When Hollywood Had It Right

How to Survive (Almost) Anything: 14 Survival Skills

Laurence Gonzales takes the art and science of survival to levels others can only dream of. He's the author of several books, including "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why," among others. He's also an editor and columnist for National Geographic magazines, and he blogs too. I seek out his columns and blogs and savor every morsel.

Check out his full August 2008 column (excerpted below) at National Geographic Adventure. You can read the whole article by clicking on the title below.

Everyday Survival

Most survival guides fail to consider some very useful tools: an individual’s character, wits, and worldview. The tips assembled here will change the way you approach each and every day—and help you survive a particularly bad one.

Text by Laurence Gonzales
Photograph by Dan Saelinger

Long ago I believed that survival meant having a pack full of equipment that would allow me to make fire and build shelter and trap varmints to eat in the wilderness. But then I kept coming across cases in which someone had survived without any equipment or had perished while in possession of all the right tools. Obviously something else was at work here. After more than three decades of analyzing who lives, who dies, and why, I realized that character, emotion, personality, styles of thinking, and ways of viewing the world had more to do with how well people cope with adversity than any type of equipment or training. Although I still believe that equipment and training are good to have, most survival writing leaves out the essential human element in the equation. That’s why I’ve concentrated my efforts on learning about the hearts and minds of survivors. You can start developing these tools of survival now. It takes time and deliberate practice to change. But new research shows that if we adjust our everyday routines even slightly, we do indeed change. The chemical makeup of the brain even shifts. To make these lessons useful, you have to engage in learning long before you need it—it’s too late when you’re in the middle of a crisis. Presented here are 14 concepts that have proved helpful to survivors in extreme situations, as well as to people trying to meet the challenges of daily life.

1. Do the Next Right Thing

"Debriefings of survivors show repeatedly that they possess the capacity to break down the event they are faced with into small, manageable tasks," writes John Leach, a psychology professor at Lancaster University who has conducted some of the only research on the mental, emotional, and psychological elements of survival. "Each step, each chunk must be as simple as possible.... Simple directed action is the key to regaining normal psychological functioning." This approach can sometimes seem counterintuitive. And yet almost any organized action can help you recover the ability to think clearly and aid in your survival. For example, Pvt. Giles McCoy was aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis when it was torpedoed and sank at the end of World War II, tossing some 900 men into the black of night and the shark-infested Pacific. McCoy, a young Marine, was sucked under the boat and nearly drowned. He surfaced into a two-inch-thick slick of fuel oil, which soaked his life vest and kept him from swimming—although he could see a life raft, he couldn’t reach it. So he tore off his vest and swam underwater, surfacing now and then, gasping, swallowing oil, and vomiting. After getting hoisted onto the raft, he saw a group of miserable young sailors covered in oil and retching. One was "so badly burned that the skin was stripped from his arms," Doug Stanton writes in his gripping account of the event, In Harm’s Way. McCoy’s response to this horrific situation was telling. "He resolved to take action: He would clean his pistol." Irrelevant as that task may sound, it was exactly the right thing to do: organized, directed action. He made each one of the sailors hold a piece of the pistol as he disassembled it. This began the process of letting him think clearly. Forcing your brain to think sequentially—in times of crisis and in day-to-day life—can quiet dangerous emotions.

[snip]

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Impact of EMP Attack Could Be Catastrophic

In theory, an EMP attack is straightforward. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. Still, IF ... U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S. Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:00 AM By: Kenneth R. Timmerman Click the title above to view the whole article. Excerpt:

If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure, the report warned.

While not causing immediate civilian casualties, the near-term impact on U.S. society would dwarf the damage of a direct nuclear strike on a U.S. city.

“The first indication [of such an attack] would be that the power would go out, and some, but not all, the telecommunications would go out. We would not physically feel anything in our bodies,” Graham said.

As electric power, water and gas delivery systems failed, there would be “truly massive traffic jams,” Graham added, since modern automobiles and signaling systems all depend on sophisticated electronics that would be disabled by the EMP wave.

“So you would be walking. You wouldn’t be driving at that point,” Dr. Graham said. “And it wouldn’t do any good to call the maintenance or repair people because they wouldn’t be able to get there, even if you could get through to them.”

The food distribution system also would grind to a halt as cold-storage warehouses stockpiling perishables went offline. Even warehouses equipped with backup diesel generators would fail, because “we wouldn’t be able to pump the fuel into the trucks and get the trucks to the warehouses,” Graham said.

The United States “would quickly revert to an early 19th century type of country.” except that we would have 10 times as many people with ten times fewer resources, he said.

“Most of the things we depend upon would be gone, and we would literally be depending on our own assets and those we could reach by walking to them,” Graham said.

America would begin to resemble the 2002 TV series, “Jeremiah,” which depicts a world bereft of law, infrastructure, and memory.

In the TV series, an unspecified virus wipes out the entire adult population of the planet. In an EMP attack, the casualties would be caused by our almost total dependence on technology for everything from food and water, to hospital care.

Within a week or two of the attack, people would start dying, Dr. Graham says.

“People in hospitals would be dying faster than that, because they depend on power to stay alive. But then it would go to water, food, civil authority, emergency services. And we would end up with a country with many, many people not surviving the event.”

Asked just how many Americans would die if Iran were to launch the EMP attack it appears to be preparing, Dr. Graham gave a chilling reply.

“You have to go back into the 1800s to look at the size of population” that could survive in a nation deprived of mechanized agriculture, transportation, power, water, and communication.

“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” he said.

America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people — about the number that existed in the decades after America’s independence from Great Britain.

The modern electronic economy would shut down, and America would most likely revert to “an earlier economy based on barter,” the EMP commission’s report on Critical National Infrastructure concluded earlier this year.

[snip]

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Mr. T says, "Get Some Nuts!"

I have to share this one ... 

Food Prices to Jump Steeply

In my last post here, I indicated that food prices are about to jump about 10% across the board. According to this article, that would be quite a conservative estimate. (I was basing my warning on near-term price hikes I have been notified of already.)

I say again--the smart money today is going into storable food that you buy at today's prices. It's a lock ... you can count on that money invested in something essential to your survival appreciating in value in short order.

US food groups plan hefty price rises

By Elizabeth Rigby in London and Hal Weitzman in Chicago
Published: July 20 2008 17:15 | Last updated: July 20 2008 17:15

US food companies are preparing another round of hefty price increases as soaring commodity costs force them to pass on rises to consumers.

Sara Lee, maker of meat products such as Jimmy Dean sausages, said costs would compel it to push up prices on meat lines by up to a fifth later this year.

“We will be taking price increases on the vast majority of the protein products in this calendar year,” said C.J. Fraleigh, Sara Lee’s chief operating officer for North America, in a recent interview.

“Price increases vary a lot by type of products but the increases will be as low as zero and some products we will decrease on and other increases [will be] in excess of 20 per cent.” Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, ConAgra and Tyson are also pushing through increases, which are expected to contribute to inflationary pressures in the US.

US food prices have jumped 5.3 per cent for the year ending in June, the Department of Labor reported last week, adding to the pressures on Americans from rising unemployment, a slumping housing market and higher petrol prices.

The increase in food prices was steep in June, when they moved up 0.8 per cent compared with 0.3 per cent in May.

Crop prices have boomed in recent months on the back of strong demand from emerging economies and supply concerns following floods across the agricultural lands of the US Midwest.

[snip]

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Inflation Hitting Food and Gear Across the Board

Best Prices on Crisis Devices

These are turbulent seas we're sailing, mates. And just like everyone else, we at Safecastle are working as hard as we can to keep our stocks tight and our powder dry.'

The next big onslaught to hit us broadside looks to be a surging wave of inflation. Prices are already taking a toll, of course, but now we are seeing that recent oil-price and transportation-cost hikes, and all the rest are working their way through the entire system, and in some ways being magnified. Really, few products on the market can escape the upward pricing pressures that continue to build.

We're holding the line as best we can for our buyers club members on our preparedness listings. We don't always have the very lowest prices on every item, but as a matter of practice, we do our best and then try to do a little better. Right now, that means delaying the inevitable price hikes for as long as possible, even when we have to start taking losses.

Please consider this email as a friendly advisory to those of you trying to still top off your ship's stores ...

Wholesale price hikes of at least 10% on many storage foods and gear are on the immediate horizon. Beyond that, the skies look dark. All any of us can do for our households is: lay aside the supplies and gear that make sense and that are within our budget today; increase our practical-knowledge base and broaden our living-skill set; and of course we can pray.

Lock In Today's Prices

This much is certain--overall, prices will NOT be coming down for food or equipment. As a customer mentioned, "Today's prices will seem to be too low to believe, tomorrow."

My advice--invest any discretionary funds today in tangible necessities that will store well. Do it with us or somewhere else, but if you want to weather the gales in front of us, you'd better be tying down soon.

As an aside--I am in the middle of reading a book entitled "Wealth, War, and Wisdom" by Barton Biggs. Check it out--it provides authoritative, practical, historical insights into surviving the darkest of days. We don't sell the book, but I suggest you give it a read.

Lastly--lest you come to the conclusion that I am assuming the doom position, I do remain optimistic and hopeful. But for context, that means that I am looking for the world as we know it to still hold water when we come out on the other side.

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Were You REALLY Thinking You Could Survive Without Coffee?

What larder is complete without some good long-term storage coffee from Costa Rica?

And what about bacon and/or pork sausage?

Can you smell those breakfasts already?

Of course, a variety of spices are needed to keep the palate piqued.

Not to mention some good old American ground beef in cans.

These items make up the very latest additions to our Safecastle storage food pantry.

As always, 20% off to our buyers club members and FREE shipping to the lower 48. All of these food items and most everything else in our store are shipping the same or next business day!

Browse our latest, ready-to-ship foods right here:

http://safecastleroyal.com/category_46/Canned-Cheese-Butter-Meat.html

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Back to the Future - Russia Rattles Old Sabers Over U.S.-Czech Missile Defense Deal

This is turning back the clock for me ... back to the day when it was good to be red, white & blue and it was NOT good at all to be communist.

The Russians and their satellites were the enemy. We knew it. They knew it. Everyone else held their breath.

Now our wobbly planet is layer upon layer of misdirection. "They" know what they're up to, we don't seem to have a clue what WE'RE up to.

This saber-rattling (see below) may be scary to some, but in my view, we need to be able to delineate who the enemies are and where they are. If they want to roll up their sleeves and get dirty, we are well-equipped to join them in the box. Re-draw the borders, contain the hostiles in their own lands. Fight over the contested areas and support those who want to be free.

It really should be that simple. We let it become something totally different and we're paying hell for it across the board now.

Might need to take a few steps back to get ahead of the game.

July 8, 2008
Russia threatens military response to US missile defence deal
David Charter, Europe Correspondent

Russia tonight threatened to retaliate by military means after a deal with the Czech Republic brought the US missile defence system in Europe a step closer.

The threat followed quickly on from the announcement that Condoleezza Rice signed a formal agreement with the Czech Republic to host the radar for the controversial project.

Moscow argues that the missile shield would severely undermine the balance of European security and regards the proposed missile shield based in two former Communist countries as a hostile move.

“We will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

[snip]

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WSJ: Price of Gas COULD Exceed $6 a Gallon by the End of THIS Year

Looking like our resiliency is about to be severely tested over the next several months. Got preps?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121538739112131075.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

Oil's Rapid Rise Stirs Talk of $200 a Barrel This Year

Long List of Factors Keeps Prices High; Releasing Reserves?
By NEIL KING JR.
July 7, 2008; Page A6

Oil's historic ascent from $100 to nearly $150 a barrel in just six months is lending weight to a far grimmer prediction: Crude could reach $200 a barrel by the end of the year.

Oil at that price would wreak deeper havoc on the world's airlines and automobile industries.

In the U.S., $200 crude would push the price of gasoline to well over $6 a gallon, causing commuters to alter their driving habits more sharply than they have already, while putting extreme strains on large sectors of the U.S. economy. In Europe, it would stir more political unrest and increase the clamor to cut the continent's stiff petrol taxes. In Asia, governments would be under pressure to cut fuel subsidies and risk a popular backlash.

U.S. benchmark crude prices leapt 3.6% last week, closing before the Independence Day holiday at a record $145.29 a barrel. Roughly halfway through the year, oil prices have soared 50% since Jan. 1 and have doubled since the same time last year. (See related article.)

Few oil watchers are now ready to bet that oil will hit $200 a barrel by New Year's Eve. But nearly all are wary of predicting how and when oil's upward stampede will be reversed.

What makes the market so unpredictable, analysts say, is that prices are being pushed by such a wide array of factors, while no single force has emerged with the power to throw them in reverse.

"Crude is going up," said Dave Pursell, an oil analyst at Tudor Pickering in Houston, "because there is nothing strong enough yet to push it down."

[snip]


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Independence Day, 2008

3D Animated Flags--By 3DFlags.com

No apologies from this quarter. The people of the United States of America enjoy the liberties and opportunities others covet.

Freedom is not free. Generations of sacrificing Americans have hoisted this country into the position of global leader. But it is God who has blessed our nation.

Until a greater, more just and deserving representative of civilized progress emerges, we are wholly responsible to maintain the moral and spiritual high ground in order to hold off the forces of evil and oppression.

Why Gun Control Flopped in America

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/22841664.html?page=1&c=y

Legal contrarians challenged prevailing views. But perhaps more importantly, the bans just didn't help.
By Steve Chapman , Chicago Tribune
Last update: July 2, 2008 - 7:18 PM

Thomas Jefferson once wrote pessimistically, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." He would probably not have been surprised to see the proliferation of gun-control laws in our time. But he might not have anticipated that the water would run back uphill.

Last week's Supreme Court decision affirming that the Second Amendment recognizes an individual right to own firearms for self-defense was a vindication of those who have long argued that position. But it was an even more stunning defeat for advocates of gun control, who not so long ago seemed to have history, law and public sympathy on their side.

In the 1980s and '90s, as violence raged at epidemic levels, the preferred remedy of policymakers was to restrict the manufacture, sale and ownership of firearms. Washington, D.C., had banned handguns in 1976, and in 1982, Chicago did likewise. Meanwhile, the federal government and several states outlawed "assault weapons" -- semiautomatic guns with a military appearance.

It looked as though ever-stricter gun control was the wave of the future. But the future had different ideas. What happened? Three main things:

• Gun control didn't work. In the 1990s, despite its draconian ban, Washington became the murder capital of the United States. Chicago's homicide rate, which had been declining in the years before it banned handguns, climbed over the following decade.

During the time the federal assault weapons law was in effect, the number of gun murders declined -- but so did murders involving knives and other weapons. When the law was allowed to expire in 2004, something interesting happened to the national murder rate: nothing.

• Laws allowing concealed weapons proliferated -- with no ill effects. In 1987, Florida gained national attention -- and notoriety -- by passing a law allowing citizens to get permits to carry concealed handguns. Opponents predicted a wave of carnage by pistol-packing hotheads, but it didn't happen. In fact, murders and other violent crimes subsided. Permit holders proved to be sober and restrained.

People elsewhere took heed, and today, according to the NRA, 40 states have "right-to-carry" laws. As those laws have spread, the homicide rate has fallen sharply from the peak reached in 1991.

• The Second Amendment got a second look. In 1983, a San Francisco lawyer named Don Kates published an article in the University of Michigan Law Review arguing that, contrary to prevailing wisdom in the judiciary and law schools, the Constitution upholds an individual right to keep and bear arms. Numerous legal scholars, spurred to examine the record, reached the same surprising conclusion. Before long, even some liberal law professors were coming around.

The majority opinion last week, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, drew heavily on this stack of scholarship to argue that the framers did not limit the right to the context of service in a state militia. Without the stimulus provided by these contrarian thinkers, the decision would never have come to pass.

Instead, the right to keep and bear arms has finally taken its rightful place with our other fundamental liberties. It may be the natural course of things for government control to expand and freedom to shrink. But as Jefferson knew, America was founded to reverse that process.


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Food Prices--May 2007 - May 2008

Click on the graphic to see a larger version (if you dare).


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Everything Seemingly is Spinning Out of Control

Saturday, June 21, 2008 11:00 AM

WASHINGTON -- Is everything spinning out of control?

Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.

Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.

The can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in the American psyche is under assault. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance.

The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election. Each contender offers a sense of order _ and hope. Republican John McCain promises an experienced hand in a frightening time. Democrat Barack Obama promises bright and shiny change, and his large crowds believe his exhortation, "Yes, we can."

Even so, a battered public seems discouraged by the onslaught of dispiriting things. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll says a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction. That is the lowest reading since the survey began in 2003.

An ABC News-Washington Post survey put that figure at 14 percent, tying the low in more than three decades of taking soundings on the national mood.

"It is pretty scary," said Charles Truxal, 64, a retired corporate manager in Rochester, Minn. "People are thinking things are going to get better, and they haven't been. And then you go hide in your basement because tornadoes are coming through. If you think about things, you have very little power to make it change."

[snip] Read entire article.


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Summer Food and FREEbies Sale--They're Going Fast

We gave the heads up here a few days ago that we were going to be launching this very special food and freebies sale.

This morning, our buyers club members got the email that we were opening up the doors. I finally just caught up enough to put the word out here now. All of this is selling fast. We knew it would--great prices on emergency storage food, including on a great variety of Mountain House cans AND FREE PREP GEAR thrown in for good measure, such as NukAlerts and Maxpedition Merlin fold-up backpacks, and more.

Unless things suddenly slow up, everything will be gone in days. So act now.

Here's the official announcement for this buy:

Last Mountain House Cans Opportunity till Fall
PLUS Great Freebies Thrown In !!!

FREE NukAlerts, Maxpedition Merlins, Bail-Out Bags, and Compact SW Radios!

Summer is here! To celebrate, we are today kicking off our excessively extravagant (and my son/accountant tells me "foolish") Summer Food and Freebies Sale.

All of the items in this sale are available in very limited quantities, so there is no time to delay. (Orders are being taken now; shipping on everything begins June 27.)

In a nutshell ...

1. We have some of our famous 3-case/18-can Mountain House variety kits in hand and ready to ship. This represents the last large bulk MH order we placed right at the May 15 deadline when Mountain House stopped taking orders for cans until further notice. The next opportunity at MH cans will be in the fall (hopefully). Kit price for members on these is $439, shipping included to the lower 48!

2. We also have a couple of new Complementary food packages assembled for this sale. Package One includes a case of canned Yoders whole wheat flour, long grain white rice, and B&M bread. Package Two includes full cases of canned Red Feather butter and cheese. Both packages are $219 for our members, shipped to the lower 48. Plus ... you can add-on a one-gallon bucket of Wildflower Honey for just $49.

3. Those package prices with free shipping are great. But this is the crazy part. I am giving away a limited number of Nukalerts, Maxpedition Merlin folding backpacks, Bail-Out Bags, and compact shortwave radios with qualifying purchases. (One Freebie per customer.) Look around and see what these items are worth, and you'll see what my son means--"This is crazy!"

4. Navigate the Summer Food and FREEbies sale here, and don't delay. We'll be out of stock in just days.


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Imminent Food and Freebies Sale!

As a courtesy, and to be as fair as possible, I am giving notice to our friends here of a very special sale that will be announced in the next few days.

This pre-announcement is to be sure that those of you who are interested are pre-positioned to take advantage before the goods you want are gone.

And believe me, some of these items WILL be gone pronto. More on that momentarily ...

First, what you want to do to be ready for this is to be sure you are a member of our buyers club. If you are, you are good. (This assumes you have been receiving our frequent bulk emails. If you have not--email me now at jcrefuge@safecastle.net with your email address so I can check to make sure you have not been removed from our list. Please also make sure my email address is entered into your email admin as an address that you do NOT want blocked or sent into your spam folder.)

If you are not yet a member, it's a one-time $19 fee. That gets you at least 20% off everything in our store all the time AND FREE Shipping to the lower 48 as well. Simply join here today, and you will be added to our email list for first notice on the sale/giveaway details.

The Upcoming Food and Freebie Sale

I'm not releasing ALL the specifics here yet, but this is what I can say ...

1. Member purchases of any emergency storage food at the standard 20% discount, or of one or more of the special food package offers below, qualify for the giveaways.

2. Giveaways will include NukAlerts or portable shortwave radios with long-wire roll-out antennas and carry pouch (with qualifying food purchases of at least $439), and Maxpedition Merlin folding backpacks or Maratac bail-out bags (with qualifying food purchases of at least $219).

3. We have put together at least three specially discounted, AFFORDABLE storage food packages with additional price breaks for this offer.

The foods in these special packages will include another ever-popular Mountain House 3-#10 can case kit (we have the food on hand and ready to ship), Red Feather butter and cheese, B&M canned bread, white rice, whole wheat flour, and wildflower honey.

4. The freebies are available in limited quanitity as are the MH food kits. These are first-come, first-serve offers, while supplies last. One freebie per customer.

5. This is a break-even (hopefully) kind of effort from us at Safecastle in order to get our members feeling good about where they stand, in spite of the prospect of food prices continuing to skyrocket into the foreseeable future. These deals are as good as it gets today. (Tomorrow they will be dearly missed.)

Get Ready ... Seriously - www.safecastleroyal.com

Missile Defense an Increasingly Urgent Need

Nations Race to Produce ICBMs, US General Says


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30% OFF! June ONLY - Any and All NBC Filtration/Ventilation Systems

Same Equipment Installed in Command Bunkers, Bomb Shelters, Military Vehicles, Hospital Isolation Rooms, and Safe Rooms Around the World

The manufacturer needs to move product now. So we have a very unusual opportunity only through the end of this month to offer our buyers club members--30% off our list prices for any NBC Filter/Ventilation equipment we sell (and if you don't see an item you need listed, we can get it for you and get you the same 30% discount).

Got a bunker, a basement room, or a room in your house you want to set up as a saferoom against airborne contaminants--to include chemical, biological, or radiological? Then this is your chance to get the system you can absolutely rely on.

EXAMPLE: OUR COMPLETE NBC FILTRATION PACKAGE

OUR LIST PRICE: $4100, SHIPPING INCLUDED
OUR NORMAL BUYERS CLUB DISCOUNTED PRICE: $3280
JUNE-ONLY 30% DISCOUNTED PRICE: $2870! Free shipping to the lower 48.

Other filtration listings can be seen here.

To get the June 30% discounts, members can simply make your purchase online or call us. We'll apply the 30% off for our club members before we charge your card.

If you need to become a member--make the one-time $19 membership purchase, and you'll always get at least 20% off everything we sell!


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"The Unthinkable, Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why"

Another book for my reading list, for sure ...

Would You Survive a Disaster?

Depends on your gender, your reaction time, and a little luck. A new book shows how you can up your odds.

By Abigail Pesta

When Amanda Ripley set out to study the world’s deadliest catastrophes for her new book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why, her family worried that she’d get depressed. After all, she’d be delving deep into the minds of people who endured tragedies ranging from the 9/11 attacks to the Asian tsunami. But in fact, says Ripley, a reporter for Time, “I actually found the whole thing encouraging. Once you talk to survivors and strip the mystery from a shocking event, you can see that the experience is never as frightening as you would imagine.” Time and again, she says, people reported a sense of dreamlike calm: “They said, ‘You know what? I thought I was going to die, but it wasn’t really scary.’” Here, the author shares other key insights.

IN ANY UNEXPECTED CRISIS, THERE’S AN ODD SENSE OF LETHARGY. In other words, your brain is trying to sort out new and disturbing information, and it doesn’t act fast. “The most startling thing I learned about 9/11 was the slowness with which people moved,” says Ripley. “Many took the time to turn off their computers.” But you can fight off that stupor — simply by knowing to expect it.

PEOPLE RARELY KNOW WHERE TO FIND AN EXIT — IN OFFICES, HOTELS, PLANES. “I always learn a couple of exits, so if I’m in a hotel and there’s a fire, I know where to go,” says Ripley. “Plane-crash survivors do the same thing.” She also suggests keeping a pair of sneakers at work — high heels slowed women down on 9/11.

SOMETIMES IT HELPS TO BE A WOMAN IN A DISASTER. Women tend to fare better than men in events like hurricanes and floods. Why? “They’re more likely to evacuate when they’re advised to do so,” says Ripley. “Men tend to take more risks.” But to be fair to guys, she adds, research shows that men — especially blue-collar single men — are more likely to do heroic things, like risk their lives to save others. Cheers to that.

SURVIVING BY THE NUMBERS

• 91% of Americans live in places with a moderate to high risk of natural disaster or terrorism.


• 65% of those who died in natural disasters from ‘85 to ‘99 came from undeveloped nations.


• 9% of heroic acts recorded from ‘89 to ‘93 were performed by women.
  

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Anxiety About This Year's Harvests

The world NEEDS plentiful harvests this year to get through the present food crisis. Unfortunately ...

Worries mount as world's farmers push for big harvest

By David Streitfeld and Keith Bradsher
Published: June 10, 2008

GRIFFIN, Indiana: In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster.

American corn and soybean farmers are suffering from too much rain, while Australian wheat farmers have been plagued by drought.

"The planting has gotten off to a poor start," said Bill Nelson, a Wachovia grains analyst. "The anxiety level is increasing."

[snip]

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Israel: Attack on Iran Inevitable

The clock ticks, we're running out of tricks ...

Israeli minister says alternatives to attack on Iran running out

Jun 6 03:36 AM US/Eastern

An Israeli deputy prime minister on Friday warned that Iran would face attack if it pursues what he said was its nuclear weapons programme.

"If Iran continues its nuclear weapons programme, we will attack it," said Shaul Mofaz, who is also transportation minister.

"Other options are disappearing. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear programme," Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot daily.

He stressed such an operation could only be conducted with US support.

A former defence minister and armed forces chief of staff, Mofaz hopes to replace embattled Ehud Olmert as prime minister and at the helm of the Kadima party.


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