Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric mentioned this article: Windowsill herb growing    o o o Susan Z. flagged this one: ECB council member foresees ‘tri-polar’ currency system    o o o From our Economic Editor: Dow Up 413 On Signs Of Recovering Credit Market — Momentum Builds For New Package To Boost The Economy — Merrill Lynch To Cut Thousands Of Jobs — Bush Advisor Says “Parts of U.S.” Are In Recession —Turmoil May Make Americans Savers, Worsening ‘Nasty’ Recession — Options Pointing To $50 Per Barrel Oil — Banks Braced For Lehman Bros. Insurer’s Deadline — US Highly Inflationary Monetary Growth Will Lead …



Note from JWR:

In today’s first article, I digress from the usual fare in SurvivalBlog to discuss American politics. You may have noticed that I generally refrain from politics in SurvivalBlog. I only make exceptions for political issues that have a direct bearing on the preparedness and/or liberty of a good portion of the SurvivalBlog readership. Our overseas readers might want to skip reading this article. But be forewarned that in the nascent Second Great Depression, you might be faced with similar situations in your own countries.


Letter Re: Advice on Concealing Storage Food

Hi Jim, I’ve researched the net in vain trying to find a solution to this problem, which I suspect I share with a great many people now prepping. I’m hoping you can help. The challenge: Where to hide my food stores? My situation: I live 10 miles from a city of 80,000 in a residential neighborhood. I live at the foot of a small mountain—the area behind my house is woods. I don’t own all of this wooded property, but I’ve never seen the owner. I have significant stores of canned goods, dried oats and beans, flour, sugar, etc. I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Matt in Texas recommended a piece by Sam Mathid posted over at 321Gold.com as a “must read”: It is Time    o o o Writing in a recent issue of The Rude Awakening, economic commentator Joel Bowman notes: “From October 10 through October 17, the Dow [Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)] swung a total of 2,225 points at five separate closes. Put another way, that’s an average daily swing, at the close, of 455 points. This is territory of a tumult as yet not encountered in the history of the market. Measured by the volatility index [VIX], otherwise known as Wall …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“…While every bank tries to pass the toxic parcel on to somebody else, the system has to find the money. So will compensation for the near valueless contracts and thus now uninsured debt ultimately be made – and by whom? And because nobody knows – not the regulators, banks or governments – who owns the swaps and whether they are credit-worthy, nobody can answer the question. Maybe holders of insurance policies will get the cash due to them, but will that weaken somebody else? The result – panic. This is the ultra-dangerous downward vortex in which the system is locked. …


Notes from JWR:

We are pleased to welcome a couple of new advertisers: UR-2B-Prepared.com (distributors of the very useful Hydrion fuel test strips), and EM Gear (sellers of a broad line of preparedness and outdoor gear.) You may recall that EM Gear was previously a SurvivalBlog advertiser. They are back on board, now with an even larger inventory! Today’s first letter comes from Mr. Yankee, whom you may remember from the SurvivalBlog Retreat Owner Profiles.


Letter Re: 11th Hour Preparations: It is Not Too Late to Start

Jim: It is not too late to prepare for the hard times that are coming. But time is short, so I am going to be brutally blunt. Prices are going up. If you don’t already expect double digit inflation, you haven’t been paying attention. If you are just realizing that you need to prepare for the future, forget buying barter goods. Forget precious metals to swap for what others may be willing to sell. The idea of buying things so that you can swap them for other goods or services later is bad policy. That’s right. I’m advocating that you …


Letter Re: Advice on Driveway Alarms for Retreat Security

Mr. Rawles, Thanks for the perimeter defense blog today. Can you please give me your opinion on driveway alarms? There are some cool units I found at drivewayalarmdepot.com. They have units that are wireless and reach out to 3,000 feet. I think they also have a unit that reaches out a mile. Are these infrared units suitable to serious perimeter defense? Thanks, – RP JWR Replies: By all means do comparison pricing, but you should beware of the driveway alarms that are made in China. From most reports they are shoddy and unreliable. (Most of them are not truly weatherproof.) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I spotted a link for a brief video introduction to Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Note that the map of near-surface geothermal heating potential coincides with a lot of my recommended retreat areas.    o o o Courtesy of Cheryl, our dose of Gloomage d’ jour: Lehman Tries To Unwind Derivatives Trade — Bush Plans To Host World Summit To Discuss Financial Crisis Response — NYT: Probe Of Lehman Collapse Escalates — Bleak Economic Outlook For Spain — Mervyn’s To Close 149 Locations — Linen ‘n Things Closing All Remaining Stores — Ron Paul: Our Current Monetary System Is Ending — …



Notes from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $350. 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 …


Good Compsec Practices for Preppers, by T.

Compsec is a subset of OPSEC that is concerned with computer security. It can not be ignored if you plan to use computers now and after a SHTF situation. The personal computer is a powerful tool to help cope with any disaster or survival situation. The capacity for enormous data storage in a very small footprint makes it a valuable resource when the grid and net go down. You will have all the information you need at your finger tips; first aid and medical info, maps and topography, equipment and firearms manuals, personal records and pictures, and the list goes …


Letter Re: Suddenly Homeless on the Potomac–Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

Jim & Company, I thought that I would communicate an interesting story for your web blog. As I write this, I’m holed up in campground/RV park near the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan area. How I got here was totally unexpected. My roommate is female, a former army buddy and suffers from chronic depression—maybe bi polar disorder. We maintained a platonic cohabitation for two months until she swore a Temporary Peace Order against me because she felt “threatened”. In the liberal pest hole of Maryland, that’s all it takes. No battery, assault or actual threats—I just yelled at her to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A not-so-subtle indicator of future events?: Baltic Dry Index Collapsing. The article begins with this quote: “Nothing is moving because the trader doesn’t want to take the risk of putting cargo on the boat and finding that nobody can pay.”    o o o Here is some news and commentary from our Economic editor: Stocks Turn Higher As Credit Markets Show Signs Of Easing — Citi Group’s $13 Billion Writedown Raises Fears of a Crisis Beyond Wall Street — US Worsening Economic Outlook — Hedge Fund 42% Drop, Brink Of Collapse — Dow Gold Ratio Sinks To 14-Year Low — …