Preparation For The Coming Days: Part 1 - What Should I Prepare For? - By Duncan Conner

In this series of articles I plan to lay out for you the exact steps that my family has taken over the last couple of years to get ready for what is more and more looking like the beginning stages of the very last of the final days.

A Little Background
When I write those words it feels almost surreal-and yet we as believers should not be surprised. The Lord told us numerous times in the scriptures that one day he would return, and he gave us clear signs to look for that will precede his second coming. Couple these statements with all the prophecies in the Old Testament, and you have quite a detailed roadmap as to what the final days will look like.

In 2007 I felt very convicted in my Spirit to begin a web site, with the aim of proving my and other’s insights into Bible prophecy, as well as provide resources for people to prepare for what will most certainly be dire pre-rapture conditions. As I have stated numerous times, we don’t know what life prior to the rapture will look like. Most Christians who believe in the rapture have classically assumed that they would see no trial, hardship, persecution, or difficult times, before the catching away mentioned in I Thessalonians 4:17. 2 Timothy 3:1 says that in the last days “difficult” times will come.

A very intriguing passage is the one in 2 Peter 3:3-4, 3 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with [their] mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For [ever] since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

I have personally always taken this passage to mean that in the last days, as we begin to see Bible prophecy start to be fulfilled and as we begin to see the pieces of the puzzle line up, Christian will no doubt begin to get excited more and more about their faith and the soon return of the Lord. However, the Bible says that there will be the naysayers, the mockers, the one who will challenge us and call us crazy and “Christian fundamentalists.” We’ve all heard it before right? “Every generation thinks there is the one where Jesus will come back,” “People have been setting dates for years,” etc.

The Bible teaches us clearly what the attitude of Christians will be toward the end of the age. Again, Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 1 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…”

Are we not heading down this path? Anyone who sees what is going on in the world knows clearly that we are. And in terms of persecution, Jesus guarantees that those who stand up for their faith will be persecuted. Jesus says in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…’

Jesus also mentioned the signs that would immediately precede the time of the tribulation. He said in Matthew 24:6-8, 6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars . See that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs.”

The question is then, when will the rapture take place? Will it take place before or after the beginning of these birth pangs?

As many of my readers have e-mailed me recently, I am becoming aware that more and more people are starting to read the handwriting on the wall. Things have really ratcheted up over the last couple of years. I have always been someone to read the news headlines. I think and see in associations. When I see a list of news headlines I can easily see lines of connection running throughout them, and lines of connection that connect with other stories in the previous months or years. I also see the lines of connections from these stories and the many prophesies in the Bible that relate to the end times and the things that must be in place before the end times scenario can occur.

I can tell you, never in my life have I seen so many pieces of the prophetic puzzle coming together all at once. I remember the time when it would literally take months before I would see a news story that was relevant to Bible prophecy. And now I can’t hardly keep up!

Think about it. Look at what has occurred in human history just over the last hundred years. Knowledge has increased exponentially, the world is moving at an ever more rapid pace toward regionalization and globalization, American for the first time ever is moving toward Socialism, we are on the verge of having our entire financial system collapse, the decline of the U.S. has already begun, the world is clamoring and calling for One World Government, Israel is becoming more and more isolated, especially now under the Obama administration-which has shown itself to not be an ally for Israel. Iran is allying with Russia, and everyone believes that Iran and Israel will go to war soon.

Everything is moving toward the final goal that God has for mankind-the second coming of Jesus Christ! These are indeed exciting times.

Preparation 101
Now before we get into the basics of preparation, let me just say, the very first thing you have to do is determine what you are preparing to survive and how each disaster threatens you and your safety. That will give you the parameters necessary for the following steps.

This initial exercise isn’t hard as it only takes a few minutes of thought. I suggest you jot down some notes or switch into your word processor while you work.

But first, it’s important to realize that you cannot prepare for everything. There are a lot of preparedness resources out there with lists as long as the eye can see for things you should buy, get, etc. It’s important when you first start off to only prepare for those things that you think you will personally potentially face, and prepare ahead for things you could be facing within the next 5 years.

As yourself this question: What do you think it likely to happen in my town, around my area, etc. within the next five years? You will have to do your best on this one. I suggest spend some time in prayer over it. But you will need to extrapolate, evaluate trends, read the newspaper, and conduct your own research. At the very least, take a few minutes and consider your location. Pull out a map and look what’s within a 2-mile, 5-mile 10-mile and 25-mile radius of your home and place of work. Put on your pessimist hat and consider what might go wrong that could directly impact you and decide if that’s something you want to prepare for.

For example, if you live a “safe” distance outside of a flood plain, your house might still gets flooded in the 100-year flood, so should you prepare for it? I, but it’s your call. That nuclear plant 20 miles away has an excellent safety record. Should a nuclear disaster be on your list? Again, you make the call. Are you worried about a meteorite crashing into your house? Well, it has happened, but it’s probably not worth preparing for.

Finally, if you’ve been afraid of something since you were a child — whether it’s a raging fire or nuclear war–prepare for it. At the very least, you’ll sleep better at nights knowing you have done all you can.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1.) What natural disasters or extreme conditions, taking into account the times we are living in, taking into account all that is going on in the world, my country, my state, my city, my neighborhood, am I (we) likely to face in the next five years?

Make a list and rank them in order of most to least likely to impact you. You can review my list of possible natural disasters below if you need to.

If you are quite optimistic and you are not too concerned with the economy, your list might look like this:

1.) Heavy Thunder Storms
2.) Severe Winter Weather
3.) Nearby Flash Flooding

If you are like me, the top 3 on my list are:

1.) Collapse Of The Dollar
2.) Civil Unrest
3.) Martial Law

Obviously there is a big difference between the two lists, and how you prepare will be contingent on the kinds of things you put on your list.

2.) What other disasters or emergency situations might I face?

Add to your list the man-made or other disasters that you might face in the next five years (again, you can refer to our list, if necessary). Let’s say you have added these categories:

1.) Toxic Material Emission/Spill (From A Train Derailment)
2.) Riot Or Other Civil Disorder
3.) Nuclear Plant Problems
4.) Terrorism

3.) What are the ramifications of each item on my list?

Now, take your list and create a second column. Put the ramifications of each disaster in the second column. What do we mean by ramification? How the disaster or emergency situation could affect you. Think this one through very carefully, as everyone’s situation is different. For example, families with children have different concerns than those without children or single people.

Once you are done with that, finally, note if the ramifications could require evacuation (which is what we will cover in the next article, i.e. “Bugging Out”).

To keep using our example, results in a table might look like this:

Potential Disaster	Ramifications
Collapse of the dollar	Food shortages Gas shortages Massive unemployment Possible civil unrest Possible Martial Law
Thunder storm with electrical outage for 2 (average) to 48 hours (severe)	Food spoilage possible Lack of air conditioning/furnace Damage to house or car from nearby trees Possible local flooding (see below) Local transportation impaired by fallen trees, wires Lightning damage/fire potential
Severe winter weather	Electrical outage for 4 (average) to 72 hours (severe) would affect furnace operation Exposure problems Frozen pipes Disruption of travel, transportation Self or family members possibly stranded away from home Possible food shortages and empty shelves at local markets
Nearby flash flooding	Local transportation disrupted Danger while traveling in car or by foot Possible loss of some utilities
Nearby train derailment	Possible leak or spill of chemicals Short-term exposure problem Long-term cancer concerns Evacuation may be necessary
Riot or other civil disorder	Disruption of commute (ala Los Angeles) Stranded in car or office while family is at home and/or school Danger of riot spreading to my neighborhood Danger of local kids/low lives taking advantage of situation Attack or threat to personal safety Looting and rampaging by otherwise lawful citizens Fire with potentially no response by authorities Police are overwhelmed, cannot protect law-abiding citizens
Nuclear plant problems	Reactor vessel damage could result in release of radioactive chemicals to atmosphere Evacuation necessary
Terrorism	Threat to safety at work and during business travel Disruption of commerce, travel Less personal freedom, privacy as a result of government reaction to terrorism

Once you’ve created a chart like the one above, you know what situations you are most likely to face and can prepare your survival plan. For the next steps, go on to Part 2 (Will be published soon).

How to Put Together the Ultimate Survival Kit

There are so many debates when it comes to the perfect survival kit. In my opinion, the items you choose to be in a survival kit can be very different based on the situation you see yourself in (maritime vs. desert survival) as well as your level of skill. For that reason there are a number of factors that determine what items you ultimately put in it. For this article, I will explain to you how I organize my kit, the elements that make it up, and hopefully provide some inspiration for your own. As always, I’d love to hear your opinions, so feel free to comment!

My entire kit is based off of three tiers - one that I carry with me, one that I keep in my car (and sometimes on me), and one that is in my home ready to go in a moments notice if I had to bug out. Here is the three-tiered survival kit:

The Three-Tiered Survival Kit

First Tier
This ‘kit’ includes those items that you have with you at all times. This is your fallback kit. If you were stranded somewhere with nothing else except for what you have on you, than this is what you’d be left with. They should be with you at work, while you’re running errands, church, basically everywhere possible. Obviously when you’re showering you can make an exception, just have it close by to grab on your way to wherever you’re going. The following gear (which I call the Essential 3) is recommended for your first tier:

Folding Knife: If you’ve ever been in a survival situation (planned or not) you know how essential a knife is. This I consider to be your most important survival tool. Purchase a good quality folding knife. My knife of choice is the Doug Ritter RSK MK1 - good quality, good price, and thoroughly field-tested (by me) for my needs.

Fire Starter: This comes in second in order of importance for first-tier gear. For all you smokers out there thinking, “I’m all set, I’ve got my Bic” you might want to reconsider. A Bic Lighter is ok, but the fuel can run out quickly (especially if you’re not skilled at fire making) and they are a bear to start when they get wet. Instead of a fuel-based fire starter or worse (matches) I would recommend a “firesteel.” I recommend the ones from FireSteel.com or any of the Swedish FireSteel versions. These ’strike-style’ fire starters are far superior to fuel based ones because they last forever and produce a hotter heat output compared to a Bic and an added benefit is I’ve never had issues taking them on a plane. The only downside is if you have no fire-making skills you’ll need to practice with it a bit. In the meantime you can carry with you a simple tinder made by mixing a little Vaseline into a cotton ball which will easily light with this fire starter.

Cordage: Cordage is a fundamental part of survival. It’s used for bowstrings, lashings, fishing line, snares, trap triggers, nets, tying down shelters and more. While making cordage from natural materials is always an option, and is not too difficult to learn, it’s always a good idea to have some with you at all times. I would recommend at least 10 feet of good strong cord - my favorite being 550 Paracord. I carry around 10 feet of it on my wrist at all times in the form of a bracelet I made. The benefit of Paracord is that not only is it strong (it has a 550 lb rating - hence the name), but it is made up of a strong outer sheath and seven inner strands that can be used for multiple purposes. Just carrying 10 feet of Paracord is like carrying 80 feet of cordage!

While I would at the least recommend the Essential 3, there are a few other items you may want to consider carrying as part of your EDC (Every Day Carry) Gear or first Tier. Here are some other items I’ll have on me:

Coin Sized Compass: These are those small, coin-sized compasses you see in many mini survival kits. Try to get one of the liquid-filled ones since it doesn’t have to be completely horizontal to work.

Pinch Light: These little ‘pinch lights’ are perfect in a pinch (pun intended). They provide enough light for travel, for night time camp activities (building a fire, setting up camp), and the LED versions last forever.

Lock picks: We live in an unpredictable world. Since I’m all about preparedness, there may come a time when you are held captive by terrorists, kidnapped for ransom (visit Mexico), or your simply locked out of your house. Lock picks - and knowing how to use them - are a great addition to any EDC list.

Hand-Cuff Keys: It’s not unknown for kidnappers and terrorists to use handcuffs to hold you captive. Since many cuffs use a universal key, carry a spare in a location on your person that is accessible with handcuffs on.

Personal Protection Device: This could be a concealed carry pistol, mace, tactical flashlight etc. Just be sure you have the proper license if required.

The key to the first-tier kit is to incorporate it as much as possible with what you wear. While the above items could probably all fit on a keychain, key chains sometimes get lost. If your knife has a clip, clip it to the top of your pants. Wear a cordage bracelet, or use strong cordage as lacing for your footwear. Attach a small fire starter to your belt. Find creative ways to ‘wear’ your first tier gear. That way it will always be available.

Second Tier
The second-tier survival kit includes items that you can fit in a small carry bag (like a fanny pack) or if you’re in the military or field, this would be what you attach to your H-Harness. If it’s in a pack, have it somewhere close by like in your car or in some cases feel free to carry it with you (in a purse or “man purse”). And for insurance purposes, duplicate and upgrade the items you have in the first tier. Here’s a list of what I have:

Fixed Knife: In other words, non-folding. You’ll want a heavy duty, full-tanged knife that can take a beating and hold an edge. My favorite is the Bark River Bravo-1. If you want more details into what makes up a good knife checkout my article on how to choose a survival knife.

Full-Size Compass: Even if you already have a small one in your first tier, then this should be upgraded to a full-size compass for ease of reading an azimuth. I prefer a lensatic compass due to the accuracy I can get in the reading.

Water Container: Any collapsible, light, and easily carried container will do.

Fire starter: Again, for insurance purposes you’ll want to duplicate what is in the first tier. I just include another fire steel that is a bit bigger than the one I carry on me. I also have a film canister filled with cotton balls mixed with Vaseline.

Water Purification Kit: In a small kit like this, iodine crystals are a perfect fit. They come in a small bottle (you’ll want to buy the Polar Pure brand) and it can purify up to 500 gallons!.

Flashlight: The ‘tactical’ flashlights out there are an excellent choice. Check out the SureFire brand. You won’t be dissatisfied.

First-Aid Kit: This would be smaller than what you carry in your third-tier survival kit, but should include at least tweezers, a hemostatic agent (like QuickClot dressings), antihistamine, aspirin, antiseptic wipes, bandages, butterfly closures, moleskin, tape, and gauze.

Simple Shelter: This could be a shelter half, bivy, tarp etc. This simple shelter should fit in your small kit and is mostly used to protect against the elements. I have a simple bivy and space blanket combo - both small and extremely light.

Cordage: Again, I would recommend 550 paracord. Try to have around 50 feet.

Energy Bars: Any high-calorie, nutrient dense bar will do.

Signal Mirror: While any mirror will do, it’s best to buy the signal mirrors that have the hole in the center to accurately aim the reflected light.

Lock Picks & Cuff Key: I have a more extensive kit in this tier.

Multi-Tool: My Leatherman Wave has been a lifesaver for many tasks out on the road. This tool is so handy, it fluctuates between the first tier and second tier.

Third Tier
Your third-tier survival kit is equivalent to what others commonly refer to as a go-bag, bug-out bag (BOB), or 72-hour kit. This kit should include all those items that could fit into a good-sized backpack that will sustain you for at least 72-hours. It should be easily accessible and ready to go at a moments notice. I keep mine at my house. The most important thing is that you pack your bag for scenarios that you may encounter. Individuals living in the city will have many needs different than those in the boonies, so be sure to prioritize around your needs.

I also like to separate my bug-out bag into multiple tiers - each tier enclosed within its own bag - with the most important items being on top. This allows for easy access at night when visibility is low. They are based on the following priorities (in order of importance):

1. Personal Safety: This tier is in two separate bags: one is for personal security items and the second is for first aid. The first-aid kit is a bit beefier than what is in the second tier above.

2. Shelter: Personal shelter and sleeping bag. I keep these on the outside of the pack. I love the Henessy Hammock. It’s lightweight and super comfortable. If you are with a family and personal hammocks aren’t an option, you’ll want to consider a tent. .

3. Water: My pack has an integrated water bladder that I combine with the Katadyn Hiker Pro Water Microfilter. I also include another bottle of Polar Pure (duplicated from the second tier kit).

Since I live in an area where water abounds, finding water to filter is less of a worry. If you live in a more arid environment you may want to consider packing as much as you can carry.

4. Fire: This tier includes the same items listed above, as well as an efficient camp stove and fuel.

5. Food: I have some canned goods, but mostly freeze dried foods and MREs. Have enough for three days.

Besides what’s listed in the priorities above, I also include several tools and miscellaneous items such as an entrenching tool, 100-ft length of paracord, fish hooks and line, headlamp, small hatchet, playing cards, and something to read.

Conclusion
In summary, while the list above is what I use, it may not be suitable for you. It’s important that you organize and supply your kits with items specific to your environment, needs, and skill level.

The best advice I can give you is to put your three tiers together and put them to use. Practice using the various items in darkness and light, different types of weather and different seasons. Take your go-pack on a hike with you to see if you can even carry it for an extensive time period. Drop those things that aren’t working for you and add others you think you’ll need.

With time you’ll find a kit that is highly customized to you (and your families) needs. Best of luck!

www.tacticalintelligence.net

The Top 20 Emergency Supplies You Need to Survive Any Disaster

It’s important to have the right emergency supplies in your home before disaster hits.Nowadays, no continent on Earth is safe from catastrophe, and the same can be said for most U.S. states.

In 2004, over 300,000 people lost their lives in South Asia from the most devastating tsunami on record. A year later, here in America, New Orleans was all but destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Just a few months ago, Southern California was devastated by the worst wild fires in our nation’s history. On top of that, over a million people had to be evacuated, which was the largest evacuation of U.S. citizens since the Civil War.

Then a severe ice storm shut down power across the Midwest, leaving over a million people without heat and electricity for a number of days. A few lost their lives.

Our planet is clearly going through perilous changes. The fact that the polar ice caps are melting, and the fact that the weather is getting more severe all around the globe - well, it looks like disasters are going to become more commonplace - and kill a lot more people.

Many believe this is in fact the beginning of God’s judgments, which are said to occur in the ‘last days’, and catch much of the world by surprise. Whatever your beliefs are, it looks like it’s going to get a lot worse for the people of planet Earth.

If your area is hit by a major disaster, there’s a good chance that you won’t have any access to emergency supplies, and what stores do stock essential supplies are likely to be quickly sold or even taken by looters, as tens of thousands of people in nearby communities literally break down the doors of stores to get their hands on food and supplies.

Here is a list of the top 20 items SurviveAnyDisaster.com believes it is absolutely important that you have on hand. Not only should you have these on hand, but explain to your family members where they can find these items in your house (should something happen to you).

You Need:

1) Large Supply of Bottled Water, and the knowledge to procure water from contaminated sources. Two of the most common methods for procuring drinking water from contaminated sources are called “distilling” (which involves boiling water and collecting the steam in a “run-off” that then drips clean water into a separate container); the other method is called “filtering”, which involves pouring water through a manufactured or home-made “filter” system, in an effort to remove contaminates.

Before disaster hits, do some research online, and learn “how to distill water” and “how to filter contaminated water”. Then practice these methods at home with your family.

When shopping for bottled water, look specifically for “Food grade” water storage containers. These range in size from 1 gallon to 5 gallon jugs, to 55 gallon barrels and 250 gallon and 500 gallon mega-size containers (see link labeled “Water Storage Containers” at the top of the page).

2) Non-perishable Food - This refers to any food that does not need refrigeration and is packaged, canned, or bottled in a way to provide a long shelf life. Be sure to check expiration dates (see link labeled “Food Supplies” at the top of the page).

3) Candles / Wooden Matches / Lighters - (Candles, such as Sterno’s 60 Hour Emergency Candle) are specifically made to burn for longer amounts of time than traditional decorative candles. Like bottled water, it’s good to have a large supply of emergency candles, wooden matches, and lighters. A few weeks down the road, candles are likely to become your only light source, especially if firewood runs low and those wind-up emergency flashlights stop working.

4) Light weight Axe - Firewood is the most obvious source to provide heat during cold temperatures, and as long as you have a good axe, you can turn just about anything into firewood. Even if you don’t have a fireplace, you can still build a makeshift fireplace or wood stove in your backyard out of rocks and mud (usable once the mud dries). You can also use a patio fire pit, as commonly sold at home improvement stores, such as Lowes and Home Depot. (If you build an outdoor fireplace, remove the grill from the oven in the kitchen of your house, and use it for outside cooking, in conjunction with your firepit.)

Choose an axe that is both heavy duty, and light weight, because you may end up carrying it in a backpack over long distances, and the less it weighs, the better.

5) Propane for Cooking - There is something even more useful than firewood (in the early weeks of disaster), and that is propane.

Propane is the most obvious fuel source to keep on your property, and most people who own a bar-b-cue usually have one multi gallon propane tank tucked underneath or to the side. In preparing your home for disaster, if you have the money to spend, consider buying and filling five to ten of these. Or better yet, just as RV owners do, you can buy propane tanks that are extra large in capacity, and hold a lot more propane than typical 13 gallon bar-b-cue tanks.

Propane is a great survival tool in emergencies because it can be used for both cooking and heating (but I suggest it only be used for cooking, and that you get your heat from other sources, such as warm clothing and warm blankets; this way you use as little propane as possible, making it last longer).

Be sure to store any propane in your garage, or in a shed, or outside under a tarp - don’t store it in your home, as it can have a slow leak and poison the air.

Rather than use propane to fuel a full size bar-b-cue, I suggest you buy a much smaller compact propane stove, as commonly used for camping, as the right stove will be much more efficient, and use the least amount of propane.

6) Propane Camp Stove - As propane is the most common fuel used in outdoor bar-b-cues, a smaller two burner camp stove is best, for emergency purposes. When selecting a camp stove, choose one that can handle repeat long term use.

Warning about Lawlessness - In the event of a catastrophe, looters may be out scavenging for propane tanks, so keep yours well hidden, as much as possible. If you’re doing any outside cooking, keep in mind that the smell of your food can drift for a far distance, catching the attention of scavengers, who (in the wake up lawlessness) may be willing to kill or seriously injure you, to take any and all water, food, and other supplies you have on your property.

7) First Aid Kit - Make sure you have a well stocked first aid kit, which are commonly sold at drugstores and back country stores. With your kit, be sure to include a generous supply of Ibuprofen (pain reliever and fever reducer), and antiseptic spray for burns, stings, and cuts. Rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are also recommended by some, for washing out wounds, in preporation for bandaging. Anti-diarrhea medication is also recommended, as there is a chance you may eat contaminated food or drink contaminated water at some point, and suffer from it.

Radio and batteries - A small emergency radio is good to have around; if news is still broadcasting you can pick up reports to find out how the rest of the nation is faring during this time of devastation. A radio is only as good as the amount of batteries you have to power it, so keep a generous supply. Nowadays, there are emergency radios for under $50 that do not need batteries, but have a wind up dial that you crank, to generate power for up to 30 minutes or more. It might be smart to have both, this way if the wind up dial ever breaks, you still have a back up radio with batteries.

9) Flashlight / Lantern - it’s good to have 2 - 3 flashlights on hand, that are heavy duty and can withstand moisture and being dropped. Headlamps are even better, as you can wear them around your head, which frees up your hands for other use.

Today there are lanterns and flashlights that don’t need batteries; like the emergency radios mentioned above, these usually generate power by a wind up dial, and some smaller flashlights you activate by “shaking” for a short period of time. As it’s not known how reliable these devices are with repeat use, I suggest that you have both battery operated flashlights / headlamps, in addition to the wind up flashlights and wind up lanterns.

10) Heavy Duty Tarp - Tarp is sold in most home improvement stores; choose a dark color that doesn’t stand out (in case you ever have to hide out in the forest), and have 3 - 5 tarps of various sizes. Tarp can be used for a number of things - from building shelters in the forest, to building shelters underground.

Rain Catch -Tarp can also be used as a “rain catch” for catching rain water, for drinking. Lay the tarp out flat, and then hoist it into the air from all four corners, so it sags in the middle; this is where water from any rain will collect.

Warm Room - Tarp can also be used to help insulate a “warm room”, which is a room that is set aside in your house where all family members can meet together at night, to conserve body heat. Just as children like to build “forts”, choose one room in your house that you can seal off at night, and build a “fort” inside.

Stuff a bath towel or blanket under the door crack to keep the cold from coming in and to keep body heat from escaping. Also, hang up towels and blankets over the window, and even seal off with tarp and duct tape to help keep warmth from escaping at night through the window pane.

Now that you have a “warm room” sealed off in your house, build a “children’s fort” inside (out of tarp and blankets) that is big enough for your family to then crawl inside and sleep in. This is almost like the “igloo” such as Eskimos build in the freezing snow of Alaska. You’ll find that your body heat from you / your group will help keep this space at a warmer temperature than the rest of the house.

11) Bowie Knife - A good knife is an essential, and is going to cost some money. When choosing a knife, look for one where the blade runs to the bottom of the handle; and make sure that the store that you’re buying it from understands that you intend to do a lot of wood carving with it, so you absolutely need a knife with a handle that won’t fall apart with repeat use. (If by chance you have to flee your home and community at some point, a good Bowie knife - also called a “Survival knife” - can be used to carve a long bow, for bow and arrow hunting like the Indians of early America. For this reason, as well as for cutting up and carving game that you’ve killed (such as deer or elk), it is very important that the handle of your knife be exceptionally durable.)

12) Hiking Boots - Like your bowie knife, expect to spend some money on hiking boots. You want a pair that are going to last you, and not fall apart if by chance you end up wearing them for two years or more straight. When selecting a boot, let the store know that you need a pair that is built to withstand heavy hiking, and that is the least likely to need any repairs on the trail. You want a boot where the bottom sole is “stitched” to the rest of the boot, instead of simply glued to it, which is how most cheaper boots come.

13) Compass - If you have to flee your community, or if you’ve simply taken to nearby forests to hunt and fish for food, a good compass and knowing how to use it is an important tool to have. Some compasses even come with a built in thermometer and signaling mirror, which can help you out in a survival situation.

14) Bear Pepper Spray - Whether it’s wild dogs that have gotten loose, or cougars or bears that have strayed down into your community - pepper spray that’s strong enough to ward off Grizzly bears - called “Bear Pepper Spray” for it’s strength - can prove to be a life saver. Consider buying 3 - 5 large bottles, or one for each member of your family. You can also use it to fend off looters (as long as they’re not pointing a gun at you).

15) Cold Weather Sleeping Bag - To make sure that you’re protected by any exceptional drop in temperature, you should consider buying a sleeping bag that can hold up with repeat use, and will keep you warm to twenty degrees below zero. Depending on where you live in America - you’ll probably want to go even colder than that.

16) Cold Weather Parka and Snow Pants - Since you might find yourself out in cold weather during the day time, as you collect firewood, help out neighbors, and hunt and fish for food, it’s important to have the right coat and pants that can withstand the elements, especially snow and slush. As an added bonus, if you have to flee your community, you can even sleep in your coat and pants, if they’re layered right and / or rated to keep you warm enough.

17) Personal Hygiene Items - In preparation for a widespread disaster, and the possible collapse of government and our entire economy, you should be aware that the next time you go shopping at a supermarket, it could be your last. If the economy falls, stores are going to fast run out of food and supplies, and without new shipments coming, there will be no more stores to buy from. Not only is your money likely to be useless, but the items that you do need are going to be in high demand, which probably means very hard to come by.

Stock up now on toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss (the last thing you want to have happen is a dental emergency, when there are no more dentists available), bar soap for bathing, shampoo, bleach, bleach wipes (very handy), and laundry detergent. If you minimize your use of these items, you can make them last many months.

18) Outdoor Clothing - If disaster strikes, there’s a good chance you won’t be reporting to work in an office downtown, but you may find yourself helping out neighbors and others in your community by building shelters and reparing houses that may have been damaged. With this in mind, be sure to have clothing that can handle being outside in the elements.

Consider stocking up on clothing that’s geared for heavy use, such as that sold by outdoor clothing stores, such as Carhart. Have an assortment of pants, sweat pants, sweatshirts, hooded sweatshirts, thermal underwear, and a few pairs of wool socks. If you can afford to buy more than the average person, don’t hesitate to do so.

When preparing for a natural disaster or large scale terrorist attack (such as a nuclear detonation in a nearby city), there’s no such thing as being over-prepared.

Buying More than You Need - Helping out other people in need - especially in an emergency, such as a widespread natural disaster - is the right thing to do. Be generous with what you have, and generous with what you know. Be prepared to teach your neighbors some of the methods you should start teaching yourself, such as how to distill water from contaminated sources, as well as how to make home-made water filters (which I link to at the top of this article) for procuring water that’s safe to drink.

While you’re taking steps toward preparing for disaster, most people aren’t, and when disaster strikes, they are simply not going to be prepared. Many are going to be without food and water and other items essential to survival.

Helping Friends, Family, and Neighbors - Please keep that in mind, and as much as possible, consider buying more than your family needs, so you can help out your neighbors (in addition to friends and family that may live nearby) when disaster finally strikes. They’re going to need food and water also.

Consider sharing this article with them, and talking about some of the basic steps every person should take in preparing their home for an extended emergency, where the electricity is down indefinitely, and there is no tap water, grocery store, or gasoline available for transportation.

19) Hiking Backpack - Things might get bad. Really bad. You and your family might have to flee the area; in fact you might have to flee the entire state.

If you still have a vehicle, and you have a full tank of gas, and there’s still a road to drive on - great, you’re in luck. Start driving and get out of dodge.

But at some point you’re going to run out of gas, and any gas station you come to is likely to be closed and out of operation.

When that happens, strap on your hiking backpack, and start walking. Have a detailed map of the state, and a detailed map of the U.S. and Canada.

No More Road? Just Follow the Railroad Tracks - If for some reason it’s not safe to travel by road, you can always travel by walking alongside railroad tracks. Make sure you have a specific map that includes railroad track routes, and then consider following one or more (make sure you have a good compass, and know how to use it before hand).

Railroad tracks criss-cross the continent (many in North-South and East-West directions), and may provide a safe passage should roads ever be un-safe to travel by.

No matter where you are in the United States, the smartest destination for fleeing the nation is to go NORTH, and into Canada, and head for the foot hills of the Canadian Rockies; you may even make it to Alaska.

In a worst case scenario, that’s why it’s important to have a full size backpack, as commonly used by hikers and the military for multi-day hikes. If in a disaster situation you ever have to flee your community - and have to leave your car behind - having a hiking backpack means you and your family can strap essential survival gear onto your backs, and make your way to safety.

When Disaster Strikes - Have you ever wondered why insurance companies call natural disasters an “act of God”?

Because, quite a few people still go to church, and recognize that “acts of God” have been occurring more and more frequently in the world. Around the world, the weather has gotten worse, and natural disasters have gotten bigger and killed more people. (Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans, a modern day Sin City, and the 2004Tsunami killed over 300,000 people in South Asia).

Most recently, the California wild fires forced the evacuation of over a million people from their Southern California communities, as thousands watched their homes and the surrounding hills go up in flames.

This winter, over a million people were left without power across the Midwest states, as much of the nation suffered a deep freeze and a large amount of snowfall where temperatures plunged well below zero. Without electricity to power there homes, many of these people had no heat, no light, no way to cook, no hot water, and a few lost their lives.

Luckily, the power came back on a few days later.

But what if the next disaster is so widespread that the power doesn’t come back on?

This question brings us to the most important item on this top 20 list of items essential for survival -

20) Holy Bible - Believe it or not, this world is not going to last forever, and neither are you. History is littered with the remains of fallen empires, and the Bible records many of these. In the past, God has judged the world for widespread wickedness, and he did it with a flood.

The Bible reports that God is going to do this once again, in the ‘last days’, but instead of a massive flood as occurred back in the days of Noah and the Ark, the Bible shows that God is going to use other nations to bring war against the most wicked nations, and a number of natural disasters across the earth, as a series of “judgments” for not accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and following God’s commandments.

Some Community News - By Duncan Conner

Hey all,

Greetings in the name of Christ.  I wanted to write and let you all know that I will be taking some time off this week, which means that I will be taking a little time away from the web site as well.  I will still continue to post news articles every day, however I will not be posting any new articles until next week.

Just to let you know, I am working on 2 major things for the site right now.  One is the series of articles that I have been talking about for some time now on step by step, what some of the things you can be doing right now to be preparing for the days ahead.  I hope that you have already started.  If not, better late than never.  We are in a lull right now–an inflated period where the economy is flush with bailout money.  As you know it started to collapse at the beginning of the year, and then after all the stimulus worldwide, they flooded the globlal economy.  Imagine it like blowing up a baloon that has a pinhole in it.  We discovered at the beginning of the year that our baloon had a pretty serious pinhole.  The baloon was deflating and deflating fast.  So what did we do?  We took as deep a breath as we could and blew into the baloon.  We blew it up really big, then let go, and said, “Wew, not it is blown up again.”  But it still has a hole in it!!!  So not too long from now, we are going to start to see the effects of this thing again.  RIGHT NOW is the time to be preparing if you haven’t already prepared yet.  More on this later.

The other thing that I am working on is a letter that I am crafting to my family.  I sat down the other day and started writing a heartfelt letter to my family (who are mostly non believers).  I wanted to write to lay out a case for the collapse of America, what Obama is doing, and how all this possibly relates to Bible prophecy.  I had no idea I would now be on my 50th page with this letter.  I plan to publish this letter on the site as soon as I am done, just in case it may be of benefit to any of you.

I look forward to taking a little R&R time this week.  Keep looking up, take the extra time to look at some of the other many articles and preparation resources you may have missed. God bless you all and see you soon.

In Him,

Duncan Conner

How You Can Get Involved In Community Organizing – By Glenn Beck

Dear Family and Friends,
 
Hope.  For change.  For the first time since Barack Obama came to power, I actually have some.  Yes, I too, like the mindless Obama minions last fall, long for change.   In fact, most Americans didn’t know what change he was talking about.  Change was just a rallying-cry that meant whatever the listener wanted it to mean.  And in fact, he was right, most Americans DID want change…including me.  Just not THIS kind of change. 
 
But just because we’ve made the mistake, doesn’t mean we can’t admit it.  We must put the parties behind us.  I can’t say this enough, this is NOT about Obama.  This is about the system…the system I talk about in “Common Sense”…an out-of-control government.

The change we now need, and quite franky, needed when Bush was in office, is to change our course back to the one charted by our Founders.
 
That won’t be easy.  We will all have to unite, in order to accomplish that goal.  My critics keep saying, “Glenn Beck is building an army!”  Apparently completely unconcerned with the army Obama has spoken about building or the one ACORN founder Wade Radke talks about building in his new book.  The one he, himself, claims also includes AmeriCorp.
 
But I, am not building an army.  All I am is a humble, “community organizer”, organizing a radio and television community.  And I’m trying to learn how their system works.  As I mentioned, they are building an army, but what I will tell you is a big, central power structure will fail.  The only thing that will stop the gears of whatever it is they’re creating, is small, individualized groups of Americans.  That kind of grassroots effort was celebrated when Obama was doing it during his campaign, and is certainly celebrated by those who believe in what ACORN is doing.  Those same people aren’t exactly breaking out the confetti for us now though.
 
So what must we, as a “community” do?  First, we have to identify our critical stands, where we cannot fail in our efforts.  We have to draw a line in the sand over several make or break issues, in order to keep the progressives from fundamentally transforming America.
 
What are those issues?  Well, I would really like to get your input, as Constitutional “Watch Dogs”, as to what you think those things are, but let’s start with these.
 
Health care reform.  The overhaul being proposed is an absolute disaster.  Obama has taken such a hard stand over this because he knows that it could drive a stake through the heart (what’s left of it) of our current Capitalist system.  The three sell-out Republican Senators who are uniting with three Senate Democrats to find an acceptable government health care “compromise” are badly misguided, and are doing a great disservice to their country.  Maybe they’ve seen the “Princess Bride” one too many times and believe that a Capitalist system that’s just “mostly dead”, is preferable to “all-dead”.  Unfortunately, unlike the movie, our nation doesn’t have a “Miracle Max” available to resuscitate us after we’ve been tortured to death…or, to “mostly death”.  This catastrophic bill can’t pass in any form.   That’s stand number one.
 
Cap and Trade.  Yet another death blow.  This would be the kill shot to our already fragile economy.  In Obama’s own words, if his plan passes, electricity rates would “necessarily skyrocket”.  Whether that means 50%, 100% or more, who knows?  But by his own admission, it would be devastating to Americans’ budgets.  He doesn’t care.  And whether he ascribes to the Al Gore hoax that the planet is burning up, or that, as I suspect, it is just another way to gain power and remove freedoms, it doesn’t matter.  This bill must not pass.  Stand number two.
 
Card check, or any of it’s ugly step-sisters.  I told you months ago that this union-backed, card check bill was just a way to focus our attention on something we all knew was horrific, while they tried to back-door their actual agenda through…binding arbitration.  All this is part of the “Employee Free Choice Act”.  Gosh, how could anyone not be in favor of “free choice?”  Well, the problem is, we already have it, and through their “1984” type double-speak, this would actually eliminate it.  It can’t pass.  Stand number three.
 
Let me know which issues you feel are critical.
 
So, what I’m asking of you, is that you become a Constitutional Watch Dog.  My staff and I can’t be everywhere at once, and as hard as we try, we can’t catch everything.  But with the power of ten million of us being ever vigilant, I like our chances to stop them. 
 
A couple of weeks ago, our new watch dog, Bofie, arrived with her trainer.   I know, no self-respecting man would ever have a dog named “Bofie”.  But hey, no self-respecting man would break down and cry like a three year old girl over a Kleenex commercial on national TV either.  Let’s move past that.
 
Anyway, we spent two days going over commands and getting the new dog familiar with our old dog…the manly named, Victor.  At one point, the trainer put on his protective suit, and in order to see how the dogs would work together, got them all riled up and asked me to give the attack command.  Both dogs sprinted toward him and then suddenly, stopped.  I thought, what kind of crappy, yet ridiculously expensive dogs are these?  I mean, I might as well go down to the pound and pick up a pair of Chihuahuas, instead of these two sissies.  But as I was headed toward the phone book to find the nearest pound, the trainer stopped me and explained that they had reacted exactly as they’d been trained.  “They’re trained to be worthless woos-cakes”, I asked?  No, he said, their job is to get between the attacker and me, and if the attacker doesn’t move, they just make sure he stays there until help arrives.  If the person is stupid enough to move, they tear his face off, but if he stops…they stop.
 
That’s why I’ve chosen the name Watch Dogs.  I’d like for you to fiercely guard and defend the U.S. Constitution.  Whenever you see someone attacking it, get between them and it.  Bark like crazy.  Send me “twips”…tips on twitter, email me, call me on the show.  We will then amplify your bark to a national audience.
 
My family and I always felt safer when we saw our watch dog patrolling our property.  What I’ve noticed in the last two weeks is that two watch dogs, sends a much more powerful message.  Imagine how powerful that message will be with TEN MILLION.
 
Be vigilant, stay strong,
 
Glenn

www.glennbeck.com

Modern Survivalism Tenet Number Four: Taxes

“Tax is theft, the best way to combat it is to understand every legal deduction you can take or create.”

Let me be clear about two very important things before I continue in this article.

1. This is not going to be anything about how personal income tax is unconstitutional. While I actually believe it is, right now if you don’t pay it you get in a lot of trouble, you must pay all your legal tax obligations.

2. I am not a tax expert or a financial adviser. This article is more about exactly how to think about taxes then the specifics of how to reduce them.

Cutting to the chase on this let me say when it comes to income taxes you should either learn the system or hire a real good accountant to work the system for you.

The bigger issue is, why exactly is minimizing all taxation a “survivalist topic”? I know it doesn’t sound like typical survivalism, but it is a fundamental part of my 10-part modern survival philosophy for a very good reason. Survivalists are not the people living in bunkers that the media makes them out to be. Above all their primary goals revolve around self sufficiency. When you pay taxes there are two factors at play that reduce your self sufficiency and in fact increase dependency upon government.

The first one is really easy to understand. While you are working on developing a self sufficient lifestyle in today’s world you need money. Unless you plan on living on the street there is just no way around this. Hence you probably work for a living, be it as an employee or an entrepreneur matters not, you do work and in return you get money. Each dollar earned can then be leveraged to improve your self sufficiency, get rid of or avoid debt, purchase long term assets, etc. Hence, every dollar you must then pay as tax is no longer available to you. Again this factor is very easy to understand and most people snap right to it.

The second method of increased dependency is far more insidious and many fail to grasp it at least at first. When a government (federal, state, local) taxes you in any way, shape or form it isn’t just money you don’t have any more. No, at this point it becomes money that is actually used against you in the form of all those wonderful “government programs”. Your income tax is going to fund federal subsidies and your property tax to fund schools with 50% failure rates.

Of course that is only the beginning; governments seem to weave never ending webs of tax traps once the first nickel goes into the system. Taxes paid to your state are used to build roads. Of course then you have to pay a toll to drive on the roads you already paid for. Those tolls then further empower government and fund more “safety programs” like installing red light cameras which provide more money for more programs. No matter what form taxation takes it always has this double pronged attack behind it and creates even more taxes and fees.

This is why you should be looking to avoid any form of taxation by any legal means you can find. Hence, I am not only talking about good accounting practices with your income tax. I am going so far as to suggest you avoid things like “sin taxes”. For example, if you drink beer or if you smoke you are paying a lot of sin taxes every time you pop a top or light up. Many survivalists are making their own beers, wines and even growing tobacco. My thoughts on this are, why not, in fact I am a home brewer myself. These practices are perfectly legal and funnel money back to you rather than into the tax system. This approach addresses both sides of the problem all while directly increasing your self sufficiency.

Another often over looked method of perfectly legal tax avoidance is purchasing items online or used. This practice will quite often avoid state sales tax. In my home state of Texas sales tax is generally about 8% once the local and city portions are added in. This means when I go spend 300 dollars to buy an item locally I am not just spending an extra 27-dollars. I am also providing 27-dollars in funding for programs I really don’t want. Hence even if I paid the same 27-dollars for shipping and purchased the item online, I reduce my contribution to my overlords down at the state capital. Better yet I can buy the item second hand, save money, keep the funds in my local community and still avoid funding Rick Perry’s upgrades to the Texas Governor’s Mansion.

Long term believe it or not many survivalists actually will voluntarily reduce their incomes. Some directly while others will use a more creative means, like setting up a non profit to dispose of their incomes via causes they actually want to support. In other words they will support a local group that provides useful training with their surplus income rather then provide tax gifts to people on welfare.

This is one of the more difficult nuts to crack from the modern survival philosophy. The key is just starting to actually think about how many times every single day you personally empower government. Fill up your car, flip a light switch, have a cold one, buy flowers for your wife, super size a #3 at McDonald’s or make a phone call and money flows directly into the coffers of our government masters. Really think about that and you begin to understand how taxes and debt have transformed America from what was the most free nation in the world into a group of fairly well cared for slaves. Why do you think President Bush said to be patriotic and “go shopping” right after 9-11?

I for one have had enough! Every time I think about spending a dollar I ask simply, is there a way to do this with out contributing to the pension funds of our lofty government masters. Many times there isn’t, but when there is I take the opportunity to avoid empowering the very systems I oppose. Further when I do have to contribute out of necessity I make sure the purchase is part of my long term plan for total self sufficiency. My advice, ask yourself the same questions and I promise you creativity and self sufficiency will be the result.

www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

Modern Survivalism Tenet Number Three: Growing Your Own Food - By Jack Spirko

Growing your own food is for everyone not just people that want “organic” fruit and vegetables.

Every day I get into my car and do a podcast on self sufficiency during my morning commute called The Survival Podcast. Over past few months I have dedicated a great deal of time to the subjects of Agriculture and Permaculture for a very simple reason. While the “prepper” community is of course very big on food storage there is a finite limit to how much food any individual or family can store. Once your stored food runs out in a true long term emergency you had better have some level or production capacity.

In addition to the limitations of stored food the “green movement” is huge right now and new gardens are popping up in every corner of the nation. From those that simply want better quality food to those that actually think carbon footprints matter, it seems millions Americans are putting in gardens in a new “back to the land” movement. Many in the media are claiming the recession is driving people to garden, in some ways it is true but the reality is in the first year a garden is often a financial loss. In my view what is really driving the new gardening revolution is that people are actually becoming aware of the many risks to our food supply.

Consider for a moment the actual cost of starting up a garden in year one. Most people when starting up a garden will go with the “raised bed” model for many very good reasons, such as soil quality, productivity, ease of installation, etc. Additionally given that most “new gardens” are started by “new gardeners” most won’t be starting plants from seeds and will therefore have the expense of plants in addition to the expenses of construction, soil, amendments and tools. In the end putting in a few raised beds, providing the necessary soil mixture, getting plants, etc. will often set many back 300-500 dollars in initial expenses.

It certainly doesn’t have to cost this much but this is quite typical because people choose to spend the money to get into production faster with less physical effort. In the first year, if you are successful, you may very well grow 300-500 dollars worth of food but odds are breaking even is the best you will expect to do. People “feeling the effects of a recession” the way the media describes it, don’t make this type of expenditure for a possible output while still paying for necessities day to day.

The individuals putting in gardens today are not thinking solely about today’s recession, they are thinking about tomorrow’s possible depression along with probable future food shortages. They are thinking long-term and understand that while today’s cash outflow is a break even next years and subsequent years represent independence from at least some portion of the “food system”. They also realize that long term much of our global agriculture system is in real trouble and it many not be very long before capacity of production becomes heavily eclipsed by the most basic need the global population has, the need to eat every day.

So what are the biggest threats we have to our food supply today? They include…

Grain production has been maxed out and we have failed to meet global grain demands for 6 of the past 9 years.

Enough U.S. produced grain to feed a half billion people for a year will be converted to ethanol in 2009.

Many nations are now creating long term contracts with other nations to lock up the grain being produced by the few remaining large net exporters.

China, India, The U.S., The UK, Malaysia, South Africa and Japan are now all “net importers of food”. Translation a combined population of over 2.7 billion can no longer feed themselves with out foreign dependence.

Many shallow aquifers have been fully depleted and the largest fossil aquifers in the world are now being depleted. 70% of global water usage is for agriculture and we are running out of the water used for that purpose.

Companies such as Monsanto are altering food at a genetic level taking massive risks with our food supply by releasing altered genetics into the biosphere via cross pollination.

These six threats are just the beginning; we have also lost a huge portion of genetic diversity via the practice of “monoculture”, soil is losing fertility faster then it is being replenished and soil erosion is turning previously fertile land fallow. In short global population and demand for food is rising while the long term trend of increasing food production is flattening and threatening to soon go into a decline.

This is an area where many modern survivalists are finding common ground with an unlikely ally, those heavily into the eco movement. The two sides are sill miles apart on many issues, survivalists tend to be conservatives or libertarians and the eco crowd tends to be quite liberal and tends toward a socialist or statist view point on many issues. Even on the issues of gardening and permaculture there are often huge differences on why the need exists but what is agreed upon is the need itself.

Hence even some of those of the edges of both movements are finding a common bridge in understanding the need to create individually managed sustainable agriculture. In other words it doesn’t mater if it is “global warming” or “incompetent politicians” that will be the cause of a coming food shortage either way the solution is individual action. That action is a simple as beginning to produce just a portion of your own food. The potential production on even small suburban lots is shocking. One family led by a self proclaimed “agrarian revolutionary” named Jules Dervaes is currently producing about 6,000 lbs of food per year on 1/10th of an acre! While that is the extreme if perhaps 30% of suburban homes would produce even 10% of what Mr. Dervaes is producing, can you see how large the impact would be?

(This video of Mr. Dervaes’ home is quite inspiring and well worth the 10 minutes required to view it.)

Here is the real beauty in producing some of your own food via sustainable agriculture and long term permaculture techniques…

You can do it now even with containers if you are an apartment dweller

It has an immediate impact on your personal situation

It has a positive impact on your health and property value

It provides insurance against a future shortage of food (personal or global)

Entering into your second year the savings of cash is significant

It reduces your dependence upon several systems (agriculture, distribution, etc.)

In short it embodies the primary tenet of the modern survival philosophy, “Everything You Do Should Improve Your Position in Life Even If Nothing Goes Wrong”. Additionally unlike so many things that create change no waiting or government action is required. Developing some level of food production is something anyone who really wants to can just do. In fact over 10 million Americans have chosen to do so in the past two years.

In the end we should ask ourselves, “What is the real difference between a modern survivalist and a permaculturist”? The two may often be quite difference in social philosophy and politics but their end goal is creating a sustainable and independent life. I firmly believe that the only way to ensure long term survival is to create that sustainable life and it is impossible to do so without some level of personal food production capacity. The good news is getting started can be quite simple and you can slowly phase into it as you get more comfortable with the process.

I’d like to leave you with a final thought to make you think about how much opportunity we have to produce more food within the United States. Consider that what I am about to propose will requite almost no real sacrifice or effort. Simply ask yourself this question, if we were to replace just 10% of the ornamental trees planted in our cities and towns with a similar tree that produced some type of food, how much free food could we be producing right now? The next time you are in your car just observe how many trees there are planted in our cities, towns, urban and suburban areas that produce nothing edible. Start counting them and simply think of the production capacity if one in every ten were an apple, pear, pecan, walnut, etc.

In our arrogance instead we have genetically modified pear trees to not produce pears, selected pistachio trees that do not product pistachios and embraced the fruitless mulberry. Why? Because homeowners consider the fruit that falls from these trees to be “lawn litter”, only an arrogant people would consider food to be garbage while many others go without a full stomach. The danger we face if we remain apathetic and arrogant is that one day many of us could be the ones going without a full stomach.

www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

Modern Survivalism Tenet Number Two: Debt Elimination - By Jack Spirko

Debt is financial cancer! Minimize it, pay it off early and stay away from credit cards.

On the surface debt elimination may sound far and away from what people think of when they think of survivalism. The reality is the modern survival philosophy actually hinges on this tenet. Before we delve deeply into the topic though let’s just put it up against even the typical view of survivalism and ask if there is any place for debt based living in the survival community.

Think of a typical image of a “survivalist” even the stereotypical view, tough, able to live off the land, resourceful and ready to deal with any disaster. Does this sound like the guy who whips out a Visa Card when the going gets tough? Would you expect to see a person working to build a homestead and a sustainable life using a credit card “just for airline miles”? Or perhaps, would you expect someone living by the mantra of adapt, improvise and overcome to finance a lifestyle with a home equity loan?

When I speak to main stream media and they ask “what is modern survivalism” I always include debt reduction in the basic explanation and the response is generally some form or “that is another topic all together”, the reality is the two are so intrinsically bound that you can’t really discuss modern survivalism with out addressing the cancer that is eating away at America, consumer debt.

Now there is a place to properly leverage debt, very few people could afford to ever pay cash for a house, let alone a first house. Still even with the purchase of an asset like real property; debt is and has been abused for decades in the United States. Say what you want about derivatives but it is debt that allowed their creation and default upon the debt that brought them to bear on our economy like a financial atomic bomb.

Survivalism is about far more then continuing to breathe tomorrow, for the modern survivalist it is about sustainable living and above all survival of the family unit. It is a sad fact that the number one cause of divorce today is debt and even when something like infidelity is blamed it is often the stress of debt that was the root cause.

When I refer to debt as a “cancer”, many people consider that an over statement. Common responses are “oh come on isn’t that over reaching” or “how can a person live without a credit card in 2009″. So is debt really a cancer? To answer that let’s examine exactly how cancer attacks and kills many people every year.

Most cancers that kill are at first unseen, the individual appears quite healthy and strong. They go about their day to day lives as productive and happy individuals and look no different than those around them. Yet inside the cancer is reproducing at an exponential rate, growing, metastasizing and spreading throughout the body. This can go on for months or even years in many types of cancer. The person might even go to their doctor often for check ups and be told everything is just perfect. Cancer may be spreading to the pancreas and liver, setting up for a fatal blow but no symptoms are evident even to a trained professional.

Then one day the person starts to feel weakened, certain things that never caused pain now are creating discomfort. Off to the doctor they go and even now are often just given a pain killer or some other drug and told they are “just getting older” all while the cancer is eating vital biological systems from inside. In time the symptoms grow, tests are run and a diagnosis is made, often the prognosis is fatal, it is too late now to save the patient because the cancer has gone too far.

Faced with such a diagnosis patients first go into denial, then deal making (usually with god and self), then anger, then acceptance. They may still fight but they accept the reality that they will probably loose. They try to live healthy, take any and every step to prevent eventual death but sadly for many, a lifetime of chemicals, stress and ignoring initial symptoms push the body too far and the battle is lost.

Now let’s examine the effects of debt on an individual and see how it compares. Consider a man (we will call him Frank), Frank is 28 years old and got out of college about 5 years ago. He was a good student but like many got through school on student loans. For five year he has worked hard and paid minimums on his loans while climbing the corporate ladder. He also met his wife, got married and now is about to buy his first house. He buys a house with a payment of 25% of their income nicely inside the limit of 28%. Frank and his wife start a family, take vacations, use credit cards, have kids and live the “American dream”.

He keeps getting promoted so they upgrade the home (everyone is doing it). Frank is no fool he has a financial adviser who he meets with for check ups twice a year. The advisor is comfortable with his debt because he is putting money in his IRA/401K like a “smart investor”. Frank even suggests at times reducing contributions to increase his available cash and pay off debt but is advised to think “long term and stay the course”.

Everyone looking at Frank from the outside sees his success, two new cars, and great kids in all sorts of activities. One car is a huge SUV so mom can take the kids to soccer, etc. He has a beautiful house, successful career and seems to be living a perfect life. Yet inside his financial body all the debt is compounding exponentially and it is spreading too. He gets a home equity loan, pays off some credit cards because it is “smart”. After all he cuts the interest rates and the interest becomes a tax deduction. Unfortunately in time the credit card balances go right back up and end up even higher then before.

More promotions come and more debt with them, trading up cars, now leasing them (it’s what wealthy people do according to his financial adviser) so he can trade them in every 2-3 years. Everything is going just fine, minimal payments are made with ease and then the first symptom begins. His wife take a break from shopping and does a bit of math and realizes that now at the age of 45 she and her husband will be 65 by the time all their debts are paid off if and only if they stop spending now.

She goes to Frank they look at things and realize there is a problem, Frank talks about paying down some of the balance again with his advisor who as always says keep investing in tax deferred accounts for retirement and to use other funds to pay on the debt, perhaps even get another home equity loan since the house has appreciated.

Then one day the full blown problems come to a head! The economy tanks (as it does from time to time) but this time Frank gets laid off, his six figure job becomes 450 a week in unemployment. He is now looking at savings that might take him 3 months maximum with a huge house payment, huge credit card bills, funding for activities, huge car payments and no idea what to do about it.

Frank and his wife are now having marital problems, his investments are cut in half by a market crash, his bills are over due, fees and interest compound and the lifestyle they have come to love is ruined. Frank stared in denial of the problem all while it continued to destroy his life, he then tries making deals with the creditors, deals with his wife and deals with relatives to try to get out of the mess and of course deals with god in the form of prayers. His next step was likely anger, blaming everyone from the credit card companies, to the bank, to his financial advisor and even the company that laid him off.

The last step will be acceptance that his life has been torn apart; often a divorce is the result if not major damage to the marriage. The kids either deal with a broken home or massive stress from fighting parents and may have to do without many things they have come to expect. There won’t be any money for college for them, but hey at least they can get a loan. For 17 years anyone looking at Frank thought he was the picture of financial health; then almost overnight he appears to have been stricken with a financial death sentence.

Of course there was nothing “overnight” about it, the debt started at 18 when he was full of dreams and told that “an education was priceless”, now at 45 during what is suppose to be the best time of his life he is dealing with a bankruptcy and often far worse. The parallels between debt and cancer are so similar that they should honestly send a shiver up your spine. Each allows the victim to appear healthy, perhaps look in even better shape than most of those around them, grows silently and at some point becomes “terminal”.

Yet the good news is dept is 100% under your control, can be easily managed and responsibly used only for the purchase of assets of sufficient value to mitigate any real risk for both lender and borrower. Cancer can and does kill people that live very healthy and stress free lifestyles. You can reduce the risk of cancer but you can’t be 100% sure it will not strike you. With debt you can, you are the one that signs the contract, accepts the shinny credit card and uses it to buy shinny stuff.

Survivalism is about sustainability more then anything else. The survivalist evaluates threats not just to life and property but to his way of life, his liberty and to the security of his family. When honestly evaluated consumer debt or over purchasing anything with debt is like bringing a venomous snake into your home. The snake may never bite anyone, or if it does bit it may not kill but cause disfiguration, trauma and extreme pain. Hence people don’t tend to go out and capture rattlesnakes and turn them loose inside their homes.

The snake is useful, it has a purpose in controlling rodents and may even be beautiful to may people. However, it also has a place, outside in the wild not inside a home crawling around the floor with your children. In much the same way debt has a purpose, it is useful to leverage as a tool for investing in solid affordable assets. Yet just like the snake if not 100% controlled, disaster will be the result.

While debt reduction is not one of the “sexy” survival topics like home defense, alternative energy or stocking up on food it is absolutely necessary in the creation of a sustainable lifestyle. Remember tenet one - “everything you do should improve your position in life even if nothing goes wrong”. Modern survivalism is not just about planning for disasters, it is also about planning for a lifestyle that you can maintain in good times or bad. Most people in debt struggle with that during the best of times, to think that such a person can succeed when there is a disaster is foolhardy.

Finally you have to consider that while long term the survivalist saves a great deal of money compared to most Americans, initially there are expenses in setting up a sustainable life. These expenses revolve around the creation and purchase of long term assets. The survivalist seeks to accumulate assets such as surplus food, functional permanent food production, paying for a home in full as quickly as possible, additional land to act as a fall back location, etc.

The list of expenses for a survivalist to be self sufficient seems unreachable for most working Americans. Many never actually own a home let alone own second homes or land and by ‘own’ I mean paid in full. Most pantries are 2 weeks deep in food at most and even with that they can barely get by. Why? The money they earn is spent on debt and attached interest before it is earned. For many Americans their next 20-30 years of income has already been spent. Yet once free of this cancer even a modest income can, in just a few years, create very a sustainable lifestyle.

So while not something most people generally consider a survival topic eliminating, paying down and staying out of debt may be the most critical actions you can take as a modern survivalist. Once you eliminate debt you will truly understand the meaning of the word freedom. Freedom after all is the driving motivation in developing a sustainable life where you are free to choose your destiny rather than being forced to accept it.

www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners - By The Backyard Gardener

Vegetables are easy to grow and are very rewarding at harvest time. The most important requirements are sunshine and watering. Other requirements are a loosened soil, some fertilizer, and a little bit of weeding. If you have an area in your yard that gets sunshine most of the day (6-8 hours in summer) then you can have a vegetable garden. The first time you start a new garden requires the most amount of work, but don’t get discouraged, the work you do in the beginning does not have to be done again each year.

The ground that the plants will grow in needs to be loosened up so that the roots of the tender vegetable plants can grow into your soil and make strong, healthy plants. The roots are the only way the plant takes up water and nutrients so you want to make their job easy. Unfortunately, soil found in most yards has become compacted over the years and can be as hard as concrete in summer. Therefore, the best time to dig your garden is early spring when it is moist enough to dig easily but not so wet that the soil is muddy and heavy. The first step is to mark out your spot making sure there are no trees or large shrubs around it with roots that will spread into your garden. Then, remove the grass and create some type of border around the garden to keep it neat and weed free. I also recommend a short fence if you have pets, as the garden can easily be mistaken for a large litter box.

You must dig your soil to loosen the clumps and allow air in, which will allow the roots to breathe (yes, they need air also). The depth that I recommend is at least 12″. It seems like a lot when you are digging but keep in mind that your tomato plants will extend their roots approximately 2 feet down into the soil. I use a large digging fork and involve my whole family but a rototiller makes short work of it. Rakes also help in smoothing the soil out after the digging is done. You should add about 2″ of compost at this point and mix it into the soil well. Do not add too much, 10-20% of the soil should be compost, but no more than that or you will over- fertilize your garden. When it looks like a good place to lie down and take a nap then you are ready to plant. You may also need Lime or Gypsum in your garden to correct the Ph. If you live in an area with lots of rainfall, add lime every year, about 1 pound per 100 sq. feet. If you have low rainfall amounts each year, you may need to add some Gypsum to new gardens to remove some of the salt content. Check with your local garden center for the correct amount.

Before you plant, you need to do some planning to allow enough room for the plants you want to grow. Plants generally get very large and you need to allow enough space for each one, or the plant will become stressed and may not produce good fruit. When you purchase them most plants will have information on how much room they will need when fully grown. A good rule of thumb is to allow 18-24″ spacing for most plants. I recommend using a paper & pencil to draw the garden plan out. Always keep in mind that the sun will be important to all of the plants so put the tallest ones in the back so they do not shade the shorter ones.

Some plants you may wish to grow in your first garden for Summer harvest: Tomatoes, Peppers, Squash, Bush Beans, Eggplant, and Cucumbers (If you have lots of room then you should also plant Corn.)

Spring and Fall crops include: Leaf Lettuce, Broccoli, Spinach, and Peas

Plant at least 2-3 of each type of plant, depending on how many vegetables you want, but don’t worry about using all 6 plants in the 6 packs or you will have so much fruit you may never eat another cucumber again. You should water gently after planting until the soil is moist at 1″ below the surface. Water again when the soil appears dry on the top. This can happen daily in warm summers. I recommend putting newspaper strips or pine needles as mulch around the plants to protect the soil from drying out so quickly and to keep the soil cool when the temperatures go up.

Keep an eye out for signs of insect damage to the leaves, mostly holes chewed by caterpillars. If you see this then you can use an organic insecticide such as Bacillius Thuringiensis ( or BT worm killer) according to package instructions. Do not spray strong insecticides every time you see an ant. You will poison your vegetables and stress your plants out which will reduce your crop and may kill your garden. Most insects are actually supposed to be there for pollination and to eat caterpillars, so only spray when you see something that is eating a leaf and causing severe damage, and then check the labels carefully to make sure the insecticides are organic and safe for vegetables.
Weeds are a fact of life with gardening but they should be pulled, not sprayed. Again, the poison to the weeds is poison to us. If you check for weeds every 2-3 days and use a weeding tool, the work goes fast and easy. Using a mulch will keep many weeds from starting.

I highly recommend Organic fertilizers such as worm castings or Osmocote pellets which can be purchased in our Catalog. These are mixed in at planting time and last almost the whole growing season. If you wish to use a spray on fertilizer, (such as Miracle Gro), then approximately every 3-4 weeks, spray the leaves of the plants according to package instructions for vegetables. You may use any type of “complete” fertilizer that is recommended for vegetables, as they are all basically the same ingredients, but remember, more is not better, so follow the instructions carefully to keep from over fertilizing.

If you follow the above instructions, you will be successful in harvesting lots of vegetables. It really is easy and you will learn more every year. Experiment and do not get discouraged if something does not work the first time. People have been gardening for 30 years and are still learning new things every year. Good luck!

www.backyardgardener.com

Protecting Your Family Against a Future Terrorist Attack - By Perry Stone

Because our website is worldwide, I do not feel the liberty to share some information that I have personally received, until I begin to see the subject matter reported publicly. I will tell you that the hospitals in America are preparing for a possible biological attack within the United States. One of the chief executives of pharmaceuticals in Europe informed a visiting American that the swine flu was actually a man-made flu that had been spliced with a combination of swine, human and bird flu. It is possible that in the fall months this flu could mutate and cause a global pandemic. There are already over 100,000 people possibly infected in the U.S.A. Oddly, it is infecting younger people instead of older ones, which is puzzling to the CDC. Only time will tell how far and long this will spread.

The wise writer of Proverbs says that the prudent man foresees the evil and hides Himself, but the simple pass on and are punished (Proverbs 27:12). We in America have not experienced another terrorist attack since 9-11 and honestly we have become complacent and rather non-concerned. Don’t be blinded. There is an ongoing threat of terrorism in America and many families are unprepared for any form of disruption that could occur.

For example, in an alleged bulletin an Israeli named Juval Aviv, who is said to be noted for making accurate predictions related to terrorism, has waned Americans to prepare for a wave of homicide bombers that will be released in major cities and several rural areas. It is said that he pointed out, “When this happens, all cell phones will be cut off to prevent detonation of explosives from a distance.” He then asked, “What do you do when you can’t get in contact with your child at school or your spouse?” He emphasized that you must have a plan for your family in the event of another attack that experts warn will happen in time.

Often we are told to be prepared, but we are seldom told how to prepare. This special article will help you with some practical guidelines on preparation. Information on preparation is not to scare you, but to prepare you. In this article we will explore what many specialists are saying about being prepared for any future attack that might come. We have been told another attack is not a mater of if but when.

Four levels of threat:

There are basically four levels of threat:

1. A nuclear attack (or dirty bomb)

2. A chemical attack (using poisons)

3. A biological attack (plagues and man-made viruses)

4. A suicide bomber attack (with explosives)

Nuclear Attack
If a person lives within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, the American Thyroid Association recommends keeping a supply of potassium iodide on hand. The purpose of the potassium iodide is to work as an antidote to the radioactive iodine released during a nuclear disaster.

Experts say the pills should be taken within three hours of exposure. The best protection from radiation exposure is a brick or stone building. Some suggest a basement, but avoid windows. If your clothes are exposed to radiation, they should be removed and sealed in a bag. Taking an immediate shower and changing clothes can reduce contamination up to 90%.

A Chemical Attack
Saddam Hussein built an arsenal of chemical agents, including mustard gas and nerve gas, which he used on the Kurds years ago. When a chemical agent is released such as chlorine, mustard gas or a nerve agent, removing clothes and immediately showering is an important key (chemical agents enter the skin within a few minutes).

Unlike with a nuclear attack, experts suggest not to go to a basement in a chemical attack. Since many chemicals are heavier than air, the chemicals often collect in lower areas. The best protection is a windowless inner room or a second story if possible. All openings to the outside should be sealed. Putting a wet towel under the door seal and sealing the edges with duct tape will help. If you are in a bathroom, close all drains, including the bathtub and sink drains. A person should seek professional medical help as soon as possible, since chemical effects can occur immediately.

A Biological Attack
One of the biggest threats of a biological attack is one which involves anthrax, smallpox, or a rare plague such as ebola. Often there is no immediate evidence that a person has the “plague” because the period of incubation may be from several hours to several days. The federal government has been storing up antidotes to deal with many of the possible biological plagues. If you ever think you have been exposed, contact medical personnel immediately.

What Every Home Should Have
1. Every family should have a pre-planned meeting place in the event that a national attack like 9-11 should occur again. The meeting place should be near the home. Often phone lines are jammed when attempting to contact schools, so parents, if possible, should pick up their children at school as a precaution.

2. Should a family find it necessary to leave the area, they should set up an emergency evacuation route and have contact numbers to relatives living in other areas or other states. Remember, if an evacuation should occur, the lines at fuel stations will fill up fast on any evacuation route. If you are not in immediate danger, get fuel first for the journey. Remember, local phone lines are usually jammed in a national calamity but the long distance lines are likely more open. Because we live near major chemical plants and 20 miles from a nuclear power plant, I have suggested to my own staff to keep you fuel tank full most of the time, even in a normal setting.

3. There should be an evacuation kit pre-packed in your house that can be placed in the car in a moments notice. Among the contents should be any needed medications, flashlights and batteries, a first aid kit, bottled water, a change of clothes, any documents needed and of course some additional cash.

In the event of a national attack involving any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, it may be possible that individuals would be required to remain indoors in their homes or offices. An in house emergency kit should be prepared in the same manner. It should contain:

1. Ten days supply of water (rotate the water every few months to keep it fresh). The average person drinks one gallon of water per-day. The water can be stored in a cool place for several months, or bottled water can be used.

2. Ten days supply of canned or non-perishable food. Along with the food there should be proper eating utensils and a non-electric can opener. A person should assume that if the electricity goes out, they can eat the food directly out of the can or have dried food that can be eaten.

3. Duct tape and plastic sheeting. The department of Homeland Security recently advised that each home (or office) have duct tape and plastic that can be placed around the doors or windows in the event of a sudden chemical attack. Checck out their web site for more detail at www.dhs.gov.

4. Don’t forget any medications or other personal necessities you may need. If an attack is extended and the government calls for individuals to remain at home or in quarantine for several days, then have available every personal item you may need and don’t forget to have access to any medication that you may need. Basically, a person should prepare in the same manner as families who live in an area frequented by tornadoes or hurricanes.

Weeks after 9-11
Weeks after 9-11, we learned there were many testimonies of Christians from all denominations who were late getting to work at the World Trade Center. I personally spoke to individuals whose alarm clocks did not ring the morning of 9-11, making them late for work. Others missed the subway and others felt a “sixth sense” not to go into the city. The ultimate form of protection is the protective power of God and the inward leading of the Holy Spirit that reveals things to come and can help you not to be at the wrong place at the wrong time!

Jesus’ disciples never carried money or food with them on their journey. Toward the conclusion of his ministry, he told them to take a purse and “sell their garment and buy a sword” (Luke 22:36). The sword was not intended to physically assault people, as Peter attempted to do (John 10:18). The sword (of which there were two according to Luke 22:38), was intended as a weapon of protection in the event of danger.

Jesus knew he would be ascending to heaven shortly and the disciples needed to stand on their own and depend upon the coming comforter, the Holy Spirit!

Our ultimate protection is in Christ, but the proverb says it well:

“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” - Ezekiel 33:6

I have always said I would rather be prepared and nothing happen than for something to happen and not be prepared! I hope this article is a help to you and your family. Feel free to pass on the information. We all pray that we will remain safe from such terrible assaults on our nation. However, there is nothing wrong and it is not a lack of faith to be prepared in the event of a major assault from the enemy. All of my personal sources have said, “It is only a matter of time…”

http://www.voe.org/

Next Page »