Category: Odds ‘n Sods

My old friend Jeff moved to England to get his final sheep skin–a doctorate degree. He tells me that the price of gasoline (“petrol”) now averages £1.09 GBP per liter in the Thames Valley, and that he has seen it advertised for as much as £1.50 GBP/liter out on the highways. At current exchange rates, £1.50 GBP equals $2.97 USD. Now, multiplying liters to US gallons (x 3.785) that equates to a heart-stopping $11.24 USD per gallon. Ouch! (For comparison, I most recently paid $2.98 per gallon, locally, but I’ve seen it as high as $3.05) OBTW, Jeff mentioned that …

Cleveland:ghost town created by America’s loan scandal. Here is a snippet from the article with some downright post-apocalyptic imagery: “…street after empty street of boarded-up houses, their roofs caving in, collapsed balconies hanging from the fronts of buildings. Some people seem to have just upped and left, leaving their belongings behind for the rats and vandals. Owners have put up signs offering their burnt-out homes for a $500 (£250) down payment. Bins and rubbish litter the street. Signs warn trespassers the structures are unsafe. People have spray-painted “No copper” or “No metal” on their doors to deter crooks who have …

Our friend Mike mentioned a web page that shows the contents of various vehicular kits for G.O.O.D., camping, first aid, and so forth.    o o o Reader Amy Q. pointed us to a post on another site that has some good ideas for building up a second income. As I’ve mentioned before, every family should have a second income that they can fall back on, in the event of a layoff. A home-based business might also grow into something that will be your ticket to living at your retreat year-round.    o o o Eric spotted this: Bernanke predicts …

Reader Daniel K. recommended an essay about dependence on grid power, posted over at the Jeff Rense site: Worst Drug On Earth Stops In 8 Milliseconds    o o o Freddie Mac posts $2.5 Billion Loss in Fourth Quarter of 2007    o o o I just heard that “The Armchair Survivalist” weekly Internet radio show is expanding to shortwave, on WWCR, starting tonight. Kurt covers some interesting topics and he has some great guests. He also still operates Survival Enterprises (that you may remember as a former SurvivalBlog advertiser). They sell a variety of storage foods and gear at …

I recently heard from three different storage food vendors that they are getting deluged with orders. Apparently, the recent economic news and reports of grain shortages have worked together to cause people to suddenly want to lay in a supply of long term storage food. Both Mountain House and Alpen Aire now have orders backed up 45 to 60 days. Many storage food vendors have run out of stock, so expect to wait at least two months for shipment. I only expect the order backlogs to increase in coming months, so don’t dawdle. Prices are also likely to increase, since …

Billy S. found this piece: Is Zimbabwe-style Inflation Coming to America? $500,000 for a cigarette?    o o o Courtesy of our friend Eric comes this from The Seattle Times: Wheat Hits Record on US Inventory Report    o o o PMac found us a “Fun little list of Dream BOVs“    o o o John S. suggested the economic commentary in video clip of Glenn Beck’s interview of Jonah Goldberg, the author of the book “Liberal Fascism”

Eric sent us this: Deep recession feared in U.S.– Falling business sentiment fuels gloomy outlooks    o o o John S. flagged this: U.N. Conference Promotes Insect-Eating for Everyone From Famine Victims to Astronauts    o o o Hawaiian K. sent this: Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan Says Dollar Peg for Gulf State Currencies ‘Needs to Go’    o o o Yishai sent this link: Scanned 1962 Fallout Shelter Handbook

Mike found a web site from a builder of modern-day castles. Sadly, their extant castle projects seem to be designed for “fantasy” looks rather than tactical practicality. They have far too many windows at ground level. At least the walls are two feet thick. If I could ever afford to spend that much on a castle, I would want a real portcullis –not a fake one that is nothing more than a flimsy door.    o o o D.K. sent us an article which updates first mention in SurvivalBlog more than a year ago: Biodiversity ‘doomsday vault’ comes to life …

RBS flagged these two articles: Price of bread rising on wheat shortage and Wheat prices could defy a recession. Remember what I wrote about investing in productive farmland?    o o o Also from RBS: As Economy Slips, Yacht Sales Skyrocket. Of course, a portion of the buyers could be buying some of the smaller yachts as a G.O.O.D. contingency.    o o o Another sign of the times. Catalytic Converters Stolen. (Of course, with platinum at $2,169 per ounce, one can understand the temptation.) Thanks to Josh W. for finding that article.    o o o Seven readers sent …

Eric sent us the link to an Op-Ed piece over a the leftist Washington Post: Wall Street Bank Run. My, my, my, after only seven months the mainstream media is finally starting to catch on to the full implications of the global credit collapse.    o o o The Western Rifle Shooter’s Association (WRSA)’s first event scheduled for 2008 is a two day defensive handgun course, in Brookings, Oregon on March 15 & 16. The WRSA offers high quality training for very little money, so be sure to take advantage of it. OBTW, don’t overlook the many free online resources …

Eric found this: Fed Issues Gloomy Economic Forecast. The article begins: “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its projection for economic growth this year, citing damage from the double blows of a housing slump and credit crunch. It said it also expects higher unemployment and inflation. “    o o o RBS sent us this from a Tampa, Florida newspaper: In home foreclosure, if it’s not nailed down …    o o o I couldn’t help but notice the New York market’s closing spot prices for platinum ($2,169 per ounce), gold ($944.60 per ounce) and silver ($18 per ounce). This …

Alphie sent us this link: More people are tapping their 401(k) for cash. JWR’s comment: Notice in the photograph accompanying this article what the man’s elbow is resting on. That picture tells a thousand words.    o o o Bob G. mentioned a news feed on Asian Avian flu. He said that it is updated once every 15 minutes.    o o o I heard that the organizers of the Appleseed Project have 13 simultaneous rifle training events (one for each of the original 13 colonies) planned for April 19th. They are hoping to get 1,000 shooters on the line …

More than a dozen SurvivalBlog readers suggested this important article: America’s economy risks the mother of all meltdowns    o o o Northern Rock Bank to be Temporarily Nationalized. Speaking of banks, Eric and Krys both sent us this: Banks “quietly” borrow $50 billion from Fed    o o o Eric suggested this New York Times piece: Wall Street Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs    o o o Also from Eric comes this Associated Press article: Foreclosed Homes Occupied by Homeless

Wheat Prices Near $20 Per Bushel    o o o Eric H. found us this: Health officials keeping eye on drug-resistant flu strain    o o o Here is a “must read” piece: Signs Point To Banking Crisis Getting Much Worse. Meanwhile, reader Randy K. mentioned that the US Bank reserves have dropped even deeper into negative numbers. As reported in WorldNetDaily the “non-borrowed bank reserves column is now at $-18 billion. Randy’s comment “It seems that the earlier report of an $8B shortfall was less than half way there. For me, the phrase “financial institutions would be bankrupt if …

Credit Default Swaps Are Next to Take the Crunch Test. Does this sound familiar?    o o o A reader sent me an e-mail to chide me for mentioning that hedge fund redemption suspensions were on the increase. He said: that I was being “an alarmist” because “those [redemption suspensions] are still rare.” Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and state publicly that I believe that they are going to become a lot less rare in the immediate future. Even large hedge funds are not immune. For example, just recently one of CitiGroup’s hedge funds announced a …