Guest Article: QE 4: Folks, This Ain’t Normal, by Chris Martenson

Okay, the Fed’s recent decision to boost its monetary stimulus (a.k.a. “money printing,” “quantitative easing,” or simply “QE“) by another $45 billion a month to a combined $85 billion per month demonstrates an almost complete departure from what a normal person might consider sensible. To borrow a phrase from Joel Salatin: Folks, this ain’t normal.  To this I will add …and it will end badly. If you had stopped me on the street a few years ago and asked me what I thought would have happened in the stock, bond, foreign currency, and commodity markets on the day the Fed …


Letter Re: Options to Buying an M1A Rifle

Hey James, I just read your comments on the Springfield Armory M1A and found it super interesting, I’ve been an avid hunter and shooter all my life and am very used to shooting rifles both long and short range/ scoped and unscoped. I’ve primarily owned and heavily customized both bolt action and AR platform guns and have been super happy with their accuracy and performance, however I’ve always wanted an M14 or M1A. Seeing the specifications on the “Loaded” model, match grade 22 inch – 1-11″ twist barrel, I suspect it will be quite accurate. I am a young guy …


Letter Re: How to Thwart Nigerian Scammers: Demand Proof of Life

Captain Rawles, Regarding the multiple letters you are receiving on the Nigerian scams, you may want to warn your readers that participation can lead to incarceration. The reader who told his story of USAA bank taking the amount of the fake checks from his account was lucky. Frequently, these scams prey on people who get greedy and suffer the consequences. In many cases, people receive a check (sometimes out of the blue, with no prior email contact) in the mail with a request to deposit it and send back 10% or 25%, etc to an international address (often in Canada). …


Recipe of the Week:

Cobalt’s Cabbage Stew Ingredients: 1 ½ lbs. lean ground meat ½ bell pepper, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 2 ribs celery, chopped ½ average size head of cabbage, rough sliced (thinner than ¼ head) 1 can Ranch-style beans 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (or comparable diced tomatoes with chilies) 1 can crushed or stewed tomatoes 1 tbl spoon chili powder Salt and pepper to taste Brown ground meat with bell pepper, onion, and celery. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Drop temperature and simmer covered for 1 ½ hours. Chef’s Notes: Serve with cornbread or french bread. I …


Economics and Investing:

B.B. suggested some recent commentary from Peter Schiff: No Way Out More socialist buffoonery: France’s Jean-Marc Ayrault slams flight of the ‘greedy rich’ (JWR’s Comment: Gee, and they wonder why they are leaving. I suppose that wife-beaters wonder the same thing.) 55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America And The Entire State Is Rapidly Becoming A Bright, Shining Example Of Everything That Is Wrong With America Items from The Economatrix: Job Openings in US Rose in October to Four-Month High Detroit “Bankruptcy is a Possibility” Jobless Claims Fall to Pre-Sandy Levels


Odds ‘n Sods:

I often get questions about rust protection for long term storage of firearms. There is a company called Italian Gun Grease (all American-made products, but their chemist is Italian–so they thought it would be a catchy name), that have some good products for storing pistols and rifles. They are offering a special 25% introductory discount for SurvivalBlog readers. Enter the coupon code RAWLES25 when you check out. Full disclosure: They offered me a 10% piece of the action for mentioning their products.    o o o A reminder that the tax year ends December 31st, so it is important to …



Notes from JWR:

This is the birthday of Philip K. Dick (born 1928, died March 2, 1982.) Phillip Dick penned a remarkable number of science fiction novels and novellas that have been adapted into Hollywood movies including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug abuse and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures. — Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) …


Automotive Preparedness by P.D. in Northern Missouri

I am a firm believer that a TEOTWAWKI situation will happen, and in my lifetime.  I consider myself a prepper, and am a daily reader of “prepping articles,” and almost always read about “bug out bags,” or “72-hour kits,” call them what you will.  I also read allot of articles devoted to bug out vehicles.  A bug out vehicle is a great concept, but is only as good as the distance it will take you, or for the length of time that it will last.  I do believe that bugging out is a necessity in prepping for a TEOTWAWKI situation, …


Economics and Investing:

Denninger: The Real Problem With America: Morality M.E.W. sent: How Fed’s next trick will hurt bonds: Another bond-buying program seems likely as the Federal Reserve tries to boost the economy. But long term, it will lead to higher interest rates, inflation and bond market turmoil. Baltic Dry Plunges By Over 8% Overnight, Most Since 2008. (Thanks to Stephen M. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Massive Bank Cyberattack Planned Silver Outlook For 2013 Retail Sales Bounce Back


Odds ‘n Sods:

An interesting near-future novella is free on Kindle for a short time: Coastal Event Memories    o o o Gary North: The Day General Grant Expelled the Jews    o o o Kevin S. sent: How to Rig an FCC Spectrum Auction in Five Easy Steps    o o o I just heard from my editor at Penguin Books that because of strong demand they are printing another 20,000 copies of “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”. That will bring the total in print to 240,000 copies.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of …


Notes from JWR:

The tragic mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut underscores that fact that in 1996 our own congress turned public schools into gun free zones, making them ideal killing grounds for lunatics. (Where they will only find unarmed victims.) Please contact your legislators and encourage them to rescind the Gun Free School Zones Act (reenacted by Congress, Sep. 30, 1996 –P.L. 104-208.) If even a minority of school teachers were armed (as they are in Israel and South Africa) then slaughters like this could be prevented, or at least minimized. — December 15th is Bill of Rights …


Self-Defense and Stress: You are Your Own Last Line of Defense, by Jessica B.

I have seen many articles on Self-Defense. What I have not seen is topics regarding that moment that you find yourself in a stressful, self-defense situation and how to overcome it. I have taught my children from age 4 that you are your own last line of defense. This realization in itself can be pretty stressful. What most people don’t realize is that when attacked you only have ½ a second to react. This may not seem like a lot of time, but I assure you, your life can be ended by what happens in that initial ½ second. People …


Letter Re: Pat’s Product Review: PakLite 9V LED Flashlight

Hi Captain Rawles, I’m a long time SurvivalBlog reader and occasional commenter. Just had to respond to EagerGridlessBeaver with his post and review of the Paklite LED flashlight battery life test (WOW!) and the possibilities for IR use.  If you could afford to purchase numerous of the IR LED models, these same could be sequestered around your property connected to clothespin  type contacts and trip wires.  With a quick scan at night with your NVGs you would know instantly if any of your wires were tripped, with invaders being none-the-wiser if they were without NVGs.  It could provide an alert …