Author of The Widow in the Woods Sometimes, I think we get stuck in a holding pattern. It can happen in any aspect of life. When I achieve X, then I’ll be able to do Y. When I reach this goal, then I’ll allow myself to enjoy life. When I have saved up this much money, when I’ve moved to a better location, when I lose 50 pounds, when I get married, when I get more fit… We put things off until “when…” I’ve generally not been a person to do that. I am pretty action-oriented. I put my stuff in storage and traveled extensively over the past five years. Some people thought I should wait until retirement, but I opted instead to do it immediately. And I’m so glad that I did. The thing about “when” is that it may never arrive. We’re only allotted a certain number of days on this glorious orb, and we have no idea what lies ahead. It’s essential to make the most of your life right now, regardless of your circumstances, or you might just end your time here stuck in that holding pattern. Some background If you’ve been reading this blog and getting my newsletters for a while, you know that I suffered a pretty severe injury almost two years ago. I injured my ankle, but I didn’t think it was that bad. I kept traveling and exploring, and I have absolutely no regrets. I saw a physical therapist and began to improve, only to finally suffer such a setback that I had to cease my travels and come home to (I thought) recover. Now, what follows is not meant as a plea for sympathy or a whine-fest. I feel that it is the necessary background, and I’m presenting it as factually as possible. I saw a specialist as soon as I returned home. This was just over a year ago. He did some treatments and insisted on very limited activity. When I first began seeing the doctor, I could walk a mile or so without tremendous pain, but as treatments began and failed, it got so bad I could barely hobble to the mailbox at the curb. I had a ruptured tendon, and it was not healing. I mostly stayed off my feet for three months, yet my condition was getting increasingly worse. I sought a second opinion. I had a major surgery in April to reconstruct my foot and ankle, and transfer a tendon to replace the one that was damaged beyond redemption. This required a month and a half of absolutely no weight-bearing at all. After 6 weeks, I began physical therapy and was delighted that I was making progress faster than expected. Then, disaster struck, and a different tendon ruptured. I was back on bed rest and completely non-weight-bearing. I had a second surgery to repair this injury, and now I’m back in bed yet again for another six to eight weeks. You can imagine the frustration. I went from traveling the world, walking miles and miles every day, hiking, and experiencing so many new things, to leaving my apartment maybe a dozen times in a year. I went from a bum ankle to being completely unable to walk. But here’s what I realized about the past year. I wasted it because I was waiting. Waiting until I was better, waiting until I could go hiking, waiting until I had totally recovered and could put this all in the past. The doctors kept giving me these arbitrary dates in the future when I’d be restored to full mobility, and I chose to wait until those glorious dates to go hiking and travel and be “normal” again. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t come up with very many solutions for prepping while disabled because I was so very convinced that this situation was temporary. It’s not. It will be at least another year before (and if) I am back on my feet. The doctor is not optimistic that I’ll ever regain the function I had before. If I had made the necessary adaptations to living like this a year ago, I wouldn’t have missed out on … well… LIFE… for the past year. I haven’t been to the movies, to a restaurant, to the store, or barely even outside – for a year. Getting out of my lower-level apartment is nearly impossible without help due to all the stairs and uneven terrain. And even with help, it’s exhausting, risky, and painful. I didn’t adapt. I kept following medical instructions and resting and waiting and waiting and resting… And a year later, I’m at an even more difficult point than I was before, and recovery is not assured at all. This may sound like a lengthy complaint. Please understand that it’s not. It is the background that I need to provide to discuss the entire point of this post. Now, I’m adapting. In a way, getting the rather grim prognosis at my last doctor’s visit was a relief. While it’s certainly not the news I had hoped for, at least I know that I can’t continue waiting for “when” this happens to live my life, make my preparations, and adapt. I had been expecting it after the second surgery, but for some reason, continued to wait for permission to accept my circumstances. For some reason, I wanted the official word from the doctor. Now that I have it, it’s rather freeing, in a way. I went through the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression …. and with the prognosis, I’ve finally reached acceptance. During the depression stage, I knew that I had to accomplish something. I felt like I’d wasted a year and I was so upset I couldn’t imagine things getting any better. I forced myself to put my head down and accomplish just one goal – finishing my first novel. I’ve said I’d write novels since I was a little girl, but time has slipped away from me and I’ve focused more on non-fiction. I finished and published The Widow in the Woods exactly one week before the second operation. It felt better than any project I’ve done in a long time and it gave me hope for the future, hope that I’ll still be able to contribute to the world in a meaningful way. It helped bring me out of the dark place where I was struggling to accept my circumstances and find any light ahead. Of course, I’m going to do everything I can regarding physical therapy, medical care, and exercise to regain my mobility. But I’m not waiting around until then to live my life anymore. In fact, I began novel #2 the week after the second operation. Telling stories and having readers like them gives me an incredible amount of joy. And that isn’t something I’ve felt much of for the past year. Acceptance has been such a relief. Now, I’m able to make plans to make the most of a life that is very different from the one I had expected. And I think this is something that is important in so many cases, not just one of injury and disability. What are you putting off until “when” your situation is more ideal? Growing a garden? Getting prepped? Exercising? Buying a home? Traveling? Please take it from me, none of these “whens” is promised to us, even if it is our fondest wish. Instead of waiting for “when,” accept and adapt to what your situation is now. Whether that is facing that a chronic illness or disability may not improve or accepting the fact that you don’t have the perfect rural prepper hideaway, choose to make the most of what you have and where you are right now. As for me, I’ll be seeking a more accessible apartment soon. I need it to be closer to things like a grocery store so that I can get there on a sturdier knee scooter that I have my eye on. I would like to live closer to one of my daughters so it’s easier for us to connect without her having to travel three hours round trip. Honestly, the area I’m looking at is far from the usual ideal for preppers, but I need desperately to regain some independence, and I cannot do that way out in the country. An urban environment, at least for the next while, is the choice that will give me the best quality of life. They sound like such small goals, to be able to buy my own groceries or go out to lunch. But after a year of feeling like a captive in my apartment, to me, these things sound glorious. Of course, I’ll be as prepared as possible, but we have to live for now, not for “when.” I don’t think this is antithetical to living a prepared lifestyle. I think the more active, versatile, and able you set yourself up to be, the better off you will be, regardless. That horrifying SHTF we all prepare for might never come. Or, the SHTF for you could be like mine – something so incredibly life-altering that you have to rethink your lifestyle. And if the SHTF does come, being your healthiest and happiest self will help you weather the storm so much better. And please, don’t feel sorry for me – I didn’t write this for sympathy. I have just achieved a lifelong goal, and I am really looking forward to the future. I hope that if something may have been holding you back, waiting for “when,” you decide to live for right now, too. About Daisy Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews. Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter. The post Stop Waiting for “When” Things Are Perfect appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

There’s a new tool available for lawmakers and American citizens to combat the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. Today, Heritage Action for America launched the website CounterTheCCP.com, exposing the ways in which China stands to harm America’s sovereignty and offering model legislation and resources to deal with that threat.  “To win the new cold war with China, the United States needs a comprehensive strategy,” Ryan Walker, Heritage Action executive vice president, said in a statement.  The new website “gives lawmakers and all Americans a menu of resources to thwart the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and protect our national and economic security,” Walker said. “Heritage Action has sounded the alarm on the China threat for years, and we are proud to continue leading this fight alongside grassroots conservatives across the country.”  Heritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization that boasts 2 million activists nationwide, has praised states such as Utah, where earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a bill that protects the state from technology platforms and networks that have ties to the CCP.  While some states and the federal government have taken legislative action to block China’s influence in America, a great deal of work remains to be done at the state level. Heritage Action argues that the CCP threat is fourfold: Jobs: The CCP is seizing control of American supply chains, infusing them with China’s unfair trade practices, poor environmental standards, and the use of forced labor—all of which undermines American companies and workers.  Farmland and Agriculture: Chinese entities are buying swaths of U.S. real estate, including farmland and property near military installations, threatening national security, the agriculture industry, and our food supply chain.  Critical Infrastructure: Chinese cyberespionage is targeting all sorts of American businesses and sectors, stealing American technology and intellectual property worth tens of billions of dollars while targeting critical infrastructure, like power grids.  Data and Technology: Chinese-controlled tech companies have infiltrated government entities, potentially granting the CCP access to data stored by government departments, educational institutions, and law enforcement agencies. To combat these threats, Walker says, his organization is urging “elected officials at every level of government to do what it takes to keep Americans safe from our top adversary.” There are three actions, according to the grassroots organization, that lawmakers can take to defend their states against China.  Protect American Prosperity Investments in American energy bolster the U.S. economy, according to Heritage Action, while the green energy movement “only serves to enrich China at the expense of the United States.”  Environmental regulations have handicapped the growth of America’s energy independence while China’s economy stands to benefit significantly as a leading manufacturer of batteries, electric cars, and solar panels.  Instead, Heritage Action recommends states “should enact legislation prohibiting state agencies from enforcing regulations that further entrench supply chains with dependencies on China.”   And with growing concerns over Chinese-owned entities purchasing American land, Heritage Action is encouraging state leaders to support legislation that protects U.S. agriculture and farmland.  Similarly, the group is calling on lawmakers to do more to protect local and state governments and businesses from CCP cyberthreats and other security threats.  Defend American Privacy States must end use of Chinese-controlled technologies to protect American privacy, Heritage Action advises.  Because companies like Lenovo, Lexmark, Hikvision, and DJI have ties to China, these companies are “obligated under Chinese law to obey the CCP’s commands,” according to the grassroots policy group, adding that this “poses a significant security threat to Americans.” While the federal government has already taken steps to cut ties with CCP-controlled companies, Heritage Action contends that it’s time for states to follow suit.  Similarly, the group recommends that states should stop purchasing security and surveillance products and biotechnology owned or controlled by China. Reduce CCP Influence In order to reduce CCP influence on states across the U.S., elected officials “should enact legislation aimed at diminishing economic dependence on China, prioritizing sensitive or critical sectors, and reducing China’s influence among state governments,” according to Heritage Action.  Divestment from China and a prohibition on lobbying from foreign entities such as China in state governments will serve to weaken China’s influence on the U.S., according to the conservative organization.  Model Legislation The Counter the CCP website provides lawmakers with model legislation to draw upon in order to achieve each of the policy recommendations Heritage Action is proposing.  “The CCP knows there are particular vulnerabilities at the state level and has been working overtime to exploit them,” said Jeff Smith, the director of the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation. “It’s great to see Heritage Action mobilize the resources to fight back, offering state lawmakers the resources to evict the CCP from their states and defend the prosperity and security of their citizens,” Smith said.  The post EXCLUSIVE: New Platform Aims to Halt CCP Influence on States appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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Apple has recently released the M2 iPad Air, making it more powerful and capable than ever. However, compared to the M4 iPad Pro, this device has lost its soul, as it's not the thinnest and lighter iPad available. Currently, the "Air" in this iPad means something completely different. Fortunately, this could change if this recent report is correct. According to the Korean version of The Elec, Samsung will be the main supplier of the iPad Air's OLED display, set to be introduced in 2026. In addition, the iPad mini is also expected to get this upgrade by 2026. It's important to note that the OLED technology coming into these models will differ from the one available with the M4 iPad Pro. The Elec reveals that Apple plans a single-stack OLED with a single light-emitting layer for the iPad Air. On the other hand, the Pro model uses LTPO TFT and two-stack tandem OLED technology. LG is also trying to secure orders for upcoming iPad models, but it seems that Apple will prefer Samsung at this moment. While the M2 iPad Air looks like a solid upgrade, it seems this upcoming OLED model will be the one to get. With reports saying Apple wants to make all of its products thinner. this display change could be the best opportunity to revamp the iPad Air. Even if Apple keeps pushing Touch ID for this tablet, the new OLED technology may help make this iPad thinner and lighter, mainly because this display is more power-efficient than current LCD panels. At this moment, it's unclear what other changes the 2026 iPad Air will bring, but adding the M4 processor is possible, as by 2026, Apple will be moving the iPad Pro to the M5 or even M6 chips. Keep checking BGR for the latest iPad rumors. Don't Miss: 2024 iPad Air review: Go big or go home The post OLED iPad Air rumored for 2026 release with major changes appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $699 Apple Watch Ultra 2, $529 iPad mini, $249 Bose QuietComfort headphones, more Today’s deals: $200 off PSVR2, $299 iPad 10th-Gen, $3.75 smart plugs, $189 ASUS laptop, more Today’s deals: $229 iPad, $300 off Samsung foldables (last chance), $20 label maker, HP laptop sale, more Today’s deals: Rare PlayStation 5 discount, $19 Roku, $20 pet hair remover, $60 Keurig coffee maker, more

Nancy Pelosi's influence can be seen all across the Democratic Party shakeup that in a few short, agonizing weeks has reengineered the 2024 presidential ticket and the race for the White House.

Despite 2,000 arrests already with public vows of more by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, discontent over the country's disputed elections continues to simmer.

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a 53%-47% lead over former President Donald Trump among likely voters nationally in a head-to-head race for the White House, according to a new poll by Marquette University Law School.