Episode-795- Matthew Stein Author of When Disaster Strikes
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Mat Stein - Author of When Disaster Strikes
Matthew Stein is the author of When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide to Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival (Chelsea Green 11/16/2011). This book has received excellent advance praise from experts on survival and disaster preparedness. Stein is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he majored in Mechanical Engineering.
As the owner of Stein Design & Construction, he has built hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes. The mechanical engineering side of his firm specializes in product design and development. Among other things, Mat has designed consumer water filtration devices, solar PV roofing panels, medical bacterial filters, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, and portable fiberglass buildings.
Join Us Today as We Discuss…
- Over looked items for the 72 hour kit
- The role of colloidal silver in SHTF health care
- What Matthew sees as the 6 events converging on collapse
- Peak Oil
- Climate Change
- Oceanic Collapse
- Deforestation
- Food Shortages
- Population Growth
- The harsh reality of a potential 400 Chernobyls
- The danger of EMP or Solar Flares to the grid
- The basic things you need to do right now to be better prepared
Resources for Today’s Show…
- Members Support Brigade
- TSP Gear Shop
- Join Our Forum
- ShelfReliance.com – (sponsor of the day)
- The Berkey Guy – (sponsor of the day)
Matthew Stein’s Links
- WhenTechFails.com
- MatStein.com
- When Technology Fails – Mat’s first book
- When Disaster Strikes – Mat’s Latest Book
- Mat Stein on Facebook
- Mat Stein on Twitter
- Mat Stein on LinkedIn
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. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.
When you said “Why the hell don’t they do it?” in regards to providing EMP protection for the nuclear power plants, my first thought was;
“Who is John Galt?”
😉
On Climate Change: Mr. Stein sounds like he leans towards the AGW side of things (but reasonable), but here’s an important point. He stated that OTHER things are affecting Global Temperatures. True.
This means that CO2 production is NOT the major factor…because it is overcome by other affects pretty handily. This is in opposition to the political movement (which is a fraud) that insists that man-made CO2 is THE reason.
Is it possible that Manmade CO2 is A factor…sure. Is it THE factor? No–because things totally out of our control ARE regularly overriding those effects (whatever they may be).
I’ve got no problem with the honest study of Climate, including any affects man might have on it, but can there any longer be any doubt that we’ve been defrauded by those who have pushed AGW?
I love that these criminals (that’s what you call someone who commits fraud) say “oh these e-mails are taken out of context.” Really? Exactly what context is it proper to hide or falsify data, defame peers and undermine legitimate scientific process?
SCIENCE needs to be reformed and separated from politics. People demand separation of Church and State. I say, we also need Separation of SCIENCE and State. Humanity cannot afford to have science bastardized by politics, and fraud.
Well done finding common ground on the climate subject, Jack. I appreciate your policy to probe guests without degrading the quality of the show.
I’ve listened to a couple hundred episodes of TSP and have adjusted several of my beliefs after mulling over your words. Your comments on GW have been the most challenging, and therefore least impactful, but they’ve still got me thinking, re-evaluating.
Thank you for continuing to share the questions that help us take a fresh look at conventional wisdom, and for allowing us to arrive at our own answers.
I heard very little repeatable fact and much opnion.
Usualy I find listening to the program a worthwhile exercise; today I didn’t.
I think you will find the core facts behind these opinions to be quite sound. Sometimes it is easy to assume the audience knows a fair bit about the topic, so they skip to some more “opinionated” questions. Nice to hear someone else talking about EMP’s, which I suspect is a greater threat than imagined.
re: Colloidal silver
Do not use it if you are healthy. it is a medicine not a tonic.
Colloidal silver is mildly toxic to humans, it just is very toxic to microbes. It is a bet that it will kill the pathogens before harming you significantly.
There are vendors selling Colloidal silver and pushing the idea of “you take it every day”. sadly, there exists evidence that this will eventually cause poisoning by saturation.
Matthew did not suggest everyday use, but the nature of society is now such that this type of warning is needed on this style of information.
Colloidal silver is powerful, but powerful medicines require respect and care.
Don’t forget about the chem-trails. They gotta have something to do with the climate.
I had to listen to this show at 2x speed waiting for something useful. The reason I listen to TSP is for useful information that can actually be put to use. That is why I stopped listening to talk radio. Just a bunch of alarmist BS with no action.
Chemtrails?
Would this silver stuff be worth while to put into your long term water storage?
If so, would it take the place of other water perservitives? or in an addition too.
I turned this guy off after about 5 mintues. He sounded like a loon. He mentioned something called “global weirding” and said that the weather was much less stable and was all over the map with hotter hots and colder colds. What a loon! Very disappointed with this guest.
@JimBob perhaps if you listened to him for more than 5 minutes you may have learned something. You might have heard me politely challenge his global warming stance and his open minded reception of that. You just might need to give people more than 5 minutes before dismissing them. Just saying.
I gave him about twenty minutes before I turned off. I fully expected Jack to address the global warming issue so I didn’t hang around just for that.
I think Paul Wheaton said he knew a person that used so much colloidal silver that he turned gray! Sheesh! That’s worse than our friends that juiced so many carrots that they turned orange, seriously.
You don’t see the weather getting weird?? I just read a Yahoo News article about how the weather is so much more unstable than ever. No loony-ness there my friend.
@Adam S. “weather getting weird” is the last grab cop out for the AGW crowd. Warming kind of flopped, the CO2 Saturation limit was proven by NASA while trying to disprove it, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Now since people have grown tired of warming followed by change they shift to “weird”. Is the weather weird? Yea sure is, just like it was 200 years ago at the tail end of the little ice age, just like it was in the 70s when Time Magazine warned of a pending ice age and the guy who is really behind the AGW movement also was using “global cooling” to push the agenda he launched in 78. His name is Maurice Strong, google it and learn. He is an oil billionaire who is currently in China consulting with them on what? How to sell and trade carbon credits! This is like a bad ironic comedy that writes itself.
You want to worry about climate change, here is what to worry about
Mercury in the oceans
Sulfur Oxide in our rivers and streams
Deforestation causing deserts
Salination of our soil
Loss of our top soil
Dumping tons of fertilizer in the gulf so we can grow “green” biofuel
Etc.
Now with all of those and more you have to wonder why carbon is the big issue, I will tell you why, it is divisive! Eat the damn red pill dude and get the hell out of the matrix of class and political warfare.
@Jack: Please have Mr. Stein elaborate on home water filtration on his next visit since he has designed home water filtration systems. IIRC you stated on an earlier episode the desire to have a water filtration expert on your show. I think this is probably the most important item of survival that has not yet been properly addressed on your show (the subject has but not the specifics by independent water filtration experts).
Sample questions:
1. What do you use to filter water?
2. Name the top 3 commercially available water filtration systems
3. What chemicals or other harmful items are not being filtered by any of the available water filtration systems? Why not? Can they be filtered and how?
An interesting article I found on Thorium (food for thought):
http://everestlancaster.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/eleven-reasons-to-switch-to-thorium-based-nuclear-power-generation/
In regard to colloidal silver, I’d recommend people research this topic carefully for themselves. I did a quick check and it seems that when used topically (externally) it works and kills bacteria effectively, however there seems to be a lot of quacks that think drinking it regularly can cure all sorts of diseases, from cancer to arthritis to AIDS. Do not start consuming colloidal silver unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you are doing. All heavy metals are toxic to humans to some degree, and can stay in the body for long periods of time.
I applaud you Jack for allowing Matt to have his say on Global warming, however some of Matt’s comments made me cringe. It seems he gets his info from RealClimate.org who think they have an answer to all the skeptics questions, and according to ClimateGate2.0 that website was setup for precisely that reason, giving the followers quick fire quotes as ammunition to shoot down skeptics arguments without having to dirty their minds with any critical thinking.
I 100% agree with KAM above either CO2 is the main driving factor of global warming or natural forces are. It seems Matt says whilst the climate is warming CO2 is in charge, but now when we are seeing little warming the CO2 effect has been overridden by nature (quiet sun). He can’t have it both ways, and his comment that when the sun does become more active then we’ll start seeing global warming again. Well then its not CO2 driving the warming then, its the SUN.
.. and the comment on the increasing occurance of hurricanes is just baseless scaremongering.
Great show normally Jack, this one was a painful listen for me. It was hard filtering out the good stuff from the dross.
This video was talked about and I thought is was very good.
The Power of Community. How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (sub español)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2TzvnRo6_c&feature=related
Big thanks for the link to YouTube. That was great viewing.
I’m shocked that so many of your groupies find it “painful” to listen to this obviously intelligent and well-informed man. Narrow mindedness is the fastest way to paint oneself into a corner.
On a more positive note, speaking as an organic farmer, I’m glad that he mentioned in his concluding comments that people need to reconnect with growing their own food and community building. The latter now takes up about a fourth of my time. I don’t see even the most skilled lone cowboys surviving a Collapse.
@Kris with a K, judging my entire audience (which ironically you are part of) of 25,000 by the comments of about 5 people shows you to be VERY “narrow minded” calling them “groupies” makes you look like an even bigger “narrow minded” ass. Lastly your statement of “I’m glad that he mentioned in his concluding comments that people need to reconnect with growing their own food” may give way to damn much credit to our guest as I don’t think it would have been said if i didn’t lead him directly to said end.
It always amazes me that the people who are the first to use terms like narrow minded always show themselves to be the most narrow minded.
I would also lay about 1,000 to 1 odds that you are a supporter of AGW religion and your main reason to object to the responses here revolve abound such nonsense.
Jack
@Kris with a K: Survivalism, for me, boils down to a very pragmatic approach to life and the problems that can occur. Being prepared for things that might happen and not wasting effort and money on things that might never happen. Having faith in my own judgement and not believing without question what someone else might say. Wherever possible to base decisions on evidence that I can see. To believe in AGW I would have to negate all those statements.
To put it bluntly AGW stinks, and I’m amazed that everyone can’t smell it.
@Everyone,
While listening, I have to admit, I did find my “what did he say?” meter going up quite a bit, I don’t have a problem with it. I think it is safe to say that this particular guest was not really on the same page as me…but so what.
It doesn’t HARM me to listen to someone who has ideas that are not my own…in fact is is sometimes helpful in making me review my own thoughts.
If people don’t want to listen–that’s fine too, not every show will be ideal for everyone.
Here’s what I have to say about Mr. Stein–he wasn’t a raving loon. He came across as someone that Jack could discuss things with reasonably. That’s a far cry from some people out there. If in the end, people aren’t on the same page as this fellow…well, wait until this week, when I’m sure you’ll have some other guests or topics to enjoy more.
@Kam, honestly Matt seems like a great guest and I think I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER. I never expected him to go on for 10 minutes about colloidal silver when I asked the question about items not in a BOB.
I do think many people got turned off by that, which is sad really. Colloidal silver is a great SHTF treatment for infection, it does work. Of course a lot of snake oil sales people have tarnished its reputation by calling it a tonic, saying it cures cancer, etc. So when a guy like Matt says it is good for a BOB you start thinking he is one of them, I really don’t believe he is.
On the 400 Chernobyls, the truth is I don’t know. Many claim that the facilities are shielded but many also claimed there was no such thing as a “Bilderberger Group” for decades. I mean I could write BOOKS not a book but bookS on stuff we have been told not to worry about only to find out that we were being lied to about it, like um, AGW.
Oh and the tarnished pun above was intended ;^)
@Jack,
I agree. I think he was a pretty interesting guest, and the show was worth listening to. Was it the BEST interview…so what?
As far as whether any of this stuff is true or not…right, we don’t know. So…let’s find out, or even just say “We don’t know” and make REASONABLE preparations for things using the same guidelines for preps that are useful even if these things DON’T happen.
Same for Y2K, Zombies, Full-blown Nuclear war, 2012…whatever. As long as they don’t cause a panic or stupid action (which they sometimes do), I think they are useful to get people thinking about Preparedness in general. A bit of help at that point is a lot easier than trying to get someone who stores clothes in their oven to think about Preps at all.
Obviously colloidal silver every day is not good, but will the silver particles exit your body eventually ? Does that depend on if you eat certain herbs etc ? Is it effective against swine flu ? Too bad the medical establishment and scientists give us nothing but disinfo so you are on your own to try to figure out how to stay healthy ..
I find it totally unacceptable that we have to find out from wikileaks how much oil is in Saudi Arabia if in fact that is even a reliable source. Is how much oil the world has is a state secret ?
The comment on thorium power illustrates yet again how much disregard the govt, corporations and the military industrial complex has for human life and why they can’t be trusted. Whether or not there are safer alternatives to energy is anyone’s guess but the powers that be won’t easily give it up.
On world population, isn’t it true that natural born citizens of industrialized countries don’t reproduce very much ? Jack also said that permaculture could feed the world, so this seems like a more complex topic than the establishment would have us believe.
If there was a way to prove that colloidal silver would prevent or cure swine flu, that would be a great boon. Of course the FDA would have none of it, but the thing is if there was an attempt at forced vaccinations, then perhaps there would be some claim to be excused from it and throw out the govt supposed claim that you have to take the shot. I would really like to see some organization that could push for something like solid proof that silver would work and challenge the govt on legal grounds. Alot of people nowadays don’t trust the vaccines and yet the establishment seems to be pushing hard on that ..
Colloidal silver is used in homemade ceramic water filters. The clay is mixed with something like rice husks (or sawdust). When the pots/filters are fired the husks burns way leaving porous walls. The inside and outside of the pots are then panted with colloidal silver to kill bacteria. They are commonly used in third world countries.
videos:
The Pot With The Silver Lining – Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU3rRiWsRE0
The Pot With The Silver Lining – Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puUid4LZCwM&feature=related
Jack, I’m always impressed with your depth of knowledge on a multitude of subjects. I appreciate that you find middle ground on the very politicized carbon (pollution) issue. The political pundit battle has been played out. Extract the useful information, discard the rest. No two free willed people will ever completely agree on everything, and that’s a good thing. Well done.
Matthew lost a lot of credibility with me when he regurgitated the population explosion myth that has been around for 200 years and refuses to die. UN stats, among others, predict the world population to level off at 7.3 billion at a low, 10 billion at a high after 2050. This is such an easily exploded myth that I figured that someone who has done lots of research, like Matthew, would have encountered a rebuttal. But like the GW thing, sometimes people have their minds made up about what they believe in spite of much evidence.
Just for example, food production has always easily kept up with population growth. The United States alone has enough land area to feed the entire world population if we were of a mind to. Second, the entire population of the world would all fit in the State of Texas, with each person getting over 1,000 square feet. Granted, these are extremes, but they show the absurdity of the claim. Unlike GW, there is so much easily obtained, easily analyzed data out there, that to claim overpopulation is just silly.
One quick note about solar or geomagnetic storms. I did a quick search on the net and our planet has experienced several solar storms over the last few decades. Power companiee now get warnings about solar events and are grounding transformers were needed. Additionally the two most recent solar storms had minor if at all affect on the grid.
@Jason, that is great to hear.
This guest was very disappointing. When I saw the titles of his books I was intrigued, but now that I know that he is a fear mongering global warming alarmist and eugenicist I am glad I didn’t spend any money on stuff.
@Jacob I am sorry you feel that way and you are entitled to your opinion but calling Matt a “eugenicist” is just nonsense. I think someone may be spending a bit too much Alex Jones time or something. To see a concern with the expanding population doesn’t make one a eugenicist, seeking to curtail the population with force does. Choose your words carefully when speaking about another, or at least know what those words mean.
I understand fully what the word means. The truth of the matter is that we are nowhere near being in trouble of over population. All 7 billion people on the globe could fit just on the island of Manhattan. Sure they wouldn’t be able to all live there at once, but that isn’t the point. Global warming alarm-ism and eugenics have always gone hand in hand. If you believe that man causes global warming then often (not always) you believe that reducing the population will help to “save the planet.” That coupled with the fact that he went out of his way to say that the earth is overpopulated (which I believe is false) causes me great concern.
@Jacob, so your contention is all eugenicists are global warming advocates and all of those that are believers in global warming are also eugenicists? Further anyone concerned about the earth’s populations wants to use force to reduce the population (is a eugenicist)? So yea you are a follower of the cult of Alex Jones. Talk about a bunch of narrow minded bullshit. You are as thin brained as my neighbor who said and I quote “I don’t believe in environmentalism” because she thinks (as I do by the way) that CO2 based global warming is total bullshit.
The sad thing is attitudes such as yours do your own goals more damage then anything else including true globalist propaganda. People like you really make me sad! Seriously you are the type of person people like me get labeled as and associated with.
I mean everyone is entitled to an opinion but that doesn’t mean some opinions aren’t narrow minded bullshit.
Let me paraphrase what Jack just said: “You are entitled to your opinion, but I am going to personally attack you for disagreeing since I can’t seem to comprehend the phrase NOT ALL.”
First your staunchly defend the global warming alarmist then the personal attacks? When did you become a liberal?
@Jacob what ever dude! If you know what the word means and you call a person that with out good cause you are the one making the personal attack. I defended the man’s integrity and his willingness to evaluate my counter point to his argument not his position.
As for the liberal comment, I have always been a liberal (when the need for a label arises by those who need them) on some issues and a conservative (again when the need for a label arises by those who need them) because the best way to describe my political views is libertarian. As in do what you want just don’t ask me to pay for it. I really don’t care if someone thinks that the population is too high as long as they don’t want to kill people to fix it. I also couldn’t give a damn if a person believes in AGW despite the mountains of evidence disproving it, I really don’t right up until they want to tax carbon and make me pay for their fantasy.
Again I figure if you unplugged from the church of AJ for a bit you might have a bit more level of a perspective.
Here is a great resource about EMP:
http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-protection.html
Almost every control panel I’ve worked on, most containing PLC’s is a grounded metal box. I’m sure there are too many variables to measure with an EMP exposure, but I’d have to believe this offers a fair level of protection. Damage via the power source is another concern, but many are powered from a 24 volt power supply offering additional isolation. Just some input!
The question I have is whether storing Colloidal Silver would be a good idea from a water purification perspective. and if so, how does one go about that?
What to buy and how to use it.
I was listening to a recorded editorial today about the collapse of the global warming crusade and it had a couple relevant quotes that I thought were worth sharing. In 1783, William Pitt warned “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” They further stated that ‘or else’ is the plea of necessity, and necessity becomes the mother of intervention.
The second quote was from H.L. Mencken who said “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamoring to be led to safety by menacing it will an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” Amen. (Insert ‘zombies’ for ‘hobgoblins’ and you’ll have a more timely quote.)
It isn’t just government that plays these manipulation games, it is also a big part of the prepper business, as Jack admitted. I think some of the concern expressed with this author’s interview was the feeling that he was building up these threats then saying there is a necessity to act, but if we don’t buy into those reasons then we won’t be motivated to make changes that could help us even if times don’t get tough. I think Jack’s attitude is much more sensible and that is why I listen to him and not that Prison Planet guy. Even if we find we have the same opinion it might be that we came there from completely different routes but we then might find we again diverge on the solution to the problem we agree on. So, just because you get me to admit we agree on the problem you can’t assume I agree on the cause or that I’ll follow you on your solution.
[…] Spirko’s guest talks about that possibility in episode 795: http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/mat-stein-author-of-when-disaster-strikes This was written by jack. Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2011, at 9:46 am. Filed under EMP. […]
Great show great guest.
Hats off to you Jack for taking what he said. Then hats off to Matt for saying he is going to look into the study.
Cant wait for his return.