Thread: BASIC LIST / SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL

Tips for Communication & Family Emergency Planning

Saturday, February 6, 2010

How are you going to communicate with your family in a disaster? Will phone lines or mobile phones work? What other options are there? How can we quickly and efficiently contact our family members? Do you know the addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of your family members including home, work and school? Is that information just in your mobile phones or do you have paper copies? These are questions we need to consider and remedy before we are faced with an emergency situation. Keep copies of your lists in all 72 Hour Kits and all other emergency supply locations.

Organize a Family Calling Tree where each person is responsible to call one person in the family. If one person is unable to contact their assigned person, they call the next person on the list. The last person on the list calls the first and reports any important information gathered in the tree. Practice this every few months and work out any problems.

Have a “secret code word” between you and your child to share with a trusted person only when they are asked to pickup your child from school. Impress on your child the importance of keeping it a secret, not to be shared even with their friends.

If we are stranded in the wilderness or trapped in a disaster area, how can we help rescuers find us? Learn how to give signals in an emergency situation.
http://blog.iprepare.com/2010/03/ear...checklist.html

The 4 Most Likely Ways You Can Die if the SHTF

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The subject of survival in a long term disaster goes beyond having stockpiles of beans, bullets and band-aids. Those that do survive during a long term emergency will no doubt be tried and tested with a great many things. One of those trying scenarios is dealing with death.


Zombie attacks seem to be a prevalent theme for preppers to prepare for. In fact, the CDC has even posted a preparednessarticleon how to ward off zombie attacks. While I believe these zombies will likely take the form of substance abusers, mental patients, chronically ill or diseased, and desperate individuals whose basic needs have not been met, they will die out in the first few months of an onset of a major disaster, and there presence will rarely be an issue in a long term situation.


In reality, a majority of those that will die during a long-term disaster will be from illnesses brought on by acute respiratory infections due to cramped living conditions, poor water conditions (or lack of), or bacterial infections from wounds. If we survive a major disaster,

America would become a third world country and the aftermath of such a scenario will be similar to those living in Africa, Ethiopiaand India.


Illness Due to Poor Water Conditions


Typically, any diseases that are brought on by lack of sanitationand hygiene are controllable and preventable. In a disaster where water sources are compromised, people within a 50 mile radius could be adversely impacted by illness and disease if just one personincorrectly handles water or incorrectly disposes of waste. Contaminated water, poor sanitation and/or lack of hygiene leads to diseases such as Hepatitis A, viral gastroenteritis, cholera, Shigellosis, typhoid, Diphtheria and polio. If these diseases affect enough people, an epidemic will ensue.


Dehydration and diarrhea are also water-related matters to contend with. Those without adequate water conditions and/or are suffering from disease brought on by poor water conditions could quickly dehydrate. These types of illnesses typically affect at-risk populations such as children, the sick and the elderly. Young children in particular are at high risk for diarrhea and other food- and waterborne illnesses because of limited pre-existing immunity and behavioral factors such as frequent hand-to-mouth contact. The greatest risk to an infant with diarrhea and vomiting is dehydration. In addition, fever or increased ambient temperature increases fluid losses and speeds dehydration. Having knowledgebeforehand on how to properly clean drinking water and food, and the symptomology and treatment of these types of diseases can prevent further outbreaks from occurring.


Recommended preparedness items: water filtration systems, water purification tablets,chlorine granules, bleach, electrolyte or rehydration powders, anti-diarrhea medicines.


Malnutrition


Malnutrition from either improper water conditions or from lack of nutrients is also a large killer amongst those in impoverished communities. Medical experts say there is a symbiotic relationship between malnutrition and diarrhea. Malnutrition increases the severity of diarrhea while diarrhea can cause malnutrition. Either way, prevention for both of these health issues is key.

Those that are malnourished are more susceptible to illness and disease. Individuals who are malnourished will also be vitamin deficient and their health is likely to regress further. Those who survive from malnutrition are permanently affected by this disease and may suffer from recurring sickness, faltering growth, poor brain development, increased tooth decay, reduced strength and work capacity, and increased chance of chronic diseases in adulthood. Adult women with this condition will give birth to underweight babies.


Recommended preparedness items:dietary supplements,vitamin powders, seeds forsproutingor seeds for freshvegetables and fruits,survival bars, knowledge ofalternative meansto attain vitamins.



Acute Respiratory Infections


Upper respiratory infections (URI) will also be a leading cause of death in a long term disaster. Upper respiratory infections include: colds, flu, sore throat, coughs and bronchitis can usually be cured with additional liquids, rest and nourishment. Allowing the illness to exacerbate will lead to secondary infections such as bacterial pneumonia. The germs from pneumonia are easily spread from an infected person to others by coughing or sneezing or through close contact. A major concern about respiratory infections is that there are many drug resistant strands of viruses, bacteria and diseases (including tuberculosis), that regular medicine will not cure. In a long term disaster situation, many could perish.

To properly prepare for this type of medical situation, learn about the more prevalent viruses and bacteria in your country and how to prevent them in order to provide a healthy living environment in a long term situation.

Not only are URI’s a concern but other air-borne diseases such as tuberculosiswill likely fester during a long term scenario. In regular non-SHTF times, treatment for tuberculosis requires 6-12 months of medication. In a long term emergency, chances of surviving tuberculosis are slim. The best way to prevent tuberculosis is adequate nutrition, vitamin D and living in a properly ventilated shelter.
Survival groups that have multiple people living under one roof will only increase the likelihood of passing air-borne infections and diseases to one another. In addition, those in an at-risk group (elderly, immuno-deficient, infants) are more likely to catch illnesses. If a survival group is sharing a home, an infirmary or sick room should be prepared for those who have fallen ill. Isolating the person who is ill will limit exposure to the other members of the group. Adequate nutrition, water, rest, good sanitary practices and ventilation of the home is essential in curbing this.


Recommended preparedness items: decongestants, expectorants, upper respiratory medicines, antibiotics (for secondary and bacterial infections),knowledge on medicinal herbs, prepare a sick room at your survival homestead.


Infections From Wounds


Open injuries have the potential for serious bacterial wound infections, including gas gangrene and tetanus, and these in turn may lead to long term disabilities, chronic wound or bone infection, and death. Anitibiotics will be few and far between and will be more precious than gold. Without proper medicines, antiseptic and knowledge on proper medical procedures, many will die of bacterial infections. Learning medical skills, gaining knowledge on natural medicinesand alternative medical antiseptic (i.e., Dakin’s Solution) before a disaster occurs could help people survive from wound infections. Also, ensuring the area that you treat medical emergencies is clean and as sterile as possible may also prevent bacterial infections.


Recommended preparedness items: stock up on maxi pads for wound absorption, gauze, celox, antibiotics, suture needles and other basic first aid supplies.

Additionally, consider developing the following skills: basic first aid class, sign up for EMT classes in your community, an off-grid medical care class such as those offered byonPoint Tactical. Also, consider investing in books such asWhen There is No DoctorandWhen There is No Dentist.


Also look into making your own antiseptics utilizing alcohol distillation, such as the custom made units fromLNL Protekt.


These illnesses (provided above) have impacted countries all over the world. These illness and conditions, coupled with unsanitary living conditions such as substandard sanitation, inadequate food and water supplies and poor hygiene, make disaster-affected people especially vulnerable to disease. These illnesses will affect us no matter what part of the world we live in, what socio-economic status we currently hold, and no matter how prepared we think we are.

Understanding what can happen and being prepared when it does is absolutely essential. The last thing we want to do when a serious condition arises is to panic. Preparing your supplies, developing your skills and educating the rest of your family and preparedness group on how to prevent, identify and counteract these serious conditions will provide a significant boost to your ability to survive if the worst happens.


Written byTess Pennington


Tess Pennington is a guest contributor of the Texas Preppers Network. Thanks Tess.



Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

http://texaspreppersnetwork.blogspot...e-if-shtf.html

Survival Survey: What would you eat to stay alive?

Comments 28

Dumpster diving for fun AND food!


Image by Lunauna.

In just about any end-of-the-world conversation, someone invariably makes this statement. “I wouldn’t want to survive in that kind of scenario.” That may be true when spoken on a full stomach in the comfort of our 21st century, modern world, but in a world short of food, just what would you do to stay alive? What would you be willing to eat or to feed your kids?

My friend David Michaud of Survival-Goods has put together a list of foods you would never want to eat but could if your life depended on it. From his list:

1. Animal Food
With any luck the architect of your incarceration is an animal lover and thus in some dusty cupboard you’ll find food fit for a beast. Both dog and cat food contain most of the essential vitamins and minerals required to sustain life. However if you hit upon a few fish flakes, which are high in fatty acids and phospholipids, garnish your dog meat with them and your survival is assured!

2. Waste
In the majority of households the largest stockpile of underutilized nutrients will be found amongst the refuse, old apple cores, half eaten cup cakes, and perhaps even a potato peeling or two. Any tangerine skin you find be sure to keep. Nibbling it helps to alleviate nausea, something you’ll no doubt experience as your ordeal continues.

Of course if cultural currency of this Freegan trend continues to rise it seems that all of us be rifling through the bin sooner rather than later. Oh joy.

AACK! You can read David’s entire list here.

Be sure to report back and let us know what you would be willing to eat if there was nothing to eat!

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/09/14...to-stay-alive/

http://www.survivalfood.net/

Just Jeff's Hiking Page
Going to the woods is going home, for I suppose we came from the woods originally

http://www.tothewoods.net/JeffsHikingPage.html

http://www.wildernessoutfittersarchery.com/

Make Your Own Solar Cooker

September 26, 2011 by Peggy Layton

A solar cooker uses the power of the sun to cook.

A friend of mine introduced me to the concept of making a solar oven out of three square mirrors inside a box or crate. The idea requires the use of mirrors inside the container to reflect heat to the pot or Pyrex® cooking dish so it doesn’t burn or melt the box, crate or wood. It is safe this way.

I like to put the solar cooker on a table outside or on the cement sidewalk just to be safe. The mirrors are reflective, so keep them away from buildings and aim them south toward the sun, because mirrors can start fires. Rotate or refocus them every half hour to keep the food cooking evenly.

This cooker has two glass bowls, one on top of another. You will need a Pyrex® bowl and lid as well as an inner bowl made out of black enamel or glass, or even a small cast iron pan without a handle. The inner bowl traps the heat and cooks the food, while the outer bowl acts like a greenhouse, keeping heat and moisture inside the pot. You can use oven roasting bags. This will eliminate the need for an outer bowl or pot. I like to stock up on the roasting bags and keep them in my food storage.

This solar cooker is inexpensive. I purchased my mirrors at Wal-Mart and used a heavy-duty cardboard box, with two sides cut off. The box works fine unless it rains. Wood would work, too, unless it got too much rain and started to warp.

My friend is very resourceful; he has used broken mirrors as well as scrap material that he salvaged. In event of some emergency, we may need to find broken mirrors and pieces of wood and make do with what we have. I believe it is imperative that we have skills that help us be better prepared in case of emergency. Learning how to make and use a solar cooker is one of those skills.

Windshield Sun Shade Oven

Use any type of reflective material such as a reflective Mylar® windshield visor, Mylar® bags, tin foil, Mylar insulation, aluminum, etc. Wrap it around in a half-circle or funnel so the bottom is open to the sun. Make sure the back is taller, so the sun can reflect into the bowl or cooking pot. Aim the oven to the south and watch the sun so it is focused on the reflective material. You can cut pieces of cardboard or wood and wrap tinfoil around them as well.
I decided to try it out, so I dug some new red potatoes from the garden, washed them and put them in the pot with water. I put the lid on the pot, put the pot in a turkey-roasting bag and tied it up with a twist-tie. I placed the pot on the cookie rack in the center of the Sun Shade Oven. In an hour the pot was boiling, and within three hours my potatoes were cooked. It was amazing and lots of fun. With a little creativity and skills we can improvise and learn to cook outdoors.

How To Build A Solar Cooker

Materials needed to build a solar cooker include:

• A reflective Mylar® accordion-type folding car sunshade or insulation material that has Bubble Wrap® covered with reflective Mylar® material.
• A cake rack or grill.
• 6 inches of Velcro®, strips of duct tape or aluminum tape.
• A black pot, Dutch oven or black enamel roasting pan.
• A plastic roasting bag.
• A small outdoor table, if needed.

1. Lay the sunshade down so the notched side is toward the bottom. If using insulation, cut it into a rectangular shape that can be folded to provide 2 feet of reflection on three sides and a piece across the bottom.
2. Cut the Velcro® into three 2-inch pieces. I like the Velcro® that has a sticky back on each side. I didn’t have Velcro® so I used aluminum tape, however duct tape will work as well.
3. Space the Velcro® on the bottom of the sunshade. Put one piece on the right side and the other piece on the left side. The goal is to make a funnel shape out of the sunshade or tape the sunshade into a funnel with a flat bottom. I had to fold it over and take darts in the material to get it to lay flat.
4. Put the Velcro pieces together. Set the Mylar® sunshade on top of an outdoor table or on anything that lifts the solar oven off the ground and can be turned and refocused toward the sun. I tried it on the cement sidewalk low to the ground, and it worked fine.
5. Set the cake rack or grill in the center of the funnel so the pot will have a stable place to sit. The rack will keep the pot up away from the Mylar®. This allows the sun to reflect on the bottom of the pot and lets air circulate around the pot.
6. It is good if you attach a temperature gauge to the inside of the pot so you can tell how hot it gets. Use a candy thermometer if you have one. This step is not necessary unless you are baking bread or something that you need to stay at a constant temperature.
7. It is necessary to use a black pot or a roasting pan with a lid. If baking, you can use a cookie sheet, cake pan or bread pan. It is best to use the dark pans because they hold the heat. Put them inside a roasting bag and twist-tie it shut. Use a plastic roasting bag to enclose the pot. This keeps the heat inside the bag and helps the heat remain constant. These bags can be used over and over until they fall apart or get too dirty to clean. Just rinse the bags in between cooking with them.

This oven acts like a slow cooker; if you leave it all day, your meal will be ready when you get home from work. Point the cooker in the direction of the sun to the south. Set it early in the morning pointing so that it will face the sun at noon, when the sun will be the highest. Let it set all day and enjoy a meal in the afternoon.

This solar cooker can be folded up and stored flat. It is lightweight and works really well. If you used duct tape to shape it, simply remove the tape and store the solar oven flat. Keep an extra role of tape to use the next time you cook with the sun.

Food Storage And Self-Sufficiency Products Available

If you are interested in the commmercial SUN OVEN® and accessories featured in my recent article Cook With The Sun Using The SUN OVEN® or any of the seven books I have written (such as Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook, Cookin’ with Home Storage or Root Cellaring), 250-gallon water storage tanks, food-storage containers, ION water treatment, dehydrated food storage sealed in gallon-sized cans with a shelf life of 15 or more years, wheat grinders, sewage treatment or 72-hour packs or emergency medical supplies, click here.

Prepackaged Food Storage Meals With A 15-Year Shelf Life

I have been storing packaged meals called eFoods. They are ideal for long-term food storage because they are packaged in Mylar® pouches that serve four people. Everything is in the pouch except water. Just add water and cook the food for 15 minutes, and it’s done. The meals are delicious, and the company will let you try samples of the meals before you buy. Just pay $9.95 for shipping, and you get three meals that serve four people. I find them very delicious and easy to make. That is what you need in a crisis situation. I don’t just save them for a rainy day. I make the eFoods for meals when I am in a hurry, in the mountains, camping, hiking or feeding a crowd. I have decided that premade meals are the best food storage you can buy. They are fast, easy and convenient. You don’t waste food that way. This company has a program through which you can get one box of food per month. They call it “auto-shipment,” and it’s great! All you need is 10 minutes to set it up, and your food storage will be on auto-ship. Each month, you get a box of food delivered to your home. Go to the website, click on Take the Freedom Tour, sign up for the free food and enjoy. Check it out here.

–Peggy Layton

http://www.personalliberty.com/survi...-solar-cooker/

Prepare to Defend Yourself with Extreme Brutality

Mac Slavo
September 27th, 2011
SHTFplan.com
180 Comments



One minute your minding your own business walking out of the grocery store, the next minute you’re confronted by an individual or individuals who would do you harm. Are you mentality and physically prepared to act quickly and without remorse?

Most of our readers will never go out into public seeking a confrontation. But there is no doubt that trouble will find some of us. Take, for example, Mark LaVelle, a suburban dad and father of four, who was recently attacked by a mob that kicked in his door and beat him while his wife and kids watched and listened from the second floor of their home. He and his family were at the mercy of their attackers:

ABOUT 11 P.M. on Sept. 9, dozens of youths with bats and pipes descended on a tidy residential area of Port Richmond looking for white teens who allegedly had attacked an African-American kid at Stokely Playground a couple of hours earlier.

Two fearful white teens spotted Mark LaVelle on Indiana Avenue near Belgrade Street and asked for help. Suddenly, the mob appeared. LaVelle, who said that he didn’t know the two kids, who looked to be 13 or 14, ran with them into his nearby house.

” ‘We got you, you white mother——-!’ ” LaVelle said he heard someone yell in the “mob” of black and Hispanic youths.
…
With the two teens hiding in the house, LaVelle, 5 feet 10, 220 pounds, a well-known sports-league organizer and coach in the community, went outside to try to calm the angry mob.
They were standing on his steps. One shouted, ” ‘Something’s going to happen now!’ ”
…
But the attackers pounded on his front windows and kicked his wooden door so hard, it flew open and some of them entered his house.
“The first guy hits me with a pipe. The second guy knocks me in the face. All I’m hearing is my wife and kids screaming,” said LaVelle, who feared that the next time they saw him, he would be in a casket.

He said that he was able to push the attackers out the door, but then a third man – who had a gun – tried to extend his arm. LaVelle grabbed onto the gunman’s lower arm and shoulder so he couldn’t raise the weapon. Then, police sirens screamed in the neighborhood, and the mob turned and ran.

Mr. LaVelle’s experience should be a warning to us all. You may not be looking for it, but sometimes trouble will find you. If you are not prepared to deal with it, then there is a distinct possibility that you’ll end up in a casket, as LaVelle feared when he was being attacked.

To be sure, Mr. LaVelle made a mistake in the heat of the moment by trying to quell the crowd when emergency responders had been called and were on their way. Unless the police are unavailable due to wide spread chaos, there is no reason you should attempt to confront a mob of rabid dogs while your defenseless family is in your home.

Nonetheless, this situation and the many other similar instances we’ve be exposed to over our lifetimes are proof positive that if you’re not readily assessing threats around you it could prove fatal.

In his Spring 2011 Trends Journal trend forecaster Gerald Celente provides subscribers some key insights in Mental Conditioning for Self-Defense, Security, and Survival from his long-time self defense trainer Bradley J. Steiner. Among a host of fantastic self defense tips, Professor Steiner discusses the “combat color code” – something we strongly urge you to implement in your daily routine, especially when out in public venues. While some might call it paranoid, we suggest that paranoia is a self defense mechanism, and Professor Steiner’s combat color code will help to put threats into perspective, which helps to reduce stress, anxiety and fear because your aware of your surroundings:

You must be attack minded. This means always being prepared for the moment when you need to attack. There is a practical “combat color code” that helps develop the habit of setting the mind. Colors easily allow you to remember where on the scale of awareness you should be.

WHITE: Unready. Unprepared. Avoid being “mentally in white,” except when you are in a place that is entirely under your control, and you are with people you know and trust.
YELLOW: Relaxed and alert. This means that whenever you are out and about in the world, you are always aware and alert to what is going on around you, and to anyone who is physically near you. (Try this next time you’re outfor a walk or in the supermarket. Staying aware and alert is much more difficult than you might imagine.) Commit to living in “Yellow.”

ORANGE: Alarm. In Yellow you say to yourself: “This fellow is approaching me”; in Orange you say: “I may have to take this guy off the count.” In Orange you are ready to go! Your physical demeanor does not change, and thus you provoke and telegraph nothing. But you’ve set yourself so that any indication of physical violence will trip your wire, and you will snap into . . .

RED: Attack! And this is exactly what you do. The danger is clear and imminent, and you go.

99.9% of the time you will be in the white, yellow or orange color code levels. But once you’ve determined a Red Alert scenario – and it will likely happen automatically within a very short time frame measured in milliseconds - there should be no stopping you.

Once the conflict turns red, all bets are off and you must act with speed, confidence, efficiency and extreme brutality.

The only way you’ll be able to achieve this is with the proper training, not just at your local gun range or karate dojo, but through personal examination and “war-gaming” of scenarios. Professor Steiner continues:

Training your psyche as well as your body to deal with emergencies is certainly the best and perhaps the only effective way to prepare for the looming global socio-economicturmoil. Acquiring the confidence that accompanies survival skills allows you to protect your loved ones, as well.

There is a saying that “toughtimes never last, but tough people do.” Too many think that “tough” means merely physically tough. That is just a part of it. Often, in adult life, the mentally toughest win — even in a physical fight. And there can be no doubt that when confronting and preparing for hard times there is very little that will assist you more than conditioning your mind for serious combat — acquiring the warrior’s mindset. Even if you never have to use it! Young and old possess the potential to learn enough to adequately defend themselves. Women may not be as strong as men, but through proper training they can acquire the capacity to disable a much larger and stronger attacker.

No one need be an expert, and no one needs to be in his or her physical prime in order to be able to protect himself in an emergency.

You must assume that any attack on your person or your family is unpredictable. You have no way of knowing the intentions of the person who has chosen to be aggressive and physically confront you. Are they intending to just push you? Punch you? Kill you? Always assume the worst case scenario, and as such, respond in kind. Anyone who is willing to aggressively attack you without provocation must be assumed to be mentally unstable and capable of going all the way. You must be willing to go all the way as well.

One key point we want to make is that when engaged in a confrontation of this nature, you can no longer act defensively. You must, at this point, become the attacker.

If you have a concealed firearm, use it. If no firearm is available, use any weapon that is available – a stick, rock, bottle, lamp, keys, even a rolled up newspaper – because it is better to attack with a weapon than to fight empty handed. As Professor Steiner suggests, you should only resort to fighting with your feet and hands if those are the only weapons you have available.
But if you happen to only have hands and feet when the confrontation starts you need to be thinking in terms of maximum damage – gouge eyes, tear ears, rip hair, hyper-extend a knee with below-the-waist kicks, break an elbow, spear hand attacks to the neck – essentially utilizing any technique that will rapidly disable the enemy with the most crushing blow available. Keep in mind you may be dealing with multiple attackers, so you will need to act fast as you shift from one threat to the next, so each strike should be measured and targeted at vital areas.

All rules should go out the window in a self defense situation. Here’s an example:

Police say a woman had just finished praying at St. John’s Church at Atlantic Street when she was approached by a man Thursday night while exiting out a side door.
Stamford police captain Richie Conklin says the man asked if he could hug the woman.

When she said no, he allegedly knocked her down and then grabbed and attempted to rape her.

“During that attack, he stuck his tongue into her mouth and she bit off a large portion of his tongue, which we recovered at the crime scene,” said Conklin. “There was an extreme amount of blood at the scene.”

Conklin says it was a big chunk.

The attacker was nabbed by police when he turned up seeking medical aid at a walk-in clinic in Stamford.

One thing is for sure – the attacker never saw it coming. Brutal. Effective. Life saving.

While having the right mindset is certainly important, it wouldn’t hurt to acquire training in the weapons mentioned above (including your hands and feet!). Head to the range regularly because shooting accuracy is a depreciating skill. Spending one to two hours weekly in a self defense class utilizing weapons training, as well as open hand techniques, will certainly increase your chances of survival during a confrontation. One recommendation in this regard is to seek out true self defense classes, as opposed to “sport” style fighting. You are not interested in scoring points in a competition. What you want is “battlefield application” – the kind of techniques that have been tried, tested and survived for centuries on battlefields throughout the world.

Above all, be prepared to face brutality by responding in kind – with overwhelming brutality that will surprise, disarm and neutralize the threat with extreme prejudice. You must be ready to take it all the way – your life and the safety of your family may depend on it.

http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-pr...ality_09272011

Media Lunacy: Gold Is Backed By Nothing, Unlike the US Dollar Which Is Backed by the American Government

Mac Slavo
September 29th, 2011
SHTFplan.com
47 Comments

UPDATE October 5, 2011 16:30

In an apparent attempt to bury the complete idiocy of this report, the original broadcasting station CTV has filed a copyright claim against the content. All instances of the following report are now being systematically removed from the internet. We apologize for the inconvenience, but the matter is completely out of our hands. The transcript below reflects the words of the reporter in the original report. Mike Adams of natural news has posted a copy of the video under Title 17 U.S.C, Section 107. (Starts at approximately 13:50)

We have no words to express the sheer lunacy of the following report:

There’s something else happening here. Some investors are not confident with what gold is backed by, or if it’s backed by anything at all, as compared to something like the US dollar. Investors are comfortable that the U.S. dollar is backed by the America government, so no matter what is happening to the American economy, something like the U.S. dollar is backed by the Federal Reserve that’s going to be around a year from now. That’s a much more comfortable investment for them.

Here is the Natural News Clip, with fair use notice included and Mike Adams reporting. The original CTV clip begin at 13:50.

Audio at the link

http://www.shtfplan.com/precious-met...nment_09292011

Is The U.S. Government Stockpiling Food In Anticipation Of A Major Economic Crisis?



September 23rd, 2011
222 comments

Is the U.S. government stockpiling huge amounts of food and supplies in anticipation that something bad is about to happen? Is something about to cause a major economic crisis that will require large quantities of emergency food? For a while, I have been hearing things about the government storing food through the grapevine and I have not been sure what to think about those rumors. Well, today I received a phone call that blew me away. I debated for quite a while before I decided whether or not to share this information with you all. Normally I do not like to talk about anything unless I am able to prove it by pointing to an article in the mainstream media. But the source of the information that I am about to share with you is rock solid. I cannot reveal his name, so you will just have to trust me on that. Hopefully the following information will be one more "dot" as we all try to connect the dots about what is really going on out there.

This morning I received a call from a very prominent person in the storable food industry. He has asked me not to reveal his name. I have been dealing with him for an extended period of time and I consider him to be a rock-solid source. When I talked to him today, he had just received a huge order for storable food from a U.S. government source. He told me that the dollar amount of the order was in the "five figures".

When he asked about why so much food was being ordered, the government source told him essentially that "you know what is coming". When pushed further, the government official did not elaborate.

It was unclear whether this was part of a larger food stockpiling program by the government. Perhaps this order was just part of the normal preparations that government agencies make for potential emergencies.

Nobody could blame the government for storing up some emergency food. That is something that we all should be doing.

The truth is that the government is taking emergency preparedness very seriously these days. For example, you can see video of a high-level NASA official urging NASA employees to develop preparedness plans for their own families right here.

But what if this is a sign of something bigger?

Remember, this is not some rumor I just pulled off the Internet. This is not something that someone got from "an aunt" somewhere.

I got this information over the telephone from the person who took the order.

I promised that I would not reveal any more specific details, so I won't.

But this does seem to fit with a pattern that we are beginning to see emerge.

Earlier this year, FEMA issued an RFI (Request For Information) that inquired about the availability of 140 million meals of emergency food. Apparently the food was meant to be stored up in case there was a "catastrophic disaster event" along the New Madrid Fault.

You can view this FEMA RFI right here. The following is an excerpt....

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) procures and stores pre-packaged commercial meals to support readiness capability for immediate distribution to disaster survivors routinely. The purpose of this Request for Information is to identify sources of supply for meals in support of disaster relief efforts based on a catastrophic disaster event within the New Madrid Fault System for a survivor population of 7M to be utilized for the sustainment of life during a 10-day period of operations. FEMA is considering the following specifications (14M meals per day):
- Serving Size - 12 ounce (entree not to exceed 480 calorie count);
- Maximum calories - 1200 and/or 1165 per meal;
- Protein parameters - 29g-37g kit;
- Trans Fat - 0;
- Saturated Fat - 13 grams (9 calories per gram);
- Total Fat - 47 grams (less than 10% calories);
- Maximum sodium - 800-930 mg;

Requested Menus to include snacks (i.e. fruit mix, candy, chocolate/peanut butter squeezers, drink mix, condiments, and utensils). All meals/kits must have 36 months of remaining shelf life upon delivery. Packaging should be environmentally friendly.

Mysteriously, seven days later this RFI was cancelled.
At that same time, FEMA also issued an RFI that sought to identify a supplier for 140 million blankets. You can view that RFI right here. The following is an excerpt....

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) procures and stores blankets to support readiness capability for immediate distribution to disaster survivors routinely. The purpose of this Request for Information is to identify sources of supply for blankets in support of disaster relief efforts based on a catastrophic disaster event within the New Madrid Fault System for a survivor population of 7M to be utilized for the sustainment of life during a 10-day period of operations.

FEMA is considering the following specifications (14M blankets per day):
- 100% cotton;
- White;
- 66" x 90"

Also, there have been some much publicized shortages of storable feed recently. There has been much speculation about whether or not the government is part of the reason for these shortages.
There are some products that simply were not available for an extended period of time. For example, the following was posted on the Mountain House home page....

As you know we have removed #10 cans from our website temporarily. The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well.

The shortages around the country got so bad at one point earlier this year that a special alert was posted on Raiders News....

Look around you. Read the headlines. See the largest factories of food, potassium iodide, and other emergency product manufacturers literally closing their online stores and putting up signs like those on Mountain House's Official Website and Thyrosafe's Factory Webpage that explain, due to overwhelming demand, they are shutting down sales for the time being and hope to reopen someday.

Unfortunately, shortages have not been limited to storable food. Most Americans don't realize this, but there is a significant shortage of certain pharmaceutical drugs in many areas of the country right now. Just check out the video news report posted below....



In addition, it is not just in the United States where food is being aggressively stored up. For example, a recent article in The Telegraph noted that governments all over the globe are now stockpiling food....

Authoritarian governments across the world are aggressively stockpiling food as a buffer against soaring food costs which they fear may stoke popular discontent.

Also, some governments are now gobbling up as much farmland as they can.

According to the New York Times, China has been buying up "vast tracts of Latin America’s agricultural heartland" and is seeking to acquire quality farmland all over the globe.
So what does all of this mean?

It could mean something.

It could mean nothing.

But as I have written about so much recently, we really do seem to be on the verge of a major economic crisis.

The signs that the financial world is melting down are all around us. I won't take the time to repeat what I have covered in the last few days here. If you missed any of it, just go back and read these articles over....

*Is Financial Instability The New Normal?

*Depressed As A Nation? 80 Percent Of Americans Believe That We Are In A Recession Right Now

*Nervous Breakdown? 21 Signs That Something Big Is About To Happen In The Financial World

One thing that I haven't covered yet is a very curious move by Lloyd's of London. It turns out the Lloyd's of London has started pulling money out of banks in Europe’s peripheral economies according to Bloomberg....

Lloyd’s of London, concerned European governments may be unable to support lenders in a worsening debt crisis, has pulled deposits in some peripheral economies as the European Central Bank provided dollars to one euro-area institution.

At this point, world financial markets have officially entered "bear" territory. In fact, global stocks are down approximately 20 percent since May.
Many believe that what we have seen is just the beginning of another major financial crisis.

For example, in a recent editorial for The Ticker, Karl Denninger (who saw the 2008 crash coming) warned that the house of cards is starting to fall once again....

Well, America (and the world), you’ve been scammed by the financial institutions and governments for the last 30 years. 2008 was the first spasm of recognition but was short-circuited by…. you guessed it…. even more scams. Rather than demand truth and an end to the games the American consumer lapped up the frauds and schemes of the politicians on both sides of the aisle who conspired with the financiers to rip you off once again.

Later on in the editorial, Denninger stated that he hopes that all of us have "taken the last couple of years to become prepared"....

Now recognition of that fact is dawning on people in a convulsive fashion, and markets of all sorts are reacting as one would expect when their entire worldview is exposed as having been a gigantic and intentional pyramid scheme constructed of debt layered upon debt thatcannot be paid down. The wrong thing was done in 2008 and there is zero evidence that our government has changed one iota in their singular focus on misdirection and lies in this regard.

Welcome to awareness; I hope you’ve taken the last couple of years to become prepared.

Well, if the anecdotal evidence presented above is an indication of a larger trend, it appears that the government is getting prepared.

And if the government is stockpiling food, who can blame them?

It should be obvious to anyone that the world has become an incredibly unstable place.

Hopefully we are not about to enter another major economic crisis, but it never hurts to be prepared.

If anyone out there has any additional information that is relevant to this report, please let me know.

If the government really has started to aggressively stockpile food, that would be an important thing to know.

If it is happening, the mainstream media surely will not tell us about it. So we will have to rely on one another for information.

So what do you think about all of this? Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion below....

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