Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Bob G. suggested three great how-to articles, over at Homestead Revival: Homemade Liquid Handsoap, Homemade Dishwasher Soap, and Homemade Laundry Soap.    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson recommended a Woods Wise video showing a fire bow drill, using all natural materials.    o o o In case you missed this: A Perfect Solar Superstorm: The 1859 Carrington Event. (Thanks to J. McC. for the reminder.)    o o o Kana suggested Roy Underhill’s television show The Woodwright. He has done 28 seasons of entertaining traditional woodworking, including tool making. These episodes will soon be released …

Lee M. sent an interesting article and video: Time Lapse Views of Earth from Space. Lee suggests: “Take a look at the night scenes of Earth. it will give you an idea of where the major population centers are located.”    o o o One final reminder that this weekend I will be a guest speaker (via teleconference) at the Get Prepared Expo, that is being held in Springfield, Missouri on April 28 & 29, 2012. The expo is being organized by USAPrepares.com, at the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds. My teleseminar will begin at noon, Central time.    o o o …

G.G. flagged this Reuters report: Bank of Japan likely to ease, may buy longer-dated government bonds Peter S. sent this: US home prices drop yet again Also from Peter: Greece economy to shrink another 5%   Items from The Economatrix: Outlay of $14 Trillion Hasn’t Solved Problem of Debt The Best Reason in the World to Buy Gold Unemployment Rate:  “Number Doesn’t Match Reality” German Tempers Boil Over Back-door Euro Rescues

James C. recommended a video by Mas Ayoob and Tom Gresham how to handle a police traffic stop when carrying a concealed weapon.    o o o Over at Philosophical Pilot: Connect the Dots    o o o Wonders Never Cease Department: “Cold Tracer” Glow Ammunition. (A hat tip to George S. for the link.)    o o o Mary F. suggested this: New Fashion Wrinkle: Stylishly Hiding the Gun    o o o Some reminders on our non-fiction writing contest rules: 1.) You can write on any topic related to preparedness or survival that you think would be of …

Ian R. sent this:  Crises make automakers rethink lean parts supplies    o o o News from the Philippines: Rabies kills 67 people in three months.    o o o Camping Survival just received a truckload of Wise Foods buckets. Feeling overstocked, they created an unprecedented 10% off coupon code just for SurvivalBlog readers.  The coupon code is “wiseblog“    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson forwarded this: Your computer may be at risk, FBI warns–Thousands of PCs infected by hackers could lose Net access    o o o G.G. flagged this piece about solar flares: …

Dave T. mentioned that both Facebook and Apple are locating data centers in Prineville, in eastern Oregon. Dave’s comment: “This shows that even IT folk might be able to find jobs in The American Redoubt area, and makes me wonder if survivability factors into these companies’ desire to locate there, along with considerations like inexpensive power, inexpensive land and tax incentives.” JWR Adds: Both Oregon and Washington have implemented special tax incentives to lure new data centers. Both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Rackspace are building data centers in Morrow, Oregon, and Google set up one of theirs an hour’s …

A reminder that I will be a guest speaker (via teleconference) at the Get Prepared Expo, in Springfield, Missouri on April 28 & 29, 2012. The expo is being organized by USAPrepares.com. It will be held at the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds. o o o A reader from Florida wrote to ask me about the prospects for paying off the National Debt. The short answer: It is mathematically impossible, unless the purchasing power of the US dollar is destroyed through mass inflation. (It worked for the Weimar Republic…) o o o My recent interview on the Alex Jones show is now …

Prepper At Large suggested a free medical Expert System developed by the CD3WD Project, a free but high quality collection of practical How-To Technical Development Information. They bill their mission as: “Helping the Third World to help itself.” The site hosts 4,000 document titles filling a whopping 13 gigabytes.  All are free downloads.    o o o Earth as you’ve never seen it before: The best pictures of our planet taken from the orbiting Space Station. A couple of these photos underscore my comments on the high population density of Europe. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.)    o o …

After a long interval, Ol’ Remus of The Woodpile Report again addresses the fine art of stacking woodpiles.    o o o Scientists Say Spread of Schmallenberg Virus Is ‘Warning To Europe’. (Thanks to Gregg P. for the link.)    o o o Chris M. sent this amazing tale of long-term caching: Twenty Spitfire aircraft buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK.    o o o I just heard that Levon Helm passed away. He was a man who will be missed. By coincidence, just a couple of days ago I heard a cover of the song …

Shamus H. sent this: The Power Pot. I wonder if they’ve been able to overcome the problem of TEG junctions burning out. (That has always been their weakness.)    o o o Ann Barnhardt’s speech at Liberty First. Warning: Her speech includes a bit of foul language.    o o o George S. sent a link to a fascinating video of the world’s ocean currents.    o o o F.J. sent this: Alexandria Chicken Coop and Run    o o o For those who like the British DPM camouflage pattern (which is great for most North American woodlands), SurvivalBlog reader …

Reader B.B. spotted this: Hacking Expert David Chalk Joins Urgent Call to Halt Smart Grid: “100% certainty of catastrophic failure of energy grid within three years”    o o o New Mexico man takes unique approach to protect home from fires. (Thanks to Scott B. for the link.)    o o o One of those “Small World Department” moments, from videoblogger “SGT” Planecast with a PATRIOT – Part One. He notes: “Recently I had the good fortune of meeting and interviewing a newly awakened patriot on a plane trip out east. The passenger sitting next to me just happened to …

DuPont’s armored car kit a hit in Brazil. (Thanks to Paul B. for the link.)    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Archivist seeks one of every book written    o o o Tom Sciacca (of Camping Survival) asks: How much water is enough?    o o o KAF flagged this article: New York Mills Woodworker Offering ‘Build Your Own Casket’ Classes, Coffin Furniture    o o o I will be a guest speaker (via teleconference) at the Get Prepared Expo, in Springfield, Missouri . The expo will be held on April 28 & …

Micah wrote to suggest a useful mapping resource for choosing retreat locales. With it, you can pinpoint upwind nuclear reactors, (planned, operating, and closed), coal-fired plants, and more. JWR Notes: I did note an error in the location of the decommissioned Trojan nuclear plant. (It is not east of Bend, Oregon, as shown on their map. It is actually near Ranier, Oregon, in the northwest corner of the state. Apparently, their maps default to plotting somewhere near the center of a state if no detailed location is provided.) I must also mention the politics of web site’s creators are quite …

Patrice Lewis, the editor of the excellent Rural Revolution blog has authored a series succinct and concise e-books on practical topics: The Self-Sufficiency Series. These sell for just $1.50 each. They don’t sell hard copy editions, but since most of them are less than 20 pages each you can print out your own reference binder copies at home. (I recommend that you keep backup copies on the memory thumb drive in your Bugout Bag.)    o o o Washington state launches new disaster preparedness web site, campaign. (Our thanks to M.E.S. for the link.)    o o o Reader C.D.V. …

Harry L. sent this: FDA wants farmers to get prescriptions for antibiotics used in animals. The FDA/AMA cabal will no doubt start calling the lack of prescription oversight by “loophole” (since we aren’t “trained and licensed professionals”), and hence try to institute “commonsense controls.” Does this sound familiar? I also suspect that large scale producers will be exempted from the prescription requirement, leaving the regulatory burden on the shoulders of small family farmers. (Which might also sound familiar.) If this goes into effect, just wait a few years and it will grow, with bureaucratic inevitability. They’ll be telling vets: “You …