Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Paul D. sent us a link to an article that profiles several families that have built extremely energy and water self-sufficient homes. Their elaborate do-it-yourself efforts and expertise are commendable, but: What is it about the Peak Oil crowd that makes them so incredibly naive about present day burglaries, and the potential for future home invasion robberies–to the point that they blithely mention their street addresses to newspaper reporters? My advice is to learn to be circumspect around reporters. Your stock answer should be: “For the privacy of my family, I’m not at liberty to discuss that topic.” Most reporters …

Mike O. e-mailed us to mention a dangerous omnibus package of Federal land grab legislation that will soon come before the US Senate: HR 5151.    o o o The latest wreckonomic news and commentary from Cheryl: Wall Street Ends Up Almost 553 Points — Budget Deficit Hits Record; Jobless Claims Surge — Soros Says Deep Recession Inevitable, Depression Possible — Who Will Bail Out The Fed? — UK on Brink of Meltdown — Hedge Funds Lose $100 Billion In October Alone (I hope that readers took JWR’s advice posted in September of 2007 and exited hedge funds) — Abandon …

FFF mentioned this interesting forum thread: Going Off Grid in East Tennessee    o o o From our volunteer Economic Editor: Disheartened Wall Street Plunges For Third Straight Session — Paulson Says Troubled Assets Will Not Be Purchased — Best Buy (US #1 Consumer Electronics Co) Slashes Forecast Due To Consumer Slowdown — Bailout Already $3.5 Trillion; Expected To Get Much Bigger — Citigroup Freezes US Home Repossessions — Fannie, Freddie Ease US Mortgage Payments — Oil Falls To 20-Month Low — Dow Could Reach 5,000 By January 2009 — Gloom Commentator Gerald Celente Predicts Revolution — Possible Gun Ban/Increase …

Paul D. and Rourke both mentioned this Time article Extreme Green: Living Off the Grid    o o o Thanks to Garth S. for finding this: US May Lose Its ‘AAA’ Rating    o o o The 25% off sale on Mountain House and AlpenAire freeze-dried foods at Ready Made Resources ends in just two days. Don’t hesitate!    o o o News and commentary from the Economatrix: Credit Crisis Tentacles Reach Everywhere — Fed Okays AMEX to Become A Bank — Asian Stocks Fall as Confidence Drop — Countrywide Gas Prices — Crude Oil Falls Below $59/Barrel — These …

Michael W. noticed some great advice on assembling “Grab-‘n -Go” kits, by Kim du Toit. o o o Seven readers sent us this: Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans. ($2 Trillion dollars in taxpayer funds, and no need to reveal the recipients?) Reader Dave S. made this comment: “I’m a little steamed. These guys are sinking the country and hiding it from the owners of this great land. They should be tarred & feathered.” o o o The latest economic news and commentary from Cheryl: Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy Protection — GM Shares Plunge After …

Abraham”s new blog on suburban survival looks like it is off to a great start. His most recent post selecting “Get Home Bag” contents was excellent. (A hat tip to the gents over at Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest (TSLRF), for the link to Abraham’s blog)    o o o Our friend Commander Zero up in Montana recently had a very well-reasoned post on handgun proficiency that quotes my mentor, Mel Tappan: Standard Controllability Test    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that after some record sales, they are now down to just 30 of the used water-tight …

A correction to yesterday’s post: There were actually two bank failures announced by the FDIC on Friday. Here a link to the announcement of the second one.    o o o Lead bullets under fire    o o o Lee C. sent this: On Concerns Over Gun Control, Gun Sales Are Up    o o o The latest reading selections from Cheryl, our Economista: Automakers Struggle to Survive Past Mistakes — GM Could Be Bankrupt in a Matter of Months — China May See Severe Economic Slowdown — Latvia takes over 2nd largest bank as crisis hits — US Jobs …

“Nines” sent us this: Another Friday, Another Bank Collapse.    o o o You probably saw this announcement last month: Bush Calls Economic Summit for November 15. This could portend a new financial order announcement by the G20, either at this meeting or at their next one, early in 2009. I suspect that the US Dollar will lose its primacy as a reserve currency. As the Chartist Gnome told me “this will likely go far beyond ‘a new Bretton Woods.’” A country with these numbers, and these numbers, and these numbers, and these numbers cannot negotiate from a position of …

Three readers sent me this noteworthy blog piece: Over 1 Trillion Dollars Worth of Credit Default Swaps Against Governments. The article mentions that there are still $33-to-$47 Trillion (notional) in CDS derivatives still outstanding. This skunk won’t be washed clean until the real estate market bottoms, and all the “Marked to Mystery” paper gets marked to the real market. And, BTW, that bottom may not be for another five years. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The fallout from the nascent derivatives collapse may topple some national governments.    o o o The latest huge download from …

Several readers have e-mailed to ask me for investing recommendations, following the election of Barack H. Obama (BHO) to the American presidency. My basic recommendations are unchanged. The dollar is still doomed as a currency unit. If anything, the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB), will grow even larger in the BHO era. Mass inflation (following some distinct deflation) is even more likely. So your need to get out of dollar-denominated investments and into tangibles is now more urgent. Specific advice: I now put a stronger emphasis on purchasing any semi-auto firearms or full capacity magazines that are imported. I suspect …

The latest news and commentary gleanings from our economic editor: Despite $143 Billion Bailout, AIG May Be Tottering Towards Collapse — Global Financial Crisis Drives EU Toward Recession — Auto Sales Worst Since 1992 — US Manufacturing Shrinks to 26-year Low — Battered Global Markets End October With Worst Losses Ever — Global Financial Matrix Disintegrates — HBOS, RSS to Reveal Massive Asset Losses — Brits Hoarding Cash? — International Trade Slowed ‘Savagely” By Credit Crisis — The Financial Next Shoe To Drop — Blue Mountain Capital Freezes Withdrawals From Its $3.1 Billion Hedge Fund — Bernanke Push For Lower …

Robert C. alerted us to “a real life synopsis of what happened post-Hurricane Katrina from folks who witnessed it.”    o o o Where will the Dow bottom? This was recently posted at The Trader Blog: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Three Scenarios For The Stock Market    o o o We warned you about the precipitous drop in overseas shipping long before the mainstream media picked up on it: Investors shun Greek debt as shipping crisis deepens. The article begins: “Freight rates for shipping are crashing at the fastest pace ever recorded as banks shut off …

More gloomage from Cheryl, our Economic Editor: Germans Freeze £21 Billion in Property Fund (“Nearly €30bn of German property funds were frozen between Tuesday and Friday last week in what industry experts fear could foreshadow a UK commercial real estate collapse.”) — The Federal Reserve is Inflating at 341% Per Annum — Cash Was King, Now Gold Is God — Fed Interest Rate Cut May End Up Making Matters Worse (“The Federal Open Market Committee’s half-point cut in its Federal Funds target does not address the leverage and credit issues in the banking system.”) — Gold, Faith And Credit (The …

Congolese behind rebel lines try to return home. Once again, we see that the last thing you want to be is a refugee–or an “Internally Displaced Person” (IDP) in the modern parlance.    o o o Ted suggested this article over at Gold-Eagle, by Scott Wright: Commodities Bull Market?    o o o Reader Marsha U. asked about a good place to find full capacity magazines for her FN PS90 and HK93. (She notes: “I feel the need to stock up well before Bush leaves office.” ) For commercial vendors, I recommend CDNN Sports. For finding private sellers, I recommend …

Ready Made Resources (one of our original advertisers) just launched an unusual 25% off sale on Mountain House and AlpenAire freeze-dried foods. Unlike many storage food dealers, they actually keep considerable stock in-hand. This is a limited-time offer, so don’t delay in placing your orders!    o o o They say a picture is with a thousand words. Well, these photos are worth 100 Billion: Chuck mailed us a link to a series of amazing photos from Zimbabwe, posted at blogoncherry. Make sure that you scroll all the way down to see the Z$100 Billion note. I suppose that next …