Category: Current Events & Politics

Letter Re: Macroeconomic Implications of Large Scale Ethanol Production in the U.S.

Hi Jim I have run across some information that I thought might be of interest. I am in the food business and come in contact with a lot of people in the food industry. One of my associates is in the frozen fruit and vegetable business. He has been telling me the effect that W’s ethanol incentives are having on the agriculture industry and it is quite alarming. I have not researched this, so don’t have facts and figures to back it up, so take it for what it is worth. This situation seems to have mysteriously stayed out of …


Retreat Locale Analysis of Maryland, by Al in Maryland

Here are a few personal observations about the state of Maryland and Montgomery County in particular, where I live. Since I didn’t know where the statistics used for the other states analyzed on SurvivalBlog came from, for the cost of housing, car insurance, etc; I didn’t want to dig up any off the wall numbers, so none are listed. The only exception is for firearms ranking by “Boston’s Gun Bible 2005 ed.”, which I have. I only discuss the main part of the state of Maryland and not the western part which is not as developed. The western part of …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on AR-15 Lower Receivers?

James, I have been reading SurvivalBlog for a few months now, and I have to say that you are doing a great job! I have taken your Ten Cent Challenge, and look forward to renewing for next year. I have been following [the U.S. Congress] bill H.R. 1022 and your advice to stock up on “assault weapons” and/or high capacity magazines. If one cannot afford multiple weapons would you recommend buying a quantity of [AR-15] lower receivers in the hopes of building them up to full guns at a later date? – Kevin JWR Replies: That is a good idea. …


From #1 Son: Update on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

The USDA‘s NAIS program is now in the “convince the angry crowds that there is no problem” stage. They are constantly spouting phrases like, “We’ve made it clear, and I can’t stress this too often or too much that NAIS is a voluntary system.” That’s a voluntary system at the federal level, with a capital “V.’” However, no matter how often they say that it is voluntary, it will not prevent it from becoming mandatory at a later date. States can still make it mandatory, and if all do, it would still be “a voluntary system at the federal level”. …


Letter Re: The Eastern Canada Gasoline Crisis

Hi James, It’s interesting to look at what’s going on here in Ontario. The gasoline [filling] station near my office has been out of gas for two days, and others have been out for varying amounts of time. A friend of mine delivers fuel to gas stations, and was telling me what is happening: 1) There is a rail strike at CN Rail. This has prevented refineries from receiving shipments of the additives needed for diesel and gasoline. 2) There was a fire at one of the Ontario refineries, cutting production significantly. This fire occurred on February 15, and by …


Letter Re: The Pending Federal “Assault Weapons” Ban (H.R. 1022)

Jim, Have you read through this bill? The way things seem to be going/looking, is that 4-shot/capacity turnbolts will be all that’ll be “allowed”. Yes; I am scared. Any thoughts/comments/advice/assurances?- Ben L. JWR Replies: The H.R. 1022 bill scares me, too. Paragraph (L) is the nasty catch-all. That paragraph leaves the determination of what constitutes an “Assault Weapons” up to the arbitrary whim of the Attorney General (AG)–a political appointee. (Remember Janet Reno?) The real weasel phrase in paragraph (L) is “…and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is …


Letter Re: U.S. Dollar Collapse? I Think We are Getting Close

Sir: Over this past weekend, I began re-reading “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” . I hadn’t touched it since mid-2000. Wow! page 10 includes:…”just before the Crunch…unofficial debt topped 19 trillion dollars…” a president that didn’t let trifles life ledger sheets and statistics get in his way…the real deficit was growing…”a full scale default on US Treasuries appears imminent…” Then I look at Internet financial and economic news feeds [and see] Fleet Street (London’s Wall Street) recommending that their client firms get out of the US Dollar (USD), China, UAE, Russia and others moving out of the USD. Many estimates …


Letter Re: Propane Shortage and Rationing in the Frigid U.S. Northeast

Mr. Rawles, I have enjoyed your site for years. I was compelled to write when I saw a situation in Maine this week that ties the two current threads on your site together (Just in time delivery and propane as a fuel source). In the State of Maine we have had a stark reminder of the inelasticity of the energy (propane) supply chain. As a result of a Canadian railroad union strike and weather that impacted the the normal shipping schedule, we have had a mini propane crisis requiring the governor to get involved, have the US Coast Guard to …


Letter Re: The Salt Lake City Trolley Square Mall Shootings and “Gun Free” Zones

James, I’m a concealed carry handgun instructor for the state of Kansas. I haven’t come across any articles or news reports that made mention of whether or not the shopping mall had posted “no concealed carry” signs. Have you heard anything? I would like to know as I can use this incident in my classes. – Rick JWR Replies: According to several published new stories, including this one, there were indeed signs at some of the Trolley Square Mall’s entrances emblazoned, “No Guns.” So we can surmise that ostensibly “gun free zones” such as public schools, public buildings and shopping …


Letter Re: Observations on the Recent Missouri Ice Storm

Mr. Rawles, I live in Southwestern Missouri. Did you followed the ice storm that buried the Midwest? We got hit pretty hard. We get hit hard every four or five years. Which brings me to my point. I have never seen so many unprepared people in all my life. After day two of the ice storm power was out (for a month in a lot of places like Springfield). There were no gas cans to be found at any store. Batteries, disposable propane bottles, flashlights, milk, and meat were missing from the shelves of every store. Even Wally World [Wal-Mart] …


U.S. Currency Inflation–Is It Time to Knock a Zero Off the Dollar?

There have been many recent press reports about the base metal value of some small denomination U.S. coins now exceeding their face value. (For example 1.66 cents for a pre-1983 copper penny, and 6.65 cents for a U.S. nickel 5 cent piece. The latter may eventually have to be replaced with an aluminum token.) Fearing that they might disappear from circulation, the U.S. Treasury Department recently issued an edict banning the exportation or melting of pennies and nickels. This is a stopgap measure that ignores a much bigger issue: The U.S. currency has suffered from more than 70 years of …


The Next Pandemic: Starvation in a Land of Plenty

At the dawn of the 21st century, we are living in an amazing time of prosperity. Our health care is excellent, our grocery store shelves burgeon with a huge assortment of fresh foods, and our telecommunications systems are lightning fast. We have relatively cheap transportation, and our cities are linked by an elaborate and fairly well-maintained system of roads, rails, canals, seaports, and airports. For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population will soon live in cities rather than in the countryside. But the downside to all this abundance is over-complexity, over-specialization, and lengthy supply …


Letter Re: Observations on the Recent Oklahoma Ice Storm

Jim: Well, I just got back online. I had to go up to the roof and thaw the wireless [Internet] antenna with a heat gun. It seems the ice grounds out the antenna. It was an easy fix with my heat gun for heat shrink tubing. More precipitation is on the way but colder. It will probably just be snow. We never lost power but were ready anyway. I have friends with no power and they have been without power for days and no idea when it will be back on. The further out you live, the less chance of …


From #1 Son: Farm Bill Comment Deadline

Today is the last day before the comment period form the Farm Bill closes. Please put your comments, particularly anti-NAIS ones, in right away! Something like this would probably be good: I am in opposition to the National Animal Identification System. It should not be forced on small farms and individuals, just to create more profits for large companies. If there is to be any NAIS-like program, it should be a truly voluntary system. Currently it is worded to allow for changes if necessary, and its goals include 100% participation. It would be “necessary” to make the system mandatory to …


Silver–I Really, Really Told You So!

I noticed that the spot market price of silver closed at over $14 per ounce yesterday. Back when silver was around $7 an ounce I told you that silver was likely to double, and now, just 17 months later, it has indeed. I also predicted that silver would out-perform gold. I was right about that, too. As I’ve stated before, I think that we are in the opening phase of a multi-year bull market for precious metals, and a bear market for the dollar. I hope that you folks took my advice and bought some silver. Back on August 6, …