Persevering Through the Panic of 2016

The first two weeks of 2016 have been disastrous for both the commodities markets and the equities markets. Looking at the DJIA and the S&P indexes, more than $3.5 trillion has been lost on paper in just two weeks. Crude oil has dropped to around $29 per barrel. There seems to be no end in sight for the bad economic news. I expect to see further deep market declines, intraday “circuit breaker” market interventions, and perhaps even full-day trading suspensions and bank holidays. I must remind you that I’m writing this on a three-day holiday weekend. (Martin Luther King Jr. …


Observations on the December 2nd California Terror Attack

The tragic events yesterday in California’s Inland Empire deserve attention. I’ll just stick to the facts: The primary shooter, Sayeed Rizwan Farook, age 28, was American-born to parents who were from Karachi, Pakistan, and was described as “a very devout Muslim”. He recently traveled to Saudi Arabia. According to The Daily Mail, “Farook graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a degree in environmental health in 2009.” The second shooter killed in the shootout was Farook’s wife Tashfeen Malik, a pharmacist, age 27, born in Pakistan but more recently a resident of Saudi Arabia, who had married Farook two …


Establishing Your Preparedness Library, by James Wesley, Rawles

Anyone who is serious about family preparedness recognizes the importance of having hard copy (EMP-proof) references on hand. In addition to the binders of reference articles, recipes, and technical manuals that I often mention in SurvivalBlog, I strongly recommend that you buy some particularly useful published reference books. These books include: First Aid — (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies Strategic Relocation–North American Guide to Safe Places by Joel and Andrew Skousen Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth …


Notes for Wednesday – October 14, 2015

Safecastle (one of our loyal advertisers) is running a 35% to 51%-off sale on Lindon Farms Foods, until October 16th. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case–a $1,700 value. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate …


Letter: Grain Milling Muscles

JWR and HJL: We bought a grain mill—the Wonder Mill Junior to be specific–from one of your advertisers and we are pleased with the purchase. However, I must warn my fellow readers that if you have bought one of these and just threw it on the shelf alongside your the stack of #10 cans and food storage buckets, then you made a mistake. Unless you regularly start your Ford Model T with a hand crank, then you are in for a morning-after surprise. This is another example of the importance of “practicing your preps.” A seven year old cannot turn …



Economics and Investing:

B.B. sent this Reuters article: Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes: study o o o An interesting price comparison chart: Gasoline prices, worldwide. (Venezuela has the lowest price, at just $0.06 per gallon!) Items from The Economics Team: It’s Time to Start Talking about RECESSION Fed Seems Ready to Deploy Negative Interest Rates in the Next Crisis The Worst Slump in Commodities Prices Isn’t Over


Odds ‘n Sods:

I was really pleased to see that the late, great, “discontinued” Woodpile Report (edited by Ol’ Remus) is getting some new posts! o o o DSV sent this item at Kim Komando’s site: Creepy website shows how much Facebook knows about you o o o Homeschooling Gun Owners Sue NJ for $60 Million for Unconstitutional ‘Home Intrusion’. (Thanks to T.P for the link.) o o o NBC News (text & video): Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Before U.S. Supreme Court



Notes for Tuesday – October 13, 2015

Editorial Updates: The posting queue for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now quite short, so we encourage you write an article and send it in, soon. You can share your knowledge with others, and you will be eligible to win lots of valuable prepping prizes. Given the unusually short queue of entries we’ve already received, any articles that we get this week will likely be posted within 10 days! o o o Hugh J. Latimer will soon be returning from his vacation, and resuming his duties as Managing Editor. Thanks for putting up with my sometimes fumbling HTML editing …


Letter Re: The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities

Mr. Editor: Regarding the recent discussion of the “Golden Horde” concept (in Patrice Lewis’s guest article The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities) — it seems that a review of the history of Germany’s 30 Years’ War (from 1618 to 1648) would be in order. You may recall how Wallenstein rejected the idea of a 40,000-man army, demanding 100,000. Austria protested that such a large army would be too expensive. The reply was, that the larger army would finance itself [through what was euphemistically called “foraging”, on a tactical scale, and “plunder” on a strategic scale], while the smaller …


News From The American Redoubt:

Viral disease killing hundreds of deer in the Palouse region o o o Who knew? It has now been documented that the perennial favorite rockabilly song Hot Rod Lincoln was originally written as a reminiscence of a race between the author’s Lincoln and a Cadillac up the Lewiston Grade, in north-central Idaho. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.) o o o Idaho: World Relief confirms that they will NOT be resettling refugees in Northern Idaho. (A hat tip to Michael H. for the link.) o o o I heard from a consulting client up in north Idaho that The Woodsman’s …


Economics and Investing:

The drop in the labor force is coming from prime-age Americans, not aging retirees: Examining the 94.6 million Americans not in the labor force o o o RBS sent this: The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared o o o Anthony Wile: Let’s Get This Show on the Road (The Daily Bell) Items from The Economics Team: FOMC Minutes Confirm Economy Not Ready For Rate-Hike This Year, Worried About Inflation, “Global Risk” It’s Time For Negative Rates, Fed’s Kocherlakota Hints


Odds ‘n Sods:

At the WRSA site: Claire Wolfe: Come And Take Them. Start Here o o o Documenting Katrina o o o G.G. flagged this: EPA spends millions on military-style weapons, watchdog group reports o o o Over at Lew Rockwell’s site: The Collective Failure of Gun-Free Zones o o o KAF sent us this: Woman uses medieval combat training, sword to stop intruder