Category: Odds ‘n Sods

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 …

M. In Texas sent the link to a “must read” piece over at The Contrary Investor (for May, 2008): Slowly I Turned    o o o Oil Tops $120 Per Barrel    o o o The Werewolf in Brazil found this for us, about a new disease outbreak: 24 Chinese children die of EV-71 virus; other countries affected    o o o Samuel K. suggested this article: An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner. Samuel’s comment: “Some of these local breeds of livestock and crops mentioned in the article may have appeal to survivalists for growing …

Naish Piazza of Front Sight has regretfully announced that because of increased merchandise costs as well as increased shipping and mailing costs he will soon be raising the price on his very generous “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer. Get your order in right away, to beat the price increase! Also, keep in mind that the offer will likely end soon, since it is being run at or near cost.    o o o Inyokern sent this article link about survivalists the UK’s Guardian newspaper: Natural born survivors. BTW, it mentions SurvivalBlog and cites the size our our …

Fred The Valmet-meister relayed this bit of bad news: Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly net profits dropped 64 percent because of derivatives losses    o o o Norman in England sent us this: India feels the heat as thousands riot over power cuts    o o o Ron D. flagged this article: What happens when oil is no longer priced in US Dollars    o o o Gulf States may end the dollar peg. (Thanks to Samuel K. for the link.)

Reader EG mentioned this Science in Africa article: Make your own 220 Volt [AC] backup power supply Of course the same principles apply to readers in countries with 120 VAC utility power, by substituting a 120 VAC inverter and the appropriate prong pattern plugs and jacks.    o o o Ian and John M. both mentioned this Wired article: Survival Gear That’s Just Crazy Enough to Work    o o o I just noticed that we surpassed te threshold of 3.3 million unique visits. Thank you so much for making SurvivalBlog such a resounding success! Please continue spreading a the …

Reuters reports: Investors see recession, Wall Street depression    o o o Shortages Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer    o o o Thank to RBS for sending this link: Americans unload prized belongings to make ends meet    o o o Now the mainstream media is not just reporting on food storage, they’re publishing “how to” tips! See this ABC News piece: Time to Stockpile Food? –A Guide to Preparing for Rising Food Costs or That Next Big Emergency.

From Reader CSG: Energy crunch forces Juneau to conserve    o o o Jesse sent this: “Doomsday Clock” Moves Two Minutes Closer To Midnight    o o o Mark in Michigan flagged this article about Nanny State meddling: Canada’s C-51 Law May Outlaw 60% of Natural Health Products    o o o A couple of articles that I found linked at Drudge: Worst UK house price slide since 1996 raises negative equity fears. And meanwhile in the US: Disappearing now: $6 trillion in housing wealth

Lisa C. suggested this article: One Guy Who Has Seen It All Doesn’t Like What He Sees Now about an elderly financial that fears the effects of the current credit collapse, but suggests buying stocks. I concur with the former, but not the latter. In my opinion the US stock market is heading for a fall. The recent Dow Jones rallies have been nothing but sucker rallies. And if you look at the volume of stock that insiders are selling, it is clear that a lot of the “smart money” is abandoning ship. (See, for example, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s …

Paul D sent us this article about the Ug99 wheat fungus: Stem Rust Never Sleeps    o o o Analysts Predict: Gasoline May Soon Cost $10 Per Gallon in US    o o o A traveling video-journalist meets Vern Switzer. There are some self-sufficiency lessons in this piece.    o o o China steps up monitoring of deadly virus outbreak. (A hat tip to frequent contributor RBS.)

Reader C.T.H. wrote to ask me if I thought that the Springfield Armory XD pistol offered in Front Sight’s Front Sight’s “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer was worth adding to a family gun collection. The answer is an enthusiastic yes, and I’m not the only one that is enthusiastic about these pistols. But I must add one proviso: Spare parts are currently hard to come by. Ironically, this is because of Springfield Armory’s exceptional lifetime warranty program. (Because of the lifetime repair warranty, there is little impetus for gunsmiths in the US to do XD repairs.) So, …

Several readers sent me this: Unpaid utility bills soar as economy sags    o o o Reader Al C. sent this: Economist: Housing slump may exceed [The Great] Depression    o o o Inyokern found this article: The Peak Oil Crisis: The Case for 2008    o o o Reader “Redclay” forwarded us an excerpt from the latest bulletin from the US CMP (formerly–and more familiarly to some of us dinosaurs–called the DCM Program), which included this: “During the past 60 days we have experienced a ten-fold increase in orders for [Greek military surplus] HXP .30-06 ammunition. This activity has …

Two readers e-mailed me to ask me if the recent drops in the prices of gold and silver were “disconcerting” or if I planned to change my predictions on the metals market. My answer: NO, I consider the recent price drops as evidence of market manipulation in what is otherwise a long term bull market for the metals. Look at this drop as a buying opportunity. I have warned SurvivalBlog readers numerous times that there would be some scary pullbacks in the market. Market manipulation by The Power That Be works in the short term, but it cannot change the …

Rising prices threaten millions with starvation, despite bumper crops    o o o California foreclosure “surge”: Up 327% from 2007 levels    o o o RBS sent us this: As Food Prices Soar, Some Shortages Appear–Some Stores Even Rationing Staples Such As Rice; Grocers Blame Corn Diverted For Ethanol    o o o I just heard that JRH Enterprises has acquired two brand new AN/PVS-14 US Army-issue night vision units with new Gen 3 image intensifier tubes, and they have them priced at just $3,495. (They are normally $4,000.)