Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 5, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

Food Shortages

Right now, at this moment, we are facing a global food shortage thanks to wars, and floods and droughts. Farmers in the Netherlands are recognized as the most efficient farmers in Europe, if not the world. And yet their own government is in the process of forcibly seizing as many as 3000 farms and euthanizing the livestock because their “Nitrogen Minister” has deemed their farms to be emitting to much nitrogen. The government claims that this is necessary if they are going to meet their 2030 emissions goals. Goals that were arbitrarily determined by the government without any consultation with agricultural experts.

Here we are in the middle of a food crisis and governments are seizing farms and destroying livestock. And to top it all off – the farmers were doing their best to meet the governments goals. In fact, they were certain they could meet them, just not in the time frame that the government demanded. WOW! I just don’t even know what else to say to a situation like this. This is just one more example of the climate change zealot’s unwillingness to compromise even though they are destroying the livelihood of the very people that they are supposedly trying to save.

In the western world we may not experience the food shortages like much of the world will. So far for us it is more of a lack of selection and choices rather than actual shortages. We might not be able to get our preferred brand or our favorite of the 363 different breakfast cereals that we’ve grown accustomed to, but we still have cereals available on the shelf. For many places in the world the shelves may simply be bare.

Russia and Ukraine produce approximately 40% of the world’s wheat – a staple crop for many of those emerging nations that we talked about earlier. Between sanctions on Russia, and the Ukraine being an actual war zone, how much wheat will actually be able to be planted, harvested or exported is the question? I watch experts tell us that they expect as much as a 30% reduction in Ukrainian wheat exports in 2023. Really? How much grain is being planted in the middle of a war zone, where farmers are being conscripted by the army, and all the diesel fuel will be needed by the military? I think those “experts” might be off in their estimates, but that’s just my opinion.Continue reading“Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 5, by The Lone Canadian”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

At An ATF Strategy Meeting In The Near Future…

“I Propose That We Ban Stabilizing Slings. Make Those A Felony To Possess, With A $200 Transfer Tax!”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” – Revelation 3:10-22 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 21, 2023

On January 21, 1525, the Swiss Anabaptist Movement began when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.  This movement led to great consternation in the Catholic church, persecution, and the eventual dislocation of many Anabaptist dissidents, including the followers of Jakob Ammann  — the “Amish.”

—

Also on this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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 $795,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 4, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 3.)

The Real Energy Crisis

Energy is the lifeblood of progress and industrialization. We don’t refer to countries as Second World or Third Worldworld anymore, that’s not politically correct. Now we call them “emerging markets.” And for them to “emerge” from Third World, or Second World status to take their place at the “big boys” table internationally takes energy. “Developing Nations” need energy to develop – pretty simple. And not just energy, but a stable supply of relatively cheap energy. The more they develop, the more energy they need to continue to develop. We may have hit peak oil on the production side, but demand will continue to be steady as more and more countries struggle to develop stable economies and meet the needs of their populations.

So now we have an energy crisis because we shut down much of our own production, while depending on other nations, that aren’t necessarily friendly to us, to supply our needs. We enacted sanctions against Russia in an attempt to hinder their financial ability to wage war against Ukraine, knowing full well that it could cripple the European economy, and we couldn’t supply them. China and many other nations will not be suffering the same energy crisis. Why? Because they’ll buy oil and gas from whoever will sell it to them. They don’t care about our green agenda, or our high and mighty unworkable ideals. They just want to supply their country with power and heat. Maybe we need to start looking at oil and gas as just oil and gas, rather than trying to politicize them, our use them as an international club to beat recalcitrant “children” back into line.

And just to touch on the stupidity aspect. We know that solar and wind power can’t produce all of the energy we need. We know that we are going to have to keep using, if not coal, at least natural gas to generate the electrical power that we need. Somehow, people have convinced themselves that as long as we don’t produce the coal and natural gas that it’s okay. If we get oil and natural gas from another country, then somehow the pollution doesn’t happen. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! We shut down our own production, and pretty much try and destroy the energy industry so that we can import what we need from other countries. We’re still using fossil fuels! No matter where they come from.Continue reading“Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 4, by The Lone Canadian”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I’ve had a busy week. In addition to projects around the ranch, I’ve been working out some details with our new credit card merchant account for Elk Creek Company that does not involve PayPal. Among other things, it allows us to now take credit card payments for the Ten Cent Challenge.

I’ve also had to correct some glitches in a few archive USB stick orders.  (More than 350 have sold, so far. The sticks are selling at a brisk pace!)

And I’ve been in contact with three of my consulting clients in the past few days. One of them requested a face-to-face consulting session. Not surprisingly, all three of them had questions about the ATF’s dastardly new ban and registration scheme for pistol arm braces. I told them that I am confident that the courts will soon overturn this new voluminous set of rules, for several reasons:

  • The rules represent an uncompensated “taking”.
  • The ATF overstepped its rulemaking authority, essentially making up a new law from whole cloth. This is a no-no, per the Supreme Court’s recent EPA decision.
  • Guns, gun parts, and accessories that are in common use are protected under the Secon Amendment, per the recent  Bruen decision.

So, please don’t panic about this.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.

For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,

So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” – 1 Kings 8:1-21(KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 20, 2023

Thirty years ago today, January 20th, 1993, was the day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Reserve Captain. Not coincidentally, that was also the day that Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. I resigned because I detested the idea of having Clinton as my Commander in Chief. With ten years in service, my contractual obligation had expired. And, because I was living in a remote area in north-central Idaho, I was no longer drilling with a USAR troop program unit. The nearest Intelligence Corps Army Reserve or National Guard units were 360 miles away, near Seattle, or 450 miles away, in Salt Lake City. The latter is a Linguist Battalion. Those units were much too far for me to travel to, for monthly drills. So I felt no regrets when I mailed in my resignation.

Parenthetically, my 1983 commissioning document carried Ronald Reagan’s signature. Reagan was the last American President for which I had any real admiration. And even he was notorious for encouraging profligate spending that expanded the National Debt.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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 $795,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 3, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 2.)

On the other side of the world….kind of….depending on how you look at it, China continues to make aggressive moves toward Taiwan. Much like Russia with the Donbas region, their claim is repatriation, not invasion. President Biden has stated on more than one occasion that we will put troops on the ground to help the people of Taiwan, although every time he says it, the white house tries to walk it back after the fact. You’d almost think that they are confused over what their course of action would be. But that might just be their plan to confuse the enemy. I mean heck, if they don’t even know what they’re doing, there’s absolutely no way that China could figure out what their plan is.

All kidding aside, this is potentially one of the gravest threats that we face. China is a true world power, and has made inroads with a great number of countries, especially in south America and Africa. They are a financial powerhouse, although I am seeing more reports lately of some possible financial weakness. Whether that is actually true, or just the wishful thinking of western media sources, I can’t say. What I do know is that Covid-19, and their response to it have hit the country hard. It has impacted their manufacturing ability, and their exports. But that has also affected the rest of the world as well, with their dependence on cheaply manufactured goods from China as a part of their economies.

Whether they are suffering from some internal financial instability or not, China remains a major force to be reckoned with. As mentioned earlier, there are huge American investments in Chinese stocks. By simply denying access to this money, they could cause a crisis in America. They could bankrupt many companies and pension funds. They may even be able to crash the stock market, or the banks. They don’t necessarily need to even fight a conventional war if they can exert control through financial means, or by denying us access to their manufactured goods. Between Taiwan and China they produce about 50% of the world’s microchips, depending on what chart you look at. Some show Taiwan producing as much as 60% by themselves. (And as much as 90% of the world’s super advanced chips.)

Without Taiwan-produced microchips, America slowly grinds to a halt, and the idea of going to war over that supply is very real. However, fighting a war without having a constant supply doesn’t work in this day and age. Jets don’t fly, and missiles don’t work without microchips. So once again we see the tangled web that we find ourselves in. We are in many ways financially dependent on a country that we are threatening to go to war with. We need their manufactured goods to be able to go to war with them.Continue reading“Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 3, by The Lone Canadian”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we report on Janet Yellen speaking the “D” word: Default. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Posted last Friday: With gold ending the week above $1,900, analysts turn their focus to $2,000.

o  o  o

At Gold-Eagle.com: How Cheap are the Mining Shares? The Barron’s Gold Mining Index Tells All. A key quote:  “…the broad stock market is nearing the edge of a big-bear market decline that will shock people. The gold miners have historically been counter-cyclical to the broad market in times of its distress.”

Economy & Finance:

Yellen warns of US default risk by early June, urges debt limit hike.  JWR’s Comments: When national treasury or central bank officials use the dreaded “D” word, beware!  The Treasury Department’s cost of servicing the national debt is getting away from them. Once interest rates spike, the dominies might begin to fall.

A side note: Some 33 years ago, when I wrote the first draft of what later became my novel Patriots, I included this, in the opening chapter:

“In Europe, international bankers began to vocally express their doubts that the U.S. government could continue to make its interest payments on the burgeoning debt. In mid-August, the chairman of the Deutsche Bundesbank made some “off the record” comments to a reporter from The Economist magazine. Within hours, his words flashed around the world via the Internet: “A full-scale default on U.S. Treasuries appears imminent.” He had spoken the dreaded “D” word. His choice of the word imminent in conjunction with the word default caused the value of the dollar to plummet on the international currency exchanges the next day.”

o  o  o

I just found this web page, issuing a similar warning: Higher Interest Rates Will Raise Interest Costs on the National Debt.

o  o  o

Forbes: Recession Fears 2023: What Lies Ahead?

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: How Crazy Will Economic Conditions Be in 2023?

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The powers of our modern world—the ones that undermined true religion in the West—are more implicit and psychological; they operate in the normalization of secularism. Its normalization is evident in the fact that “normal” people affirm it, live it, and expect it.” – Stephen Wolfe, The Case For Christian Nationalism

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 19, 2023

Today is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. This book was re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.  JWR considers it a “must” for the bookshelf of every well-prepared family.

—

Some great news!  The new 2005-2022 SurvivalBlog Archive sticks are now available for pre-ordering.  This year there were so many bonus books that the contents simply couldn’t fit on a 16-gigabyte stick.  So this year it is on a 32 GB stick, which also allows plenty of extra room for you to load all of your important documents and treasured photos on this EMP-resistant, shock/vibration-resistant, and waterproof stick.  So it is great for your bugout bag, or for caching at a secure site. Note that the blank 32 GB sticks cost us more, so we had to bump up the price of the loaded sticks, correspondingly.

Last year’s edition of the archive stick sold out within three weeks, so be sure to order yours, soon!  Shipments should begin next week, but with the expected rush of orders, please allow up to four weeks, for delivery. As usual, orders are shipped in the sequence of their order numbers. So the sooner that you order, the sooner that yours will arrive. This is: “First come, first served.”

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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 $795,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 2, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 1.)

While we’re on the subject of interest rates, lets explore low interest rates. I’ve mentioned that the government, through the Fed, has kept them artificially low since about 2008. Now, the general thought was that low interest rates would stimulate the economy. Low interest rates mean that you can buy that bigger house, or new car. It also means that businesses can expand because the risk on a loan is lower. It means that new businesses can start up because people can more easily qualify for a loan, and their payments are relatively low, so its easier for them to pay it back. And all these things are true, to a certain extent. There are downsides to low interest rates that are very rarely mentioned. The most obvious is your savings account – no matter how much you put into it you don’t get enough interest out of it to keep up with the cost of living. This encourages people to invest their money in things like the stock market in an attempt to get a higher return on their money, cause let’s face it, your savings alone aren’t going to get you any kind of retirement.

Even people that don’t invest in the stock market per se, actually do invest in the stock market, by putting their money into company retirement plans, or other retirement plans. You see, it’s simple math! To be able to pay you the money that they are guaranteeing for your retirement these plans need more than what you are putting in. They need a higher rate of return. If they could just put your money in a savings account and make 10% over the years, maybe they would be able to pay you your retirement benefits. (But then again, so could you) But, there’s no way that they could ever pay you out even a fraction of what they supposedly owe you at 2% or less – the numbers just don’t add up. As a result, pension funds have had to venture into riskier and riskier investments over the years in an attempt to show, at least on paper, that they were able to meet their obligations. And it’s not only private pensions, government and union pensions are also in the same situation.

Two recent examples of potential pension fund crises are the revelation that there are numerous government pension funds, including the veterans fund, that are heavily invested in Chinese stocks, owned and manipulated by the Chinese government. The other one is the Ontario Teachers Federation pension fund that had $865 million invested in FTX. You’ve gotta wonder how they’re going to resolve that one. So, much like globalization, low interest rates work great to stimulate the economy….until they don’t.Continue reading“Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 2, by The Lone Canadian”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, an updated look at some underground and earth-sheltered houses, around the world.

Inside ‘Underground House Plan B’

Over at Pinterest: Inside ‘Underground House Plan B,’ a socially distanced, survivalist…

Eastern Oregon’s Notorious Underground

Some fascinating, albeit lurid history: Pendleton Underground Tours.

One Man’s 40-Year Excavation Project

One Man’s 40-Year Excavation Project: Forestiere Underground Gardens.  JWR’s Comment: I toured this tunnel complex near Fresno, in 1974. I was then just 14 years old. That tour left a lasting impression!

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The doctrine of the lesser magistrates is rooted in the historical, biblical, doctrine of interposition. Interposition is that calling of God which causes one to step into the gap – willingly placing oneself between the oppressor and the intended victim. Interposition is demonstrated when someone or some group interposes or positions themselves between and oppressor and the intended victim. This can be done verbally or physically.” – Matthew J. Trewhella, The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates, 2013.