New York Times Bestselling Author Larry Winget

Now he says, I’m a ‘prepper’ and is actively preparing himself and his family for the uncertain days ahead.

Read about what he’s personally doing to prepare in challenging times:

“Expect the best, but be prepared for the worst.”

I have written in my books, “Expect the best, but be prepared for the worst.”  I think most of us are great at expecting the best and do very little to prepare for the worst.  This is evidenced by people’s saving accounts!  But I think it’s time to take preparation to the next level.  Therefore, I have become a prepper.

No, I am not one of those wacko survivalist youtubers by any stretch of the imagination. However, as I said earlier, I am a realist.

The Disaster Ahead

Our economic system worldwide is a disaster.  The US is so upside down on its debt, with no solution at hand to fix any of it that I am not seeing a good way out of it right now.  I don’t think our entitled citizens are above revolting like we have seen in France and Greece.

Natural disasters are increasing causing power outages and other issues that either force people to leave their homes or force people to stay in their homes.  A report this week by the government said that our power grids are particularly susceptible to hackers.

Our borders are weak and our enemies are strong and sneaky.  There are many people and nations who simply don’t like us and wish us harm, along with many individuals right here in our own country.

Are You Prepared?

We are vulnerable on many levels. Even FEMA suggests that every person have at least three days worth of food and water stored in case of emergency.  Our grocery stores do not carry enough food to last three days if they lose power.  So what happens to you and your family if your area loses power for a week, or even a day?  Or if a natural disaster hits your area?  Or if there is a revolt due to economic collapse?  Are you prepared?

If you live in a climate where there is snow, you know you should put a blanket and some sand and other supplies in your car in case you get stuck in the snow.  You probably carry a jack and a spare tire and  jumper cables in your car ‘just in case.’  Yet that is most people’s entire level of preparedness.

Most people don’t have enough food in their homes to make dinner tonight.  If every fast food restaurant in their neighborhood closed for the day they wouldn’t even be able to have dinner tonight. That’s dumb, naïve and irresponsible.

Food and Water for Six Months,
A Generator Too…

I have food and water put away to last my family for six months.  It’s easy to do and not much money.  I have a generator and plenty of gas to keep it running for months.  I can cook even if all power is gone.  I can defend my family and my property if needed.  I am prepared in every way I can think of, not out of fear but because I am smart and have taken the time, the energy and the small investment it takes to care for my family ‘just in case.’

You may think this makes me a crazy survivalist, I think it just makes me a responsible person.  And while I hope none of us ever have to be tested in these regards, I won’t be one of those guys who looks back in regret because I couldn’t be bothered with it or was afraid of how it looked or sounded to others.

We think this is great advice.

What do you think?

Recommended:  1 year Food Supply
Source: Larry Winget

If you’ve attended our previous weekend, this new “hands-on” training with a private tour of the Prepare The Way cave warehouses helps you put what you’ve learned into action!

If you’re new to Really Ready Weekend, this is the fastest way to be ready when it counts in a weekend.

More information and register here: Really Ready Weekend Registration

See you there!

Barry Estabrook, author of “Tomatoland” explains what’s happening with tomatoes, why to grow your own and how workers are being treated like slaves:

What happens to tomatoes grown today?

Estabrook: Winter tomatoes that we get in our grocery stores and in fast food places are picked when they’re bright green. Any hint of coloration is treasonous in a Florida tomato field in the winter. The industry says they’re “mature green” and supposedly might develop flavor, but there’s no way the pickers can tell the difference between mature and immature.

These green tomatoes are taken back to a warehouse, packed in boxes, which are stacked on pallets and moved into storage areas where they’re exposed to ethylene gas. The gas forces the tomatoes to turn the right color; it doesn’t ripen them.

Does this account for the lack of flavor in the modern day tomato?

Estabrook: There are two factors at work here. The first is that the tomatoes are picked when they’re immature and no matter what you do, an immature tomato will never get any taste; though it might look alluring.

The second problem with industrial tomatoes is that for the last fifty years, they’ve been bred for one thing only, and that’s yield. One farmer told me, “I get paid per pound. I don’t get paid a cent for taste.” Sadly, he was right.

What are the challenges to growing tomatoes in a climate like Florida?

Estabrook: I quickly learned that from a botanical and horticultural point of view, you would have to be a fool to try to grow tomatoes commercially in a place like Florida.

The main problem is that tomatoes’ ancestors come from desert areas. They’re adapted to extremely dry, low-humidity areas. That’s why Southern Italy and parts of California are so good for tomatoes; it doesn’t rain all summer. Florida is notoriously humid, which is just perfect conditions for all of the funguses, rusts, blights, insects and pests that destroy tomatoes.

That’s why they have to use 110 different chemicals, fertilizers, fungicides and herbicides to even get a crop. Florida and California grow about the same amount of tomatoes. Florida uses eight times to get the same agricultural product.

The second problem with Florida is – I’m not even going to call it soil, because it isn’t. Florida tomatoes are grown in sand. Just like the sand on Daytona Beach, it’s great to wiggle your toes in, but it contains zero nutrients. None.

So they have to essentially pump in all the chemical food that the plant is going to need for its lifetime. Then they seal the row in plastic and hope they’ll get a crop.

What is the best choice for a consumer?

Estabrook: The best course of action is, of course, to grow your own or go to the farmers market. Or if you’re in your market, and you see tomatoes from your region in season, those are the best solutions.

Want to grow your own tomatoes and other fresh food even in a small space?

The book we use and recommend is All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space by Mel Bartholomew.

Click to order All New Square Foot Gardening

Video Source: Bloomberg
Text Source: CNN

Yes, Pet Emergency Preparedness.

Scenes of trapped people and pets prompted Ines de Pablo to form Wag’N Enterprises to promote training and emergency gear such as pet oxygen masks and first aid kits to hospitality companies.

Lots of organizations are prepared to help people, few are prepared to help our furry friends, she says.

She offers 10 tips to kick-start your pet emergency preparedness plans — good basic times not just for pets, but for people too:

1. Create an emergency contact list. Start with friends or family members who live nearby and can reach you or your pets quickly. Make sure they have keys, necessary codes or other information to access your home, grab the pets and evacuate. “For every Plan A, I have a Plan E,” de Pablo says. “Most Plan A’s don’t happen, so Plan C has to be just as good.”

2. Make an emergency kit. Fill a backpack with at least two weeks’ worth of food for your pets and plan for at least a gallon of water per day, per pet. If your animal eats wet food, then it will consume less water. Since de Pablo’s pets are on a raw diet, she keeps freeze-dried food handy.

Read the rest: Making an emergency plan for your pets

So what do you think, is this Emergency Preparedness gone wild? :-)

Our thoughts?

The film is an interesting mix of sci-fi and conspiracy with layers of intrigue, from government cover-up to the role of the Internet to what people will do to protect their families.  Real enough to leave you with the feeling, “it could happen.”

Here’s The Movie Guide review:

CONTAGION depicts an outbreak of a deadly virus that spreads at an extremely rapid rate. Around the world, top doctors take the challenge to stop it, including two American doctors. Homeland Security approaches one of the government doctors just in case the virus was a terrorist attack on the America. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization representative goes to China to find where the virus started and why. When the news media tells how contagious and horrible the virus is, people start to fight and kill each other for food, homeopathic vaccines and any means to save themselves. A private doctor finds a way to grow the virus, and the first step to finding the cure is made.

CONTAGION contains a few overt references to Jesus Christ and prayer. It also has very positive moral elements of doctors serving and saving people. However, it has a depressing theme. Also, the story doesn’t seem to have a clearly defined, dramatic beginning, middle and end. Along with its positive elements, the movie contains some foul language and violence. CONTAGION had a lot of potential but doesn’t live up to it.

Read the entire Movie Guide Review of Contagion

Your thoughts?

Interesting presentation from Craig Fugate on how FEMA and the federal government are learning to respond faster and more effectively to national disasters.

NOTES:

Whether you like it or not, in a catastrophic disaster, if you expect that somebody’s going to come to your assistance and personally meet all your individual needs and wants, it ain’t happening…  You’re but one part of any community.

When disaster strikes, you tend to look to government to make everything okay…  Because that’s what you’ve been told.

You do not live in a “national” government approach to disaster.  You live in a federal government.  FEMA doesn’t respond to every  disaster.  Local government responds.  States manage.  And when it exceeds the ability of the states, they ask the President for assistance.  FEMA is responsible to coordinate that response and support.  FEMA is never in charge.  FEMA operates in a support role.

Speed is critical.  You have about 72 hours to stabilize a community.  People in a disaster are not victims, they are survivors.  What they need is someone to empower them to take care of themselves.

Your thoughts?

What caused the massive power outage, the largest in California history?

ABC News is reporting that the grid was brought down by a lone repair technician removing a faulty piece of equipment.

How much damage did one person do?

• 5 million people in the dark;
• 2 million gallons of sewage pumped into the ocean;
• grocery stores closed;
• and the estimated cost to the economy, 118 million.

It’s sobering to think that our power system is so vulnerable, one mistake by a trained person could cause this much damage.

Who wants to trade places with that guy?