Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Nanny State Britannia run amok: YouTube bans knife and gun videos in England. I suppose that this ban will also include instructional and safety videos, but worry not: They tell us that it is all for the public good! (Tut, tut! We mustn’t “glamorise!”) OBTW, I think that using a third party web browsing portal such as Anonymizer will probably remove any do-gooder impediments. (And, BTW, it is wise for everyone to use  Anonymizer, just on general principle, to prevent leaving an audit trail of your web browsing. Think OPSEC!)    o o o From Cheryl, our Economic Editor: Bush, Congress …

From the folks over at The Oil Drum: How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? An Update    o o o More on the MOAB, from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Bailout Plan Calms Markets, But Struggle Looms Over Details    o o o Another slug of cheer from SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Stocks Soar As Investors Look To Gov’t Rescue Plan — Current List of Failed Banks (another bank failure was announced on Friday) — Wall Street Dumps Mortgage Corruption on Taxpayers — New Wall Street Crisis Will Create a New Financial World Order — Forecast: US Dollar …

Our Economic Editor sent us another huge batch of news and commentary–plenty for you to digest over the weekend: But I’ll focus on perhaps the most important article, that confirms my prediction of a gargantuan Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB): Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion. And now for the rest: Treasury pulls out stops to support money markets — Fed, Central Banks Move to Boost Global Confidence (“Wall Street’s biggest crisis since the Great Depression forced the Federal Reserve and central banks in other countries to pump billions of dollars into the world’s banking system in an urgent bid …

I hope that readers took my advice and bought precious metals during the recent dip. The bank credit crisis seems to have woken the gold bull from his short nap. (Gold had one of its best one day gains ever, on Wednesday.) I believe that the bull’s charge will resume, shortly. Because the consumer economy now looks weak, I predict that gold will probably outperform silver in the next run-up. (Since silver is more of an industrial metal, whereas gold as seen as a safe haven when currencies are in turmoil.)    o o o Tim T. mentioned that any …

Krys in Idaho flagged this one: Ike Holdouts To Be Forced From Home. Some comments from Krys: “This story shows the importance of two things: 1) Proper retreat location and2) Having multiple plans in place for multiple scenarios WTSHTF. Just because you plan to stay in place, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to.How many of these folks were perfectly able to weather the storm in place, but are being forced to move anyway, possibly at gun point? Food for thought.”    o o o Reader “M” sent us this: Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money. Money market accounts …

If you feel like you’ve waited too long to Get Out of Dodge, and you need to buy a complete, turn-key retreat, then listen to this: I’ve personally visited a northern Idaho retreat that just went on the market, through our spin-off site: SurvivalRealty.com. This retreat has some very special features (most of which I’ve seen) that will be revealed only to qualified buyers.   o o o Eric sent us this: Japan Stocks Dive to 3-Year Low on Lehman, AIG Capital Concern. “[The] Nikkei closed early as the volume was approaching their load limits…”    o o o A …

From Naish Piazza’s blog: I Love This Little Girl… and So Will You. OBTW, speaking of Front Sight, don’t miss out on their “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer. This offer will probably end soon, so don’t hesitate any longer!    o o o Our hard working Economic Editor Cheryl N. sent us an enormous batch of news and commentary. Note, BTW, how many of these highlight the derivatives market: Meltdown Shakes Up Wall Street Workers—Wall Street Crisis Could Put Fed Rate Cut Into Play—Stocks Tumble Amid New Wall Street Landscape—Obama, McCain Blame Economic Woes on Greed, Policy—Greenspan: …

Craig R. Smith of Swiss America asks: Will government bailouts spell end of dollar? (A hat tip to Jack in Texas for the link)    o o o TheOtherRyan over at TSLRF (one of the eight-or-so blogs that I read frequently) posted a succinct and commonsense list: 10 commandments for buying gold and silver    o o o One of my “Secret Squirrel” contributors mentioned that because the price of 128 MB and 256 MB USB memory sticks (aka “jump drives” or “USB thumb drives”) has dropped to less than $2 each, readers that want to contribute any articles or …

SurvivalBlog reader “Cyberiot” mentioned that readers with concerns about pandemic flu may be interested in a new and growing online storybook sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Pandemic Influenza Storybook: Personal Recollections from Survivors, Families, and Friends” includes first-person accounts of the 1918 and 1957 flu pandemics. Readers are encouraged to contribute their own recollections. Speaking of flu pandemics, earlier this year, New Scientist magazine published a detailed analysis of how a 1918-scale influenza pandemic would affect the US economy.    o o o I’ve heard from a reader that he plans to attend the ASPO …

U.K. state memo warns of “anarchy” in the city streets. (Thanks to Florida Guy for the link.)    o o o Yishai flagged this for us, from The Morning Brief: “This could be the mother of year-ends,” Brian Sack, of Macroeconomic Advisers and a former Federal Reserve chief market analyst, tells Bloomberg, which says the Fed may have to increase the cash it provides to banks and brokers beyond already-record levels to help them balance their books at the end of the year in the wake of six bank failures in the past two months and rising concern about Lehman’s …

With a web search, I came across a couple of Tsunami e-mail alert pages. One for coastal Alaska, coastal Canada, and coastal United States, and one for the entire Pacific Ocean. Speaking of alert e-mails, Weather.com provides free regional e-mail/cell phone severe weather alerts. And, as I’ve mentioned in SurvivalBlog before, anyone interested in radio propagation can get free solar flare alerts. (The latter is also useful for those of use that enjoy watching auroral displays.) But presently, of course, we are at a sunspot minimum.    o o o David F.sent us a link to an article that confirms …

C.S.D. mentioned an interesting product with several survival application: Gloshade. Note that these reflectors will also work with infrared chemical light sticks.    o o o More economic news and commentary, courtesy of SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Fannie & Freddie: Buying Friends in D.C., Fannie & Freddie Bailout Destined to Fail as US Debt Doubles, Mortgage Giant Overstated Its Capital Base, Fannie and Freddie: Just the Beginning of the Derivatives Deleveraging Bailout, Lehman Bros. Worth a Big FAT Zero?, Fannie Mae Faces Investor Lawsuit, Berkshire, in Blow to Banks, Reins in its Deposit Insurer, Wall Street Trading Gets Zero Value from …

Reader I.T.N. wrote me to ask: “I noticed that [the base metal value of] a nickel is [down to] now 4.9 cents. (due to a sharp decline in nickel as of late) Do you think this is temporary, or should I begin to spend the milk jugs full of nickels I acquired.” I expect that spot price of nickel will rebound in coming months, as the US Dollar resumes its decline. With more rapid inflation looking likely, I expect that a US five cent piece will have a base metal value of 10 cents (twice its face value) within two …

Universal flu vaccine tests start in the UK    o o o We can now chalk up another $200 Billion in the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB). It’s now official: U.S. Seizes Fannie and Freddie. This confirms my suspicion that there is no such thing as “too big to bail out”, but the dictum of “too big to fail” is in full force. I predict that these bailouts will continue in both the public and private sectors, in a “widening gyre.” The bailouts won’t end until the US dollar is destroyed as a currency unit. Get out of any dollar-denominated …

Just as I predicted a more than a year ago, and again more explicitly in October of 2007, the hedge fund failure rate is about ready to turn into an avalanche, in agonizing quarterly installments: Hedge funds ready to blow as positions liquidated. (A hat tip to Mike McD. for for finding that link.)    o o o For all of you that have been waiting, after many months of shortages, Mountain House has finally resumed selling their freeze dried foods in #10 (one gallon) vacuum-packed cans on the civilian market. My advice: Get them while you can. When the …