Quote For The Week
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
-Friedrich Nietzsche (German philosopher. 1844-1900)
Spring Break!
Like every May the past couple of years, this one is turning out to be no different in how hectic it is. Graduation days, birthdays, moving days, something days, maintenance, cleaning, the list goes on- aargh! As such, I’m going to take a little break from Survival And Prosperity- my spring break- until next Tuesday, May 15, when new material will appear again on the blog.
TCB,
Christopher E. Hill
Editor
“Jaan Pehechan Ho” from Bollywood film Gumnaam (1965)
YouTube Video
1st Annual Arizona Survivalist Show To Take Place On May 19
Now this sounds like it would not only be informative for preppers/survivalists/others, but also a lot of fun if you like vintage military aircraft. Plus, it’s for a good cause.
From the Facebook page of the 1st Annual Arizona Survivalist Show that’s scheduled to take place in Mesa on May 19:
Hey check out our upcoming event called the 1st Annual Arizona Survivalist Show. We have some excellent vendors lined up who are fully involved in this movement and we think you will be pleasantly surprised at the variety. If the “survival / prepper” movement interests you in even the slightest, then this is the event you need to attend.
This is also a great “2 for 1” event, as your cost of admission gets you into an incredible air museum, plus you can meet and purchase supplies from local “survival / prepper” vendors. Come out and support the museum.
I understand that 36 vendors have committed to the show to-date, including:
Preparing Wisely
Zero Hour Power
Foodwise
Honeyville Foods
Desert Food Storage
Urban Survivalist 1
Freedom Military Supply
Stop-N-Shop Military Surplus
Last Mag – Simulated Training
Outdoor Gear Barn
Arizona Citizens Defense League
Medd Packs USA
The Tactical Medic
Patriot Youth Corps
Solar Penny
Common Sense Prepardness
Hostile Hare – Nick Klein
Burr Ridge Wood Products
Independence Training
The Clipper Shack
Elite Readiness
COSTCO
Marauders Tactical Training
Gear Up (Tim Ralston)
Helton & Co. Inc.
Deanna Householder – Wonder Oven
Thrive In Glendale
Ed Spietz – local author
Premier Tactical
Relocation – Move Phoenix
Freeze Dry Guy
Darrell Palmer – Grain Fed Storage Meat
National Guard
Tank N Barrel
Thrive – Mesa
American Key & Safe
In addition, mini-seminars are scheduled to be held every 30 minutes in a designated education area.
Mark your calendars. Wish I could be there!
You can view a flyer for the event by clicking on the thumbnail graphic below:
Training For The Apocalypse On Nat Geo Channel Tonight
Last Thursday, I blogged about the April 30 premiere of Training For The Apocalypse on the National Geographic Channel. From the IMDb website:
A documentary chronicling the journeys of survivalists, truth-seekers and prophets united in their preparations for global cataclysm and the near-extinction of humanity as they struggle to make sense of the world they live in now.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the premiere, it will be re-broadcast tonight, Monday, May 7, at 6 PM Eastern Time on the National Geographic Channel.
Poll: 2 In 10 American Adults Believe End Of World Coming In Their Lifetime
Do you believe the world will end during your lifetime?
Findings from a recent poll show you wouldn’t be alone. From a press release on the Ipsos website last Tuesday:
One in seven (14%) global citizens agree ‘the world will come to an end during my lifetime,’ according to a new poll by global research company Ipsos on behalf of Reuters News. One in ten (10%) believe ‘the Mayan calendar, which some say ‘ends’ in 2012, marks the end of the world’ and another one in ten (8%) admit they ‘have been experiencing anxiety or fear because the world is going to end in 2012.’ The poll was conducted among 16,262 adults in 21 countries.
(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)
The belief that the world will end soon appears to be more accepted among American adults. The Ipsos poll showed that 22 percent of adult respondents in the United States agreed with the statement “the world will come to an end during my lifetime.”
Personally, I would have found the survey even more interesting if Ipsos had asked not just about “the end of the world” but “the end of the world as we know it,” or TEOTWAWKI.
Yes, there is a difference.
You can read the entire press release on the Ipsos website here.
Quote For The Week
Gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939, but I think civilized people don’t buy gold, they invest in productive businesses.
-Charles Munger, Vice Chairman and partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, in a CNBC interview last Friday, May 4
New ‘Doomsday’ Flu Virus Comes With Instructions
Before I work on those episode reviews of Doomsday Preppers, I’d like to share with you something I find a bit worrisome- the newly-created “Doomsday” flu virus, as some are calling it. I wouldn’t be that concerned if this so-called “superflu” didn’t also come with “instructions.” From Margaret Munro on the National Post (Canada) website this past Wednesday:
One of the most controversial genetically altered microbes ever created was unveiled Wednesday — complete with instructions on how to engineer the hybrid flu virus in the lab.
The details, published in the journal Nature, have been under wraps for months because of fears they might be misused by bioterrorists.
The virus was created by a team led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin-Madison… Working in a secure lab, the researchers took a gene from H5N1 and gave it to H1N1, the flu virus that caused the human pandemic in 2009. The researchers then played with the hybrid in the lab to create four mutations that are contagious in ferrets, which are considered good proxies for humans.
The researchers “demonstrate that H5N1 viruses do have the potential to cause a human pandemic,” says a report accompanying the study in Nature.
While the strain of H5N1 that’s now circulating isn’t highly-contagious among humans- it is wicked deadly. It’s claimed the mortality rate is 59 percent in officially-confirmed cases.
However, while contagious, the new hybrid flu virus wasn’t found to be lethal in the ferrets (“good proxies for humans”). This was emphasized by flu expert Earl Brown of the University of Ottawa, who is skeptical about a bioterror agent originating from this work. From the article:
Brown said an experienced virologist could take the information in the Nature paper, order up the necessary genes from a scientific supplier, and engineer hybrid flu viruses resembling the ones in the Wisconsin experiment.
“If you put your mind to it you could do it, but you would have to be good,” said Brown. But he added he doubts the virus would be much of a threat since the Wisconsin team found its hybrid virus, though scientifically intriguing, was not lethal when it was transmitted between ferrets…
Brown said he agrees with erring on the side of caution, but noted the research on pathogens is heavily regulated already and scientists have an incentive not to misuse pathogens with the potential to kill them.
Still, I’m concerned about potential “evil geniuses” out there who are in the position to provide their services to the highest bidder (Pakistan’s “Dr. X,” allegedly).
Even more so, influenza virology experts or others that may consumed by ideology- and without the fear of death- who might also be in a position to produce a lethal “Doomsday” flu virus.
One last thing. How come various Canadian mainstream media outlets are running this story while their American counterparts aren’t touching it for the most part? The new hyrbid flu virus was created in Wisconsin, after all. Trying not to “scare” the American public? Some will wonder.
Source:
Munro, Margaret. “‘Doomsday’ flu virus unveiled.” National Post. 2 May 2012. (http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/02/doomsday-flu-virus-unveiled/). 4 May 2012.
‘Doomsday Preppers’ Discuss Buying Abandoned Missile Bases
I’ve always been fascinated by those hardened underground complexes built to house, service, and launch our nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. So I found it extremely interesting that preppers Ed Peden and his spouse, Dianna Ricke-Peden, who were featured in episode 7 of the National Geographic Channel TV series Doomsday Preppers, owned a company that sold abandoned missile base properties. I wrote about the couple back on March 19:
Ed and Dianna Peden live in a decommissioned Atlas missile site west of Topeka, Kansas. Ed, a retired teacher, first became interested in the complex back in the eighties when the specter of nuclear war hovered over the world…
According to the show, the missile base cost $4 million to build in 1960. Ed bought it in the eighties for $40,000. Like the Rogers family, Dianna and Ed plan on bugging-in, closing their 20-inch-thick blast-proof front door to the outside. Stocked with 12 months of food and supplies, the Peden’s renovated 20,000 square-foot bunker is very secure with its 18-inch-thick walls, an 8-foot tall steel and barbed-wire perimeter fence, a recently-installed automatic gate, and a new 360-degree security camera system.
And just this morning, I came across a video of these “Doomsday Preppers” that was posted on the CNN Money website yesterday in which Ed and Dianna talk about their business selling decommissioned missile sites and the tremendous interest these days in buying such properties. It turns out that getting a mortgage for these underground bunkers can be a real challenge. Interesting stuff:
The Utility Of Gold WTSHTF
This morning, I found the latest issue of Peter Schiff’s Gold Report- which I chose as my “Resource Of The Week” back on July 6, 2011- in my e-mail inbox. The free monthly e-newsletter comes from Euro Pacific Precious Metals, of which Schiff is the CEO. While reading about the contents of this month’s issue, my attention was drawn to the following:
Mark Motive argues that we shouldn’t laugh at the ‘preppers’ who prepare for disaster – it might be time to learn from them instead.
Inside the May 2012 edition I found the article by Mark Motive, which is the pen name of an investment strategist/journalist who is also the chief author and editor at Plan B Economics (planbeconomics.com), a source for alternative insights into finance and economics. In “Gold and Financial Preparedness,” Motive talks about preppers and the debate over the utility of gold when the poop hits the fan. Motive wrote:
For example, if the dollar were destroyed by hyperinflation, a new currency would eventually be formed because the barter system is extremely inefficient. (The need for coincidence of wants creates a very high hurdle for the barter system.) Because they are fungible, divisible, portable, and non-perishable, currencies significantly improve societal wealth by reducing transaction costs, enabling lending, storing surpluses, etc.
Because it is the universal language of commerce, gold could be the new currency, but eventually a more flexible paper-based system would once again arise. Here’s the critical idea: whether or not that system is convertible into gold, gold could be used to transition wealth from the old currency system to the new. As a store of wealth, gold serves as a way to transition assets from one monetary regime to another.
Throughout history, gold has been used as a means to manage these types of transitions. During times of distress, people have converted their wealth into compact chunks of gold to take with them as they escaped a dictatorship or endured a failing currency. Gold is universally accepted as a store of wealth, meaning that it can endure what other stores of wealth (stocks, bonds, paper money… even land) cannot. This is why gold can help preserve wealth across economic transitions. Arable land, and the food that it produces, may not have the same benefits.
Motive acknowledges that “there is no single, simple answer for protecting wealth and preserving life during an economic collapse.” But the discussion of preppers and gold in the article is an interesting one nevertheless.
If you already receive Peter Schiff’s Gold Report, look for the latest issue- and this article- in your e-mail inbox. If you don’t already get it, you can subscribe to it for free here.
(Editor’s note: I am not responsible for any personal liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application, either directly or indirectly, of any information presented herein)
On TV: Training For The Apocalypse
On Monday night, April 30, Training For The Apocalypse premiered on the National Geographic Channel. From the Nat Geo Channel website:
Training For the Apocalypse chronicles the journeys of survivalists, truth-seekers and prophets united in their quests for personal peace as they prepare for global cataclysm and the near-extinction of humanity. In an era when rumors, prophecies and theories have often eclipsed various evident realities at hand, TFA serves to humanize, enlighten and inform, with a cautious respect for the words and deeds of our subjects rather than a capitalization on vague fears or subjective judgments. Practical discoveries are made while distinct personal stories develop about those striving and struggling to live their best, while preparing for the worst.
Training For The Apocalypse starred the following:
Fernando Antonio Salguero, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Founder, Survive And Thrive (Meetup.com group)
Mission: Teach self-reliance
Leland Freeborn, Parowan, Utah
Exiled Mormon, the “Parowan Prophet”
Mission: Prepare for nuclear war
Brian Johnson, Parowan, Utah
Parowan Prophet congregant
Mission: Total independence
Anonymous, Los Angeles, California
Hardcore survivalist
Mission: ?
Viewers were introduced to the small town of Parowan, Utah, where the “Parowan Prophet,” Leland Freeborn, and his congregation were meeting and reading scripture in their leader’s home. The footage was shot just before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The Parowan Prophet predicted that a nuclear weapon would be detonated in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009.
The congregation also talked about Mayan prophecy and December 21, 2012.
Mayan descendants in Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, don’t seem to attach much importance to the date. Some fishermen were interviewed and one said:
We’ve had big disasters from volcanoes. When we get to 2012, we don’t know, we’ll be working and fishing. But thanks to God and to you, for giving this news to us.
He offered up that last part with a smile on his face.
Back in the States, “Anonymous” from Los Angeles, California, responded:
You can laugh now, but we’ll see who’s … laughing when the mushroom cloud finds its way over the horizon. You’re gonna look back on this and you’re gonna think wow, I’m a … idiot.
Dr. Robert Sitler, Director of Latin American Studies, Stetson University, expanded on the discussion about the ancient Mayans and December 21, 2012. Dr. Sitler said:
People in the West, I think, often look to indigenous cultures as a source of inspiration, because our cultures, in a sense, I would say are spiritually uninspired for the most part. The ancient Maya said next to nothing about the year 2012. But as it turns out, many different oral traditions do speak of an imminent period of radical transformation of one form or another. Actually, every single elder that I’ve spoken to in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico has said virtually the same thing. There is this sense of pending, massive societal transformation.
Pedro Cruz Garcia, a Mayan Elder Shaman, added:
For the Maya, there is no world ending. There is a constant change.
Next, viewers were shown Parowan Prophet congregants preparing for the predicted nuclear holocaust. Underground/fallout shelters are central to their preparations.
Leland Freeborn and his followers were then shown watching the 2009 Inauguration Day ceremony. It’s revealed the Parowan Prophet is not a big Barack Obama fan- to say the least.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving Day, 2009. By the way, no nuclear blast in Washington D.C. earlier in the year.
One of the congregants, Brian Johnson, was shown teaching his son how to shoot firearms. Johnson shared with viewers:
I think the defining moment’s almost here where we’re either for good or for bad. You know, there’s just a tenseness in the air. I mean, it’s the same story, a different millennium. The rise and fall of society.
The family man eventually had a falling out with the congregation, and was making plans to move his family to Idaho in hopes of achieving complete self-sufficiency.
“Armed For The Apocalypse”
Hey guys- don’t forget to use hearing and eye protection!
Nat Geo Channel Video
Anonymous from Los Angeles chimed in:
Some people say they’re visionaries. I think they’re … wackos. But I have a vision, which is, it goes like this: Pick one room, just one room out of your place and just fill it to the brim with food, supplies, water, get yourself a gun. …, you ain’t gonna do it with a sword … Before the … comes down get yourself a … load of … bullets, and then just get yourself a …, whatever you believe in, and keep it close. Keep it … close. What else do you want to know about being badass?
Shortly thereafter, three Parowan Prophet congregants- Danny, Sam, and Caroline- were interviewed. Caroline shared something that I thought was particularly insightful:
You don’t cease being a normal person because you decide you want to prepare for something that might happen.
The next part of the show focused mainly on Fernando Antonio Salguero and the Survive And Thrive group out of Philadelphia. Salguero revealed:
As we go through cataclysmic change, suffering is a part of life. With that being said, I see my role as easing suffering… I started that Survive And Thrive Meetup Group specifically to welcome in everyone.
It’s revealed Salguero’s early years were really bad- which helps explain this emphasis on inclusivity.
The documentary next focused on a Survive And Thrive wilderness training event. One of the participants, a young African-American girl by the name of Sarah, said:
Survivalism, you might not need it at first, but it’s a good tool to have maybe if the world’s not going to end, but maybe we’ll actually, like, lose our homes and we’ll actually have to live in the wilderness like we did millions and millions of years ago.
Very cool to see youngsters learning these skills. One of the adult participants by the name of Joanne added:
Well, my friend asked me the other day if I was preparing for Armageddon, and I said even just 100 to 150 years ago people were homesteading a lot more than they are now, and knew how to do 95 percent of the stuff they needed on their own. And we’ve come so far from that, and I think it’s a very dangerous place to be.
John, a Survive And Thrive instructor, shared this with viewers:
Every new year’s, somebody thinks the world is going to end. Sometimes I get caught up in it. But everything happens for a reason. Whether or not I survive doesn’t matter. It’s how I live every day that matters. I try to keep that in mind. The emergency could be as simple as a small hurricane- or the Apocalypse with Four Horsemen. It all comes down to will- if you want to live or if you want to give up. You can be a hero, you can be a villain, you can be a victim. It’s your choice.
As this part of the show was coming to a close, Salguero admitted:
I started this group not having a whole lot of faith in humanity as a whole. So I started this group without having too much expectation of its ability to work together. Honestly, I still consider most people to be flakes. Honestly.
Immediately thereafter, his German Shepherd dog got loose. Neighborhood kids assisted Salguero with rounding up his canine companion. But not before the Survive And Thrive joked:
You know what I need as part of my survival kit? A … tranquilizer gun. How about that?
It’s at this point that Training For The Apocalypse really started to humanize the four individuals who starred in the documentary.
Salguero reflected on what just happened and admitted:
That’s a perfect example of where I think that I can be wrong. I’m willing to be wrong. In fact, in many cases I hope that I am wrong about so much of what I believe. I pray that I’m wrong. So the idea of not relying on other people, the idea of keeping neighbors at a distance. When the reality is, it’s most likely a tribe, it’s most likely teamwork, that will actually get us through tough times. And this is an example of where I am open to the experience, I am not grounded in my ego, and I am willing to change. I pray for change.
Salguero added later:
My daughter is really what ended my suicidal self-loathing for most of my life.
Speaking of daughters, one of Leland Freeborn’s stopped by. The way Camisha and her father interacted seemed to be really not much different from how other dads and their adult daughters might.
The Parowan Prophet’s neighbor, Lisa, added this:
I think he’s prepared, but I don’t think he knows what for.
Brian Johnson admitted:
I just basically want to be able to do things according to the dictates of my own faults, conscience.
And then there was Anonymous, who was shown having problems reassembling a handgun. Hey, we’re all human.
Overall, I liked Training For The Apocalypse. While I was initially afraid the production company and the National Geographic Channel were using the popular, shallow stereotypes of people preparing for Armageddon, the documentary went on to attempt to point out there was much more to these individuals- fellow human beings, fellow Americans, each on their own journey to prepare not for the end of the world, but for the end of the world as they (we) know it (TEOTWAWKI). Remember what was written on the Nat Geo Channel website about the show:
TFA serves to humanize, enlighten and inform, with a cautious respect for the words and deeds of our subjects rather than a capitalization on vague fears or subjective judgments. Practical discoveries are made while distinct personal stories develop about those striving and struggling to live their best, while preparing for the worst.
I feel the documentary successfully carried this out.
Training For The Apocalypse is scheduled to be re-broadcast on Monday, May 7, 6 PM Eastern Time on the National Geographic Channel.
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- Training For The Apocalypse On Nat Geo Channel Tonight
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- Quote For The Week
- New ‘Doomsday’ Flu Virus Comes With Instructions
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