Economics and Investing:

Reader P.D. spotted this: Global Exposure in Financial Derivatives Surpasses One Quadrillion Dollars This was linked at the Total Investor blog: Economist Shiller Sees ‘Bad Recession,’ Stocks Could Drop Again. “Shiller says that this is a dreaded “liquidity trap.” The MOAB keeps growing: Fannie & Freddie: The most expensive bailout (Thanks to Charlie W. for the link.) From “HP” comes this piece by Mish Shedlock: Bernanke Terrified Over Commercial Real Estate, Seeks Still More Power Over Consumers Heather flagged this: Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds Items from The Economatrix: Global Exposure in Derivatives in Excess of One Quadrillion Dollars 24 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Chris O. sent this article, that came from of all places, GQ magazine: Could You Survive Without Money? Meet the Guy Who Does. “In Utah, a modern-day caveman has lived for the better part of a decade on zero dollars a day. People used to think he was crazy.”    o o o My Brother in Christ Bob G. this: Middle East atomic conflict would kill tens of millions: report    o o o Didn’t Joe Biden ever take OPSEC 101? It ‘s only a “secret bunker”, if you keep it a secret.    o o o The asking price …



Notes from JWR:

Thanks to the efforts of my agent, both Ulysses Press and Penguin books have reached separate agreements to make audio books of my novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” and my upcoming nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times.“ These will be produced by Brilliance Audio, the nation’s largest audio book company. The CDs and downloadable MP3 files should be available sometime in 2010. I will post details as soon as they become available. In other publishing news, Amazon.com now has the …


Three Letters Re: The Simple Reality of EMP — Different Than You Might Expect

Dear JWR, I read the EMP article by Andru and thought it very well done with one minor correction in the power generation area (worked in the nuclear power industry for 20 years before changing careers). The EMP E3 pulse is very dangerous to the transformers in the transmission and distribution system, and hydro-electric and nuclear will also be severely affected. Commercial generators of any output run at 8,000-10,000 volts which is fed immediately to step up transformers to feed the transmission system. The most common voltage for the transmission system is 250,000 to 500,000 volts (3 phase) which reduces …


Letter Re: A Multiple Family Retreat — Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Dear Mr. Rawles: I have been following several good reader contributions including “Bug Out At the Last Minute” arguments versus those who consider “Early Relocation” and most recently “A Multiple Family Retreat—Lessons Learned the Hard Way” in regards to the most expeditious and efficient way to set up a self-sufficient retreat. While I understand that some folks are just simply unable to make a full time commitment in setting up a retreat, I also know that there are many—while there are still the comforts of life available (television, readily available food and gasoline)—that are unwilling to make the sacrifice necessary …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

Global Swine Flu Deaths Top 700 “Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, has warned that swine flu will become the biggest flu pandemic ever seen.” Safety of Swine Flu Vaccine to Face Tough Scrutiny Swine Flu Brits to be Quarantined Little Girl 8th Swine Flu Victim in Columbia CBS 60 Minutes: 1976 Swine Flu: 300 Deaths From Vax, One Death From Flu Airlines To Ban Suspected Swine Flu Victims. Gee, that’s a timely move! First Vaccine for Foiling Swine to be Tested -The first human trials of a swine- flu vaccine are set to begin in Australia as deaths and infections from …


Economics and Investing:

I recently bookmarked the Total Investor blog. It is has become my favorite aggregation sites for economic and investing news. Yesterday, they featured a video clip: Marc Faber On CNBC: “Marc Faber is expecting an ‘ultimate crisis’ that will ‘clean the system. ‘If you pump money into the system and you create large fiscal deficits, you create volatility,’ Faber said’” Items from The Economatrix: Making Sense of Second Quarter Earnings, So Far “As you can see, a consumer retrenchment is happening here. And in my opinion, that is an even bigger story than the individual earnings reports or big profits …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader KAF wrote: “I was most interested and thankful for the recipes in the articles discussing making your own laundry detergent. I also could not find the ingredient Washing Soda. After some searching, I discovered that it is Sodium Carbonate (aka Soda Ash). Here is a bulk supplier for the powder. They also sell Borax (aka Sodium Borate). I’ve ordered some and I can’t wait to try my hand at this lab experiment!    o o o Blacksheep sent this: Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle. OBTW, let me know if your Kindle edition of “Patriots: A Novel of Survival …



Notes from JWR:

A segment on the Today US network television show on Tuesday morning featured SurvivalBlog regular Kathy Harrison (the author of the excellent preparedness primer Just in Case), and briefly showed the SurvivalBlog web page. Another three seconds of fame. Huzzah! — Just one week left! Ready Made Resources is continuing their special 25% off sale on case lots of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans, with free shipping to the Continental United States. Please don’t miss out on this sale, as they don’t happen very often. Place your order soon, since the sale ends next Wednesday.


Often-Overlooked Readiness: Preparing for Joy, by Carla

I am sitting here and it is raining, and raining and raining and… Four inches so far, nobody can water like God can! After our last rain, everything in the garden had a tremendous burst of energy. The dreary, raining day for some folks though, is especially depressing. I enjoy those occasional days, when I feel like I can actually sit down at the computer without feeling guilty because there is so much to do outside that I really shouldn’t be here. It got me to thinking again about “what if?” How can we defeat those occasional bouts of dreariness, …


Six Letters Re: Self-Sufficiency in England? Take the Gap

Hello Mr. Rawles, Thank you for taking the time to reply to my previous e-mail. I must confess your original post on your blog and your reply left me feeling somewhat bothered and a little defensive. I have been mulling this over all day and deep down I know the reason why, it’s because you are absolutely 100% right. My wife who makes my world go round could not leave her family, my son who has special needs is receiving very specialist care locally, my community, friends and neighbours who have worked this land for generations rely on me for …


Economics and Investing:

GG sent this article by Henry Blodget: Gary Shilling: Stock Market Will Crash as US Consumers Retrench Reader HPD sent a link to a recent post by Mish Shedlock: 500,000 Will Exhaust Unemployment Benefits by September, 1.5 Million by Year-end Desert T flagged this: As Boom Times Sour in Vegas, Upward Mobility Goes Bust Summers urges Banks to Lend Mores, Says Recovery Pace ‘in doubt.‘ Americans Pay Back Debts Most Since ’52 as Jobless Spur Savings More bodies go unclaimed as families can’t afford funeral costs. (First family pets, now family members) DD Sent these three items: Subprime brokers mutate …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Garnet sent this: China dust cloud circled globe in 13 days. Garnet notes that this is something to keep in mind for a variety of emerging threats, including Ug99 wheat rust.    o o o I was pleased to see that one of my recent blog articles was re-posted by The Silver Bear Cafe: The Nascent Depression: Be Ready to Barter and Adopt the Rhodesian View    o o o Guns are consistently “the great equalizer”. See these recent news articles: 82-year-old man kills invader and Child shoots intruder during home break-in, and Teen allegedly shoots and kills intruder.    …