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Preparedness

by JW

 align=Many of us here within the PeakProsperity.com community were introduced to the need of preparedness through watching the Crash Course and later exploring the WSID Guide and Blog.  As personal awareness grew, many of us started to look at emergencies and situations that would have a dramatic and profound affect on our lives, and we began to make preparations to deal with those emergencies and build more resiliency into our lives.

We started to evaluate our water, food, and housing security more closely and to make sure we had backup plans and resources. Health, wealth, and community became a bigger concern for many of us, as we learned more about the state of the systems we rely on so heavily and their overall decline in supporting us in the future.

With all of the situations and concerns we look at when building resiliency into our lives, one topic that gets overlooked frequently is our “digital lives” and how to protect them from catastrophe. The majority of us are perpetually connected to a digital life. Everything from banking and financial records, contracts, business documents, and our personal photos and memories are all stored on a hard drive somewhere as binary 1’s and 0’s. 

Considering Data Backup
by JW

 align=Many of us here within the PeakProsperity.com community were introduced to the need of preparedness through watching the Crash Course and later exploring the WSID Guide and Blog.  As personal awareness grew, many of us started to look at emergencies and situations that would have a dramatic and profound affect on our lives, and we began to make preparations to deal with those emergencies and build more resiliency into our lives.

We started to evaluate our water, food, and housing security more closely and to make sure we had backup plans and resources. Health, wealth, and community became a bigger concern for many of us, as we learned more about the state of the systems we rely on so heavily and their overall decline in supporting us in the future.

With all of the situations and concerns we look at when building resiliency into our lives, one topic that gets overlooked frequently is our “digital lives” and how to protect them from catastrophe. The majority of us are perpetually connected to a digital life. Everything from banking and financial records, contracts, business documents, and our personal photos and memories are all stored on a hard drive somewhere as binary 1’s and 0’s. 

by charleshughsmith

The Skills Most Likely To Be In Demand

by Charles Hugh Smith, contributing editor
Monday, November 28, 2011

Executive Summary

  • The New Paradigm For Job Security
  • Unlocking Value By Removing Systemic ‘Friction’
  • Examples of Promising Business Models
  • The Skills That Will Be In High Demand
  • Why Changing Your Behavior Will Be as Important as Re-Skilling

Part I: The Future Of Jobs

If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

Part II: The Skills Most Likely To Be In Demand

The New Paradigm for Job Security

The coming decade will turn many long-standing ideas about work and employment on their heads.

For example, in the current Status Quo, inflexibility and resistance to change are the hallmarks of secure employment. Institutional employment is “guaranteed” by contracts, and institutional resistance to change is viewed as a guarantee of secure employment.

In the near future, these brittle forms of security will prove chimerical, as the very rigidity and resistance to change that characterizes institutions renders them increasingly prone to disruption and collapse. The very traits which are currently viewed as protectors of security will be revealed as the causes of insecurity. Flexibility and adaptability—what are now viewed as hallmarks of insecurity—will slowly be recognized as the sources of real security. These include flex-time, free-lance labor, small, local enterprises and self-organizing networks.

The Skills Most Likely To Be In Demand
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

The Skills Most Likely To Be In Demand

by Charles Hugh Smith, contributing editor
Monday, November 28, 2011

Executive Summary

  • The New Paradigm For Job Security
  • Unlocking Value By Removing Systemic ‘Friction’
  • Examples of Promising Business Models
  • The Skills That Will Be In High Demand
  • Why Changing Your Behavior Will Be as Important as Re-Skilling

Part I: The Future Of Jobs

If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

Part II: The Skills Most Likely To Be In Demand

The New Paradigm for Job Security

The coming decade will turn many long-standing ideas about work and employment on their heads.

For example, in the current Status Quo, inflexibility and resistance to change are the hallmarks of secure employment. Institutional employment is “guaranteed” by contracts, and institutional resistance to change is viewed as a guarantee of secure employment.

In the near future, these brittle forms of security will prove chimerical, as the very rigidity and resistance to change that characterizes institutions renders them increasingly prone to disruption and collapse. The very traits which are currently viewed as protectors of security will be revealed as the causes of insecurity. Flexibility and adaptability—what are now viewed as hallmarks of insecurity—will slowly be recognized as the sources of real security. These include flex-time, free-lance labor, small, local enterprises and self-organizing networks.

by Aaron M

[Note: today's WSID topic has been a long time in coming. Firearms can be a sensitive subject, but worth considering for many when planning for food procurement or home/personal defense in a changing future. We sought an author who could provide an introduction to the subject in as conscientious, fact-oriented, and knowledgeable a manner as possible, and are grateful to community member Aaron Moyer for doing so. Aaron is a longtime active poster on this site, the founder of our Definitive Firearms thread, and an active-duty serviceman in the US armed forces. –Adam] 

 height=This is one of the more difficult pieces of writing I’ve done to date. There are various reasons why this topic is difficult to start; everyone has a different idea of what they need, their level of commitment, legal concerns, political pre-dispositions and so forth. It’s easy to talk about firearms as a ‘topic’ – you can comment on their particulars, weigh the advantages and disadvantages and wax philosophical about what would be the best choice for a given situation — but that’s not what this edition is about.

This piece is to help navigate the process that starts once you’ve decided you’d like to purchase a firearm, and leads to the ongoing process of establishing proficiency, maintaining safety and building skill.

 

Selecting a Firearm
by Aaron M

[Note: today's WSID topic has been a long time in coming. Firearms can be a sensitive subject, but worth considering for many when planning for food procurement or home/personal defense in a changing future. We sought an author who could provide an introduction to the subject in as conscientious, fact-oriented, and knowledgeable a manner as possible, and are grateful to community member Aaron Moyer for doing so. Aaron is a longtime active poster on this site, the founder of our Definitive Firearms thread, and an active-duty serviceman in the US armed forces. –Adam] 

 height=This is one of the more difficult pieces of writing I’ve done to date. There are various reasons why this topic is difficult to start; everyone has a different idea of what they need, their level of commitment, legal concerns, political pre-dispositions and so forth. It’s easy to talk about firearms as a ‘topic’ – you can comment on their particulars, weigh the advantages and disadvantages and wax philosophical about what would be the best choice for a given situation — but that’s not what this edition is about.

This piece is to help navigate the process that starts once you’ve decided you’d like to purchase a firearm, and leads to the ongoing process of establishing proficiency, maintaining safety and building skill.

 

by Denis Korn

 align=While owner of AlpineAire Foods in the early 1990’s, I conducted significant research and study into the excellent and very effective technology of oxygen absorbers. Developed in Japan, oxygen absorbers insure a very low residual oxygen level in appropriate storage containers. Through this research and the development at AlpineAire foods, I brought the large scale use of oxygen absorbers into the emergency food and outdoor recreational foods industries.

At that time the goal to achieve for the canning of shelf-stable dried foods was a residual oxygen level of 2% or below.  This was the level required by military specifications for long term foods.  Oxidation and an atmosphere inhibiting microbial growth were significantly reduced at these low levels.  The military specified the #10 can for their long term storage of dried products.  By utilizing the appropriate size oxygen absorber, the residual oxygen levels could be reduced to 0.1% or less – a significant drop in oxygen levels.

The premier manufacturer of oxygen absorbers, and the one I use, is Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. which produces the “Ageless” brand oxygen absorber.  While there are numerous types of absorbers for varied packaging conditions, the appropriate “Ageless” absorber for use with dried foods is type Z.

It is important to note that oxygen absorber sachets were designed to be used by industrial manufacturers and packers of food products with the necessary expertise in working with the absorbers.  While simple to use, if not handled properly or sized correctly you have wasted your time and money and have not achieved the expected outcome.  I have seen and heard of numerous situations where individuals have inappropriately utilized oxygen absorbers and they will unfortunately not accomplish the results anticipated.  If you are going to use these devices, I recommend following the instructions in this article and talk to those who are educated in their proper use.

Using & About Oxygen Absorbers
by Denis Korn

 align=While owner of AlpineAire Foods in the early 1990’s, I conducted significant research and study into the excellent and very effective technology of oxygen absorbers. Developed in Japan, oxygen absorbers insure a very low residual oxygen level in appropriate storage containers. Through this research and the development at AlpineAire foods, I brought the large scale use of oxygen absorbers into the emergency food and outdoor recreational foods industries.

At that time the goal to achieve for the canning of shelf-stable dried foods was a residual oxygen level of 2% or below.  This was the level required by military specifications for long term foods.  Oxidation and an atmosphere inhibiting microbial growth were significantly reduced at these low levels.  The military specified the #10 can for their long term storage of dried products.  By utilizing the appropriate size oxygen absorber, the residual oxygen levels could be reduced to 0.1% or less – a significant drop in oxygen levels.

The premier manufacturer of oxygen absorbers, and the one I use, is Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. which produces the “Ageless” brand oxygen absorber.  While there are numerous types of absorbers for varied packaging conditions, the appropriate “Ageless” absorber for use with dried foods is type Z.

It is important to note that oxygen absorber sachets were designed to be used by industrial manufacturers and packers of food products with the necessary expertise in working with the absorbers.  While simple to use, if not handled properly or sized correctly you have wasted your time and money and have not achieved the expected outcome.  I have seen and heard of numerous situations where individuals have inappropriately utilized oxygen absorbers and they will unfortunately not accomplish the results anticipated.  If you are going to use these devices, I recommend following the instructions in this article and talk to those who are educated in their proper use.

by Adam Taggart

Carolyn Baker, therapist and prominent advocate for culturing emotional preparedness in times of transition, looks to the future and sees a great many people at risk of unprecedented loss. Loss of jobs, loss of lifestyle, loss of wealth, loss of relationships – and quite possibly loss of life – as society becomes increasingly traumatized by secular economic slowdown and growing resource scarcity.

I have watched the Crash Course several times. So this is already happening dramatically and far more rapidly than anyone could have anticipated. Peak Oil, the end of money as we know it, escalating climate change – all of these will temper everything we do. This is the new normal, and there is no going back to the "old" normal. These drastic and daunting changes will invariably and unequivocally invoke enormous emotional responses in people, as they already are, in terms of fear, panic, anger, depression, despair, and in many cases off-the-charts addictions and suicides.     

But Carolyn also sees unprecedented opportunity ahead for those who are mentally and emotionally prepared to meet the coming future.

What will determine who prospers and who doesn't? In her professional opinion, two things: meaning and purpose.

 

Carolyn Baker: Emotional Resilience Is Essential in Turbulent Times
by Adam Taggart

Carolyn Baker, therapist and prominent advocate for culturing emotional preparedness in times of transition, looks to the future and sees a great many people at risk of unprecedented loss. Loss of jobs, loss of lifestyle, loss of wealth, loss of relationships – and quite possibly loss of life – as society becomes increasingly traumatized by secular economic slowdown and growing resource scarcity.

I have watched the Crash Course several times. So this is already happening dramatically and far more rapidly than anyone could have anticipated. Peak Oil, the end of money as we know it, escalating climate change – all of these will temper everything we do. This is the new normal, and there is no going back to the "old" normal. These drastic and daunting changes will invariably and unequivocally invoke enormous emotional responses in people, as they already are, in terms of fear, panic, anger, depression, despair, and in many cases off-the-charts addictions and suicides.     

But Carolyn also sees unprecedented opportunity ahead for those who are mentally and emotionally prepared to meet the coming future.

What will determine who prospers and who doesn't? In her professional opinion, two things: meaning and purpose.

 

by Travlin

This post has been elevated from the enrolled forums section. It is the introductory piece of a series on 'How to construct an Investment Portfolio' authored by user Travlin (enrolled members can access the entire series here).

 src= Investment planning should be kept as simple as possible while still meeting your needs. As a self-directed investor, it is important to me to evaluate the situation, define what I want to accomplish, and decide how to get there. I find that putting this in writing helps me organize and clarify my thoughts into a useful assessment. This does not have to follow a rigid format as long as it is coherent. From this I can begin to structure the portfolio I need, but that is a separate topic.

Below is my latest assessment. It has three parts

  1. Situation Analysis
  2. Investment Needs
  3. Investment Strategy

This is offered as a model to show you one way it can be done. There are many others. Feel free to use this model as is, or revise it to suit your views and circumstances. 

Starting Your Investment Plan
by Travlin

This post has been elevated from the enrolled forums section. It is the introductory piece of a series on 'How to construct an Investment Portfolio' authored by user Travlin (enrolled members can access the entire series here).

 src= Investment planning should be kept as simple as possible while still meeting your needs. As a self-directed investor, it is important to me to evaluate the situation, define what I want to accomplish, and decide how to get there. I find that putting this in writing helps me organize and clarify my thoughts into a useful assessment. This does not have to follow a rigid format as long as it is coherent. From this I can begin to structure the portfolio I need, but that is a separate topic.

Below is my latest assessment. It has three parts

  1. Situation Analysis
  2. Investment Needs
  3. Investment Strategy

This is offered as a model to show you one way it can be done. There are many others. Feel free to use this model as is, or revise it to suit your views and circumstances. 

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