Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Further evidence that Costa Rica is not a safe place to relocate: Escazú home invaders target dwelling of U.S. embassy employee. (From the A.M. Costa Rica e-newspaper.)   o o o Reader PNG mentioned: Jerry Pournelle has web-published a column he wrote for Survive magazine in 1983. It’s worth a read.    o o o For the remainder of March, Safecastle is discounting their Mountain House #10 cans by 30% and shipping them free when 8 or more cases are purchased. This deal is available to Safecastle Royal buyers club members only, until March 31. The offer applies to our …

Ben L. suggested posting a link to this Reason online article: Gun Control’s Twisted Outcome–Restricting firearms has helped make England more crime-ridden than the U.S.   o o o Today we welcome a couple of new Affiliate advertisers to our roster: SafetyGlasses.com in the U.S. (they sell shooting glasses, ear protection, Nomex/Kevlar gloves, and hydration packs), and MacWarehouse in the U.K. (Just in case a Mac iBook Laptop or an iPod is a survival priority for you. <vbg>) Whenever you use one of our Affiliate links and place an order–with more than 60 companies in nine countries–we get a little …

Many of you have already seen this video clip of a Blackwater shooter plying his trade in Najaf, Iraq. (Warning: some coarse language, but no gore.) Talk about taking the wrong rifle to a gunfight! It appeared that he was dinging Bad Guys at “800 Meters” with a .223. He surely would have been much more effective with a scoped .308 Winchester. (Such as a match grade M14.) He had the wrong tool for the job, but at least the man behind the rifle appeared fairly competent. (He was not using the traditional fire discipline of a sniper, so obviously …

Investment Guru Jim Rogers Sees U.S. Property Crash   o o o Any SurvivalBlog readers that are considering relocating to northern Idaho should contact Todd Savage of Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He specializes in what he calls “tactical real estate.” At any given time, he has several “off the beaten track” properties available with either spring water or shallow wells. Properties with contiguous U.S. Forest Service or state land are also fairly common in the region. Todd is a SurvivalBlog reader, so he understands the unique requirements of survival retreats. He won’t waste your time showing …

Someone over at The Claire Files mentioned a thread on one of the BlackRifles forums about how to make soap. It might be a good idea to print out a hard copy of that one. There is also a lot of useful soap making information in “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by the late Carla Emery   o o o Activity discovered at Yellowstone supervolcano    o o o Interfaith group braves snow storm in global warming march. I think that they’d better schedule their next event for August, just to be on the safe side.

Jon H. forwarded an article that indicates that the mainstream media may be catching a clue on food storage preparedness: The emergency fund you can eat   o o o Matt B. sent a link to this video on how to escape from handcuffs, using a bobby pin. (The chances of being handcuffed by looters or home invasion robbers is small, but you never know what might happen.)    o o o Feds say Family has No Rightful Claim to 1933 ‘Double Eagle’ Gold Coins. What ever happened to our legal system’s foundational presumption of innocence?

I mentioned this site about a year ago: Glock 21 Torture Test. But since then, the author has expanded his web page to describe his more recent tests, including driving over the Glock, and dropping it out of an airplane.   o o o Farmers Told “Don’t Panic Over Iowa [Soybean] Rust Discovery”    o o o Michael A. sent us this link to the calendar of scheduled Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) resets, from analysts at Credit Suisse. Michael’s comments: “The sub-primes are especially scary. I doubt many of them will be able to roll into a new mortgage given …

Felix mentioned that the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent has made their new manual “First Aid in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence” available for free download, in PDF.   o o o A Peak Oil pundit responds to the recent piece in The New York Times about new oilfield yield boosting technologies.    o o o One of our frequent content contributors runs a part-time mail order biz, called Knife Brigade. Check out his great prices on Ka-Bar, Buck, Kershaw, and CRKT knives.

“Si” mentioned that the US. Department of HHS has developed a Radiation Event Medical Management (REMM) web site, with some useful resources. Si says that the site features: “Lots of information on treating people exposed to radiation from sources such as nuclear weapons, dirty bombs, reactor accidents, etc.”    o o o “R.P.” spotted a real estate listing for a nice property in central Texas that might be of interest. R.P. says: “I think it has a lot of the requirements that you have stated for a good retreat.”    o o o RBS sent us this link: No Passport …

Michael Z. Williamson pointed out a fascinating web site: The Great Firewall of China. With it, you can test to see if any web site is banned by censors in China. Mike notes: “I tested my sites. My writing site is clear. My blade [making] site is banned.” Go figure.Out of curiosity, I just tested SurvivalBlog, and oddly enough, it is not banned in China. I assumed that because I had mentioned laogai slave labor system in China that my site would have been banned. This has me depressed. Clearly, something is wrong when even a reactionary “Capitalist rotor” and …

Frequent blog content contributor Ben L. mentioned this article that confirms that the origin of H5N1 Asian Avian Flu was in southern China. Ben’s comment: “As if we didn’t already know. Hello, again, 1918.”    o o o Ben L. also recommends a site with some of the collected essays of Ed Harris (of “Ed’s Red” bore cleaner fame.) Ben’s comment: on Ed’s essays: “[they] bustle with subsonic rifle loads, “minimalist” (my wording) firearms usage, bore-cleaning, sighting, old-time gun writers (Jack O’Connor, Townsend Whelen, etc.), and the like. Quite the relief from “Keeping up with the Jones’s”, re buying the …

Dr. Ralph mentioned this technology, that could forestall Peak Oil’s perils: Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells   o o o We are happy to welcome uControl Home Security to our roster of Affiliate Advertisers. Check them out. This isn’t your daddy’s burglar alarm system. The uControl method offers great redundancy and resiliency through multiple communication paths.    o o o Net worth of U.S. households skyrockets. The article ends ominously: “One risk facing the economy is that the housing slump will take an unexpected turn for the worse, a development that likely would cause consumers to clamp …

While it is surely no substitute for writing letters to your congresscritters, there is now a “No to H.R. 1022” (semi-auto and magazine ban) petition, with the goal of one million virtual “signers.”    o o o Michael Z. Williamson and Tim. L. both mentioned this news story: Blues Traveler Frontman John Popper Gets Popped. Mr. Popper has pretty good taste in guns and gear. In the photograph, notice the pair of Steyr Scout rifles, the stainless Mini-14 and the PVS-7 night vision goggles. Mike’s comment: “Preparedness is no good if you get busted for speeding and drug possession.”    …

From The New York Times: Mortgage Crisis Spirals, and Casualties Mount. I don’t hesitate to call the sub-prime lenders what they really are: contrapreneurs.   o o o S.F. in Hawaii sent this: N.Y. Amish Man Robbed At Gunpoint. Oddly, the goblins used a muzzleloader. That is most unusual. Hmmm… An anachronistic weapon chosen to prey on an anachronistic victim, I suppose. Good thing that they didn’t try this out West, where I’ve met a few men who wear Amish style beards (sans mustaches), but that regularly pack pistols.    o o o 1-800 GET LENS (one of our Affiliate …

RBS sent use these three bits of economic Sturm und Drang: One Wall Street analyst predicts a 20% DJIA drop this quarter. Meanwhile, Goldman, Merrill Almost `Junk,’ Their Own Traders Say and Chinese Market Gold Rush Goes On   o o o A Federal Reserve economist recommends “rebasing” the face value of the U.S. penny to five cents, to reflect its increased intrinsic value, As I already pointed out in SurvivalBlog, a more logical solution is to knock a zero off the dollar.    o o o Reader AVS mentioned this “important safety tip ” video: Never smash a spray …