We received this letter from Phil the other day: "A friend of mine recently started prepping after a number of telephone chats with me examining the economic climate here in Canada and in the US. We talked about bug outs vs bug ins, food storage water storage/filtration, the whole 9yds. Up to this point he hadn't really been more than mildly concerned about things, he is retired and on a tight budget. After I directed him to your site and the Survival Blog site he started doing his own research on the possibility of a collapse or just really hard times. He now has acquired firearms, ammo, reloading equipment and is getting long term foods, medicine and first aid gear and all this on a tight budget!
While I must admit that I have created "a Monster" it is good to see that a rational and logical man reading on his own can come to the same conclusions about possible future outcomes. Sometimes one can get wrapped up in the doom and gloom side of prepping and loose sight of the reality, that is, be prepared to the best of your ability to get through any hard times that may be coming down the pike. It's not about being ready for TEOTWAWKI, it about being ready for all of the lesser evils that may occur as well. The other lesson I take from this is that it's never too late to start your preps and spend within your means. I hope this finds you well. "
Hey Phil, I would be interested in knowing what prompted your friend to start prepping. Was it all the signs of an economic collapse? Was it the possibility of EMP type or other terrorist attack and the resulting chaos or at least governmental martial law? Maybe just a slow slide into devastating inflation? I think many people start prepping just to be more self sufficient - they don't want to rely on other people or institutions such as the government for their safety and indeed, their very lives. Anyway, no matter. If any country is going to come out of a collapse, it'll need self responsible, capable people to survive.
There are MANY "survive the collapse" sites on the internet that provide much more and more complete information than I do. Among these sites are the following (please pass them to your friend):
http://urbansurvivalsite.com
http://www.secretsofsurvvial.com
http://survivethecomingcollapse.com
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com
http://www.shtfplan.com
http://www.survival-homestead.com
http://survivalblog.com
Additionally, there are several books he probably should read to get an idea on how a devastating collapse may ocur and the problems in the aftermath:
The Going Home, Surviving Home, Escaping Home, and soon to be released Forsaking Home series by A. American.
One Second After by William Forstchen
Lights Out, by David Crawford
and of course, Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
You mentioned creating a monster. I did too with Jim who's survival preps I have reported on. Jim is now slowed down on prepping but that's okay as he rapidly set himself with stored food, silver and to a lesser extent gold bullion, and firearms/stored ammunition. He has also procured necessary survival gear as well. But I think where Jim has backslide is that his Survival Plan has been overcome by the events of his employment. He travels extensively which places him at risk of being way too far away from his assets and being able to implement a Bug In then Bug Out plan. I have talked to him about curtailing his traveling when the conditions make a collapse imminent, however some conditions we just won't see - like a nuclear attack or terrorist conducted EMP type attack. An attack on the banking system, cutting off money and therefore food to the population masses would be another catalyst we just probably won't see coming.
Another point of yours, and one I have made often, is that prepping is possible on a budget. It starts with buying extra food for your pantry to extend what people call the three day pantry. If you look close enough you'll find those deals.
Procuring suitable firearms and stocking ammunition, maybe some silver bullion, long range food supplies and some gear is obviously more costly. I've always been a proponent of the first rule of a gun fight and that is having a gun. While some people think that if you don't have a high end M4 or clone and can't dress to look like a Navy SEAL then you are basically dicked when it comes to survival. I think you can adequately cover security and protection otherwise. In fact, you may have to when you just don't have the funds for high end weaponry. If I only had a 12 gauge shotgun and a handgun (with suitable ammunition stocks), then I would most likely be filling other holes like food, water storage, precious metals, seed bank, etc., before I went back to modernize firearms.
Anyway Phil, thanks for writing. Thanks for helping others to prep.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Social Breakdown - Societal Collapse
This is an article by Bob Rinear, titled "Social Breakdown", published in the International Forecaster. Rinear is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine and while this article is long, it is a good read,...even with my comments. So keep reading. I'll think you'll see how it pertains to not only the "whys" of the collapse but the threats that will be released during the economic collapse which will in turn collapse society as we know it.
Social Breakdown
Maybe I just didn’t pay attention to it when I was in high school, but we didn’t seem to need diversity training, and endless classes telling us how we’re supposed to view other people. I don’t remember grief counselors when one of our classmates jumped off the roof and killed himself. I know for a fact we didn’t have all this racial tension and “fat shaming” and all the rest of the 2014 Social bugaboos that we have now. The word “intolerant” was unheard of.
My personal social policies taken in today’s atmosphere; probably lands me in the column of being some form of a terrorist. I really don’t care if you don’t like black people. I don’t much care if you don’t like white Scottish Newsletter writers. I don’t care if you think I’m fat. I don’t care if you want to live in a neighborhood of like minded and like colored people.
But today, considering that the social engineers have been pushing for a homogenous, one size, one thought, one color fits all…if you have the slightest difference from what they consider the “norm” you’re a racist, homophobe, hater, terrorist. Thus they have to make the biggest shows out of someone that doesn’t toe their line. Chew a pop tart into the shape of a gun?? You’re expelled and placed under Psych care. Don’t approve of gay marriage? You’re forced out of your job, your name in the paper as a hater who gives money to anti gay groups. Say in private that you don’t like your girlfriend bringing black people to basketball games, and you’re headline news…24/7…and forced out of your position.
Hey, lets talk. Let’s cut the crap for a few minutes and as they say in the “hood” lets keep it real. People are “fulla crap”. The same preacher that on Sunday morning screams of you burning in hell for being gay, just happens to get busted for child porn. That upright political candidate that kisses babies and shakes your hand gets busted for tax evasion, larceny, insider trading. That woman leading the “family power” workshop, gets caught cheating with her spa manager. On and on it goes. Hypocrites. Liars. Cheats. Nasty people. Bullies. Criminals. You can dress it up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, smother it in gravy to hide it, but it’s still there. All the classes, all the political correctness, all the “goody-goody” talk is a cover up for the rot that continues to fester below the surface.
So what brings up this little rant today? Well, as you might guess I am not impressed by the untold millions that walk around all day with their face planted in their phones. They’re all so busy texting and “apping” and being so techno cool that they have become true social idiots. No one talks to each other any more. If you go to a local pub, half the youngsters are all sitting at a table that is dead quiet as they’re buried in their phones. And one of those “aps” has been making a real mess of things. Enter Yik-yak.
Yik Yak is a smart phone application that lets anyone post anything they want in message form, and here’s the cinch…there’s NO identification. You don’t need a user name or anything else. You are completely anonymous. Well as you can imagine, when it swept through a High school recently, the REAL feelings of people were everywhere to be seen. People being called fat, people called sluts, people called the dreaded “n” word. (yawn) people called worthless, hope they were dead, who gives good sex, who’s a loser, yada yada yada. Yep, a bunch of our sweet little environmentally aware, non hater, upright diversity trained, precious children just “going off”. They had the freedom to say what they really feel because there’s no way to trace them. And “say” they certainly did.
This is reality. This is how people really are. When given the chance to go off with no ramifications, a huge percentage do. What does that tell us? It tells us that just about everyone has opinions that differ. It tells us that all this sensitivity training is a patch for a deeper underlying problem. And just what is that problem anyway? Or better yet, is it a problem? If it is, where did it come from? Could it be all this social engineering we’ve been exposed to is actually backfiring? You bet it could…because it is.
Stick with me here folks. I understand that I’m wandering off into a bit of pshyco babble on you. But there’s a point, you’ll see. I just want to set the stage here. There has always been “haters”. There’s always been homophobes, nasty people, opinionated bigots, cheaters, liars, whores, pimps, fat people, Rich jerks, nerds, rednecks, the whole gambit. So why are things “worse” now in 2014 after all these years of good-goody social engineering, than in 1970 when one of the most popular shows was “all in the family” with “Archie Bunker?” A show like that today would land the producer in jail. In 1970 it was something to laugh at. Expose our differences, see how goofy they were, try and mend some of them and move on. But today, no. Today you can’t talk about it. You can’t humor it out. You can’t just leave it alone and let it hide. Nope, you have to drag everyone into it. Force it. And the results? Escalating madness. Lack of civility. Rudeness. But most of all… violence. All the icky stuff bubbles to the surface.
As you might know, I’m involved in a company that trains folks for their concealed carry permits. We also offer a wide range of self defense classes on proper use of firearms for self protection. From the person that’s never held a weapon before, to tactical response SWAT training, we teach it all. And, just what do we see? As you can imagine, we hear a lot of stories. When we ask folks why they are interested in obtaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon, it is rarely just about “being robbed” like it was many years ago. Now the big concern is “violence”. Too many people have seen too many instances of wicked violence that endangered them or their loved ones. They’re scared and rightfully so.
Road rage. The “knockout game”. The tough guy looking for a fight. The rape attempts. Car Jackings. Random shootings. The list is endless. For all the social engineering to make us a big happy family, the fact is we are creating more violent people than we ever did. That in itself is more than enough reason for you and your loved one’s to be trained on proper firearm use.
But you’ve all waited long enough for “the point” to this whole article. That point is that violence is escalating despite all the social engineering to make us all “happy”, and this is with the economy still functioning. What happens when things really get tough? Last week in Chicago 44 people were shot. However the EBT cards were still functioning. What happens if they didn’t? If we can see the levels of evil we are seeing when things are still “working” so to speak, what unspeakable evils will we see during a melt down?
Last week in the IF there was a wonderful article about the amount of ammunition that Uncle Sam has been buying. Every Federal agency, right down to the post office has been buying hundreds of thousands if not millions of rounds of very lethal ammo. Why is this? I have always believed as the author has, that they feel there could be serious societal breakdowns when the wheels come off our fake economy and they’re stocking up for the eventual shoot outs that very well will occur. I think they know that the economy is doomed, the currency situation is doomed and when it fails, if things don’t go well on the work around, all manner of hell is going to break loose. They’re buying up these billions of rounds of ammo…to shoot US citizens if society breaks down. Read that over a few times to get the full effect. It isn’t pretty.
I don’t say this stuff to scare you, that certainly isn’t my goal. I say this stuff to wake you up. Shake you up a bit. When some lunatic high on bath salts drags you out of your car and starts trying to eat your flesh as happened in Miami last year, it seems other worldly, like that is just too bizarre! So, it makes the news. It makes the late night comedy circuit. But the road rage guy that drags your son out of his car and beats him into a coma because he pulled out in front of him, ( as happened here in Sarasota) is quickly stifled. Why? Because unfortunately things like that are the norm today. They don’t want that on the news. The other thing they don’t want to tell you, is that base line fact that the head of the NRA stated after the Sandy Hook situation. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But I think it is more than that. The only way to stop some cracked up lunatic with a tire iron, is indeed a gun. The only way to stop the rapist with a knife is a gun. The only way to stop the home invasion is…with a gun.
Look across the pond folks. Don’t just watch a few news clips, go on line and watch some real video’s from people that live in Ukraine. Mobs cutting off a mans leg, burning people alive, beating someone to death with a metal bar. It can’t happen here right? That’s what you want to believe, what we all hope. But look at the yik-yak posts. Look at our inner city violence. Look at the hostility. We are not immune. We’re one banking holiday away from the same thing. We’re one failure of the EBT system from the same thing.
Look folks, here’s the bottom line. I’m not talking about acting like Rambo with a knife in your teeth swinging through trees on a vine, with a 50 caliber strapped to your back. That isn’t my goal. But I do want you to be able to defend yourself and your loved ones. It starts with home protection, then a carry permit if you live in a state where that’s possible. Then onto some advanced training on how to properly use that tool. Even if we never see the true melt down that I do think is ultimately coming, just this incredibly violent society we live in dictates that you really should be proficient at personal protection.
I’m going to expand on this theme for Sunday. I don’t care if you’re the most gun hating pacifist that ever was… please read it. If just one of the things I happen to mention helps you or your spouse survive a bad time, I’ve hit the proverbial home run. A few years back, just after the Colorado Incident I ran a few articles about weapons and self defense training. It inspired quite a few people to write in and tell me they had finally “done what they wanted to do but never got around to….” And that was great. They went out, bought their first weapon, went to a good range and got some safety training and target training. Bravo! Congrats! One couple; Beverly and Dan, actually got so into the shooting sport they’ve become members of a target team in Texas. Pretty amazing, considering neither had previously fired a weapon in their lives.
While I love the shooting sports, whether target, clays, timed, etc…what is most important for me to express to all of you is the personal safety and defense side of things. What good does it do, to amass a small fortune in the markets or in business, only to have your life shattered by violence? So, we’ll be stressing the protection side of the equation. I think you’ll find it interesting.
UrbanMan Comments: I recently had an experience like Bob mentioned above. I worked with a older, married couple, 72 and 66 years old, respectively. Not your average senior citizen. They participate in walks, hikes and swimming, and appeared to be in good shape and health, but neither one had shot a gun more than twice in their life. They asked me to help select a couple guns for them. I picked out a S&W M&P in 9x19, a used Taurus .38 Spl revolver, and a 12 gauge Savage-Stevens pump shotgun. Before I get hate mail on these selections - this couple are on social security and a little savings. Back on point,....I gave them three separate 3 hour blocks of instruction at the range, culminating using cover and fighting as a two person team. I started them on a .22 LR Ruger Mark II to work out the fundamentals then they shot their new gun purchases. Over three days they each shot all the firearms expending over 600 rounds of 9mm, 200 rounds of 38 Spl and 50 rounds of mixed Buckshot and Slug. I have since been told that they plan on buying a .22 LR rifle, stocking more ammunition and shooting more rifles at a local gun club to see what center fire rifle may work for them. They also adopted a mixed breed, medium sized dog for security purposes and are also planning on stocking pantry food,....just in case. What drove them to this point in the evening of their lives? Well, that would have to be fear and concern over what is likely to happen to this country in the near future. Even if a collapse isn't likely, it is certainly possible.
Social Breakdown
Maybe I just didn’t pay attention to it when I was in high school, but we didn’t seem to need diversity training, and endless classes telling us how we’re supposed to view other people. I don’t remember grief counselors when one of our classmates jumped off the roof and killed himself. I know for a fact we didn’t have all this racial tension and “fat shaming” and all the rest of the 2014 Social bugaboos that we have now. The word “intolerant” was unheard of.
My personal social policies taken in today’s atmosphere; probably lands me in the column of being some form of a terrorist. I really don’t care if you don’t like black people. I don’t much care if you don’t like white Scottish Newsletter writers. I don’t care if you think I’m fat. I don’t care if you want to live in a neighborhood of like minded and like colored people.
But today, considering that the social engineers have been pushing for a homogenous, one size, one thought, one color fits all…if you have the slightest difference from what they consider the “norm” you’re a racist, homophobe, hater, terrorist. Thus they have to make the biggest shows out of someone that doesn’t toe their line. Chew a pop tart into the shape of a gun?? You’re expelled and placed under Psych care. Don’t approve of gay marriage? You’re forced out of your job, your name in the paper as a hater who gives money to anti gay groups. Say in private that you don’t like your girlfriend bringing black people to basketball games, and you’re headline news…24/7…and forced out of your position.
Hey, lets talk. Let’s cut the crap for a few minutes and as they say in the “hood” lets keep it real. People are “fulla crap”. The same preacher that on Sunday morning screams of you burning in hell for being gay, just happens to get busted for child porn. That upright political candidate that kisses babies and shakes your hand gets busted for tax evasion, larceny, insider trading. That woman leading the “family power” workshop, gets caught cheating with her spa manager. On and on it goes. Hypocrites. Liars. Cheats. Nasty people. Bullies. Criminals. You can dress it up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, smother it in gravy to hide it, but it’s still there. All the classes, all the political correctness, all the “goody-goody” talk is a cover up for the rot that continues to fester below the surface.
So what brings up this little rant today? Well, as you might guess I am not impressed by the untold millions that walk around all day with their face planted in their phones. They’re all so busy texting and “apping” and being so techno cool that they have become true social idiots. No one talks to each other any more. If you go to a local pub, half the youngsters are all sitting at a table that is dead quiet as they’re buried in their phones. And one of those “aps” has been making a real mess of things. Enter Yik-yak.
Yik Yak is a smart phone application that lets anyone post anything they want in message form, and here’s the cinch…there’s NO identification. You don’t need a user name or anything else. You are completely anonymous. Well as you can imagine, when it swept through a High school recently, the REAL feelings of people were everywhere to be seen. People being called fat, people called sluts, people called the dreaded “n” word. (yawn) people called worthless, hope they were dead, who gives good sex, who’s a loser, yada yada yada. Yep, a bunch of our sweet little environmentally aware, non hater, upright diversity trained, precious children just “going off”. They had the freedom to say what they really feel because there’s no way to trace them. And “say” they certainly did.
This is reality. This is how people really are. When given the chance to go off with no ramifications, a huge percentage do. What does that tell us? It tells us that just about everyone has opinions that differ. It tells us that all this sensitivity training is a patch for a deeper underlying problem. And just what is that problem anyway? Or better yet, is it a problem? If it is, where did it come from? Could it be all this social engineering we’ve been exposed to is actually backfiring? You bet it could…because it is.
Stick with me here folks. I understand that I’m wandering off into a bit of pshyco babble on you. But there’s a point, you’ll see. I just want to set the stage here. There has always been “haters”. There’s always been homophobes, nasty people, opinionated bigots, cheaters, liars, whores, pimps, fat people, Rich jerks, nerds, rednecks, the whole gambit. So why are things “worse” now in 2014 after all these years of good-goody social engineering, than in 1970 when one of the most popular shows was “all in the family” with “Archie Bunker?” A show like that today would land the producer in jail. In 1970 it was something to laugh at. Expose our differences, see how goofy they were, try and mend some of them and move on. But today, no. Today you can’t talk about it. You can’t humor it out. You can’t just leave it alone and let it hide. Nope, you have to drag everyone into it. Force it. And the results? Escalating madness. Lack of civility. Rudeness. But most of all… violence. All the icky stuff bubbles to the surface.
As you might know, I’m involved in a company that trains folks for their concealed carry permits. We also offer a wide range of self defense classes on proper use of firearms for self protection. From the person that’s never held a weapon before, to tactical response SWAT training, we teach it all. And, just what do we see? As you can imagine, we hear a lot of stories. When we ask folks why they are interested in obtaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon, it is rarely just about “being robbed” like it was many years ago. Now the big concern is “violence”. Too many people have seen too many instances of wicked violence that endangered them or their loved ones. They’re scared and rightfully so.
Road rage. The “knockout game”. The tough guy looking for a fight. The rape attempts. Car Jackings. Random shootings. The list is endless. For all the social engineering to make us a big happy family, the fact is we are creating more violent people than we ever did. That in itself is more than enough reason for you and your loved one’s to be trained on proper firearm use.
But you’ve all waited long enough for “the point” to this whole article. That point is that violence is escalating despite all the social engineering to make us all “happy”, and this is with the economy still functioning. What happens when things really get tough? Last week in Chicago 44 people were shot. However the EBT cards were still functioning. What happens if they didn’t? If we can see the levels of evil we are seeing when things are still “working” so to speak, what unspeakable evils will we see during a melt down?
Last week in the IF there was a wonderful article about the amount of ammunition that Uncle Sam has been buying. Every Federal agency, right down to the post office has been buying hundreds of thousands if not millions of rounds of very lethal ammo. Why is this? I have always believed as the author has, that they feel there could be serious societal breakdowns when the wheels come off our fake economy and they’re stocking up for the eventual shoot outs that very well will occur. I think they know that the economy is doomed, the currency situation is doomed and when it fails, if things don’t go well on the work around, all manner of hell is going to break loose. They’re buying up these billions of rounds of ammo…to shoot US citizens if society breaks down. Read that over a few times to get the full effect. It isn’t pretty.
I don’t say this stuff to scare you, that certainly isn’t my goal. I say this stuff to wake you up. Shake you up a bit. When some lunatic high on bath salts drags you out of your car and starts trying to eat your flesh as happened in Miami last year, it seems other worldly, like that is just too bizarre! So, it makes the news. It makes the late night comedy circuit. But the road rage guy that drags your son out of his car and beats him into a coma because he pulled out in front of him, ( as happened here in Sarasota) is quickly stifled. Why? Because unfortunately things like that are the norm today. They don’t want that on the news. The other thing they don’t want to tell you, is that base line fact that the head of the NRA stated after the Sandy Hook situation. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But I think it is more than that. The only way to stop some cracked up lunatic with a tire iron, is indeed a gun. The only way to stop the rapist with a knife is a gun. The only way to stop the home invasion is…with a gun.
Look across the pond folks. Don’t just watch a few news clips, go on line and watch some real video’s from people that live in Ukraine. Mobs cutting off a mans leg, burning people alive, beating someone to death with a metal bar. It can’t happen here right? That’s what you want to believe, what we all hope. But look at the yik-yak posts. Look at our inner city violence. Look at the hostility. We are not immune. We’re one banking holiday away from the same thing. We’re one failure of the EBT system from the same thing.
Look folks, here’s the bottom line. I’m not talking about acting like Rambo with a knife in your teeth swinging through trees on a vine, with a 50 caliber strapped to your back. That isn’t my goal. But I do want you to be able to defend yourself and your loved ones. It starts with home protection, then a carry permit if you live in a state where that’s possible. Then onto some advanced training on how to properly use that tool. Even if we never see the true melt down that I do think is ultimately coming, just this incredibly violent society we live in dictates that you really should be proficient at personal protection.
I’m going to expand on this theme for Sunday. I don’t care if you’re the most gun hating pacifist that ever was… please read it. If just one of the things I happen to mention helps you or your spouse survive a bad time, I’ve hit the proverbial home run. A few years back, just after the Colorado Incident I ran a few articles about weapons and self defense training. It inspired quite a few people to write in and tell me they had finally “done what they wanted to do but never got around to….” And that was great. They went out, bought their first weapon, went to a good range and got some safety training and target training. Bravo! Congrats! One couple; Beverly and Dan, actually got so into the shooting sport they’ve become members of a target team in Texas. Pretty amazing, considering neither had previously fired a weapon in their lives.
While I love the shooting sports, whether target, clays, timed, etc…what is most important for me to express to all of you is the personal safety and defense side of things. What good does it do, to amass a small fortune in the markets or in business, only to have your life shattered by violence? So, we’ll be stressing the protection side of the equation. I think you’ll find it interesting.
UrbanMan Comments: I recently had an experience like Bob mentioned above. I worked with a older, married couple, 72 and 66 years old, respectively. Not your average senior citizen. They participate in walks, hikes and swimming, and appeared to be in good shape and health, but neither one had shot a gun more than twice in their life. They asked me to help select a couple guns for them. I picked out a S&W M&P in 9x19, a used Taurus .38 Spl revolver, and a 12 gauge Savage-Stevens pump shotgun. Before I get hate mail on these selections - this couple are on social security and a little savings. Back on point,....I gave them three separate 3 hour blocks of instruction at the range, culminating using cover and fighting as a two person team. I started them on a .22 LR Ruger Mark II to work out the fundamentals then they shot their new gun purchases. Over three days they each shot all the firearms expending over 600 rounds of 9mm, 200 rounds of 38 Spl and 50 rounds of mixed Buckshot and Slug. I have since been told that they plan on buying a .22 LR rifle, stocking more ammunition and shooting more rifles at a local gun club to see what center fire rifle may work for them. They also adopted a mixed breed, medium sized dog for security purposes and are also planning on stocking pantry food,....just in case. What drove them to this point in the evening of their lives? Well, that would have to be fear and concern over what is likely to happen to this country in the near future. Even if a collapse isn't likely, it is certainly possible.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Americans Fleeing to the Cities?
Wait a minute,...you're heading in the wrong direction!! This is an article from the Daily Ticker, by Nicole Goodkind. That discusses the economy based reasons why the trend of the population fleeing the cities is now reversing. Those same factors are making a coming economic collapse likely in the next couple of years if not sooner. If you click on the link above you should still be able to watch the short video associated with this article.
I understand that having a means of support,..e.g.. a job, is necessary to live most places, however moving into a high rise apartment or condo in a city places you at much greater risk when the collapse, from whatever angle, hits this country. I would make every effort to secure the safest lodging even if it meant a commute from there to your place of work. The safest off site or out of city lodging while still having a job within the city should include determining and staying off the likely refugee routes. And this out of city lodging while you work therein, should be considered a temporary rally point. A Bug Out plan to a secure location is still required. This makes the stockage of supplies and materials problematic.
Not that staying in the suburbs is safe. As it is not. The only common advantage to living in the burbs is perhaps having just a little more time to make a decision, like to execute a controlled and planned Bug Out,....but we're not talking a week or even days, it may just be a 24 hour advantage. Anyway, without further rant, this is the article. At least the reader can understand the economic issues forcing moves back to the city and these economic factors are what is helping drive the U.S. train to collapseville.
Americans Fleeing to the Cities?
The American dream: a white picket fence and a patch of grass to call your own. In 2002 President Bush declared “owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream,” and wanted, "everybody in America to own their own home.” Twelve years and a housing crisis later, it seems as though that’s no longer the case: Americans are packing up and booking it to the city.
“The American dream is fundamentally about opportunity,” says Vishaan Chakrabarti, director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University. “It’s not so much where you live but whether you can do better than your parents and grandparents and a lot of young people today are finding those opportunities in cities. The data are very clear, we’ve seen an enormous migration to every urban area in the country.”
The nation's urban population increased by 12.1% between 2000 and 2010. According to the Census, urban areas accounted for 83% of the U.S. population in 2012. And The Brookings Institute notes that "among the 51 metropolitan areas with more than one million residents, 24 saw their cities grow faster than their suburbs from 2011 to 2012-- that was true of just 8 metro areas from 2000 to 2010."
Single-family homebuilding is at its lowest rate in decades, as only 600,000 single-family homes were built in 2013, down from 1.7 million in 2005. The purchasing of single-family homes is also down 13.3% year-over-year. High-rise apartment buildings now make up 40% of all new construction and metro areas are growing more quickly than the U.S. as a whole. According to The Nielsen Group 62% of millennials would prefer to live in urban centers.
And it’s not just millennials; baby boomers are also leaving their suburban homes for apartments with much less square footage. So why this exodus from the suburbs?
People want to closer access to health care facilities and culture, says Chakrabarti. Gas prices are a factor too.
“Most people have been hit really hard by this last recession and are worried about mortgage debt and auto debt, so this is a pocketbook issue at a significant level,” says Chakrabarti.
The tightening of purse strings is a prevailing issue but there’s more to reurbanization.
“If you look at the millennials they grew up with Hurricane Katrina, Deep-water Horizon, a lot of things that were around the environment—it’s a socially conscientious generation and they are interested in driving less and walking more,” Chakrabarti explains.
There’s also a social aspect to living in a city that people in the suburbs tend to lack. “People like the amount of diversity they find in cities," Chakrabarti notes.
According to Chakrabarti, it’s the perfect storm of economic, social and environmental issues that are driving the suburbs into extinction.
I understand that having a means of support,..e.g.. a job, is necessary to live most places, however moving into a high rise apartment or condo in a city places you at much greater risk when the collapse, from whatever angle, hits this country. I would make every effort to secure the safest lodging even if it meant a commute from there to your place of work. The safest off site or out of city lodging while still having a job within the city should include determining and staying off the likely refugee routes. And this out of city lodging while you work therein, should be considered a temporary rally point. A Bug Out plan to a secure location is still required. This makes the stockage of supplies and materials problematic.
Not that staying in the suburbs is safe. As it is not. The only common advantage to living in the burbs is perhaps having just a little more time to make a decision, like to execute a controlled and planned Bug Out,....but we're not talking a week or even days, it may just be a 24 hour advantage. Anyway, without further rant, this is the article. At least the reader can understand the economic issues forcing moves back to the city and these economic factors are what is helping drive the U.S. train to collapseville.
Americans Fleeing to the Cities?
The American dream: a white picket fence and a patch of grass to call your own. In 2002 President Bush declared “owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream,” and wanted, "everybody in America to own their own home.” Twelve years and a housing crisis later, it seems as though that’s no longer the case: Americans are packing up and booking it to the city.
“The American dream is fundamentally about opportunity,” says Vishaan Chakrabarti, director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University. “It’s not so much where you live but whether you can do better than your parents and grandparents and a lot of young people today are finding those opportunities in cities. The data are very clear, we’ve seen an enormous migration to every urban area in the country.”
The nation's urban population increased by 12.1% between 2000 and 2010. According to the Census, urban areas accounted for 83% of the U.S. population in 2012. And The Brookings Institute notes that "among the 51 metropolitan areas with more than one million residents, 24 saw their cities grow faster than their suburbs from 2011 to 2012-- that was true of just 8 metro areas from 2000 to 2010."
Single-family homebuilding is at its lowest rate in decades, as only 600,000 single-family homes were built in 2013, down from 1.7 million in 2005. The purchasing of single-family homes is also down 13.3% year-over-year. High-rise apartment buildings now make up 40% of all new construction and metro areas are growing more quickly than the U.S. as a whole. According to The Nielsen Group 62% of millennials would prefer to live in urban centers.
And it’s not just millennials; baby boomers are also leaving their suburban homes for apartments with much less square footage. So why this exodus from the suburbs?
People want to closer access to health care facilities and culture, says Chakrabarti. Gas prices are a factor too.
“Most people have been hit really hard by this last recession and are worried about mortgage debt and auto debt, so this is a pocketbook issue at a significant level,” says Chakrabarti.
The tightening of purse strings is a prevailing issue but there’s more to reurbanization.
“If you look at the millennials they grew up with Hurricane Katrina, Deep-water Horizon, a lot of things that were around the environment—it’s a socially conscientious generation and they are interested in driving less and walking more,” Chakrabarti explains.
There’s also a social aspect to living in a city that people in the suburbs tend to lack. “People like the amount of diversity they find in cities," Chakrabarti notes.
According to Chakrabarti, it’s the perfect storm of economic, social and environmental issues that are driving the suburbs into extinction.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Indefinite Detention Of Innocent Americans - Is Martial Law Coming?
Some of you have written me taking me to task for not being suspicious enough of the
Government. I would rather think I am just cautious, trying to get the facts before making a
decision. However, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) concerns me as it does
authorize a warrantless, indefinite detention of Americans by the Military.
This article, titled: Supreme Court Just Approved Indefinite Detention Of Innocent Americans - The defense of liberty has come down to States, County Sheriffs, and We The People, is from Western Journalism.com and begs to be read. Giving the military police powers, and the powers outside the Constitution are very troubling.
America’s founders, largely distrustful of centralized power, created several checks and balances into the U.S. Constitution to help ensure that one person, or one group of people, would not be able to unilaterally exert his or their will over the American citizenry. First, the federal government itself was divided into three separate and distinct branches–each holding the capability (and responsibility) to check the power of the other. Second, the Bill of Rights was made part of the Constitution for the protection of individual liberties. Third, the “free and independent states” of the nation retained their sovereignty and independence after the central government was created (by the states), with the Tenth Amendment specifically recognizing their authority and jurisdiction over matters not directly delegated to the federal government.
It was also assumed that the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion would help the citizenry be sufficiently informed and inspired to keep the would-be despots at bay. And, of course, “We the People” are recognized as being the ultimate guardians of liberty by the recognition that “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Declaration) The “consent of the governed” was given teeth by the constitutional recognition of the people’s right to wield the power of the voting booth, the jury box, and, as a last resort, the cartridge box.
What has become increasingly obvious to a large segment of the American populace is the complete unwillingness of the national media to hold the federal government accountable. Neither do America’s pulpits provide the moral leadership necessary to maintain good government. The freedom of the press and religion accomplish precious little today in the safeguarding of liberty. And it is also absolutely clear that the three branches of government in Washington, D.C. adamantly refuse to use the constitutional obligations placed upon them to hold the federal government in check.
The latter was made crystal clear by a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. Here is the report:
“A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court means the federal government now has an open door to ‘detain as a threat to national security anyone viewed as a troublemaker,’ according to critics.
“The high court this week refused to review an appeals court decision that said the president and U.S. military can arrest and indefinitely detain individuals.
“The firm of William J. Olson, P.C., which filed a friend-of-the court brief asking the court to step in, noted that not a single justice dissented from the denial of the request for review.
‘The court ducked, having no appetite to confront both political parties in order to protect the citizens from military detention,’ the legal team said in a statement to WND. ‘The government has won, creating a tragic moment for the people–and what will someday be viewed as an embarrassment for the court.’”
The report continues: “The controversial provision authorizes the military, under presidential authority, to arrest, kidnap, detain without trial and hold indefinitely American citizens thought to ‘represent an enduring security threat to the United States.’ “Journalist Chris Hedges was among the plaintiffs charging the law could be used to target journalists who report on terror-related issues.
“A friend-of-the-court brief submitted in the case stated: ‘The central question now before this court is whether the federal judiciary will stand idly by while Congress and the president establish the legal framework for the establishment of a police state and the subjugation of the American citizenry through the threat of indefinite military arrest and detention, without the right to counsel, the right to confront one’s accusers, or the right to trial.’
“The brief was submitted to the Supreme Court by attorneys with the U.S. Justice Foundation of Ramona, California; Friedman Harfenist Kraut & Perlstein of Lake Success, New York; and William J. Olson, P.C. of Vienna, Virginia.”
Amici Curiae of the brief included U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman, Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, Virginia Senator Dick Black, Gun Owners of America, the Downsize DC Foundation, the Western Center for Journalism, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, the Tenth Amendment Center, the Policy Analysis Center, the Constitution Party National Committee, Professor Jerome Aumente, and yours truly, among others.
The WND report goes on to say: “The 2012 NDAA was fast-tracked through the U.S. Senate, with no time for discussion or amendments, while most Americans were distracted by the scandal surrounding A&E’s troubles with ‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson.
“Eighty-five of 100 senators voted in favor of the new version of the NDAA, which had already been quietly passed by the House of Representatives. [Disgustingly, Montana's only U.S. House member, Republican Steve Daines, who purports himself to be a staunch conservative, voted for the indefinite detention provision of the NDAA, as did Montana's two Democrat Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester. How did your congressman and senators vote? In my opinion, this is a monumentally-important vote; and a vote granting this unconstitutional power to the military and federal police agencies is inexcusable and demonstrates how both Democrats and Republicans will unite together to dismantle the constitutional protections of the American people in the name of "national security."]
“Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and others filed a lawsuit in 2012 against the Obama administration to challenge the legality of an earlier version of the NDAA.
“It is Section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA, and its successors, that drew a lawsuit by Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Jennifer Bolen, Noam Chomsky, Alex O’Brien, Kai Warg All, Brigitta Jonsottir and the group U.S. Day of Rage. Many of the plaintiffs are authors or reporters who stated that the threat of indefinite detention by the U.S. military already had altered their activities.
“‘It’s clearly unconstitutional,’ Hedges said of the bill. ‘It is a huge and egregious assault against our democracy. It overturns over 200 years of law, which has kept the military out of domestic policing.’
“Hedges is a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and was part of a team of reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism.” Remember that it was Republican President George W. Bush and a Republican U.S. House and Senate that shackled the American people with the USA Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security–along with the rest of the gargantuan police state apparatus under which the people of the United States are now being forced to live. And it is Democrat President Barack Obama and a Democrat U.S. Senate–along with a Republican U.S. House–that continues to expand the reach of this police state. One thing that both Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals agree on is the construction and implementation of a police state. Under the rubric of “national security” or “law and order,” the Bill of Rights is being systematically and deliberately expunged by both sides of the political aisle.
And now we know the judicial branch of government in Washington, D.C. also refuses to hold the executive and legislative branches of government in check–as if we needed more evidence. Both Republican-appointed and Democrat-appointed justices refused to say a word condemning this draconian abuse of power within the NDAA. By so doing, the Supreme Court showed itself unwilling to stand in between the liberties of the American people and an ever-burgeoning police state.
In fact, when it comes to holding the government in DC in check, when does the Supreme Court ever intervene? Hardly ever! If it is a dispute between the states and the federal government, or between individuals and the federal government, SCOTUS almost always rules in favor of DC.
Once in a while, one or the other branch of government (including the judicial branch) in DC will be willing to protect constitutional liberties from another branch of government in DC; but such instances are the exception, not the rule.
And since the liberties of the American people have few friends in the national media or in the country’s pulpits, the protection of our freedoms has quickly come down to the states, the local media (yes, some local media is still friendly to freedom), county sheriffs, and the people ourselves.
Currently, there is a huge momentum building among State legislatures to begin pushing back against the overreach of Washington, D.C. For example, the State of Texas is squaring off against the BLM over tens of thousands of acres along the Red River border of Texas and Oklahoma; and the State of Utah has already passed legislation claiming more than 30 million acres currently controlled by the federal government. Here is an excerpt from a Breitbart.com report:
“Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R), earlier this year, signed the Transfer of Public Lands Act. This new state law calls upon the federal government to turn over control of more than 30 million acres to the State.”
Plus, more and more county sheriffs are beginning to stand against federal encroachments.
And, of course, just recently, it was “We the People” standing against a brutish, totalitarian-style federal assault against the Bundy family in Bunkerville, Nevada. And among the brave souls at Bunkerville were State and local officials and even county sheriffs. And I was there, too.
As the three branches of government in Washington, D.C. become less and less accountable to the checks and balances assigned them by the Constitution, it is going to require that the states, county sheriffs, and people ourselves become more and more engaged in pushing back against federal overreach and abuse of power.
This article, titled: Supreme Court Just Approved Indefinite Detention Of Innocent Americans - The defense of liberty has come down to States, County Sheriffs, and We The People, is from Western Journalism.com and begs to be read. Giving the military police powers, and the powers outside the Constitution are very troubling.
America’s founders, largely distrustful of centralized power, created several checks and balances into the U.S. Constitution to help ensure that one person, or one group of people, would not be able to unilaterally exert his or their will over the American citizenry. First, the federal government itself was divided into three separate and distinct branches–each holding the capability (and responsibility) to check the power of the other. Second, the Bill of Rights was made part of the Constitution for the protection of individual liberties. Third, the “free and independent states” of the nation retained their sovereignty and independence after the central government was created (by the states), with the Tenth Amendment specifically recognizing their authority and jurisdiction over matters not directly delegated to the federal government.
It was also assumed that the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion would help the citizenry be sufficiently informed and inspired to keep the would-be despots at bay. And, of course, “We the People” are recognized as being the ultimate guardians of liberty by the recognition that “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Declaration) The “consent of the governed” was given teeth by the constitutional recognition of the people’s right to wield the power of the voting booth, the jury box, and, as a last resort, the cartridge box.
What has become increasingly obvious to a large segment of the American populace is the complete unwillingness of the national media to hold the federal government accountable. Neither do America’s pulpits provide the moral leadership necessary to maintain good government. The freedom of the press and religion accomplish precious little today in the safeguarding of liberty. And it is also absolutely clear that the three branches of government in Washington, D.C. adamantly refuse to use the constitutional obligations placed upon them to hold the federal government in check.
The latter was made crystal clear by a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. Here is the report:
“A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court means the federal government now has an open door to ‘detain as a threat to national security anyone viewed as a troublemaker,’ according to critics.
“The high court this week refused to review an appeals court decision that said the president and U.S. military can arrest and indefinitely detain individuals.
“The firm of William J. Olson, P.C., which filed a friend-of-the court brief asking the court to step in, noted that not a single justice dissented from the denial of the request for review.
‘The court ducked, having no appetite to confront both political parties in order to protect the citizens from military detention,’ the legal team said in a statement to WND. ‘The government has won, creating a tragic moment for the people–and what will someday be viewed as an embarrassment for the court.’”
The report continues: “The controversial provision authorizes the military, under presidential authority, to arrest, kidnap, detain without trial and hold indefinitely American citizens thought to ‘represent an enduring security threat to the United States.’ “Journalist Chris Hedges was among the plaintiffs charging the law could be used to target journalists who report on terror-related issues.
“A friend-of-the-court brief submitted in the case stated: ‘The central question now before this court is whether the federal judiciary will stand idly by while Congress and the president establish the legal framework for the establishment of a police state and the subjugation of the American citizenry through the threat of indefinite military arrest and detention, without the right to counsel, the right to confront one’s accusers, or the right to trial.’
“The brief was submitted to the Supreme Court by attorneys with the U.S. Justice Foundation of Ramona, California; Friedman Harfenist Kraut & Perlstein of Lake Success, New York; and William J. Olson, P.C. of Vienna, Virginia.”
Amici Curiae of the brief included U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman, Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, Virginia Senator Dick Black, Gun Owners of America, the Downsize DC Foundation, the Western Center for Journalism, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, the Tenth Amendment Center, the Policy Analysis Center, the Constitution Party National Committee, Professor Jerome Aumente, and yours truly, among others.
The WND report goes on to say: “The 2012 NDAA was fast-tracked through the U.S. Senate, with no time for discussion or amendments, while most Americans were distracted by the scandal surrounding A&E’s troubles with ‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson.
“Eighty-five of 100 senators voted in favor of the new version of the NDAA, which had already been quietly passed by the House of Representatives. [Disgustingly, Montana's only U.S. House member, Republican Steve Daines, who purports himself to be a staunch conservative, voted for the indefinite detention provision of the NDAA, as did Montana's two Democrat Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester. How did your congressman and senators vote? In my opinion, this is a monumentally-important vote; and a vote granting this unconstitutional power to the military and federal police agencies is inexcusable and demonstrates how both Democrats and Republicans will unite together to dismantle the constitutional protections of the American people in the name of "national security."]
“Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and others filed a lawsuit in 2012 against the Obama administration to challenge the legality of an earlier version of the NDAA.
“It is Section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA, and its successors, that drew a lawsuit by Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Jennifer Bolen, Noam Chomsky, Alex O’Brien, Kai Warg All, Brigitta Jonsottir and the group U.S. Day of Rage. Many of the plaintiffs are authors or reporters who stated that the threat of indefinite detention by the U.S. military already had altered their activities.
“‘It’s clearly unconstitutional,’ Hedges said of the bill. ‘It is a huge and egregious assault against our democracy. It overturns over 200 years of law, which has kept the military out of domestic policing.’
“Hedges is a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and was part of a team of reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism.” Remember that it was Republican President George W. Bush and a Republican U.S. House and Senate that shackled the American people with the USA Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security–along with the rest of the gargantuan police state apparatus under which the people of the United States are now being forced to live. And it is Democrat President Barack Obama and a Democrat U.S. Senate–along with a Republican U.S. House–that continues to expand the reach of this police state. One thing that both Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals agree on is the construction and implementation of a police state. Under the rubric of “national security” or “law and order,” the Bill of Rights is being systematically and deliberately expunged by both sides of the political aisle.
And now we know the judicial branch of government in Washington, D.C. also refuses to hold the executive and legislative branches of government in check–as if we needed more evidence. Both Republican-appointed and Democrat-appointed justices refused to say a word condemning this draconian abuse of power within the NDAA. By so doing, the Supreme Court showed itself unwilling to stand in between the liberties of the American people and an ever-burgeoning police state.
In fact, when it comes to holding the government in DC in check, when does the Supreme Court ever intervene? Hardly ever! If it is a dispute between the states and the federal government, or between individuals and the federal government, SCOTUS almost always rules in favor of DC.
Once in a while, one or the other branch of government (including the judicial branch) in DC will be willing to protect constitutional liberties from another branch of government in DC; but such instances are the exception, not the rule.
And since the liberties of the American people have few friends in the national media or in the country’s pulpits, the protection of our freedoms has quickly come down to the states, the local media (yes, some local media is still friendly to freedom), county sheriffs, and the people ourselves.
Currently, there is a huge momentum building among State legislatures to begin pushing back against the overreach of Washington, D.C. For example, the State of Texas is squaring off against the BLM over tens of thousands of acres along the Red River border of Texas and Oklahoma; and the State of Utah has already passed legislation claiming more than 30 million acres currently controlled by the federal government. Here is an excerpt from a Breitbart.com report:
“Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R), earlier this year, signed the Transfer of Public Lands Act. This new state law calls upon the federal government to turn over control of more than 30 million acres to the State.”
Plus, more and more county sheriffs are beginning to stand against federal encroachments.
And, of course, just recently, it was “We the People” standing against a brutish, totalitarian-style federal assault against the Bundy family in Bunkerville, Nevada. And among the brave souls at Bunkerville were State and local officials and even county sheriffs. And I was there, too.
As the three branches of government in Washington, D.C. become less and less accountable to the checks and balances assigned them by the Constitution, it is going to require that the states, county sheriffs, and people ourselves become more and more engaged in pushing back against federal overreach and abuse of power.
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