Making A Plan

things i dont take on the plane

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:58:23 GMT

this is all the stuff i take out of my bag, and off my person to go to an airport

see, THIS is why i hate terrorists, AND the government
if my plane goes down, i'd NEED this stuff!

i mean, its not like i'm not dangerous with what i DO take or anything, or things that i can find there, but MAN, when you have kit . . .and have to leave it behind. . . gah!

Might Bush do one last STUPID thing?

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:55:31 GMT

Ever since US Vice President Dick Cheney returned from his whirlwind junket, back in mid-March, to discuss "business" with the leaders of Israel, the Sunni Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, a number of events rapidly transpired, as if a strategic chessboard was now hurriedly set for serious play. The following indicate a green light for a military option has been given, its prosecution imminent.

Days after Cheney's departure, the high Saudi Shura council had discussed plans for initiating national radiation emergency drills.

In the first week of April, the Israeli Defense Forces initiated a countrywide, five-day home front civil defense exercise against hypothetical conventional, chemical and biological missile attacks from Iran and Iran-backed Hezbullah in Southern Lebanon. A review of the exercise by the IDF concluded that Israeli citizens were less prepared for a missile war than during the Hezbullah missile barrage of the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon War.

On 5 April, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates flew nearly halfway across the world from Washington to Muscat, Oman, for a few hours of secret talks with the Sultan of Oman, then climbed right back on his jet for Washington. There has been little US military presence and never a high priority visit entertained by any Bush cabinet member to the Sheikdom that encompasses most of the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz. Why now? Gates told reporters traveling with him that Sultan Qaboos is the "ruler of this key Gulf state which faces Iran across the strategic Strait of Hormuz. They provide a lot of support for the United States. The sultan is a good friend. I just think it's important to touch base."

The following day (6 April), Lebanon, Syria and Iran went on high military alert. Debka.com (sometimes a good source of Israeli military intelligence albeit ever laced with a mixed bag of Israeli psyops propaganda) was one of the first reporting what later international press confirmed. The USS Abraham Lincoln (carrier) Strike Force was heading for station on the Persian Gulf. That would, by end of April, reinforce the US Fifth Fleet operations in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Arabian Sea with THREE Carrier Strike Groups. Those of you who have read my book anticipating these events -- Nostradamus: The War with Iran -- know that this is the minimum number needed for an all-out air strike on Iran.

After VP Cheney and Sec. of Defense Gates came home, the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus came home to Washington DC with US Ambassador Ryan Crocker to give their much anticipated progress report before Congress (8 April) about the ongoing military surge in Iraq. Petraeus under congressional oath declared that Iran is waging a proxy war on US forces in Iraq. Iran was the most memorable part of their report, citing the daily barrage of rockets and mortars hitting the US Embassy in Green Zone in Baghdad were made in Iran. Iranian weapons and roadside bombs have killed hundreds of US troops over the years of US occupation. Petraeus stressed weapons and training of Shia guerillas come from operatives of the Iranian al-Quds Revolutionary Guards based across the Iraqi border in Iran. He and Crocker made it sound like Iran's involvement was the last serious impediment to US success in Iraq. Were they putting before congress an argument for "just cause" for punitive military response?

In the subsequent weeks of April into early May saber rattling was all a clatter in the Middle East. Iran blocked the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) from snooping deeper into their nuclear program while Iranian President Ahmadinejad made a big show of inspecting the 10,000 new centrifuges coming online to make nuclear fuel for his reactors. The Iranian Secretary of Defense always at his shoulder. US and Israeli intelligence did not fail to notice this was a provocation that civilian uranium fuel could be used for military purposes. Next, US navy personnel aboard one of the many civilian cargo container ships contracted by the Pentagon fired warning shots on approaching gunboats on more than one occasion in the crowded shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz. Whether these patrol boats were Iranian was not confirmed. It is important to note that the US military has always hired a large number of civilian cargo vessels to ship in fuel and materials before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

On 30 April, the Abraham Lincoln joined the Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf for a big show of force. The Truman sailed out of the Persian Gulf shortly after, but not for home. Not just yet. The Truman Carrier Strike Group is now in the Eastern Mediterranean, since 6 May, supporting US Sixth Fleet's strategic priority to, as Navy jargon states, "Improve maritime security and safety in the region." In other words, to beef up Sixth Fleet's military might stationed a few miles off the coast of Lebanon, where Iran's other proxy, Hezbullah, began the first bloody salvoes in what seems to be an Iranian sanctioned attempt to overthrow the US-friendly Lebanese government.

For the last year I have been writing bulletins about the malefic aspect of Mars transiting over the sun signs of President Bush and the United States as a time when rash and precipitous decisions lead to US military disasters. I said decisions for war by this president would be made from 5 March to 9 May during the Mars in Cancer transit. Philip Giraldi on the final day of that Mars transit posted on the American Conservative blog page something that my own sources confirmed. He wrote, "There is considerable speculation and buzz in Washington today suggesting that the National Security Council has agreed in principle to proceed with plans to attack an Iranian al-Quds-run camp that is believed to be training Iraqi militants."

Last week, the US government passed stark warnings to Iran that it should publicly admit to interfering with Iraq's recovery and that it will desist from further arming and abetting radical Shia elements there. Iran immediately countered saying the US should stop arming and abetting ethnic guerrilla insurgencies in Iran. Terrorist bombings in mosques in southeastern Iran killed dozens and wounded hundreds in late April. The last several weeks has seen a rise in hostilities in Iraq climaxing with battles raging in Basra and Sadr City, a slum of Baghdad of two million Shias and haven for the Iranian armed Mahdi Army militia of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Time has run out. This is the final window for Bush and his ideologues to do it. Cry, "Havoc!" and let slip the Neo-Cons of war on Iran. It would seem that the next step taking place any time this May into June will see unfold some or all the following possible scenarios:

The US president, his own afflicted birth chart made more delusional by the influence of Mars in Cancer, thinks a dramatic cruise missile attack on one or a number of al-Quds bases ringing Teheran will be the quick and easy military gesture that will back Iran out of Iraq and out of support of Hezbullah in Lebanon. Of course, it could lead to more weapons and training funneled into Iraq, and a full-scale attempt by Hezbullah to overthrow the Lebanese government by force. Israel then enters the conflict. The US occupation forces in Iraq would have two thirds of the population being sympathetic to Iran turning against them with renewed widespread fighting. A kiss of death for all the surge has accomplished.

If Iran does not back down and remains more belligerent and Iranian-made rockets from Lebanon once again begin falling down on Israel, the Jewish nation might act decisively. All those civil defense drills practiced and those planned in Saudi Arabian territories after the White House's chief apostle for war with Iran -- Vice President Cheney -- departed, might come in handy if Israel should lay waste the nuclear reactors of Iran.

--END--

Taken from: http://www.hogueprophecy.com/prophecy/index.htm

Thanks for reading my newsletter and sharing your views.

John Hogue
Rogue Scholar/Author:

Predictions for 2008

NOSTRADAMUS: The War with Iran eBook

The Last Pope Revisited eBook

Kamikaze Tomorrowland eBook

Nostradamus: A Life and Myth

Messiahs, The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming

The Millennium Book of Prophecy

Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies

The Last Pope: The Decline and Fall of the Church of Rome

Essential Nostradamus: Prophecies for the 21st Century and Beyond

Growing food

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:44:26 GMT

Let me tell ya'll that I just found a community about vegetable growing. This year I will be growing all the food I can, as a learning process, because next year we will NEED the food. This ethanol mistake is going to cost the world alot of terrible times, and I am getting ready. If you garden, join the group! growing_food

Slightly more advanced medical preparedness

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:23:39 GMT

Because I have a lot of medical personnel I'm friends with, I had posted a request to my journal for a list of items to include in an "advanced" medical kit for emergencies. I forsee, in the event of a major emergency (Katrina and Rita hit my area), medical personnel becoming so overwhelmed with major injuries that people with lesser problems would take resources and attention away from those who desperately need it. In other words, I wanted the equipment to be able to handle simple medical procedures in my home. Things like sewing 1 - 10 stitches, scalpels for small procedures, basic prescription drugs for simple problems, basic non-prescription drugs for simple problems, etc.

The answer I got from the medical personnel I knew was basically "don't worry about it", or "you wouldn't have a need for that". I'm sure they're well-meaning people, but I like being prepared. I'd rather have my supply of these items for my own use, and for the use of my family, than to rely on centralized medical centers.

Luckily, a few months later, I came across a piece written by Doctors for Disaster Preparedness.
This piece is on a different website at the following link: http://www.oism.org/Ddp/medkit.htm
Another link with lots of information is http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p1464.htm

It is entitled "A BASIC MEDICAL KIT FOR A 10-20 PERSON SHELTER", and was written circa 1987. Some of the prices are off, and some of the medicines have been replaced in common usage with newer types, but it is a good template to use for yourself. I know I'll be getting my Sphygmomanometer soon. (I've always loved that word!)

Cheese, Onions, Duckweed / Tulip garden + apple snails

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:25:09 GMT

I was really hungry and eating just a bite of cheese immediately energized me. I think a block of cheese, would be a good thing to have in the survival pack, provided that you rotate it out every few weeks? It's a good thing to include in your regular diet anyways, the new cheese goes into the pack, then the fridge when another one is brought.

It might not keep as well as canned food, but a block of cheese is lighter and can be the first meal you eat while on the run, you'll probably finish it before it gets moldy. With the hard cheddar block, just cut off the moldy bits and you can still eat the unspoiled center. The big down side is that it's full of salt and will make you thirsty, so pack something else in addition to just the block of cheese.

Onions: Keep a few bulbs of them in your survival pack, they don't spoil easily, they may sprout, but you can eat its green shoots. They are anti-inflammatory and makes me feel much better when I have a cold. They are closely related to garlic which is sometimes used to treat internal parasites in animals.

Duckweed; it's not just a goldfish snack, it's edible to humans too, in case you come across a pond of them. Duckweed soup? I have those things in my aquarium and those things can grow fast when left unchecked by well-fed fishes...they also keep water cleaner and reduce evaporation. I was thinking if you are going to fill the bathtub up with washing water, eventually you can put duckweed in it?

If you want to prepare for a possible siege at your house, or a possible shortage at the market, plant lots of tulips! It's pretty, and you can eat the bulb when you get hungry, petals edible too. Plant it on your lawn, in window boxes, have a giant pot of them indoors! (PS: Never confuse tulips with crocuses, crocuses are poisonous.) Some flowers are poisonous, but plenty are edible, so you can look that up if you are into gardening. Plenty of vegetables, 'salad greens' variety especially, have very attractive leaves that makes them great borders even in the front yard.

ETA: For those of you who enjoy escargot, ever consider keeping a tank of apple snails? Your canned meat could run out, and meat is one of those things that are hard to get in an urban environment. You can sell them to aquarists, or just eat them yourself on a regular basis. It is a delicacy with a high nutritional value, see; eating snails

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 02:37:15 GMT

Tucked away on page 38 of the Sunday Mail today was a little story about the inevitability of a pandemic flu event and how Australians should be stockpiling at least ten weeks worth of food in preparation. I can't find a link to the full text of the article on-line, but there was a web address included at the end with a guide as to what foods should be stockpiled.

For non-Australians, some of the brands will be unknown, unobtainable, or disliked. And please note that 'biscuit' is used to describe cookies in this list.

Anyway, you can see their guidelines here - http://www.foodlifeboat.com.au/

Thoughts?

Good post and discussion on winter preparedness

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:14:10 GMT

ebonypearl has a good discussion going on about winter preparedness right now.

Run your car on water?

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:50:52 GMT

http://educate-yourself.org/fe/fewaterasfuel28jan02.shtml

Basically, an electric charge seperates water into it's component hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are sent into the combustion chamber as gasoline and air is now.

I wonder if it'd really work? Any shade-tree mechanics out there got an engine they want to tinker with?

Some great DP websites and info:

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:04:36 GMT

I found an excellent website, video and book to share with everyone here:

International Preparedness Network
Aton's Top Ten preparedness tools
Preparedness Now!

Government Simulates Hacker Attack on Electrical Grid

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:28:30 GMT

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298320,00.html?sPage=fnc.technology/cybersecurity

(What follows isn't from the story, it's what I got from watching the news story last week on either CBS or Fox, whichever one it was. They interviewed some expert who talked about the possible repercussions from such an attack.)

You think a power outage from a storm or the like is an inconvenience? What about a 3-month long, or longer, regional blackout?

The U.S. government, through the Idaho National Laboratory, back in March conducted a simulated cyber attack against a power station, complete with a working electrical power generator. They were able to hack into the control system (yes, they are connected to the internet) and program the generator to run out of control, causing it to self-destruct.

Now, what would happen if a well-funded terror group, or a hostile country's government/military/intelligence organization, decided to stage such an attack against, say, ALL of the power generating stations in the Western U.S.?

It could mean that a third of the U.S. would be in the dark for 3-months or longer. (The person that was interviewed gave that timeframe for the service interruption, IIRC.)

Not only would that mean no lights, but no heating/cooling, no refrigeration, no cooking, no phone service, no internet, no gas pumps, NOTHING.

Got natural gas for heating and cooking you say? Great, but the gas company uses electricity from the power companies to power the pumps used to move that natural gas through the lines into your home. No electricity, no pumps, no gas to your heater and stove/oven.

Pile the family into your car and leave that part of the country? Well, how far will a full tank get you, IF you just happen to have a full tank? Will it get you out of the affected area of the country, or almost out? And what if you don't have a full-tank? The gas stations won't be able to pump gas/diesel without power, so you'd be SOL where ever you end up with an empty tank. If you lived close to the edge of the affected area, or say close to the Canadian or Mexican border (if they let you cross), perhaps you'd be okay.

What about food and water? Well, sure you could go to the grocery store initially, but they may or may not have backup generators to run their cash registers and their refrigeration systems. And how much fuel do those generators have? How will they be refueled if no pumps are working? It's predicted that the stores will run out of food within 3 days. No fuel to run their trucks, means no deliveries to restock the stores, which means empty stores.

And the stores that don't have backup generators? I wouldn't want to be at one when the riot and looting broke out.

And, even if you do succeed in acquiring food and the like, again, how are you going to cook the food, or keep the refrigerated/frozen stuff from going bad?

Then you have to deal with the fact that your municipal or private water company won't be able to deliver water to your faucets. And the waste-water treatment plants won't be able to treat any waste-water coming from your drains. How will you deal with bodily wastes? Even if you stockpiled water with which to flush your toilets, the sanitary sewer system is going to back up sooner or later.

Telephone service, land-line and cell, won't last too long either. Very few cell sites have backup generators, they'd be the first to go virtually instantly. Then the land-line service would go down within a short period of time as their backup generators ran out of fuel.

Internet service likewise would go down.

Local AM and FM radio, and TV stations would go dark one after another as their generators ran out of fuel. (As would the cable companies.) Your battery operated portable radio and/or tv would be receiving nothing but static. AM broadcast stations from outside the affected area could be listened to with a battery operated portable radio, from local sunset untill local sunrise, at least untill your batteries die. The same applies to portable shortwave radio receivers. Satellite radio and satellite tv service would still work, assuming their uplink sites were outside of the affected region, but with no electricity to power your receivers...

EVERYTHING that we take for granted would come to a grinding halt. We'd be left to fend for ourselves circa the 1800's.

(What follows is my own conjecture, not anything that was stated in the news story that I watched. Personally, I think it was deliberately left out.)

What if a cyber attack were launched in connection with multiple physical attacks against, say, key transmission lines, bringing down towers and the high voltage lines they support? The resulting wildfires from either the explosives used or the sparking lines would have to be dealt with even before crews could try to get in to replace those towers and lines.

The only way I foresee anyone being able to survive something like this would be to own a home that is 100% solar powered, with your own water well and septic system, and a stockpile of foodstuffs that will feed you, all of your loved ones (human and otherwise), and however many other people you choose to allow to reside with you, for the duration.

And if you lived anywhere near "civilization", you would also have to have the means and mindset to be able to defend it, with deadly force if necessary.

You'd have what other people didn't but would desperately want. And more than a few of those people would be willing to kill you and anyone else for it. Would you be willing to kill them to protect yourself and your loved ones, if it came to that?

Don't think it could happen?

How many people thought 9-11 could happen?

CERT community started

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:03:21 GMT

I just launched a community devoted to exchanging information for those interested in Community Emergency Response Teams. It is meant to enhance the things shared on this community, and to help those who wish to take their disaster preparedness and recovery skills and learning a step further.

Check it out!

cert_info

Who cares for the welfare of the elderly of Louisiana?

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:47:52 GMT

Who cares for the welfare of the elderly of Louisiana?

Find Mrs./ Ms. Martin, give her a hug and a team of brilliant lawyers please...

With the necessitation of lawsuits such as these post Katrina, the pre-Katrina publicity promoting Louisiana as a "Great Place to Retire" rings hollow. To place blame on the levees for the lack of evacuation prior to a 450 mile wide storm is a red herring. "Red Herring" is a very nice word because I have sooo many more inappropriate foul-mouthed words to hissssssss on this nursing home evacuation issue. The levees were somewhat functional prior to Katrina and have nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with a timely evacuation. Read what Victor Hull had to say from St. Pete's Beach.

Fascinating list

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Just stumbled across this through another blog I read and thought it would make for some interesting conversation around here.

The Top 100 Items to Disappear First in Case of an Emergency
http://baconreport.blogspot.com/2007/07/top-100-items-to-disappear-first-during.html

The writer doesn't list a source, but it's good food for thought.

Cheers, all

Who dat ? Say it isn’t so…

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:45:05 GMT

Who dat ? Say it isn’t so…

Hey, mister…where’d ya get that gas?

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:10:05 GMT

Hey, mister…where’d ya get that gas?

Does your parish have a plan to supply generators along its hurricane evacuation routes?

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:57:29 GMT

Please could anyone advise on coping with flooding over a wide area? Going elsewhere isn't an option.

On Fire

Sat, 26 May 2007 16:57:32 GMT

So, you're lost in the woods? Need a fire? Whip out your trusty condom and blaze away!

http://www.primitiveways.com/fire_from_balloon.html

Suggestion

Wed, 02 May 2007 15:30:36 GMT

For those of you out there who have go-bags at the ready, may I suggest now that you add an item to them?

Go to Target and pick up a bag of thick socks in your size. Put them in a Ziploc or other resealable, waterproof bag. If you are, suddenly, called upon to walk many miles for a few days in a row, those socks will be like gold to you. They can also double as bandages, I suppose, but in a true emergency short-term foot care is going to be something that can determine whether you make it out of the danger area.

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:00:59 GMT

Hi everybody,

I was surfing around a little today and one of my links led me to a page on disaster preparedness. Not overly unusual, but in this case it was an interesting place to find myself as I was actually looking for information on travel. Anyway, it got me thinking, and I thought it might make for an interesting discussion here.

I'm Australian, and many of my friends who would usually have travelled to Bali or Indonesia without a thought have recently become paranoid about the possibilities of natural disasters and the like. For someone who firmly believes in travelling light (at least on the way there, more room for souvenirs on the way home!), it isn't always possible to have an entire bug-out kit in your suitcase.

Do you try to maintain a certain level of preparedness when you're on the move and on vacation? What are your tips for being prepared while travelling? Within your own country and overseas? Any must-haves that you always take with you? Anything that you particularly search for the moment you arrive?

Emergency preparedness in your state

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:01:37 GMT

Here's a Clickable map that gives you details about emergency preparedness in individual states.

Check it out.

Interesting article on SeekingAlpha

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:02:05 GMT

Tips on Disaster Preparedness

Make a Survival Kit out of an Altoids Tin!

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:26:36 GMT

Not sure how useful it would be long term, but it doesn't sound like a bad idea, and would make a cute gift for loved ones, or college kids.

Field & Stream

*knocks on screen*

Is anybody out there???

Emergency food review

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:01:04 GMT

I just did a review of an emergency ration bar over on my journal, in case anyone's interested. The short of it is, if you're looking for 3 day's worth of food in the size of a paperback book, and don't mind eating the culinary equivalent of a giant lemon cookie, it's not too bad.

Here's an interesting website

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 02:18:53 GMT

WorldChanging

Looks like it's chock-a-block with all sorts of good ideas for sustainability and similar things. Definitely worth a look and a bookmark.

Emergency money...

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:38:06 GMT

A lot of "emergency preparedness" literature advises you to have some cash stashed away in case of emergency. My mother always taught me to have a "mad money" stash. It's a little bit of emergency money. The name "mad money" was because it started out as money to have with you on a date so that, if the guy turned out to be a jerk, you could be free to leave on your own. Enough cash for a taxi & enough change for a phone call. My mother still has a mad money stash for emergency gasoline or groceries.

I've always tried to have two stashes, but, I've never been good at keeping up with them. Usually because I was just outright broke, and, it's hard to put money aside for *any* reason, if things are really tight. I tried to keep at least $10 in the car & $10 in a separate part of my wallet for emergency money. (Usually grabbed when I *needed* to put gasoline in the car, but, didn't have time to hit an ATM.) Now that I'm older & my emergency expenses may include things like groceries (and gasoline is much more expensive), I've decided to increase those to $20 in the car & $40 in my wallet.

I'd *like* to have an emergency stash at my house. Probably $50-70 dollars. The trouble is, I live in a lousy neighborhood. We've been broken into twice. I would hate to "stash" money away, only to have it stolen. Also, I live with my boyfriend & two housemates. While I trust the three of them, I'd rather *not* have to explain why there was a plastic bag filled with cash in the flour.

So, I've got a couple questions for the group. Firstly, how important do you think it is to have emergency money. Secondly, how *much* emergency money do you think the average person (or family) should have on hand? Lastly, how would you deal with my particular situation? (Moving isn't an option.) I'm torn between trying to find a "safe" place (ideas encouraged), or, deciding that my home just isn't safe enough to have emergency money around.