April in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

…includes using their U.S. subsidiary, Citgo, as collateral for a $1.5 billion loan from Russian state-owned oil conglomerate, Rosneft. If the Venezuelans default on this loan, Russia will gain all Citgo refineries, oil terminals, and pipelines, becoming the largest foreign owner of U.S. oil infrastructure. This would enable Putin to threaten to bring America to its knees by disrupting the flow of oil from wellfields to refineries, if sanctions over the Russian invasion of Crimea aren’t lifted. Mining Justin Spittler at Casey Research says “Get Ready For The Biggest Gold Move In Years”, saying “the trend is your friend” and the trend is moving into gold. The largest gold mining companies in the world are exhausting their existing gold deposits. So it’s only natural that they have become really interested in the new high-purity gold strikes happening in the Yukon. The small gold exploration companies who bet everything that the…




A New Way To View Preparedness Group Leadership in Management Action, by Old Bobbert

“Fifth, some doctors and pharmacists are paid cash bonuses by some drug companies for prescribing certain drugs.” This is a false statement! It is malicious in it’s intent and has a clear liberal bias. I have been a physician for over 20 years; I know and associate with other physicians professionally (many hundreds) ; I have met physicians from around the world. I do not know of any who have ever taken a bribe from a pharmaceutical company. It is illegal to do so. Before making such a comment, get your facts straight and stop listening to liberal media. James Wesley Rawles Really? See: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/17/470679452/drug-company-payments-mirror-doctors-brand-name-prescribing Also see: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-drugs-are-doctors-paid-the-most-to-promote-2015-1 So there you have it from two news outlets — one liberal, and one conservative. cpa prepper Last year I accidentally left my travel bag at the hotel along with my monthly supply of daily medication. Next trip to the Dr for




SurvivalBlogā€™s News From The American Redoubt

…The American Redoubt: A Look Inside Montana Trial set for Senate candidate Downing o o o Joe Robertson Appeal Stalled Eastern Oregon Milton-Freewater dumps curbside recycling Eastern Washington (Matt Shea’s Presentation) J.J. Schmidt of Radio Free Redoubt has made available a recent hour-long speech, complete with annotations and his Powerpoint slides: Liberty State: ‘Future of Liberty’ with Rep. Matt Shea o o o If you haven’t already done so, please go to PatriotPolls.org, and vote on the proposed Liberty State flags and seals. Wyoming Wyoming: Senate Could Soon Consider Self-Defense Legislation (They are hoping to enact a stronger “no duty to retreat” law!) Thanks to Matthew for the link. o o o Elk refuge considers halting feeding program this winter Send Your News Tips Please send your American Redoubt region news tips and event announcements to JWR. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact form.  …




Letter Re: A Wikipedia Offline Reader

Hi James, I am a big fan of yours way over from Czech Republic. I want to thank you for all the so valuable information you share. You really changed my view, in fact you opened my eyes. Lately I was thinking about the offline Wikipedia and its importance in a prolonged grid-down scenario with no access to the internet. The text Wikipedia dumps are great and I started to think about how to get them in a Kindle-like reader. It seems someone did it already (WikiReader Pocket Wikipedia) and since I haven’t found it mentioned anywhere on your blog, here is a link. And Amazon sells them for around $15. It runs on two AAA batteries. It also has some limitations, the most of which I am concerned about is the lack of tabular data in the articles, which might convey potentially useful information. Details on limitations can be…




Economics and Investing:

The Lumberman recommended this piece by veteran market analyst Bob Chapman: Financial Vehicles of Mass Destruction Over at Fierce Finance: Criminal charges not likely in MF Global scandal. Corzine, Abelow, Roseman, Stockman, et al have escaped criminal indictments, but I suspect that they will be in court fighting civil lawsuits for the next four or five years. <Sarcasm on:> Perhaps Federal prosecutors can indict the MF Global’s janitor. After all, he was seen carrying out those trash bags full of paper shreddings. <Sarcasm off> What Caused Silver’s Take-Down?   Derivatives: Exchange Traded Derivatives Trading Volumes Increase 11% in 2011 Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke Warns Lawmakers Country Is Headed For “Massive Fiscal Cliff” 17 States Consider State Banks China Dumps $100+ Billion In US Treasuries In December Per Revised TJC Data Inflation Is A Tax And The Federal Reserve Is Taxing The Living Daylights Out Of Us…




From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Dumping of US Dollar Could Trigger “Economic September 11” (Posted August 29, 2005)

…brevity] “America’s global hegemony is already under challenge, and that challenge is going to become more and more evident as the extent of the relative US economic decline becomes evident. Right now, the US dollar is probably 40 per cent overvalued versus the Japanese yen or the Chinese renminbi. How’s the US going to look as a global power when the dollar is at 50 per cent of its current value?” JWR’s Comment: Hmmm… I wonder why they spiked this story, post facto? I’m curious to know if this story made it into print in the hard copy edition of the newspaper. Chalk this one up to FFTAGFFR, folks! JWR’s Re-Posting Comment (October 21, 2007): Part of what was described in the preceding article has occurred. I anticipate further erosion of the US dollar on the FOREX. If the US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates again, then all bets are…




Economics and Investing:

Long-time content contributor P.D. forwarded this link: Austerity In America: 22 Signs That It Is Already Here And That It Is Going To Be Very Painful Analysis: What is Plan B if China dumps its U.S. debt? (Thanks to Sue C. for the link.) From SurvivalBlog’s Poet Laureate George Gordon comes a link to a piece by Tyler Durden: US Mint Reports January Silver Sales Hit 26 Year High Ballmer, Blankfein Invited by Obama to Hu Discussion on Business in China Items from The Economatrix: Obama Push For China Currency Changes Could Cost US Consumers   Housing Market’s Plunge Passes Depression’s   US Muni Bond Market Warned Near Collapse Stocks Shrug Off Bad Earnings Reports, Apple News   Investors’ Return To US Stocks Could Be Too Late   Disinformation Fog Intensifies As Economic Turmoil Develops     …




Odds ‘n Sods:

From the folks over at The Oil Drum: How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? An Update    o o o More on the MOAB, from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Bailout Plan Calms Markets, But Struggle Looms Over Details    o o o Another slug of cheer from SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Stocks Soar As Investors Look To Gov’t Rescue Plan — Current List of Failed Banks (another bank failure was announced on Friday) — Wall Street Dumps Mortgage Corruption on Taxpayers — New Wall Street Crisis Will Create a New Financial World Order — Forecast: US Dollar Could Plunge 90%.    o o o Kevin A,. recommended this piece of commentary from Charles Hugh Smith: Restoring the Con in Confidence…




Odds ‘n Sods:

…the article carefully. The banksters at JP Morgan Chase plan to spend $25 billion of gifted taxpayer dollars to fund acquisitions of smaller banks.    o o o I just heard that Ready Made Resources now has a small quantity of used water-tight Hardigg cases available, for just $39.95 plus shipping. These have great potential for caching guns in damp climate regions. These cases are full military specification, and highly recommended. Buy a few before they run out!    o o o I spotted this at The Drudge Report: Companies start competing for bailout money    o o o More from Cheryl: Congress: What Ben And Hank Aren’t Telling You — Taiwan Dumps Fannie & Freddie — Survival: Learn From Argentina’s Collapse — Thousands Of Hedge Funds On The Brink Of Failure — Car Makers Slam On Brakes As Orders Drop — Citadel Admits 35% Dive In Hedge Fund Value…




Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

…live near Lake Superior more than that. However if you live down in the banana belt along Lake Michigan, it is less than that. It gets very cold in the winter, I’ve seen it get -25 below with highs at -9 or -10 below zero degrees Fahrenheit. and stay their for weeks on end. The UP is the only place I’ve been where you can have a blizzard when there is not a cloud in the sky. That is “lake effect” snow. Lake Superior doesn’t freeze over completely. With a little breeze out of the north, the very cold dry air picks up moisture off the big lake and dumps it on the cold land. The stretch on M-28 between Marquette and Munising gets closed sometimes because of the snow off the big lake. Now combine “lake effect” snow and a true blizzard out of Canada, well I hope you…




Economics and Investing:

Reader GG suggested: Uncle Sam’s ‘F’-rated bonds GG also mentioned this piece by Mish Shedlock: FDIC to Open a Temporary East Coast Satellite Office. (Could they be expecting more bank failures or perhaps bank runs? The MOAB keeps expanding: Feds give $50 Million in aid to towns hit by auto layoffs. (Thanks to Tony Y. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Here Comes the Option ARM Explosion Russia Dumps US Dollar as Basic Reserve Currency Fannie and Freddie in “Critical” Condition Real Unemployment, GDP, Etc. Numbers Britain’s AAA Rating Threatened by S&P’s Stark Warning Conjuring Monster (The Mogambo Guru)…




Letter Re: A Police Officer’s Comments on High Stress Reactions

…the loss of audio input. Incredibly loud sounds, such as gun shots, are heard as mere popping noises, like a cap gun. This makes communications between police officers in critical events difficult. It will also make it very difficult for you and yours to communicate if the SHTF and you are defending yourselves. Time distortion is frequently reported as the perceived slow down of events – as if things were occurring in slow motion, even the involved reactions to the threat. Infrequently this was reported as things happening more quickly, i.e., in fast forward. Visual distortion is commonly called “tunnel vision” in high stress events. The mind realizes the life or death threat in front of it and it attempts to block out all other stimuli but this life or death threat. Imagine your natural field of vision being reduces from approximately 200 degrees down to 40 degrees. One of…




Odds ‘n Sods:

Dept. of Homeland Security points out the fragility of the infrastructure. (Thanks to S. S. for the link.)    o o o Dave X. sent us this: Senate dumps strategy to prevent EMP damage    o o o A Volkswagen powered by human waste. (A hat tip to KAF for the link.)    o o o Reader Michael H. mentioned that audio from the talks from “The Next Hope” hacker conference held last month are now available for free download. Michael’s comments: “While anyone is sure to find many things of interest in what hackers talk about, of particular interest to SurvivalBlog readers will likely be “Hackers without Borders: Disaster Relief and Technology,” “Injecting Electromagnetic Pulses into Digital Devices,” “Lock Bypass without Lockpicks,” “Privacy is Dead — Get Over It,” “Risk Analysis for Dummies,” “Tor and Internet Censorship,” and the always entertaining (and frightening) “Social Engineering”.”    o o o…




Economics and Investing:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) sent this: George Soros dumps $800 million gold stake. (JWR Adds: Don’t be surprised if Soros quietly buys back in to the market, this summer. He is famous for trying to move markets, and later capitalizing on those moves. ) Is Another Housing Crash Coming? Oil prices fall on disappointing economic data Ted in Nashville sent this: Abandoned Houses Leave Neighborhoods in Limbo Foreclosures Prompt Four U.S. Cities to Sue Banks for Mowing, Home Repairs. (Thanks to Vitus for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: US Homebuilding, Manufacturing Slump in April World on Course for Next Crisis, Says Gordon Brown Dow Sheds Nearly 1% as US Inflation Rises…




Keeping Honey Bees for Survival, by Michael J.

…can look at the comb—the bees comb mimicked the shape of the drum half.)                              You need to put a little bit of wax on the top bar so the bee know where to start building comb, but other than that you have just made a hive from stuff that is commonly throw way. This is a great way to save drums, even metal ones, and use for something other than a trash can. It’s a great home for your bees, and keeps the dump free of landfill. Note: Information and all pictures are taken from an article, Barrel Top Bar Hive, on Robo’s World web site.   Getting Your Bees Now that you have your protective gear, a hive for the bees, and a book to reference, you are ready for the bees. There are nearly 20,000 species of bees—honey bees represent a small fraction of the…