Category: Odds ‘n Sods

From Matt in Texas: The Rise of Stagflation Means the End of Fiat Wealth    o o o E.J. (our British ex-pat correspondent living in rural Italy) mentioned this piece from The Guardian newspaper: The island house that powers itself – with a little help from 100 mph gales    o o o Readers Sam K. and Stephen S. note that Peak Oil is now getting more mainstream media coverage, such as this CNBC piece: $12 Gas and Rationing? Possible, Says Expert. (The article quotes Robert Hirsch, who was the lead writer for SAIC’s well-publicized Report on Peak Oil, in …

Yishai suggested a Hack-n-Mod video clip on how to make thermite. Warning: Some serious safety precautions must be taken, because thermite burns at temperatures hot enough to liquefy steel, and once ignited, it is almost impossible to extinguish. (It generates its own oxygen.) Note the minor accident near the end of the video. He’ll also have some serious explaining to do about that back porch slab.    o o o Kevin a recommended this piece by Marty Weiss: Brace yourself! The U.S. government could be understating the Consumer price Index by 7.6%!    o o o Frequent content contributor Michael …

Wes at WK Books has been working on an index/reference of known U.S. Military manuals and publications. It is hard to find a comprehensive list of military manuals to get an idea of what is out there and what you may want to add to their personal reference library. Please do not confuse this index with his product (the 1600 U.S. Military Manuals, Government Manuals, and Civil Defense Manuals, Firearm Manuals). When printed out, the index of known U.S. Military manuals is 15 pages long and includes the last publication/updates by month/day/year. Wes told me that it is current as …

Brent F. suggested this article from Australia’s Courier Mail newspaper: Drivers face fuel ration shock.    o o o CDO Debt Could Pose Renewed Danger for Banks. (A hat tip to RBS for the link.)    o o o Nick recommended the text of a recent speech by geopolitical analyst Richard Maybury: You will be either a winner or a loser, there will be no middle ground. FWIW, I have been following Maybury’s writings for more than 10 years, and I’ve found that he is right far more often than he’s wrong. He was issuing dire warnings about the Islamic …

Micah flagged this Fox Business video clip with some speculation about a possible war with Iran and a resultant spike in the price of crude oil.    o o o Kevin A., RBS, and Tim P. all mentioned a news article over at the Silver Bear Cafe that focuses on one of our least favorite Nanny States, California: Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets    o o o “Viking Eric” mentioned a company in England that creates houses out of CONEXes.    o o o Mike the Blacksmith sent us this: Fed’s Discount Window Loans to …

More Gloom und Doom from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: The global slump of 2008-09 has begun as poison spreads. It sounds like he’s been reading SurvivalBlog. Don’t listen to the Wall Street pundits at CNBC who assure us that there will be a jolly “soft landing,”    o o o Thanks to Chester for sending this: US foreclosure filings surge 65 percent in April. As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog: Anyone that does not yet own a rural retreat should watch the foreclosure listings carefully. There may some tremendous bargains in the next few years that are right in your “ideal” retreat …

Thanks to Yishai for sending us this interesting article link: Five Modern Secret Room Dreams (and Nightmares): From Creative Hideouts to Dreadful Spaces    o o o Samuel K. flagged this: Are Backyard Ethanol Brewers an Answer to High-Priced Gas? In the context of Schumeresque days, such systems would only make sense in a place like Hawaii, where it could expected that grid power might be available, and cane sugar is readily available. Used in CONUS, I predict that grid power or transport disruptions would quickly transform these systems into just quaint ornaments. And of course these systems make E100 …

R.E. found a link to this map of the population density of the US, Mexico, and Canada. Do you see why I prefer the Western US for retreats? Too bad that Canada has a frigid climate (inland) and such draconian gun laws. Otherwise, much of western Canada would be ideal. See my free Recommended Retreat Areas web page for more detail on my recommendations, and my nonfiction book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” for even greater detail, with some very useful accompanying maps.)    o o o Eric sent us this: Hard-hit consumers turn to Amish–People save by buying ‘scratch …

22 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia after new round of storms. This underscores the need for anyone living in tornado or hurricane country to construct an effective storm shelter.    o o o Rob at MURS Radios mentioned that he will soon have a limited number of Kenwood TK-2100 MURS radios in stock. These are similar to the ones that he used to sell and at the same price. These come with a used radio (programmed for MURS frequencies), antenna, drop-in charger, and a new battery. The price is $69 each, plus shipping. Rob is taking pre-orders on a first …

FerFAL–SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Argentina–reports in his personal blog on the effects from the volcanic eruption in adjoining Chile.    o o o We found this linked at Steve Quayle’s site: As usual, journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard pulls no punches: Global free market for food and energy faces biggest threat in decades    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that they have just five cases each of the following Mountain House freeze dried foods briefly back in stock, available for immediate delivery: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce $110 per case Chicken and Rice $110 per case Beef Stew $165 per …

Jack B. forwarded this: Wheat disease threatens supplies.    o o o Reader KBF found a mainstream media article that has good general advice and great links for food cost savings: Tips for taming rising grocery prices.    o o o  Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlers.    o o o Oil surpasses $125 per barrel ahead of US driving season.

Eric mentioned that Rock Port, Missouri is the first US city to be 100% [net meter] wind-powered.    o o o Burma death toll worse than Tsunami. We may never have an exact count, but the previous estimate of 100,000 dead may have been a huge understatement. And to make maters worse: UN halts aid to Myanmar after junta seizes supplies.    o o o I found an insightful article by Devvy Kidd linked over at the Bull (Not Bull) blog site: Do You Have a Plan?    o o o A reader in Iraq mentioned that US Marine Corps …

Reader D.K. mentioned this item that first appeared in the AMA’s Morning Rounds e-newsletter: Hospitals in Cities Most at Risk of Terrorist Attack Do Not Have Capacity To Treat Injured, Report Finds    o o o Eric mentioned that the US Federal Reserve has now resorted to desperation measures to pump liquidity in the midst of the global credit collapse: We read in The New York Times: Fed Takes Steps to Add Liquidity. The piece begins: “The Federal Reserve announced new steps on Friday to help ease tight global credit markets by increasing the size of its cash auctions to …

Hard numbers: The economy is worse than you know    o o o UBS reports first quarter net loss of $11 billion, cuts 5,500 jobs    o o o Just as I had warned you, folks: Penny prices pinched by rising cost of metal. The article begins: “Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 71?2 cents. Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II and maybe using …

Myanmar cyclone death toll 22,000+ dead or missing. Does your family have rated storm shelter?    o o o Joe S. flagged this: Who Should Doctors Let Die in a Pandemic?    o o o Reader “Bois d’Arc” sent us a link to an interesting Malthusian web page written by Paul Chefurka, which seems to borrow heavily from other sources: Peak Oil, Carrying Capacity and Overshoot: Population, the Elephant in the Room. The bottom line is that he expects a population crash from a peak of near seven billion in 2012 to just one billion by 2075.    o o …