Monthly Archives: October 2008

Episode-74- New Solar Energy Incentives and More on Gardens

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Modern Survival| 7 Comments
Episode-74- New Solar Energy Incentives and More on Gardens [ 39:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s podcast covers some exciting new things coming in the Solar Industry and expands on some of yesterdays thoughts on gardening along with supporting local agriculture as a combined form of new patriotism.

Tune in today to hear…

  • New prizes coming for the Listener Appreciation Contest
  • Ren Reeder has won the first round and choose the iPod (congrats Ren)
  • More on our growing food trade deficit, we can no longer feed our own population
  • How we can support local growers with just a little bit of effort
  • The hard choice many small farmers have been forced to make
  • Additional cool ideas like setting up web sites for a local farmer’s market
  • A possible new profession, “Farmers Market Organizer”?
  • The difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit (tax credits rock)
  • New solar incentives for business and utilities will drive prices down for us with economy of scale
  • Build a 10,000 dollar solar system for 7,000 dollars, really, no catch
  • The new solar incentive does not start until 2009
  • Why the second half of 09 will be a better time to install a system then the first half
  • How you can get a new stove, fridge, etc almost for free in 2009
  • Why conserving energy or putting in alternative systems is patriotic
  • The solar energy bill is the only diamond in the turd that is the bail out, make use  of it
  • The added resale value that energy improvements add to your home
  • Why a “south facing roof” may soon be a real hot feature to homes
  • Thoughts on the government giving you your own money back vs. getting money from the government
  • Install your own radiant barrier and insulation and get it back on your taxes
  • Things to be positive about for our future, solar, wind, gardens and local economies

Resources for today’s show

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Episode-73- The Patriot Garden the Last Defense Against Globalism

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Modern Survival| 4 Comments
Episode-72- The Patriot Garden the Last Defense Against Globalism [ 37:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How can growing a garden prevent the United States from falling into a socialist and global form of control?  Believe it or not it can.  In February of 2008 a startling fact was reveled; The United States is now a “net importer of food”, meaning we are no longer able to feed ourselves with our own resources.   While you can’t produce oil in your back yard or stem the tide of cheap manufacturing from China in your garage this is something anyone can do something about if they choose to.  Tune in today to hear,

  • How our conversion to a net food importer is very similar to our status as a net oil importer
  • How oil imports started climbing in the 50s and then outweighed native production by 1990
  • Comparing the value of a garden to 20 gallons of gasoline a month (what would you do to produce the gas)
  • Exactly what do Patriotism and Gardening have to do with each other
  • How a dependence on foreign will always result eventually in diplomatic and military conflicts
  • How a food deficit is far worse then an oil deficit
  • How the food deficit could combine with the declining dollar, diplomatic problems and peak oil
  • The real “magic beans” that you can buy for a few bucks
  • The 30 Foot Salad vs. the 3000 Mile Salad
  • Why we don’t have to let this final global dependence happen to our nation and why we need to take action
  • How even a small garden can produce more then you can eat at one time
  • The real value of a small garden in dollars
  • Spreading gardening and permaculture to your neighborhood
  • The loss of great farming communities in places like Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York
  • The loss of gardening as a true skill
  • What we can learn about food production from the tragic history of U.S. Manufacturing and Oil Production
  • How loosing our ability to feed ourselves could take away the last of our autonomy in the Global market place
  • If your grandparents, great grandparents and parents did this, so can we

Resources for Today’s Show

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Episode-72- Audience Questions – Bug Out or Bug In and More

Posted on October 13, 2008 by Modern Survival| 2 Comments
Episode-72- Audience Questions - Bug Out or Bug In and More [ 38:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s show answers several questions from the audience and provides some information about our new survival forum.  Tune in today to hear…

  • Another update on the Listener Appreciation Contest – We may have a new winner tomorrow
  • We have new boards on the forum including a “Swap Meet”, “Around the Campfire”, “Lady Survivors” and more.
  • Update on our Five Item challenge – please join it and keep the discussion on track.
  • When and where self promotion is OK on our forum and where it is not
  • The value of online collective intelligence in survival planning
  • Making the choice, bug out or bug in and several examples of each choice
  • There is no one right answer to “bug out or bug in” as each individual and threat is different
  • Examples of times when you always leave
  • More on the “fantasy world” of some fringe survivalists and how to keep it real
  • Caching food, weapons and supplies to make it safer
  • Remember to keep your prepping to yourself in many areas
  • How to not be paralyzed by “what ifs”
  • Thoughts on growth stocks in the new economy (not financial advice)
  • The real stuff on sale soon (trucks, boats, RVs, Houses, Land)
  • Why gas is dropping (the good news and the bad)
  • What the rebound from this global depression may look like and what it will do to oil prices
  • Where is the best place in the country for setting up a retreat or even to just make a permanent move to
  • Think about taxes, land use, cost of living – not just a remote piece of ground
  • Some spots that many would not think about to look for remote land
  • The area with the best “deals” today, combination, remote, low cost, long growing seasons, low taxes, etc
  • Getting a remote real estate agent doing your leg work

Resources for Today’s Show

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Episode-71- Watch out for combined threats

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Modern Survival| 7 Comments
Episode-71- Watch out for combined threats [ 38:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There has been a lot of focus on the bail out, economic disaster and falling numbers on Wall Street lately.  We even covered much of it here.  What is being missed however, is the real danger that while in this weakened state another aggravating circumstance may force us into a downward spiral.  Tune in today to hear,

  • An actual letter mailed to Tarrant County Doctor’s Offices from the Tarrant County Medical Society
  • Some of the shocking questions and their multiple choice answers in the survey that came with the letter
  • Why now is the time to ratchet up your preps a bit, keep your head but stock pile at least a month fast if you have not done so
  • What we should take away from “when it rains it pours”
  • How a Pandemic would make the market crash and economic trouble worse
  • How a harsh winter could be a bigger problem then normal this time around
  • Why we should continue to expect to see food prices climb
  • How a food shortage or harsh weather may impact the economy more then normal while it is weak
  • How you should not be taking unnecessary risks tomorrow because of lack of planning today
  • The lesson of how tiny Texas snow storms clear supermarket shelves and what it means in a real problem
  • Don’t over think storage methods, food with long shelf life is easy to store
  • The need to review your bug out plan and routes and rendezvous points with family now
  • Considering a hurricane disaster if another disaster hit on top it and what it teaches us

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

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Episode-70- Stored Food Gives you a High Return on Investment

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Modern Survival| 6 Comments
Episode-70- Stored Food Gives you a High Return on Investment [ 36:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today we announced our winner of the first round of the Listener Appreciation Contest.  Then we go in to the actual return of investment on stored food items from information provided in a recent LA Times Article showing an 11% return on 16 common food items between Q3 2007 and Q3 2008.

Tune in today to hear….

  • How Flour has appreciated by 37%
  • How Potatoes have appreciated by 32%
  • How Cheddar Cheese has appreciated by 21%
  • How Apples have also gone up by 21%
  • Vegetable oil have gone up 17%
  • How the items that are the worst for storage have gone up the least
  • Corn futures right now are 70% above current pricing
  • The five items a week challenge
  • Now is the time for a “winter garden” and winter friendly crops
  • The portable mini greenhouse and how to extend your growing season
  • Let’s have fun during the recession and be prepared to prosper on the rebound

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

Resources for Today’s Show

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Episode-69- Getting your spouse on board with survival planning

Posted on October 8, 2008 by Modern Survival| 10 Comments
Getting your spouse on board with survival planning [ 35:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s show was created by quite a few, “how do I get my spouse” (or girlfriend, boyfriend, fiance) on board with preparing and doing what needs to be done in order to live that better life?   Honestly that question has been asked by almost as many women as men, hence if you are on either side of the equasion then you are not alone.  Rather then typical show notes I will simply provide my 21 rules discussed in today’s show and suggest that you not only use them in conversation but ask you spouse to take 40 minutes to listen to this episode and perhaps some others as well.

The 21 Rules of Getting a Spouse On Board with Survival Planning and Prepping are.

  1. Demand or insist upon nothing.
  2. Ask for help where you are weak and your partner is strong.
  3. Demonstrate a command of the facts and threats, don’t alarm but inform.
  4. Arrive at all decisions as a team, at least if it is in anyway possible.
  5. Don’t put your “pet items” at the top of any proposed priority.
  6. Explain that this is for the good of the family.
  7. Focus on saving money and elimination of debt as step one.
  8. Explain the investment value of food and saving money, leave bullets and band aids for later.
  9. Talk about a “better life style” for less cost and why you want that for both or you.
  10. Discuss the future and not waiting until you are 65-80 to really spend time together.
  11. Do not get over excited; don’t dump too much at one time.Start with a simple vision and a few small steps.
  12. Make the discussion about “us” not you, not them but truly both of us.
  13. Don’t expect a perfect result and a totally on board agreement.
  14. Do have a single small step to suggest and ask if you can do it together.
  15. Try to get your spouse to suggest a second small step and embrace it and do it with them.
  16. Work on creating a common vision of a truly happy and sustainable life.
  17. Don’t focus on what you don’t mean (cammo, militia, communes, etc.) just answer concerns that are offered.
  18. Be positive about the future for your family, compare prepping to life insurance.
  19. Ask “what would we do if” and listen to the answers you get and discuss them.
  20. Talk a little, get them talking and listen as if your life depended on hearing every word, because it does.
  21. Share my show with them along with this particular podcast.

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

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Episode-68- 850 Billion to the Bail Out – Now What’s Next?

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Modern Survival| 7 Comments
Episode-68- 850 Billion to the Bail Out - Now What's Next? [ 40:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So I went on vacation and came back to the following reality, the bail out came at 150 billion more then it started out, the Fed is buying up junk paper on its’ own and the Dow Average declined below 10,000 for the first time since December of 2003.  So what’s next?  What do we do now?

The short answer is continute to prepare, continue to save and continue to above all not panic.

Tune in today to hear…

  • How the emotional response is trumping the fundamental reality of the overall maket
  • Why if you already took the hit, bailing now may be a mistake
  • If you are under 40 relax about your 401K, IRA, etc
  • A place for a safe and protected 4% return on your savings
  • For now save cash you can get access to, don’t put all savings into deferred assets
  • How playing a “Special” game of Monopoly can show you how screwed we are with the Federal Reserve
  • Why food may be the best investment in the next 12 months you can make
  • Why all the big ticket items are going to “go on sale” very soon
  • Yes we are going to be “OK”, at least most of us
  • Buy food you eat today to store for tomorrow, not MREs, etc.
  • The “order of survival preparations by priority”
  • Now it the time to save and the time to buy
  • How to be wealthy regardless of the total dollars you possess
  • Now might be the time to buy that “travel trailer” or other RV
  • The “compound” vs. the single structure
  • Today buy what you need for today or tomorrow, this is not a time for “luxuries”
  • Caution on the justification of buying “guns and ammo”, stick to “bean and rice”
  • What you should do if the real revolution comes
  • The first rule of survivalism is to survive, so keep your head down
  • Think both permaculture and agriculture, plant a tree today
  • The wealthy people see a recession as an opportunity and you are wealthy, you really are!

Resources for Today’s Show

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

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Episode-67- Choosing between MRE’s or Rice and Beans

Posted on October 2, 2008 by Modern Survival| 10 Comments
Episode-67- Choosing between MRE's or Rice and Beans [ 44:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There is another great thread in our forum going on about the choice between “MRE’s or Rice and Beans” and it has gone well enough I decided to do a show on the topic.  I also however, open today’s show with some thoughts on the Senates approval of the “improved bail out bill”.  Meaning they loaded it up with pork.

Tune in today to hear…

On the Bail out

  • Call your Senators and tell them they are fired, if yours voted no, tell me who they are so I can let people know who those with a spine are.
  • How we are being forced to buy a 1 trillion dollar ticket to an event we don’t want to see
  • More on stock market voodoo
  • Is that pork I smell, why does it stink so bad?
  • A shell game with the profits, you bet
  • Who really is going to get rich on this, it isn’t the “damn CEOs” from the screwed companies
  • One quadrillion in derivatives is the real problem

On the main topic today

  • MREs are useful but expensive, bulky and get “old” fast
  • How to create variety even with boring “rice and beans”
  • How rice and beans doesn’t always mean just rice and beans
  • How to make boring dry beans into an awesome soup
  • The simplistic beauty of quick beer bread
  • How you can “test” survival food before you stock it
  • Adding potatoes and pasta to the rice and beans regiment
  • Teaching yourself to cook like our grand parents did
  • The way to truly store what you eat and eat what you store
  • Not everything you store needs to be canned, dried, etc. use your freezer
  • Using affordable food to cut your budget and live the live”
  • Simple Potatoes that people will prefer to steak
  • The humble Shepperd’s Pie

Resources for Todays Show

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Episode-66- Secondary Income Opportunites for Modern Survival

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Modern Survival| 4 Comments
Episode-66- Secondary Income Opportunites for Modern Survival [ 46:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There is a new thread on our forum about “Ideas for Extra Income“.  That has inspired today’s show, tune in today to hear over a dozen ideas on ways that you can create either full time or second incomes from the opportunites all around us.  There are not a lot of show notes today because mostly I just cover a large number of opportunies I feel could represent the opportunity for secondary incomes.

The goal today is to stimulate your mind and get you thinking about what unique niche you can fill be it today or even after TSHTF.  Join in today and hear about opportunies as varried as running an internet business to consulting with home owners about saving money on their electric bill and many more.

If you have other suggestions add them here in the comments section and be sure to participate in the discussion thread on our forum about “Ideas for Extra Income“.  Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon.   Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

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