Inflation Watch:

“David 5.7” wrote: “I live here in the north east. all brands of toilet paper have gone from 4.5 inches in width to 4 inches, with a slight increase in price. so if you buy and 8 pack roll your are actually getting one roll less per pack than you would have 10 months ago.”

Attributed to inflation: China Current Account Surplus Declined 8%. (Stocks in China region dropped after Shanghai city inflation increased to 3.9% and China’s current account surplus declined 8%.)

South African Linked Bonds Get Bids for 7 Times Amount Offered. (Thanks to Damon for the link.)

Read Kristi J. mentioned: “I was looking through the grocery ads and noticed that Wal-Mart had their store brand bread ‘on sale’ for $1.00. The last time I went shopping just two weeks previous to that it was regularly priced at $0.88.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

From Alaska Dispatch: When a bear wants to join the hot tub party, what’s an ex-governor to do?

   o o o

Hooray! After recognizing that the predominantly gray ACU uniform was a costly mistake, the U.S. Army is adopting MultiCam. OBTW, once the old ACU uniforms start to get sold inexpensively as surplus, anyone that lives out in sagebrush country might want to pick up a few sets. Sagebrush is one of the few foliage backgrounds where the ACU pattern blends in well.

   o o o

SurvivalBlog Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent word of a scary new bit of Big Brother technology: The Backscatter Van. Oh and speaking of new surveillance technology, there is also Phantom Eye. Up at 65,000 feet, it will probably just appear to be another anonymous contrail.

   o o o

And also on the topic of intrusive technology, see: Silently Self-Profiling – You

Notes from JWR:

Do you have any favorite quotes that relate to preparedness, survival, self-sufficiency, or hard money economics? If so, then please send them via e-mail, and I will likely post them as Quotes of the Day, if they haven’t been used before in SurvivalBlog. Please send only quotes that are properly attributed, and that you’ve checked for authenticity. Many Thanks!

—

Today we present another entry for Round 30 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 30 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Temperate Climate Famine, by William V.

There has only been one famine in the last twenty years in a country with a temperate climate that is similar to the northern part of the United States.  That country was North Korea.  Many of the observations offered below are taken from the book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, a very gifted reporter.

Most of us think of North Korea as a poor, underdeveloped country controlled by a dictator that lags far behind its South Korean neighbor economically.  However, until about 1980, North Korea had a higher GDP than South Korea.  It has a university and college system that produced scientists capable of developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons and a national literacy rate of over 90 percent.

North Korea has more natural resources than South Korea but much less arable land.  Even in good years, it produces less food than its people need.  Prior to 1990, the balance of food had been provided by the Soviet Union and China.  North Korea has always had cash flow problems and it was chronically bad about repaying the Soviets and the Chinese. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russians choose not to continue to provide support at historic levels. After poor harvests in the mid-1990s, the North Korean government was forced to reduce the food ration that its people relied on.  This amounted to 700-900 calories per person per day supplied by the government.  This was supplemented by what could be grown in home gardens or purchased elsewhere. 

Some regions were given less food than others and some eventually got nothing from the government.  According to a report by North Korea’s Public Security Ministry, the North estimates its losses from 2.5 million to 3 million people from 1995 to March 1998.  The famine is fairly well documented and the following summarizes what could happen in the temperate regions of the world if the food distribution system breaks down.  Keep in mind that the North Korean government maintained extremely tight control over travel and people did not have the option to move to another area.  City dwellers suffered more than people in the villages and country.  The government allowed individual gardens but people in the urban areas had less room to grow food during the summer months that could sustain them during through the harsh winter.  

The average daily ration per person in the hardest hit areas was about 600 calories or about one-fourth of what the body needs to function and maintain itself. Most people didn’t starve to death; malnutrition impaired the body’s ability to fight infection and normally curable diseases proved fatal.  There was a natural progression that saw disease attack the most vulnerable, which were the children under five. Next were the aged; those over 70 followed by the 60-year olds and the 50-somethings.  Death then stalked the people in the prime of life.  Men, because they had less body fat, went next.  The strong and athletic were especially vulnerable because their metabolisms burned more calories.  Although the hospitals continued to operate, sometimes the families were too weak to take the critically ill to be treated.  Even if hospitalized and given antibiotics, the body would be too weak to metabolize the drugs.  Fluctuations in body chemistry would trigger strokes and heart attacks.

Parents and grandparents would deny themselves food in order to keep their children alive.  Eventually, the children were orphaned and joined the many groups of youngsters that tried to survive via a migratory, snatch and gulp existence.  Younger children in those groups rarely survived more than a couple of months.  People would walk past a dying child on the street without any thought of giving aid. 
 
Part of the challenge of keeping children alive is their inability to digest strange foods.  North Korean families were forced to incorporate grass, corn husks and cobs, and the inner bark of pine trees into their diets during the latter months of winter and in the spring.  Adults could gain some nourishment but small children would become painfully constipated.  Of course, infants had to rely on their mothers’ milk for nourishment and when the mother could not produce adequate supplies, the babies died.  As a result of growing up during this period, young North Koreans are, on average, five inches shorter that their South Korean counterparts.  The North Korean military has had to lower its minimum height for draftees to five foot from five foot three inches.

The government allowed open air markets during the years of the food shortage.  Food from China, NGOs, and the UN was available in the markets if you had money.  If an average North Korean had relatives in Japan or China or a family member was working in another country, then they often had money that could be used to buy food in the markets.  If they had no money, then they scavenged. Because there was inadequate electricity or gas to run the factories, people were free to spend their entire day looking for food.  Wake up – search for breakfast, sleep during mid-day, and start the search for the evening meal.

There was some theft of food by North Koreans but those who were caught could expect to be incarcerated or executed.  The exception was the migratory orphans who usually got some leniency from the authorities.

We need 500 calories per day, on average, to survive.  Eating only food foraged in a temperate forest; you could expect to live no more than three months.  People tried to cope by grinding acorns into a paste that could be digested easily.  They picked kernels of corn out of the manure of farm animals.  Yes, there were still farm animals.  City dwellers, usually the women with more fat reserves and, hence, more energy, would scavenge for food near government orchards and corn fields.  Eventually, they moved their scavenging higher into the mountains until they became too weak to make the daily trip.

Small animals were also exploited to some extent.  The North Korean people cannot own weapons so that limited the ability to hunt.  The frog population was decimated by people looking for protein. Unlike the Mediterranean people who have a strong tradition of capturing or shooting both song and game birds as they migrate from Africa to Northern Europe, the Koreans apparently do not have wild birds as a part of their culinary tradition. There were some reports of bird trapping but the people did not have equipment to take advantage of the migrating bird population.

There are lessons in the North Korean famine that can be applied to our survival preparedness.  One is that, ultimately, it will often be the women who have the burden to feed the family because they will likely have more energy than the average male.  Another is that children are the weakest link in the family chain. Kids can be very particular about what they eat and could fall victim to a fatal cold or flu simply because something doesn’t taste good or causes discomfit when they eat.  The spring months will be the leanest time of all.  Supplies laid up for the winter are gone and the gardens are just planted.  Birds migrate in the spring and fall and that would be the time to hunt.  Netting birds will probably require less energy than hunting with a weapon.

When the body is under great stress, what it craves changes from normal times.  Wilderness hikers and mountain climbers often relate how, after three or four days, candy loses its appeal and items that are salty and crunchy like crackers often become the food of choice.  The cook who can process wild plants and make them palatable will have a better chance of keeping the young ones alive when most of the calories are coming from the forest or prairies. Realistically, the average person can expect to get less than 500 calories a day from nature and should plan on spending most of the day looking for food.

Letter Re: DC to DC Converters

Hi Jim and Readers,
Some of our TEOTWAWKI preparations tend to lean toward running electronic equipment off charged DC battery sources. I work in electronics, and have built several radio stations for ministries around the world, I have found that DC to AC inverters especially the cheaper models are very inefficient to run higher powered equipment. I have gone another direction when powering equipment off of 12 or 24 volt DC power systems. Many people will purchase a DC to AC inverter to run a laptop through the supplied AC to DC converter. The newer switching supplies are very compact and efficient, but when you convert from DC to AC the efficiency goes down. So why not convert once, from DC to DC?

I have found a company that sells high end DC to DC converters. The Avel Lindberg Company makes very good shielded and moisture resistant units. Their primary market is the military, I have bought units used for certain weapons systems, that are fairly well hardened for EMI / EMP. I have used them up to 300 watts and they work very well with no maintenance for long periods of time. I also have converted equipment like some of the small microphone and media mixers from the AC to DC converters that are supplied with the equipment to straight 12 Volts DC by removing the plus minus supply internally and the AC to DC converters and installing DC to DC converters directly inside the units. The devices can be purchased from Internet/catalog electronic parts dealers like Mouser, Allied Electronics, and Newark. All of the above companies can be found with a search engine to get access to their on-line catalogs.

The first thing to remember when converting something from one source to the other is to check the supplied power cube for the output voltage and current rating. Then order the correct DC to DC converter for the voltage and current rating needed for your electronic equipment.

What I usually do is obtain Anderson Power Pole connectors before cutting the power cable be sure to check with a digital volt meter or older volt ohm meter, the polarity of the power plug of the supplied power cube. I then remove the cube from the AC electrical source. Unplug it. Then cut the cable about a foot or two from the units connector. Install the Power Pole connectors on both ends of the cut cable that are left, insuring you set up the red positive, and black negative connectors correctly.

Now take your DC to DC converter and install the appropriate red positive and black negative connectors on it. Connecting the DC to DC Converter to the appropriate 12 or 24 volt DC power source and check your output when the pigtail connector with the power pole with your meter again insure the voltage required and polarity are correct. If it checks out correctly then plug it into your electronic device and energize the device. The input source voltage to many DC to DC converter will accept from 8 to 30 volts DC so it will be more versatile than the original power cube.

Two of the benefits of making conversions like this will cut out the AC inverters from the equation and the other is reducing the current drain a little bit on your battery capacity.
I realize there are many people who would feel deliberately cutting a wire would be fool hardy if they are not competent in electronics, or electrical devices . This can be overwhelming to someone, so if you feel performing this kind of modification is beyond your competency level please seek out someone who is competent. Performing a modification like this is simple to some, but don’t do it if you feel it is beyond your capability. Blessings to all, – Dave with Martronics

Economics and Investing:

Ellen Brown: Could 62 Million Homes Be Foreclosure-Proof? (Thanks to J.H.B. for the link.)

Brian F. forwarded this: Jobless claims rise to highest level in nine months.

RBS sent this: Sugar beet growers worried there might not be 2011 crop

Items from The Economatrix:

Obamanomics is Why There is No Recovery

Connecticut May Have Just a Week’s Worth of Cash

Double-digit Jump in Bankruptcies

12 New Ways to Safeguard Your Money

China Doubles Korea Bond Holdings as Asia Switches from Dollar

Inflation Watch:

Reader B.L.W. notes that the price of a box of girl scout cookies will be $4 per box this year. Gee, 12 Tagalong or Samoa cookies for $4. That is 33 cents per cookie! BLW also mentioned that Troops are required to sell cookies, or else they can’t hold any other fund raising events this year.

As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog: Wal-Mart Quietly Raises Prices. (A whopping 5.8%)

Speaking of Wal-Mart, Kelly in Kansas mentioned: Okay, so I know Wal-Mart can be tricky, but I bought a 25 lb bag of Great Value Sugar (I am canning like a crazed person) for $11.78 on August 5. Last night my hubby went back to that same Wal-Mart to buy me another bag of sugar and came home and asked “Is sugar always this much?” I said it should have been around $11-to-$13 dollars. Nope he pulled out the receipt and the sack was 18.98!

Damon sent this: Coffee surges to 12 year high inflation watch.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” – Isaiah 35:10 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 30 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 30 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Livestock Breeding and Plant Propagation, by Mike O.

Propagation is a great and cheap method of producing offspring in both plants and animals.  Propagation is usually thought of in the context of plant, so let’s briefly cover animals first. 
I read recently with sadness about readers on survivalblog having problems with their rabbits being good mothers.  This is the first characteristic I look for in a new breed of livestock.  Modern breeds of cattle and poultry, in particular have been specialized for particular traits and mothering ability has taken a back seat.  This is one reason I prefer heritage breeds listed through the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  These breeds often do not excel at one single trait, yet do many things very well.  Losing stock is expensive and inconvenient during the best times, and can mean the difference between life and death post crunch.

The Dexter cattle breed is the smallest, regular size cattle breed and is very docile and manageable.  This is important because I have small children that I want them to feel comfortable walking around the barn.  Many owners halter break even their bulls to lead.  The cows are great mothers and very seldom have difficulty giving birth.  It is extremely rare for birthing with Dexters to require assistance.

I also raise Silver Fox rabbits.  The does are wonderful mothers and give birth to large litters.  I have never lost a kit to something that was not directly attributable to my mistake(s).  This includes first-time mothers.  These rabbits are large (10 – 12 pounds) and have a high dress out percentage.

Modern Turkey breeds are bred for their large breasts.  This has the undesirable side effect of prohibiting them from breeding naturally.  What a tragedy to find post-Schumer that those turkeys you bought at the co-op will not be reproducing unless you step in to help. All that you need to know is how to collect semen from Tom turkeys and artificially inseminate the hens.

Where propagation really shines is in plant production.  Just about anything you can find in a nursery and many fruits and vegetables in a grocery store can be propagated.   Just a few from the produce shelves that I have successfully propagated include potatoes, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish, Haas avocados, limes, wild persimmons, wild cherries, and tangerines.  Fruits such as apples, plums, pears, cherries, apricots and peaches do not propagate very successfully from seed since these are most often grown on rootstock that is different from the fruit that is actually produced.   Think of the seeds from these fruits in the same manner as seeds saved from hybrid vegetables.  The growing results are similar for different reasons.  Unprocessed nuts from the wild or from the grocer’s shelves will breed true, but the time from planting to reaping takes many years (Brazil nuts and Cashews are processed even when sold as “raw” since the nuts and shells contain a level of poison that must be steamed out).   Finally, grapes, scuppernongs (muscadines in the South), bamboo, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and blackberries are so easy to propagate that everyone should start with these.

| One method of propagating is called layering.  This is mostly used for vines.  Grapes, gooseberries, and scuppernongs are the vines I have successfully worked with.  Take the vine that has current year’s growth and simply burry a 6 inch section of it about a foot or so from the end.  I usually wait two months and then cut the vine where it is buried on the parent side of the dirt.  Dig up the vine and replant in its own spot.  It helps the process along to scrape, cut, or abrade the outer layer of the vine before burying.  I make 3 – 3 or 4 inch long cuts just through the outer layer.  It is also helpful to place a brick on the vine to hold it down.  I can easily get 10 vines from each parent plant.  Done every 2 month over a normal growing season, a grower could easily layer hundreds of vines per year from one parent.  I only layer my vines once a year because I usually find so many other chores that need to be done.

Layering also has a slight twist that I have used on Blueberries.  Take a small muslin bag of peat or compost and wrap it around the branch where you have scraped down to the cambium layer as you would to layer a vine.  Secure the bag so it will stay in place for 6 to 8 weeks.  Keep the bag wet, and within 6 to 8 weeks, the blueberry branch will have new roots and will be ready to cut from the parent plant. 

By taking cuttings from certain trees, you can successfully propagate many different types of trees found in your garden center.  Leyland Cyprus, and blueberries are two plant where I have used cuttings successfully.  I use this method only when some other method does not work well for me.  It is a little more demanding method to get right.  Some trees/bushes are more successful with propagation through cuttings at different times of the year and some do better with green, soft wood while some do better with brown, mature wood.  Basically, take a 6 inch or so cutting near the tip of the branch.  Strip the greenery from the 3 inches closest to the place of your cut.  Dip the cut end in a rooting hormone available at most growing centers, and stick the cutting in a growing medium.  I have successfully used sand mixed with potting soil.  In several months, you should have roots on the new young plant.  Keep watered well and in a warm, sunny location, preferably a cold frame or greenhouse in the winter until the spring and then transplant to the permanent location.

Apples, pears, Asian pears, plums, apricots, cherries, and peaches are easily and cheaply propagated through grafting.  To graft a fruit tree, taking cuttings from parent trees (scion wood) in the spring before the fruit trees break dormancy and start budding.  The parent tree will determine the type of fruit bore on the new tree.  Order your rootstock to arrive about the same time.  The rootstock determines the size of the mature tree and the resistance of the tree to disease, pests and weather (wet and cold tolerance).  There is rootstock that is specialized for each type of fruit.  Do your research or ask the nursery that is selling you the rootstock.  If the scion wood is cut before the rootstock arrives, wrap them in a wet towel, sawdust, or sand and store them in the refrigerator until ready.  Cut the rootstock and scion so that the diameter of the two is near the same size. The cut to join the two pieces is hard to describe, but the cuts are made to each piece less than a half inch long along the length of the wood.  The pieces are fitted together like fingers meshed together.  There is a tool that makes a puzzle piece cut in each end that joins the two pieces.  The tool costs about $60 and I don’t think the blades can be sharpened.  I use a simple knife to make the cuts.  The cuts fit together so that the joint is secure and then the graft is taped with a special tape that doesn’t damage the tree.  When the two pieces are joined, the cambium layers (the slick layer just under the outer bark) must be touching.  Pot the new tree and set out in its permanent location next spring.  If the graft does not take, but the rootstock lives, a new graft can be tried the following spring.  Also, be sure the scion wood has at least 4 buds and is joined so that it is pointed in the same direction as is grew on the tree.  It is easier than you think to graft them upside down.  The $15 to $20 tree can now be propagated onto $2 rootstock to produce new trees.  One word of warning, some recently developed fruit cultivars are protected through the Patent and Trademark Office (I am not sure of the proper term) and should not be propagated without permission.

I won’t mention bamboo, raspberries and blackberries other than to say it is hard to keep them in the areas where intended.  New shoots can be dug up and transplanted to a new area.  A border of sheet metal or metal roofing scraps can be buried 12 – 18 inches below ground level has been successful for me in keeping bamboo from becoming a nuisance.

Propagation of vegetables from the produce section is great fun to do with the kids.  Try anything and everything that you or your kids think might be fun.  Don’t worry if you waste a few dollars. 
I have successfully planted slips from potatoes bought from the store.  I know that they are sprayed with something to prevent or delay them from budding, but I always have a few that manage to bud anyway.  I have planted then and had some success from such.  I always have better luck with seed potato slips, but I have grown potatoes this way and it is fun to try.

I take sweet potatoes and slit them lengthwise in half and lay them in a pan of water covered with some potting soil.  I usually do this about January.  The slips send up vines that I plant as soon as the weather permits.

Tangerines and limes have been grown by planting the seeds from the fruit.  I have produced fruit, but not in any abundance.
Wild cherries, wild persimmons, horseradish, and Jerusalem artichokes have been grown successfully by planting the entire fruit or root and waiting for the produce.

Possibly the most unique thing I have tried is the California Haas avocado.  I have been successful about half the time I have tried to grow them.  Several times, it was my own stupidity in damaging the new plant and it didn’t live.  Take the large seed out of the avocado.  The California Haas has the hard, golf ball sized seed in the middle, not the softer and larger seed in the Florida avocado.  I soak the seeds for about two weeks and let them start to split.  Once this process starts, take three toothpicks and insert them in the side of the seeds just enough to support the weight of the seed just above the midsection with the pointy end pointed down.  The idea is to space the toothpicks in such a manner as to keep ½ to 2/3rds of the seed submerged in a cup of water.  Now wait, and wait some more.  After perhaps three months, roots should come out the bottom, followed by a single stem out the top.  At this point, you can plant into a pot.  I just started playing around with avocados last year and have not had any produce from my small trees.

Some other produce on the horizon that I will be experimenting with next is kiwi, orange, acai, peanuts (a legume), lemons, sunflower, etc.  It is fun for me and the kids and it is teaching us about what works and what doesn’t.  Most of my experience has been from trying my luck at different things.  I am sure that in at least a few instances, there may be better ways or more efficient ways of propagating.  There are usually several ways to reach the same result.  Your USDA climate zone will determine what you can leave outside year round and what you have to bring in to a greenhouse or garage.  I am in zone 7, so I protect the avocados, pineapples, tangerines, and limes in winter.

JWR Adds: I have long been of the opinion that it is the multiplier effect of plant propagation and livestock breeding (described in the preceding article) that marks the difference between merely surviving, and thriving, in the midst of a disaster. Get the training, build up a reference library, secure the essential supplies (and fencing) and practice these skills. Even someone occupying a studio apartment can set themselves up to grow copious quantities of sprouts. Some day you may be very glad that you did!

Letter Re: What Do Sonic Booms Do to a 911 System?

JWR,
On Tuesday, President Obama made a hop into Seattle. A 30 mile “no fly zone” was established. A small float plane owner did not read the daily Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and flew into the zone by visual flight rules (VFR). This caused the Secret Service to have NORAD scramble two F-15s from the local [Air National Guard] air interceptor group based at Portland International Airport. Naturally, they requested and got clearance to go supersonic. This resulted in at least two sonic booms being generated. What happened next was, well, interesting:

A Newspaper Account

A Seattle Television News Story

It’s also believed that all of the cell phone level calling disrupted service in some areas due to overloading, all due to just two sonic booms. God help us if a real world emergency were to occur and the sheeple flood the cell and land phone lines. – MP in Seattle

Economics and Investing:

Yikes! $1.342 trillion budget deficit for 2010. (Our thanks to Rourke for the link.)

B.B. suggested this article over at Zero Hedge: The Dallas Fed Reminds That The Economy Is Doing Much Worse Than In The Administration’s Worst Nightmare

US Says Bankruptcies Reach Nearly Five-Year High. (A hat tip to KAF for the link.)

M.L. recommended: When Will Financial Armageddon Begin?

Norman A. spotted this: Marc Faber – “Don’t touch US bonds”

Also from Norman: Tensions Rise in Greece

Ex-Bank of England Official: Dumping Bush Tax Cuts May Bring Depression

Items from The Economatrix:

Unemployment Spreads Like a Plague

Accountability and Transparency in the World of Big Money: Too Big to Fail and Too Big to Jail

Stocks Drop As Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly

Inflation Watch:

Reader Tyson R. notes: While shopping with my wife, I picked up a bag of corn chips for the girls and didn’t notice a big difference in price, $3.99. That has always been the price as long as I can remember. The bag was the same color, about the same size as before and assumed it was the typical 16 ounce bag, to my dismay when I looked at the content weight it was only 10 ounces. Inflation doesn’t always come in the price tag but in the shrinking of the volume you get. Calculating the inflation on corn chips by reducing the volume by 37.5% equates to the old 16 ounce bag costing of $6.24!

How Droughts & Floods Will Hit Food and Clothing Prices.

R.W. wrote me to quip: If there’s no inflation, then why is the Motel 6 now $76 per night (here in California), and why do they now have a digital sign out front, to advertise the room price?

B.B. sent this dire inflation prediction: Western Economies Face Hyperinflation: Gold Bull.

T.T. in Texas wrote: Previous oil market movements usually translate quickly to movements in fuel prices. I had noticed over the years that lubricant prices stayed steady. Maybe this was because of the steady demand and they are taken from the “heavier” end of the distillation process, although much of the heavy end is now cracked into fuels. (This is what ran up diesel prices many years ago. Diesel was almost a “surplus” product. However in the last two years time the 5-40 synthetic Rotella [motor oil] that I use in all our engines; turbo-diesel, gasoline and natural gas has jumped from 13 to 19 dollars a gallon at the local Wal-Mart. The 2-1/2gallon tractor jugs of non-synthetic Rotella have gone from $20.50 to 28.00 in just the last year.

I believe it was Howard J. Ruff that hit upon the change in first class postage as a very good gauge of inflation.