CMR is the leading provider of funding and management support for small to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs 

Authored by Russ Jones via The Epoch Times,

Viral social media posts and text messages urging Americans to stockpile 90 days of food and supplies are gaining traction. One text message, reviewed by The Epoch Times, spread as these warnings usually do: from one friend to the next.

It described a cyber specialist who came home from a conference shaken enough to warn people close to him to keep 90 days of provisions for every member of their household.

According to the message, the concern was Iran, its cyber capabilities, and what might follow the Nov. 3 midterm elections. It named no verifiable sources.

"I'm not trying to incite panic, nor create a run on toilet paper," the message read. "I'm not a 'sky is falling' person, but I'll be ready."

For Americans who have spent years quietly filling pantries, warnings like that are nothing new. However, they say this latest alarm seemed to echo something the federal government actually said.

"Now it's normalized because the government said something," Joe Farmer told The Epoch Times. Farmer is a Colorado homesteader who has lived off the grid for five years and sells supplies, including military-style ready-to-eat meals, to the preparedness community.

A closer look at the Pentagon plan, and at warnings from other countries, shows a more measured picture than the one racing across social media.

But are most Americans ready, and could they last even 72 hours if stores emptied?

"No, no," homesteader Richard Terry said. Too many people, he said, spend on things they do not need instead of building reserves.

His advice is simpler than the headlines suggest. Whether the emergency is a job loss, a tornado, a fire, or a flood, "the preparedness for it is 85 percent the same," he said.

Operation FORTRESS

On Sept. 30, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced FORTRESS, short for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability.

Planning documents reported on Oct. 25 describe a requirement that major military installations in the continental United States sustain essential operations for at least 90 days without outside electricity, water, fuel, or supplies.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell shared a Fox News article on the subject.

The 90-day standard applies to military bases. It is not guidance for households. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Ready.gov website still advises families to keep at least several days' worth of nonperishable food and one gallon of water per person per day.

The advisory traveled anyway. In late October, former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino urged his podcast listeners to keep 30 days of supplies on hand.

In a YouTube video, commentator Glenn Beck suggested keeping two weeks of supplies rather than three days, while cautioning viewers not to panic.

A Global Pattern

The Pentagon news landed amid a wave of overseas preparedness campaigns.

On Oct. 22, the UK launched "Be Ready," the first stage of a three-year campaign asking households to keep three days of water and food that needs no cooking, along with cash, a flashlight and a battery- or wind-up radio.

Japan followed on Nov. 2, when Disaster Management Minister Goshi Hosono urged households to keep at least three days of food, water and emergency toilet supplies, and ideally a week's worth.

Other parts of the world had issued preparedness advisories long before. The European Commission's preparedness strategy, released in March 2025, calls for citizens to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours.

Sweden's Civil Defense and Resilience Agency advised at least a week of supplies, and Germany's federal emergency agency recommended up to 10 days' worth.

Water Plants and Freezers

The cyber threat described in the message is not imaginary.

In late July, hackers targeted equipment at more than 30 community water systems in Minnesota, state officials said, and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported malicious activity targeting more than 100 water systems that month.

Federal and state officials investigated possible connections to Iran-linked hackers, though no agency has formally assigned blame. Officials said drinking water was never made unsafe.

Farmer doubts Iran can do much more than it already has.

"I think if Iran had the capabilities to do much, they probably would have already," he said.

The food supply has also been hit. On Oct. 12, hackers seized control of refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets, raised the internal temperature, and spoiled large amounts of food, according to retailers.

On Nov. 2, similar attacks struck stores in at least seven European countries, along with a frozen food distribution center in Sweden. One Swedish grocer said its freezers had been remotely set to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Two pro-Russian hacker groups later claimed responsibility in now-deleted Telegram messages. The Russian government has denied involvement.

From Prepping to Homesteading

Many preppers now prefer a different word to describe their way of life.

"I don't use the term 'preparedness' anymore. I use homesteading," Richard Terry told The Epoch Times. "The old label had picked up 'a connotation that I don't agree with."

Online, homesteading communities trade advice on canning, raising chickens, digging wells, and running solar power.

Terry, who retired after 37 years as a program manager building data centers for FedEx, told The Epoch Times his turning point came while he was raising three small children in Memphis.

"The idea that I needed to not be in Memphis came when two young people were shot within a mile of my house," he said.

He bought 12.5 acres in the country, with a fish-stocked pond, and now keeps 13 goats on his West Tennessee property. His daughter, a nurse, built a home on land he bought next door.

He noted the congressionally chartered EMP Commission, whose 2004, 2008, and 2017 reports warned that the nation's power grid is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse.

"Just-in-time inventory means panic buying. It's all gone in three days," he said.

He compares stored supplies to a fire extinguisher. Nobody plans on a fire, but most homes keep an extinguisher. When people tell him he may never use what he has stored, he has an answer.

"I go, praise Jesus, I hope I never do," he said. He rotates older food to his church's food pantry.

His most surprising purchase is a well. Although his home is on city water, he spent about $10,000 to drill and equip one.

"I never want to be without water," he said.

He also keeps ham radios in shielded storage. "The thing that you don't have in a severe situation is accurate information," he said.

Farmer, who keeps large gardens, livestock, and wells, said about 70 percent of the residents in his mountain county live off the grid, as he does.

"The lifestyle that I live prepares me for increases in food costs, utility costs, everything," he said.

He worries panic buyers will not stick with it and may end up helping their neighbors more than themselves.

"If you're out rushing, come home from Costco with a vehicle full of food, your neighbors watch you bring it all in," he said. "So you just prepped for them too, whether you know it or not."

'Too Late to Get Prepared'

Trevyn Reese was named president of Ready America, a Vista, California-based emergency supply company, the day he spoke with The Epoch Times.

Reese said sales of the company's emergency backpacks have risen sharply through online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores, including Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Walmart, since the government's late-September announcements.

The 35-year-old family company also supplies FEMA with emergency drinking water.

"This announcement from the government has people on their toes and wanting to get prepared," Reese said.

Like Terry, he thinks the old three-day standard falls short.

"You don't know if the roads are going to be blocked, what that's going to look like," he said. "So minimum now should really be two weeks of food, water, hygiene supplies."

He also recommends a month's supply of prescription medications and some cash.

For someone with $200 to $300, he said, food and water come first, then a first aid kit, a hand-crank flashlight that can charge a phone, a weather radio and water purification tablets. His typical customers today, he said, are families.

The harder question is what happens when the people who laughed at preparedness show up at the door.

Terry said some acquaintances have joked that they will head to his place if things go bad.

"I'm like, no, you're not," he said. He might take in someone with a needed skill, such as a doctor, but "my family comes first."

Reese urged people to join a local Community Emergency Response Team and talk with neighbors about getting their own supplies.

"There's only so much you can do to help," he said.

His larger point is timing. "When an earthquake or hurricane or anything happens, it's too late to get prepared," Reese said.

The author of the text message that set off this round of worry seemed to understand that.

"I pray this message will be for nothing," it concluded, "and we'll all just end up with lots of rice and beans."

Authored by Roy Eappen via RealClearPolitics,

Here's a story you probably haven't heard about the Nov. 3 election results: Radical gender ideology lost. Badly.

This reality has been overlooked in virtually all the coverage of the Republican bloodbath in House, Senate, and gubernatorial races. It's true that Democrats romped to victory across the board, including in many races where their chances looked slim as recently as a few weeks ago. It's also true that the new crop of elected Democrats still broadly embraces the most extreme gender ideology, especially when it comes to children.

Yet in three blue and purple states, gender ideology was explicitly on the ballot, and voters sided with common sense and protecting children. This story deserves more attention because it shows that Democrats are out of touch with a large percentage of their own voters.

Take the bluest state with a ballot measure based on common sense - Washington state.

Initiative 638 sought to prohibit biological boys from competing in girls' sports at the K-12 level. It also aimed to require documentation from healthcare providers about athletes' sex. The Democratic Party broadly opposes these protections, but voters in Washington came out in support. While the final tally hasn't been released, the current result is that 56% of voters approved the ballot measure. Only 43% voted against it.

It's a similar story in Arizona - a purple state that's been trending bluer in recent elections.

In the Grand Canyon State, Proposition 318 would restrict school bathrooms and locker rooms based on a person's biological sex. It would also limit children to playing on the right school sports teams. Lo and behold, nearly 60% of Arizona voters sent gender ideology down to defeat.

Then there's Colorado, a blue state where voters weighed in on two separate ballot measures.

The first - Proposition 134 - was also about limiting children to sports teams based on biological sex. It would also require schools and athletic associations to designate sports teams as male, female, or co-ed. As of this writing, the ballot measure is on track to pass with 52% support.

The second ballot measure - Proposition 135 - would prohibit all sex-change surgeries for children. The goal was to protect children from invasive and irreversible procedures while their minds and bodies are still developing. The current results show that about 52% of Colorado voters voted to keep these vulnerable kids safe.

These three blue-to-purple states weren't the only ones to vote on child gender ideology. So did Nebraska, where a school sports ballot measure passed overwhelmingly, with close to 70% support. Missouri voters also had the chance to prohibit sex-change procedures for children, but Amendment 3 fell short of passing. Yet the amendment also dealt with abortion access - an issue that probably motivated more people to vote against it. Had Missouri voters weighed in solely on banning child sex-change procedures, it's highly likely they would have come down in favor.

The widespread victory of common sense is worth celebrating. Yet it should also spur people on both sides of the aisle to demand that more Democrat politicians reflect the public's will. The liberal candidates who swept so many House and Senate races are, broadly speaking, out of step with the American people on this pivotal issue. In all likelihood, when they take office in January, they'll even try to pass legislation that subjects more children to the demands of radical gender ideology.

Few things would be more foolish. Democrats were swept into power on Nov. 3 by voter dissatisfaction with many things. Yet if they prioritize gender ideology, they'll surely provoke a public backlash from across the political spectrum. That's a crucial, if unreported, takeaway from the election results. Now it's even more crucial that our elected leaders rally behind the bipartisan and common-sense cause of protecting children.

Dr. Roy Eappen is a practicing endocrinologist and senior fellow at Do No Harm.

Authored by Doug Casey via International Man,

International Man: Paris was once the cultural capital of Western civilization. Is what's happening there today a preview of the West's broader collapse?

Doug Casey: Today's Paris is a very different place than it was back in the '60s, or the way it was portrayed in movies like "An American in Paris" or "Amélie." The last time I was there, just before the COVID hysteria, the area around the Arc de Triomphe was overrun with poorly dressed and poorly behaved migrants, mostly from Africa.

Now the invading barbarians, abetted by local cucks, have gotten completely out of control. The situation is much more serious than it was in the late 60s and early 70s when students could be heard chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Civ has got to go." It seems the student Yahoos, reinforced by mobs of migrants, are about to get their wish.

So what is Western civilization? It has unique characteristics that make it far different from and superior to any other civilization. I love certain aspects of Chinese culture like martial arts, Taoism, and Peking Duck. Even India has brought a few things to the party, like yoga and curries. Compared to Western Civ, however, everything else is a rounding error.

Let me list a few things that are basically - indeed almost entirely - unique to Western Civ. Some other cultures have adopted elements of them and have prospered as a result. But it's often just a veneer. If the West falls as a culture, as a civilization, most other parts of the world will likely degenerate radically.

• Free thought. Free thinkers are unique to the West. They're being overwhelmed by political correctness and fear of thought crimes.
• Free speech. Everywhere in the West, the language is being corrupted. There are notions and even words that you dare not utter for fear of being prosecuted and jailed.
• Free markets. Free markets allow free thinkers, inventors, businessmen and industrialists to put their thoughts into practice, to the benefit of all. But the public fears them and wants more regulation and protections.
• Limited government. Everywhere, the hoi polloi are clamoring for more government, bigger government, socialism, and even communism.
• Individualism. Every other culture in the world has tried to quash this essential aspect of the West. It's being replaced by identity politics wherein you are no more than a member of a group.
• Rationality. It's said that this is a white vice. Science and logic are thought to be destroying the world. They're being replaced by superstition.
• Liberty. This concept wouldn't even exist without the West. It's now seen as a danger where we need to hide in Safe Spaces.
• Concept of progress. Many now prefer a static society where everybody is maintained by a guaranteed annual income. Progress is dangerous because it leads to inequality where some are left behind.
• Privacy. In the primitive pre-Western world, everyone knew what everyone else was doing. We're reverting to that with omnipresent Flock cameras and the surveillance state.
• Property rights. They're being replaced by the concept of "You'll own nothing and be happy."
• Rule of Law. In other societies, law was what the king, the emperor, or the sultan said it was. Justice is being washed away in the West, delegitimized by millions of Kafkaesque laws and regulations.
• Industry and enterprise. People have been taught to hate these Western virtues, thinking that they endanger Mother Earth and lead to inequality. Entrepreneurs are to be feared. Everybody should become an employee.

These concepts are unique to Western civilization. But Europeans, which is to say white people, have been taught that they're evil and destructive. As a result, the West is collapsing from within, from self-hatred and a terminal lack of self-confidence. "Conservative" political parties are devoid of any moral center, have no core philosophy, and stand for nothing. Almost without exception, Western leaders are actually traitors to the concept of Western civ. Americans foolishly supported Trump, mistaking his bravado for wisdom.

International Man: How have government policies contributed to the decline of Paris and other major European cities?

Doug Casey: Government policy is heavily responsible for the decline of Europe, both directly and indirectly.

Governments are directly responsible for the wholesale import of alien races, cultures, languages, traditions, religion, and beliefs, not as visitors, but as permanent residents. Worse, they are actively subsidized with free food, free apartments, free cash, and DEI-style hiring preferences.

It's not just Europe, but every Western country. I like to joke that there's nothing wrong with Canada that importing 50 million Nigerians and 50 million Indians can't cure. Of course Canada would cease to exist. But it would be interesting to see who wins the resulting race war.

Immigrants today are totally different from the waves who arrived in the 19th and early 20th century. They were mostly penniless, but were opportunity seekers - the best type of person - who integrated and made their way. Many of today's migrants to the West, however, are attracted by welfare benefits. They see current residents as obstacles to be looted and conquered.

Governments are indirectly responsible for making higher education free almost everywhere. Academia is a magnet for the leftist, Marxist, and Woke professors who have been indoctrinating naive students for generations. They hate the idea of Western civilization and everything it stands for. Their opinions have been adopted by their students and the population in general. Professors with classical and traditional views have basically been ostracized and canceled.

The situation can only get worse because new immigrants, predictably, are very political and essentially taking over government at all levels, in both Europe and the US.

International Man: Has Western civilization reached a point of no return? What would it take to reverse the decline?

Doug Casey: Western civilization reached its peak just before World War I. Most governments took no more than 5% of GDP from the populace then, mostly in import duties and excise taxes. The long 19th century from 1815 to 1914 was the most prosperous and peaceful in world history. Now income taxes are 50 to 60 percent in most countries, plus VATs of over 20 percent. Wealth taxes are becoming popular as "Eat the Rich" sentiments grow. Penalties are being imposed on wealthy people who want to emigrate.

Not only did World War I wipe out a great many educated young men, but the experience imbued the survivors with bad ideas and bad habits. The war bankrupted governments, and raised all manner of taxes to maintain themselves. Runaway inflations destroyed several currencies and the savings of citizens in Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, and Italy. Then the Great Depression made things even worse. Followed by World War II, with many millions more deaths, and the rise of communism in half the world.

The point is that Western civilization has been degrading for many decades. Generations of students have been indoctrinated to believe that capitalism, free thought, free markets, and the other things I just mentioned, are the reason for economic and social problems. So there's every reason to believe that the negative trend now in motion will continue in motion until we reach a genuine crisis, perhaps in the form of World War III, accompanied by what I call the Greater Depression.

I recently read "The Camp of the Saints" by Jean Respail. It's a novel written in 1972 and pretty well describes why the West is collapsing. It quite entertainingly describes a credible scenario - the mostly peaceful invasion of France by a million degraded and starving Indian boat people who walk through the rotten front door and conquer a spineless civilization. It seems to be happening, although the invaders turned out to be mostly Muslim, not Hindu. Let me also recommend two non-fiction books, "While Europe Slept" (2006) by Bruce Bawer, which chronicles the ongoing conquest of the continent by Islam. And "The Strange Death of Europe" (2018) by Douglas Murray, which is a very appropriate title for its subject.

International Man: What parallels do you see between what's happening in France and the rest of Western Europe and the direction the United States is heading?

Doug Casey: America truly is the exceptional and indispensable nation. Although that concept has been given a very bad name due to the horrible people, mostly neocons, who have associated it with their fascist and warlike actions.

The US was unique. It was overtly founded on the principles of Western Civ and has been insulated from foreign wars by the ocean. It's degraded more slowly than Europe. But it's moving in the same sorry direction, as it gradually morphed into an empire. As such, it's following the fate of all empires. Including the Romans, the Spanish, the British, and the Soviets, among many others.

Unfortunately, the Republicans, and Donald Trump in particular, have somehow managed to falsely cloak themselves in the mantle of American ideals. It's understandable that the average American voted as they did a couple of weeks ago, as a reaction. But it's a pity they have so little understanding of history and economics. They're prone to believe that the Democrats, who are completely captured by socialists, Wokesters, and worse, can kiss everything and make it better. They'll do the opposite.

America used to be different and better, from the point of view of personal freedom and prosperity, than any other country in the world. But America is ceasing to exist. It's become very much like any of the other 200 nation-states that cover the face of the globe like a skin disease.

International Man: What does the decline of Western civilization mean for investors, and how should they position themselves for what's coming?

Doug Casey: I read a lot of history. It helps me keep current events in proper perspective. We've had civilization for roughly 5,000 years. That seems like a long time. But the lives of only 100 men could easily have overlapped by about 25 years each with someone who came before and someone else who came after. Civilization is still just a pup.

Certain trends, however, are quite visible. Most important is that technology has advanced exponentially. Another is that there have been some severe speed bumps along the way.

The first speed bump, which we're still learning about, was the Bronze Age collapse of about 1200 BC. More important was the collapse of classical civilization and the Roman Empire in the West starting in the third century. The populations of Britain, France, Spain, Italy, and North Africa, among other places, became largely illiterate. Cities, money, and trade largely disappeared. And it took about 500 years for things to recover, during a time known as the Dark Ages.

Could the same thing happen today? It's entirely possible. World War III, which is still in its early stages, could turn nuclear. More than likely, it could be a biological war, affecting both people and crops. It will certainly have cybernetic elements, which would be catastrophic because the whole world runs on computers. The world also runs on various distillates of petroleum; those products don't appear by magic.

If we lived in a free market world, I would have little concern as hundreds of millions of productive people around the world constantly work to create and improve things. But civilization has become extremely top-heavy, highly regulated and bureaucratized, and full of unproductive supernumeraries.

Both novels and movies are replete with post-apocalyptic survival tales describing what could happen next. As a science fiction fan, I've read lots of both highly optimistic and pessimistic visions of the future. I've just finished reading the "World Made by Hand" series by my friend Jim Kunstler. It's a credible projection of one way things could work in the very near future.

In the real world, we've had very good times for a long time. But there's a fair chance that things are starting to come apart at the seams in lots of different areas.

Let's put it this way. If Western civilization and the ideas it's built on fall - and they're in process of falling as we speak - things could get very bad very quickly.

At that point, what happens to the stock market will be the least of our problems.