Category: Odds ‘n Sods

The public comment period on The 2007 Farm Bill (including funding for NAIS) ends on December 31st. If you object to NAIS biochipping of farm livestock and pets please be sure to register your comments.   o o o Economic commentator Mish Shedlock (co-editor of the free Whiskey and Gunpowder e-newsletter) offered the following on the value of U.S. five cent “nickel” pieces: “The Mint had to be crazy to announce that a nickel is worth 7 cents. I got to thinking about this a bit more, and a nickel is really 0.05 dollars plus a call option on the …

Jason M. pointed out this article: Arizona has ended Nevada’s 19-year reign as the nation’s fastest-growing state, fueled by immigrants and Americans moving from other states.    o o o From our friend Noah, over at the DefenseTech blog: Some of the Blackwater and Triple Canopy boys are running a bit amok.    o o o John the Bowhunter mentioned this one: California home sellers face several more months of pain, leading housing economists said Thursday. I think that they are overly optimistic, it will more likely be years rather than “months” before the market recovers.

President Bush says that the U.S. needs to expand the Army and Marine Corps to fight extended campaigns overseas.    o o o Our correspondent in Brazil (“The Werewolf”) spotted an article from the Yukon Territory with advice on bears in your backyard. as well as this one: What to Do When You Encounter a Bear The Werewolf said that he found the bits at the end, about “Predatory Attacks” downright funny.    o o o In a recent conversation with my friend Dr. S. Hans Paine, he mentioned both the WebMD.com web site as a general medical reference, and …

Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute mentioned that she still has a good inventory of her book "Surviving A Bioterrorist Attack: Prevention, Treatment and Management." I highly recommend that you get a copy. It could be a life-saving resource!    o o o Denver digs out from an early winter storm. Governor Bill Owens is advising motorists to stay off of the state highways. Meanwhile, Christmas travelers are stranded at the Denver airport.    o o o Reader B.H. sent this one: Report Reveals 2.2 Million Borrowers Face Foreclosure on Subprime Home Loans. It looks like and ugly end …

S.H. Suggested this site: Mattracks–Rubber Track Conversion Systems For 4X4 Vehicles    o o o I recently had a great phone conversation with Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute. She mentioned that there are lots of people that prepared for Y2K who are now in possession of 8 , 9, or even 10-year-old stocks of gardening seed that by now have pitiful germination potential. These folks might mistakenly believe that they are still prepared to plant a sustenance garden. It is high time to replace that seed, preferably with heirloom (non-hybrid) varieties, such as those sold by The Ark …

Hardly an unexpected news flash: Iran has announced it would replace the dollar with the euro in foreign transactions and state-held foreign assets, in an apparent response to mounting US pressure on its banking system.    o o o Aaron Krowne of AutoDogmatic.com notes: “If base metal values continue to increase by 5% per year on average, and the dollar continues to depreciate by about the same, then in about 26-1?2 years, a nickel will be worth a dollar in inherent value. If the rates are 10% per year, then in a bit over 13 years, this milestone will be …

From Tom at www.CometGold.com: Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is directing a growing share of the country’s oil profits into euros as the dollar and crude prices fall.    o o o I noticed that recent short-term strengthening of the U.S. Dollar has pounded down the spot price of silver from around $14 per ounce to about $12.50. Buy on these dips!    o o o Hawaiian K. forwarded a link to some gloomy predictions from The Market Oracle: Three-Pronged Collapse … Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate

The late James Kim should have had one of these. (Thanks to Ben L for sending this link.)    o o o From Novosti: Record high winter temperature set in Moscow    o o o For those of you with a fast Internet connection: An interesting video interview with Aton Edwards, the author of Preparedness Now. (Preparedness from a New York City perspective.)

Ron Holland recently penned some prescient commentary on the fate of the U.S. Dollar, as quoted in the Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter, under the heading Sacrificing Your Dollars for the Housing Market:.”Most Americans could care less about the value of the dollar. But with the 2008 Presidential Election coming up, the public will be closely following their real estate values, so you can expect the Fed to hold or lower rates. This almost guarantees a far weaker dollar. But when the other central bankers really switch more of their dollar holdings to the other major currencies, expect a major collapse …

The true deficit in the Bush administration’s 2006 federal budget is now thought to be an astounding $3.5 trillion in the red, not $248.2 billion as previously reported. Hmmm. That doesn’t sound very “credit worthy” to me. Nay. In fact, it sounds like Uncle Sam needs some credit counseling.    o o o Mike the Blacksmith pointed us to this interesting article: Scientists from Los Alamos national laboratory are out on the road, giving lectures on H5N1 Asian Avian Influenza    o o o Reader S.H. flagged this one: Recent action by the U.S. Mint to outlaw the melting down …

Reader “MP” mentioned this one: Another water purification solution?    o o o From Reuters: Fake snow in Alps, Moscow blooms: green Christmas?  

I noticed that after a fairly quiet week of trading last week, the US Dollar is back to making some big “mood swings” versus the Euro, with moves of up to 140 points in as little as a few hours. That kind of volatility indicates that the US Dollar market has not found a clear direction. The dollar could still rally, but then again, it could “tank.” The Chartist Gnome tells me that if the Euro holds consistently above $1.332 for four days, then that will signal a renewed wave of bear market dollar dumping–possibly “the big one”: a major …

Odds ‘n Sods: Joe from Tennessee mentioned this scary piece: Imminent US Dollar Collapse? Meanwhile we read, Oil Producers Shun the US Dollar. Gee, this starting to sound a lot like the opening chapter of my novel “Patriots.” If this does occur, the full implications of a dollar collapse will be far-reaching. Be prepared!    o o o Hawaiian K sent this: U.S. Criminal Probe Rattles $2 Trillion Municipal Bond Market. That is all we need–a municipal bond collapse, right at the same time as a dollar collapse. Do foreign investors need any more inducement to get out of the …

SurvivalBlog reader “Rmplstlskn” mentioned a tale of woe, posted over at AR15.com: The “Fongman” (not to be confused with the character in my novel “Patriots” with same moniker) had most of his survival gear stolen from his unoccupied retreat. As I’ve mentioned in SurvivalBlog several times before: The best approach is to live at your intended retreat year-round, or have someone that you really trust live there year-round. If you are forced by circumstances to leave your gear unattended, the two best options are: 1.) Underground caches in well-drained soil, or 2.) Renting a commercial storage space that is within …

Nearly every day after their home schooling, the Rawles kids have asked to go snow sledding. We are fortunate to have a great sledding hill in the national forest land that adjoins the Rawles Ranch. It is just a five minute walk from the house, The kids demonstrated their inventiveness by constructing a packed snow jumping ramp at the base of one of their longer sled runs. Our #3 Son regularly achieves “air”, clearing the surface for about 10 feet before landing in deep powder. Quite exhilarating. Speaking of inventiveness, at the dinner table last night I jokingly suggested the …