Economics and Investing:

Paul W. mentioned an insightful article by Janet Tavakoli: Washington Must Ban U.S. Credit Derivatives as Traders Demand Gold. (Long-time SurvivalBlog readers are already familiar with my strong warnings about the derivatives time bomb. Newbies, please take a look.)

Eric S. suggested this piece by Chris Nelder: Peak Oil Demand Is Coming, But Here’s Why It’s Not Good News

Reader David D. spotted this Wall Street Journal article: Commercial Real Estate Owners Beginning To Walk Away From Properties

Items from The Economatrix:

Job Openings Up Sharply in January to 2.7 Million

Failed Banks May Get Pension-Fund Backing as FDIC Seeks Cash

Europe Bars Wall Street Banks from Government Bond Sales

Martin Weiss: The $21 Billion Hot Potato

Los Angeles to Pull Investments from Foreclosure-Heavy Financial Firms

Karl Denninger: All You Need to Know About Bank Balance-Sheet Fraud

SPY Volume Back to 2010 Lows as Equity Mutual Funds Run Out of Cash

Jobless Aid Bill Passes Key Senate Hurdle

43% of Americans Have Less than $10,000 for Retirement

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mark P. spotted this: For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops.

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There are now just a few days left in the Ready Made Resources 25% off sale on Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans. They are offering free shipping on full case lots. These foods are delicious, compact, and have a 30 year shelf life. Order soon!

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Two news items about Nanny State Britannia: Countryside ban for children because mums cannot read maps and hate mud, and Britain May Force Owners to Microchip Dogs to Curb ‘Weapon’ Pets. (A hat tip to Chad S. for the links.)

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The folks at CampingSurvival have announced the third of five big product giveaways. This one is a drawing for a free Cold Steel Kitchen Classics Knife Set.

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Florida Guy mentioned: Amazon pulls the plug on online business affiliates in Colorado

Note from JWR:

Today we present a guest article by “Ranger Squirrel.” I recommend that you take a look at the free resources available at his web site.

Make it Modular and Make it Out!, by Ranger Squirrel

One of the skills that has served me best in life is my tendency to make everything modular.  I think I learned it in the Army, but regardless of where I picked it up, it has saved my rear end at home, at work, in emergencies, and even in my hobbies. 

Let’s pick on Average Joe for a second.  Average Joe is exactly that.  He likes a beer now and again, listens to classic rock and some country, and works in a job that just barely pays the bills.  He has a commute of about 50 miles round-trip every day and drives a little sedan.  Today, for lunch, he decided to ride with a work buddy to a Chinese place downtown about five miles from the office.  While they were eating a riot broke out and Joe got separated from his buddy and despite all efforts, he can’t find him.  When he gets back to his buddy’s car, it’s gone.  Worse, it appears that the rioters have managed to knock out power for most of the area.  Police sirens are blaring, and Joe has a feeling they won’t be too discriminating in who they label as “rioter.”  He finds a place of relative safety and takes inventory.  He’s got $25 cash, a credit card, a jacket, and a pocket comb.  He may need to run, he may need to hide, he may even need to lay low for a day or two until things calm down.  In a word, Joe is screwed.

Let’s say Joe carries a basic everyday carry (EDC) pocketknife.  He now has some basic gear and maybe a way to defend himself.  He’s better off, but will it be enough to get him to safety?  Where is safety?

Let’s revisit Joe after we talk about modular systems and how they can affect your preps.  Effective modular design gives you improved flexibility and even more importantly, redundancy in your preparations.  If every component in a modular design has some way of making fire and a cutting tool, it’s not long before you’ve got 4-5 backups each for both of those key elements in your system.

My basic everyday preps are modular in nature.  Level 1 is the stuff that is always in my pocket, organized into an easy to carry/can’t leave anything at home by accident fashion.  Its purpose is to get me through the day-to-day routine and to give me the means to get back to my car in an emergency.  With just Level 1, for 12-24 hours, I have the means to obtain or improvise food, shelter, and water, I can signal, I have a means of security, and I can administer some self-aid.  Level 2 is kept is in my car and will give me enough supplies to sustain myself in relative comfort for 48 hours or more in most emergencies.  Combine the two and I’m up to 72 hours.  The purpose of the level 2 kit is to get me home to pick up the family so we can decide whether to bug-out or bug-in.   Level 3 is modular, in and of itself.  There are some components that can simply be thrown in the back of a truck, and there are other components that are meant for staying put.  Depending on whether we’re evacuating or staying home, we’re good for anywhere from two weeks to several months – plus a day or two more with my Level 1 and Level 2 kits added in.  Having the Level 1 and 2 kits along for the ride also offers me the ability to split up from the main family temporarily if necessary.

Now let’s give Joe a similar setup to the one I use.  Joe has enough gear to get himself the five miles back to his car.  Or he can hide out for a day and hope things calm down.  He’s got the gear for that too.  His Level 1 has given him options.  If he gets to his Level 2, located in his car, he has even more options and enough supplies to camp out in the office for a few days, or maybe – at a stretch – a week.  He could also try to get home.

That’s one example, but in the end modular design and its benefits is only limited by your imagination and your circumstances.  There are, however, certain things that need to be true in all modular systems.  Once you understand these elements, you can use modular design in pretty much every aspect of your life.

  1. Each module should be able to stand on its own.  The stuff that lines your pockets is never going to sustain you for weeks at a time.  But each level of your system should address, in some way, the basic needs of survival for some period of time in the environment you are most likely to encounter.  I’m referring to shelter, water, food, signaling, security, and self-aid.  My Level 1 does that for 12-24 hours in a semi-rural environment.  My level 2 does the same thing, but for a longer period of time and greatly increases my weather range.  Level 3 takes me still further.  All are functional by themselves without the help of the others.  In preparedness terms, this is mainly true because you have to assume that you will use up each module during the process of getting to the next level.
  2. The whole should be greater than the sum of its parts.  Consider the Army’s Modular Sleep System for a second.  It’s made up of four components.  1) A bivy sack made of GoreTex; 2) a thin sleeping bag we called a patrol sack; 3) a thicker sleeping bag we called the black sack (normally called an intermediate sleeping bag); and 4) a stuff sack.  Each component individually gives you protection in different temperature ranges, and all of the components combine to take you down to temperatures in the -20 degrees Fahrenheit range.  But the real added benefit comes in the redundancy.  Because there are layers, if any one component is damaged or torn, I’m still warm because of the other components.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  You can do the same thing with your stored food.  I can store the complete seven day nutritional and medicinal needs for one person in a 5-gallon bucket, but there are six people in my family.  If I give each person their own self-sustaining, complete one-week bucket, but I make sure to vary the stored ingredients a bit, I can greatly increase my food preparation options and everyone can benefit from the combined food wealth.  Moreover, if something goes bad in one person’s bucket, there are backups in other buckets.
  3. You must plan it out.  You can’t throw together an effective system on the spur of the moment.  It needs to be planned out.  You need to define the purpose and duration intended for each module of your system.  Then, for every item you put into a module, you need to identify all of the intended and potential uses for the item when used alone and with other items from its module.  Finally, you need to list all of the intended and potential uses when combined with kit from other modules.  Let’s say hypothetically that you’re in a minor emergency.  You open up your level 1 kit and find $25 and some gear.  You now have options that will, hopefully, see you through to your Level 2 kit.  When you get to your Level 2 kit you find $100 and some more gear.  Combined with the remaining Level 1 money and gear, your options have greatly expanded. 
  4. You must test your system.  When I say test, I mean both theoretical and actual.  You need to occasionally use the items in your kits.  Take your bug out bag and nothing else camping, for example.  You also need to constantly ask questions like, “okay, let’s say the power goes out right now, how will I get by?”  Test the individual modules as well.  Using nothing but your Level 1 gear, can you really get through a day?  Remember: Even the best-designed system in the world is essentially useless without the skills to put it into use.
  5. You must put the system together.  This sounds so obvious that I almost hesitated to include it, but the tendency is for us to think things through and then just let them go.  You have to actually put together your kit, or you won’t have it when you need it.

As I mentioned in the beginning, in addition to using them in my preps, I use modular systems at work, at home, and at play.  I’m betting that if Joe had seen the benefits beforehand, he would use modular design too.

Lest Any Man Should Boast: A Christian Survivalist Perspective on Race, Religion, and Reason

I often get letters and e-mails, chastising me for being an anti-racist. I call these “nasty-grams.” I get several of them each week. Some folks, it seems, are deeply offended that I look upon everyone as equals. The truth is that people should be judged as individuals. (That is one of my core Precepts.) Anyone that makes blanket statements about other races is ignorant that there are both good and bad individuals in all groups. There is no inherent superiority in any skin tone or facial feature, any more than there is in any particular hair color. I have accepted The Great Commission with sincerity. It says; “Go forth into all nations” and it means exactly that: all nations. God’s elect come from every nation on earth. Skin color is a non-issue. It is also noteworthy that Christianity started out as a religion of Semitic people, and by God’s grace, it spread all over the world. It is not a “white man’s religion”, as some racists would contend.

I’m often asked, “Aren’t you proud to be a white man?” No, I’m not particularly proud to be white, any more than I’m particularly proud to have a Pronounced External Occipital Protuberance (aka “Anatolian Bump”) on the back of my head. That is just a product of genetics. So what? Big deal. But neither do I feel guilty or embarrassed to be white, as some liberals seem to be. Do genetic traits make any difference in my standing with God? Certainly not. Granted, many of the scientific advances of the modern age came from some very creative deceased white guys. But again, will any of the fruits of Western Civilization mean anything when I meet my maker? No. Only one thing will matter: Whether or not I’ve accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. That is a distinction that I can and will share with Aborigines, Ainus, and Hottentots. I’m proud to be Christian, that just happens to be a white man.

I’m also chastised for being a supporter of Israel, and a defender of their right of that nation to exist. You should see some of my hate mail. I’ve been called a “Jew Lover”, and a “Co-conspirator with the Mud People”, and so forth. Sorry, folks but you will not convince me to change my views. The fact of the matter is that the Abrahamic Covenant hasn’t been repealed. It is an eternal covenant. (Read Jeremiah 31:35-37.) It is also ground truth that Christians have been ingrafted into the same Covenant. (See: Romans 11:1-36.) So for a Christian to be anti-semitic is nonsensical. That would be turning our backs on the progenitors of our faith. Now it is true that the majority of Jews have been blinded to Christ’s truth. (See: Romans 11:25) But in the days of the Tribulation, many millions of Jews will come to saving faith. They must survive as a nation, and live to see that happen. Israel must and will survive, as a nation. This was all fore-ordained, as shown in the scriptures.

The other nasty-grams that I receive the most often are about charity. Some people have said that I’m “hopelessly naive” to think that I can dispense charity in the midst of a societal collapse. Charity is not optional, it is Biblically mandated. I feel this very strongly, for several reasons. First: it is there in The Book, over and over again. There is no denying it. God said it. I believe it. That settles it. Secondly, I came to recognize that God’s gift of salvation bestowed upon me, through election, and the profound realization that His gift was unmerited. I didn’t deserve salvation any more than some of my neighbors deserve my charity WTSHTF. But God freely gave that gift to me, so I’m going to do my utmost to freely bestow charity on everyone that I can. Lastly, everything that I’ve earned and saved, I consider providential gifts from God. I intend to share it with those that are less fortunate and those that currently lack the foresight to stock up for potential bad times. And for those that say that dispensing charity will be “a security nightmare”, there are indeed ways to dispense charity anonymously. With these methods you can protect your privacy and the safety of your family. Plan on sharing charitably. Stock up for it. Don’t neglect it. It is our duty!

Letter Re: Confronting Kleptocracy–Identifying The Looter Mentality

Dear Mr. Rawles,
To follow up on your recent blog article, it is sad that we live in a society where people will lower themselves to such activities as crime on the streets. That crime is regrettable, but in the aftermath of TEOTWAWKI, looting will be an absolute unacceptable crime. It will become rapidly, a capital crime.

Just as in the 19th Century, horse theft was punishable by death, so will be looting in the aftermath of any societal breakdown which results in any of the scenarios envisioned by either you, or your readers.

Essentially, “Rule .308” will apply in most cases. This will be true at the retreat where I reside. While is is not our intention, by any means, to harm a single human being, we will not stand by idly and be looted. Some of my group are of the medical profession, myself included. However, our survival will not be infringed upon by vagabonds and no-accounts who have disdain for their fellows and would steal our means of survival.

We are prepared to dispense charity (at a distance) and fully intend to follow that principle whenever and wherever possible. We believe in the old adage, “I’ll gladly give you a dollar, but don’t even think about stealing my dime.”

While is may be a good thing to recon your area and know where food and other essentials are stored, I find the idea of “taking what one wants,” as deplorable. Anyone who attempts to “help himself” to those commodities we have stocked and ready for use if needed, does so at his or her own peril! While we might eventually be taken down, it won’t be without a fight.

We believe whole-heartedly in the Sixth Commandment…Thou Shalt Not Murder. We will live by this and the other nine commandments and expect others to do the same. Criminals caught by our members will be dealt with in accordance to the law, if still in existence. If not, then “Rule .308” will apply as I doubt that any criminal determined to harm us or steal from us, would find a sympathetic jury of his/her peers. And yes, I can pull the trigger. – R.F., MD

Letter Re: Long Term Situational Awareness Can Give You The Edge

My Dear Sir,
I am surprised at the concern generated by the individual [would-be] looters like Todd S. I think some of your readers are missing what can actually happen when TSHTF in a bad way. The time may come when your readers wish all they had to deal with is a Todd S, a grid down scenario, or a Katrina.

My wife’s is from Communist China. Before the revolution, her family did well for themselves. They were a growing force in the county. They had farmland, silver and gold bars, guns, college educations, and an excellent family ethic. When the Communists came, they were slowly forced to give up all these things. There was no resisting the neighbors and the army behind them.

Burying things was impossible. It would have been death for the entire family with no appeal had they been caught. Though they were from central China, some individual members of the family attempted to escape to Taiwan or Hong Kong. They were caught and the entire family was punished. College education skipped a generation. My in-laws were denied the opportunity to go to college because they were from a landlord family (one that owned land). The family scrimped and saved during the good years. Their savings and small food larder food was immediately appropriated from them during the lean years. The stigma of success stuck to their children. My wife tells me stories of she and her sister being taunted on the playground for being from a landlord family.

When TSHTF, there will be a few “Todd S”es. Those people will be quickly ventilated or otherwise end up the recipients of the “Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up” (SS&S) treatment.

No, the looting mentality will be the neighbors who quickly form the worst of tyrannies, a democratic one. The Golden Horde will migrate into an area. These sheeple will not individually loot your belongings; most won’t dare. Instead, your supplies will be taken away by vote and then by force. If you violently oppose your local community, you and your family will killed. A small group of people cannot indefinitely resist an organized regiment, even with significant force multipliers.

Be aware that in a low supply scenario, your neighbors will enter your house to look for supplies and they will have the force of law behind them. The sheeple around you are smart; perhaps smarter than the sheep dogs. They will know what clothes you are wearing and will know when you take a shirt out of storage. “That’s a nice blue shirt Henry. I haven’t see you wear it before. How long have you had that?” They will know what you are eating from your garbage or what your children say. Imagine that nosy old lady across the street. Now imagine her in charge of the local security committee.

Be prepared for this. Liberty or death may sound well, but you will speak for your parents, wife, and children and perhaps more besides. Americans are accustomed to thinking of the enemy as honorable or law-abiding. But even the Tarletons of our history behaved with far more humane restraint than many freedom fighters of the 20th century. Bloody Kansas does not compare with the Khmer Rouge or the Lord’s Army. It can get bad.

But what about the good? The one thing that my wife’s family retained from before the revolution is their ethic. Better yet, this is the most important thing to have. Best of all, this can never be taken away from a family. Instill in your children self-reliance and morals. They should know that with hard work and discipline, they can achieve great things. They should know that they will always be accountable for their actions to themselves and to God.

I am not saying that this will happen. Heck, the Schumer may not hit in our lives or when it hits, the manner in which it does will not be like I have suggested. But we are sheep dogs and thus we prepare.

What I have suggested here can be avoided by retreating to very low population areas. But do not think of finding one of these places east of the Mississippi. Regards, – P. from Illinois

Economics and Investing:

From The Appenzell Daily Bell: More Sovereign Defaults Loom?

Brett pointed us to some great Afterburner commentary on the “carbon credits” nonsense as well as personal initiative versus Nanny Statism: Flying Solo: Choose Freedom Over the Nanny State.

I warned you, folks! U.S. Sales Tax Rates Hit Record High. (Thanks to Loren for the link. OBTW, I expect even more tax rate increases as the recession deepens, and more states face crises.)

Williams: Expect Hyperinflation Within The Next Five Years. (Thanks to H.H. for the link.)

S.M. liked this piece of commentary about the national debt and precious metals by Stewart Dougherty: America’s Impending Master Class Dictatorship.

GG and MM both flagged this New York Times article: Public Pension Funds Are Adding Risk to Raise Return. (G.G.’s comment: “What could go wrong?)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Jorge sent us this: Detroit City land turned into farmland.
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Flavio sent this linkio from a television news show in May, 2008: Farmer Saves $70 a Day by Trading Tractor for Mule Power

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent us a link to a great resource of small-scale aquaponics: Faith and Sustainable Technologies (F.A.S.T.).

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More videotaped fun at the range with Mongo and Jeff: Thermal imager views of machineguns and tracers.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“‘Value for value.’ Building ‘on the square and on the level.’ The Hippocratic Oath. Don’t let the team down. Honest work for honest pay. Such things did not have to be proved; they were an essential part of life-true throughout eternity, true in the farthest reaches of the Galaxy.” – Lawrence Smith, a character in Robert A. Heinlein’s novel “Double Star“

Confronting Kleptocracy–Identifying The Looter Mentality

A recent opinion column The New York Times was titled: The Moral Ambiguity of Looting. Ambiguity? There is nothing ambiguous about it. Let’s have the moral courage to be forthright and uncompromising on this issue: Looting is the theft of property that lawfully belongs to another. There are no “ifs, ands, or buts”. Looting is unconscionable and cannot be tolerated in a civilized society. Once looting begins, it soon devolves into: “You have it, I want it, I’m taking it.” And once looting is sanctioned, then where is the dividing line on “acceptable” plunder? Do you draw the line at: Twinkies? Trinkets? Televisions? Teenage daughters? In essence, looting is pure, unmitigated anarchy in action. None of it is acceptable behavior.

It is noteworthy that much of the looting that went on in Chile was not about parents keeping their kids from starving. Rather, it was more about people wanting television sets. Every reader of this blog needs to make a moral choice: Do you tolerate looting or not? I pray that you don’t. If you assent to theft, then don’t be surprised if you come home someday to find your own house looted. As a Christian Libertarian, I’m an advocate of minimalist government. But a society needs some basic laws enforced, or it ceases to be classified as a civilized society. Its clear that law and order being re-established in Chile. But things were dicey there for a few days, and it took more than the just police and army to put the societal trolley back on its tracks.

I’m often asked about depopulation caused by pandemics–how that would be a time that would justify looting. That’s just speculative balderdash. Even in darkest days of The Black Death, when Europe and much of southern Asia lost half of its population, there were still “heirs and assigns.” (If you doubt that, then see William McNeil’s book “Plagues and Peoples”.) It would take a pandemic with a 90% lethality rate or more before that convention would become meaningless. So forget your “It’ll be just like Will Smith and his dog, in I Am Legend” fantasies. The chances of an event causing that level of depopulation, and the even smaller chance of you being one of the lucky few survivors are almost infinitesimal. In all other circumstances, there will be rightful owners or rightful heirs of every piece of land, every vehicle, every tool, every cow, and every larder on Earth. So discard any fanciful “foraging” musings that you might harbor. That’s nonsense.

SurvivalBlog reader William C. recently e-mailed me some thought, in warning about those that are planning to loot, in the aftermath of a disaster. He wrote: “To appraise and to steal someone’s goods incorporates two dilemmas. One is the immoral practice of stealing and the other is the immoral practice of coveting another’s goods. Both are addressed in the [Old Testament] Commandments and should be developed notions in the mind of a moral thinking man.” He is correct in that appraisal. There are moral absolutes, and “Thou shalt not steal” is one of them. I also recently got an e-mail from Geoff in Utah, who mentioned: ” I… find it disturbing the number of people that I’ve come across in my work on becoming self-reliant that feel entitled to what I and others have. For instance there is a Law enforcement officer in town that told me he didn’t need to keep a reserve of anything other than ammo because being an officer of the law he new who had what and he had more guns, ammo and training.”

If your “survival plan” is to loot (or, as I’ve heard it euphemistically put, “forage”), rather than to store in advance what you will need, then that’s not much of a plan. By failing to store substantial quantities of food, you will very quickly force yourself into the role of Vandal or Visiting Visigoth, after the onset of a disaster. And, odds are, you’ll end up in a shallow grave somewhere.

Consider this: The greatest threat we someday face might not be unprepared masses from the inner cities. No, it might be overweight armchair commandos from the suburbs, whose only preparations were buying a set of camo fatigues and an AR-15. That is a nightmare just waiting to happen. If you have budgeted for guns but not food storage, then you are setting yourself up to have only one option, when things fall apart. Examine yourself, and your preparations. If you see that you lack balance in your preparations, then I pray that you re-set your priorities, immediately. Food storage should probably account for more than half of your family preparedness budget. If it doesn’t, then make it so!

Letter Re: Radio Communications for Retreat Intelligence Gathering

James Wesley:
Ron Y.’s article posted on Sunday is interesting and helpful to those who don’t spend much time around radios other than, perhaps, their favorite music station. For those of us who have had a lifetime of radio listening and, in my case, work with public service units in times of disasters small and bigger, there are a few things I’d add.

First is the scanner section of Ron’s information. My work desk has four scanners going at all hours that I am awake. Any one of them might flag something that is of interest or warrants tracking. Frequencies scanned here include all the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and air-to-air channels used by both civilian and military aircraft. I live in the area of four ATC centers and not far from training and refueling areas of many Midwest military units from B-2 bombers to Air National Guard fighter squadrons. There are 200 channels of some activity represented there. Air frequencies were my first alert to the 9/11 disaster. Civilian traffic told to land at the nearest airport and military told to get active, plus the dash to Shreveport by Air Force 1 from Florida, all unfolded within ear shot [of a scanner] while the news channels were still marveling
over what was happening in Manhattan.

Closer to home, scanner radios are the heart beat of this rural area’s health and problems. Sheriff’s radio remains on analog channels while some city and the state police have all moved to digital trunking radios that take a little work to program but remain a first line of information. Arkansas, where I live, also has a state-wide digital
network for health and welfare on a larger scale such as contamination and radiation incidents.

Another resource for frequencies omitted that should be visited is RadioReference.com for up-to-date information on frequencies, changes, digital monitoring and state-by-state lists of what to tune to.

And, another of the recently added radios in my monitoring station is a good old-technology crystal set. It hears all the 50,000 watt radio stations that Ray lists, plus more, and operates with no batteries or other outside source of electricity. These worked for my dad in the 1920s. He taught me to build my first one in 1940 or so. See MidnightScience.com and CrystalRadioSupply.com.

There is, as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sings, “so much to know before you know enough.” Best Regards, – Vern M.

Service Recommendation from JWR: Mara Helland

You might have noticed that a CPA service advertising on SurvivalBlog. Her name is Mara Helland. Since it is now tax season, I thought that it would be appropriate to give my personal recommendation, and let you know what services she offers.

Like many other CPAs, Mara mainly does tax accounting. But what sets her apart from other CPA firms is absolute privacy. I know that this is crucial for a lot of people, especially fellow SurvivalBlog readers. I don’t know what privacy issues are like in the big cities, but I do know that in small towns, people who make a decent living want to be assured their personal financial information isn’t going to end up as fodder for gossip at the local bar.

I’ve learned that when new clients come to Mara Helland from another CPA, it is almost always because they have experienced poor service. She says that she rarely hears complaints about prior CPA fees, but she definitely hears about lack of attentiveness from other accountants. Of course, all CPAs will say that they value their clients and that they provide “excellent service”, but that is not what happens in reality. A lot of times, CPAs or firm-partners will bring in the new clients, but the actual services and care for the clients are pushed off on staff members, with much less experience and fewer skills. Mara is now in her 20th year of working in public accounting. When clients come to her, they get top-notch service directly from Mara. As I have experienced personally, when a client calls her office, she answers the phone herself. She prides herself on taking good care of her clients, and I think that shows with the number of very long-term client relationships that she has developed.

Mara works with a wide clientele, including individuals, all types of businesses, estates, trusts and non-profit organizations. She has clients throughout the United States, so being in Montana does not limit her to only having Montana clients. She also works with military families and US citizens that work overseas.

March 15, 2010 is the tax-filing deadline for businesses that are corporations. And, of course April 15th is the big deadline for personal income tax returns, as well as partnership/LLC tax returns. If you need more time to gather your personal or business tax information, she can prepare and file a tax extension for you.

Mara noted in an e-mail: “I, too, am a SurvivalBlog follower. I came to your site first as a reader and then later chose to advertise with you. I can certainly relate to my SurvivalBlog clients.”

I’m one of Mara’s satisfied tax accounting clients, so I can highly recommend her!

Economics and Investing:

JDD sent this item: China ready to end dollar peg. The article begins: “The head of China’s central bank has given the strongest signal yet that the country will move away from pegging its currency to the dollar, but he said any changes would be gradual.”

Brian B. sent this news story that illustrates that the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) won’t stop growing: Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss.

I found this linked at The Drudge Report: Congressional estimates show grim deficit picture.

Jeff B. offered this for the No Great Surprise Department: IRS to Track Online Sellers’ Payment Transactions Beginning Next Year

Tony B. recommended this recent two part article by Jeff Nielson, over at The Street: Silver Supply Crisis Looms, Part 1: and Part 2.

Dissension in the Ranks? San Francisco Fed Doubts Jobs Outlook. (Our thanks to David D. for the link.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Rod B. wrote to mention that Popular Science magazine has greatly expanded their free archives to include the entire 137 year collection!

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Just in case there’s wholesale panic on the scale depicted in the movie Miracle Mile, reader H.N. in San Diego suggested researching maps of your city’s storm drain system. For example, he mentioned that he found this map of San Diego’s storm drain system, with just a quick web search. (Of course all the usual safety provisos apply.)

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Tamara over at the View From the Porch blog mentioned that SurvivalBlog readers, on average, are twice as likely to use Microsoft Explorer than her visitors that arrive from other sites. For those that have an interest, here are the most recent browser statistics on the web browsers that are used by SurvivalBlog readers:

Internet Explorer (4,352,882 visits) 60.5 %
Firefox (1,917,463 visits) 26.6 %
Safari (649,604 visits) 9 %

In my opinion, such heavy reliance on the Bill Gates Brain Trust is pretty pitiful. Haven’t you read the warnings about using Microsoft’s browser? Please, please please switch to Firefox or Safari, folks. Both of those browsers are available free, and you can easily migrate your existing bookmarks (also called “favorites”) to a new browser. You won’t lose a thing except some susceptibility.