Odds ‘n Sods:

Abraham”s new blog on suburban survival looks like it is off to a great start. His most recent post selecting “Get Home Bag” contents was excellent. (A hat tip to the gents over at Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest (TSLRF), for the link to Abraham’s blog)    o o o Our friend Commander Zero up in Montana recently had a very well-reasoned post on handgun proficiency that quotes my mentor, Mel Tappan: Standard Controllability Test    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that after some record sales, they are now down to just 30 of the used water-tight …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. … And what country can preserve its liberties, if it’s rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and …


Letter Re: Deflation Followed by Mass Inflation?

Dear Jim I agree with Michael that deleveraging, the reduction in credit, means falling price levels in the short run – but not for 4 or 5 years! He wrote: “Credit can be destroyed. If the value of your house goes down by $100,000, then that $100,000 is just gone. It doesn’t exist any more. It is not in the money supply. This is deflationary” Back to basic definitions – inflation is an increase in the money supply, deflation is a decrease in the money supply. Generally inflation leads to rising prices, and deflation to falling prices. The price of …


Five Letters Re: Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Sir, Be advised, Cabela’s here in Fort Worth, Texas is sold out on all ammo except 22 LR and shotgun shells. A friend who went there today was amazed to find all ammo shelves emptied. The last time I went there (shortly before the election) the place was a mad house. Standing room only, many people turned down on their background checks (or delayed). I considered myself lucky to get in and out of there in an hour. I got my new toy, no problem and plenty of ammo “at sale price”. Cheaper Than Dirt’s prices have doubled or tripled. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A correction to yesterday’s post: There were actually two bank failures announced by the FDIC on Friday. Here a link to the announcement of the second one.    o o o Lead bullets under fire    o o o Lee C. sent this: On Concerns Over Gun Control, Gun Sales Are Up    o o o The latest reading selections from Cheryl, our Economista: Automakers Struggle to Survive Past Mistakes — GM Could Be Bankrupt in a Matter of Months — China May See Severe Economic Slowdown — Latvia takes over 2nd largest bank as crisis hits — US Jobs …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“For a quarter century, those who recalled Charles Mackay’s [non-fiction book] Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and its many successors, and pointed out that uncontrolled speculation always ends the same dismal way, were told that they ought to shut up until they learned something about economics. Sober warnings from distinguished scholars were drowned out by a chorus of cheerleading, while less prestigious voices were pushed out to the fringes of the blogosphere. What is now painfully clear is that those marginalized voices were right all along, and their warnings could have spared us a massive economic disaster …


Notes from JWR:

We are pleased to welcome four new advertisers: Mara Helland & Co., P.C., PreparednessChristmasGifts.com, Carter Cutlery, and Milk on the Moove: Here are brief introductions: Mara Helland & Co., P.C. – Mara is a CPA that specializes in discreet accounting and tax services for clients throughout the US and for Americans ex-pats abroad. She works from her home in western Montana. PreparednessChristmasGifts.com – Offering a wide range of preparedness products. Carter Cutlery – Murray Cater is an Oregon-based master blade maker, who had 18 years of training in Japan. His knives are both eminently practical and pieces of art. Milk …


Letter Re: A Suggested Checklist for Preparedness Newbies

Here’s a beginner’s list I made for my [elderly] father today: Food {Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh. No, Crisco doesn’t count. Coconut oil would be your best bet. Wheat berries – 400 pounds – bulk order at your local health food store Beans – 400 pounds – bulk order at your local health food store Mylar bags Spices Salt Country Living grain mill propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them. Water 500 gallons of water …


Letter Re: Deflation Possibly Followed by Mass Inflation?

Jim, I believe that we are in for deflation, not inflation. A simple error that most people make when considering this topic is language related: When discussing actions of the Fed they talk about ‘printing’ money. Well, the Fed (actually the Treasury) hardly ‘prints’ any money at all. In Zimbabwe they print money. Lots of money with lots of zeroes. Here, they just increase the number of zeroes in a computer. The difference is profound. When there is a lot of currency floating around then people use it to buy stuff. More currency with higher values means more currency chasing …


Odds ‘n Sods:

“Nines” sent us this: Another Friday, Another Bank Collapse.    o o o You probably saw this announcement last month: Bush Calls Economic Summit for November 15. This could portend a new financial order announcement by the G20, either at this meeting or at their next one, early in 2009. I suspect that the US Dollar will lose its primacy as a reserve currency. As the Chartist Gnome told me “this will likely go far beyond ‘a new Bretton Woods.’” A country with these numbers, and these numbers, and these numbers, and these numbers cannot negotiate from a position of …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

‘If we find our government in all its branches rushing headlong… into the arms of monarchy, if we find them violating our dearest rights, the trial by jury, the freedom of the press, the freedom of opinion, civil or religious, or opening on our peace of mind or personal safety the sluices of terrorism, if we see them raising standing armies, when the absence of all other danger points to these as the sole objects on which they are to be employed, then indeed let us withdraw and call the nation to its tents. But while our functionaries are wise, …


Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $600. This auction is for a mixed lot that includes: 1.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com 2.) A custom-made, fully-stocked EMS Medic Bag from Cajun Safety and Survival (a $212 retail value) 3.) A NukAlert radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value) 4.) A case (6 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 (96 ounce) cans donated by Ready Made Resources (a $160 value) 5.) An autographed …


Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Regarding my recommendation to stock up on full capacity magazines, reader David B. noted this in an e-mail yesterday morning: “[The discount mail order dealer] Cheaper Than Dirt [is] already gouging us based on our fear of Obama being elected. Overnight, their price for Mag-Pul [brand AR-15/M16] magazines went from $15.97 each to $29.97 each. Wow. They just lost my business forever.” David’s note intrigued, me, so I just spent some time at the Cheaper Than Dirt (CTD) web site and compared their new prices with their latest hard copy catalog (dated November, 2008). Here is a brief sampling: Glock …


Letter Re: Some Changes in American Wholesale Food Distribution

James, I have a good friend who is an executive in the "food distribution business". They supply restaurants, schools, hospitals, day care centers, nursing homes,,,,,the large quantity food purchasers. This past week at their annual sales meeting, they were informed of coming changes. #1–Most food has been delivered in #10 [96-ounce] or one gallon size cans. [The rolled steel for] most of these cans[is] made in China and the cost has increased dramatically in the past several months because of rising steel prices. Effective December 1, the price on an individual empty #10 can is increasing by about 75 cents …


Letter Re: Did Western Civilization Actually Peak Around 1970?

Jim, I wanted to comment on something that was mentioned near the end of the Utah home break-in article: The author hit on the idea that TEOTWAWKI already took place in the late 1960s. Possibly some gifted insight. I’m a member of a regional Peak Oil group. (I originally joined this group a few years ago, in order to learn food-growing skills: You’ve always suggested getting with various groups, in order to learn skills), we’ve begun a spin off group meeting–a ‘meeting of the minds’ so to speak, involving predictive analysis, regarding the collapse of the current civilization. We were …