DEMCAD's Corner

SHTF: FIGHT or DIE!

2012-01-26T18:42:00.001-08:00

Fight or Flight!

For the last three years, I've been actively researching and engaging in the prepper lifestyle. After the financial collapse of 2008, I decided that i need to start preparing for the very real possibility that the U.S. economic system could collapse.

This meant that I would buy my first firearm (Mossberg 500) for self defense, start storing food (and water) and develop my skills. I've practice safely starting camp fires, while studying various aspects of emergency prepping. I've practice shooting with my Glock 21 (pistol), Mossberg 500, (12 gauge pump action shotgun), Marlin 22 rifle, Mossberg ATR (20-06 bolt action rifle) and AKM (magazine fed-rifle).

Now, I am in no way a tough guy. I don't claim to be an expert. I'm not a survivalist. I'm just a regular guy who is doing what I have to do to survive. I have a very low income and I've decided to make prepping for emergencies a significant part of my life.

Recently, I came across a video by youtuber BigDad06 entitled "RESIST." In this video, the commentator (who I've spoken with on numerous occasions) argued that his experience and human history shows that when approached by a threat, you a always be off if you fight back. I won't go into details, because I want you to watch the video. It is extraordinary. But I will say this, I have made a conscious decision to fight back. Even if I don't have a weapon. i would rather died where I stand than let a criminal take me away (like the Nazis did with the Jews.) The choice is really simple. if you surrender, the enemy can do whatever he wants. So the choice is FIGHT or DIE!

Check out Bigdad06 and yours truly discussing our outlook for 2012.

Tip of the Day:

If the SHTF, you can prevent infection and injury by wearing elbow and knee pads under your clothes and storing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide to cut wounds.

EU Put Oil Embargo on Iran! Gas Prices Are Hurting Us

2012-01-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Remember that January 23rd date I warned you about? Well, diplomats of the European Union meet on that critical day and decided not only freeze the assets of Iran's central bank, but place an embargo on Iran's oil. Many southern European countries buy oil from Iran. Iran's top exports are China (20%), Japan (17%), India (16%), Italy (10%) and South Korea (9%). The EU claims that they are doing this to stop Iran's nuclear program, but I think it's clear that Iran is being backed into a corner. If Iran responds by closing the Straits of Hormuz, the price of oil is going to shoot up to the moon.

I'm embarrassed to admit that today I was walking through the Mott neighborhood with plastic gas can. My van has ran out of gas and I couldn't even get to out of my driveway. After collecting my quarters, dimes and nickels, I bought $5.30 worth of gas. When I arrived at my house, the 1.5 gallons wasn't even enough to get that big van going. It's plenty funny, but kinda pathetic.

I think I'm going to stop paying insurance and stop driving. The insurance company claimed that the reason why no-fault insurance increased by 30% is because of the number of new claims in my zip code. But it's bizarre, because everywhere I go, I keep seeing the number 30 pop up. The water company in my hometown of Flint, Michigan recently warned us that the price would be going up by 30%. I've also noticed that a lot of the food items have increased by about 30% in the last year.

If there's a war with Iran, I think we're going to see gas prices hit an average of $5 per gallon. It's already hovering around 3.50 (3.35-3.60) in economically depressed Flint, Michigan. This is going to end very badly.

Is the S&#t About To Hit The Fan?

2012-01-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Here's two dates I'm looking at.

JANUARY 23rd
European Union Diplomats are meeting to discuss the possibility of putting an embargo on Iranian oil. If this happens, this will be an act of war. Greece, Italy and Spain buy oil from Iran, so will they have enough pull to sway the rest of the EU? The Iranians could respond to this event by shutting down traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. This would devastate the world oil market. Will this lead to war? Or will Iran back off? Either way, I'll be watching.

MARCH 20th
Zerohedge is reporting that if Greece can't come up with the cash to make the bond payment on March 20th, it'll default on its debt. But how will this affect the rest of the EU?

Fitch Says Greece Will Default By March 20 Bond Payment

EU Diplomats To Meet On Iran Sanctions Jan. 23

Bye! Bye Rick!

2012-01-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Rick Perry is out! I was wrong! At this point, it looks like there's only five candidates left: Romney, Paul, Obama, Santorum and Newt. Four out of the remaining five candidates are neo con (fake conservatives who favor extreme U.S. intervention across the world in hopes of controlling the planet) and corporatist (banker bailout-loving supporters of corporate power dominating Washington).

Ron Paul is the odd man out. Newt Gingrich just won South Carolina and Romney is leading in Florida. In a nut shell, the remaining candidates are completely untrustworthy. The Republicans don't even have a strong record of protecting gun rights. Only Ron Paul scored an A or better from the Gun Owners of America. The rest are embarrassing. This is why I'm not voting in 2012.

SOPA: UnAmerican and Unnecessary!

2012-01-18T10:02:00.001-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

On January 18th, websites all over the world including Google, Reddit and Craigslist are going dark in protest over the unconstitutional and eerily Orwellian SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). The record companies and movie studios are supporting this bill in a desperate attempt to stop people from illegally downloading copyright material (movies and music) from the Internet. They claim that online piracy is killing there business. I'll address this line of silliness later in the article.

The bill is being supported by Congress members because it would give the government the ability to order ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to block certain websites that are thought to be piracy hubs. The problem is that there is nothing stopping the government from blocking sites for other reasons such as political opinion.

This is just the latest example of Congress trying to grab more power. Fortunately, video gamers and Internet citizens have turned on the pressure and forced the Washington politicians to reconsider. I fully support the protest against this authoritarian bill.

Regarding the movie studios and record companies, it's foolish to assume that you can legislate your way to economic success. This reminds me of the the record companies attempt to sue their way back into business in the early 2000s. Yes, online piracy exploded with Napster and other peer to peer file sharing networks, but that's because the demand was there. In the later 90s, record companies started to put out terrible bubble gum pop music. They also made it a common practice to release hallow, overpriced albums. No one wanted to pay 18 bucks for 13 tracks with only three or four good songs.

The movie industry is suffering because they are making too many crappy movies and charging too much. Do you really want to risk paying 10 bucks for a mediocre movies and spend a small fortunate on low end snacks. Three bucks for soda? Really? Why pay 20 bucks for a movie exercise that including rude audiences and cellphones. I remember watching a PG-13 movie "The Bourne Supremacy" and being forced to hear a baby cry for a 30 minutes. Some lady thought it made since to being a baby into the theater. This was a noon showing. The movie going exercise is terrible.

The prices are always going up, which means less people will gamble on most movies and the attendance will drop. In 2011, movie attendance hit a 16 year low.

Here's how they can fix the problem.

1. Improve the Movie going Experience
The studios need to set standards for movie exhibitors, kick assholes out of the theater, ban anyone under 10 from seeing a PG-13 movie, ban cellphone usage, start serving good food at an affordable price. If we have to deal with obnoxious people, why can;'t we have a beer and gourmet pizza while we laugh at the slashed people in the front roll. One way or another, make it fun.

2. Lower the Budgets and Improve the Scripts
Sorry, but most of these $100 million movies don't need $100 million dollar budgets. A lot of them are terrible to begin with.

3. Lower the Ticket Price
If you get more people in the theaters, you will make more money. When tickets only cost 5 or 6 bucks, I would watch two matinees in a roll. Now, I don't even want to see one 8 dollar movie unless the reviews are extremely good. And I definitely go less.

4. Offer More Options
A lot of people pirate movies because it's convenient. Unless, we're talking about "The Dark Knight Rises", we don't have to wait the movie in theaters. Allow us to rent the movie via online service for 5 bucks after three weeks in the theater. This will allow us to watch new movies at home.

Movie Attendance Linked to Theater Experience, Increased Competition for Consumer Time, According to PA Consulting Group Survey

Box-Office Bust: Movie Attendance Hits 16-Year Low

Rick Perry Will Be the Nominee

2012-01-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Who will win the 2012 General Election?

In my opinion, someone who represents the best interest of the banking elite. The so called too-big-to-fail banks. This candidate will receive millions of dollars from JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, UBS, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. This person maybe a Republican or Democrat, but he will not act in your best interest. That is the reality of American politics. Or at least, that is how I perceive American politics, so rest assure that my analysis is not bias in favor of any political party.

Let's talk about who will win the nomination and why?

Traditionally, the GOP nominates the next guy in line. This would most certainly be former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. However, there is a problem. He's not a conservative or even a moderate conservative. He's not even a liberation. He's not much of anything at all. Not only has he conveniently reversed his positions on issues such as gun rights, abortion and Obamacare, but he has failed to stand his ground on much of anything.

McCain wasn't a conservative either and he became the nominee because he was the next guy in line and he meet a basic criteria. Therein lies the problem for Mitt Romney, his failure to stand for anything substantial may have disqualified him from being the nominee.

To be perfectly clear, after winning Iowa, Romney is in a strong position and the GOP nomination is his to lose. However, I think my prediction that Rick Perry will win the nomination is still plausible. Despite his embarrassing performances during debates, I think he is likely to be the nominee. Sure he considered quitting after his Iowa lost, but McCain's comapign was dead in early 2008 and Newt's was on life support late last year. Why do I think Rick perry will be the nominee.

Because he fits the GOP criteria. Unfortunately, the criteria doesn't require honesty and intelligence (as former President George W. Bush has proven). Nor does the Democratic nomination for that matter (i.e. President Barack Obama). Sure Obama taught at Harvard, but he can barely speech without a teleprompter and he once claimed to have visited 57 states.

Anyway, GOP nominees generally have to might a criteria
1. Executive Record (Governor, Military -- George W. Bush was the Governor of Texas, McCain was a war veteran, etc.)
2. No Successful Business Record (I'm not kidding! McCain was never a businessman, George W. Bush ran oil companies into the ground, but at least Reagan was an actor who generated his own income. Presidential nominees from both parties rarely have any useful business experience and Romney obviously does. The power elite want personalities in the White House that they can control)
3. Appeal to Most or All branches in the Party
(A nominee doesn't have to be everyone favorite, but the fiscal conservatives, neo cons and social conservatives must be able to tolerate the nominee)

Romney fails to meet the requirements for both 2 and 3. Rick Perry meets all three requirements. Ron Paul's libertarians probably won't generate enough numbers to overcome the mountain of neo con craziness in the GOP. The establishment is terrified of this guy.

So why not Santorum, he's not very personable and will scare moderates away with his extreme take on social conservatism. It's not always what you say, but how you say it. And losing his last u.S. Senate race by more than 18% in Pennyslvannia won't help.

What about Newt Gingrich? Well, he has more baggage than a 747.

Back to Rick Perry. Simply put, they don't invite you to Bilderberg for nothing. So I still see Perry as the nominee.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Here's how, Huntsman does well in NH, splitting the moderate voter and hurting Romney in South Carolina. Santorum fades and his voters go to Perry. The elites leak details about Newt's ugly past and he continues to decline, conservative move to Perry.

Perry surpasses Newt and finishes (1st or 2nd) in South Carolina. I think he will win. (I'm either a psychic or crazy)

FLORIDA
Perry and Romney will battle in Florida. Huntsman will pull votes away from Romney, Santorum and Newt will pull votes away from Perry. Romney will win.

SUPER TUESDAY
Santorum drops out after another poor showing. Newt is toast. It's a two-man race. By this point, Perry maybe performing better at debates and he will have enough support from the Tea Party, neo cons, social conservatives and fiscal hawks to overcome Mitt Romney.

Perry is a snake and liar, so he'll match up well with pathological liar Obama in November. Do I care who wins? You should already know the answer.

Americans Shopping Until They DROP -- DEAD?!

2012-01-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

Message from a Youtube Viewer,

"I am in no way disagreeing with you about the unemployment figures but four days before Christmas, I was near Atlanta,Ga and saw a massive traffic jam. People were out shopping for bargains I guess. I wondered, where is all that money going? There were a lot of people on the roads and it took me almost three hours to get out of that traffic jam to get home."

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Well, you are right. A lot of people were shopping for the holidays. But how many of them were using credit cards? How many of them were spending their last penny on useless electronics from third world countries?

As many of us know, low income Americans will shop for electronics and toys with their last dollar. But don't forget, just because people are buying crap, that doesn't mean that they are doing well. Americans will shop until they are absolutely penny-less. In fact, it's the insanity of overspending and debt that has led the country down the path of destruction in first place.

I know people who are over 25 years old, live with their parents, but unlike me, they have children. Many of these people have several children living in their home. They maybe living with a girlfriend who also have children. Some families consist of...

Three Adults.
Four Children.

Only one of them has a full-time job. The mom maybe an office manager. The son may work at a retail store and his girlfriend maybe unemployed. Or maybe both the son and the girlfriend are unemployment. Yet, they sent all of their money on Christmas gifts and they're currently behind on all of their bills. No food storage. Barely any food in the house.

Now, although, this sounds ridiculous, it is not uncommon. And my fear is that when the economy implodes, a lot of people will be stuck in a vulnerable situation. People will not have food storage to feed all of the mouths that they have created. They won't have fresh water for their children. All of these guys with 5 or more kids by 4 or more women will realize that their modest child support payments won't cover much of anything. The poor single mothers with 3 or more kids will be suffer more than anyone.

America is in for a shocker. After decades of enabling irresponsible individuals to create kids that they have no means of taking care of it, we will face a situation where the government will not be able to help. Keep this in mind, while the average family spend 500 to 600 bucks on gifts, most Americans can even afford a $1,000 emergency. According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, only 36% of the 2,7000 Americans survey, said they would use their rainy day funds for an emergency.

"It's alarming... For consumers who live paycheck to paycheck -- having spent tomorrow's money -- an unplanned expense can truly put them in financial distress,"

Spokeswoman Gail Cunningham said.

Alarming, indeed. But at least their children received that XBOX 360 or Playstation 3, this Christmas! Let's hope this country doesn't face any type of crisis this year or millions of people will be left unprepared.

Most Americans can't afford a $1,000 emergency expense

SHTF Rifle Matchup: ATR (308) vs AKM (7.62x39)

2011-12-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

308

AKM

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Here's a pretty interesting question from a viewer on my Youtube channel:

DEMCAD, I have a question about my next gun purchase. I want to get either a Mossberg 100 ATR (308), or a Wasr 7.62x39. If everything did hit the fan say next year, what would be the best one of these two to get?

I'm not qualified to answer that. I'm not a survivalist, nor have I pretended to be an expert. But I will attempt to describe my thinking.

It depends on your situation and what you want to use it for. 308 is a caliber that the U.S. military uses so it should be easier to find. However, you shouldn't expect to find ammo during a SHTF situation. Since I live in an urban area, I value FIREPOWER over ACCURACY.

After all, if you're in the city or suburbans, any fight you will get into will be probably be short or medium range. The 308 would be a great sniper weapon, but you're not likely to be using a sniper rifle in an emergency situation. At least not if you're in a city. So I would prefer the AK, because of it's 30 round magazine. The ATR will limit you to 5 rounds or less. Plus, the bolt action will slow down your response time and there's no detachable magazines for a reload. If I were in the country, hunting and shooting range would be a higher priorities, so I would consider the 308.

So here's how I would view the matchup.

Urban: AK definitely

Suburban: AK probably, ATR maybe

Rural: ATR probably, AK maybe

Oathkeepers Retract Cannery RAID Story!

2011-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Information is one of the most powerful tools of the 21st Century. It is as important as gas and electricity and any currency. So when people spread false information or unconfirmed information, it must be taken seriously. Recently, the Oathkeepers published a scary story claiming that federal agents raided a Mormon food cannery in Tennessee, demanding a list of their customers who were storing food.

Now as many of you know, the Oathkeepers is an organization of former (and current) law enforcement and military personnel claiming to uphold the constitution. When the story broke, it spread across the Internet like wild fire and ended up on the Alex Jones show.

The President of the Tennessee Oathkeepers Rand Cardwell wrote,

“A fellow veteran contacted me concerning a new and disturbing development. He had been utilizing a Mormon cannery near his home to purchase bulk food supplies. The man that manages the facility related to him that federal agents had visited the facility and demanded a list of individuals that had been purchasing bulk food. (from Oathkeeper Rand Cardwell

Let's see. He acquired the information from a man who heard it from another guy. What is the definition of hearsay?

unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another and not part of one's direct knowledge (from Dictionary.com)

Yep, that's hearsay. This was there only piece of intel and it was second hand. There was no information on which federal agency raided the cannery, who was the primary source, who the secondary source, which cannery was raided? Nothing. Just hearsay. So predicatively, the oathkeepers were forced to withdraw the story, claiming that a witness changed his or her story.

This is the type of crap that will discredit people very quickly. There was no secondary source confirming the intel and the primary source was questionable to begin with. If preppers (people who prepare for emergencies) want to convince people that their cause is sensible, they have to make sure that they protect their credibility. And that can;t happen if they jump on every unconfirmed story that comes down the pipe. Because in our world, information is more important than ever before.

STHF analysis of Oathkeeprs story

Oathkeepers Retract Story

JUSTICE or BACKLASH: Sent MF Global's Corzine to PRISON!!!

2011-12-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs, Jon Corzine, claimed that he was stunned when he learned that his brokerage firm (MF Global) didn't have their customers' money. But it was his company. How in the hell could he not know that people were stealing hundreds of millions dollars from their customers. These guys were leveraged 40 to 1. Which in plain English means that they were betting 40 dollars when all they had was one buck. So naturally, when another European crisis popped up, MF Global was toast. And since they used their customers' money, they were left holding the bag.

“There were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global’s last few days, and I do not know, for example, whether there were operational errors at MF Global or elsewhere, or whether banks and counterparties have held onto funds that should rightfully have been returned to MF Global,” Corzine claimed.

Really? So either he is a crook or incompetent. Either way, he needs to be held accountable. But I doubt anyone was able to do anything with the money with him knowing. I know this lady who worked at a tax preparation store. Some money disappeared and the manager made everyone pay $20 bucks out of their own pocket to cover the lose. Even though she didn't steal anything, she had to pay.

When I was for a small bail bonds company, 15 bucks was missing from the safe. the boss showed me the receipt and I desperately search the office for the money only to discover that he took the money out of the safe. he was going to make me pay for the lost. So now I'm supposed to believe that hundreds of millions of dollars just walked away. This is garbage. Jon Corzine needs to go to prison and if this type of injustice continues, it's going to lead to a backlash.

Corzine 'stunned' that MF Global couldn't find missing funds

You Are NOT "Apocalypse Man"

2011-12-07T22:56:00.001-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

So I came across this docudrama TV special on youtube called "Apocalypse Man". Ex Recon Marine Rudy Reyes takes the audience on a simulated mission through a city during a disaster scenario. It's a simple scenario, one man traveling in a world without water and electricity.

He starts the show off by telling viewers that when a disaster strikes, the first place he's going is to the city. When I heard those words, I burst out in laughter. i guess it depends on the scenario and how many resources he had. He uses a tire iron as a grapple hook to rope himself across a bridge. Rudy swings off the bridge like Tarzan rope and uses his carefully crafted butterfly knot to pull himself up to the other section of the bridge.

Rudy confessed, "I know it looks crazy..." That's because it is crazy. Unless you are in top shape, which most Americans are not, trying to Tarzan your fat ass across a bridge will get you killed or seriously injured. Now, I'm not professing to be an expert in survival. In fact, this guy is in much better shape than I am. However, I know my limitations. In this scenario, I would have been better served staying at home. And if I did decide to leave my house, I would have avoided the cities. And if I were in the cities, I would have looked for a boat, canoe or some floating platform to get to the other side of the river.

I understand that this show was created for entertainment, but I want people to be realistic about their abilities. There's a point where he climbs down a dark elevator shaft. I wouldn't attempt this until the cast from Mad max was after me.

Granted, he has a lot of cool ideas and it's worth watching for fun. I loved his idea about going to the library to get information such as maps and books. But some of his ideas scared me. What disturbed me most about this show is when he enters someone's home with the logic that "it is not longer there home."

He enters a home that appears to have not been broken into. I understand that he was looking for resources, but I'm not willing to risk receiving a large serving of buckshot to my face. You may want to wait until the population drops to "I Am Legend" levels before attempting this.

I'm not saying that his ideas won't work, but they some of them sure as hell won't work for me. I would advise people to apply a filter to this kind of programming, but this is good entertainment. If you have good sense, you'll be able to separate the entertainment from the good ideas. Enjoy!

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

The NON Persons: The Uncounted Unemployed

2011-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Employment to Population Ratio

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

"Unemployment Slips to 8.6% as Private Sector Adds Jobs Well"

The headline read,

I was way off on my prediction on the U3 unemployment reaching 12% this year. We didn't see a new wave of layoffs (in the private sector). The official unemployment number actually dropped. However, the real unemployment has not dropped. A lot less people can get benefits, many aren't, even counted. Hiring in the private-sector grew by a 140,000 jobs, the public sector cut 20,000 jobs. What kind of jobs where created this holiday season, 50,000 jobs in retail, 22,000 in hospitality, 33,000 in business service. Does business service involves in actual production of any goods? Where most of the hospitality jobs created that type of work that you can support a family on? Where retail stores hiring full-time or where they offers $8 or $9 bucks an hour, part-time/seasonal with no benefits?

Hourly earnings dipped by 2 cent, while salaries increased by 1.8%, neither could keep up with inflation. In a nutshell, I was wrong about the timing of the new wave of layoffs, but only time will reveal if I am wrong about the event happening at all. Technically, we already saw a major layoff in local, county and state government.s And we did see a lot of Americans shopping on Black Friday. The National Federation Retail claimed that sales increased 16% from last year. Of course, many stores were shut down since then, so the remaining stores would naturally improve. And I should warn you that the 16% is based on a survey and not hard cash. This year, they polled 3,826 consumers and calculated that Americans spent $$52.4 billion on Black Friday weekend.

2011 Black Friday Sales

Nevertheless, many Americans spent their last penny this holiday season on flat screen TVs,video game consoles, toys and movies. I have no aversion to any of those products, but I realize that it is more important to have basic items before you acquire the amenities. For example, doesn't it make more since to have extra food and water for an emergency before you buy another flat screen TV? And why is your girlfriend walking around with expensive jewelry when she doesn't even have a gun to fight off a mugger or rapist? Some people are so tapped out that they are trying to get tax loans to buy presents this holiday season. There's nothing wrong with buying toys and TVs for Christmas, just make sure that your family has the basics for responding to an emergency.

The government numbers are very deceptive. The official unemployment number is really just one of the the government's unemployment numbers. It's called the U3 number, which only calculates how many people are unemployed for 15 weeks or longer. But it excludes part-time workers who want to work full-time and many discouraged workers. The U6 number (15.6% as of November 2011) includes these groups. However, but government numbers exclude the chronically unemployment. The government keeps the unemployment number down by excluding a lot of the unemployment and simply claiming that they are no longer apart of the workforce.

The duration of unemployment tells the story. 59% of the unemployed have been jobless for at least 15 weeks. 43% of the unemployment have been unemployed for over 27 weeks as of November 2011. The employment to population ratio has still remained very low.

BLS Unemployment numbers

In 2001, 64.4% of the American population was employed, now that number is down to 58.5%. This government number is something that doesn't get reported because there's no way to spin the data.

Employment to Population ratio

In conclusion, the recent data is a reflection of a large portion of the unemployed population being re-classified as non persons, people without jobs, but not apart of the labor force. It's just smoke and mirrors.

Check out my video analysis below and tell me what you think.

ASK DEMCAD: The Future

2011-11-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

A Question from an Italian viewer:

"I am an Italian boy and as you know the economic crisis is hitting us hard! then the volcanoes, solar storms, earthquakes, etc. ... like you I am preparing to soppravivenza with stocks, bob! Unfortunately in my country do not see the dark times that are approaching, so I am alone, and not have anyone to discuss it here! wanted to ask you what you think of the future that approaches what what more could you think and prepare!"

First, thank you for writing to me. Regarding your question, I think things are going to change in so many ways that you won't be able to see most of it coming. Gerald Celente talks about a trend called "Do it yourself!" it always amazed me how little parents prepared for parenthood. The people having the most kids have the fewest to offer. You never see people preparing on any level. If I was expecting a child, I would at least brush up on my spelling and math skills. If I couldn't spell the word "utility" or "brush", I would want to read up. I've seen kids who can spell better than their parents. If I were expecting a daughter, I would learn how to do a girl's hair. In the future, we maybe forced to do more things on our own. We'll have to repair our our dryer. So I'm forcing more on knowledge and learning skills. That will be more important in every nation.

You can send your messages to youtube.com/DEMCAD or DEMCAD@yahoo.com.

Urban Prepping: Why are there so Few Black Preppers?

2011-11-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

A journalism student recently contacted me about setting up a phone interview on the issue of black preppers. On my main youtube channel, I created a video entitled "
Why are there so Few Black Preppers?" The journalist wanted to get more of my views on the issue and the following was my reply.

This is a very interesting topic, because it touches on a number of social issues. So even if you don't care about prepping, this issue is relevant. You can't talk about the challenges of being a black prepper without issuing the lack of (economic) cooperation in the black community. How can you organize an emergency plan in a community where people don't even support other local businesses or talents. Black people rarely support black businesses, but are quick to send every cent at an Asian-owned store or corporation. Not that I refuse to shop at non-black stores, but I at least try to support black businesses.

Another challenge is convincing other blacks that the government could fail to provide for us. Even after Katrina, most blacks look for the government for solutions.

Another issue is security. Being black means, you're likely to live among blacks. And since we have a much higher homicide rate than any group, simply being black dramatically increasing the likelihood that you will be murdered both under normal conditions and during a crisis.

Ironically, blacks are generally anti-gun rights. Don't take my word for it, read it yourself. A pathetic 30% of use valued gun rights or gun control. Am I the only person who notices that black cities trend to be the most pro control areas, while having the very worst crime levels.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1858/gun-control-rights-division-demographics-party-ideology-religion-region-tea-party

PDF file
http://pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/gun-control-2011.pdf

So if something happens and you're among blacks, you're going to be dealing with much higher crime and neighbors who are less likely to be armed. Two extremely big disadvantages and that's why you will most likely inherent simply because of the color of your skin (or being white in a black area.)

Blacks also control a less percentage of resources (relevant to our population) than whites. How have more failing schools, more poverty, shall I control. Granted, many (if not most) of our problems are caused by ourselves, but not all of them.

The reason why there are so few preppers in the black population is because of cultures don't value self-reliance and pro-activity. Not that I'm completely self-relevant, but I at least practice using firearms, collect ammunition, store food, acquire first aid materials and attempt to prepare for disasters. Many blacks (and whites) seem to suffer some normalcy bias and can't conceive a situation where the systems fail.

Here are my videos.
Challenges of Black Preppers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVev3ckAOEo

Why are there so Few Black Preppers?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFswM-5Nmzs

America's Collapse in Three Stories!

2011-11-21T22:33:00.001-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

The United States is collapsing. It's economic system is unsustainable and unraveling. It's political system has been corrupted to the core. It's culture has decayed into a cesspool of greed, narcissism and cruelty. The America that the babyboomers grew up in is dead. The empire is dying. Many people have asked me over the years, why I foresee such a dark future for America. Simply put, that future is coming to past.

Let me point out three stories. Three pictures that will provide you with a three dimensional view of America. Something that many of us have ignored.

The Rising Poverty
Data released from a recent Census Bureau report shows that as of 2007, 100 million Americans were either poor or near poor. What this means is that one third of the population earned a measly 150% of the poverty income or less. Most of the 51 million Americans who are counted as the "Near Poor" are only out of the official poverty level because they are being assisted by the government in some form.

Demographically, they look more like “The Brady Bunch” than “The Wire.” Half live in households headed by a married couple; 49 percent live in the suburbs. Nearly half are non-Hispanic white, 18 percent are black and 26 percent are Latino. Source: The New York Times

The Shrinking Middle Class
A Stanford University study showed that the number of middle class areas have been shrinking in the last four decades. In 1970, 65% of Americans lived in middle class areas. In 2007, it was only 44%. And that's before the financial crisis in late 2008 and the massive layoffs in 2009.

Wall Street Takeover
Not only did Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and the other zombie banks use their bribe money to get the corrupt politicians in Washington to steal taxpayer money for a bailout, but they managed to do it without any significant punishment. Goldman Sachs has already been busted for ripping their other clients off when they created a bunch of junk derivatives, sold to their clients and then beat against the crap they sold to their clients. But apparently, these Wall Street types can outright steal and no one goes to jail. Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine ran brokerage firm MF Global into the ground. Initially, it was thought that $600 million dollars of their clients money had disappeared. Well, now that number maybe as closer to $1.2 billion. Let me ask you one question, why hasn't anyone arrested Jon Corzine. While the NYPD is busy beating up college kids protesting the Wall Street street bankers, the real criminals are running wild.

Corrupt politicians, immune Wall Street criminals and a shrinking middle class. it's really simply, America is collapsing because the things that once made it great are no longer present. The criminals are running the country and making most of the American people poorer. They are literally stealing our future from us.

MF Global

Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census

Middle-class areas shrinking in US: study

Goldman Sachs admits it misled investors, pays $550M fine

Bugging out to a Lakefront Cabin?

2011-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

As many of you know. I've been preparing for what I think is the inevitable collapse of the American empire for ther last three years. While doing so, I have explored the notion of bugging out (leaving your primary home to escape to a rural location in times of social unrest and/or disaster), but I given my limited resources and lack of location, I don't think it's going to be realistic for me to bug out. SO I've been planning on hunkering down at my current urban location. Although, Flint, Michigan is the most violent city in America, I still know more about the terrain and environment than any other location.

And in a SHTF (shit hits the fan) situation, that will be important. I recent joined a friend on a trip up north to Rural Michigan. We stayed at a cabin on a lakefront property and let me tell you that I wasn't comfortable with the number of cabins in the area. I counted at least 10 cabins near the lake and wondered if this would be a good place to bug out to. If there was a SHTF situation, everyone and there family would flock to these cabins.

Sure, there would be plenty of food to fish, but with this many people, you would be faced with many of the same problems that you would dealing with the the city. The difference is that you would have more food, but have less access to hospitals and other structures. I've lived in rural areas and I understand the trade off.

Just as cities vary, not all rural areas are the same. but generally, you get a social trade off. These areas are great for married couples and retired people, but not ideal for a single guy who wants to find hot single ladies. Nevertheless, in a SHTF situation, that will not be a high priority. I think it makes better since to pay some state land 40 miles away from a sizable city with plenty of amenities and a good trauma center. Set up a well pump and hunt deer. That way you will be able to eat and not worry about your countless unknown neighbors. If it's a waterfront property, you will be dealing with strangers who are related to your neighbors.

If I do go to a rural location, it wouldn't be on lakefront property, because those areas would get flooded with (a lot of them city folks) people and that would feat the purpose on being there in the first place. I would rather stay at home whether I know the environment and people.

Americans Too Fat and Lazy to Work?!

2011-10-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Youtuber Yankeeprepper uploaded a video of a AP news report on Alabama's new law that banned illegals from working on farms. But when the farms hired Americans, they learned that many were too lazy and out of shape to work at a good pace. Some of the farmers complain that the Americans are not strong enough for the field work. Well, given the fact that the illegals have been doing this all of their lives, it would be difficult for anyone living in a first world nation to start off as fast as a worker from a third world nation. Moreover, the farmers probably aren;t even paying a living wage, so it's going to take a well to find someone who is willing to work super hard on a very low wage. Remember, Americans have first world expenses, not Mexico prices to contend with.

In my hometown of Flint, Michigan, the economy is so depressed that the city has been forced to cut their police force to bare bones. I recently took on a labor job working with a friend of mine. He's an experienced freelance repairman. He does drywall, carpentry and roofing. He's done it all and does it well. Currently, he's putting a new roof on one of his friend's rental home in Flint. My job was to help him but cutting wood and carrying wood boards and shingles up a two story ladder while he install the shingles, paper and work.

Let me tell you that although, I have helped my buddy Nick install shingles in the past, this job is hard work. This is dangerous and demanding work. When you're two stories up on a ladder with heavy shingles in your hands, one mistake can ruin your life. But I need the money, so I'm doing what needs to be done.

And I'm doing it for 8 bucks an hour. I show up on time and hard 8 to 10 hour shifts. Now, are there lazy Americans out there. Hell yes! But don't let anyone fool you into believing that none of us are willing to work out asses out.

On my first day, I carried a ton of old shingles onto a trailer. Fortunately, I had some help unloading it in a landfill. My name is Reginald Kaigler and I graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint with a BA in criminal justice and sociology. I had hoped to become a parole/probation officer, but when the economy tanked, state governments stopped hiring.

Who is Controlling Occupy Wall Street?

2011-10-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been portrayed by the mainstream media as a circus of socialists, communists, anarchists, hardcore leftists, hippies and crazies. But we should be just as suspicious of the mainstream media's spin as we are of the actual protesters. Remember, the mainstream media attempted to marginalize the Tea Party in it's earliest stage. The grassroots movement was galvanized by the betrayal of Washington politicians and their infamous banker bailouts. Ultimately, the movement was co-opted by the Republican Party and turned into a Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin right wing freak show.

I think the same problem is corrupting the Occupy Wall Street movement. I spoke with a local supporter in my home state of Michigan who told me that his event was receiving resources and support from a state Senator. He didn't know much about the Senator, but he was willing to accept something free from him as long as it helped his cause. The problem is that if the Occupy Wall Street let the Democratic Party and it's special interest groups into the movement, it will lose credibility. How can you work with special interests that support one of the two political parties are owned by Wall Street and except to be effective in stopping the criminals on Wall Street?

Reuters released an article on George Soros connection to groups that have helped start Occupy Wall Street. Soros' group Open Society gave $3.5 million in grants to the Tides Center (which is a hub that gives donations to left wing groups.) The Tides Center rewarded Adbusters with $185,000 in grants from 2001-2010, including nearly $26,000 between 2007-2009. We have no idea how much money Soros has given Adbusters in 2011. But we do know that Adbusters helped a big role in organizing Occupy Wall Street.

The Occupy Wall Street Movement seems like a incoherent mess with a lot of people who mean well. They just need to kick Acorn, the unions and all of the special interests out of the protests, before they take over. Youtuber TheNewYorkCritic has pointed out how the mainstream media has painted an unfair picture of the protesters. I don't know if this movement was created by Soros or not, but the people have an opportunity to make it work for them.

Personally, I've never even been to New York, so I can't say what exactly is happening, but I will say that in order for the movement to be effective, they must hit Wall Street in the pocket book. I used to have two accounts with the so called "Too big to fail" banks. I shut down my account with Wells Fargo in 2010 when i returned from Alaska and I am switching my funds to a local credit union by New Years Eve. I would have done it sooner if we weren't struggling financially. I'm the only person in my family with an income. My sister has been out of work for three years and now I'm trying support her just as she supported me when I was out of work. I want to have an extra month of bill money just in case there is a waiting problem for switching my accounts. And I'm going to encourage my sister to do the same. I think once people start to vote with their pocket book, then the criminals on Wall Street will feel the pain.

But in event, Occupy Wall Street needs to do the following.

1) Stop the Democratic Party and special interest (Acorn, unions, etc) from taking over.
2) Decide on a unifying message.
3) Make of list of three demands!
(Require All Bailout banks to pay back all of the money, require Washington to ban future bailouts, demand that Washington System strip the Federal Reserve of its ability to control the currency)
4. Organize events that will affect the banks MONEY!

Who is funding Occupy Wall Street?

Ali was Right about the First Black President!

2011-09-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

If black people think Obama was a better choice over Palin and McCain, they simply don't get it. Both Republicans and Democrats represent Wall Street. In 2008, Most of Obama's top campaign donors were directly linked to Wall Street. According to opensecrets.org, Obama's second largest donor source was no other than the notorious Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor

According to Center for Responsive Politics, Obama received $994,795 during 2007 and 2008 from Goldman Sachs' political action committee and individual contributors. The Goldman Sachs that was accused of fraud by the SEC for creating junk derivatives, selling them to their clients and betting against the same derivatives. They eventually agreed to pay $550 million dollars, 250 million went to the defrauded investors and $300 million went to the Treasury department. This same Treasury department run by Goldman Sachs buddy Tim Geithner. Henry Paulson, the treasury secretary before Geithner worked at Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs to pay record settlement in fraud suit, change business practices

Both Obama and McCain recieved big money from Wall Street. And the same big contributors who supported Obama, supported Bush in 2004. The fact of the matter is that there was no substantive choice between McCain and Obama. If anything, blacks would have been smarter to back a non-black puppet.

After all, when a ship is sinking, it is smart to make sure the puppet captain doesn't look like you, especially when you are already a minority group in a weaken position. Boxing legend Ali said it best on a TV interview decades ago when he was asked if he wanted to be president.

"No, it's dangerous....in other words, here's a ship, people are dancing on the ship, a lot of money is on the ship, a lot of food is on the ship, and I can not integrate on the ship. I can not have equality on the ship. I'm just in the galley working. And I never could get up to see the captain. All of sudden, a man says, "Hey Ali, come on up out of the galley. I want you to come up and have something to drink. What do you want?" And give me the number spot from the galley to the number one spot. I say this ship must be sinking!"

Exactly. Black folks, the ship must be sinking and we foolish fell for this trap. The elite put that fool Obama in place to make him the fall guy. Unfortunately, 95% of black voters couldn't see the obvious. I voted for the McCain, not because I liked him. I simply thought it would have been smarter for blacks to support Clinton and McCain, since the empire was already collapsing. Now, people will use Obama as an excuse to claim racism is no longer a problem and the elite will use race as a weapon to tear us apart. People will say, "That ni@@er, ruin America!"

It's already happening if you're paying attention. Since Obama has been in office, he has nominated corrupt political players such as Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle, escalated the war in Afghanistan, order unmanned aircraft attacks in Pakistan, continued the war in Iraq, supported the Wall Street bailouts, promoted a failed stimulus package, pushed through an unpopular health care law and divided the American people.

Personally, I can't wait until America gets over this foolishness involving race and racism. After all, race is a political creation. And now Obama is going to be used as a political tool to punish Americans of all colors.

George W. Bush (R)

John Kerry (D) donors

Barack Obama (D) donors

John McCain (R) donors

If you Only Had Hours to prepare for a Disaster...

2011-09-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

In my screenplay "No Man's Land," a man discovers that he only has a few days to prepare for the end of the world as we know it. But when if you turned on the television and the news outlets were reporting a nuclear bomb over three U.S. cities? Or when if you were watching television at 7:30am and all of the power went out. You checked the circuit box, no luck. But then you realize that your car is dead, all of your portable electronics won't work. When if the U.S. is hit with an EMP, or CNN reports that the dollar has collapsed? When if you only have a couple of hours to react to an event, what would you do?

In The Outer Limits episode "Inconstant Moon", a physics professor realizes that something is terrible has happened to the sun. But then he wastes his time moonlighting with a woman he has loved for years. Instead of raiding the store for food and water, they went for a long walk only to figure out that the sun only flared up. Sure, half of the half is screeched, but his side of the planet had a fighting chance. So if the shit hits the fan, don't sit on your ass.

Here's my advice.

1. Fight or Flight
The first thing you would have to decide is if you are going to stay or go! If you're going to go, you should already have a half of tank of gas, I'm never going to let my tank get below one half. So get your bug out bag, the gas you store for your lawnmower, find the nearest large gas station and head to your bug out location, but make sure you avoid the major highways.

If you bunker down at home, see number two.

2. Acquire MORE Water
Fill up some of the sinks, the stationary tub and the bathtub. You may want to do this even if you decide to leave, because you may end up stuck at home. Remember, you can still take a bath later on, but always let it filled with water in case you lose access to water.

3. Get Organized and make Calls
Grab the pre-packed emergency bags as the tubs fill. Tell your wife or husband or son or daughter to call the other family members. One blogger suggested calling in prescriptions. Good luck with that one. It may be worth if to call a store to have someone put something aside. You may even choose to hand your 14 year old son to order items from Walmart online as you pack and load your stuff into the truck and choose to pick up the items at the store.

Frankly, I would avoid stores like the plague. This is why you should prepare ahead of time. If you want to know why, just watch a video of idiotic Americans trampling each other on Black Friday to get a deal at Walmart or Target. If people are willing to kill each other over a no-name LCD TV on Black Friday, imagine what these animals will do when they're afraid. Watch the video below.

The stores are going to be too dangerous. But maybe you'll get lucky and you'll turn on the Tv at 4am when things are going down and most people will be in bed.

4. If you shop, Be fast and Calculating
Find an area to shop. Don't try to drive all over town. Stick to an area that has the dollar store, sporting goods store and the grocery. Even if the grocery store charges too much. You'll lose precious time driving across time and increase the likelihood of being hit by the mob on idiots. Please see the video above.

Never shop along. Grab a walkie talkie, so you armed 15 year old kid and wife in the car can communicate with you as you shop. You'll need someone to guard your car (it will have items you purchased from other stores.) I recommend grabbing your trust-worthy neighbor or nearby friend and carpool. Desperate people will steal from your car as you shop! I recommend you leave the wife and son at home with a gun, while you and your buddies shop together. You may want to have four men. Two go in at a time.

5. Buy More than You Think You Need
Please don't forget about the alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, soap, bandages and dressing. Here's a tip, the dollar store will have great prices for cotton balls, elastic bandages, but you can better grab the masks and tools at the Home Depot. If you don't have a gun, get a shotgun for home defense, handgun for personal defense and a rifle for 100 yard defense and hunting. Stick to common calibers: 12GA, 40SW, 9mm, 45 ACP, 7.62x39, 308, 5.56x45mm and 30-06. Buy the ammo first and then grab the rifle. I think the ammo will go first. If you can, buy them both at once.

In closing, the reason why I prepare is so I don't have to rush if an emergency occurs. So if you something happened, how would you send the first hour or so? How would you respond?

SHTF: The AR or AK Pattern Rifle

2011-09-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

There's been a lot of debate on Youtube, gun blogs and survivalist forums about which semi-auto rifle is superior for a SHTF (shit hits the fan) situation: the AR-15 or AK-47? Well, I'm here to tell you that both guns are very good rifles and there's no need to compare them. They were built for with two very different philosophies and the gun you should pick should compliment your strengths.

For example, I valued durability and reliability above all, so the reputation of the AK-47 attracted me to the GP WASR-10/63. The AR-15 and AR-10 are both reliable, but they require more maintenance. Since I had very limited experience with rifles, I chose the simple design of the AKM (AK-47 style rifle). I also assumed that unlike the guys in the U.S. military, in a SHTF situation, I would not have soldiers covering me when I cleaned and lubed my rifle. Therefore, selecting a rifle that required less maintenance and no lubricant would be a better fit for me.

And that's the key, which rifle is a good fix for you!

The AR-15 fires a smaller round that shots straighter than the 7.62x39mm that the AK-47 style rifles shoots. The AR-15 has superior accuracy and if you're in a rural area, this may help you in helps that the AK-47 can't. The AK-47's 7.62x39mm round will have more knockdown power and deeper penetration. The AK-74 shots a smaller 5.45x39mm round that shots straighter and has more range than the AK-47 style rifle. Moreover, the AR-10 shots the 308 win which is a bigger, more powerful round than both the 7.62x39 and 5.56x45mm (AR-15's round).

Both AR-15 and AR-10 offer greater accuracy and more range than the AK-47. I didn't care care as long as the AK-47 style rifle could hit man size targets at 100 meters. I live in an urban area, so I didn't think that I would need to hit targets at 400 yards away. But if you are in a rural area, you may prefer the AR. Both options are excellent, period.

What they are important?

The AR and AK rifles offer you superior firepower (20 and 30 round magazines) in a semi-auto platform. If you live in an urban area with a lot of crime, you may find yourself dealing with hostile gangs who want to bully and steal from you and neighbors. Shotguns are great for home defense, but have a limited range. Pistols are wonderful for personal carry defense, but have limited power and range. Simply put, some of these gangs are heavily armed with AR and AK. So they may not be neccessary for everyone, but I've living in the most dangerous city in America (Flint, Michigan).

Here are some rules to keep in mind when selecting a semi-auto rifle.

1) Stick with Your Crowd
Why would you buy an AR when most of your friends shoot an AK? Buy the rifle and caliber that your friends have, so that if things go south, you can share ammo and magazines. Then you should buy the additional AR rifle. It's okay to have an HK rifle, but you don't want to be the only guy in your group without an AR-15.

2. Stick with your Budget
The GP WASR-10/63 was well within my budget. It would have been stupid to spend 1,000 bucks on the AR-15 and not have any money for the ammo to actually practice shooting the gun.

My Rifle $400
Mako Group Pistol Grip $25
K-Var Hand guards and Nato length Stock $118

3. Research the Rifles
Some people hate the ergonomics on the AKM. The pistol grip feels like a small paint brush and the buttstock is too small for a 6'2" guy like myself. Sometimes I wonder if the AK-47 was designed for 11 year old girls. Kidding! It's a great rifle. I bought a new pistol grip and a longer stock.

The AK has a lot of accessories, but the AR is easier to modify. I didn't care to but a scope on the rifle, so it didn't matter.

By the way, if you buy a Century Arms rifle, make sure that you can physically inspect it before you buy for it. I bought my rifle at Dunham's Sports store.

4. Research the Ammo
There are corrosive (surplus) and non-corrosive ammunition for the AKM. The corrosive is cheap and stores longer, but you need to clean the gun after you shoot it. If you're rifle has a non-corrosive barrel, that will help as well. But seriously, aren't you suppose to clean your gun after you use it, anyway!

My guns are always cleaner than my room.

Wolf ammo is cheap can be used for both the AR and AK. Frankly, my knowledge on the AR is limited. I will saw this, 308 and 556 should be easier to find than the 7.62x39, because the U.S. military uses the AR-15. However, the 7.62x39mm is still very easy to find. The 5.45x39mm is very cheap (as of September 2011), but you usually have to look on the Internet to find it. Availability will vary from region to region.

5. Test the Rifles
Shoot your buddy's rifle and see if the AK-47 is too heavy. Remember, the AR is lighter so it will be easier to carry around. Since the AK-47 style rifle will require bigger rounds, you will be carrying more weight than you would if you bought an AR. I'm a 6'2" 300 pound animal, the extra weight of the AKM doesn't bother me. You may not feel the same after walking for miles with the rifle.

In closing, you may learn that you are more comfortable for the AR, but your friends all have an AK. If you can't afford both then it may be wiser to stick with the AK since it is a cheaper gun and you don't have much money. Later, you can get the AR. But that's what I would do. Whatever you do, make sure it is a gun that you are comfortable with.

SHTF: The Importance of Team Work

2011-09-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

The sooner you start to prepare, the easier it will be. Let’s say that Tom, John and Sarah live in a small town. Let’s call it Bloomsfield. If there’s a disaster and Tom started preparing 6 months in advance, he’ll be better off than the Sarah if she didn’t prepare at all. And if John started to prepare 12 months in advance, he will probably be better off than both Sarah and Tom. So preparing for an emergency will put you in a better position to survive in a disaster. If a hurricane hits the Bloomsfield and all three survive, it will be important if John and Tom stored up some extra food and water.

Now, let’s say that Tom is injured. Sarah has no food or water and most of John’s stored water was contaminated. If Tom prepared ahead of time and his water survived the disaster and John still has a lot of stored food. Sarah can get John to help Tom. John can share his food with Sarah and Tom, while Tom shares his water with John and Sarah. If Sarah has some medical supplies and John is strong enough to move Tom, they will be able to help Tom out in a more effective manner.

If you can network with some like-minded people, this should improve your chances in a time of crisis. Simply put, I am convinced that America’s political and economic systems are imploding and soon we maybe forced to deal with a tough transition. This transition may include failures in basic systems such as food and water. I don’t know. No one does.

Here's what you can do to improve your chances during a civil unrest scenario:

1) Create An Emergency Plan
Have a meeting with like-minded friends and family and decide how you will protect each other for things go south. You need to figure out how you will communicate if the cell phone towers become unreliable.

2) Create Standard Communication
Me and my friends live close to each other so that helps. But we will still need to form a plan to use CB radios or something.

3) Standard Your Equipment
You need to use the same type of radios and same caliber of ammunition. My buddy Nick thought it would be a good idea to pay a pistol that shot 40 SW, because he wanted his girlfriend to be able to shot it. Which makes sense. However, since I am the only friend he has who owns a pistol, he could have benefited from buying my caliber 45ACP. Maybe I am at fault for buying such a large caliber. But I bought the best caliber for me, not for a woman. With that said, he is not into prepping. If something bad goes down, he won't be able to get ammo from me, because we don't shot the same caliber. Make sure that if you form a security team that everyone shoots the same caliber and if you really have your act together, you'll be shooting the same gun (i.e. Glock 21 or whatever). That will allow you to offer each other additional magazines when people run out.

Bottom line: If you work in groups, you'll be less likely to be targeted and more likely to be able to protect yourself in a SHTF situation.

What do you think?

5 Fundamental Rules For Storing Food

2011-09-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

5 Fundamental Rules For Storing Food
By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

See, not only is it important to store food, but it is also important to build relationships. Everyone should store non-perishable food goods such as can goods and dried foods. The latter is becoming very expensive (as of 2011). Hell, food in general is rising in cost. I recommend you follow the 5 fundamental rules for storing food.

1. Store What You Eat
If you don’t eat corn beef harsh, why store it. Stock up on foods that you want to eat, because if you don’t you will be miserable and your body may react negatively to the new foods. If chill makes you throw up, it’s better to find out before a disaster strikes.

2. Cycle Your Food
Eat some of your canned fruits and replace them when you go to the grocery store. Just because they can last for years, it doesn’t mean you should just let them sit around. This will keep your stock fresher and allow you to make adjustments.

3. Diversify
If the world ends as we know it and the power grid goes down, you don’t want to be suck eating the same thing for the next six months. Buy fruits, vegetables, soups, rice (white), beans, pasta, tuna, salmon, chicken, etc.

4. Build meals
The thing I like most about rice is that it can be used with other foods to build meals. Soups are also a good item to mix with beans and rice.

5. Place Foods in Different Locations
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

SHTF: The Importance of Water

2011-09-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

Since your body can go longer without food than water, I recommend you start with water. Now keep in mind that your needs with vary depending on what region you live in. If you live in a desert in the Southeast, you will be storing more water than a person who is surrounded by the Great Lakes.

Water

Not only should you store water, but you should make plans to filter or clean it. You can drink the water you store and filter water from a local creek.

Step 1: Research and Plan
Research prices for large water containers, water filter and find out if your house relies on a pump or gravity to get water from the system. If your house gets water through a pump system, you may want to keep a note of it. If the electrical grid goes down and stays down for weeks, you may not have access to water, because the pumps require electricity. Just a thought. In that case, I would fill one of the bath tubs up with water when the lights go out. For example, if there was a dollar collapse, days of riots in major cities, food storages and then the power went out, it would be a good idea to fill that tub.

Make sure you get plenty of maps and locate every water source within 50 miles. You also need to walk to the best (and closest) source so that you can memorize it. This will come into play if you run out of emergency water.
The Rules
1. Store at least one month of water for everyone in your household.
2. Store one gallon of water for every person per day. There are three members in my household, so I store three gallons. So if I want to store one month for everyone, I store (3 gallons x 30 days = ) 90 gallons.
3. Have a means of cleaning new water.

Step 2: Store Water
You can get good ideas at Walmart for water cooler containers. This is what I use and it works for me. I but them and fill them up with tap water. I also pour some of the water out of the containers and refill it every it every six months. You can use the exiting water for another purpose such as cleaning.

Step 3: Acquire water filters and purifiers
Purifiers are substances that will kill the bacteria and germs in water so that you clean and drink river or clean water. Although, you might want to do some research on the factories located near the creek that you will be drinking out of. I recommend you research Katadyn water filters and the Berekley system.

Why You Should Prepare For the Worse!

2011-08-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

What You Should Prepare For the Worse!
By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

This message is about choices. It’s not a sermon on how you should live your life. Nor is it political commentary or economic analysis. It’s about looking at the world around you and asking yourself if this paradigm is sustainable. Is it possible that my world could be disrupted by the chaos and uncertainty of an emergency? Over the last three year, some people have accused me of swirling fear, but that was never my mention. I want to empower people by encouraging them to take the necessary action to protect themselves and their families. So I tell people to plan ahead and figure out how they will respond to various emergencies.

Most of my advice is common sense, but unfortunately, common sense has become rare in this superficial world of ours. What was once common practice is now viewed as the extreme, eccentric and absurd. In the early 1900s and early, it was common place for Americans to can and store food. Many Americans lived in rural areas, grew vegetables and fruits in the spring and stored meats in the winter. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 43.9% of the American people lived in rural areas in 1930. Since then, the population has gravitated to cities and suburbs. In 1990, over 75% of the population lived in urban areas. (1)

What this means is that the nature and the functionality of the country has dramatically changed. Thanks to the advancement in technology, farms cans use machines to triple their production of food, hence reducing the number of necessary workers. Because so few Americans like in rural areas, most people have no idea how to grow crops and manage livestock. So most of us rely on a number of systems to access our food. Corporate farming has only added to the population’s dependence on farming, because corporations buy up land and reduce the number of small family farms. Most Americans buy corporate food. This food is usually not locally grown and as a result, the food goes through a massive (but vulnerable) system before it is able to get to the local grocery store.

Think about how vulnerable and complicated the system has become. First, corporations use genetic engineering to alter the crops (e.g. in size). Second, they use diesel gas to power the large machines (tractors) to develop and extract the crops. They even need oil to fuel the planes and machines that spray the crops with pesticides. Third, they use electricity from natural gas and coal to power the machines that organize and package the products. Not only do they use petroleum to move the products down the assembly line, but the packaging itself requires petroleum. Plastics come from petroleum, cans require metal to be formed by heat energy. And don’t forget that the corporations need gas to transport the cans and metal to the proper facilities. Do you see a pattern forming?

You need a lot of energy to produce corporate food on a massive scale. And the corporations need this energy before the food even leaves the plant. In many cases, the corporations must transport food from the farms to the packing facilities and the trucks or trains require energy to function. After the food is packaged, the item is shipped to a distribution center. Fifth, every item that enters the corporations database is put into a delivery system that organizes the delivery of items to stores based on a “just-in-time” delivery system. But the corporation needs energy to keep the distribution center running and diesel to keep the trucks moving. Finally, when the food finally gets to your store, it often needs to be refrigerated. And that requires a lot of energy to. So corporations are spending energy to freeze the food at the plants and putting them into refrigerated trucks that also require energy.

Now, imagine if this system didn’t require stores to stock food in massive warehouses as a precaution. Imagine or not, this is reality. The “just-in-time” system doesn’t rely heavily on reserves being stored in warehouses. Insist, the trucks are the warehouses. The computer systems gather the data from the stores and use the databases to calculate what stores need what. And if everything goes well, the items arrive just in time for the store to stock the shelves. The problem is that if the system is damaged at any point, food supplies drop. If there is a gas shortage, then the cost of producing, packaging and transporting food rises. If the U.S. dollar collapsed, it would mean that central banks across the world began dumping U.S. treasuries and dollars. This would send a massive influx of dollars to the U.S., but would force Americans to provide a lot more dollars for the oil they need for their unusually high standard of living.

Oil is relatively cheap in America, because the oil-producing countries have agreed to sell their oil exclusively in U.S. dollars. This makes the U.S. dollar the world’s reserve currency. So while other countries must implement more sensible monetary policies, the U.S. central bank (the Federal Reserve) can print dollars at will. The result is that it lowers the value of the dollar, but the burden is placed on the taxpayers. This scam allows the government to borrow excessive amounts on money from the Federal Reserve, while using the funds for empire-building around the world. The United States of America has a consumer-based economy. We went from American factories, American manufacturing plants, gold-backed currency, big middle class and small mom-and-pap stores in the 1950s to third world factories, distribution centers, fiat currency, credit cards, and Walmart in 2000s. Ask yourself, is this sustain? Again, you have a choice. You can either look at your reality and plan for the most likely scenarios.

Option A: Assume Everything will go your way, all of the time.

This option is for anyone for believes that the U.S. economy is sustain, the government is solvent and political system is legitimate Of course, you would have to ignore the failures of Washington D.C. in responding to the economy mess: the bailouts, stimulus and jobs program. Both Republicans and Democrats have supported the corporate bailouts and some form of stimulus, either it was Bush or Obama’s schemes. By selecting this option, you would also have to ignore the estimated $600+ trillion dollars in derivatives and the zombie banks. You also need to hope that gold falls from the sky, so that the federal government can pay tens of trillion dollars in debt obligations. John Williams (shadowstats.com) used GAAP accounting to calculate that the U.S. government has over $71 trillion in debt obligations as of 2010. (3)

Keep in mind, that selecting this option means that you believe that you will never face a natural disaster (tornado, earthquake, flood, etc.) or man-made disaster (terrorist attack, nuclear accident, war, economic meltdown, dollar collapse, etc.) for the rest of your life and therefore, it makes no sense to prepare. If you selected this option and lived in Japan when the nation was it with a 8.9-magnitude earthquake that causes massive tsunamis to kill thousands of people on March, you may have wished that you had more emergency supplies.

Perhaps you will be fortunate enough to never need emergency supplies, but having them will provide peace of mine. And on the other hand, if someone does happen, you’ll be better prepared. But you don’t prepare and something does happen, you’ll be making life a lot harder on yourself. Remember, it only takes one disaster to make Option A the worse decision you’ve ever made.

Option B: Starting Prepping (preparing for an emergency)

If you choose this option, you should start with examining things that you need most to stay alive. Air, water, food and people.

Part Two (Coming Soon)

1. US Census Bureau, “Urban and Rural Population: 1900 to 1990” Oct. 1995
http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/urpop0090.txt

2. Financial Management Service, “Fiscal Year 2010, by Section” 2010
http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/index.html

3. Shadow Stats, “Total GAAP-Based Obligations of $71 Trillion at Five-Times GDP Level”