Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Several readers flagged this: US grain reserves reach the bottom of the barrel. Here is a key quote: “The only thing left in the entire CCC inventory will be 2.7 million bushels of wheat which is about enough wheat to make 1?2 of a loaf of bread for each of the 300 million people in America.” Back in mid-April, I told a New York Sun reporter about the massive outflow of US grain, and mentioned that I was surprised that the Bush Administration has not implemented export controls. With these recent figures, I am even more concerned. I believe in …

Another bit of agreement on one of my predictions: Surging inflation will stoke riots and conflict between nations, says report    o o o Kory found us this: Antibacterial wipes can spread superbugs: study    o o o Shale sent us this AP news article: DOJ sues Honeywell over faulty bulletproof vests. Zylon is again the culprit. We’ve been warning SurvivalBlog readers for nearly three years to avoid Zylon vests.    o o o The Reuters London bureau reports a common theme on both sides of the Atlantic: Home-grown vegetables grow in popularity. The article begins: Almost 70 years after …

Dennis B. forwarded us a link to an editorial by Richard J. Greene on the dangers of buying “electronic” gold via Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Something tells me that there is some creative accounting going on. In fact, I’ll go on record as stating that I have my doubts that there is a tangible ounce of gold in custody for every “ounce” purchased.    o o o I heard from a reader about a new and informative reference site: Set2Survive.com.Take look.    o o o Several readers sent this: Avian Flu Found In Tyson Chickens (in Arkansas). “Oh, but it …

Diesel thieves wreak havoc on California farmers    o o o Yishai found us this, by way of Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit: If GPS Gets Knocked Out, the government has a backup plan.    o o o I missed this news article when it was posted a couple of weeks ago: Home Foreclosures: Crisis Is Only Getting Deeper. More recently, we’ve read: Bernanke urges more action to stem home foreclosure crisis    o o o Some analysis by Frank Barbera: Return of the Credit Crisis – Did It Ever Leave? We still haven’t seen the full impact on the …

How “safe” are safe deposit boxes? Read this article that Simon in England sent us: £14 million seized in deposit box search. Did all 7,000 boxes drilled open belong to “master criminals”? I doubt it. Where is the libertarian outcry? There is now hardly any expectation of privacy remaining in the UK, and property rights are fading fast. Take the gap!    o o o Hawaiian K. sent this piece from the George Washington Blog: The Derivatives Market is Unwinding! This confirms some of my predictions. Take a look at the piece that I wrote about derivatives a couple of …

Rourke suggested this video clip for readers that are in tornado or hurricane country: How Pre-cast Concrete Walls help protect your home.    o o o Barbara W. sent us this Reuters new story link: Food price “catastrophe” feared on eve of summit    o o o David D. sent this Wall Street Journal article link: Lofty Prices for Fertilizer Put Farmers in a Squeeze.    o o o Several readers sent us this: Researchers Secretly Tracked 100,000 Cell Users Outside U.S. for Six Months

JCR mentioned a MSN web page that identifies the best gasoline prices, by postal (“ZIP”) code.JCR says: “Just enter a ZIP code at this web page, and it tells you which gas stations have the least expensive prices (and the highest) on gas in your ZIP code area. It’s updated every evening.”    o o o The WRSA has another Practical Medicine course scheduled. This one will be in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, June 20 to June 22. This is excellent, very affordable training that is taught by an Emergency Room doctor with many years of practical experience. The course is …

Chris T. recommended this Time magazine article by Amanda Ripley: How to Survive A Disaster    o o o BulletProofME.com (one our loyal advertisers with a great reputation) has just started a one-month special sale on Interceptor Body Armor and Kevlar helmets. The sale price is just for SurvivalBlog readers: $500 for a mil-spec Interceptor vest in Woodland Camouflage or 3-Color Desert Camouflage. (That is below wholesale – only possible because of a military contact overrun in these colors. So te special sale price only applies to those colors. (They do offer a 15% discount on other colors.) They are …

Kirk flagged this Business Week piece: Bad Omens for Banks?–News from KeyCorp suggests U.S. banks’ loan losses may worsen. Is the credit crisis hitting a second, even scarier phase? The global credit crisis is worsening. Take steps to protect yourself.    o o o Thanks to Dave S. for sending this: US rail network facing congestion ‘calamity’    o o o My recent mention of health concerns about synthetic sweeteners (such as Nutrasweet and Splenda) prompted readers Chris D., Kim, and EMW to all remind me to mention the herbal sweetener, Stevia rebaudiana. It is a safe, natural sweetener derived …

Bill from Ohio sent this: Hunger Prompting Desperate Acts    o o o Reader David D. mentioned this article by Ellen Brown: The Secret Bailout of JP Morgan. One is naturally led to ask: Cui bono?    o o o Elisha R. mentioned a handy state of Texas PDF on rainwater catchment    o o o CDR sent us this link: China quake survivors scavenge amid the ruins–They search for scrap metal to sell so they can buy food for their families

From reader RBS: Buffett sees “long, deep” U.S. recession    o o o Mike W. sent us a link to a piece written by one of my heroes, Dr. Walter E. Williams: False prophets of doom–Environmentalists would prefer that we forget these predictions    o o o I was doing some web surfing, and a stumbled into a great collection of photos of Swiss bunkers.    o o o While the Novovirus threat is subsiding with warmer weather, Rourke sent us an article about a new threat, a bacteria called C-diff: Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths

Reader RBS found us this: Five Foods That Are Cheaper to Grow    o o o RBS also found this in a Hawaiian newspaper: Gasoline thieves cutting fuel lines    o o o Red Cross warns of food riots over soaring prices. (A hat tip to Bill in Ohio.)    o o o “I Told You So” Department: Washington Mutual – One of the Nations Largest Banks Having Trouble. (We mentioned potential margin call problems at WaMu, back on March 16th.) There are bank runs coming.    o o o “Cowboy” found this article that ties in with the recent …

Paul from Kentucky sent this: Pioneers show Americans how to live “off-grid”    o o o John in Ohio flagged this: Diesels [Still] Equal Savings. The article didn’t mention the price differential between road-taxed diesel and “off road ” diesel. Currently, off-road (dyed) diesel sells for about 50 cents less per gallon than the road-taxed variety. That makes a big difference for those of us that store diesel for tractors and diesel generators.    o o o I spotted this article linked at Drudge: US home prices drop at sharpest rate in 20 years. I predict this downward spiral will …

Jack B. recommended this piece by James Howard Kunstler: Wake Up, America. We’re Driving Toward Disaster    o o o A news headline that we’ve anticipated: As homes foreclose in U.S., squatters move in.    o o o Naish Piazza’s most recent weekly blog post includes a video clip that makes it clear just how incompetent and ignorant the liberal gun grabbers are. OBTW, Naish Piazza’s very generous “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer will likely end soon, since it is being run at or near cost. Don’t delay!    o o o From an Athens, Greece newspaper: …

More than a dozen readers mentioned this prominent mainstream media mention: Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare. This was an Associated Press wire service article also ran in the Washington Post, on Fox.com, and in daily papers across the nation. It is no wonder that all of the long term storage food vendors are getting deluged with orders. Some of the Sheeple are awakening.    o o o From one of my distant cousins across the Atlantic: Dr. Kate Rawles: Why the climate change debate has gone wrong    o o o And from Tom Rawles, one of my more …