Odds ‘n Sods:

When I was doing some recent research for a consulting client, I found this interesting land development in the White Mountains of Nevada. The land is being sold near Dyer, Nevada, not too far from Bishop, California. (But safely across the state line, in the tax haven of Nevada.) The unusual thing about this property is that some of the parcels have frontage on a year-round creek. That is a real rarity in Nevada. They are asking $100,000 for a 10 acre chunk with creek frontage. The gent that I talked with (Mike Levin) said that they plan to sell 72 parcels. There are CC&Rs, but not too horribly restrictive. (Hunting and shooting are allowed, and you can keep one horse for each two acres. They have the typical “no mobile homes” language. Homes must either be stick built or top quality modulars.) This is considered “remote” real estate. But hey, a lot of SurvivalBlog readers like remote. (It is definitely well removed from any anticipated “lines of drift” of refugees or looters, WTSHTF.) This development might be a viable choice for Californian preppers that are retiring, or that are self-employed, and that don’t want to have to move as far as Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana. (The San Francisco Bay Area would be about a seven hour drive.) OBTW, I have no financial interest in this development. My client decided to pass when I mentioned it. (“Not enough trees.”) So now I’m free to mention it in the blog.

   o o o

SF in Hawaii asks: “Has anyone mentioned a calculator (solar powered) as a survival tool? While basic arithmetic functions can be done with pen and paper by hand (with danger of a miscalculation) and you can learn to master the abacus, log tables and slide rule, a calculator can make life much easier. Need to calculate a trajectory? work out engineering spec on a house or bridge? design a parabolic mirror for cooking? update the accounting of your survival goods (food/ammo etc)? A calculator can sure make life easier.”

   o o o

As quoted by our friend Bill Bonner at The Daily Reckoning: writing in Fortune magazine, Lester Brown notes that ethanol is not only a waste of money, if taken up widely, it would actually mean starvation for many of the world’s poor people. “The grain required to fill a 25-gallon tank (with ethanol) would feed one person for a year,” Brown writes.

   o o o

So much for good NAIS news. Premises ID just became mandatory in Pennsylvania. See this post at NoNAIS.org. Also, they made an exception for this in the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), so you don’t even know what they are recording about you! If you own livestock, please write to your congressmen now! By the way, if you don’t know how to phrase your letter well, NoNAIS.org has some sample letters. Another site, StopAnimalID.org has a forum and other resources.