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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.
Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020



Search found 9 matches for 11

jedi17

Los Angeles Kings - Tue 20 Jun 2017, 7:48 pm


Who Should Vegas Pick?; Breaking Down Casey Mittelstadt & Eeli Tolvanen
June 18, 2017, 4:20 PM ET [16 Comments]
Sheng Peng
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT


There weren't any surprises from the Kings when the NHL released Available/Protected lists today. Here's what LA is offering to expansion:

Available
Andy Andreoff (F)
Justin Auger (F)
Dustin Brown (F)
Kyle Clifford (F)
Andrew Crescenzi (F)
Nic Dowd (F)
Marian Gaborik (F)
Jarome Iginla (F)
Trevor Lewis (F)
Michael Mersch (F)
Jordan Nolan (F)
Teddy Purcell (F)
Devin Setoguchi (F)
Nick Shore (F)
Matt Greene (D)
Vincent Loverde (D)
Brayden McNabb (D)
Cameron Schilling (D)
Rob Scuderi (D)
Zach Trotman (D)
Jack Campbell (G)
Jeff Zatkoff (G)

Protected
Jeff Carter (F)
Anze Kopitar (F)
Tanner Pearson (F)
Tyler Toffoli (F)
Drew Doughty (D)
Derek Forbort (D)
Alec Martinez (D)
Jake Muzzin (D)
Jonathan Quick (G)

Also, there doesn't appear to be any Rob Blake side deals with George McPhee on the horizon:




An interesting question that a reader posed after a previous post was should the front office consider packaging their first-round pick with Dustin Brown or Marian Gaborik to induce the Golden Knights to select one or both. That's not likely to happen, but it's something to think about if you believe that the Kings can be legitimate Cup contenders next year -- obviously, it's difficult to truly upgrade a roster which missed the most recent postseason with Brown/Gaborik combining for a 10.75 million cap hit.

Most pundits have Vegas plucking Brayden McNabb from the Los Angeles roster, but Trevor Lewis or Nic Dowd should also be appealing. Lewis is a solid leader and decent Trade Deadline bait, while Dowd has legitimate offensive upside. It's worth noting that Golden Knights scout Vaclav Nedomansky has been a regular at Ontario Reign games over the last couple seasons, so Vegas will be very familiar with guys like Dowd or Michael Mersch.

***

A few days ago, Matt Greene was reported as being on the way to a buy-out. There wasn't much hoopla over the likely departure of the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup winner, partly because we went through this last year, when LA was trying to make space to retain Milan Lucic. But this time, the buy-out should be consummated, so it's worth saying goodbye and best of luck once again to the well-liked assistant captain:













Greene's buy-out will cost $833,333 each year against the cap over the next two seasons. The cap going up to $75 million next year will help!

If Lewis goes to Vegas, LA will be down to eight players who won both 2012 and 2014 Cups: Anze Kopitar, Brown, Jeff Carter, Kyle Clifford, Jordan Nolan, Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, and Jonathan Quick.

***

The USHL featured a pair of flashy forward prospects this past year who will go in the first round -- one who probably won't fall to Los Angeles, the other who I think they pass on.

There was a lot of hubbub when Casey Mittelstadt failed to complete a pull-up during the Draft Combine. I asked him about this:

HockeyBuzz: Casey, there was some talk about your bench press/pull-up results. Why wasn't that emphasized in your training before?

Casey Mittelstadt: I don't know. I guess I try to work on being a hockey player. I don't really try to work on going to do my bench press and pull-ups. I want to be a hockey player and that's what I train to be.

Reporter: Is there anything on the ice that resembles those exercises?

CM: Obviously, it's good to be stronger. It's something else I could get stronger with and work on a little bit. But I don't think being able to do a pull-up is going to make me be able to handle the puck better, be a better shooter, something like that. I don't really buy too much into that.

HB: Do you look to Sam Bennett, who also didn't have the best combine results, but was still drafted fourth by Calgary in 2014, as a possible model for your game?

CM: To be honest, no, not really. I mean, we had similar results in the bench press, but I don't know, I don't really try to model my game after one guy. I just try to be myself.


It was a poised answer from the 18-year-old and not totally inaccurate. Personally, I don't believe these Combine results are of any concern with him or indicate a poor work ethic. Strength is relatively easy to improve. So let's focus on other facets of the American's game.

Scott Wheeler of SB Nation points out that Mittelstadt owns "elite" puck protection skills -- so imagine the 6'1" centerman with more muscle:

The first thing you notice while watching Mittelstadt, besides that he’s always the best player on the ice so he’s hard to miss, are his elite puck protection skills and the plays he makes while being aggressively checked. Mittelstadt has an uncanny ability to use his size and strength to protect the puck off the cycle while still converting on tough-to-make passes to the slot.


He also knows what he's doing with the puck -- he owns a quick wrister, but prefers to be a playmaker, where "he made his teammates better in the USHL and in high school games," according to Sean Shapiro.

Shapiro also lauded the youngster's two-way potential:

Typically in the right position and uses his stick effectively to break up plays. He could be more physical in the defensive zone and there are times that he’s been caught cheating up the ice, but those are flaws that could be hammered out by coaches at the University of Minnesota next season.(Wrong Side of the Red Line)


(For more about Mittelstadt and other Draft prospects, check out Sean's excellent Wrong Side of the Red Line...and please donate!)

A scout who spoke to The Hockey News, however, isn't too fond of his skating:

"His skating is OK -- not very fluid -- but he's faster with the puck than without it."


(The Hockey News excerpt from May 29, 2017 Draft Preview issue, available now.)

However, Wheeler disagreed, "He’s also an exceptional skater and uses footwork to beat defenders wide or on cuts through the middle of the ice — he crosses over quickly and aggressively to dash across the offensive zone."

Another NHL scout who I spoke with concurred, saying of Mittelstadt, "Skates incredibly."

He also emphasized, of the USHL rookie who led the league with 1.25 Points Per Game, "This is what Mittelstadt is already doing WITHOUT good physical shape."

For Kings fans, it's nice to hope that Mittelstadt's tough Combine results will help him fall to #11 -- but it's not likely.

Eeli Tolvanen is another high-octane forward prospect, but his flaws probably won't be as overlooked as much as Mittelstadt's will be. Let's start with the good.

Tolvanen is probably second to only Owen Tippett as the Draft's purest goal scorer. Toni Rajamäki of HockeyProspect.com offered:

His wrister is tough and accurate and he's pure sniper. He's an outstanding player in the o-zone and he's a really big weapon on powerplay because of his shot...

I'd compare him to Vlad Tarasenko...


The Hockey News talked to somebody who was equally enthused:

"He's the most dynamic player I've seen in the USHL in 10 years," said one scout. "Unbelievable speed, brilliant shot. He reminds me of Marian Gaborik."


Shapiro focused on the Finn's "NHL-caliber release":

Tolvanen has the best shot in the USHL and one of the best releases in the entire draft. Whether it’s his wrist shot coming off the rush or getting setup for a slap shot on the power play, Tolvanen has a chance to score every time he touches the puck. (Wrong Side of the Red Line)


Tolvanen led the USHL with 246 shots, 41 more than the runner-up.

Anyway, Tarasenko and Gaborik are very impressive comps. So why do people seem to be down on the Tolvanen?

Rajimaki pointed out, "He's a pretty good skater but he really could be faster. We have to remember that his technique is good so there's lot of room to improve."

There's also some concern that Tolvanen's 5'10" frame won't be able to take an NHL-level pounding. Of course, he's just 18.

One NHL scout who I spoke with, however, really detailed the Finn's flaws:

He plays kind of lazy in his own zone and off the puck...

He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would change a game if the game wasn't playing to him...

He's so perimeter...


This scout actually compared Tolvanen to a latter-day Gaborik. Another comp he agreed with was Nikolay Goldobin.

He labeled Tolvanen, "Boom or bust."

On the other hand, Rajimaki countered, "He could be a major steal."

So like Michael Rasmussen, Tolvanen appears to be a polarizing prospect. Unlike Rasmussen, I think most agree that Tolvanen has clear top-six talent -- but there's a real question of want.

***

URGENT QUESTION FOR DUCK re Deagel Forecast - Thu 23 Feb 2017, 12:16 pm

Hi Duck, sure hope you have thoughts about this, thanks,


Lobo



February 22, 2017

Deagel Forecast Predicts 81% US Population Reduction By 2025 3

Black Ops • Tags: deagel, depopulation

Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Deagel-population-2025-forecast
DEAGEL.com is one of the most interesting pages on the Internet, Deagel.com’s Forecast for 2025, which is now only 8 years away.
What’s interesting about this forecast is that the Deagel website doesn’t have a dog in this fight. They are quite literally mercenary. The site analyzes which markets are going to have budgets allocated to buy military aircraft. That’s all they’re really care about.  These predictions are based on a merge of publicly-available reports from institutions such as the CIA, IMF and the UN. They also include a small amount of data coming from a variety of “shadow sources” such as Internet gurus. But all these sources are from the Internet.The list is ever-changing. The forecasts for population growth or decline, military expenditures and Purchasing Power Parity in all of the world’s countries have fluctuated somewhat, since I first ran across the list in mid-2015 but one prediction has remained a constant: China will be the largest economy on Earth in 2025.
Certain things on this list are well-known and expected. We know that China’s population growth is peaking and that it will recede slightly. India’s population growth remains unchained and it will grow by nearly 100,000,000 people in 8
years.
Other things are in flux. A year ago, Brazil’s GDP was predicted to take a distant second place to China’s in 2025 but since the coup d’état of Dilma Rousseff and the ensuing nonviolent political and economic chaos, Brazil has since slipped behind India and Russia to take the number 4 spot. I suspect that the ramifications of the currency madness in India is not yet fully reflected in Deagel’s current list and that India’s position may soon change.
Yes. The US is not predicted to be among the 5 top GDPs, not even in the top 10.
There are some extremely radical and unexpected shifts predicted, particularly within the US, UK and Australia. Last Monday, I pasted the top 60 nations, sorted by GDP into an Excel spreadsheet and did some calculations in it, to try to make some sense out of this data:
Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Deagel-population-2025-summary
Above: The top numbers are for 2025 with 2015 beneath
I gave color codes to show radical shifts in population and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). “PPP” means the estimate of what the exchange rate between two currencies would have to be in order for the exchange to be at par with the purchasing power of the two countries’ currencies. On this list, it’s pegged to the US dollar. Brick Red means devastating changes, peach and yellow, devastating but less extreme. Green indicates improvement.
By far the most radical and catastrophic occurrences are Deagel’s predicted depopulation of the US by 81% or over 260M people and a PPP decrease also of 81%, with the US economy plummeting from today’s #1 spot to #11. This is up from#13, two years ago, but today, they’re predicting that the US population will decrease to 61M, down from 68M 2 years ago (!)
Mexico’s population will basically stay the same but their PPP will decrease by 31%. Canada, while it’s predicted to have a 54% loss of PPP, it will “only” lose 27% of its current population, according to Deagel’s predictions.
These figures are harrowing but not as bad as the catastrophic changes, which are predicted to be seen in the rest of the world’s most developed economies.
Here’s a short list of the most negative data:
US:              population loss of 81% PPP loss of 81%
UK:              population loss of 70% PPP loss of 82%
Spain:          population loss of 51% PPP loss of 73%
Germany:     population loss of 50% PPP loss of 64%
Australia:      population loss of 49% PPP loss of 80%
Switzerland:  population loss of 46% PPP loss of 60%
France:         population loss of 31% PPP loss of 55%
Singapore:    population loss of 25% PPP loss of 62%
Saudi Arabia: population loss of 12% PPP loss of 65%
Only three countries within the group of the top 60 GDP will experience significant improvement, while catastrophe is reigning in the countries listed above:
Russia:          population loss of 2% ppp gain of 32%
Chile:            population gain of 3% ppp gain of 23%
Colombia:      population gain of 6% ppp gain of 22%
The countries with the top 10 highest PPP, in the following order are predicted to be Brunei, Qatar, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Norway, Finland, Chile, Taiwan and Malaysia – with only Russia’s increasing, the rest all decreasing – and in the case of Singapore, decreasing significantly.
The way the population losses and gains are distributed, it does not appear that these radical depopulations will be the result of nuclear bombs or hot wars. These look like the results of financial collapse and migration, although many are predicted will die, as well.
Brazil, whose GDP will almost triple, despite its ongoing political saga (which may soon be mirrored by that of the US) will also experience a population increase of 5%, in a country which has been experiencing a population decrease, with a current growth of .86%.  In other words, ~10M people are expected to migrate to Brazil within 8 years.
According to these statistics, the two countries with the rosiest outlook are Russia and Chile.

37 Foods to Store: Essential Foods For Any Disaster - Sun 08 May 2016, 7:20 pm

37 Foods to Store: Essential Foods For Any Disaster


Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality 143
Everyday food storage is an important topic! The more people who prep, the safer we all are, which is why we’re giving away information for free.
Looking for a magic list of grocery store survival food? Wondering what are the best canned foods for prepping? Take stock of the 37 most important shelf-stable goods to buy from the grocery store while they are still available.  Here’s the emergency preparedness information you need — a free guide:
Prepper’s list of 37 Foods To Hoard Before Crisis
This is the best of prepper food lists (survival stockpiling of shelf-stable foods):
#1: Distilled water and seltzer water.
Water isn’t a food to hoard, but you certainly can’t live without it, which is why water is #1 on the list. Distilled water is the most pure form of water. Get water now and make plans to get more water. Consider adding canned seltzer water to your pantry as well. Canned seltzer water lasts indefinitely, adds a fizzy pep to your water supply and even helps relieve constipation! Avoid seltzer if you have acid reflex.
 


  • Want to know the #1 food to hoard? Skip to #6.



#2: Canned liquids.
It’s important to stock up on canned foods with high liquid content. Two excellent (and often overlooked) examples are canned pineapple juice and vegetable juice available on the bottom shelves of your grocery store. These foods will provide nutrition and hydration simultaneously. Look also for evaporated milk, condensed milk, and canned coconut milk. Coconut milk will help you cook rice faster! Stewed tomatoes, and vegetable, beef or chicken stock can also help you cook rice without depleting your drinking water. It’s also a great excuse to stock up on canned beer, which you can use to cook!
#3: Dehydrated (powdered) milk.
Milk does a body good (or so say the commercials). Indeed milk is a versatile food well worth stockpiling if you don’t have a cow or a goat. Bob’s Red Mill dehydrated milk lasts, pictured right, up to two years, and is an excellent natural creamer for coffee. Skip the non-dairy creamers made of hydrogenated oils and use powdered milk instead.
#4: Hard cheeses encased in wax.
Waxed hard cheeses are not so easy to find, but they are available. Parmesan, swiss, sharp cheddar or Gouda encased in wax is a very “Gouda” thing to find! Wax prevents cheese from growing mold and bacteria, and it also keeps moisture in your cheese, so it can store for a very long time without refrigeration. Parmesan is a hard cheese, and in the powder form has a four month expiration date, but encased in wax it can last up to 25 years! Consider buying cheese wax and even a basic hard cheese kit to make your own delicious cheeses. Wax will keep hard cheeses moist during the aging process, and also prevent unwanted mold growth on your aging cheeses.
#5: Protein bars and protein drinks (Whey Powder or protein concentrate).
You know that Little Miss Muffet ate her curds and whey, and so should you. In cheese making, curds are the thick part of the milk that’s separated from the liquid when the milk turns sour. Whey is the watery part that’s cloudy and yellowish. Whey is highly nutritious! Bob’s Red Mill offers an all natural whey protein concentrate. Whey contains a high quality complete protein containing all of the essential amino acids required by the body for strength and muscle development. It is a great way of increasing protein intake without adding excessive carbohydrates and fat. It dissolves instantly so it ‘s great for making high protein shakes and smoothies. In survival times, mix it with dehydrated milk for an extra frothy and satisfying nutrient! So while this isn’t the first thing that will fly off the shelves in the event of a crisis, it’s one Happy Preppers
should have on their list.

#6: Canned & dehydrated meats.
What’s the #1 food to hoard? Well, the best prepper protein source is meat. Go for the jerky! If you had to stockpile just one kind of food you’d want to stockpile meat in cans. Go ahead and Tune-in to the tuna. Stack up on the Dak! Why? Because meats provide humans with around 90% of sustenance needed to survive; and 90% of plants are deadly to humans. Man must eat meat! When possible, look for grass-fed meats, like Yoder’s brand. Canned salmon, canned sardines, canned mackerel and canned tuna are rich in necessary Omega 3 oils. Stock your refrigerator with meats too. Smoked salmon, sausages and hot dogs can last a long time in your refrigerator. Store organic hot dogs and sausages, such as Applegate Farms Uncured Beef Hot Dogs, which are made from organic, grass-fed beef. Consume them first in a power failure.
#7: Coffee, tea, Ovaltine, Tang and bouillon.
Coffee for survival purposes provides the primary benefit of increased mental alertness, but as a morale boost it’s good too. Tea for survival is important too, and has been around for 5,000+ years for a reason! Water quality of our ancestors wasn’t very good, so tea helped it taste better and boiling water killed bacteria. In an emergency situation, tea can help you hydrate quickly when you can’t wait for the boiled water to cool. Caffeinated teas provide a burst of additional energy; while other teas can provide a calming and soothing effect, which you may need. Additionally, many kinds of tea have anti-cancer properties (polyphenols), and reduce the risk of blood clotting and even lowers cholesterol levels. Consider adding echinacea, peppermint and chamomile teas to help combat the common cold, naturally, too!  Tang is a prepper classic to enhance the water supply. Bouillon cubes are compressed stock. This salty essential will help you flavor soups, rices, ramen style noodles and  gravies. Even if you don’t use coffee, tea or bouillon in your regular diet, consider securing them for your Prepper’s pantry for bartering!
#8: Oils.
You can’t cook much without oil! Buy oil small containers and look for the word “virgin” which means that they are the first press and have the most nutritive value.  Olive oil is an ideal oil, but can quickly go rancid, thought it may have a shelf life up to two years. Shortening usually has trans fats, so consider coconut oil as cooking lard to  replace Crisco or other vegetable shortening, which is made of dangerous trans fats. Coconut oil is very heat stable, and because it’s low to oxidize, it means that it won’t go rancid as quickly as other oils. It can last up to two years, and it provides fast energy.
Ghee, here’s something to consider:


  • Ghee. Ghee is butter that’s been melted and simmered down until all the water has evaporated and the milk solids have settled at the bottom. It has a long shelf life.

  • Butter. Pure Creamery Butter, pictured right, comes in a can and lasts three years.

  • Organic shortening is a good alternative to hydrogenated Crisco. It lasts indefinitely.

  • Lard. Surprisingly, new studies show lard is a healthful cooking fat! It’s versatile too.

  • Other oils. If possible, look for a NON-GMO corn oil, as 86% of corn has been genetically modified. Whatever oil you buy, be sure to buy them in small containers as the minute you open, they oxidate and begin deteriorating quickly. Avoid anything made with Soybean oil as 90% of soybean products are genetically modified or cross-contaminated. Here’s how to make your own oils.



# 9: Whole wheat flour.
Wheat is a basic food product that’s chock full of fiber, protein, vitamins and even minerals, like selenium.  If you stock white flour in your daily pantry, be sure to stock wheat flour in your Prepper’s pantry because it has more nutritive value when it has the whole grain (bran, germ and endosperm). White flour has only the endosperm.
Thankfully, “There is not currently, nor has there ever been, any genetically engineered wheat on the market,” according to the
Non-GMO project, so stock up!
You may also need flour for thickening gravies, or coat and fry, such things as freshly caught fish. If you have whole wheat flour, you won’t have to stock genetically modified corn starch, which is also used for thickening.
Wheat flour because it comes wrapped in plastic, rather than a paper bag which is more susceptible to pest invasions. Ultimately, you should store whole wheat flour in your every day pantry. Your long term pantry should include whole grain wheat and you should have a grain mill.
#10: Cereals  Shredded Wheat, corn or rice.
Stockpile whatever cereals your family eats oat, corn, rice, or wheat-based. We recommend Shredded wheat! The first edition of the Boy Scout Manual in 1911 highlights the best food for Boy Scouts is Shredded Wheat, “because it has all the muscle-building material in the whole wheat grain prepared in a digestible form, supplying all the strength needed for work or play.” If refrigeration isn’t an issue, pack wheat germ, which has high levels of fiber and vitamin E to boost your immune systems. Wheat germ is the center of the seed. Packed with protein and fiber, wheat
germ also has folate, magnesium, zinc, manganese, selenium and vitamin E. It’s considered “nutrition in a crunch.” It’s not really a meal, but one you can add to your hot cereal.

#11: Potato flour.
Consider adding potato flour to your Prepper’s Pantry. Potato flour is wonderful, gluten-free addition to your Prepper’s Pantry to make breads, pancakes and waffles, and potato soups. It’s also wonderful as a thickening agent, so you can avoid GMO cornstarch. Don’t confuse it with potato starch, because potato flour is the entire potato (skin and all) dehydrated.
#12: Corn as a grain (dried).
Corn as a grain is an essential prepper food and there are many kinds of dried corn.
Popcorn is a grain that can be ground into flour! Spanish for “dough,” masa is the flour of finely ground maize, hominy or corn. It’s basically been dried, cooked, ground, soaked in lime and then dried again. It reconstitutes easily with warm water and salt to make corn tortillas. You can also use Masa harina to make the dough for empanadas, papusas and tamales. Look for organic brands, which will ensure you’re not getting a dangerous genetically modified food products. While Masa Harina is a finely ground meal, corn grits is more versatile, hearty and nutritious basic food.
Nothing satisfies like the savory experience of Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free corn grits (also called polenta). For breakfast, you will love it with milk and honey. Grits left in a pot to cool become polenta. In this way, you can serve it for dinner with butter, cheese, marinara or gravy.  You can also purchase alkali-treated corn (actually dried maize kernels) known as hominy, which is largely popular in Southern and Mexican cuisine. Popular in the South, you can also find this product out West if you look for it in cans in the Mexican food isles. Hominy is high in calcium content.

#13: Corn as a vegetable.
Corn as a vegetable is also an important pantry essential. (Corn is both a grain and a vegetable: the only difference is that as a grain it’s dried before harvesting.) Buy organic corn in cans to help ensure it’s not genetically modified as most corn is GMO. In stores, look for the “Non-GMO project verified” label to avoid buying genetically modified corn. Steer clear of GMO corn products by purchasing organic (shockingly, 86% of the world’s corn is GMO).
#14: Oats and Oatmeal.
A favorite of American pioneers, oatmeal is a food low in saturated fat, and it’s also a good source of fiber, which is especially important during survival times. You’ll need to store adequate water as making the porridge requires 4 cups of water for every one cup of oatmeal. A tip for preparing is to soak the oatmeal over night, so that it takes just 9-12 minutes to boil (instead of a half an hour). Look for John McCann’s steel cut oatmeal in a can, which are 100% whole grain and natural Irish oats. Stock up on emergency buckets of rolled oats and quick oats today, and learn more about why oats are an important part of your food storage.
Living without power, cars, electronics or running water may seem like a nightmare scenario but to pioneers it was just the way life was. Having the skills to survive without modern conveniences is not only smart in case SHTF, it’s also great for the environment. Keep in mind that the key to a successful homestead does not only lie on being able to grow your own food but on other skills as well. Learning these skills will take time, patience and perseverance, and not all of these skills are applicable to certain situations. Hopefully, though, you managed to pick up some great ideas that will inspire you and get you started! Just like our forefathers used to do,  The Lost Ways Book teaches you how you can survive in the worst-case scenario with the minimum resources available.It comes as a step-by-step guide accompanied by pictures and teaches you how to use basic ingredients to make super-food for your loved ones.

 
#15:  Bread crumbs and stuffings.
Bread crumbs are a satisfying addition to casseroles, and can also help you make salmon and crab cakes with the cans in your Prepper’s food storage. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find Bread crumbs sealed in plastic for freshness. Usually, they are boxed in waxed paper. Stuffing is a natural accompaniment to your mashed potatoes and will mix nicely with spices and dehydrated onions. Try also, bread in a can, and pumpernickel. Learn to like Pumpernickel and make it part of your everyday diet! This amazing whole grain rye bread (enjoyed by Germans and Scandinavians with cheeses, pates and meats), packs a mighty punch of fiber and has a three or four month shelf life! You can make a satisfying meal with even one slice of bread. In the beginning of a food crises situation, you will find yourself feeling full from this nutritious bread. So pack some pate and store Pumpernickel regularly. (You’ll feel regular too.)
#16: Shelf stable, ready to eat meals.
There are two kinds of shelf-stable, ready to eat meals to include: the kind you eat, and the kind you don’t. Soup is good food and can provide a hearty meal with crackers. In uncertain times, you can take comfort in having several shelf-stable, ready to eat meals on hand, which require no cooking. Go Picnic is one of them.
#17: Crackers.
While crackers have little nutritive value, they do provide a sense of normalcy to a survival situation and will be a worthy an satisfying accompaniment to soups and tuna salad, and peanut butter stashes in the Prepper’s Pantry. You may find some surprising nutritive benefits such as niacin and iron in flaky flavorful crackers. In your long term food storage you’ll need to buy some pilot crackers in a #10 can.
#18: Potato Flakes and au gratin potatoes.
If you can find a shelf-stable variety of au gratin or scalloped potatoes that don’t have hydrogenated oils, then go for it.  Left is Edward and Sons. Unfortunately, most au gratin potatoes have them (so skip Wegmann’s, Betty Crocker and Idahoan until they stop including hydrogenated oils in their manufacture). Look for au gratin potatoes at organic based food market, like Whole Foods. There are plenty of more reasons why you should make potatoes part of your long-term food storage plan.
#19: Rice.
Sure, jasmine rice is cheap food, and worth storing but you can also store a variety of rice to keep your family interested. Try basmati rice, Italian arborio rice, short grain Asian rice, wild rice, and brown rice too! Brown rice is a healthy option, but requires more cooking time, which could deplete your cooking resources. Consider instant rice for this reason alone, though it’s not as healthy as other rice options.
#20 Pastas.
Dried pasta has little to no fat or moisture content, so it resists spoilage. Among the most filling and inexpensive foods, store a variety of pastas in addition to your spaghetti and macaroni noodles including: egg noodles, gnocchi (made with potatoes), dried tortellini (filled with hard cheese), orzo (rice shaped pasta), couscous (wheat-based pasta) and the other variety of shaped Italian pasta such as lasagna, linguine, rotelle, rotini, rigatoni, orecchiette, penne, mastoccilli etc. Remember Asian pastas too! There are healthier options to the inexpensive ramen style noodles. Try soba (made from buckwheat), rice noodles, udon (wheat flour), bean curd noodles, and chow main noodles (fried noodles made of egg and wheat). Right, you can make a meal of Annie’s cheeseburger macaroni meal starter and Keystone Ground beef.
#21 Raisins, dried fruits and fruit strips.
Just a handful of raisins will provide a full serving of fruit. Raisins have protein, fiber, iron, and Vitamin C. Raisins are loaded with antioxidants and potassium, too. Use them in your Prepper’s pantry to enhance the flavor of rice for dinner and cereals for breakfasts. Remember, raisins are a dried fruit and not a dehydrated food. There is a difference in how you store each.  Organic raisins are the best choice so you can avoid toxic  pesticides of commercial farming. Newmans Own is an excellent choice. These raisins are packed with juicy flavor and a pleasing texture, and are available by the six pack in 15-oz cans for your prepper’s pantry and delivered to your door. Enhance your supply with dried apricots, dates, cranberries, mangos and whatever your family enjoys. Skip the fruit rollups, which are ladened with unwanted high-fructose corn syrups. Instead, look for Simply Fruit twists and high fiber dried fruit strips available in a variety of flavors, such as cherry, grape, and apricot. The more variety, the better for your family to fight boredom in diet and to get the essential nutrients they each provide
#22. Jams and jellies.
Jams and jellies are a canning favorite from blackberry jams, strawberry jams, raspberry jams, grape jellies and also apple butters, your pantry can easily have a variety of fruit spreads to sweeten life.
#23. Canned fruits.
Most people stock up on canned veggies, but really it’s the fruit they should concentrate on because fruits contain twice as much calories per pound as veggies. A fruit cocktail will give you about 300-400 calories per pound. Peaches, packed in light syrup offer a tremendous calorie boost to the survival diet. The liquids also provide a valuable source of hydration, so don’t can the juice in the cans! Look for citrus varieties, such as pineapple and mandarin oranges, to give the essential vitamin C.
Applesauce too can be a wonderful accompaniment to cereals, and can also serve as a dessert. Canned pumpkin puree will also provide a heavy dose of Vitamin A and you can make a simple soup by adding bouillon and spices, such as garlic.

 
#24 Canned veggies.
When it comes to veggies, preppers need to think beyond green beans! Unfortunately, green beans do not pack many calories. If you’re looking for the ideal veggies to stash, then think about canned root vegetables, like sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin A, plus they’re filling. Add a variety with canned sauerkraut, cabbage and beets, too. If you eat them, carrots, peas and potatoes provide the fixing for a nice stew. Canned olives, asparagus and artichoke hearts will help you make easy pasta dishes. Dried veggies, right are available online.
Skip the canned corn (it’s likely GMO).

#25: Beans and legumes.
Stock up on beans — all kinds of dried beans and canned beans, (including refried beans). The more variety of beans you store, the better as it provides energy and fiber. Beans pack around 1250 calories per pound. Best of all, you can sprout beans — it as little as five days you can sprout crunchy, fresh phytonutrients for your family from dried beans, peas, and lentils. (See the sprouter, immediate right.) Peanuts aren’t really nuts (they’re beans, but stock up on those too because they add protein).
#26: Nuts, seeds and nut-butters.
While it’s true that nuts can go rancid quickly, nuts are an excellent source of energy, so stock up on them in your Prepper’s pantry (provided there are no allergies in your family)! Raw almonds, walnuts and cashews are excellent choices, pistachio’s too. Mixed roasted nuts will also provide varieties, such as hazelnuts, pecans and Brazil nuts. Nuts are obviously allergens, so avoid giving them to children under 5. Think also canned chestnuts, which are a great source of fiber and found in the Asian section of your supermarket. (They’re also an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, iron and vitamin C.) The healthiest nuts and seeds are in bags, rather than oil filled cans and jars. Think sunflower seeds and alfalfa seeds too! Yes, you already knew to stock peanut butter, but did you know that peanut butter is really a bean butter? Look for peanut butters that are simply peanuts, oil and salt (yes, the kind with oils at the top, which are the natural peanut butters). Skip the peanut butters that have sugars in them or worse yet, those with hydrogenated oils in them. Know that “trans fat free” doesn’t mean that they are free from trans fats, it could mean that there is less than. 05 grams of trans fat per serving.
#27 Honey.
Even if you don’t use honey, buy some honey, honey! Not only will honey last forever, but you’ll use honey in survival times to flavor boring oatmeals and other breakfast grains, as well as teas. Honey eases sore throats, and more importantly, if you don’t have any topical antibiotics, you can use honey as a paste to put on wounds. There are medicinal and other reasons to stock honey in your preps: here are nine reasons to stock honey, honey! When you learn how to bake breads, you’ll realize that many 329 recipes call for honey. So, honey, what are you waiting for?
#28 Iodized salt.
Look to history and you’ll find salt was an important commodity. Salt can kill bacteria! Salt contains chloride and sodium ions, and all living things need these components in small quantities. Not all salt is the same! Humans need iodized salt to avoid thyroid gland problems and goiter and to help regulate fluid balance in the body, but more importantly we need salt to preserve food. How does salt help preserve food? Salt inhibits growth of germs in a process of osmosis where the salt pushes water out of the microbial cells. Best of all, salt lasts for ever. You can salt everything from salad greens the way the Roman’s did to curing meats and preserving other kinds food. Indeed, salt is very useful to Preppers.
#29 Sugars and Molasses.
You’ll need granulated sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar. We also suggest buying sugar in the raw. Skip the beet and go for the cane, baby! Skip also the sugars that you can buy in boxes and paper bags. Buy your sugars wrapped in plastic, because this helps protect  it from insects. As a second step you can buy sugars in cans or place your own sugar purchase into mylar bags and sealed food-grade plastic buckets sealed with a gamma lid. Look also for sugar in the raw packets. One final note of caution with spices: if you regularly eat curry or other spicy foods then it’s fine to include them in your Prepper’s diet; however, you may well find yourself with a “ring of fire” otherwise. We therefore suggest you cautiously pack
#30: Spices and herbs.
Survival spices to consider might include saffron will sure make that boring old rice more tasty, and chili to add flavor to all those beans you’re storing. Buy more of the spices already in your cupboard. Some good basics include dill, red pepper, cumin, rosemary, oregano, dried mustard, and ginger in addition to the saffron and chili. Skip the strong spices curry! While it tastes wonderful, they may also attract human predators. If you’re stocking beans make sure to get pinto bean seasoning, right, to enhance the flavor of your preps.
#31: Condiments.
Your favorite condiments will go a long way towards making foods taste better in uncertain times. Buy pickle relish and small cans of mayonnaise for your tuna salad on crackers (because once you open the mayo, it will quickly go bad). If possible look for a mayo that’s not made with from deadly soybeans (90% of which are GMO). A variety of mustards can also help spice up your foods. Buy ketchup without deadly high- fructose corn syrup, and keep it in a brown paper bag and store in a dark place so that it will preserve as long as possible. Tabasco sauce, too can help add flavor to otherwise bland foods. Think also of canned gravy as a condiment! Gravies will surely add some flavoring to your potatoes and stuffing. Look for NON-GMO soy sauce for all that rice. Stock vinegars (balsamic, cider and rice whine). Think also in terms of Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce and to enhance your stews and soups and to help you make gravies. And on the sweet side, consider stocking maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts, plus cocoa powder and chocolate syrups.
#32: Chocolates.
Chocolate chips store relatively well. Remember also, baking chocolate! Not only does chocolate pack loads of antioxidants, but it’s a morale booster that could prove essential. What’s more the fiber will fill you up. Pack high quality dark chocolate, like Dove bars, in your Prepper’s Pantry. If you look closely at the ingredients, of other chocolates, like Hershey’s Kisses, you’ll find an unwanted ingredient: hydrogenated oils. Those do not belong in your chocolate, even during survival times! Besides, chocolate has been known to boost heart health.

  • Chocolate may help fight urinary tract infections. So be sure to keep chocolate
    chips to your food storage! Add chocolate chips to pancakes, muffins, breads,
    and more to delight kids and help keep the normalcy as best you can in a
    disaster situation. Read about morale boosting foods.



#33: Vitamins.
Keeping at peek vitality is crucial during episodes of stress. While multi-vitamins are a great idea, be sure to pack a Calcium with Vitamin D fortified vitamin, as this combination may help your body fight infections. Also, look for magnesium; As an essential stress supplement, magnesium prevents the damage caused by excess adrenaline. Vitamins and pills do not help a prepper pull weight, but vitamins do help the body use food. Only after eating actual food can a prepper pull more weight or work harder. So in short, the answer is not pills, but good food in plenty of variety is the key! The best option is to have the vitamins in the food. For kids, stock Calcium gummy Bears, right, to help fight infections and stay healthy.
#34: Food bars.
We already mentioned protein bars, but there are other kinds of food bars, including nut bars, pictured left and pemmican bars, pictured right. Ideal for a bug out bag, food bars are compact nutrition and should be part of your everyday food storage. Sure, some food bars are a sort of cross between chocolate candy bars and vitamins, others more of a granola, but they are often high in protein. Food bars can provide a satisfaction for a morning meal or an addition to your other rations. Look for coconut bars too! Another food bar that often goes under the radar with Prepper’s (but shouldn’t) is Pemmican, pictured right, which contains complete protein and gives energy. Free of isolates, fructose, sugar and cholesterol, Pemmican is a concentrated food bar that offers quick energy.
#35: Vodka.
You can cook with vodka, drink it or barter it. What’s more, vodka has a some medicinal value. Use vodka as a mouthwash or help numb the pain of a tooth ache. Apply vodka dabs to cold sores to dry them out, as an anesthetic for blisters, or to ease poison ivy and as a skin repellent to shoo flies and mosquitoes. Have stinky feet? Wipe the smell clean with vodka. Try vodka too for cleaning the lenses of eyeglasses. Who knew vodka would be such a versatile pantry item? It’s also on the prepper list of morale boosting foods.
#36: Dry yeast.
Unfortunately, yeast has a very short shelf life, but it’s still well worth having on hand. Dry yeast is an essential leavening agent in baking bread, and has a longer shelf life than compressed yeast, but still after several months it loses potency. It’s purpose is to convert the ferment able sugars of dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Look for Fleishmann’s Active Dry Yeast, which is the original active dry yeast, relatively stable and valued for its consistent performance since 1945. It’s one of the most essential ingredients to use in your pantry immediately following a survival situation.
#37: Baking soda and baking powder (leavening agents).
Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, which means they produce carbon dioxide to help food rise.
 

  • Baking soda: Pure sodium bicarbonate, when you combine baking soda with honey or an acidic ingredient like buttermilk or yogurt, you’ll get a chemical reaction of carbon dioxide bubbles. This causes baked goods to rise. Look for aluminum free baking soda (a good choice is Bob’s Red Mill, which is extracted in an all natural process without chemicals. Baking soda can last two years. Learn why you should store baking soda in your preps.


 

  • Baking powder: Baking powder has sodium bicarbonate as an ingredient, along with an acidifying agent (cream of tartar for example) and drying agent (such as starch). Baking powder lasts around a year and half.



Sure, we listed 37 essential food items for your
Prepper’s Pantry, but the list could easily continue on non-food related essentials. For example, extra can openers, firewood, charcoal, lighter fuel, candles, paper plates, plastic utensils and disposable cups. Finally, remember the tampons! Any real survival man will tell you that a fluffed up unused tampon is a good emergency tinder source to have around, so come on baby, light my fire!
But while we’re still on the topic of essential foods to stock, consider this: if you’re lucky enough to have a root cellar, then you can stock fresh apples, potatoes, onions and garlic to last you several months, but remember, never store them in plastic bags or in the refrigerator. They must be stored in a cool dark, and well ventilated space, and away from pests, which is not easy to do.
Finally, know that it’s okay to stock up on junk food. Did you know that Cheetos and Pringles can get a fire going? The content of much of the processed foods you buy has the perfect combination of air and fats to make fire. Who knew that your everyday food storage of junk foods would come in so handy in a disaster?
So there you have it: the 37 essential food items to stock. Now you are that much more prepared.
http://www.allselfsustained.com/37-foods-to-hoard-essential-foods-for-your-food-storage/

15 Dirty Tricks The GOP Establishment Can Use to Stop Donald Trump - Fri 18 Mar 2016, 1:43 pm

15 Dirty Tricks The GOP Establishment Can Use to Stop Donald Trump

by Doug Wead | 5:41 pm, March 13th, 2016
258




Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality TrumpU-e1456518255317Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as senior advisor to the Ron Paul presidential campaign in 2012.
Warning to the Trumpets. It ain’t over. It is just beginning.
Below are a list of tactics that Establishment Republicans may use to block the nomination of Donald Trump.  Yes, I know. If they succeed they will not win the White House but many in the establishment will make just as much money under a Democrat insider as they will with a Republican insider. So they may not care.
All they may want to do is send the message to any future “outsider” candidate, “This is our party and you need our approval to participate. If you try to do this without us we will destroy you.”
These tactics were used in 2012 to keep Libertarian insurgents from winning delegates to the Republican National Convention. The fear was that Ron Paul would be able to place his name in nomination and give a speech about capital cronyism and how big corporations use the system to corrupt free enterprise. Donald Trump can learn from our experience.
What was at stake in 2012? Money. What’s at stake now? Money.
But why will low level party stalwarts who don’t get that money play along and do the bidding of the big party leaders?
To keep their positions as State, County or Precinct Chairmen. Power. Ego. Prestige. They want that all expenses paid trip to the Republican National Convention. Booze. Free corporate gifts. A box of Godiva chocolates left on their pillow in their room each night. They know that candidates like Trump come and go but the party infrastructure, financed by companies and their lobbyists, remain forever.
Here’s what the new Trump supporters can expect. (Carefully follow the links to stories below to see the actual videos and read the details of how these things happened in 2012.)
#1) Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Romney will cooperate with each other to help block Trump outsiders at key County and State conventions. There is nothing wrong with this. Just don’t be taken by surprise. You may have most of the delegates at the local event and still lose to this combination. Make your own deals with Chairmen and other party officials before its too late.
#2) The RNC Rules Committee will likely change the rules back to a five state requirement needed to put a name in nomination at the Convention. This will make it easier to nominate Rubio, Cruz, Kasich and even Romney. Trump operatives should block this change and keep it at eight, which was originally designed to protect Romney, the expected incumbent.
#3) Make sure that you have your own people chosen as delegates to the convention. The insiders will fight you to the death over this, saying that it doesn’t matter, that you won the primary or the caucus and so the actual delegates are bound by law to vote for you anyway. (Not true.)
They will say that the governor and the senator and the old former chairman, who has been to every RNC since Eisenhower, should be able to represent their state. Be courteous  and reasonable but you also need large numbers of your own reliable Trump supporters chosen as delegates.
Keep in mind, the only rules that bind the delegates are the rules of the party and those very delegates can change those rules.
What if there is a media hyped Trump scandal and the party votes to “unbind” the delegates on the first ballot?  Then they can vote for whomever they wish.
What if Trump does not win on the first ballot and there is a second ballot? They will then vote their real choice and you will have lost all of those states you thought you had won in primaries.
#4) The place of the caucus that selects the actual delegates who go to the district or state convention may suddenly change without your knowledge. Linked by a telephone chain the insiders will meet without you. Your folks will show up at one hotel and the meeting will take place at another.
#5) The time of the meeting may suddenly change. Your people can show up and find that the building is locked and authorities will say you are too late to be allowed in to participate. This happened many times in 2012, with hundreds of screaming voters left outside.
#6) The chairman may say “Ayes have it,” even if they don’t. This happens at the precinct, county, district, state and even national level. What are you going to do about it? Sue? Meanwhile, their winning precinct delegation will go onto the State Convention as delegates representing your opponent.
You may appeal to the RNC for justice and they may support the cheaters because you don’t have enough of your own people as delegates serving on the Rules Committee.
#7) Off duty police may arrest and detain your newly elected Donald Trump GOP officers. Yep, that happened to us. Your people may be kept for hours in jail cells and those who protest may be arrested as well.
#8) Precinct, County, State leaders may charge a last minute tax. This may have happened in 2012 in Alaska. Voters who had not been tipped off reportedly could not vote without paying $10. Credit cards not accepted. This worked so well at excluding voters in Alaska that Romney operatives used it in King County, Washington. They also turned away young people who did not appear on their outdated voter registration lists.
#9) If the Caucus Chairman is replaced or does not like the outcome of the vote they may suddenly declare the process invalid. For example, they may say that the new chairman is a Trump partisan and thus it is now a Trump event and the GOP insurance for the event is invalid and thus the meeting is ended. See the video above.
#10) State Conventions will prepare ballots misspelling Trump and then later discount them in the voting for those pledged delegates.
#11) Fake ballots will be distributed listing establishment names as the official Trump delegates, confusing the voters. They may also try to split the Trump slate by nominating competing Trump delegates with real names of public figures.
#12) Counting the ballots at the various conventions will be an exhausting business with delays, postponements until the next day, seals broken on the voting boxes, and all kinds of chicanery.
#13) They may cancel the voting due to weather in a key precinct that is heavily Trump, throwing the State. Even though the weather turns out to be fine in the given precinct.
#14) At convention you may find hotel rooms cancelled.They may arrange for the bus bringing your delegates to the Rules Committee to get lost and changes to convention rules may happen in your absence.
#15) When you leave the RNC don’t think it’s over. A Ron Paul delegate was detained by TSA at the airport leaving Tampa when bullets were found in their packed luggage.
The idea is to make you so sick, so weary, so beaten down that you will never, ever, even dare challenge the establishment that runs the Republican Party again. Ever.
Here is the message. It doesn’t belong to you. As in the case of the Democratic Party, it belongs to the insiders, the rich and powerful who make money from a rigged economy that favors a few at the expense of the many. Donald Trump is too independent and too unpredictable for them.
You have been warned. Good luck.
Doug Wead first published this article on his personal blog, and it was republished here with his permission.

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/15-dirty-tricks-the-gop-establishment-can-use-to-stop-donald-trump/

20 Things You Will Need to Survive When the Economy Collapses and the Next Great Depression Begins - Sat 11 Jul 2015, 5:12 pm

20 Things You Will Need to Survive When the Economy Collapses and the Next Great Depression Begins
Today, millions of Americans say that they believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse and will soon be entering another Great Depression. But only a small percentage of those same people are prepared for that to happen. The sad truth is that the vast majority of Americans would last little more than a month on what they have stored up in their homes. Most of us are so used to running out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart for whatever we need that we never even stop to consider what would happen if suddenly we were not able to do that. Already the U.S. economy is starting to stumble about like a drunken frat boy. All it would take for the entire U.S. to resemble New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina would be for a major war, a terror attack, a deadly pandemic or a massive natural disaster to strike at just the right time and push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge. So just how would you survive if you suddenly could not rely on the huge international corporate giants to feed, clothe and supply you and your family? Do you have a plan?
Unless you already live in a cave or you are a complete and total mindless follower of the establishment media, you should be able to see very clearly that our society is more vulnerable now than it ever has been. This year there have been an unprecedented number of large earthquakes around the world and volcanoes all over the globe are awakening. You can just take a look at what has happened in Haiti and in Iceland to see how devastating a natural disaster can be. Not only that, but we have a world that is full of lunatics in positions of power, and if one of them decides to set off a nuclear, chemical or biological weapon in a major city it could paralyze an entire region. War could erupt in the Middle East at literally any moment, and if it does the price of oil will double or triple (at least) and there is the possibility that much of the entire world could be drawn into the conflict. Scientists tell us that a massive high-altitude EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast could send large portions of the United States back to the stone age in an instant. In addition, there is the constant threat that the outbreak of a major viral pandemic (such as what happened with the 1918 Spanish Flu) could kill tens of millions of people around the globe and paralyze the economies of the world.
But even without all of that, the truth is that the U.S. economy is going to collapse. So just think of what will happen if one (or more) of those things does happen on top of all the economic problems that we are having.
Are you prepared?
The following is a list of 20 things you and your family will need to survive when the economy totally collapses and the next Great Depression begins....
#1) Storable Foo
Food is going to instantly become one of the most valuable commodities in existence in the event of an economic collapse. If you do not have food you are not going to survive. Most American families could not last much longer than a month on what they have in their house right now. So what about you? If disaster struck right now, how long could you survive on what you have? The truth is that we all need to start storing up food. If you and your family run out of food, you will suddenly find yourselves competing with the hordes of hungry people who are looting the stores and roaming the streets looking for something to eat.
Of course you can grow your own food, but that is going to take time. So you need to have enough food stored up until the food that you plant has time to grow. But if you have not stored up any seeds you might as well forget it. When the economy totally collapses, the remaining seeds will disappear very quickly. So if you think that you are going to need seeds, now is the time to get them.
#2) Clean Water
Most people can survive for a number of weeks without food, but without water you will die in just a few days. So where would you get water if the water suddenly stopped flowing out of your taps? Do you have a plan? Is there an abundant supply of clean water near your home? Would you be able to boil water if you need to?
Besides storing water and figuring out how you are going to gather water if society breaks down, another thing to consider is water purification tablets. The water you are able to gather during a time of crisis may not be suitable for drinking. So you may find that water purification tablets come in very, very handy.
#3) Shelter
You can't sleep on the streets, can you? Well, some people will be able to get by living on the streets, but the vast majority of us will need some form of shelter to survive for long. So what would you do if you and your family lost your home or suddenly were forced from your home? Where would you go?
The best thing to do is to come up with several plans. Do you have relatives that you can bunk with in case of emergency? Do you own a tent and sleeping bags if you had to rough it? If one day everything hits the fan and you and your family have to "bug out" somewhere, where would that be? You need to have a plan.
#4) Warm Clothing
If you plan to survive for long in a nightmare economic situation, you are probably going to need some warm, functional clothing. If you live in a cold climate, this is going to mean storing up plenty of blankets and cold weather clothes. If you live in an area where it rains a lot, you will need to be sure to store up some rain gear. If you think you may have to survive outdoors in an emergency situation, make sure that you and your family have something warm to put on your heads. Someday after the economy has collapsed and people are scrambling to survive, a lot of folks are going to end up freezing to death. In fact, in the coldest areas it is actually possible to freeze to death in your own home. Don't let that happen to you.
#5) An Axe
Staying along the theme of staying warm, you may want to consider investing in a good axe. In the event of a major emergency, gathering firewood will be a priority. Without a good tool to cut the wood with that will be much more difficult.
#6) Lighters Or Matches
You will also want something to start a fire with. If you can start a fire, you can cook food, you can boil water and you can stay warm. So in a true emergency situation, how do you plan to start a fire? By rubbing sticks together? Now is the time to put away a supply of lighters or matches so that you will be prepared when you really need them.
In addition, you may want to consider storing up a good supply of candles. Candles come in quite handy whenever the electricity goes out, and in the event of a long-term economic nightmare we will all see why our forefathers relied on candles so much.
#7) Hiking Boots Or Comfortable Shoes
When you ask most people to list things necessary for survival, this is not the first or the second thing that comes to mind. But having hiking boots or very comfortable and functional shoes will be absolutely critical. You may very well find yourself in a situation where you and your family must walk everywhere you want to go. So how far do you think you will get in high heels? You will want footwear that you would feel comfortable walking in for hours if necessary. You will also want footwear that will last a long time, because when the economy truly collapses you may not be able to run out to the shoe store and get what you need at that point.
#8) A Flashlight And/Or Lantern
When the power goes off in your home, what is the first thing that you grab? Just think about it. A flashlight or a lantern of course. In a major emergency, a flashlight or a lantern is going to be a necessity - especially if you need to go anywhere at night.
Solar powered or "crank style" flashlights or lanterns will probably be best during a long-term emergency. If you have battery-powered units you will want to begin storing up lots and lots of batteries.
#9) A Radio
If a major crisis does hit the United States, what will you and your family want? Among other things, you will all want to know what in the world is going on. A radio can be an invaluable tool for keeping up with the news.
Once again, solar powered or "crank style" radios will probably work best for the long term. A battery-powered until would work as well - but only for as long as your batteries are able to last.
#10) Communication Equipment
When things really hit the fan you are going to want to communicate with your family and friends. You will also want to be able to contact an ambulance or law enforcement if necessary. Having an emergency cell phone is great, but it may or may not work during a time of crisis. The Internet also may or may not be available. Be sure to have a plan (whether it be high-tech or low-tech) for staying in communication with others during a major emergency.
#11) A Swiss Army Knife
If you have ever owned a Swiss Army knife you probably already know how incredibly handy they can be. It can be a very valuable and versatile tool. In a true survival situation, a Swiss Army knife can literally do dozens of different things for you. Make sure that you have at least one stored up for emergencies.
#12) Personal Hygiene Items
While these may not be absolute "essentials", the truth is that life will get very unpleasant very quickly without them. For example, what would you do without toilet paper? Just think about it. Imagine that you just finished your last roll of toilet paper and now you can't get any more. What would you do?
The truth is that soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper and other hygiene products are things that we completely take for granted in society today. So what would happen if we could not go out and buy them any longer
?
#13) A First Aid Kit And Other Medical Supplies
One a more serious note, you may not be able to access a hospital or a doctor during a major crisis. In your survival supplies, be absolutely certain that you have a good first aid kit and any other medical supplies that you think you may need.
#14) Extra Gasoline
There may come a day when gasoline is rationed or is simply not available at all. If that happens, how will you get around? Be certain to have some extra gasoline stored away just in case you find yourself really needing to get somewhere someday.
#15) A Sewing Kit
If you were not able to run out and buy new clothes for you and your family, what would you do? Well, you would want to repair the clothes that you have and make them last as long as possible. Without a good sewing kit that will be very difficult to do.
#16) Self-Defense Equipment
Whether it is pepper spray to fend off wild animals or something more "robust" to fend off wild humans, millions of Americans will one day be thankful that they have something to defend themselves with.
#17) A Compass
In the event of a major emergency, you and your family may find yourselves having to be on the move. If you are in a wilderness area, it will be very hard to tell what direction you are heading without a compass. It is always a good idea to have at least one compass stored up.
#18) A Hiking Backpack
If you and your family suddenly have to "bug out", what will you carry all of your survival supplies in? Having a good hiking backpack or "survival bag" for everyone in your family is extremely important. If something happened in the city where you live and you suddenly had to "go", what would you put your most important stuff in? How would you carry it all if you had to travel by foot? These are very important things to think about.
#19) A Community
During a long-term crisis, it is those who are willing to work together that will have the best chance of making it. Whether it is your family, your friends, a church or a local group of people that you know, make sure that you have some people that you can rely on and work together with in the event that everything hits the fan. Loners are going to have a really hard time of surviving for long.
#20) A Backup Plan
Lastly, it is always, always, always important to have a backup plan for everything.
If someone comes in and steals all the food that you have stored up, what are you going to do?
If travel is restricted and your can't get to your "bug out" location immediately do you have a Plan B?
If you have built your house into an impregnable survival fortress but circumstances force you to leave do you have an alternate plan?
The truth is that crisis situations rarely unfold just as we envision. It is important to be flexible and to be ready with backup plans when disaster strikes.
You don't want to end up like the folks in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. You don't want to have to rely on the government to take care of you if something really bad happens.
Right now the U.S. strategic grain reserve contains only enough wheat to make half a loaf of bread for each of the approximately 300 million people in the United States.
How long do you think that is going to last?
Now is the time to get ready.
Now is the time to prepare.
The United States economy is going to collapse and incredibly hard times are coming.
Will you be able to survive when it happens?
http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=219

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed - Mon 06 Jul 2015, 5:37 pm

[size=33]12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed[/size]
If you’re involved in the preparedness lifestyle, you’re probably into planning. Most likely, you research and study the excellent preparedness strategiesTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=prepping0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1496092589 put out by experts. Whether we prepare for incidents small or large, we all ponder what we’d do if something world-as-we-know-it-ending went down.
The trouble is, a lot of the plans that get made are more likely  to get you killed than to save you. And people post these plans online, then new preppers read them and think, “Wow, what a great idea.”
I really love being involved in the preparedness lifestyle. I get to meet and correspond with lots of like-minded, down-to-earth people.  We have those awesome conversations that you just can’t have with the checker at the grocery store cash register.  I get to engage in email and social media discussions too, the likes of which would never occur with my second cousin who thinks that missing a pedicure appointment is a disaster worthy of government intervention. But sometimes, I kind of cringe. Not all preparedness plans are well-thought out and practiced. In fact, there are several recurring themes that I hear or read that are not good ideas for most preppers, and I bet that many of you reading have also privately rolled eyes at one of the following strategies. (Or maybe even  publicly.)
I’m truly not trying to be mean when I share them with you here, nor am I trying to say that I’m the Queen Prepper of the Universe, who knows absolutely everything.  I’d just like you to consider the variables if one of these plans happens to be your default strategy.

Bad Strategy #1: “I’ll just hunt and live off the land.”

Oh my gosh. No, you probably won’t. You might try to hunt, but guess what? Loads of other people have this same idea.  Unless you live hundreds of miles from civilization, the population of deer and wild turkeys will be quickly decimated in an event that renders the food delivery system inoperable.
Furthermore, hunting is not as easy as simply wandering into the woods, taking aim with a rifle, and popping a wandering buck in the head. Have you ever hunted? Have you done so recently, and by recently I mean within the past year? Have you ever field dressed an animal? Can you hit a moving target? Do you know how to set up snares? Do you know how to butcher and preserve meat? Are you in good enough shape to drag a 200 pound carcass through the woods?
If you can’t say yes to every single question listed here, hunting should probably not be your go-to plan for feeding your family.

Bad Strategy #2: “I’ll go into the woods and live there.”

This is closely related to Bad Strategy #1.
But it’s worse. Living in the wilderness is not going to be a marshmallow roast. First off, there are no marshmallows out there. Just lots of predators and food that has to be killed and skinned before you can eat it.
In this strategy, people like to talk about their proximities to a national forest. “There are thousands of acres, just on the other side of my fence.”
Okay. But when is the last time you went into that forest more than a few miles on foot?  Did you spend more than a couple of nights there? Was the weather inclement? What are your local predators (not including the human variety)?  Do you have a camping kit that you can carry in on foot? Will your children and spouse be able to also carry supplies? Are you planning to build a house with some tarps and a Swiss Army knife? What will you eat and drink? Are you adept at foraging in your area? For how long can you actually survive on what you can carry?  How are your First Aid skills and what supplies will you have?  Can you handle the loneliness? And what about the other, perhaps less than moral, individuals that have the same idea? Have you ever lit a fire with wet wood?  Have you ever camped, outside of a campground area? What if it rains? In many climates, getting wet is a death sentence.

Bad Strategy #3: “I’ll bug out on foot for 73 miles through the mountains, even though I don’t regularly exercise.”

If bugging out on foot is one of your plans, I’d like to suggest you pick a clear day, put on a loaded backpack and some hiking boots, and go for a practice hike to your location.  Go ahead. I’ll wait here.
This one really bothers me. There is a large contingent of armchair preppers who have this idea. However, they don’t exercise regularly. They look back 20-30 years to their high school or military glory days, when they played football, ran track, or had a drill sergeant screaming right behind them as they ran. Just because you were once very physically fit, that doesn’t mean you are still able to hike up a mountain in bad weather with a 50 pound kit on your back.
This is a classic recipe for a heart attack, by the way. Extreme over-exertion. High-stress situation. High-sodium, easily packable food. Out-of-shape person. A few miles into the journey, particularly if it includes a steep climb, the person will experience a pounding heart, dizziness, and faintness, as the body tries to shut down to protect itself from the unaccustomed demands.  If the physical stress continues, the heart won’t be able to keep up with the demand to pump blood. Game. Over.
Embarking on an overly ambitious bug-out journey can endanger not only you, but the people making the trek with you.  What if you have a heart attack half way up the mountain?  What if you have an asthma attack? What if you injure your out-of-shape self? Who is going to help you? If the situation is bad enough that you’re bugging out, you aren’t likely to be airlifted to a hospital for medical care.  Will someone put their own safety at risk to hang out with you while you recover, thus forcing the family to divert to Bad Strategy #2?
I’m not trying to talk anyone into staying in a bad situation when bugging out ould be the wiser course of action (like in Bad Strategy #11). But if your bug out route is a long distance or over difficult terrain, you need to get out there and start training before you put the lives of everyone in your team or family at risk.

Bad Strategy #4: “I don’t need a group. I’m going to go it alone.”

Ah, the rugged loner.
This is not a winning plan for many reasons.  Being with a group, even a small one, has many benefits. As Scott, from Graywolf Survival, wrote:
[size=20]Humans started banding together to survive millions of years ago. They did this for one thing: because there’s safety in numbers. If you live by yourself, you can’t collect food, improve your fighting position, patrol the area, chop wood, filter water, and be on all sides of your property – all at once. Plus, you have to devote a large amount of your day to sleeping each night. And besides, who are you gonna bitch to about your day if you’re all alone?
…Even a small group of 12 has a HUGE advantage to defending an area and continuing on with other operations at the same time. With an adequate number of personnel, not only can you have a rotation of assignments to support 24 hour operations, you can afford people to specialize in certain tasks. This specialization increases the efficiency of the group overall (synergy) and was one of the largest reasons why we developed into a society.
[/size]

It isn’t just enough to have a team, either. You need to train with your team, tactically, with an expert if possible.  And by training, I’m not talking about going out to play paintball in the woods. Max Velocity, [url=http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=max velocity&linkcode=ur2&sprefix=max v%2cstripbooks&tag=prepping0a-20&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&linkId=3OKYCUCYKNN2QLVM]author[/url]Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=prepping0a-20&l=ur2&o=1 and founder of a combat school in West Virginia explains:
[size=20]‘Tacticool’ training is not only designed to simply make you look and feel good, but more insidiously it will give you the idea that you are tactically trained and proficient, when you are not. It is the sort of training that will give you enough to really get yourself in trouble. For example, basic marksmanship and square range training have a solid place in the training progression, but you must move beyond the static range to tactical field firing training in order to be tactically trained. You have to understand how to operate your weapons ‘out in the wild,’ and to maneuver in real environments. Often the problem with ‘tacticool’ training is that among the instructors there is not the experience or facility to move beyond the square range, and there is only so much you can do, so instructors make stuff up that may in fact be disadvantageous to your heath. At Max Velocity Tactical the tactical ranges have been designed out in the woods and utilize electronic pop-up targets, bunkers and other such training aids to bring a realistic tactical environment, This allows a certain amount of stress and battle inoculation to be brought to the students in training. And critically, this is all done in a safe and practical manner. (You can read the rest of his interview HERE)[/size]

Maybe you only have a handful of people you trust. Maybe you only want to be with other military dudes. Keep in mind that there are things that you will need in a SHTF scenario that are a bit kinder and gentler.  It’s not just about brute force and protecting the camp or retreat. It’s about food, building a future, farming, sitting down, and  even relaxing from time to time. Not every moment in a situation like that will be like a scene from an action-adventure movie.  We’ll still eat dinner, read a book, talk with others, sleep, and have relationships.

Bad Strategy #5: “I don’t need to store food, I’ll just take everyone else’s because I’m a bad-ass.”

Who can forget that episode of Doomsday Preppers that was shared all over preparedness social media and websites, in which a redneck and his team of merry marauders discussed their plans to take everything that preppers living nearby had stored away?
I wrote about Tyler Smith and his plan a couple of years ago:
[size=20]Most preppers, Smith says, are concerned with marauders taking their supplies. It’s not an unfounded fear, he says.
“We are those people,” he says. “We’ll kick your door in and take your supplies. … We are the marauders.”
We’re not in it to stockpile. We’re in it to take what you have and there’s nothing you can do to stop us,” Tyler Smith says. “We are your worst nightmare, and we are coming.”
Smith, 29, is the leader of Spartan Survival. The group has more than 80 dues-paying members. Smith founded the organization in 2005 to train and prepare others on survivalism.
[/size]

Smith (a paroled felon who incidentally went back to jail shortly after his televised waving around of firearms) might be a joke, but you can’t ignore the danger of groups with similar plans.  This yahoo had 80 people on board with him, for crying out loud. And if you happen to have such a plan, you should probably realize that those of us who are really prepared won’t stand around wringing our hands and crying when you come to attempt to relieve us of our supplies. We’ve prepared for people like you, too. The post-SHTF life expectancy of those who plan to survive using Bad Strategy #5 will probably be a short one.  You might manage to raid a few people’s retreats (particularly those using Bad Strategy #4, but if the situations is WROL (without rule of law), it’s pretty much a given that the justice which will be meted out by the intended victims will be swift and final.

Bad Strategy #6: “I have lots of weapons and tools. I’ve never used them. But I have them.”

Do you have prepper tools that are still in the box?  How often do you make it to the shooting range?  When’s the last time you actually felled a tree then chopped firewood?  When did you do it without a chainsaw?
There are loads of different examples that I could give about tools that just sit there in their boxes, awaiting their moment of glory when it all hits the fan. For the purposes of Bad Strategy #6, I’m including firearms as a tool.  Skill with an axe is not a given.  Accurate aim doesn’t stay with you if you don’t practice. Have you ever attempted to pressure can over an open fire? Even building a fire is not easy if you’ve only done it once or twice. (See Bad Strategy #9 for details.)
Not only is it vital to practice using your tools during good times, when you have back-up options available, but you need to test your tools to be sure that they operate as intended. I once purchased a water filtration system for use during off-grid situations. It was missing an essential gasket.  Without that gasket, it would be totally useless. Sure, I could have tried to MacGuyver something, but the point of buying all of this stuff is to save your MacGuyvering for things you don’t have. Because I checked out my tool before I needed it, I was able to send it back and get a replacement.

Bad Strategy #7: “I don’t store food. I store seeds.”

I really love gardening and have stored an abundance of seeds. Seeds are a very important thing to store. However, if you store them to the exclusion of food, you’re going to have a really bad time.
The problem with depending on seeds for your food supply is that Stuff Happens. Stuff like droughts. Stuff like aphids. Stuff like blossom-end rot. Stuff like the thrice-damned deer that managed to get past your fence.
Furthermore, if this is your plan, have you grown a garden recently? Have you produced food on your current property or your retreat property? Do you have a compost system? Have you developed your soil?  First year gardens almost never produce what you expect them to. Do you know how much produce your family will consume in a year? How are you at food preservation? What about off-grid food preservation?
Because of these concerns, a garden should not be a stand-alone survival plan. It is a vital part of a long-term preparedness scenario, but you must also be prepared for the potential of failure.

Bad Strategy #8: “I’ll just run a generator and continue on like nothing ever happened.”

Generators are loud, smelly, and finite.
If you want to bring attention to yourself in the midst of a down-grid scenario, the surest way to do it is to be the only house in the area with lights blazing in every window. Generators are commonly stolen, because they’re impossible to hide, rumbling away beside your house. A person following Bad Strategy #5 would be likely to think that if you have a generator with extra fuel, you might have some other awesome stuff that they’d want too.
It goes further than simply drawing attention to yourself though.  Gas, diesel, and propane generators can be dangerous. They can produce high levels of carbon monoxide very quickly, so if the plan were to enclose it to deter thieves, it could be deadly. Trying to power your entire house by backfeeding while still hooked up to local utilities could endanger the lives of neighbors or utility workers. Refilling a generator that has not completely cooled is a fire hazard. Make sure that your generator doesn’t fall into the category of Bad Strategy #6.  There’s more to it than simply flipping a switch and having  power.  You need to learn to operate and maintain the generator long before you have to rely on it.
Keep in mind, if you do opt to use a generator, that this is not a long-term solution. There’s only so much fuel that anyone can store. Eventually, it’s going to run out, and if your plan was completely dependent on being able to run a generator, what will you do then? My personal preparedness plan is to revert to a low-tech lifestylethat doesn’t require electricity.

Bad Strategy #9:  “I’ll just use my fireplace for cooking and heating.”

This is one that I learned about the hard way, myself. A few years ago, my daughter and I moved from the city to a cabin in the north woods of Ontario, Canada.  I figured that with a giant lake at our disposal, a well, our supplies, and a woodstove, we’d have all we needed to surive an extended power outage.
Unfortunately for us, born and raised in the city, lighting a fire and keeping it going was not that easy. The mere presence of a fireplace or woodstove does not warmth create. It took me an entire month of daily trial, error, and frustration to master a fire that would warm the house. I also learned that cooking on a woodstove was not as easy as sitting a pot on top of it. Dampers had to be adjusted, heat had to be increased, and the food required far more monitoring than expected. The year we spent there taught us more than we ever imagined about what we didn’t know.
If using your fireplace or woodstove is part of your survival plan, how much wood do you have? Is it seasoneed and dry? Can you acquire more? Have you actually chopped wood before? Recently?  When is the last time you prepared food using your stove or fireplace?
The good news is, you can make this strategy work, as long as you don’t go all Bad Strategy #6.  Ramp up your wood supply and begin using your fireplace or woodstove on a regular basis to work out the bugs in your plan now.

Bad Strategy #10: “I’m going to hunker down in the city and scavenge what I need.”

This is a terrible idea on so many levels it’s hard to know where to start.
First of all, when utilities are interrupted, those in large metropolitan areas are left with few options. It’s hard to dig a latrine in the concrete jungle. Remeber when New York was hit by Superstorm Sandy? People were defecating in the halls of apartment buildings to try and keep their own apartments moderately sanitary. Unfortunately, sewage built up in the pipes and spewed into apartments, filling them with deadly human waste.
Store shelves will quickly be emptied before and after disasters, leaving little to scavenge.  If you happen across the wrong place, you’re likely to be shot by a property owner defending his or her goods. If you wait too long to evacuate, roadways will be blocked, and you can end up being a refugee, with no option but camps. Cities will be populated with desperate people, some of whom were criminals before the disaster struck. Even those who were friendly neighbors before the disaster can turn on you, because desperation can turn anyone into a criminal in order to feed their families.
Highly populated areas without outdoor space will quickly become death traps in the wake of a disaster.

Bad Strategy #11: “I’ve got my supplies, and now I don’t need to think about gloom and doom.”

Some people like to stock their goods and then forget about preparedness.  They don’t like to consider the threats they might face.  But mentally preparing for disasters is a very important step. I recently made a list of prepper movies (you can find it here) and suggested that they be used to run scenarios in your head.
This very vital step can help you to do the most important thing when a disaster occurs: accept that it has actually happened. The prepper mindset is one of problem-solving and flexibility.
[size=20]It’s a unique way of looking at a situation, assessing the options, and acting that defines the prepper mindset. Think about any stressful situation that has ever happened to you.  Once you accepted the fact that it had happened you were able to set a course of action. Once you had definitive steps to take, you probably felt much calmer. You took control of the things you could, and you executed your plan.  Only by taking that first step – accepting that this mishap had indeed occurred – could you take the next two.[/size]

By refusing to consider the things that could happen, you run the risk of being unable to immediately accept it when it does happen. This sets you up for a very dangerous period of hesitation that could mean a death sentence for you and those who depend on you.

Bad Strategy #12: We’ll set up a perimeter and shoot anyone who breaches it.

With folks like the ones who intend to practice Bad Strategy #5 around, it’s no wonder that some people intend to practice Bad Strategy #12.
However, there are a few reasons that this is a bad idea.
First, instead of just protecting you, this can actually make you a target. Less than ethical people may start to wonder what you are protecting so stringently, and may work to develop a plan to overtake you. Alternatively, more ethical people may decide they don’t want a group like yours in the area and plan to forcibly evict you.  If the situation doesn’t start off like the wild west, people who adhere to this Bad Strategy will turn it into that scenario.
And finally, the real kicker: those who survive some life-changing event will be the new founders of our society.  Do you really want to live in a place where people have to shoot first and ask questions later?  How we choose to live will set the course for how we continue to live.

There’s time to adjust your plan.

There’s good news, though, if I just peed all over your favorite plan.
There’s still time to make adjustments to make your plan more workable.  You can brush up on your hunting and foraging skills. You can start an exercise plan so you don’t die when hiking.  You can test out your tools and find your weak points. You can adjust your plan to be more ethical. You may not need to chuck the plan altogether, but merely test and modify it.
The key with all things preparedness is to practice, to drill, and to make it your lifestyle. Work out the bugs now, while back-up is as close as the hardware store or grocery store.  Get yourself mentally prepared to accept the situation and change your plans on a dime if necessary.
Finally,  consider the kind of world you want to live in. If there was a giant reset, those who survive would  pave the path for a different society. By our plans and actions, we can create a different type of world. One with justice, kindness, ethics, and freedom.
Right now, our society is led by criminal corporations, sell-out politicians, and thugs, both in and out of uniform. I’d like to believe that we can do better.

Resources to help you build a better plan:

The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Through Any DisasterTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=prepping0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1496092589
Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse SurvivalTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=rscorig-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1478106697
Rapid Fire!: Tactics for High Threat, Protection and Combat OperationsTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=rscorig-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1478280514
The Organic CannerTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=prepping0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=148959924X
The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three MonthsTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=theorgpre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1495933415
Prepper’s Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means NecessaryTopics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Ir?t=prepping0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1612431151

12 Simple Things You Can Start Doing Right Now To Prepare - Thu 02 Jul 2015, 8:44 pm

[size=36]12 Simple Things You Can Start Doing Right Now To Prepare For The Coming Financial Apocalypse[/size]
Topics tagged under 11 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality Financial-Apocalypse-250x131It is becoming increasingly apparent that the U.S. economy is heading for complete and total disaster.  State and local governments across the nation are uncontrollably bleeding red ink.  The federal government has accumulated the largest debt in world history.  Every year we buy hundreds of billions of dollars more from the rest of the world than they buy from us.  That means that we are getting hundreds of billions of dollars poorer as a nation every single year.  Meanwhile, thousands of factories and millions of jobs continue to be sent overseas as American cities turn into post-industrial wastelands.  Incomes are down, unemployment remains at depressingly high levels and very few of our politicians seem to have any idea how to fix things.  Yes, things are really, really bad.  So what are some things that we can all be doing to prepare for the coming financial apocalypse?
Well, the truth is that we all need to start becoming less dependent on "the system".  If the economy does completely fall apart at some point, your employer is probably not going to take care of you.  Neither is the federal government - just look at what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  In the end, you are going to have to take care of yourself and your family.
So are you ready?
Now is the time to prepare.  If you wait until things totally fall apart it will be far too late.
The following are 12 simple things that you can start doing right now to prepare for the coming financial apocalypse....

#1 Become Less Dependent On Your Job


Many people define a job as the state of being "just over broke".  The truth is that it is incredibly difficult to become financially independent working for someone else.  Now, the truth is that most Americans would not be able to survive without a job, but what would you do if someday you suddenly lost your job during a financial apocalypse?  Now is the time to start investigating alternate sources of income and different ways to build wealth.  Today it takes the average unemployed American over 33 weeks to find a job.  You may not always be able to count on being able to get a good job, and the economy is only going to get worse over the long-term.  All of us should be operating under the assumption that any jobs we now have will someday be taken away.


#2 Get Out Of Debt


Some people disagree with this, but unless society degenerates into complete chaos or we experience Weimar Republic-type hyperinflation, the truth is that your debts are going to continue to hang over you wherever you go.  Getting out of debt can be completely and totally liberating.  It will give you much more freedom and will make you far less dependent on your job.  In fact, it looks like a lot of Americans are already moving in this direction.  It was recently announced that 8 million Americans have stopped using their credit cards over the past year.  Why not join them?  When things start really falling apart and it is incredibly difficult for anyone to get a job, the last thing you want is a huge amount of debt hanging over your head.


#3 Reduce Expenses


For decades, most Americans have been living far beyond their means.  In the future, times are going to be really tough and we are all going to have to learn to tighten our belts.  Do you and your family waste money right now?  If you can eliminate that, you can live on a smaller income and you will have more money to invest in the things that are really going to matter.


#4 Purchase Land


Real estate is still priced too high in most areas of the United States, but the truth is that you don't want to wait forever to get your hands on a piece of land.  If a "financial apocalypse" does happen, you don't want to be stuck in a big city with no place to go.  You always want to have somewhere that you can "bug out" to.  The U.S. real estate market is continuing to struggle right now, so hopefully prices will come down even more and there will be some really great deals available over the next couple of years.


#5 Learn To Grow Food


Another reason why you want to purchase some land is so that you will have somewhere to grow food if you need to.  100 years ago almost all Americans knew how to grow their own food, and most of them also knew how to raise farm animals.  Today, relatively few Americans have those skills.  A great way to begin is by starting your own "survival garden".  If you are not already doing this, then why not start this upcoming year?


#6 Find A Reliable Source Of Water


Water is going to become a very, very valuable resource in the years to come.  It will be absolutely key for you and your family to have a dependable source of clean drinking water.  If you do not have water you will not be able to survive for long.  In the event of an economic meltdown, basic services such as power and water may not be there.  So be certain that you and your family have an alternate source of water to depend upon.


#7 Explore Alternative Energy Sources


This point is similar to the one above.  Do you think that if a financial apocalypse happens that you will always be able to depend on the power company?  The truth is that there is a good reason why so many Americans have been trying to go "off the grid".  Without power, life gets really difficult very quickly.  But if you are generating your own power then you won't have to worry about that.


#8 Store Supplies


In the event of a major disaster or emergency, store shelves are going to empty really fast.  If supplies are disrupted on a permanent basis, you may have to get by on what you already have in your home.  So do you and your family have enough warm clothes, personal hygiene products and medical supplies to last for an extended period of time?  Hopefully your local stores will always be able to supply what you need, but we need to prepare as if that is not guaranteed.


#9 Protect Your Assets With Gold And Silver


The way that the Federal Reserve is abusing the U.S. dollar, it is only a matter of time before rampant inflation sets in.  Even now, the U.S. dollar has already been seriously declining and precious metals like gold and silver have been shooting into the stratosphere.  In the future, your paper money may not buy much for you at all, but if you have some gold or silver coins you can always exchange them for the things that you are going to need.


#10 Learn Self-Defense


Did you see what happened at stores from coast to coast this past Black Friday?  Americans were literally trampling one another just to get their hands on some cheap foreign-made plastic crap.  So what do you think is going to happen once these people have been without food for two or three days?  Now is the time to think about how you will defend your home and your family from crazed looters.  It is not a fun thing to think about, but unfortunately we are heading for times that will not always be pretty.


#11 Keep Yourself Fit


As Americans, we live such "cushy" lives.  But when times get hard things will not be so cushy.  In fact, the years ahead are likely to demand quite a bit of physical activity.  So keep yourself in good physical condition right now.  In the future you will be very glad that you did.


#12 Make Friends


It is really, really hard to "survive" by yourself.  Those who will thrive the most in the future are those who will have a community that they can depend on.  Americans are always at their best when they work together.  Don't be afraid to reach out to your family and friends.  In the times ahead the world will be a very cold place, and a little love and compassion will go a long way.

Iraq has a plan to overcome the financial crisis - Sun 22 Mar 2015, 4:46 pm

Neno wrote:So, the cost of the dollar is really pissing them all off, lol. Good, it is time to adjust the dinar. Gotta make them hate the dollar one way or another. You think the plan?... ;)

so it has to be from the central bank to take swift action to restore the dinar exchange and save it from degradation rate


^ From Quacks Post [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] above. ^

Yep it's all about change and the disemmination of information! Telling the people that we have no other choice but to change rate!

Iraq has a plan to overcome the financial crisis - Sun 22 Mar 2015, 12:28 pm

So, the cost of the dollar is really pissing them all off, lol. Good, it is time to adjust the dinar. Gotta make them hate the dollar one way or another. You think the plan?... ;)

so it has to be from the central bank to take swift action to restore the dinar exchange and save it from degradation rate


^ From Quacks Post [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] above. ^


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