Eat me.  From an Ecuador rose? Here is a funky business idea.

Rapid change and inflation make micro business ideas important sources of needed, extra income.

Here is a micro business idea worth our Funky Micro Business Hall of Fame.

A Reuter’s article about Roberto Nevado entitled “Ecuador wants you to smell the roses, and eat them” by Hugh Bronstein shows how out of the box micro business ideas can be.

Here is an excerpt:  Ecuador has long been a major exporter of big bulbed, colorful flowers that please the eye and the nose. Now its farmers are exploring a new idea — roses that you can eat.

Restaurants from New York to Barcelona, looking to attract customers with novelty dishes, have started to serve food containing organic rose petals grown on farms like Roberto Nevado’s in Ecuador’s central highlands.

Nevado is a spritely septuagenarian who moved here from his native Spain to start a plantation in the perfect rose-growing conditions offered by this part of the country, and his Nevado Ecuador farm now has three million bushes under cultivation.

Only 100,000 of them are grown without pesticides and meant for eating.

“But we believe the market will grow,” he said over lunch at his plantation featuring starters, main dishes and desserts containing red, pink and white rose petals that left a bitter-sweet sensation on the palate

“It’s new, it’s interesting, and that’s what everyone wants,” Nevado said, his green eyes flashing as he rolled a dollop of passion fruit mousse over his tongue, crushed rose petals adding a tangy juxtaposition to the sweetness.

“They are the same species as non-edible roses, but the fertilizers have to be organic and  no chemicals can be sprayed on them, which means they need more human care,” Nevado said.

Many bugs that can damage roses do not like garlic, he explained, so workers spray garlic solution onto the organic bushes and plant garlic around his edible rose greenhouses.

Restaurants such as Per Se in New York, Zazu in Quito and El Bulli near Barcelona have started experimenting with rose petal dishes and desserts such as “Rose Souffle”.

The restaurant’s rose martini, made with petals soaked for a week in vodka, is becoming a favorite at Zazu’s bar.

Edible roses account for only about 1 percent of flower exports, but growers say the market needs to be encouraged as the country pulls out of the economic doldrums of 2009.

The petals are certified by European Union authorities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for import. Nevado is pushing the idea of edible roses at food shows. He says one challenge is to convince potential buyers that they are safe.

This is the type of  combination one should look for in a micro business.  Look for a product that is rare… has high margins and contains a problem… like convincing consumers of its safety or using hand labor creatively.

Next time someone tells you that your zany business ideas are crazy, far fetched and can’t work. Just say “Eat me” and go for it.

By the way eating roses is not new. Rose petal jam, one of my favorites… (I have this jar in the fridge right now) has long been a favorite in the East.

Photo from my fridge.

Rose petal jam is delicious!  To make matters better, rose petals jam is really good for you also (like everything sweet in moderation). Merri and I incorporate this into our super thinking nutritional program… especially in the summer.  We drink it with milk, hot or cold,  on toast and and in a rose lassi… (yoghurt, rose petal jam and boiling water all mixed together).

A form of rose petal jam called Gulkand is an ancient Ayurvedic herbal preparation.

Rose petal jam is a cooling food especially idea for summer meals. It is a natural digestive, blood purifier and helps balance acidity, a world wide health problem created by refined food, preservatives, spicy food, junk food, over eating, eating too much fat and eating in a hurry, skipping breakfast and stress.

It helps reduce constipation, water retention, improves the memory, eyesight and reduces anger, as well as skin blemishes. itching and pimples.

Rose petals are rich in calcium and antioxidants.

They can sweeten body odor and heal mouth ulcers if dissolved in water and gargled as it strengthens teeth and gums.

There are numerous other benefits even various cardiac problems as it acts as a catalyst and facilitates uptake of various heart medication.

For full details, contact an Ayurvedic physician.

Here is how to make Rose Petal Jam.

Here is how to make a good rose petal mix if you cannot find rose petal jam at the health food or Indian store and do not want to order it online.

Wild roses are best as they have more essential oils and richer flavor. Use either dark red or small pink roses. Use only organic roses and make sure no insecticides have been used.

Add equal amounts  by weight of panela (dehydrated sugar cane juice… look in the Latino section at the store for brown blocks of it) and fresh rose petals.

Separate rose petals and wash with bio wash.  Let dry overnight. No water should remain.

Make alternating layers of rose petals and panela in the jars, about 1/2 an inch thick per layer.

Close lid and allow to stand in full sun for a few weeks, with lid closed. This converts the sugar into thick syrup. Shake every few days.

The sugar will melt and the mass will begin to look like a jam in a few weeks depending on amount of sun and temperature.

When you have a micro business idea, it can take many forms… and they can be pretty far out like chocolate covered roses to rose petal jam. And how about Rose Petal Ice Cream?

Those could create sweet micro business inflation beating opportunities.

Learn how to get Edible organic rose petals from Ecuador.

Gary 

Interested in writing and publishing to sell a micro business?  Learn about our Self Publishing course and how to save $597 here.

Writer’s Camps

Attend our summer Writer’s Camp in Blue Ridge Mountains.   Start immediately with our online course Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher FREE right away. ($299 value).

Delegates  talking over books at last year’s summer Writer’s Camp.

Our Writer’s Camps help learn writing to sell… the business of writing and how to publish.

Our summer and autumn writer’s camps in North Carolina fill up quickly. Our winter writer’s camp was totally filled.

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please indicate which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

My wife, Merri, and I have possibly the smallest… yet one of the highest earning… self publishing company in the world.

Our high earnings come from writing, self publishing secrets we learned and refined over the past 45 years of writing to sell.  These secrets have worked so well they have earned extra millions for Merri and me and we share them at our writer’s camps..

Our goal at the camps are to help you “Get Started”… but to “Start Small” and maybe like us stay that way… small… tightly focus but highly profitable.

There I said it flying in the face of society hammering us to “Think Big”. This is the era where small is beautiful in a very big way.

At the camps we dive into this idea of smallness for profit.

I am stuck with this horrible fear of being broke. You know unfilled promises… tight finances… money worries…even costly groceries and bill collector stuff. I had all that decades ago and even though 40 years have passed it’s not forgotten.

I hate this for anybody. No money. No future prospects. Worry about the kids. Not knowing how to retire… or where to turn.

45 years ago I started writing because I was broke.  These problems over 40 years ago affected me for life.  In fact I am so hung up on this that that Merri and I (we are so thankful that we can) give away money to help create jobs… we have now donated close to a million dollars in our quest to reduce joblessness.

Merri and I are writers and self publishers. We have earned as much as $20,000 for a single day’s work… and have earned consistently year in and year out… while we do what we love… because of a few secrets.

We want to share these secrets with you so you can make six and even seven figure income each year in a matter that suits you.

There is more good news than the money.  The secrets we share make working fun. You are your own boss. You gain respect so your ideas are listened to.

Most important you can be self fulfilled as you make the world a better place by writing.

Merri and I invite you to share a writer’s camp we’ll conduct in 2013?   This will be a retreat high in the Blue Ridge for a select few that can help you create you own publications for profit.

Believe me… we will be relentless about three facts… serve well… be gratified… make good profits.

The retreat will be conducted in the seclusion of a forest.  We’ll meet in June  or August… but we want the work on your publication to begin right away…. tomorrow even.  I’ll explain how you can begin right away in a moment.

At the camp we teach super thinking as well as how to write and publish.  This secret “little system” creates a crack in the creative process… so you’ll not have just one idea for a business but many.  You may be flooded with ideas!  In fact a big part of the workshop narrows you down to deciding what to write first.

Merri and I are living proof.  We can’t open the darn paper without getting a new idea.

First, let me repeat…Start Small!

The camp by the way is called “Self Fulfilled – How to Write and Self Publishing”.   I am thinking of renaming it “Start Small but Earn Millions”.

Writers who earn the most are writers, like Merri and myself, who also publish.   We always make an annual six figure income but some years we net seven figures…over a million dollars. That’s because we figured out that the lion’s share of income earned from writing goes to the publisher. The publishing part of writing can be outrageously profitable.

One case study we’ll look at in the course reviews the book. “Who Moved My Cheese.” It’s so small! I love it!  The publisher had to push just to make it look like a book, yet 17 million copies in the first two years of release. No one is laughing. If the normal price is $19.95 a book, that’s $339,155 million in sales. If the author received a normal 12% royalty (on the wholesale price) he made a cool $20,346,500 (and much more as the book has continued to sell for years).

Pretty good, huh?

The $20 million plus will pay for quite a few groceries. Almost anyone would love to have this much income until they realize that this leaves the publisher with the other $300 million to spread around.

The neat thing about being a small, self publisher is that virtually all this money (the other 88%) is yours! (Sometimes the 12% too.) In other words, it could be all yours.

Merri and I began publishing with no money and little background. We started small! As already mentioned, I was bust and had no background in writing. I did not finish college.

Before we share the exact schedule of this exciting camp, let me outline a few of the benefits that self publishing has brought to Merri and me.

If you accept our invitation, we will hammer, even bombard you with the absolute, vital importance of starting small. We live in the era of epublishing that makes small “big”.   This plays perfectly into the hands of small businesses and copywriters as we just happened to have a perfect advantage right now in the marketplace.

Let’s begin to understand this with that old rule… follow the money. Our self publishing business has brought us millions. We own four houses, a farmhouse, six cabins and over 1,000 acres of land. Plus more money than we can spend, in the bank… safe, secure bonds and shares… no mortgages… no credit card bills and zero debt!

Now let’s get to the important stuff.  Our life is less stressed (not stress free – every business has stress) but Self Publishing can be a low stress business… no commuting… choose your own hours… immersed in your own passions with like minded souls. Work at home. How refreshing!

Here I am at our Florida home… at work?

You can have fun every day doing what you love as you accomplish goals that are important… to you… and are a service to your community.

Merri and I, for example, love helping people get jobs.  So we used self publishing to create a foundation (Land of the Sun Foundation) to help the indigenous learn how to get work. The foundation has donated nearly a million dollars in Ecuador to create jobs.

What do you love? Why not make the kinds of money I’ve just mentioned publishing your passion and do something good for the world at the same time?

Your passion and self publishing create…magic, wealth, happiness.

Three other things you gain.

#1: Respect. If you are not a recluse like Merri and me, you’ll find yourself the center of attention at social events and with your friends and in business because publishing is highly respected.

#2: Power. Everyone wants publishers to distribute good information about them. And everyone fears publishers a bit. The pen IS mightier than the sword!

#3: Protection. Writers are protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You do not need a license to publish. There is no government watchdog nor do you have bureaucratic red tape involved in publishing. Publishers enjoy almost more freedom than any other occupation because of the Freedom of the Press. This is so powerful because the first amendment is actually a part of the Bill of Rights. Just in case you missed this in school (as most students did including me) here are the exact words of this amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

You become the press and you are set free. You cannot get more protection than that.

Shall we get back to the money and lifestyle? What can self publishing do financially for you?

Merri and I love nature so our home in Florida is set amidst and orange grove… just far enough from busy parts of the state that we enjoy wonderful peace and quiet. This makes a perfect place to study.  This is a winter shot from the front yard of our Florida home looking over our orange grove and lake…  that we bought with cash from our self published writing.

This is only where we live in the winter.

The Blue Ridge is our summer home.  That name is a slight misnomer for a large part of the year.  Correctly named in the winter, these mountains would be called “White Ridge”. The white comes from snow which begins with S as does South which is where we head around November…to Florida or Ecuador .

While it’s freezing in the North Carolina mountains, we worry about sunburn sometimes.

The Ecuador hotel, by the way, is one of the most satisfying parts of our self publishing business. We bought it from bankruptcy because a dozen wonderful people (with babies and kids and worries about education, medical bills and yes groceries) were about to lose their jobs.

Mostly right now… due to a elderly mom and many wonderful new grand kids we spend winters at our in Florida and visit family in Oregon and England.  So for your convenience (and ours) the next two writers camp will be conducted near our Ashe County North Carolina farm.

Why attend this camp?  Self publishing can easily fulfill all of your material needs.  More importantly it throws you together with fantastically interesting people from all walks of life.   You all share a common goal… to write… to sell… to earn.  This create magic for all.

You can enjoy this wonderful lifestyle.  Married, single, rich, poor, in good and bad health, educated and not, travelers and those who want to just stay at home. This is who self publishing works for… those who want a gradual part time improvement in life and those who want to make big enhancements now.

This workshop appeals to anyone who would like to write or publish or both.  We will look at how published products can include compilations, catalogues, CDS, interviews. Plus we’ll look at how to develop treks, tours, visits, products and services.

For example, you’ll see below how one delegate who attended the workshop used her publication to sell real estate.

This course is for individuals and couples. We include those who want their own publishing system together as a family business.

Self employed, retired, professionals and those who are employed who want to add extra income or who want to change their life entirely will benefit. Previous course delegates have included investors, chiropractors, doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, other professionals and those who already own their own business and of course retirees.

This workshop is not theory. Merri and I share our real time experiences. We start at the beginning over 40 years ago but mainly look at how we earn hundreds of thousands and even millions a year in our exciting lifestyle…right now.

Let’s get our noses to the grindstone. The workshop provides a Path called the seven Ps. They provide a simple, small and easy path for starting your own publishing business.

The workshop has one focused, refined and relentless goal. To prepare you to start your first publication the day after the workshop ends!

May I add that this workshop has done a pretty good job already?  Here are a few examples of small self publishing businesses that started after attending this workshop.

Barry Weinhold who attended our Writers Camp wrote:   My first book sold over 200,000 copies in print. After attending your course I have published another book at Amazon.com.
Thanks for helping get the word out.   The First free download of Book One had about 900 downloads and we have sold about 90 books since then. I did get some great reviews on Book One. Now book two is ready.

You can order Barry’s second book ($2.99) on Amazon.com by clicking here. “Breaking Family Patterns: How To Change Your Family Patterns!“

Nicki Goff  who attended our writer’s camp wrote shortly after that she completed her first book “Easy Quinoa Recipes” with 13 quinoa recipes.

She had 10,000 downloads of the book in five days and obtained dozens of good reviews!

She wrote:  Hi, Gary,  Book sales are actually going well, and I’m having a lot of fun with this. I’m so grateful to you and Merri  for pushing me to get some action going!

The free promos really get things going, and seem to reignite sales.

Two more in the works – both on gardening topics.  Best wishes for 2013 to you and Merri.   Love, Nicki

What a joy seeing how helping and connecting people helps all create their own special success.  How beautiful to see friends turn their passions into profit!

You can get 13 more great quinoa recipes in Nicki Goff’s book at the links below.

You can order Nicki’s first book at Amazon.com.

Nicki learned at the camp that getting these downloads is step three in a seven step process. We (and others) have been helping Nicki and our delegates walk through these steps so they can earn income through writing and publishing again and again.

Nicki is now well on her way to wonderful self publishing success.   She just completed her fourth book, “Under Cover Gardening”

The Writer’s Camp helps people of all ages from their teens to their 80s!

The father of the family of four wrote:  Hi Gary and Merri:  Just thought y’all would like to know that today Doss published his first book.  It is called College Confidential and it is currently listed at number 42 on amazon. com.  He would not have done it but for our experience this summer at your Writer’s Camp.

So, here is thanking you both very much.

Bill Winter

This book is written by a student, for students, College Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Success written by Doss Winter is filled with practical tips and insider information addressing everything from Academics to getting your Zzzzs.

Order College Confidential at Amazon.com here.

The writer’s camp refines both Merri’s and my 40 years of experience into its most essential points. All of us will have to work intensely to cram everything into three days.

This workshop is being conducted by Merri and me. We will be hosting the event near our North Carolina farm.   These camps are intimate which allows us to personally work with each delegate to assure that all who attend can create their own publication.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8029808357/

Day one, at 9 a.m. sharp, we get to work.

What will you write?  Some of you know what you want to do…that’s great.  We’ll work on that.  Some of you just feel that you can succeed in this field…we’ll hone that and work on that.  We’ll create our own niches.

Your product? Your goals?  This is why we are inviting you to enroll in the camp now. This is a long term program and we’ll help you create your own product now that we can work on at the camp.

In the afternoon, we’ll dive into the 7 Ps of self publishing. Passion, Problem, Person, profitably priced Product, pathways to Prospects, Promise and Presentation.

Then we get down to brass tacks by placing the ideas you have fractured under the first magnifying glasses of Passion, Problem and Person. This is the beginning of your first perfect product so you can become your own perfect client.

I’ll talk about how your passions, your current knowledge bring you to your own niche create the stories.  We’ll look at the all powerful “Golden Rule of Simplicity…Your Passions Represent Markets”.

Merri and I will both show you how to follow your passion to the market and use your passion to find “Prospecting Pathways” and “Presentation Templates” that are the drivers of your business.

Merri’s publishing skills and history, by the way, far exceed mine. She began her own import business selling products form Italy , Germany and Mexico through her own advertisements she wrote in the New Yorker, Sunday NY Times, Smithsonian, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and other magazines. Then with her ad agency edited and published hundreds of books, brought a bankrupt magazine to award winning status as executive editor to Gulf Shore Life (which later sold to the Robb Reports for $22+ million dollars), has edited over 1400 writers and was even offered the top editor (the only female) at the National Enquirer working directly with Generoso Pope (which she politely turned down).  She lectured at Magazine Conferences throughout the South to help others bring their own publishing ventures to awarding winning and financial success.

We’ll then return to and chip away at your fractured writing and publishing ideas to refine the most valuable asset you have in your business armory… your imagination.

Finally around 5 pm, we’ll stop working as one large group. However, that is not the end of the educational, evolutionary process that will by now be whirling away. You’ll have enough momentum and information to refine your publication.  That’s what you’ll be assigned to do.

We won’t want you to work too late though.  We still have a lot to do in the next two days.

Day two, I already know what will happen. You’ll all be sitting around with others buzzing over your ideas. I’ll have to force you back to group work at 9 a.m. because you’ll have such a head of steam you won’t want to stop talking. However, I hope that you have followed Merri’s and my example and had a good night’s sleep. Experience suggests that some of you in your excitement, will have worked through the night. You might not get to sleep now because today we’re going to accomplish three days work in a day!

We’ll start with a review of your assignments. No red marks or stars by the way… just feedback and a gentle coaxing toward the ways to create winning writing and self publishing ventures.

Then we’ll get into how to turn your thoughts/desires/energies into reality with:

#1: Stories with authenticity, meaning and roots.

#2: Stories true to the heart.

#3: Stories with conflict.

#4: Stories with passion.

The “why” of these four qualities is fascinating and so impossibly important, yet simple, that knowing it is worth the entire investment you make in the workshop. Here it is quick, down and dirty… knowledge worth millions.

There are three main demographic subgroups in the Western World. One is dying out. One controls everything but the third is rapidly rising… growing so fast that it can take down even a big organization like Starbucks (which it did in England) if ignored. Yet this third group (whom you will write and publish for) is at least partially ignored by every large corporation in the world. They all make the same cheesy error and this huge mistake creates fracturing opportunities for you… which will be the tiny, but immensely profitable small publisher.

We go on to our next Story Review about small niches that Merri and I have fractured. How we beat a publisher that’s 1,500 times larger in this niche.

We’ll break for lunch. Then at 2 pm it’s back to work:

In the afternoon, Merri and I look at how to match your passion to the National Psyche by studying the NY Times & USA Today best seller lists. We’ll see how new indie epublishers are creating top selling books and provide magical clues that lead to successful products, stories and marketing.

We’ll work on epublishing…how it is virtually free of expense to start/continue/succeed.  Only things necessary:  inspiration, desire, hard work and follow through…actual cost?  Zero.

Then we’ll review how to use Twitter to develop viral marketing and… what’s next!

Getting your reports, books or simply ideas on the epublishing parade…that’s through Kindle, Book Nook, Apple, etc.

The excitement that builds by this time of the camp often interferes with the dream process.  Ideas for reports, publishing ideas, businesses, stories, new lifestyles and bigger profits come rushing forth even though you are trying for sheep.

Regardless, on Day 3, – as before, we’ll start at 9 a.m. sharp and remain intensely focused until mid afternoon.

Before Merri and I wrap up the entire process, we’ll outline our how we’ll continue to assist you for the rest of the year.

Let’s end this with a summary:  Merri and I will begin to help you develop your publishing, writing idea the minute you enroll.  Our goal is to help you create your own product so you can fine tune it in July.  The workshop will help you come up with new ideas… but we want you to start one now. Merri and I will be glad to help you with it.

Okay, how about your cash investment? The cost of the workshop.

As I said earlier, Merri and I have been self publishing for 40 years. This invitation provides access to information we share with only a very limited group.

The cost of the camp is  $799 or $999 for a couple. Travel, your accommodations and other meals are your responsibility.

Registration is severely limited due to the personal attention we provide.   We expect to be full.

Here is how to register immediately.

Click below:

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

We’ll send you an email giving you details and your preparatory assignments for the camp, travel, etc.

We’ll set up our line of communications as well as deliver our online Self Publishing course.

We’ll send you what you need to get started. We’re going to be learning from the first minute, and we want you to be ready.

Get started and work with us and the online course until the camp begins.

Best regards,

Gary

P.S. This is a chance to experience the dream life of a writer and self publisher.

We are going to work hard the entire time from now until the camp but the effects of this retreat won’t end on day 3. They’ll just begin.

One of the finest benefits you gain will be new like-minded friends. Our previous workshop delegates have stuck together…formed support groups and helped each other develop, grow and profit. This is called an “old boys network” in some places. Every major university and educational system has one…this invisible power because “who you know”, not just “what you know” works. We’ll encourage this so your alumni group can enhance your efforts whenever required.

May I share three final examples of how big, your little self publishing business can become from our workshop?

A long time friend, who had just retired from a 30 year career in the oil industry joined our program. His passion was to learn more about health and looking at the deep, more spiritual aspects of life since he had ended a financially successful career. He has gone on to publishing the leading healthy living magazine where he lives.

Not only does he publish 20,000 copies of a 48-64 page magazine on healthy living every month, he has been able to meet and work with leading health and spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dwyer and even the Dali Llama. What a thrill.

Michelle Toole, an at home mother, made a fateful decision… to attend our self publishing course.

Michelle was disabled when she took the “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher” camp.

She took what she learned from our publishing courses and created her own successful global micro website.

Michelle wrote:  “I have some great news, my web site  http://healthy-holistic-living.com is now getting on average 2,000 visitors a day! Yup my little one man show web site now gets close to 60,000 visitors each month!  The power of the internet is amazing as well as the opportunities.  We have said it before but it deserves saying again the internet is truly the great equalizer.

“My web site is at a point now that it is growing without much effort and produces a nice passive income allowing me to continue working on my second site http://home-remedies-and-natural-cures.com and to get my third site up and running.  I am also working on various joint ventures with other web sites focusing on helping others start their own web business. I am doing monthly webinars helping disabled individuals start their own business on the Internet and will be starting a coaching club in the new year.  The opportunities are only limited by one’s imagination.

“Again I can not thank you and Merri enough, I look forward to many great adventures and new experiences in the coming years!”

Another successful self publisher who attended our workshop wrote :

“MY HEAD IS STILL SPINNING from all of the valuable input I received. Out in the boonies, 2 + hours from the airport in Charlotte , North Carolina it was not your typical setting for a business seminar.

“It was presented by a fascinating guy with an interesting career history. Gary Scott and his wife, Merri, split their time between their idyllic farm in North Carolina and their property in the mountains of Ecuador . I first heard about Gary through my interest in Ecuador .

“By his own admission, Gary is often ‘a bit ahead of the curve’ which is part of what makes his material interesting. You sense the authenticity of what he is saying but it has not caught on in the mainstream media or pop-culture.

“The input is that is already affecting my life was not just from the instructor, but from other participants. The small group, less than twenty, seemed to be intimately bonded as soon as the seminar started. People from all walks of life and all parts of the country gained insights from the information that was geared to create a ‘life of your choosing more so than just a successful business. A very simple but powerful concept. Why do we want the money in the first place?

“The lifestyle aspect of the course was taught by example. We, as a group, were temporarily inserted directly into the lifestyle led by Gary and Merri. No better way to learn than by doing.

“The course content suited my needs very nicely. It addressed issues pertinent to FilmTrips and my marketing company, MJ Media. New life has been injected into several FilmTrips projects that had been languishing on a back burner for quite some time. Gary talks about being open to ‘connect the dots’ and take advantage of distortions or discrepancies between economies and countries. I am in a very good position to do that. Telephone and Internet technology has certainly arrived to help make it happen. I will keep you posted!”

In the workshop we learn how to use the “Business Evolutionary Process.” Start with a small idea. Let the idea build enthusiasm. Let the enthusiasm lead you to an education. Let the education create action. The action will bring, deeper ideas…so you can start small and grow.

This is what so many others who have accepted Merri’s and my invitation have done and are doing now….as are we. A never ending process for all.

We hope you will join this growth process with us. If you do, this letter…the invitation and the workshop will be fateful and fun.  Register today!

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

Delegates from our last camp wrote:  My daughter and I had a fantastic time at the Writer’s Camp this past weekend.  We both felt we gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on “how to make money with our writing skills”!  Thank you.
 
Yours and Merri’s expertise on transmitting knowledge to others is phenomenal.  The warm, personal feel of being with you both along with the great people in the class was great!
 
Thank you again for all the added information gained in all areas of life and what I consider gourmet meals served to us all.
 
Donna/Jeanna

Another wrote: Have just returned from the writing seminar conducted at your farm in Ashe County, North Carolina, I thought I’d give you my take on what I experienced. To suggest that the location, hosts, seminar content, and accommodations were adequate would be an understatement.

This was my introductory visit to the northwestern corner of North Carolina and it appears, from looking at the map, that this area could be considered the “foothills” of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Remote? You bet! But a beautiful place for retreating when life or weather calls for relocation.

Corresponding as we have for the past two years was simply a forerunner to our one on two meeting and I am so pleased that we found this opportunity.  You are both most personable with dynamic and pleasing personalities. I was extremely comfortable the entire weekend and thank you for making that possible.

The seminar itself opened a whole new world that I hope to explore in the coming months. I drove away from your farm with a well inflated right rear tire and a wealth of information that could catapult me into a whole new profession should I opt to go that route. I still have a number of professional business ideas that I intend to pursue, however, the concepts and ideas conveyed in your seminar will serve to enhance whatever I undertake going forward.

But if there was one underlying common denominator that I recognized, it was the fact that you are both so well qualified to present in this field of communication. Probably my most prolific observation was how well read and knowledgeable you are. The breadth and depth of knowledge on so many diverse yet associated subjects kept my unswerving attention. It also opened my mind to a variety of fields that, heretofore, I would not have considered relevant to my interests. And as a presenter, Gary is prolific. I drove away knowing that not only did the seminar give me my money’s worth but I was introduced to some very valuable contacts.

The bottom line is your seminar was both eye opening and entertaining. I came, I saw, I learned, and I even ate healthy. Thanks for everything. John

The son of a father son team sent this note:  Hi Merri!  I just attended your writers camp with my dad this past weekend.  I didn’t get to express how much I appreciated all that you and Gary did for us this weekend because we were in a hurry to get to the airport. Letting us stay in your cottage and having us for your writers camp was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life! Gary and Merri’s stories of adventure, success, your lessons, and advice are truly priceless!!

This camp has inspired me. Writing has always come naturally for me but I never was able to view it as a business opportunity.

This camp has shown me not only that writing can be profitable, but HOW to make it profitable! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me. In my lifetime, I could only hope to see the success that you and Gary have achieved.

I not have only signed up for your newsletter, but I can’t stop spreading the word to my friends about my experience. Thanks again for your amazing hospitality,  Mitchell

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

We share a David Cross video at the camp.

David has an unparalleled, hands-on marketing experience spanning 25 years in 22 countries for companies and charities large and small. He’s guided many companies and individuals to success in business and helped them achieve their marketing goals, both online and offline.   He started working with the internet from the getgo and we have been lucky that he helped us start our website in the 1990s.  He was also Senior Internet Consultant to Agora Inc. in Baltimore, MD.  David worked closely with Agora’s publishers and marketers and over an 8-year period helped to propel Agora’s online revenues to over $300 Million in 2009 until he came to work with Merri and me full time.

More who have written about the Writer’s Camp.

From Sandra, a restaurant owner:  “Dear Gary and Merri, Yes I did it! Without you and your wonderful writing class I would not have been able to see my potential!! I THANK YOU BOTH! You told me to write about what I know and I did. Thank you for all the encouragement. Starting today, we are taking orders and I wanted you to be the first to know! So here goes…..I have some exciting news to share! I have just written my first book and very much appreciate your help. This book would make a great gift for any bride-to-be or even the parents of the bride (especially if they’re paying the bill)! Please check it out. I genuinely appreciate you helping me spread the word! Thank you!! Sandra”

From Jerusha, an anthropologist:  “Hello Gary and Merri. I am the first in the class to publish! I published a calendar on www.lulu.com!

From Todd, a wedding photographer:  “Thanks, Gary and Merri name recognition is beginning. Here is my new photoletter that your program helped me develop. I’m getting more clear about my own marketing now, so I may be able to better advantage of it. I am planning now to send out an email once a week showcasing new photos and creating awareness for my products and services. By mid July, I will place my first greeting card order (with a printing company Merri recommended in Cotacachi). So, I will soon have an inexpensive product to offer along with the more expensive prints that I sell. So far, I’ve got 60 opt-on subscribers to my email list, and I am telling everyone I know about it, so it’s starting to grow nicely. My first goal is to have 1000 readers. I’ll see how quickly I can accomplish it. Take care, Todd”

From Micky, a real estate broker:  “I want to say thank you for the inspiration and encouragement that I received through your publishing program. I recently published a 28 page booklet” Naples is Priceless “. This FREE booklet is being distributed through the Chamber of Commerce, banks, hotels, etc. With over 25 years as a Realtor I can now let potential real estate buyers gain knowledge and inside tidbits about this beautiful area. Again, thank you for helping me develop my potential. Micky”

Meet other successful writers.

Mike Herron who atteded our camp and is now on his second book just wrote:   Hello Gary, I wanted to thank you and Merri for once again providing a wonderful and motivating experience at the Writer’s Camp last month.  As with your other workshops I’ve attended, it inspired me to return home and finish my second book and get it published.

I’m pleased to announce that Appalachian Gold is now completed and available for people to purchase and read.  It is available on Amazon in either e-book format or as a print-on-demand hard copy.

Unlike my first novel, Black Diamonds, the first book in the Colors of Alaska trilogy which takes place in Homer, Alaska, Appalachian Gold is set in the North Georgia Mountains.  As is my style, I interweave local legends with love and bring them to contemporary life.

Susan and I both hope to attend more of your workshops at your North Carolina camps, perhaps we can manage to get up to one this summer.  Maybe we can even work in a book signing at a nearby winery to help spread the word about Appalachian Gold.

Now I will turn my attention to completing the second book in my Alaskan trilogy. It will be called Blue Ice.  Susan and I will be visiting Alaska in May and June doing research for the book, enjoying the majestic scenery, and visiting our son.

If any of your readers are aspiring authors who have yet to be published I would strongly encourage them to sign up for one of your writing camps at the first opportunity.  I know the experience will provide them with the skills, knowledge and perhaps more importantly, the motivation, to return home and turn their dream into reality.

Best wishes always and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Mike

Our online course “Self Fulfilled -  How to be a Self Publisher” is normally $299.  See more here.

Save the $299 and receive this online course FREE now.

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

There are numerous ways to fight food inflation.

Inflation is here… maybe… even most likely stagflation.  Most worrying is the fact that the biggest price rises are in items most of us cannot do without:  energy and food.

An April 16, 2011 article in the Seattle Post entitled “Consumers feel the pinch of pricier gas and food” says (bolds are mine):  Americans are paying more for food and gas, a trend that threatens to slow the economy at a crucial time.

So far, the spike in such necessities hasn’t stopped businesses from stepping up hiring or slowed factory production, which rose in March for the ninth straight month. Still, higher gas prices have led some economists to lower their forecasts for growth for the January-March quarter.

Consumer prices rose 0.5 percent last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Nearly all of the gains came from pricier gas and food.

When taking out those two volatile categories, core inflation was relatively flat. But at the same time, employees are only seeing small, if any, pay increases.

“People have less money to spend on goods other than food and energy and that is going to cause the expansion to slow,” said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

One way to battle the rising cost of nutrition is to live in a country where food is cheap… plentiful and the quality is good… such as Ecuador.

This photo was taken by a recent reader who was traveling in  Ecuador. See more Ecuador food photos by clicking here.

A reader responded to a recent article at our Ecuador Living site entitled Ecuador Food Photos and wrote:

Gary:  Recently, I was in Ecuador for the International Living Conference, and Jean Marie was our guide for the Cotacachi and Coastal Real Estate Tour.  In fact, I was the one who posed the question to the mayor of Urququi about how much time he had remaining in his administration and what assurance we had that his successors would follow his agricultural land sale program.  However, my question here is in what village/city was this photograph (huge and varied fruit/vegetable selections) taken?  These selections are just mind boggling.  I would certainly consider living in this town given the selections and abundance of these health-enhancing foods.

Fruit and vegetables are crucial to my health (I cured myself of colon cancer without chemo by concentrating on fruits and vegetables).  One morning in Cotacachi, I went around the block from your hotel to buy some fruits to gorge on.  I bought 4 (Hawaiian-Solo type) papayas, 2 huge mangoes, 2 limes to squeeze over the papayas and about 12 bananas.  I gave the plastic bag to the vendor, he took a moment to compute the price, and when he told me $1.50 for the lot, I almost fainted.  I thought I was dreaming.  This was absolutely too good.

When I returned home to Los Altos, CA, I went to a fruit/vegie stand and picked up a Hawaian-Solo papaya (from Hawaii, of course), noted that the price per pound was $2.69, weighed it @ 1.5 lbs. and computed it in my mind @ approx. $4.00 for this 1 piece of papaya.  I immediately put the papaya back.

The above price comparison just speaks volumes for moving to Ecuador, in my humble opinion.

This reader expressed a fact that Merri and I have outlined many times. “Food is much better in Ecuador than in the US and incredibly inexpensive!

These food photos above were taken in Cuenca one of the two fastest growing areas in Ecuador.  To help readers understand the fast changing pace in Ecuador I recently added a four part series on Cuenca.  Read that series here.

Another really fast expanding part of Ecuador (with incredible seafood) is Bahia on Ecuador coast.

See a Bahia San Vicente Ecuador airport update here.

Gary

Join Merri and me in a one year program to learn how to prosper from the forces that create inflation.  See below how to be with us in person all the upcoming year.

Prosper From Forces of Inflation

Join Merri and me as we look at ways to prosper from the forces of inflation.

International Club 2011-12 Membership special until May 7, 2011 $1,499. Enroll here.

Inflation is here and the US dollar will fall. This fact is conformed in an April 12, 2011 Wall Street Journal article by Cynthia Lin “Inflation Concerns Weigh on Treasurys”. Here is an excerpt:  Worries that the central bank may be falling behind the curve on inflation weighed on U.S. Treasurys on Monday, even after a senior Federal Reserve official signaled that interest rates could stay low for longer.

The prospect of $66 billion of note and bond auctions also dragged prices lower, strategists said.

“The bottom line is that the current perception has subtly shifted toward the view that global central banks are in monetary tightening mode,” said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers. “Even though the Fed appears to be nowhere near that point, U.S. yields have been dragged higher by surrounding fears of inflation.”

Highlighting those fears, the 10-year breakeven rate—which measures the difference between 10-year Treasurys Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPs, and nominal rates—hit 2.655% on Monday, the highest since May 2006. That signals the market’s annual inflation expectation over the next decade.

As other central banks begin to tighten—including the European Central Bank, which raised rates by 0.25 percentage point Thursday—the fear that U.S. officials may be lowering their guard against global inflation has been a headache for bondholders. It has been especially  troubling for investors holding 30-year bonds, those most vulnerable to inflation eroding their value.

Government bonds were also under pressure from the prospect of supply.

The Treasury is scheduled to sell $66 billion in notes and bonds this week, comprising $32 billion in three-year notes, $21 billion in 10-year notes and $13 billion in 30-year bonds.

With a government shutdown averted, “the focus is back on how well these auctions will go and who will participate in the face of what appears to be future inflation,” said Kevin Giddis, president of fixed-income capital markets at Morgan Keegan.

Still, the policy debate underscores an increasing focus on inflation.

This means that while the US government continues to borrow to spend, other governments are cutting back… a sure sign of US inflation and a weakening greenback.

We consider this risk so high that we have taken the unusual step (the first time in our 43 years of business) of setting our 2012 Spring schedule.Then we created a new option so you can participate in all these seminars and course into 2012.

There are five ways to combat the destructive inflationary forces that will raise havoc with your purchasing power.

#1: Multi Currency Investing through US brokers and bankers abroad.

#2: Commodities.

#3:  Real estate.

#4:  Living in lower cost zones.

#5: Having your own micro business for extra earnings, freedom fulfillment and fun.

We have specialized for over four decades in helping our readers excel in these five inflation beating opportunities.

The big benefits of belonging to the International Club is the power of repetition, updates and international friendships.  As a club member you become friends with other members as you meet again and again.

International Club members are invited to our Florida home during the winter seminars.

Your first savings is $7,690 in 2011 and 2012 just on waived seminar fees.

As you will see below you can attend 11 Florida & North Carolina seminars that would otherwise cost $9,189.  The $1,499 membership saves you $7,690.

Join us and our International Club 2011 – Spring 2012 and enjoy this savings plus much more.

The International Club brings together experienced, like minded souls, who take a positive view and think outside the box..in a constructive…thoughtful way.

Merri and I are in our 43rd year of organizing courses, seminars and newsletters about international and quantum lifestyles. The importance of this sharing…by like minded souls…was reinforced when a delegate from a course sent an email that said:

My Dearest Merri and Gary, Thank you for your most gracious hospitality last weekend. I am just thrilled at being a part of your group. You and Gary were exactly as I imagined you to be, warm friendly, kind, considerate, genuine, helpful, fun, sincere, what else can I say……I felt so comfortable in your presence and learned so much in your course. I was sad to leave the farm that Sunday afternoon. You made us all feel so welcome and cared about. You were so kind to make arrangements for a ride with the other delegates from the Charlotte airport. They were so nice to me and so helpful, by the time the weekend was over I felt like they were my long lost brothers. Monday morning we all had breakfast at the airport together and I was so sad to see them go, I was sad the weekend was over, perhaps sad is not the right word for how I was feeling perhaps Gratitude is a better way to describe it. Grateful for having the opportunity to share the weekend with such wonderful, like minded Human Beings, in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Thank you Merri and Gary.

Thanks to you I now have new hope and a new direction to move forward in my life. Thanks to you I am so ready to move to Ecuador and begin a new life. I just have to figure out what I am going to do and how to do it.

I know by attending your classes and conferences that through education and due diligence I will make the right choices.

This delegate’s comments about “belonging and feeling like a brother” to the other delegates is a wonderful refrain we have heard from our readers, year after year.

21 years ago Merri and I created a way that readers can join us to be immersed in a year-long learning program through our International Club.

The ideas behind this program began all those years ago in Vienna, Austria while we were conducting a course there. One of our older delegates, had some sort of attack. The first fear was heart trouble. Several delegates took him to the hospital. Others stayed with him there. I don’t think that delegate was alone for a minute!

What impressed Merri and me was that no one asked the delegates to help this man.

The friendships of delegates sharing many courses had just grown so strong that it was a natural reaction, just as if a family member was ill. Fortunately, it was only travel fatigue and the delegate didn’t miss a session of the course!

When you join our International Club 2011- Spring 2012 you become part of a special family. The very first member to join the club all those years ago wrote, Thank you for the enjoyable and informative courses. I am pleased to be part of your international family and look forward to continuing my education at the next course.

His feeling struck a familiar chord. It has always been one of my greatest satisfactions to see how much fun delegates have getting together, sharing information and making friendships.

These courses somehow draw together like-minded souls. For this reason some delegates come back again and again. They come to learn, but also to be with their many friends made at the courses. When like-minded souls get together again and again to discuss a common purpose, magic happens! I can’t explain it in any other way-but it is true.

In a way our meetings are almost like family reunions. Perhaps it is getting together and reflecting on what has been said and what has been happening.

Learning with those who are also interested in the world creates thoughts that multiply the value of what we gain. This is hard to describe but results are most powerful and wonderful! This is to me is as important as the great financial benefit of attending many of our courses.

See our 2011 – Spring 2012 schedule below.

We started and have continued this program for 21 years because there are wonderful benefits from having repeat delegates at courses. Having repeat delegates makes the whole course somehow more exciting for all. Being a repeat delegate makes it easier to make and keep wealth and to lock in the knowledge you gain. It’s an exciting lifestyle. We have fun, gain adventure, discovery and friendships and share ways to improve our health and wealth!

Normally we only accept membership at the end of each year… but due to the unusual risk we see now, we added this new option to club membership that entitles you to all US courses in 2011 and the Spring of 2012…  in the cool Blue Ridge of North Carolina and  in Historic Old Florida.

The next saving is Seminars via MP3 (or disc) and one Ecuador tour fee is waived as well.

You’ll see a very busy 12 month schedule below.  Very few club members actually attend every course and tour…  but certainly some attend almost all of them!

If you attend even a few of the courses, you gain considerable savings… PLUS we record the investing and business seminars so you can have the course downloaded on your computer to listen on MP3 or on disc when you cannot attend in person.

This means that you stay in touch with all the business and investing ideas we develop at each of the investing and business seminars you cannot attend.

Here are the courses and tours where your seminar or tour fee is waived.  Then see more savings below.

May 7-8  Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

May  9-10   Shamanic Mingo Tour  ($499 or couple $749)

May  12-13-14   Cuenca Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)

May 17-18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

June 24-25, 2011  International Investing Made EZ,  Jefferson NC. ($499 or couple $749)

June 25-26, 2011   International Business Made EZ,  Jefferson NC. ($499 or couple $749)

International Club members are invited to our farm during June, September and October seminars in North Carolina.

June 16-17-18   Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

January 12-15, 2012  Super Thinking + Spanish, Mt. Dora Florida ($749 or couple $999)

Feb. 10-11, 2012  International Investing Made EZ.  Mt. Dora FL ($499 or couple $749)

Feb.11-12, 2012   International Business Made EZ,  Mt. Dora FL ($499 or couple $749)

March 8-11, 2012  Super Thinking + Spanish, Mt. Dora Florida ($749 or couple $999)

Schedule subject to change. Always check final schedule at www.GaryAScott.com/catalog

International Club 2011 Membership $1,499. Enroll here

There is even a third saving:  $897 more!

When you join the club, I’ll email you our online course “International Business Made EZ”, a $299 value, plus four bonuses.  You receive the bonus course “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher”. which also has a $299 value.

Plus I email you the bonus course “Tangled Web – How to Have Your Own Web Based Business” which also has a $299 value.  Because our self publishing business has become totally online, I am send you this extra course free as I think it will help you have greater success.

In addition you’ll receive the 52 lesson course on how to create your own website using sitesell and finally I include an internet video on how to set up a website presented by our webmaster David Cross.

These courses are valued at $897… in addition to all the US seminars you can attend.

You may well wonder why I would make such an offer and ask why the cost is so low?

Let me answer this question frankly and from the heart. First, it helps us do a better job for you. We feel greatly enriched when we can really help our clients improve their lives. We have learned through years of experience the best way to do this is to meet with you regularly. We can best help you learn how to improve your health and wealth through continual expansion of knowledge.

Second, we gain enormous fulfillment from the many friendships we form through the years. Our friends have enriched our lives tremendously. Let me explain this in more detail.

As a member, you will be part of our international family that meets intensively over the next year to examine ways we can make our lives better. Our goal is beyond just having money. Our goal is to have quantum wealth… good health… wealth and fulfillment through service.

Though we give all course delegates our very best, we cannot help but to do a better job for those who come again and again. As we meet often; your particular wants, needs and desires become clear, and it is easier for us to help you find the right direction.

Another phenomenon is that repeat delegates help each other! They get to know one another, help each other learn, share their insights, make contacts, become friends and gain more wealth.

The fourth savings: Lifestyle for Two.

There is still more!

We have learned at our courses that many repeat delegates were couples.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO!  You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year?

We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

The fifth savings:   You gain Ecuador tour savings as a member of the International Club.

International Club members can benefit in Ecuador in the mountains or…

on the sea.  Delegates and International Club members on tour at Land of the Sun Inn.

View shot by an International Club member of real estate for sale on an Ecuador Pacific real estate tour.

The International Club offers this benefit… as a gift in Ecuador from the organizers of  Ecuador Discovery Tours.

The International Club fee is normally $1,799 yet during this Spring offer which ends May 7,  I have reduce membership to $1,499.  You save $300 more.

Take for example if you plan to attend our Super Thinking + Spanish, $999 for a couple and one International Investing and Business program, the normal cost would be $1,998.   International Club members attending just these two programs would already save… plus could attend all the other  Florida and North Carolina seminars plus receive $897 worth of emailed courses.

Our seminars and the Ecuador tour schedule is shown above.  You can attend all the Florida and North Carolina seminars and choose to accept an Ecuador’s savings.  Morya Ecuador Discovery SA has agreed to let International Club members attend one Ecuador tour in the schedule above for just $40 per person per day internal transportation cost.

This is a savings of up to $599.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses and tours.

Savings #6:  YOU SAVE EVEN MORE if you take a Galapagos Cruise.

We work closely with Haugan Travel which have expanded their fleet so club members can enjoy a Galapagos cruise for as little as $509 per person.

Haugan Cruises has added three new vessels so they have a  broader range of cruises to suit all budgets. They now have 5 vessels and are offering several special introductory tours.  This creates special savings up to $1,000 for all our readers and provides club members an extra savings of up to $554 more…. a total of $1,554 saved.

Savings #7: Membership is normally $1,799 – save $300 more. International Club 2011-12  Membership $1,499 until May 7.

Add all the savings together!

You can calculate the savings as our schedule of all 2011 courses.

Florida & North Carolina seminars you can attend or receive in an MP3 file worth $9,189.

emailed courses sent to you worth $897.

Ecuador Tour Savings up to $599.

$300 membership discount until May 7, 2011.

Total Savings from your $1,499 club membership fee.

You Gain $10,985 of benefit for just $1,499.

Plus more if you take a Galapagos Cruise.

Lock in savings!

Here is one final benefit. When you enroll… we automatically lock in this low fee for next year so your savings are automatically renewed in 2012 and 2013 at $1,499. Of course if you choose not to renew, just simply cancel membership at no cost.

Let’s beat inflation.  Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

International Club 2011-12 Membership $1,499. Enroll here.

Read more about food inflation at  Seattle Post article”Consumers feel the pinch of pricier gas and food

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Household Toxin Report

Yesterday’s message looked at the health benefits of our summer North Carolina farming.

What do we do in the winter?

In the winter we pack up our chickens and head south to Florida where we grow…

oranges commercially.

We also have grapefruit… lemons, tangelos, tangerines, grapes, figs and blueberries we grow for our own consumption… as well as tomatoes, lettuce and greens.

When we took over the commercial grove it was being managed in the traditional, standard non organic way.  Last year, we started tests aimed at becoming more organic using BioWash (a similar product to PurelyGreen mentioned below) and will have our first results on the 2010 harvest.

Or we go even further south to Ecuador and…

enjoy the fresh Ecuador food.  More on Ecuador food and farming in a moment.

I have a plan brewing that includes sustainable farming in North Carolina, Florida and Ecuador (more on this in an upcoming message) but here… this message sticks to one health issue and what we can do to keep our food clean for good nutrition.  Plus a look at how to get rid of existing toxicities.

Yesterday’s message Food Risk looked at Dr. John Douillard’s report about food risk caused by chemicals in food.

Here is a conclusion to what Dr. Douillard shares:

Recently the EWG, Environmental Worker’s Group, reported on the amount of pesticides in our fruits and vegetables.  Celery (non-organic) was found to have 67 pesticides in it even after being power washed.  EWG came up with two lists:

1.    The Dirty Dozen – fruits and veggies with 47-67 pesticides in them.
2.    The Clean Fifteen – a list of clean veggies that are usually safe to eat even if they are not organic. “

The Dirty Dozen

While the FDA tells us that all fruits and veggies have safe and harmless levels of pesticides, The President’s Cancer Panel recommends consumers eat produce without pesticides to reduce the risk of cancer and disease.

The Dirty Dozen were power-washed before testing.  Washing is important to remove bacteria but obviously has little effect on removing pesticides.  If you are going to buy any of the fruits or veggies listed in The Dirty Dozen we highly recommend buying only organic.

Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet Bell Peppers
Spinach, Kale and Collard Greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Grapes
Lettuce

The Clean 15

To ensure that you and your family are safe and healthy, eat organic whenever possible.  The Clean Fifteen (listed far right right) are fruits and vegetables that are considered safe by the EWG to eat even when not organic.

Onions
Avocados
Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet Peas
Asparagus
Kiwi
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantalope
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet Onions
Sweet Potatoes

Picking clean, organic food is half the battle.  Yet there is more because there are 5 dangerous household Toxins are in every room!

Dr. Douillard continues in his report:

Learn how to avoid the five most dangerous household toxins found in every home. These toxins are linked to sexual, nervous system and behavioral problems like Attention Deficit Syndrome and cancers. These chemicals find their way into breast milk in infants and fetuses which makes their impact far greater than previously believed according to CNN and the Environmental Workers Group.

1.    Toxin #1: BPA’s Bisphenols
Plastics found in water bottles, baby bottles, cans and other plastic products. If the plastic bottle has a recycle number of 7 it is toxic.
  Solution: Drink out of stainless containers and use BPA-free tupperware to store food.

2.    Toxin #2: Phthalates. These are fragrances that are not required to be listed in the ingredients of personal care products like creams, shampoos and lotions. These are also hormonal disruptors that store in the body for years.
  Solution: Use only 100% preservative free products, such as our completely natural skin care line.

3.    Toxin #3: Perfluorooctanic acid PFOAs. These are found in Teflons and water resistant clothing.
   Solution: Use cast iron or stainless pots.

4.    Toxin #4: Formaldehyde. Found in pressed wood and glues – a known carcinogen.
   Solution: Buy only whole wood furniture and avoid particle board.

5.    Toxin #5: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers. These are flame retardants and are everywhere:  in clothes, bedding, carports, TVs, electronics, etc.  They end up in the dust we breath and make their way into children, infants and fetuses.  They damage the liver and kidney and – like the rest – effect the brain function and behavior.
   Solution: Dust and vacuum regularly.

These 5 Most Toxic Household Chemicals are found in almost every room in most homes in:

•    storage containers
•    food wrap
•    cans
•    cookware
•    appliances
•    carpets
•    shower curtains
•    clothes
•    personal care products
•    fragrances
•    furniture
•    televisions
•    electronics
•    bedding
•    mattresses
•    dust

See a link to Dr. Douillard’s full report at Lifespa.com below.

Another way to use the PurelyGreen, food cleaner we reviewed in yesterday’s message is to use it to  slow the deterioration of fruit and vegetables. This helps reduce the need toxic food wraps and food containers.

Ted Tidwell the manufacturer of PurelyGreen explained when he wrote:  Another advantage is that PurelyGreen neutralizes the natural ethylene gas that is produced by the plant to cause ripening. After ripening, the ethylene will continue the ripening process until the fruit or vegetable is too ripe to eat. Neutralizing the ethylene slows the ripening process and  prolongs the edibility of fruits and vegetables.

I add about 1/2 cup of of PurelyGreen, Household Blend, to a bowl of water and soak all my fruits and vegetables for about five minutes before eating or storing them. I seldom have to discard produce that becomes too ripe to consume.

Saving a few nickles is enjoyable. When bananas in my local supermarket become too ripe, they wrap them in cellopane and sell several dollars worth for $0.60 cents. I purchase the package, wash it as above, refrigerate them and smugly enjoy my nickle savings for a week or so. Ted

Dr Douillard’s report also stresses the importance of regularly cleaning toxins that have built up in the system.

Ecuador shamans offer purification programs.

You can read a report about the Cotacachi Ecuador organic garden here.

Another way to eliminate toxicity build-up is with Panchakarma.

Learn about Dr Douillard’s Panchakarma at his Colorado clinic.

See the Panchakarma center we use in Florida at “Ecuador Shamanic Way”.

Gary

Learn about Ecuador shamanic tours.

Learn 21 vital health secrets in the Quantum wealth session of our North Carolina seminar this October 7 to 10.

Read Dr Douilard’s entire report and see his video at lifespa.com

An Ecuador cooking school in Cotacachi now offers readers of this site a special opportunity.

See three great Ecuador cooking recipes below.

First, learn how to  find even more Ecuador cooking recipes that blend pre-Incan nutrition notions with modern cooking techniques.

Actually more than a cooking school… “gastronomical education and delight” might be a better phrase because this Ecuador cooking school  is hosted at the luxurious La Mirage Garden Hotel & Spa by La Mirage proprietors Jorge Espinosa and Michel Duer.

La Mirage’s restaurant was one of the first places where Merri and I ate on our first trip to Ecuador.   The wonderfully exquisite cooking there is one reason we fell in love with this country.

We lived one winter at La Mirage and though Merri and I are trustees of a charitable foundation that owns a hotel in Cotacachi, I have to say “La Mirage is the best… not only in the village but in all of Ecuador and rates tops in the world with us”.

There are twenty three luxury rooms at La Mirage and a world class spa with lush private gardens.

Whether you are dipping into a jacuzzi or enjoying a cozy eucalyptus fire in one of the many beautifully decorated rooms, you will find fresh roses everywhere. No detail is overlooked.   Guests range from Hollywood stars and US Senators to royalty.  The Queen of Spain chose La Mirage during her stay in Ecuador.

However,  this message looks at new culinary delights  in the La Mirage kitchen that you can now know and enjoy.

We take most course delegates to visit La Mirage spa at least once during a course and enjoy the great Ecuador cooking there.  The food is incredible.

The chefs are world class, and presentation is at the top of their list. Appetizers are served in individual wooden music boxes, soup is poured hot into your bowl when served and each plate is a work of art. Here I am with delegates at La Mirage.

Here is the risotto starter up close.

The homemade, organic rose ice-cream dessert is out of this world.  Each tiny ball of rose ice-cream hides in the center of a blossom of sugared rose petals.

Everything at La Mirage is exquisite so it was with keen interest and expectation that Merri and I ambled from our hotel to La Mirage to enjoy lunch with the proprietors and hear more about the cooking school.

La Mirage has installed a new teaching kitchen in the Garden Room, where…

we met with Jorge Espinosa and Michel Duer, the La Mirage proprietors with their…

executive chef and sous chef.

Relais & Chateaux simply means… the best.  This is what we saw… the best, an exquisite meal built in front of us… just as those who join these Cotacachi cooking classes will learn and enjoy.

The menu included these three courses (the recipes for this Ecuador cooking is below).

GAZPACHO WITH A SHERBET OF CORIANDER

TIMBAL OF QUINUA TOPPED WITH GINGER OR PARMESAN CHEESE

ASIAN STYLE FRICASSE OF DUCK

Here is the start of the Gazpacho.

Then the chef added…

sherbert and Jorge poured in the gazpacho.

The quinua began with

tomatoes drizzled with two sauces.

Preparation for the quinua.

The chef adds grated freshly grated ginger on top.

Wow!

Now we had to do our work…

the eating.

After the soup and the quinua started, our main course was this duck fricasse.

What can I say?  Delicious… words fail the event… a perfect meal.

You can learn more about the La Mirage cooking school here.

Here are these three Ecuador cooking recipes.  Better still learn much more and attend the La Mirage Cooking School.

These recipes are provided by Jorge Espinosa.

Jorge is a proprietor of the La Mirage Garden Hotel & Spa. He was trained as a Chef at the famous Hotel Training School in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany. before honing his culinary skills cooking at several notable hotels before opening La Mirage in 1986.

At the La Mirage Cooking school Jorge teaches a unique cooking style that blends ancient pre Incan cuisine with his decades of  experience gained while working globally with some of the best chefs in the world.

GAZPACHO WITH A SHERBET OF CORIANDER

Step #1: Peel fresh tomatoes and place into a blender, adding tomato paste, chicken consommé, garlic, pearl onions, basil, olive oil, Worchester sauce,
salt & pepper. Blend and strain into a bowl and place in the fridge.

Step #2: For the sherbet mix coriander, water, sugar in a blender. Place the ingredients into a bowl and place in a freezer to harden.

Step #3: When ready to serve, cut a fresh tomato into small pieces, arrange them on a soup plate into a circle and place the sherbet in the center and pour the cold gazpacho around and garnish with basil.

TIMBAL OF QUINUA TOPPED WITH GINGER OR PARMESAN CHEESE

Step #1: The following ingredients should be sautéed: small cut pieces of chicken, red and green peppers, pearl onion, garlic, fresh dill, fine cut mushrooms, parmesan cheese, olive oil, Worchester Sauce, salt and pepper.

Step #2: Mix the above with the pre-cooked quinua and fill, if possible, into a mold set in the middle of a plate. Two kind of sauces (a rich thousand island
dressing and a Balsamic Vinegar) surround the mold which then is being slowly removed in order not to spoil the decoration. Top it of with either
long slices of Parmesan cheese or optional with caramelized strips of ginger.

ASIAN STYLE FRICASSE OF DUCK

Step#1: Cut a breast of Duck into small pieces, fry rapidly in oil, adding salt and pepper, sweet soya sauce. Add a ginger – soy infusion with
stir-fried vegetables and place on top of sesame rice-noodles.

We hope you’ll join us to share the delights of investing, business and living in Ecuador and the world.

Here is what a delegate at our last tour shared.

Dear Merri,  Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me with all this information.  Your husband cranks out such prolific pieces every day, sometimes two a day!  The tone is always so positive, and the content so interesting and informative.  Best regards to you and Gary,
There are three dates for the school and two price options.

The dates for the cooking classes are:

How about Aug. 28-29-30

Oct. 25-26-27

Nov. 30 Dec. 1-2

The fee for the three days of class and two nights at La Mirage is $854 (including tax) per person for two in a room.  A single supplement is $125 a night plus 22% tax.

If you stay instead at our Inn Land of the Sun (formerly Meson de las Flores…  just a few blocks from La Mirage, the price drops to $579 per person.  There is no single supplement.

For enrollment details contact La Mirage owners Michel Durer Jorge Espinosa at ed@mirage.com.ec

Gary

How We Can Serve You

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell – Investing & Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell – Investing & Business Courses

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

One reason that Merri and I love international investing and business is that it brings broader horizons.

Dusk fought the horizon in darkening finery of oranges and gold. Twilight painted in fading light and brushed amber memories on quiet waters below. In the patina of eventide, weariness descended on a day past. Hushed anticipations grew with thoughts of warm fires, cozy beds and the excitement of new dawnings ahead. This long day and flight were nearly through.

This photo taken by our friend Dennis Goff shows the magnificent scenery we saw on that trip.

We approached Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada, just as the sun slipped beneath the sea. The Cessna 185 settled gently onto smooth water.  From that time, here is a health tip to share with you that we learned on this trip.

The pilot had pushed the little plane high, despite its full load and awkward pontoons, so we could see the spectacular sunset panorama better. Golden lights muted the darkening Pacific islands below. Then we descended with the sun onto a sheltered bay having flown from Florida to Atlanta, Portland, Vancouver and then at last to Salt Spring Island by float plane. The trip had taken 16 hours and we were ready for its end.

Yet our bodies felt good. Our spirits were high! We have studied the physical and emotional aspects of long trips for years. Our travel plans are a science. We use a special routine so we are still bright, happy and full of stamina when we arrive. Besides this trip was an adventure of a lifetime. We felt the extra excitement.

Over the years I have written often about Merri’s and my semi-annual trips to Ayurvedic health spas.  Merri and I travel too much and work too hard. We need this R & R to keep our energies high and minds clear. We learned years ago that we can’t keep drawing money out of our health bank without putting some back in. We have learned that a busy schedule and hectic pace, need a regular deep rest and some form of cleanse.

One Ayurvedic system of health-tune up is an ancient cleansing therapy from India called Panchakarma. This was a twice a year routine for us for seven years. Every spring and fall we took this break. This trip to Salt Spring Island, however, was different as we decided to take an even deeper healing technique called Kayakalpa, a once in a lifetime treatment of rejuvenation.

In the process of trying many different healing technologies, one puzzling point was that the healers often disagreed on how to maintain health, yet each looked and seemed to be in excellent health. In other words, each system seemed to work despite the fuss over which was better than the other.

Many years passed before I realized the problem. Most of the Master healers have learned their skills through generation after generation of oral tradition. Without a printed focus these healing systems have altered ever so slowly and slightly. Thus after dozens, even hundreds of generations of passing down the knowledge, each practice becomes part dogma and part truth.

So when we learn from a Master or take a treatment, we try to not only listen, but to spot what is being said and done that matches what others have said as well. What we hear that is the same from differing practices is more likely to be a truth. Then we put it to the final test and try it to see if it works for us in today’s world. Some stuff we have learned works well if a person lived in a cave or forest with loads of time. But our lives are enmeshed in the busy, Western world.

One practice that permeates every healing practice, we have heard or seen is one of cleansing. Andeans, Amazonians, Tibetans, Indians, etc. all have one form of cleansing or another.

So we frequently share cleansing tips that we have learned which can help us feel better, more energetic and that enhance healing.  This message reminds of the least enjoyable (to me) yet powerful and ancient cleanser, castor oil.  This is one of the most horrible tasting, but most powerful digestive tract cleansings we have experienced and regularly use.

In Ayurved, the taking of castor oil on an empty stomach is called a virechana.

Many whom I have shared this tip with have told me tales of how their mom or grandmother used to make them take this when they were ill. A virechana does not have to wait for a health imbalance to begin. This technique can correct imbalances. To take a virechana, eat a light lunch. Skip dinner or have a small snack and before going to bed take the caster oil. I take (at 150 pounds) six teaspoons. Merri at 113 pounds takes four, but you may wish to start first time with less (one or so).

I take mine mixed in a bit of orange, lemon or grapefruit juice and try to just slug it down. Ugh! It is also easy to take a lemon and sink your teeth into it and soon as it is down. This helps.

You may wish to begin on the lighter side rather than heavier and don’t start until you have a night when you do not have to sleep through. Chances are (though not always) you will be up at least once in the night.

We normally awake feeling much lighter and brighter, full of energy. Yet sometimes we awake after a virechana feeling very dull and loggy, We often try to take this on a night when the next day we can have an easy one. The day after the virechana we always eat very lightly, just juices or light easy to digest food. Always the next day we feel wonderfully great!

Another help I find in virechanas is they reduce my hunger. As a former fatty (I used to weigh 220 pounds), my weight seems to run away with me if I am not careful, so this has become a great weight control device for me.

Castor oil is a powerful cleanser and in another message we will look at its entirely different cleansing capacity when taken with meals.

You can learn more about virechnas from the book, Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Every three weeks for years, we take this type of cleansing.

So there Merri and I were… Americans on a beautiful Canadian island gaining Tibetan healing from an Indian master…  Kayakalpa (Sanskrit: Kaya-body, kalpa-transformation).

There is another simple but profound form of cleaning… of the mind and soul… which often becomes burdened by negativity in our surroundings.

This is an era of astounding wonders… abundance… peace and good health. yet when we are bombarded day by day with negative news… this is easy to forget.  The window to our soul and the wonder of all we have and are becomes covered with the grime of the daily grind.

There is a way to wash away the negative grit from our consciousness and a reminder how to do it comes from the unlikely place of  Swaziland.

This is unlikely an unlikely source of positive news because Swaziland is a really poor place.

Swaziland is a small, landlocked country.   Subsistence agriculture occupies approximately 70% of the population. Customs revenues plummeted during the global economic crisis. There is an estimated 40% unemployment rate and more than a fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2006-07 because of drought.  Nearly 40% of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.

The gross domestic product of the country is estimated at $4,400 and a lot of that is eaten by the privileged class in Swaziland.

69%  of the population is below poverty line and inflation is running around 10%. Swaziland’s currency, the emalangeni. has been dropping badly versus the US dollar . It was   10.5 (2009),  7.75 (2008),  7.4 (2007), 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005).

I know all this because our daughter Francesca works for the UN and has lived there for several years.  She is leaving soon returning to England and recently as we were Skyping she shared two powerful worry cleansers… simple but powerful.

Here is Francesca, hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa and Lesotho expanding her…

horizons with…

husband, Sam.

As we spoke Francesca told me about two simple consciousness cleansing phrases the Swazis use in their daily toil.

First when a job is done… the phrase “Minus one trouble.”

The next one is even better… when troubles arise… they say  “Too blessed to stress”.

What a gift from people so seemingly poor… sharing with us who are so rich…  “Minus one trouble” and  “Too blessed to stress.”

Use these mental emotional cleansers and pretty soon troubles will have to be gone.

Since you’ll be too blessed to stress… no new troubles can come your way.

“Minus one trouble”… “Too Blessed to stress” are great window cleaners to our soul.

Shortly all troubles leave.  Challenges yes.  Things to do… of course. Changes to embrace… for sure.  Adaptions to evolve… that’s life.  Work to do… a blessing.  Yet when our attitudes… our consciousness are correct, problems are opportunities not troubles or negatives that cause stress.  So there you have it… some very small yet international ideas that expand horizons for the body, mind and soul.

Gary

How We Can Serve You

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell – Investing & Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell – Investing & Business Courses

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

Green international investments can help investors prosper due to the threat of an EMP terrorist attack.

Tuesday’s message at this site saw seven steps that could help us survive and prosper in a new era that could unfold due to a terrorist EMP attack.

Yesterday’s message looked at the importance of securing food in an EMP terrorist attack.

This threat of a terrorist EMP attack could accelerate opportunity in green international investments.

We’ll look at these in a minute… plus some Ecuador real estate plus how the risk of  a energy grid shut down could accelerate green investments.

First… let me reiterate… I do not think the sky is falling.  The sun always shines somewhere and the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.  God…Nature or whatever you wish to call your Higher Being always takes care of us. 

May I quote a wonderful passage about this from  John James Ingalls (a Senator from Kansas 1873 to 1891), address in “In Praise of Blue Grass.”

Grass is the forgiveness of nature–her constant benediction.  Fields trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the ruts of cannon, grow green again with grass, and carnage is forgotten.  Streets abandoned by traffic become grass-grown like rural lanes, and are obliterated.  Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers vanish, but grass is immortal.  Beleaguered by the sullen hosts of winter, it withdraws into the impregnable fortress of its subterranean vitality, and emerges upon the first solicitation of Spring.  Sown by the winds, by wandering birds, propagated by the subtle horticulture of the elements which are its ministers and servants, it softens the rude outline of the world.  Its tenacious fibres hold the earth in its place, and prevent its soluble components from washing into the wasting sea.  It invades the solitude of deserts, climbs the inaccessible slopes and forbidding pinnacles of mountains, modifies climates, and determines the history, character, and destiny of nations.  Unobtrusive and patient, it has immortal vigor and aggression.  Banished from the thoroughfare and the field, it bides its time to return, and when vigilance is relaxed, or the dynasty has perished, it silently resumes the throne from which it has been expelled, but which it never abdicates.  It bears no blazonry or bloom to charm the senses with fragrance or splendor, but its homely hue is more enchanting than the lily or the rose.  It yields no fruit in earth or air, and yet should its harvest fail for a single year, famine would depopulate the world.

Our horses here at our Blue Ridge farm really believe this.

They are allowed to roam the farm freely except in our front yard.  But once a year, in the autumn, we let them in.

They crop and fertilize the lawn. This makes the horses really happy.

They love chomping, lying, rolling and sleeping in the grass.

Play in the grass

Blaze, the oldest, relaxes so much that when I sent this picture to our grandson Garren, he panicked thinking that Blaze was dead.

He’s not. Up he came…

On the subject of international investing and grass. I finally received my new Neuton weed eater.

This is a neat machine.

I have been using a Neuton electric lawn mower and when I ordered this weed eater they were 1,500 orders behind!

This shows the demand for green products.

Neuton says at its website: We are dedicated to making the world’s most innovative and dependable battery-powered lawn and garden equipment for people who care about the maintenance of their properties and the health of our environment.  Our forward-thinking designs reduce the noise and pollution of traditional gas power equipment, making yard work more enjoyable. Consistent with these goals, a portion of our profits are donated to community organizations working to clean our air.

Using innovative designs in rechargeable, battery-powered products we¹re developing unique and reliable tools that are easy to use and are easy on the environment. And together with our customers, we¹re redefining the way people care for their properties.

Designed in Vermont

Neuton battery-powered mowers are a reflection of the simplicity, ingenuity and values that define Vermont. At their core, Neuton battery-powered mowers are:

* Hard working – providing high powered cutting capacity with professional results
* Simple – delivering an ease of use and storage you won’t find elsewhere
* Responsible – exhibiting a profound respect for the environment

* A cleaner and more efficient way to mow your lawn. In fact, Forbes magazine recently rated Vermont the number one “Greenest State.”

Neuton and the Environment
Neuton battery-powered mowers are the #1 selling battery-powered mowers on the planet. Our belief in the environmental benefits of Neuton is a strong one. We call it our Clean Air Initiative.

Since we started, we have subsidized the purchase of thousands of Neutons across America in exchange for dirty/gas-guzzling mowers. In Southern California alone, 16,000 residents have replaced their mowers with Neutons. The result has been a staggering emissions reduction of 600 tons per year.

And with Neuton, reducing environmental impact extends even further.  The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse rated Neuton the quietest rotary mower you can buy.

The bottom line is you get big-time results, while leaving behind a small environmental footprint.

Neuton’s success shows the potential for green products.  The threat of an EMP terrorist attack has the potential to accelerate the value of green investments because it could shut down North America’s national energy grid.  Tis may speed up the development and use of individual energy systems.

Neuton is not a public company so we cannot buy shares, but tomorrow’s message looks at how to take advantage of good international green opportunity.

The risk of an EMP attack also accelerates demand for Ecuador real estate.

See for example how this sloping 10 acre corn field with outstanding 360 degree views, offers extra opportunity at Cotacachi real estate tours.

Gary

Let’s share ways and lifestyle alterations that protect as they provide joy, satisfaction, better health and enhanced wealth.

You may not be able to (or want) to move your home abroad or to a rural area.   Yet gardening, even in urban areas,  can be healthy and fun.  Holding some precious metals is probably a good investment anyway.  We should be taking care of our health even when their is no threat of war.

When it comes to holding assets abroad… our multi currency course can help.

Nov. 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

December 6-8 Blaine Watson’s  Beyond Logic & Shamanic Tour

December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

December 11-13 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

Join us in 2010.   Attend more than one seminar and tour and save even more plus get the three emailed courses free.

Our multi seminar-tour discounts have grown!  See the 2010 winter schedule below.  To Enroll click below.

1 real estate tour  $499 Couple $749

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour ($499) Couple $749
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Feb. 15-16   Travel to Quito and Andes
Feb  17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here

See Neuton’s website here

Finding food and water could be a problem in a terrorist EMP crisis.

Tuesday’s message at this site saw seven steps that could help us survive and prosper in a new era that could unfold if there would be a terrorist EMP attack.

#1:  Move well away from the USA…. to an agriculturally based country.  This is one reason Merri and I have been active in Ecuador for nearly 15 years.
#2: Move to Small Town USA.  Our sites have been looking at the benefits of this for years and why we live on an agricultural property.
#3: Create your own source of food & water.
#4: Create a local source of hardened energy and communications.
#5: Keep some gold and or silver on hand.
#6: Know how to take care of your own health.
#7:  Hold some assets outside of North America.

We’ll look at some Ecuador food property below.  First, this message looks at some ideas that can help us improve our odds of having access to food and water in a terrorist EMP crisis wherever we are.

May I share three important points up front?

Point #1: I do not think (or maybe hope) that a crisis of serious magnitude will take place in our lifetime.

Point #2: Yet one could… so I try to be somewhat prepared… without jerking my entire life out of joint.

Point #3:  None of the steps that Merri and I have taken below have anything to do with expecting a terrorist crisis.  One cannot foresee all the consequences of a maximum magnitude terrorist crisis. Trying to do so is inefficient… and wastes time. History suggests that humanity always figures out how to avoid the big terrorist crunch… and/or adapts when the terrorists attack.

Merri and I try to live our life down the path we feel we are led… enjoy it… prepare reasonably and then leave the rest in the hands of God.

Let’s look at what we have done about food and water.   Then recognizing that most of mankind does not or cannot live in places as isolated as ours, we’ll look at some more urban alternatives.

Our North Carolina farm can certainly provide all the food and water a family needs.  Many generations who lived here have proved this fact.

Yet it is our love for this life and the people of the Blue Ridge that brought and keeps us here part of each year…. not security from a terrorist attack.

This is a side benefit that this lifestyle provides us with an independent source of food…. domestic and wild.

On the wild side we see…

wild turkeys in our front yard…

often.  This is a normal scene that I photographed. There were 15 turkeys in this flock… all cruising across our front yard.

I expect we could have plenty of venison…

like these deer I photoed in our front yard.  I recently placed my wildlife camera up the hill from the house and…

in a couple days…

had pictures of 20 deer or so including this small forked horn. We saw two big bucks, (a big four point and six point) walking together on a recent walk.

Plus the creek is full of trout.  Here are a couple I stuck on one of our cabins.

We have a pond also…

that helps us on the domestic side, raising fish and ducks that…

grow!

Not to mention our geese.

We never buy eggs because…

our chickens lay more than we can eat and the flock…

grows and…

grows and grows.

We have built a new varmint proof (I hope) pen that…

includes a greenhouse sitting in a sunny spot so the chickens remain warm (and laying) though winter’s cold.

Speaking of the greenhouse, we can grow greens and vegetables though the winter, plus…

we have many apples and acres of blackberries, plus a storage place to keep them with our potatoes… plus

pumpkins and squash and…

sunflowers grow really well here.  We especially focus on spaghetti squash as it stores through the winter in this potato cellar.

Water.  Our creek starts at the top of our farm with many springs like this.

Water is everywhere… pure… clean, seeping and trickling out of the rocks so by the time it reaches the lower part it is…

this.

If a terrorist attack knocked out all forms of domestic energy, we would not even give up our hot baths since this…

tub is heated by a wood fire.

We have transportation.

and raise fish and grow greens in our back yard.

We were doing all this before Merri and I had a clue about EMPs and the risk of a terrorist attack.

What can one do… if… you do not want to live on a farm?

There are options.

One option is an urban farm. A recent AP article entitled “USDA to Unveil “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Initiative” by Ken Meter provides some clues. Here are excerpts from this article.   As I prepare for five days of announcements next week, when USDA plans to unveil its new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, the buzz across my desk is about the potential for urban agriculture.  EPA reminds that brownfield moneys can be used to convert polluted land into working farms in inner-city areas.  I think the potential is enormous, especially in formerly industrial cities, where the big factories are not going to come back, but there are large tracts of vacant land that already have water mains (think irrigation) running under them. Each of these cities spends billions of dollars for food, and can generate significant local income by building the farms and distribution channels needed to cycle that food within city borders. We’ll also need to grow new urban farmers, and tap the excellent skills that many new immigrants already have in growing food.

Did you know that forty-one percent of all U.S. agricultural commodities are sold from farms in metropolitan counties?  Were you aware that 55% of the money made from producing farm commodities was made in metropolitan areas in 2007 ($15.7 billion of $28.7 billion)?  Moreover, Department of Defense studies show that Victory Gardens during World War II produced 40% of all produce consumed by Americans, after two seasons of gardening. This shows the potential for small-scale activity adding up to a big difference.

Gardening can provide food… plus it is good for you.  I believe living on a farm has helped my health.  Walking a lot is good. Working in fresh air can’t be bad.

If you can’t or don’t want to garden… how about participating in Community Assisted Agriculture (CSA)?

Here is an article from the Local Harvest website which I have linked below.

Thinking about signing up for a CSA but want to learn more about the idea before you commit? Read on.  Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief…

Advantages for farmers:

•    Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
•    Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
•    Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

•    Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
•    Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
•    Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
•    Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
•    Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

It’s a simple enough idea, but its impact has been profound. Tens of thousands of families have joined CSAs, and in some areas of the country there is more demand than there are CSA farms to fill it. The government does not track CSAs, so there is no official count of how many CSAs there are in the U.S.. LocalHarvest has the most comprehensive directory of CSA farms, with over 2,500 listed in our grassroots database. In 2008, 557 CSAs signed up with LocalHarvest, and in the first two months of 2009, an additional 300 CSAs joined the site.

The many of you who have, or plan to join us in Ecuador gain added food security because Ecuador is such an agricultural country. See more on this at Ecuador Food.

There are many Ecuador agricultural properties for sale at low prices. Here is an Ecuador avocado farm for sale. Here is the farm house and workers house from the back.

Here, in front of the houses, is the fruit… the cash generator.

The avocados are flowering for their first crop.  See more on this Ecuador avocado farm here

The sky is not falling. Yet it could… because of a terrorist EMP attack.  So it makes sense to find enjoyable, healthy ways to live that also ensure your supply of food and water.

Gary

Let’s share ways and lifestyle alterations that protect as they provide joy, satisfaction, better health and enhanced wealth.

You may not be able to (or want) to move your home abroad or to a rural area.   Yet gardening, even in urban areas,  can be healthy and fun.  Holding some precious metals is probably a good investment anyway.  We should be taking care of our health even when their is no threat of war.

When it comes to holding assets abroad… our multi currency course can help.

Nov. 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

December 6-8 Blaine Watson’s  Beyond Logic & Shamanic Tour

December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

December 11-13 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

Join us in 2010.   Attend more than one seminar and tour and save even more plus get the three emailed courses free.

Our multi seminar-tour discounts have grown!  See the 2010 winter schedule below.  To Enroll click below.

1 real estate tour  $499 Couple $749

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour ($499) Couple $749
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Feb. 15-16   Travel to Quito and Andes
Feb  17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here

Learn more about Community Supported Agriculture here

Here is an Ecuador health tip.

Yesterday’s message at this site saw seven steps that could help us survive and prosper in a new era that could unfold.

#1:  Move well away from the USA…. to an agriculturally based country.  This is one reason Merri and I have been active in Ecuador for nearly 15 years.

#2: Move to Small Town USA.  Our sites have been looking at the benefits of this for years and why we live on an agricultural property.

#3:  Create your own source of food.

#4: Create a local source of hardened energy and communications.

#5: Keep some gold and or silver on hand.

#6: Know how to take care of your own health.

#7:  Hold some assets outside of North America.

Here is an Ecuador health tip that can help us accomplish goal #6 to know how to take care of our own health.   The Ecuador health tip is “Look alike foods can help us use nutrition to gain better health”.

I wrote about this in a previous message a year or two again but some messages seem important enough to me for repetition… so here goes.

Here is a really simple tip for better health that Merri and I learned from Ecuador shamans and yatchaks.

As above…so below.

Merri and I lived for years with many shamans in Ecuador and they used the as above concept in many ways.

Gary with Aldemar shaman in the Amazon

One way Ecuador shamans use nutrition to promote good health is with what I call “look alike food.”

Gary & Merri with shaman Alberto Taxco in the Llanganatis

For example when I had a bad fall (in a marble bathroom) and suffered brain injuries, the shamans recommended that I eat many walnuts. They believe that walnuts are good brain food and explained they could tell because walnuts look like a brain.

Shaman performing ceremony at our Blue Ridge farm.
So when this note was sent to me, I thought it worth passing along.

It’s been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish… all before making a human. He made and provided what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We’re such slow learners…

God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!

God’s Pharmacy! Amazing!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruit, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

So keep this idea in mind when thinking about health or wealth.

As above…So below.

Gary

Nov. 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

December 6-8 Blaine Watson’s  Beyond Logic & Shamanic Tour

December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

December 11-13 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

These courses change lives! The shamanic tour helped Michelle Toole who provides a free internet course at our site.  Michelle was disabled and the ceremony helped her recover.  She now has a thriving business and here is what she wrote.

Hi Merri and Gary, I just wanted to take a minute to let you know how much I enjoyed Ecuador. The both of you offer an amazing wealth of information and experience and I am grateful for your on-going support and encouragement.  Although it has been a while since I was in Ecuador the experience still resonates with me, specifically  with the Shamanic Healing Ceremony.  As with most things unless you are open and willing your experience will be limited, but mine was not. It was a moving ceremony that I would encourage other readers to share.  Finding your center is a struggle for most of us and sometimes it takes outside experiences to help us get there, that is the gift the shamanic experience gave me.  Thank you for broadening my journey and sharing apart of yourselves.  Be Well,  Michelle Toole

See Michelle’s website at http://healthy-holistic-living.com

Join us in 2010.   Attend more than one seminar and tour and save even more plus get the three emailed courses free.

Our multi seminar-tour discounts have grown!

See the 2010 winter schedule below.

To Enroll click below.

1 real estate tour  $499 Couple $749

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour ($499) Couple $749
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Feb. 15-16   Travel to Quito and Andes
Feb  17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here

A new international investing era could be created by a destructive scientific fundamental that is now so powerful it could overwhelm all other factors determining our wealth. This danger has such power that it could destroy most investors and much worse… end civilization as we know it.

Photo from Wikepedia report on Electromagnetic pulse weapons.

The most frightening part is that this force could unleash its destruction on us… now… at any time!

I want to share what, why and when this disaster could happen.

Then, I want to share how you can be protected rather than ruined.  We’ll even see how this, with luck, could be the creator of untold wealth which you, I, and a handful of cautious, insightful investors could share.

Before I explain how to safeguard your family from this possible upcoming disaster, let me explain that I first began to understand the magnitude of the risk after reading the New York Times best selling novel “One Second After” written by bestselling author, William R. Forstchen.

The story had extra meaning for me because it shows life in a small North Carolina town (similar to where Merri and I live during the summer) after an electro magnetic pulse is detonated by terrorists over the United States.

In the story the electrical grid and anything using a computer stopped working due to an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) created by just three small nuclear devices, launched from container ships and detonated high above the USA.

Without central communication and distribution, mass devastation and chaos ensued immediately.   The agony was terrible and life almost unfathomably complicated.

What made this fiction meaningful is that the book really documents and details the West’s dangerous reliance on technological systems which are so extensive that no one even recognizes them any more.

Adding to the terror of this book is a forward by Newt Gingrich and and afterword by Captain Bil Sanders (USN) one of the foremost experts on EMP. His comment  on how an EMP exploded over the US would create the Compton effect and how it would have “devastating consequences on our country” should be examined and understood.

It was Captain Sanders’ deep understanding of EMPs that made the warning in this book so powerful.

In a moment we’ll share ways to protect against this disaster… that could happen to all of us… suddenly… at any time.

First here are three facts that you should know.

EMP Fact #1: Many countries, including the US have EMP weapons that have nothing to do with a nuclear bomb and are quite small. They essentially put out a high energy very sharp spike of energy – high frequency and very short wavelength, short duration pulse.

However it is the nuclear EMP device that creates the greatest risk.  These are nuclear bombs that DO NOT CREATE DAMAGE FROM THEIR BLAST, HEAT OR NUCLEAR FALLOUT.   Instead the weapons create an electrical wave that fries just about anything with a computer.  A survey of open sources over the past decade finds that knowledge about EMP and EMP attack is evidenced in at least Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Egypt, Taiwan, Sweden, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Iran, North Korea, China and Russia.

Russian and Chinese military scientists in open source writings have shown how to design nuclear weapons that generate an extra powerful EMP effect called Super-EMP that can destroy even the best protected military and civilian electronic facilities.

EMP Fact #2:  This risk has grown to such an extent that America’s electrical grid is so vulnerable to terrorist attack that the Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson is pushing a bill to give the energy commission broad authority for “true emergency situations.”

This is explained in a recent USA Today article entitled “Electrical grid vulnerable to terrorist attack”  by Thomas Frank.  Here are excerpts from that article: It sounds like a science-fiction disaster: A nuclear weapon is detonated miles above the Earth’s atmosphere and knocks out power from New York City to Chicago for weeks, maybe months.

This graphic is from the USA Today article linked below.

Experts and lawmakers are increasingly warning that terrorists or enemy states could wage that exact type of attack, idling electricity grids and disrupting everything from communications networks to military defenses.

An expert panel that Congress created to study such an attack says it would halt banking, transportation, food, water and emergency services and “might result in defeat of our military forces.”

“The consequences would be catastrophic,” said Joseph McClelland, director of the energy commission’s Office of Electric Reliability. Full recovery could take up to 10 years, he said.

The scenario involves a phenomenon called an “electromagnetic pulse,” or EMP, which is essentially a huge energy wave strong enough to knock out systems that control electricity flow across the country.

The immediate effect would resemble a blackout. Although blackouts can be restored quickly, an EMP could damage or destroy power systems, leaving them inoperable for months or longer.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is pushing a bill to give the energy commission broad authority.

At a committee hearing in July, Steve Naumann of energy giant Exelon said the authority should be limited to “true emergency situations.”

The commission studying the threat says the U.S. is ill-prepared to prevent or recover from an EMP, a vulnerability could invite an attack.

“We are not well-protected at all,” said Michael Frankel, who was executive director of the commission.

EMP Fact #3:  If an EMP event takes place, the Western World could quickly run out of food. Here is an excerpt of a transcript of a speech given by Professor Sir John Beddington, chief scientific adviser to the British government, at the GovNet SDUK09 event.  This has become know as “The Perfect Storm” speech.

I spoke here last year at about the same time about the issue of the food crisis and the burgeoning increases in food prices that were being driven by population growth, use of biofuels and so on.

The first problem here is that we really have a major issue. This graph takes a little bit of explanation; it is the ratio of our reserves to our consumption. What it is showing is that last year is the lowest level of reserves that we have had as a proportion of our consumption in years, since 1970 and actually since records were taken of this sort.

That means that we’ve got somewhere like reserves of around 14% of our consumption, that implies, give or take, 38 or 39 days of food reserves if we don’t grow any more.

As you can see, it’s the lowest level that we’ve actually had.  Is that a problem?  Well the answer is yes it is going to be a problem.  We saw the food spike last year; prices going up by something in the order of 300%, rice went up by 400%, we saw food riots, we saw major issues for the poorest in the world, in the sense that the organisations like the World Food Programme did not have sufficient money to buy food on the open market and actually use it to feed the poorest of the poor.

But this is England, not North America.  Right?

Beddingdon’s note shows that North America might not be able to rely on Europe for much food assistance and…

America’s food reserves are even worse as explained in this excerpt from last year’s article “The US has no grain reserves” published in the Tri State Observer, Milford, PA. The excerpt says:  Larry Matlack, President of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM), has raised concerns over the issue of U.S. grain reserves after it was announced that the sale of 18.37 million bushels of wheat from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.

“According to the May 1, 2008 CCC inventory report there are only 24.1 million bushels of wheat in inventory, so after this sale there will be only 2.7 million bushels of wheat left the entire CCC inventory,” warned Matlack. “Our concern is not that we are using the remainder of our strategic grain reserves for humanitarian relief. AAM fully supports the action and all humanitarian food relief.

Our concern is that the U.S. has nothing else in our emergency food pantry. There is no cheese, no butter, no dry milk powder, no grains or anything else left in reserve. The only thing left in the entire CCC inventory will be 2.7 million bushels of wheat which is about enough wheat to make 1⁄2 of a loaf of bread for each of the 300 million people in America.” (MY BOLD)

The CCC is a federal government-owned and operated entity that was created to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices. CCC is also supposed to maintain balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities and aids in their orderly distribution.

“This lack of emergency preparedness is the fault of the 1996 farm bill which eliminated the government’s grain reserves as well as the Farmer Owned Reserve (FOR),” explained Matlack.

This is backed up by a Scienceblog article that says: “The US Government Has Zero Grain Reserves.”

In 1996, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (“Freedom to Farm Act”) called for elimination of government stockpiles of grain.  I’m sure someone thought it made sense, at the time.

Now, the United States government has no reserves of butter, cheese, dry milk, barley, corn, oats, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, rice, sugar, honey, peanuts, canola seed, crambe, flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower seed, sunflower seed, peas, lentils, chickpeas, and cotton.  [Source: US Farm Service Agency, Current CCC Inventory (PDF file)]

The book, “One Second After”, clearly and very dramatically (but I am not sure how accurately) drives home the point that unless a person takes a unique financial stance that his finances, and maybe even his or her life, could be wiped out.   Many military and scientific studies support this monumental economic, social and life threatening risk.

Yet you do not have to ruined by EMP.  You may even find that this potential weapon will create extra ordinary wealth that a few investors will share.  Here is how and why.

First, there is no proof that an EMP event as described above would create quite the havoc mentioned above.

Here is how one scientist whom I have known for years and trust completely, explains this.

“I’m not sure how large an effect the nuclear device would have above the atmosphere — the pulse might dissipate somewhat along the earth’s electromagnetic field.  It would probably take out a lot of communications and military satellites.

“Electronic devices that are not attached to any power source and that do not have an antenna when the EMP pulse hits could survive – even better with some shielding material.”

EMPs could be the driving force for the next investing era.

Just like the nuclear threat in the Cold War…  an EMP attack may never happen.   Yet because it could… the perception of risk… has created a huge rush by many governments to develop new weapons and forms of protection… just as during the Cold War.

This site and our multi currency site have repeated many times how stock market bulls and bears are based on cycles of human interaction, war, technology and productivity.

These cycles are intricately connected with the new waves of productivity that grow from the great human platform of combat. The cycle goes like this.

An economic downturn enhances a war or threat of war. Struggles for survival in the war (like the Civil War, WWI, WWII and the Cold War (WWIII), super charge inventiveness that creates new forms of productivity…the steam engine, the internal combustion engine,  production line processes, jet engines, TV, farming techniques, plastics, telephone, computer and lastly during the Cold War, the internet.

Each new invention helped win a war.  Shifting the technology to domestic use… after the war… created a boom.

Each boom leads to excess.

Each excess led to a correction.  The correction creates an economic downturn.

The economic downturn enhances a war or threat of war.

Here we are… in the correction again… at the correct time when we should expect that another war (or threat of war such as the Cold War) should begin to build!   This latest downturn started almost exactly (1998), 16 years after the last boom began (1982)…which began after the last great human struggle called the Cold War.

If the cycle repeats, the struggle should build now due to the poor economy.

The key for spotting the greatest investment opportunities is to spot the next big invention… the technology that will spin out of WWIV.

The key is that a problem must have such severe consequences (such as losing the war and being destroyed) that all stops… all logics of return on investment are ignored.  Technology and research are pushed full steam ahead regardless of cost. The threat must be real and serious… like EMP.

There are seven steps you can take to assure that you are not destroyed by an EMP.

#1:  Move well away from the USA…. to an agriculturally based country.  This is one reason Merri and I have been active in Ecuador for nearly 15 years.

#2: Move to Small Town USA.  Our sites have been looking at the benefits of this for years and why we live on agricultural property.

#3:  Create your own source of food.

#4: Create a local source of hardened energy and communications.  This is one reason our newest real estate purchase is also agricultural property and already has a HAM radio tower installed.

#5: Keep some gold and or silver on hand.

#6: Know how to take care of your own health.

#7:  Hold some assets outside of North America.

Merri and I have already taken six of these seven steps… and are well on our way to completing the seventh step.  From this we learned one really important point.

You should not suffer in the process of  gaining this protection either.

Merri and I did not move to the country… buy our Blue Ridge farm… set up our own food supply… start our garden… buy agricultural land in Florida… get a ham radio tower… buy gold and silver… organize assets out of the US and become involved in taking care of our own health naturally because we were worried about EMPs.  We did so because we wanted to.

Chances are that an EMP attack will NOT take place.  During the Cold War nuclear bomb shelters were not required!

Yet can we take a chance?  Ignoring this risk and with no action is not the answer either.

Instead let’s share ways and lifestyle alterations that protect as they provide joy, satisfaction, better health and enhanced wealth.

You may not be able to (or want) to move your home abroad or to a rural area.   Yet gardening, even in urban areas,  can be healthy and fun.  Holding some precious metals is probably a good investment anyway.  We should be taking care of our health even when their is no threat of war.

When it comes to holding assets abroad… our multi currency course can help.

Since mankind began, every generation has endured some great threat or risk.  Yet here we are… still growing!  Only time will tell whether EMP will create havoc or the greatest new wave of wealth we have seen.  Whichever, Merri and I will be here to share the experience with you.

Gary

The greatest asset of all is the ability to earn wherever you live, which brings everlasting wealth.

This is why we offer our course Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business.

A clear mind and healthy body are also a vital assets… plus a second language is a powerful diversification tool.

This is why I am giving everyone who enrolls in our North Carolina or Ecuador International Business & Investing seminar in October or November our “Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business Course” (offered at $299) free.

Here are comments from a reader about the way we help:  Thank you for your inspiration and information outlining foreign banking and retirement.  Your comments and suggestions are welcome for planning the steps to evaluate the early stages of living abroad.

Nov. 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

December 6-8 Blaine Watson’s  Beyond Logic & Shamanic Tour

December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

December 11-13 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

Join us in 2010.   Attend more than one seminar and tour and save even more plus get the three emailed courses free.

Our multi seminar-tour discounts have grown!

See the 2010 winter schedule below.

To Enroll click below.

1 real estate tour  $499 Couple $749

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour ($499) Couple $749
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Feb. 15-16   Travel to Quito and Andes
Feb  17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here

Read the entire articles:

Electrical grid vulnerable to terrorist attack

The US has no grain reserves” published in the Tri State Observer, Milford, PA.