Odds ‘n Sods:


Ammo Rationing at Wal-Mart as Panic Buying Sweeps US

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Signs of the times in small-town America: Layoffs, lost cruisers: Problems grow for sheriff. Here is a key quote: “‘We will be a lawless society,’ worries Angela Greenwell, a county board member, fearing the latest trouble ‘basically has neutered the sheriff’s department.'”

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Los Angeles Times reporter Matthew Brown digs in to the conflicting reports coming out of Hardin, Montana: California entrepreneur promising to revitalize rural Montana town has checkered past. This just gets curiouser and curiouser.

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Reader Phil E. discovered a map graphic that could prove useful: McDonalds fast food franchises in the USA. Phil’s comments: “Predictably, it shows many blank areas in the west. It is very similar to the lights-at-night pictures, with fewer data points. It makes a good point about relocation areas.” JWR’s comment: This squares perfectly with my postulate on “Stop n’ Rob” convenience stores that I’ve often mentioned to my consulting clients. Some of the safest places to be during the unfolding economic depression will be small towns without the conveniences and franchise chains. These towns will have no appeal to the assorted riffraff that will wander out of the big cities in a “slow slide” collapse. They’ll likely just pass through, opting instead for larger towns with welfare infrastructures that can accommodate them.