Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Chuck sent us this link: Peak Oil Update – January 2007: Production Forecasts and EIA Oil Production Numbers    o o o I noticed at the RWVA Blog that there are a whole bunch of Appleseed shoots and clinics already scheduled for this year, all over the country. (Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.) More locations may be announced later. Check the schedule for a shoot near you.    o o o The big “Container load sale” at Survival Enterprises that I mentioned last week …

An Iran-Venezuela Axis?   o o o Reader Jason M. sent us this one: The perils of solo winter camping: Camper rescued after weeks in the wild    o o o President Bush Going For Broke With Iraq Troop Surge    o o o Snopes.com confirms: The rumored available refund on the Federal telephone tax (for2006 tax filings) is real.

Les Christie, editor of the British Columbia Housing Blog, penned this prescient article for CNNMoney.com: Housing market pain not revealed by statistics    o o o Rourke suggested that I highlight this product from Canada, which is one of the best door security peepholes on the market    o o o Bob B. mentioned this article from The Financial Times Online (by way of Matt Drudge): Euro displaces the U.S. Dollar in bond markets    o o o Nuclear Blast on TV’s ’24’ Causes Fallout for Fox

The RWVA is holding a Rifle Instructor’s Camp in Ramseur, North Carolina, February 18th to 25th. Take advantage of this high quality, very inexpensive training!    o o o Jason in North Idaho mentioned this article: Little-known earthquake is remembered    o o o From Congressman Ron Paul: The World’s Reserve Currency

From the New York Times: Rise in Ethanol Raises Concerns About Corn as a Food. The article begins: “Renewing concerns about whether there will be enough corn to support the demand for both fuel and food, a new study has found that ethanol plants could use as much as half of America’s corn crop next year.”    o o o Any readers that live in Montana should be aware of an “anti-hoarding/anti-price gouging” bill that is currently in hearings at the state senate. Call your state senators! (A tip of the hat to Phil at the Random Nuclear Strikes blog …

“The Werewolf”, (our correspondent in Brazil) recommended a 49 cent downloadable Amazon short by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is titled :”Imagining Abrupt Climate Change: Terraforming Earth.”    o o o Michael Z. Williamson reminded us that the Oak Ridge Laboratory treatise on what nuclear weapons actually do, and how to defend your family against their effects is available for free download from the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.    o o o “Simple Country Doctor” recommended this “moderately technical discussion of non-nuke EMP device” from Australia.

Bush Targets Iran in Speech, Implies Military Action    o o o I’ve just been notified by Survival Enterprises that the big blow-out ‘truckload sale” that I had mentioned previously is now definitely a “go.” They bought a container load of nitrogen packed long term storage foods from a U.S. cannery that is going out of business. Survival Enterprises has well over 11,000 cans of storage food coming, (a full to the gunnels 40 foot shipping container load) and it’ll be arriving sometime next week. These will be everything from beef, ham, chicken, and bacon TVP to green beans to …

From Thomas Horn, writing in WorldNetDaily: The good news about imminent disaster    o o o Four different SurvivalBlog readers sent us the link to this news story: Proposal to send drones over Idaho raises hackles    o o o The Daily Mail reports: Dead birds rain down on towns half a world apart

Economist Gary North commented in a recent e-newsletter about “inflation fighter” Alan Greenspan’s legacy: “Using the inflation calculator, located on the home page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that in 1997, an item that had cost $1,000 in 1987 [when Greenspan took office] cost $1,412 — a 40% increase in prices.”   o o o Tessy e-mailed us to mention: “One of the greatest and most valuable treasures in my survival library is the book written by the cadre of the United States Rescue and Special Operations Group based in Kansas City: “Six Ways in, Twelve Ways …

Kara S. told us about this story: Thieves Steal $200K In Copper In Broad Daylight    o o o Our friend novelist Michael Z. Williamson mentioned this book that might prove useful in extremis: Unmentionable Cuisine by Calvin W. Schwabe    o o o For our readers in the UK that are wondering about the vaguely survivalist Jericho television series produced in the U.S., Simon in England mentioned: “Jericho is starting the the UK cable / satellite channel Hallmark at 20.00 on Friday 12 January 2007.”

Simon in England notes that do-it-yourself and garden centers there are presently selling off their ‘Christmas candles’ at closeout prices. He said that he got ten of the large pillar type candles for just £0.49 (around $1 USD) each that otherwise would have been £3.00 (around $6 USD) each. The nice thing about these candles is that most of them are formulated with extra stearic acid, for longer burning.    o o o From Yahoo News: 6 of 75 cities get top disaster rating. Jason says: “Yet another reason to ‘get out of Dodge”    o o o Front Sight …

B.H. in Spokane mentioned that VCI paper desiccant rifle barrel protective tubes are now available commercially, under the brand name “Barrel Guard.”. (Any of you that ever bought a M1 Garand from the CMP–or from its DCM predecessor–will remember these, which are inserted in a rifle’s bore.) Barrel Guards are ideal to use as an adjunct to (but not a substitute for) Rust Inhibitive Grease (RIG) and silica gel desiccant packets for long term firearms storage or caching.   o o o A demographic milestone: City dwellers are poised to take over the world. This adds more credence to my …

Eric Fry, co-editor of the free e-mail newsletter The Rude Awakening comments: “The [U.S.] dollar fell sharply in 2006 against every major world currency and against most major global commodities. In short, it lost a lot of value against almost everything. A rebound, therefore, should be in order. But fleeting short-term strength would not compensate for the greenback’s inexorable long-term weakness.”    o o o Colorado and Kansas Digging Out From Blizzard    o o o Simon in England e-mailed me to mention that the new 33-chapter expanded edition of my novel “Patriots” is now available through a variety of …

 Denver gets pounded by another blizzard   o o o A 14-year-old is set to become youngest ever to sail solo across the Atlantic.    o o o World faces hottest year ever, as El Niño combines with global warming

“John Adams” mentioned this: For those of you with high speed Internet connections: Basic Urban Skills Training: Concealment Does Not Equal Cover. (A very interesting 20 minute USMC training film showing extensive live fire building penetration tests, produced by Dahlgren Laboratories.)    o o o Rob at MURS Radios reports: “Response to the $98 SurvivalBlog.com MURS Radio [pair of handheld transceivers] special has been terrific! I sold out 25 pairs in one day but I am happy to report that I was able to negotiate the same discount ($98 a pair and free shipping) on another batch of these radios. …