Letter Re: Personal Debt Implications of an Economic Collapse

Jim, Just a pondering I hoped you might be able to give me some insight on, I’m either to young or didn’t know it because we were too poor to notice, but I’ve never experienced a significant economic decline in my life.  My wife and I are both doctors and have borrowed heavily to set ourselves in a great place.  Right now we have no difficulty making the bill payments but should the banking/finance system collapse, will we still have to pay the bills; how do we pay the bills; and/or is there any hedge to anticipate how we’ll make …


Letter Re: Advice on Refinancing

Dear James, I’d like your advice. We live in a house on five rural acres in Wisconsin. It’s both our year-round house and a sorta retreat. We now have the chance to refinance our mortgage at a lower interest rate. (Just 3.88%, as oppose to the 5.2% on our existing mortgage.) Our outstanding balance is about $210K. Should we re-fi, or stand pat? Any special considerations, given the perilous economic times, these days? Thanks in advance for your advice. – Hal K. JWR Replies: Yes, this might be an advantageous time to re-finance. A 3.88% rate is excellent. Just beware …


News From The American Redoubt:

A recent article that mentions the American Redoubt movement: Secession: Who WILL Be First?    o o o Dawn Wells (of Gilligan’s Island fame), now semi-retired in Driggs, Idaho, shows how to peel potatoes, Idaho style.    o o o Were your cows really bred? A lab in Moscow, Idaho can let you know: Biotracking    o o o I just discovered that more than a year ago, Ken at ModernSurvivalBlog spent some time researching and creating a quite useful graphic: Northwest Survival Retreat Ideal Population Map


Economics and Investing:

Reader Rex S. suggested: Why You Always Want Physical Everything Sue C. sent: Republicans tease with gold standard, but idea seen full of bugs. [JWR’s Comment: The biggest “bug”–and the statists’ real objection to gold–is that a gold standard wouldn’t allow the government to spend beyond its means and create money out of thin air. G.G. flagged this: When a 401(k) Is Locked in the Freezer One way of looking at the current monetary paradigm: The Rot Runs Deep 1: The Federal Reserve Is a Parasitic Wealth Transfer Machine Items from The Economatrix: Nearly 1 In 5 Americans Have No …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Retreat Security: The Urban Speedball For Preppers. JWR’s Comments: For anything other than very short term caching, it is crucial that water and ammunition be stored in separate waterproof containers. If stored together, all it would take is one leaking bottle (such as one ruptured by freezing or one with a pinhole from rough handling) to destroy the stored ammunition. One .30 Caliber ammo can with bandoleers of ammo paired with one “Tall .50” filled can with water containers would be about the right ratio, for defending against anything short of a human wave attack. They can be attached to …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck me upon my arrival in the U.S. In France, I had seen the spirits of religion and freedom almost always marching in opposite directions, in America, I found them intimately linked together and joined and reigned over the same land…" – Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America


Notes from JWR:

By way of Tom Gresham of Gun Talk Radio we heard that Mark Craighead, founder of Crossbreed Holsters, just passed away. It is reported that he was 43 and died of a heart attack. He was a Christian and ran a Christian company (hence the company name and logo.) It is very sad to hear of this fine Christian gentleman passing. This serves as a reminder that life can indeed be much shorter than we anticipate. Get right with God, today! — On August 27, 1883 an explosive volcanic eruption beneath the island of Krakatoa obliterated most of the island …


Mike Williamson’s Book Review: The Book of Blacksmithing

The Book of Blacksmithing (Setting Up Shop, Essential Skills, and Easy Projects to Get You Started), by Michael Cardiff. ISBN-13: 978-1610045773 I’ve known Mike Cardiff for a couple of decades, and can vouch for his competencies as a smith.  He moves surely, wastes no effort, and turns out functional tools, blades and accoutrements in short order.  I helped him find a publisher for this work, and am very glad to see it in print.   I’m quite impressed by the outcome.  Mike’s writing style is simple, clear and straightforward, and the illustrations by his brother are likewise very easy to …


A T.M. in Arkansas Book Review: 7 Deadly Scenarios

7 Deadly Scenarios: A Military Futurist Explores War in the 21st Century by Andres F. Krepinevich Bantam Dell, New York, 2009. 334 pages including a thorough index. ISBN 978-0-553-80539-0   The author of this book is the president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and a former US Army officer with a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In this book, he asks the hard questions most people choose to ignore. Being prepared is an ongoing task based on anticipation of something bad occurring. Planning for those occurrences is best done by utilizing scenarios to figure out your response, and …


Pat’s Product Review: Kahr PM 45 Pistol

I’ve always been a big fan, of little guns – that pack some serious knock down power. I remember first reading about the (then) new Kahr Arms 9mm pistol, and whoever wrote about it claimed the double-action only trigger was butter smooth. Well, it wasn’t until about five years ago, that I actually saw my first Kahr in a gun shop. For some reason, all the gun shops I regularly haunted, never had a Kahr in-stock – new or used. As soon as I felt how good the Kahr K9 felt in my hands, and the super-smooth trigger pull on …


Two Letters Re: Getting A Mortgage After Relocating

The letter from the couple who moved to one of the Redoubt states and was unable to get a mortgage from a local bank reminded me of our experience. We moved to a Redoubt state in 1993 after having sold our house in Pennsylvania for a tidy profit. We moved to our new location and put that “tidy profit” (which was more than half the down payment for a new place) into a local bank. My husband found work immediately. I was a stay-at-home mom. A few months later, we found a 5-acre piece of property and went back to …


Recipe of the Week:

Rose M.’s “Magic Mix” White Sauce Mix Combine: 4 C nonfat dry milk 1 C flour ¼ C corn starch 1 C butter or shortening (or a combination)   Combine all very well with a pastry blender, or better yet, with a food processor or mixer.   To use, combine 2/3 C Magic Mix with 1  to  1 ½ C water (depending  how thick you want your sauce and what you’re making), and simmer until thick. You can start with less water and add more water if you want a thinner sauce, or even add more mix to get the …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Lee M. sent this: Europe readies the printing press: Europe’s central bank appears to have created a path to implementing Fed-like easy-money policies. If so, it is a huge game-changer for Europe, and the world, as inflation fears come to the fore. Rex in Tennessee mentioned a piece by John Barnett over at The American Thinker: ‘Mountain Pride’ versus the Welfare State How does a Gawker spell hypocrite? Gawker and Bain and the Caymans. Report: Middle class will take years to reverse losses of last decade Items from The Economatrix: Top Investor Warns of “Financial Armageddon” as Soros Dumps …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mexico scrambles to cope with egg shortage.    o o o Stephanie S. sent: This Year’s Drought Is So Severe, You Can See Its Toll on the Mississippi River From Space    o o o FCC eyes tax on [broadband] Internet service    o o o Reader David J. mentioned that the Sunforce 60-Watt photovoltaic power charging system has been reduced to $222 on Amazon.com. This system was designed with RV owners in mind, but it would work fine at a retreat cabin.