One of our neighbors, a woman who always struck me as a busy body type, organized a neighborhood cleanup and a cook out afterwards. I consented to both the cleanup and the cook out as I had the agenda to get to assess my neighbors better - so I could categorize their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Only six couples out the group came to the cookout after the cleanup with the women in the kitchen and the men congregating around the outdoor grill - it was fairly cold and the gas grill provided a little heat.
One the men (I'll call him Hal) and another man (I'll call him Frank) were discussing the upcoming Super Bowl, when Hal's wife walked up and asked Frank how the burgers were coming, then she looked at Hal and said "don't let me keep you from talking about the Zombie Apocalypse".....using her fingers to denote quotation marks for Zombie Apocalypse. Then she walked off and nobody said anything for maybe 10 seconds before Hal said "She's still mad at me from finding out I bought a couple of buckets of survival food. She asked me what it was for and I said something Like "I don't know,..possibly the Zombie Apocalypse", and she has been made for the past week.
I said to Hal, "well what did you buy it for?" Hal replied "It seemed like a good idea just to have some extra food, plus Melissa found a machete, camp axe and camp saw which she is also pissed about. While mentally pegging Hal's wife, Melissa, in that those who have a difficult personality category, I then said "Well, makes sense to me. Lot's of potential bad things that could happen where it would come in handy".
A couple of side conversations took place about how bad things seemed. One guy said his health care premium went from $300 something to over $800 a month.
Trying to get the conversation back to prepping, I said "well Hal what would you do if the Government called a bank holiday for, say four days, and that included the ATM machines and debit card transaction?"
Frank spoke first and said words to the effect that it would certainly screw up a lot of people and possibly cause panic.
Chris, another guy, said "that would never happen." I said, "well, just suppose it did happen, what would you do? Most people only have three of four days of food in their pantry. And even if food wasn't the immediate concern, people would be panicked without access to their accounts. I'll be there would be more than a few cars running out of gas and I'll be you robberies, especially around grocery stores, would increase."
Hal mumbled, "yeah, maybe I need to get a gun." I said, "you don't have a gun?". And to make a long story short, I fielded about a hundred questions about guns, buying guns, guns laws, training and the like. Frank has a 12 gauge hunting shotgun which he has never shot, and one of the other guys said he had a rifle given to him by his Dad, but he didn't know anything about it, the make/model or caliber.
Bottom line is that this cleanup and picnic, while a pain in the ass, paid off for me as I now have five new friends who see me as the "gun expert" and are going to call me to talk about buying a gun for personal protection and getting some firearms and shooting lessons.
By the way, the bank scenario didn't just come of the blue. Read below what is happening in England, from Yahoo news a couple weeks ago. Are you prepared for any of it? Stocked food and water/ firearms for protection? Cash on hand? Someplace to go and a plan in case it all comes crashing down?
If you bank at HSBC in England, don’t plan on making any large cash withdrawals. At least not without a good explanation. Or, maybe even a permission slip.
That’s because a previously unannounced change in banking policy is blocking some customers from making large withdrawals without “evidence” explaining why they need the money from their accounts.
The policy affects customers attempting withdrawals for amounts as little as £5,000 ($8,253).
HSBC says it’s all done in the name of customer protection.
"The reason being we have an obligation to protect our customers, and to minimize the opportunity for financial crime,” HSBC said in a statement. “However, following feedback, we are immediately updating guidance to our customer facing staff to reiterate that it is not mandatory for customers to provide documentary evidence for large cash withdrawals, and on its own, failure to show evidence is not a reason to refuse a withdrawal. We are writing to apologize to any customer who has been given incorrect information and inconvenienced."
The change in approach comes after the BBC aired reports from multiple HSBC customers who said they were denied in their recent attempts to make cash withdrawals.
Banking customer Stephen Cotton says he attempted to withdraw approximately $11,000 to repay a loan from his mother but was blocked from doing so.
"When we presented them with the withdrawal slip, they declined to give us the money because we could not provide them with a satisfactory explanation for what the money was for,” he told the BBC. “They wanted a letter from the person involved."
Cotton says the bank wouldn’t even tell him how much he was allowed to withdraw under the new policy, which was not announced to customers when taking affect last November.
"So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "
In the U.S. there have been rumors of similar restrictions that major banks such as Citibank have denied. After the massive security breach at Target retail stores in December, JP Morgan did place a temporary limit on how much cash customers could withdraw from Chase ATM’s at Target stores and how much they could spend on their debit cards at one time. But that limit has since been removed.
A Conservative member of the British Parliament said the change in policy “infantilizes the customer.” However, the head of retail at the British Bankers Association defended the policy.
"I can understand it's frustrating for customers,” Eric Leenders told the BBC. “But if you are making the occasional large cash withdrawal, the bank wants to make sure it's the right way to make the payment."
Showing posts with label Dollar Collapse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dollar Collapse. Show all posts
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Collapse By Design? Deliberate SHTF?
This is an article posted on the CanadaFreePress.com by Douglas J. Hagmann who with his son, Joe Hagmann, host The Hagmann & Hagmann Report, a live Internet radio program broadcast each weeknight from 8:00-10:00 p.m.
Douglas Hagmann, founder and director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, states that he runs a multi-state licensed private investigative agency and that he is using his investigative skills and training to fight terrorism and increase public awareness through his website. The premise of his article is that our current financial situation was not bred out of incompetence, but by design.
I do not yet have an final opinion on his credibility nor the credibility of his article. Push come to shove, I'll believe that this is a crock. But Hagmann claims he has a source inside Department of Homeland Security.
I am concenred about countries like Cyprus, the financial situation in Europe which willl affect the U.S., the fiscal cliff situation inside the U.S., a possible dollar collapse, but I am not yet ready to believe it is all planned. Anyway, the article, you decide, here is the article:
Much like my high-level source within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security outlined in a series of interviews beginning last year, the orchestrated collapse of the U.S. dollar and the entire world’s economic system has begun. The first shots in a global economic take-over were fired in Cyprus as my esteemed colleague and founding editor of Canada Free Press, Judi McLeod laid out in frank detail in her column yesterday and her follow up today.
Please read it and heed her advice, or suffer the consequences of your own normalcy bias that such an event will not happen in the United States, Canada, or from wherever you might be reading this. It will, and the plan appears to be on schedule for a shot across the bow later this spring here in the West, with a more aggressive take-over starting sometime this fall, according to my source.
The Plan
To those needing a quick refresher, the plan is quite simple and can be summarized by the Clinton-era quip attributed to political strategist James Carville, “the economy, stupid” and the June 9, 2010 statement by former Obama czar Van Jones, Socialist extraordinaire, “top down, bottom up, inside out.” It is a plan for a one world Communist economy where the “middle class” will be wiped out through a series of events that will have the same ultimate effect as we are seeing in present day Cyprus.
Based on the events in Cyprus, it should be quite clear to even the most vocal critic of the legitimacy of the information provided to me by my source within the DHS as published on this web site is no longer at issue. The U.S. dollar, the backbone of world currencies and the proverbial firewall preventing the erosion of our national sovereignty, is the ultimate target of a takedown by the global banking interests controlled by a handful of banks and families of the “royal elite.”
The plan for a global currency or a one world economic order is a matter that transcends political parties. Those who continue to argue in the Republican-Democrat meme are doing nothing more than providing entertainment to distract people from the real issue, that of the global elite versus the rest of us. The top of the pyramid in this Ponzi scheme is filled with members of both U.S. political parties who are systematically pillaging us and our future generations into financial debt, bondage and slavery. It is a plan that has been in the works for centuries. The problem, however, is that we have been conditioned not to think that big. Yet, the lie is that big.
The Parties
Our current financial situation was not bred out of incompetence, but by design. The occupancy of Barack Hussein Obama as the putative President of the United States was a plan in the making long ago, to usher in this oppressive system where we will be left at the mercy of the global ruling class. It is not by accident that we have been prevented from knowing exactly who this man is, from the controversy of his birth records to his college transcripts and even his social security number. Contrary to what the state-controlled media wants you to believe, these questions have never been answered with any measure of authenticity.
For example, does anyone honestly believe that it is merely a coincidence that Obama’s alleged mother, Stanley Ann Dunham-Soetoro, just happened to work with Timothy Geithner’s father, Peter Geithner, at the Ford Foundation in Indonesia? Is it reasonable to believe that the Republican party had no knowledge of the background of Barack Hussein Obama? Yet not one word from the Republican establishment as they not only watched, but facilitated the takeover of the United States from within. As I’ve written before, our nation is a captured operation.
The plan was set into motion long ago, stemming back to the founding of the United States and the temporary resistance to the central banking system. In 1913, the creation of the Federal Reserve set the countdown clock in motion for the complete subjugation of the United States to the interests of the global bankers and the global elite. The secret supra-governmental cabals such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission worked behind the scenes, under the cover provided by the complicit media, to bring us to this point in history. Perpetual wars were induced to occupy the masses while the chess pieces were placed into their current positions. We are now about to pay the price for our inability or unwillingness to confront the establishment and incremental advancements leading to our own demise.
DHS source: Everything is not “coming up roses”
According to the most recent information provided to me from my source within the Department of Homeland Security known as “Rosebud,” the final preparations are being made to deploy heavily armed federalized forces onto the streets of America. They will be deployed under the pretext of “restoring and maintaining order from the chaos brought about by the economic collapse,” adding that “many will demand and embrace their deployment on the streets of America. They will get what they ask for, and more.”
Much like the security theater we have seen following the attacks of 9/11, we will be subjected to the jack-booted control of a federal army whose allegiance is not to the American people, but to the very architects of the chaos.
“This is the reason that drones are flying over U.S. cities and farmland, and gun control legislation is on the fast track for complete implementation,” stated this source. “How can people look at the situation in Cyprus and not think it won’t happen here? It will, and the blowback will be unlike this country has ever seen. Surveillance, disarming the public, and conditioning the people to believe it’s for their own safety is and has been part of the plan all along. Anyone owing a gun will be demonized and described as contributing to the problem.”
“What happens when the middle class loses much of their wealth, or it is confiscated, by the stroke of a pen or a keyboard? What will the stores look like when people, unprepared due to the damn lies of the corporate media and the shills for the ruling elite, run to empty out everything they can get their hands on as the world, as they know it, collapses around them?”
It was during my most recent contact with my source yesterday that he admitted that the situation will be blamed not on the bankers and the elected leaders who are raping us of our wealth and buying power, but on “right-wing, gun-toting Conservative ‘militia’ groups who believe that the situation is orchestrated.” And, of course, it is orchestrated.
“There is no Republican-Democrat argument to be made anymore. It’s all political theater to keep the majority of the masses occupied while the true enemy has already captured both parties,” he added. “They are all in on it, either knowingly or unwittingly, the takeover, that is. And it’s getting harder to believe that there are any who are unwitting accomplices at this point.”
“When the curtain is pulled back to reveal the true agenda of a single digital world currency, the people who have been yelling the loudest about such ‘conspiracy theories’ will be specifically singled out and demonized. They will be blamed for causing the panic we will see, and of course, dealt with by the army we asked for, accepted and even tolerated.”
Anyone who still believes that the information provided by this insider is “doom porn” or some self-created fantasy need to look at the events taking place in Cyprus. It’s coming to America. It has already begun.
Douglas Hagmann, founder and director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, states that he runs a multi-state licensed private investigative agency and that he is using his investigative skills and training to fight terrorism and increase public awareness through his website. The premise of his article is that our current financial situation was not bred out of incompetence, but by design.
I do not yet have an final opinion on his credibility nor the credibility of his article. Push come to shove, I'll believe that this is a crock. But Hagmann claims he has a source inside Department of Homeland Security.
I am concenred about countries like Cyprus, the financial situation in Europe which willl affect the U.S., the fiscal cliff situation inside the U.S., a possible dollar collapse, but I am not yet ready to believe it is all planned. Anyway, the article, you decide, here is the article:
Much like my high-level source within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security outlined in a series of interviews beginning last year, the orchestrated collapse of the U.S. dollar and the entire world’s economic system has begun. The first shots in a global economic take-over were fired in Cyprus as my esteemed colleague and founding editor of Canada Free Press, Judi McLeod laid out in frank detail in her column yesterday and her follow up today.
Please read it and heed her advice, or suffer the consequences of your own normalcy bias that such an event will not happen in the United States, Canada, or from wherever you might be reading this. It will, and the plan appears to be on schedule for a shot across the bow later this spring here in the West, with a more aggressive take-over starting sometime this fall, according to my source.
The Plan
To those needing a quick refresher, the plan is quite simple and can be summarized by the Clinton-era quip attributed to political strategist James Carville, “the economy, stupid” and the June 9, 2010 statement by former Obama czar Van Jones, Socialist extraordinaire, “top down, bottom up, inside out.” It is a plan for a one world Communist economy where the “middle class” will be wiped out through a series of events that will have the same ultimate effect as we are seeing in present day Cyprus.
Based on the events in Cyprus, it should be quite clear to even the most vocal critic of the legitimacy of the information provided to me by my source within the DHS as published on this web site is no longer at issue. The U.S. dollar, the backbone of world currencies and the proverbial firewall preventing the erosion of our national sovereignty, is the ultimate target of a takedown by the global banking interests controlled by a handful of banks and families of the “royal elite.”
The plan for a global currency or a one world economic order is a matter that transcends political parties. Those who continue to argue in the Republican-Democrat meme are doing nothing more than providing entertainment to distract people from the real issue, that of the global elite versus the rest of us. The top of the pyramid in this Ponzi scheme is filled with members of both U.S. political parties who are systematically pillaging us and our future generations into financial debt, bondage and slavery. It is a plan that has been in the works for centuries. The problem, however, is that we have been conditioned not to think that big. Yet, the lie is that big.
The Parties
Our current financial situation was not bred out of incompetence, but by design. The occupancy of Barack Hussein Obama as the putative President of the United States was a plan in the making long ago, to usher in this oppressive system where we will be left at the mercy of the global ruling class. It is not by accident that we have been prevented from knowing exactly who this man is, from the controversy of his birth records to his college transcripts and even his social security number. Contrary to what the state-controlled media wants you to believe, these questions have never been answered with any measure of authenticity.
For example, does anyone honestly believe that it is merely a coincidence that Obama’s alleged mother, Stanley Ann Dunham-Soetoro, just happened to work with Timothy Geithner’s father, Peter Geithner, at the Ford Foundation in Indonesia? Is it reasonable to believe that the Republican party had no knowledge of the background of Barack Hussein Obama? Yet not one word from the Republican establishment as they not only watched, but facilitated the takeover of the United States from within. As I’ve written before, our nation is a captured operation.
The plan was set into motion long ago, stemming back to the founding of the United States and the temporary resistance to the central banking system. In 1913, the creation of the Federal Reserve set the countdown clock in motion for the complete subjugation of the United States to the interests of the global bankers and the global elite. The secret supra-governmental cabals such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission worked behind the scenes, under the cover provided by the complicit media, to bring us to this point in history. Perpetual wars were induced to occupy the masses while the chess pieces were placed into their current positions. We are now about to pay the price for our inability or unwillingness to confront the establishment and incremental advancements leading to our own demise.
DHS source: Everything is not “coming up roses”
According to the most recent information provided to me from my source within the Department of Homeland Security known as “Rosebud,” the final preparations are being made to deploy heavily armed federalized forces onto the streets of America. They will be deployed under the pretext of “restoring and maintaining order from the chaos brought about by the economic collapse,” adding that “many will demand and embrace their deployment on the streets of America. They will get what they ask for, and more.”
Much like the security theater we have seen following the attacks of 9/11, we will be subjected to the jack-booted control of a federal army whose allegiance is not to the American people, but to the very architects of the chaos.
“This is the reason that drones are flying over U.S. cities and farmland, and gun control legislation is on the fast track for complete implementation,” stated this source. “How can people look at the situation in Cyprus and not think it won’t happen here? It will, and the blowback will be unlike this country has ever seen. Surveillance, disarming the public, and conditioning the people to believe it’s for their own safety is and has been part of the plan all along. Anyone owing a gun will be demonized and described as contributing to the problem.”
“What happens when the middle class loses much of their wealth, or it is confiscated, by the stroke of a pen or a keyboard? What will the stores look like when people, unprepared due to the damn lies of the corporate media and the shills for the ruling elite, run to empty out everything they can get their hands on as the world, as they know it, collapses around them?”
It was during my most recent contact with my source yesterday that he admitted that the situation will be blamed not on the bankers and the elected leaders who are raping us of our wealth and buying power, but on “right-wing, gun-toting Conservative ‘militia’ groups who believe that the situation is orchestrated.” And, of course, it is orchestrated.
“There is no Republican-Democrat argument to be made anymore. It’s all political theater to keep the majority of the masses occupied while the true enemy has already captured both parties,” he added. “They are all in on it, either knowingly or unwittingly, the takeover, that is. And it’s getting harder to believe that there are any who are unwitting accomplices at this point.”
“When the curtain is pulled back to reveal the true agenda of a single digital world currency, the people who have been yelling the loudest about such ‘conspiracy theories’ will be specifically singled out and demonized. They will be blamed for causing the panic we will see, and of course, dealt with by the army we asked for, accepted and even tolerated.”
Anyone who still believes that the information provided by this insider is “doom porn” or some self-created fantasy need to look at the events taking place in Cyprus. It’s coming to America. It has already begun.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Gold and Silver News
While there is continuing debate in the Survival-Prepper circles about the value of having silver and gold bullion, and silver coins for melt or barter value on hand for when the dollar or economic collapse occurs,....and it is apearing more and more likely that it is a question of "when" and not "if",........it is still a good idea, even if you do not subscribe to having precious metals, to keep on top of what is occuring in the gold and silver market.
American Eagle gold bullion coin sales jump, by Kerry Hall, March 9, 2013 on www.mining.com
The US Mint sold 80,500 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins during February compared to 21,000 ounces the previous year in that month for a 283% increase, reports Mineweb.
In the first two months of 2013, sales were up 56% compared to the same period last year.
Overall, total gold coin sales for January and February were 430,500 ounces. During the same months last year, sales were 124,500 ounces.
January 2013 made the record book at sixth place with gold coin sales of 124,500 ounces.
For American Eagle silver bullion coins, reported sales were 3,368,500 ounces during the second month of the year. That's 126% more than the same month last year.
For January and February, silver coin sales were 10,866,500 ounces — up 43% from 2012 when 7,597,000 ounces were sold.
Will we see a silver breakout in 2013? from the Gold Report, March 13, 2013 on www.mining.com
Silver has been trading sideways so far in 2013, but what will the rest of the year bring? Will 2013 be the year silver prices break out or crash and burn?
What is a sustainable silver price for mining companies and where will the metal come from to supply the next generation of industrial and investment demand? Most important, how can investors make money off this volatile sector?
These were the burning questions The Gold Report took to analysts, money managers and heads of silver mining companies. The answers may surprise you.
One of the world's biggest silver investors, Eric Sprott, pointed to the availability ratio between silver and gold for why the metal price could jump from $30/ounce ($30/oz) to as high as $200/oz as he predicted in a recent radio interview.
He quotes statistics that show once the industrial use of silver and gold is subtracted from the production and recycling new supply calculations, three times more silver is available for purchase each year than gold. However sales of gold and silver at the U.S. Mint, through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Sprott's own Physical Trust, show that investors are buying many multiples more silver than gold and have been for years.
Sprott firmly believes that outsized demand in such a relatively small market ($9 trillion for gold and $150 million for silver) will result in price inflation. "We are surprised that the price of silver has remained at such a depressed level compared to gold. Historically, the price ratio between gold and silver has been 16:1. Today the ratio is 55:1, so what are the numbers telling us? We believe this is one of those times when smart investors will be well rewarded if they follow the money."
American Eagle gold bullion coin sales jump, by Kerry Hall, March 9, 2013 on www.mining.com
The US Mint sold 80,500 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins during February compared to 21,000 ounces the previous year in that month for a 283% increase, reports Mineweb.
In the first two months of 2013, sales were up 56% compared to the same period last year.
Overall, total gold coin sales for January and February were 430,500 ounces. During the same months last year, sales were 124,500 ounces.
January 2013 made the record book at sixth place with gold coin sales of 124,500 ounces.
For American Eagle silver bullion coins, reported sales were 3,368,500 ounces during the second month of the year. That's 126% more than the same month last year.
For January and February, silver coin sales were 10,866,500 ounces — up 43% from 2012 when 7,597,000 ounces were sold.
Will we see a silver breakout in 2013? from the Gold Report, March 13, 2013 on www.mining.com
Silver has been trading sideways so far in 2013, but what will the rest of the year bring? Will 2013 be the year silver prices break out or crash and burn?
What is a sustainable silver price for mining companies and where will the metal come from to supply the next generation of industrial and investment demand? Most important, how can investors make money off this volatile sector?
These were the burning questions The Gold Report took to analysts, money managers and heads of silver mining companies. The answers may surprise you.
One of the world's biggest silver investors, Eric Sprott, pointed to the availability ratio between silver and gold for why the metal price could jump from $30/ounce ($30/oz) to as high as $200/oz as he predicted in a recent radio interview.
He quotes statistics that show once the industrial use of silver and gold is subtracted from the production and recycling new supply calculations, three times more silver is available for purchase each year than gold. However sales of gold and silver at the U.S. Mint, through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Sprott's own Physical Trust, show that investors are buying many multiples more silver than gold and have been for years.
Sprott firmly believes that outsized demand in such a relatively small market ($9 trillion for gold and $150 million for silver) will result in price inflation. "We are surprised that the price of silver has remained at such a depressed level compared to gold. Historically, the price ratio between gold and silver has been 16:1. Today the ratio is 55:1, so what are the numbers telling us? We believe this is one of those times when smart investors will be well rewarded if they follow the money."
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Martial Law - The Movie
A patriot known to me and living up in the colder climates of this country sent me a note about the development of a movie depicting martial law in this country.
As the producer advertises on the website, the movie Gray State fictionalizes the possibility of war, geological disaster and economic collapse all conspire to allow the government to exert tyrannical control of the population complete with arrests, disappearances of protestors, branding and RFID chip implantation, military districts and martial law, and ultimately organized resistance.
This is currently a project film looking for funding. The producers also advertise they want to stay away from major funding so they do not lose control over the direction of the film nor the script.
Promising to be a movie about a takeover of liberty by the government after the dollar plunges to zero, the grocery store shelves are empty and everyone is a terrorist subject as neighbor is pitted against neighbor - this movie also promises to be a movie of mass awakening and a warning against complacency and in an implied manner, a warning against a lack of awareness and unpreparedness.
Watch the movie trailer below. One of the quotes that comes across the screen is "When society falls, those who panic - Die First".
As the producer advertises on the website, the movie Gray State fictionalizes the possibility of war, geological disaster and economic collapse all conspire to allow the government to exert tyrannical control of the population complete with arrests, disappearances of protestors, branding and RFID chip implantation, military districts and martial law, and ultimately organized resistance.
This is currently a project film looking for funding. The producers also advertise they want to stay away from major funding so they do not lose control over the direction of the film nor the script.
Promising to be a movie about a takeover of liberty by the government after the dollar plunges to zero, the grocery store shelves are empty and everyone is a terrorist subject as neighbor is pitted against neighbor - this movie also promises to be a movie of mass awakening and a warning against complacency and in an implied manner, a warning against a lack of awareness and unpreparedness.
Watch the movie trailer below. One of the quotes that comes across the screen is "When society falls, those who panic - Die First".
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Education on the Great Depression
Those who do not learn from History are bound to Repeat It,.....
From the article "How Bad Was The Great Depression?" by Tyler Durden printed on Zero Hedge
To properly understand the events of the time (and to put them in today's context), we believe, like the FEE, that it is factually appropriate to view the Great Depression as not one, but four consecutive downturns rolled into one. These four “phases” are: I. Monetary Policy and the Business Cycle; II. The Disintegration of the World Economy; III. The New Deal; IV. The Wagner Act. The first phase covers why the crash of 1929 happened in the first place; the other three show how government intervention worsened it and kept the economy in a stupor for over a decade. The following brief clip and article shine a light on how bad things were and what was done in the name of 'helping' - there are many shocking analogies for current government-inspired acts from taxation to protectionism to money-supply 'tricks'.
Everyone has heard the sage observation of philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s a warning we should not fail to heed.
From the article "How Bad Was The Great Depression?" by Tyler Durden printed on Zero Hedge
To properly understand the events of the time (and to put them in today's context), we believe, like the FEE, that it is factually appropriate to view the Great Depression as not one, but four consecutive downturns rolled into one. These four “phases” are: I. Monetary Policy and the Business Cycle; II. The Disintegration of the World Economy; III. The New Deal; IV. The Wagner Act. The first phase covers why the crash of 1929 happened in the first place; the other three show how government intervention worsened it and kept the economy in a stupor for over a decade. The following brief clip and article shine a light on how bad things were and what was done in the name of 'helping' - there are many shocking analogies for current government-inspired acts from taxation to protectionism to money-supply 'tricks'.
Everyone has heard the sage observation of philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s a warning we should not fail to heed.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Federal Government Stockpiling Ammunition?
And another popular right wing belief is that the government knows it is sinking rapidly and is preparing for population and riot controls.
Recent revelations about Department of Homeland Security purchasing 450 million rounds of .40 S&W Jacketed Hollow Point ammunition and the Social Security Administration buying 174,000 .40 S&W rounds have gotten alot of tonges wagging and fingers typing across the blogosphere.
450 million rounds of .40 caliber, purchased by DHS, over a several year (maximum of five) period of time equates to less than 1,400 rounds per year, per DHS law enforcement officer or agent. With annual qualification and training requiring less than 300 rounds per individual, there is some room to believe that 450 million is an excessive number of rounds. Factor in ammunition requirements for the various tactical teams and specialized units then you come pretty close to validating the requirement.
Then there is the Social Security Administration buying 174,000 thousands rounds for it's approximately 300 enforcement agents with arrest powers. That around 580 rounds per agent, hardly an excessive amount in my opinion. Another angle is why does the Social Security Administration need armed agents and why are they carrying hollow point ammunition, banned by the Geneva Convention and the Land Of Warfare? Social Security agents also investigates crimes. Well, hollowpoint ammunition is easily justified and has been in current use by law enforcemnt agents for the past,..what? 30 years or so? Hollow point ammunition is actualy safer, providing you hit what you mean to as it has a less chance of over penetrsation and posing a danger outside of the intended target.
174,000 rounds for 300 agents is pretty minimal for training and duty carry equating to 580 rounds per man per year. That would roughly be used as 240 rounds for qualifications; 45 rounds or so for duty carry; and, 290 for training.
While as American Citizens we have a duty to remain vigilant against government encroachment of their powers and the subsequent reduction of our freedoms,....the ammunition purchases circulating around the web are not something we need to be overly concerned about.
I am more concerned the planned hiring of, what?, 16,000 additional IRS agents. I am more concenred about the price and availability of food.....the probability of food shortages and masses of dis-advantaged people rioting in the streets over hyper-inflation and the collapse of the dollar. I am more concenred about my own survival stocks and that includes ammunition for my family's own security. So should you.
Friday, June 22, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
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).
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).
Monday, June 11, 2012
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".
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".
Saturday, April 7, 2012
$8 a Gallon Gas?
Are you planning for any changes if fuel costs double this year? What are you willing to do without or how are you otherwise going to stretch those dollars as well know as fuel jumps so does all other commodities?
Some analysts are saying that even $8 a gallon is on the low side for the potential price increase especially if thee is a conflict in the Middle East involving Iran. Military analysts are suggesting that the least aggressive tactic that Iran could employ would be to lay anti-ship mines in the Straits of Hormuz. Which would take the U.S. and probable ally England many weeks to clear. Imagine the sinking of one of our aircraft carriers and/or one large oil transport ship in the Straits. Sure, the very probable U.S. relatiation would be massive, but it would do nothing to ease the price of oil.
Others are suggesting that oil at $200 a barrel/gas at $8+ a gallon would spur a massive downturn of the U.S. economy; causing businesses to lay off people; propell another large stimulus; cause the Federal government to borrow more to pay entitlements; devalue the U.S. dollar and push the Fed into another rounds of Quanitative Easing - which of course if injecting more money into financial institutions further devaling the dollar causing inflation,....and posibly the Survivalist Prepper's fear, a hyper inflationary period.
Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul's article, titled "Worried About $6 Gas Prices? Try $8" from ETF Daily is a necessary read. To summarize the key points of this article:
$6 gas in the U.S. may be even a low-ball estimate.
We are now back above $4 per gallon for the first time since May 2011,” “In Europe it is close to the $10 mark.”
Expect a record gas price this summer. The oil market has entered the perfect storm.
We will see a minimum of $6 per gallon gasoline in the United States this summer.”
Military conflict with Iran could throw the $6 price target far off the mark, as approximately 17 percent of the world’s oil supply could be shut out for, not a matter of weeks as the Pentagon has estimated, but months.
There is virtually no limit to the upside for oil prices. The oil price could easily double.
Oil trading above $200 per barrel could easily take gasoline to $8 in the U.S., as a panic to secure already-tight global supplies could shock the American people into another significant downturn in the U.S. economy.
This could turn into really tough times, because the economy will be struggling in that environment, we could see QE3 in the midst of already record high gasoline prices. Now that will be wildly inflationary.”
Some analysts are saying that even $8 a gallon is on the low side for the potential price increase especially if thee is a conflict in the Middle East involving Iran. Military analysts are suggesting that the least aggressive tactic that Iran could employ would be to lay anti-ship mines in the Straits of Hormuz. Which would take the U.S. and probable ally England many weeks to clear. Imagine the sinking of one of our aircraft carriers and/or one large oil transport ship in the Straits. Sure, the very probable U.S. relatiation would be massive, but it would do nothing to ease the price of oil.
Others are suggesting that oil at $200 a barrel/gas at $8+ a gallon would spur a massive downturn of the U.S. economy; causing businesses to lay off people; propell another large stimulus; cause the Federal government to borrow more to pay entitlements; devalue the U.S. dollar and push the Fed into another rounds of Quanitative Easing - which of course if injecting more money into financial institutions further devaling the dollar causing inflation,....and posibly the Survivalist Prepper's fear, a hyper inflationary period.
Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul's article, titled "Worried About $6 Gas Prices? Try $8" from ETF Daily is a necessary read. To summarize the key points of this article:
$6 gas in the U.S. may be even a low-ball estimate.
We are now back above $4 per gallon for the first time since May 2011,” “In Europe it is close to the $10 mark.”
Expect a record gas price this summer. The oil market has entered the perfect storm.
We will see a minimum of $6 per gallon gasoline in the United States this summer.”
Military conflict with Iran could throw the $6 price target far off the mark, as approximately 17 percent of the world’s oil supply could be shut out for, not a matter of weeks as the Pentagon has estimated, but months.
There is virtually no limit to the upside for oil prices. The oil price could easily double.
Oil trading above $200 per barrel could easily take gasoline to $8 in the U.S., as a panic to secure already-tight global supplies could shock the American people into another significant downturn in the U.S. economy.
This could turn into really tough times, because the economy will be struggling in that environment, we could see QE3 in the midst of already record high gasoline prices. Now that will be wildly inflationary.”
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Too Late for Gold and Silver?
Too Late for Gold and Silver? I get that a lot. People write me saying buying Gold and Silver are worthless or at best will only have value if someone accepts these precious metals for commodities. Many people write me advocating the purchase and stockage of guns, ammunition and food rather than Gold and Silver.
From my perspective, and considering the capabilities of the common person, anybody preparing for any kind of collapse – nuclear attack, dollar collapse, economic or infrastructure collapse, must consider all aspects of preparation from guns, ammunition, food, viable water supply and sources, transportation, gear and equipment,…and,…precious metals. Not to have any quantity of Gold or Silver is to leave a hole in your survival preparations.
I get that people are scared off by the costs of silver or more so Gold. Purchasing Gold and Silver as a survival asset has to compete with all other aspects of survival and most often places second, third or is not considered on the priority of purchases. That needs to change. Even if you can only afford $30 worth of junk silver coins (for silver melt value) or one ounce silver round, then get started today.
Mike Maloney from the ElevationGroup TV produced a video called “Is It Too Late To Buy Gold and Silver? This is a good education on paper money and how Fed policies influence how the dollar collapse will happen.
Watch more on GoldandSilver.com
From my perspective, and considering the capabilities of the common person, anybody preparing for any kind of collapse – nuclear attack, dollar collapse, economic or infrastructure collapse, must consider all aspects of preparation from guns, ammunition, food, viable water supply and sources, transportation, gear and equipment,…and,…precious metals. Not to have any quantity of Gold or Silver is to leave a hole in your survival preparations.
I get that people are scared off by the costs of silver or more so Gold. Purchasing Gold and Silver as a survival asset has to compete with all other aspects of survival and most often places second, third or is not considered on the priority of purchases. That needs to change. Even if you can only afford $30 worth of junk silver coins (for silver melt value) or one ounce silver round, then get started today.
Mike Maloney from the ElevationGroup TV produced a video called “Is It Too Late To Buy Gold and Silver? This is a good education on paper money and how Fed policies influence how the dollar collapse will happen.
Watch more on GoldandSilver.com
Monday, December 26, 2011
New Father Fears the Future
school engineer (really a fix it all guy), plus I do home repairs for the guy I rent from for extra income. Now I need it the extra money more than ever. One of the men I work with taught me about the Survivor Movement with me some magazines to look at and talking about the economy. I am not into guns, recently I have been thinking about getting one and I find myself thinking about what happens if the power goes off and doesn't come back on."
UrbanMan replies: I am curious if you are from the Northeast where a power outage went on for quite a while for some folks. Hopefully, the people who were affected by this used the lessons learned to get better prepared for an alike event,.....or something much worse.
You are wise to start considering what can happen, to include providing for security and protection for your family. Just having a gun is not going to solve everything. If the power goes off and does not come back on, that will only be the beginnings of your problems. Lack of food and fuel, disruption of water utilities, reduced emergency services, a fast and substantial rise in angry, hungry people are can occur quickly if the catalyst for the event are severe enough.
There are four generally categories of Survival Preparation: Food; Water; Shelter; and, Security/Protection. Each with many facets of understanding and preparatory actions.
Consider food for instance. You could have months worth of frozen goods in a freezer, but when the power goes off, what are you going to do? Canned and boxed pantry goods will have an expiration date at some point. Dehydrated foods require water to hydrate. Ready to eat meals like Military MRE's are expensive. You final survival preparation solutions for food, will probably be a combination of all these food items.
One of the easiest things to do is to buy dry and canned pantry goods on sale or when you find good deals. Put away several months of items and rotate them using the first in, first out principal.
Security and Protection. I believe all law abiding Americans should own multiple guns. One gun cannot accomplish all your protection tasks as well as possible hunting applications. An individual prepping for survival against many different collapse scenarios would be best served by having several firearms (and ammunition) such as a handgun, shotgun and rifle.
There are other factors of security. Where you live; potential threat streams; refugee routes; defensibility of your home. Protection and security are usually best achieved in a teamwork approach. I say, "Survival is a Team Sport".
And of course, you cannot live without water. You will dehydrate and die without water long before you die of starvation. You simply must have a full time water source, best if not dependent upon power solutions to provide you the water. Some people have a water service where they, like stocking pantry items, buy 15 or 20 five gallon jugs as their stock then reduce the periodic delivery to what they use and use their existing stock again using the first in first out principal. This is not the cheapest way to insure you have some water on hand when the lights go out or SHTF, but having some emergency food and water on hand gives you time to make a decision,....to stay or bug out.
Shelter is important as it provides protection from the elements and two legged threats. No matter how defensible or strong your survival location is, a Bug Out plan so you can rapidly vacate and move to another safe location are paramount. The Bug Out just doesn't consider where you are going, but how you are going to get there; but what you will take with you.
You can learn much and need to learn much in as quickest time period as you can. This site, as well as many other on-line sites reflect alot of planning tips, lessons learned, techniques, equipment ideas and much, much more. Make use of all these resources. Many of which we are linked to on the bottom right side of this page. Quickly develop a plan. Objectively review that plan continually. And prepare for some unfortunate things to happen to this country be it from an economic/dollar collapse or externally generated chaos. Educate yourself, prep well and good luck.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Food Prices Up, Shortage to Follow
Why Are Food Prices Rising So Fast?
If you do much grocery shopping, you have probably noticed that the cost of food has been rising at a very brisk pace over the past year. So why are food prices rising so fast? According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, inflation is still very low and the economy is improving. So what is going on here? When I go to the grocery store these days, there are very few things that I will buy unless they are on sale. In fact, I have noticed that many of the new "sale prices" are the old regular prices. Other items have had their packages reduced in size in order to hide the price increases. But with millions of American families just barely scraping by as it is, what is going to happen if food prices keep rising this rapidly?
The food prices are especially painful if you are trying to eat healthy. Most of the low price stuff in the grocery stores is garbage. Eating the "typical American diet" is a highway to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
But if you try to stick to food that is "healthy" or "organic" you can blow through hundreds of dollars in a heartbeat. In fact, the reality is that tens of millions of American families have now essentially been priced out of a healthy diet.
Soon there will be millions more American families that will not even be able to afford an unhealthy diet.
Some recent statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are absolutely staggering. According to a recent CNBC article, over the past year many of the most popular foods in America have absolutely soared in price....
Coffee, for instance, is up 40 percent. Celery is 28 percent higher while butter prices rose 26.4 percent. Rounding out the top five are bacon, at 23.5 percent, and cabbage, at 23.3 percent.
Unfortunately, it looks like the trend of rising food prices is accelerating. Just look at what the CNBC article says happened in the month of April alone....
Just in April—the most recent month for which data is available—grapes went up nearly 30 percent, cabbage jumped about 17 percent and orange juice surged more than 5 percent. Meat is becoming more expensive as well. Since March 2009, livestock prices have risen by 138%.
So when Ben Bernanke tells us that inflation is very low, that really is a lie. On the stuff that people spend money on every day (like food and gas), prices have gone up dramatically. Sadly, this is not just a phenomenon that is happening in the United States. The truth is that the entire planet is rapidly approaching a horrific global food crisis.
Over the past year, the global price of food has risen by 37 percent and this has pushed approximately 44 million more people around the world into poverty.
When food prices rise in the U.S. it may be painful for millions of American families, but around the world a rise in food prices can mean the difference between surviving and not surviving.
That is why it has been so alarming that the global price of wheat has approximately doubled over the past year.
But it is not just wheat that has been soaring. Check out what a recent Bloomberg article had to say about what has been happening to many key agricultural commodities over the past year....
Corn futures advanced 77 percent in the past 12 months in Chicago trading, a global benchmark, rice gained 39 percent and sugar jumped 64 percent. There will be shortages in corn, wheat, soybeans, coffee and cocoa this year or next, according to Utrecht, Netherlands-based Rabobank Groep. Prices also rose after droughts and floods from Australia to Canada ruined crops last year. European farmers are now contending with their driest growing season in more than three decades.
Even before this recent spike in food prices the world was struggling to get enough food to everybody. It has been estimated that somewhere in the world someone starves to death every 3.6 seconds, and 75 percent of those are children under the age of five.
So what is going to happen if food prices keep on rising at the current pace? That is a very good question. We really are starting to move into unprecedented territory. Nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next.
So why is all of this happening?
Well, a lot of people are blaming the Federal Reserve. All of the "quantitative easing" that the Fed has done has flooded the financial markets with money. All of that money had to go somewhere. Much of it has pumped up the prices of hard assets such as oil, gold and agricultural commodities.
But it is not just the Fed that is to blame. The truth is that central banks all over the world have been recklessly printing money.
When the amount of money in an economy goes up, the purchasing value of all existing money goes down. In the United States , that means that your dollars will not go as far as they did before.
But it is not just monetary policy that is affecting food prices. In 2010 and 2011 we have seen an unprecedented wave of natural disasters and crazy weather. This has caused problems with crops all over the globe.
In addition, U.S. economic policies are also playing a role. At this point, almost a third of all corn grown in the United States is used for fuel. This is putting a lot of stress on the price of corn.
Also, there are some long-term trends that are not in our favor. For example, the systematic depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer could eventually turn " America 's Breadbasket" back into the "Dust Bowl". If you have not heard of this problem I would encourage you to do some research on it.
Things are going to get a lot worse, but already America is having a really hard time feeding itself. According to Feeding America's 2010 hunger study, more than 37 million Americans are now being served by food pantries and soup kitchens.
So is that number unusual?
Yes, it sure is. The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006. That is not a good trend. Another stat that I talk a lot about in this column is the number of Americans on food stamps. Right now, there are 44 million Americans on food stamps. Nearly half of them are children.
How did we ever get to the point as a nation where more than 20 million children end up on food stamps? It is estimated that one out of every four American children is currently on food stamps, and it is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.
So what is going to happen if the economy gets even worse?
What is going to happen if there really is a major food crisis in this country someday? Food prices have been going up for decades and they are going to continue to go up. But the frightening thing is how fast they are increasing now.
As the U.S. middle class continues to be destroyed, the number of Americans that can't afford to buy enough food is going to continue to rise. Food prices are rising much faster than wages are, and that is not likely to change any time soon.
Food is rapidly becoming one of the most important global economic issues of this decade. The farther one looks down the road, the bleaker things look for the global food situation.
I hope you are prepared for that. So what are you going to do? Watch for deals. Stock food when you can. Be prepared, and start now, to grow your own.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Urban Survival Planning - U.S. Dollar Collapse At Any Time
U.S. Dollar Collapse Could Occur at Any Time
Very good and succint article on the impending collapse from Inflation.us
You should bookmark and add to your sources of collapse indicators.
Highlights from the article is below; please go to http://www.inflation.us/ to read the article in it's entirety.
China this morning reported 4.9% price inflation for the month of February
China was at least smart enough to raise interest rates last month by 25 basis points to 6.06%, while the Federal Reserve continues to leave interest rates near zero with there being absolutely no talk of the Federal Reserve ever raising interest rates again.
China will be successful at containing inflation, as U.S. inflation spirals out of control and becomes the greatest economic crisis in American history.
China this week reported a $7.3 billion trade deficit for the month of February, its largest trade deficit in seven years, which surprised many global economists. NIA believes China 's trade deficit is temporary and that China will quickly return to having a trade surplus.
The Federal Reserve's QE2 along with China 's destructive monetary policies, which artificially devalue the yuan, have led to a massive rise in China 's raw material costs this year. NIA believes that in the upcoming months, Chinese manufacturers will raise the prices of their products that get exported to the U.S., to counteract rising commodity prices.
With most products used by Americans today having been manufactured in China , this will mean Americans will soon see massive price inflation in just about all consumer goods they use. NIA projects that by the end of 2011, we will begin to see the U.S. CPI increase by 4.9% or higher on a year-over-year basis, with real U.S. price inflation rising north of 10%.
The mainstream media is proclaiming that China 's trade deficit will silence calls for the Chinese to allow their currency to strengthen against the U.S. dollar. The fact is, China 's government has for long been making the major mistake of printing too many yuan in order to artificially prop up the U.S. dollar. Their fear was, if the U.S. dollar was allowed to decline too rapidly, prices of Chinese goods would rise in terms of U.S. dollars and Americans would no longer afford to import them.
The truth is, if China allowed the yuan to strengthen, the Chinese would have enjoyed a much higher standard of living. Sure, prices would rise in dollars and Americans would import less, but the Chinese would have the ability to consume more of their own products. Now, as a result of China expanding its own money supply in order to keep the yuan pegged to the U.S. dollar, Americans will be forced to pay a much higher price for Chinese goods.
The U.S. government has been successful at temporarily paying off Americans into not rioting in the streets like in Arab nations. It was just announced a few days ago that the number of Americans on food stamps in the month of December of 2010 was a record 44,082,324, up 13.1% from one year earlier and 1.1% from one month earlier. That is more than 14% of the total U.S. population!
Combined with President Obama extending unemployment benefits up to 99 weeks, American citizens are too busy and distracted playing with their iPad 2s and gossiping on Twitter about Charlie Sheen, to have any time to protest in Washington, DC.
NIA believes the U.S. government's entitlement spending is currently having the unintended consequence of making Americans dependent on government. It is like when you take wild animals into captivity and you feed them, teach them to do tricks and take care of them for a period of many years; if you just dump them one day back into the wild, it will be very difficult for them to survive. Americans who have become dependent on unemployment checks and food stamps will likely soon abruptly find out that they must begin to fend for themselves without any help from the government. The result will be many Americans turning into wild animals and becoming so desperate that they will have to rob and burglarize their fellow neighbors who were smart enough to prepare, or else they will risk starving to death.
This is what UrbanSurivalSkills has been saying, that we will have 80-120 million people that can't feed themseleves - this is a recipe for anarchy.
The U.S. budget deficit in the month of February reached a record $222.5 billion or $2.67 trillion on an annualized basis. With the Federal Reserve now monetizing our debt in full swing, a complete and total loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar could be imminent.
Just like how nobody in the mainstream media was calling for the collapse of Egypt's government a few months ago, almost nobody in the media believes a collapse of the U.S. dollar could possibly take place anytime soon.
NIA members are educated enough to see that the writing is on the wall. The Federal Reserve can deny all it wants that the U.S. is experiencing inflation, but with the cost to print a single U.S. dollar paper note rising by 50% since 2008, massive inflation is here right under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's nose.
So few Americans are presently preparing for hyperinflation that if hyperinflation broke out today, approximately 90% of Americans won't have the means to put food on the table or put fuel in their automobiles. During the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis, food stamps will no longer have any value at all and all U.S. entitlement programs will come to a complete halt. Americans will take to the streets like the world has never seen before.
The biggest question NIA has today is, will the U.S. government resort to firing at its own citizens?, if major riots take place in Washington, DC. On Thursday, police in Saudi Arabia shot and wounded three protesters. The price of oil rose by a few dollars per barrel as soon as this news hit the wire, which shows just how nervous the world's financial markets have become in recent weeks and the Dow Jones has declined significantly in recent days.
From April to August of 2010, the last time the Federal Reserve allowed its balance sheet to shrink, the Dow Jones fell by over 1,000 points. If we see a major sell off in stocks, we could see gold and silver rise along with the Dow Jones falling.
NIA believes the worst decision any American can make is to sell their gold and silver and go long U.S. dollars, hoping to buy their precious metals back at a lower price in the future.Amen to that!
You can become a member of NIA for free at: http://inflation.us/
Very good and succint article on the impending collapse from Inflation.us
You should bookmark and add to your sources of collapse indicators.
Highlights from the article is below; please go to http://www.inflation.us/ to read the article in it's entirety.
China this morning reported 4.9% price inflation for the month of February
China was at least smart enough to raise interest rates last month by 25 basis points to 6.06%, while the Federal Reserve continues to leave interest rates near zero with there being absolutely no talk of the Federal Reserve ever raising interest rates again.
China will be successful at containing inflation, as U.S. inflation spirals out of control and becomes the greatest economic crisis in American history.
China this week reported a $7.3 billion trade deficit for the month of February, its largest trade deficit in seven years, which surprised many global economists. NIA believes China 's trade deficit is temporary and that China will quickly return to having a trade surplus.
The Federal Reserve's QE2 along with China 's destructive monetary policies, which artificially devalue the yuan, have led to a massive rise in China 's raw material costs this year. NIA believes that in the upcoming months, Chinese manufacturers will raise the prices of their products that get exported to the U.S., to counteract rising commodity prices.
With most products used by Americans today having been manufactured in China , this will mean Americans will soon see massive price inflation in just about all consumer goods they use. NIA projects that by the end of 2011, we will begin to see the U.S. CPI increase by 4.9% or higher on a year-over-year basis, with real U.S. price inflation rising north of 10%.
The mainstream media is proclaiming that China 's trade deficit will silence calls for the Chinese to allow their currency to strengthen against the U.S. dollar. The fact is, China 's government has for long been making the major mistake of printing too many yuan in order to artificially prop up the U.S. dollar. Their fear was, if the U.S. dollar was allowed to decline too rapidly, prices of Chinese goods would rise in terms of U.S. dollars and Americans would no longer afford to import them.
The truth is, if China allowed the yuan to strengthen, the Chinese would have enjoyed a much higher standard of living. Sure, prices would rise in dollars and Americans would import less, but the Chinese would have the ability to consume more of their own products. Now, as a result of China expanding its own money supply in order to keep the yuan pegged to the U.S. dollar, Americans will be forced to pay a much higher price for Chinese goods.
The U.S. government has been successful at temporarily paying off Americans into not rioting in the streets like in Arab nations. It was just announced a few days ago that the number of Americans on food stamps in the month of December of 2010 was a record 44,082,324, up 13.1% from one year earlier and 1.1% from one month earlier. That is more than 14% of the total U.S. population!
Combined with President Obama extending unemployment benefits up to 99 weeks, American citizens are too busy and distracted playing with their iPad 2s and gossiping on Twitter about Charlie Sheen, to have any time to protest in Washington, DC.
NIA believes the U.S. government's entitlement spending is currently having the unintended consequence of making Americans dependent on government. It is like when you take wild animals into captivity and you feed them, teach them to do tricks and take care of them for a period of many years; if you just dump them one day back into the wild, it will be very difficult for them to survive. Americans who have become dependent on unemployment checks and food stamps will likely soon abruptly find out that they must begin to fend for themselves without any help from the government. The result will be many Americans turning into wild animals and becoming so desperate that they will have to rob and burglarize their fellow neighbors who were smart enough to prepare, or else they will risk starving to death.
This is what UrbanSurivalSkills has been saying, that we will have 80-120 million people that can't feed themseleves - this is a recipe for anarchy.
The U.S. budget deficit in the month of February reached a record $222.5 billion or $2.67 trillion on an annualized basis. With the Federal Reserve now monetizing our debt in full swing, a complete and total loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar could be imminent.
Just like how nobody in the mainstream media was calling for the collapse of Egypt's government a few months ago, almost nobody in the media believes a collapse of the U.S. dollar could possibly take place anytime soon.
NIA members are educated enough to see that the writing is on the wall. The Federal Reserve can deny all it wants that the U.S. is experiencing inflation, but with the cost to print a single U.S. dollar paper note rising by 50% since 2008, massive inflation is here right under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's nose.
So few Americans are presently preparing for hyperinflation that if hyperinflation broke out today, approximately 90% of Americans won't have the means to put food on the table or put fuel in their automobiles. During the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis, food stamps will no longer have any value at all and all U.S. entitlement programs will come to a complete halt. Americans will take to the streets like the world has never seen before.
The biggest question NIA has today is, will the U.S. government resort to firing at its own citizens?, if major riots take place in Washington, DC. On Thursday, police in Saudi Arabia shot and wounded three protesters. The price of oil rose by a few dollars per barrel as soon as this news hit the wire, which shows just how nervous the world's financial markets have become in recent weeks and the Dow Jones has declined significantly in recent days.
From April to August of 2010, the last time the Federal Reserve allowed its balance sheet to shrink, the Dow Jones fell by over 1,000 points. If we see a major sell off in stocks, we could see gold and silver rise along with the Dow Jones falling.
NIA believes the worst decision any American can make is to sell their gold and silver and go long U.S. dollars, hoping to buy their precious metals back at a lower price in the future.Amen to that!
You can become a member of NIA for free at: http://inflation.us/
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Dollar Meltdown and the Looming Financial Crisis
Yesterday I had a conversation with several people who just did not understand what inflation and the devaluation of the dollar on the world stage meant to them and their stability and survival. I told them I would get some short pieces of information together, but in the mean time to take a few moments and consider what sky rocketing prices of commodities means to them and their families.
Imagine all manner of foods we take for granted to be on store shelves not only costing hundreds of percent more, but becoming scarce. What are the tens of millions, if not over a hundred million, people who live hand to mouth going to do when they can no longer even afford simple foods?
When the Fed announced they were monetizing the debt and printing more money to buy government debt, I immediately ordered two more cases of long term storage food and finally bought the backup .308 rifle that I have been wanting.
On my immediate list (buy this week) are additional boots for my family. What are your plans?
For those of you really into the "why's" and "what for's" of the coming collapse of the dollar, you may find these books valuable.
Imagine all manner of foods we take for granted to be on store shelves not only costing hundreds of percent more, but becoming scarce. What are the tens of millions, if not over a hundred million, people who live hand to mouth going to do when they can no longer even afford simple foods?
When the Fed announced they were monetizing the debt and printing more money to buy government debt, I immediately ordered two more cases of long term storage food and finally bought the backup .308 rifle that I have been wanting.
On my immediate list (buy this week) are additional boots for my family. What are your plans?
For those of you really into the "why's" and "what for's" of the coming collapse of the dollar, you may find these books valuable.
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