There are many of us out there preparing for a economic collapse within the United States. I am convinced that many of us could not really articulate the factors of an economic SHFT, or why this collapse is likely to occur. The video below is very sobering and a fairly non-partisan explanation of the Federal financial problem. It serves two purposes: 1 – to articulate the “why” of a probable collapse, 2 – scare the hell out of you that the problem(s) are not solvable therefore the economic collapse probable. The video explains that the U.S. debt is 32 times greater than Greece. While the U.S. obviously has much more means to re-pay debt, we also have much more discretionary obligations, read entitlements, that Greece doesn’t have. Without a dynamic course change the U.S. will see a substantial if not catastrophic economic collapse like Greece,......but the riots will not be like Greece. They will be much more wide spread and violent. While the economic problems in Greece did lead to a short duration food and commodities shortage, the shortage we’ll see here in the U.S. will be substantial. Like the video states, It’s when, not if, the U.S. will collapse from this soaring debt.

Income for Survival Prepping

Received an e-mail from Jeffrey and Christina (I changed the women’s name to give a little OPSEC to the writers) who wrote: ”We absolutely are on board with this website and others as well. Don’t want to really put this out on a forum with some of the people are radical. But just how do you get prepared for all of the possibilities without money? My wife is a stay at home mom with our 3 years old and I bring home $830 every two weeks. After our rent, car payment, insurance, light bill and buying food we barely make it, let alone have money to spend on items for survival. I know our duplex isn’t a safe place to be with marauders in the streets shooting people and stealing things. We live in the suburbs and don’t have any place to go. I can’t help but think there are many people who are like us and maybe they have just quit trying to prepare and maybe I would too but for my 3 years son. Any advice would be well received. Thanks for all the free information you have for us. “

UrbanMan Replies: Jeffrey and Christina, I am not trying to lecture you about financial matters, but there are ways to be frugal so that you have more disposable income, whether than is just $5 a week or more. One of the things I did is to shop around and get the cheapest house phone; re-negotiated my cell phone plan; instituted a soup and sandwich dinner four nights a week; changed my vehicles insurance to carry more risk in lieu of a cheaper premium; and have been buying cheaper generic brands, usually at Costco, Wal-Mart and the Dollar Store as we can. That has actually freed up over $200 a month for me.

Just because your wife is home with the baby does not mean earning an income, especially with a home based business, is out of the question. You just have to get into the right business. Have her take a personal inventory and see what her skills, knowledge and aptitude is, in the categories of Products, Services of Information. There are many no to low costs startup type businesses available, but look carefully. Some people hire writers on-line to research and write papers. This is another method of earning extra cash.

I know of one gent who went to yard and garage sales, bought old crap, then sold it on e-bay for a large profit – gotta know what your doing though.

Think multiple streams of income. A little bit coming in from a lot of different sources generally makes good sense.

A final word: Don’t really know what you meant about ” Don’t want to really put this out on a forum with some of the people are radical.” There are preppers from many different schools of thought, prejudices’, bias’, etc. The survival forums are good about cleaning up the real kooks, but it is much better have kooks and various opinions, even if they are “radical”, then not to be allowed to have different, albeit, kooky and radical thought. This may be a good example of survival team building and the necessity of attracting people and building a solid team of people who think similar to you. 

Think outside the box.  I'm pretty sure you can free up and earn extra money to subsidize your preps - after all your survival may depend on it.  Good luck. 

Greece on the Verge of Economic Collapse

One of the reasons many people are predicting a economic collapse that will plunge is that there is basically no formula or path that can bring the U.S. back to a stable economic footing - that's the argument anyway and the reason is that if the Government continue spending and borrowing the way they have,.....over $5 trillion in debt added in the past three years,..... then eventually inflation and probably hyper inflation will occur. The inflation I'm talking about here is where the value of the dollar declines significantly, reducing the purchasing power of American families.

The alternative to spending and borrowing of course is to cut the spending and therefore the need to borrow,....still leaves us with a bunch of debt to pay off,...but the austerity measures necessary to get a rein over the spiraling debt would cause the economy to contract; less money for investments and a decrease in products being manufactured - a general lowering of the GDP and again, economic chaos. This time inflation will be where the goods and commodities are priced too high due to unavailability, or simply because they can go to the highest bidder.

We are seeing in Greece much of what is predicted to occur here in the United States. Greek workers going on strike against austerity measures. Ships sitting at docks not being unloaded; public transport sitting idle. Greece is fairly close to anarchy and the Greece government still needs to bring about additional austerity programs, including cutting outrageous retirement plans, benefits and entitlements programs to even begin convincing the rest of Europe to help with a type of a financial bailout of that country.

The European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that the Greek deal, which barely had enough support to pass, did not go far enough and time is running out to avoid a Greek default.

The EU and IMF are exasperated by a series of broken promises by Athens and weeks of disagreement over the terms of a 130 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout, with time running out to avoid a default.

Greeks, who have been suffering from years of recession, are very angry about the measures. Protestors routinely congregate and shout,...."No to layoffs! No to salary cuts! No to pension cuts! Do not bow your heads! Resist!"

In addition to the striking dock workers and transportation workers, Hospital doctors, Bank employees and Teachers are all reportedly soon to join the anti-austerity measure protests.

Officials hammered home the message that Greece's future in the euro was at stake.
"The consequences of disorderly default would be incalculable for the country - not just for the economy ... it will lead us onto an unknown, dangerous path," Deputy Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis said. In an interview with the newspaper Imerisia, he described the catastrophe he believes Greece would suffer if it failed to meet debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros due on March 20. "Let's just ask ourselves what it would mean for the country to lose its banking system, to be cut off from imports of raw materials, pharmaceuticals, fuel, basic foodstuffs and technology," he said.

I am probably way too dumb to figure out all the nuances with the coming economic collapse in Greece and subsequent threats to other EU nations like Italy, Spain and Portugal but whatever happens there would serve as a baseline model for what could transpire here in the U.S.

I wrote the above several days before I posted it.  What has transpired in the last few days is substantial rioting in Greece over austerity measures and inflation of the currency.  Images of police in riot control gear, contact fire bombs hitting the streets and violence targeted against the police and the government are all over the television and internet.  There are reports of people selling their gold jewelry in order to buy food.... .....however food is getting harder to find.  Soup kitchens are springing up in the more populated areas. 

Stay tuned for a worsening situation.  If you think this cannot happen here in the U.S. then you are sadly mistaken.  Last night on television and yesterday on the radio, Glenn Beck was predicting the same situation in the U.S. by the end of Summer.  Get prepared, Stay Prepared. 

Europe Collapse is Imminent

From an article on ETF Daily News

The warning signs are all around us. All we have to do is open up our eyes and look at them. Almost every single day there are more prominent voices in the financial world telling us that a massive economic crisis is coming and that we need to prepare for the worst. On Wednesday, it was the World Bank itself that issued a very chilling warning. In an absolutely startling report, the World Bank revised GDP growth estimates for 2012 downward very sharply, warned that Europe could be on the verge of a devastating financial crisis, and declared that the rest of the world better “prepare for the worst.” You would expect to hear this kind of thing on The Economic Collapse Blog, but this is not the kind of language that you would normally expect to hear from the stuffed suits at the World Bank. Obviously things have gotten bad enough that nobody is even really trying to deny it anymore. Andrew Burns, the lead author of the report, said that if the sovereign debt crisis gets even worse we could be looking at an economic crisis that could be even worse than the last one: “An escalation of the crisis would spare no-one. Developed- and developing-country growth rates could fall by as much or more than in 2008/09.” Burns also stated that the “importance of contingency planning cannot be stressed enough.” In other words, Burns is saying that it is time to prepare for the worst. So are you ready?

UrbanMan's comments: If you are reading this then you are probably one of the few who don't need to be told about the importance of preparing for the collapse....you already are preparing to the extent you can. Or are you?

But of course it isn’t just the World Bank that is warning about these things. The chorus of voices that is warning about the next great financial crisis just seems to grow by the day.


Some of these voices were profiled in a Bloomberg article the other day entitled “Apocalypse How? Dire ’12 Forecasts“.


click here to review this Bloomberg article.


The most critical of these voices is Michael Panzner of Financial Armageddon, who said: “The fundamental outlook is even worse now than it was a few weeks ago, given (the lack of positive) developments in Europe and growing evidence that the economies of major countries around the world are deteriorating fast.”

When this crisis is over, all sorts of people are going to be running around claiming that they predicted it. But it does not take a genius to see what is coming. All you have to do is open up your eyes and look at the flashing red warning signs.

So what should we all be looking for next?

March 20th is a key date to keep your eye on. That is the day when Greece will either makes its 14.5 billion euro bond payment or it will default. Greece does not have a prayer of making that payment without help. If Greece can convince the EU and the IMF to release the next scheduled bailout payment and if Greece can reach a satisfactory deal with private bondholders, then the coming Greek default might be “orderly”. But if something goes wrong, the coming Greek default might be quite “disorderly”.

At this point, almost everyone in the financial world is anticipating a Greek default of one form or another. Edward Parker, the managing director for Fitch’s sovereign and supranational group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, recently declared that a Greek default is inevitable. In Greece, 20 percent of all retail stores have already shut down. The unemployment rate for those under the age of 24 is now at 39 percent. Large numbers of Greeks are trying to get themselves and their money out of the country while they still can.

Greece is not the only declining economy in Europe by a long shot. Italy has a much larger economy, and if Italy totally collapses it will be an absolute nightmare for the entire globe. Right now, the Bank of Italy is forecasting a significant recession for the Italian economy in 2012.

Only this time the U.S. is in a much weaker position. The U.S. debt problem has gotten much worse since the last crisis.

During 2008, our national debt crossed the 10 trillion dollar mark. Less than 4 years later, we have crossed the 15 trillion dollar mark. So what are we going to do the next time large numbers of banks fail and unemployment skyrockets? Where are we going to get the money to bail out all of those banks and to take care of all of those newly unemployed people?

Some people say that socialism is the answer, but the truth is that we are already a socialist welfare state. If you can believe it, nearly half of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of financial benefits from the U.S. government.

During the next great crisis, the number of people that are dependent on the government will go even higher. If you don’t want to end up dependent on the government, you should heed the warning signs and you should use this time to prepare for the hard times that are coming. When even the World Bank tells us to hope for the best but to prepare for the worst, you know that it is late in the game.

UrbanMan's comments: Newt Gingrich took some shots from Liberals when he referred to Predient Obama as the Food Stamp President,......but this is essentially true if you consider people on food stamps has risen by 25% in the past couple of years. What's going to happen when the U.S. Government checks bounce for 150 million people in the U.S?

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

More from Lt Col Dave Grossman

If you have not heard of Lt Col Dave Grossman, then you should learn the name and research his writings. He is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime.

One of Grossman's writings, titled "On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs" and includes insight such as: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. But they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

Then there are the wolves, and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs, and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.

Any collapse, gradual or dynamic, will cause and allow the wolves of society to operate more openly. We have to be prepared to operate in a much more dangerous environment. The time to prepare is now when we have relatively better resources and a safer environment.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has presented a seminar titled "Bullet Proof Mind". Talking about topics ranging from school shootings to psychological response to a violent encounter… but one of the most critical things Grossman stresses is the importance of having a sense of urgency.

The Bullet Proof Mind is not available as a 5 disc DVD set covering such topics as:

* The truth about the explosion of violence in America (Think things are getting better? Think again…)
* What it takes to be a warrior capable of stopping multiple attackers and mass murdering lunatics
* The hidden truth about lethal combat…
* How the body responds to a violent attack, and what you can do now to ensure your body responds the right way
* How to prepare your spouse for an attack
* The New Killer of the 21st Century, and why most people aren’t willing to talk about it
* Important drills that Nobody practices that would save countless lives
* Who is Teaching Our Kids To Kill? Find out now so YOU can put a stop to it

To watch a short video on Lt Col Grossman and look over the Bullet Proof Mind DVD offer, go to this site.

The Bad Guys Are Us

Starting to come out two days ago, then more fully yesterday and today, are details of the Senate Defense Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 that has a provision, Section 1031, which allows for the designation of the homeland (meaning the 50 states) as a part of the War on Terror or as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it: "The homeland is part of the battlefield and people can be held without trial whether (they are) American Citizens or not." Notable supporters include Senator's John McCain (R-AZ) and Carl Levin (D-MI).

On the surface it seems like a logical means and set of tools for Federal Law Enforcement to combat domestic and imported terrorism. Until you get to these four facts:

1 - The Senate Defense Bill was developed in secrecy contrary to law.What is the Senate worried about? That the People would see what the bill was shaping up to be and be outraged as they should be?
2 - The bill allows for the use of the Armed Forces in domestic law enforcement and anti-terrorism operations.
3- That domestic Terrorist suspects include,.....people who disagree with the Government; people who may be missing fingers; people who collect or store guns and ammunition especially multiple guns and waterproof ammunition,...and people who have 7 days or more of food stocked.
4 - Finally, some wisdom from one of our great Founders, Benjamin Franklin,.."Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

I don't know who else besides Rand Paul (R-KY) is on our side and the side of tens of millions of Americans, but what I do know is if this bill is passed the game changes. Primarily focused on conditions and threats outside of our control,.e.g..economic collapse, dollar break, external terrorist attack by Weapon of Mass Destruction or EMP attack,.....or even natural disasters have now been superseded by the very real threat of a totalitarian government,....at least we have a counter-measure that that is redress of grievances through petition (phone call and e-mails) or through the ballot box. Holy Jesus, this scares the shit out of me!

More on Solo Survival

Prepper Website left a new comment on the post "Planning to Survive Alone",.......:When I think of someone going solo, I think of staying fast and mobile. I would think that the hope would be, in a SHTF situation, to stay low until some sort of normalcy came back to society, then join the living. I picture a heavily forested area with plenty of moving room and maybe several areas to hold up in...some caches along the way etc...."

UrbanMan's reply: Prepper, I agree - fast and mobile,.....or, stationary and hidden in a well stocked safe location. About anyone with decent survival training and a modicum of preparation can survive. I've done that in small increments for training. Ten days with nothing other than a fixed blade knife, 2 one quart Army canteens and one canteen cup, a small survival kit with snare wire, para cord, matches, button compass, a lightweight poncho and a map. It sucked. I lost about ten pounds. Learned much about isolation and being bored as well. And as stoic and tough as we think we may be, humans are not made for isolation.

I think the idea is to not only survive but live with some decent standard of living. The only way to do that is to have planned ahead, prepared well, and most likely be part of a larger survival group.

I'm not advocating some type of "survival commune" living, but planning and preparing with an alike minded group of individuals and families for mutual support.

Caches are always a good idea. To support the Bug Out plan, either at or near the safe location, or along the way supporting long range movements. I have written several posts on caches. And my student Jim (from Survival Chronicles of Jim) emplaced a couple near his family cabin which is his Bug Out location.

I hope not, but cannot help but think there are people out there thinking that if a severe enough collapse comes, they will survive on their own in a minimalist fashion.  Great to have those skills, but better yet to be prepare across the spectrum of needs and do so with a focused plan and a team.     

Orgaznied and Pro-Active - A Survival Team

UrbanSurvivalSkills received a comment from Chris, regarding the post about our accountant being a surprise prepper,... ......."With indicators becoming so clear and prepping going "mainstream", Is there anyone starting a movement that doesn't involve Egypt-style riots? As preppers, we know how to farm, and most are handy with a hammer... I just think we'd all have a better chance together, organized and pro-active."

UrbanMan's comments:

I recently talked to a retired banker, who had converted much of his wealth to previous metals, mainly, silver, then converted most of his silver to gold to reduce the weight to wealth ratio. This gentleman did not know about me nor my survivalist preparations. I could sense his reluctance to talk me about possible scenarios that would make survival preparations necessary. The conversation started about how Greece may default on or about 10 October and what repercussions this would have not only on the European Union but for the United States as well. Then it melded into peak oil, then the problems with the U.S. capability to grow and feed ourselves and the phenomenon with the giant increase in family gardening. Only when I started to describe my thoughts and preparations did this gentleman open up and tell me about his wealth - precious metals conversion, and his procurement of six AKM's and 9mm handguns for his family and his current focus on stockpiling food for what he see's as a huge catalyst for SHTF and one that is most probably.

Interestingly that this guy, without any military or law enforcement time, instinctively chose to standardize firearms.

Anyway, this gentleman lives with his wife in a city and is actively looking to move to a small town with agrarian links, size anywhere from a few hundred people up to a few thousand population. He is scared about the big population centers and the high density of starving, desperate people that would come from a food crisis with or without a collapse of the monetary system.

I did not let on about this blog site, but I did talk to him about building a survival team with alike minded and alike prepared individuals or families. So when I read Chris' comment about "we'll all have a better chance together, organized and being pro-active", he is right on the money. Without a survival team large enough accomplish all of the necessary survival tasks in a worst collapse scenarios, we'll be scrambling.

Some of the Survival tasks a group or team may have to consider would be:

~ Provide Security for the Group, 24/7

~ Provide for a rest/sleep cycle for team members

~ Growing food, processing food and cooking - which may involve some travel away from the Team location of safe zone

~ Travel to meeting with other groups - which may require any additional manpower for security or to transport material

~ Procurement patrols - which may include travel to barter with other groups

~ The Survival team may establish a command post type of duty to monitor radio frequencies for dedicated net control or to collect information on other radio traffic

I would think that a minimum Survival Group, for sustained operations, would be around 8 people, all who had compatible skills and who could be relied upon to accomplish any of the Survival Group aforementioned tasks. This minimum number could be larger if the threat situation warranted it, or if the environment (terrain and weather, urban, suburban or rural areas) dictated it as well.

My Accountant - A Suprise Prepper

I received a letter through the mail from my accountant.   I typically get these in December,...kind of a reminder for the upcoming tax season.  This time along with the usual magnetic calendar with the accountant's contact information, I received a personal note......and remember this is from a white collar guy who lives in the city and commutes about 2 miles back and forth to work each; is a workaholic; and golfs once in a while - the classic "head in the sand" American:

"Deared valued Client (here he crossed through "client" and wrote my first name).  Just wanted to drop you a line with the annual calendar.  Yep, still in the same building, same floor, same office.  Look forward to see you before taxes are due!  Another reason I wanted to drop you a note is that I am sure you are seeing the same things I am seeing in the economy:  higher prices; lower return on investments; and, federal deficit and debt out of control.   All of these things together and other factors spell bad economic times in the short to not to distant future.   I am advocating that the thinking man prepare for bad times ahead.  Think closely about where you put your investments.  Think about stocking some food and water, maybe two months worth I would suggest.  Think about where you can go and what you can take with you in the event of a calamity.  I am not trying to scare anyone.   But it pays to be prepared, like I was taught in my Boy Scout days."

UrbanMan comments: Wow!  Preparation for bad times and outright Survival Preparation for the Coming Collapse are certainly going mainstream.   Since my accountant opened the door, I will approach him on a conservative basis about better prepping.  He did not seem the type to own a bunch of guns nor have outdoor skills.  I think I'll drop off a copy of "One Second After" or "Patriots" for him to read.              

I guess he is reading the same indicators the rest of us are:  46.2 million in poverty and nobody, the government or private economists, expect it to get better than time soon; With the government running out of money, therefore less money to spend on entitlement programs, this number will be bigger,.....much bigger; etc., etc.

Now with New York Mayor Bloomberg stating with college graduates having no job prospects and with Congress in stalemate the U.S. can easily experience the same types of riots that Egypt, Tunisia, England, and other countries saw, you can start to see how preparedness may be going much more mainstream.

I wonder just how many other people my accountant gave this advice to?  Maybe it'll drive business away from him, or maybe if the collapse hits, he'll have people knocking on his door for help.

It is in our best interests to have more people prepared for hard times as opposed to adding to the legion that will not prepare.   I am constantly balancing OPSEC and dripping survival preparation ideas and tips.  I recently enabled one of our Administrative people, a older single woman, to start growing vegetables.  She can't wait until next April when she can plant again, this time a much bigger garden according to her.   She even said something to the effect "that she'll have food when the grocery stores run out."  

The Likelihood of a Collapse

We received a anonymous comment for the Survival Chronicles of Jim - Chapter 25 post entitled Don't Lose Focus......"I too am turned off by those who want the S to HTF (no offense to you because of your comment). I fear the coming collapse. I don't think our leaders are capable enough to get us through this and in fact I think that some of them are intentionally making the situation worse for
political reasons. A collapse with our current batch of leaders could be a disaster of biblical proportions. Don't wait too long to complete your preps."

UrbanMan replies: The bad side of hosting a website, doubly so on a site that talks about surviving the coming collapse is that people come out of the proverbial woodwork writing e-mails a week concerning conspiracies.

When discussing (arguing?) about the causes of the economic disaster we find ourselves in now, and the intent of our elected political leaders and appointed bureaucrats, it is hard to persuade some people that the current leadership is intent on destroying this country's economy. Hard to persuade, because even the most rational people are scratching their heads in amazement of the Government's
failure to enact a balanced budget; failure to spend less money than they take in from the tax payers; failure to enact any, let alone, meaningful entitlement reform; continuous implementation of regulations, from the EPA' clean air act to the FDA's Food Safety and Modernization Act,.etc., etc., ...all with the result of making it harder for small businesses to remain afloat and for the economy to get better.

So in short, yes it does seem like our "current batch of leader are intentionally making the situation worse for political reasons." This is called riding your ideology to our demise.

However, aside from all the things we can do,..... such as writing our legislators to vote correctly; urging good people to run for office; and, contributing to the campaigns for candidates that are patriots, it really boils down to that the average citizen and therefore the average Survival Prepper has little control on the factors that control the pace or the depth of the coming collapse.

What we do have is some control over is what we do about it. Do we bury our heads in the sand thinking things must get better? Do we move to some remote wilderness location where we can be self sufficient and ride out SHTF? Probably for most people, the answer lays in between somewhere. Do what your conscious tells you
to do in regards to communicating with your elected political leaders abut your concerns, complaints and ideas,....but,......do what your gut tells you to in regards to preparing for hard times. Have food; have some firearms; develop some friends; read and expose yourself to the Survival Preparation movement to leverage everyone else's recommendations and lessons learned; look at all the threats and see how they affect you; and, above all, have a plan. Do not rely on the Government to make it better. As we all know, the Government never does the right thing before they have exhausted every other option.

Is Economic Collapse Close at Hand?

Yesterday the Stock Market took a 512 point downturn. Today will be very telling as to just how close we are to a fast slide of economic collapse.

The rest of the World's view of the U.S. economy is basically that the inmayes are running the asylum. What happens here effects the rest of the World since the U.S. dollar is depending heavily on on the dollar for it's stability and status as the World's reserve currency. Both the stability and status are close of going away. So that foundation has been rocked with the U.S. Government expanding the limit of borrowing and the resultant show of a lack of confidence from Wall Street and many other Countries. What that means to use is the potential for massive inflation and hence a depression.

Add to the fact that about 25% of personal income is coming directly from the government in the form of entitlements, such as Disability pay, Social Security, Food Stamps, Jobless Benefits which are all funded by the U.S. Government which is borrowing heavily to pay for these entitlements.

By the end of this year, many of those dollars that fund entitlements are going to disappear,..some by the expiration of these benefits and some because the lack of moeny to pay for them.

Add QE3, where the Government prints more money, which in turn devalues the existing money supply, and we have a SHTF - Economic Collapse scenario on the tipping point.

Moody Analytics predicts a weakened economy coming due to lack of job growth;.....the Labor Department predicts smaller job growth;.....continued massive foreclosures will drive more people in banckruptcy and shorten the available money supply from lenders;.....the Federal extension of jobles benefits will expire soon placing many more people desperate for a way to feed their families and pay basic bills.

The outlook is not good. If you have never kept track of all the economic and political factors that would influence a collapse, now is the time to start. It is very likely that we are at the tipping point to a rapid slide towards a depression and then a partial or total economic collapse.

I would suggest to be leaning forward. Maybe finalize your last minute preparations. Ensure you have some ready cash for the chaotic one day where it will be apparent and you may need to be prepared to procurement whatever you are not willing to procurement today.

Urban Survival Planning - Buggin In,....May Be the Best Choice

Received a comment from Anonymous about Bugging In: "I like this idea of bug-in, and think it merits more thought than most survival sites give it. The biggest problem with bugging in as you state is limitations on food/water and concerns with armed gangs. Where I live in NW suburbia, water is not an issue. For a homeowner, there really is no storage limitation on food, meds and bullets
- just how much you want to spend. I live in a neighborhood with folks I know and trust already. Rather than cart the family off to the hills and realistically face a lot of issues with mother nature and the people who got there first, my plan is to bug-in also. We'll arm the neighbors and plan for a 1-yr stored-food scenario. "

UrbanMan replies: As much as I am planning on Bugging In, I also have a Bug Out Plan,...in fact, several plans and locations depending upon the situation and the threat. Of course, you are right in unless you have a lot of resources to stock Bug Out locations, the plan of Bugging In allows for the Survivors to stock a great deal of supplies and equipment,......unless you live in an apartment.

Bugging In, also requires some factors to be in place:

Away from refugees natural travel patterns for obvious reasons, and I would also be concerned about

a close proximity of jails and prisons. One of my clients lives in a sub-division next to a large country jail that houses about 1,200 prisoners. This is not a good thing.

Having knowledge of your neighbors; building rapport with them; and creating a semblance of a team, as survival is a team sport. A neighborhood watch program is a good idea and that program can be used to "drip" survival or disaster prep to these neighbors. Also allows them to build trust in you and for you to develop credibility. People will be looking for leaders during a collapse.

Have access to water and have the resources to grow your own food. And how huge would it be for all of your neighbors to grow vegetables as well? You can grow a few vegetables and give them to your neighbors now, and perhaps interest them in growing food as well. Especially if they are on a fixed income (aren't we all?) where this will pay off starting right now.

Sounds like you have you head on straight and there are more of us who put stock in Bugging In than not. Cheers. UrbanMan

Survival Gardening Lessons Learned

Received this e-mail from a reader: My wife and I started a survival garden this year. I learned so many things which will come in handy if I have to rely on growing my own food. Not only do we learn good lessons, but we can stretch our shrinking dollars and get just tickled seeing things grow.

UrbanMan's comment: Absolutely. I highly encourage growing a survival garden to help reduce food costs, gained lessons learned and have those skills when it IS a life and death struggle.

1. Give pests more credit than not. Use rabbit proof wire - this is a one time purchase as it can be used time and time again.
2. Pull weeds as soon as you see them. Don't wait or you'll be over whelmed. I can see that on a Survival Team, a designated person primarily responsible for the garden with labor from the rest of the group is the way to go. You have to have some in charge that knows what they are doing. Heck our lives may be in the balance.

3. Buckets cut in half to make two donuts are good containers in the ground as they direct water directly over the roots and won't let any seeds gets washed away. You can buy store bought edging to make a donut and they can be used over and over but if you are trying to make your garden as monetarily efficient as possible then improvise with buckets.



4. During 100 degree heat most plants require watering in the morning AND evening. So be as water efficient as you can.
5. Be creative for your soil. In my sandy area I use horse and cow manure that I get for free, minus the gas for my truck to go get it, to mix with the sand. My wife is now used to saving vegetable leftovers and skins for our compost heap.
6. My experience is if the seed packet says "fruit in 60 days", plan for 90 days, or even more. Most of our vegetables produced very late.
7. Beans too much water and care for the output.
8. Onions easy to grow and do not use a prohibitive amount of water.
9. Squash and cucumber are easy to grow, produce good product for the required care and water.
10. Corn - easy to grow. Be careful where you grow it as other people can see the stalks,....they may be thinking "where there is corn there may be other vegetables as well."
11. Carrots, for me, were hard to grow. In fact, this endeavor was a failure. Could be the soil and lack of nutrients, but then again most of the other crops grew. Next, I'll start the carrots in- doors until they sprout.
12. Finally, my tomatoes are my prize vegetable. They are growing well in half shady area. I am growing two different types.

Our plan is to can some of the vegetables and dry others so we developed lessons in the preservation techniques. I have a canning setup with 24 mason jars and a dehydrator.

Survival Preparation - Natural Disasters Increase Probability of Economic Collapse

Tornadoes in the Mid East; Record breaking Droughts in the plains, especially in Texas; Wildfires across West and Southwest; Massive Floods in the Mississippi basin. All this will result in a cost of tens of billions of dollars in economic losses and that cost will most certainly climb as the Floods and Wildfires continue. Just look at the map above.

Some Economists calculate that the cost will be a minimum of $15 billion dollars.....these are conservative estimates. One economist argues that the cost is already at $12 billion dollars to the economy.

Cattle and crop losses will be significant. Insurance premiums will most certainly go up. Food prices are going to skyrocket....and it is in addition to othe prices you have already seen increase. And this is all happening in a very dire time for this country. Between the diminished supplies, the devaluation of the dollar, housing foreclosures, and the rising fuel costs this country will experience a big down turn in the economic condition and certainly a full fledged economic collapse is very possible,....even probably.

Look at the map below of U.S. Counties where natural disasters have affected the crops.

These alone are reason enough to prepare. Stock food supplies; ensure safe routes to safe locations; plan for your security; include financial planning to include what happens when the banks close.

This is what I explain to a gent the other day when he overheard a conversation between me and another guy who on on-board with trying to prepare for all contingencies. This other gent, I'll call him Bob, starting making comments like "Oh Yeah, buy a bunch of guns and head for the hills."

I replied in a serious way, "Well, I guess you can buy guns and run for the hills if you want, but I choose a more deliberate approach where I use critical planning and decision making skills. Sure, guns are important, cause if you don't have one or more (and know how to use them), then your security is greatly compromised,.... ....however, survival preparation, or disaster preparation if you will, is much, much more than that.” Anyway I could see the wheels turning in this guy’s eyes. I told him I would send him some links to several internet sites to look at. It helps that I don’t have a reputation as some nut. I hope I get this guy turned and turned quick as I don’t need another straphanger showing up at my place.

Urban Survival Preparation - The State of the Economy, Spring 2011

Yesterday, the U.S. Government just hit the debt ceiling and now the Government is "borrowing" pension funds to keep the government afloat. This summer Home Foreclosures are projected to increase exponentially. The U.S. economy even with a sound dollar and low fuel prices would certainly feel this blow,...however add in the factors of commodities price inflation, devaluation of the dollar, high fuel prices and turmoil with oil suppliers,..and we have the recipe for a collapse.

It is interesting to unemotionally consider the causes, indicators and the effects of the collapse. Will there is a significant event to act as a catalyst? Will there just be an ever so gradual slide into a Greater Depression? At what point will the diminishing food supply and the increasing hungry masses be a factor? Will this result in sporadic or wide spread food riots? Will the Government use the Insurrection Act to deploy active duty military? Will AD military use lethal force on U.S. citizens?

We are about to reap what we have sown for so long. After all we have created an entitlement society where maybe 15% of the population expect someone, usually the Government, to provide for them. There are even polls out where a significant percentage of the people think the Government should provide housing, food and medical care.

The nation's debt is simply too big. It is unrecoverable. The U.S. Government has been spending like a drunken lottery winner for two decades. Going to the Chinese, the Japanese and other countries to borrow money to spend where the National Debt is over $14 trillion,....This year, the government is projected to spend $3.8 trillion with revenues at $2.2 trillion,......due the math - about 40% of this spending is from borrowed money and another $1.4 trillion added to the debt,...hence the requirement to increase the Nation's debt limit. And make NO mistake about it , this Government will due just that.

Social Security and Medicare, equal about 40% all Government spending.

The Military accounts for almost 20 percent.

Medicaid, which is actually some sort of necessity as it keeps poor people from becoming even poorer equals about 8 percent.

Interest (minimum) on the National debt, meaning payment sto China and others, is almost 6%. And it is not so simple as the U.S. defaulting on loan payments, like your neighbor did on his new vehicle. If the U.S. defaults an incredibly round of global economic repercussions will be felt.

So far, we have 74% of the Federal Budget. ....

Add in normal Government functions,.....well, okay, it is hard to call them normal when we have seen massive growth of the Federal Government,...people, powers and appetite wise. Anyway, this accounts for the rest of the budget,..around 26%.

Some of that can surely be cut without ruining this Country and cuasing wide spread rioting and even Anarchy. BUT 40%!!!

The Government has not choice but to raise taxes. This will of course de-stimulate the economy. Prices for fuel and food will continue to rise,....more people will be poor and hungry,.....all this will be the catalyst for the collapse, the only question is will be through significant steps or just a gradual decline in the abyss.

Does this change your survival preparations? Are you heading for your Bug Out location now? I think the answer is no to both. In fact, it should stimulate your preps. Factor in that most of us are dependent upon our jobs; our daily normal lives also impact quite a bit on our preps. I think the idea is to keep moving forward; better your Survival Preps each week, if not each day. Plan and prepare well and be safe,
Urban Man

Survival Preparation - Is the Army Preparing for Food Riots?

Much like the FEMA Camp issue, there are many people who believe that the U.S. Army (Active Duty) as opposed to National Guard, are preparing for deployment inside this country to respond to riots and anarchy such as what would be caused by food shortages or economic collapse.

I have been e-mailed reports that Army units are stockpiling riot control gear to include OC sprays, OC hand tossed munitions and projectile OC munitions.

I have also been told my other sources that the Army maintains one Brigade, around 3,500 soldiers, ready to deploy within the U.S. to effect crowd control/riot control.

There are many sources on-line with pictures and stories on Army units conducting riot control type training. The picture below is one that someone has sent me recently depicting Army soldiers training in Riot Control. Sometimes the storyline will talk about preparing for deployment to and for crowd control in active theaters (Iraq and Afghanistan). However, this does not make sense since this is a lose-lose situation for the U.S. not to mention the service members. The preferred method is to use soldiers and units from that country. So I am not convinced that Army is only doing riot control training for overseas deployments.

I have posted other articles on reported and alleged Government plans to prepare for large scale riots or disorder. My opinion is that it is probable the U.S. Government is prepared at some level to employ the military inside the U.S. However, I do not think the objective is as dark as some people make out. But everyone has to make up their own minds.

The article below is edited for length. The entire article can be read here:

Obama Orders Military To Prepare For Spring Food Riots

Posted by EU Times on Jan 13th, 2011

A grim report prepared by France’s General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) obtained by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) states that president’s Obama and Sarkozy have “agreed in principal” to create a joint US-European military force to deal exclusively with a Global uprising expected this spring as our World runs out of food.

According to this report, Sarkozy, as head of the G-20 group of developed Nations, called for and received an emergency meeting with Obama this past Monday at the White House wherein he warned his American counterpart that the shock rise in food prices occurring due to an unprecedented series of disasters was threatening the stability of the entire World and could lead to the outbreak of Total Global War.

The fears of the French government over growing Global instability was realized this past week after food riots erupted in Algeria and Tunisia and left over 50 dead. So dire has the situation become in Tunisia that their government this morning rushed in massive amounts of troops and tanks to their capital city Tunis and instituted a Nationwide curfew in an order to quell the growing violence.

The United Nations, also, warned this past Friday that millions of people are now at risk after food prices hit their highest level ever as Global wheat stocks fell to 175.2 million tons from 196.7 million tons a year ago; Global corn stocks are said may be 127.3 million tons at the end of this season, compared with last month’s USDA outlook for 130 million tons; and Global soybean inventories will drop to 58.78 million tons at the end of this season, from 60.4 million tons a year earlier.

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, further warned this past week that rising food prices are “a threat to global growth and social stability” as our World, for the first time in living memory, has been warned is just “one poor harvest away from chaos”.

Important to note about how dire the Global food situation has become is to understand the disasters that have befallen our World’s top wheat growing Nations this past year, and who in descending order are: China, India, United States, Russia, France, Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Australia and Pakistan.

Not only have the vast majority of our World’s top wheat producers been affected, but also one of the main grain producing regions on the Planet, South America, has been hit by disasters too where an historic drought has crippled Argentina and Bolivia, and Brazil, that regions largest Nation, has been hit with catastrophic floods that have killed nearly 400 people in the past few days alone.

Even the United States has been hit as a catastrophic winter has seen 49 of their 50 States covered by snow causing unprecedented damage to their crops in Florida due to freezing weather, and record setting rains destroying massive numbers of crops in their most important growing region of California.

And if you think that things couldn’t get any worse you couldn’t be more mistaken as South Korea (one of the most important meat exporters in Asia ) has just this past week had to destroy millions of farm animals after an outbreak of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease was discovered.

To how horrific the Global food situation will become this year was made even more grim this past month when the United States reported that nearly all of their honey bee and bumblebee populations have died out, and when coupled with the “mysterious” die-off of the entire bat population in America means that the two main pollinators of fruit and vegetable plants will no longer be able to do their jobs leading to crop losses this report warns will be “biblical and catastrophic”.

And so today, as agricultural traders and analysts warn that the latest revision to US and Global stocks means there is no further room for weather problems, a new cyclone is preparing to hit Australia, brutal winter weather in India has killed nearly 130, and more snow is warned to hit America, and we’re not even two full weeks into 2011… may God have mercy on us all.....especially if the Army is deployed inside the U.S. to maintain order.

Urban Survival - NIA's 12 Warning Signs of Hyper-Inflation

Here are NIA's top 12 warning signs that hyperinflation is about to occur:

1) The Federal Reserve is Buying 70% of U.S. Treasuries. The Federal Reserve has been buying 70% of all new U.S. treasury debt. Up until this year, the U.S. has been successful at exporting most of its inflation to the rest of the world, which is hoarding huge amounts of U.S. dollar reserves due to the U.S. dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. In recent months, foreign central bank purchases of U.S. treasuries have declined from 50% down to 30%, and Federal Reserve purchases have increased from 10% up to 70%. This means U.S. government deficit spending is now directly leading to U.S. inflation that will destroy the standard of living for all Americans.
UrbanMan's comment: This is like using one credit card to pay the bill of another. Unsustainable and leads the country to the brink of the dollar collapse.

2) The Private Sector Has Stopped Purchasing U.S. Treasuries. The U.S. private sector was previously a buyer of 30% of U.S. government bonds sold. Today, the U.S. private sector has stopped buying U.S. treasuries and is dumping government debt. The Pimco Total Return Fund was recently the single largest private sector owner of U.S. government bonds, but has just reduced its U.S. treasury holdings down to zero. Although during the financial panic of 2008, investors purchased government bonds as a safe haven, during all future panics we believe precious metals will be the new safe haven.

3) China Moving Away from U.S. Dollar as Reserve Currency. The U.S. dollar became the world's reserve currency because it was backed by gold and the U.S. had the world's largest manufacturing base. Today, the U.S. dollar is no longer backed by gold and China has the world's largest manufacturing base. There is no reason for the world to continue to transact products and commodities in U.S. dollars, when most of everything the world consumes is now produced in China. China has been taking steps to position the yuan to be the world's new reserve currency.

4) Japan to Begin Dumping U.S. Treasuries. Japan is the second largest holder of U.S. treasury securities with $885.9 billion in U.S. dollar reserves. Although China has reduced their U.S. treasury holdings for three straight months, Japan has increased their U.S. treasury holdings seven months in a row. Japan is the country that has been the most consistent at buying our debt for the past year, but that is about the change. Japan is likely going to have to spend $300 billion over the next year to rebuild parts of their country that were destroyed by the recent earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, and NIA believes their U.S. dollar reserves will be the most likely source of this funding. This will come at the worst possible time for the U.S., which needs Japan to increase their purchases of U.S. treasuries in order to fund our record budget deficits.

5) The Fed Funds Rate Remains Near Zero. The Federal Reserve has held the Fed Funds Rate at 0.00-0.25% since December 16th, 2008, a period of over 27 months. This is unprecedented and NIA believes the world is now flooded with excess liquidity of U.S. dollars.

NIA believes gold, and especially silver, are much better hedges against inflation than U.S. equities, which is why for the past couple of years we have been predicting large declines in both the Dow/Gold and Gold/Silver ratios. These two ratios have been in free fall exactly like NIA projected.
UrbanMan's comment: Yesterday's closing Gold and Silver prices are: $1459.10 for Gold and $39.51 for Silver.

6) Year-Over-Year CPI Growth Has Increased 92% in Three Months. In November of 2010, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS)'s consumer price index (CPI) grew by 1.1% over November of 2009. In February of 2011, the BLS's CPI grew by 2.11% over February of 2010, above the Fed's informal inflation target of 1.5% to 2%. An increase in year-over-year CPI growth from 1.1% in November of last year to 2.11% in February of this year means that the CPI's growth rate increased by approximately 92% over a period of just three months. Imagine if the year-over-year CPI growth rate continues to increase by 92% every three months. In 9 to 12 months from now we could be looking at a price inflation rate of over 15%. Even if the BLS manages to artificially hold the CPI down around 5% or 6%, NIA believes the real rate of price inflation will still rise into the double-digits within the next year.

7) Mainstream Media Denying Fed's Target Passed. You would think that year-over-year CPI growth rising from 1.1% to 2.11% over a period of three months for an increase of 92% would generate a lot of media attention, especially considering that it has now surpassed the Fed's informal inflation target of 1.5% to 2%. Instead of acknowledging that inflation is beginning to spiral out of control and encouraging Americans to prepare for hyperinflation like NIA has been doing for years, the media decided to conveniently change the way it defines the Fed's informal target.

8) Record U.S. Budget Deficit in February of $222.5 Billion. The U.S. government just reported a record budget deficit for the month of February of $222.5 billion. February's budget deficit was more than the entire fiscal year of 2007. In fact, February's deficit on an annualized basis was $2.67 trillion. NIA believes this is just a preview of future annual budget deficits, and we will see annual budget deficits surpass $2.67 trillion within the next several years.

9) High Budget Deficit as Percentage of Expenditures. The projected U.S. budget deficit for fiscal year 2011 of $1.645 trillion is 43% of total projected government expenditures in 2011 of $3.819 trillion. That is almost exactly the same level of Brazil's budget deficit as a percentage of expenditures right before they experienced hyperinflation in 1993 and it is higher than Bolivia's budget deficit as a percentage of expenditures right before they experienced hyperinflation in 1985. The only way a country can survive with such a large deficit as a percentage of expenditures and not have hyperinflation, is if foreigners are lending enough money to pay for the bulk of their deficit spending. Hyperinflation broke out in Brazil and Bolivia when foreigners stopped lending and central banks began monetizing the bulk of their deficit spending, and that is exactly what is taking place today in the U.S.

10) Obama Lies About Foreign Policy. President Obama campaigned as an anti-war President who would get our troops out of Iraq. NIA believes that many Libertarian voters actually voted for Obama in 2008 over John McCain because they felt Obama was more likely to end our wars that are adding greatly to our budget deficits and making the U.S. a lot less safe as a result. Obama may have reduced troop levels in Iraq, but he increased troops levels in Afghanistan, and is now sending troops into Libya for no reason.

11) Obama Changes Definition of Balanced Budget. In the White House's budget projections for the next 10 years, they don't project that the U.S. will ever come close to achieving a real balanced budget. In fact, after projecting declining budget deficits up until the year 2015 (NIA believes we are unlikely to see any major dip in our budget deficits due to rising interest payments on our national debt), the White House projects our budget deficits to begin increasing again up until the year 2021. Obama recently signed an executive order to create the "National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform", with a mission to "propose recommendations designed to balance the budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 2015". Obama is redefining a balanced budget to exclude interest payments on our national debt, because he knows interest payments are about to explode and it will be impossible to truly balance the budget.

12) U.S. Faces Largest Ever Interest Payment Increases. With U.S. inflation beginning to spiral out of control, NIA believes it is 100% guaranteed that we will soon see a large spike in long-term bond yields. Not only that, but within the next couple of years, NIA believes the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise the Fed Funds Rate in a last-ditch effort to prevent hyperinflation. When both short and long-term interest rates start to rise, so will the interest payments on our national debt. With the public portion of our national debt now exceeding $10 trillion, we could see interest payments on our debt reach $500 billion within the next year or two, and over $1 trillion somewhere around mid-decade. When interest payments reach $1 trillion, they will likely be around 30% to 40% of government tax receipts, up from interest payments being only 9% of tax receipts today. No country has ever seen interest payments on their debt reach 40% of tax receipts without hyperinflation occurring in the years to come.

UrbanMan's comment: Things are not looking good for us or the U.S. You add antedotal information from large amounts of people buying Gold and Silver; buying guns; stocking food and you begin to believe that the path is irreversible. I hope not. I would just as soon have my Survival Preparation,....my Silver,...my guns and ammunition all stay on the shelves and in the gun safes. But I fear this is not going to be the case.

Message from NIA: It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

Everyone is Recommending the Purchase of Gold and Silver

Not worrying about being overly redundant, BUY SILVER. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has long stated that Silver is probably a much better investment and more usable than Gold.

What is amazing is that not only people like Glenn Beck are advocating buying precious metals, but mainstream financial guru Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" is not only advocating the purchase of Silver but rails against the Fed and Goldman Sachs.



Silver Saver is a great place to buy Silver from.

Survival Planning - No More Excuses

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a private message from a reader: "In response to your post from the National Inflation Association, a great article from NIA by the way, on the probability of hyperinflation coming to call on us soon, I ordered 7 silver rounds from Northwest Territorial Mint today. I also set up an automated investment plan for Silver purchases through SilverSaver. I set it at $100 a month. After 20 ounces are accumulated, they can be delivered. I wish I didn't wait so long from when I first thought about buying Silver as a Survival insurance plan until now, the price has increase from around $17 an ounce to $25.

UrbanMan replies: Good call on your part - not the waiting, but the purchase now and not waiting anymore. I hear quite a few arguments about it's too late to prepare,....we won't be able to do anything anyway,.....don't you think the government knows what is going on and is planning for it?,.....

No, it is not too late to prepare. Anything you can do today to prepare,...well, do it. You'll be much better off, even if you just put more groceries in the pantry. But if you are even a little more serious about you and your families survival, then this site and others (see the links bottom right) will help you. Figure out what you need,...it always comes down to food, water and protection and a safe (or safer) place to Bug Out to when your current location is not tenable.

You won't be able to do anything about it anyway?? Are you kidding me? Or are you just from the age of entitlement? You are responsible for yourself, not the government, and there is so much you can do "about it" and the "it" is a collapse,.....economic, social, panademic, whatever,.....start planning and preparing now and remember Survival is a team sport, unless you want to live in a dugout in the Mountains and living off fern plants.

As far as the government planning for it? That deserves another "Are you kidding me"? Do you trust the government to take care of you? The only way the government can take care of you,.e.g..expending resources like food, water, shelter and security,...is to control you. The only way to control you is through martial law and/or camps. And no, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I just know what is possible and what is not. If you think the government is going to subsidize food and water on local bi-weekly runs through your neighborhood, then I would ask you not to read this site anymore,...go join ACORN or MOVE-ON.org and hope they take care of you.