Category: Odds ‘n Sods

There has been much talk about Iran’s new Euro-denominated oil bourse. Presidente Hugo Chavez now says that he might start pricing oil in Euros, too. And President Putin of Russia wants to trade oil and natural gas in rubles. Are they all trying to tell us something about the once-almighty U.S. Dollar?    o o o BBC News Economics Editor Steve Schifferes comments on why the dollar is sinking so rapidly.    o o o The high price of platinum is boosting palladium, as an alternative for jewelry making

I’m nearly done reading “The Protector’s War“” the second installment in S.M. Stirling‘s “Dies the Fire” trilogy. If you can suspend disbelief–getting past the basic premise of the series (an inexplicable overnight change in the laws of physics that renders gasoline and gunpowder impotent) then you’ll enjoy these books. In this installment, part of the storyline takes place in England. The author uses the books in this series as a bully pulpit to preach preparedness and self-sufficiency. (Or at least I think that is his intent.) He weaves lot of history and practical skills into the storylines. Stirling is one …

For our U.S. readers: According to Congressman Ron Paul’s office the vote on his NAIS de-funding amendment (H.R. 5384) has been put off until next week. This gives us more time to reach our representatives in congress. E-mail, call, tell friends and family, et cetera. The NAIS scheme would impose costly and time consuming requirements on U.S. animal owners, without compensation. It must be stopped!    o o o SurvivalBlog reader RBS mentioned these two articles on the fate of the dollar: US dollar weakness likely to crash global stocks and “The Declining Dollar Erodes Personal Savings” (from Ron Paul’s …

Don’t miss this “must read” piece from Chris Laird on gold price increases and the imminent collapse of the U.S. dollar.    o o o Yikes! Human-to-Human Transmissible Avian Flu in Indonesia?    o o o The high bid is currently $110 in the SurvivalBlog Bandwidth Fund benefit Book Auction. Please e-mail your bids before May 30th. Thanks to Kurt and Angie Wilson of Survival Enterprises for sponsoring this fund raiser!    o o o The next big Los Angeles earthquake could be strong and prolonged.

Courtesy of SurvivalBlog readers Ben & Melanie, here are updated web links to the text of Where There Is No Doctor and Where There is No Dentist. Since web sites will of course be unavailable in a grid-down situation, be sure to order your own hard copies for your bookshelf, either directly from the publisher of from a discount book seller such as Abebooks.com or BooksAMillion.com    o o o I’ve again expanded my Links page.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader P.M. pointed out an error that I made in an old archived piece from 1997 (that I re-posted …

One of our major advertisers is auctioning a very hard to find P-10 shelter on eBay, on behalf of an acquaintance. These rarely come up for sale in used condition, so don’t miss this chance to buy one for less than half of what it would cost to buy one new. It is being sold “on site”, so you would have to pay for hauling.    o o o As previously mentioned, Microsoft’s president Bill Gates has publicly declared that he’s Short the U.S. Dollar.   o o o From Steve Quayle’s Site: Scientists Warn of Immense Solar Storm Threat …

I recently added a few DVDs and another 19 U.S. Army and USMC manuals from my personal collection to my Mail Order Catalog. Some of the manuals were “restricted distribution” titles and hence quite scarce!    o o o There is now talk of another increase in the U.S. federal government debt ceiling. My precocious #3 Son asked: “Daddy, why do they call it a ceiling if they can keep raising it?” Hmmm…Why, indeed?    o o o The recent Robert Kiyosaki article is evidence that silver gaining popularity with mainstream investors. The first silver exchange-traded fund went live in …

The price of gold appears to have established a new floor at around $675 per ounce, and silver ditto, at around $13.10

I just noticed that Gun Parts Guy is advertising a new batch of U.S.-made metric FAL barrel assemblies. With the BATFE‘s recent suspension on the importation of complete semi-auto rifle parts kits with (barrels being the parts that they want stopped), this could be a genuine “don’t miss” opportunity. If you own a FAL (or clone thereof), buy a spare, and perhaps even a “spare spare.”    o o o The Titan Missile base in eastern Washington that I mentioned a few weeks back has been re-listed on eBay. This time the starting bid is $750,000! Too bad that eBay …

The Daily Reckoning’s Justice Litle comments on the world after the dollar collapses    o o o It just occurred to me that the recent jump in fuel prices will hurt the mining sector, cutting into their profitability. Just as gold and silver are going into a bull cycle, the cost of production for the miners is going up. Thus, gold and and silver mining stocks will not show quite the magnitude of gains that they otherwise would have. This is just another reason to invest in physical metals rather than in precious metals stocks or mutual funds.    o …

SurvivalBlog reader R.B.S. told us about a great new site that covers Second Amendment issues: Firearms News. They also host a very useful directory of links to firearms-related web site links. o o o A reader told me that he saw SurvivalBlog mentioned in the description for a current eBay auction of a CRKT tanto point folding knife. o o o The New Euro-denominated Oil Bourse: Iran signs its own death warrant. o o o NoNAIS.org has a very good article about NAIS implementation: Mafia Style “Voluntary”

Fuel Bank Offers “Locked In” Price for Gasoline. Meanwhile, Forbes reports,Venezuela Tacks on a New Oil Tax o o o Ken Timmerman reports: Iran prepares al Qiyamah (“Judgment Day”) Terrorist Vengeance Attack Plan o o o Zimbabwe: A Nation of Millionaires–Where $10 USD buys over $1 million in Zimbabwean toilet paper. o o o SurvivalBlog reader “John Z.” mentioned a recent CNN segment about a survival school that’s offered in Virginia. After watching this clip, his conclusion was that Buckshot could offer a better much course that would include survival skills such traps, snares, and skinning game. o o o …

WorldNetDaily reports a TS/SCI Bush Administration briefing to key congressman: North Korea is attempting to weaponize the Asian Avian Flu o o o Oceans in Hurricane Alley Heat Up o o o David in Israel recommended this interesting piece on The Solar Storm of 1859 o o o CNN Reports: Asian Avian Flu Could be Worse than a Terrorist Attack o o o “Hurricane Katrina Effect” Blamed for Rise in Houston Murder Rate

SurvivalBlog reader S.C. saw the recent item about 20 liter gas cans and mentioned that there is a great price (just $10 each) on military surplus gas cans at SwissArmyVehicles.com. (See their “Surplus” page.) When you consider that the shipping cost to most locations will exceed the cost of the can itself, you can see that they are a very good deal.    o o o Magma on the Move at Mount St. Helens    o o o First Silver Exchange Traded Fund Beats Expectations    o o o Persian Gulf Officials Discuss Nuclear Emergency Plan    o o o …

The ‘Worst case’ bird flu pandemic may have been underestimated. And it is now known that H5N1 can attack other organs — not just the human respiratory tract.    o o o Yevgeny Primakov’s view of the Iranian situation.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader RBS mentioned this article about the prospect of an inflation-proof “forever” postage stamp. If these ever get issued, then I’m stocking up!    o o o By way of Gold-Eagle, Jason Hommel comments on both the rapid expansion of the silver ETF and the threat of Bolivian silver mine expropriation