference site. One topic I have not seen discussed (even after a search of the archives) is whether or not pre-1960s foreign silver coins have any value. As a child, I received a large number of European coins from my grandfather (circa 1920s to 1930s), many of which are silver and a few appear to be bronze. While they have little value to collectors based on condition (I have kept them for sentimental reasons), I would assume that silver …


Letter Re: Bug Out Contingency Planning

[Introductory note from JWR: I normally send detailed letter replies only to their intended recipients, but in this case, I thought that this letter was a great example of terrain and obstacle analysis,a s well as “outside the box” planning, so I’m positing it for the entire SurvivalBlog readership to ponder. Do you have similar plans for off-road mobility, and contingency plans, folks?] Mr. Rawles, A note for Diane about her relative living on-post at Fort Riley, Kansas: First thing to obtain if you want to bug out of Ft. Riley is to get a Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer map …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

WHO warns of severe form of swine flu. The article begins: “Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients infected with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need hospital care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said in an update on the pandemic.” Gregor spotted this in an Australian newspaper: “Swine Flu Spreading at ‘unbelievable’ rate: WHO Chief” Swine Flu’s Worst …


Economics and Investing:

Brad H. sent this from Capitalism magazine: The Collapse of America? The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker Detroit sets record for unemployment–28.9% (Thank to Paul B. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Arnold Holds Great California Garage Sale To Help Economy How Goldman Sach’s Problems are Hurting You US Economy: Spending Climbed in July Due to Clunkers Program Japanese Economy Hit by “Double Nightmare” Bankers’ Excesses…At Our Collective Expense Tsunami of Broke and Desperate Americans Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs (A more accurate headline would be: “Fed Warns The Truth Will Destroy The Economy”) Japan …