Category: Odds ‘n Sods

A major failure in family OPSEC, up in Canada: Chilliwack man shaken after home invaders take $750,000 in silver. It doesn’t rhyme, but remember: Loose Lips Invite Home Invaders!    o o o Ol’ Remus mentioned a useful web site that will calculate the magnetic declination for most locales. Since the magnetic north pole has been shifting rapidly in the past 20 years do not trust the declination diagram that is printed at the bottom of your handy-dandy USGS or Ordnance Survey map, even if the map is just a few years old. It is most likely out of date! …

F.G. sent us a list of some regions not to live in: The 11 Most Dangerous Cities. Reading that list should make folks yearn to relocate to truly safe places.    o o o Mark Levin Goes Nuclear Over Obama Destroying the Country. (Our thanks to John R. for sending the link. This might be a good link to forward to your congrescritter’s office.)    o o o At Clinton Speech: Military and CIA Veteran Bloodied, Bruised and Arrested for Standing Silently. And how would have the JBTs reacted if fifty people in the audience had simultaneously done the same …

Reader Lynn G. sent a link to a web page on nuclear EMP.    o o o Attention SurvivalBlog readers in Colorado: Reader James A. just alerted me that Classic Mustangs in Denver, Colorado recently bought 100 U.S. Army surplus CUCV diesel pickups and Blazers at auction. (I assume these came from Fort Carson, Colorado.) They are offering them either semi-restored (with custom paint jobs and engine block heaters) or essentially “as-is” with their original CARC paint..    o o o John B. sent this: NRA-ILA :: Senator Grassley Presses BATFE On Project Gunrunner    o o o Reader Pierre …

I’m scheduled for a one hour interview on EMPact Radio on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. Please feel free to call in to the show if you have any preparedness questions that would be of interest to the majority of listeners. If you miss hearing the show, it will be available post facto as a downloadable podcast.    o o o Reader Troy H. mentioned a fascinating Wikipedia page that is presented in tabular form: List of countries by real population density (based on food growing capacity). That table is food for thought for anyone that is considering emigrating. Notice how …

A portent of the future? Hunting down the hoarders to rein in prices, the Chinese government turns to unconventional measures. Our thanks to Don V. for the link.    o o o Man, 84, Survives Five Days Lost in Desert. (Thanks to readers Steve H. and John T. who both sent that link.)    o o o Reese sent this: Climate Change May Cause ‘Massive’ Food Disruptions    o o o Lee in Tulsa mentioned that announced chapter 11 bankruptcy of Borders Books means that they are closing 200 stores. Lee recommends: “Check to the store closure list to see …

La fine del mondo come lo conosciamomeowner? Italy overwhelmed by Tunisian boat people. And a related news story: Tunisians vote with their feet, flee the country    o o o J.B.G. suggested this: Home Invasions: Side Effects of the Drug War Mexico’s war against the cartels is spilling over the border in the form of home invasions, kidnapping, and murder.    o o o I’ve previously mentioned the Gerber Omnivore flashlight. It is a white LED flashlight that is designed to be able to use size AA, AAA or CR123 batteries. The new 50 lumen version of the Omnivore looks …

Great news for Swiss gun owners: Swiss voters throw out gun law reform. I’m sure that Pro Tell members were instrumental in rallying this vote for liberty. (A hat tip to M.O.B. for the link.)    o o o Some SCA types muse about WWIII and societal collapse in a rousing filk ballad: Serious Steel. Despite the reference to “The Crunch”, I can’t claim to have had any influence on them. If anything, I think that they’ve been reading S.M. Stirling’s excellent “Dies the Fire” series rather than my novel “Patriots”. (Thanks to Alan B. for sending the link.)    …

We are happy to welcome our newest advertiser, Missouri Storm Shelters. They have some innovative designs (pre-fabricated, bolt-together, and poured concrete), competitive pricing. They ship their metal shelters nationwide.    o o o Finally! Atlas Shrugged (Part 1) will come to theaters on April 15th.    o o o A recent post over at the Paratus Famila blog, is great reading: Country Wisdom.    o o o Curiouser and curiouser: The leaked campaign to attack WikiLeaks and its supporters. (Thanks to David D. for the link.)

“Word” mentioned some Kalashnikov training videos by a former Spetsnaz soldier who knows his stuff: Saulius “Sonny” Puzikas. I should mention that I take exception to his advocacy of taping magazines together, end-to-end. When you drop to a prone firing position (as you often must, if you value your skin) then there is a huge risk of either fouling the downward-facing magazine with mud, or bending its feed lips. Bad idea!    o o o Fred the Valmetmeister flagged this interesting article: Feds: Mobster fugitive captured in rural Idaho.    o o o Mark. G. in Michigan sent us an …

Some commentary from novelist Stephen Hunter: Why 33 rounds makes sense in a defensive weapon.    o o o Nicholas S. sent this news item from The Washington Post: In Pepco territory, blackouts mean more home generators, more noise complaints      o o o Ol’ Remus (one of the web’s most entertaining bloggers) recently had a link to Kellene Bishop’s article: Forever Foods and More.    o o o O’l Remus also mentioned: “The reservoir of bees is dwindling to the point where ratios are dangerously out of kilter, with the US reaching the “most extreme” imbalance. Pollinated crop …

R.F.J. mentioned this over at the Makezine web site: How-To: Ultralight camp pot from Heineken “keg” can    o o o I heard from Ulysses Press that my novel “Patriots” is about to surpass 100,000 copies sold. (This is not counting the 30,000+ copies sold of the older Huntington House Publishers edition.) It is now in its seventh printing, and still ranked around #600 of the more than three million titles sold on Amazon.com. (That ranking is unsusual for a novel that has been out for more than two years.) Meanwhile, my nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of …

The new SurvivalUK.net blog site is growing rapidly. I recommend that preppers in the UK bookmark it and check it often. I’ve just added the site to the SurvivalBlog Links Page.    o o o In his new Vlog, Tom of CampingSurvival.com shows the new packaging for commercial MREs.    o o o There are some great new posts over at Granny Miller’s Blog. Her ewes are lambing early this year!    o o o Freeze Dry Guy has announced a special for February: Dehydrated Whole Eggs with a 25 year shelf life, packed six #10 cans per case. Yield: …

Reader J.B.G. sent this: 18 Cities Whose Suburbs Are Rapidly Turning Into Slums    o o o Frequent content contributor C.D.V. sent this: We Are Witnessing the Collapse of the Middle East. “If Egypt should fall, it will mark the beginning of the end for what little remaining stability there is in the Middle East.” Can you imagine an enormous Lebanon-like Zone of Chaos, all the way from the Sudan to Tajikistan and from Morocco to Pakistan? I can. It seems that the $55 Billion+ that that we’ve “invested” in stability in Egypt since 1974 sure didn’t buy much, did …

Hillary Clinton calls historic meeting of ambassadors. Wow, 260 ambassadors and counsels in simultaneous transit! Something is afoot, folks. The bottom line is that the world’s governments can print unlimited supplies of currency, but they can’t print food. I anticipate that a regional war or perhaps even global war is just around the corner.    o o o Why America Should Be Driving on Natural Gas    o o o Ms. M. sent this article about “Generation Rx”: Pharmacies Besieged by Addicted Thieves    o o o I just heard about an interesting new product, made here in the U.S.: …

F.G. sent a link to some amazing photographs of the largest snow and ice storm to hit the U.S. in decades.    o o o Kayaker, 64, completes marathon paddle across Atlantic. (Thanks to Patrick T. for the link.)    o o o You may have heard of the documentary film “Far Out” that profiles Heimo and Edna Korth’s trapping family who live year-round in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The documentary is again available at VBS.tv.    o o o Reader “InyoKern” wrote to recommend the IMCO Windproof Lighter from Austria. These were originally known as the “Trench …