Nebraska Preppers Network

Spring Shoot

2015-04-10T23:04:00.001-07:00

Lower Loup Muzzle Loaders has their annual spring shoot this April 24,25,26, 2015

Let's Grow Veggies!

2012-03-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

http://letsgrowveggies.com/nebraska/frost_dates/

Time to plan the garden. Check out the frost dates in your area and plant accordingly to be safe. Central Nebraska has an estimated 145 day growing season

We have moved to Wordpress

2012-02-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

We have moved to Wordpress. Please update your links and your bookmarks to the following url: www.Nebraska.PreppersNetwork.com

Early 2012 Gun Shows

2012-02-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

Preppers - A cautionary tale

2011-10-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

Are you intentionally setting your survival preparations up for failure? Are you or others in your family or group telling extended family, friends and/or strangers what you are doing to survive the next disaster or the coming apocalypse? Are you advertising to others that you are the "GTG" (go-to-guy or gal) to flock to during an emergency or SHTF event?

Operational Security: Basics for Protecting Your Survival Preparations

By Bama Bull, a reader of SurvivalCache.com

This brief article provides an overview on the topic of operational security of your survival planning and preparations before whatever SHTF or TEOWAWKI event you are prepping for occurs. If you don't take precautions ahead of time to protect and safeguard your actions, all your efforts could be vain.

What's OPSEC?

Operational security, known as OPSEC, is the process of protecting your planning and actions; safeguarding information on you, your family, or survival group; and preventing potential adversaries from discovering or learning about our preparations. It is used to preserve our plans, safeguard in progress efforts, and protect what has been accomplished. Your overall success will depend upon secrecy so that others cannot target you during a crisis event. The human animal is the most dangerous animal to confront, since he/she is a thinking predator capable of adapting.

The less information that is known about you and your efforts by others in a crisis, the safer you and yours will be, and the harder for others to target you. A good motto from World War II is "Loose lips sink ships." This well known slogan is a reference to helping safeguard information on the sailing of troop and supply convoys in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

A "The Twilight Zone" Lesson

Some of you may be familiar with the old television show "The Twilight Zone" which aired in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There is an episode called "The Shelter" (first aired Sept. 29, 1961) which gives viewers a look at how people can react in a crisis. This short 25 minute story depicts the problem of friends and neighbors knowing about your survival preparations for a disaster. In the episode, a suburban dinner party is interrupted by a government bulletin warning of an impending nuclear attack on the country. As the neighbors scramble in panic to prepare themselves, many turn against the one family that had the foresight to install a permanent bomb shelter in their basement with supplies. Since the neighborhood knows about the shelter, the situation quickly deteriorates into a "dog-eat-dog" situation. It is not until a "false alarm" announcement is made that calm is restored. However, the damage is done and a real and ugly lesson is learned about all concerned. It is well worth watching.

Doomed Before the Disaster?

Two examples of preppers who have violated basic OPSEC principles and compromised their own secrecy and exposed their preparations are the McClung family and Lisa Bedford of Phoenix, Ariz. The silver lining here is that their public disclosures serve as a good lesson and a distraction away from the rest of us.

Dennis and Danielle McClung, from the suburb of Mesa, have made their presence and preparations known not just locally, but nationally and internationally via the internet on a host of survival websites and YouTube; and by appearing on such cable channel shows as National Geographic's "Doomsday Preppers" and on TLC's "Livin' for the Apocalypse." The McClung's have opened their home and preparations, to include their elaborate aquaponic greenhouse in the yard and the store room of food and supplies, for the world to see.

Bedford is the popular survival blogger known as "The Survival Mom" with about 60,000 readers a month. While she does a great job of sharing information and her knowledge with tens of thousands of preppers, she's unfortunately exposed herself and her family to all sorts of potential dangers when the SHTF. She's disclosed her extensive stockpiles of supplies, and allowed TV cameras to show the front of her house in her cul-de-sac neighborhood and how trucks make nighttime deliveries.

Greater Phoenix is an isolated desert urban area of more than 1.5 million people, and is highly dependent on interstate trucking and the railroads to keep the flow of food, fuel and goods coming to feed and service the population. In a SHTF or TEOWAWKI event, depending upon the situation and time of the year, Phoenix and Mesa's isolation in a harsh and barren desert environment may leave hundreds of thousands trapped and forced to fight for resources. Unfortunately, crime-wise, Phoenix and Mesa are well above the national averages for all types of crimes and has a significantly large number of ethnic street gangs - many are well organized and armed.

Both the McClung and Bedford families have openly discussed their plans to "bug-in" when apocalypse event occurs. It is great they are sharing information with others, but at what peril to them? If there was ever a better "famous last quote" it would have to be Dennis McClung on camera with NatGeo saying "We try to stay under the radar as much as possible." McClung might as well paint his house orange and wire up neon "Loot Here" signs to the roof solar panels. They may get lucky and last a full week before the armed and violent hoards come a knocking at their respective doors!

What Can You Do?

Look at your daily activities from an adversaries' point of view and determine how you can alter your behavior and actions. Here are basis suggestions:

· Safeguard what others might learn about you and your family.

· Develop and apply countermeasures, which are ways of preventing others from obtaining your information.

· Determine who you can trust and confide in with your information - be very selective.

· Develop a cover story that is plausible that deflects from your preparations and satisfies curiosity.

· Measures You Can Practice:

· Make sure that your family and inner-circle knows what OPSEC is and that information needs to be safeguarded.

· Routinely reinforce the importance OPSEC.

· Be aware of your surroundings, who is watching you, and what you say in public, in emails, on social media sites, and on cell phones and hard phone lines.

· Keep a "need-to-know" mindset - only inform people with a need to know your business.

· Shred any documents with personal and financial information, and receipts of your purchases.

· Don't stack up boxes or throw out wrappers and packing for your survival gear and supplies in your curbside trash. Dispose of this trash at dumpster away from your area.

· Use a different "ship to" address for deliveries, such as your work or a P.O. box, instead of your residence.

· Limit What You Say About:

· Where you live (your specific street location or neighborhood) and your family members.

· The location of your "bug-in" or "bug-out" sites.

· Where you keep your "bug-out" or "get-home" bags.

· The location of any prepositioned caches.

· Your bug-out routes and methods (avoid potential ambushes).

· Any issues concerning your security systems or protective measures.

· The extent of your preparations and your weapons, equipment and stockpiles.

· The physical health of you and family/survival members, and any disabilities each may have.

This is no intended to be an all encompassing article on OPSEC, but serves as an initial primer to provide some of the basics. There is much more you can learn and put into practice. The important take-away is that you need to take precautions so you and your survival group doesn't become a target if the worst happens. For more information or to discuss this topic with others, visit the Survival Cache Forums.

About the author: Bama Bull is an Army veteran and lives in southeastern Alabama. His interest in survival preparedness are based on the threats associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, coronal mass ejections, pandemic diseases, and financial collapse. The views of the author do not necessary reflect the opinions of Survival Cache and Forge Solutions.

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Prepper Movement - "People are getting it"

2011-10-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

Why Are Millions Of Preppers Preparing Feverishly For The End Of The World As We Know It?

The American Dream
October 26, 2011

In America today, there are millions of “preppers” that are working feverishly to get prepared for what they fear is going to happen to America. There is a very good chance that some of your neighbors or co-workers may be preppers. You may even have noticed that some of your relatives and friends have been storing up food and have been trying to convince you that we are on the verge of “the end of the world as we know it”. A lot of preppers like to keep their preparations quiet, but everyone agrees that the prepper movement is growing. Some estimate that there are four million preppers in the United States today. Others claim that there are a lot more than that. In any event, there are certainly a lot of preppers out there. So exactly what are all these preppers so busy preparing for?

Well, the truth is that the motivation for prepping is different for each person. Some preppers believe that a complete collapse of the economy is coming. Others saw what happened to so many during Hurricane Katrina are are determined not to let that happen to them. Some preppers just want to become more independent and self-sufficient. There are yet others that are deeply concerned about “end of the world as we know it” scenarios such as terrorists using weapons of mass destruction, killer pandemics, alien invasions, World War III or EMP attacks.

But whatever the motivation is, the prepper movement is clearly growing. Today, millions of Americans are converting spare rooms into storage pantries, learning how to grow survival gardens and stocking up on everything from gas masks to auxiliary generators.

Recently, the Salina Journal gathered together about two dozen preppers. What they found is that there is a tremendous amount of diversity among preppers, but that they also clearly share a common passion….

It was a diverse bunch. All different shapes, sizes, ages, gender and political persuasions.

Some were ex-military. Some never served. Some were unemployed, some had jobs. A few were retired.

But they all shared a common bond: They call themselves Preppers, and they had gathered to share ideas, demonstrate various skills, enjoy each other’s company and to put faces to the online names they use to disguise their identity.

Never before in U.S. history have we seen anything like this. We are at peace and most of us still have a relatively high standard of living and yet millions of Americans feel called to start preparing for the worst.

A lot of preppers don’t like to publicize the fact that they are prepping. As the Salina Journal discovered, a lot of preppers try very hard to keep their prepping to themselves…..

They are trying to keep their passion for prepping hidden from neighbors and, in some cases, employers who they said would frown on their association with such a group. Two admitted their appearance here would probably get them fired if their companies found out.

Many people believe that it takes a lot of money and resources to be a prepper, but that is not necessarily the case.

For some, the best way to get prepared is to radically simplify things.

For example, a recent article posted on Yahoo Finance profiled a man that lives in his RV and that survives on about $11,000 a year….

I had an apartment in Burbank and was the typical Los Angeles apartment dweller. I started to feel a strong desire to simplify my life. I had a garage full of stuff I never used, my closets were full, and I started to see that it was costing me money to have an apartment big enough to hold all the stuff I never use.

My initial plan was to scale back and move into a smaller apartment. Before long, I realized I didn’t need too much to be happy. I could fit into a small space. That’s when the RV idea occurred to me. I was just sitting in traffic and an RV pulled up. I said, “I could probably fit in that thing.” The more I looked into it, the more I realized how practical it would be. For what I was paying for rent in LA, I could own my “house” free and clear and not pay rent, and own my car as well.

Other people make the most of what they already have. It is absolutely amazing what some families are able to do with limited resources.

For example, there is one family that is actually producing 6000 pounds of produce a year on just 1/10th of an acre right in the middle of Pasadena, California.

This family grows more food than they need and they sell the excess to restaurants in the surrounding area. You can see video of their amazing gardenright here.

Other Americans take prepping to the other extreme. For example, Steven Huff is building a 72,000 square foot “home” (some call it a fortress) in Missouri. Huff is the chairman of Wisconsin-based TF Concrete Forming Systems, and he wants to show off what his firm is capable of. Huff claims that this will be “a home that uses very low energy, as well as having strong resistance to tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, flood and insect damage”.

In reality, what Huff is building kind of resembles a castle. You can see pictures of this remarkable “home” right here.

But Huff is not the only one taking things to extremes.

In a recent article, I detailed how renowned Texas investor Kyle Bass appears to be very well prepared for the horrible economic collapse that he believes is coming. The following is how one reporter described his recent visit to the 40,000 square foot “fortress” owned by Bass….

“We hopped into his Hummer, decorated with bumper stickers (God Bless Our Troops, Especially Our Snipers) and customized to maximize the amount of fun its owner could have in it: for instance, he could press a button and, James Bond–like, coat the road behind him in giant tacks. We roared out into the Texas hill country, where, with the fortune he’d made off the subprime crisis, Kyle Bass had purchased what amounted to a fort: a forty-thousand-square-foot ranch house on thousands of acres in the middle of nowhere, with its own water supply, and an arsenal of automatic weapons and sniper rifles and small explosives to equip a battalion.”

Do you think that Bass is taking things too far?

Well, there are other big names that are busy preparing for the worst as well.

For instance, Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series of books is now a full-fledged prepper.

He says that he is “prepared for the worst” and that he and his wife “have food, we have water, we have guns, gold and silver, and cash”.

So should the rest of us be preparing?

Of course we should be. Our nation is drowning in debt, the U.S. economy is dying, the number of earthquakes and other natural disasters is increasing, and the entire globe is becoming an extremely unstable place. If you read my articles on a regular basis, then you know that there are a whole host of reasons to try to become more independent and self-sufficient.

So what can we all do to get prepared?

Well, in a previous article I listed a few things that can be done by most people….

#1 Become Less Dependent On Your Job

#2 Get Out Of Debt

#3 Reduce Expenses

#4 Purchase Land

#5 Learn To Grow Food

#6 Find A Reliable Source Of Water

#7 Explore Alternative Energy Sources

#8 Store Supplies

#9 Protect Your Assets With Gold And Silver

#10 Learn Self-Defense

#11 Keep Yourself Fit

#12 Make Friends

For those interested in learning more about preppers and prepping, there are a lot of really great resources out there….

*American Preppers Network

*The Survival Mom

*In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

*The Surburban Prepper

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Protection

2011-10-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

A .45 for the bedroom,
A shotgun over the door,
A 30.06 for distance,
You don't need any more.

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2011-04-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

May 21, 2011

2011-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

A PATRIOT’S FIELD OF DREAMS-2011

JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI
APRIL 8-10, 2011

GREETINGS ONE & ALL

TO THE FIRST EVER,

"PATRIOT'S FIELD OF DREAMS" “REVIVING THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA”

JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI, APRIL 8, 9, & 10TH, 2011

LOCATION: JEFFERSON-WHIPPLE FIELD... JUST 5 East of the Capital on CR 391

INSPIRATIONAL PATRIOTIC SPEAKERS, GREAT MUSIC, CATERED & CONCESSION FOOD, SMALL FEE FOR CAMPING. DONATIONS FOR PARKING, JOIN US TO BE ENCOURAGED & REFRESHED. DONATIONS ARE WELCOME!

HOSTED BY DR. GREG EVENSEN

EVENT SPEAKERS: DR. GREG EVENSEN, PASTOR BUTCH PAUGH, WILLIAM J. FEDERER, DR. PATRICK JOHNSTON, JACKIE FLANIGAN, COACH DAVE DAUBENMIRE, JOYCE RILEY, LIIZ EVENSEN, DR. GREGORY THOMPSON, ERIN DAKINS, JOHN MOORE, DREW RAINES, & BILLY-JOE MAULDIN

AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSIC PERFORMED BY THE FARNUM FAMILY

INSPIRATIONAL GOSPEL & PATRIOTIC MUSIC BY DR. LYNDA & BUD LYNN OF BRANSON

INSPIRATIONAL PATRIOTIC SPEAKERS, GREAT MUSIC, CATERED & CONCESSION FOOD, SMALL FEE FOR CAMPING. DONATIONS FOR PARKING, JOIN US TO BE ENCOURAGED & REFRESHED. DONATIONS ARE WELCOME!

THE ILLUMINATI’S GOAL HAS BEEN TO DEMORALIZE AND DESTROY OUR NATION AND ITS PEOPLE….

OUR GOAL IS TO GATHER PATRIOT’S AND CHRISTIANS,

TO SEND THEM OUT TWO BY TWO INTO THE HIGHWAYS AND BY WAYS OF AMERICA.

TO REVIVE, REVITALIZE AND RESTORE BY THE GRACE OF GOD

THE HOPES, DREAMS AND SPIRITUAL VALUES OF A ONCE SOVEREIGN NATION.

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Nebraska Preppers Roll Call - All Preppers Please Check In

2011-03-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

The American Preppers Network is conducting a network-wide roll call. Whether you are a member or not please check in and let us know what you are doing to prepare.

This is a good opportunity to network with other preppers near you.

Nebraska Preppers, to respond to the roll call please follow this link:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=461&t=9269

Reply to the Roll Call and let us know what you have been doing to prepare.

If you are not yet a member of the forum you can register here for free:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

Vivos Nebraska Shelter Tour

2011-02-27T20:47:00.000-08:00

When expanded to 137,000 square feet, spanning four levels, this facility will be the largest, strongest and most defensible Vivos shelter in North America, accommodating over 900 people for up to one year of autonomous, underground survival. It will also be the first Vivos shelter to come online, in early 2011.

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Prepping for Pets

2011-02-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

by Who is John Gall

Ok, I would be the first to admit that if I had to choose, I would choose a loved human over a loved animal and most of my planning has been done with that in mind. But, nevertheless, I do still plan for them.

We have a cat, four dogs, three parrots, a 50 gallon fish tank (with fish), and the koi pond (with koi). I live in hurricane country, so I plan with that in mind... What if we are without power for weeks? What if the house is destroyed (nearly was in Gustav)?

Yes, I do stock extra food and water for everyone (fur, feathers, and scales). But, the fish need good water quality. A well maintained aquarium should be able to withstand 24 (maybe 48) hours without circulating water, but after that the fish will start to suffocate and die in the stagnant water. To try and keep the fish alive (I have had some of them for over 5 years now, they are like scaly family) here are my plans: First, when I know that a storm is approaching, do a water change (time permitting). Next, during the storm when the power goes out, use battery powered air pumps (more on those latter). Then, when the generator gets going, run the tanks filters on the ginny. As a last resort, manually circulate the water (pull out and dump back in a gallon of water at a time every hour or so).

Not sure if I am doing this photo bit right, but here is a pic of one brand of battery powered air pump:

There are others, I have seen some at Walmart in the fishing section for use with live bait wells. Most seem to rum about $7-$15. The one that I have runs off of D cells and plugs into a wall outlet. It does not run off of the AC current, but as soon as that current goes off/the power goes out the little pump comes on. They come with air stones, but I use the little disposable charcoal filters for kiddie tanks from Petsmart. They are cheap, provide some circulation, and provide some filtration too. You just rinse them off with tap water and plug them into the air hose and they are ready to go. I have three of these air pumps for the tank. I am also planning on using this system with the fish in 5 gallon buckets, should we need to evacuate (or when we end up moving in the next year or so...no, toting the fish about during a forced relocation is not my plan, but I am prepared to do so).

Still working on the koi pond. It holds about 800 gallons, which would probably be topped off with the rain during a hurricane, and the fish have all fared well without the pump going for several days in a row. I am thinking of building a solar generator to run some things in the house at need (the generator gets really loud) and will probably have it run the pond's pump all of the time to exercise the battery.

As for the other animals, I try and keep them all ready to evacuate at need. I keep a 5-gallon bucket sealed with their stuff in it: extra collars and leashes, toys, doggie baggies, copies of immunization records, zip lock bags of kitty litter. I have a travel carrier for each animal (2 of the parrots fit well in wire rabbit cages and the third goes into a wire dog crate) and a disposable litter box for the cat. I also keep a pet first aid kit...amazingly enough, though, the antibiotics for the fish that they sell at Petsmart seem to be the same as the ones that are dispensed for people.

I do know that these pets are all just creature comforts, and if worse were to come to worse and I had to chose what goes into the truck, a case of MREs or a bucket of fish...well MREs can be pretty tasty. Nonetheless, I still believe in planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

To see replies to this post and make comments follow the link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=910

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Stave off Globalism: Reinvigorate Constitutional Principles

2011-01-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

Michael Shaw, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

America was founded on certain principles: those of individual liberty and responsibility, a small federal government, and sovereign states that would protect their citizens’ unalienable rights. Over time many Americans got so involved in living their seemingly free lives they neglected oversight of what was happening to their country. Those who loved American ideals lived them and those who did not were busy working both from within and without the government to eradicate these principles from the American consciousness.

This dumbing down of America was planned and it took place over many decades as Charlotte Iserbyt explains in her Deliberate Dumbing Down of America expose. Controlled media and public education infused the populace with attitudes, values and beliefs that enabled the power thrust of globalists to grow. Thus the greatest political experiment in the history of the world has morphed into what we now call “globalism”.

Globalism is championed by the leaders of both political parties; the left uses environmentalism in pursuit of the globalist Wildlands Project and a substituted system of law called “social justice”. The right uses “public private partnerships” to reshape our economic system while advancing Smart Growth municipal planning. Between the globalist policies of the left and the right America teeters on the brink of destruction. Globalism is moving the entire world toward a system that regards human beings as livestock. This has been the unspoken center piece of American politics for many decades. Globalism has eaten away at the core principles that this country was founded on, especially the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
Today more and more ordinary people are starting to feel the effects. More people are losing their private property to the government and its’ partners. Logging and mining have been virtually stopped in the U.S., ostensibly because of environmental degradation. Family farming and ranching are on their way out, again because of environmental laws and the attacks on private interests. Even water rights are being denied and or stolen. City dwellers are experiencing increasing surveillance and controls.

The globalist-created fiat U.S. currency is ready to implode.

We know how we got into this situation; we forgot to stay alert and hew to the values of our predecessors. Now we must ask how these trends can be reversed. How can we rid the Unites States of globalism? This is what every American now faces because, finally, many people have awakened and are now ready to seek answers. After all, a movement of decent, concerned people might begin to recapture the promise of the American experiment.

What would such a movement focus upon? Here are some basics:

(1) The direct Constitutional limitations on the federal ownership of land would be followed. Article 1 Section 8 severely limits the federal government’s power over land. Federal lands including national parks, and federal forest land should be deeded to states. Some states would establish homestead distributions; others would carry on park activities. Any federal securitization of land or resources for international debt obligations would be negated.

(2) The US would withdraw from world governance organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and regional trade organizations like NAFTA and CAFTA. American control over American trade policy would be restored. Manufacturing would return to within our shores.
(3) Federal income tax and local property tax would be eliminated. The federal tax revenue would be based on Constitutional indirect taxation including import and excise taxes. (Article I Section 8 and Section 9) Government would be massively shrunk.

(4) A severe limitation would be placed on the presently exercised federal executive power to make any order. Further Executive Orders would be limited to the administration of executive duties. Executive Orders would no longer substitute for Congressional action.

(5) Information would be made available to the public, including the schools, regarding the fact that America was formed as a Republic where individual rights reign and where democratic action (mob rule) is limited.

(6) The nation would be rid of ICLEI, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. ICLEI contracts with over 600 local communities for the purpose of implementing the U.N.’s Agenda 21 (The globalist Local Action Plan for the 21st century). Arguments are building that such contracts, executed by local elected officials, violate Article 1 Section 10 and that these actions are therefore treasonous. (ICLEI Primer: Your Town and Freedom Threatened)

(7) An honest and Constitutional system of money would be established. (Article 1 section 8.) This necessarily requires the elimination of the Federal Reserve and a new Constitutional system of money.

(8) American foreign policy would not seek global imperialism. Military actions would be required to receive Congressional approval via Declarations of War.

(9) The twentieth century saw a massive increase in the size and scope of the federal executive branch. These bureaucratic expansions have not improved America society. Accordingly, many federal departments and agencies need to be eliminated including: the Department of Education, The Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor and the Department of Interior.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. The Constitution was designed to protect freedom-loving people and rein in the powers of government. Do you have the spirit and the drive to help restore the American promise? If so, together we need to reinvigorate the principles that were designed to protect America from threats like modern globalism.

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Michael Shaw is a leading critic of the U.N.’s “Agenda 21”, which is the Action Plan implementing world government for the 21st Century. Shaw leads Freedom Advocates.org which is dedicated to providing news and information on what America stands for and how Agenda 21 is designed to transform America and the human experience.

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Survival Tool: The Flashlight

2011-01-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

No doubt that when most preppers sit down and make a list of survival supplies to stock up on – a flashlight is one of the first things thought of.

I have made no secret that I have a serious flashlight fetish. I have flashlights scattered all of my house and in my cars. There is a flashlight in each of my kids rooms – and they all have batteries in them and work. The importance of a flashlight in an emergency cannot be overstated. Power out? So is your ability to see in the dark. If you are reading this blog – I do not have to go into detail why your should have several flashlights around.

If you are not familiar with LED technology in flashlights – let me enlighten you. LED flashlights have come along way in the past few years. Today – they are extremely bright, durable, and the batteries last much longer than common flashlights of the same brightness. The bulbs last nearly forever which is a big plus.

There are some very nice LED flashlights available at your local department store as well as from many of my sponsors.

LED flashlights should be purchased knowing how bright they are. Flashlight brightness is measured in lumen’s. A few years ago a LED flashlight was pretty good to be throwing out 8-10 lumen’s. Today’s high-tech LEDs can easily throw out over 100 lumen’s – and at pretty reasonable prices.

A few of my LED flashlights.

Here are a few choices available on Amazon – and possibly locally:

Rayovac 3 watt 80 Lumens - I own this one.

MAGLITE XL100 LED Flashlight, Black - about $35.00

Nu-Flare Ultrabright LED Aluminum Flashlight - - 210 Lumens!!!!

I am slowly but surely fading out “regular” flashlights and replacing them with LEDs. They are just far superior with the brightness and long battery life. In response to another recent post I did on flashlights – one reader mentioned about the vulnerability of LED lights to EMP. I had never considered this before. So – I did some research and here is what I have found:

No one knows for sure. Until the time comes that there is an actual EMP attack – opinions on the effects of a variety of electrical equipment including flashlights – are just that – opinions.
Small electronics such as AM/Fm radios and LED flashlights (both LED and regular) are not effected by EMP to a great level to to theirvery short conductors. EMP likes long wires such as power lines to capture the EMP.
LED flashlights will be dead after an EMP attack. There are those that state that pretty much any electronics will be toast. So – let’s hope there is no EMP attack.

Alright – enough about flashlights. If you do not have a bunch of them with extra batteries…….get them. Buy them cheap, buy them large, buy them small – but just buy them.

Oh yeah – don’t forget the extra batteries.

Rourke ModernSurvivalOnline

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Running to the Hills in Preparation for 2012 Armageddon

2010-12-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

The Doomsday clock to December 21, 2012 has begun, and some are already taking action in hopes they’ll be able to avoid Armageddon:

Armageddon-fearing pilgrims were flocking to a village deep in the southern French hills after a countdown was started to the end of the world, which stood Thursday at a mere 729 days to go.

Followers of the Mayan calendar believe the mountain in the Corbieres hills overlooking the village of Bugarach, east of the Pyrenees, was endorsed by aliens as a safe place to survive the demise of civilization.

The countdown began Tuesday, exactly two years until Dec. 21, 2012 — the movement’s assigned Judgment Day.

The mythical status bestowed upon the 4,045 foot high rock above Bugarach has inspired legends since the Middle Ages and attracted generations of hikers.

But the French locals were left bemoaning the sudden deluge of New Age pilgrims, who they accuse of setting up camp in the village to cash in on the fears of impending doom.

Source: My Fox NY

While we’re not sure if the world will end in a naturally manifested disaster in 2012, we can’t help but support those who have decided to bug out of cities in anticipation of a doomsday event.

Like those pilgrims heading to the hills we, too, have a bug out plan - and so should you.

We’ve previously discussed the possibility of a 2012 Armageddon scenario and the fact that the US government is rapidly preparing for large scale catastrophe. But preparations aren’t just limited to the US. Russia has also expedited plans to build some 5,000 nuclear bomb shelters in Moscow with a target completion date of about 18 months from now. That, along with the Doomsday Seed Vault which was quickly constructed in recent years, suggests that perhaps someone knows something they’re not sharing with the rest of us.

The conspiracy behind 2012 doomsday preparations was discussed in a recent Jesse Ventura Consirpacy Theory episode, available for viewing in full below:

Our view is that a total collapse of the world as we know it may very well come circa 2012, but we believe that it is more likely that the disaster will be man-made as opposed to a naturally occurring event such as a pole shift, which may cause disturbances to Earth’s gravitational and electro-magnetic fields as our planet moves through the galactic ‘dark rift’, which is one of the modern-day scientific theories for what the Mayan 2012 calendar predicts. This theory has been popularized by the documentary The Horizon Project, and has been made available for your viewing below. If you’re interested in the science behind the Hollywood blockbuster 2012, The Horizon Project explains the science behind it and how it may actually happen - without Hollywood special effects:

While we’re not sure if the French hills will provide cover during a complete breakdown in Earth’s crust as predicted by the Horizon Project, one thing’s for sure: If it so happens that we pass through the galactic dark rift and the earth experiences break-up of the crust, then we’re in serious trouble. We’ll likely see large-scale destructive weather events, as well as tidal waves hundreds, perhaps thousands of feet high.

If this is the case, then any hills, or mountains for that matter, will provide more coverage than flat lands. 90% of the Earth’s population lives close enough to coast lines that in a large scale natural disaster, like that which Horizon Project predicts, the majority of Earth’s population would be nearly wiped out.

So, we repeat, if weird weather events, massive earthquakes, and electro-magnetic disturbances start occurring, be ready to go to higher ground - either that or the Canadian Shield, which is reportedly the oldest solid rock land mass on Earth and has likely been through many a pole shift without being recycled into the Earth’s crust.

Whatever the case, SHTFplan will remain vigilant, looking for looming disasters, be they man made or natural, and inform our readers what we think. Whether you bug out or not if the worst were to happen will be up to you. We’ll do our best to keep you up to date in the event the S is about to hit the fan.

Author: Mac Slavo
Date: December 23rd, 2010
Visit the Author's Website: http://www.SHTFplan.com/

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Sing the health praises of parsley and sage

2010-12-25T11:04:00.000-08:00

Those of us who go back a few years likely remember the line about parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme in the huge Simon and Garfunkel hit song about two ill-fated lovers, "Are You Going to Scarborough Fair". Many have speculated that the reference to the four popular herbs was due to their use in Medieval Europe to help cleanse the air and ward off the infamous black plague. Others have thought that the reference to the four herbs was because the combination may have been used as a love potion. Whatever the reason for their inclusion in the popular song, the many health benefits of parsley and sage are worth loving and singing praises about in their own rights.

PARSLEY

Parsley is an amazing medicinal herb with a world of health benefits. The root contains calcium, B-complex vitamins, and iron, which nourish the glands that help regulate the uptake of calcium. It is a source of magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin K.

Among the many benefits reported for parsley are:

*It is a diuretic which helps the body produce more urine to keep the urinary system operating smoothly and which helps prevent problems such as kidney stones and bladder infections.

*It is wonderful for removing toxins from the body, such as heavy metals.

*It is an effective breath freshener. It is believed that the practice of including parsley on a dinner plate began due to its breath freshening abilities and not merely for its decorative effect.

*The root and leaves are good for the liver and spleen.

*It helps relieve bloating during menstruation.

*It provides relief for edema, often helping when other remedies have failed

*Parsley root and seeds help relax stiff joints, often making stiff and unmanageable fingers work again.

*It helps remove gallstones when used properly by taking a pint of the tea daily.

*It is beneficial for the adrenal glands.

*It is a powerful therapeutic aid for the optic nerves, brain and sympathetic nervous system.

*Parsley juice is an excellent tonic for the blood vessels.

Note: It is best to avoid large amounts of parsley if you are pregnant, especially the use of the volatile essential oil.

SAGE

Like rosemary, its sister herb in the mint (Labiatae) family, sage contains a variety of volatile oils, flavonoids and phenolic acids, including rosmarinic acid. The oils found in sage are both antiseptic and antibiotic, helping it fight infections.

Besides the antioxidant and other properties shared with Rosemary, sage`s other health benefits include:

*It is effective for symptoms of menopause, night sweats and hot flashes because of its estrogenic action and because its tannins help dry up perspiration.

*Sage helps provide better brain function and has been used in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease for over a thousand years. It helps provide better recall and research has suggested that it may be an effective option to help treat Alzheimer`s.

*There`s also compelling evidence that sage may be of value to people with diabetes for whom the hormone insulin does not work as efficiently as it should. Lab studies indicate that sage may boost insulin`s action.

* The ability of sage to protect oils from oxidation has also led some companies to experiment with sage as a natural antioxidant additive for cooking oils that can extend shelf life and help avoid rancidity.

In an upcoming article, we will also sing the praises of the other two herbs mentioned in the popular song - rosemary and thyme.

Sources included:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarbo...
http://www.healthy-holistic-living....
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natu...
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pars...

About the author

Tony Isaacs, is a natural health author, advocate and researcher who hosts The Best Years in Life website for baby boomers and others wishing to avoid prescription drugs and mainstream managed illness and live longer, healthier and happier lives naturally. Mr. Isaacs is the author of books and articles about natural health, longevity and beating cancer including "Cancer's Natural Enemy" and is working on a major book project due to be published later this year.
Mr. Isaacs is currently residing in scenic East Texas and frequently commutes to the even more scenic Texas hill country near San Antonio and Austin to give lectures in health seminars. He also hosts the CureZone "Ask Tony Isaacs - featuring Luella May" forum as well as the Yahoo Health Group "Oleander Soup" and he serves as a consultant to the "Utopia Silver Supplement Company".

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Get Ready

2010-12-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

From LewRockwell.com and

The American Dream

Waking People Up And Getting Them To Realize That The American Dream Is Quickly Becoming The American Nightmare

The

12 Simple Things You Can Start Doing Right Now To Prepare For The Coming Financial Apocalypse

It 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

From an article from lewrockwell.com

http://endoftheamericandream.com/

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.

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Uses For Dryer Lint

2010-12-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

Just about everyone has dryer lint. I suppose most people just toss it out in the trash. But I don't. I've been saving dryer lint for what seems like ages. I happen to know that there are lots of other folks out there that do the same thing. How do I know this? Because not only have I had LOTS of people actually admit that they save lint, I have seen it with my own eyes.

Walk into most laundry rooms and you will probably see a pile of lint somewhere. On top of the dryer, in a separate trash bag, in an old coffee can and some even have a "special container" just for lint saving. I'm one of those. I have an old trick or treat bucket stuffed to the rim with dryer lint. Somewhere I even have ANOTHER container to dump the bucket into when it gets full.

I was thinking about it one day (yeah I do tend to think of off the wall stuff sometimes) and asked myself just what in the world I was going to do with all that fluffy, multi-colored recyclable material. I don't know why I even started saving it to start with. I just kept thinking " There must be something I can do with this stuff". I also decided to ask around and see what others had to say about the stuff. The number one answer, hands down, was to use it for firestarter.

I started searching around and came up with a few other things that dryer lint can be used for. I'm kind of glad I did too. Somehow it makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in my "harvesting" of lint!

Here is where I have to put in a serious warning. Dryer Lint is EXTREMELY flammable. Which is, I suppose, one reason that the #1 use for it is for starting fires!

You have to be careful when you burn dryer lint as well. Remember that how it burns depends on what the lint was made out of. Things that are man-made will melt and/or smoke. It might smell like burnt plastic or even put out fumes. Cotton, wool and linen dryer lint will work just fine. If you aren't sure about what's in it you might want to take it outside in an open area and burn some. If it morphs into something ( like little beads etc) don't put it in your fireplace or bbq pit.

Some of the things people use it for call for caution and a bit of common sense. If you decide to use any of these ideas please use your head and remember just how flammable this stuff is ok?

Alrighty then.... We have the warnings out of the way. Now on to some of the interesting things you can use all that harvested dryer lint for......

Here are a couple of ways to use that fluffy stuff as a firestarter. I like a couple of these ideas because not only does it call for using your dryer lint but also some of the other things just laying around the house "just in case".

Try using it instead of lighter fluid the next time you fire up your BBQ pit. Lay little pieces around your briquettes to start your coals.

Lint also makes a good woodstove or fireplace tender. Just ball up some of the soft lint and place it in your starter kindling. They should ignite quickly and get your fire started easily.

Take an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll and stuff it with old newspaper and dryer lint. Close up the ends and you have a great firestarter. Use it in your fireplace or put a couple in your stash for your next camping or hiking trip.

This idea seems to be one of the most popular in the searches I've done. Take a cardboard egg carton and stuff lint into it. Then, using old candles, paraffin, or even used crayons, Pour melted wax over each cup on top of the lint. Use one or two of your "lint eggs" to start your fire.

Make firestarter "kisses". Take a small piece of wax paper and wrap lint and little wax bits in it. Then twist the wax paper ends like a candy wrapper. Put them in your stack of wood and light the end of the waxed paper. This would be a good way to use up some of those little bits of crayon pieces that the kids have laying around too.

Something else I ran across while reading about lint is to use it when making small dolls and teddybears as well as the batting for quilts. Stuff your home-made cushions with it. I saw where someone used it in their old farmhouse for insulation against drafts. Personally I'm not sure I would want to do this though because of the possibility of it catching on fire. I only mention it because it actually would work.

You could leave some out in the yard somewhere for birds to make their nests from as well as using it in your worm beds. Again, I would do a bit more research before trying one of these ideas.

How about using it to make a draft stopper? It would work well on a tile floor, especially if you have a metal door or one of those metal kickstopper on the bottom of your door. You could use a tube sock and stuff it with dryer lint and then sew the end closed to keep the drafts from blowing in under the door.

You know that nesting box material you pay an arm and a leg for at PetSmart for your hamsters and guinea pigs? Try using dryer lint instead. Warm, clean, cuddly and cheap!

How about using it for packing material? It can't be any worse than using those dang peanuts that get everywhere when you open up a package.

Use your artistic abilities and make a masterpiece from old dryer lint. Use it for kid's craft projects. You can shape the lint into almost anything or even use it to replace cotton for things like snowmen or clouds. Just glue the "shapes" onto construction paper. How about using it for things like hair or even fur for your craft projects! You can make some dryer lint clay from it or even make paper out of it. There are several places to get recipes for either of these projects on the internet.

You could make candle wicks from it, as well as rope. Just roll it the same way that the Indians used to make rope from plant fibers. It would take a bit of time but it would work!

You could use it to help with growing your plants. You don't want to put the lint on the soil next to the plant. It could mold. But you could use it in the bottom of your pots. It will keep the soil IN the pot and let the water OUT. If you are going to do this though you might want to be careful with what kind of lint you use. Some fabrics and some laundry detergents have chemicals that you might not want on your plants. But if you use the dryer lint from natural fabrics like cotton and linen and eco- friendly detergents it should work just fine!

Here's another use. Use dryer lint to soak up used motor oil. Before you change the oil in your car, put down a "sheet" of lint under the car and on the sides of the front of the car. If you spill oil, cover it with another layer of lint and firmly step on it so it soaks it up well. Be sure to discard the lint carefully.

So there you have it! Some actual uses for that stuff that seems to magically "grow" without much help.

Arthur: SciFiChick

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Time to put the muzzle on the deer

2010-11-29T03:19:00.000-08:00

Muzzle Loader Deer Season Starts December 1

11/22/10
LINCOLN, Neb. – The statewide muzzleloader deer season is Dec. 1-31. Hunters will hope for better conditions than a year ago, when snow covered the state much of the month. Harvest during the 2009 muzzleloader season decreased 15 percent from the previous year.

The permit fee is $30 for residents and $209 for nonresidents, and permits are unlimited in number.

The bag limit is one deer of either sex, except no mule deer may be taken in the Mule Deer Conservation Area (MDCA), and one antlerless white-tailed deer. The MDCA is comprised of the Buffalo, Frenchman, Republican, and Platte units.

Legal weapons are muzzleloading rifles, muskets and handguns, as well as magnifying and variable-power scopes.

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Nebraska Preppers Roll Call

2010-11-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

The Nebraska Preppers Network is conducting a Roll Call on our forum. If you are a prepper please check in.

* Here is a link to the Roll Call:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=461&t=6192

You have to be registered to check in. If you aren't registered please join here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

* If you are a HAM Radio Operator check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=6219

* If you are an A.N.T.S. member please check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=618&t=6220

How To Join The Nebraska Preppers Network

2010-09-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Come learn survival, preparedness and sustainable living with us!

The Preppers networks are all about volunteering our knowledge and skills with each other. We share ideas, tips and basically network with each other to survive any type of disaster whether natural, man made, or economic. Information that you learn and share with others will help everyone learn how to find "Freedom Through Teaching Others Self Reliance."

Joining the Nebraska Preppers Network is simple, and most of all, it's Free! To join, just follow these few steps.

1) Register to become a member of the American Preppers Network www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net The registration page is here: http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

2) Once you have your account, go to the index page of the forum and do your first post by introducing yourself in the new members area. http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/index.php

3) Once you know how to do posts, visit the Nebraska forum and introduce yourself. The Nebraska forum can be found by scrolling to the lower section of the index page where you will find a list of states, or you can go directly by following this URL: www.NebraskaPreppersNetwork.net

4) After you've visited the Nebraska forum, follow this link to learn how to join the Nebraska Preppers Network group:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=564&t=2738

APN's success depends on your contributions. If you would like to donate to our organization by becoming a Gold Member you can join the APN Gold Members club by following this link:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/page.php?p=apn-gold-membership&sid=5b241e92a767cdfbe7a345c54dd55127
Gold Membership is only $5 per month. For a list of Gold Member benefits go here

Thank you for your support!

The Times They Are A-changin’

2010-07-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

The July 4th Grand Island Independent had an editorial stating that the Founding Fathers likely would not recognize the federal government as it is now. I am continually amazed at how fast our government and Country is changing.

50 Random Facts That Make You Wonder What In The World Has Happened To America

Our world is changing at a pace that is so staggering these days that it can be really hard to fully grasp the significance of what we are witnessing. Hopefully the collection of random facts below will help you to "connect the dots" just a little bit. On one level, the facts below may not seem related. However, what they all do have in common is that they show just how much the United States has fundamentally changed. Do you ever just sit back and wonder what in the world has happened to America? The truth is that the America that so many of us once loved so much has been shattered into a thousand pieces. The "land of the free and the home of the brave" has been transformed into a socialized Big Brother nanny state that is oozing with corruption and has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. The greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen is falling apart before our very eyes, and even when our politicians actually try to do something right (which is quite rare) the end result is still a bunch of garbage. For those who still love this land (and there are a lot of us) it is heartbreaking to watch America slowly die.

The following are 50 random facts that show just how dramatically America has changed....

#50) A new report released by the United Nations is publicly calling for the establishment of a world currency and none of the major news networks are even covering it.

#49) The state of California is so broke that Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered California State Controller John Chiang to reduce state worker pay for July to the federal minimum allowed by law -- $7.25 an hour for most state workers.

#48) A police officer in Oklahoma recently tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she couldn't breathe because they considered her to be a "threat".

#47) In early 2009, U.S. net national savings as a percentage of GDP went negative for the first time since 1952, and it has continued its downward trend since then.

#46) Corexit 9500 is so incredibly toxic that the UK's Marine Management Organization has completely banned it, so if there was a major oil spill in the North Sea, BP would not be able to use it. And yet BP has dumped over a million gallons of dispersants such as Corexit 9500 into the Gulf of Mexico.

#45) For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.

#44) It has come out that one employee used a Federal Emergency Management Agency credit card to buy $4,318 in "Happy Birthday" gift cards. Two other FEMA officials charged the cost of 360 golf umbrellas ($9,000) to the taxpayers.

#43) Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo received $389,000 from the U.S. government to pay 100 residents of Buffalo $45 each to record how much malt liquor they drink and how much pot they smoke each day.

#42) The average duration of unemployment in the United States has risen to an all-time high.

#41) The bottom 40 percent of all income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.

#40) In the U.S., the average federal worker now earns about twice as much as the average worker in the private sector.

#39) Back in 1950 each retiree's Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers. Today, each retiree's Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers. By 2025 it is projected that there will be approximately two workers for each retiree.

#38) According to a U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

#37) The federal government actually has the gall to ask for online donations that will supposedly go towards paying off the national debt.

#36) The Cactus Bug Project at the University Of Florida was allocated $325,394 in economic stimulus funds to study the mating decisions of cactus bugs.

#35) A dinner cruise company in Chicago got nearly $1 million in economic stimulus funds to combat terrorism.

#34) It is being reported that a 6-year-old girl from Ohio is on the "no fly" list maintained by U.S. Homeland Security.

#33) During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.

#32) According to a new report, Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality and far less efficiency.

#31) Some experts are warning that the cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach as high as $1 trillion.

#30) The FDA has announced that the offspring of cloned animals could be in our food supply right now and that there is nothing that they can do about it.

#29) In May, sales of new homes in the United States dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.

#28) In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has ranged between 300 to 500 to one.

#27) Federal border officials recently said that Mexican drug cartels have not only set up shop on American soil, they are actually maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona.

#26) The U.S. government has declared some parts of Arizona off limits to U.S. citizens because of the threat of violence from Mexican drug smugglers.

#25) According to the credit card repayment calculator, if you owe $6000 on a credit card with a 20 percent interest rate and only pay the minimum payment each time, it will take you 54 years to pay off that credit card. During those 54 years you will pay $26,168 in interest rate charges in addition to the $6000 in principal that you are required to pay back.

#24) According to prepared testimony by Goldman Sachs Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, Goldman Sachs shorted roughly $615 million of the collateralized debt obligations and residential mortgage-backed securities the firm underwrote since late 2006.

#23) The six biggest banks in the United States now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America's gross national product.

#22) Four of the biggest U.S. banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup) had a "perfect quarter" with zero days of trading losses during the first quarter of 2010.

#21) 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 - a 32 percent increase over 2008.

#20) BP has hired private security contractors to keep the American people away from oil cleanup sites and nobody seems to care.

#19) Barack Obama is calling for a "civilian expeditionary force" to be sent to Afghanistan and Iraq to help overburdened military troops build infrastructure.

#18) On June 18th, two Christians decided that they would peacefully pass out copies of the gospel of John on a public sidewalk outside a public Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan and within 3 minutes 8 policemen surrounded them and placed them under arrest.

#17) It is being reported that sales of foreclosed homes in Florida made up nearly 40 percent of all home purchases in the first part of this year.

#16) During a recent interview with Larry King, former first lady Laura Bush revealed to the world that she is actually in favor of legalized gay marriage and a woman's "right" to abortion.

#15) Scientists at Columbia University are warning that the dose of radiation from the new full body security scanners going into airports all over the United States could be up to 20 times higher than originally estimated.

#14) 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

#13) The FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.

#12) The judge that BP is pushing for to hear an estimated 200 lawsuits on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster gets tens of thousands of dollars a year in oil royalties and is paid travel expenses to industry conferences.

#11) In recent years the U.S. government has spent $2.6 million tax dollars to study the drinking habits of Chinese prostitutes and $400,000 tax dollars to pay researchers to cruise six bars in Buenos Aires, Argentina to find out why gay men engage in risky sexual behavior when drunk.

#10) U.S. officials say that more than three billion dollars in cash (much of it aid money paid for by U.S. taxpayers) has been stolen by corrupt officials in Afghanistan and flown out of Kabul International Airport in recent years.

#9) According to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the baggage check fees collected by U.S. airlines shot up 33% in the first quarter of 2010 to $769 million.

#8) Three California high school students are fighting for their right to show their American patriotism - even on a Mexican holiday - after they were forced to remove their American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo.

#7) Right now, interest on the U.S. national debt and spending on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 percent of GDP. By 2080, they are projected to eat up approximately 50 percent of GDP.

#6) The total of all government, corporate and consumer debt in the United States is now about 360 percent of GDP.

#5) A 6-year-old girl was recently handcuffed and sent to a mental facility after throwing temper tantrums at her elementary school.

#4) In Florida, students have been arrested by police for things as simple as bringing a plastic butter knife to school, throwing an eraser, and drawing a picture of a gun.

#3) School officials in one town in Massachusetts are refusing to allow students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

#2) According to one new study, approximately 21 percent of children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

#1) Since 1973, more than 50 million babies have been murdered in abortion facilities across the United States.

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25 REASON TO PREP NOW

2010-07-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

25 Signs That Almost Everyone Is Expecting An Economic Collapse In 2010

Contributed by The Economic Collapse Blog (Reporter)

At times like these, it is hardly going out on a limb to say that we are headed for hard economic times. In fact, it seems like almost everyone in the financial world is either declaring that a recession is coming or is busy preparing for one. The truth is that bad economic signs are everywhere. Consumer confidence is plummeting, big banks are hoarding cash, top financial experts are issuing recession warnings and it seems like almost everyone is trying to accumulate as much gold as possible. Now that the G20 nations have all pledged to dramatically cut government spending in an effort to get debt under control, worries about a double-dip recession have reached a fever pitch. So will we see the full-fledged economic collapse that so many analysts are warning of before the end of 2010? Of course it is possible, but it seems much more likely that we will just see the beginning of another recession that could certainly deepen into a depression as we head into 2011 and 2012. There are so many variables and so many moving parts that it is always difficult to predict exactly how things will play out. What does seem virtually certain, however, is that we are heading into a time of extreme economic stress.

The following are 25 signs that almost everyone in the financial world is expecting an economic downturn during the second half of 2010....

#1) The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index declined sharply to 52.9 in June. Most economists had expected that the figure for June would be somewhere around 62. To get an idea of how bad this is, the index was at 100 back during the baseline year of 1985.

#2) Major banks are being instructed to hoard cash in preparation for the next financial crisis.

#3) French bank Societe Generale is forecasting that gold could reach $1,430 an ounce in the third quarter of this year due to fears of a double-dip recession.

#4) Paul Krugman of the New York Times declared in a recent column that we are about to enter "the third depression".

#5) According to one recent poll, about eight out of every 10 Americans expect the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to damage the U.S. economy and drive up the cost of gas and food.

#6) Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, is not optimistic about the chances of avoiding another recession....

"There's an uncomfortably high probability that we slip back into recession."

#7) The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that the number of Americans on food stamps will increase to 43 million in 2011.

#8) George Soros claims that a European recession in the coming months is "almost inevitable".

#9) Kevin Giddis, the Managing Director of Fixed Income at Morgan Keegan says that a lot of people are making some really large financial bets that a recession is on the way....

"There is big money making

big bets that at a minimum we we'll have a recession if not a depression that could last for years."

#10) The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently said that U.S. states in fiscal 2011 could be facing the worst budget situation that they have experienced since the economic downturn began in 2007.

#11) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is publicly saying that the U.S. unemployment rate is quite likely to remain "high for a while".

#12) The National League of Cities is warning that large numbers of cities across the U.S. will be facing horrible economic conditions over the next couple of years....

"City budget shortfalls will become more severe over the next two years as tax collections catch up with economic conditions. These will inevitably result in new rounds of layoffs, service cuts, and canceled projects and contracts."

#13) According to the Wall Street Journal, debates have already begun inside the Federal Reserve about what to do in the event of a "double-dip" recession.

#14) In May, sales of new homes in the United States dropped to the lowest level ever recorded. The truth is that the American people know economic hard times are coming and so they aren't running out and buying expensive new homes that they can't afford.

#15) Mike Whitney says that without more "stimulus" from the federal government a recession by the end of 2010 is extremely likely....

"Without another boost of stimulus, the economy will lapse back into recession sometime by the end of 2010."

#16) One recent poll found that 76 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. economy is still in a recession.

#17) Richard Russell, the famous author of the Dow Theory Letters, is not mincing words about what he believes is headed our way....

"Do your friends a favor. Tell them to "batten down the hatches" because there's a HARD RAIN coming. Tell them to get out of debt

and sell anything they can sell (and don't need) in order to get liquid. Tell them that Richard Russell says that by the end of this year they won't recognize the country. They'll retort, "How the dickens does Russell know -- who told him?" Tell them the stock market told him."

#18) The Bank of International Settlements said in its annual report that major banks on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean continue to remain "highly leveraged and still appear to be on life support".

#19) Mish Shedlock recently raised eyebrows by openly proclaiming that "an economic depression is here".

#20) Bob Chapman of the International Forecaster is very pessimistic about the state of the world economy as we head into the second half of 2010....

"There is still no question in our minds that Greece was a setup to lead to a deflationary collapse later and the Greek people refused to listen. As a result it is now apparent that Greece is even worse off than the elitists imagined. We do not see European bailouts going any further. The result is the US and UK will follow. Financial Europe is history. You should all keep in mind that this is child’s play. Wait until England and the US go down, perhaps before the end of the year."

#21) An article on Bloomberg's website says that 46 U.S. states are facing a "Greek style" financial crisis.

#22) Charles Cooper at Oriel Securities says that worries about the global economy right now are actually very good for the price of gold....

"Debt on government balance sheets and worries that the world could be heading towards a double-dip recession are driving the gold price higher."

#23) Richard Suttmeier recently wrote an article for Forbes magazine in which he predicted that we are headed for another dramatic decline in housing prices....

Home prices will decline again with risk of another 50% down to get house prices back to levels of 1999 / 2000.

#24) University of Maryland professor Peter Morici is warning that the decision by European governments to slash their budgets makes the prospect of another recession much more likely....

"Europeans cutting their budgets now could thrust the global economy into a double-dip recession."

#25) John P. Hussman, fund manager of Hussman Strategic Total Return and Hussman Strategic Growth, has issued a full-fledged recession warning: "Based on evidence that has always and only been observed during or immediately prior to U.S. recessions, the U.S. economy appears headed into a second leg of an unusually challenging downturn."

So in light of all this, what should we all do?

We should all start preparing for difficult times.

Now is a great time to get out of debt, to reduce expenses, to develop additional streams of income and to start storing up food and supplies for when things really fall apart.

After all, you don't start preparing once the storm has already arrived. You start preparing the moment that you see the first signs of trouble on the horizon.

There is no excuse for not getting yourself prepared. The signs that we are headed towards an economic nightmare are all around us.

Do what you have to do for youself and for your family.

Read the original story at The Economic Collapse Blog

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Warning From Senator Johanns

2010-04-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

Senator Johanns is warning us about increased fees and taxes. Preppers need to plan now for a future that is going to take more and more of our income, that is if the whole system does not collapse first.

April 23, 2010

Troubling New CMS Analysis Highlights Huge Costs, Losses From Health Care Law

WASHINGTON

Sen. Mike Johanns today issued the following statement on the recent analysis of the new health care law by the actuarial experts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:

"Americans will be rightly alarmed to learn that the new health care law will likely increase national health expenditures by $311 billion over the next ten years according to this new analysis. It reaffirms that the higher taxes and fees are going to hit the pocketbooks of many Americans and hurt employers. I requested a similar analysis from CMS last December, and this analysis verifies that the American public was justifiably worried.

"Making matters worse, the CMS analysis also indicates that the proposed Medicare cuts in the new law are unsustainable and could prove devastating to hospitals, nursing facilities, and home health providers. Ensuring access to care is critically important as more Baby Boomers move onto Medicare. As we begin to see the true impact of this new law it will become evident that this was very poor policy."

Background:

From Yesterday's CMS Report:

• Bends federal spending curve upward "by a net total of $251 billion" over the next decade.
o Increases national health spending by $311 billion in 2010 through 2019. (page 4)

• Estimated reductions in the growth rate of health spending "may not be fully achievable" because "Medicare productivity adjustments could become unsustainable even within the next ten years, and over time the reductions in the scope of employer-sponsored health insurance could also become an issue." (Page 9)

• Medicare provider cuts based on economy-wide, non-farm productivity improvements result in Medicare payment rates to grow more slowly than the providers cost of furnishing services to beneficiaries which may cause providers to "end their participation in the program," and possibly jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries. According to the report 15% of all hospitals, nursing homes and other similar providers could be operating at a loss by 2019. (Page 9/10)

• The growth rate reductions from productivity adjustments (which are the source of a substantial portion of the Medicare savings in the new law) are unlikely to be sustained on an annual basis (page 12)

• The other Medicare savings provisions in the bill that are intended to help control future health care cost growth will have a "negligible financial impact over the next 10 years" (Page 13)

• The new fees and excise taxes will "generally be passed through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and devices prices and higher premiums" and will increase national health expenditures. (page 17)

• A little more than one-half of those estimated to become insured as a result of PPACA in 2019, 18 million people, would receive their coverage through Medicaid. For these individuals, the report notes that as a result of more physicians refusing to treat Medicaid patients, it is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of the increased demand for Medicaid could be difficult to meet. (Page 20)

• Businesses would pay $87 billion in penalties between 2014-2019.

CMS Expressed Similar Concerns In January Analysis Of The Senate Version Of The Health Care Law:

• "[W]e estimate that overall national health expenditures under this bill would increase by an estimated total of $222 billion (0.6 percent) during calendar years 2010-2019..." (Richard Foster, "Estimated Financial Effects Of The ‘Patient Protection And Affordable Care,' As Passed By The Senate On December 24, 2009," Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services, 1/8/2009)

• CMS is skeptical of the Medicare savings: The report uses terms such as "unrealistic," "doubtful," and "difficult to attain." (Richard Foster, "Estimated Financial Effects Of The ‘Patient Protection And Affordable Care,' As Passed By The Senate On December 24, 2009," Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services, 1/8

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WOW 1500 Books on DVD - Cheap

2009-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

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