Category: Emerging Threats

May in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review. Here, we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold, and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. This column is authored by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins. Today, we highlight the effects of terrorism on the price of gold. What Did Gold Do in May? Gold stated the month of May right at $1,268. However, unexpectedly strong economic data blasted prices down by $40 an ounce to a seven-week low in the first week. The first estimate for …


Economics & Investing for Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Today we focus on counterparty risk in derivatives contracts. And most of the following items reflect the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor): Commodities Economics: Looking ahead, Nick Cunningham recently posted this forecast: Four Wildly Different Oil Price Scenarios For 2020 Forex: On to foreign exchange (Forex) news: USD/CAD Continues Decline Global Stocks and Bonds: Moving on to the stock and bond markets, U.S. stocks hit …


Economics & Investing for Preppers

Today  we have some special insight on natural resources, in the long term. Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And most of these items reflect the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor): Precious Metals: First, some predictions from Frank Holmes, over at Bullion Vault: Just So Bullish for Gold Commodities Economics: Looking ahead, there is some interesting reading in this 2013 ODNI/NIC white paper, to which an old friend of mine contributed: Natural …


The Rawles Rationale

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The following is my core rationale on the nature of government, liberty, and Godly personal conduct in the 21st Century. You may have seen some of these rationale statements in my books or blog posts. I plan to expand this at a later date: Rights The degree to which you allow your rights to be trampled is inversely proportional to your knowledge of (and respect for) the Constitution. Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere privilege, subject to the …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Today’s focus is on physical security Security Worried about privacy but not really trusting commercial VPN offerings? Reader P.S. sent in this link on building your own VPN using some commonly available software and a hosting service. Building your own VPN is easy. Just follow the step-by-step directions. It can also give you superior performance. Physical Security Reader D.F. was looking for an inexpensive way to build a garage and ran …


Letter Re: Does EMP Affect Solar Panel Systems?

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EMP Solar Panel Good day sir. The talk of EMP has greatly increased recently for many reasons you are well aware of. What would happen to either grid tied or non grid tied solar systems in this instance? What would happen to generators as well? – R.C. HJL’s Comment: Two of our Writing Contest sponsors, Portable Solar LLC and Quantum Harvest, LLC, both specialize in EMP hardened systems. You should check their sites out and also the videos that they have on YouTube. We have several other advertisers that sell Solar equipment and it would be worth your time to …


We Must Rightly Discern 21st Century America

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It is now fully apparent that American society is slowly sliding into oblivion. The signs are all around us, in a quiet chorus muttering the same word: “Decay, decay, decay.” We also live in a nation that is increasingly polarized. As evidence of the latter, simply study a map of the polling results from the November 2016 election. “And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” – Matthew 16:3 …


Letter: JIT Amazon/Walmart Food Delivery

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Hugh, Just a thought, many in media are not mentioning the trend of Amazon food delivery. Just in time ( JIT ) to retail is risky. The next evolution opens the door for tyranny and chaos. Centralized distribution centers are easier to control. If retail stores are collapsing, we have to consider that grocery stores are retail stores too. It appears that food vendors are moving to JIT direct delivery. Folks need to expect civil disorder in suburban neighborhoods to happen way earlier into a serious event. – GP


Letter Re: EMP Protection Measures

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Hugh and James: I’m missing something regarding EMP protection measures, and I could use some help. I have researched EMP, how it’s created, and the common frequencies of EMP. I’ve looked into its relative intensity based on creation mode, altitude (in the case of nuclear devices), and the extended effects attributed to conductive networks. I understand what a Faraday cage is and how it works. And I’ve read numerous articles, lots of forum comments, endless opinions, a quantity of engineering documents, and several much learned evaluations on protecting against EMP. The Problem So here’s where I keep running aground: Protecting …


The Mythical Group Retreat: Survival Preparations are Not Like Car Detailing

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The mainstream media has recently featured many articles about multi-millionaires buying opulent shelter spaces marketed by companies like The Survival Condo Project and Terra Vivos Reportedly, these swank leased shelter spaces are being gobbled up by the rich and famous. (Important Caveat: Those are just two well-publicized examples among many similar ventures, and I’m not criticizing them, per se. I have serious doubts about the efficacy of all such leased retreat space ventures, if and when things fall apart.) Survival preparations are not like buying a service, such as car detailing or house painting. You can’t just “have it done” …


Letter Re: My Family Preparedness Plan, by R.S.

Hugh, The best books I have read concerning an EMP are Lights Out by Ted Koppel and Collapse You’re On Your Own by Kay Mahoney. One is fiction, and one nonfiction tells us all we need to know about a terrible event. The first book examines the reality of our delicate electronic infrastructure and how easily it can be shut down. The second book tells the story of the aftermath of an EMP on regular, small town folks, like us, and how we might handle the calamity. I like my electricity and the comforts it provides to me and my …


My Family Preparedness Plan- Part 1, by R.S.

We live in an uncertain world. Riots have popped up in cities across the United States under the guise of righteous protests of elections or officer-involved shootings. Terrorists have taken to the streets in attacks both large and small. Hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes have wiped out entire cities. Our economy is under siege from within and without. Ebola, Zika, West Nile, and H1N1 have dominated headlines, though admittedly done little damage. The ability and precedent for grid failure are ever present. And finally, and maybe most nefariously, our very own government waits in the wings for any one of these …


Preparing for Cyber Warfare- Part 2, by Northwoods Prepper

One advantage that we all now have in addressing a cyber attack is awareness. During heightened tensions with other countries, you will be aware of the potential risk that these devices may pose and utilize your electronic equipment sparingly. Knowledge is power. Defensive measures have two considerations. The first thing to ask is, how should I protect myself. The second is, how should I ensure my equipment and my property is not causing damage to my country or the general population. The best defense is to eliminate dependency. Minimizing or reducing our need for electronic devices is the most practical …


Preparing for Cyber Warfare- Part 1, by Northwoods Prepper

As a regular follower of this blog, I, and as I imagine most readers, are very familiar with the results of an EMP. This is one of the most discussed topics in the survivalist blogosphere, for good reason. Electricity brings all of us a much easier life, and to prepare for the loss of such is difficult both physically and mentally, not to mention costly. With my electronic devices, those that I continue to use daily, my preparations lie between letting them become paper weights with the effects of an EMP to properly protecting those that are of value and …


Letter Re: Heavy Snowfall in Oregon, Idaho, Alaska is Causing Buildings to Collapse

JWR,It’s a REAL mess here on the Idaho-Oregon border. We have had something like 36″ of snow in the valley since the snowfall began a month ago or so. The problem is that, unlike in previous years, the sun does not come out to warm up the air and melt the snowfall after each passing storm. It has just been accumulating and accumulating. Then we either get a warm up putting a crust on the snow-top or we get rain on top, and then it freezes. My metal roof had at least 24″ of snow and ice on it last …