Category: Current Events & Politics

Storm After-Action Report and More Thoughts on Western Washington as a Retreat Locale, by Countrytek

Introduction I’m a life-long Western Washington resident – except for five years in Kansas & two in Berlin while in the U.S. Army. I’m the great-grandchild of Washington pioneers. I love this state – the ocean, mountains and fertile valleys – but what it has become — not so much. This past weekend, (November 30 – December 1, 2007), the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state was hit by an arctic front from the Gulf of Alaska, dropping 3-6″ of snow in our area. The weather folks told us not to worry, that it wouldn’t last long, because we had a …


Letter Re: Updated Nuclear Targets in the United States

Jim, In support of some research on retreat locations, I wanted to learn more about the locations in the CONUS of our strategic nuclear weapons. Guesswork at best, but the older FEMA maps are certainly obsolete, or wrong. A link from late 2006 describes the probable locations and density of the current nuclear arsenal. It is thought that the sites in California, South Dakota, and Virginia have been eliminated, and that the ballistic missile submarine base in Bangor, Washington has been expanded significantly. The next link describes the stockpile (and its reduction) and illustrates the probable nature of the projected …


Letter Re: Will “Jericho” be Affected by the Current Screenwriter’s Strike?

Hi Mr. Rawles, Do you know if the Hollywood writers strike will effect the filming of the CBS television series Jericho? If the [spilt season] filming has been completed, I guess that maybe the strike could be the best thing for Jericho since it would be an all-new show in a lineup of [other shows that are] repeats. Regards, – Sam JWR Replies: I haven’t heard per se, but it is probably safe to assume that most of the Jericho scripts are written by Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) members. I heard from Rourke–the moderator of the Jericho Discussion Group–that …


Off the Record Comments from a Saudi Prince: Possible Collapse of the US Dollar

A big red flag went up on Saturday, when a “must read” article was published on the web site of The Business (a British international business news magazine): Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse. I loved the bit about the inadvertently open microphone. There is something about “off the record” comments about a potential US Dollar collapse that is strangely reminiscent. (I just can’t quite place it…) Meanwhile, our friend Stephen in Iraq pointed out this article signaling trouble ahead: US inflation reaches 14-month high. The economic pendulum is definitely starting to swing more violently. I predict that things will …


Mass Inflation Ahead–Save Your Nickels!

I’ve often mused about how fun it would be to have a time machine. I would travel back to the early 1960s, and go on a pre-inflation shopping spree. In that era, most used cars were less than $800, and a new-in-the box Colt .45 Automatic sold for $60. In particular, it would be great to go back and get a huge pile of rolls of then-circulating US silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars at face value. (With silver presently around $15.50 per ounce, the US 90% silver (1964 and earlier) coinage is selling wholesale at 11 times face value–that …


Letter Re: Curious About “Curio and Relic” Firearms Laws in the US

Hi Jim, I read from time to time “C&R eligible.” Can you please post a quick note on the SurvivalBlog that explains what that is referring to, as it relates to firearms. Blessings, – Mark B. JWR Replies: I often write about the full exemption in the Federal law for pre-1899 guns, but I haven’t given much attention in the blog to Curio and Relic (C&R) guns. A Type 03 Federal Firearms License (FFL) is issued by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) . It allows individual C&R collectors to purchase across state lines some specifically …


The Demise of the US Dollar–The Handwriting is on the Wall

The major news outlets have finally started shouting about the collapsing value of the dollar and the bull market in precious metals. (Looking at the charts, $820 per ounce seems to be the new floor for spot gold.) Just as I predicted, it was a move by China that precipitated the latest drop in the dollar. Thanks, BTW, to the five readers that all sent that link. I should mention that several SurvivalBlog readers mentioned that article. Reader Mike the Blacksmith noted: “The remarks by Cheng on world currency status is the most important point in this article.” The currency …


The U.S. Economy: A Distinctly Chill Wind

Do you detect a change in the weather, this Fall? You probably noticed that on Friday (November 2nd) the spot price of gold spiked to close at $806 per ounce, and silver at $14.53. (Both were 28 year highs. Yup, I told you so.) You also probably saw this article: Fed pumps [another] $41 Billion into US financial system. It is now obvious that Helicopter Ben and his Federal Reserve Board of Governors are in full scale panic mode. I should also mention that the very next day after the announcement of this huge injection of liquidity, the New York …


Letter Re: Influenza Exercise Shows the Potential for Major Infrastructure Disruptions

Jim: I thought you and your readers might be interested in this flu pandemic exercise recently carried out by financial services firms. An article in Computerworld describes the scenario: “If a pandemic strikes the U.S., it will kill about 1.7 million people, hospitalize 9 million, exhaust antiviral medications and reduce basic food supplies…”, and, “Among the other things that may happen in an actual pandemic are school closings, as well as blackouts or brownouts in major metro areas because of degraded service as a result of absenteeism. Internet service throughput could be reduced by 50% due to congestion, and Web …


The Game, by Oliver Velasquez

In the past 25 years interest rates have fallen from as high as 15% to as low as 1.25%. During this time our economy has gone through different cycles, everything from stagflation, recession, to historic bull markets, and real estate booms. Today, in my opinion, we are living one recession away from a massive depression which can be credited to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. Historically, it’s never been a good sign to have both gold prices and the stock market trade at such peak levels like we have today. During the past ten years we have gone through a …


US Food Riots Much Closer Than You Think, by Robert Felix

(The following is re-posted with permission, from IceAgeNow.com) Recently, I said “we’ll be fighting in the streets for food long before we’re buried in ice.” I say the same thing in my book Not by Fire but by Ice. I just received an email from a reader that sums it up better than I did: “I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job, I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. …


Are Your Neighbors Contrapreneurs?

The American newspapers are presently full of stories about declining suburban home values and the galloping foreclosure rates, mainly in the coastal markets. (The erstwhile “hot” real estate markets have turned bitter cold.) As more and more foreclosures get dumped onto an already over-saturated “buyers market”, there is a strong likelihood that prices will spiral downward. Anyone that bought a “spec” house is now trying to get rid of it, even if means taking a loss. The downward pressure on house prices is likely to continue for several years in the coastal areas, and in few inland markets like Phoenix …


Three Letter Re: The Recent San Diego, California Wildfires

Jim: I have the rest of the day off due to the wildfires in the area so I am at home. The firefighting aircraft have been grounded due to wind until a couple of minutes ago. The evacuation zone is currently a 1/4 mile east of me. My northeastern and southeastern escape routes are currently out of the question. I figure that by the time I get told to Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.), the Northern route will be closed off or too crowded to take. Going South into Mexico is currently not an option due to the makeup of …


Letter Re: Lack of Government Preparedness and Infrastructure Upkeep Necessitates G.O.O.D. Planning

Jim, Popular Mechanics magazine outlines five scary Katrina-esque scenarios in various parts of our country might face in the coming years. I find it interesting that two of the five involve California and three of the five involve large bodies of water. People in the affected areas need to seriously consider moving out or having a Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) plan. Also, just because you don’t think you are near any bodies of water, it does not make your home immune to floods. When checking a local university’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, I found out that my neighborhood is part …


Letter Re: The Southeastern US Drought

JWR: I was talking to a friend in North Carolina this afternoon and he was telling me about the drought conditions in the Charlotte area and he relayed to me some interesting drought news. – The several acre sized lake on his property has dried up. – Duke Power has issued a statement, in the local area, to expect power disruptions in the coming months due to low water levels in the reservoirs that Duke operates that is used for hydro power, cooling towers, and such. Here is a link from the DOE about a drought’s drain on power. The …