Odds ‘n Sods:

I stumbled into a great Do It Yourself (DIY) blog with some very practical projects: The DIY Blog.

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A reader in East Tennessee wanted to put out a heads-up to anyone looking for property. It’s 88 acres with a small house, both sides of the road, ridge to ridge, lots of water. The house is tactically situated and in a good position for solar exposure, good pasture and soil. The location is three roads off the beaten path, but about an hour from the Tri-Cities area. The reader doesn’t have any financial interest in the property, but it’s a good location, and not far from good Christian folks that read SurvivalBlog.

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Several readers mentioned this alarming article: Moody’s: U.S. rating could be pressured in long term. The article begins: “The US is at risk of losing its top-notch triple-A credit rating within a decade unless it takes radical action to curb soaring healthcare and social security spending, Moody’s, the credit rating agency, said yesterday.” One comment from SurvivalBlog reader “Hiker”: “This sounds like a page right out of the beginning of your novel [“Patriots”], discussing how government mandated entitlements tied to automatic inflation increases help bankrupt the country.”

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The US economy now clearly appears bound for recession, and for the Federal Reserve the timing couldn’t be any worse. The US Dollar was already under heavy pressure in foreign exchange while a global credit collapse is underway. To soften the landing and hopefully shorten the recession, the Fed will have no choice but to further cut interest rates. That will be disastrous for the dollar. Get out of any dollar denominated investments as quickly as possible. Even the safest bond or blue chip stock won’t be safe if the dollar itself is wiped out. Diversify into productive farm land that can double as a retreat, useful tangibles (such as guns, tools, and common caliber ammunition) and into precious metals. (As a universally recognized safe stores of value, precious metals will rise inversely to the decline in the dollar.) If the US Dollar Index dips below 74, it could trigger a full scale dollar panic. Semper Paratus!