Would You Prefer a Civil War or World War Three?
This is the question from Dave Hodges on International Forecaster, who wrote this thought provoking article. I still think it is much more likely for the collapse to be caused from economic conditions and if severe enough will cause societal breakdown and a possible military response by the government for control, especially of population centers and resource centers, but Dave Hodges gives us some things to ponder, even if they are so terrible in nature.
This is what Dave say's:
America is on a collision course with a brutal civil war. We can argue if the coming civil war will be conventional or guerrilla. However, many of us feel that we have reached the point of no return and that civil strife is unavoidable. A political solution to our multiple issues would have been my preferred choice, but that ship sailed a long time ago. I know that the cognitive dissonance crowd will not believe this, however, nobody from that mindset can answer the most important question in the debate based upon the present circumstances: If a civil war was not inevitable, then explain how the military and this administration are going to get past the fact that this “false flag” President has fired over 200+ military command officers?
And there is a second important question: Why have 14 state governors restructured their respective state military organizations so that they are not under the control of Obama?
A Military Rebellion Is Unavoidable
Whenever 200+ leaders of any organization are fired in a short period of time, the person doing the firing has formed a group which opposes them. These military leaders had great influence and close ties over those that they have commanded. Obama just did not fire over 200+ military commanders, he alienated, tens if not hundreds of thousands of military personnel who based their professional loyalty to their military commanders and they will resist their foreign born Commander-In-Chief as a result of this betrayal of trust.
This is not a question of some of us in the media who desire for this happen. We have no say in the matter. And father time is defeating many of us, as several of us are too old to fight and too fat to run! It is not up to us as these conditions, which are ripe for a civil war, were forced upon our nation by Obama and his handlers.
Some Questions for the Fence-Sitting Sheep
Do you not think the executive officers under the command of the fired military leaders understood the issues behind the firing of their commanding officers? Was not the entire command structure in Afghanistan alienated from Obama when McChrystal was fired, largely over rules of engagement? Do you not think that all service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan understand that this buffoon of a President increases their chances of not coming home alive, because of Obama’s treasonous rules of engagement which endangers American soldiers?
Do you not think that if many of us in the alternative media can find evidence of a massive Russian troop buildup, including the presence of Russian heavy equipment on our soil, that the military is not already resentful of the fact that they have to wet nurse these future martial law enforcing troops and that they are from a nation that has repeatedly threatened to nuke America in the past 15 months? Do you think our military commanders are looking forward to the participation of Chinese and Russian soldiers in the upcoming RIMPAC war games?
Do you not think that the upper echelon of the military is not scared to death that in a time of civil unrest, or civil war, that we have 200,000 troops, stationed in foreign countries, who will not likely get home? Do you think the Generals in the Pentagon do not know the commanders in Afghanistan, or Iraq? Do you not think there are not close personal relationships in and among our military leaders stationed around the world and there is not an overall awareness in the military that the President is playing for the other side? Do you sheep really believe that the next time our noncommissioned officers send another young American home in a body bag because of the President’s rules of engagement, that the resentment towards this administration does not grow exponentially? Do you not think that present active duty personnel do not hear from their veteran friends who have come back home, that the Obama administration now refers to veterans, in DHS documents, as domestic terrorists
and that Obama is going after their guns because he fears them?
If we can find out about Obama’s fake birth certificate and his anti-American sentiment, do you not think that our troops have not learned these lessons a long time ago? Most American military commanders are loyal to each other and have been trained to risk their lives on behalf of their fellow soldiers. Why do you think that when someone from the executive branch flies into Afghanistan, that the troops must be disarmed because of previous shooting
incidents?
Does anyone really believe that our military enjoys sleeping with the enemy? And who do you think they blame? After considering all of these facts, do you sheep still believe that it will not take much provocation to get the troops to act against the modern day KGB in America (i.e. DHS)? Hell, even Ray Charles could see this is fertile breeding ground for a civil war! If this was Stalinist Russia, these military officers would have been shot in the back of the head. Fortunately for these 200+ deposed military commanders, our modern communications system would make it impossible for Obama to purge the military in the same manner as Stalin did without incurring the ire of an entire nation.
However, the end result is the same. The military is being purged because it will not act
against the American people and you can take that to the bank. The best we can hope for in the present set of circumstances, is a military coup and that, my friends, never ends well and I lose sleep over this possibility. If we do not change course, our greatest fears will be realized because the sides are already drawn and it will not be long until all hell breaks loose across our country.
An Epic Struggle Is Taking Shape
In one corner, we have the DHS led federal agencies accompanied by their muscle; the Chinese, the Russians and the Canadians. If this group prevails in the upcoming struggle, Mao will have to forfeit his title as the most murderous dictator in world history. There are members of the NWO who do not want two stones left together in this country. They want as many of us to die as possible (see the Georgia Guide Stones). They want to leave no trail of the traditional American notions of freedom and independence because these notions are a formidable roadblock to the lethal scientific dictatorship being installed on this planet. Americans are in the crosshairs of history.
American Christians will soon become the most hunted game on the planet because we represent freedom, autonomy and obedience to God’s laws and not blind obedience to the dictates of genocidal leaders. In our corner, the other corner, we have a large segment of the American military and some of the American citizenry, largely veterans,who will oppose the attempts to finalize the tyranny being installed across the planet. This is an all-stakes, winner-take-all battle. Soon, even the sheep are going to be forced to choose sides.
No Pleasant Alternatives
The coming conflict will not have a good outcome no matter who wins. If the military and the American citizens prevail, all we will likely accomplish is to replace one brutal dictatorship with another. If the other side wins, there is nowhere that will be safe.
All of us will become, by definition, an endangered species. Fourteen Governors Have Acquired Some Temporary Courage Against Tyranny I have previously written that I have recently spoken with a high ranking military officer who was fired because he would not help DHS to completely control a fully integrated state-to-state national guard organization. He was unwilling to voluntarily hand the keys to the car to a communist such as Obama whom he perceived as someone who was dedicated to the destruction of this country. This officer’s resolve was shocking, but
now I understand why. In retrospect, he was lucky that he was only fired.
Why has DHS armed to the teeth? The answer is simple, Obama is facing opposition to not only his failed policies like Obamacare and he is facing the possibility of organized military
resistance at the state level in several locations. There is presently an armed uprising
directed at him by the select governors of 14 different states and that number is continuing to grow. To the previous point I raised as to why Obama is moving to nationalize the National Guard Forces, the answer is simple. Fourteen governors are militarily organizing against Obama. States such as Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana and South Carolina, are saying no to the increasing level of tyranny. These state military entities have been structured in such a way that they cannot become federalized. This is highly significant because the vast amount of federal/DHS resources used to federalize local police forces is now being undermined in these 14 states.
Obama Is Not Just Facing An Armed Rebellion From the Military
Fourteen state governors have reestablished State Defense Forces which includes any and all militias and the national guard. The authority over these troops does not rest with the President and he is furious. Obviously, these 14 governors are talking and planning amongst each other because their actions are so uniform and have happened in such a narrow time frame, that their actions are clearly an act of insubordination to Obama. In 14 states, the 10th Amendment still has life. These actions by the 14 governors are one short step away from armed rebellion. I am confident that any and all attempts on the part of the Hessian troops on American soil to move against dissident Americans and to enforce martial law will be militarily opposed in these 14 states. When will 14 governors militarily opposed to Obama become 30, become 40?
I cannot overstate how significant this development is. We are “One shot heard around the
world” from all hell breaking lose.
Conclusion
It is clear that the peoples’ closest elected representatives have had enough of this criminal organization as have our military. All citizens in the 36 states who are not militarily rising up against Obama, need to demand the same actions from their respective governors. Obama cannot act against a nation that is unified against him. However, this does mean that the bankers will push for WWIII to bring about their desired result if an internal takeover of America cannot be accomplished.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Off The Grid, Prepare for the Collapse Example
Another "motivational, if they can do it, you can do it" article about a couple who moved off the grid and is making it happen. This article is from Yahoo Finance and was published about this couple living on very little income. You will have to link to the article to see the pictures of their house and way of life. It is evident that they did not approach this from a pepper's point of view, and that is considering security or defense. While they are saving money and sitting pretty well for an economic collapse, you can tell that they are not prepared for what the worst of humanity, or government for that matter, will throw at them,.....and here's a thought, "don't let people know where you live!".
At a time when we carry computers in our pockets and our cars practically do the driving for us, a certain subset of people have willingly chosen to cut the cord on modern American life — for good. Off-the-grid living — that is, using natural resources like sun and wind power to provide amenities like heat and electricity — has become commonplace in places like Terlingua, an isolated community in Southwest Texas.
What was once a bustling mining town is now a veritable ghost town, tucked into the foothills of Big Bend National Park in the north Chihuahuan desert. To Abe Connally, 34, it was the perfect place to go off the map. In 2002, Connally moved to Terlingua, leaving behind a lucrative job as a web designer in Austin, Texas in order to try his hand at rural life. "I’ve always enjoyed rural life, and the thought of sustainability and home-scale energy production intrigued me," says Abe, who grew up in New Mexico and Texas. "On top of that, I wanted to see how integrating systems to reduce waste and improve efficiency would affect the architecture and other components of this lifestyle."
Within a year, he met and married his wife, Josie, a British expat who was raised in Africa, Portugal and England before she finally settled out West. They never questioned whether to build their own home or not. It was only a matter of finding the right land and the right resources. "When we started building our first home, we figured that if we could build a sustainable homestead from scratch in the desert, then we could do it anywhere," Josie says. "We realized that if we could reduce our needs and resources, our lifestyle would be cheaper to maintain, giving us money to save or invest."
More than a decade, two hand-built homes and a pair of energetic sons later, they've dedicated their lives to maintaining their sustainable home, using their blog VelaCreations to teach others how to follow in their footsteps. Here's what it’s like to live really off-the-grid: "When we built our first home, we had almost no money," Josie says. "We bought 20 acres of pristine desert land for $1,000 and moved an old bus onto it. The bus — retrofitted with a bed, small stove, solar panel and batteries, etc. — was our home until we could build a better quality one."
Neither Abe nor Josie were particularly experienced home builders — far from it. They relied on books, blogs and online tutorials to learn everything from bricklaying to building solar panels for energy. Abe: "[Renowned architect] Michael Reynolds introduced us to the concepts of architecture as a group of integrated systems. From passive solar designs to using waste as construction materials, his books showed us that it was possible to live like we wanted to."
They built their first sustainable home in 2002 near Terlingua, but they were 30 miles from the closest schools and hospitals — not exactly ideal for raising small children. In 2007, they moved closer to town and started constructing home No. 2.
Like their own personal Rome, their new home took years to complete and is a constant work in progress. Abe: "We added to each system as we could afford it, in other words, little by little. For the house itself, we used adobe, mixing the mud with our feet and putting it into forms (made from scrap materials) straight on the walls. It took a long time, but cost almost nothing."
For off-the-gridders, the sun is crucial. The Connallys rely on solar power for all of their heat and electricity (with help from a homemade wind generator). "The house is partially buried in a south-facing hill [and] the thermal mass of the hill helps to keep a constant temperature inside the house year-round, like a cave," Abe explains. "The house stays about 70 degrees for most of the year."
Abe: "Our water is collected from the roof. We live in a desert, so rainfall is limited, and the majority of our rain comes from July through September. We store this water in large tanks we make ourselves and then filter for domestic use."
"The first part of off-grid living is to conserve, and reduce your needs, so that it’s easier to produce your necessities for yourself," Abe says. By using a composting toilet, which requires no water, they cut down on waste and fertilize their land at the same time.
Their $9,600 annual budget is planned down to the dollar. They earn a small income through Abe's web consulting business and some freelance writing, but their farm is their real paycheck. When they decided to rebuild, they sought out more fertile land with enough rainfall to sustain a garden and livestock.
As a family, they bring new meaning to the term "farm to table": "We've had tomato plants that produce for several years, and they become these jungles of fresh food right in the dining room," Abe says. "In fact, our youngest son, Nico, will sit there and eat every red tomato he can reach, but if you put one on his plate, he refuses to touch it."
Josie: "We grow a wide variety of things, depending on our tastes at the time. We regularly grow tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, okra, cucumbers, squash, corn, sunflowers, melons, greens, roots and several herbs. We also have a few fruit trees (plums, apricots, peaches)." They've even got a tiny village of beehives for fresh honey.
Meat is also on the menu. The Connallys have gradually raised a menagerie of livestock, including pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and chickens. It's vastly cheaper than purchasing their meat from stores.
Everyone lends a hand in the family harvest. Josie: "The kids collect eggs and feed all the poultry. We feed the rabbits, pigs and all the other little critters. We then all go look at any baby rabbits and the kids often get out their guinea pigs to play with."
Nothing goes to waste. Josie: "We sell any surplus. We often have extra meat (especially rabbit), which we sell locally. We also sell eggs, as well as trading them for raw milk. Any vegetables and such we tend to preserve (drying, canning, kimchi) as we don’t yet grow enough to fill our yearly needs." Even rabbit fur gets turned into cozy hats and slippers.
Josie: "Right now, we’re spending about $800 a month: $100 on fuel, $500 on [feed for the animals], groceries and other household items, and $100 on Internet and phone. We also continue to improve our homestead, which costs a little extra, depending on the task at hand."
With two kids under the age of 5, the Connallys admit they've made some allowances in their off-grid lifestyle. They have games for game nights and keep a healthy stock of books and DVDs for entertainment. They keep a car handy for trips to town and to cart the kids to and from school each day. Their goal this year is to get their car running on natural fuel supplies. Josie: "We live about a 20-minute drive from a small village, where there’s a kindergarten, primary school, clinic and a couple of basic stores. That’s actually one of the main reasons we moved here before starting a family: still very rural, but with everything needed for small kids."
I admire the out of the box thinking of this family. Growing your own food, from gardening to the livestock aspect is great - a model for all prepared Bug Out locations, however, I would certainly be concerned about OPSEC and hope they have a plan for security and the defensibility of their homestead.
At a time when we carry computers in our pockets and our cars practically do the driving for us, a certain subset of people have willingly chosen to cut the cord on modern American life — for good. Off-the-grid living — that is, using natural resources like sun and wind power to provide amenities like heat and electricity — has become commonplace in places like Terlingua, an isolated community in Southwest Texas.
What was once a bustling mining town is now a veritable ghost town, tucked into the foothills of Big Bend National Park in the north Chihuahuan desert. To Abe Connally, 34, it was the perfect place to go off the map. In 2002, Connally moved to Terlingua, leaving behind a lucrative job as a web designer in Austin, Texas in order to try his hand at rural life. "I’ve always enjoyed rural life, and the thought of sustainability and home-scale energy production intrigued me," says Abe, who grew up in New Mexico and Texas. "On top of that, I wanted to see how integrating systems to reduce waste and improve efficiency would affect the architecture and other components of this lifestyle."
Within a year, he met and married his wife, Josie, a British expat who was raised in Africa, Portugal and England before she finally settled out West. They never questioned whether to build their own home or not. It was only a matter of finding the right land and the right resources. "When we started building our first home, we figured that if we could build a sustainable homestead from scratch in the desert, then we could do it anywhere," Josie says. "We realized that if we could reduce our needs and resources, our lifestyle would be cheaper to maintain, giving us money to save or invest."
More than a decade, two hand-built homes and a pair of energetic sons later, they've dedicated their lives to maintaining their sustainable home, using their blog VelaCreations to teach others how to follow in their footsteps. Here's what it’s like to live really off-the-grid: "When we built our first home, we had almost no money," Josie says. "We bought 20 acres of pristine desert land for $1,000 and moved an old bus onto it. The bus — retrofitted with a bed, small stove, solar panel and batteries, etc. — was our home until we could build a better quality one."
Neither Abe nor Josie were particularly experienced home builders — far from it. They relied on books, blogs and online tutorials to learn everything from bricklaying to building solar panels for energy. Abe: "[Renowned architect] Michael Reynolds introduced us to the concepts of architecture as a group of integrated systems. From passive solar designs to using waste as construction materials, his books showed us that it was possible to live like we wanted to."
They built their first sustainable home in 2002 near Terlingua, but they were 30 miles from the closest schools and hospitals — not exactly ideal for raising small children. In 2007, they moved closer to town and started constructing home No. 2.
Like their own personal Rome, their new home took years to complete and is a constant work in progress. Abe: "We added to each system as we could afford it, in other words, little by little. For the house itself, we used adobe, mixing the mud with our feet and putting it into forms (made from scrap materials) straight on the walls. It took a long time, but cost almost nothing."
For off-the-gridders, the sun is crucial. The Connallys rely on solar power for all of their heat and electricity (with help from a homemade wind generator). "The house is partially buried in a south-facing hill [and] the thermal mass of the hill helps to keep a constant temperature inside the house year-round, like a cave," Abe explains. "The house stays about 70 degrees for most of the year."
Abe: "Our water is collected from the roof. We live in a desert, so rainfall is limited, and the majority of our rain comes from July through September. We store this water in large tanks we make ourselves and then filter for domestic use."
"The first part of off-grid living is to conserve, and reduce your needs, so that it’s easier to produce your necessities for yourself," Abe says. By using a composting toilet, which requires no water, they cut down on waste and fertilize their land at the same time.
Their $9,600 annual budget is planned down to the dollar. They earn a small income through Abe's web consulting business and some freelance writing, but their farm is their real paycheck. When they decided to rebuild, they sought out more fertile land with enough rainfall to sustain a garden and livestock.
As a family, they bring new meaning to the term "farm to table": "We've had tomato plants that produce for several years, and they become these jungles of fresh food right in the dining room," Abe says. "In fact, our youngest son, Nico, will sit there and eat every red tomato he can reach, but if you put one on his plate, he refuses to touch it."
Josie: "We grow a wide variety of things, depending on our tastes at the time. We regularly grow tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, okra, cucumbers, squash, corn, sunflowers, melons, greens, roots and several herbs. We also have a few fruit trees (plums, apricots, peaches)." They've even got a tiny village of beehives for fresh honey.
Meat is also on the menu. The Connallys have gradually raised a menagerie of livestock, including pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and chickens. It's vastly cheaper than purchasing their meat from stores.
Everyone lends a hand in the family harvest. Josie: "The kids collect eggs and feed all the poultry. We feed the rabbits, pigs and all the other little critters. We then all go look at any baby rabbits and the kids often get out their guinea pigs to play with."
Nothing goes to waste. Josie: "We sell any surplus. We often have extra meat (especially rabbit), which we sell locally. We also sell eggs, as well as trading them for raw milk. Any vegetables and such we tend to preserve (drying, canning, kimchi) as we don’t yet grow enough to fill our yearly needs." Even rabbit fur gets turned into cozy hats and slippers.
Josie: "Right now, we’re spending about $800 a month: $100 on fuel, $500 on [feed for the animals], groceries and other household items, and $100 on Internet and phone. We also continue to improve our homestead, which costs a little extra, depending on the task at hand."
With two kids under the age of 5, the Connallys admit they've made some allowances in their off-grid lifestyle. They have games for game nights and keep a healthy stock of books and DVDs for entertainment. They keep a car handy for trips to town and to cart the kids to and from school each day. Their goal this year is to get their car running on natural fuel supplies. Josie: "We live about a 20-minute drive from a small village, where there’s a kindergarten, primary school, clinic and a couple of basic stores. That’s actually one of the main reasons we moved here before starting a family: still very rural, but with everything needed for small kids."
I admire the out of the box thinking of this family. Growing your own food, from gardening to the livestock aspect is great - a model for all prepared Bug Out locations, however, I would certainly be concerned about OPSEC and hope they have a plan for security and the defensibility of their homestead.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Survival Bug Out Vehicle: CJ Wilson’s Zombie-Proof Mazda CX-5
If you are a Major League Baseball fan, you'll recognize CJ Wilson's name. This article was posted on Yahoo Autos and shows how CJ is capitalizing on the Zombie phenomenon through his car dealership. Great idea for a capable vehicle to get you someplace, like your bug out location, but don't forget about the guns, water, food and medical supplies!
The whole “end of world” thing from 2012 came and went, but one thing remained in 2013, and that was the craze over zombies. MLB pitcher CJ Wilson owns a Mazda dealership and he had a CX-5 outfitted to ward off the flocks of flesh eating monsters. To get a better idea of where the heck they came up with such an idea and what exactly makes a vehicle ready for the zombie apocalypse, we got a little more info from professional major league pitcher CJ Wilson and the dealership’s general manager, Eric Vates.
The CX-5 Zombie Apocalypse Edition was the brain-child of CJ Wilson, pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (Fun fact, CJ is a lefty-lefty, meaning that he both throws and bats left-handed. It is particularly rare. The author of this post is also lefty-lefty, though any MLB aspirations are as likely as an actual zombie apocalypse.) In creating this custom CX-5, Wilson asked one simple question: “what if we really did need to run and not look back?”
According to Wilson, “In a class-MPG-leader like the CX-5 Z-Day Edition, you really have your best chance to get to point B safely. The platform lends itself to customization…
The MLB pitcher and his dealership know a thing or two about customizing the CX-5. We’ve covered his daily driver here, and he clearly knows how to put a great aftermarket touch on the crossover. Dealership GM, Eric Vates broke down the equipment a little more, “With its knobby off road tires and aggressive stance plus overhead luggage rack complete with extra gas cans, spare and sledge hammer and pick axe (just in case the undead get too close) and full brush guards and off road lighting (power grid will probably be down) this is the vehicle to cruise to safety.” He continued, “The package retails for only $7995 and can be added to any CX-5 with any trim level.”
If you are on the run from the undead and have a large family, the boys at CJ Wilson Mazda are working on a CX-9. Wilson also brought up the impressive capability of this custom CX-5, “Our previous experience at CJW Mazda has been about putting more Zoom-zoom into Mazdas– and this one just shows that we can go in the other direction and make vehicles tougher and more off-road capable as well.” Well, Zombie apocalypse, or not, this would be a terrific crossover to have in the stable and more proof that crossover doesn’t have to mean “soft-roader.”
The whole “end of world” thing from 2012 came and went, but one thing remained in 2013, and that was the craze over zombies. MLB pitcher CJ Wilson owns a Mazda dealership and he had a CX-5 outfitted to ward off the flocks of flesh eating monsters. To get a better idea of where the heck they came up with such an idea and what exactly makes a vehicle ready for the zombie apocalypse, we got a little more info from professional major league pitcher CJ Wilson and the dealership’s general manager, Eric Vates.
The CX-5 Zombie Apocalypse Edition was the brain-child of CJ Wilson, pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (Fun fact, CJ is a lefty-lefty, meaning that he both throws and bats left-handed. It is particularly rare. The author of this post is also lefty-lefty, though any MLB aspirations are as likely as an actual zombie apocalypse.) In creating this custom CX-5, Wilson asked one simple question: “what if we really did need to run and not look back?”
According to Wilson, “In a class-MPG-leader like the CX-5 Z-Day Edition, you really have your best chance to get to point B safely. The platform lends itself to customization…
The MLB pitcher and his dealership know a thing or two about customizing the CX-5. We’ve covered his daily driver here, and he clearly knows how to put a great aftermarket touch on the crossover. Dealership GM, Eric Vates broke down the equipment a little more, “With its knobby off road tires and aggressive stance plus overhead luggage rack complete with extra gas cans, spare and sledge hammer and pick axe (just in case the undead get too close) and full brush guards and off road lighting (power grid will probably be down) this is the vehicle to cruise to safety.” He continued, “The package retails for only $7995 and can be added to any CX-5 with any trim level.”
If you are on the run from the undead and have a large family, the boys at CJ Wilson Mazda are working on a CX-9. Wilson also brought up the impressive capability of this custom CX-5, “Our previous experience at CJW Mazda has been about putting more Zoom-zoom into Mazdas– and this one just shows that we can go in the other direction and make vehicles tougher and more off-road capable as well.” Well, Zombie apocalypse, or not, this would be a terrific crossover to have in the stable and more proof that crossover doesn’t have to mean “soft-roader.”
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Why the U.S. is Going to Collapse
An article by Michael Synder titled "83 Numbers From 2013 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe" from The International Forecaster. Some of these facts are obviously more important than others. I decided to list all of Mr Synder's facts but highlight the ones that would make and win the argument in court that a collapse, probably an economic collapse followed by a societal collapse is coming beyond a reasonable doubt.
During 2013, America continued to steadily march down a self-destructive path toward oblivion. As a society, our debt levels are completely and totally out of control. Our financial system has been transformed into the largest casino on the entire planet and our big banks are behaving even more recklessly than they did just before the last financial crisis. We continue to see thousands of businesses and millions of jobs get shipped of the United States, and the middle class is being absolutely eviscerated. Due to the lack of decent jobs, poverty is absolutely exploding. Government dependence is at an all time high and crime is rising. Evidence of social and moral decay is seemingly everywhere, and our government appears to be going insane.
If we are going to have any hope of solving these problems, the American people need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and finally admit how bad things have actually become. If we all just blindly have faith that "everything is going to be okay", the consequences of decades of incredibly foolish decisions are going to absolutely blindside us and we will be absolutely devastated by the great crisis that is rapidly approaching.
The United States is in a massive amount of trouble, and it is time that we all started facing the truth. The following are 83 numbers from 2013 that are almost too crazy to believe...
#1 Most people that hear this statistic do not believe that it is actually true, but right now an all-time record 102 million working age Americans do not have a job. That number has risen by about 27 million since the year 2000.
#2 Because of the lack of jobs, poverty is spreading like wildfire in the United States. According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, an all-time record 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month.
#3 As society breaks down, the government feels a greater need than ever before to watch, monitor and track the population. For example, every single day the NSA intercepts and permanently stores close to 2 billion emails and phone calls in addition to a whole host of other data.
#4 The Bank for International Settlements says that total public and private debt levels around the globe are now 30 percent higher than they were back during the financial crisis of 2008.
#5 According to a recent World Bank report, private domestic debt in China has grown from 9 trillion dollars in 2008 to 23 trillion dollars today.
#6 In 1985, there were more than 18,000 banks in the United States. Today, there are only 6,891 left.
#7 The six largest banks in the United States (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley) have collectively gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years.
#8 The U.S. banking system has 14.4 trillion dollars in total assets. The six largest banks now account for 67 percent of those assets and all of the other banks account for only 33 percent of those assets.
#9 JPMorgan Chase is roughly the size of the entire British economy.
#10 The five largest banks now account for 42 percent of all loans in the United States.
#11 Right now, four of the "too big to fail" banks each have total exposure to derivatives that is well in excess of 40 trillion dollars.
#12 The total exposure that Goldman Sachs has to derivatives contracts is more than 381 times greater than their total assets.
#13 According to the Bank for International Settlements, the global financial system has a total of 441 trillion dollars worth of exposure to interest rate derivatives.
#14 Through the end of November, approximately 365,000 Americans had signed up for Obamacare but approximately 4 million Americans had already lost their current health insurance policies because of Obamacare.
#15 It is being projected that up to 100 million more Americans could have their health insurance policies canceled by the time Obamacare is fully rolled out.
#16 At this point, 82.4 million Americans live in a home where at least one person is enrolled in the Medicaid program.
#17 It is has been estimated that Obamacare will add 21 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#18 It is being projected that health insurance premiums for healthy 30-year-old men will rise by an average of 260 percent under Obamacare.
#19 One couple down in Texas received a letter from their health insurance company that informed them that they were being hit with a 539 percent rate increase because of Obamacare.
#20 Back in 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-basedhealth insurance. Today, only 54.9 percent of all Americans are covered by employment based health insurance.
#21 The U.S. government has spent an astounding 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs over the past five years.
#22 Incredibly, 74 percent of all the wealth in the United States is owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans.
#23 According to Consumer Reports, the number of children in the United States taking antipsychotic drugs has nearly tripled over the past 15 years.
#24 The marriage rate in the United States has fallen to an all-time low. Right now it is sitting at a yearly rate of just 6.8 marriages per 1000 people.
#25 According to a shocking new study, the average American that turned 65 this year will receive $327,500 more in federal benefits than they paid in taxes over the course of their lifetimes.
#26 In just one week in December, a combined total of more than 2000 new cold temperature and snowfall records were set in the United States.
#27 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row.
#28 The rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen for eight years in a row.
#29 Only 47 percent of all adults in America have a full-time job at this point.
#30 The unemployment rate in the eurozone recently hit a new all-time high of 12.2 percent.
#31 If you assume that the labor force participation rate in the U.S. is at the long-term average, the unemployment rate in the United States would actually be 11.5 percent instead of 7 percent.
#32 In November 2000, 64.3 percent of all working age Americans had a job. When Barack Obama first entered the White House, 60.6 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.6 percent of all working age Americans have a job.
#33 There are 1,148,000 fewer Americans working today than there was in November 2006. Meanwhile, our population has grown by more than 16 million people during that time frame.
#34 Only 19 percent of all Americans believe that the job market is better than it was a year ago.
#35 Just 14 percent of all Americans believe that the stock market will rise next year.
#36 According to CNBC, Pinterest is currently valued at more than 3 billion dollars even though it has never earned a profit.
#37 Twitter is a seven-year-old company that has never made a profit. It actually lost 64.6 million dollars last quarter. But according to the financial markets it is currently worth about 22 billion dollars.
#38 Right now, Facebook is trading at a valuation that is equivalent to approximately 100 years of earnings, and it is currently supposedly worth about 115 billion dollars.
#39 Total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.
#40 Student loans are up by an astounding 61 percent over the past three years.
#41 At this moment, there are 6 million Americans in the 16 to 24-year-old age group that are neither in school or working.
#42 The "inactivity rate" for men in their prime working years (25 to 54) has just hit a brand new all-time record high.
#43 It is hard to believe, but in America today one out of every ten jobs is now filled by a temp agency.
#44 Middle-wage jobs accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession, but they have accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs created since then.
#45 According to the Social Security Administration, 40 percent of all U.S. workers make less than $20,000 a year.
#46 Approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.
#47 After accounting for inflation, 40 percent of all U.S. workers are making less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968.
#48 When Barack Obama took office, the average duration of unemployment in this country was 19.8 weeks. Today, it is 37.2 weeks.
#49 Investors pulled an astounding 72 billion dollars out of bond mutual funds in 2013. It was the worst year for bond funds ever.
#50 Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.
#51 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.
#52 Once January 1st hits, it will officially be illegal to manufacture or import traditional incandescent light bulbs in the United States. It is being projected that millions of Americans will attempt to stock up on the old light bulbs before they are totally gone from store shelves.
#53 The Japanese government has estimated that approximately 300 tons of highly radioactive water is being released into the Pacific Ocean from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear facility every single day.
#54 Back in 1967, the U.S. military had more than 31,000 strategic nuclear warheads. That number is already being cut down to 1,550, and now Barack Obama wants to reduce it to only about 1,000.
#55 As you read this, 60 percent of all children in Detroit are living in poverty and there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
#56 Wal-Mart recently opened up two new stores in Washington D.C., and more than 23,000 people applied for just 600 positions. That means that only about 2.6 percent of the applicants were ultimately hired. In comparison, Harvard offers admission to 6.1 percent of their applicants.
#57 At this point, almost half of all public school students in America come from low income homes.
#58 Tragically, there are 1.2 million students that attend public schools in the United States that are homeless. That number has risen by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.
#59 According to a Gallup poll that was recently released, 20.0 percent of all Americans did not have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed at some point over the past year. That is just under the all-time record of 20.4 percent that was set back in November 2008.
#60 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.
#61 Right now, one out of every five households in the United States is on food stamps.
#62 The U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every 1 billion dollars of goods that are imported from overseas.
#63 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs. #64 According to one survey, approximately 75 percent of all American women do not have any interest in dating unemployed men.
#65 China exports 4 billion pounds of food to the United States every year.
#66 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.
#67 The number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.
#68 It is being projected that the number of Americans on Social Security will rise from 57 million today to more than 100 million in 25 years.
#69 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is over 56 trillion dollars.
#70 Back on September 30th, 2012 our national debt was sitting at a total of 16.1 trillion dollars. Today, it is up to 17.2 trillion dollars.
#71 The U.S. government "rolled over" more than 7.5 trillion dollars of existing debt in fiscal 2013.
#72 If the U.S. national debt was reduced to a stack of one dollar bills it would circle the earth at the equator 45 times.
#73 When Barack Obama was first elected, the U.S. debt to GDP ratio was under 70 percent. Today, it is up to 101 percent.
#74 The U.S. national debt is on pace to more than double during the eight years of the Obama administration. In other words, under Barack Obama the U.S. government will accumulate more debt than it did under all of the other presidents in U.S. history combined.
#75 The federal government is borrowing (stealing) roughly 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.
#76 At this point, the U.S. already has more government debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or Spain.
#77 Japan now has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 211 percent.
#78 As of December 5th, 83 volcanic eruptions had been recorded around the planet so far this year. That is a new all-time record high.
#79 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.
#80 Violent crime in the United States was up 15 percent last year.
#81 According to a very surprising survey that was recently conducted, 68 percent of all Americans believe that the country is currently on the wrong track.
#82 Back in 1972, 46 percent of all Americans believed that "most people can be trusted". Today, only 32 percent of all Americans believe that "most people can be trusted".
#83 According to a recent Pew Research survey, only 19 percent of all Americans trust the government. Back in 1958, 73 percent of all Americans trusted the government.
Pretty bleak picture these factoids paint, don't they.
During 2013, America continued to steadily march down a self-destructive path toward oblivion. As a society, our debt levels are completely and totally out of control. Our financial system has been transformed into the largest casino on the entire planet and our big banks are behaving even more recklessly than they did just before the last financial crisis. We continue to see thousands of businesses and millions of jobs get shipped of the United States, and the middle class is being absolutely eviscerated. Due to the lack of decent jobs, poverty is absolutely exploding. Government dependence is at an all time high and crime is rising. Evidence of social and moral decay is seemingly everywhere, and our government appears to be going insane.
If we are going to have any hope of solving these problems, the American people need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and finally admit how bad things have actually become. If we all just blindly have faith that "everything is going to be okay", the consequences of decades of incredibly foolish decisions are going to absolutely blindside us and we will be absolutely devastated by the great crisis that is rapidly approaching.
The United States is in a massive amount of trouble, and it is time that we all started facing the truth. The following are 83 numbers from 2013 that are almost too crazy to believe...
#1 Most people that hear this statistic do not believe that it is actually true, but right now an all-time record 102 million working age Americans do not have a job. That number has risen by about 27 million since the year 2000.
#2 Because of the lack of jobs, poverty is spreading like wildfire in the United States. According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, an all-time record 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month.
#3 As society breaks down, the government feels a greater need than ever before to watch, monitor and track the population. For example, every single day the NSA intercepts and permanently stores close to 2 billion emails and phone calls in addition to a whole host of other data.
#4 The Bank for International Settlements says that total public and private debt levels around the globe are now 30 percent higher than they were back during the financial crisis of 2008.
#5 According to a recent World Bank report, private domestic debt in China has grown from 9 trillion dollars in 2008 to 23 trillion dollars today.
#6 In 1985, there were more than 18,000 banks in the United States. Today, there are only 6,891 left.
#7 The six largest banks in the United States (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley) have collectively gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years.
#8 The U.S. banking system has 14.4 trillion dollars in total assets. The six largest banks now account for 67 percent of those assets and all of the other banks account for only 33 percent of those assets.
#9 JPMorgan Chase is roughly the size of the entire British economy.
#10 The five largest banks now account for 42 percent of all loans in the United States.
#11 Right now, four of the "too big to fail" banks each have total exposure to derivatives that is well in excess of 40 trillion dollars.
#12 The total exposure that Goldman Sachs has to derivatives contracts is more than 381 times greater than their total assets.
#13 According to the Bank for International Settlements, the global financial system has a total of 441 trillion dollars worth of exposure to interest rate derivatives.
#14 Through the end of November, approximately 365,000 Americans had signed up for Obamacare but approximately 4 million Americans had already lost their current health insurance policies because of Obamacare.
#15 It is being projected that up to 100 million more Americans could have their health insurance policies canceled by the time Obamacare is fully rolled out.
#16 At this point, 82.4 million Americans live in a home where at least one person is enrolled in the Medicaid program.
#17 It is has been estimated that Obamacare will add 21 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#18 It is being projected that health insurance premiums for healthy 30-year-old men will rise by an average of 260 percent under Obamacare.
#19 One couple down in Texas received a letter from their health insurance company that informed them that they were being hit with a 539 percent rate increase because of Obamacare.
#20 Back in 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-basedhealth insurance. Today, only 54.9 percent of all Americans are covered by employment based health insurance.
#21 The U.S. government has spent an astounding 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs over the past five years.
#22 Incredibly, 74 percent of all the wealth in the United States is owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans.
#23 According to Consumer Reports, the number of children in the United States taking antipsychotic drugs has nearly tripled over the past 15 years.
#24 The marriage rate in the United States has fallen to an all-time low. Right now it is sitting at a yearly rate of just 6.8 marriages per 1000 people.
#25 According to a shocking new study, the average American that turned 65 this year will receive $327,500 more in federal benefits than they paid in taxes over the course of their lifetimes.
#26 In just one week in December, a combined total of more than 2000 new cold temperature and snowfall records were set in the United States.
#27 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row.
#28 The rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen for eight years in a row.
#29 Only 47 percent of all adults in America have a full-time job at this point.
#30 The unemployment rate in the eurozone recently hit a new all-time high of 12.2 percent.
#31 If you assume that the labor force participation rate in the U.S. is at the long-term average, the unemployment rate in the United States would actually be 11.5 percent instead of 7 percent.
#32 In November 2000, 64.3 percent of all working age Americans had a job. When Barack Obama first entered the White House, 60.6 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.6 percent of all working age Americans have a job.
#33 There are 1,148,000 fewer Americans working today than there was in November 2006. Meanwhile, our population has grown by more than 16 million people during that time frame.
#34 Only 19 percent of all Americans believe that the job market is better than it was a year ago.
#35 Just 14 percent of all Americans believe that the stock market will rise next year.
#36 According to CNBC, Pinterest is currently valued at more than 3 billion dollars even though it has never earned a profit.
#37 Twitter is a seven-year-old company that has never made a profit. It actually lost 64.6 million dollars last quarter. But according to the financial markets it is currently worth about 22 billion dollars.
#38 Right now, Facebook is trading at a valuation that is equivalent to approximately 100 years of earnings, and it is currently supposedly worth about 115 billion dollars.
#39 Total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.
#40 Student loans are up by an astounding 61 percent over the past three years.
#41 At this moment, there are 6 million Americans in the 16 to 24-year-old age group that are neither in school or working.
#42 The "inactivity rate" for men in their prime working years (25 to 54) has just hit a brand new all-time record high.
#43 It is hard to believe, but in America today one out of every ten jobs is now filled by a temp agency.
#44 Middle-wage jobs accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession, but they have accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs created since then.
#45 According to the Social Security Administration, 40 percent of all U.S. workers make less than $20,000 a year.
#46 Approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.
#47 After accounting for inflation, 40 percent of all U.S. workers are making less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968.
#48 When Barack Obama took office, the average duration of unemployment in this country was 19.8 weeks. Today, it is 37.2 weeks.
#49 Investors pulled an astounding 72 billion dollars out of bond mutual funds in 2013. It was the worst year for bond funds ever.
#50 Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.
#51 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.
#52 Once January 1st hits, it will officially be illegal to manufacture or import traditional incandescent light bulbs in the United States. It is being projected that millions of Americans will attempt to stock up on the old light bulbs before they are totally gone from store shelves.
#53 The Japanese government has estimated that approximately 300 tons of highly radioactive water is being released into the Pacific Ocean from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear facility every single day.
#54 Back in 1967, the U.S. military had more than 31,000 strategic nuclear warheads. That number is already being cut down to 1,550, and now Barack Obama wants to reduce it to only about 1,000.
#55 As you read this, 60 percent of all children in Detroit are living in poverty and there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
#56 Wal-Mart recently opened up two new stores in Washington D.C., and more than 23,000 people applied for just 600 positions. That means that only about 2.6 percent of the applicants were ultimately hired. In comparison, Harvard offers admission to 6.1 percent of their applicants.
#57 At this point, almost half of all public school students in America come from low income homes.
#58 Tragically, there are 1.2 million students that attend public schools in the United States that are homeless. That number has risen by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.
#59 According to a Gallup poll that was recently released, 20.0 percent of all Americans did not have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed at some point over the past year. That is just under the all-time record of 20.4 percent that was set back in November 2008.
#60 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.
#61 Right now, one out of every five households in the United States is on food stamps.
#62 The U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every 1 billion dollars of goods that are imported from overseas.
#63 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs. #64 According to one survey, approximately 75 percent of all American women do not have any interest in dating unemployed men.
#65 China exports 4 billion pounds of food to the United States every year.
#66 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.
#67 The number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.
#68 It is being projected that the number of Americans on Social Security will rise from 57 million today to more than 100 million in 25 years.
#69 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is over 56 trillion dollars.
#70 Back on September 30th, 2012 our national debt was sitting at a total of 16.1 trillion dollars. Today, it is up to 17.2 trillion dollars.
#71 The U.S. government "rolled over" more than 7.5 trillion dollars of existing debt in fiscal 2013.
#72 If the U.S. national debt was reduced to a stack of one dollar bills it would circle the earth at the equator 45 times.
#73 When Barack Obama was first elected, the U.S. debt to GDP ratio was under 70 percent. Today, it is up to 101 percent.
#74 The U.S. national debt is on pace to more than double during the eight years of the Obama administration. In other words, under Barack Obama the U.S. government will accumulate more debt than it did under all of the other presidents in U.S. history combined.
#75 The federal government is borrowing (stealing) roughly 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.
#76 At this point, the U.S. already has more government debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or Spain.
#77 Japan now has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 211 percent.
#78 As of December 5th, 83 volcanic eruptions had been recorded around the planet so far this year. That is a new all-time record high.
#79 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.
#80 Violent crime in the United States was up 15 percent last year.
#81 According to a very surprising survey that was recently conducted, 68 percent of all Americans believe that the country is currently on the wrong track.
#82 Back in 1972, 46 percent of all Americans believed that "most people can be trusted". Today, only 32 percent of all Americans believe that "most people can be trusted".
#83 According to a recent Pew Research survey, only 19 percent of all Americans trust the government. Back in 1958, 73 percent of all Americans trusted the government.
Pretty bleak picture these factoids paint, don't they.
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