Category: Odds ‘n Sods

In a recent issue of the Sovereign Society A-Letter, Eric Roseman noted with alarm that the credit derivatives market is now has a massive $26 trillion (with a “T”) dollars in play. This market has more than doubled in size over the last 12 months. Roseman says that he fears that the derivatives market has become a virtual time bomb. I concur. Someday, possibly in the near future, the market will start making big swings and the hedge traders are going to get blind-sided. Losses could be in the hundreds of billions or even the trillions, making the recent $6 …

“Its called a cricothyrotomy not a tracheotomy…” I’ve noticed the new Jericho television series has sparked some interesting threads of conversation at The FAL Files, AR-15.com, and many other Internet forums. SurvivalBlog’s frequent content contributor Rourke has even started a Jericho-dedicated Yahoo discussion group. Check it out. OBTW, we don’t own a television here at the Rawles Ranch, so don’t ask me my opinion about the series, or anything else on television for that matter. (We only watch “Elk-evision”, from our porch.)    o o o The Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper published a recent “scare tactics” article by Tom Paulson …

One of my recent web searches turned up this interesting site: Owl’s Nest Plantation–a supplier of herbs and spices, in bulk quantities.   o o o Administration Iraq Study Group considers a partitioned Iraq. Don’t they remember what happened when Pakistan was partitioned from India?   o o o Reader D.W. sent us a link regarding the collapse of the Amaranth Advisors derivatives trading firm: A $6 billion gamble gone bad. Here is a quote from the article: “The hedge fund Amaranth Advisors, which is preparing to shut down after losing more than $6 billion because of bad energy trades, …

A nightmare for the intel analysts in Z Division: A defiant North Korea conducts a nuclear bomb test   o o o North Korea’s bomb ‘would kill 200,000’   o o o The folks at The Pre-1899 Specialist told us that their recently acquired batch of 8 x 57 pre-1899 Turkish contract Oberndorf Mauser rifles is going fast. This is by far the nicest batch of Turks that they’ve ever had. Since they were all made between 1894 and 1896, they are Federally exempt “antiques” –which means no paperwork required for delivery to most of the 50 States. (They come …

Getting America Really Ready.    o o o Experts warn of an accidental atomic war: Nuclear missile retrofitted for conventional attack on Iran could set off alarm in Russia.    o o o I noticed that Wiggy’s (one of our first and most loyal advertisers) currently has their excellent Combat Desert Parkas on sale.

Yesterday, I visited a coin show in Sacramento, California. With the recent dip in silver and gold bullion prices, there were some eager buyers in attendance. Three different dealers all told me essentially the same thing: They think that we are witnessing perhaps the last big dip before the bull market resumes, to propel gold past $800 per ounce. Buy on the dips!    o o o Michael Z. Williamson mentioned this web page on a flu prevention breakthrough: a modified flu designed to fight the flu.    o o o Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says: Baby Boomers will …

MSNBC reports on “unschooling”, a variation on home schooling.    o o o Study finds that the climate in the Northeastern U.S. could be considerably warmer by 2100.    o o o Norman in England sent the link to this: Gangs of “yobs” make life miserable in disarmed English cities. A brave few stand up to them. Meanwhile, law enforcement is becoming a joke, with two out of every three ASBOs being breached. I wonder: What life will be like in English cities, post-TEOTWAWKI, when only the gangsters have guns? My advice to UK urbanites has not changed: Take the …

From the New York Times Op-Ed page: Leafy Green Sewage    o o o There is an interesting thread over at The Claire Files: Gulch Housing–A Taste for the Primitive    o o o Our friend Kit in Missoula currently has some well-penned commentary–including some on the new Jericho TV series–at her blog site.

P.H. flagged this web page of scary stuff for us: Planning Scenarios. These are executive summaries created by the The Homeland Security Council planning group for the Department of Homeland Security, in 2004. The scenarios were developed “for use in National, Federal, State, and Local Homeland Security Preparedness Activities.”    o o o The bidding is still at $180 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most …

“Florida Guy” pointed us to a neat new shotgun variant from Mossberg for the nautical types among us.    o o o A SurvivalBlog reader mentioned that he sells surplus VHF portable two-way radio that operate in the Multi Use Radio Service (MURS) allocated frequencies. These radios come complete and ready to use with antenna, battery, belt clip and drop in charger for only $49 each. Yes, they have a few scratches and they’ll have a sticker that covers the original emergency service department engravings, buy hey, just $49 for a 2 Watt transceiver is a great deal. MURS frequencies …

Mountain Brook Foods of Tracy, California has announced a special one month sale just for SurvivalBlog readers. From now until the end of October, the following discounts will be available for in-stock items only: 20% off Orders of $100 to $249 30% off Orders of $250 to $499.99 40% off Orders over $500, not to exceed $2,500. To place your order go to www.mountainbrookfoods.com. There you will see there full line of storage foods and books. Note, however, that their web site lists only their standard pricing. To get the SurvivalBlog October special pricing, enter “SurvivalBlog” as the coupon discount …

Cathy Buckle’s latest “African Tears” letter from Zimbabwe is a compelling read. (The letter dated Saturday 23rd September 2006). I am surprised that the the economy in Zimbabwe has not fallen into total collapse. For now, it is somehow managing to stagger along on inertia. Please pray for a change of government there.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader”Felix” mentioned this story: The Italian parliament has passed legislation allowing people to shoot robbers in self-defense.    o o o Reader S.H. mentioned another cool project at the MAKEzine blog: Geiger Counter Modification (a V-700 upgraded with digital readouts, etc.)

From Lew Rockwell’s site: Why Bush Will Nuke Iran, by Paul Craig Roberts    o o o Reader C.M. sent a link to a news story about a power failure in Bangladesh. C.M.’s comment: “Less than two days without electricity and a mob has formed to burn institutions. Fascinating how quickly it can all come apart.”    o o o As I predicted, silver and gold are starting to recover from their dips earlier in the month. Buy on the dips!

The Rabid One mentioned that there is an interesting thread of conversation over at The FALFiles Survival/Preparedness Forum about fallout meters and the small “personal” detectors such as Nuk-Alert.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader Stephen mentioned that there is some interesting commentary on derivatives down near the end of The Mogambo Guru’s latest posting.    o o o Reader Ben L. mentioned this article about more Nanny State encroachment: Breed Specific Dog Bans

In a recent newsletter article, economist Dr. Gary North commented: “We are at the cusp of Bernanke’s experiment: to reverse Greenspan’s era of monetary expansion without toppling the bubbles that this expansion led to. Can he do it? If he can, and if he does, then he is a wizard much more gifted than Greenspan. Anyone can inflate the money supply. The trick is to stabilize it without tanking the economy after the policy of inflation is a decade old. Paul Volcker could not do it, 1979-81. Greenspan never tried. For those of you who don’t remember January, 1980, gold …