FEMA Faceoff: Truth as an Urban LegendGaye Levy, Contributor In recent months we have all read and seen videos of the large-scale movement of military gear, including equipment which could be used to control an unruly US civilian population. To add to that, the US Armys forward training documents reveal that the military is contingency planning for major US in civil turmoil in 2016. That this could theoretically be caused by the hard bite of the Second Depression and people not seeing it coming is of great concern to us. That, plus the fact that the majority of the population will not be properly prepped when it all comes tumbling down. When writing about tank movement and such on our websites, one of our readers suggested that this was normal movement and that the tanks and other heavy gear were likely headed for Fort Irwin (near Barstow) for war gaming and to be fitted with the latest and greatest electronics. But in the hundreds? That fails the smell test when we are told that Afghanistan will be winding down. Something simply is not adding up. So, while the economic side of things is Georges bailiwick, and the prepping side is Gayes, we both feel that the two cannot be separated when dire times hit; and, further, that the truth about what is coming needs to be exposed for the greater good of our citizens. Given that, what is the responsible, journalistic thing to do? Get ahead of the problem help dispel paranoia and BS on the Net and get some tough questions answered. When Gaye returned home, she called George and the two of us put our heads together and came up with some questions that we hoped would debunk the Internet rumor mill as it relates to FEMA. You know what we are talking about: body bags, army equipment, limits on banking . . . all that troubling stuff that is increasingly getting play on the Internet. Why? While quite simply, there are all kinds of grim Its the end of the world, its 2012, go hide under the bed with the cat while you can! stories on the Internet. In fact, weve estimated that world ending stories, books, videos, speaking appearances, radio, and online advertising probably adds up to perhaps $400-million (or more) which is an interesting industry. Add to that all of the revenue from late night talk shows, the survival gear and prepping goods industries; and, to some extent, even the increases in gun and ammunition sales. None of which, by the way, has slowed down since the recent massacre in Aurora. But the problem we all have is this: Whenever one of those stories about Concentration camps are being built in America to house Americans! comes along, how many news sources in the Mainstream Media [also known as the MSM or olde media] actually make an effort to get the flip side of the story; the response from officialdom? Zip, zilch, nadda. So we began our quest for the truth with a FEMA faceoff. The Journey Through the FEMA PR Abyss But something happened along the way. Whereas Mr. Penn did answer our questions, his efforts were stonewalled by the FEMA legal and PR departments. Here is what he said in an email toGaye: WTF? We asked direct, no BS questions and get the government-three-step? Time went by months actually with a good deal of back and forth between Gaye and Mr. Penn. Finally, after three months, we receive a response from Carter Langston, Manager of the FEMA News Desk who claimed that Mr. Penns authority did not extend to answering our questions. 1. Lets start with the FEMA mission statement: Most folks tend to think of FEMA as a huge, bureaucratic monster whose goal is to rescue our citizens from the perils of a natural disaster. As a result, lots of people got all over FEMAs case over the handling of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. What did the agency learn from those events? (Gayes Note: the link provided does not work.) 3. It has been our observation that FEMA has put a lot of time and effort into creating a credible source for preparedness information of all types. This includes tools to educate and help mitigate the consequences of everything from natural disasters, to biological and terrorist attacks, to nuclear threats and more. In spite of this, there is a great deal of suspicion that this is just a cover and that instead, there is some hidden agenda involved. As Preppers, let us first say that we personally feel that the READY.GOV site performs a huge service to our citizens. But with that said, what is being done to spread the word and actually convince the skeptics that the information available is what it says it is? Now let us move on to some of the tougher questions at hand the questions that so far have gone unanswered. 4. Conspiracy sites for more than a year have been running pictures, stories, and even videos on YouTube about the body boxes and plastic caskets which have been produced in large numbers (some estimates go as high as half a million). Is that something FEMA has a large inventory of? What can you tell us about these? 5. Another popular topic on conspiracy sites is the ongoing discussion of FEMA concentration camps being built on American soil with the intent of housing Americans. Some sites go so far as to predict that there will be round ups of people who have done nothing anti-government other than discuss or question government policies on a wide number of topics. Are these relocation or disaster camps real, and if so, whats their purpose? 6. An area that has spawned tremendous anxiety on the internet is the HAARP program, which we have to admit seems to be a huge outlay of tax dollars for a small marginal return on the basic science learned about HF radio, which most propagation is well known. While the use of HAARP for mapping underground facilities in Iran (or elsewhere) using radio tomography is highly skeptical, theres a good body of folks on the Internet who see HAARP as related to major earthquakes and theres even discussion of plans for a major earthquake (bigger than Japans quake) in the central USA New Madrid. So the question is: How do you answer people who think FEMA somehow gets advance clues as to whats ahead? 7. How much concern does FEMA have about the possibility of bioterrorism and in particular, about the concerns and responses laid out on the governments own www.pandemicflu.gov website? Okay, enough of the doom, gloom and conspiracy stuff. We have just a few more questions of a general nature. 8. What are the mechanisms in place that assure public transparency in the contingency planning processes which have to cover everything from a small impacting local event to conceivably if movies are to be believed things like near extinction level impacts from space? 9. We recently learned about the National Preparedness Coalition. What is this and why is it important to FEMAs overall mission. 10. As a senior FEMA executive, what are your personal top 5 worries about the future? This question was not answered by Mr. Langston. The Strategic Analysis George was a major market news director in a top-15 market for 13 years which makes him uniquely qualified to analyze FEMAs response to our questions from a journalistic point of view. And Gaye? She doesnt have to be a big city news mogul to smell a rat. In his own wry way, George offers this analysis of the interview. The Final Test of Credibility Not to be mean about it, but when FEMA chooses not to answer What are your Five Biggest Worries About the Future of America, it reveals, at least to us, that FEMA is an agency where bureaucratic politicking trumps serious defense. In the Land of George and Gaye, we can defeat any problem since we are a great country and amazing people but if the FEMA folks dont have a prioritized shopping list, its like going to the store and spending on anything that sounds good, rather than planning for so many breakfasts, so many snacks, this many lunches, and so forth. While we are confident there are fine and well-intentioned people in FEMA, like Mr. Penn, were afraid to report that substantive questions are not getting substantive answers that can be cross-checked and verified for accuracy. Like on those plastic coffins. We looked into that and they are not oursthey were ordered by XYZ and you can call them and ask if you wish. Thats what we were looking for. We did not expect to be handed slop not worth wasting paper on. Unfortunately this is likely symptomatic of government in general: Some good people with vision and clear mission hamstrung by bureaucratic butt-covering. Like Congress, come to think of it. FEMA needs a flying squad to track down stories like the coffins. There needs to be punishment of those who illegally seized weapons from private citizens during Kat-Rita and there needs to be a threat-list with numbers and budgets built around a strategic response. Unfortunately, there is no one in charge at FEMA from what weve seen. Process has trumped common sense, so instead of having a well-briefed, well-prepared population, we are getting stonewalled and scared that the people at the top dont know what they are doing. Or, as is clear from Gayes talk with our source: They do know what theyre doing, but legal and PR aint gonna let it out. Till its too late, of course. Welcome to Fugate-Gate? Just when we thought we had heard it all, we received this interesting email from a reader who is ex-FEMA and he raises some interesting questions similar to where our news noses have been pointing. George and Gaye, I am afraid Fugate is destroying what we built up after Katrina. When the next disaster happens, we will not be prepared. Unless, of course, it is something being planned for but kept secret. The Final Word There is no question in our minds that our country and our world is facing problems that were not even imagined by our forefathers. Over the last hundred years, there has been a massive migration from a predominately rural society to an urban, industrialized society; and along with it less personal self-reliance and personal preparedness. After all, when you live 20, 30 or more miles from the nearest town, you have to be prepared to take care of your own food, shelter, water and medical needs. But in the cities, not so much. Conspiracy theories notwithstanding, we have always felt that the resources of FEMA would help us embrace the family preparedness values of previous generations. And now? We suppose the bigger question is what is it they do not want to disclose and not want us to know about? Read other articles by Gaye Levy here. You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! Gaye Levy, theSurvivalWoman, grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area. After spending many years as an executive in the software industry, she started a specialized accounting practice offering contract CFO work to emerging high tech and service industries. She has now abandoned city life and moved to a serenely beautiful rural area on an island in NW Washington State. She lives and teaches the principles of a sustainable, self-reliant and stylish lifestyle through emergency preparation and disaster planning through her website at BackdoorSurvival.com. SurvivalWoman speaks her mind and delivers her message with optimism and grace, regardless of mayhem swirling around us. 