The U.S. Government Is Borrowing About 8 Trillion Dollars A Year

I know that headline sounds completely outrageous.  But it is actually true.  The U.S. government is borrowing about 8 trillion dollars a year, and you are about to see the hard numbers that prove this.  When discussing the national debt, most people tend to only focus on the amount that it increases each 12 months.  And as I wrote about recently, the U.S. national debt has increased by more than a trillion dollars in fiscal year 2014.  But that does not count the huge amounts of U.S. Treasury securities that the federal government must redeem each year.  When these debt instruments hit their maturity date, the U.S. government must pay them off.  This is done by borrowing more money to pay off the previous debts.  In fiscal year 2013, redemptions of U.S. Treasury securities totaled $7,546,726,000,000 and new debt totaling $8,323,949,000,000 was issued.  The final numbers for fiscal year 2014 are likely to be significantly higher than that.

So why does so much government debt come due each year?

Well, in recent years government officials figured out that they could save a lot of money on interest payments by borrowing over shorter time frames.  For example, it costs the government far more to borrow money for 10 years than it does for 1 year.  So a strategy was hatched to borrow money for very short periods of time and to keep "rolling it over" again and again and again.

This strategy has indeed saved the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars in interest payments, but it has also created a situation where the federal government must borrow about 8 trillion dollars a year just to keep up with the game.

So what happens when the rest of the world decides that it does not want to loan us 8 trillion dollars a year at ultra-low interest rates?

Well, the game will be over and we will be in a massive amount of trouble.

I am about to share with you some numbers that were originally reported by CNS News.  As you can see, far more debt is being redeemed and issued today than back during the middle part of the last decade...

2013

Redeemed: $7,546,726,000,000

Issued: $8,323,949,000,000

Increase: $777,223,000,000

2012

Redeemed: $6,804,956,000,000

Issued: $7,924,651,000,000

Increase: $1,119,695,000,000

2011

Redeemed: $7,026,617,000,000

Issued: $8,078,266,000,000

Increase: $1,051,649,000,000

2010

Redeemed: $7,206,965,000,000

Issued: $8,649,171,000,000

Increase: $1,442,206,000,000

2009

Redeemed: $7,306,512,000,000

Issued: $9,027,399,000,000

Increase: $1,720,887,000,000

2008

Redeemed: $4,898,607,000,000

Issued: $5,580,644,000,000

Increase: $682,037,000,000

2007

Redeemed: $4,402,395,000,000

Issued: $4,532,698,000,000

Increase: $130,303,000,000

2006

Redeemed: $4,297,869,000,000

Issued: $4,459,341,000,000

Increase: $161,472,000,000

The only way that this game can continue is if the U.S. government can continue to borrow gigantic piles of money at ridiculously low interest rates.

And our current standard of living greatly depends on the continuation of this game.

If something comes along and rattles this Ponzi scheme, life in America could change radically almost overnight.

In the United States today, we have a heavily socialized system that hands out checks to nearly half the population.  In fact, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government each month according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  And it is hard to believe, but Americans received more than 2 trillion dollars in benefits from the federal government last year alone.  At this point, the primary function of the federal government is taking money from some people and giving it to others.  In fact, more than 70 percent of all federal spending goes to "dependence-creating programs", and the government runs approximately 80 different "means-tested welfare programs" right now.  But the big problem is that the government is giving out far more money than it is taking in, so it has to borrow the difference.  As long as we can continue to borrow at super low interest rates, the status quo can continue.

But a Ponzi scheme like this can only last for so long.

It has been said that when the checks stop coming in, chaos will begin in the streets of America.

The looting that took place when a technical glitch caused the EBT system to go down for a short time in some areas last year and the rioting in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri this year were both small previews of what we will see in the future.

And there is no way that we will be able to "grow" our way out of this problem.

As the Baby Boomers continue to retire, the amount of money that the federal government is handing out each year is projected to absolutely skyrocket.  Just consider the following numbers...

-Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.  Today, more than 70 million Americans are on Medicaid, and it is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americansto the Medicaid rolls.

-When Medicare was first established, we were told that it would cost about $12 billion a year by the time 1990 rolled around.  Instead, the federal government ended up spending $110 billion on the program in 1990, and the federal government spent approximately $600 billion on the program in 2013.

-It is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

-At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years.  That comes to approximately $328,404 for every single household in the United States.

-In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.  Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.

-Right now, there are approximately 63 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits.  By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.

-Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

-The U.S. government is facing a total of 222 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities during the years ahead.  Social Security and Medicare make up the bulk of that.

Yes, things seem somewhat stable for the moment in America today.

But the same thing could have been said about 2007.  The stock market was soaring, the economy seemed like it was rolling right along and people were generally optimistic about the future.

Then the financial crisis of 2008 erupted and it seemed like the world was going to end.

Well, the truth is that another great crisis is rapidly approaching, and we are in far worse shape financially than we were back in 2008.

Create your own EDC Kit

Life comes at you fast, and sometimes you won’t have the option of getting all of your gear together.  When this happens you just have to drop everything and go.  This can cause much unneeded stress but don’t lose all hope. Your personal EDC kit will help you prepare for a situation such as this.

There are a few items that can be carried with you at all times that can seriously improve your survival chances should you be caught off guard.  These items make up what I like to call my EDC kit (every day carry).  These are items that I carry on me every day that fit into my normal lifestyle and that a normal person would never guess is something useful to my survival.

Essential Items for your EDC Kit

Below are some of the items that I keep in my car as an EDC kit:

-A folding pocket knife

-A good pair of boots

-Paracord bracelet (roughly 10 feet of cord)

-Aqua Mira: Frontier emergency water filter.

-8 LED flashlight with batteries and adapter ( takes either 1 C Battery or 3 AAA’s)

-Bright yellow emergency poncho

-Mylar survival blanket

-Stainless steel water bottle (also used as a container for the kit).

-Not pictured is one 400 calorie ration bar from Millennium simply because it was time to rotate it out and… I was hungry.  Millennium makes a great compact energy bar that fits just    about anywhere

I also created an EDC tin from an Altoids container that I keep in my desk.  Aside from the odd look I get when I refuse to give a coworker a mint, this fits effortlessly in my pocket or my desk or just about anywhere and no one will ever be the wiser.  Inside the Altoids tin I keep an array of items.  The most common items are.

-Small screw top pill holder filled with Vaseline:  Vaseline has a variety of uses. It can be used to prevent and cure chapped lips and hands, can be put on cuts and scrapes to help prevent infection and is extremely effective as a fire starter.

-Cotton balls

-Weatherproof matches

-A small wire saw

-A small assortment of fishing supplies

-A few hard candies and or bouillon cube if there is room, a small amount of sugar can give you a great energy and moral boost after a crisis.

I have several EDC kits that I have stashed in my car, at my desk, and even in my pocket at all times.  Each one is a little different than the last.

Whatever you decide to put in your EDC kit, make sure that even if you’re caught unaware… you’re never unprepared.

Coffee Can Survival Kit for Your Car

Have you ever thought of of packing a coffee can survival kit?

It has been said that there are more cars on the road than there are licensed drivers.

We use them to go to work, bring the kids to school, and for just about any transportation need that we may have.

Cars have become an integral part of life and we spend a lot of time in them.

Sometimes it feels like we live in them!

At times we can say that we always find ourselves in just three places: at home, at work or in the car.

Obviously they are our primary mode of transportation and if we stay in cars for that long every single day, there is a really good chance that we will get caught driving or in the car when an emergency or the SHTF occurs.

So it only makes sense that your car should be just as prepared as your home:

Read the full post here

Coffee Can Survival Kit List for Your Vehicle

It seems like every time I turn around there’s a spot that could use another survival kit. Home, work, vehicles, camp… everywhere! I hate putting a lot of money into something I probably won’t use, but on the flip side I want to have stuff good enough to save my ass in case TSHTF and I DO need to use the kit.

Anyway, I was staring at the French Roast coffee can I talked about in one of my posts and the thought popped into my head to fill it with items that could help out in case I get stuck somewhere. Keep in mind this is just for basic survival in an overnight situation and also keep in mind I wanted to keep the kit as low cost as possible so it can be attained on any personal budget or even with stuff you already have around the house.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

So far I’ve added a compass, multi-tool, pen, paper (to write a note or start a fire), nails, spoon, stove, paracord bracelet, flashlight, knife, matches, and some small food items. One thing I’m thinking about putting in there is one of those cheap Walmart ponchos (thus the nails to help make a temporary shelter if necessary). They’re less than $10 the last time I looked and if you go easy on this poncho you might get a few uses out of it and it should fit in quite handily.

Another thing I need to put in here is some fuel for the stove – not a whole lot, but enough to boil a few cups of water or maybe to help start a fire when the wood is wet.

via Coffee Can Survival Kit for Your Vehicle | SHTF Blog – a TEOTWAWKI Survival Blog.

Being prepared when in transit can spell the difference between surviving the unthinkable and becoming part of a tragic statistic. You should have a first aid kit as well as the basic tools that come with the car. It would also be a good idea to have some drinking water in store. A wool blanket will be very useful in extreme weather. A portable ham radio also makes a great addition to your cellphone.

What’s so great about a car is that there is always enough space for a little survival kit. A coffee can can be stored safely in more than one slot or cubbyhole in a car’s interior. You can put it in the glove compartment, under the seat and even in the trunk. There is no excuse for any prepper not to keep one stored safely in their car. It is also worth noting that you can put whatever you need in there without following the list. Each one of us has different needs so feel free to put the things that you know you will be needing in case you are stranded or get stuck in the car.

All contents except the plastic bags and the optional items will fit in a 1 lb coffee can.  (Or you can flat “Spam” cans or oval-shaped containers available at outdoor stores.)  The plastic bags can be affixed to the outside of the can with a rubber band.  To keep things from rattling in the can, wad up some wax paper and stuff it around the items.  The wax paper stays dry and also doubles as a fire starter.  To save weight the contents can be placed in a stuff bag and a metal cup can be used instead of the coffee can.

Here is a short list of a few more items you should consider for your coffee can survival kit.

Car Survival Kit List:

General Items

Braided nylon rope (25 feet) 
Mirror 
Matches (2 boxes) 
Fire Starter 
Poncho (bright orange to attract attention) 
Toilet paper 
Candle (wrapped in aluminum foil) 
Paper and pencil 
Fishing line, hooks, split shot leads 
Knife 
Whistle 
Money (2 nickels, 2 dimes, 2 quarters, $20 bill:  helpful for making phone call or paying for gas if broken down along highway) 
Garbage Bags (2 large size bags) 
Bright orange surveyor’s tape 
 

Repair Kit

Sewing kit 
Dental floss (It’s strong and useful as thread for sewing, or a fishing line or for lashing branches for improvised shelters.) 
Safety pins 
Wire (bailing wire) 
 

First Aid Kit (Also see Lightweight First Aid Kit)

Moleskin 
Sterile pads (2 x 2 and 4 x 4) 
Sterile Gauze 
Neosporin 
Bandaids 
Aspirin 
First Aid Tape 
 

Nourishment

Honey Packages (available in small foil packages available at convenience stores) 
Instant Soup or tea (a couple packages) 
 

Optional

Folding saw 
Compass (learn how to use) 
Hard Candy 
  
 

Carrying container

Coffee Can (1 lb size) or nylon stuff bag 

Demographic Winter - the decline of the human family (Full Movie)

8 Smart Ways to Teach Kids about Survival and Prepping

In the United States alone, flooding is a top natural disaster, yielding almost $42,000 average claims in the country within 2008 to 2012, according toNational Flood Insurance Program.

Prepping is essential to all individuals, particularly young children. Your kid’s innocence makes them particularly susceptible in becoming victims of disasters of all sorts. Ultimately, they’ll depend on you for guidance and support to better equip them in surviving any catastrophe. Preparing your kids for natural disasters may be a challenging experience for you. Knowing what to teach your kids in advance is the key to succeeding in arming your children with the necessary survival skills.

Vegetables for Family Meals

Food is one of the most essential things you must have for you and your little ones in the midst of a disaster. When a disaster strikes, you’ll ultimately be depending on survival food kits in order to get food in your stomach. Food kits can only last for so long, though. When these food items run out, you’ll have to rely on natural edible products around you for survival in worst case scenarios.

With these things said, it’s never too early to train your children to get used to eating organic veggies, periodically in meals, for disaster preparation. Once your children get used to eating organic food products, they’ll have an easier time adjusting to the situation in case a tragic catastrophe occurs.

Study the School Fire Escape Plan

When your child’s school sends home a fire escape plan, consider it as an important preparedness guide. Your child needs to be well-trained in independently fending for his safety needs even when you can’t see him. Explain to your child how the escape plan works once he hears the fire alarm system sounds off in his school. Make sure to look over the fire escape plan sketch with your child while you explain the essentials of keeping him out of danger. Be specific in explaining each step involved when escaping from fire. Make sure you clearly detail each procedure so as to avoid confusion from your child’s end. Demonstrate each procedural step if there will be a need to do so, to make things even clearer.

Get Involved in Running Drills

When there’s an emergency, your natural inclination is to run to flee the dangers that threaten your well-being. A strong physical stamina increases the chances of your kids to run fast enough to escape disasters such as fire and earthquake. Running safely takes practice to master. Teaching survival skills to kids in the form of running drills enhances their physical capability to endure the overwhelming effects of a disaster. Make it a habit to include running as part of your kids’ daily exercise routine. Help them improve their survival skills while staying fit at the same time. Don’t forget that practice does make perfect.

Camping Makes Your Kids Smarter

Camping lets you teach your kids how to survive on their own for a few days. Prepare your kids ahead of time for their camping trip to gain confidence on their ability to be self-sufficient. Teach them the basics of caring for their safety. Teach your kids to be alert about the presence of dangerous animals they may encounter while camping, such as insects and snakes. Along the way, your kids will also learn how to take precaution in dealing with strangers while out on a camping trip by themselves.

Knowing how to teach kids about survival to improve their independence brings about fruitful outcomes in the end. The provision of survival training enables your kids to act and think maturely even at a young age. Your kids will likely become smarter as adults after you feed them the necessary training they need in surviving a disaster.

A Smart Way to Drive Intruders Away

Of course, you can’t avoid having the need to go somewhere sometimes without bringing along your child with you. You need to teach your kids how to outsmart potential intruders before leaving them home alone.

First, you need to completely prepare your kids to be aware of the presence of possible intruders. Advice your kids to keep all doors and windows locked, and close the blinds and curtains. Tell your kids to turn on the television or radio afterwards, to scare potential intruders away before they break into your home. The thought of having people at home makes intruders fear that their criminal plan will backfire

Prep for First Aid

Emergency survival kits save lives when injuries occur. Even at a young age, your child needs to know how to use these tools for their protection.

Find time to demonstrate how to use the tools in a first aid kit to your kids . They will not have someone to look after them all the time to make sure they’re okay. Therefore, they need to learn the simplest way of protecting themselves to better increase their chances for survival.

Memorize Important Contact Information

Require your kids to memorize important contact information of disaster rescue organizations, police, and fire fighters. Your kids need to have access to survival food kits in case of disastersthrough calamity relief operations if disasters strike while they’re away from home.

Conduct Earthquake Drills

Earthquakes occur unexpectedly. Help your kids to be prepared on how to escape to safety in case of earthquakes by conducting monthly drills. Incorporate basic response defenses such as drop, cover, and hold or stop, and drop and roll. Teach these to your kids one at a time for better comprehension.

Being practical and smart are the traits your kids must have to beat the odds of survival. Be hands-on in preparing your kids for surviving any disaster. Guide them every step of the way in attaining the necessary prepping skills to the best of their abilities.

New Record: Pound of Ground Beef Tops $4 for First Time!

(CNSNews.com) –  Although the overall Consumer Price Index dropped by 0.2 percent in August, the price index for food rose 0.2 percent, with the average price for a pound of ground beef rising to $4.013 per pound--the first time it has ever topped $4 per pound.

In July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a pound of ground beef had been $3.884 per pound—which was the record price up to that point.  From July to August, the average price jumped 12.9 cents, an increase of 3.3 percent in one month.

A year ago, in August 2013, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $3.454 per pound. Since then, it has climbed 55.9 cents--or about 16.2 percent.

Just five years ago, in August 2009, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $2.134, according to the BLS. The price has since climbed by $1.879 per pound—or 88.1 percent.

The overall Consumer Price Index measures the relative change in the prices of a basket of goods and services relative to a basis of 100.  Subordinate indexes measure the relative change in price for individual goods or services or categories of goods and services.

The price index for seasonally adjusted uncooked ground beef hit an all-time high of 279.812 in August, up 3.4 percent from July when it was 270.724. In 1947, the earliest year in this index, it was 26.5.

“The seasonally adjusted decline in the all items index was the first since April 2013,” the BLS ssaid of the overall index. “The indexes for food and shelter rose, but the increases were more than offset by declines in energy indexes, especially gasoline.”

“The food index rose 0.2 percent in August after increasing 0.4 percent in July,” said BLS. “The food at home index was also up 0.2 percent, with the six major grocery store food group indexes split between three increases and three declines. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 1.5 percent in August, the largest increase among the groups. The index for beef and veal rose 4.2 percent, its largest increase since November 2003.”

Teach Your Kids to Make a Pill Bottle Firestarter

This is a fun and easy project to do with your kids. It’s also a useful survival skill. A pill bottle firestarter is a versatile tool that works great in a survival situation when other firestarting methods aren’t available.

Teach Your Kids to Make a Pill Bottle Firestarter

Fire is very important in survival situations. It gives warmth, provides light, helps you cook food and gives a reassuring feeling that you can survive any end-of-the-world scenario as well as a simple camp-out on the weekend.

At home it is easy to start a fire, what with the firestarting devices that we always seem to take for granted, like a box of matches, a lighter, or the electronic igniter in the stove or oven.

Out in the wilderness, however, matches and lighters could fail and firestarting becomes a necessary skill. The weather can be both a friend and a foe, making the act of lighting a fire an easy task when conditions are dry or very difficult when it is windy or stormy. A box of waterproof matches would come in handy in this situation.

Children have to learn how to start a fire and there are actually many ways to do so. There is the hand drill, the fire plough, and fire drill that requires two people to start. However, these methods depend greatly on dry wood and grass. During wet weather or damp conditions, it is best to use a waterproof firestarter.

Click here to learn how to make a pill bottle firestarter, a fire starting device that can work in all sorts of weather conditions.

Get Your Kids Involved: How to Create a Pill Bottle Firestarter

One of the best things that you can do for your kids is to teach them to be more self-reliant and knowledgeable about their own survival at an early age. Make it a part of everything that you do and it won’t seem like such a weird concept. Each week, we tackle one skill, one activity, one refresher to do during our home school time (hey, might as well take advantage of the credits, huh?) that helps us learn more. In doing that, I am very Pro-Kid-Led activity, so I tasked my kids to come up with a way to use some old leftover pill bottles we had and create something for our bug out bags. They each did a little research and this is what they decided to share.

(If I was a really good homeschooling mom, I would’ve had them write this article. Homeschool Mom Fail.)

How to Make an Emergency Pill Bottle Firestarter

1. Remove the labels from the pill bottles. You never want to confuse an empty, labeled pill bottle with another. In an emergency, you might not pay attention to which bottle you are grabbing. Be safe, do this step. We soaked our bottles in a little soapy water for a few hours, used a scrubby pad to take off as much of the paper & adhesive as possible, then used a little goo-fighting liquid to remove the last of the adhesive.

2. Collect your ingredients. We used 100% cotton balls, a sandwich bag, empty bottles, petroleum jelly and chopsticks ( we use some hinged chopsticks for kids). If you have chopsticks, use them. You’ll be glad you did. Oh..and not included in the photo, a spoon!

3. Tear the cotton balls up into small pieces. This is a good time to teach your kids about tensile strength in cotton balls. We prefer smaller pieces to allow us to maneuver into our rocket stove and use for small fires, but using the cotton balls full size is just fine.

via Get Your Kids Involved: How to Create Pill Bottle Firestarters – Mom with a PREP.

When your kids learn how to start a fire or at least make a firestarter, you can consider it an achievement.

This is a basic survival skill that every child should learn so that when they are left on their own, they will be able to keep their bodies warm, prepare food, drive away wild animals and see in the dark, too.

Starting a fire is something that every prepper, old or young, should know how to do. Teaching these skills can be made exciting and fun by letting kids participate and get hands-on experience, and making a pill bottle firestarter is a great place to start.

Who knows, when that fateful day comes, your children may turn out to be the ones who will help you survive.

Preparing For Winter in 2014

The word is, that this years winter in the United states is going to be brutal compared to what we have been getting the last several years. It is suppose to hit us a lot earlier as well. My sourcessay the end of September or early October.

According to the newest edition of North America’s oldest continuously published periodical, a decline in solar activity combined with ocean-atmosphere patterns in the Pacific and Atlantic will result in below-normal temperatures and above-normal snowfall during most of the winter across much of the United States.

“This winter is shaping up to be a rough one,” says Janice Stillman, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. “Sweaters and snow shovels should be unpacked early and kept close by throughout the season. The good news is that the extra precipitation—which will fall as rain or snow depending where you are—will help with any drought issues left over from the summer.”

Where I currently live we tend to lose power during every storm and with no fireplace or wood burning stove, an alternate heat and cooking source is a must for our survival. This article will touch base on some basic things you will need to consider storing so you and your family will make it through the winter comfortably.

South Davis County Preparedness Fair, Erroneous Clipper Date Information Correction

As a result of some erroneous information in the Davis County Clipper concerning our preparedness fair, we are asking you to please communicate more information to your organizations.

Last Thursday’s Davis County Clipper on page 6 incorrectly identified the South Davis County Emergency Preparedness Fair as being held today, Saturday the 13th as the date for the fair.  As some residents of the area may think they have missed the fair we would like to get the correct information out to them.

The fair is still being held Saturday, September 20th, 10 am until 2 pm at Woods Cross High School, 600 West 2200 South, Woods Cross, Utah.  We would also like to remind people about the knowledge and resources that we will be making available there.  We will have over 40 vendors and organizations involved, eight different classroom topics held in multiple sessions and over a dozen tabletop demonstrations of various preparedness topics, including:

The New Centerville Home Storage (the former LDS dry pack cannery)
Multi Fuel Generators and Fuel Storage
Helping Children Prepare For and Cope With Disaster
Thermal Cooking
Cooking With a Solar Oven
How Best to Utilize Food Storage
72 Hour Kits and Sanitation
First Aid and Trauma Care
Vegetables Out of the Garden in Winter
Shelter in Place
Emergency Kits for Cars

Please remind everyone in your organization about the fair and encourage their attendance.  We feel this will be a great opportunity to brush up on preparedness ideas and practices, and increase enthusiasm about being prepared and self reliant.

If you would like more information about the fair, please contact Cacey Bowen, with the Bountiful City Emergency Preparedness Council, at 801-809-7590, or by email atcacey_bowen@hotmail.com.

NeverWet Arrives - Hands-On Product Demonstration

South Davis Preparedness Fair September 13th WOODS CROSS HIGH

3 Disaster Mitigation Items all Households Should Have

Natural disasters are not only becoming more frequent, but more deadly. In 2011, there were 553 deaths in the U.S. as a result of tornadoes, which was more than 2001 to 2010 combined, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The Oklahoma Insurance Department estimated damages from the 2013 tornado which destroyed the town of Moore to be over $2 billion. The New York Daily News estimated total damages caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011 to be well over $15 billion.

Preparation is key to mitigate damage, potentially save the lives of your family and salvage your home and belongings. These three items are must-haves for anyone serious about disaster preparedness.

1. Generator

A generator will be essential for short-term preservation, and will be a source of electricity for your most essential electrical items. The size and power of the generator you choose all depends on what you need it to power, so start by purchasing a Kill-A-Watt meter. These devices allow you to plug any electrical device into it and get a reading for the amount of power required. Most people want to keep their refrigerator and freezer running, along with some lights for day-to-day activities. Add up the total wattage of all the appliances and devices you would want to run during a power outage, and that will give you an idea of the size of generator your home will need.

The average American home uses about 3,000 watt of power per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, so a 2000-watt unit should suffice for a refrigerator, lights, and even to charge cell phones and computers. A larger unit will be necessary if you want your home to have the same power capabilities no matter the situation. If you’d like to test before you buy, consider renting a generator fromSunbelt Rentals and conducting a trial run in your home. Keep in mind, the larger the generator, the more fuel it will need to run.

2. Propane Heaters

There are several options for propane heaters on the market, but the Mr. Heater line makes units specifically for indoor use. The Big Buddy model will heat an area up to 400 square feet for well over 24 hours on two of the little green one-pound propane tanks. You can also connect a large 20-pound tank to the unit for extended use.

Despite Mr. Heater building these units for indoor use, some precautions still need to be taken. Carbon monoxide is odorless and can be deadly in minutes when oxygen levels in the room are too low. A cheap carbon monoxide detector should be utilized any time propane is burned indoors. Its also best to leave windows cracked slightly for ventilation. Place the CO detector near your sleeping quarters if you choose to sleep with the heaters running.

These units are also ideal to keep water pipes from bursting as a result of freezing, which can prevent thousands of dollars in damage.

3. Life Straws

Humans may be able to survive a few weeks without food, but they can only live about three days without water. Life Straws can clean harmful bacteria, protozoa, and other microbes from dirty water to make it drinkable. Thus you’ll be able to drink water from any source without the fear of contracting a waterborne illness.

There are anecdotal accounts of individuals filtering their own urine through Lifestraws and sustaining themselves. The filters will not remove the salts and other less harmful impurities, so the resulting water will likely not taste very good. Still, in a survival situation, it could save your life. The Hydro Photon SteriPEN and the MSR Miniworks EX are two more options to consider for quick and portable water purification.

Survival is possible in any situation with the basic tools. This foundation of essentials will provide you with the chance to continue long-term once the smoke clears.

Here's a great message for pre-missionaries and missionaries to remember.

Icahn, Soros, Druckenmiller, And Now Zell: The Billionaires Are All Quietly Preparing For The Plunge

"The stock market is at an all-time, but economic activity is not at an all-time," explains billionaire investor Sam Zell to CNBC this morning, adding that, "every company that's missed has missed on the revenue side, which is a reflection that there's a demand issue; and when you got a demand issue it's hard to imagine the stock market at an all-time high." Zell said he is being very cautious adding to stocks and cutting some positions because "I don't remember any time in my career where there have been as many wildcards floating out there that have the potential to be very significant and alter people's thinking." Zell also discussed his view on Obama's Fed encouraging disparity and on tax inversions, but concludes, rather ominously, "this is the first time I ever remember where having cash isn't such a terrible thing." Zell's calls should not be shocking following George Soros. Stan Druckenmiller, and Carl Icahn's warnings that there is trouble ahead.

Billionaire 1: Sam Zell

On Stocks and reality...

"People have no place else to put their money, and the stock market is getting more than its share. It's very likely that something has to give here."

"I don't remember any time in my career where there have been as many wildcards floating out there that have the potential to be very significant and alter people's thinking,"he said. "If there's a change in confidence or some international event that changes the dynamics, people could in effect take a different position with reference to the market."

"It's almost every company that's missed has missed on the revenue side, which is a reflection that there's a demand issue," he said. "When you got a demand issue it's hard to imagine the stock market at an all-time high."

He also lamented about how difficult it is to call a market top. "If you're wrong on when, that's a problem." His answer: "You got to tiptoe ... and find the right balance."

"This is the first time I ever remember where having cash isn't such a terrible thing, despite the fact that interest rates are as low as they are," he added.

On Obama and inequality...

"Part of the impact of these very, very low interest rates is that we've creating this disparity. The wealthy are benefiting from government policy and the nonwealthy aren't," he continued. "So we have a president who says we've got to fight this disparity and we have a Fed who's encouraging it everyday."

On Tax Inversion...

"This is both legal and accepted. If the government doesn't like the result, change the law," he said. "You have to have a rational tax policy." He said the top tax rate should be changed and the U.S. should not tax worldwide income.

Zell also said it's unfortunate that "this inversion thing has been captured as a political, electioneering item."

Source: CNBC

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Billionaire 2: George Soros

Soros has once again increased his total SPY Put to a new record high of $2.2 billion, or nearly double the previous all time high, and a whopping 17% of his total AUM.

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Billionaire 3: Carl Icahn

Ironically, Carl Icahn - poster-child of the leveraged financial engineering that has overtaken US equity markets on the back of Central Bank largesse - told CNBC that he was "very nervous" about US equity markets. Reflecting on Yellen's apparent cluelessness of the consequences of her actions, and fearful of the build of derivative positions, Icahn says he's "worried" because if Yellen does not understand the end-game then "there's no argument - you have to worry about the excesssive printing of money!"

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Billionaire 4: Stan Druckenmiller

Simply put, Druckenmiller concludes, rather ominously, "I am fearful that today our obsession with what will happen to markets and the economy in the near term is causing us to misjudge the accumulation of much greater long term risks to our economy."

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And here the BIS explains broken markets so easily, even a Janet Yellen can get it:

Financial markets have been exuberant over the past year, [...] dancing mainly to the tune of central bank decisions. Volatility in equity, fixed income and foreign exchange markets has sagged to historical lows. Obviously, market participants are pricing in hardly any risks.

Growth has picked up, but long-term prospects are not that bright. Financial markets are euphoric, but progress in strengthening banks’ balance sheets has been uneven and private debt keeps growing. Macroeconomic policy has little room for manoeuvre to deal with any untoward surprises that might be sprung, including a normal recession.

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So now we have a quorum of billionaires and the BIS all flashing warning signals which can only mean one thing: stocks are undervalued so buy, buy, buy..