Maybe some of you are like me, trying to makes heads or tails of the results of the mid term elections and how they apply to the possibility of an economic collapse or other catastrophic event and the planning/preparation for surviving.
UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment from Don Wand,..”It is not business as usual! Look around people! Sanity is an illusion, the world is falling apart at the seams physically and spiritually! We all need our house in order! We need survival gear now, not when our dollar is worthless! We all will need food and water! Get 15 Year Shelf Life Food Now!
Obviously Don Wand thinks there is no time to waste…..Frankly, neither do I.
It is interesting to see people’s comments on What will cause us to slide into a Survival situation and Whenthat may occur.
Discounting the 2012 Mayan Calendar-Collapse of Mankind Speculators, there are many valid political, social and economic indicators that may or will foretell a collapse or the beginning of a collapse. I think it is important for all individuals and groups planning for a future Survival scenario to understand that if and when a collapse hits and when it becomes time to fully execute Survival plans, all the experts are not going to be there with you.
So what does this mean? Maybe I’m thinking that while you should use the “experts” to help develop indicator criteria and keep the “experts” and their information close at hand and under constant review, each of us has to be individual responsible for what we do and don’t do for survival preparation and execution when necessary.
When I started writing this post, I had a thought centered around the concept that while most people believe that the economic outlook for this country, after yesterday’s election, would appear to be rising – this may not be the case. Many policies and a base direction were set the last two years that combined with gridlock in the Capital may just set the stage for something we cannot recover from.
If citizens of this country think that the last couple of years were rough, I hate to think what they would think if things got really rough,….Greece or Argentina like rough. I just believe, or maybe it’s just a sense of dread, that either any efforts won’t be enough to avoid a near future economic collapse or that no efforts will be made to forestall a collapse.
And my ideas on a collapse are not necessarily a dynamic collapse where you wake up one morning with banks closed, grocery stores empty and fuel scarce,…..I think that a much more likely scenario is a gradual economic collapse that spawns a much larger “have not” or even homeless segment of the population, sporadic regional based anarchy, flailing attempts by the government to control the situation and the population including implementation of martial law, and a general day to today fight for the commodities that we take for granted today.
Nothing has really changed, only a greater need to be prepared.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Urban Handgun - Reader Comments and Replies
UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment on the response to reader question on Urban Handguns......... "Anonymous said,.... It's pretty hard to argue with your idea to standardize on a gun model and ammo, but here is another thought to consider. If the group all has Glock 9mm what do you do (after TSHTF) when you are low on ammo but all you can find for sale/barter is 38 cal? Why not do as you suggest picking the most popular/available ammo for each type weapon (handgun, shotgun, rifle) and then have a backup plan where 2 or 3 different weapons are kept so you can make use of "found" ammo down the road. So everyone gets a glock 17 as the primary handgun and the group picks up a couple .357 & .44 revolvers, a Army .45 a couple of 10 mm etc. My favorite caliber is 22 LR. A cheap way to bring meat to the table and deadly at close range.
UrbanMan's reply: I agree with your idea where you have several firearms of different calibers, .........this describes me and my firearms battery, although I have centered my main battery around .223 Remington in AR platforms and 9mm Glocks. I still have many firearms in different calibers, just in case. There will be some people who argue that if you prepared enough, you do not need to have a slew of additional firearms just to use ammunition they barter for or find.
I was reading into the reader question and believed that this "white collar" new survival group (as they describes themselves) was not to keen or committed to the idea of a well rounded survival battery of firearms. It almost seems distasteful for them to arm themselves, but the reader did ask if standardization was the right thing to do.
Funny thing that he did not ask for a recommendation of type of handgun. If a Survival group decided to arm themselves with only handguns, then I think one choice at the top of their list should be a high capacity 9mm semi-automatic like the Smith and Wesson Military and Police with or the Glock 17/19......and if they are going to limit their survival firearms battery to a handgun, then lots of magazines and plenty of ammunition is in order. I would try to talk them into a couple .22 LR handguns like you say,...especially if they have people in their Survival group and are not going to take weapons training seriously or maybe are physically unable to handle a center fire handgun.
UrbanMan's reply: I agree with your idea where you have several firearms of different calibers, .........this describes me and my firearms battery, although I have centered my main battery around .223 Remington in AR platforms and 9mm Glocks. I still have many firearms in different calibers, just in case. There will be some people who argue that if you prepared enough, you do not need to have a slew of additional firearms just to use ammunition they barter for or find.
I was reading into the reader question and believed that this "white collar" new survival group (as they describes themselves) was not to keen or committed to the idea of a well rounded survival battery of firearms. It almost seems distasteful for them to arm themselves, but the reader did ask if standardization was the right thing to do.
Funny thing that he did not ask for a recommendation of type of handgun. If a Survival group decided to arm themselves with only handguns, then I think one choice at the top of their list should be a high capacity 9mm semi-automatic like the Smith and Wesson Military and Police with or the Glock 17/19......and if they are going to limit their survival firearms battery to a handgun, then lots of magazines and plenty of ammunition is in order. I would try to talk them into a couple .22 LR handguns like you say,...especially if they have people in their Survival group and are not going to take weapons training seriously or maybe are physically unable to handle a center fire handgun.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Urban Survival - CBRNE Threat: VX Nerve Agent
I see alot of back and forth on the internet assessing the probability of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) events being the catalyst for a collapse. I assess this is less likely than either a gradual or dynamic economic collapse, but still possible. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com possess very basic knowledge in this area and feels that Urban Survivalists can take some steps to protect against some of the likely agents, be it military grade weapons or some type of commercial contaminant, however the required technology, equipment, and expertise to be exceptional prepared and protected is far outside the scope of most Survivalists.
It is always prudent to have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as protective (gas) masks, extra filters, protective suits, gloves, and decontamination material, such as bleach on hand. The ability to seal the air input into your home or residence may be crucial as well.
Over the next few weeks and months, we will post some information on CBRNE Threats, particularly chemical and biological threats.
VX Nerve Agent
First symptoms of exposure (skin contact) may be muscular twitching or sweating at the area of exposure followed by nausea or vomiting. Some of the early symptoms of a VX vapor exposure a runny nose, tightness in the chest with shortness of breath, and pinpoint pupils.
Treatment would include first removal of the liquid agent from the skin before moving the person out of the contaminated area. Begin decontamination by washing the contaminated areas with household bleach and flushing with clean water. After decontamination, the contaminated clothing is removed and skin contamination washed away.
An individual who has received a known nerve-agent exposure or who exhibits definite signs or symptoms of nerve-agent exposure should immediately have the nerve agent antidote drugs atropine, pralidoxime (2-PAM), and diazepam injected. In several nations the nerve agent antidotes are issued for military personnel in the form of an auto-injector such as the United States military Mark I auto-injector.
It is always prudent to have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as protective (gas) masks, extra filters, protective suits, gloves, and decontamination material, such as bleach on hand. The ability to seal the air input into your home or residence may be crucial as well.
Over the next few weeks and months, we will post some information on CBRNE Threats, particularly chemical and biological threats.
VX Nerve Agent
First symptoms of exposure (skin contact) may be muscular twitching or sweating at the area of exposure followed by nausea or vomiting. Some of the early symptoms of a VX vapor exposure a runny nose, tightness in the chest with shortness of breath, and pinpoint pupils.
Treatment would include first removal of the liquid agent from the skin before moving the person out of the contaminated area. Begin decontamination by washing the contaminated areas with household bleach and flushing with clean water. After decontamination, the contaminated clothing is removed and skin contamination washed away.
An individual who has received a known nerve-agent exposure or who exhibits definite signs or symptoms of nerve-agent exposure should immediately have the nerve agent antidote drugs atropine, pralidoxime (2-PAM), and diazepam injected. In several nations the nerve agent antidotes are issued for military personnel in the form of an auto-injector such as the United States military Mark I auto-injector.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Largest Financial Crisis in History is Looming
Previously unknown to UrbanSurvivalSkills.com is the The National Inflation Association (NIA) which is an organization that states they are dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation and helping Americans not only survive, but prosper in the upcoming hyper-inflationary crisis.
NIA believes the largest financial crisis in history is ahead of us as a direct result of the U.S. government unwilling to accept a much needed recession. We are now at a point where our national debt is impossible to pay off. Due to rising interest payments on our national debt, it is unlikely the U.S. will be able to balance its budget ever again. Foreigners will eventually stop lending the U.S. money and the Federal Reserve will most likely have to print the money to fund our deficit spending out of thin air.
Article and Movie Trailer from the National Inflation Association
Inflation to Make All Americans Billionaires By 2020
One of the Federal Reserve's original stated purposes was to manage the nation's money supply through monetary policy that provides for stable prices without inflation or deflation. Shocking just about the whole world except for NIA members, the Federal Reserve this past week shifted its purpose from being an inflation fighter to now being an inflation advocate. Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is now saying that inflation in the U.S. is too low and the Federal Reserve needs to publicly declare a new goal of having inflation that is much higher than its informal 2% target. William Dudley, President of the New York Federal Reserve, is calling current low levels of U.S. inflation "a problem" because "it means slower nominal income growth".
Dudley believes "slower nominal income growth" is unacceptable because it "means that less of the needed adjustment in household debt-to-income ratios will come from rising incomes. This puts more of the adjustment burden on paying down debt." In other words, he wants to monetize our debts by printing so much money that all Americans are earning enough income to pay back their debts. NIA fears that one of the unintended consequences of such a policy will be an insurmountable currency crisis; this will lead to a U.S. societal collapse with class warfare, millions of Americans starving to death, and a return to a barter based system that will last until we can come up with a new form of workable government based on sound money that is backed by gold and silver.
When our government creates inflation with the goal of generating higher incomes, the real incomes of Americans always decline dramatically. Inflation never creates wealth, but instead mis-allocates resources that would have went towards productive purposes if the free market was allowed to operate. During periods of high inflation, no matter how fast incomes rise nominally, they never keep pace with rising gold prices. (Try to picture Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe trying to keep pace in a race against Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.)
Back in 1970, the median family income in the U.S. was $9,870. During the next decade, the U.S. government created unprecedented amounts of inflation, which led to the median family income rising in 1980 to $21,020 for a gain of 113%. Gold was only $35 per ounce in 1970, but rose to a high in 1980 of $850 per ounce for a gain of 2,329%. One year of income in 1970 would have bought 282 ounces of gold, but one year of income in 1980 would have only bought 25 ounces of gold. Priced in gold, families saw their real incomes decline during the 1970s by 91%.
On July 19th of this year, with everybody in the mainstream media warning Americans about the threat of deflation, NIA predicted that the Federal Reserve was, "quietly getting ready to implement 'The Mother of All Quantitative Easing'". NIA said that, "come this October, Bernanke is likely to shoot up his largest ever dose of quantitative easing." Then on July 28th with gold down to $1,158 per ounce and silver down to $17.63 per ounce, NIA sent out an alert entitled, "Gold and Silver Capitulation is Near" in which we said, "The sentiment on gold and silver has abruptly changed to the negative like nothing we have ever seen before and to us this means the big move to the upside is right around the corner."
NIA called the bottom on gold and silver perfectly. Since July 28th, gold and silver have both risen 34 out of 49 days, with gold rising by 16% and silver rising by 30%. Many people are asking us when precious metals are going to dip. Although gold and silver will make many dips in the years to come, NIA is never going to make an attempt to predict these short-term, temporary dips. It is far too risky and dangerous to sell gold and silver with the hope of buying back on a dip. Those who actively trade gold and silver, usually go long the U.S. dollar while they are waiting for a dip. There will come a time when the U.S. dollar crashes, with gold rising hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a day, and silver potentially doubling or tripling in value in a day. Trust us, you do not want to be on the wrong side of the trade on that day. NIA is focused on the long-term risk of hyperinflation and is not concerned about short-term volatility.
NIA believes that if the Federal Reserve doesn't reverse course immediately, we are on a direct path to all Americans becoming billionaires by the year 2020, if not much sooner. Being a billionaire in dollars won't mean anything. The wealth of Americans later this decade will be calculated based on how much gold and silver they own. We are at the beginning stages of a massive worldwide rush out of the U.S. dollar and into gold and silver.
Gold, at a new all time high of $1,344 per ounce, is still very undervalued. If gold's total bull run from its 2001 low of $256 per ounce equals a percentage gain of 2,329% (just like the 1970s) we will see a gold price of $6,218 per ounce. Silver, at a new 30-year high of $23 per ounce, is still an absolute steal. Just like NIA predicted, the gold/silver ratio has declined in recent months from 70 down to 58, but is still well above the historical average of 16. In our opinion, because silver has been undervalued for so long with artificially high gold/silver ratios, once JP Morgan is forced to cover their naked short position in silver we could see the ratio decline to an artificially low level as low as 8. Therefore, if we see $6,218 per ounce gold, we wouldn't be surprised to also see $777.25 per ounce silver.
Dudley's solution to our current economic crisis is to "find ways to increase the amount of stimulus we currently provide via our balance sheet." This is pure insanity. Bush's $200 billion stimulus sent oil prices to $147 per barrel, Obama's $800 billion stimulus prevented massive price deflation (that would have made cost of living in America a lot more affordable) during a period of rapidly rising unemployment, and now the Federal Reserve believes even greater stimulus will fix our economy. Dudley is calling for the Federal Reserve to purchase $500 billion in bonds, but the Federal Reserve's real quantitative easing will be much greater. Dudley doesn't want to steal the show from Bernanke. He must allow Bernanke to be the one who first suggests the "genius" idea of having quantitative easing of $1 trillion or more.
The truth is, the exact amount of the Federal Reserve's short-term purchases is absolutely meaningless. Keep your eyes on the big picture and remember that if the Federal Reserve's treasury purchases aren't enough to create massive price inflation in the short-term, they will continue to unleash even larger doses of quantitative easing. Our gut feeling is that we are practically at the point where the U.S. economy is about to overdose on any further quantitative easing. A "Meltup" is currently taking place, exactly like NIA predicted in our documentary 'Meltup' that was released on May 13th (it has now been viewed by over 808,000 people).
We may be forced to soon change our hyperinflation forecast from the years 2014-2015 to as soon as the year 2012. NIA has long been predicting ever since its first documentary 'Hyperinflation Nation' that besides gold and silver, we would see inflation most in agricultural commodities. During the month of September alone we saw huge gains in agricultural commodities like soybeans +9.5%, rice +10%, corn +12%, orange juice +13%, cotton +17.5%, and sugar +19.3%.
All countries are now in a war with each other to have the weakest currency, with the false belief that having a strong currency destroys their export markets. When history looks back to the time period we are currently in, our world leaders (especially our elected representatives in Washington) will be considered the most incompetent and corrupt in world history. NIA's new documentary being released later this month will expose the U.S. societal collapse from a perspective that has never been addressed before by anybody in the media. NIA's co-founders are currently on their way to Kingston, NY, to interview Gerald Celente, the most accurate trends forecaster of all time. His interview in 'Meltup' was widely considered to be the most insightful and eye-opening economic interview to ever be a part of any documentary and his interview in our new documentary promises to be even better.
NIA believes the largest financial crisis in history is ahead of us as a direct result of the U.S. government unwilling to accept a much needed recession. We are now at a point where our national debt is impossible to pay off. Due to rising interest payments on our national debt, it is unlikely the U.S. will be able to balance its budget ever again. Foreigners will eventually stop lending the U.S. money and the Federal Reserve will most likely have to print the money to fund our deficit spending out of thin air.
Article and Movie Trailer from the National Inflation Association
Inflation to Make All Americans Billionaires By 2020
One of the Federal Reserve's original stated purposes was to manage the nation's money supply through monetary policy that provides for stable prices without inflation or deflation. Shocking just about the whole world except for NIA members, the Federal Reserve this past week shifted its purpose from being an inflation fighter to now being an inflation advocate. Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is now saying that inflation in the U.S. is too low and the Federal Reserve needs to publicly declare a new goal of having inflation that is much higher than its informal 2% target. William Dudley, President of the New York Federal Reserve, is calling current low levels of U.S. inflation "a problem" because "it means slower nominal income growth".
Dudley believes "slower nominal income growth" is unacceptable because it "means that less of the needed adjustment in household debt-to-income ratios will come from rising incomes. This puts more of the adjustment burden on paying down debt." In other words, he wants to monetize our debts by printing so much money that all Americans are earning enough income to pay back their debts. NIA fears that one of the unintended consequences of such a policy will be an insurmountable currency crisis; this will lead to a U.S. societal collapse with class warfare, millions of Americans starving to death, and a return to a barter based system that will last until we can come up with a new form of workable government based on sound money that is backed by gold and silver.
When our government creates inflation with the goal of generating higher incomes, the real incomes of Americans always decline dramatically. Inflation never creates wealth, but instead mis-allocates resources that would have went towards productive purposes if the free market was allowed to operate. During periods of high inflation, no matter how fast incomes rise nominally, they never keep pace with rising gold prices. (Try to picture Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe trying to keep pace in a race against Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.)
Back in 1970, the median family income in the U.S. was $9,870. During the next decade, the U.S. government created unprecedented amounts of inflation, which led to the median family income rising in 1980 to $21,020 for a gain of 113%. Gold was only $35 per ounce in 1970, but rose to a high in 1980 of $850 per ounce for a gain of 2,329%. One year of income in 1970 would have bought 282 ounces of gold, but one year of income in 1980 would have only bought 25 ounces of gold. Priced in gold, families saw their real incomes decline during the 1970s by 91%.
On July 19th of this year, with everybody in the mainstream media warning Americans about the threat of deflation, NIA predicted that the Federal Reserve was, "quietly getting ready to implement 'The Mother of All Quantitative Easing'". NIA said that, "come this October, Bernanke is likely to shoot up his largest ever dose of quantitative easing." Then on July 28th with gold down to $1,158 per ounce and silver down to $17.63 per ounce, NIA sent out an alert entitled, "Gold and Silver Capitulation is Near" in which we said, "The sentiment on gold and silver has abruptly changed to the negative like nothing we have ever seen before and to us this means the big move to the upside is right around the corner."
NIA called the bottom on gold and silver perfectly. Since July 28th, gold and silver have both risen 34 out of 49 days, with gold rising by 16% and silver rising by 30%. Many people are asking us when precious metals are going to dip. Although gold and silver will make many dips in the years to come, NIA is never going to make an attempt to predict these short-term, temporary dips. It is far too risky and dangerous to sell gold and silver with the hope of buying back on a dip. Those who actively trade gold and silver, usually go long the U.S. dollar while they are waiting for a dip. There will come a time when the U.S. dollar crashes, with gold rising hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a day, and silver potentially doubling or tripling in value in a day. Trust us, you do not want to be on the wrong side of the trade on that day. NIA is focused on the long-term risk of hyperinflation and is not concerned about short-term volatility.
NIA believes that if the Federal Reserve doesn't reverse course immediately, we are on a direct path to all Americans becoming billionaires by the year 2020, if not much sooner. Being a billionaire in dollars won't mean anything. The wealth of Americans later this decade will be calculated based on how much gold and silver they own. We are at the beginning stages of a massive worldwide rush out of the U.S. dollar and into gold and silver.
Gold, at a new all time high of $1,344 per ounce, is still very undervalued. If gold's total bull run from its 2001 low of $256 per ounce equals a percentage gain of 2,329% (just like the 1970s) we will see a gold price of $6,218 per ounce. Silver, at a new 30-year high of $23 per ounce, is still an absolute steal. Just like NIA predicted, the gold/silver ratio has declined in recent months from 70 down to 58, but is still well above the historical average of 16. In our opinion, because silver has been undervalued for so long with artificially high gold/silver ratios, once JP Morgan is forced to cover their naked short position in silver we could see the ratio decline to an artificially low level as low as 8. Therefore, if we see $6,218 per ounce gold, we wouldn't be surprised to also see $777.25 per ounce silver.
Dudley's solution to our current economic crisis is to "find ways to increase the amount of stimulus we currently provide via our balance sheet." This is pure insanity. Bush's $200 billion stimulus sent oil prices to $147 per barrel, Obama's $800 billion stimulus prevented massive price deflation (that would have made cost of living in America a lot more affordable) during a period of rapidly rising unemployment, and now the Federal Reserve believes even greater stimulus will fix our economy. Dudley is calling for the Federal Reserve to purchase $500 billion in bonds, but the Federal Reserve's real quantitative easing will be much greater. Dudley doesn't want to steal the show from Bernanke. He must allow Bernanke to be the one who first suggests the "genius" idea of having quantitative easing of $1 trillion or more.
The truth is, the exact amount of the Federal Reserve's short-term purchases is absolutely meaningless. Keep your eyes on the big picture and remember that if the Federal Reserve's treasury purchases aren't enough to create massive price inflation in the short-term, they will continue to unleash even larger doses of quantitative easing. Our gut feeling is that we are practically at the point where the U.S. economy is about to overdose on any further quantitative easing. A "Meltup" is currently taking place, exactly like NIA predicted in our documentary 'Meltup' that was released on May 13th (it has now been viewed by over 808,000 people).
We may be forced to soon change our hyperinflation forecast from the years 2014-2015 to as soon as the year 2012. NIA has long been predicting ever since its first documentary 'Hyperinflation Nation' that besides gold and silver, we would see inflation most in agricultural commodities. During the month of September alone we saw huge gains in agricultural commodities like soybeans +9.5%, rice +10%, corn +12%, orange juice +13%, cotton +17.5%, and sugar +19.3%.
All countries are now in a war with each other to have the weakest currency, with the false belief that having a strong currency destroys their export markets. When history looks back to the time period we are currently in, our world leaders (especially our elected representatives in Washington) will be considered the most incompetent and corrupt in world history. NIA's new documentary being released later this month will expose the U.S. societal collapse from a perspective that has never been addressed before by anybody in the media. NIA's co-founders are currently on their way to Kingston, NY, to interview Gerald Celente, the most accurate trends forecaster of all time. His interview in 'Meltup' was widely considered to be the most insightful and eye-opening economic interview to ever be a part of any documentary and his interview in our new documentary promises to be even better.
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