Five Times August is the solo act of  singer/songwriter Brad Skistimas. Skistimas has appeared on the FOX  Business channel as an expert "Do-It-Yourself" indie artist and featured in Billboard Magazine, Performing Songwriter, Guitar Player,  PeopleMagazine, and USA Today. He was the first completely unsigned act  to have an album distributed in Walmart stores nationwide with 2007's  "The Independent." The music has been featured on many popular TV shows,  commercials, and films and tour dates have supported some of the nation's top acts.

In early 2021 Five Times August began  releasing a series of protest songs taking aim at Covid-era regulations,  the Biden administration, Justin Trudeau, as well as Anthony Fauci with  the hit song "Sad Little Man," which has reached #1 on several Amazon and Apple Music charts.

Several of the music videos for these tracks have been suppressed and censored on social media platforms like  YouTube and Facebook. Despite being restricted by big tech recent press  includes prominent features on Glenn Beck, Chad Prather, Del Bigtree's  The HighWire, The Federalist, The Post Millennial, RebelNews, and more.  Skistimas performed his song "Silent War" on the steps of the Lincoln  Memorial in Washington DC for 35,000 attendees at the Defeat the  Mandates rally on January 23rd, and recently even had the honor of  singing The National Anthem for Dr. Ben Carson and President Donald  Trump.

Read more: fivetimesaugust.com/press.html 

Chin Gibson is the mystery prepper. Friend to all and known to none. His real identity hidden from the public, Chin is well known to the online prepper community as the go to resource for finding a community member to solve your problem. He is an awesome people connector and does his best to unite the voices educating the masses about being ready for a unforeseen life challenge. Chin will be joining Sara to co-host The Changing Earth Podcast.

"I’ve loved shooting since the first time I pulled a trigger at age 8. During high school I volunteered at my local PD where I learned more about handguns. I joined the Marine Corps Infantry after high school. I was a reserve for 10 years with 2 years of active duty and 1 tour in Iraq in 2003. I worked for an armored car company for almost 7 years mostly in the LA area of California. During all that I also got a degree in law enforcement and went through two different police academies. Being a cop never worked out, but through it all I’ve always been training people to fight. I spent all of 2008 in Iraq again as a private contractor defending a base. There I got to teach and train with the US Army and others. Now I want to bring that experience and my joy of teaching to others. I love teaching firearms and want the good people of the world to be able to defend themselves. It’s now my mission and purpose in life.." -Ben Branam

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is a modern survival author that has lived through the 2001 socio-economic collapse of Argentina. He is the editor of The Modern Survivalist website and The Modern Survivalist YouTube channel. Fernando is recognized in the survival and preparedness community for his first-hand experience and practical approach to survivalism. He published his first book “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” in 2009. Due to the continuing instability and growing social unrest, Fernando bugged out of Argentina with his family in 2011. This experience is the topic of his second book, “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying Put is not an Option”. His latest book “Street Survival Skills” focuses on practical tips, tricks and tactics for urban and modern day survival. Fernando has lived in Argentina, United States, Spain and Northern Ireland. He now resides in a small town by the sea with his wife, their three children and Spike, their English Bull Terrier.

Kevin has had an avid interest in the outdoors since his father took him fishing at age 3, and has continued to pursue many outdoor activities for over 45 years, such as hiking, camping, fishing, trapping, and hunting. While serving as a Reconnaissance Specialist in the US Military, he started his diving career, and holds the certifications of DiveMaster and Master Scuba Diver, with over 15 specialties. For most of his life, he has not only been continually learning, but has used that knowledge about nature and the outdoors to teach others.

Kevin has taught members of Search and Rescue teams, participated in numerous SAR missions, given lectures on diving medicine at university hospitals, volunteered as an EMT and firefighter in his local community, served as an Assistant Scoutmaster with a local Boy Scouts Troop, and actively participates in educational podcasts and videos for EMS providers and the Preparedness community.

In 2010, Kevin was certified by the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology as a Diver Medical Technician (DMT). At that time, he was one of less than 2,000 people to ever receive this certification in the United States.

"I was adopted at the age of 9, and raised in Southern California, in the San Gabriel Valley.  I attended Rosemead High School and was actively involved in sports, student leadership, choir and school plays. 

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At the University of Redlands, I was Captain of the football team, earning all-district and all-conference honors, participated in wrestling, and was President of the Inter-Fraternity Council and a member of Chi Sigma Chi Fraternity. I graduated from the University of Redlands in 1979, with a B.A. in Physical Education.

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"My college sweetheart, Kathie Morris-Buck and I were married shortly after college and will soon celebrate 36 years of marriage. We have two daughters, Morgan (33), and Heather (30).  Both are happily married and successful in their individual pursuits. 

"I began my career in law enforcement late in 1981, and retired in 2008. During my career, I worked custody, patrol, chief coroner’s investigator, narcotics task force, SWAT, youth and community services (DARE instructor), family abuse, homicide – felony assaults, career criminal apprehension team, child sexual assaults, vehicle crimes, and Homeland Security.  I was promoted in 2006 to Sergeant, and managed patrol teams until my retirement in 2008. 

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"My lovely bride and I reside in El Dorado County, in Northern California.  We are currently owner/operators of Body by Buck, a small gym and personal training facility in Cool, California." -Skip Buck

No Food….No Water….No Shelter…. Could You Hack It?

Eric Boettcher is an award winning triple book author and survivalist who has mastered the skills and techniques for thriving in the most harsh of situations through his minimalist approach of survival.  By learning how to use what is on your person and your natural surroundings to your survival benefit anyone can change the game. . Learn from Eric Boettcher Survivalist a full time outdoorsman survivalist athlete  You will never look at your environment the same.

When Dan was young he was fascinated by Bruce Lee movies. They spoke to his soul in a way that nothing else had. He desperately wanted to learn how to move like Bruce so he found a Boy’s and Girl’s Club that offered Judo and Kung Fu. He took them both. Plagued with indecision over which one he liked best, he decided leaving either of the styles behind was not an option. One day while practicing forms at a 24hr fitness, a man, Joe Tucker, challenged him to a sparring match. Dan’s confidence was high and even though Joe broke his foot over Dan’s head, the outcome of the match came out much differently than Dan expected. 

Joe introduced Dan to Taekwondo and Chief Master Jack Corrie, who was a third degree black-belt at the time. Applying his previously established training regimen to Taekwondo, Dan’s passion for competition grew. He jumped at every chance he had to compete and compiled a long list of competitive accomplishments including: 1990 ATA world Champion, 2xITC National Champion, 2xGSKA National Champion, Full Force World Champion (barnacles fighting) 15-0 with 9 head kick kos.

Taekwondo is still a way of life for Chief Master Dan Lovas. His relationship with Chief Master Corrie grew and he still trains under him to this day. Chief Master Lovas’s teaching instruction is internationally renowned and he has been named instructor of the year four times. His love of martial arts doesn’t end with Taekwondo, he has a third degree black-belt in Jujitsu, a black-belt in Kung Fu, a black-belt in Silat. Dan is a certified instructor of Tai Chi, and criminal counter measures and a graduate of Escrima. Even with all these other accomplishments, Taekwondo is his love and he thanks God for it at the end of each day. Many years have passed since 1988 when Dan received his first Dan in Taekwondo but his dedication and commitment to the art have earned him the honor of testing for his eighth degree in October of 2017.

Jim Cobb is a nationally recognized authority on disaster readiness.  He has written several books and is a regular contributor to numerous magazines.  Jim is also Editor-in-Chief for Prepper Survival Guide magazine.  He has been featured on TV and was a featured instructor for the Make Ready to Survive DVD series produced by Panteao Productions. Jim lives with his family in the upper Midwest.

Joe Alton, M.D., aka Dr. Bones, is an M.D.  and fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of OB/GYN. Amy Alton, A.R.N.P., aka Nurse Amy, is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.  Together, they’re the authors of the #1 Amazon bestseller in Survival Skills and Safety/First Aid “The Survival Medicine Handbook”, well known speakers, podcasters, and YouTubers, as well as contributors to leading survival/homesteading magazines. You will find over 700 posts on medical preparedness on their website.

Their mission:  To put a medically prepared person in every family for disaster situations.

Dr. Chamberlin was born and raised near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State. After graduating from Washington State University he attended the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona California, and in 1995, graduated as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery. During his post-doctoral training he became interested in Survival Medicine and in developing a way of quickly training preppers to become self-sufficient medics. In the years since he has authored four books on DIY medicine, his first being The Prepper Pages: A Surgeon's Guide to Scavenging the Necessary Items for a Medical Kit, and Putting Them to Use While Bugging Out. Dr. Chamberlin is a Professor of Biomedicine living in Portland Oregon. He has written four guides on survival medicine, and blogs on a number of subjects including emergency preparedness, Wilderness Medicine, and First Aid kit building.

Steven Konkoly is the USA Today bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas. His canon of THRILLERS includes: the FRACTURED STATE trilogy, a "24-style," near future conspiracy series set in the southwest United States; the BLACK FLAGGED books, a gritty, no-holds barred covert operations and espionage saga; and THE PERSEID COLLAPSE series, a tense, thriller epic, chronicling the aftermath of an inconceivable attack on the United States. He recently released HOT ZONE, the first book in a thriller series chronicling the events surrounding a bioweapons attack against the United States.

Steven graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1993, receiving a bachelor of science in English literature. He served the next eight years on active duty, traveling the world as a naval officer assigned to various Navy and Marine Corps units. His extensive journey spanned the globe, including a two-year tour of duty in Japan and travel to more than twenty countries throughout Asia and the Middle East.

From enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq as a maritime boarding officer in the Arabian Gulf, to directing aircraft bombing runs and naval gunfire strikes as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) assigned to a specialized Marine Corps unit, Steven's "in-house" experience with a wide range of regular and elite military units brings a unique authenticity to his thrillers.

He lives with his family in central Indiana, where he still wakes up at "zero dark thirty" to write for most of the day. When "off duty," he spends as much time as possible outdoors or traveling with his family--and dog.

George Hart was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He started studying different aspects of survival at the age of 7. He was a boy scout as a young boy, while hiking with his father James Hart, was taught the basics of hiking, water, and shelter while in the outdoors. Over the years of him maturing and having experiences with survival, he has learned survival in a self-taught manner. George has gone autumn camping on the shores of Caddo Lake, Texas. He would go hiking as a boy scout, and has studied other aspects of survival from James’ book S.W.E.T. Survival and Wilderness Training such as, how to make a tent out of objects you would find in your wilderness surrounding.

George also has a 1-year diploma for automotive service. He also has a 2-year diploma for the Associate of Applied arts from the Art Institute of Houston for music, video, and Business.

He has been a Tattoo Artist for 22 years. He has also been a body piercer for 20 years. He started Apprenticing for tattooing during his time at the Art Institute of Houston. George has raised 2 female children since they were at the ages of 3 and 6, they are now at the ages of 14 and 17.

George is also in the process of writing a book from different aspects of survival to homesteading. He is in the process of writing a cyber-punk urban fantasy of a futuristic world with events happening so close to modern day it would scare you. He is also assisting his father James Hart in compiling educational materials from survival and medicinal training to multiple subjects interrelated to homesteading such as food preservation, animal husbandry, modern day first aid and medicinal herbs and vitamins just to name a few. He is also writing a series of cook books by compiling recipes, antidotes, and pictures to give to his children.

A  24-year veteran of the U.S. Army and retired Army Chemical Officer,  David Jones taught nuclear biological and chemical warfare defense to  military personnel all over the world.

Being  recognized as a weapon of mass destruction expert, six months after  9/11 occurred David was recalled to active duty. He spent the next 22  months in the Middle East traveling to 16 different countries conducting  vulnerability assessments on US interests in the area.

David  is now an emergency management specialist working for the Federal  Government and has worked with Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency,  NASA and US Air Force Global Strike Command where he was the only  civilian on a nuclear weapons accident response team.

David  has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, a Master’s degree in  Security Management and has numerous awards from the military and  civilian organizations. His most amazing accomplishment to date was that  he became a father for the first time at age 50.

Butch Erskine is a decorated U.S. Air Force Veteran of 20 years and public speaker on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery and author. With over 38 years of experience in all facets of global security, vulnerability assessments and emergency planning, Butch continues his efforts to focus on the spiritual and psychological foundation of the family and individual preparedness.

Butch is a native West Virginian and has resided in Huntsville, AL since 2007. A 1979 graduate of Greenbrier East High School, he entered the United States Air Force in 1983. Butch completed an Associates Degree in Industrial Security from the Community College of the Air Force in 1990, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Park University in 2003, and a Masters of Arts Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management with honors from American Military University in 2012.  Butch is a Defense Contractor working in Emergency Management developing emergency plans, processes, and procedures. Throughout life he has promoted Christian values and Constitutional freedoms.

The last eight years of his military career were spent serving special duty as a Security Advisor to U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSSOC), U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) and U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific (USSOCPAC).  Traveling over 300 days per year, Butch developed security and anti-terrorism plans in over 50 countries and supported the U.S. Counterterrorism Program to the United States State Department of Defense by conducting Risk Analysis and Vulnerability Assessments for numerous U.S. Embassy’s in Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.

Over the past years Butch has made it his mission to reach out to citizens to help them develop their preparedness and spiritual foundation. He believes the decline of morals, personal freedoms, as well as the increasing attacks on Christians and citizens with conservative values, along with the national debt should alert every family to immediately develop emergency plans. Butch has completed numerous Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Courses.  He graduated from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) FEMA Course to obtain a national certification and is a graduate of Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings, a FEMA/ATF In-Resident Course and FBI Active Shooter Course.

Butch has taught numerous preparedness classes for different groups. He was an instructor at Heritage Life Skills 2018, 2019 and 2021 in Waynesville, NC offering numerous classes on preparedness and self-reliance. He has taught numerous classes from NC, KY, TN, VA, SC and Alabama, including The Madison Institute, radio talk show guest discussing Preparedness, and as guest speaker on America’s Critical Infrastructure for the INFRAGUARD (FBI) Organization.

Butch is the author of two books; Hope for Survival – How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life, and, Hope for Survival – The Mindset.

Phil Rabalais is a born Texan raised in Southeast Louisiana. He enlisted in the Louisiana Army National Guard, deployed to Iraq in 2004, and again for his state's Hurricane Katrina relief mission. After his enlistment, Phil graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, with a BA in business management. He is a staunch free speech and Second Amendment advocate, a self-admitted prepper, and the host of the Matter of Facts podcast. The podcast is based in no small part on his belief in self-reliance, small government, and the right of people to defend themselves. He lives in Mandeville, Louisiana, with his wife of ten years and their daughter.

James Yeager, who owns Tactical Response, was a Law Enforcement Officer with a career spanning Undercover, Patrol, K9 and SWAT assignments. He has also been a Security Contractor in Iraq protecting the Iraqi Election commission before, during and after Iraq's first election. He started Tactical Response in 1996 and, in that time, has trained over 66,000 people in North, Central and South America as well as Europe. 

My name is Phil, and I want to welcome you to Scanner School!

I have been around scanners since before I could walk!

Growing up, my earliest memories include watching the red lights dance on my grandparent's old Bearcat 101 in the kitchen.  The sounds of police and fire tones would make their way into the living room as we played on the floor.

A lot has changed from those days.

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We are here to help you understand the Scanner Radio hobby.

I love this hobby, and I love to share my knowledge with you! Scanner School is a collection of tutorials that are quick and easy to digest.   From entry level to advanced scanning techniques, we'll cover it!

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We release weekly classes via audio tutorials, also known as Podcasts. You don't need any high tech devices to listen though.  Simply visit our site and there will be a player for each new podcasts.   For those with mobile devices, you can take the tutorials with you and listen via iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I suggest signing up for our mailing list so you don't miss any classes.

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In addition to Podcasting, we will be bringing you video tutorials, product reviews, scanner classes, and even one-on-one consulting.

Southern prepper fiction author, Ron Foster has shared his vast knowledge in a large library of books about survival and preparedness, both fiction and nonfiction. He is best known for his "southern prepper fiction"- a term that he coined. Even his prepper fiction books are loaded with survival and self sufficiency techniques that one can learn from. Ron Foster's knowledge in his field is extensive and has well prepared him for writing about survival in a post-apocalyptic world, where society has broken down.

He has had many competencies in his background including, being a Gemologist (diamond and colored stone appraiser), an Investment Banker, an Army Soldier and an Air Force Airman. Other skills landed him as a Corporate Administrator and Entrepreneur in many different capacities. Ron has also received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Empire State College in Human Services, with a specialty in Emergency Management Administration and Planning, at the age of 50. He has a Masters of Administrative Science (MAS) Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University with seven graduate certificates.

Certifications include: Alabama Emergency Managers Association (Certified Emergency Manager), National Association Of Safety Professionals (Certified Emergency Management Specialist), FEMA Professional Development Certificate Series awarded.

Graduate Certificates in: Administrative Science, Emergency Management Administration, Global Security and Terrorism Studies Certificate, Displaced Persons Certificate, School Security & Safety Administration Certificate, Law and Public Safety Administration, and Non Profit Organization and Management.

He also holds a Masters of Science  Degree from Capella University in Human Services.

Read one book written by Ron Foster, and you'll want to read more. You'll be sure to enjoy, and you'll have a few tricks up your sleeve when your done! Tricks that could save your life.

Sam Bradley, MS, EMT-P, has been in EMS for 38 years as a Paramedic, Clinical and Educational Services Coordinator and ambulance company paramedic field supervisor. She also spent many years as an EMS educator. Sam currently works as a QI consultant and EMS educator for fire departments and communications centers. A prolific writer, she does freelance work for EMS related journals, online publications and textbook publishers. Sam has published a number of fiction stories and is very involved in social media and blogging. Following her passion for disaster EMS, she is the Training Officer for the federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) CA-6. She also dabbles in photography and videography. She is currently residing in Colorado and spends her time working on EMS CE content and writing EMS textbooks and novels. She co-hosts a popular weekly podcast that is in its fifth year. She loves dogs and banana cream pie.

Phil grew up hunting fishing and trapping in the back woods of Kentucky. He started sharing his knowledge 5 years ago, teaching how to be self reliant and making knives for ravens den bladeworks. He is always happy to share knowledge.

Amazon Best Selling Author James Rosone started a military career in the Army National Guard as a communications specialist and forward observer for a self-propelled artillery unit. He later joined the U.S. Air Force, becoming an interrogator during 2007 Iraq War troop surge. After 10 years of service in the armed forces, James spent several additional years in Iraq as a contractor for the Department of Defense and the Department of State. During all of this time in the sand box, books and writing became an escape.

Later, James worked as a military adviser in the area of identity intelligence for U.S. Central Command during General David Petraeus’ leadership and U.S. European Command under Admiral James Stavridis and General Philip Breedlove. This experience led him to travel and work in countries all across the globe, giving him a unique global perspective. During this time he also completed a Master of Science degree at the University of Oxford.

Johnny Jacks is a product of WWII. Born in Alabama in 1944 five months before D-Day to semi-literate sharecropper parents. In the 1940s and early 1950s, he lived self-reliantly, off-grid, off city water, without indoor plumbing, and without assistance from a welfare state, which, of course, didn’t exist in those days.

On his seventeenth birthday, Johnny enlisted in the Air Force, later transferring to the Army, where he became a Special Forces soldier, a Green Beret, and began a career serving on Special Forces A-teams in Europe, Asia, and Central America, including an assignment to Special Forces A-team 102 in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. He has lived or spent extended amounts of time in third world areas in Asia, Central and South America, and Africa, interfacing with people who live on the edge of survival.

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After retiring from the Army in 1982, he worked for several government agencies over the next twenty-five years in significant positions involving high-level national security and emergency preparedness programs. These positions provided him with knowledge of continuity of government and continuity of operations at the senior level of national leadership.

This combination of off-grid, self-reliant living; guerrilla warfare expertise; and national security policy, which gives him a unique insight into today’s individual and group prepper survival needs and requirements.

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Johnny wrote Absolute Anarchy, The Preppers Guide to Surviving the Coming Collapse. Absolute Anarchy is available on Amazon, in paper and Kindle versions, and is the most comprehensive prepper information resource available today.

The books website, AbsoluteAnarchyBook.com, contains a gateway to a large set of web links related to each chapter that vastly expands upon the book’s instructional information. The first four chapters and the supplemental reading are posted on the website.

Johnny is currently making the final editions to Islam Rising, the first in a series of dystopian novel that he will release in November of 2017.

"I was adopted at the age of 9, and raised in Southern California, in the San Gabriel Valley.  I attended Rosemead High School and was actively involved in sports, student leadership, choir and school plays. 

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At the University of Redlands, I was Captain of the football team, earning all-district and all-conference honors, participated in wrestling, and was President of the Inter-Fraternity Council and a member of Chi Sigma Chi Fraternity. I graduated from the University of Redlands in 1979, with a B.A. in Physical Education.

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"My college sweetheart, Kathie Morris-Buck and I were married shortly after college and will soon celebrate 36 years of marriage. We have two daughters, Morgan (33), and Heather (30).  Both are happily married and successful in their individual pursuits. 

"I began my career in law enforcement late in 1981, and retired in 2008. During my career, I worked custody, patrol, chief coroner’s investigator, narcotics task force, SWAT, youth and community services (DARE instructor), family abuse, homicide – felony assaults, career criminal apprehension team, child sexual assaults, vehicle crimes, and Homeland Security.  I was promoted in 2006 to Sergeant, and managed patrol teams until my retirement in 2008. 

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"My lovely bride and I reside in El Dorado County, in Northern California.  We are currently owner/operators of Body by Buck, a small gym and personal training facility in Cool, California." -Skip Buck

Rick Austin is known as the Survivalist Gardener, and is a preparedness, homesteading and off grid living expert. He is the author of Secret Garden of Survival-How to Grow a Camouflaged Food Forest which is now the #1 Best Selling book in Garden Design.

Rick is also the author of the Secret Greenhouse of Survival, How to Build the Ultimate Homestead and Prepper Greenhouse.

Rick is a nationally recognized speaker on survival preparedness and has been featured on National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Castle, Doomsday Preppers, the documentary film Beyond Off Grid, as well as in Newsweek, American Survival Guide, Prepper &Shooter, Prepare Magazine,  and in Mother Earth News (three times).

You can also hear Rick on his #1 rated radio show-  Secrets of a Survivalist  -on the #1 Preparedness Radio Network, where each week he talks with the world’s best survival experts that share their own secrets of survival.

"My parents were born in Poland. They immigrated to France in 1931 to get away from the programs, the anti-Semitism, the hatred of the general population and from a bleak life with no future. They married shortly after their arrival in France. For 11 years they lived a happy in Compiègne, a town of about 20,000 people, 45 miles north of Paris.  My father was a tailor and my mother a seamstress.  My sister Rachel was born in 1932 and myself in 1937.

WWII was declared on September 3rd of 1939. Though, our father was still a Polish citizen, he immediately enlisted in the French army and was sent to the front. France surrendered three weeks after the beginning of the hostilities. All soldiers caught in uniform were taken prisoner. They spent the next 5 years in German prison camps. Our father who was able to change in civilian clothes escaped and rejoined us.

July 19, 1942 at 5AM, two French policemen knocked at the door of our apartment and asked our parents to follow them to the Police station. No reason is given.  “What about our children?” our parents ask hysterically. Our parents were still Polish citizen. My sister and I were French citizens having been borne if France.  The commotion wakes up our neighbors, the Ribouleau family, from the floor below. They quickly come up the flight of stairs to see what the noise is all about.  Monsieur Ribouleau, our 2nd floor neighbor, we hardly knew, said: “Mr. and Mrs. Malmed, do not worry, we will take care of your children until you return”.  

These few words saved our lives.

Years later we found our parents were sent to Drancy and then to Auschwitz.  Our mother either died in transport and or was gassed on arrival.  His father was alive in 1944 but no other clue as to what happened to him. For two years we lived with the Ribouleau family.  This couple put their lives and the lives of their two sons, René, 20 and Marcel, 17, in mortal danger.  We escaped roundups and endured many hardships.  When the war was over I was almost 8 years old." -Leon Malmed

Brian Duff is the go to resource for concerned people who want to improve their safety, security and preparedness. He is a proud former Army Ranger, Paramedic, Firefighter, High Threat Security Specialist and International Security Director who has served and protected people around the globe for decades.

When he’s not working to help others, he can be found in the garage, tinkering away, out on the hiking trail, or meeting up with friends and occasionally trying to find the end of the Internet.  Make the choice, take a look at Brian’s virtual home, Mind4Survival.com and set yourself up to overcome and survive any difficult situation.

Ken had an 11-year career with two agencies in southwest Ohio as a road patrol officer. Ken’s last agency was in the 6thlargest metropolitan area in Ohio, spending just under 10 years there. In his last year, Ken was assigned to a special detail that required him to provide security and detention of incarcerated prisoners standing trial. This courtroom experience, in conjunction with his street experience, gave Ken a unique insight into the US Judicial system, it’s imperfections and the slippery slope that a US Citizen who rightfully defends themselves can end up in jeopardy and facing loss of liberty. After his LEO career, Ken went into business and during that career, worked with action committees in an unrelated industry, but was active in action groups attempts to influence legislation that would be beneficial to the industry. Ken has worked closely with attorneys throughout his career through activism with young men who are facing child custody issues. Ken now works with US Law Shield, an organization that provides legal representation to members who have been involved in a self-defense act. Ken is also developing a program   through Emergence Awareness to train groups and individuals in Situational Awareness in the work place, in public, and in group settings.

James Walton is the Owner of the Prepper Broadcasting Network, a 7-day-a-week podcast network promoting self-reliance and independence. He is the host of the live show I AM Liberty which airs on Wednesdays.

EMS instructor, Tim Johnson, started his career in 1998, working with the US forest service. Realizing his passion for assisting those in need, Tim enrolled in the jack program, training at the fire academy in 2000. In 2002 he became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with the Sacramento Sierra Valley EMS Agency. Expanding his horizons, he ventured into other medical fields become an ER tech and lab assistant at Mercy Hospitals in 2004. His desire to remain on the front lines drove him to recertify as an EMT and return to fire service as a volunteer for a private ambulance service in 2011. Always ready to further his knowledge, Tim started paramedic school in 2012. In 2013 he graduated third in his class and started working for Riggs Ambulance. Then in 2016, Butte county EMS hired Tim to assist patients in their ambulances. Wanting to do more for the industry, Tim decided to pass on his skills to others with the same passion and opened Johnson’s EMS training in 2017. Johnson’s EMS launched successfully and in 2019, Tim started working for the California Regional Fire Training Authority as the primary EMS instructor, where he is still working hard preparing new medics to respond to those in need.

Dr. Nicole Apelian is a scientist, mother, educator, researcher, expeditionary leader, safari guide, herbalist and traditional skills instructor. A leader in the field of transformative nature education, Nicole is excited to share her knowledge and expertise of nature connection, indigenous knowledge, natural wellness and survival skills with the world.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Nicole connected with nature at an early age. Her stepfather was an enormous influence, offering constant support, teaching her to play guitar, and mentoring her through outdoor activities.

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Nicole’s first exposure to true wilderness living began while working as a field biologist in Botswana. Following a job as a game warden with the US Peace Corps, she began tracking and researching lions in southern Africa. Nicole immediately fell in love with the African landscapes and the San Bushmen’s way of life, and later, while working with the San Bushmen, Nicole completed her doctorate, focused in Cultural Anthropology within the field of Sustainability Education. Years of visiting the San Bushmen and developing strong relationships within the tribe allowed Nicole to learn many of the primitive skills and ways she practices and teaches today.

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A passionate educator for many years, Nicole has worked as an adjunct professor at Prescott College, an adult educator for the Audubon Society of Portland, and as an instructor at various schools, universities and leading conservation education programs.

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Nicole was also a challenger on the second season of History Channel’s TV series “Alone”. She thrived in the wilderness totally solo for 57 days with little more than her knife and her wits!

Mike is a research geophysicist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory and the current Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.  His area of specialization is volcano geodesy, which emphasizes the surface deformation and gravity fields associated wth volcanic activity.  This work involves the use of space-based tecnologies, like Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), as well as ground-based techniques, like microgravity surveys.  Mike has taken part in studies on a variety of volcanic systems in the United states, including Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest,  Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawaii, and the Yellowstone caldera.  His recent work has focused on using gravity change over time to understand the character of the fluids that drive volcanic unrest, and also on the potential of satellite data to improve forecasts of future changes in volcanic activity.

Fraser Shilling is co-director of the Road Ecology Center and a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy. He discusses near-term sea level rise and its impacts on people, roads and natural systems. He has 3 areas of research: 1) interactions between equity and water quality policy & decision-making; 2) sustainability indicator systems; and 3) transportation ecology. He obtained his doctorate in aquatic biology at the University of Southern California.

Like so many women, Jane was a self-professed "oblivious-to-what-was-going-on-around-me" city girl. She was clueless about politics, the economy and the ever changing weather patterns around her.

It wasn't until she personally experienced a life-threatening assault at gun-point, live through several violent hurricanes, and watched as her 401k dwindled down next to nothing that her eyes began to open to what was going on around her.

In 2008 she took a huge leap of faith - quit her corporate job, sold her home for next to nothing, cash-in my 401k which was even more next to nothing - and moved to Western North Carolina to learn to live a more self-sustaining and self-reliant lifestyle.

Giving up the life of eating at different restaurants each night and having her nails and hair done every two weeks - she began to research how to prepare for uncertain times and still retain her "girlie-ness". While searching preparedness web sites she noticed that most were "male-oriented". Frustrated at the need to research a word, phrase or term that she didn't understand each time she went on one of these sites, it began to dawn on her that the reason she didn't understand these sites was because a lot of them were written by men, and as we all know, men and women speak a different language and therefore process information differently.

Jane decided then and there to make it her mission to educate others; with an emphasis on women, on how to better prepare themselves by creating the website SurvivorJane.com - writing on a multitude of topics dealing with disaster survival and preparedness; while interjecting bits and pieces of humor on personal experiences, discoveries and her journey along the way.

SurvivorJane.com also reaches preparedness-minded men who may have just begun their preparedness journey, or have sent the women in their lives, albeit, girl-friend, wife, daughters, mother, aunts or grandmothers to the site and in the process was also helped to better understand preparedness from a women's perspective.

As an additional outreach, Jane uses social media networks. She is the creator of the internationally recognized hashtag #PrepperTalk on Twitter that brings preparedness-minded people from all over the world together to discuss preparedness ideas, suggestions and information with one another. It is currently the Largest Prepper Community on Twitter.

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Jane has been featured on National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers (Season Four) and in Newsweek Special Edition Off-Grid, Prepper and Shooter Magazine, Prepared Magazine. She is a contributing writer to National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers BlogTV.

"Where There Is No Cosmetic Counter" and it's 1st Revision: "Emergency/Survival Hygiene" were written out of a need to bring more awareness to one of the most overlooked areas in Preparedness: "Personal Hygiene" by showing easy ways to make survival personal hygiene products. After all, infectious diseases are the number one cause of death worldwide.

In her book "What Could Possibly Go Wrong: How To Go From Completely Clueless to Totally Prepared" she "talks to the reader" in easy to understand language about her personal experiences and what she has learned could go wrong around us and how we can better prepare ourselves and family for these uncertain times. 

Entered into the Army at the age of 17 and has spent the last 33 years in combination of Army and as a Private Military Contractor. Currently serving as a PMC and consultant to Homeland Security and other Local, State and Federal agencies. He has served extensively in various theaters of conflict such as the Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Columbia and Brazil. In many cases working closely with indigenous forces or resistance forces. Areas of specialty include: Insurgency, counter insurgency, counter terrorism, urban combat, long range reconnaissance, wilderness survival, and close quarters combat, (armed, unarmed and improvised weapon).

"Samuel Culper is a former military intelligence NCO and contract intelligence analyst. He now runs Forward Observer, a threat intelligence services company based in Texas."

"My love of herbs began in the late 1990′s with simple cold and flu remedies and grew into a full herbal practice, including workshops and private clients. My herbal practice leans heavily on Western Traditional Herabalism (European and American herbal traditions).

My husband and I have been preppers “officially” since 2008. We were already interested in camping, gardening, beekeeping, and other self-reliant hobbies. A loss of income, however, kicked our interests in preparedness, homesteading, and modern survivalism into high gear.

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It was probably inevitable that my herbalism would be influenced by being a prepper. I have spent a lot of time and effort to research the best options in extreme, last-chance scenarios. As a prepper, this is just being practical. As an herbalist, I am humbled by the power and simplicity of plant-based medicines to address truly serious conditions.

I’m not a doctor. I cannot diagnose or give medical advice. I am an herbalist, midwifery student, massage therapist, and a prepper. I see the potential for emergencies where people are cut off from modern facilities and help is just not coming. I see the potential for scenarios where pharmacies may have nothing but empty shelves.

It is my belief that herbalists can fill in some of the gaps in the absence of modern medicine, whether that be from an EMP, a natural disaster that leaves communities stranded for extended periods, an economic collapse causing an interruption in supply, or any other obstacle that puts modern medicine out of a person’s reach." -Cat Ellis

Ken Jensen is an American, Ex-Military Patriot that is knowledgeable and experienced in Electronics and Industrial Electrical design and maintenance. Ken is also an experienced Nuclear Reactor Operator and also worked on nuclear instrumentation. He grew up hunting, camping and spending time outdoors. In adulthood, Ken has spent many years learning wilderness survival and, eventually, urban survival.

Ken is the author of a book, The Honey and The Bee and is the main author and contributor to The Clever Survivalist Blog, Survival Guide and The Prepper Podcast, Survival Podcast

Born in 1980 in Australia, Ellen Louis Kerr, has been married for 16 years to her wonderful spouse, Brian. They have two daughters Miriam and Emma. Plus, 2 spoiled cats, 2 ducks, 1 budgie and two lizards. (What is a budgie you ask? A budgie is a native Australian Bird short for budgerigar. They are a popular pet in Australia.)

Ellen joined the Royal Australian Navy in 2003 and served for fourteen years. She has earned the rank of Leading Seaman and is an Electronic Warfare Director at sea. When she's on the shore she works in the field of electronic intelligence. Ellen was deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2005 as part of the allied task force on board HMAS Darwin for which she is now recognized as a veteran. She has also deployed to and took part in numerous exercises in New Zealand, Hawaii and South East Asia.

In her spare time she practices Hapkido and works on staying prepared for whatever may come our way. Ellen enjoys camping, fishing, shooting and four wheeling. She loves SIFI and end of the world genre material. Her favorite TV show is Firefly. She loves her ducks and motorbikes.

I am a mother of 3, a craftsman and all around country living  individual. I grew up in the foothills of the ozarks in Arkansas and  learned to be self sufficient  at a very young age.  This has driven me  to continue with such a life style and to teach my children these life  skills. I hope is that in any given situation  I know that they can  survive.
I am also the host of 'A Family Affair' on prepperbroadcasting.com  were we strive for self-reliance and independence.

L. Douglas Hogan is a U.S.M.C. veteran with over twenty years in public service. Among these are three years as an anti-tank infantryman, one year as a Marine Corps Marksmanship Instructor, ten years as a part-time police officer, and seventeen years working in state government doing security work and supervision. He is the best-selling author of “Oath Takers”, has authored four books in a series titled Tyrant, and is working on the sixth a final book of the series. He has been married over twenty years, has two children, and is faithful to his church, where he resides in southern Illinois.

Hakim Isler (aka The Black MacGyver) is a man of many skills – a combat war veteran, trained survivalist, Ninjutsu (To-Shin Do) fourth degree black belt, certified close protection specialist, and professional self-defense and combat weapons instructor. He is a published author, trainer, speaker, TV personality and inventor of survival weapons and products holding several patents. Hakim is the founder a non-profit organizations called The SOIL Foundation – that is dedicated to assisting at-risk youth and providing wilderness therapy for our nation’s heroes (military, law enforcement, fire fighters, etc). He is most often recognized for his television appearances on Discovery Channel’s Naked & Afraid and FOX’s Kicking & Screaming. Mr Isler is the owner of Elevo Dynamics, a 24-hour family gym and martial arts center located in downtown Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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Additional resources:

TheSoilFoundation.org

ElevoDynamics.com

"In early 2013 Lisa and I decided to create SurvivalistPrepper.net and become a bigger part of the preparedness community, we are not the overboard tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists, we are just like you, everyday Americans that enjoy the freedoms that this country offers.

Lisa is more of the prepper and I am more of the survivalist or outdoor type and we write articles ranging from first aid, to food storage to primitive and wilderness skills…basically anything that involves preparedness and survival." -Dale Goodwin

Michael Edward Loftus Sr teaches crime prevention and self-defense at http://www.crime-safety-security.com/

Tami Elliott is a mother of four, who is passionate about her family, God, her country and the great outdoors! She likes to research and has an admiration of all things related to health, fitness, and nutrition.

A veteran of 2 tours of duty in Viet Nam, James began his survival training at the age of 7 when he was stranded in the Mojave Desert for 7 hours without food or water during a family move in 1954. Since then he has been through the scouting program where he attained Life scout, served as Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, Venture Advisor, and earned the Badden Powell Award. An avid outdoorsman, he has winter camped in Utah and northern Quebec, Canada, snowshoed in upstate New York, Utah and Quebec, and camped in the Mojave Desert of California, the Uintah Mountains of Utah, and the Piney Woods of East Texas, among numerous other locations. James has traveled and been through 42 of the 50 states of the US. Three provinces of Canada, sailed the Pacific Ocean, and crossed the Equator and 35 countries from jungles of South America to the Himalayas of Nepal. Having earned an Associates of Photography Degree from Houston Community College, he has beautifully captured many of his travels with his camera.

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Now retired from a career with the Trinity River Authority of Texas, James resides in Dallas, TX, where he lectures on Wilderness and Survival Training. He is the author of SWET Survival & Wilderness Experience Training, Urban & Wilderness Emergency Planning, 35 other booklets on wilderness training, monthly articles for Survival Life Magazine, and a column and articles for The Garland Messenger Newspaper. James also does workshops and speaking engagements.

In his free time, Aaron enjoys hogging the remote, surfing, scotch, mental masturbation and debate over philosophical topics, and shooting stuff--usually not all at the same time.

David Shestokas earned his B.A. in Political Science from Bradley University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School, cum laude, in June of 1987. In 1986-87 he served on The John Marshall Law Review. He studied law at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

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Mr. Shestokas has been admitted to practice law before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1987, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1988, the Supreme Court of Florida in 2004, and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2006.

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Mr. Shestokas founded the Law Office of David Shestokas in November, 1987. After practicing in areas such as criminal defense, corporate law, real estate, and business financing, he later served as Assistant State’s Attorney for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago, IL, from 1994 to 1998, involved in over 10,000 criminal prosecutions. During that time he also worked on the Felony Review Unit, participating in police investigations and making charging decisions in over 400 felony matters.

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In 1992, after the Republic of Lithuania regained its independence from the Soviet Union, Shestokas

joined attorneys of Lithuanian heritage from around the world as a member of the First World Congress of Lithuanian Lawyers. The Lithuanian President, government officials, and the Lithuanian Bar worked with that Congress to restore the rule of law and a constitutional government after four generations of Soviet occupation.

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Along with volunteering at the Salvation Army providing pro bono legal services for the homeless, David has also given his time at the Quality Life Center to educate at-risk youth about the values ingrained in America’s Founding.

His latest book, Creating the Declaration of Independence,  takes you into the minds of Richard Henry Lee, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the weeks before July 4, 1776. Experience Lee’s trepidation as he knows when he proposes American Independence to the Second Continental Congress that he is literally risking beheading. Join Adams and Jefferson at City Tavern as they begin crafting the Declaration and follow the story of how Jefferson came to reluctantly draft the Declaration when few others, including Adams thought that Jefferson’s assignment was important. You’ll even learn a shortcut Jefferson used to craft a document of such immortality on such short notice and how that short cut affects the work of the Supreme Court today.

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He has worked with Dr. Berta Isabel Arias on the Spanish language translation of Constitutional Sound Bites: Cápsulas Informativas Constitucionales . This work represents, in a format that modern media consumers prefer, a long tradition of informing citizens about the country’s founding documents in their native languages. In 1787, fully one third of Pennsylvania’s residents were German speakers. Accordingly, of the 4500 copies of the proposed Constitution that legislature ordered, 1500 were printed in German. Everyone understands important ideas best in their native language, and Cápsulas Informativas Constitucionales recognizes the growing importance of making available crucial aspects of America’s Founding and Heritage to this growing community of Spanish speakers in America.

I grew up on a farm in North Dakota, that grew primarily wheat and had a feedlot some of that time.  I became interested in the field of Veterinary Medicine while in elementary school because of the local veterinarian in Beach, North Dakota.  During high school, I applied to Kansas State University Vet School in Manhattan, Kansas, since North Dakota did not have one, with the intention to return to North Dakota to practice.  In 1972, I graduated with a degree in Veterinary medicine with special emphasis on gastroenterology and small animals.  I practiced in a south Chicago suburban small animal hospital for 2 years before returning to Kansas State to obtain a Masters in Surgery & Internal Medicine again with emphasis in gastroenterology as well as Statistics.  In 1980, after getting my Master’s degree,  I went to work for Mobay,  a subsidiary of Bayer Industry, in Stanley, Kansas,  where I did work in the field of Toxicology.  There I became Board Certified in Toxicology in 1984.  In 1986, I began work for the state of California as a Staff Toxicologist in the Pesticide and DTSC (Department of Toxic Substances Control) divisions where I worked until my retirement in 2009. -TR Hathaway

Abe has a passion for plants and indigenous foods that traces back deep into his childhood. His early aspirations as a botanist led him to Northland College on the south shore of Lake Superior, where he completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resource Management. Since then, research projects have taken Abe to many corners of the planet, most notably, to Nepal where he served as an ethnobotanist for the Peace Corps with Langtang National Park from 2003-2004, and then to NW Yunnan and back to Nepal, where he worked as a volunteer botanist for the Missouri Botanical Gardens monitoring vegetation changes in the alpine areas during the fall of 2009. More recently, in 2011, Abe completed a Master’s Degree in Ethnoecology at the University of Victoria under the Northwest Coast ethnobotanist, Dr. Nancy J. Turner. For his thesis research, Abe collaborated with Kwakwaka’wakw elder Kwaxsistalla (Clan Chief Adam Dick) to experimentally restore a traditional estuarine salt marsh root garden near the remote First Nation village of Kingcome Inlet on the Central Coast of British Columbia. Abe now lives in his home town of Bellingham and is an active member of the Washington Native Plant Society, the NW Mushroomers, and the Society of Ethnobiology. He is the director of Salal, the Cascadian Food Institute, an Adjunct Professor at Western Washington University, Whatcom Community College, and Royal Roads University, and actively researches, promotes, and eats the indigenous foods of this bountiful bioregion.