Ever heard of the saying “Rat’s leaving the Sinking Ship?”,….how about the thought that the last thing the ruling elite does before the Country collapses is to “Rob the Treasury?”
UrbanSurvivalSkills recently came across two articles that give life to these popular sayings. One article, from American Kabuki, outlines 320 resignations from world banks, investment houses and money funds.
American Kabuki has a long list of these resignations along with bitly links to the articles. I have listed just the U.S. based resignations since Feb 1, 2012, however that is not to say that foreign financial shenanigans do not affect the U.S. It is indeed a world economy and what other countries do and don’t do have a profound effect on our economy. This country would do well to develop our own fossil fuel energy resources to eliminate the security issue of being dependent upon other countries, as well as get back to an economy largely based on agriculture where we, as a country could again feed ourselves.
It should be noted that American Kabuki gives credit to Gabriel for tracking Insurance, Government and Healthcare Resignations. For anyone who wants to conduct their own research, I have included Kabuki's web addresses to the articles, although they are not hyperlinks.
U.S. Based Resignations
2/05/12 ( USA - NY) Morgan's investment banking chairman Joseph Perella quit
http://goo.gl/pG2jF
2/05/12 ( USA - NY) Morgan Stanley investment banking Tarek Abdel-Meguid quit
http://goo.gl/bRv9K
2/06/12 (USA NY) TD Ameritrade, head of retail distribution John Bunch resigns. Bunch is leaving to take the top job at a small investment advisory firm in Kansas City.
http://goo.gl/kgS7M
2/07/12 ( USA ) Bank Of America 's Mortgage Business Chief Barbara Desoer Retires
http://goo.gl/i7AUY
2/08/12 (USA OH) Cleveland International Fund (CIF) private equity fund, A. Eddy Zai launched and led the Cleveland International Fund, an investment outfit that pairs wealthy foreign investors hoping for U.S. residency with job-creating projects. Zai resigned from his job this week, before being indicted in a bank-fraud scheme that, according to investigators, contributed to the collapse of a credit union in Eastlake.
http://goo.gl/tgamf
2/14/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs Jeffrey Moslow resigns, an investment banker to companies such as Tyco International Ltd, Nstar, the Boston-based utility, and defense contractor Dyncorp International Inc.
http://goo.gl/7h4O7
2/15/12 ( USA ) Boston Properties (REIT), Executive VP and COO E. Mitchell Norvilleto resigned.
http://goo.gl/AW7X7
2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, CEO Daniel Hattori and CEO of CIFC Corp resigned.
http://goo.gl/LLNnD
2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, COO Luke Knecht and CEO of CIFC Corp, resigned both positions.
http://goo.gl/LLNnD
2/17/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein out as by summer
http://goo.gl/UjpzD
2/17/12 (USA NY) Harbinger Group Inc. CFO Francis T. McCarron has advised the Company of his resignation effective April 30
http://goo.gl/6il4F
2/20/12 ( USA WA) First Financial Northwest Director Spencer Schneider Quits
http://goo.gl/6Dj0i
2/22/12 ( USA NY) Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Group Chief Howard Wietschner to Retire
http://goo.gl/x4Zsr
3/01/12 (USA FL) Florida Venture Forum [Venture Capital] Exec Dir Robin Lester quits
http://goo.gl/nA8g9
3/01/12 (USA NY) PineBridge Investments said Win Neuger has resigned as chief executive. Neuger helped build AIG's third party asset management business, PineBridge still manages AIG assets
http://goo.gl/SI7kT
3/01/12 (USA NH) Piscataqua Savings Bank CEO Jay Gibson retires
http://goo.gl/uEqDV
3/01/12 (USA OR) Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) senior RE officer Brad Child will retire
http://goo.gl/vcERz
3/02/12 (USA NY) Deutsche Bank Student Loan CEOJohn Hupalo quits to start student loan counseling firm.
http://goo.gl/8kZuc
3/02/12 (USA NY) Citigroup Richard Parsons to step down as chairman
http://goo.gl/BhZ0F
3/04/12 (USA NY) JP Morgan prop trading chief Mike Stewart quits
http://goo.gl/gubPj
3/05/12 ( USA ) Reliance Bancshares chairman Patrick Gideon resigned
http://goo.gl/u6BT4
3/06/12 (USA PA) USA Technologies Inc Bradley M. Tirpak, a nominee of Shareholder Advocates for Value Enhancement,has resigned from its board subsequent to a settlement agreement with the investing group, according to an SEC filing. Provides a network of wireless non-cash transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. It provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries.
http://goo.gl/8oi7C
3/07/12 ( USA ) BlackRock Emerging Markets Fund co-head Daniel Tubbs, has left the group to pursue other opportunities.
http://goo.gl/CpEzZ
3/07/12 (USA CA) CALSTRS, Pascal Villiger, senior private equity portfolio manager at the $145 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System resigns. http://goo.gl/ub0ke
3/07/12 ( USA ) Astaire quits Bank of America Merrill to dance to Barclays Capital’s tune
http://goo.gl/Zv6Ny
3/08/12 (USA NY) Schroders, CIO Alan Brown is steps down
http://goo.gl/ZTtYo
3/08/12 ( USA IL) CBOE Executive Patrick Fay Put on Leave Amid SEC Probe
http://goo.gl/x5snO
3/08/12 ( USA NH & RI) Bristol County Savings Bank president E. Dennis Kelly retires after 35 years
http://goo.gl/8KVKn
3/09/12 ( USA ) Cerberus Capital Management LP, CEO Robert Nardelli resigns.
http://goo.gl/9uKVx
3/12/12 ( USA ) John Lewis Partnership Pension Trust, head of investments Andrew Chapman, resigns
http://goo.gl/hevqh
3/12/12 (USA CA) California ’s Department of Financial Institutions, commissioner William Haraf resigned. The DFI did not say why he is leaving.
http://goo.gl/zquTc
3/12/12 ( USA ) ICAP, CEO of the electronic broking business David Rutter step down following a restructuring of the business.
http://goo.gl/SUHqW
3/12/12 ( USA ) Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, CEO Bryan Marsal Resigns Title, Remains on as Adviser
http://goo.gl/1K9zV
3/12/12 (USA IL) CME Group Inc, CEO Craig Donohues will step down at year end.
http://goo.gl/lvzgC
American Kabuki makes no claims under what circumstances these individuals have left their positions. However he, as well as I, find the timing of so many resignations extremely curious and a temporal marker in history of high significance. Kabuki cautions that no one should assume that any judgments about the character of these people. Again, it is just curious that so many world financial managers and leaders are leaving.
Another site we found was Shift Frequency built by a woman named Gillian Grannum.
Her point that the Cabal running the show (World Financial Markets) and screwing it up beyond belief, decided the time had come to destroy the American economy en route to their New World Order. She has two interesting articles on her site which I will link to here.
President Signs Law Placing Prior Restraint on Free Speech
Greg Smith’s Resignation Letter From Goldman Sucks er…Sachs
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Sovereign Man Movement
With the recent FBI warning about "Sovereign Man" or "Sovereign Citizen" movements in the news, the mainstream media (sometimes looking for a boogeyman) has taken notice and recently published an article titled "Sovereign Citizens: Radicals Next Door" on ABC News.
The FBI warning was concerned about "case law" and other defense strategies concerning "legalities and issues" of engaging federal law enforcement officers with deadly force when said officers are making "illegal arrests".
Yes, I guess there are people dumb enough to think that they can justify shooting it out with federal officers based on the premise that they are
"sovereign citizens" not subject to the laws of the United States.
Most of the rest of us consider the "Sovereign Man/Sovereign Citizen" movement to be on the fringe, and unfortunately mainstream America can lump otherwise lawful and rational thinking Survivalists into the same category.
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose network of individual and groups who are classified as an "extremist anti-government group" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as people associated with this movement take a position that they are answerable only to common law and are not subject to any statutes or proceedings at the federal, state or municipal levels. Additionally, "Sovereigns" do not recognize U.S. currency.
UrbanMan's Note: We all may be "not recognizing" U.S. currency soon if the economy keeps heading for the cliff. Everybody have a decent supply of Gold and/or Silver?
By some accounts there are thought to be 100,000 Americans as "hard-core sovereign movement supporters" and another 200,000 are on the fringe of the sovereign movement, although this figure comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which is a well known liberal group. And by definition, liberals tend not to see the value in individual responsibility, which of course is the very basis for us Survivalists prepping for the collapse.
Glenn Beck addresses some of the issues of the Government views on "Sovereign Citizens" in the video below:
The FBI warning was concerned about "case law" and other defense strategies concerning "legalities and issues" of engaging federal law enforcement officers with deadly force when said officers are making "illegal arrests".
Yes, I guess there are people dumb enough to think that they can justify shooting it out with federal officers based on the premise that they are
"sovereign citizens" not subject to the laws of the United States.
Most of the rest of us consider the "Sovereign Man/Sovereign Citizen" movement to be on the fringe, and unfortunately mainstream America can lump otherwise lawful and rational thinking Survivalists into the same category.
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose network of individual and groups who are classified as an "extremist anti-government group" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as people associated with this movement take a position that they are answerable only to common law and are not subject to any statutes or proceedings at the federal, state or municipal levels. Additionally, "Sovereigns" do not recognize U.S. currency.
UrbanMan's Note: We all may be "not recognizing" U.S. currency soon if the economy keeps heading for the cliff. Everybody have a decent supply of Gold and/or Silver?
By some accounts there are thought to be 100,000 Americans as "hard-core sovereign movement supporters" and another 200,000 are on the fringe of the sovereign movement, although this figure comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which is a well known liberal group. And by definition, liberals tend not to see the value in individual responsibility, which of course is the very basis for us Survivalists prepping for the collapse.
Glenn Beck addresses some of the issues of the Government views on "Sovereign Citizens" in the video below:
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Survival Threat: Racial Violence
As preppers were are concerned with the ramifications of a collapse as it pertains to our security and survival. We all intuitively know that any large scale collapse, be it a economic collapse, hyper inflation, terrorist attack with nuclear or biological weapons, disease pandemic and/or large scale natural disasters from which the resulting chaos would eventually pit every "have not" citizen against citizens who "have". This is a flashpoint that could occur with very little prompting and the threats could be along social-economic groups versus another segment of the population,….it could be one community against the other,…..criminal or bandit elements against law abiding groups,……or it could be along racial lines.
Be advised that I am NOT one of the believers that a race war is inevitable. I do think however, that large scale racial violence, short of what we would think of as a war, is probable if the economy tanks or any other survival stressors occur. I also think a race war or violence between racial groups is much more likely from an economic level or fueled by the collapse based on racial tensions underlying on a thin surface.
We have current examples of this thin surface with the fatal shooting of a young black teenager by a man called George Zimmerman. Rest assured that there will be no assumption of guilt or innocence in this article, but the observations of potential race on race violence created or pushed by perceptions.
In case you have been away, like up in the Artic, this past week, a light skinned Hispanic male, with an anglo name (Zimmerman) reportedly pursued then shot to death a black teenager in the Florida town of Sanford who was in Zimmerman's neighborhood. It is perceived that Zimmerman uttered a racial epithet under his breath while on the phone to 911 and the perception from the black community and others is that this was a racially motivated shooting with Zimmerman pre-disposing a black teenager to criminal acts in his neighborhood.
While I don’t want to get into the details of the shooting or the investigation, I do want to expose the threat of race on race violence as the local and national black community is outraged, and threats to Zimmerman have been made. Al Sharpton has led media events orienting this shooting as racial motivating and has either, accidentally or purposefully, fueled resentment and retaliation talk. Barack Obama has also talked about this incident on his campagin tours.
In fact, the New Black Liberation Militia (NBLM), a group in the mold of the old Black Panthers, led by a man named Prince Najee Muhammad, say they intend to march into Florida and make a “citizens arrest” on Zimmerman.
I think for through our lifetimes, no matter how long or short they will be, that there is a large threat of violence along racial lines occuring, especially during anytype of collapse where the scramble for survival will be significant and perhaps accelerated by the political expediency of using class warfare and pitting the "haves" and "have nots" against each other as this perception of unfairness keeps that socio-economic-racial anger right below the surface.
Be advised that I am NOT one of the believers that a race war is inevitable. I do think however, that large scale racial violence, short of what we would think of as a war, is probable if the economy tanks or any other survival stressors occur. I also think a race war or violence between racial groups is much more likely from an economic level or fueled by the collapse based on racial tensions underlying on a thin surface.
We have current examples of this thin surface with the fatal shooting of a young black teenager by a man called George Zimmerman. Rest assured that there will be no assumption of guilt or innocence in this article, but the observations of potential race on race violence created or pushed by perceptions.
In case you have been away, like up in the Artic, this past week, a light skinned Hispanic male, with an anglo name (Zimmerman) reportedly pursued then shot to death a black teenager in the Florida town of Sanford who was in Zimmerman's neighborhood. It is perceived that Zimmerman uttered a racial epithet under his breath while on the phone to 911 and the perception from the black community and others is that this was a racially motivated shooting with Zimmerman pre-disposing a black teenager to criminal acts in his neighborhood.
While I don’t want to get into the details of the shooting or the investigation, I do want to expose the threat of race on race violence as the local and national black community is outraged, and threats to Zimmerman have been made. Al Sharpton has led media events orienting this shooting as racial motivating and has either, accidentally or purposefully, fueled resentment and retaliation talk. Barack Obama has also talked about this incident on his campagin tours.
I think for through our lifetimes, no matter how long or short they will be, that there is a large threat of violence along racial lines occuring, especially during anytype of collapse where the scramble for survival will be significant and perhaps accelerated by the political expediency of using class warfare and pitting the "haves" and "have nots" against each other as this perception of unfairness keeps that socio-economic-racial anger right below the surface.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Insurance Guys Planning and Prep
I received this e-mail: "Urbanman, Just wanted to drop a short note to you. My best friend and I have an insurance business. It’s just us, two desks, small office. We do a lot of our business over the phone or on-line. This makes for time to discuss our planning and preps and time to research sites on the internet. We also have an information age network marketing business which we can also run simultaneously with our main insurance business. We have thought about closing down our office to save rent and utilities and think the savings would probably make up for the loss of the walk in traffic, but decided against it for now. We had some plumbing problems which required the taking down of a cinderblock wall in the back. We made a deal with the leaser for us to do the repair work. We turned the wall into a hidden storage of food and supplies. Not a ton of it, but probably two month’s worth for four people. Our wives are pretty close but not necessarily into prepping like we are. We have taken them to the range to train them, but it is a pain in the ass to get them to shoot anything other than handguns. Shotguns? Fageddabouit. Here’s the scoop. We shoot paintball and took our wives to watch one day. They wanted to try it and now they LOVE it. The shooting training that we wanted to do with them with real guns but couldn’t we are now doing with paintball. We are teaching them how to work as a team and use the obstacles. Sometimes it’s boys versus girls. I know it’s paintball but I think we are getting our wives better prepped maybe other guys are having problems getting their wives or girlfriends involved as this may be a way."
UrbanMan comments: Good for you guys making it as small businessmen in several different endeavors. Wouldn’t it be great to have a larger company, say 30 to 40 workers who all thought alike and prepped? That’s a ready made SHTF Task Force.
As you found out the real benefit is the time you have to plan and control over your lives....being your own bosses. Also, great thinking out the walled cache site. It would be interesting to know how your office fits into your Surviving the Collapse plan such as being a tentative safe site or dedicated Bug Out location, or simply if your cache supports your ability to remain in place if/when a hostile environment makes it impossible to go home.
Cool beans on getting your wives involved in paintball. I have only done a very small amount of it, but can see how it may be attractive to participate, especially for your wives who can now play with their men. Since you have the chance of getting hit with a stinging paint ball, learning to use cover and learning coordinate team oriented fire and maneuver are necessary skill sets for surviving the collapse.
I have always suggested for guys who wives did not like shooting big bore guns, was to try and get them involved with events like rimfire competition. This would teach firearms safety and core weapons handling competencies as well as basic marksmanship.
Good luck to you and your families.
UrbanMan comments: Good for you guys making it as small businessmen in several different endeavors. Wouldn’t it be great to have a larger company, say 30 to 40 workers who all thought alike and prepped? That’s a ready made SHTF Task Force.
As you found out the real benefit is the time you have to plan and control over your lives....being your own bosses. Also, great thinking out the walled cache site. It would be interesting to know how your office fits into your Surviving the Collapse plan such as being a tentative safe site or dedicated Bug Out location, or simply if your cache supports your ability to remain in place if/when a hostile environment makes it impossible to go home.
Cool beans on getting your wives involved in paintball. I have only done a very small amount of it, but can see how it may be attractive to participate, especially for your wives who can now play with their men. Since you have the chance of getting hit with a stinging paint ball, learning to use cover and learning coordinate team oriented fire and maneuver are necessary skill sets for surviving the collapse.
I have always suggested for guys who wives did not like shooting big bore guns, was to try and get them involved with events like rimfire competition. This would teach firearms safety and core weapons handling competencies as well as basic marksmanship.
Good luck to you and your families.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Cost of Preparing for Doomsday
The cost of preparing for doomsday.
With the Walking Dead – SHTF Zombie television series, as well as the Doomsday Prepper and Doomsday Bunkers reality television series, not to mention several on-line news articles, it seems that Survival Prepping is in the news quite a bit lately. Additionally, the reality television series “Wife Swap” had a suburban family swapping their soccer mom wife for a preppers wife. Pretty damn funny, watching the prepper’s wife chewing on the suburbanites about their lack of prep or planning for the collapse and making this clueless family do radiation and gas maks drills.
Then there is the recent article on CNN Money, posted on the on-line Yahoo! Finance site titled “The Cost of Preparing for Doomsday”, by Blake Ellis of CNN Money.com
The Cost of Preparing for Doomsday. The cost of preparing for doomsday isn't cheap.
First you have to stock up on the appropriate gear, ammunition, food and shelter to survive a nuclear meltdown, asteroid, earthquake, solar flare or some other catastrophe. Then there's acquiring the materials you'll need to rebuild a community after the dust settles.
The bottom line: Some self-described "preppers" are plunking down hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So far, Patrick Geryl estimates he's already spent more than $130,000 on his survival preparations. Author of "How to Survive 2012" and eight other books about a catastrophe destined to occur this year, Geryl believes that a shift in the Earth's poles is going to result in solar flares, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that will throw the world into a nuclear meltdown. The dreaded event will occur on December 21, when the Mayan calendar allegedly ends, he said.
Geryl plans to survive the turmoil in a small wooden bunker far from the nuclear radiation in South Africa, where he can live off the grid for about a year and rebuild a community with other survivors.
In order to do so, he has spent years stocking up on nearly 100 survival essentials, including guns and ammunition, water purification tablets, waterproof matches, a drafting table for charting stars in the sky - even condoms to use for carrying water.
Books with survival tips, like a guide to edible plants, herbs and mushrooms, are also crucial, because he won't have access to the internet when disaster strikes, he said. He's still accumulating all of the necessities he'll need and is constantly adding more items to the list.
To get to South Africa from his home in Belgium during a worldwide catastrophe is another issue. Geryl said he is currently considering sailing there in an "unsinkable yacht," which is made by a company called Etap in Belgium . However, he said the yachts, which have double walls and are insulated with foam so that they are supposedly unable to capsize, cost more than $100,000, so he doesn't know if he'll be able to afford one.
Robert Bast, 46, is a prepper who works in Internet marketing during the day and runs an online community called Survive2012.com when he's off the clock. Bast, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and three children, has spent more than $350,000 preparing for "the end of the world as we know it."
The end of the world, he says, could come at any time and result from any type of disaster. "What is certain is that in my lifetime, there is a strong likelihood that there will be a catastrophe of some kind -- the sun destroying power grids, a flu pandemic that kills millions, an asteroid or meteor or comet striking earth or a magnetic pole shift," said Bast.
Bast has spent about $5,000 on stockpiles of food and water, and $11,000 on equipment including gas cookers, generators, batteries, water purifiers and solar power. He also purchased roughly an acre of land that's a 75-minute drive from Melbourne and 1,500 feet above sea level (in order to stay high and dry in case of a flood or tsunami). He has built a house there, as well as a bunker to serve as his "safe spot" in the event of an emergency. Together, the land, buildings and bunker have cost him a total of about $330,000.
He's also spent $10,000 on an 8-year old Toyota HiLux pickup truck to drive to his safe spot. To afford all of this, Bast has been saving money from his job for years. He has a mortgage on his primary residence, and he took out a second mortgage for the home he built as his safe house.
Phil Burns, a co-founder of the American Preppers Network and the subject of "Meet the Preppers" on Animal Planet, is preparing for all types of disaster scenarios.
Among the more ominous: A natural disaster or economic collapse that causes mass starvation, causing people to become so desperate for food and shelter that they lose their minds and resort to violence. In the preparedness world, these people are often referred to as "zombies."
How to survive a zombie apocalypse
To ensure his survival in the event of a disaster like this, Burns, 38, has been prepping for years. He now has a year's worth of food in storage, including 4,000 pounds of wheat, beans and rice that cost about $5,000. He even has 20 bottles of different food flavorings, so that "one day I could have vanilla rice and the next I could have orange rice -- because just plain rice gets old."
He also has an RV and trailer to use as a "bug out vehicle" to get to his "bug out location,"which is a fully-stocked 40-acre retreat tucked away in the mountains of Idaho.
To protect himself from any attackers and to be able to hunt for food as a family, he has purchased several guns for each of his eight children (who learned how to shoot at age 4). Burns declined to disclose the number of guns he and his wife have, nor how much money they have spent on them.
While Burns has spent a pretty penny on his own preparations - about $20,000 on food and guns alone -- he says that preparedness is a lifestyle and doesn't believe everyone should start spending huge amounts of money getting ready for the end of the world.
Financial apocalypse 2012
Instead, Burns advises beginning preppers to start by setting aside up to 20% of their income for preparations - whether it goes toward supplies, emergency training classes or shelter.
Anyone can become a prepper if they are willing to dedicate the energy and resources to it, he said. "A lot of people say preppers are paranoid, scared, pessimistic, always believing that there's going to be a disaster," said Burns. "But if you look at it with open eyes, we're actually optimists - we're saying,
'I don't care what you throw at me, I can survive it.'"
The article ends with this: Are you concerned that a disaster is imminent? What are you doing to prepare? E-mail blake.ellis@turner.com for the chance to be included in an upcoming story on CNN Money.
UrbanMan’s comments: Now what prepper wants the publicity? Whether it’s on television or as part of a CNN Money article?
With the Walking Dead – SHTF Zombie television series, as well as the Doomsday Prepper and Doomsday Bunkers reality television series, not to mention several on-line news articles, it seems that Survival Prepping is in the news quite a bit lately. Additionally, the reality television series “Wife Swap” had a suburban family swapping their soccer mom wife for a preppers wife. Pretty damn funny, watching the prepper’s wife chewing on the suburbanites about their lack of prep or planning for the collapse and making this clueless family do radiation and gas maks drills.
Then there is the recent article on CNN Money, posted on the on-line Yahoo! Finance site titled “The Cost of Preparing for Doomsday”, by Blake Ellis of CNN Money.com
The Cost of Preparing for Doomsday. The cost of preparing for doomsday isn't cheap.
First you have to stock up on the appropriate gear, ammunition, food and shelter to survive a nuclear meltdown, asteroid, earthquake, solar flare or some other catastrophe. Then there's acquiring the materials you'll need to rebuild a community after the dust settles.
The bottom line: Some self-described "preppers" are plunking down hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So far, Patrick Geryl estimates he's already spent more than $130,000 on his survival preparations. Author of "How to Survive 2012" and eight other books about a catastrophe destined to occur this year, Geryl believes that a shift in the Earth's poles is going to result in solar flares, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that will throw the world into a nuclear meltdown. The dreaded event will occur on December 21, when the Mayan calendar allegedly ends, he said.
Geryl plans to survive the turmoil in a small wooden bunker far from the nuclear radiation in South Africa, where he can live off the grid for about a year and rebuild a community with other survivors.
In order to do so, he has spent years stocking up on nearly 100 survival essentials, including guns and ammunition, water purification tablets, waterproof matches, a drafting table for charting stars in the sky - even condoms to use for carrying water.
Books with survival tips, like a guide to edible plants, herbs and mushrooms, are also crucial, because he won't have access to the internet when disaster strikes, he said. He's still accumulating all of the necessities he'll need and is constantly adding more items to the list.
To get to South Africa from his home in Belgium during a worldwide catastrophe is another issue. Geryl said he is currently considering sailing there in an "unsinkable yacht," which is made by a company called Etap in Belgium . However, he said the yachts, which have double walls and are insulated with foam so that they are supposedly unable to capsize, cost more than $100,000, so he doesn't know if he'll be able to afford one.
Robert Bast, 46, is a prepper who works in Internet marketing during the day and runs an online community called Survive2012.com when he's off the clock. Bast, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and three children, has spent more than $350,000 preparing for "the end of the world as we know it."
The end of the world, he says, could come at any time and result from any type of disaster. "What is certain is that in my lifetime, there is a strong likelihood that there will be a catastrophe of some kind -- the sun destroying power grids, a flu pandemic that kills millions, an asteroid or meteor or comet striking earth or a magnetic pole shift," said Bast.
Bast has spent about $5,000 on stockpiles of food and water, and $11,000 on equipment including gas cookers, generators, batteries, water purifiers and solar power. He also purchased roughly an acre of land that's a 75-minute drive from Melbourne and 1,500 feet above sea level (in order to stay high and dry in case of a flood or tsunami). He has built a house there, as well as a bunker to serve as his "safe spot" in the event of an emergency. Together, the land, buildings and bunker have cost him a total of about $330,000.
He's also spent $10,000 on an 8-year old Toyota HiLux pickup truck to drive to his safe spot. To afford all of this, Bast has been saving money from his job for years. He has a mortgage on his primary residence, and he took out a second mortgage for the home he built as his safe house.
Phil Burns, a co-founder of the American Preppers Network and the subject of "Meet the Preppers" on Animal Planet, is preparing for all types of disaster scenarios.
Among the more ominous: A natural disaster or economic collapse that causes mass starvation, causing people to become so desperate for food and shelter that they lose their minds and resort to violence. In the preparedness world, these people are often referred to as "zombies."
How to survive a zombie apocalypse
To ensure his survival in the event of a disaster like this, Burns, 38, has been prepping for years. He now has a year's worth of food in storage, including 4,000 pounds of wheat, beans and rice that cost about $5,000. He even has 20 bottles of different food flavorings, so that "one day I could have vanilla rice and the next I could have orange rice -- because just plain rice gets old."
He also has an RV and trailer to use as a "bug out vehicle" to get to his "bug out location,"which is a fully-stocked 40-acre retreat tucked away in the mountains of Idaho.
To protect himself from any attackers and to be able to hunt for food as a family, he has purchased several guns for each of his eight children (who learned how to shoot at age 4). Burns declined to disclose the number of guns he and his wife have, nor how much money they have spent on them.
While Burns has spent a pretty penny on his own preparations - about $20,000 on food and guns alone -- he says that preparedness is a lifestyle and doesn't believe everyone should start spending huge amounts of money getting ready for the end of the world.
Financial apocalypse 2012
Instead, Burns advises beginning preppers to start by setting aside up to 20% of their income for preparations - whether it goes toward supplies, emergency training classes or shelter.
Anyone can become a prepper if they are willing to dedicate the energy and resources to it, he said. "A lot of people say preppers are paranoid, scared, pessimistic, always believing that there's going to be a disaster," said Burns. "But if you look at it with open eyes, we're actually optimists - we're saying,
'I don't care what you throw at me, I can survive it.'"
The article ends with this: Are you concerned that a disaster is imminent? What are you doing to prepare? E-mail blake.ellis@turner.com for the chance to be included in an upcoming story on CNN Money.
UrbanMan’s comments: Now what prepper wants the publicity? Whether it’s on television or as part of a CNN Money article?
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Economic 9-11
The Blaze posted an article on 28 February 2012, titled: "Buy a Gun & Keep Your Powder Dry: Economists Warn of Looming Economic 9/11", with economic collapse warnings from three noted economists: Harry Dent, Robert Prechte, & Gerald Celente. Click on the link to read the original, full article, otherwise what these three advise us is as follows:
Harry Dent, author of “The Great Crash Ahead,” believes that the global debt bubble is going to burst and when it does, there will be a massive market crash. Dent previously predicted a collapse in 2012 but has since modified it as the global central banks have been pumping the markets with so much money, stocks have been given a temporary boost. But Dent warns that as soon as the short-lived boost comes to an end, the crash will be hard. “This will be a repeat of 2008-09, only bigger, when it finally hits,” Dent says.
Gerald Celente, a market analyst at the Trends Research Institute, believes Americans should brace themselves for what he calls an “economic 9/11.” He blames the inability of policymakers to solve the world’s financial and economic woes. Once the meltdown hits, he says, it will lead to social upheaval, anti-government sentiment, a devalued U.S. dollar, and skyrocketing unemployment.
Celente won‘t rule out another financial panic that could spark enough fear to cause a run on the nation’s banks by depositors, which could cause the invoke ‘economic martial law’ and call a ‘bank holiday’ and close banks as it did during the Great Depression.
He has been warning of economic disaster for years, believes that the national debt and “income inequality” has put the U.S. in a very dangerous place. Celente says that bank runs, brought about by social unrest, will wreak severe economic havoc as well as could easily transform into real violence. He believes the markets will be turned upside down by not only the eurozone crisis but also by an increase in oil prices due to the standoff between Iran and the West.
“2012 is when many of the long-simmering socioeconomic and political trends that we have been forecasting and tracking will climax,” Celente wrote in his “Top 12 Trends 2012” newsletter.
“When money stops flowing to the man on the street, blood starts flowing in the street,” he added in an interview.
Celente advises investors to buy gold – it won’t lose its purchasing power when the dollar tanks. Also, he says, buy a gun to protect yourself from marauders in search of food and money. He also advises people to plan a getaway to places with “more stable finances and governments.”
Robert Prechter, author of “Conquer the Crash,” is being described as “still bearish.” Because he believes there is a frightening amount of similarities between today’s economy and the one preceding the Great Depression, he warns that America should brace for “1930s-style deflation.” “The economic recovery has been weak, so the next downturn should generate bad news in a big way,” Prechter said
Prechter’s advice? Simple: keep your powder dry and buy when the economy starts to get out of hand.
Particular troubling to me is the common theme of a societal collapse and violence. With 46.5 millon Americans already dependent upon the U.S. Government for subsistence, what would America look like with 100 million hungry people, either not getting checks or getting checks that would not begin to feed their families because of hyper inflation or the unavailbility of products?
Harry Dent, author of “The Great Crash Ahead,” believes that the global debt bubble is going to burst and when it does, there will be a massive market crash. Dent previously predicted a collapse in 2012 but has since modified it as the global central banks have been pumping the markets with so much money, stocks have been given a temporary boost. But Dent warns that as soon as the short-lived boost comes to an end, the crash will be hard. “This will be a repeat of 2008-09, only bigger, when it finally hits,” Dent says.
Gerald Celente, a market analyst at the Trends Research Institute, believes Americans should brace themselves for what he calls an “economic 9/11.” He blames the inability of policymakers to solve the world’s financial and economic woes. Once the meltdown hits, he says, it will lead to social upheaval, anti-government sentiment, a devalued U.S. dollar, and skyrocketing unemployment.
Celente won‘t rule out another financial panic that could spark enough fear to cause a run on the nation’s banks by depositors, which could cause the invoke ‘economic martial law’ and call a ‘bank holiday’ and close banks as it did during the Great Depression.
He has been warning of economic disaster for years, believes that the national debt and “income inequality” has put the U.S. in a very dangerous place. Celente says that bank runs, brought about by social unrest, will wreak severe economic havoc as well as could easily transform into real violence. He believes the markets will be turned upside down by not only the eurozone crisis but also by an increase in oil prices due to the standoff between Iran and the West.
“2012 is when many of the long-simmering socioeconomic and political trends that we have been forecasting and tracking will climax,” Celente wrote in his “Top 12 Trends 2012” newsletter.
“When money stops flowing to the man on the street, blood starts flowing in the street,” he added in an interview.
Celente advises investors to buy gold – it won’t lose its purchasing power when the dollar tanks. Also, he says, buy a gun to protect yourself from marauders in search of food and money. He also advises people to plan a getaway to places with “more stable finances and governments.”
Robert Prechter, author of “Conquer the Crash,” is being described as “still bearish.” Because he believes there is a frightening amount of similarities between today’s economy and the one preceding the Great Depression, he warns that America should brace for “1930s-style deflation.” “The economic recovery has been weak, so the next downturn should generate bad news in a big way,” Prechter said
Prechter’s advice? Simple: keep your powder dry and buy when the economy starts to get out of hand.
Particular troubling to me is the common theme of a societal collapse and violence. With 46.5 millon Americans already dependent upon the U.S. Government for subsistence, what would America look like with 100 million hungry people, either not getting checks or getting checks that would not begin to feed their families because of hyper inflation or the unavailbility of products?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Survival: Mountain Man Style
While I heavily believe everyone should have wilderness survival skills, I am not relying on these to survive the collapse. They are a last ditch tool kit. The whole idea behind SHTF preparation, in my mind, is to not only survive a collapse, but to do so with a quality of life - not living in a dug out on the side of a mountain,....having cold camps,.....relying traps, snares, fishing and edible plants for sustainment.
However and again, you should at least a modicum of these skills. What would happen if you found yourself running for your life and you had to drop kit to get away? Or you were taken captive by some thugs then escaped with nothing on your back?
In any case, it is possible to survive even pro-longed periods in a wilderness. Remember the newspapers from decades past where Japanese soldiers were found on islands 30 years past the end of World War II? These soldiers, some in their 60's and older, not only survived but they evaded the detection of their presence for several decades.
There is a recent, and on-going, example of someone surviving and evading capture. This time not the jungles of New Guinea but in remote Utah wilderness. It should be clear that his individual is a criminal, it is also clear that his survival skill sets are pretty robust.
It seems like this modern day mountain man in the wilderness areas of Southern Utah, is robbing cabins and eluding authorities. This is an example of someone surviving in the wilds, albeit with assistance from what he can scavenge and steal, that no doubt will fuel some people prepping for SHTF to believe it is a viable plan for them as well. While there is no doubt everyone needs to have wilderness fieldcraft and survival skills, living like this apparent fugitive does in the story below presents little attraction to me. I think the whole prepping for TEOTWAWKI is planning and preparing an existence with a quality of life. Anyay, the authorities have an idea of who this individual is and some actual pictures taken from hidden game cameras that provide a pretty good quality side profile of this "mountain man". Which proves the validity of owning gamera cameras,...I have several and have written about their use to surrepititiously place to record what kind of activity, two or four legged or even vehicle, may be occuring in a specific area.
The summary of the news article on this individual: Troy James Knapp is a wanted man, a survivalist, modern day mountain man and recluse that authorities say is responsible burglaries in the remote southern Utah wilderness. He is armed and considered dangerous and has been on the loose for more than five years. Until recently he has been virtual ghost in the woods, until his image was take on a game camera and authorities have now identified him. See picture from game camera.
He has been tracked across hundreds of square miles of wilderness near Zion National Park in Utah but Knapp has always been able to elude capture. His camps, along with guns and supplies he has stolen from cabins, have been discovered but yet he still is on the loose.
In this undated photo provided by the Iron County Sheriff's Office in January, a man is seen walking past a cabin in the remote southern Utah wildness near Zion National Park. Authorities believe the man in the photo, captured by a motion-triggered surveillance camera sometime in December, is a suspect responsible for more than two dozen cabin burglaries over the past five years.
Now that authorities believe they know who he is, they're honing in on everyone who knows him. According to court records, detectives are tracking telephone calls to his family members in Moscow, Idaho, trying to determine if he is using a cellphone.
Investigators say family members have had little contact with Knapp, an ex-convict they believe is still roaming somewhere across roughly 1,000 square miles of wilderness.
He is believed to have set off on a solitary life some nine years ago after his release from a California prison.
His family, originally from Michigan, has offered little help -- "the ones that will acknowledge having anything to do with him," Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Wingert told The Associated Press. "He's just kind of out there on his own. I don't know if he's fed up with civilization."
A recent court order allows marshals and sheriff's detectives to track calls made to and by a couple in their 60s -- Bruce and Barbara Knapp of Moscow, who are relatives of the 44-year-old fugitive. The Knapps haven't returned repeated telephone calls from the AP. No one answered the door at their home Wednesday.
Detectives in Utah's Iron and Kane counties announced late Tuesday that Troy Knapp was their long-sought suspect in dozens of cabin burglaries, aided by recent surveillance photos captured of him outside one cabin and fingerprints lifted from another that authorities say finally were matched to him in January.
A Kane County arrest warrant charges Knapp with three burglaries and a weapons charge. Knapp has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault with a dangerous weapon, Kane County prosecutor Robert Van Dyke said Wednesday. He did not elaborate.
As a teenager, Knapp was convicted in Michigan of breaking and entering, passing bad checks and unlawful flight from authorities, according to court records in Kalamazoo County.
The Utah arrest warrant says Knapp was charged with theft in 2000 in California. Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Utah authorities are calling Knapp armed and "possibly dangerous if cornered." He is using remote cabins for sustenance and warmth during winter -- "burning up all their firewood, eating all their food," Iron County Detective Jody Edwards has said.
In summer, the suspect retreats to makeshift camps deep in the forest. "This guy is probably about as true a survivalist as Davy Crockett," Wingert said.
Knapp "dropped off everybody's radar in 2003 and nobody has heard from him since," he added. "He just dropped off the face of the earth."
"That's wonderful that they know him," cabin owner Bruce Stucki said Tuesday. "Now they need to get him in custody." While there have been no violent confrontations, detectives have called him a time bomb. Over the years, he has left some cabins tidy and clean, while others he has practically destroyed, even defecating in a pan on the floor in one home.
Lately, he has been leaving the cabins in disarray and riddled with bullets after defacing religious icons, and a recent note left behind in one cabin warned, "Get off my mountain."
In a Jan. 27 court filing, Kane County authorities said Knapp had left behind even more threatening notes aimed at law enforcement. "Hey Sheriff ... Gonna put you in the ground!" one note said.
From the beginning, the suspect's lore grew, leading to theories that he might have been two separate men on the FBI's most-wanted list or possibly a castaway from the nearby compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect run by jailed leader Warren Jeffs.
They now have a name, but the man remains in the mist. "He's scaring the daylights out of cabin owners. Now everyone's packing guns," said Jud Hendrickson, a 62-year-old mortgage adviser from nearby St. George who keeps a trailer in the area. "We feel like we're being subject to terrorism by this guy."
However and again, you should at least a modicum of these skills. What would happen if you found yourself running for your life and you had to drop kit to get away? Or you were taken captive by some thugs then escaped with nothing on your back?
In any case, it is possible to survive even pro-longed periods in a wilderness. Remember the newspapers from decades past where Japanese soldiers were found on islands 30 years past the end of World War II? These soldiers, some in their 60's and older, not only survived but they evaded the detection of their presence for several decades.
There is a recent, and on-going, example of someone surviving and evading capture. This time not the jungles of New Guinea but in remote Utah wilderness. It should be clear that his individual is a criminal, it is also clear that his survival skill sets are pretty robust.
It seems like this modern day mountain man in the wilderness areas of Southern Utah, is robbing cabins and eluding authorities. This is an example of someone surviving in the wilds, albeit with assistance from what he can scavenge and steal, that no doubt will fuel some people prepping for SHTF to believe it is a viable plan for them as well. While there is no doubt everyone needs to have wilderness fieldcraft and survival skills, living like this apparent fugitive does in the story below presents little attraction to me. I think the whole prepping for TEOTWAWKI is planning and preparing an existence with a quality of life. Anyay, the authorities have an idea of who this individual is and some actual pictures taken from hidden game cameras that provide a pretty good quality side profile of this "mountain man". Which proves the validity of owning gamera cameras,...I have several and have written about their use to surrepititiously place to record what kind of activity, two or four legged or even vehicle, may be occuring in a specific area.
He has been tracked across hundreds of square miles of wilderness near Zion National Park in Utah but Knapp has always been able to elude capture. His camps, along with guns and supplies he has stolen from cabins, have been discovered but yet he still is on the loose.
In this undated photo provided by the Iron County Sheriff's Office in January, a man is seen walking past a cabin in the remote southern Utah wildness near Zion National Park. Authorities believe the man in the photo, captured by a motion-triggered surveillance camera sometime in December, is a suspect responsible for more than two dozen cabin burglaries over the past five years.
Now that authorities believe they know who he is, they're honing in on everyone who knows him. According to court records, detectives are tracking telephone calls to his family members in Moscow, Idaho, trying to determine if he is using a cellphone.
Investigators say family members have had little contact with Knapp, an ex-convict they believe is still roaming somewhere across roughly 1,000 square miles of wilderness.
He is believed to have set off on a solitary life some nine years ago after his release from a California prison.
His family, originally from Michigan, has offered little help -- "the ones that will acknowledge having anything to do with him," Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Wingert told The Associated Press. "He's just kind of out there on his own. I don't know if he's fed up with civilization."
A recent court order allows marshals and sheriff's detectives to track calls made to and by a couple in their 60s -- Bruce and Barbara Knapp of Moscow, who are relatives of the 44-year-old fugitive. The Knapps haven't returned repeated telephone calls from the AP. No one answered the door at their home Wednesday.
Detectives in Utah's Iron and Kane counties announced late Tuesday that Troy Knapp was their long-sought suspect in dozens of cabin burglaries, aided by recent surveillance photos captured of him outside one cabin and fingerprints lifted from another that authorities say finally were matched to him in January.
A Kane County arrest warrant charges Knapp with three burglaries and a weapons charge. Knapp has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault with a dangerous weapon, Kane County prosecutor Robert Van Dyke said Wednesday. He did not elaborate.
As a teenager, Knapp was convicted in Michigan of breaking and entering, passing bad checks and unlawful flight from authorities, according to court records in Kalamazoo County.
The Utah arrest warrant says Knapp was charged with theft in 2000 in California. Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Utah authorities are calling Knapp armed and "possibly dangerous if cornered." He is using remote cabins for sustenance and warmth during winter -- "burning up all their firewood, eating all their food," Iron County Detective Jody Edwards has said.
In summer, the suspect retreats to makeshift camps deep in the forest. "This guy is probably about as true a survivalist as Davy Crockett," Wingert said.
Knapp "dropped off everybody's radar in 2003 and nobody has heard from him since," he added. "He just dropped off the face of the earth."
"That's wonderful that they know him," cabin owner Bruce Stucki said Tuesday. "Now they need to get him in custody." While there have been no violent confrontations, detectives have called him a time bomb. Over the years, he has left some cabins tidy and clean, while others he has practically destroyed, even defecating in a pan on the floor in one home.
Lately, he has been leaving the cabins in disarray and riddled with bullets after defacing religious icons, and a recent note left behind in one cabin warned, "Get off my mountain."
In a Jan. 27 court filing, Kane County authorities said Knapp had left behind even more threatening notes aimed at law enforcement. "Hey Sheriff ... Gonna put you in the ground!" one note said.
From the beginning, the suspect's lore grew, leading to theories that he might have been two separate men on the FBI's most-wanted list or possibly a castaway from the nearby compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect run by jailed leader Warren Jeffs.
They now have a name, but the man remains in the mist. "He's scaring the daylights out of cabin owners. Now everyone's packing guns," said Jud Hendrickson, a 62-year-old mortgage adviser from nearby St. George who keeps a trailer in the area. "We feel like we're being subject to terrorism by this guy."
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The short article states:
"Things happen quickly sometimes — look at Libya , look at Egypt , look at those situations," Miller told the Star-Tribune. "We wouldn't have time to meet as a legislature or even in a special session to do anything to respond."
Miller's bill seeks to create a state-run continuity force that would study and prepare Wyoming for potential national or worldwide catastrophes. One specific component of the bill calls for the state to look into the possibility of issuing its own currency in the event the U.S. dollar collapses.
"If we continue down this course, this is the way any society ends up — with a valueless currency," Miller told the Star-Tribune.
Miller's original bill would have appropriated $32,000 for the task force, but the state's Joint Appropriations Committee has already cut the number in half. Six other states have attempted a similar currency creation effort in recent years — and all have failed. While Miller's bill may sound a bit extreme, there have been genuine concerns about the devaluation of U.S. currency in recent years. Last year, the International Monetary Fund predicted that China 's economy would overtake that of the U.S. in five years.
But there have been accusations that certain businesses are preying on fears of economic insecurity by plugging cash for gold programs, resulting in individuals selling their precious metals for less than market value.
The Star-Tribune notes that Wyoming 's Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it does not include the so-called doomsday scenario. Miller's bill calls for coordination between Wyoming 's Homeland Security along with the state attorney general and National Guard adjutant general.
The doomsday bill is sure to inspire criticism and even ridicule from some corners, but Miller says his priority is Wyoming . "I don't represent people in Illinois or New Jersey ," he said. "I represent people in Wyoming . And I want them to be protected from any catastrophic events that may beset the rest of the country."
UrbanMan’s comments: I would think that rather than worrying about establishing another fiat currency, the commerce of using gold and silver plus barter will take care of most of the problems. It would behoove the Wyoming State government to put some of their surplus cash into physical gold and silver.
Another thing would be the preparation for refugee traffic by other states mainly on the Interstate highways and not necessarily coming from adjacent states but through these adjacent states. Interstate 80 from Utah; Interstate 25 from Colorado; I-80 from Nebraska; I-90 from South Dakota; and I-25 from Montana are the main lines of communications of high speed avenues of approach.
Some pre-SHTF coordination meetings with a like minded state legislators and possibly tentative support agreements with Montana , South and North Dakota and Nebraska as well as probably Utah and Colorado , could determine what type of mutual support not only in commerce but in security and defense would be possibly.
While Wyoming has several coal fired electrical plants as well as a smaller garbage fueled plants. Wyoming coal mines are the most productive and numerous in the nation. There are five in-Wyoming or adjacent Hydroelectric plants generating a total of 600,000 plus kilowatt hours.
The state is pretty well situated with water having 22 reservoirs for personal, agricultural and industrial use from any where from 20,000 acre feet of water up to around 300,000 acre feet of water.
So all in all, Wyoming is sitting pretty with resources. The planning aspects of how to manage and protect the state will be huge in the event of a societal or economic collapse.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Collapse in Europe Begins with Greece
There are several reason why the financial situation in Europe impact on the United States: U.S. banks hold alot of European debt and the burden of a large national debt coupled with runaway government spending on basically itself spells hard times to come. Not necessarily a economic collapse, but a spiraling down of the standard of living and quality of life until there is no reversing it. The video below, although tounge in cheek, explains pretty well what is happening in Greece which of course is a model of what and where the U.S. could be very soon.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Bugging Out? To Where?
UrbanMan’s reply: As far as history of someone bugging out to a rural location, going blind into an area they do not know anyone nor own property,….I have no idea. I would assume there are several cases of people getting stranded and surviving for a short term until recovered. Or the example of criminals hiding out in rural or remote America . But the whole basis for surviving a collapse, and I mean a bonafide collapse where infrastructure including the food supply, monetary system and security mechanisms are highly degraded or totally gone, is planning......again the foundation for your survival is planning.
Planning begets Preparation. More succintly, Planning identifies the Preparation you need and will help identify essential preps, implied preps and secondary preps. Preparation without planning will most likely be a hit and miss affair.
Planning starts with information. Much like the military developing the battlefield through use of all means of intelligence, the survivalist planner should as well,....
In your case, not having a location to Bug Out to, surely you could approach this problem by identify possible locations based on basic needs:
* A location that it is feasible for you to get to by vehicle and by foot if vehicle transit is no longer an options,.e.g..lack of fuel, threat picture, mechanical problems, etc.
* A location probably devoid of large population centers and not an attractive target for armed gangs.
* Offers cover and concealment, maybe ideally next to large parks or forests where contingency safety is available and possibly animals for food procurement.
* Full year round, natural water source. Running river and streams. ...and lakes possibly. May also offer the chance to procure fish for supplemental food.
My assumption is that you cannot just pick a remote area, totally devoid of population, unless you have the resources (time, money and capability) to prepare a site like this. Most long term survival is simply going to require access to other people,…their skills and resources,….think larger team effort.
From your location in Southern California,.....Northern Minnesota would not be a good choice. Unless you move there pre-collapse. But certainly there are areas on the CA-NV border, and in western and northern Nevada and Arizona that may work for you and be realistic to get to. The idea is to Bug Out before the situation gets bad enough to expotenially increase your safety and security concerns.
You could do some weekend trips to possible locations to scout them out, just like you would if you were moving there for a job. Maybe make contact with locals, use the cover story that you are thinking about re-locating there….get a feel for the population. You probably wouldn't want to move to, say, a high percentage Mormon area if you worship animal Gods,....nor to a Southern Baptist enclave if you are a Muslim.
Making contact, and multiple contact on subsequent trips, with the locals would also serve to diminsh your standing as a stranger. During a collapse, small rural communities are going to see refugees to some degree and may not so inclined to accept strangers….especially when the density of strangers starts to change the dynamics of the community.
In fact, there is a movement towards rural living and not just from the survivalist perspective. Many people are re-locating to rural America , either through early retirement and life style downsizing or through having businesses such as inter based business where location does not inhibit it’s operation. A article just came out recently about some of the fastest growing rural areas:
Your visits to potential Bug Out locations serve also a route reconnaissance, developing alternative routes and noting danger spots such as choke points or terain that can be affected by bad weather.
If you find a location that you think you can Bug Out to, the next step is to procure maps such as available from US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or many on-line sources. You should rehearse movement and routes to the site, and you may even do preps such as cache emplacement.
I have an acquaintance who lives outside of New York City. He and his wife head into the Adirondack Mountains on vacation to hike and just get away for awhile. They have went out of their way to make and keep contact with many of the locals as their plan is to re-locate (Bug Out) to there as they are becoming less and less strangers and more and more like friends of the locals. The hope to capitalize on this as well as use their Survival skills and resources to secure a place in that community.
Hope this gives you some thoughts. Good luck and prepare well.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Urban Command and Control Center for SHTF
I received an e-mail from anonymous concerning set up and operation of a Command and control center during a collapse: “I’m living in a condo in basically downtown (city name removed) and am prepared well for SHTF. Guns, water and food are my main preps. Read all your posts now wondering what your thoughts are on setting up a command center for SHTF.”
UrbanMan replies: I removed the city you mentioned in your e-mail. My first advice would be to get out of that city. I know that one of the first rules of life is to have an income, but even a substantially lower income than what you have now, is better than staying where you are. The city and the state are bankrupt and there are plans for razing much of the city because of cost of maintaining all those local government and state owned buildings. You may be living in a urban wasteland in the near future.
Second of all, what do you have to command and/or control?
Command and control (C2) centers also called a Tactical Operations Center or TOC are necessary to Command (receive communications and give direction) and Control (deconflict primarily) by receiving information about current friendly operations (such as routes, locations and actions) and the threat (locations, strength and actions). Really un-necessary if you are a lone survivor. As a lone survivor type or even with a very small group you may just want a situation map posted so you can keep track of intel/info you gather through observation or actual one man patrols.
I read a story in a post-apocalypse city where survivors would mark buildings with chalk to represent if they searched it already and used coded marks to annotate if this building has a safe site and which floor it was located. A Situation Map would do largely the same thing, a way to annotate things and events so you could start analyzing trends and such, which would help your situational awareness and planning.
If you have a larger survival group, and especially if you have a large enough survival group to conduct multiple operations such as security patrols, procurement/foraging patrols, observation/listening post duties, etc., then a Command Post or TOC makes sense in order to have a single point of receptions of communications be it from radios, cell phones or even just from a returning debrief.
For instance, I have eight families currently, not counting the inevitably straphangers who will come, in my planned survival group. I have a large flat roof home. The primary Listening/Observation Post (LP/OP) that will be on top when SHTF will have FRS radio, TA-1 landline communications and a pull cord to a mechanical bell as a way to alert the survival member who is manning our TOC. Our TOC’s mission is to monitor the Weather band radio, monitor the scanner, monitor FRS and VHF radios for all of other team members an deployed patrols, and, serve as an alert for all members on crew rest (that means asleep since we will be running 24 hour operations).
As a deployed patrol radios into our TOC using brevity codes, the TOC will annotate that report and position on a map overlayed with thick plastic using a grease pencil or erasable marker. For any observations such as newly vacated houses, newly occupied houses, signs of activity, sighting of criminal or gang activity thing or any other information of importance, the patrol will re-enter the Base Camp (our Bug In location) and update the Situation Map (SITMAP).
The good thing about this process is that it is exportable in case we Bug Out to a different location. All male members of my survival group are comfortable and knowledgeable about this process and can rapidly terrain others that we absorb into the group.
If this doesn't answer your question, please get back with me. Prepare well.
UrbanMan replies: I removed the city you mentioned in your e-mail. My first advice would be to get out of that city. I know that one of the first rules of life is to have an income, but even a substantially lower income than what you have now, is better than staying where you are. The city and the state are bankrupt and there are plans for razing much of the city because of cost of maintaining all those local government and state owned buildings. You may be living in a urban wasteland in the near future.
Second of all, what do you have to command and/or control?
Command and control (C2) centers also called a Tactical Operations Center or TOC are necessary to Command (receive communications and give direction) and Control (deconflict primarily) by receiving information about current friendly operations (such as routes, locations and actions) and the threat (locations, strength and actions). Really un-necessary if you are a lone survivor. As a lone survivor type or even with a very small group you may just want a situation map posted so you can keep track of intel/info you gather through observation or actual one man patrols.
I read a story in a post-apocalypse city where survivors would mark buildings with chalk to represent if they searched it already and used coded marks to annotate if this building has a safe site and which floor it was located. A Situation Map would do largely the same thing, a way to annotate things and events so you could start analyzing trends and such, which would help your situational awareness and planning.
If you have a larger survival group, and especially if you have a large enough survival group to conduct multiple operations such as security patrols, procurement/foraging patrols, observation/listening post duties, etc., then a Command Post or TOC makes sense in order to have a single point of receptions of communications be it from radios, cell phones or even just from a returning debrief.
For instance, I have eight families currently, not counting the inevitably straphangers who will come, in my planned survival group. I have a large flat roof home. The primary Listening/Observation Post (LP/OP) that will be on top when SHTF will have FRS radio, TA-1 landline communications and a pull cord to a mechanical bell as a way to alert the survival member who is manning our TOC. Our TOC’s mission is to monitor the Weather band radio, monitor the scanner, monitor FRS and VHF radios for all of other team members an deployed patrols, and, serve as an alert for all members on crew rest (that means asleep since we will be running 24 hour operations).
As a deployed patrol radios into our TOC using brevity codes, the TOC will annotate that report and position on a map overlayed with thick plastic using a grease pencil or erasable marker. For any observations such as newly vacated houses, newly occupied houses, signs of activity, sighting of criminal or gang activity thing or any other information of importance, the patrol will re-enter the Base Camp (our Bug In location) and update the Situation Map (SITMAP).
The good thing about this process is that it is exportable in case we Bug Out to a different location. All male members of my survival group are comfortable and knowledgeable about this process and can rapidly terrain others that we absorb into the group.
If this doesn't answer your question, please get back with me. Prepare well.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Income for Survival Prepping
Received an e-mail from Jeffrey and Christina (I changed the women’s name to give a little OPSEC to the writers) who wrote: ”We absolutely are on board with this website and others as well. Don’t want to really put this out on a forum with some of the people are radical. But just how do you get prepared for all of the possibilities without money? My wife is a stay at home mom with our 3 years old and I bring home $830 every two weeks. After our rent, car payment, insurance, light bill and buying food we barely make it, let alone have money to spend on items for survival. I know our duplex isn’t a safe place to be with marauders in the streets shooting people and stealing things. We live in the suburbs and don’t have any place to go. I can’t help but think there are many people who are like us and maybe they have just quit trying to prepare and maybe I would too but for my 3 years son. Any advice would be well received. Thanks for all the free information you have for us. “
UrbanMan Replies: Jeffrey and Christina, I am not trying to lecture you about financial matters, but there are ways to be frugal so that you have more disposable income, whether than is just $5 a week or more. One of the things I did is to shop around and get the cheapest house phone; re-negotiated my cell phone plan; instituted a soup and sandwich dinner four nights a week; changed my vehicles insurance to carry more risk in lieu of a cheaper premium; and have been buying cheaper generic brands, usually at Costco, Wal-Mart and the Dollar Store as we can. That has actually freed up over $200 a month for me.
Just because your wife is home with the baby does not mean earning an income, especially with a home based business, is out of the question. You just have to get into the right business. Have her take a personal inventory and see what her skills, knowledge and aptitude is, in the categories of Products, Services of Information. There are many no to low costs startup type businesses available, but look carefully. Some people hire writers on-line to research and write papers. This is another method of earning extra cash.
I know of one gent who went to yard and garage sales, bought old crap, then sold it on e-bay for a large profit – gotta know what your doing though.
Think multiple streams of income. A little bit coming in from a lot of different sources generally makes good sense.
A final word: Don’t really know what you meant about ” Don’t want to really put this out on a forum with some of the people are radical.” There are preppers from many different schools of thought, prejudices’, bias’, etc. The survival forums are good about cleaning up the real kooks, but it is much better have kooks and various opinions, even if they are “radical”, then not to be allowed to have different, albeit, kooky and radical thought. This may be a good example of survival team building and the necessity of attracting people and building a solid team of people who think similar to you.
Think outside the box. I'm pretty sure you can free up and earn extra money to subsidize your preps - after all your survival may depend on it. Good luck.
UrbanMan Replies: Jeffrey and Christina, I am not trying to lecture you about financial matters, but there are ways to be frugal so that you have more disposable income, whether than is just $5 a week or more. One of the things I did is to shop around and get the cheapest house phone; re-negotiated my cell phone plan; instituted a soup and sandwich dinner four nights a week; changed my vehicles insurance to carry more risk in lieu of a cheaper premium; and have been buying cheaper generic brands, usually at Costco, Wal-Mart and the Dollar Store as we can. That has actually freed up over $200 a month for me.
Just because your wife is home with the baby does not mean earning an income, especially with a home based business, is out of the question. You just have to get into the right business. Have her take a personal inventory and see what her skills, knowledge and aptitude is, in the categories of Products, Services of Information. There are many no to low costs startup type businesses available, but look carefully. Some people hire writers on-line to research and write papers. This is another method of earning extra cash.
I know of one gent who went to yard and garage sales, bought old crap, then sold it on e-bay for a large profit – gotta know what your doing though.
Think multiple streams of income. A little bit coming in from a lot of different sources generally makes good sense.
A final word: Don’t really know what you meant about ” Don’t want to really put this out on a forum with some of the people are radical.” There are preppers from many different schools of thought, prejudices’, bias’, etc. The survival forums are good about cleaning up the real kooks, but it is much better have kooks and various opinions, even if they are “radical”, then not to be allowed to have different, albeit, kooky and radical thought. This may be a good example of survival team building and the necessity of attracting people and building a solid team of people who think similar to you.
Think outside the box. I'm pretty sure you can free up and earn extra money to subsidize your preps - after all your survival may depend on it. Good luck.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Militas on Trail - Survivalists Next?
UrbanMan say’s:
One of the perceptions some in mainstream America have on the Prepper or Survivalist Movement is one of radical, right wing, racist extremists. In some cases you can add the word “Militia” to that. These descriptions fuel images of the Aryan Brotherhood in Northern Idaho; of the Branch Davidians at Waco; the “Posse Comitatus” movement in the Midwest: and a host of others.
In today’s post 9-11 world the McCarthyism type search for home grown terrorists often brings the Prepper/Survivalist movement into the cross hairs of the Federal Government and their multiple Intelligence entities. This targeting effort is enhanced when the ideology of the Government is decidedly liberal, where words and concepts like “individualism”, “individual responsibility”, “preparedness”, “conservatism” and even “Christianity” are terms for scorn and ridicule.
Aside for Operational Security concerns, the fear of being lumped into that radical category is what keeps many of us from exposing our beliefs in being prepared for, (pick one) economic collapse, societal collapse, SHTF, or Armageddon, to family members or friends.
I think one way to protect ourselves from being lumped into that radical category and worse, become a target of the Federal Government, is to be able to separate our political beliefs from our Survivalists actions. Hard to do you say? I don’t think so. After all, our survivalist preparations are a safe guard,…an insurance plan for a contingency that may never happen. All of our preparations to survive the chaos of a total economic or infrastructure collapse are intended for when our political efforts, to keep this nation from arriving at chaos, have failed.
The straightforward act of ensuring you and your family, or your survival group (call it a militia if you want) are prepared for the effects of any collapse should not be a means of creating that collapse. Let me say that again,…our preparations for the collapse are not the means to effect or cause the collapse. We have to ensure that it remains so.
Militia on Trial: ‘Good Ol’ Boys’ and Preppers, or Anti-Gov’t Domestic Terrorists? This was the headline a few days ago while the article below can be found on TheBlaze.com:
DETROIT (AP) — Seven members of a Midwest militia accused of plotting to overthrow the government are set to stand trial, where jurors will decide whether federal authorities prevented an attack by homegrown extremists or simply made too much of the boasts by weekend warriors who had pledged to “take our nation back.”
Opening statements are set for Monday once a jury is seated in the trial of members of the Hutaree militia, who are charged with conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, as well as weapon crimes.
Following the March 2010 arrests in southern Michigan , Ohio and Indiana , U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said the time had come for authorities to “take them down.” An undercover agent had recorded the group’s leader, David Stone, saying the militia needed to “start huntin’” police soon.
But since their capture, only one of nine people charged has struck a plea deal, an unusually low number in a case with so many defendants. Their attorneys have maintained a consistent stance: The anti-government talk was simply colorful yet aimless bluster akin to frustrated pals drowning sorrows around a campfire.
“I’m going to fight it tooth and nail,” David Stone’s wife and co-defendant, Tina Mae Stone, said during a break in jury selection last week. “It was just a bunch of good ol’ boys out to have fun. We did survival stuff. I did it mostly to spend time with my husband. People tell me, `good luck.‘ I don’t need luck. I’ve got God on my side.”
The militia prepared for survival in case of domestic chaos or an attack on the United States , attorneys Todd Shanker and Richard Helfrick said in a court filing. They noted the group even had a website and promoted its weekend outings.
“Regardless of the charges in the indictment, there is no dispute that the aims of the Hutaree militia included the free exercise of their 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, including freedom of speech, association, assembly and the right to bear arms,” said the lawyers, who represent David Stone Jr.
The indictment, however, describes a more sinister band. The government says the Hutaree, based in Michigan ’s Lenawee County , was an anti-government group committed to fighting authorities who belong to a so-called “New World Order.” The defendants are accused of conspiring to someday ambush and kill a police officer, then attack the funeral procession with explosives and trigger a broader revolt against the U.S. government.
“The court will hear testimony and examine evidence concerning this particular group’s hatred for, and desire to do physical harm to, law enforcement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline said.
The government has more than 100 hours of audio and video, including the recording of David Stone, 47, apparently talking about police.
“I think we gotta just start huntin’ `em here pretty soon. … They’re easy to find, they‘re sittin’ alongside the road and they got these red and blue lights on top of their car,” he said.
A co-defendant, Michael Meeks of Manchester , Mich. , replied: “It’s like a Kmart super special or whatever.”
But some conversations were sprinkled with laughter and a mix of subjects, including strippers and drawing Hitler mustaches on photos of state troopers. Agents seized machine guns, unregistered rifles, ammunition and parts for improvised explosive devices.
The government’s case got off to a rough start in 2010, when U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts released the nine until trial under strict conditions. The government swiftly appealed but then agreed that four could go home wearing electronic monitors. An appeals court ultimately ordered the other five to remain locked up, including David Stone.
The government relied on an undercover agent inside the group and an informant. But the informant comes with warts: He pleaded guilty in state court to firing a gun during a dispute with his wife and also attempted suicide. Another witness who was married to a Hutaree member not charged in the case attempted suicide and told a grand jury she’s prone to panic attacks.
“How often do American citizens get charged with sedition or inciting discontent and resistance against big government? Heck, most citizens are discontented with the government,” said Lloyd Meyer, a Chicago lawyer and former terrorism prosecutor. “In this case, no one pulled a trigger and no one got hurt. … A jury could believe that the feds went after this group with a meat cleaver instead of a scalpel.”
But Alan Gershel, a former prosecutor who teaches at Cooley Law School in suburban Detroit , said the allegations in the indictment seem more than goofy talk.
“There was planning. There was acquisition of firearms. There was training,” he said. “Do you have to wait until the first shot is fired? You have to choose the moment of time when things go beyond chatter. That’s what the government is aiming at here.”
Joshua Clough of Blissfield , Mich. , is the only defendant to make a deal with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in December to illegal use of a firearm, faces a mandatory five-year prison sentence and could be called as a witness to testify against the Hutaree.
Besides the Stones and Meeks, the other defendants are Joshua Stone of Lenawee County ; Thomas Piatek of Whiting, Ind. ; and Kristopher Sickles of Sandusky , Ohio . Jacob Ward of Huron, Ohio , will have a separate trial. Besides conspiracy charges, all face at least one firearm charge and some have more.
Comments It is also for certain that this event has generated pretty definitive opinions. Here are some of those on-line comments:
SGT Rock, February 13, 2012
This is how those in power paint people who rise against them, they label them nuts, homegrown terrorists, gun crazies and such. This prevents the average citizen from having a common bond with these types of ‘extremists.” I hope they are not guilty of the charges against them. When this President took over and his administration said that all veterans are to be watched because of the possibility of them uprising and we vets became public enemy number one my internal alarms were going off. Yes some ex-vets go bonkers but no more so than some wack job civilian. Those in power will do whatever it takes to stay in power. So since I am a veteran and may be put against the wall with folks like these or Glenn I decided to become a vocal non-supporter of this regime. This is just the beginning folks of what is to come. If Obummer gets another 4 years there will be no stopping the madness as he fundamentally changes our great country into some banana democracy. We all need to watch the watchers to keep them as honest as possible.
Byehlik, February 13, 2012
I’m sure the courts will be full of patriots as the treasonous government tries to put the label on the patriot. Wow, buying weapons, practicing with said weapon, constitutes planning and training a revolution against big tyrannical government when you voice your concerns. Wow, that puts alot of folks in that camp. If these guys were targeting police, they should answer for it however, it’s not the police that are the problem, it’s Washington DC .
Viet Vet, February 13, 2012
Are the so-called machine guns….actually machine guns??? As we’ve seen time and time again over the years, guns claimed to be machine guns by the left are really only semi-autos. Is the communist, Van Jones, really a hero to the left??? I would imagine so. Are these people, the subject of this piece, political prisoners??? Of course they are.
TexasHunter, February 13, 2012
And so it begins. Correction they have been watching us from 09. Keeping an eye on us from day 12. There is only ONE man that will take us back to our constitution. We however can’t look past the theory of letting Israel take care of itself. God says he will ALWAYS take care of his land. How about we take care of OURS for a second!! Then after we get back to our ROOTS then go and help our neighbors from a bay. Otherwise this is what is going to happen ON A DAILY OCCURRENCE. AMERICANS being targeted as TERRORIST!! GTFO OWEBAMA. This is why we are getting ready. 2012 We are the REPUBLIC. I hope the ARMY MARINES NAVY AIR FORCE wake up and realize it is time for our military to take OUR Country BACK!! WE USA CITIZENS are being classified as TERRORIST now!! WTF!!!
UrbanMan’s final comments: While I do not discount the possibility of the Government doing everything from lying, to fabricating evidence, to having a not so hidden anti-gun, anti-religion agenda. I cannot abide by anybody targeting law enforcement to make a political point, if this is true, let alone the asinine comment about hoping for a military coup.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
LA Police Gear for Survival Kit
LA Police Gear offers a wide range of kit ranging from medical items to holsters to gear bags to flashlights and many other items at reasonable prices.
LA Police Gear also hosts a blog, LA Police Gear Blog, that highlights different pieces of kit. Probably a good idea to bookmark this link to their blog and peruse it from time to time to see if you can pickup tips on good survival gear, as well as compare prices to other vendors.
Friday, February 17, 2012
M1 Garand Suitable as a Primary Survival Weapon?
UrbanMan replies: William, the short answer is "yes", but I am assuming that you are not basing all your SHTF preparations just on guns. While it is necessary to own firearms, several in fact, for security and protection as well as sufficient stock of ammunition, it is also necessary for the well prepared survivor should be looking at all categories of survival: food, shelter, water. Procuring the necessary gear and equipment as well to allow one to survive a collapse with the infrastructure gone....no grocery stores, no electricity, no running city water, etc.
But back to the M1. Assume you mean the venerable M1 Garand in .30-06 caliber. Great gun! Accurate and reliable. These two traits go along way in making up the lack of extended firepower – that’s capability to load fast and carry a lot of ammunition. Now there will be some readers who’ll write that they can re-load an M-1 Garand as fast as I can an M-4. Not true, but even if it was, reloading after every 8th round is certainly not as convenient as using 30 round magazines! Before I lose the M1 lovers, one could certainly do 1,000 times worse than the Grand.
If your brother already has a .30-06 rifle, and I am assuming some type of bolt action or pump, either with a five round magazine capacity, then the procurement of M1 Garand’s to base your primary survival weapon on make even go over easier on him. Just make sure you get a bunch of 8 round clips.
You do state that you don’t have much money. Did you know that you’ll pay over $600 minimally for a beat up M-1? The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) offers M1 Garands for sale to qualified buyers,…you must be a member of a CMP affiliated shooting club. This would cost a minimal fee for an annual membership if you have one close to you.
This is what the CMP say’s about their M1 Garands for sale,....
"In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised" - General George S. Patton, Jr.
John Garand's rifle was the single most significant small arms development in the history of modern warfare. No other rifle in this nation's history so outclassed that of its adversaries. The accuracy, reliability, ruggedness and most of all, its firepower, could not be matched by any of the Axis powers during WWII. It performed with distinction throughout WWII to Korea and to the early days in Vietnam . The popularity of the M1 Garand continues to grow as hundreds of new Garand "Fun" Matches are being held all over the USA each year.
In the past ten years, the M1 Garand, regardless of condition, has become a very hot collectors’ item and sound financial investment. The popularity of the M1 Garand continues to grow as hundreds of new Garand “Fun” Matches are being held all across the USA each year.
Over the past 65 years, most M1 rifles have been arsenal rebuilt, refinished, rebarreled or repaired at least once and often several times. Most will show signs of service (often considerable) and replacement of various parts. They are seldom encountered with all original parts and original finish as delivered from the manufacturer. Such "original" rifles, even in well-used condition, are highly prized by collectors.
Each M1 Garand rifle sold by CMP is an authentic U.S. Government rifle that has been inspected, headspaced, repaired if necessary and test fired for function. Each rifle is shipped with safety manual, one eight-round clip and chamber safety flag. Orders are filled on a first-come first serve basis. Rifles of all grades are packed for shipment purely by "luck of the draw". Prices are subject to change. If price has changed after an order has been received, customers will be notified before new prices are charged. Shipping and Handling is $24.95 per rifle.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Greece on the Verge of Economic Collapse
The alternative to spending and borrowing of course is to cut the spending and therefore the need to borrow,....still leaves us with a bunch of debt to pay off,...but the austerity measures necessary to get a rein over the spiraling debt would cause the economy to contract; less money for investments and a decrease in products being manufactured - a general lowering of the GDP and again, economic chaos. This time inflation will be where the goods and commodities are priced too high due to unavailability, or simply because they can go to the highest bidder.
We are seeing in Greece much of what is predicted to occur here in the United States. Greek workers going on strike against austerity measures. Ships sitting at docks not being unloaded; public transport sitting idle. Greece is fairly close to anarchy and the Greece government still needs to bring about additional austerity programs, including cutting outrageous retirement plans, benefits and entitlements programs to even begin convincing the rest of Europe to help with a type of a financial bailout of that country.
The European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that the Greek deal, which barely had enough support to pass, did not go far enough and time is running out to avoid a Greek default.
The EU and IMF are exasperated by a series of broken promises by Athens and weeks of disagreement over the terms of a 130 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout, with time running out to avoid a default.
Greeks, who have been suffering from years of recession, are very angry about the measures. Protestors routinely congregate and shout,...."No to layoffs! No to salary cuts! No to pension cuts! Do not bow your heads! Resist!"
In addition to the striking dock workers and transportation workers, Hospital doctors, Bank employees and Teachers are all reportedly soon to join the anti-austerity measure protests.
Officials hammered home the message that Greece's future in the euro was at stake.
"The consequences of disorderly default would be incalculable for the country - not just for the economy ... it will lead us onto an unknown, dangerous path," Deputy Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis said. In an interview with the newspaper Imerisia, he described the catastrophe he believes Greece would suffer if it failed to meet debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros due on March 20. "Let's just ask ourselves what it would mean for the country to lose its banking system, to be cut off from imports of raw materials, pharmaceuticals, fuel, basic foodstuffs and technology," he said.
I am probably way too dumb to figure out all the nuances with the coming economic collapse in Greece and subsequent threats to other EU nations like Italy, Spain and Portugal but whatever happens there would serve as a baseline model for what could transpire here in the U.S.
I wrote the above several days before I posted it. What has transpired in the last few days is substantial rioting in Greece over austerity measures and inflation of the currency. Images of police in riot control gear, contact fire bombs hitting the streets and violence targeted against the police and the government are all over the television and internet. There are reports of people selling their gold jewelry in order to buy food.... .....however food is getting harder to find. Soup kitchens are springing up in the more populated areas.
Stay tuned for a worsening situation. If you think this cannot happen here in the U.S. then you are sadly mistaken. Last night on television and yesterday on the radio, Glenn Beck was predicting the same situation in the U.S. by the end of Summer. Get prepared, Stay Prepared.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wealth From the Ground
UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has mentioned several times about it being a good idea to become a recipient of the Martenson Newsletters as Chris Martenson publishes newsletters and links to information of value to Survivalists and indicators of the coming collapse.
In one of his latest newsletters, Martenson post’s an article written by James Dines, titled “Owning 'Wealth In The Ground' Is Your Best Bet to Surviving the Coming 'Supernova of Inflations”. Although I have never heard of James Dines, apparently his record of making good calls is pretty strong.
Go here to read the whole article.
Dines made some pretty good comments, among them he sees the excessive credit in the financial system as having placed the global economy on a collision-course with hyperinflation. And of course we know that is true. 15+ Trillion dollar debt by the U.S. Government and really now way to fix it. Too much of an austerity program will induce a collapse as well continued spending. We have fenced ourselves in. And before some of hurl electronic bullets at me, the “we” I’m talking about is America and our elected politicians.....not “we” as Survivalists.
The rapidly increasing demand, increasing prices and shrinking supply of oil may be the catalyst. Dines predicts that at some point, when the military grasps the declining supply, they will seize the remaining supplies and you will not be able to drive your car until the last drop.
Dines states that the price of gold and silver did not go up. It is the fiat currency value that went down. Gold and silver are the ultimate money, coins of which are good anywhere in the world, no matter what is stamped on them, and that is the money. Gold (and Silver) are the only investible asset in the world that has gone up the last 11 years without interruption, and that is because they are just running the printing presses. The more they do, the more value builds into gold and silver. If a Survivalist does not have any precious metals then they run the risk of having a hole, large or small, in the plan.....plain and simple.
The point of the Wealth in the Ground article is about the only assets that would survive an economic collapse and the chaos that went with it is hard assets. Hard assets, in part being, being physical commodities, mining companies, gold and silver. When I first read the title and linked to it, I thought I would find someone advocating Wealth in the Ground” to mean,…a safe and secure survival site; a full time, year round water supply; ability to grow crops to sustain your survival family;......but Dines did not touch n that, but it is a logical extension of the wealth in the ground argument.
Anyway, a good article to read in it’s entirety and the Martenson newsletter at the very least motivates you to prep harder. He is one of many sources I tune to almost each and every day,…sometimes spending 2 or 3 minutes looking for something of interest,…and sometimes spending 20 minutes or more reading something where I’ll think,…”that’s a good point”.
In one of his latest newsletters, Martenson post’s an article written by James Dines, titled “Owning 'Wealth In The Ground' Is Your Best Bet to Surviving the Coming 'Supernova of Inflations”. Although I have never heard of James Dines, apparently his record of making good calls is pretty strong.
Go here to read the whole article.
Dines made some pretty good comments, among them he sees the excessive credit in the financial system as having placed the global economy on a collision-course with hyperinflation. And of course we know that is true. 15+ Trillion dollar debt by the U.S. Government and really now way to fix it. Too much of an austerity program will induce a collapse as well continued spending. We have fenced ourselves in. And before some of hurl electronic bullets at me, the “we” I’m talking about is America and our elected politicians.....not “we” as Survivalists.
The rapidly increasing demand, increasing prices and shrinking supply of oil may be the catalyst. Dines predicts that at some point, when the military grasps the declining supply, they will seize the remaining supplies and you will not be able to drive your car until the last drop.
Dines states that the price of gold and silver did not go up. It is the fiat currency value that went down. Gold and silver are the ultimate money, coins of which are good anywhere in the world, no matter what is stamped on them, and that is the money. Gold (and Silver) are the only investible asset in the world that has gone up the last 11 years without interruption, and that is because they are just running the printing presses. The more they do, the more value builds into gold and silver. If a Survivalist does not have any precious metals then they run the risk of having a hole, large or small, in the plan.....plain and simple.
The point of the Wealth in the Ground article is about the only assets that would survive an economic collapse and the chaos that went with it is hard assets. Hard assets, in part being, being physical commodities, mining companies, gold and silver. When I first read the title and linked to it, I thought I would find someone advocating Wealth in the Ground” to mean,…a safe and secure survival site; a full time, year round water supply; ability to grow crops to sustain your survival family;......but Dines did not touch n that, but it is a logical extension of the wealth in the ground argument.
Anyway, a good article to read in it’s entirety and the Martenson newsletter at the very least motivates you to prep harder. He is one of many sources I tune to almost each and every day,…sometimes spending 2 or 3 minutes looking for something of interest,…and sometimes spending 20 minutes or more reading something where I’ll think,…”that’s a good point”.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Another Wilderness Survival Example
Another Family Stranded in the Wilderness, Found Alive were recent headlines as a
A side line news story came out last weekend about a family of three who were lost for six days in an Oregon forest, finally rescued by a search helicopter.
The family went mushroom hunting without food, water or warm clothing. Parents Belinda and Daniel Conne and their 25-year-old son, Michael, survived by drinking water from streams and taking shelter in a hollowed-out tree.
After six days of being lost a search helicopter spotted them in a clearing where the family managed to crawl to.
Local Law Enforcement, volunteers and the Coast Guard were all involved with the search which reported only covered a 4-square-mile area. The family was in the search area but their routine of moving often and the heavy, dense trees and brush made the search very difficult. The family of three could from time to time see helicopters above them but could not signal.
Authorities said that the family was in an area where water was plentiful by food scare. The family said they considered eating their dog at one point.
This is yet another example of someone entering the wilderness, or just going through life, without rudimentary survival skills and a lack of adequate planning which would has necessitated carrying some survival tools with them.
Whenever I go practically anyway on foot I am carrying a knife, some water, a fire making capability and generally dress much warmer than needed knowing that is easier to take off clothes then it is to get warm.
Most of us have Bug Out Bags and a lengthy list of equipment, but how many of us carry the most basic kit each and every day? Such as a very small rendition of the the Bug Out Bag like a small camera case with survival items?
While I always have a knife, some water, and fire making tools I also have a small camera case that I can put on my belt just in case that route I am walking takes some unexpected twists.
The small camera case includes these items:
o Waterproof matches, cotton balls and dyer lint, a mini butane lighter all wrapped in tin foil. The tin foil can be used to create a wind break to help start a fire using the cotton balls and dryer lint as well as can become an improvised cooking pot or drinking cup.
o A couple one quarter zip locks bags that can be used to collect water or used to store tinder such as tree pitch or edible plants.
o Six or eight small salt packets taken from a restaurant used to help flavor anything cooked or to replace electro-lytes lost.
o Two small envelopes of bullion powder - also to flavor food and replace lost electro-lytes.
o Small button compass.
o Small small flashlight. I actually have two. One that uses a single AAAA battery and a photon light that uses a camera battery (120 hour life). Useful for signaling at night or for illumination to work at night.
o Four 30 foot lengths of gutted parachute line. The white strands of nylon inside paracord are very small and can be used to build a shelter; make a fishing line; improvise a snare for small game; secure a sharp rock to a straight stick for an improvised spear.
o In my older and slightly larger survival kit, I used to carry a nylon sleeping bag cover sack which folds up small and could be used to create a flotation device; a pillow; a forage bag and since it was bright orange in color - a signaling device.
I have a similar kit on each and every vest I own, using several different types of pouches such as single pistol mag pouches or utility pouches. In decades past we used to use the old military first aid kit pouch to carry a small survival kit. Some guys actually used the larger individual first aid or a NBC decon kit, both came in plastic containers, to hold their individual survival kits. Lots of good ideas out there,..in fact way too many for anyone not to pickup on one and never enter the wilderness without some type of kit.
A side line news story came out last weekend about a family of three who were lost for six days in an Oregon forest, finally rescued by a search helicopter.
The family went mushroom hunting without food, water or warm clothing. Parents Belinda and Daniel Conne and their 25-year-old son, Michael, survived by drinking water from streams and taking shelter in a hollowed-out tree.
After six days of being lost a search helicopter spotted them in a clearing where the family managed to crawl to.
Local Law Enforcement, volunteers and the Coast Guard were all involved with the search which reported only covered a 4-square-mile area. The family was in the search area but their routine of moving often and the heavy, dense trees and brush made the search very difficult. The family of three could from time to time see helicopters above them but could not signal.
Authorities said that the family was in an area where water was plentiful by food scare. The family said they considered eating their dog at one point.
This is yet another example of someone entering the wilderness, or just going through life, without rudimentary survival skills and a lack of adequate planning which would has necessitated carrying some survival tools with them.
Whenever I go practically anyway on foot I am carrying a knife, some water, a fire making capability and generally dress much warmer than needed knowing that is easier to take off clothes then it is to get warm.
Most of us have Bug Out Bags and a lengthy list of equipment, but how many of us carry the most basic kit each and every day? Such as a very small rendition of the the Bug Out Bag like a small camera case with survival items?
While I always have a knife, some water, and fire making tools I also have a small camera case that I can put on my belt just in case that route I am walking takes some unexpected twists.
The small camera case includes these items:
o Waterproof matches, cotton balls and dyer lint, a mini butane lighter all wrapped in tin foil. The tin foil can be used to create a wind break to help start a fire using the cotton balls and dryer lint as well as can become an improvised cooking pot or drinking cup.
o A couple one quarter zip locks bags that can be used to collect water or used to store tinder such as tree pitch or edible plants.
o Six or eight small salt packets taken from a restaurant used to help flavor anything cooked or to replace electro-lytes lost.
o Two small envelopes of bullion powder - also to flavor food and replace lost electro-lytes.
o Small button compass.
o Small small flashlight. I actually have two. One that uses a single AAAA battery and a photon light that uses a camera battery (120 hour life). Useful for signaling at night or for illumination to work at night.
o Four 30 foot lengths of gutted parachute line. The white strands of nylon inside paracord are very small and can be used to build a shelter; make a fishing line; improvise a snare for small game; secure a sharp rock to a straight stick for an improvised spear.
o In my older and slightly larger survival kit, I used to carry a nylon sleeping bag cover sack which folds up small and could be used to create a flotation device; a pillow; a forage bag and since it was bright orange in color - a signaling device.
I have a similar kit on each and every vest I own, using several different types of pouches such as single pistol mag pouches or utility pouches. In decades past we used to use the old military first aid kit pouch to carry a small survival kit. Some guys actually used the larger individual first aid or a NBC decon kit, both came in plastic containers, to hold their individual survival kits. Lots of good ideas out there,..in fact way too many for anyone not to pickup on one and never enter the wilderness without some type of kit.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Request for Target Source
UrbanMan replies: Ahmet, you may try Law Enforcement Targets, Inc., phone 1-888-489-7830, for some of these target needs.
Additionally, you can access a downloadable or printable pdf file of the M4 Zero target, here: 25 Meter M4 Zero Target
If any readers can assist Ahmet as well in finding what else he is looking for, please drop a line in the comment box.
One more thing Ahmet, The targets I use are just 8.5 x 11 inches white bond paper (standard printer paper) clipped, stapled, taped or glued to various scrap pieces of cardboard. If you place the white paper long axis up and down this represents the chest area on any human, obese or skinny for that matter. This is a huge cost savings if you shoot alot. And this becomes your standard for any weapon and any distances, sans zeroing and precision rifle use. I have also used 3x5 inch and 5x7 inch index cards, mostly for handgun use between distances of 3 to 15 yards. Another money saver. Scrap cardboard can be obtained practically anywhere.
cheers, be safe.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Iran and the Coming Fuel Crunch, Which May Be The Least of Our Concerns
Thanks Jairo, you are absolutely right, an economic collapse would result.
Jairo also provided a link to an article about Secretary of Defense Panetta stating that Israel could strike Iran by Spring.
In the article US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, and that President Barack Obama and Panetta are "said to have cautioned the Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the threshold," he said.
Israeli media reported in October last year that the option of pre-emptive air strikes on Iran was opposed by the country's intelligence services but favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Israeli television said Mossad chief Tamir Pardo raised the possibility of a unilateral strike on Iran during a visit last week to Washington.
Additionally, WND also published an article written by Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the author of the award winning book, “A Time to Betray.” This article, titled "Global Insecurity - Iran warns world of coming great event"
This article, only excerpts are included below, details how even among crippling economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event.
“In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning. Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.” Khamenei then claimed that the current century as the century of Islam and promised that human history is on the verge of a great event and that soon the world will realize the power of Allah.
Many clerics in Iran have stated that Khamenei is the deputy of the last Islamic messiah on earth and that obedience to him is necessary for the final glorification of Islam. Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events.
Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon. Selected forces within the Revolutionary Guards and Basij reportedly have been trained under a task force called “Soldiers of Imam Mahdi” and they will bear the responsibility of security and protecting the regime against uprisings. Many in the Guards and Basij have been told that the 12th Imam is on earth, facilitated the victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 2006 war and soon will announce publicly his presence after the needed environment is created.
Iran is speeding up completion of the nuclear bomb program in which missiles can be armed with nuclear warheads. Iran believes once that’s achieved, Iran can test a nuclear bomb, letting the world know that Iran has joined the nuclear-armed club and that any confrontation will result in destruction of much of the Western world.
The Revolutionary Guards not only can hit all U.S. bases in the Middle East with their ballistic missiles but also reach most capital cities in Western Europe. The Guards, with the help of China and North Korea, are working on intercontinental ballistic missiles. But more dangerous to America, as reported last July, is the Guards action in arming their vessels with long-range ballistic missiles and their expansion of their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, right into the Gulf of Mexico.
And here's the scary part,.....any Iranian military or commercial vessel easily could get right outside the U.S. coastline and in less than 60 seconds fire a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear payload and detonate it over U.S. skies in an electromagnetic attack that would plunge America back into the 18th century. Studies show within just one year after such an attack, two-thirds of Americans would cease to exist and the rest would live under dire conditions.
Possible scenarios that impact on us here in the states:
1. The Israeli's strike Iran, over 40% of the world's oil supplies are disrupted, economic disaster hits our homeland.
2. The Iranians strike Israel and the resulting war, no matter how short, will disrupt oil supplies - read economic disaster here in the states.
3. Possibility of Iranian sponsored nuclear strike(s) in the states, with a resulting SHTF and economic-social and basically total collapse.
Watch the video below:
Friday, February 3, 2012
Is Terrorism a Cause for SHTF?
Since the startup of www.UrbanSurvivalSkills.com we have talked about the need for a detailed and substantial analysis of possible threats to you and your family's survival in order to help define the parameters of your collapse or SHTF plan. We have talked about the possibility of urban or suburban spillover demonstrations turning to riots; about possible threats from being in interest areas for the armed gangs that would certainly be created, or otherwise already exist and would increase their operational area and reach; about natural disasters and disasters from man-made catastrophes.
And now the federal government has produced a United States terrorism report detailing numbers and locations of terrorist attacks, from home grown and foreign borne or supported terrorist groups. The Blaze also posted an article entitled "Do You Live In A Terrorist Hot Spot According To This Map?", written by Liz Klimas.
Ms Klimas' source was: LaFree, Gary, and Bianca Bersani. “Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States , 1970 to 2008,” Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate , U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD. Contact Information: 3300 Symons Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, phone: (301) 405-, e-mail: infostart@start.umd.edu, website: www.start.umd.edu
Some of the key elements of this report:
The researchers, from the University of Maryland and University of Massachusetts-Boston, mapped all events considered terrorism since 1970 to 2008 in the United States (see map below). This established areas they deemed terrorism “hot spots” but also revealed that terrorism is actually “widely dispersed”.
The research found that a third of all terrorist attacks during that time-frame studied took place in five metropolitan cities — Manhattan , New York (343 attacks); Los Angeles County , Calif. (156 attacks); Miami-Dade County , Fla. (103 attacks); San Francisco County , Calif. (99 attacks); and Washington , D.C. (79 attacks).
While UrbanSurvivalSkills fully supports and even advocates the survivalist to be analyzing how likely and how catastrophic terrorist attacks would be on his/her survival and what events would be precipitated by a terrorist attack, really no conclusions can be drawn from this report as the researchers are using a definition of terrorism as: the threatened or actual use of illegal force, directed against civilian targets, by non-state actors, in order to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal, through fear, coercion or intimidation.
They are lumping criminal acts by idiots, such as that scum bag's hooting of Congresswomen Gifford in Tucson, in the same category as state sponsored, state supported acts from the "destruction of America" crowd.
There is little comparison with some attention seeking, video game playing, living in Mom's house loser that shoots some people in an insane act and with religious motivated terrorists putting Improvised Explosive Devices on the streets of New York City,....or spiking a communities water supply with poison,....or detonating a improvised or weapons grade Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) next to a U.S. Government facility.
Survivalists need to determine themselves likelihood of and effects from potential terrorist attacks that would affect them. An example, maybe a poor example, but an example none the less may be a WMD terrorist attack in Brownsville , Texas which drives possible contaminants and refugees up the highways towards Houston impact negatively on all residents along that route. The Survivalist planners along that route would need to consider possibility of wind driven contaminants; contamination of water supplies; security requirements of property and protection of lives from desperate refugees, not only from northbound traffic into Houston but from squatters and the criminal oriented but also from southbound return traffic as Houston struggles to cope with massive refugees. What degradation of infrastructure from the resulting WMD blasts or EMP would cause for them; Bug Out routes based on refugee flow, etc.
Terrorism precipitating SHTF. Not that likely. We face more threat from economic collapse than from terrorism as the current world board game maps out.
And now the federal government has produced a United States terrorism report detailing numbers and locations of terrorist attacks, from home grown and foreign borne or supported terrorist groups. The Blaze also posted an article entitled "Do You Live In A Terrorist Hot Spot According To This Map?", written by Liz Klimas.
Ms Klimas' source was: LaFree, Gary, and Bianca Bersani. “Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States , 1970 to 2008,” Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate , U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD. Contact Information: 3300 Symons Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, phone: (301) 405-, e-mail: infostart@start.umd.edu, website: www.start.umd.edu
Some of the key elements of this report:
The researchers, from the University of Maryland and University of Massachusetts-Boston, mapped all events considered terrorism since 1970 to 2008 in the United States (see map below). This established areas they deemed terrorism “hot spots” but also revealed that terrorism is actually “widely dispersed”.
The research found that a third of all terrorist attacks during that time-frame studied took place in five metropolitan cities — Manhattan , New York (343 attacks); Los Angeles County , Calif. (156 attacks); Miami-Dade County , Fla. (103 attacks); San Francisco County , Calif. (99 attacks); and Washington , D.C. (79 attacks).
While UrbanSurvivalSkills fully supports and even advocates the survivalist to be analyzing how likely and how catastrophic terrorist attacks would be on his/her survival and what events would be precipitated by a terrorist attack, really no conclusions can be drawn from this report as the researchers are using a definition of terrorism as: the threatened or actual use of illegal force, directed against civilian targets, by non-state actors, in order to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal, through fear, coercion or intimidation.
They are lumping criminal acts by idiots, such as that scum bag's hooting of Congresswomen Gifford in Tucson, in the same category as state sponsored, state supported acts from the "destruction of America" crowd.
There is little comparison with some attention seeking, video game playing, living in Mom's house loser that shoots some people in an insane act and with religious motivated terrorists putting Improvised Explosive Devices on the streets of New York City,....or spiking a communities water supply with poison,....or detonating a improvised or weapons grade Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) next to a U.S. Government facility.
Survivalists need to determine themselves likelihood of and effects from potential terrorist attacks that would affect them. An example, maybe a poor example, but an example none the less may be a WMD terrorist attack in Brownsville , Texas which drives possible contaminants and refugees up the highways towards Houston impact negatively on all residents along that route. The Survivalist planners along that route would need to consider possibility of wind driven contaminants; contamination of water supplies; security requirements of property and protection of lives from desperate refugees, not only from northbound traffic into Houston but from squatters and the criminal oriented but also from southbound return traffic as Houston struggles to cope with massive refugees. What degradation of infrastructure from the resulting WMD blasts or EMP would cause for them; Bug Out routes based on refugee flow, etc.
Terrorism precipitating SHTF. Not that likely. We face more threat from economic collapse than from terrorism as the current world board game maps out.
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