Preparing for the Storm: The Perfect Storm.

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

Out here in the still-free internet, the ether lends itself to utilizing a wide array of digital media as the means to provide source attribution as well as to establish commonality and understanding amongst ourselves.  This is, perhaps, the primary reason how internet blogs became the new town square in this millennium.  In the old days it was courthouses and town halls, and pubs.  Today, we meet in chatrooms, and on pages and threads.

It means if this blogger to were to write on how we’ve all become Sarah Conner in the Jeep riding into the storm at the end of the first Terminator film – a photo of that moment could be posted at the top of the article for emphasis.  Or, better yet, a video of that scene could be hyper-linked into the text.

Truly, it is the best of times and the worst of times.

Undoubtedly, a storm is coming and even worse than that:  A perfect storm.  Of course that phrase is more than a mere idiom or a movie starring George Clooney and Mark Walberg.  Merriam-Webster defines a “perfect storm” as:

“a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors”.

Or, stated with more clarity, the forthcoming waves of catastrophes will be the direct result of circumstances brought on by simultaneously devastating forces greater than any individual could fully comprehend.

Therefore, for purposes of easy illustration, let’s do consider the Perfect Storm of 1991. It was also called the Halloween Nor’easter of 1991, and the “No-Name Storm”; and was, in fact, the event which inspired the aforementioned Clooney-Walberg film .

Bob Case, a NOAA National Weather Service meteorologist described the terrible tempest as follows:

It was an unprecedented set of circumstances. A strong disturbance associated with a cold front moved along the U.S.- Canadian border on October 27 and passed through New England pretty much without incident. At the same time, a huge high pressure system was forecast to build over southeast Canada. When a low pressure system along the front moved into the Maritimes southeast of Nova Scotia, it began to intensify due to the cold dry air introduced from the north. These circumstances alone, could have created a strong storm. But then, like throwing gasoline on a fire, a dying hurricane Grace delivered immeasurable tropical energy to create the perfect storm.

That was the matter-of-fact rendering by an expert. And here is the actual event shown from a distant perspective and utilizing another medium:

12-Second Time-Lapse of the Perfect Storm

If a picture is worth a thousand words and being there is worth a thousand pictures, then, certainly, there can be no doubt the crew of the Andrea Gail, who were lost at sea during that particular perfect storm, would have much preferred a sterile summary of the event and its view from space.

With that in mind, and in continuing with the perfect storm as a metaphor, one thing is guaranteed:  It is always better to find safe harbor and live to set sail another day than to drown beneath waves of cataclysmic confluences.

Indeed. It would be very dangerous to underestimate the shitstorm that is about to commence in the United States and around the world. Furthermore, as seen in the time-lapsed video above, perfect storms contain many elements working in conjunction like whirling dervishes dancing with devils; or gravity synchronously siphoning disparate fluids down a drain.

Yes, dear reader, we’re going down.  The U.S. has been torn into pieces, her institutions laid waste and Trump’s economic policies will no doubt be blamed in the aftermath of a full-blown economic collapse. To be sure, the final straw will appear when any number of black swans deliver the tiniest of pin pricks to the global debt bubble.

So where does one duck? Where does one hide? Or, at the very least, how do we mitigate the overall effects and consequences of the coming perfect storm for ourselves and those whom we hold dear?

 Know Your Enemy

For reasons becoming more obvious every day, the wandering mind of this blogger continuously reverts back to an excellent article posted at the end of last month, entitled:  “It’s Not Trump Derangement Syndrome”:

The Democrats don’t believe in our two-party system anymore. They utterly reject American civic norms of treating the president with a modicum of respect and cooperation. They don’t want to alternate presidential power every four or eight years. They think theirs is the only party that deserves to be elected.

…Naked political power is the driving force behind our culture wars, and behind the weird war on President Trump. It has little to do with his specific policies, let alone his tweets and his pugnacious personality, except that Trump’s counterpunching and toughness have allowed him to survive. John McCain and Mitt Romney didn’t drive them crazy because they caved without a fight. Trump drives Democrats crazy because he won, and because he won’t give in or give up.

…It’s not derangement, it’s war.

Of particular note in the above article was the correlation between the Political Left’s targeting of Trump and Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Will to Power”.  It was something I also wrote about during the Kavanaugh hearings in an article entitled “Dirty Deeds Done: The People of the Slough”:

The value systems of conservative folks are very different than those of The People of the Slough. This is why words like “liberty” and “equality” hold separate meanings for each. In the example of the former, these concepts are the result of natural law. In the latter, they derive more from Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Will to Power”; an idea for which the German philosopher also claimed was demonstrated in Darwinism as the “Will to Survive”.

Although some academics believe survival instinct cannot be conflated with Darwin’s biologically-based “natural selection”, the comparison remains fascinating nevertheless. From an ideological, or even psychological, perspective – the desire to survive can add entirely new dimensions to the consequences of political power and its inherently fictitious exculpation: “The ends justify the means”.

Since the election of Trump, it has been breathtaking to witness the collapse of the Deep State’s curtain thus revealing the wizards in the swamp.   Even now, it is stunning to see how the likes of Hillary Clinton, James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper, et al, all lie so expertly & naturally.  Even if they are only the mid-level management serving the whims of the vampires at the top of the pyramid, they have been fully exposed as unctuously selling their snake oil and without any conscience whatsoever.

Given our history since the rise of the surveillance state, what do you think the chances of these wizards NOT getting away with their crimes might be?

I would say slim to none.

I hope I’m wrong, but all this will very likely fizzle in the same manner as the first OIG report and Trump’s dreams of a red wave for the GOP holding the House last fall.  Of course, there will be headlines and lots of drama, and maybe a few low-hanging fruit making plea deals – but in the end, much ado about nothing.

In the meantime, however, the real threat will come from the zombies at the bottom of the food chain.  Yes, they are actual zombies currently and becoming more so on a daily basis.

And their deception goes far beyond the Russia Hustle.

For example, upon recommendation of someone close to me, I watched Dr. Brené Brown’s “Call to Courage” pep talk on Netflix. She’s a social researcher and author presenting as a combination comedienne and self-help guru, and appears to have cornered the market on “vulnerability” as it relates to courage.

Brown was extremely likeable, even charismatic, and I watched for about an hour as she made her audience laugh and cry in a Tony Robbins meets Oprah Winfrey sort of way.  Evidently, she had a TED talk (about vulnerability) that went viral.  She also indicated she had addressed business leaders around the country, including the Titans of Silicon Valley.

At the very beginning, Brown joked she did not want to have a “white man” on the cover of her latest book and I heard her use the word “privilege” at least once.  Then, right around the 58 minute mark, she said:

…and there are so many important movements going on right now, ones that I really hope change the world…. Black Lives Matter, MeToo, Times Up…

There it was. Just like clockwork.

In the end, she’s just another social justice priestess sermonizing on the new religion; shilling selective “tolerance” and, by default, very likely thrilled Alex Jones and James Woods have been banned from Facebook and Twitter.

The point is this: lies have become truth in the new age; and the average ordinary everyday sleepy sheeple never stood a chance – perhaps, primarily, because they want to believe so badly in the new faith.  Somewhere along the way, deceiving these fools became like stealing pieces of cake from babies.

They had a republic and couldn’t keep it because they despised their birthright. In any event, they are only one element of the perfect storm.

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

– Luke 12:51-56

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 Prepare Mentally

Dmitry Orlov is a computer engineer born in Lenigrad and has written extensively regarding his eye-witness account of the collapse of the Soviet Union.  In his writings, he has identified the Five Stages of [Societal] Collapse as follows:

Stage 1: Financial Collapse

Stage 2: Commercial Collapse

Stage 3: Political Collapse

Stage 4:  Social Collapse

Stage 5: Cultural Collapse

Orlov furthermore states that each stage of collapse involves a “loss of faith, or trust”, in “key components of the status quo” and that, although “physical, measurable effects may be delayed”, the “psychological shifts are swift”.

In referencing America directly, Orlov envisioned the first stage of collapse (Financial) in this way:

The financial realm can be seen as a complex system of fences: your bank account is fenced off from my bank account. This arrangement allows you and me to not worry too much about each other, provided each of us has enough to live on. Though this is largely a fiction, we can fancy ourselves to be independent economic players on a level playing field. But once these conceptual fences become irrelevant, because there is nothing behind them, we become each others’ burden, in an immediate sort of way, that would come as a shock to most people. The indignity of such physical interdependence would be psychologically devastating to many people, raising the human toll from financial collapse beyond what you’d expect from a problem that really only exists on paper. This is going to be particularly hard for a nation brought up on the myth of rugged individualism.

He then described the next (Commercial) stage of collapse as causing “much more of a psychological crack-up than you’d expect from a purely organizational problem”:

Hoarding would become widespread, with looting as the obvious antidote. There would be an instant, huge black market for all sorts of necessities, from shampoo to vials of insulin.

The market mechanism works well in some cases, but it doesn’t work at all when key commodities become scarce. It leads to profiteering, hoarding, looting, and other pernicious effects

Until, ultimately, Orlov had the following to say regarding after the political collapse and during the social breakdown phase:

To make it intact through times of great need, the only reasonable approach, it seems to me, is to form communities that are strong and cohesive enough to provide for the well-being of all of their members, that are large enough to be resourceful, yet small enough so that people can relate to each other directly, and to take direct responsibility for each other’s well-being.

If this effort fails, then the outlook becomes dire indeed. I would like to emphasize, once again, that we must do all we can to avoid this stage of collapse. We can allow the financial system, and the commercial sector, and most of the government institutions to collapse, but not this.

Can you see why it may be important to discern your friends and enemies in the coming storm? Wouldn’t it be better to take steps now to avoid “missing the boat” later?  Obviously, not everyone will ride out the perfect storm in a remote cabin in the woods or survive by setting sail for New Zealand.   It’s also common knowledge that no man is an island and the lone bananas get skinned.

Therefore, consider taking walks in your area; in your apartment complex, or neighborhood, and introduce yourself when people are out.  Make friends.  Get to know those around you. You may be amazed at the “small world” connections that can be made.   Or, perhaps, become involved in local and state politics.  Get to know the local law enforcement or even strike up a conversation with the local cop walking his beat on the street.  Then, use your best judgment in making assessments that might benefit you in the future.

Knowledge is power, two are stronger than one, and a cord of three is not easily broken. When our ship is being tossed about at sea, the more we have in our crew, the better the chance of being thrown a lifeline when we need it the most.

Are you mentally prepared for hardship, hunger, and days filled with fear? Can you see how having the right people around you might help?  Will you remain humble and grateful enough to accept support from others and to provide them assistance in return?

Choose your crewmates carefully because they are your future.  And it may be a good idea to discuss some things in advance as the stages of collapse commence to create the perfect storm.  What will be done when unprepared neighbors come knocking and their children’s rib-cages are exposed through tattered clothing?  What if they are among the 57% of Americans who believed Trump committed treason with Russia?  Many folks may indeed blame Trump as the catalyst behind all of their nightmares coming true and, as a Deplorable, you will likely be considered their enemy too.

In any event, remember that luck happens when opportunity meets preparation.  It would be ideal, therefore, to get the 5 Stages of Grief  over with now, and have your contingency planning in place, so as to concentrate fully on the next right thing as the perfect storm of 5 Stages of Collapse gets underway.

Prepare Physically

It’s possible the cosmos compelled the entire chaotic career of former boxer Mike Tyson in order to extract from him the following quote:

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Truly, that is an idiom for the ages right there and closely corresponds to the older adage of “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”.  Even so, it does not preclude having a plan in place but, rather, it addresses the necessity of staying resilient as the games begin.

It means if we are going to withstand the metaphorical stormy seas in the days ahead, we must make sure our allegorical ships are well-stocked in order to take us as far as possible; then, in the event we must abandon ship, we might want to have another plan – a lifeboat, as it were, so as to bug-out when necessary.

In the opinion of this blogger: Portability is flexibility. Flexibility is resilience. Resilience is survival.

It is something to consider, if not to keep top-of-mind, when making preps for the perfect storm.

Some of us may have our sacred ground where we plan to make our stand, and that’s fine.  At the same time, we don’t want to be like frogs refusing to jump from rapidly heating water; and we, definitely, don’t ever want to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

It’s tricky business and that’s why it’s important to prepare mentally prior to preparing physically or, much worse, deciding in the heat of the moment.

For every scenario, we should have a plan and, for purposes of resilience, our plans should have back-up plans.  Even if only mentally, we should practice, drill, rehearse (PDR); and, in so doing, it will guide our physical preps.

The Survival Rule of 3 states we can live:

3 minutes without air

3 hours without shelter

3 days without water

3 weeks without food 

Therefore, that is the order we should prioritize our prepping prior to the impending perfect storm. Because this blogger is not prescient, it would be impossible to fill in the blanks on behalf of every reader – but by plugging in the right data, most questions will answer themselves.

For example, when the grid goes down, we will need to see in the dark (LED Flashlights, lanterns?), we will need information (shortwave radio) and want to communicate (two-way radio, walkie-talkies).  We will need to hydrate (portable water filter), eat and cook (long-term storage of food and the means to prepare meals). We will want to stay dry (rain-gear & water-proof footwear), keep warm with, perhaps, a wood burner or efficiency fire-place, or with sleeping bags.  If wood-burning, we will need the means to cut, split, and move the wood as well to start the fires.

We will also need to defend against any pirates and all that entails. Think it through.

And how do we get better at anything?  Practice. Drill. Rehearse.

All prepping will vary according to one’s particular climate and geographic location, but the time to plan, buy, stock and store is all but gone; because the ship has all but sailed.  Still, even “Baby Steps” in the right direction will provide at least some element of protection in the forthcoming perfect storm.

Remember, something is better than nothing and what you don’t use, you can barter.  Now is the best time to turn your fiat cash into things you will need.  Search the web using terminology like “best barter items”, or “bugging out”, or “urban survival”, or “basic prepping”. Then, plan for the forthcoming hard times like you would an extended camping trip.  Think about what you will need every day after the grid goes down and remember the following survival formula:

3 is 2

2 is 1

1 is 0

It means whatever we have could break, or otherwise be lost, at some point. Therefore, it is best to have a back-up for everything; and that goes for our plans too.

Close your eyes and think it through.  It’s not that hard. Then acquire with your current self what you think your future self might need.  Be like Nike and just do it. You’ll thank yourself later.

Conclusion

If we are to survive the coming perfect storm we must identify threats and prepare both mentally and physically. We must shrewdly assess our positioning and accept our current situation.  Many believe “acceptance” to be a form of surrender, or giving-up. In reality, acceptance simply perceives our current circumstances in an honest and forthright manner.  From there, we can only do our best while fully understanding that the ultimate outcomes are beyond our control.

Remember that heroes do the next right thing even when they are at their weakest and most afraid; especially then.

No one knows with 100% certainty exactly how future events will transpire, but we do we know storms bring rain and wind and perfect storms even more so – and for longer sustained periods of time.  We also realize economic collapse and societal breakdowns yield daily hardships, scarcity, and violence; slowly at first and then suddenly.

Until then, however, let us batten down the hatches, bite the bullet, and bear down into the perfect storm; come hell or high water.  Because time and tide waits for no one.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

– Reinhold Niebuhr

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Author: Uncola

I am one who has found the road less traveled while remaining a whiskered, whispering witness to the world. I hope what you just considered was worth the price and time spent. www.TheTollOnline.com View all posts by Uncola