Odds ‘n Sods:

Kirk flagged this Business Week piece: Bad Omens for Banks?–News from KeyCorp suggests U.S. banks’ loan losses may worsen. Is the credit crisis hitting a second, even scarier phase? The global credit crisis is worsening. Take steps to protect yourself.    o o o Thanks to Dave S. for sending this: US rail network facing congestion ‘calamity’    o o o My recent mention of health concerns about synthetic sweeteners (such as Nutrasweet and Splenda) prompted readers Chris D., Kim, and EMW to all remind me to mention the herbal sweetener, Stevia rebaudiana. It is a safe, natural sweetener derived …



Note from JWR:

The judging was difficult because we had so many great entries. But after much deliberation we decided that the first place winner of Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is KLK for her article “How To Prepare for Radiation Emergencies”. She has won two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second place goes to B.H. for his article “Safe Food Handling”. He will receive a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing Three Honorable Mention prizes go to NC Bluedog for …


Letter Re: An Importer’s Insights on the Canned Tuna Market

Hi James I am in the import food business and one of the products that I sell is canned tuna. I know that a lot of survivalists have canned tuna in their larder and thought I might be able to provide some useful information. There are four species of tuna that are sold in cans; skipjack, tongol, yellowfin and albacore. Skipjack is the cheapest and Albacore the most expensive. I have been selling tuna for about 20 years and over the last two years, have seen the raw material prices double. Normally, prices go up and then back down, as …


Letter Re: Physical Gold Versus Electronic Gold

Mr Rawles, The letter from the gent who recommends investing in synthetic gold startled me. Prior to the Great Depression my family was very wealthy. My great-great grandfather, was an assemblyman from New York State who [had] moved to the backwoods of Pennsylvania and built what was at one time the largest tannery on the east coast. The family also owned a large hotel, at least two other tanneries, a general store and a gristmill. When his son took over the reins of the family wealth he invested the bulk of it in silver stock. When the stock market crashed …


Letter Re: A Combustion Temperature Reference

Hello James: I came across these ignition temperatures in a reference book and thought they might be of use to others,. This may be useful for whatever folks may be doing with flammable materials or fuels at their retreat or at home. All ignition temperatures noted are in Fahrenheit: Cut Newspaper 446 degrees Cut filter paper 450 degrees Straw and sawdust 450 to 500 degrees Gasoline 536 to 800 degrees depending on octane rating Kerosene 480 degrees Natural Gas 1,000 to 1,200 degrees Propane 871 degrees Butane 806 degrees Paints and Lacquers (the flammable part isn’t the pigment, although the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bill from Ohio sent this: Hunger Prompting Desperate Acts    o o o Reader David D. mentioned this article by Ellen Brown: The Secret Bailout of JP Morgan. One is naturally led to ask: Cui bono?    o o o Elisha R. mentioned a handy state of Texas PDF on rainwater catchment    o o o CDR sent us this link: China quake survivors scavenge amid the ruins–They search for scrap metal to sell so they can buy food for their families


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“JP Morgan has assets of $1.6 trillion and equity of $126 billion. They seem reasonably well-capitalized at 7.6%. We just hope that there’s no problems in their almost $92 trillion derivative exposure that is more than 50 times their assets and, more importantly, greater than 700 times their equity. We hope them to be well-matched, but if they are even the tiniest bit wrong, their equity could be wiped out as their equity represents just 0.13% of their gross derivative exposure.” – Steven Romick, writing in Agora Financial’s Rude Awakening e-newsletter, May, 2008


Letter Re: Physical Gold Versus Electronic Gold

Dear Mr. Rawles: You are clearly (and presciently) on the record as recommending the purchase of precious metals, ahead of the current inflationary cycle. Congratulations on that excellent macro call. But I believe you also recommend holding the physical commodity rather than synthetic ownership through an exchange traded fund/note. This makes less sense to me. As an economic hedge against fiat currency deflation, synthetic gold has lower transaction costs since you don’t have to pay for the transport of the gold, the retail broker markup, or the non-gold coinage aspects of value that are embedded into Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, and …


Letter Re: Can I Burn Home Heating Oil or Kerosene in a Diesel Engine?

James: Your article today about diesel vehicles still providing long term cost savings was quite interesting. The question I have, and perhaps [shared by] some of your readers is this: is home heating oil and kerosene acceptable fuel for a diesel engine? – Thanks, – Jim G. JWR Replies: Home heating oil burns fine in any diesel engine, but in may countries it is not legal to do so in a vehicle that is driven on public roads. This is a “road tax” issue. Aside for a red dye additive, the formulation of home heating oil is almost identical to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From reader RBS: Buffett sees “long, deep” U.S. recession    o o o Mike W. sent us a link to a piece written by one of my heroes, Dr. Walter E. Williams: False prophets of doom–Environmentalists would prefer that we forget these predictions    o o o I was doing some web surfing, and a stumbled into a great collection of photos of Swiss bunkers.    o o o While the Novovirus threat is subsiding with warmer weather, Rourke sent us an article about a new threat, a bacteria called C-diff: Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Unfortunately, solving our economic problems is not a simple matter of passing a law to reestablish gold or any other commodity as money. It was not the politicians, but rather the electorate that demanded the abandonment of the gold standard and the establishment of a credit-money standard. In a nation run by majority rule, unless you can convince individuals to abandon the use of government as a sword of theft, gold or any other commodity will never last as the basis for money. A gold standard is not the cause of a stable economy, it is the result of a …


Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. is now at $650. This big auction is for any of you that are gun enthusiasts. It includes 17 items: A four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate, which was kindly donated by Naish Piazza of Front Sight (worth up to $2,000), a $200 gift certificate from Choate Machine and Tool Company (the makers of excellent fiberglass stocks, folding stocks, and shotgun magazine extensions), $450+ worth of full capacity magazines from my personal collection including five scarce original Ruger-made 20 round Mini-14 magazines and five scarce 20 round Beretta M92 magazines, …


Some Preparations that You Might Have Overlooked, by Tim G.

Some of the things I will mention might have been covered before, but it never hurts to mention them again. Some readers might have missed them. I can tell you from experience that people will tease you about your preparations, but when something happens they will come calling. My own brother borrowed my new-in-box chainsaw and my [12 VDC] jump starting [battery pack] to light up the area so that he could saw in hours of darkness. I told him to keep the jump pack charged. Several months later I got the chainsaw and jump pack back. The saw will …


Lady Liberty Liberty Has a Hollow Core

The best known symbol of the United States is the Statue of Liberty. It was a gift from the people of France, with a framework designed by Gustave Eiffel. (Yes, the same gent that designed the Eiffel Tower.) Eiffel’s Liberty statue armature design was clever, and made the statue an amazingly lightweight for a structure that towers 151 feet tall. Rather than a traditional solid masonry statue, Lady Liberty is built on a hollow framework to which copper sheets are attached. I have recently come to realize that the Statue of Liberty is a fitting symbol for the United States …