Letter Re: Great Depression II What Will it Be Like?, by Buckshot

Jim: Kudos to Buckshot for a well written and timely article on a possible next Great Depression. Those who doubt that it could happen again only have to consider present day Zimbabwe, which is suffering over 1200% inflation as I write this. Many good books and articles have been written about the Great Depression, but nothing drills home the brutality of it like a photo album from the period. Warning: This link is not for the squeamish, or those in denial. – Doc at www.bigsecrets.cc




Three Letters Re: Updated Nuclear Weapon Targeting Data?

Jim: Perhaps this will be a good point from which to begin your research: Projected US Casualties and Destruction of US Medical Services From Attacks by Russian Nuclear Forces Regards, – Christian W.   Jim, The short answer is that most of the targeting information on the old 1960s era maps that Bruce Beach incorporated in his book are still valid. Sure, the Russians and the Chinese know what sites are decommissioned and not worth wasting a nuke. Critical infrastructure (dams, oil and gas fields with storage facilities, large grain silos, food distribution warehouses, etc) is targeted by enhanced radiation …




Letter Re: Updated Nuclear Weapon Targeting Data?

Dear Jim: I would like to ask if anyone has done a serious re-calculation of the old 1980s FEMA data, taking into account decommissioned nukes on both sides (US and the former USSR). I’m talking in particular about the Bruce Beach maps that we all know and love. (Hats off to Bruce). The point is many of these targets no longer exist, and many of the missiles that targeted these targets no longer exist. I also worry about a shift from military and industrial targets to civilian population centers, as we essentially saw with the 9/11 attack – directed at …




Letter Re: The Death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi = Increased Threat Level in CONUS?

Hi Jim, [Regarding press reports of the death of Iraqi terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq) in an intelligence-queued a bombing raid on his safe house.] You may have thought of this, but if you were a rabid terrorist leader, with assets it the USA, that were on the alert and ready to go. What better message to send to the infidel enemy than to have your death signal an attack? Make a statement about how long your reach is, and all that. Hit the enemy while he is celebrating. Heads up extra high for a …




Two Letters Re: Great Depression II What Will it Be Like?, by Buckshot

James: I read [Buckshot’s article Great Depression II What Will it Be Like? in] SurvivalBlog on Monday and kinda got depressed. Its really only my mother and me living together and she is very anti-survivalist in nature and ideology. I’m thinking that I could handle four or five raiders, but more then that I would be doomed I could never reload and fire fast enough. My mom wouldn’t help me at all and probably would actually hinder me….what would you do? The other thought was being burned out I have three fire extinguishers but can I fight the fire from …




Letter Re: The Mainland Chinese Threat

Jim: While we pour blood and treasure onto the shifting Iraqi sands and frighten ourselves silly with the scarecrow of terrorism… Red China forges ahead with one of the greatest military buildups in history.   Jed Babbin and Ed Timberlake have put together a compelling case as to why we need to refocus our attention on the red giant.   Of particular interest is a 228 page document titled “Unrestricted Warfare“, written by Colonels Qaio Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).   I fear we are living in the declining years of the American Republic. – …




David in Israel Re: “Peak Oil” and North American Oil Reserves

James: I have a reply to SurvivalBlog reader John Z.’s comment on Untapped North American Oil Reserves What many non-geoligist/chemist oil commentators forget (likely are fighting a political and economic panic) when they feel safe in our huge North American reserves is the problem of either extraction or processing. Most of the light sweet crude (easy to extract transport and crack) has already been discovered I do not know of any new light sweets (of any size) in over 10 years. Heavy sour requires different less efficient chemistry in the refining process (much more sulfur) and the USA only has …




Letter Re: New Routes for the Next Houston Hurricane Evacuation

Jim, Between work and studies, I came across an article in my local newspaper about new evacuation routes for the Houston area during hurricane season. I stayed out of the last one, but came real close to riding my bike to College Station, our evac[uation] rendezvous point. I don’t think the police would have taken kindly to someone riding down the highway on a Schwinn with a Remington 870 on his back. Anyway, the article got me thinking about the gridlock people suffered and the ensuing confusion that lasted for a couple of days. If I didn’t see anything on …




Two Letters Re: Dealing with Illegal Immigration in the U.S.

Mr. Rawles: This is in response to Michael Z Williamson’s arguments concerning the ongoing illegal alien problem. I have heard his arguments for the past 20 years..they are repeated over and over on talk radio (in my consideration a waste of time–most people simply regurgitate what the government suggests via the talk radio host, usually a buffoon more interested in his 6 or 7 figure salary than solving problems). We as a nation have an obligation and a duty to retain our borders, culture and language. We owe it to those that came before us and to those that will …




Letter Re: Dealing with Illegal Immigration in the U.S.

Jim, I must respectfully disagree with your suggestions for dealing with illegal immigration. You stated: 1.) A stout fence and plenty of sensors, regardless of the cost, to make the southern border less porous. I believe this would be an utter waste of time and money. Here’s what I anticipate from that: Tunnels under, which already exist for the drug trade. I also heard of a case where near 1000 Mexicans just swarmed a border crossing on foot. Perhaps 1 in 10 was rounded up. Attacking the fence will become a sport–coyotes and dogs will be goaded across minefields, or …




Letter Re: Angst, Life in Turbulent Times, and Preparedness

Jim, I read your commentary today; I’ve never ever had a very good crystal ball, but any good analysis could see what’s coming long term… Sorry for being long winded… I’m up late working on a project and some of what I’ve been reading in the news has been troubling me… It’s the [Chinese President Hu [Jintao] visit… With the Chinese economy growing at double-digits and their defense budget growing at double digits and they being the four largest economy in the world. I found an interesting piece in Defense Industry Daily. It’s only a matter of time… We gave …




Responding to the Ongoing Middle East Crisis

There are a great many imponderables that have surfaced with the current saber-rattling situation in the Middle East. But one thing is clear–the uncertainty is rippling through the commodities markets. I guess you’ve all seen the higher prices at the gas pump, and the precious metals are spiking. For example, see the charts at Kitco. (To get the big picture, click on the one year chart, down at the bottom of that web page.) Silver was over $13.50 per ounce yesterday afternoon! What can you do? 1.) Pray for peace. Please pray for the survival of the people and nation …




Letter Re: Illegal Alien Invasion in the United States

Jim: I noticed that you have remained relatively quiet on the millions of illegal aliens that have been demonstrating in dozens of American cities this past week..was wondering if you considered the Marxist led demonstrations that call for the death, expulsion of Americans on our own soil by foreigners a threat or a concern? I find it disheartening that so many are chiming in about potential asteroid strikes yet no comments about the very real and present threat posed by so many millions right in our own midst. Hope American wake up, its seems that the 12-20 million illegal aliens …




Letter Re: Letters on Asteroid or Comet Impact in 2012? by Rourke

Jim: It was funny that the majority of the criticism to my last writing had to do with the Mayan calendar and the Bible Code since I didn’t consider that my main focus and was meant as a lead in. I will say most prophecy is simply too vague to be useful, and the only time it really catches my attention is when separate sources, separated by thousands of miles, hundreds or thousands of years, and of different religions and cultures, somehow reach the same conclusion. My real intent was more so to play “connect the dots” with what NASA …




Four Letters Re: Asteroid or Comet Impact in 2012? by Rourke

Jim: I’d like to add some input to the meteor thread. First, there’s a near complete (based on our knowledge) and growing database at: http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/ that shows the residual effects of quite a few impacts. Megaton range impacts occur surprisingly frequently–about once a century. Tunguska level events (that killed almost everything in 2000 sq miles) occur about every thousand years. I don’t like Deep Impact as a scenario, because I cannot for the life of me see 300 million Americans, not to mention the rest of the world, just accepting that a select few will go into a safe cavern, …