GPS for Day-to-Day Use and Survival, by Mike S.

Reading accounts of people who had evacuated the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita was a sobering experience. Evacuees who took to the interstate highways effectively ended up in giant parking lots. In contrast, those who used the back roads fared much better and were able to evacuate in a timely manner. I live sufficiently inland that hurricanes do not pose a serious threat to me, nor do other foreseeable regional natural disasters such as earthquakes pose a serious risk. However, I live in the middle of a major metropolitan area where man-made disasters and localized natural disasters …


Letter Re: TEOTWAWKI, Right Next Door

Jim: Last Sunday night my family drove home to the sight of a pillar of smoke that looked like it was coming directly from where my house should be. It turned out to be the next door neighbor’s home. The blessing is that no one was home, so no one got hurt. The downside is that no one was home so everything owned was lost. I mean everything – clothes, food, water pump, furniture, bedding, cash on hand, tools, toys, games, appliances, equipment, books – everything. The Red Cross put the family in a hotel for a few days. But …



Economics and Investing:

Tim Geithner Refuses to Answer Congressman Brad Sherman’s Question on Derivatives Bailouts Reader “Countrytek” recommended this NPR news story: Many Left Uncounted in Nation’s Official Jobless Rate Items from The Economatrix: Baby Boomers to Kids: Kiss the Inheritance Good-bye Obama Rejects Second Round of Stimulus First infusion [was] “not designed to work in four months…designed to work over two years.” Stocks Slipped 2% Last Week Christmas Creeps into July at Sears US Budget Deficit Tops $1 Trillion for First Time After Losing Homes, Families Move into Tents Awash With Cash (The Mogambo Guru) Major Lender Faces Crunch Study: State Budget …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Wild Weather in Year Ahead, Scientists Predict    o o o North Korean Army Behind Cyber Attacks    o o o North Korea’s Kim Has Pancreatic Cancer    o o o Care to predict a trend? Tiburon [California] may install license plate cameras. (Not to worry, folks. We’ve been promised that this is all for “public safety,”)



H1N1 Influenza: A Cytokine Storm Conclusion, But Still More Questions Than Answers

The good news on H1N1 (commonly called Swine Flu) is that in current strains the death rate appears to be as low as 1 in 2,000 infections, at least in First World countries with modern hospital facilities. The bad news is that at least 60% of world’s population is expect to contract the bug, and that further mutations are probable. The Mutation Question Mutations to less virulent strains are the historic norm for viruses but there is the risk of one that is very deadly. (To explain: in the grand scheme of things, a mutation with high lethality is is …


Letter Re: Recent Experience with an N95 Protective Mask

Dear Mr. Rawles- I am writing to tell other Survival Blog readers about a recent experience I had with an N95 mask (with no exhalation port.) My husband and I just bought a 30 year old single wide trailer with 30 years worth of dust, mold, and cat hair. After day of being in the trailer I could feel my allergies start to grow worse by the minute. To clean up the dust, cat hair, and other allergens we went to the local hardware store and rented a Rug Doctor to shampoo the carpets. While shampooing the carpets (which was …


Letter Re: Water Storage and Filtration Preparedness Pays Off

Mr. Rawles; Well, it happened without warning. Loud knocking on the door, insistent, and then again. A man from the local water utility was there, telling us late in the morning that we had a broken underground pipe that is flooding the neighborhood, and he is now cutting off our water supply. We immediately called our plumber who arrived a couple of hours later with a crew to dig the big hole. The story, though, is how we felt with the water cut off: “Just fine, thank you.” Our preparations include: 1. Bottled water: 42 one-liter bottles, 75 half-liter bottles …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

Swine flu shots at school: Bracing for fall return (Thanks for John in Ohio for the link) A Sign of Things To Come? Argentine Banks Close to Help Stop Spread of the Swine Flu School-Age Children to Get Vaccinations First Swine Flu Deaths in UK Double as Country Now Has Third Highest Cases Britain’s first ‘healthy’ swine flu victim dies – the 15th fatality here in total Obese Exposed as Swine Flu Collides with Fat Epidemic “An unexpected characteristic has emerged among many swine flu victims who become severely ill: They are fat. … People infected with the bug who …


Economics and Investing:

I found this interview with the director of the president’s National Economic Council linked over at The Drudge Report: Lunch with the FT: Larry Summers. Reader Don W. suggested an excellent piece at Pajama’s TV by Bill Whittle: When Politicians Go Bad: From DC to New York & California The Government We Don’t Deserve Items from The Economatrix: SEC May Put California IOU’s Under Fraud Protection Rules May Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Drops With Assets Less Toxic, Banks Have Other Troubles Stocks Post Fourth Straight Week of Losses Banks Seen Ready to Join US Program that Revises Home-Equity Loan Terms Roubini: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. suggested this piece by Mas Ayoob, in Backwoods Home magazine: How to shoot a handgun accurately    o o o In the most recent Dr. Housing Bubble blog: Westside Los Angeles: The Ultimate Prime and Stagnant Real Estate Market.    o o o Reader Paul P. offered a link to a thought-provoking piece on self-sufficiency in Sharon Astyk’s blog: Eat What You Grow, Grow What You Eat?    o o o Greg. C. suggested this piece by Chaz Valenza: Three Rules for Living Through the Second Depression


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Of all the wonderful things government says, that’s always been just about my favorite [government spending creates jobs]. As opposed to if you get to keep the money. Because what you’ll do is go out and bury it in your yard, anything to prevent that money from creating jobs. They never stop saying it. They say it with a straight face and we in the press will write that down. We will say, ‘This is expected to create x number of jobs.’ On the other hand, we never say that the money we removed from another part of the economy …


A Primer for Silver Newbies, by H.R.F.

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a “silver bug.” I became enamored with the metal when I was 16 years old. That was the year that OPEC first jacked up the price of oil. Silver sold for only $3.14/oz. then (per Kitco.) A more accurate way of saying it is that one dollar equaled about one-third of an ounce of silver back then. Today one dollar will only buy about 1/13 of an ounce of silver (silver at $13/oz.) This implies that the dollar has lost about 75% of it’s purchasing power over the last 36 years, …


Letter Re: Practical Lessons Learned From Home Canning of Meat and Vegetables

JWR, Thusfar this year I’ve canned 140 pints of meat and veggies. And more to go. I believe ready to heat and eat meals will be very handy when the Schumer hits the oscillating rotator. We grew the potatoes, garlic, onions, sweet banana peppers, and carrots ourselves. We buy whatever meat is the loss leader at the grocery that week. I am storing pasta separately. When we open a pint we will add cooked egg noodles. If one cans the egg noodles they get very mushy. I’ve been canning for some years now and have some serious advice. I opine …