I was surfing the net yesterday looking for sites on self-sufficient homes. Some how I ended up on this site. I was up all night reading every bit of info. Wow! You make many extremely convincing points. Now, my nerves were already on edge because I just felt in my gut that there was more to all of this than the govt. was telling us. Imagine how I feel now, with very little time to get ready. I'd already started doing things after 9/11, but we're no where near being able to relocate. I was laid off the beginning of Aug. My husband, who's a mechanic, has noticed a big drop in business since 9/11. I plan on getting Mr. Skousen's books. But will someone please let me know if I live in a good area or a bad one? I live in the Zanesville, OH area, which is about 55 miles east of Columbus, OH. Any advice on where to start at this late a date with limited finances, would be appreciated, too. Thanks!
You've started already. Finding the truth. No matter where you are physically you need to know why and how this nation and its people have become so weak, vulneralbe, incapable of decerning what is important or real. Armed with the truth many things will unfold. You can prepare and not be frantic. You can help your family understand.
While you are deciding on a relocation you can gather needed equipment & learn first-aid & gardening & food storage. Pack camping equipment & have it ready. Keep basic emergency supplies transportable. Then if needed you'll be able to find them. Keep the kids in the loop, it will help them not panic if things become difficult or dangerous. The more you mentally & realistically prepare the less likey you will panic.
I'll help out.. Go to CCrane.com to purchase important radiation monitors,ham radios,etc.. Go to NoDoom.com and read the free chapter excerpts of Philip Hoags book online... Ted
I posted the original message, checked back a short time later and already I'm getting some very helpful info. Thanks a lot! I'm checking/following up on the extremely helpful advice given. You guys are great!
You will feel pretty freaked out after you read Joel's books. Remember that no one has a perfect idea of our future. Joel does a great job putting all the pieces together, but be forwarned that his conclusions are not terribly optimistic, though probably correct.
You have most likely felt for some time that there is something wrong with our society--why have all the universities and newspapers gone so far to the left, why are our morals deteriorating, why are there so many spineless and debauched politicians, etc? It's a relief to find out that your hunch is right, but mortifying to find out why. Joel's uncle Cleon Skousen wrote a book called "The Naked Capitalist." This is the first book I read that clued me in. Before I had read more than a few pages, I was so upset I couldn't stay sitting down. So, if this is your first exposure to the truth behind all the disinformation, lies, and propaganda, you're in for an emotional roller coaster.
Try not to panic as you become educated, and remember the sequence: ready, aim, fire. A sure sign that you are panicking is the tense feeling you are going to have to do something NOW before you finish reading enough material to make a wise decision. Joel's books are all you need to read to figure out what your next step should be. If you are low on funds, I would recommend that you ask your library if they have copies of his books. Then you could read them and buy the ones that you feel are the most important.
I live out west, so my eastern US geography isn't great, but in looking at Joel's book, "Strategic Relocation", it looks like there is one area of Ohio that he gives a B rating to (B like a B in school). Quoting from his book: "This area of southeastern Ohio has three national forests that provide excellent backdrops to rural retreats. There are also a lot of other forested pieces of rural land, especially around the Columbus area. This area is preferred only because it allows you to exercise the strategy of selecting property that joins large tracts of national forest land--ideal for an unlimited backyard that you don't have to pay for." This area bulges out into Ohio from the southeastern border just below where the border with Pennsylvania transitions into the Ohio/West Virginia border. This is the only area he considers reasonably safe in your state.
So, it sounds like you are pretty close to this area. You can do a pretty good assessment yourself. Imagine something like a massive economic collapse, a major disease epidemic, or fallout from a few nuclear bombs. If you can picture what your area would be like in this kind of event, and if you think it might be a good place to weather out this kind of storm, stay put. But if you imagine streams of sick, hungry, and panicked unprepared people coming from major population centers through your town, you might want to relocate. Read Joel's books, and start making some preparations that you will need no matter what. I'd start with at least a year's supply of food (choose food that stores well), and some way to heat your home if the power is off for a long time. Then you can worry about a high security shelter, a retreat, or radiation detection equipment. It won't do any good to have a safe place to live if you don't have anything to eat.
In closing, I would recommend that you follow your own feelings. If you feel nervous or unsafe where you are, or with your preparations, you need to do more. I wish you well, and God Bless.
welcome to the club. It is indeed an emotional roller coaster. What convinced me was doing thorough investigation on my own using multiple sources. I dont believe in making a strong shift in my convictions based on any single source (sorry Joel!).
Im convinced.
Back when I was in the Marines in the mid-80's a relatively small number of us were convinced we were going to eventually get into it with the Soviets, and knowing that virtually every war we got into since the spanish american war was a set-up (thorough research again), I thought it prudent at the time to slowly prepare and consider how I would handle the prospects.
I really wasnt active in prepping until 1995 when I happened to be working at a certain aerospace firm whose CEO has been a heavy and controversial clinton donor, but the idea was always in my mind.
The job I had was to test, maintain, and in some cases manufacture satellite pre-launch test verification systems. One fine week we got an announcement that the Chinese government was selected to launch the commercial cell-phone satellite on their rocket, in main land china. We thought it was an insane joke at the time. Supposedly it was all to save money. Hah!
We also thought the security would be so tight we would need to wear clean underwear to work every day.
Long story short, the group of Chinese scientists that came through were known communist military officers and chief scientists of Communist China's premier military space launch and rocket research center dressed as businessmen (they did sort of a lousy job at that).
The Xichang rocketcenter in China also does extensive research on nuclear ICBM's and also to deliver chemical and biological agents using the same mode of transport ( the sub-orbital profiles are done differently if you needed to know).
What I saw during that week would freak you out. This group of people got a boxful of electronic schematics and timing diagrams of the final stage/payload orbital seperation-delivery sequences, full detail drawings of certain mechanical items including material samples, and I was in the clean room annex standing 10 feet from the copy machine watching the government inspectors ensuring they got everything they needed.
Those inspectors really had a *&^%$ holier than thou attitude!
As if this werent enough, they got a week long dissertation and extremely technical lectures by some of the best rocket scientists in the world, complete with video tapes. There were all manner of mathematics, differential equations, and diagrams on that white-board presentation.
They got it all babe.
About 10 people resigned on the spot and just dropped their tools, clipboards, and what not and just walked out never to be seen again as they realized what situation they found themselves in. A few other technicians/scientists were joking (they were liberals by the way) to the effect that they no longer needed to save money for their kids college expenses.
I literally had to stop at the liquor store on the way home to get calmed down, and I dont drink.
There were Clinton cabinet Commerce dept "inspectors" there too.
Oh, the limos, the speeches, fancy lunches and the glad-handing!
What in effect was done is that the US gave the Communist Chinese the ability to increase the accuracy of their long range ICBM's. Previously they would boister and threaten the West Coast. In the mid-80's, that was the extent of their accuracy, about a 600 to 1200 mile circle were the best estimates, but thanks to what transpired, they can now target individual cities quite accurately.
I knew at the time (this was just before when Klinton-this-Klinton-that scandal of the day became popular in opposition media) there wasnt anything I could do about it except make personal preparations to get out of the way.
But, as the gun grabbing, land grabbing, rape allegations, all the deaths of Clinton aids due to heart attacks, slipping in the shower, plane crashes, car crashes and what not, I got the nerve and eventually got a phone interview with very senior members of the Cox committee, the FBI, and the NSA hoping to at least be able to say to myself I tried to do SOMETHING about it.
Heck, Bubba himself could of been on the other end of that phone too for all I know and I have the gut feeling that was the case. (honestly speaking, I felt as though Evil himself was standing next to me during that call -- an extremely creepy feeling but to me a sure sign that I was onto something).
Nothing happened at all, as I sort of expected. I had a rash of garbage can thefts shortly after for a few months, but that was it.
I finally got invited as a guest speaker on a prominent SF radio station where I told it all 4 years after and we melted the phone lines at the radio station all morning.
I did what I could do as a citizen. But I can stil hear the laughter.
Basically, Ive been preparing information and study wise ever since the mid 80's making maximum use of my military training.
Logistics wise Ive been at it fairly seriously since 98, partly as Y2k uncertanties unfolded.
I've been at it for years, a few dollars there, a few dollars here, but have probably over several thousand hours directly invested in learning everything I can.
If you are on a tight budget as most of us are, it is important to prepare logistically, but in a sense even more important is knowledge. With that knowledge, you can A number one, give yourself a sense of calm, and #2, prioritize and schedule your preparation and purchases in stages.
I've found the internet a vastly rich and largely free (no charge) source of excellent info. There are a number of must have reference books, but you can piece most of it together here and there off the good old internet.
Incidentally, the subject rocket above was launched in China 6 months later in the Xichang Rocket complex. As it turns out, the rocket had an early stage failure and crashed mostly intact. The Chinese government refused access to our NSA investigators for about 2 weeks after. Additionally, the top secret telemetry and control link black boxes were missing from the pieces of debris where it was installed by our NSA just prior to launch. (this is how they control the rocket trajectory and self destruct mechanism if something goes wrong - it is extremely high level encryption technology for obvious reasons..). these boxes are supposed to burn up in re-entry later but in this case it appears the chinese intentionally crashed the rocket in a manner to recover further intelligence.
anway, here is my list of must have books:
Where there is no Doctor
Where there is no dentist
No Such Thing as Doomsday
Back Woods Home magazine
Encyclopedia of Country Living
Survivalists medicine chest
Patriots: Surviving the coming collapse (this is a novel but it contains a lot of good practical info and sort of portrays what kind of survival mind set you will need to establish).
Just get everything in sufficient quantities that make you feel comfortable. There are certain guidelines that are wise to follow, but the specifics of your preparation are going to have to be decided by your needs and means, and comfort level.
But take it from me, it's real. Ive seen it.
I listen regularly to Alex Jones's show via the internet over at www.infowars.com/listen.html as well.
In a way, once you know whats going on, a certain morbid sense of humor or mild form of schizophrenia sets in.... on one hand you are preparing for Mad Max, but on the other you wish nothing to happen..... on one hand you are a smiling concerned valuable member of the local community or neighborhood but on the other hand you are ready for the brutalities which come forth from the "law of the jungle".
But my goal is not to live forever, my goal is to leave the world a better place for my wife and kid's and to ensure the freedom and prosperity of my future unborn relatives and friends, and certainly to avoid as much misery as possible in the process.
Way to go, Ed! Nice dissertation.
BTW Z'ville, I grew up just west of Cleveland. I read you don't want to move to the intermountain states or down in the Applachacians. I think you'd be ok outside (well outside) of Zanesville. Lot'sa farms out there; good people.
Well, I recently discovered there's a Black Hawk missile site in Morgan County, Ohio. I'm not sure exactly where. Morgan Co. is just south of where I live. I suppose that kinda screws up how safe this area is, huh?
I just got Joel's books - Secure Home and Strategic Relocation. What an eye-opener! I'm sure I'll have questions as I continue reading them. They seem to be very thorough, though!
OK, some time has past since my last post. I've read two of Joel's books (Secure Home and Strategic Relocation), No Such Thing As Doomsday, Patriots: Surviving..., When Technology Fails, numerous web sites. My husband has mixed reactions to all of this. On one hand, he finds it amusing when he finds me pouring over my collection of books, highlighter in hand. He's been extremely supportive of the opportunity I've been given (after being laid off) to return to college and get a two-year degree to be a electrical/electronic engineering tech. He's gone back to OTR truck driving (he sees some weird stuff on the road). But if I try to get into an in depth conversation about potential future "problems," he can get a little freaked out. So, I'm having to get him use to all of this gradually. He's OK with stockpiling because that can be benefitial in so many different situations. I've decided we're not in a good location (straight in line from fallout from Columbus, plus right on I70, and this town would go to hell in a hand basket if there was shortage of food, water, etc.). Once I graduate, we'll have to relocate anyway because there are no job opportunities here. So, things are progressing and I appreciate all the advice I've gotten here.
zville123,
This is meant as a serious question. If you re-locate to a safe area, where would you ply your new career as a electronic engineering tech? "Safe" areas are usually the antithesis of areas where high-tech jobs exist.
This is the very prediciment so many of us face. The only people who can go to REALLY safe places seem to be retirees and folks with independent incomes.
Tom
That's a fair question. I'm willing to drive an hour or so to get to work. So, where ever we relocate to will have to be reasonably close to employment. When I graduate, I'll also be a certified Cisco Router Tech. and a Network + Tech. I'm also taking extra courses in different types of factory machinery. I'm trying to make my degree as well rounded as possible so I'll be able to consider several different types of jobs. I'm just getting a 2 year degree but I'll squeeze in as much as I can in that 2 years. The way I understand it, these first 2 years are "hands on" learning while the rest is pretty much theory. I'll be happy with the 2 yr. degree, find employment/relocate, and, if the world hasn't already gone to hell in a hand basket, concentrate any further education on additional necessary survival skills that I haven't yet learned. It's the best I can do. My husband can live anywhere - he's an OTR truck driver.