Notes from JWR:

It seems that we are now all in the insurance business. For a mere $85+ billion “loan”, the Federal Reserve–backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury–just became a 80% stakeholder in AIG, the nation’s largest insurance company. Hmmmm… Just as I warned, the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) has grown again. Methinks this is going to get a lot worse, before it gets better. Who will we bail out next? Chase Manhattan Bank? General Motors? United Airlines? Chuck E. Cheese? Hey, no prob, we’ve got a big checkbook. The sky’s the limit. We’ll just create the …


Letter Re: Silver Canadian Leaf Bullion Coins

Jim, I’m getting ready to add to my collection of gold and silver coins and wanted to bring up a perhaps significant point: American Silver Eagles have a face value of $1, whereas the equivalent Canadian coin (the 1 ounce Maple Leaf) has a face value of $5 Canadian – about $4.65 USD at the current exchange rate. The face value represents a built-in stop-loss should silver prices fall through the floor for any reason. At current prices, the face value of the Canadian caps your potential loss at slightly higher than 50% whereas with the U.S. coin you could …


Letter Re: A Recent Gasoline Shortage Underscores the Need to Be Low Profile

Sir: I’ve been a reader of your site for only about a year and consider myself a beginner-level survivalist. I’ve got the mindset and start of some basic short-term survival gear and knowledge, but haven’t been able to convince the wife to go all out yet. A few months ago, you had posted an article about keeping your level of preparedness secret from neighbors and I wasn’t sure why until recently. I live in Middle Tennessee, and although we are hundreds of miles away from Hurricane Ike, we experienced a short run on gas and spike in prices. Probably close …


Letter Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hi Jim, We live in Columbus, Ohio and had 76 m.p.h. winds on Sunday. We have been without power until late today. Our neighborhood looks like a war zone. Many trees on homes and in yards. There is some good news in that we shared our generator with neighbors. Others in the neighborhood were doing the same. Some of the kids set up a barbeque stand and were selling hot dogs and hamburgers for cost. This helped many to have meals. Everyone helped to clear trees and limbs from the roads and yards. Schools are still closed for Wednesday and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Krys in Idaho flagged this one: Ike Holdouts To Be Forced From Home. Some comments from Krys: “This story shows the importance of two things: 1) Proper retreat location and2) Having multiple plans in place for multiple scenarios WTSHTF. Just because you plan to stay in place, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to.How many of these folks were perfectly able to weather the storm in place, but are being forced to move anyway, possibly at gun point? Food for thought.”    o o o Reader “M” sent us this: Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money. Money market accounts …



Notes from JWR:

Prompted by the clamorous economic headlines in the mainstream media, I’ve had numerous e-mails and phone calls from relatives and consulting clients, asking me “Is this it, Jim?” Please keep in mind that I’m not a prophet. I’m just a former spook that makes some empirical observations and draws some logical conclusions. But I can safely say that “it” appears to be a lot closer than it ever has been in my adult life. Be ready. Thanks to the generous folks at KI4U.com, the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction package in the auction that just started this week has been expanded, to …


Letter Re: Advice on Get Out of Dodge Vehicles

James: I have a question about cars: In making your G.O.O.D. vehicle, which would be considered safer, a modern car with front and side airbags, a modern car with airbags and a roll cage, a modern car with airbags disabled/removed and a roll cage, or an old muscle car without airbags but with roll cage? – SF in Hawaii JWR Replies: To begin, from what I’ve read, most of the professional drivers in the executive protection business drive with only the driver’s side airbags disabled. Based on what I’ve heard regarding what models are driven by the winners at demolition …


Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Fuel Conservation WTSHTF

Jim: To follow-up on my last e-mail, here are some random thoughts that I’d like to share on fuel conservation, for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF): Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) – Often used in the Third World to save fuel and time when treating drinking water. Water that is heated to 149 degrees for a short time is free from living microbes. Water does not have to be boiled for 10 minutes. A WAPI is a simple, small and low cost tube with a special soy wax that can show that water has reached a safe Pasteurization temperature. …


Letter Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Good Morning, Jim, And yes it is a good morning at that. I’m here in the suburbs of Ohio between Dayton and Cincinnati. Our power has returned. I read Larry in Cincinnati’s post this morning, and I know his thoughts and feelings all too well. Like him, we had the preparedness mind set already in place, and fared a bit better than some of our neighbors. I only caught the tail end of your interview on AM 700 WLW in Cincinnati in my truck as I was heading to work ( the company I work for is on a different …


Odds ‘n Sods:

If you feel like you’ve waited too long to Get Out of Dodge, and you need to buy a complete, turn-key retreat, then listen to this: I’ve personally visited a northern Idaho retreat that just went on the market, through our spin-off site: SurvivalRealty.com. This retreat has some very special features (most of which I’ve seen) that will be revealed only to qualified buyers.   o o o Eric sent us this: Japan Stocks Dive to 3-Year Low on Lehman, AIG Capital Concern. “[The] Nikkei closed early as the volume was approaching their load limits…”    o o o A …



Notes from JWR:

Warning: Today’s blog posts will exceed the Recommended Daily Allowance of Gloom and Doom. Congrats to Tom H., the high bidder in our recent SurvivalBlog benefit auction. Today we begin a new auction, for a mixed lot that includes: Special Mixed Vegetable Case-Six #10 Dehydrated Food Cans (Retail Price $105.95) This special Mixed Vegetable Case contains six #10 (96-ounce) cans–one can of each of the following: Mixed Vegetable Blend, Green Beans, Sweet Garden Peas, Mixed Peppers, Potato Dices, and Sweet Potatoes and a EZ-Towels 10 Pack Combo (10 bags of 50 towels. Retail value: $99.95). These items were donated by …


Dear Mr. Fuld: It’s The End of the World As We Know It

The recent news headlines about the investment banking crisis have answered the question that I often get from readers: “Why do you spend so much time talking about economics?” In my estimation, an economic crisis is the most likely trigger for a societal collapse, in the short term. The Lehman Brothers debacle is just a microcosmic preview of the global credit collapse. It is also a good illustration of the derivatives risk that I’ve been warning about for many years. How many times do I have to say this? The entire credit system is broken and it will be a …


A Quantum Leap Toward Socialism, by Michael Pento

Unfortunately, we Americans now realize that the decision by Ben Bernanke to slash the Fed Funds rate to 2% (a three hundred twenty five basis point reduction) was just the opening act in this Republican administration’s socialism play. At the time some wondered why the government didn’t just allow home prices fall to historical averages rather than seeking to lower the value of the U.S. dollar and send inflation to a 17-year high. Now we have learned just this past weekend that the Department of the Treasury has come up with a plan for conservatorship of the GSEs, enacting the …