Home » Posts tagged 'the organic prepper'

Tag Archives: the organic prepper

EMPs (Electromagnetic Pulse) are a trope that is often used in prepper fiction. We often think of an EMP attack as the worst-case, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario that is just around the corner. There’s little doubt that it would change everything, but what’s the truth?

Here’s what an expert has to say about EMPs

Nobody knows this better than Dr. Arthur T. Bradley. Dr Bradley is a NASA engineer and the leading expert on EMPs in the preparedness community. He’s the author of Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness and the must-have Disaster Preparedness for EMPs and Solar Storms. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with him before myself, and you couldn’t ask for a nicer, more down-to-earth person. He really knows what he’s talking about and he shares information without hyperbole. He is the person I trust the most for information in this genre.

In this compelling interview, Brian Duff interviews Dr. Bradley to get the real answers. If you want to separate fact from fiction, watch this video.

What are your thoughts about EMPs?

After watching the video, did any of Dr. Bradley’s information on the result of EMPs surprise you? Based on this, are you making any changes to your long-term preparedness plan?

Let’s discuss it in the comments section.

Govt. Nudge Units Find the “BEST” Ways to Manipulate the Public

June 5, 2023

Govt. Nudge Units Find the “BEST” Ways to Manipulate the Public

Freedom of speech means a lot to us at the OP. However, that’s been fading fast, as Daisy has documented, and as though speech restrictions aren’t bad enough, most of us have been lab rats for central planners’ behavioral experiments longer than we probably care to realize. And now there are Nudge Units.

Huge amounts of money have been poured into “nudge research,” determining the best ways to get populations to change their behaviors without passing laws or using force.

What are Nudge Units?

Let’s look at how these “Nudge Units” got started, what they’ve been used for most recently, and what they’re likely to focus on next.

The concept of “nudging” people into making better choices became popular with the book Nudge—Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, authored by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, and published in 2008. Their book defines a nudge as:

. . .any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not. (p.6)

(You may be interested to note that author Sunstein is married to Samantha Power, the administrator of Biden’s US Agency for International Development and previously Obama’s ambassador to the UN. Forbes listed Ms. Power as the 63rd most powerful woman in the world in 2014. Do you think she’s Nudging? ~ Daisy )

Individuals in government and industry quickly realized that the authors’ insights into the decision-making process could be used to manipulate that process in the minds of the general public, many of whom don’t have the time or mental energy for NYT bestsellers.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Are We on the Verge of World War 3? Here Are Some Facts We Know for Sure.

October 14, 2022

Are We on the Verge of World War 3? Here Are Some Facts We Know for Sure.

Sometimes it is best to take a step back and look at the facts that we know without a doubt so that we can then take a look at the bigger picture. Within the context of World War 3, here is a bit of what we have seen.

Draw your own conclusions.

Does Washington’s opinion here matter?

Out of the blue, New York City recently released a PSA instructing New Yorkers on what they needed to do in order to survive a nuclear strike on American soil. This hasn’t been done since the Cold War. If you want information about nuclear survival that isn’t glossed over by the government, you should check out our live nuclear survival webinar that is coming up with Army Ranger NBC Specialist Chuck Hudson. Go here to learn more.

The United States is now stockpiling anti-radiation medicine. Washington recently ordered $290 million worth of the drug Nplate, a drug used to treat “blood cell injuries that accompany acute radiation syndrome in adult and pediatric patients (ARS).”

Biden recently said that Putin was “not joking” about a potential Russian attack with “tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.” Anybody who has read Soviet defector Ken Alibek’s Biohazard is well-familiar with what some of these biological weapons are.

Does the market speak?

Potassium iodide pills are out of stock just about everywhere you check now.

Sales of gas masks, Geiger counters, and dosimeters have absolutely exploded.

Russian nuclear doctrine is worth learning about.

Russian nuclear doctrine permits Russia to make a first strike provided the Kremlin believes they have faced an “aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Urban Survival vs. Rural Survival: A WARNING from Selco About Your Plans

October 14, 2022

Urban Survival vs. Rural Survival: A WARNING from Selco About Your Plans

Urban survival vs. rural survival is a near-constant debate in preparedness circles. Those who live on acreage sometimes scoff at those who live in cities for reasons of business, education, or families. Those who live in the cities feel obligated to defend their choices. The truth of the matter is that there IS no perfect plan, and even if you had one, SHTF might have other ideas. You need both skillsets to survive, as Selco teaches. In this reality check, Selco explains how even the best survival plans can go horribly wrong when the SHTF. ~ Daisy

Co-Author of SHTF Survival Boot Camp and SHTF Survival Bootcamp Online Course

I write almost always about urban survival because of a few simple reasons:

I survived SHTF in an urban environment, so I write about it from my own experience.
The majority of us actually live in urban settings, so there is a reason why we need to pay more attention to preparing for urban survival.
Most of us who live in urban settings have a plan (me too) to bug out to some kind of rural setting in order to have a better chance of survival. But the sad truth is that a lot of us will fail to bug out on time because of numerous reasons.

As a result, a number of us who have a good BOL in a rural setting will still end up surviving in an urban area.

Generally, I think it is much better to be out of the urban area when SHTF. But we don’t always get what we want no matter how good our plan. That is why you must learn about not only rural or wilderness survival, but also urban survival. I talk about all of these in my book.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Selco: It CAN Happen to You and You CAN Survive It

September 10, 2022

Selco: It CAN Happen to You and You CAN Survive It

It is good to research how other people went through hard times in order to be ready more for SHTF. And today, I have a reality check for you.

The two biggest misconception or mistakes that can happen there are fact that you may easily conclude something like “oh, this can not happen to me here (because we are better, smarter, richer, more human or whatever)” and second one might be fact that you cannot “bond” with situation that happened to someone else somewhere far from you because situation was so hard and those people who survived and went through that look way tougher than you.

With these mindsets, you cannot understand and draw the most important lessons from the reality of their survival experiences.

In essence, we are talking about two opposite “spectrums” here, one that says “it will never happen here” and a second that says “if that ever happens I would not survive”

“If that ever happens, I will not survive.”

Many people read about a situation and think, I cannot survive that situation, I cannot be prepared for that.

A long time ago, when I started to construct physical survival courses, one of my first ideas was to create a course called “A Week in Hell”.

The course was imagined to look like this: life in an apartment or house for one week without electricity, running water, or any other service, and only a very small amount of food.

Other problems would be thrown at the students during that week: the psychological pressure of the unknown (a threat, dangerous people, engaging in trade) fixing broken stuff in the home (broken windows, roof) solving problems (heating, a medical issue), etc.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Cheap Places to Get Quality Preps

August 24, 2022

Cheap Places to Get Quality Preps

By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and the online course Build a Better Pantry on a Budget

If you’re like most folks, getting a good deal on your preps is of the utmost importance right now. With the economy collapsing around our ears, many of us are working to make ends meet and don’t have a lot left over for prepping.

So where can you get preps without spending a fortune? Keep in mind that shopping for preps specifically or in kits is probably the most expensive way to buy. But if you can assemble your prepping kits and essential tools from individual purchases, you can probably spend far less.

This list contains some ideas that may work for you. Some of them are ideas taken straight from the comments section, so shout-out to our awesome readers! Do your due diligence with any of these sources and make sure not to buy something there that might be less expensive elsewhere. Just because it says it’s a sale doesn’t mean it’s a bargain.

Surplus and liquidation stores

There are many different kinds of surplus and liquidation stores, and if you are lucky enough to live or work near one, make it a regular stop when you’re out and about. The thing about surplus stores is that they get new inventory all the time, and you just never know what you’ll find.

Military surplus stores can be a great place to get sturdy gear that will hold up to the workout you put it through. Don’t stop with just army surplus stores, though.

There are some chain stores that often have incredible deals.

Big Lots
Ollies
Ocean State Job Lots
Mardens
Liquidation World
Discount groceries
Harbor Freight

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Why OpSec Has NEVER Been More Important

June 1, 2022

Why OpSec Has NEVER Been More Important

If you’ve been in prepper circles for long, you’ve probably heard the term OpSec. It is taken from military jargon and it’s short for Operations Security. In the preparedness and survival world, it generally means not letting other people know that you are prepped, or if they know, they definitely don’t know the specifics of what you have.

Not only do we want to keep the level of our preparedness private, these days, keeping our opinions private might be likewise beneficial from a security perspective. More on that in a moment.

Trigger Warning: There’s no way I can write this article without ticking somebody off. Some readers will feel that I’m siding with the right and others will feel like I’m siding with the left. I’m not because I am not a Democrat or a Republic, nor am I a conservative or a liberal. I’m a critical thinker with diverse opinions that fall into all sorts of categories. Yet others will feel I didn’t go far enough or that there’s some “fact” or conspiracy that I didn’t reveal. I’m not an ice cream cone. I can’t make everyone happy. Also, there may be some swearing.

What is OpSec?

Here’s a definition for those who aren’t familiar with the concept.

Operations security (OPSEC) is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by enemy intelligence, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate or reduce adversary exploitation of friendly critical information.

In a more general sense, OPSEC is the process of protecting individual pieces of data that could be grouped together to give the bigger picture (called aggregation). OPSEC is the protection of critical information deemed mission-essential from military commanders, senior leaders, management or other decision-making bodies…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The People Behind DHS’s Orwellian “Disinformation Governance Board”

May 2, 2022

The People Behind DHS’s Orwellian “Disinformation Governance Board”

A “Disinformation Governance Board” has just been created and is going to be run by the Department of Homeland Security. Their primary goal is going to be to “police” what is deemed to be “misinformation” or “disinformation.”

No clarification has been given as of yet as to what this policing will mean, but it has been pointed out that the creation of this new Disinformation Governance Board is going to have the full strength of the DHS behind it.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “the goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat.”

Nina Jankowicz has been chosen to head up the new disinformation office as the executive director.

Nina Jankowicz

Jankowicz received her MA in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. A full list of the staff at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University can be found here.

Some of the current faculty/staff members within the Walsh School of Foreign Service are:

Jankowicz also spent time previously working with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (also called the Wilson Institute) in the past as a disinformation fellow. A full listing of their staff can be found here.

Some of the current staff members, faculty, and associates at the Wilson Institute include:

Cynthia Arnson – Director of the Latin American Program
Shihoko Goto – Director for Geoeconomics and Indo-Pacific Enterprise/Deputy Director of the Asia Program
Duncan Wood – VP for Strategy and New Initiatives; Senior Advisor to the Mexico Instituted; Interim Director of the Global Europe Program
Lonnie Bunch III – Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Criminalization of Preppers in Turkey: Will Our Country Be Next?

December 23, 2021

The Criminalization of Preppers in Turkey: Will Our Country Be Next?

History has shown us that collectivism detests the individual. The man who can exist independent of the system, who thinks for himself, who is not easily swayed, and who has values rooted in absolute truth which he refuses to give up – this is the enemy of collectivism.

But if we take a closer look at one aspect of the individual – his ability to exist independent of the system – is it not clear this is an end goal of prepping?

Is that not what a prepper strives for – the ability to exist independent of the world around them so that disaster does not affect them in the way that it affects others?

It is, and this is why collectivism criminalizes preppers over and over again.

We’ve seen it before and we’re seeing it right now, most notably in Turkey.

Turkey is cooked, and we all know it.

For those who keep a fairly accurate pulse of world events, you know that the fiat currency of Turkey – the lira – is collapsing.

As of this year the lira has lost approximately 40% of its value, and from all appearances, it shows no signs of stopping its downward spiral anytime soon.

Inflation is rapidly leading to hyperinflation within Turkey and the Turkish citizens have recognized this. People began attempting to step away from the lira and delving into cryptocurrency in an attempt to protect themselves.

And then the Turkish government made crypto illegal as a form of payment on April 30, 2021. This was done to prevent “irreparable damage.” What’s ironic about this is that the Turks said this was because cryptocurrencies were “neither subject to any regulation and supervision mechanisms nor a central regulatory authority.” [source]

That’s a fun train of logic from the people that are in the process of destroying their own currency.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

15 Common Dynamics of SHTF Collapses

October 9, 2021

15 Common Dynamics of SHTF Collapses

When it comes to how we see and prepare for SHTF, thinking in terms of real and probable rather than fictional and possible can make a big difference. Even though SHTF has many forms and levels and is in essence complex, random, diverse and unsystematic, some patterns and principles are common to the way things unfold when it hits the fan.

With Toby and Selco’s Seven Pillars of Urban Preparedness as inspiration, I came up with a different list of the 15 dynamics and realities of collapses.

#1 SHTF is nuanced and happens in stages

Thinking about SHTF as an ON/OFF, all-or-nothing endgame is a common mistake that can lead to severe misjudgments and failures in critical areas of preparedness. Part (or parts) of the system crash, freeze, fail, or become impaired. This is how SHTF happens in the real world. And when it does, people run for safety first, i.e., resort to more familiar behaviors, expecting things to “go back to normal soon.”

By “normal behaviors,” I mean everything from hoarding stuff (toilet paper?) to rioting, looting, and crime, and yes, using cash – as these happen all the time, even when things are normal. But no one becomes a barterer, a peddler, a precious metals specialist in a week. Society adapts as time passes (and the situation requires). That’s why preppers who are also SHTF survivors (and thus talk from personal experience) insist that abandoning fantasies and caring for basics first is crucial. This is not a coincidence. It is how things happen in the real world.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Next on the List of American Catastrophes? A Western Megadrought

April 30, 2021

Next on the List of American Catastrophes? A Western Megadrought

I’ve written many articles for The Organic Prepper about the coming food shortages. Not just in the United States but all across the world. Food isn’t the only thing that is soon going to be in short supply.

Fresh, clean water appears to be one of the prime shortages facing humanity today. And this problem is only going to get worse in the future. The American West is facing a water crisis not seen since the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl days. Ironic, since we’re also seeing a lot of similarities to the Great Depression, too.

This past year saw drought in the American West deepen

According to research published in the Journal Science, portions of the United States entered the beginning stages of megadrought. From the Columbia University site:

All told, the researchers say that rising temperatures are responsible for about half the pace and severity of the current drought. If this overall warming were subtracted from the equation, the current drought would rank as the 11th worst detected — bad, but nowhere near what it has developed into.

“It doesn’t matter if this is exactly the worst drought ever,” said coauthor Benjamin Cook, who is affiliated with Lamont and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “What matters is that it has been made much worse than it would have been because of climate change.” Since temperatures are projected to keep rising, it is likely the drought will continue for the foreseeable future; or fade briefly only to return, say the researchers.

“Because the background is getting warmer, the dice are increasingly loaded toward longer and more severe droughts,” said Williams. “We may get lucky, and natural variability will bring more precipitation for a while…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Here’s How 30 Preppers Have Adapted and What They Foresee Happening Next

March 14, 2021

Here’s How 30 Preppers Have Adapted and What They Foresee Happening Next

There’s a lot more crazy and a lot less money than usual, and as I’ve written before, the face of prepping has changed. It’s a lot more difficult (and expensive) to go out and stockpile as we did a few years ago, and the event we’ve faced has been a slow-burning SHTF event that has slowly and insidiously taken away financial security from hundreds of thousands of Americans.

I wondered how others have changed the way they prep to adapt to these times so I asked the folks in our Me-We group if they’ve changed how they prep and if so, what changes they’ve made. If you are interested in joining the group, go here, answer four questions, and be sure to change your profile picture from the Me-We basic images. We don’t care what you change them too, we’re just trying to avoid “bot” traffic from prowling through our group.

Here’s how readers have changed the way they prep.

With some of the comments, I’ve added a comment or a link in italics for more information.

Eileen:

I am working on doing even more with even less. I was laid off at the beginning of Covid. Hubby’s paycheck is down a bit. We have been watching the cost of regularly used items skyrocket, yet again. Teaching myself to grow more long term food items this year. At this point, Daisy, just not giving up feels like prepping, even if it’s just to get up tomorrow and try again.

Here’s an article on how to keep going when things feel hopeless. ~ D

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

daisy luther, the organic prepper, prepping, preparations,

Here’s Why a Bicycle Might the Ultimate SHTF Transportation

February 10, 2021

Here’s Why a Bicycle Might the Ultimate SHTF Transportation

Have you thought about how you’ll get around in the event that hopping in your car and driving someplace isn’t an option? Transportation and mobility are extremely important factors in preparedness.

Mobility can vary significantly during SHTF versus normal times. But it remains equally essential to logistics and safety. We must stay mobile to restock supplies, search for help (or help others), communicate, evade threats, etc. If things haven’t gone full Mad Max, you may need an alternative mode of transportation.

So what is the ultimate SHTF vehicle? You can find all sorts of fancy bug-out vehicles out there, but if you’re on a budget this may not be an option. Perhaps it’s time to consider the humble bicycle.

Mobility (or lack thereof) depends a lot on the scenario

War, martial law, a natural disaster: each situation calls for a strategy, considering speed, distance, mode of transportation and load/cargo capacity, and also the status of the infrastructure. Either way, we must be able to move around with the maximum safety possible. When other rules change, the rules of mobility follow suit.

Being mobile has just one meaning, but various reasons and different forms. Sometimes we must go fast. Other times going fast means drawing unwanted attention or risking an accident. There’s also range and cargo capacity. There’s stuff to be done nearby, and there’s stuff to be done far away. Sometimes we must move around slowly and stealthily.

How SHTF affects mobility

SHTF can impact mobility in many ways. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and all the craziness that came with it, we’ve seen how fast things can change.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Are We Facing a Future Where Life Only Goes “Back to Normal” for Rich People?

December 21, 2020

Are We Facing a Future Where Life Only Goes “Back to Normal” for Rich People?

As jobs and businesses vanish, and prices go up, Americans could soon face another expense – the expense of proving that they’re “healthy.”

While the government tells us that the Covid vaccinations are going to be “free,” are they really? Let’s take a look.

How much will it actually cost to get vaccinated against Covid?

While the government is paying for the vaccine itself, it will still cost money for most people to get injected with it.

However, providers will be able to bill you an administrative fee for giving the shot to patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This would be similar to paying a charge when you visit the doctor’s office, or for specialized vaccine delivery, such as infusion, a process in which a substance — like medication, a chemotherapy drug or hydration — enters the bloodstream intravenously.

If you don’t have insurance, the medical provider you used should be reimbursed for any COVID-19 treatment you receive through the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, at no cost to you.

…If you receive a bill for administration fees, it’s still unclear whether or not those will be covered in full. It’s a good idea to contact your local provider or health insurance company for more details on whether you’ll be charged additional fees before receiving a vaccine. It might be that you have more than one option for immunization, including finding a medical provider that would give you the vaccine free of charge, or offer a more straightforward approach to reimbursement if you’re charged. (source)

So it’s kind of free, sort of, unless somebody charges you but then you might be able to get your money back. Multiply by your number of family members.

And what about all the apps for proving you’ve gotten vaccinated? Will that be government-funded or will people pay a few bucks to the app store to download it onto their smartphones? What about people who don’t have phones? What about those who can no longer afford phone service?

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Urban Survival vs. Rural Survival: A WARNING from Selco About Your Plans

December 2, 2020

Urban Survival vs. Rural Survival: A WARNING from Selco About Your Plans

I write almost always about urban survival because of a few simple reasons:

I survived SHTF in an urban environment, so I write about it from my own experience.
The majority of us actually live in urban settings, so there is a reason why we need to pay more attention to preparing for urban survival.
Most of us who live in urban settings have a plan (me too) to bug out to some kind of rural setting in order to have a better chance of survival. But the sad truth is that a lot of us will fail to bug out on time because of numerous reasons.

As a result, a number of us who have a good BOL in a rural setting will still end up surviving in an urban area.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Tag Archives: the organic prepper

Content

Post categories

Economic Links

Energy/Resource Links

Environmental Links

Geopolitical Links

Liberty Links

News Links

Other Links

Survival Skills

Post Archives by Category

By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and the online course Build a Better Pantry on a Budget

Post navigation

Latest Posts