Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It was on the Rütli Meadow that the Swiss Confederation was first formed on 1 August 1291. For 650 years, Swiss fighting men had earned the reputation as the most ferocious in Europe. Their determined refusal to live under the rule of foreign kings, was legendary. Most people know the story of William Tell, the hero who refused to bow before the Austrian governor Gessler. He was condemned to shoot an apple off the head of his 6-year old son at 120 paces. If he refused, both father and son would be executed. In a remarkable display of archery skill, …


Note from JWR:

A reminder that the deadline for entries for Round 4 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is May 31, 2006. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. There haven’t been may entries yet for this round, so your chances of being judged the winner are better in this round. Please e-mail me your entries, and I will post them.


More About Those Pesky CC&Rs

I’ve been doing some research this week for a consulting client this week, trying to find her an ideal retreat property. One 10 acre parcel I found looked promising, so I made some inquiries. I was told that the land was in a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) and that there were “a few” CC&Rs. So I asked, “How many?” and “Can you FAX me the CC&Rs to review?” The agent called back an hour later, and sheepishly told me: “I can’t FAX them to you, because I found out that the CC&R document runs 207 pages.” Needless to say, my client …


Letter Re: Update on Asian Avian Flu, by Rourke

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1716820 March 22, 2006 – why it’s not going human to human (yet) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4829858.stm Where is it now (map) http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_threats/com/Influenza/ai_recent_en.htm and http://www.birdflumap.com/ Note that there is a Yahoo group on this that John Locke hosts: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BIRDFLUWATCH/ I should also mention that a person on my group alerted me to this site on bird flu: http://www.fluwikie.com which has the most forthright presentation of what you can do and should consider as to hygiene that I have seen: http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Consequences.PersonalHygiene Regards, – Rourke


Letter Re: Springfield Armory XD Series Polymer Frame Pistols are the Ars Nova

Dear Jim: Well the Glock may finally have been outclassed in the self-defense pistol category! A diehard 1911 guy sings the praises of the XD for ergonomics and reliability, see this post at 1911.com. …and rates it BETTER than the Glock: “Both have polymer frames, are square and blocky, and have the little trigger flange safety thing. The sights and trigger on the Glock are plastic; they are steel on the XD. I think the trigger and grip on the XD is better. The XD has a grip safety like the 1911; the Glock does not. The XD pistols tend …


Odds ‘n Sods:

As a follow-up to our recent item on surplus Titan missile bases, a reader spotted this fly-in dream home/bunker for New Yorkers: http://www.silohome.com. The asking price is a cool $2.3 Million. OBTW, please don’t bug Bruce James with any questions unless you are a sincere, qualified, potential buyer. And if you do you buy the place, tell Mr. James that Jim Rawles from SurvivalBlog sent you, and hopefully I’ll get a nice little “non-agent” commission.)    o o o Financial analyst Puru Saxena warns “Cash is Trash.”    o o o It is hardly a news flash for SurvivalBlog readers, …



Letter Re: Accelerating Prices for Copper and Zinc–A U.S. Penny Now Costs 1.4 Cents

Jim, Just one more note regarding the rising cost of metals, especially copper in the market – I sent an earlier message regarding recycling cartridge brass (which contains copper) instead of stockpiling copper, but now the New York Times notes in a Saturday brief: “Price of a Penny Could Exceed a Cent – What happens if a penny is worth more than one cent? That is an issue the U.S. Mint could soon face if the price of metals keeps rising. The cost of the metal in a penny has climbed to almost one cent. Add in the cost of …


Letter Re: Countdown to Collapse

Jim: I think we now have another way to compute the countdown to the collapse of our society as we know it. Several months ago I read on one of the economic web sites, we both visit, that for every penny the price of fuel goes up $1,400,000 per day is sucked out of the consumer economy. With oil at $74 per barrel today and the PENAC people pushing for another Middle East war, this one with Iran, we are looking at oil reaching $125 per barrel or higher as soon as this dumb war starts. This translates to $5.25 …


Letter Re: A Good Source for Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs)

Jim: Here is the best place by far that I have found when it comes to quality BDUs and good prices: www.BDU.com. I have ordered from them in the past, and the next time I order I’m going to tell them about SurvivalBlog.- Gung Ho JWR Adds: For any SurvivalBlog readers that live in sagebrush country, I highly recommend the new U.S. Army gray-green “digital” camouflage pattern. You will blend in very well in sagebrush. The only drawback is that these uniforms have some Velcro closures which are noisy.


Kate “Short Fuse” Incontrera of The Daily Reckoning on The Next Great Depression

We asked you this week, dear reader: What will the next Great Depression bring? How will Americans survive in our day-to-day lives? The responses to this not-so-hypothetical query continue to clog up our inbox, which doesn’t surprise us. What does surprise us, however, is how united our readers are on this subject. Not one message lamented on how strong our economy is right now, and how we are fools for even bringing up the possibility of another Great Depression. Each e-mail portrayed how real this idea is to Americans – that something this bad could be right around the corner. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Spot silver is down to around $12.00 on profit taking. If you haven’t already diversified into precious metals, then I recommend that you buy on these dips. The long term trend is definitely upward. (See the six month and one year charts at Kitco.)    o o o “My Night with The Minutemen” by Bryanna Bevens    o o o Hurricane Katrina, first hand evacuation experiences    o o o Gary Duncan of the Times of London on Avoiding an Economic Earthquake    o o o The Kiplinger Letter has made the following energy price forecasts: Crude oil early July …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Chinese President Hu Jintao didn’t mince words: China’s currency will stay where it is. For the second time in less than a year Asia’s No. 2 economy outmaneuvered the world’s biggest on the yuan. Last July, China announced a negligible 2.1 percent increase in its currency’s value versus the dollar. This week Hu, on his first official U.S. visit, didn’t budge amid Bush’s concerns an undervalued yuan is costing the U.S. jobs.” – William Pesek, in a recent editorial for Bloomberg.com


Note from JWR:

My sincere thanks to those of you that have kindly subscribed for $3 per month as part of the 10 Cent Challenge. To eke out a living as a full time blogger, I need at least another 200 subscribers. If you find what you read here has some value, please do your bit. BTW, if you already have a PayPal account, subscribing takes less than a minute. By clicking on the PayPal button above, you can automatically bill your credit card or PayPal balance for a monthly charge of $3.00. Many Thanks!


Letter Re: New Routes for the Next Houston Hurricane Evacuation

Jim, Between work and studies, I came across an article in my local newspaper about new evacuation routes for the Houston area during hurricane season. I stayed out of the last one, but came real close to riding my bike to College Station, our evac[uation] rendezvous point. I don’t think the police would have taken kindly to someone riding down the highway on a Schwinn with a Remington 870 on his back. Anyway, the article got me thinking about the gridlock people suffered and the ensuing confusion that lasted for a couple of days. If I didn’t see anything on …