From David in Israel Re: An American Ex-Pat Community in Israel, and CONEX House Conversions

Jim: Here are some links that you might find of interest, regarding Karnei Shomron. [From the web page: “Atop Ginot Shomron is a charming neighborhood known as “Neve Aliza” that has one of the largest concentrations of North American olim in all of Israel.”] See: http://www.nbn.org.il/community/community_karneishomron.htm and http://www.tehilla.com/aliya/places.asp?id=38 I wish it had pictures of Ramat Gilad it is the three year old hilltop Yeshuv with the caravans (single wide and double wide mobiles) and container houses. And here is a story with a little history of Ramat Gilad written by a lefty (an anti-settlement type):  http://www.israelblog.org/Articles/The_Unsettlers.html


Letter Re: Doing Business in Urban California

Mr. Rawles: Your book has been highly recommended to me by an acquaintance in another state. He asked if I’d read your book because you and I seem to have the same opinions on being in a large city (like Oakland, California where I live) when any kind of disaster strikes. These people rioted when The Raiders [JWR adds: For the benefit of our overseas readers, The Oakland Raiders are the local professional football team] made it to the super bowl and rioted again when they lost. A good friend of mine lost his thriving auto body business because his …


Letter Re: A Flock of Miniature Goats?–Canning Meat

Memsahib: Just wanted to mention…..it really is not too hard to can meat with a pressure cooker. If you stock up now on mason jars and a good pressure cooker ( get an extra gasket) you can raise elephants for meat! Just have a feast for all the neighbors and can the rest. It is nice to have little jars of cooked meat around to dump over rice or throw into a stew. Frankly, it’s easier IMO than plucking or skinning family size animal meals every day, to just cut up one big one and can all day, and then …


From Dr. November Re: Useful Medical References on the Web

Jim, good point about those two ‘Where There is no…” books. Here’s another, which I’ve had a small part in: http://www.aussurvivalist.com/downloads/AM%20Final%202.pdf The download is free. A printed and bound copy is also available for $13.60 at http://www.cafepress.com/austeremed. The cost covers the printing, nobody is making a dime off of it. This is a work in progress, and the April 2005 revision of the original misc.survivalism medical faq. Highly recommended. Here are a couple of sites that have more medical info on them: http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1582&lo=d&sl=0 A link to the online 1918 version of Gray’s Anatomy (no, not the insipid TV show) is …


Odds ‘n Sods: Walter Williams on Understanding Inflation

Noted economist Walter Williams (who sometimes substitutes as the host for Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio show) just wrote a concise little piece on understanding inflation. See: http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2005/11/16/175724.html Williams is one of my heroes because he is a true conservative and he doesn’t mince words.



Note from JWR:

You will notice that I’ve updated the SurvivalBlog Glossary as well as the Retreat Owners Profiles page. I have added a new profile for “Mr. & Mrs. Victor.” If you’ve never read the Profiles, please take the time to do so. They are very insightful!  OBTW, I would greatly appreciate reading additional profiles from any SurvivalBlog readers that live overseas, or any of you that live in a severe climate or in unusual circumstances and/or who have retreats/homes with unusual architecture (straw bale, earthbag, Earthship, adobe, underground, et cetera.)  As usual, in addition to editing for spelling and grammar, I …


From the Memsahib: A Flock of Miniature Goats?

The looming spectre of Asian Avian Flu really has me bummed, because I am a big fan of free range poultry. Free range poultry are able to forage for much of their own food from Spring through Fall. Another big advantage is that chickens come in single family serving size. Meaning my family can eat a whole chicken for dinner and there are not a lot of leftovers to worry about. Chickens are a great way of storing family serving sized protein “on the hoof” as it were. But, free range is out of the question for me now. See …


Letter Re: Iraqi Artillery, The ARNG/USAR Talent Pool, and a Useful Intelligence

Sir: I read your added notes to the discredited letter from the returning Marine’s father and I can add one more detail. The Iraqis did have 155mm artillery in inventory and we found several South African 155 rounds in country. The South Africans had a very well developed arms industry and they made some of the best artillery and rounds available. They have some advanced 155 rounds that have a greater lethality due to the pre-formed fragments included in their design and some of these have been used/recovered in Iraq. One of the strengths of the Army National Guard (ARNG) …



Notice–Post Removed: From Fernando in Argentina–On Surviving Argentina’s Slow Slide Collapse

A lengthy letter from Fernando in Buenos Aires was originally posted on SurvivalBlog back on November 8th, but I just removed it.  Why?  Because Fernando just confirmed in an e-mail to me that the copyright to his article has been purchased by John, who operates Frugal Squirrel’s Forum. The letter is still available there. (See: http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=044387;p=0) OBTW, I highly recommend Frugal’s site and forums. Since I have deep respect for copyrights there are no hard feelings on my part. I trust that the folks at Frugal’s will forgive me if I in some way infringed unknowingly by posting what I was …


Two Letters Re: Lessons from the Big Sand Box: Firearms, Gear, and Tactics in Iraq

Jim: I have been meaning to write for a few days and thank you for posting Fernando’s observations from Argentina. I view the slow slide into economic collapse as the greatest threat and the one I am currently preparing for. What prompts me to write now is the post (12 Nov ’05) about experience in Iraq. Having recently returned from Iraq I thought I would add some of my observations that run a bit different. The AR pattern weapons definitely require greater maintenance but preventive maintenance will prevent problems. Five minutes a day is all it takes. The greatest handicap …


Letter Re: Free E-Books “Where There is No Doctor” and “Where There Is No Dentist”

Sir: Thanks for the link to Where There is No Doctor on line but did you know that Where There Is No Dentist is also on line at http://healthwrights.org/books/WTINDentistonline.htm and over books at http://www.healthwrights.org/booksonline.htm.  The Sierra Madre newsletter is at http://www.healthwrights.org/newsletters.htm. Hope this helps and hope you never need these books. – Simon


Letter From Novelist David Crawford Re: “Lights Out” EMP E-Novel: Free Download

Dear Mr. Rawles, Some time ago you mentioned my novel, “Lights Out”, in your blog. It was quite an honor for me to have my humble work discussed on your web site. I wanted to let you and your readers know that “Lights Out” is now finished. It can be read in its entirety at http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/LightsOut-Current.pdf I plan to edit and improve this first draft and then to pursue publishing. Any constructive criticism and help from anyone will be gladly received at dcrawford@email.com. Thanks again and please keep up the fine work you are doing with your blog. Sincerely, – …