Discovery Channel Documentary Help Wanted...

Hi folks,

I've just updated the SurvivalRing homepage with info about the information below. A producer from London is working on a series of shows based on "end of the world" scenarios, and is looking for some city AND rural survival oriented folks.

I talked with them on the phone last week, and this email below is the followup to that conversation. Visit their website below, and check out the previous productions, current productions, and future stuff. These guys do seem to have a track record in doing what they say they're doing.

This missive is going out to all my email lists, and is getting posted on several other message boards as well. Feel free to pass it on to folks you think might be interested in the project.

In the past 5 years I have had many dozens of media/journalist/authors contact me in this same way, and I have been able to put folks together across America, and actually see the final product/video/article/report come to be. You can see some of these past requests and affiliations on my website in the Y2kmediahelp page, here...

http://www.survivalring.org/y2kmediahelp.htm

Other outlets I've helped since updating the above page include the FOX network, Canada's National Post, several metro area type TV news stations, and many magazines and newspapers immediately after September 11th, 2001. I was a bit too busy during that time to keep the above page caught up....hope you'll understand.

Since the SurvivalRing webring has had hundreds of members since before 2000, folks researching prep and survival topics on the web since then, seem to recognize the "SurvivalRing" webring connection to the best prep sites, and sort of chose me to focus on as some kind of "survival and preparedness guru", a challenge I am happy to oblige with, and one the reasons I just finished my own college degree in broadcasting.

They expect me to know EVERYONE in the world in this genre, it seems sometimes, and somehow it has worked out for the most part.

"Takes one to know one (or help one)", so to speak....

Some of you may be interested in helping, and a good portion of you will want nothing to do with this media opportunity. This information is offered simply on the chance that some good may come of it in helping to show future viewers just how much preparedness CAN be done.

Read the info, and if you're interested in helping, please contact Anna at the contact info below.

Be sure to mention me in your reply to Anna, especially if you'd like to see me involved with this along WITH YOU.

If you're the type of person who likes to get involved and at least ATTEMPT to change the mindset of the world when the opportunity arises, then here is your chance. Be the difference.

Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: Anna Abbott <Anna@wagtv.com>
To: rafleet@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 18 May 2005 11:28:59 +0100
Subject: RE: Discovery Channel documentary series


Dear Richard,
Thanks very much for taking the time to speak with me on Friday. It’s a very
interesting topic. I really appreciate your help. Anyway - I have written a note below, including the information you requested,
so that you can inform your members of what we are looking for. If you could
send it out to your members, that would be fantastic. Let me know if you need
any further information.

How was your graduation ceremony? I hope it was a wonderful evening and that
you really enjoyed it!

Thanks again for your help so far. Talk to you again soon.

Best wishes,
Anna

MESSAGE: DISCOVERY CHANNEL LOOKING FOR PREPAREDNESS PERSON FOR DOCUMENTARY

We are a London-based television production company called Wag TV. We are
currently making a series for the Discovery Channel, looking at the reality of a
range of "end of the world" scenarios. We are covering ten different topics
within this theme, ranging from asteroid impacts, to super volcanoes to nuclear
war. We are talking to many experts in the US, UK and Europe about the liklihood
of such events, the risk they pose, the probable ramifications if they occur
etc.

As part of the nuclear war segment, we would like to interview people who are
actively preparing for such an event, such that if a nuclear war or other
nuclear event occurs, they will be able to survive. Ideally, we would like to
interview a "preparedness person" from a country environment, and another from a
city environment. We'd like to talk to people who are making arrangements in
every aspect of their lives - putting in place shelter systems, building food
stores, and making lifestyle decisions that will protect them and their family
should a nuclear event occur. We would like to film an interview with each
person, and be able to film the shelter, systems and stores they have in place.
We would NOT reveal the location of the person's home/shelter, as we do
appreciate that most people prefer to protect this element of their privacy.

We would like to film this interview in the first half of June. If you are
interested in being involved - or know someone else who may be - please do
contact me. My email address is anna@wagtv.com.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

Anna Abbott
Associate Producer
Wag TV London for the Discovery Channel



ANNA ABBOTT

Associate Producer

Wag TV

Tel: +44 207 503 8606

Email: anna@wagtv.com

www.wagtv.com

"Takes one to know one?"

Seems like being a "guest" of this production violates my number one rule: Keep the number of people knowing about your preps to a minimum.

No joke. Plus, they'd want to cover your guns in exacting detail. If I told them (for example) that I have a dozen guns of various types and 12,000 rounds of ammunition, that would become global news (IMO), and I'd be labelled a terrorist. (Never mind that 5,000 of those rounds are a case of .22 rimfire...)

The only good thing about them speaking to me would be that I could promote TB2K. But these days, do we really want that much attention? On the one hand, we could be instantly vaulted into a Freeps; OTOH, we couldn't afford the bandwidth....

Plus the fact, guaranteed they'll make you out to be a "wacko".

What Preps? I collect butterflys.

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=32165&highlight=jonathan+dube

NO UN said:

Plus the fact, guaranteed they'll make you out to be a "wacko".

Click to expand...

You got that right.
Grantbo

NO UN said:

Plus the fact, guaranteed they'll make you out to be a "wacko".

Click to expand...

Hay watch it on who you call a Wacko, I take that to hart. Ha Ha


With love from our home to yours Joe

Author of "The Back Road"
Available September 2005
ISBN 0-9768447-3-7
Joseph A. Hughes

helping the masses...being the One.

chairborne commando said:

What Preps? I collect butterflys.

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=32165&highlight=jonathan+dube

Click to expand...

CC,

Thanks for posting that thread...excellent content, responses, and even the media wonk himself...outstanding.

Like I said in the original post, I expect most here on TB2k WON'T be interested in this project, but WILL watch the show if and when it comes on, JUST to see how preppers, ESPECIALLY nuke preppers, will be displayed, spun around, and basically portrayed.

/* -- C A U T I O N : On-RANT approaching -- */

And, as I've mentioned, I've been doing this for years as well...being on the "been asked" side of the equation, versus the "asking" side 99% of the time. So far, responses to this thread are pretty much as I thought they would be, given a very large portion of thoughtful, intelligent and PREPARED members here.

Being a content expert, and a perveyer of digital versions of GOVERNMENT SPONSORED SURVIVALISM....(I didn't write the stuff...just dug it out of the halls of history and put it online, after our tax dollars were spent the past 60 plus years testing, retesting, and writing the stuff)...I have all the proof I need in my own lil-bitty hands, to wave in front of the cameras and say...

"Speaking as a prepared person and loving father and husband, it's ok for the 'Guvmint' to have shelters, but not us...to have food storage, but not us....to have protection from the bad guys, but not us...to have safe havens, but not us...and to spend OTHER people's money, while WE can't spend our OWN hard earned money on LEGAL and constitutionally guaranteed products, without having the wrath of God brought down on us, if ONE 'guvmint' WONK gets his panties in a wad? Here's what Uncle Sam has to say about SURVIVAL....of their own"

There are dozens of websites in the world now that have some kind of nuke prep stuff on them, but a majority of them are using stuff TAKEN from my website, and none have the breadth and depth of info offered via my research. Does this make me a kook...a wacko...a "disconnected minority"?

Not at all. Makes me a resource for the world...that FEMA, several departments of the ARMY, dozens of local, state and federal emergency management agencies, and hundreds of private, personal, non-profit, and for-profit websites link DIRECTLY to. I seem to be doing something that the vast majority of organizations are AFRAID to do....put useful, timely, and scientifically PROVEN survival information online.

Also, it very much seems to be a MONEY issue.,

I'll mention here that since I've been here in Wyoming (late 2000), not ONE media interviewer has actually WANTED to come ALL THE WAY out here. So, instead, they ask for people on the east and west coasts...NYC, LA, etc...one stop, hundreds of folks coming to THEIR hotel, or just an hours drive away from the airport, and back to their studios to make their shows.

I've offered full access to all I do, all the documentation I have, and my plans...and no takers. That in and of itself goes to prove the points made by everyone SO far, including the 2002 thread you posted...that even the most seemingly honest journalist wanting the MOST in depth content and human interest story on saving lives....won't go that extra mile....or in my case, the extra 125 miles...from the nearest interstate highway to get the hard core information...when its waved in front of them, or stacked many feet high and measured.

The first journalist that does "visit" will have a story that will amaze. But, even in this Discovery Channel show....I still don't expect them to come ALL THE WAY out here.

Hence, my brand new shiny broadcasting degree in my back pocket....full access to a state of the art radio station, and video editing systems here at college where I work, play, and learn, and all those rare, real, and unique documents I ALWAYS mention that are right here in my office...all hundreds of thousands of pages of them....

...will foment into a whole new realm of possibilty...

"Do It Yourself" Journalism and documentaries...done by a prepper....for and about prepping...for ALL Americans....rich and poor.

Someday my work may get on Discovery Channel all on its own. Or mainstream media...or whatever way I want it to. The degrees I'm working are all aimed at ONE thing...MY OWN production company. Web/video/audio/hardcopy publishing and consulting.

Until then, when a Discovery Channel, or a print media, or a radio, or tv, or news comes asking for help...I'll let THEM spend the production bucks...and I'll watch every second of every minute of every hour they are here (if they ever come) and put that knowledge into my own work.

The one thing that NO ONE mentioned here or the older thread is this...

If someone DOES help one of the media wonks, and gets misrepresented, misquoted, or taken out of context, no one seems to have any way to FIX that problem of "being misquoted".

I do. My site does 5 million hits a year, and I do have a following that goes coast to coast...and I have an outlet to "correct" anything that goes wrong...with written commentary, online radio, and streaming video capabilities in my hands as we speak.

So, I'll give them an honest chance to do the right thing, and if they veer off course, and slime the process, I'll do it myself, and publish it myself, on a site that is built for massive bandwidth bumps, just in case.

Right now, NO ONE on our side of the line in the sand IS standing out on the hillside...all by themselves....OFFERING support, access, and direction...too afraid of abuse...of redicule...of contempt...or worse things.

Sure, a few authors the past few years have written a few books..."No such thing as Doomsday", Stan and Holly Deyo's books, Carla Emery's Country Living, or even Ragnar Benson's rather over the edge stuff...and they've gone on talk shows to push their books, and maybe try to make a living off their writings...

Shane Connor ( a GOOD friend of mine ) does a great job of providing information...but he is first and foremost a businessman...and has HUGE amounts of money invested in his business...so he, in some cases, could be taken for conflict of interest if he steps up and tries to be the "everyman" needed to BE the spokesman for Prepping.

But, again, NO ONE is the front guy for PREPAREDNESS. Why?

It is such a simple thing...and philosophical choice, but NOTHING earth-shatteringly off the wall.

Why won't any of the experts, old timers, and philosophers here step up to the task and make that stand, for the world to see?

Got too much to lose? What? Why? Where?

Is it your family? Your careers? Your business? Your sanity? Your privacy?

Sometimes, you just have to take a chance...

Ya know....all those old quotes about putting your foot down, for the greater good...the community.

How can we, as a community of thousands here... NOT have a SPOKESMAN for the CAUSE?

Sorry if I seem frustrated....as much as I've seen Media Wonks want to "spin" stories for their own profit, I've seen MORE apathy and disinterest, and maybe even "survivalist selfishness" by folks I thought would be more open minded, when opportunities to speak out and help others arise....no one wants to be "IT".

OK....So I'll do it.

Now, who among you have instantly shifted into "train wreck mode"...hanging around and now interested to see just how far EACH side is willing to share...and twist the message...and back away from each other to lick their wounds, after all interviews and video and photos are done?

Even THIS mindset, seemingly so prevalent here when you see the BREADTH of new threads posted here, can be destructive to your own psychological and preparedness health.

Come on, folks....we're ALL better than this. We ALL want to get to the end of our careers, our lives, and our idioms, leaving a better world than we came into it.

Here's your chance....ya gonna be counted?

Or, are you gonna be up on the hill with spotting scopes and camcorders to record the 'disaster', and then head home to watch 'Oprah'?

/* -- C A U T I O N : RANT Shutdown initiation Sequence - Begin...-- */

Not trying to piss anyone off...but having read ALL the "Bush-#1-isms" this evening/morning which all seem to sound like Dana Carvey saying "Not gonna do it...wouldn't be prudent...", I thought someone would see the greater good of at least WANTING to help.

Just seems like a waste....all the mindpower here, and no way to harness it and help create a whole new generation of DGIs, versus NGGIs....

* Does Get it
* Never Gonna Get it

Rich

I will speak for myself. I have invested no time or money toward post nuclear survival preparedness. All of my preparedness is geared towards basic survival. Water, food, shelter, clothing, tools and materials etc... So they wouldn't be interested in me anyway. I'm curious as to why they've settled on nuclear survival preparedness? Not that I'd be interested in putting myself in the spotlight even if I were post nuclear war prepared. I wouldn't be. Assurances of maintained privacy are fine. But that's also a rediculous assurance from a sane individuals perspective. I'm surprised you're brow beating us about something like this Rich.

MaxTheKnife said:

I will speak for myself. I have invested no time or money toward post nuclear survival preparedness. All of my preparedness is geared towards basic survival. Water, food, shelter, clothing, tools and materials etc... So they wouldn't be interested in me anyway. I'm curious as to why they've settled on nuclear survival preparedness? Not that I'd be interested in putting myself in the spotlight even if I were post nuclear war prepared. I wouldn't be. Assurances of maintained privacy are fine. But that's also a rediculous assurance from a sane individuals perspective. I'm surprised you're brow beating us about something like this Rich.

Click to expand...

Max,

Sorry if I'm coming on too strong...I'm not trying to pick on anyone, or do anything more than try to get folks to REALLY think of the big picture here...community survival.

Every response that is negative...'not me, not gonna take a chance on abuse'...is thinking of the individual...you, me, each specific member of the forums here, etc.

No one is speaking up for the entire 'idea' of community survival in catastrophic conditions.

Of all the work I've done, the forums and sites and online communities and email lists and so forth that I have taken part in and become a part of....tb2k is the LEADER in thinking, common sense, and folks who really HAVE btdt...etc. When a chance to speak out to the people in the so-called 'real world' (non-preppers) about how simple it could be to prep, but how deadly it could be to NOT....and no one wants to jump in...well, it's scary.

It opens up thoughts and ideas of Group Think...in the areas of the prep shadows known as paranoia, conspiracy, and the NWO crap....things I really want to think this message board is WAY past....and doesn't waste a LOT of time on...to the exclusion of everything else like so many lesser boards and communities.

Read the posting again, and my comments....go to the wagtv site and view the full list of shows they have produced. Some are a bit risque sounding..some are just unusual..but MOST are DIRECT Discovery Channel fodder...stuff we've ALL seen on that channel for years..

The particular series this request is for, is End Of The World Scenarios. Nukes is but one show in the series...but, if you're a prepper, you've HAD to have spent SOME time really thinking of the BIG catastrophes of the world...and how you might have dealt with them had they affected you...or if they appear on the horizon in the future.

My philosophy for prepping is this...prepare for the worst, and you're prepared for ANYTHING less. Nothing can be worse than nukes. But, a fallout shelter, put together right, can help you live through an F-5 tornado with nary a scratch on your hiney. Having seen devastation of an F-5 first hand (cousin was in a house that was a direct hit of one on April 8th, 1998), even THAT is catastrophic when you're neck deep in it. ( http://survivalring.org/twister98.htm )

Prepare for the least, and you can bet your bottom dollar what you have to deal with is WORSE than what you prepared for. ) You know...something like the FOUR major hurricanes that visited Florida last year.

Even if you haven't built a shelter, or had food storage, or bugout bags, or hunting and fishing skills...it's STILL not too late to start working on it (others would say otherwise, that it IS too late). But, having not started yet, and having the knowledge of exactly WHAT you need to do, can do, and should do is INFINITELY better than just blowing it off, and turning the TV on and vegging out.

Your having that KNOWLEDGE of what you CAN do...THAT is the value here, and that IS EXACTLY where you can help. If not Discovery, then your friends, family, neighbors, etc. shown BY EXAMPLE in little bitty displays of amazing knowledge on your part, when things are getting interesting.

Again, Max...any preparedness is worthy of sharing the knowledge, when you have an audience.

Some may think I'm preaching to the choir here...but with what we're talking about...media interaction...you'd think that EVERYONE had already been burned, marked and chipped from past experience.

Personally, I don't have a fallout shelter myself at this moment (back in college full time, as I mentioned). I DO have one of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 virtually on my back door step, and every morning I walk out the front door, I can see it, smell it, and almost taste it. Expedient shelter plans have been proven to work in REAL (not simulated) nuclear blasts, so that is my plan should nuclear war come to our shores. The bad guys won't be targeting elk, bears, and deer however...only major metropolitan areas...and the closest of those to us are 300 to 400 miles away from us in all directions (Denver, SLC, Cheyenne, Billings, etc).

When we do finish college, and I'm back in the real world, our home will have something much better than a basic shelter, but still in the same area we are now.

BUT, I did invest the time in research, planning, and moving my family across country to a safer place...one that did NOT have multiple nuclear aim points in the exact places we lived and worked...first in Dallas, and then in Birmingham. Take a look at FEMA 196 (free download on my website) and you'll see the nuclear target maps of which I speak.

Part of my plan included changing careers...and that is nearly complete as well. But, it has taken years. NONE of this can be done overnite. However, it CAN be done step by step.

So, please don't take what I have said in this thread personal. I am generalizing, but trying to be very specific in what I'm generalizing about. COMMUNITY.

Thanks for your response, and I look forward to answering more of them.

Rich

gonewacky said:

Hay watch it on who you call a Wacko, I take that to hart. Ha Ha

Click to expand...

With love from our home to yours Joe

Click to expand...

Back at ya, Joe! ANd, thanks.

Rich First I want to ask why when you post it doesn't fit on my screen it is a pain to scroll back and forth to read it.

Anyways where does the non trust come from? It comes from seeing other people getting burned by the media. This has happen many times on the gun issue, the survivalist, the militias, etc. It is normal for the media to tape 2-3 hours to use 1-2 mins of you in a show and they are the master at the spice and dice to change what you said.

I for one don't believe in the Nuclear threat. I think it is all hype to justify military budgets. Especially after watching the BBC The Power of Nightmares.

Regular wilderness survival I would love to do a show on that and promote my business but are they going to do a full search on me interview family, neighbors, look in all aspects of my life and make it part of the show? See Rich Trusts is earn and so far the media has not done a very good job earning it.

What guarantee do we have that this is not a hit piece and they well not turn over what they learn to Homeland security. Their word Hahahahahhaha.

I think the thing most people fear is what class of people their looking for.

They fall into many classes, doomers, survivors, prepers, homesteaders, patriots, and yes there are survivalists. They all have different reasons for preparing for what they think is coming, government take over, economic crash, earth changes, peek oil, war, and the list goes on. The bottom line is they wont to survive what ever is coming, so they prepare. They grow big gardens and can the food from them. They plant fruit trees, and buy winter wheat, grind the wheat into flour, and make bread. They learn ways to live without power, gas, and going to the store. Yes they live the way people lived before most of our time.

Yes these are whacked out people, because they wont to live the way our Great Grandfather did. In his time, it was nothing to stock-up six months of food to last through the winter. Now someone that dose that is not thinking right. Why? This is the question I have no answer for. You would think it would be no different than keeping a spare tire in your car, or having health insurance. You might never need them, but if you do it could save your life.

But no! Most want to put a label on this kind of people, and we all know what that is. I think this is what most people fear. Is the label that will be put on them, not that they are prepared.

I might be prepared, but I don’t have a fallout shelter, so I don’t meet their needs. They just wont to take it to the extreme, not cover the other class of people that are just as prepared, but fall below that level, and I think most preppers fall into this area. Only a few meet what their looking for. If I did meet what they need I would jump on it. It wood be good publicity for my book coming out this fall, but then it would not make people think. Just make them think of what kind of wacko I am.

This is what the Publisher said about my book. -
A compelling first novel, so eerily close to what might have been a reality that at times the reader is forced to stop, think, and wonder...

That is what I tried to do, is make people think. This is the only way you will ever make them change. You will never do it by jumping straight to the wacko.


With love from our home to yours Joe

Author of "The Back Road"
Available September 2005
ISBN 0-9768447-3-7
Joseph A. Hughes

There was a man who DID take a public stand on personal preparedness. His name is Ed Yourdon. Pre-Y2K, we wrote a book ("Timebomb2000") that detailed to possibilities WRT the Y2K rollover. His good name and reputation were dragged through the mud. During those times (on the Greenspun version of TB2K), there was one statement that rose above all others when talking about the non-preppers:

They won't prepare, but they WILL remember...

What they'll remember is who you are and where you live. And when TSHTF, you'll be among the first to be killed for you preps. And that is no bull. So yeah, I'd love to take the point and help educate the sheeple. But not enough to make myself and my family prime targets when the curtain goes up on TEOTWAWKI (be it physical or economic). I'd talk to them, as long as I would remain anonymous. But it would be for background information only. (And I don't prep for nukes either. There's really no effective way to do that if you live near a target city.)

JMHO- YMMV

I want to keep a low profile. I tell no one about my plans and no one knows about me. This is the best way to prepare.

I have never forgotten something my neighbors and supposedly good friends said to me.

I would try to talk with them about prepping. They could afford it and had room to store it. But they didn't. At all.

What they said to me is, "why should we? You have plenty, so we know where to come if anything happens."

They laughed, but I didn't.

Media and reality

Over the past years, I've been interviewed by one media or another, more times than I can count. I've even been quoted, when NO ONE had talked to me about that particular subject. There are very very few times, when the printed article actually represented what was actually said, or portrayed it accurately. Trust the media one more time, yeah right.

And as Dennis has said above, they will remember who you are and that makes you vulnerable - especially if youre locally familiar or easily recognized. You've then effectively made yourself and family a sitting target.

Rich, we know there's a need to educate people. My concern is in how it's done, without making those who participate into victims.

We have no bomb shelter, and are not prepared for a nuclear anything, and wouldn't be anybody they wound want to interview anyway.

On yesterdays news, CBS national, they showed a picture of a house that had corregated metal surrounding it, which he said was to protect from nuclear explosions. They were indicating that authorities were going to force him to remove it. Wonder if they'll be looking to interview that guy.

suzy

Again, thanks for the comments in this thread.

suzy said:

Over the past years, I've been interviewed by one media or another, more times than I can count. I've even been quoted, when NO ONE had talked to me about that particular subject. There are very very few times, when the printed article actually represented what was actually said, or portrayed it accurately. Trust the media one more time, yeah right.

And as Dennis has said above, they will remember who you are and that makes you vulnerable - especially if youre locally familiar or easily recognized. You've then effectively made yourself and family a sitting target.

Rich, we know there's a need to educate people. My concern is in how it's done, without making those who participate into victims.

We have no bomb shelter, and are not prepared for a nuclear anything, and wouldn't be anybody they wound want to interview anyway.

On yesterdays news, CBS national, they showed a picture of a house that had corregated metal surrounding it, which he said was to protect from nuclear explosions. They were indicating that authorities were going to force him to remove it. Wonder if they'll be looking to interview that guy.

suzy

Click to expand...

Suzy,

Thanks for your comments. On the corrugated metal guy, yep...it's the government's "code" enforcers looking the bottom line...permits, fines, etc...even though the metal would not make a difference in a blast.

And yes, EDUCATION is the key. But where is it going to come from? Nothing currently on tv, or cable, or radio fits the bill.

What Dennis said about Ed, and being a target, and all that .... well, yes, you make a stand, and folks with nefarious ideas will take advantage of that info and do with it what they might.

The key is only share what YOU are comfortable to share. If you're interested in helping educate the rest of the world in prepping, do it. Setup an "alternative" system to show if you're that serious in helping...as I will do.

As far as what makes it to print...or to the final news story...or in the final article...of course its not what YOU, the interviewee WANT it to be. It is the managing editors final decision on what makes it into end cut. Time has shown that 99% of these guys are left leaning weanies AGAIN only in it for the bottom line...advertizing revenue.

Being someone who has produced over a dozen video productions the past year (besides the PSA's I'm doing for the local police department and high school), *I* am the final say in what goes in MY productions. Most of them were for a grade of my degree, but my professor did NOT cause me to edit for HIS comfort or end means....only to get MY message out BETTER.

What I, as a producer do, on my website, my writings (even here), my videos, and my upcoming net radio show, all has SPECIFIC goals....which are directly AGAINST what current media does for the masses. That's the wonderful thing about this country....I can do what I want to as long as it's not against the law when it comes to media. And, as I've shown in the documents I've so far put on my website, when it comes to prepping, the GOVERNMENT'S own documents speak against what main stream media does, when it comes to survival.

What they said to me is, "why should we? You have plenty, so we know where to come if anything happens."

Click to expand...

Hansa, this is the biggest problem that MOST who have been there, done that will say. And, it is set in stone as far as reality..it WILL happen. So, what do you do? Don't share THAT much information, that you have massive food storage, or plenty of weapons, or a great tool shop....only "adequate planning".

There was a man who DID take a public stand on personal preparedness. His name is Ed Yourdon. Pre-Y2K, we wrote a book ("Timebomb2000") that detailed to possibilities WRT the Y2K rollover. His good name and reputation were dragged through the mud. During those times (on the Greenspun version of TB2K), there was one statement that rose above all others when talking about the non-preppers:

They won't prepare, but they WILL remember...

What they'll remember is who you are and where you live. And when TSHTF, you'll be among the first to be killed for you preps. And that is no bull. So yeah, I'd love to take the point and help educate the sheeple. But not enough to make myself and my family prime targets when the curtain goes up on TEOTWAWKI (be it physical or economic). I'd talk to them, as long as I would remain anonymous. But it would be for background information only. (And I don't prep for nukes either. There's really no effective way to do that if you live near a target city.)

JMHO- YMMV

Click to expand...

Dennis,
You're educating of folks by administrating tb2k is YOUR key to helping. But, trying to do it anonymously is not possible. If you're afraid of being a target, bad news...you already are for keeping THIS site online. So, what do YOU do? have a fallback plan, adeduate provisions AWAY from where you normally work and live, and all those other skills you need to have by ALREADY being a leader in what you're doing here. You know what you need to do for your family, so do it. But, find a way to educate in the ways you know you can, that adds layers of protection for that which you value most.

They fall into many classes, doomers, survivors, prepers, homesteaders, patriots, and yes there are survivalists. They all have different reasons for preparing for what they think is coming, government take over, economic crash, earth changes, peek oil, war, and the list goes on. The bottom line is they wont to survive what ever is coming, so they prepare. They grow big gardens and can the food from them. They plant fruit trees, and buy winter wheat, grind the wheat into flour, and make bread. They learn ways to live without power, gas, and going to the store. Yes they live the way people lived before most of our time.

Yes these are whacked out people, because they wont to live the way our Great Grandfather did. In his time, it was nothing to stock-up six months of food to last through the winter. Now someone that dose that is not thinking right. Why? This is the question I have no answer for. You would think it would be no different than keeping a spare tire in your car, or having health insurance. You might never need them, but if you do it could save your life.

But no! Most want to put a label on this kind of people, and we all know what that is. I think this is what most people fear. Is the label that will be put on them, not that they are prepared.

Click to expand...

Joe,

Yep...it all comes down to a LABEL. How do YOU want to be remembered?

This way?

http://www.survivalring.org/Remembered.mpg

( 8 megabyte mpeg movie...one of my PSAs. Right click and SAVE, the OPEN. )

Or, do you want to be remembered for sharing life saving info in times of need?

I prefer the latter. But your comments are very valuable. How our parents and grandparents did it, by having plenty of food stored, is the ONLY way to MAKE SURE your family has what it needs when bad times come.

Even for me, been there done that, when we wound up homeless for a short time in 2001. Living in motel is NOT fun, but having food storage made it possible to get thru that rough couple of weeks.

I want to keep a low profile. I tell no one about my plans and no one knows about me. This is the best way to prepare.

Click to expand...

Wyoming Larry,

On one level I agree with you. But, in telling no one that you KNOW HOW to prepare, you're not helping make a better community. Not sure of how long you've been in Wyoming (I've been here five years) but the Wyoming Way IS one of self reliance and self sufficiency.

We're not Idaho...which has great places to live, but also has headquarters for such groups as the neo nazis and white sepremicists. In Wyoming, its a hundred miles BETWEEN small cities....and NOTHING in between except desert, mountains, and wilderness. If you DON'T have prep planning in place, you WILL be one that gets found by the side of the road in the middle of winter...frozen solid.

Rich First I want to ask why when you post it doesn't fit on my screen it is a pain to scroll back and forth to read it.

Anyways where does the non trust come from? It comes from seeing other people getting burned by the media. This has happen many times on the gun issue, the survivalist, the militias, etc. It is normal for the media to tape 2-3 hours to use 1-2 mins of you in a show and they are the master at the spice and dice to change what you said.

I for one don't believe in the Nuclear threat. I think it is all hype to justify military budgets. Especially after watching the BBC The Power of Nightmares.

Regular wilderness survival I would love to do a show on that and promote my business but are they going to do a full search on me interview family, neighbors, look in all aspects of my life and make it part of the show? See Rich Trusts is earn and so far the media has not done a very good job earning it.

What guarantee do we have that this is not a hit piece and they well not turn over what they learn to Homeland security. Their word Hahahahahhaha.

Click to expand...

Buckshot,

Not sure what is going on with the scrolling thing. I type, and it fills the screen up...not doing anything wierd there...(anyone else have this problem?).

Yep, regular wilderness survival is something that has NO bad things (unless the media, in reporting on criminals, using "wilderness survival" to describe the next Eric Rudolph, Ted Kaczynski, or the OKC bomber). Then, wilderness survival is a bad thing....because there aren't enough folks To BALANCE the equation.

Here in Riverton, they have the YEARLY Riverton Mountain Man Rendezvous...where a bunch of old farts get together in authentic garb, shoot black powder guns, show primitive skills, and generally have a great time. This is only ONE rendezvous, of DOZENS that happen every year across the country.

You don't see the local media doing investigative stories on who among the "mountain men" might be the next Ted, Eric, or Tim....

Again, we have to have educational material to BALANCE this misrepresentation by the news media....pure and simple.

Finally, I just got an email from my good friend Bruce Beach. Surprise! He is saying exactly what ALL of you are saying.....I'll post it in the next message....

Again, thanks to all of you for your response and comments. Very valuable guidance, and all for the right reasons....

Rich

What Bruce Beach has to say on this.....

Good morning Richard,

The name says it all.
It is all a put on -
"Ho, Ho, Ho" -
nothing serious.

I looked at their web site
that you sent
and at the programs they have done -

The doctor surveys sex -
The nude art critic -
The nude world traveler -
The Rolls Royce inspector
who conned the dealers
and makes fun of the vehicle
Etc.
Etc.

Never one serious program.
All tongue in cheek.

I have had this happen to me four times
with similar programs.
They come and pretend to be serious.
They butter you up on every point -
but then when they edit the program
they make you look as ridiculous as they can.

Even their web page
is designed to take you in.
You have to read between the lines.

Now, all this doesn't bother me.
I hope they don't come -
but if they do -
then I accept what God sends.
Which in this case will be ridicule.

You may not feel that way -
and certainly you may not feel
that you want to recommend them to others.
I won't pass them on to others
like they ask -
because I know many people would be devastated.

I just tell them
that other people wish to be secretive
and that I am the visible spokesperson for the group.

I know they say
they won't reveal locations and all that -
but friends, family, relatives, neighbors, employers
and many others
will recognize them on TV
and pass on the ridicule.

I have been ridiculed so much
that local people are afraid to be seen
standing next to me.

You can post this on the discussion group
if you wish.

Peace and love,
Bruce

Rich, I want to tell you that I did not have massive amounts of preps. I had a very small apt and a large one car garage that I used for my car and some storage.

I made just above minimum wage ($8 an hr.) and in my mid 50's at the time. BUT, I had absolutely no debt. Being single I was able to buy preps but spent a great amount of time shopping for deals. I even learned to save some money.

What my neighbors saw was me carrying all these bags of groceries and items to my apt. There was no way to hide it, but I learned to park my car in the garage and not unload it till later at night.

These people had waaaay more money than I did, but let me know they would take my things rather than taking care of themselves.

I'm afraid this is the way of the world today. There are many great people out there and on this board, but the majority will do what Dennis said. "They will remember"

Even tho' my so called friends laughed when they made the comment about coming to my home I knew that they were dead serious if there was a crisis and they couldn't get food.

I truly believe in sharing and helping but most don't.

If your London correspondent really wants some "end of the world scenarios" and reactions to them, I would suggest he consult existing available websites, and paid government employees, paid for and sponsored by OUR tax dollars.

Such as here:

http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/

If our citizens don't wish to listen, that is their business. If some London media wonk wants to make fun of the "hillbilly Americans with guns" stereotype, and you want to help him, I'm too polite to tell you what I think of you and him.

If you're not savvy enough to figure out that "city and rural" folks in media speak means "sophisticated, civilized large metropolitan" people helpless without government services, and "toothless, ignorant, gun toting hillbillies" capable of some degree of self reliance, then I'm just an ignorant country boy from the south.

Nice try, but bait someone else with an attempt at guilt for not caring about being made a fool of for other peoples folly. Any media attempt to interview someone with a mindset to survive a "nuclear war scenario" is setting themselves up for public ridicule. (And, IMO, if they're that ignorant, they deserve it.)

GB7

Greybeard7 said:

If your London correspondent really wants some "end of the world scenarios" and reactions to them, I would suggest he consult existing available websites, and paid government employees, paid for and sponsored by OUR tax dollars.

Such as here:

http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/

If our citizens don't wish to listen, that is their business. If some London media wonk wants to make fun of the "hillbilly Americans with guns" stereotype, and you want to help him, I'm too polite to tell you what I think of you and him.

If you're not savvy enough to figure out that "city and rural" folks in media speak means "sophisticated, civilized large metropolitan" people helpless without government services, and "toothless, ignorant, gun toting hillbillies" capable of some degree of self reliance, then I'm just an ignorant country boy from the south.

Nice try, but bait someone else with an attempt at guilt for not caring about being made a fool of for other peoples folly. Any media attempt to interview someone with a mindset to survive a "nuclear war scenario" is setting themselves up for public ridicule. (And, IMO, if they're that ignorant, they deserve it.)

GB7

Click to expand...

GB7,
First, thanks for your response.

ARE YOU READY is crap. It's based on Big Brother coming to take care of you AFTER the fact, and what to do until THEY get there. I've got several variations of this specific title, including 1991 and 1993 versions. Pretty sad that it took 10 years after the 1993 version to UPDATE it, and only after September 11th and 3000 American deaths. At least the 1991 version mentioned a few pages on fallout shelter, fallout planning, and actually building a shelter if needed.

Read FEMA 196(14 megs), or PREPAREDNESS PLANNING FOR NUCLEAR CRISIS (HS4) , both on my website for free download. These are the last of the government produced documents that actually offered to citizens detailed informaton, maps, and hazards, in ways your "metropolitans" and "hillbillies" could comprehend.

Problem is, NO ONE remembers them, or every heard of them. 196 gets downloaded from my site about 4000 times a month on the average, at 14 megs per download. It is finally getting around.

Sure, I'll help the "Brit" producer, but if you read a few of my last comments, I doubt they'll come all the way to very rural Wyoming, again due to cost.

Again, I am fully aware of the possible repercussions of futility, ridicule, and ignorance....still, I keep giving my best shot at reaching out...there is every reason to at least keep TRYING.

Unless, and until, someone who WILL stand up for the average citizen, and BE one of those citizens, and try to communicate on a national or even international level about taking responsibility for your own future and health, instead of letting "paid government employees, paid for and sponsored by OUR tax dollars" do our talking, without a real feel for what its LIKE to be one of US, then all we will EVER be is Doomers.

Not prepared families...not responsible Americans...not concerned citizens for the greater welfare of our nation.....just.....Doomers.

In doing that, everyone can just hide here on tb2k, or GLP, or any of those REALLY wierd boards...and keep things statis quo....completely copacetic...

IF that is where you wanna be, as it seems now...that is fine and dandy....JMOH and YMMV, as Dennis likes to say.

As for the comment, "but bait someone else with an attempt at guilt for not caring about being made a fool of for other peoples folly", I'm not trying to use guilt. I am trying to say it like it is, based on my years of experience, research and PERSONAL CONTACT with a few thousand people over the past ten years of doing what I do.

Repeating...don't want to help, then don't. No money in it anyway. There is absolutely NO one yet on this board that intends to help or followup in this project.

I'm ok with that. Too bad. Thought there might be one or two, and I was wrong....BUT I've read everything everone has had to say, and understand each and every response...even yours.

Being a media major and graduate, PLUS having been on the "interviewed" side of things for the last decade, PLUS being a ferocious reader of current events, commentary, and editorial content on ANYTHING to do with prepping (I have my own daily news robots sending me hundreds of emails a day)...I can tell you what I've just been taught at a conservative (NON liberal college), was NOT what I expected, when I came back to college two years ago.

But, having MY specific background in prepping BEFORE getting that degree, gives me the perspective that ALL OF YOU want to see written about, talked about, and shared.

So, here's a question. Knowing me...my background...my website...and my presence on this board the last many months....if *I* wanted to produce content on *OUR* side of the fence....would you all STILL not want to do it, for the same reasons?

Or would you still just hunker down in the bunkers of TB and see what else blows by, twisting and spinning in the wind?

Just curious....

Rich

Hansa44 said:

Rich, I want to tell you that I did not have massive amounts of preps. I had a very small apt and a large one car garage that I used for my car and some storage.

I made just above minimum wage ($8 an hr.) and in my mid 50's at the time. BUT, I had absolutely no debt. Being single I was able to buy preps but spent a great amount of time shopping for deals. I even learned to save some money.

What my neighbors saw was me carrying all these bags of groceries and items to my apt. There was no way to hide it, but I learned to park my car in the garage and not unload it till later at night.

These people had waaaay more money than I did, but let me know they would take my things rather than taking care of themselves.

I'm afraid this is the way of the world today. There are many great people out there and on this board, but the majority will do what Dennis said. "They will remember"

Even tho' my so called friends laughed when they made the comment about coming to my home I knew that they were dead serious if there was a crisis and they couldn't get food.

I truly believe in sharing and helping but most don't.

Click to expand...

Hansa,

Your situation is one I'm familiar with. And, a reason we moved from rural areas near the big city of Birmingham, Alabama, to a tiny 10,000 person town in west central Wyoming. In Birmingham, as a city letter carrier, I can't tell you just HOW much street violence, gang activity, shootings, drugs, and death I saw...but it was TOO much.

In rural Tuscaloosa county, we lived in tiny village ...nothing more than the proverbial wide spot in the road...and even then, we saw local violence, burglaries, theft, and more...and was the reason we had a LOT of adopted, and very much loved, BIG dogs in our yard. We'd lose one or two a year, but rather my dogs than my wife and kids.

Throw violent weather on top of that, and you'd be stupid not to have shelter plans, bug out plans, and more in the front of your mind.

In the post office, I was pulling 43k a year. Last year, our adjusted gross income on our tax return was $7700, with my wife working one part time job, and me working THREE part time jobs. Yet, we still made it thru the year in one piece.

Those preps helped, when needed. We expected it, we planned for it, and we worked thru it, no matter how hard it got. This year will be better...much better.

If you have to, get another part time job, or do ebay, or something...get some extra income, stash it, and find a better place to live where the neighbors DON'T know you're a prepper...and do something positve for your future. If you need ideas or suggestions, ask me...I HAVE been there and done that.

Just don't give up.

Rich

Rich:

I appreciate your patient and measured response. I admit that I was a bit "hot under the collar" about your post, and unfortunatly, I was not able to respond in a more constructive fashion. It was not directed at you, but frustration at the normal media treatment of anyone who attempts to prepare for any unusual event. No offense intended, and my apologies if any was taken.

My point about the FEMA site was that it contains over 200 pages, in Adobe format, of preparation information. No, it is not to the degree that most here understand how to prepare. However, it does contain much more than "three days of preps" information and it is not all just the government shlock that some might think.

Quote from your prior response:

"So, here's a question. Knowing me...my background...my website...and my presence on this board the last many months....if *I* wanted to produce content on *OUR* side of the fence....would you all STILL not want to do it, for the same reasons?"

The answer is no. I would want to provide you all the assistance I could. However, that assistance would only be provided anonymously. The reason is not your integrity or your sincerity. The reason is that even if you were given full control of production and content, I would still be skeptical of how that material would be edited and presented after it was out of your control.

I realize that may sound cynical or paranoid, but let me elaborate a bit on my perspective. First, I admit that there is definitely a bit of cynicism and skepticism to it. Second, extrapolate on what a director films, and what ends up on the screen. As an example, Peter Jackson had full control on filming "The Lord of the Rings". The finished three volume set has almost twelve hours of film. (Eleven hours and twenty-one minutes to be precise.) The commercial theatrical release was less than nine hours. With full control of production and filming, he was forced to edit out 25% of his product for "commercial theatrical" distribution.

The point of that little exercise is that even if you were given full production control, what would happen in the editing room, and what would emerge or be left on the cutting room floor, would be out of your control.

I'm sorry, but the credibility of our "independent" news sources today has the ring of truth to it that Pravda has had for the last sixty-five years. It is truly regretable, but the fact is, Dan Rather and his National Guard story on Bush, and the black journalist from the New York times fabricating reports are just two notable examples of the failure of the "news" corporations providing information to the public. (This is not a recent phenomenon, as Randolph Hearst and his organizations coverage of the sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor are more distant examples.) I believe his approximate quote, in answer to the reporter that tried to accurately report the story, was "You supply the reports, I'll supply the war".

I'm sorry, but the unabashed bias of the media, and their adamant claims to the contrary, have left me in a position that the only quote I will admit to is "No comment".

I applaud your perserverance and willingness to continue to attempt to enlighten and inform the public. I wish you all the best in your efforts, however doubtful I may be of your probability of success.

Sincerely,

GB7

Rich, as it says atop the main pages of our half-dozen web sites...

KI4U, Inc. has been written up in...
WND (1/18/05), National Defense Mag (3/04), Washington Post (4/13/03) & (3/16/03), NYTimes (6/13/02), USAToday (6/11/02) & (7/11/02), SF Chronicle (6/23/02), Wall Street Journal (3/14/03) & (10/5/01), IEEE Spectrum Mag (9/01), Newsday (11/24/01). And, our products seen on CNN, FOX, CBS and in TIME Magazine and May/June 2004 'Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'!

So, we'll talk to anybody about prepping, but do point them to our overview page first at www.ki4u.com/who.htm and then they'll have a better grasp of what and why we are here doing what we do. Otherwise, I just end up having to waste time reading chunks of that page to them to answer alot of their typical & predictable questions.

Many of the interviewers for the above, and local TV stations out of Houston and San Antonio, wanted to know what kind of people were buying our products and what their major concerns were. In the beginning, they often were trying to draw out a caricature of paranoid survivalist nuts, but we've gotten pretty good at disabusing them of such notions. We talk instead about all the types of professional people and families who've come to us and how it's simply prudent insurance in a dangerous world, and we mention all our govt & military customers, too.

Most of the writers are starting to come around nicely, yes, attitudes are changing, we even had a Japanese writer for the largest Jap daily fly in here a few months back, and it became a very positive story there focused mostly on fallout shelters and the need for them.

Also, we always tell them how we got sold-out after 9/11 by the Fed's and them sending a Lear Jet down here two hours later to pick it up, and that when things get dicey again we'll be sold-out again and then will only be pointing everybody to that "WHAT TO DO IF A NUCLEAR DISASTER IS IMMINENT!" guide linked below as our last public service here. Hopefully, some of them will get that out in a very big-way far & wide then when TSHTF. If any do, you all better have gotten downloaded everything you want off TB2K beforehand cause it's listed in there as the sole/best prep forum to go to!

- Shane

P.S. - BTW, if any were wondering, we never give out any customer names or contact info to media or anybody. Here's our KI4U, Inc. PRIVACY POLICY:
"Your personal contact information will only be used by KI4U to fulfill your order. In no way, shape, or form, will any of your information ever be sold, rented, traded, lent or shared with anyone (or any company or agency) for any reason whatsoever. Period."