If Your'e Not Scared......Your'e Not Prepared.....

It's interesting. I've been out of town and out of touch for a few days as the GF and I went to Vegas to watch her cousin in the rodeo (he's a roper). Vegas is la-la land and sometimes it's good to take a few days and let go of all of this worrying and prepping. With that said, Vegas is like taking pain meds after surgery. A few days is necessary, but after that and you've got a problem.

When I returned, the three forums I follow all had similar posts from folks feeling a bit more of an edge in the last few days. I didn't feel it at all in la-la land, but then again, I didn't feel much besides full and buzzed most of the week. Sometimes I've had the same sense of urgency that crunch-time is here, but being in this for the long haul, it's something I've learned to balance, most of the time. While I don't see any harm in taking advantage of the mood when it hits you, it needs to be balanced in the bigger picture. The reality is, the economy sucks and you want to keep cash reserves comfortably high right now, not accrew more debt. Sensible planned purchases make sense if they move you toward your long-term goals, but spending out of fear can actually increase your risk and exposure to the economic hard times to come.

I'm in a situation where I'd like to change where I live in the next 8-12 months for a number of reasons, so that leaves me wondering if I should not buy the PV system I was planning on getting or purchase it in a different way. If I were to buy it today, I could get a larger system for less money by taking advantage of local utility rebates, but it must stay with the house if I move. On the other hand, if I purchased it on my own, without the rebates, I'd be able to take it with me. On the one hand, it might raise my resale value, I'd have it now rather than next year, which insulates me from the fact things could get significantly worse in the coming months, on the other, the market could continue to tank and I'd be throwing good money after bad...

Ultimately, I think we all have to continue our lives while balancing the fact that we've accepted the coming change that others continue to deny. I have a friend who knows in his heart that armageden and the rapture will come soon and what that means for him and his family, but he doesn't store a pound of rice for that day because he believes that it's in God's hands. I've tried to make the argument that God has told him to prepare by reading Revelations, but he doesn't do anything. For some people, you can't do anything.

My family calls me paranoid.....
I call it ultra vigilant.....

Do all that you can do, trust God and relax.....
Rest in it....

I remember in the Viet Nam war, when we would get hit, lets say a major attack, this strange, slow motion kinds of peace would come over me. Everything was real clear, and I could see it all happinin, I would move efficiently, make decisions, make the right calls, keep moving and never lock up...
I called it smooth under fire, couldn't control it, just happened. Other troops said they experienced the same thing.

Afterwards, I would sit down and begin to shake.

It just works out- providence, yeah!!!

Backwoods said:

For the last few days, I've spent more time than I usually do looking inward. I started doing this when I realized I was, well, scared.

Not for myself so much. For one thing, I've lived my life. I've been where I'm going. Built my life, my home and my business. I've raised my kids, and I think I've given them the knowledge and skills they will need to survive anything I could survive.

But have I done everything I could to prevent the coming disasters from happening? Have I done all I could to help my friends and teammates? What else could I have done to warn people about the disasters that I knew would happen one day?

Have I done my part, or have I let all of us down?

I know......... hindsight is always 20/20, but I'm just not in a good place right now. I really hope this feeling will pass, and soon........

I went shopping at Wal-Mart the other day, like I do every week. I ended up spending considerably more than I normally do. A couple extra boxes of pistol ammo, a couple more cans of air rifle pellets, another can of Break Free, another half dozen cans of beef stew, and another box of canning lids.

On the way home I stopped at the county dump to get rid of some trash. I noticed someone had thrown away an old TV. I liberated the power cord. That will make at least half a dozen serviceable small-game snares. (I already have a bunch stored away in a couple of ammo cans.)

Every day I feel more and more like the storm is coming......And soon.....

Anyway...... yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I can be.......

I'm just not too happy right now............

Oh well..........

Onward and upward................

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It's PARANOIA! (see signature line!)
The 'Big Business & Cristian Fanatical Right Wing' is spending BILLIONS in advertising to make you feel that way!

End of the world mongers LOVE IT when you are SCARED!
You CONSUME!
(It's Y2K all over again!)

End of the world religions love it when you are scared,
YOU GIVE POWER OVER YOUR LIFE AND YOUR RESOURCES TO THEM!

Buying into the crap KEEPS YOU CONSUMING what they are selling!
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NOW!
If you had spent your time getting to know and working with your neighbors,
Learning how to garden and maybe some animal husbandry,
Leaning how to preserve your garden and animal protein,
And DOING SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR ADDICTION TO OIL,
You wouldn't have time to be seeing all the crap that's making you paranoid!

Working with your neighbors makes for some real comfort in hard times.

Working with your hands, especially towards a SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE,
Spending the time you normally listen to 'Lush Dimbulb' and the A-Moral A-Holes... Spend that time with kids, grandkids, neighbors, ect. and you will feel MUCH better!

DO NOT Spend your money at 'Made In China'-Mart!
Wal-Mart EXPORTS roughly $25 BILLION to China in a year!

That's 25 BILLION DOLLARS! That should be spent on US made products!

I don't know what else to tell you! It's a darn shame you can find time to piddle around on the internet, but you can't find time to work a garden or put up solar panels, or help your neighbors with winterizing homes so they use less petroleum...

Even the name of this thread is PARANOIA!

"If Your'e Not Scared......Your'e Not Prepared....."

You think we are all too stupid to know there are problems in the world?
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What do you mean 'I'm not Prepared' because I'm not scared?
I'm not scared because I was raised correctly!

To work hard, spend smart, support my neighbors, and put things back for 'Lean' times!
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I live in a bend in a river I've hunted, fished and trapped all my life.

I'm a machinist/gunsmith by trade, and I have about all the metal working tools I'll ever need to produce ANYTHING!
I have two big generators, two small generators, and I can rewind or rework discarded car alternators to make everything from welders to windmills...

I have a home that is mostly solar powered.
My home's heat comes from outdoor 'Furnace' that will burn anything combustible, including wood and corn!.
(did I mention I live in the CORN BELT!)

I mostly drive a battery powered vehicle that charges it's self from solar cells,

I have a water catchment system, plus a deep limestone filtered well.

I have a HUGE septic system that feeds a large garden,
A big ole' compost pile so I don't have to buy chemical fertilizers,
and I've grown most of my own food and raised my own livestock for several years!

My house is paid for, so are my vehicles.
I have 'Bone Yard' vehicles for spare parts to my current vehicles if I need them...

I don't 'Want' for anything but the occasional 'Starbucks' coffee and 'New' rifle once in a while...
Those aren't 'necessities', just luxuries I really don't need but treat myself too...

I have a fair retirement account, but people around here don't retire, they just work less then drop dead!

And if push comes to shove, I have a shed dedicated to reloading supplies, and I buy once fired brass by the 2,500 lots, so I'm Never going to run out of ammo!

If you haven't been paying attention,
My field craft is pretty darn good and I'm an active hunter/fisherman/forager!
My extra wild mushrooms sold for $75 a pound this year!
And I'm STILL putting up the temporarily frozen strawberries and black berries, and I've got Walnuts, Chestnuts, Hickory nuts & Pecans drying everywhere in the house and garage right now...

I've got enough home canned food for at least 2 years most of the time, but since the garden did so well this summer, I've probably got more than 2 years worth right now...
AND,
Just in case you aren't a farm kid,
(and I don't think for a minute you are!)
It's butchering season, finally cold enough, so the freezers are full and I'm canning as fast as I can right now!

This is just typical country life around here,
SO,
Mister "YOU AREN'T PREPARED",

...Tell me again what I'm missing?....
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WHAT YOU ARE MISSING...
THE 'SUSTAINABLE LIVING' Part!

And the 'BUY AMERICAN MADE FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS' Part!

The 'WEAN YOURSELF FROM PETROLEUM' Part!

The 'INVEST IN YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FAMILY, NOT THE BANKS' Part!
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It's not a matter of being scared, it's a matter of taking the steps to make sure you are ready for what might come your way. Ask yourself what you are trying to prepare for, TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) a local disaster, something in-between or all of the above.

As I type this I'm looking at a winter storm heading my way, with this storm we are looking at high winds, freezing rain, snow, cold temps, could get pretty nasty. Well I've been through this situation before and am ready to spend the next 3 - 4 days at home if I need to, power or not, I can heat the parts of my house that I need to heat, I can cook food, I can obtain water, even if not from my well, so if I lose power I won't be that bad off.

Look at your environment, do you live in a area that could be a target of terrorists? Then you need to adjust your preps to reflect that.

There is a difference between being scared and being worried, when you are scared you may not think clearly, when you are worried you will tend to take the steps you need so that you are no longer worried. Don't let panic set in, this is when you make mistakes.

Backwoods said:

For the last few days, I've spent more time than I usually do looking inward. I started doing this when I realized I was, well, scared.
Have I done my part, or have I let all of us down?

I know......... hindsight is always 20/20, but I'm just not in a good place right now. I really hope this feeling will pass, and soon........
Every day I feel more and more like the storm is coming......And soon.....

Anyway...... yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I can be.......

I'm just not too happy right now............

Oh well..........

Onward and upward................

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I'm not saying I disagree with you,but scared is something you don't want to be. Scared will get you killed in a hurry.

When I was an active firefighter, we were required to take the Incident Command Systems class. We went thru' several scenarios every week from car and plane accidents to massive tornadoes and other natural disasters. Each newbie was judged on how well he thought on his feet. You have to realize that it isn't just about your life, it's your comrades and the victim's life at stake, too.

But it also taught you to roll with the punches. Just about the time you thought you saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the instructor would throw a curveball at ya.

I guess what I'm trying to say is look at where you live. Do you live in the city or burbs? If things break down to the point of wide-spread riots and hunger, is it defensible? If not, can it be made so? If not, do you have a place you can go within 1/2 tank of gas from you? do you have routes and alternate routes mapped out? If not, maybe it's time to think about moving.

Fear informs you something is wrong!

If you're not scared,then you're not paying attention.

India and Pakistan could start launching nukes and blanket the area in fallout.

Some Fundie terrorist could set off a dirty bomb here.

People are angry and afraid,the bailouts are making things worse AND OUR IGNORANT AMERICAN BRETHERIN HAVE ELECTED A SOCIALIST PRESIDENT AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME....YOU SHEEPLE ARE GOING TO GET YOUR CHANGE ALL RIGHT....

Ammo is going out of sight,so is storable food and gold and its only going to get worse!
Never mind the corporate media and the idiots on talk radio,LOOK AROUND!
Get what you can,while you can,a dollar spent today on preparedness could be worth a fortune very soon,or even your life!

OFG said:

Hey JeepHammer
"My extra wild mushrooms sold for $75 a pound this year!"
What are you selling for 75.00 a pound?

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WHAT,
Morell mostly.

WHY,
Because we had TONS of mushrooms this year and the going auction price was about $75 a pound for the common ones I can find...
(I'm not very good at identifying most kinds, so I'm sure I'm missing out on some real folding money...
That's why I was so interested in what you had to say about mushrooms in an earlier thread!)

Last year, you could have got $150 easy because there simply wasn't hardly any!
I heard of some people getting $225 a pound last year, and you would think there would be a limit to what people would pay,
But as I understand it, some mushrooms sell for more an ounce than gold!

I have rotting logs behind my compost pile, and I've already spread the spores out early this year so some should show up again next spring!
Growing them has just GOT to be easier than hunting them with 50 year old eyes!

Magus said:

If you're not scared,then you're not paying attention.

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Am paying attention, just educated enough to know what is 'Possible' in that 'Suspend all reason and see it my crazy way' kind of thing going on,
OR what is actually going to happen...

India and Pakistan could start launching nukes and blanket the area in fallout.

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Chernobyl set more radioactive release into the atmosphere that 1,500 Hiroshima size nuclear bombs, and the fallout/radiation is STILL being tracked around the world...

The US detonated and average of 45 above ground devices A YEAR during the late 40's and early 50's!
What do you suppose happened to all that radiation and fallout?

As far as fallout goes, The US has released More, and Larger amounts of fallout than all other countries combined!
That's correct!
Russia was smart enough to do most of it's testing under ground, but we popped them in the atmosphere like fire crackers for the first 10 years or so!
AND,
The US has detonated more weapons, both above ground and below ground than ALL OTHER COUNTRIES COMBINED!

I don't see ANY American even noticing it!
You 'EOTW' guys should be living in tunnels eating each other by now from that...
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AND,
Even India/Pakistan are smart enough to know that if one of them launches, they will be a glass covered parking lot by the next morning.
(Which wouldn't particularly be a bad thing for the US!)

Same rule applies with ANYONE holding nuclear weapons.
That's why no one has been crazy enough to use one since the US did in 1945.
(Remember, we are the ONLY

Some Fundie terrorist could set off a dirty bomb here.

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These guys are having a hard time raising commercial grade explosives for their attacks!
They are using fertilizer bombs!

Where in the world do you think they are going to get high grade nuclear waste to make this 'Dirty Bomb'?

Besides, no matter what the 'Bureau of Homeland Scare Tatics' says.
Any former military man with NBC training can tell you....
'Dirty Bomb' won't kill many people at all, they aren't an effective killing tool, that's why the military didn't peruse them as a weapon...

So called 'Dirty Bombs' are 'AREA DENIAL TOOLS'.
People will flee the area, scrub down, and be fine.

The explosive required to spread the radioactive materials will be relatively small,
Much smaller than the Oklahoma City truck bomb, so not many people will die in the blast it's self..

Flee, scrub down, go home and have coffee!

Radioactive particles BY DEFINITION are HEAVY!
They aren't going very far either!
Whiteness the nuclear testing ranges in the south west...
If 'Dirty' material could get very far, or was as destructive as currently advertised, we would all already be dead....
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The AREA is what will be contaminated, and there will be BILLIONS of dollars to clean things up...
And much of that will fall on private insurance companies!

SO!
Since it will cost the 'Fat Cats' money, they want YOU to be hyper vigilant to protect THEIR PROPERTY...

People are angry and afraid,the bailouts are making things worse AND OUR IGNORANT AMERICAN BRETHERIN HAVE ELECTED A SOCIALIST PRESIDENT AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME....YOU SHEEPLE ARE GOING TO GET YOUR CHANGE ALL RIGHT....

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More alarmist propaganda...
The alarmists said Y2K would kill us all,
The alarmists said Islamic 'Terrorists' would be raping our dead babies when 9/11 happened, Funny none of them PREDICTED 9/11 before hand!
The alarmists said Bird Flu would kill us all.
The alarmists said West Nile Virus would kill us all.
The alarmists said fluoride in the water would make us zombies.
The alarmists said there would be riots and roving packs of murdering rapists in the streets if Obama got elected, Funny, not even a broken window!
The only injury reported was a reporter fell over a curb in Chicago trying to rush the stage when Obama came out for his acceptance speech...

Now the alarmists are warning of 'Dirty Bombs' and 'Socialists Takeover'/Troops already in the streets for the swearing in takeover...

If you want to know exactly what's NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, listen to the alarmists and do the exact opposite!

AND,

...the bailouts are making things worse ...

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This is, of course, exactly backwards thinking...
And any 6th grade history or social studies student can testify to that!

During the great depression, the government did EXACTLY what you suggest, they tightened the money supply, and it made things not only 10 times worse, but it made the depression last twice as long as it should have!

When a recession hit, One idiot REPUBLICAN president took us off the gold standard, so financing dried up and inflation ran rampant...

Most recently, our Alzheimer's president clamped down on financing during the 80's while spending WILD amounts through the government and jacking up taxes like crazy during a recession...
That led to 25% unemployment and a decade long recession...

AND,
Unless you think you are smarter than Allen Greenspan, Warren Buffett, and the other business & finance grand slam all star team Obama has assembled to handle the economy, you would do well to SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE NEWS!

Turn your radio away from Lush Dimbulb, Pill O'donky and pay attention to what's ACTUALLY HAPPENING!

Just the mention of having Allen Greenspan on the panel made the stock market jump 300 points!
When they announced Warren buffet was going to join the blue ribbon panel, the stocks jumped another 300 points!

At least act like you are somewhat knowledgable in recent history you lived through, or in your own country's events!....

Ammo is going out of sight,so is storable food and gold and its only going to get worse!

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Funny, I was at the Gun Shop yesterday, and the shelves are stocked, and the owner said things were actually moving kind of slow...
The only ammo that had been moving was muzzle loading supplies (muzzle loading deer season here) and the 'Commie Gun Junk' as he put it.

Must be a commie gun owner thing where Lush Dimbulb is pissing on their foreheads and telling them it's raining!

Never mind the corporate media and the idiots on talk radio,LOOK AROUND!

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Yup, that's the one thing you have said that makes ANY sense...
"Talk Radio Idiots"...
Remember, they make their money keeping you CONSUMING THEIR PRODUCT AND SELLING THEIR SPONSORS PRODUCTS!

Get what you can,while you can,a dollar spent today on preparedness could be worth a fortune very soon,or even your life!

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Chicken Little...
The sky is FALLING!
The sky is FALLING!
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What's actually happening is what has happened for the past few republican presidential cycles...

They start wars, jack up military spending,
(This time they didn't even pretend to take bids, they just gave it all to Dick Chaneys company, Haliburton/Bechtel!)

Make billions for big business on the tax payers backs...

And then a middle of the road Democrat comes along and has to try and clean up the mess...

For Nixon/Ford it was Carter,
For Regan/Bush I it was Clinton,
For Bush II (shrub) it's Obama,

Now, lets have a look at the presidents from Nixon on...
Nixon was a burglar, liar and war criminal.
(Watergate burglary and burglary of the DNC offices, lying to congress and American public, 'Secret' bombings/war operations in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos)

Ford made a deal to pardon Nixon before Nixon resigned, breaking federal conspiracy laws....
The list goes on, but you guys don't want to hear about your beloved republican presidents sticking it in your butts and picking your pockets while loosing your jobs for you!
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Anyway, the BEST THING that can happen is...
1. We FINALLY pry the village idiot out of the white house and Haliburton stops running the country.

2. The Government guarantees financing so the economy can get started again.

3. Congress splits into two parties...
One to lay down new regulation about banking and financing laws,
And the second starts laying down criminal inditements for Bush, Chaney, Haliburton, Rumsfeld, ect.
Just clean house!

The top brass at all the failed financial institutions they had to bail out.
Send several of them to prison, and this won't happen for a while again!

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