This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The End of the American Dream.

In 2017 and 2018, most Americans were generally feeling pretty good about the future, and interest in “prepping” plummeted nationwide.  But now things have changed.

All of a sudden, demand for “prepper properties” is absolutely soaring, and this is driving up the prices of rural homes all over the nation.  In fact, in some of the hottest areas, working-class families have already been completely priced out of the market.  Meanwhile, luxury home prices in the heart of New York City have fallen to the lowest level in six years.  Many are deeply concerned about the upcoming election, and many others are alarmed by all the other crazy stuff happening all over the world, but whatever the motivation it is undeniable that an increasing number of Americans are seeking to flee the major cities right now.   There seems to be a growing consensus that our society is rapidly steamrolling toward a nightmare, and a lot of people are purchasing “prepper properties” while they still can.

I knew that conditions were shifting, but I was stunned when I saw that even Realtor.com had posted an article about this growing trend…

But today, Americans en masse are again preparing for the worst—and Communists are just about the only thing not on their list. What is? Terrorist attacks, a total economic collapse, perhaps even zombie invasions. Or maybe just a complete societal breakdown after this November’s scorched-Earth presidential election.

And Reuters just posted an article in which they discussed the fact that preppers have “boosted rural land values” in property markets all across the nation…

Whichever camp, realtors say the new dropouts are not “crackpots” and often include affluent professionals whose run for the hills has boosted rural land values and started to change their property market.

“I’ve had hedge-fund managers and billionaires that have made purchases, and they all have concerns about the direction of the economy and social stability,” said John E. Haynes, president of Retreat Realty in North Carolina.

That same Reuters article identified “Idaho, Montana and Wyoming” as three of the states with the hottest property markets.  It has gotten to the point where even some of the biggest celebrities in the country are very eager to grab a slice of rural life.  For example, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian just purchased a second extremely large ranch in Wyoming.

But mostly this trend is being driven by preppers, survivalists and those that want to own an “off-grid property”.  The following comes from a recent NPR article…

Welcome to the world of sustainable, survivalist real estate. There’s a growing market for this kind of off-grid property. Mondale figures over the past six to eight years, sales of these survivalist properties have risen by 50 percent.

“It seems like over the past few years, there’s just this need, I don’t want to say panic or frantic, but people feeling the need to be able to have someplace to go,” Mondale says.

Real estate agent Theresa Mondale has been in this game for a very long time, and she has never seen the market as hot as it is right now.

In fact, some of the prepper properties that she has listed sell for more than a million dollars…

Despite the remoteness of these homes, they’re not backwoods shacks with sagging metal roofs. Some of her listings sell for more than $1 million if there’s a lot of land and if water rights are included. The one with the helicopter pad is a spiffy, two-story log home with a wraparound porch. It has solar panels and inside, a backup generator, luxury bathrooms and a kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Over in Idaho, real estate agent, Todd Savage has also noticed a huge surge in interest in prepper properties.  He told Realtor.com that his sales are up 50 percent compared to a year ago…

For example, sales at American Redoubt Realty, a real estate firm nestled in the heart of prepper country in northern Idaho, are up 50% over the same time last year, says real estate agent Todd Savage, who specializes in such transactions. His clients typically hail from Texas and California.

As we approach the 2020 election, demand is going to continue to surge, and prices are only going to go higher.

And if great chaos breaks out during the aftermath of the election, that will drive prices into the stratosphere.

We live at a time when our nation is very deeply divided, but at the same time, people from all walks of life are extremely concerned about where our society is heading.

In the event that things really start to fall apart, people want their families to be safe, and safety is not going to be found in the major cities.

Of course, some developers are taking things to the extreme.  For example, one developer has actually transformed a former nuclear missile silo in Kansas into what he is calling “survival condos”…

Larry Hall is the brainchild behind such luxury developments which he refers to as ‘Survival Condos’. The project is a luxury complex housed 15 stories below ground in a former missile silo near Concordia, Kansas.

The missile silos were originally built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s during the Cold War for the Atlas F missile, and there were 72 of them around the country.

Being stuck in a highly publicized hole in the ground when society starts to collapse may not be the best tactical situation, but apparently there is a lot of demand for these condos.

In fact, the price for a penthouse unit is a cool 4.5 million dollars…

A full-floor apartment, spanning 1,800 square feet, will cost buyers $3million, while a 900-square-foot, half-floor unit is $1.5million. The ultra-wealthy can also make a penthouse selection starting at $4.5million.

Needless to say, only the ultra-wealthy can afford such extravagant accommodations.

But everyone should be preparing in their own way.

The relative stability that we had been enjoying has now given way to a time of great uncertainty.  Economic conditions are deteriorating, global weather patterns are going completely nuts, war could break out in the Middle East at any time, civil unrest is on the rise all over the globe, a mysterious coronavirus is spreading very rapidly in Asia, our planet is becoming increasingly unstable, and the 2020 election looks like it could be a flashpoint for all the anger that has been boiling just under the surface in our nation for many years.

If you want to grab a prepper property, now is the time to do so, because time is running out and things are about to start getting really crazy out there.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations, I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and anyway that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

This article contains affiliate links. 

Recycling aluminum cans is great. But recycling a prepping wives’ tale is bad. Yet so much of the basic prepping information available in books and on websites includes recycled information based more on wishful thinking and popular fiction than on science and historical lessons. Doc Montana solos on this podcast with his 7 Deadly Prepper Sins. Seven popular, often recycled, prepper bits of wisdom that might not just be wrong, but dangerous, and in fact, unpatriotic.

Want to comment about this podcast? Sound off below in the comments.

A fun episode with lots of opinions, click on one of the links below to listen now or download to your phone and listen later. Also, if you love the podcast, please leave us a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or Podbeam. It really helps!!!

The post Survival Cache Podcast Episode 18: 7 Deadly Prepper Sins appeared first on Survival Cache.

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

The Power of the Glance

Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a series of articles by guest author Kyt Lyn Walken on tracking and its applicability to prepping. — Wild Bill

“Tracking is an element of scouting that encompasses observation, stalking and the following of a trail.” [Wikipedia]

The quote above couldn’t be truer. As soon as we get into the world of Tracking, it dawns on us the certainty that a good Tracker must be, first and foremost, a good observer. 

Back in the day, the early leader of the Scouting movement, Francis Gidney (mostly known as “Gilcraft”, author of the remarkable book “Training in Tracking”, 1933) underlined that “…there is no better education than observation, deduction, memory and ingenuity (…)” laying the foundations of this Art. 

As mentioned in the previous article, Tracking allows you to build a mental image of what is not only in front of you, but also what surrounds you. This is applicable to the environment as well as to human beings, since all the details we are able to collect from an individual (such as somatic traits, nuances of the character and of the personality, habits, the way he/she is dressed, the way he/she talks and gesticulates) can be accurately analyzed as well as arranged in determined cultural, religious and ethnic categories.

Tracking’s roots lead to today’s use

This has proven to be highly successful, and has become the cornerstone of profiling for FBI and CIA, as well as part of the “Combat Hunter Program” (2007) which “trains the fundamentals of combat profiling, tracking, and optics-based observation, helping students become successful “combat hunters” in an irregular warfare battlespace“.

Decades before developing the topics of this specific program, trappers already employed what we can call a primitive tool of profiling during their explorations in the Old Frontier; their skill in recognizing at first glance if the Native Americans they ran across in were friendly or not made the difference between life and death. They had to be accurate observers, trained to be as moved by the necessity and by the perspective of making a fortune thanks to their hunting and trapping skills. 

No doubt following the animal trails often led them through unknown situations through uncharted lands. The possibility of being captured by hostile Indians was more than a remote possibility, as demonstrated by the story of John Colter, who was a scout for the Lewis and Clark expedition. 

Captured in 1808 near Three Forks, Montana, he eventually escaped and made his way to the Madison Riverl, wrapped only in a blanket he stole from one of the Indians.

John Colter’s saga is a crystalline example of the natural and necessary process of enhancing all the senses and the effective employment of them: the situational awareness we spoke about in the first article leads us, in fact, in this specific direction.

Observation is the cornerstone of tracking

When I speak of observation, I mean:

• acquiring details
• analyzing the most conspicuous ones
• process them
• developing a mental database of what we may need to know in the future
• calculating risks and benefits
• move ahead wisely 

If these topics sound a little trivial, please think again. 

The fact is we do not spend a lot of time considering the effects of our actions; our observation skills are widely degraded by our everyday habits and duties. We have dulled our vision, which, in the terminology of Tracking, is often identified as “tunnel vision.” In short, we observe and recognize what we know, which places us in our comfort zone, and fail to see anomalies unless directly in front of us. 

Certainly, being focused on our trackline (which corresponds to our “main goal”) is the basis of every pursuit. However, gaining the habit of observing what lays beside us allows us to develop a more distinctive situational awareness. The details are part of the bigger puzzle.

“In the heat of the investigative pursuit, the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line.” 

So, how can we enhance our observation skills? Simply, by learning again how to look and where to look, as we will see in the upcoming articles.

One of the first thing you can do is to learn how to move more slowly, especially when you find yourself, for example, in the backwoods. Be deliberate in every single movement and adjust your rhythm to the natural one that surrounds you. I always tell my students that they need to allow their mind to really see what they are looking at. And to make sure their glance stretches from left to right, not only ahead.

In the next article, we will look at how much information we can gain through observing a set of tracks (the trackline), including discussion of size, measurements, and light angle. We will also look at the major difference between tracking men and animals.

---

Kyt Lyn Walken is the official European representative and instructor for Hull’s Tracking School (Virginia, USA), and is a certified Conservation Ranger for C.R.O.W. (Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide). She has been an outdoors and tracking enthisast since childhood. Kyt lives and works in Europe, and can be contacted at www.man-tracking.com

The post OBSERVATION IN TRACKING appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

Written by Pat Henry on The Prepper Journal.

After weeks of preparation, thousands of gun-rights supporters, including leaders from the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and Gun Owners of America are gathering at Virginia’s state capitol square for Lobby Day.

As expected, Governor Northam put a gun ban in place to prevent law abiding citizens from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights during the event. The apparent reason is to prevent violence, and was based on credible threats. If the liberals are going to demand that our president present what evidence he had to eliminate a terrorist leader, then I believe the People have the same right to demand the same from Northam.

For those saying firearms have no place at a gun-rights rally, you’re wrong. That’s precisely the place they belong. In Arizona, we’ve have many rallies in support of the 2nd Amendment where attendees were armed, some carrying rifles. There were no violent incidents apart from some confrontations started by those wanting more gun control. Such irony.

Even further, the FAA enacted a drone restriction for the area surrounding the Virginia state capitol, creating a no-fly zone for a 2.3 mile radius from the capitol building. You can bet that government-flown drones will not be banned. Nothing like preventing the public from recording the proceedings.

So far, thousands of pro-gun supporters have shown up to attend the rally within a fenced off area on the capitol grounds. So…Democrats do support fences after all. Thousands more are staying outside the fenced area where the carrying of firearms isn’t being restricted.

Democracy in action. Because, ‘Merica.

The post Gun Rights Rally in Virginia appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

Where will you go when disaster strikes? For many wealthy preppers, the answer lies underground – in a ridiculously swanky bunker. Check out these luxurious doomsday bunkers that are changing the survival shelter game.

Doomsday Bunkers from Around the World

Many survivalists dream of owning the ultimate underground bunker – but for these super wealthy preppers, that dream is now a reality. Complete with swimming pools, movie theaters and more, these luxurious doomsday bunkers are the best of the best. Check out these 5 doomsday bunkers that are the ultimate in survival shelters.

1. The Missile Silo Bunker

Created by Larry Hall in Kansas, the Missile Silo stretches 174 feet underground and has walls that are nine feet thick. This bunker offers a luxurious safe haven for when things get out of hand. It includes a swimming pool, library, and even a movie theater. You can purchase a condo inside the Missile Silo for $2 million.

2. The “Europa One” Bunker

Vivos is currently working on a luxurious fallout bunker in Germany called the Europe One. The bunker will be able to withstand a nuclear blast, chemical agents, earthquakes and any other disasters. The bunker will be 250,000 square feet and will be able to house 6,000 people. The Europe One will come fully equipped with luxurious swimming pools, theaters, gyms and a self-contained water and power generation system.

3. The “Home Within A Home” Bunker

During the Cold War, the original owner of this home decided to build a bunker 26 feet under his home. The owner designed the bunker to be a “home within a home” for a long-term stay. He added an outdoor area and a swimming pool, plus many more unique features. The home is estimated to cost about $1.7 million. Click here to check out the home within a a home bunker.

4. The Seed Vault Bunker

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located 810 miles away from the North Pole. Various countries contributed towards the building of the bunker back in 2006. The facility stores seeds from a variety of plants in case a major catastrophe occurs. It was reported in 2015 that the bunker held about 420 million seeds.

5. The Atlas Bunker

Atlas, an American company, constructs affordable survival shelters priced between $36,000 to $86,000. For $85,000 you can buy a 10×51 shelter with an air filtration system, blast-proof doors, dinner table, kitchen, shower, entertainment center, bunk beds and under-floor storage.

Check out the video below to learn more about these doomsday bunkers:

For awesome survival gear you can’t make at home, check out the Survival Life Store!

Want to read more about doomsday bunkers? Check out the posts below!

Shelter in Place | How to Stay Safe in a Pandemic

Family-Friendly Storm Shelters

The Weakness Of Underground Bunkers

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

“A very small percentage (I’d day less than 1%) of Tracking Students will have, or will take, the time and dedication to become good trackers”
— AB Taylor, former US Border Patrol Agent*

Let me tell you the truth: this Art is tough.

Beside the fact that the fundamentals of this Art (for either tracking men or animals) are quite a few, the main role, as suggested by the above quote by the legendary AB Taylor, consists on experience. The terminology of Tracking defines it “dirt time on ground“.

In this article we will look at the information we can gain by observing a set of tracks (called the trackline), using size, measurements, and light angle, as well as cover the major differences between tracking men and animals.

Track Traps

The most friendly terrain to Trackers (even for absolute beginners) are called “Track Traps,” which refers to muddy or sandy areas where you can easily detect the presence of a whole track (a track which appears in her “entirety”) or a well-defined partial track, whether it’s a shoe impression or an animal’s paw.

But track traps are not limited to nature; there are many you can run across in an urban environment, such as construction sites, gardens, playgrounds, and similar locations. A fundamental skill for any Tracker is to keep their eyes on the ground, even in challenging environment like cities or small towns.

Track Traps allow us to gain a lot of information, which become part of the mental database of any Tracker. I like to consider any individual devoted to following tracks as a sort of detective: his/her task is to acquire information from the ground, build a mental picture of what happened in a certain place at a certain time, then put all the pieces of the puzzle together to tell a story.

Elements of Observation

Length and width of a track. The length is measured from the toe to the heel, keeping the measuring device a safe distance from the track’s side in order not to contaminate it or damage the track in any way. The width is taken at the largest part of the toe, of the heel, and the arch (the intersection between the two parts of the foot). The length and the width of a whole track can allow us to determine if the subject is male or female, adult or child.

By analyzing how the track appears inn the soil, we can determine if the person is carrying a load on his/her shoulders by how the weight shifts from the heel to the toe. In the case of animals, we would observe the impression from the top to the bottom of the track, the reverse of a human track. The dimensions will reveal if the animal is a male or female, as withhumans. The disturbances on the ground can also tell us if the person or the animal was walking or running, based on the tracks’ distance on the ground.

The faster an animal or human runs, for example, the more evident the disturbances on the ground will be. Further considerations on the “pressure releases”, the definition given by Tom Brown Jr. for these types of disturbances, can give us the details about the position of the head and body due to the intention to look towards a specific direction. The ability to do that depends on the accurate analysis of how the soil reacted to the passage of the subject in a specific time.

Shoes, Boots and Heels

The shoe pattern. The shoe pattern is basically the design of the mold of each shoe’s sole. Knowing what the subject was wearing at the time of the passage is, as you can easily understand, one of the keys of every search and rescue or manhunt mission. Due to the presence of millions of different shoes in commerce, we recognize three main categories: flat shoes (like sneakers), boots, and classic shoes (in which heels are pretty visible).

We can also determine how many people passed in a distinct area by shoe patterns: we can select all the different patterns (I recommend identifying them with different colored marks). This method is called the “Comparison Method.” Another method consists in just counting all the shoes inside an ideal box bordered inside an area of at least 4.6 feet and count all the different tracks you can spot inside, called the “Direct Count” method.

In Tracking, be sure to keep an open mind and not immediately jump to conclusions. A good thing is always keeping things “large”, for example making deductions about “at least six persons passed through this area” or “less than five female deer crossed this point”.

It’s not always that easy

Outside of “Track Traps”, challenges for Trackers increase dramatically. Terrain covered by dry leaves, or craggy slopes, or entirely rocky areas are the most tough to track in.

On areas like these, Trackers cannot leave anything to chance: their task is to analyze any compression, any flattening of grass (this can reveal the direction of travel), or any dislodged pebble, looking for ground spoor (signs left by paws or feet) as well as for aerial spoor (upper vegetation damaged, shifted or broken). If we are lucky enough to run across spoor such as discharged materials, droppings, or blood, we can surely gain more data to add to our follow up, either if we are on man trails or animal trails.

When considering the differences between tracking men and animals, please never forget that humans move withintention, while wild creatures by instinct. Thus, if we are willing to observe the fauna, we should be not only 100% familiar with the species of a certain areas, but also with their habits, their feeding spaces and sleeping area, too. In both of the two types of follow up, keep in mind that a Tracker uses all his senses (plus, a good role is played by their sixth sense, intuition).

Use all your senses

You track using not only eyes, but with your ears (to detect any sudden noise, for example, which can put you on alert), your nose, your brain, and your sense of touch (disturbed ground is often colder, since dry leaves have been swept away by feet or hoofs!).

One of the senses you need to consider is your common sense, which can lead you towards the proper interpretation of tracks, as we will see in the next article, based on some real case scenarios.

*Fundamentals of Mantracking: The Step-by-Step Method: An Essential Primer for Search and Rescue Tracker, by Albert “AB” Taylor and Donald C. Cooper (non-affiliate link)

Kyt Lyn Walken is the official European representative and instructor for Hull’s Tracking School (Virginia, USA), and is a certified Conservation Ranger for C.R.O.W. (Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide). She has been an outdoors and tracking enthisast since childhood. Kyt lives and works in Europe, and can be contacted at www.man-tracking.com

The post UNDERSTANDING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF TRACKING appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

After visiting San Diego in my youth I thought how wonderful it would be to live in a climate that had roughly one season. True San Diego does experience four seasons but not like where I live. The thought of a perpetual summer was enticing.  More time to play in the warm weather and not having to wear a lot of different clothing or layers. Alas I never moved and as I got older I am very happy that I didn’t. True four seasons keeps it interesting. There is a joy that I get in each season and watching the cycle. With the cycle of seasons though comes a very important lesson in layering. With ever fluctuating temperatures and weather conditions one cannot just count on a single piece of clothing to shrug off what mother nature throws at you. One must understand how to layer their clothing. Of course this is beneficial in our daily lives but even more so when a survival situation occurs, because your clothing is your first shelter.

By Grimm, contributing author to SHTFblog and Survival Cache

In a modern day world where houses, apartments, condos i.e. shelters are everywhere, its hard to imagine a moment when you cant access one but it happens. People get locked out or lost. Vehicles break down or crash. Which that thought brings me to a great example of poor layering. I was driving home from work and it was December. I was wearing my work shirt, pants and a leather jacket. Easily enough to keep me warm in my heated car or inside my work which is heated. Needless to say I was rear ended and I had to stand outside on the side of the road while police came and tow trucks dragged my totaled car away. I was freezing. I did not layer properly. I had two layers tops and nothing to cover my head or hands. Now I always make sure I have decent layers no matter where I go and you should as well.

These layers, which usually amounts to three, help keep the body protected from the elements. Rain, snow and wind can chill the body down together or separately causing hypothermia. Wind and sun can rob the body of moisture causing hyperthermia. These layers shrug off the wind, rain or snow or shield the body from the suns UV rays. Now you might ask why usually three. Well just like how the weather changes frequently so does your physical activity. More physical activity means more heat and possible perspiration. So layers can be taken off to keep cool and limit sweat. Remember sweat is produced to cool the body down. That’s good but just like rain it will affect the insulating properties of your clothing. Having layers gives the person the ability to adapt to the weather changes as well as their activity.

Check out: It’s Winter! Don’t Go Hiking Without Proper Clothing!

Another point to consider, though one might have good layers on do not forget about your head, neck, hands and feet. I understand that wearing two pairs of socks is not always an option in our daily routine but a hat, scarf, and gloves can go a long way to help the body stay protected. I know if I merely had a wool hat and scarf when I was in my accident I could have been a bit warmer on that day. True I wasn’t in a survival situation that day but next time I might not be as lucky. Of course this blog only touches the tip of the iceberg when it comes to layering so check out the video for more helpful information on Layers to Live by.

 

On top of everything else that has happened so far in 2020, a very mysterious “SARS-like virus” that doctors have never seen before is causing grave concern among global health officials.  It has been identified as “a coronavirus”, but that category covers a very broad range of illnesses.  If you have a common cold right now, it was caused by a coronavirus.  But SARS and MERS also came from the same virus family, and those two outbreaks made headlines all over the world.  In 2002 and 2003, SARS infected more than 8,000 people worldwide, and more than 700 of them ended up dying.  Global health officials are hoping that what we are now facing won’t be any worse than that, but at this point they just don’t know enough about this mysterious new virus to make any firm projections.

What we do know is that this outbreak just started, and China has just announced that this virus has claimed a second life.  The following comes from the BBC…

A second person has died in China from a new, pneumonia-like virus, local officials have announced.

They say the death was recorded in the eastern city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began in December.

And we also know that there have been at least two cases where people have transported the virus outside of China via airplane.

The first case happened earlier this week when a woman flew from China to Thailand…

The new virus, known for now as 2019-nCoV, was first identified on Jan. 7, about a week after officials first reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, WHO said.

Recently, officials reported the first “exported” case of the virus in Thailand. In that case, a resident of Wuhan got on a direct flight to Thailand along with several members of her family and a tour group, according to WHO. When the 61-year-old woman arrived at the airport, she was found to have a fever, and she was taken to the hospital where she tested positive for 2019-nCoV.

Subsequently, on Thursday we learned that a man that flew from China to Japan had also contracted the virus.  The following comes from Time Magazine…

Japan’s government said Thursday a man treated for pneumonia after returning from China has tested positive for the new coronavirus identified as a possible cause of an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The man developed a fever and coughs on Jan. 3 while in Wuhan, returned to Japan on Jan. 6, and was hospitalized four days later due to persistent coughs and fever, with his X-ray image showing signs of pneumonia, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.

At first, global health officials were greatly downplaying the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

But now even the World Health Organization has been forced to admit that “limited human-to-human transmission” may be happening…

There may have been limited human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus in China within families, and it is possible there could be a wider outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

In other words, the evidence has forced them to change their tune, but they are still trying to not alarm the general public too much.

Unfortunately, the truth is that this outbreak is still very new, they have never seen this virus before, and they are still trying to figure out exactly how dangerous it is.

Hopefully this is not going to develop into a major pandemic.  Without a doubt, it is certainly possible that this whole thing could fizzle out even faster than the bird flu scare did.

But let us not forget that a horrific pandemic about 100 years ago killed between 50 million and 100 million people.  The following comes from Wikipedia…

The 1918 influenza pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920; colloquially known as Spanish flu) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus.^[1] It infected 500 million people around the world,^[2] including people on remote Pacific islands and in the Arctic. Probably 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million (three to five percent of Earth’s population at the time) died, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.^[3][4][5]

Bill Gates has identified pandemics as one of the three greatest threats that humanity is facing, and he says that we are woefully unprepared if one were to break out today.

In fact, he says that we should be preparing for one right now as if we were preparing for war…

“In the case of biological threats, that sense of urgency is lacking,” Gates said in a 2018 presentation hosted by the New England Journal of Medicine. “The world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war.”

Sadly, authorities will probably never make preparation a true priority until a major pandemic has already begun.

The symptoms of this new mystery virus include congestion, headache, cough and fever.

Of course those exact same symptoms are associated with the common cold.

If you have shortness of breath, chills or body aches in addition to the other symptoms, that could be an indication that you should get checked out.

But there have been no reports of this virus reaching the United States yet, and hopefully we won’t see that happen at all.

For the Chinese, this outbreak comes at a particularly bad time, because their Lunar New Year celebration is on January 25th.  Hundreds of millions of people will be traveling around China, and that could potentially accelerate the spread of the virus.

It may have been prudent for Chinese officials to completely cancel all of the festivities, but at this point there are absolutely no plans to do that.

So we will watch and see what happens.  If this particular virus doesn’t become a pandemic, scientists assure us that it is only a matter of time before some other virus does.  And considering the hour in which we live, we are certainly very vulnerable to a potential pandemic right now.

Once again, I want to stress that there is no need for people in the U.S. to start freaking out about this virus just yet.  Only two people have died, and there have been no reported cases in the U.S. so far.

But as we have seen in the past, global air travel can spread a virus around the world very quickly, and authorities are still trying to figure out how dangerous this new mystery disease really is.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

The post The Mysterious New “SARS-Like Virus” That Is Killing People In China Has Now Spread To Japan appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog. 

There has never been a time in modern human history when our planet has been changing as rapidly as it is changing right now.  The sun is behaving very strangely, freakishly cold weather is breaking out all over the world, ocean temperatures continue to rise, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting ash miles into the air, Australia is experiencing the worst wildfires that they have ever seen, and the north magnetic pole has been moving at a pace that is deeply alarming scientists.  Could it be possible that all of this bizarre activity is leading up to some sort of a crescendo?

Sadly, most people don’t even realize what is happening, and that is because the mainstream media only emphasizes stories that fit with the particular narratives that they are currently pushing.

But it has gotten to the point where nobody can deny that really weird things are happening.  The following are 7 major earth changes that are happening right now that everyone needs to know about…

#1 According to NASA, solar activity has dropped to the lowest level in 200 years.  The following comes from the official NASA website…

The forecast for the next solar cycle says it will be the weakest of the last 200 years. The maximum of this next cycle – measured in terms of sunspot number, a standard measure of solar activity level – could be 30 to 50% lower than the most recent one. The results show that the next cycle will start in 2020 and reach its maximum in 2025.

Of course, NASA insists that everything will be just fine, but others are wondering if this lack of solar activity could potentially spawn another “Little Ice Age”…

When solar activity gets really low, it can have the effect of a “mini ice age.” The period between 1645 and 1715 was marked by a prolonged sunspot minimum, and this corresponded to a downturn in temperatures in Europe and North America. Named after astronomers Edward Maunder and his wife Annie Russell Maunder, this period became known as the Maunder Minimum. It is also known as “The Little Ice Age.”

#2 When solar activity gets very low, it has traditionally meant very cold and very snowy winters, and right now we are seeing snow in places that are extremely unusual…

The Egyptian capital, Cairo, was also turned white at the start of the month, despite the city not having snow in 112 years, and experiencing less than an inch of rain each year.

Many parts of Greece were covered in snow in early January, with low temperatures and strong frost.

The cold front named ‘Hephaestion’, after an Ancient Greek army general, thrashed the Greek landscape, bringing rain, sleet and ice in the east.

#3 Meanwhile, the oceans of the world just keep getting hotter and hotter.  In fact, ocean temperatures off the California coast have been setting new all-time record highs.  It is odd that this is taking place at a time of such low solar activity, but according to NBC News this is definitely happening…

The world’s oceans hit their warmest level in recorded history in 2019, according to a study published Monday that provides more evidence that Earth is warming at an accelerated pace.

The analysis, which also found that ocean temperatures in the last decade have been the warmest on record, shows the impact of human-caused warming on the planet’s oceans and suggests that sea-level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events could worsen as the oceans continue to absorb so much heat.

#4 There have always been wildfires, but we have never seen anything like this.  During the summer, countless catastrophic fires burned millions upon millions of acres in the Amazon rainforest, and this winter Australia’s fires have actually been a total of 46 percent larger than the fires that we witnessed in the Amazon.  Australia has never seen anything like this before, and according to NASA the smoke from these fires will completely circle the Earth…

Once was bad enough, but smoke from Australia’s devastating bushfires is set to return to the country to complete a round-the-world trip that has seen it impact on air quality as far away as South America.

By Jan. 8, the smoke had made its way halfway around the world and will make at least one full circuit, according to scientists at NASA, citing satellite tracking data. New Zealand experienced severe air quality issues, while hazy skies and colorful sunsets and sunrises were seen in parts of Chile and Argentina.

#5 During the first half of 2020, volcanoes all over the world have been roaring to life and have been shooting giant clouds of hot ash miles into the sky.  For example, in the Philippines the Taal volcano shot ash nine miles into the air on Sunday, it has also been shooting scorching hot lava half a mile into the air, and the ground around the volcano is starting to crack wide open.

But even after all the devastation that we have already seen, authorities are warning that it could “re-explode at any moment”…

The gray ash is knee-deep. It covers the homes, the bloated cadavers of cows and horses, their limbs protruding at unnatural angles in the shadow of a sulking volcano that could re-explode at any moment.

“My home is now gone,” said Melvin Mendoza, 39, a boatman who returned on Tuesday to Taal, the volcanic island in the middle of a freshwater lake just 40 miles south of Manila, which erupted on Sunday like an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.

Let us hope that this volcanic activity does not spread throughout that general area, because the largest super volcano caldera in the entire world has been discovered not too far from the Philippines…

A team including members from GNS Science have identified an ancient mega-volcano that could have the largest known caldera on Earth.

The 150km (93.2 miles) wide feature is on the crest of Benham Rise, an oceanic plateau off the Philippines coast. In comparison, the caldera at Taupō is about 35km (21.8 miles) wide, and that at Yellowstone about 60km (37.3 miles).

#6 All of this is taking place while the north magnetic pole is moving toward Russia at a very rapid pace.  The following comes from CNN…

The north magnetic pole has been slowly moving across the Canadian Arctic toward Russia since 1831, but its swift pace toward Siberia in recent years at a rate of around 34 miles per year has forced scientists to update the World Magnetic Model — used by civilian navigation systems, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and US and British militaries — a year ahead of schedule.

#7 On top of everything else, the Earth’s magnetic field has been steadily weakening over time, and this has some experts extremely concerned…

In a forum on Quora, science fiction writer and journalist C Stuart Hardwick revealed that satellite data, such as those collected by the European Space Agency’s SWARM mission, revealed that the magnetic field has been weakening for about 5 percent each century. He noted that currently, the strength of the magnetic field is at 29.5 microteslas, which is 14 percent weaker than its previous state three centuries ago. According to Hardwick, the SWARM satellites detected increased deterioration within regions of the magnetic field over North America. He said these regions weakened by about 3.5 percent over the span of just three years.

Without our magnetic field, life on Earth could not exist for long.

And it doesn’t have to disappear completely to be a massive problem.  If it simply gets weak enough, dwelling on the surface is going to become exceedingly difficult.

As I keep warning, our planet is becoming increasingly unstable, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

The demands of life can often cause us to focus on things that don’t really matter.  Hopefully, we can get more people to wake up while there is still time because the clock is ticking for humanity and for our planet as a whole.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations, I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and anyway that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

Whether you choose to accept it or not, human cases of food allergies are on the rise. While the reasons why this is happening is a debate for another forum, the plain and simple fact is that you or someone within your circle of caring may very well develop a food allergy – and it won’t necessarily start at birth – it could develop at any time.

By Drew, contributing author to Survival Cache and SHTFblog

My wife developed concurrently a gluten allergy and a lactose intolerance. This occurred suddenly when she was about 30 years old, and it took a battery of tests and throwing a dart at the diet board to figure out what was going on, since the two allergies formed at the same general time. The symptoms are reportedly pretty wretched – crippling stomach pain, headaches, and severe diarrhea with accompanying dehydration, with onsets of the symptoms giving her almost no notice to get to the appropriate location to take care of the task at hand. As a consequence, her diet is severely limited, and a lot of time is spent in the grocery store aisle carefully reading labels. Dairy is not a huge issue to avoid, but gluten is sneaky and can be found even in foods labelled “gluten free”, if the product is even processed in a plant that works with gluten-based products. It’s a less-than-fun game with no winners – especially when it comes time to prep for long-term survival.

All of this means a couple things for me: one) I’ve sampled pretty much every gluten free food option there is, and two) prepping long-term storage food for unforeseen disasters is a complete pain in the posterior. Thankfully, the seriousness of gluten and other food allergies is starting to come to light with a corresponding semi-lackluster (but honest and definitely increasing) response from the market in general. However, a person or family with a need to keep an eye on the fixin’s still must struggle to find dedicated products with value. And when you whittle the available products down to a niche market such as specifically designed long-term storage food, choices are slim indeed – making me wonder if a subject with a gluten allergy would rather wish they had punched out when the bomb dropped instead of being caught in a bunker eating the same meal of bulk freeze dried beef cubes, peas, and rice for four years straight.

Enter Valley Food Storage

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Valley Food Storage with an offer for a free sample of their freeze-dried food offerings (which you can get yourself on their website). I clicked over to Valley Food Storage’s website, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw that they have a dedicated suite of offerings that are specifically gluten free. (They also have other specific dietary-considerate options, to include lactose free, soy free, and vegetarian.) Admittedly, a large chunk of the products on the GF page are more side dishes or desserts instead of full entrees, but there are a few selections available to make a decent day’s full meal plan. This is refreshing – I have found that more often than not, a freeze dried food manufacturer’s “Gluten Free” options are pretty much a packet of dried strawberries or something similar. 

Also noticing that Valley Food Storage happily boasts that all their food products are 100% natural ingredients, with no fillers, GMOs, artificial flavors, preservatives, fillers, or MSG, I took stock of what was available and requested three packets, which Valley Food Storage was very generous to provide for this review: Freeze Dried Apple Oatmeal, Freeze Dried Blueberries, and Freeze Dried Chicken Teriyaki. Just a couple of days later, a package full of dehydrated goodness was in my mailbox.

I was hoping to scoop up my wife and son and tromp out into the woods and start a fire for the proper testing field testing ambiance, but alas, my preferred scenario was not in the cards. Therefore, the “field” consisted of my work office, and “testing” comprised of dumping water in bowls of freeze-dried food while watching the clock drain away my lunch break minute by minute. I soldiered on for science and for you, dear reader.

Apple Oatmeal For Breakfast

My first victim was the Apple Oatmeal. Opening up the bag and inspecting the contents confirmed my suspicions that the Valley Food Storage Apple Oatmeal would indeed look just like instant oatmeal offerings from other companies. A whiff told me it smelled really great, and so I poured the requisite serving size (½ cup) into a bowl I keep handy for eating occasions, and dumped in the proper amount of hot water (also ½ cup). While I absent-mindedly stirred the whole goopy mess up, I read the ingredients. Not much there – oats, sugar, apple granules, and non-fat milk powder. That’s it.

Apparently less is more, because the first spoonful was, without any hyperbole, as good or better than any other “instant oatmeal” I’ve ever tried. I wolfed down the first bowl and decided against another as I noticed the 15 grams of sugar per serving. However, I did make a bowl of the gummily delicious oatmeal up later for my wife to try, and the Valley Food Storage Apple Oatmeal received an official  thumbs-up…once she recovered from me stuffing a spoon laden with oatmeal in her mouth with little to no warning.

Lunch: Freeze Dried Chicken Teriyaki

For my lunchtime course, I opened up the mylar bag containing the Freeze Dried Chicken Teriyaki. The directions noted that I should combine the ingredients with water and then boil the whole works, but i just went with standard survivalist behavior and combined the bag contents with the called-for amount of already-hot water, and let sit. After the requisite time had passed, I tried out the Chicken Teriyaki. It was kinda more like soup than I thought it would be – probably because I didn’t boil the ingredients together. I added more Chicken Teriyaki and let it sit for a bit longer.

12 minutes later, when I finally tried the meal, I was very pleased. What I thought were chicken chunks were actually bits of very sweet pineapple, and a mild, slightly peppery wasabi-ish flavor twinge really rounded out the palette. Again, no exaggeration here – I really, really enjoyed the Valley Food Storage Freeze Dried Chicken Teriyaki. The wife did not try it, since I actually demolished the bag over a few days at work for lunch. I’m going to bet she would have liked it. We’ll go with that.

Dessert – Freeze Dried Blueberries

Up for “dessert” (more like a at-desk snack) I tried out some of the Valley Food Storage Freeze Dried Blueberries (ingredients: 100% Blueberries) First up, I prepared by soaking in water per the directions, and found that the soaking time on the package seemed to be a general guideline – some were mushy, some were still a bit crunchy. It seemed to be a bit of a crapshoot which berries absorbed the water but they were pretty good. I drank the blue-twinged water that resulted from the blueberry soak, since I imagine it had a few nutrients there for me to use, and I’d likely be following a similar routine if I was eating these berries in a survival or disaster situation. Not bad.

Also read: Freeze Dried Foods As Part Of Your Preps

I found, however, that the best way (in my opinion) to eat these freeze dried blueberries was just simply to reach in the bag and pop them directly into my mouth, no soaking involved. It was a crisp, tasty snack that lasts quite a while – there’s a lot of blueberries in that there bag! Pro tip: combine the blueberries with the Valley Food Storage Apple Oatmeal for a little slice of freeze-dried mouth heaven. (be sure to prepare the two separately , THEN combine)

Oh yeah…when my wife tried them, well, I didn’t get the bag back. The Freeze Dried Blueberries were a runaway hit. Absolutely get you some!

Wrapping Up

It’s really superb that Valley Food Storage is addressing the needs of people with specialized diets in such a great, tasty manner. The food itself once prepared is outstanding, and the ingredients are simple and delicious. I absolutely love the fact that no preservatives or multi-syllable BS ingredients make their way into the packages – these Valley Food Storage meals are just plain food – nothing artificial or nasty added in the name of preserving the food for your bunker pantry. Don’t be fooled, though – properly stored, these Valley Food Storage freeze dried meals will last for many years (25 of them, according to the packaging) in your supply cache.

I will say that the serving size on the packages did seem to be a bit subjective; you’ll need to review your dietary and caloric needs before you take the serving quantities on the package as holy writ. A 1/3 cup serving of the Apple Oatmeal only provides 140 calories, so if one serving of this specific meal is what you were planning on tiding you over through a high-activity day, you’re gonna be a hurtin’ unit. All the dietary information for every Valley Food Storage product is available on their website, so you can review and plan ahead. You can also call and chat with the VFS team over the phone, and they’ll help you work out a specific food plan for you.

Also, be sure to check out Valley Food Storage’s other offerings – to include pre-built 72-hour kits, food subscription services, heirloom seeds, 30- and 55 – gallon blue water storage drums, a few knives, paracord, water purification tablets, and even financing for large volume orders.

So I’ll wrap up this little review by saying I wholeheartedly endorse the direction Valley Food Storage is going with their products, and I truly appreciate the fact that I now have viable options to feed the people in my family with special dietary needs. The Gluten Free offerings from Valley Food Storage are absolutely delicious and made with natural ingredients- and they are the direction I’ll be heading  towards when it comes time to re-fill my long-term food storage larder. There’s not much I can say about freeze-dried foods in general that hasn’t been said before, but the Valley Food Storage offerings are a cut above the rank and file and are definitely worth your attention…especially if you have dietary restrictions.

The post Eat Gluten Free and Survive With Valley Food Storage appeared first on Survival Cache.