Odds ‘n Sods:

As reported by The Daily Reckoning: “The Central Bank of Zimbabwe announced this week that henceforth inflation would be illegal. Anyone who raises prices will be arrested.” Do they honestly believe that they can put the brakes on a 1,200% per annum inflation rate, by decree? The Zimbabwean government is beyond corrupt, and beyond incompetent. Comrade Mugabe and his band of fools from the ZANU-PF must go!   o o o RBS mentioned this news story at CNN.com: Vagrant: “We killed for scrap metal, hid bodies in manholes.” Human nature hasn’t changed. When times get really hard, you can expect …




Letter Re: Questions on Multipurpose Home Shelters

Sir: I live in Georgia and we have more than our share of tornados. We usually go to the basement to my office during storms but I’ve decided that even though it’s underground on 3 sides, with only 3/4 plywood and sheet rock between us and the garage doors that it is no longer a viable option. I’ve looked at FEMA plans and I’ve scratched my head and come up with this idea but wanted to kind of say it out loud to someone to see if it sounds too crazy. The back part of the basement is almost completely …


Two Letters Re: Pondering Some Personal Consequences of Global Climate Change

Jim, I have been reluctant to comment on the climate change hysteria, but the recent letter by Hawaiian K was too much. There are several important facts to remember on this topic: 1) We don’t have enough data to determine whether we are in a long-term warming trend, or in a counter-cyclical move in a long term cooling trend. Lot’s of people have ‘data’ but no ‘facts’ have been established. Remember in the 1970’s how the next ice age was right around the corner? 2) Even if we do happen to be in a warming trend at the moment, there …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Flagged by HPF (one of our regular content contributors): Retired CIA Energy Analyst’s Latest Comments on Peak Oil   o o o There are just 6 days left in the big “Container load sale” at Survival Enterprises. Many items have already sold out. Don’t dawdle on this one, folks! All of the storage food items are “first come – first served.” The prices are less than half of retail.    o o o It is nice to see that silver has come out of its doldrums and appears to be back on its long term bull market trajectory. (At the …



Note from JWR:

For those of you that have been waiting, we just received another 10 copies of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by the late Carla Emery. This book is a “must” for the bookshelf of every well-prepared family. See my mail order catalog for details.


Letter Re: Firearm Chamber Adapters

Hi Jim, I found an article in the latest issue of “The Backwoodsman” magazine that talked about using chamber adapters to employ different caliber ammunition in single shot, and over-and-under [rifle/shotgun combination gun]s like the Savage 24V. Here’s the [MCA Sports] web site mentioned in the article that sells the adapters: http://www.mcace.com/adapters.htm It seems like a neat idea to have the capability to convert a firearm to shoot different types of ammo that might be scrounge during a long term TEOTWAWKI . Do you think there is any merit in investing in chamber adapters? Or would it be wiser to …


Two Letters Re: Pondering Some Personal Consequences of Global Climate Change

Jim, With regards to the recent flurry of postings on Global Warming (I prefer this term to the Frank Luntz, focus group tested “climate change”, which is designed to remove anxiety about the issue and thereby stifle any action on it), I wanted to clear up some common misunderstandings that have been intentionally spread around to confuse folks. I live very close to the laboratory on the slopes of Mauna Loa that first discovered the Global Warming trend over 30 years ago. After a long search for truth on the subject, I’ve come to understand that climate scientists are dealing …


Odds ‘n Sods:

“Kon Tiki” recommended this article from Tom Feeley’s Information Clearinghouse Blog: The Great Dollar Crash of ‘07   o o o From CometGold.com comes this disturbing news story: Strange Visitors at Barrett Firearms.    o o o Our friend JB in Tennessee recommend this site: www.urbansurvival.com, and its sister site, www.independencejournal.com (The former is heavy on economics, while latter has more of emphasis on frugal living and self-sufficiency.)



Special Note from JWR:

The folks that sell preparedness products have reported a sales slump for the past several months, as Americans have gone into “cocooning” mode and curtailed their discretionary spending. (On everything, it seems, except big screen televisions.) Consequently, that has meant that several of our advertisers have scaled back their advertising budgets. We presently have room for several more advertisers, including a special “nailed up” top of the ad stack position–that is, an ad that will stay fixed above all of the scrolling ads. If you contact any potential advertisers, please ask them to get a SurvivalBlog banner ad. My advertising …


Letter from Matt Bracken Re: Blue Water Sailing as a Retreat Option?, by CMC

Hi Jim, I read today’s offering with great interest. There is no point in trying to resolve the debate on boats vs. land retreats (“the army of maneuver vs. the army of the fortress”) as this is all a matter of personal conjecture and preferences. However, I would suggest that for those folks who live in a coastal area where if the balloon goes up their home location may be untenable, and their highway escape as well, a boat does provide at least a viable mid-term option. Many areas of our Atlantic and Gulf coasts have most of the people …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Security for Unattended Retreats

Jim, I have parts of my home secured with a trip wire activated pepper spray device called ‘The Burglar Bomb” a.k.a. AB-2000 by Revel Technology Inc. This device with contaminate a 2,000 sq. ft. area when activated, and will most certainly repel all but the most determined. Revel Tech also has a couple more advanced devices that are infrared triggered. I am not affiliated with the company other than being a satisfied customer. I thought this might be a great non-lethal option for folks that have unattended retreats or pre-positioned storage facilities to secure. Combined with the stealth motion activated …