“Terminator” and “Jericho”–Science Fiction as a Preparedness Motivational Tool

The new science fiction television show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will premiere in the US on Sunday (January 13, 2008) at 8 p.m. (and will be repeated the following evening.) Thenceforth, it will air on Mondays at 9 PM. I watched an early reviewers’ edit of the pilot episode, and I was impressed–particularly with the special effects. Oddly, I found the Terminatrix “Cameron” played by Summer Glau more captivating that the lead characters–Sarah Connor and her son John. (You may remember Summer Glau as “River Tam” from the short-lived but highly-acclaimed “Firefly” television series and its spin-off “Serenity” movie.) …


Letter Re: Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food Prices to Soar

Jim, You may have noted the article titled Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food Prices to Soar, before and I missed it. The article [by Dana Joel Gattuso a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research–a conservative think tank] is very interesting. I can’t vouch for the veracity of the report, or the organization, however, it doesn’t do anything to lessen my fears that any congressional involvement in the energy business only makes things worse. Here are a few scary quotes from the article: ” …ethanol requires enormous quantities of water, a valuable resource …


Letter Re: Grandpappy’s Pemmican Recipe – A Native American Indian Survival Food

Sir, I must say that I do not recommend the gentleman’s pemmican recipe. Unless he adds sodium nitrite and brines the meat, sickness can occur. From the USDA: “Salmonella not only survives drying but also becomes more heat resistant with drying and is more of an issue in non-fermented dried meats, such as jerky, and whole meat cuts, such as dried hams. Starter cultures are generally not used in the production of jerky. Microbial hazards include Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and, for beef and venison jerky, E. coli O157:H7. If the product receives inadequate lethality treatment and is insufficiently …


Letter Re: Home Canning Your Garden Produce and Meat

Hello, I’ve seen several mentions of sealing home canned food with wax, most recently in the email from Troy H. My grandmother did this for jams and jellies, which she put up with enough sugar to preserve them even without canning. The wax seal was intended to keep the jam from drying out, and to stop mold from forming on the top. It would too often fail, and we would find mold growing under the wax. I suspect that it failed to seal more often than the mold grew, too! I would very strongly advise against using a wax “seal” …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

Wintertime Retreat Shopping -Part II In a recent edition of the Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update, I covered the winter access issue relating to getting into your retreat after an event during the winter months, now let’s cover how to shop for your retreat during the winter. When traveling to shop for your retreat during the winter months there are several issues which you’ll be dealing with when your boots hit the ground. First and foremost realizing that not every listing agent can force their sellers to plow the driveway to the property will help keep you calm. Recently, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A bit of “I told you so” for my friend Fred, who claimed that he had “missed the boat” when gold got up past $550 per ounce. I have been begging him to diversify into some silver and gold, ever since gold was around $345 per ounce. Yesterday, (Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008), spot gold spiked briefly to $895 per ounce and spot silver shot up to $16.21 per ounce. There will surely be a lot a volatility–including some scary dips–but the long term trend is almost certainly up for all of the precious metals. Buy on the dips, folks.    …




Grandpappy’s Pemmican Recipe – A Native American Indian Survival Food

2

Pemmican is a Native American Indian survival food that has a very long shelf life and it requires no refrigeration. It is similar to a Granola Bar except it contains no artificial preservatives. It is a compact energy source that contains protein, fiber, fat, carbohydrates, natural fruit sugars, vitamins, and minerals. It also tastes great because it is a simple combination of meat jerky and your favorite dried fruit. To make pemmican you only need three basic ingredients: 1. lean meat, 2. animal fat, and 3. fruit or berries. Pemmican has several very important and desirable characteristics: 1. It uses …


Letter Re: Home Canning Your Garden Produce and Meat

Howdy! I appreciate the SurvivalBlog site and loved your novel “Patriots”. Keep up the good work! Let’s assume TSHTF in a long term way. Let’s further assume you have made reasonable preparations for food, both stored food, and open pollinated seeds for future gardens. How do you store all this future food? Freezing will be iffy since the electricity may become unreliable. It only takes a few days to ruin a freezer full of meat and veggies. Drying can be effective for some, but not all foods. It’s a very time consuming to prepare the food, and it has to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

“The Other Jim R.” sent us this: Goldman Sachs sees recession in 2008. Since this recession was triggered by a global credit collapse rather than just a typical market cycle swing, the recession could be deep and long. (There is even the outside chance of it worsening into a full blown depression.) The nascent recession will also doubtless make the post-Housing Bubble period much longer and deeper. Be ready.    o o o Thanks to WW for spotting this article: Shortwave infrared: Next-generation night vision    o o o Steve in Pennsylvania flagged this BBC story: South Asia Hit With …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I have had a taste of it myself, and it’s mighty bitter. A debt is a debt, whether it’s margins or mortgages; and debts are all the same, no matter how you try to camouflage ’em. You never get much out of ’em except trouble. On the farm or in Wall Street, if you use the other fellow’s money, it costs you a lot more than it’s worth.” – Sue Sanders Our Common Herd, 1940


Letter Re: Sources for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet

James: K.L. in Alaska has presented a lot of interesting sources for information. I’ve noticed that you tend to link Wikipedia a lot when discussing various topics, I thought I would point out that there is a DVD with [a snapshot of] all of the English Wikipedia articles. It is a good general reference that can be viewed and searched offline when the Internet is not available. There also exists a Wikipedia free DVD download site, but it’s only a small part of the depth that the whole database has to offer. Great job on the blog! – Bman in …


Two Letters Re: Seed Catalogs and Heirloom Seeds

Sir; I saw your post on The Memsahib’s collection of seed catalogs coming so soon. The reason for this is a simple one: to get your plants to a respectable size, and in the ground after the threat of frost has gone, they must be sent to the customers as early as possible to allow proper selection by the customer, mail processing time, order fulfillment, return processing, and in the case of some seeds, proper germination time before setting out into the garden. I know these things, because I have started a few gardens from seed before. This all plays …


Letter Re Advice on Valmet .308 Rifles and Magazines

Dear Jim: I need your advice. Years ago, when it appeared likely that some type of an ‘assault weapon’ ban would be enacted, I began to look for a semi-automatic rifle which would be suitable for hunting, but which would also possess the absolute reliability and durability of a military weapon. I wanted something which wouldn’t look too ‘threatening’ to people who were not comfortable around military-style firearms, and something a bit more powerful, with greater penetrating ability and longer range than typical .223 based weapons. I settled on a little-known rifle, the .308 Hunter made by Valmet Company of …