Evaluating a Reader's SHTF Preps

I recently received this via e-mail: "Urbanman, please give me some feedback on my preps: For firearms I have: a Colt 5 shot 38 special snubnose and 400 rounds of ammunition; a Woodsman 22 LR with 4 magazines and two bricks of ammunition which is 1,000 rounds; a 12 gauge ITHACA riot slide action shotgun with 150 rounds of mixed buckshot and slug; a 1903 Springfield rifle and 120 rounds of .30-06 ammunition; a Mini-14 rifle with four magazines and over 400 rounds of ammunition. I have a extra custom gastank in my truck bed so I can carry an extra 40 gallons. I have enough canned goods to easily last 30 days plus I have enough survival food in dehyrdated packs to last six months. I have a good tent and some sleeping bags but my main plan is to head to my wife's uncle's farm is about 340 miles away if the chaos is bad enough. What do you think?"

UrbanMan's comments: HTM, I am posting your e-mail and using it to push the agenda that equipment and material does not readiness to survive SHTF make. It takes more than equipment, guns and food. It takes long range planning, and contingencies in case those plans are not executable. While you have a good start on a Survival battery of firearms, taken the initiative to make your vehicle capable of longer road time, are on the way to a decent amount of stored food, and have a Bug Out location (Uncle's farm) which is probably a rural area reducing threats from a population gone mad, I don't have enough information to render a good opinion. Not do I want to know more and you should protect information (practice OPSEC) about your capabilities, preps and planning.

However, I would ask these questions to provoke thought on your end:

How many routes do you have to the farm? Have you thought about mechanical or other failures on your truck which would force you on foot? If so, could you get to the farm via other means? Have you thought about caching some supplies along the route and at the farm? Can you get everything you need into/onto your truck (in a hurry) to take with you?

Who else would show up at the farm? Is the Uncle and wife's family also prepping? Are they as prepared as you?

Is there a full year water source at the farm? Can you grow crops there? If so, do you have a stockpile of non-hybrid seeds? Can you build a greenhouse and grow some crops during cold weather months? Have you considered how you would store your harvest, such as canning?

What about your stocks of first aids items,..bandages, disinfectants, anti-infection creams, medical tape or cobain wrap, etc.

Is there sufficient hand tools at the farm? What about common tool sets and a decent supply of nails, screws and bolts?

Do you have a power supply at the farm? Such as solar or wind generated power for small power needs like re-charging batteries, running low wattage lights?

Do you keep any cash on hand for immediate purchases before the U.S. dollar is no longer acceptable? Do you have any precious metals such as silver or gold?

Concerning the firearms,....I would get a few more Mini-14 mags,...I would have much more ammunition on hand, especially for the Mini-14. Neither handgun you have are really suitable as a defensive handgun, but the first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun.

Don't take offense to my questions as they are given to create thought,.....we can all get better and to continue getting more prepared is the name of the game. Good luck.

Should I Buy Gold for SHTF?

I recently had a friend of mine, not in my immediate survival group, but a prepper none the less, ask me if he should buy some Gold, and if so, should he buy one ounce rounds, or smaller weights. He had around $6,000 to spend. Part of his question was should he wait awhile as Gold and Silver prices seemed to be going down.

I told him that trying to time the market now would require some constant observation and some luck. Sure, Gold and Silver may yet go down more, in light of some good economic news the last few weeks, but that "good" economic news was really just "not as bad of news as usual".

I told him that while the Greece, Italy and Spain economic problems seemed to have leveled off, we will certainly see more bad economic news in the very near future. I told him to watch for more banks defaulting, instability in the U.S. and Foreign exchanges, higher U.S. deficit and national debt, worsening unemployment, lower oil imports, higher oil prices, higher inflation and downward spiral of the housing market all would be factors signaling a rise in precious metals.

This conversation was about two weeks ago and now we are seeing the following headlines:

World stocks fall amid economic reports from the largest economies forecasting a global downturn.

Job growth much lower than expected and fears of heightening unemployment amid reports that applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months.

Housing gloom ahead as sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5 percent in May and are forecsted to be even lower in June and July.

Eurpoean leaders are trying to work out a solution to a spreading financial crisis across the European Union and global lessening confidence in a solution and the value of the Euro.

Major banks being downgraded. Moody's lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.

So yes, the time is right to buy Precious Metals. However I would not put all of the $6,000 into Gold. I would spread it out with Silver bullion and maybe some junk silver as well. All this would depend upon how much precious metals I already had and any other holes or lack of essential equipment, material and supplies in my Collapse Preparation Plan.

Maybe one ounce of Gold, 4 one-quarter Gold rounds, $1,000 into Silver rounds and the rest in long term food maybe a good choice for my friend as I know he primarily focusing on survival guns and gear for SHTF and is well preparaed in that aspect.

Him having some viable precious metals for bartering and some long term food would also possibly benefit me as he is one of the families on a short list my survival group keeps of possible recruits or straphangers we would accept into our group as his ethics, morals and skills are known to us. Anyway, if you don't have very much or any precious metals at all, then what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, consider this an invitation.

Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

Prepared Society, which is a emergency preparation and survival forum, asked me to notify readers about their new chicken forum for people who are keeping chickens.

I am not currently keeping chickens, although two other members of my survival team are. I have enjoyed eggs from their efforts and during a collapse fresh eggs are great food as well as a barter item. 

I do however have a pre-made chicken hootch still in the box as well as some other materials on hand so if I have enough time when the warning signs for the collapse are imminient, or if survival team members arrive at my site, I can house and raise the chickens.

Here is the link to Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

U.S. and World On Edge of Collapse

The bandwagon is getting more crowded week by week as financial experts joint the chorus on an
impending world and U.S. financial collapse.   Paul Krugman and Chris Martenson are among
prominent analysts.

The latest is the former co-manager of the GLG Global Macro Fund, Raoul Pal,  who believes  that a
global banking collapse and massive defaults will bring about “the biggest economic shock the world
has ever seen” — and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

China, for one nation is trying to make the U.S. dollar collapse.  They are buying not only the world's
gold. but the gold mines as well, to prop up their currency, the Yuan.   Their attempt to corner the
world's gold market is to weaken, then replace the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.   The
dollar has been weakening abruptly since 2010.  And not only China is wanting the dollar to collapse,
the U.S. gives refuge to George Soros who is also actively seeking the U.S. dollar's demise.  Figure out that crap?!?  

If the Dollar ceases being the world's reserve currency, the demand for dollars would evaporate leaving
a glut in dollars and therefore the value or buying power would plummet resulting in high inflation
or hyper-inflation.  You think food and gas prices are high now?

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, funded and/or financially supported largely by
leftist/liberal groups such as Open Society Institute (now called the Open Society Foundation), Media
Matters, The Tides Foundation, Alliance for Global Justice, Adbusters Media Foundation, will be an ant
hill compared to the mountain of protests and civil unrest is the dollar collapses leaving well over a hundred million people living hand to mouth,....and being really pissed about it. 

Adding to the gloom is the National debt.  If countries continue dumping or accelerating the getting rid of
U.S. treasury notes then the dollar devalues and the interest payments alone on the $16 trillion dollar
debt could go from just under $500 billion annually to over $1 Trillion.  If this happens, the dollar will
automatically cease being the world's reserve currency and inflation/hyper-inflation will happen.   You
can bet on it.  If you are reading this site, you probably already are betting on it.     

Is The Army To Be Used for Domestic Enforcement?

This was written by Joe Wolverton in The New American, titled "Use Army for Domestic Enforcement"

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and
carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs.

The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions.  In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from domestic disasters, including terrorist attacks.

Odierno writes:
Where appropriate we will also dedicate active-duty forces, especially those with niche skills and equipment, to provide civilian officials with a robust set of reliable and rapid response options.

That’s right. Should the sheriff suspect that a particular citizen in his county poses a threat to security and feels he doesn’t have the proper “skills and equipment” to deal with the situation, he can just call out the U.S. Army and bring a “rapid response” force that is robust enough to eliminate the problem.

These are not the musings of an unknown academic written in an obscure journal of little importance.  These are the black-and-white plans for “building a flexible force” as laid out by the man in charge and published for all the world to read by the people who may have put him there.

In order to justify this new (and illegal) mission for the Army, General Odierno points to three “major changes” that have precipitated the re-tasking of the troops: First, “declining budgets due to the country’s worsened fiscal situation; second, “a shift in emphasis to the Asia-Pacific region; and third, a “broadening of focus from counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and training of partners to shaping the strategic environment, preventing the outbreak of dangerous regional conflicts, and improving the army’s readiness to respond in force to a range of complex contingencies worldwide.”

There are so many things wrong with every one of these points that each deserves its own article focused solely on its deconstruction. Unfortunately, there is only so much space and each of these considerations has one critical flaw in common: no constitutional authority for any of it.

Start with the woeful economic state of American affairs. Odierno lists this first among his unholy trinity of reasons the army must “transition” from its traditional role to one with a wider domestic and international scope.

Perhaps it has escaped General Odierno’s attention, but the decline of America’s economic fortunes may be in some significant part tied to the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that siphon about $13 billion per month from the U.S. Treasury. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, estimates are that Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion in military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care spread over three operations: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

There is a certain macabre irony to the claim by a military leader that his troops are forced to adapt to
stringent budget considerations partially brought about by the use of his troops as the tip of America’s
sword of empire.

General Odierno’s third “major change” is the need to use the Army to solve complex international
conflicts. Again, these conflicts and the solutions to them are made more complex by the fact that there
is not a single syllable in the Constitution that grants the President or Congress the authority to deploy
American armed forces to work out the world’s difficult dilemmas.

On this point, regarding the rules to govern the creation and governing of a federal army, the Constitution says very little. In Article I, Section 8, Congress is authorized to “raise and support Armies” and to “make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.” That’s it.

That paucity of information has been magnified by the Council on Foreign Relations and their members in positions of power to include the use of the Army in ways and means that would seem unimaginable even to the most martial of our Founding Fathers.

One of the unconstitutional missions advocated by Odierno and the CFR is the use of the U.S. Army as
“a critical guarantor of stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” This is one of the many new “assigned missions” promoted by Odierno in his Foreign Affairs article.

This echoes the pronouncement by his Commander-in-Chief made in Australia last November:
This is the future we seek for the Asia-Pacific — security, prosperity and dignity for all. That’s what we stand for. That’s who we are. That’s the future we will pursue in partnership with allies and friends and
with every element of American power.

That is to say, General Odierno and President Obama believe that deterring aggression against our
allies in Asia and the Pacific trumps any constitutional stricture on the appropriate use of the Army.

There is nothing it seems that will stand in the way of our Army being placed at the disposal of foreign
princes and presidents, provided they appreciate their resulting status as satraps of the American
Emperor.

Not to worry; other provinces of the emerging American empire are accounted for in the Odierno/CFR
plan.

“The posture of the U.S. military in the Middle East is critical to maintaining regional stability there,” writes Odierno, again without any noticeable sense of irony.

Is the general privy to some reports of stability in the Middle East kept secret from the rest of us? There is no end to the media’s reminders of the instability in the Middle East. In fact, it is this very unsettled
foundation upon which the need for ongoing American military presence there is built.

In other words, the Middle East is stable because of the Army, the Middle East will remain stable only so long as the Army remains on permanent patrol, and if we were to completely abandon our posts, the region would devolve into outright — instability. Thus is the quality of the reasoning demonstrated by those with command and control of the armed forces of the United States.

One of the timeliest tenets of the Odierno/CFR proposal is the integration of “cyberspace capabilities into our tactical and operational units.” According to an article published last Friday in the New York Times:

From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.

For the CFR it seems the message from the Obama administration is ask and ye shall receive.  Lest there remain any doubt as to America’s resolve, Odierno wants our nation’s enemies (foreign and domestic) to understand that we are not afraid to “compel capitulation.” Should those “potential adversaries” be American, moreover, Odierno promises that the Army will “be ready to decisively achieve American ends, whatever they may be.”

Finally, we will, Odierno declares, demonstrate “our country’s commitment to global security.”  Sadly, Americans know this too well, as there are rows and rows of white headstones and flag-draped coffins already demonstrating the seriousness of that commitment.

Apocalypse Fairly Soon?

Apocalypse Fairly Soon? That is the title of an article posted on the New York Times by Paul Krugman. Krugman writes about the possible fall of Euro, beginning in Greece, then making its way through the other financially unstable countries. This impacts in the U.S. as Europe holds a alot of our debt and our banks are holding European debt as well.

Krugman’s article: Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams. We’re not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. And the costs — both economic and, arguably even more important, political — could be huge.

This doesn’t have to happen; the euro (or at least most of it) could still be saved. But this will require that European leaders, especially in Germany and at the European Central Bank, start acting very differently from the way they’ve acted these past few years. They need to stop moralizing and deal with reality; they need to stop temporizing and, for once, get ahead of the curve. I wish I could say that I was optimistic. The story so far:

When the euro came into existence, there was a great wave of optimism in Europe — and that, it turned out, was the worst thing that could have happened. Money poured into Spain and other nations, which were now seen as safe investments; this flood of capital fueled huge housing bubbles and huge trade deficits. Then, with the financial crisis of 2008, the flood dried up, causing severe slumps in the very nations that had boomed before. At that point, Europe’s lack of political union became a severe liability.

Florida and Spain both had housing bubbles, but when Florida’s bubble burst, retirees could still count on getting their Social Security and Medicare checks from Washington. Spain receives no comparable support. So the burst bubble turned into a fiscal crisis, too. Europe’s answer has been austerity: savage spending cuts in an attempt to reassure bond markets. Yet as any sensible economist could have told you (and we did, we did), these cuts deepened the depression in Europe’s troubled economies, which both further undermined investor confidence and led to growing political instability.

And now comes the moment of truth. Greece is, for the moment, the focal point. Voters who are understandably angry at policies that have produced 22 percent unemployment — more than 50 percent among the young — turned on the parties enforcing those policies. And because the entire Greek political establishment was, in effect, bullied into endorsing a doomed economic orthodoxy, the result of voter revulsion has been rising power for extremists.

Even if the polls are wrong and the governing coalition somehow ekes out a majority in the next round of voting, this game is basically up: Greece won’t, can’t pursue the policies that Germany and the European Central Bank are demanding. So now what? Right now, Greece is experiencing what’s being called a “bank jog” — a somewhat slow-motion bank run, as more and more depositors pull out their cash in anticipation of a possible Greek exit from the euro.

Europe’s central bank is, in effect, financing this bank run by lending Greece the necessary euros; if and (probably) when the central bank decides it can lend no more, Greece will be forced to abandon the euro and issue its own currency again. This demonstration that the euro is, in fact, reversible would lead, in turn, to runs on Spanish and Italian banks.

Once again the European Central Bank would have to choose whether to provide open-ended financing; if it were to say no, the euro as a whole would blow up. Yet financing isn’t enough. Italy and, in particular, Spain must be offered hope — an economic environment in which they have some reasonable prospect of emerging from austerity and depression. Realistically, the only way to provide such an environment would be for the central bank to drop its obsession with price stability, to accept and indeed encourage several years of 3 percent or 4 percent inflation in Europe (and more than that in Germany).

Both the central bankers and the Germans hate this idea, but it’s the only plausible way the euro might be saved. For the past two-and-a-half years, European leaders have responded to crisis with half-measures that buy time, yet they have made no use of that time.

Now time has run out. So will Europe finally rise to the occasion? Let’s hope so — and not just because a euro breakup would have negative ripple effects throughout the world. For the biggest costs of European policy failure would probably be political. Think of it this way: Failure of the euro would amount to a huge defeat for the broader European project, the attempt to bring peace, prosperity and democracy to a continent with a terrible history. It would also have much the same effect that the failure of austerity is having in Greece, discrediting the political mainstream and empowering extremists.

All of us, then, have a big stake in European success — yet it’s up to the Europeans themselves to deliver that success. The whole world is waiting to see whether they’re up to the task. What can U.S. preppers do to protect themselves? The same thing we have been doing. Stock food for the possibility/probability of inflated food prices and diminished supply, and, protect against inflation/hyper-inflationary prices and/or bank runs/reduced monetary supply by having some cash on hand, and ensuring that we have some precious metals (gold and silver).

The Apocalypse Survival Bag

Glenn Beck has long been advocating the stocking or food and the buying of gold to help a family get through a economic collapse or greater collapse of society. The risks or the problem with advice from the wealthy is that their preps are often "top shelf" and their general advice is coming from a lack of experience.

However, I welcome any and all people getting into the "advocating preps" arean as this can only make the possibility of a rebound after a collapse better. From an article on the Blaze, titled "Survive and Thrive": You Won‘t Believe What’s in this Apocalypse Survival Bag, author Liz Klimas covers a Bug Out bag from Uncrate.

The Article

Uncrate, a magazine “for guys who love stuff,” has quite the all-in-one survival kit that it says has everything you may need to not only “survive” but “thrive.” But is it really the motherload of survival kits?

Some have thoughts for modifying it. First, here’s all it lists:
Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit ($40).
Ontario SP16 SPAX Firefighter Axe ($60).
Steripen Adventurer Opti UV Water Purifier with Solar Charging Case ($120).
Leatherman New Wave Multi-Tool ($60).
MSR MiniWorks Microfilter ($90).
Survival Seed Vault ($38).
Adventure Medical Fundamentals Kit ($110).
MSR Packtowl UltraLite($10 – $30).
Snow Peak Titanium Spork ($9).
Paisley Cotton Bandanas ($6).
Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit ($49).
McNett Gear Aid Tenacious Tape ($1 – $15).
PROKNOT Outdoor Knots ($5).
DMM ALPHA Quickdraw Holster ($28).
Suunto Global Compass($63).
MSR Titan Pot ($112).
Sierra Designs Tent Stakes ($10).
Guyot Designs Bowl and Cup Set ($13 – $20).
Petzl Tikka Headlamp ($53).
Swedish Firesteel Scout Model ($6 – $20).
COGHLANS Emergency Tinder Kit ($5).
American Silver Eagle Coin in Air-Tite Capsule ($39).
Cold Kukri Machete ($30).
BIC Disposable Classic Lighter ($7).
UTG Elite Tactical Leg Holster ($11).
Smith Abrasives Diamond Combination Thumb Guard Micro Tool ($29).
Type III Paracord ($12).
Gregory Mountain Products Tarne Backpack ($140).
Mammut Supernova Climbing Rope ($150).
iOSAT Potassium Iodide Tablets ($8).
Gregory Accessories Raincover ($30).
Etón SCORPION Solar Powered Weather Radio ($50).
Mossberg 500 Pump-Action Shotgun ($500).
Hennessy Explorer Deluxe A-Symmetrical Hammock ($177).
MTM Survivor Dry Box ($15).
Mountain Hardwear Phantom Sleeping Bag ($290 – $365).
Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme Thermolite Liner($59).
HK P2000 Pistol ($941). Hydrocodone ($TBD).
Ciprofloxacin ($TBD).
Atovaquone($TBD).
Shotgun Shells ($TBD).
9mm Bullets ($TBD).

Given an average cost for the items priced "TBD", the entire Bug Out Bag comes to at least $3,500. Comments from my 5 minute analysis comments: Add some Aspirin; Get rid of the Hammock; Who would pay $941 for an H&K P2000? - save $400 and buy a Glock;

Not much food - add some Main Stay Bars, some dehydrated soup, bullion cubes and salt; Do you really need the climbing rope? For $7 you be able to buy a handful of Bic lighters; I would reduce the size and expense of the fishing equipment; the Ontario Axe or the Kukri - not both;

Add a short fixed bladed knife and a folder; $500 is excessive for a Mossberg Shotgun; Ditch the Thermolite liner and add a couple of military surplus ponchos;

The author says that although this “Apocalypse PAK” or “Bug-Out Bag” is well-equipped, fans of Uncrate’s Facebook had some thoughts on the bag. For one, they are upset that even though its website uses the words “stuffed into one bag,” there doesn’t appear to be a way to actually purchase it all together in the manner it is advertised — at least not yet.

Others have said it has too many duplicate or unnecessary items that would add up to too much weight. Even with some suggestions of what the pack should get rid of or add, it still has more than 130 likes in less than 24 hours.

Earlier this year, author Brad Thor and Barrett Moore were on GBTV to discuss how to protect your identity and what you need to “prepare for a collapse.” Check out the clip. I like the quote: "We live in a 7-11 syndrome,...that is two generations of people who have only ever known 7-11 to be open 24/7 and the shelves stocked 24/7......"



 

The Day the Economic Collapse Started

A well put together 7 minute video on You Tube titled "The Day The Dollar Died", offers fictional but realistic look at what we could see shortly. All the pieces of the puzzle are in place and we are moving towards what the video describes.

I would have liked to see the video expand a bit on the food shortages and civil unrest that will be a result of the Death of the Dollar, but again this video is only Day One of the Dollar Collapse. The video explain how the Oil and Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC) will stop trading Oil in U.S> Dollars furthering the economic collapse that we will see in this country.

Perhaps one of the best lines in the video below is: "Educate yourself before time runs out." Go to http://inflation.us/ and sign up for thier newsletter as one way to edcuate and help prepare yourself. Good luck everyone,.....we are going to need it,...but as Vince Lombardi said "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Know Your Survival Threat- Racists Skinheads

I think alot of us worry about a substantial collapse that brings security destabilization to our cities and
suburbs.   One of the larger threats are already organized groups, usually criminal in nature,  and
based on their organization along racial lines are well organized and well armed. 

I have previously written about street gangs, which may be part of national organizations, they are
regionally or locally bound.  

Another group to be aware of are the Racist Skinheads.  Organizing since the mid 1980's, the Racists Skinheads and alike groups such as the Aryan Nation have been rising in membership for 10 years and now have over 133 separate skinheads chapters across the country. 

Somewhat simlar to Outlaw Motorycle Gangs, Racist Skinheads represent a big threat not just to
miniorities but to all groups that are weaker than them especially in a SHTF where normal security
mechanism such as local and federal law enforcement are over whelmed or not effective.

Location, physical defenses, well equipped survival team, and good tacticial SOP's are your counter -measure for highly mobile and violent groups like the Racist Skinheads.  But first it starts with being able to recognize their members and know their tactics. 

For an education in Racist Skinheads, watch the short video below. 

Wargaming a Good Tool

I received this e-mail from "John": "Urbanman, like your info. me and my friends discuss prepping all the time. We have five of us in our hunting and survival group, but of course we expect to have all sorts of relatives bust our group when the time comes. That's cool, because we're ready for it. We have a farmhouse belonging to one of guy's grandmas about a mile and half out of town. That's our meeting point and security point. We plan on staying here as long as we can maybe forever because we have woods and two water ponds. After we hunt or shoot we have a practice of dicussing scenarios. The last one was two weeks after SHTF. If we go into town to see what is going on, or maybe look at a couple of spots where solar panels. It's a no brainer if we have cell phone service, but may not so we may have to go into town to look around and see what's available plus the solar panels would come in handy. What do you think? Call me John if you write this."

UrbanMan replies: John, thanks for writing. It's a good routine to get into talking about scenarios with your group. It can help identify areas where you disagree and need to come to a resolution about plans and protocols. It can also help identify equipment, material and even skill sets gaps that can be fixed before you are doing it for real.

This game of "what if'ing" is called wargamming. If you were leaving your secure site to conduct a patrol into town, you would need to have clear cut objectives,...a mission if you will. Such as making contact with selected town residents to get an situational update; procure any needed items, especially food and fuel. And even if you are only going 1.5 miles, you need to plan at least the primary route using the terrain to your advantage for cover and concealment.

Some principles from which to plan your patrols, be it the scenario into town or a longer security or forage type patrols:

Control. Sometimes simplicity is the key to controlling a patrol and the actions. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for patrolling, arm and hand signals, reaction drills, crossing danger areas, and more, helps the patrol operate as one team and make control easier.

Security. During a patrol, security is achieved through choosing routes that provide the least chance of contact with bad guys, as well as give you cover and concealment, especially on approach to the target or the tentative observation/ listening post. Good employment of light, noise and litter discipline also helps the patrol stay undetected.

Communications. This covers radio communications to visual signals. Consider recongition signals and distress or duress signals, and code words. Use brvity codes for radio communications. Have scheduled communications contacts or windows, however even at only a mile and a half, FRS/GMRS type radios will not have the range.

Planning. Contingencies,......contingencies,........contingencies,......use PACE planning. Ensure everyone, even the guys remaining, know all contingency plans,...situations like if the patrol is ambushed or the secure site is attacked.....where you emergency rally point is,.......this list is endless but needs to be considered so the patrol operates with backup plans. As far as the solar panels. I am not advocating conspiracy to commit theft, but in a very decayed world without law enforcement or order of any type, I too would consider "requisitioning" available solar panels to hook into my home power grid.

Martial Law in America?

This is a article posted with the title "Obama 'Reichstag' Event" - Scary Stuff,....if true. Never hurts to read or listen to anything potentially destroying our individual rights and constitutional protections, no matter how outlandish it may seem on the outset. The below was sent to me by a fellow known to me to be a law abiding Patriot, however fed up with the direction this country is going with massive federal debt, unchecked growth of government, incredibly overwhelming regulation choking the economy, gas prices over twice as high as where they were three years ago,...shall I go on? In any case, the author claims to have a source in Homeland Security, who has given information pertaining to what amounts to a government conspiracy to suspend the constitution. I say it will never happen. But I also think the open debate over the possibility even makes it more unlikely. But this is what the author says:

Will Obama stage a 'Reichstag' type Event as trigger for Martial Law? The Obama agents, through the DHS and other assorted colluders, are plotting a major 'Reichstag' event to generate racial riots and produce the justification for martial law, delaying the November 2012 elections, possibly indefinitely, a DHS histleblower informed the Canada Free Press on Tuesday. The 'Reichstag Event' would take the form of a staged assassination attempt against Barack Obama, "carefully choreographed" and manufactured by Obama operatives. It would subsequently be blamed on "white supremacists" and used to enrage the black community to rioting and looting, the DHS source warned.

The Obama administration would then use the violence and chaos they created as justification for the imposition of martial law in major urban cities in America, the creation of DHS checkpoints, restriction of travel, and the indefinite delay of the November 2012 elections.  

UrbanMan: I just don't see it happening, even though it seems there is much to do about "class warfare" and the separation of economic groups with the increased poverty status in this country.

The "Reichstag" event refers to a fire started during Hitler's rise to power. The fire allowed him to grab emergency powers and murder his opposition. Historians have long believed that Hitler started the fire himself, while he blamed it on the Communists We know the DHS has ordered 450 million rounds of 40 caliber hollow point ammo which cannot be used anywhere except in America because it is banned by the UN. i.e. - It can only be used on American citizens. DHS has also ordered up to 175 million rounds of 223 ammo for assault rifles in an open bid.  

The Contact

It was not the proverbial 3:00 a.m. phone call, but close enough. And it was not made to the White House, but to my house, which is not white, nor is it in DC. It was about 2:30 a.m. on 25 April 2012, and the call itself was somewhat unexpected. I had anticipated the telephone call from my DHS insider much earlier the previous day, but our schedules didn’t synch up. I was traveling on an investigative assignment, while my source was in meetings all day. I had just fallen asleep, and was slumbering no more than 20 minutes when the phone rang. In most households, a ringing phone at that time of night causes concern for everyone who hears it. In my household, it seems to surprise only my surly, 140 pound light-sleeping German Shepherd. He let out an objective grunt as I stepped over him to take the call in another room. It was “Rosebud,” the code name given my insider source.  

About Rosebud

Just a little bit here about my source and his “super-secret code name.” I’ve known this government insider since 1979, when he first became a municipal patrol officer. He took a job in a bigger city and had a very successful run as a cop. Before retirement and after the events of 9/11, he was tapped by the feds, where he worked in various capacities under the umbrella of DHS. He worked his way up, and suddenly found himself in what he terms the inner sanctum of the “TEC” building. TEC, he explains, is an acronym for what he calls “The Estrogen Challenged,” which houses the upper echelon of the Department of Homeland Security. I’ll leave it at that. As far as his code name, it originates from an incident that occurred at the end of the disco era. It is something that we both privately laugh about, but rarely ever talk about. His “code name” is known to him, me, and at the time, a young woman who has since vanished amid the glitter of disco balls and constant replays of the Bee Gees in a dark nightclub some 32 years ago, and has no “cloak and dagger” origins. But he is real, his position serious, and his knowledge vast. Unfortunately, that’s what makes the whole situation frightening and deadly serious.  

The Information

 It began on Wednesday, 2 May 2012 with a 45-minute interview on TruNews with Rick Wiles when I first disclosed the information I received the previous week from my source. The information I relayed “went viral,” as they say, across the internet. To support the statements I made during that interview, I am showing my handwritten notes taken contemporaneously during our conversation. My notes consist of two pages and are, at various points, admittedly difficult to decipher. I ask that points not be deducted for my penmanship given the time of the morning which they were taken.

According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama. During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States. He then corrected himself, stating that “a civil war” is the more appropriate term. Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it,” stated my source. “The DHS takes their marching orders from the Obama administration, from Obama himself, but mostly from his unappointed czars. And Jarrett, especially Valerie Jarrett.

Don’t think for a minute that the administration is doing anything to stabilize events in the U.S. They are revolutionaries, and revolutionaries thrive on chaos,” he added. My source stated that he has not seen things this bad since he began working within DHS. “It’s like they [DHS agency heads] don’t care about what the American people see or feel about what the DHS agencies are doing. They figure that if the average American will put up with being “sexually groped and nuked” just to fly, they’ll accept almost anything. “That’s why their actions are becoming more overt. “It’s in your face and the brass actually chuckle about it” said my source.  

New Information

Astounded by the information my source provided “going viral,” I spoke to him again early Sunday morning. This was a scheduled telephone call (as noted on page 2 of my notes) based on a high level meeting of DHS personnel that was scheduled for and took place in Chantilly, Virginia, on Saturday, 5 May 2012. He hoped to provide me with more information to supplement that which he already given. Although he was not personally present, his source was.

While he would not say who was at the meeting on Saturday or give its precise location, he said that the many of the names would be recognizable. He spoke to his source late Saturday night. I contacted him on his cellular phone early Sunday morning to get the promised update. “Geez, nice job on getting the word out about what’s really going on at DHS and in this administration,” were the first words out of his mouth, followed by “thanks a lot.” I asked him why he would be thanking me. “I just wanna’ tell you that I’m going to have to hire someone to start my car, and I’m surely not going for any rides in small planes in the immediate future,” he said with a bit of nervous laughter. “I hope no one finds out who I am or it’s going to be more than my pension I’ll have to worry about.” “I can tell you word is getting out that people are starting to wake up, which is causing a lot of ‘pissed off brass.’ I can’t tell if they are more desperate or upset about the exposure, but the tone is starting to become a lot more tense. I hope that we’re having something to do with that,” he added.

With that, he provided me with additional information to supplement that which he already given me on 25 April. For clarity purposes, I have combined the information together from both contacts. The following information includes the updated information provided to me Sunday morning.

Obama the revolutionary

Metaphorically speaking, there’s a revolution going on in the U.S., propped up by three legs. Economic chaos, chaos through racial division, and chaos through class division, all joined by one core element: Barack Hussein Obama and his stable of unelected czars. Obama is using the lessons learned in 1968 as the template for 2012, and many of those who were active in the late 1960s are now calling the shots for 2012.

“The Obama administration and many of the un-elected ‘czars,’ either directly or indirectly, are engaged in covert activities with the occupy movement, various labor protests, and other subversive activities inside the U.S.,” stated my source. Using untracked campaign funds, they are paying people to infiltrate the various movements to cause physical destruction of property and disrupt commerce. That began last year, but has increased ten-fold already this year,” stated this source. He added that they are using some lower level DHS agents to make the payments under the context of tracking subversives, but they are the unwitting subversives.

“It’s like Fast and Furious” but in the social realm,” he added. “Obama is using some high profile people as pawns to foment the revolution. I heard several times through very credible sources that [Louis] Farrakhan is on the CIA payroll. Other have been named as well, but I’m not prepared to identify them yet. Farrakhan is to coordinate the Blacks and the Muslims to prepare for riots this summer, using any means necessary.”

“Mentioned at the meeting Saturday were methods to use pawns to simulate the rioting in the Arab Spring countries, but to the benefit of this administration. A controlled chaos thing,” stated my source. They envision rioting starting in the urban areas first, such as New York and other major cities, followed by a disruption of business and commerce. This will allow the DHS to mobilize their various teams into the streets of America without objection of the people,” stated my source. “They want to restrict travel, if not through high energy prices, then by checkpoints and curfews mandated by rioting and unrest. They understand we are the most well-armed nation in the world, yet they are aware of our vulnerabilities and intend to fully exploit them,” he added.

The whole purpose is to keep Obama in office for another term, no matter how unpopular he is, as he is not finished changing our country from a Constitutional Republic. This is the run-up to the 2012 elections, or perhaps causing enough chaos to delay them - indefinitely.” One statement that rattled me more than anything was that a great number of those already in power, whether in appointed or elected positions, actually want to see Obama stay in power, according to this source. “This is what we’ve been working toward and we’re closer now than we’ve ever been. If we lose now, we might not have another chance.”

 This chilling common goal also explains the lack of interest in the Constitutional legitimacy of Obama. It is common knowledge that Obama is not an American, and neither is his agenda. Of course, criticism of his bona-fides feeds into the cries of racism, despite the massive fraud perpetrated on the American people. Party lines are meaningless when the common objective is the revolutionary overtaking of America.

 Obama, the professor of Keynesian economics

 The Obama administration is working closely with Bernanke, Geithner and others not to save our economy, but to outright destroy it. He is not the first or only one to try this, but the most effective and most vetted for that purpose. Do you actually think that the fact that Timothy Geithner’s father worked with Obama’s mother in Indonesia was coincidental,” stated my source rhetorically. “What we’re seeing now is the fourth quarter of a game that started long ago, which also currently involves the Clintons.

Obama would not be where he is if it were not for the Clintons, and to a lesser extent, Bush, but that’s for other reasons. Don’t be fooled, the Clintons never left or lost power,” he added. “There are file drawers full of papers, heavily guarded papers at the ‘TEC building’ so I can only imagine what’s in them, about international financial dealings going back decades. I do know, or at least I was told, that they involve organizations that are the so-called conspiracy fringe groups, such as the Bilderberg group, the Trilateral Commission, and people including George Soros, Henry Kissinger, and current leaders of big industry. Some are fossils. They’ve been around a long time. Others are up-and-coming. They’ve got one thing in common, though, and that is to put in place a global system of governance, including a common currency.

Economics is a huge part of this revolution, and they want to replace the dollar, to see it collapse. They expect, that is, they are working toward this very goal, and when this happens, it will cause chaos like never seen before in the history of this country.” “Why do you think Jon Corzine is not only walking around, but heavily involved in Obama fundraising? They know it’s just a matter of time that Europe will implode economically, and when it does, start counting the days before we see massive hyperinflation and the ultimate collapse of the U.S. dollar,” stated this insider. “What will it look like in the streets of America when the general population realizes that there is no money? That’s right, chaos.”  

Obama and the planned racial divide

According to this insider, the Trayvon Martin case is just the tip of the iceberg. “You certainly don’t have to be a genius to understand how Obama and his team played the public on this issue, and it’s far from over. But that’s not the sole element of what we’ll see this summer.” “Remember the shots fired at the White House not too long ago?” asked my source. There was an element of outrage that was squandered, according to ‘team Obama.’ In fact, Obama and some of his closest advisors, especially [Valerie] Jarrett were incredibly angered that the outrage was seemingly tempered.

It should have been an opportunity to use our force against the Tea Parties, the gun clingers, the Constitutionalists, and everyone who has complained about Obama. DHS should have stepped in right then, and used that event to start the clampdown,” this source stated about White House comments. This source stated that from that point on, the DHS must become more responsive and aggressive. Watch for a false flag event against Obama or his family, something that will outrage ‘black America.’ It will be carefully choreographed, but executed in a manner that will evoke the ugliest of reactions and create racial chaos in this country that will make the Watts riots, 1968 and the Rodney King riots pale in comparison.

That’s the third leg in this.” The planned end-game Does Obama look worried about the upcoming elections? Look at his lavish vacations, his limited work schedule, and those with whom he is working. This is a very dangerous man who has, as his closest advisors, people who have orchestrated the revolutions of the 1960s. They know the “trigger points” in America.

The Obama administration, including his czars and along with his closets Progressive supporters, are planning a manufactured insurgency against America. He is using the media to his advantage to garner both sympathy and support for his unfinished goals. He is desperately seeking a way to remain in office, even if it means the surreal prospect of an indefinite postponement of elections - if it can be pulled off. So far, he’s got the support of the majority of the DHS “brass” behind him, according to my source. “They’re power hungry, and they want to remain in charge,” stated this source. The “surreal” aspect of suspended elections won’t look so surreal when you see any or all of the “trigger points” take place in the not-so-distant future. “The end-game plan for America is its destruction as a Constitutional Republic, with the assistance of the agencies under the umbrella of the DHS.”

My sourced stated one more thing that seemed to tie things together. He urged me to recall the quote by Henry Kissinger who was speaking at a Bilderberg meeting at Evian, France, on 21 May 1992: Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil.

The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government. That threat need not be from beyond. All it might take is a world of starving, broke and desperate people. Note: My source promised more information at a later time. Stay tuned.  

UrbanMan: Wow! Almost lost me at the point where the claim about Farrahkan being a CIA plant - pretty damn far fetched.  But each reader will have work to do to separate possible political agendas and simple mud slinging. But the scary part is that we all work to prepare against many different threats,..food famine, economic collapse, peak oil, terrorist attack, natural disasters,...we often over look any possible, no mater how remote, about internal chaos such as what would be created by any events described above.