Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Reader D. Taylor mentioned this article from the New England Journal of Medicine on H5N1 Avian Influenza–Continuing Evolution and Spread. It begins: “There is no question that there will be another influenza pandemic someday. We simply don’t know when it will occur or whether it will be caused by the H5N1 avian influenza virus. But given the number of cases of H5N1 influenza that have occurred in humans to date (251 as of late September 2006) and the rate of death of more than 50%, it would be prudent to develop robust plans for dealing with such a pandemic”    …

The U.S. Dollar’s long term slide versus the Euro resumes, in earnest. I’m still predicting that it will soon take $2 to buy a Euro. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Invest in tangibles to protect yourself from the Dollar’s inevitable demise! If you haven’t already done so, give the folks at Swiss America a call. SurvivalBlog reader Mike The Blacksmith comments on the slide in the dollar versus foreign currencies: “The question is how long, how fast?”    o o o Michael Z. Williamson dropped me a line to point me to a detailed article at …

In response to Tim from Saskatchewan, who asked about the video of the tanker truck BLEVE explosion in Germany that I had mentioned on SurvivalBlog more than a year ago, here it is.    o o o USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight promised Wednesday to keep the national animal identification system (NAIS) a permanently voluntary system. My comment: Yeah, right. Just like they promised the Indians about “permanent” reservation lands: “As long as grass grows and the water flows.”    o o o Redmist flagged this piece: The British Nanny State expands further.

By way of The Energy Bulletin, here’s an interesting article from Australia: Head for the hills – the new survivalists    o o o I heard that JRH Enterprises (one of our most loyal advertisers) is is having a “Black Friday” (Day After Thanksgiving) sale on many preparedness items including night vision gear, gas masks, medical kits, tactical gear, and more. In true “Black Friday” fashion, these specials are available only on Friday, November the 24th.    o o o Israel is reportedly developing a “bionic hornet” micro drone.    o o o Commenting on the recent thread about barter …

Just when we thought that things couldn’t get any worse in Zimbabwe, we opened Cathy Buckle’s latest letter. The inflation rate is now at 1,070 percent per annum. Life expectancies are plummeting. Starvation deaths are increasing. Government mismanagement, nepotism, and corruption are rampant. Cathy’s October and November letters are “must reads.” Please pray for the people of Zimbabwe.   o o o Joe Farah, Editor of WorldNetDaily opines: ‘Jericho’ and ‘Heroes’ TV Series Spark Concern with Civil Defense.    o o o Our friend Kit, author/editor of the delightful Forever Vain blog suggested the following: “I’m not sure if you’ve mentioned …

At the library today, the kids were immersed in Brian Jacques books. The Memsahib was checking out books on fly fishing and travel. Meanwhile, I picked up the book: “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” by Jared Diamond. The Memsahib commented with a bit of sarcasm: “Oh, so I see that you found some of your usual light and cheery bedside reading.”    o o o Venezuelan president Chavez distributes free energy efficient light bulbs and promises a “energy revolution” including distributed small power generation for emergencies.    o o o U.S. police department radio “10 Codes” being …

Roger sent an article as a reminder to all readers of SurvivalBlog that being prepared is not just for TEOTWAWKI: Vancouverites boil water for 5th day as rain continues    o o o It looks like the spot prices of silver and gold have recovered solidly from their slump, just as I predicted. I still expect higher prices by the end of this year, and sharply higher prices in another year    o o o Wanted: Man to land on killer asteroid and gently nudge it from path to Earth    o o o U.S. housing construction plunges in October. …

In my latest issue of Disaster Recovery Journal (DRJ) magazine, I noticed that the the magazine, in conjunction with researchers at Pepperdine University conducted a survey of disaster recovery professionals (mainly computer types) about pandemic preparedness. 49% of the respondents said that they had “not determined the potential impact on business related domestic and international travel of a pandemic.” and 42% said that they had “not yet started to identify essential employees and other critical inputs.” The statistics from several DRJ surveys, including the Pepperdine survey are available online. OBTW, although subscriptions are free, I don’t recommend subscribing to Disaster …

From Noah Shachtman at the Defense Tech blog, by way of OSOM: Google Earth — keeping track of nukes.    o o o Reader Hawaiian K. mentioned: “Survival conditions are likely to bring on a resurgence of pests that have troubled mankind for a very long time. One of these might come in very handy.”    o o o Redmist found this piece: Uses of GPS are expanding.

Hawaiian K. flagged this article from Cosmos magazine: Coat of paint could halt pandemic    o o o Rocky O. sent us this story about a minor panic in London caused by a single live .22 rimfire cartridge found on a sidewalk: Bullet found in doorway. When I read this article, I laughed so hard that I nearly cried. Rocky’s comment: “Imagine what you could do with a whole box of .22s. Probably tie up their police force and bomb squad for weeks.”    o o o Vic at Safecastle just launched a new private “Safecastle Royal” buyers club that …

Tom at www.CometGold.com sent this link: More than half of all equities trading in the US will be done using algorithmic dealing systems by the end of 2010.    o o o A clever nuke blast mapping tool, posted by Kurt, by way of Rourke at the Jericho Discussion Group.    o o o Rich at KT Ordnance mentioned that there’s now a proposal to ban BB guns in Massachusetts. Complete with a BB gun amnesty period, and a BB gun “buyback” program. I will refrain from commenting on Taxachusetts politics. I might lapse into saying something un-Christian.  

Michael Z. Williamson sent us this piece: What’s the Story on Silver Coin Melts & Coin Premiums?    o o o Hawgtax forwarded this one from The Associated Press: Tyson Foods sees higher meat prices as cost of corn feed rises. It begins: “Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat processor, warned Monday that rising corn prices could mean U.S. consumers will have to pay more for chicken, beef and pork next year as it ended its fiscal year with a third straight quarterly loss.”    o o o A tip of the hat to SurvivalBlog reader “Redmist” who contributed …

Michael Z. Williamson found this interesting thread about ethanol, over at the Practical Machinist forums.    o o o The EROEI debate on Canadian Oil Sands. Should they use nuclear or natural gas energy to develop oil sands?    o o o Well, the Democrats didn’t waste much time in flexing their new majority muscles.

Thunar pointed us to this news story: The Plunge Protection Team is back in action.    o o o Rourke mentioned an interesting site on current threats, over at his Jericho Discussion Group. You’ve heard of the “30,000 foot view”? How about a global “at a glance” view of world events?    o o o Tom W. spotted this opinion piece from the Online Journal: Bush’s Chernobyl Economy; Hard Times are on the Way, by Mike Whitney

Tom at www.CometGold.com mentioned that www.birdflubook.com has the entire text of the book on H5N1 by Dr. Greger, available for free download.    o o o White House Statement: Iran, Hezbollah Form ‘Terror Nexus’    o o o Jason in North Idaho sent us this link: An M1A rifle goes ka-boom! Jason notes: “Since many of us shoot .308, I thought I’d forward this interesting story. Quite alarming!–the follow up analysis is very informative as well. A lesson to us all to maintain our weapons.” JWR Adds: From the photos, it looks more like an obstructed bore to me. Perhaps …