Defensive Positions for Movement during SHTF

Many of us have a hard time with watching military related movies and television shows. You see all the bad habits and out right crappy tactics, techniques and procedures where all the guy congregated together, point their weapons at each other, talk loud, have no idea of what conceal or concealment is,…and,…… try as you might to realize that this is a movie or television show, where they all have to fit into the camera frame, it still ruins it for me.

I was watching “Falling Skies” – okay I’m an alien movie junkie, but you have to admit that this story line is the ultimate collapse scenario,….Invasion by scary aliens,…….anyway back to my point. In one scene the human resistance group was running a small unit patrol. They were bunched together, talking out loud,…nobody watching their assigned area of responsibility,…about everything you can do wrong, they did.

I can only imagine how they ran their hasty defensive positions. So I offer this basic article on conduct hasty halts and maintaining security with an integral perimeter. This could be for a short term halt or for remaining through a period of darkness or daylight. The two hasty defensive position formations described below use blue circles to denote people and arrows to denote assigned areas of responsibility/fields of fire.

Small Circle Hasty Defensive Perimeter. Used with two or more personnel in the patrol. This is performed with all patrol members sitting with their backs (rucksacks or Bug Out bags) towards each other and their bodies/legs facing out. This is a very tight position which allows for very good noise discipline as each patrol member can communicate to the other on his Left and Right through whisper. Arm and hands signals can be used, preceded by a squeeze on the other patrol members leg or arm.

This formation allows for all patrol members to observe and protect an arc of responsibility to their direct front. A suitable location with concealment, usually through vegetation, must be present unless this position is used at night. Some small units use this position in the sparse desert environment, but usually during periods of minimal lunar illumination where the threat ability to see if reduced and friendlies can exploit night vision devices and thermal imagers.

Again, this is a hasty defensive position providing a small signature. An implied task with this position is that team members should be able to shoot from the seated position or on their backs. The prone position, while providing stability and comfort, does not provide for the best ability to observe, especially to your sides and rear.

Triangle or Strong Point Hasty Defensive Perimeter. This is best used when terrain and vegetation best presents the ability to provide covered and/or concealed positions. One mistake teams make in establishing a triangle defensive position is that the distance between positions is too great to communicate or move undetected to. For small units/patrols, the distance between positions for a triangle defensive position may be as short as 10-20 feet. If the environment or situation is risky enough requiring additional security, the triangle position is beneficial to keeping 50% security – one man at each position always on security watching a combined area of responsibility.

One of the strong point positions is going to be tasked with looking, observing and defending the most likely line of approach into the defensive position – this could be an existing trail or natural line of drift.

Common Techniques for Hasty Defensive Perimeters

Work priorities. As soon as a defensive position is selected, priorities of work are directed. Work is accomplished usually in buddy teams – one person accomplishes the work task, while the other provides security. An example of work priorities would be weapons maintenance, foot maintenance, water and chow, then, rest. Again, one person breaks down and cleans their weapons, whatever level is necessary, while the buddy provides security. Then roles are reversed. Each work priority is accomplished in this manner. The leader of the patrol may have additional leader tasks such as reviewing a map and determining exact location, planning the next route and developing a contingency plan in case of any attack on the defensive position makes it necessary to Bug Out.

Security Procedures. Security is accomplished through many ways.

1 – making sure that the position is not on a trail or natural line of drift. In fact, one good tactic is to button hook back off your route so that if you have anyone tracking your team, you could observe and/or ambush them if necessary.

2 - using light, noise and litter discipline effectively as to not give away your position or provide evidence that you were there.

3 – ensuring that at least one patrol member is awake and alert at all times, but sometimes you would want more people awake. When the position is established the position would go to a security percentage based on the number of people on the team. 20% security means one person awake and on guard for a 5 person patrol.

4 - usually hasty defensive positions would not entail establishing mechanical early warning devices, but these could certainly be incorporated. Even something as simple as a trip wire with a noise maker like a tin can with rocks in it. However if a threat group discovered that, they would know immediately what it’s use it and the team may be compromised.

Contingency Plan. Everyone should be briefed on a contingency plan in case the defensive position is attacked and the patrol is forced to evacuate. The contingency plan should include two routes out of the position – these routes should not be in the same general direction but best case 180 degrees apart to support withdrawal away from attacks; identify where the rally point is; how long to stay at the rally point to linkup with late arriving other patrol members; and, visual and verbal signals to identify patrol members to reduce shooting the wrong people.

Question on 511 Tactical Pants

XSFC has left a new comment on your post Urban Survival Gear - 5.11 Tactical Pants: "Hey, I can't find the link for these specific pants. Not sure which one to choose. Do you have the exact link for this pair of jeans? I like that color and cut."  

UrbanMan's reply: Hey Combatives, click on this link below. In the article, I write about both the Tac-Lite (Tactical) and the TDU pants. 511's titles - not mine. But I think you are referring to the 511 Tactical Pants (Tac-Lite). On you click on the link below You should see a link for the Tac-Lite pants. These are also referred to as the pants made famous by the FBI. The Tactical duty Uniform (TDU) pants is significantly heavier, almost like Judo Gi pants. Anyway, this link should work for you. Again click on the "Tac-Lite Pants" or the "Tactical Pants".

Desert Survival Example

I received this e-mail from William R. "Hey Buddy, Saw this article that may interest you about a guy surviving in the Utah desert for three weeks. Don't know if you saw it, but it was about a retarded fellow who walked about a hundred miles before a helicopter saw him just before he would have died. I was wondering about any comments you have."

UrbanMan replies: William, I found that article here:

Autistic man survives 3-week ordeal in Utah desert

In short the article says a 28-year-old autistic, not retarded,  man barely survived three weeks in remote southern Utah. While he was an experienced mountaineer, he was out of his element in the harsh desert. The man, William LaFever, set off for a 150-mile journey along the wild Escalante River without food or equipment because it was was apparently stolen just before he started his trip.

He was found, clad only in hbis underwear, by a Search and Rescue helicopter, reportedly just in the nick of time.

Desert Survival Do's and Don'ts

Ration Your Sweat and Not Your Water. People have been found dead with water still in their canteens.
If I only had 2 quarts of water with me and I had to walk for consecutive days to find help, I would be drinking 3/4 of that water throughout that first day/nights movement, knowing that I could go a day without water without too badly diminishing my capabilities,...but into the second day on little or no water, then my body would just quit working.  You can last about 48 hours without water,..maybe just a little longer, but that second 24 hour period will bring about a severe degradation of your physical capabilities.  Ration your sweat and not your water also means to conduct most, if not all, of your survival/movement tasks out of the direct exposure to the Sun.  That means moving and doing surrvival tasks at early morning, late evening and at night, holeing up during the day to conserve your energy and bodies water. 
Protect Exposed Parts of the Skin from the Sun.  He made a mistake in not wearing any clothing. When a person is hot, the instinct is to take off clothes, but this increases the evaporation effect, furthering the  dehydration process of that person. Better to wear enough clothes to protect exposed skin from the Sun which rapidly evaporate body moisture and damage the skin (sun burn) further requiring water. The body will send water to the skin, the body's largest organ, to protect and repair the skin leaving less water for maintaining blood volume and major organ function.   The Arab's are not known for their,....well let's just say "sophisication", but they have lived in the desert for hundreds of years and dress in layers of clothing, protecting their skin from the onslaught of the Sun.

Be Prepared with (at least) minimal Kit.  This man's gear was stolen. I get that. But he did not have any kit on his body? No knife, Fire starting items,....canteen or Camel-Bak or anything at all? No poncho?  No survival cords or string?  Speaking of string, I was showing someone the other day the uses of those parachute braided survival bracelets with fastex buckles....they can be used a snap links, hold gear onto your Bug Out Bag, then taken apart and gutted for the white 55 lb test line line of the green nylon outer cord, if/when the need for cordage.  Can be used for fishing line, building survival shelters or traps and snares and many other uses. 

Water before Food.  This individual (William LaFever) lost about 100 lbs in almost three weeks, demonstrating that you can go along way or a starvation diet but you'll be dead in 48 hours or so without water. 

Global Economic Collapse Predicted

Nouriel Roubini, the economist whose dire warnings earned him the nickname “Dr. Doom,” said two weeks ago that the recent slowdowns in the U.S., Europe, and China is proof that the global “perfect storm” scenario he predicted is on its way.

“(The) 2013 perfect storm scenario I wrote on months ago is unfolding,”  say's Roubini.  He is predicting  four specific elements would come together to create the perfect global economic crisis: a stalled U.S. economy, the EU debt crisis, a slowdown in emerging markets (China), and conflict in Iran.

Roubini further declares that this crisis will be far worse than the financial crisis of 2008.  A U.S. recovery is not going to happen at least for many years to, according to Roubini.   The problems in Europe, an economic slowdown in China and oil prices that will rise sharply, due to the fall of the dolar and the crisis in the Middle East, particulary with Iran, will all make a America's economy much worse, say's Roubini. 

Author and Economist James Howard Kunstler claims that we are past the point where solutions
to our economic problems are possible.  He has long been a voice of society's waste of resources and
now that he basically say's there is no hope to correct the course taking us to a brutal collapse, we now
need a response plan to help us best brace for the impact of the coming consequences. And, as Kunstler
advocates, we need it fast.

Europe is taking a turn for the worst as the new French Socialist President François Hollande is driving
captial and businesses out of France with his "tax the rich policy" and Greece just declared that they are
in a Great Depression.  

Even Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner say's that "a wave of tax increases and billions of dollars in
automatic spending cuts will cause a lot of damage to the fragile economy" and this is coming from a
guy who has been all rosy and who has an interest in making the Country believe that things are not as
bad as they really are.

Ammunition Re-Call

We just received word that Federal Law Enforcement Agencies are working with Winchester on a potentially serious production error that may effect all recently Winchester produced .40 S&W, 180 grain, bonded service ammunition.   Although the most predominate use of this cartridge is within Federal Law Enforcement, we all have seen sales of ammunition marked "Law Enforcement Only"

Some of the cartridge casings were produced without a flash hole. The lack of a primer flash hole eliminates the ability of this Service cartridge to fire – this cannot be detected as no visual inspection by anyone can detect this manufacturing defect and it would only be known at the time the person attempted to fire their handgun.

Affected ammunition will have a four character “day code”, two letters, two numbers, i.e., FA42. All Q4355 with day codes beginning with the letter F and any Q4355 with the two letter combination of EN are included in this recall. See picture below.

More Gun Control Commentary

HalfElf has left a new comment on your post "Gun Control Looming": "Saw on google search yesterday that the ATT (UN Arms Treaty) has been rejected by the US. Somebody must had told his nibbs that maybe pissing off 1/3 of the voting population might not be a good idea less than 4 months before the election."

UrbanMan's reply:  I listened to an interview with noted second amendment author John Lott yesterday. I'll paraphrase what he had to say: The U.S. did not reject the treaty. Repeat. The U.S. did not reject the treaty. Secretary Clinton just did not go to the UN meeting to vote on it........because, you see, she does not have to in order for it to be placed into effect.

If two thirds of the U.N. main body (general membership - not the security council) votes for this treaty, then this treaty becomes defacto law for at least four years unless rejected by the President or the Senate. If this treaty goes into effect it will have the effect of a Constitutional Amendment. Supreme Court precedence is that International Treaties, that the U.S. is a signature to, trumps U.S. Law. And again, the U.S. will be de facto signatures unless either the President or the Senate reject it.

Figure the odds on a newly re-elected Barack Obama rejecting this Treaty. Figure the odds on Sen Harry Reid allowing a vote on this in the Senate. And what is scary is that only a reported 51 Senators were against the original treaty. The treaty would require nations to register guns and their owners. Certain types of guns will be outlawed. And the subsequent U.S. Government performance in the treaty provisions will most assuredly require no notice inspections of those people considered to own "arsenals". There would be no other way to determine extnet of the export of firearms.

This is bad news not only Survivalists and Gun Owners but for the American people as well. If you think 16,000 new IRS agents to enforce Obamacare is a large step towards massive Government control,.....imagine how many new hires in the BATF or maybe a newly created organization would do. On related news, there will be several attempts to limit internet access to ammunition especially if the current administration wins another term.

This is not intended to be a political article, just stating the facts as the Liberal and/or Progressive section of American politics has always been for gun control measures. Whether or not you believe the goal is some sort or "we know what is better for the American peope and their safety", or, if it is some evil plan for a massive government controlled socialist society doesn't change the facts. Many other people think this way as well, since in the days following the Colorado Theatre shooting, gun sales in Colorado sky rocketed.

It's going to be much harder for people embracing some sort of preparedness posture to secure firearms and adequate ammunition for their security. The recent theater shooting in Colorado, of all things, recently pushed a couple that I have been dripping Survival and Preparedness to, to purchase a couple of additional firearms. I had previously helped this new to firearms couple select a couple of handguns, one a Glock 19 and the other a Taurus .38 special revolver. Last week they purchased a Ruger 10-22 carbine and a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun.  They now feel much better about having to drive a few hundred miles east to get to their son's property in New Mexico in case the collapse situation warrants it.

Before any of you chastize me for the selection of these guns not being a couple of black rifles,....well, this is what the couple is comfortable with......and remember the first rule of a gun fight,...have a gun...if the government allows it.

Forecasted Drought and Food Shortages Will Make the Collapse Much Worse

So what's new with a drought? Haven't we always had some sort of drought warning? Aren't we big enough as a country to mitigate drought effects? The answers Drought Forecasted

A double-barreled dose of bad news came out Thursday: Not only did the drought worsen over the last week, but it's likely to widen and intensify through the end of October, according to the seasonal outlook prepared by government forecasters.

"Unfortunately, all indicators (short and medium-term, August, and August-October) favor above normal temperatures," the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center said in its Seasonal Drought report."We don't see a reason to say it will improve," Kelly Helm Smith, a specialist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, told reporters. "I'm in the Midwest," she said, referring to her office at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, "it's really unpleasant."

The outlook noted that "a dramatic shift in the weather pattern" would be required "to provide significant relief to this drought, and most tools and models do not forecast this." Drought could take hold in the northern plains by October, the Climate Prediction Center added Moreover, last week saw a continued "downward spiral of drought conditions," according to the weekly report.

Adding to the drought concerns is Lester R. Brown, author of an article titled:  "The world is closer to a food crisis than most people realise".  He is the president of the Earth Policy Institute and also the author of Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity, due to be published in October

In the early spring this year, US farmers were on their way to planting some 96millon acres in corn, the most in 75 years. A warm early spring got the crop off to a great start. Analysts were predicting the largest corn harvest on record.

The United States is the leading producer and exporter of corn, the world's feedgrain. At home, corn accounts for four-fifths of the US grain harvest. Internationally, the US corn crop exceeds China's rice and wheat harvests combined. Among the big three grains – corn, wheat, and rice – corn is now the leader, with production well above that of wheat and nearly double that of rice.

The corn plant is as sensitive as it is productive. Thirsty and fast-growing, it is vulnerable to both extreme heat and drought. At elevated temperatures, the corn plant, which is normally so productive, goes into thermal shock.

As spring turned into summer, the thermometer began to rise across the corn belt. In St Louis, Missouri, in the southern corn belt, the temperature in late June and early July climbed to 100F or higher 10 days in a row. For the past several weeks, the corn belt has been blanketed with dehydrating heat.

Weekly drought maps published by the University of Nebraska show the drought-stricken area spreading across more and more of the country until, by mid-July, it engulfed virtually the entire corn belt. Soil moisture readings in the corn belt are now among the lowest ever recorded.

While temperature, rainfall, and drought serve as indirect indicators of crop growing conditions, each week the US Department of Agriculture releases a report on the actual state of the corn crop. This year the early reports were promising. On 21 May, 77% of the US corn crop was rated as good to excellent. The following week the share of the crop in this category dropped to 72%. Over the next eight weeks, it dropped to 26%, one of the lowest ratings on record. The other 74% is rated very poor to fair. And the crop is still deteriorating.

Over a span of weeks, we have seen how the more extreme weather events that come with climate change can affect food security. Since the beginning of June, corn prices have increased by nearly one half, reaching an all-time high on 19 July.

Although the world was hoping for a good US harvest to replenish dangerously low grain stocks, this is no longer on the cards. World carryover stocks of grain will fall further at the end of this crop year, making the food situation even more precarious. Food prices, already elevated, will follow the price of corn upward, quite possibly to record highs.

Not only is the current food situation deteriorating, but so is the global food system itself. We saw early signs of the unraveling in 2008 following an abrupt doubling of world grain prices. As world food prices climbed, exporting countries began restricting grain exports to keep their domestic food prices down. In response, governments of importing countries panicked. Some of them turned to buying or leasing land in other countries on which to produce food for themselves.

Welcome to the new geopolitics of food scarcity. As food supplies tighten, we are moving into a new food era, one in which it is every country for itself.

The world is in serious trouble on the food front. But there is little evidence that political leaders have yet grasped the magnitude of what is happening. The progress in reducing hunger in recent decades has been reversed. Unless we move quickly to adopt new population, energy, and water policies, the goal of eradicating hunger will remain just that.

Time is running out. The world may be much closer to an unmanageable food shortage – replete with soaring food prices, spreading food unrest, and ultimately political instability– than most people realise.

Gun Control Looming

I think I am less inclined then all of my friends and people I have worked with to buy into "conspiracy theories". A change of a few words,...a misperception,....or only hearing one side of the story or issue helps facilitate conspiracy stories. However, what was forwarded to me concerning our current adminstration's seeming dalliance with a concept called World Law really concerns me.

Most of us believe in three things:  1 - That we should not trust a government that does not trust us to own guns, and 2 - The U.S. constitution guarantees the right to own and bear guns. 

This right is necessary and central to the plans of all survivalists preparing for SHTF be it an economic collapse, total infrastructure failure or whatever label someone wants to put on The End Of The World As We Know It. 

A person I know who doesn't even own a gun sent me a link to a Lew Rockwell site referencing an article from Mac Slavo of SHTF Plan, a name all preppers and survivalists should recognize.

Five Words For the United Nations: FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS by Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan

In January of this year reports began surfacing that members of the United Nations were conspiring with American politicians to further erode the Second Amendment rights of the people of these United States: “In New York, right here on our own shores, we’ve got a Trojan horse. They won’t accept U.S. firearms policy. They want to take the decision away from the U.S. electorate and undermine our Constitution.” ~Ambassador Faith Whittlesey, US Delegate to UN Small Arms Conference, January 2012

While actions at the UN posed a serious threat to our right to bear arms, few acknowledged the legitimacy of the issue and fewer still had even heard anything about it. The Obama administration is now just a matter of weeks away from joining other foreign powers in the signing of the Arms Trade Treaty at United Nations.

While many will argue that the new treaty will not restrict gun ownership in America, 2nd Amendment proponents disagree and maintain that the new treaty could pave the way for an eventual nationwide gun grab. Dick Morris, who is spearheading a petition to stop Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the United States from signing the treaty, explains the inherent dangers within: …Obama is planning, with Hillary, a backdoor move to impose gun control on the United States. It’s totally outrageous.

You know, Obama has not pushed gun control during his administration – a notable absence for a liberal. But it’s because he was saving the best for last. Hillary is now negotiating a small arms treaty in the United Nations… The purpose of the small arms treaty is to stop small arms, which they define as pistols, handguns, rifles, assault weapons, even machine guns from being exported to other countries. … What Obama is doing with Hillary is to negotiate a treaty that would allegedly stop individual citizens and businesses from selling their arms overseas.

To do that each country would be obliged to set up its own system of registration, and controls, and inventory controls… It’s entirely a backdoor effort to force gun registration and eventually bans and restrictions with the act of the United States Congress – to do it with international treaty. One of the deadly parts about this is that when a treaty is signed and made binding in the United States it acquires the force of a Constitutional Amendment. Under the Supremacy Clause, every Congress and every state legislature has to honor that treaty, unless a Constitutional Amendment is passed to the contrary or unless all the other signatories let the U.S. out of the treaty.

Survival Firearms: Dot Scopes and Zeroing

Anonymous sent a comment on a prior article about Zeroing the M4 Carbine: ”To zero the scope, why not just keep the rear-flip-sight up and while maintaining sight alignment with the front sight, adjust the red dot to coincide with the sight alignment of the iron sights?”.

UrbanMan’s reply: What you are describing is actually how you do a mechanical zero on the dot scope before you head to the range to shoot live and adjust the scope zero from there. There are a many people who have zero’ed a lot more dot scopes than me but I have done my share. After I mount the scope, and with a rifle/carbine that have already been zero’ed with iron sights, I would do as you suggest:

With a weapon on a stable surface, I will flip up the BUIS (Back up Iron Sights) and looking through the rear sight using the smaller peep sight, I wll use the windage and elevation screws on the scope to put the top half of the dot on the top of the front sight. Again, this is a mechanical zero. You will still need to shoot live ammunition and make adjustments, mostly likely fairly small adjustments on the scope.

I received another question from Jer4421 asking ”If the EO Tech was a good scope and what reticle type I would choose.”

UrbanMan’s reply: I am aware that EO Tech has different reticles available, however I became comfortable with the circle dot reticle. Once you get used to something and get older, comfort is important.  I mainly use these three dot scope:  the EO Tech with the circle dot reticle; the standard single dot Aimpoint; and, the circle dot reticle of the Leupold CQT scope. 

However, I'd have to say I prefer the EO Tech’s scopes on a couple of my M-4’s. Both are Model 552 which are night vision compatible. I have the circle dot reticle with the 65 MOA circle and 1 MOA dot - see photo of this reticle at the top of this post.  If I had to buy another EO Tech, I would look very closely at the AR223 reticle, however I’m happy with the Model 552 and standard reticle. If you do not have a need for night vision compatibility, then you can probably save a hundred bucks or more going to the Model 512.

When I first got a Model 552 I remember being told the battery life was 70 hours. But I asked around since I received your question and 100 hours and then some seems more the norm. The EO Tech have a cut off or automatic turn off feature so in case you inadvertently leave the dot on it will turn off in 8 hours, or you can change that to 4 hours.

No matter what scope or reticle you use, the most important factor is competency born by many sweaty hours on the range making it second nature to mount the rifle/carbine, acquire a sight picture and engage your target accurately.  

But's it not just about accurate shooting.  Clearing stoppages, changing magazines, shooting from disadantaged positions,...recognizing cover and using it correctly,....and a host of other skills.  Good luck to you on your venture with dot scopes.    

America Heading Towards a Collapse

From an article titled America Heading Towards a Collapse Worse Than 2008 AND Europe! from Peter Schiff by Jeff Macke on Breakout.

According to CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Peter Schiff, the U.S. economy is heading for an economic crash that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. Stimulus programs can delay this day of reckoning, but only for so long and only at the expense of making the eventual meltdown much, much worse.

Schiff, who famously warned investors about the housing and financial crisis in his 2007 book Crash Proof, says the Fed's palliative efforts during the housing meltdown have made the next crisis inevitable. "We've got a much bigger collapse coming, and not just of the markets but of the economy," Schiff says in the attached clip (see video below).

"It's like what you're seeing in Europe right now, only worse." In this nightmare scenario detailed in The Real Crash: America's Coming Bankruptcy, the current economic pause is actually the beginning of a material slowdown or recession into year end.

At that point, the Federal Reserve will unleash a third round of Quantitative Easing — weakening the dollar without jump-starting the economy. As a result of dollar weakness, import prices rise, pressing the margins of corporate America.

Lower margins lead to heavy layoffs, sending millions of workers into unemployment during a time when they can least afford it. Banks fail, housing collapses, and taxes are raised in a futile effort to give the tapped-out government the capital to try yet more futile stimulus. "That's when it really is going to get interesting, because that's when we hit our real fiscal cliff, when we're going to have to slash — and I mean slash — government spending," says Schiff.

Those cuts will not be at all unlike the draconian austerity measures in Greece, with programs like Social Security and Medicare being dramatically cut or possibly disappearing entirely. The easiest way to put it, is that everything you don't think could possibly happen in America will come to be. "Alternatively, we can bail everybody out, pretend we can print our way out of a crisis, and, instead, we have runaway inflation, or hyper-inflation, which is going to be far worse than the collapse we would have if we did the right thing and just let everything implode," he offers.

So what should investors do to protect themselves? Schiff has three suggestions:

1. Get Out of Treasuries The U.S. dollar is going to get trashed in Schiff's scenario. Locking in a yield on a government 10-year bond of 1.5% is a paltry return in the first place. Should inflation tick up to even 5%, a level much lower than that seen in the early 1980s, bond owners would have 3.5% less buying power at the end of every year. If they go to sell the bond, they'll only find buyers at a much lower price than what they paid.

2. Own the Right Stocks With bonds and the dollar bearing the brunt of the pain, Schiff says stocks will outperform dramatically, provided you own the right ones. Exporters and multi-national corporations will benefit from a weak dollar. Better still would be to buy foreign stocks and avoid the U.S. entirely.

3. Buy Silver and Gold Schiff says the recent weakness in these precious metals is just a pause as we wait for the other shoe to drop. Most of those on Main Street haven't even taken positions yet in gold or silver. Once they start dropping bonds and looking for a place to hide, the price of these metals will soar. Are you preparing for a major U.S. market and economic meltdown?

Alt-Market Prepper's Site

Came across another preppers site previously unknown to me. I don't know, I may be the last Survivalist in the U.S. to know about it, but in case one or two of you don't, the title of the last article on the site, Americans Are Being Prepared For Full Spectrum Tyranny will take you there.

Alt-Market states that is an organization designed to help you (the prepper) find like-minded activists and preppers in your local area so that you can network and construct communities for mutual aid and defense. I think that local, careful recruitment to a prepared lifestyle provides much more OPSEC that on-line or otherwise non-local exposure on the internet.

It's not like you should be ashamed of being prepared for anyting from natural disasters to total economic collapse, but not every Tom, Dick and Jane needs to know about it.

Back to Alt-Market,....a lead in to the last article begins:

Totalitarian governments, like persistent forms of cancer, have latched onto the long history of man, falling and then reemerging from the deep recesses of our cultural biology to wreak havoc upon one unlucky generation to the next. The assumption by most is that these unfortunate empires are the product of bureaucracies gone awry; overtaken by the chaotic maddening hunger for wealth and power, and usually manipulated by the singular ambitions of a mesmerizing dictator. For those of us in the Liberty Movement who are actually educated on the less acknowledged details of history, oligarchy and globalized centralism is much less random than this, and a far more deliberate and devious process than the general unaware public is willing to consider.

Unfortunately, the final truth is very complex, even for us… ...

So, not an endorsement, just wanted readers to know about this site.

Rehearsals for Martial Law?

There is alot of talk across the internet and no doubt between people face to face about the possibility of a economic collapse and subsequent deployment of the military control or quell the projected anarchy resulting from tens ir not hundreds of millions of people rioting.

There was a story from last week about the Army, actually the Army Reserves, conducting training in residential streets and highways in St. Louis, Missouri using armored vehicles. This was certainly out of the ordinary as the Military has large facilities for treaining at urban environments and even paid role players to serve as the population.

So what scenarios could the military be training for? Is there a realism edge to be gained from working with live American citizens in real suburbs and urban areas? Or is this a rehearsal for some sort of collapse plan where the military conucts security and control operations?

This is troubling to me.  Unless we are invaded by a foreign power, the military has no role, other than a collective supporting role, in domestic issues.    

Glenn Beck has his own ideas on what the military strategy could be. Beck had a interview with retired Special Forces Lt. Gen Boykin and one of the unique considerations was Boykin saying it is worrisome "about these public trainings is the conditioning they have on the public to a military presence."

See the Interview below:

Debate on Survival Threat Groups

Since I posted the article on Racist Skinheads being a possible threat to survival in a infrastrucuture collapse, particularly a security decayed collapse environment, I have several comments posted and e-mail received debating, if in fact,  racists skinheads are anything to worry about.

My point in posting articles on street gangs, racists skinheads and other groups of fringe, radical or criminal elements as threats to our survival is simply that 1 - they are anti-socially and criminally prediposed, and 2 - are organized.

Organization is a big deal. Our survival in a post collapse world, from a inflationary/hyper- inflationary period to a full out infrastructure collapse, largely hinges on our ability to leverage teamwork. I applaud all of you lone survivors out there who plan and think you are going to "head for the hills" and live out of a Bug Out Bag, but the greatest majority of us need teams to survive.

That organization, from planning, to stockpiling, to providing security, to re-locating (Bugging Out) all accomplished by leveraging the resources and skills available from a group will make the difference.

Organization after the collapse will be much harder to do. Enter these organized threat groups. They are organized. Have chains of command and group rules. Have no reluctance to commit barbaric acts to continue their lifestyle. They probably have some useable common skills within their groups like mechanics, welding, electrical work, etc.  But their base skill is violence and lack of regard for human life.

During the precious first few days or weeks of a really giant collapse,...meaning a collapse where law enforcement and emergency forces are either over whelmed or otherwise ineffective,....these threat groups will be immmediately working to control more resources. Robberies, murders, home invasions, military armory thefts, etc., will skyrocket.

So again, yes all of these criminal groups, from common street gangs, to Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs to Racist Skinheads are threats to our survival especially those who choose to or be forced to "Bug In' in urban areas and adjacent suburban areas. The counter measures are knowing these threats, being prepared for security threats and having a survival team.

Urban Farming Supports Collapse Preparation

With unpredecented rises in food prices many people, including urban dwellers, are trying to reduce costs by growing their own food and bartering services or goods for food, and vice versa. The U.S. used to practically feed the world. Then we went from a large agricultural society to a manufacturing society now to an entitlement society, so the bits and pieces that we can see if people learning to take care of themselves, especially through these urban farming co-operatives are good news.

The simple and undeniable fact is that Long Range Survival Planning for the collapse has got to include the ability to grow your own food. 

The below is from an article titled Farmscape Brings Urban Agriculture to Los Angeles

In a dry and sunny city like Los Angeles, planting grass is one of the more useless ways to use your property. It takes a lot of water to grow and it's expensive—but beyond that, what's the point when the climate supports much more interesting flora, like succulents, and delicious ones, like fruits and vegetables?

A company called Farmscape is proving that there's enough of an appetite for farming on residential land to turn the proposition into a high-growth business. The less-than-four-year-old company has 12 full-time employees—including seven farmers who receive a living wage plus healthcare—and is looking to keep growing. So far they've installed more than 300 urban farms throughout the L.A. area and maintain 150 of them weekly. Projects range from a rooftop garden on a downtown Los Angeles highrise to small plots for families.

An exciting project in the works is a three-quarter acre-sized farm for a restaurant in the West San Fernando Valley. And the diversity of the projects is echoed by the diversity of their clients. "When we first started, we expected that our clients would be of a higher income level and would be two-parent working families," says Bailin. Instead, Farmscape has been delighted to build gardens for preschool teachers, single mothers, and institutions and businesses that want employee gardens as perks.

Bailin says the challenges of farming in Los Angeles are manifold. "You have to account for spaces that haven't had life or biodiversity for decades and then you kind of have to bring it back." The company uses raised beds to avoid contaminated soil and drip irrigation systems to provide water.

And their newest challenge? Running for office. The company has thrown its hat into the ring for the office of mayor of Los Angeles in the 2013 election, running on the platform of bringing back farms into the city. Bailin says it's an ironic way of questioning the bounds of "corporate personhood," extended to a corporation's right to free speech by the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United in 2010. "We’re testing the limit of what it is. If corporations are already deciding our politics by giving a bunch of money and lobbying, why not see if we can take out the middleman that would be the politician and make corporations the politician?"

It's a joke, of course, and the company will presumably never make it onto the ballot, but it's a clever way to get the word out about the company while making a statement. And perhaps this corporate candidate wouldn't be so bad anyway.

A related article on Urban Gardens:

Urban agriculture is not a new idea, but it’s being resurrected in cities throughout the country (and, for that matter, the world), in part because it’s one way of fighting childhood obesity, which, along with diabetes, is a serious health concern for children of all ages. The number of urban gardens in the United States has grown dramatically in such cities as Los Angeles, Detroit, Milwaukee, and San Francisco, where local governments and residents agree that these gardens are an important way to give children and residents access to healthy food like locally grown fresh produce.

Five Innovative Urban Gardening Programs in Los Angeles with links.

Urban Farming Food Chain Project
A partnership between Green Living Technologies and Emslie Osler Architects, this organization constructs “edible” food-producing wall panels and mounts them on buildings. The people who tend these vertical gardens use them for their own purposes (meaning produce is not sold commercially), but they currently have four locations in and around downtown Los Angeles.

Silver Lake Farms
Launched in 2004, Silver Lake Farms just began a Community Supported Agriculture program offering subscribers a weekly box of fresh produce, grown locally in Silver Lake. They also hold workshops on how to start your own vegetable garden, and sponsor a volunteer program that connects urban residents with local farms, community gardens, and homesteads to help out with some of the work.

Market Makeovers
Responding to poor access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their communities, South Los Angeles’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities initiative and Public Matters have teamed up to engage young people and convert corner stores into sources of healthy foods via an online toolkit.

Urban Homestead, Pasadena
An advocacy group for self-sufficient city living via farming and homesteading, this family-owned operation was started in the mid-1980s on a one tenth of an acre backyard plot. Most of the produce is sold to local restaurants and caterers.

Urban Farming Advocates
Formed in June 2009, Urban Farming Advocates is a group of individuals, small business owners, and organizations seeking to legalize urban farming in the City of Los Angeles. Their goal is to revise outdated ordinances that restrict people's freedom to use residential land for urban agriculture.

Survival Solutions from Solutions from Science

Solutions from Science, a long time provider of robust solar power generators such as the Power Source 1800 now offers many other items for the survivalist planning on the collapse.
 
Survival Foods, Seeds, Solar Power Solutions, Books, DVD's, Clothing, Crisis Cookers, and other Emergency supplies are available. The book store is pretty impressive and contains all the "how to" books a prepper would need, including one I found on harvesting and saving non-hybrid seeds.
 
One of their most interesting books is entitled "Christian Liberty or Martial Law" which unfortunately maybe be the only choices left to us as life as we know if is rapidly disintegrating right before our eyes. Anyway, check out and book mark this site and check back from time to time.
 
 


This notion of Martial Law is not some far out, whack job theory. With close to 50 million people, about one sixth of our population on some sort of government subsistence, and that number is growing every day, it is only a matter of time until the need for subsistence out grows the Government's ability to provide that subsistence. We will most likely see food riots in huge numbers, making the Occupy Wall Street movement look like family picnics. The government's only control measure will be martial law. I hope like hell this doesn't happen, but the forecast looks good.

Motorcycles Good for SHTF?

Mikali wrote and ask my opinion on motorcycles for SHTF use: "Hello Urbanman. What do you think about off road motorcycles for during SHTF? I think they would come in handy doing all sorts of things and not just running the Bug out. We could use them for tac recons, hunting trips, etc. Just saying."

UrbanMan replies:There advantages and disadvantages to motorcycles in my opinion. The military uses motorcycles for scout platforms, to recon routes and such. Also to take communications gear to higher terrain that can’t be accessed with larger four wheel drive vehicles. Motorcycles in past conflicts have been used as messengers. In law enforcement, motorcycles allow for patrolling of remote or otherwise inaccessible areas, or to rapidly move to a subject(s) location.

These are what I think are the common disadvantages and advantages of motorcycles for use in the collapse.

Advantages

· High Mobility. Motorcycles because of their narrow width and high clearance are much more mobile than four wheeled vehicles including All Terrain Vehicles.

· Economic Fuel Consumption. Motorcycles are much more fuel miserly than the common four wheel car,….with the possible exception new of the VW Diesel Jetta, which a couple people have reported 50+mph miles per gallon!

· Speed. Motorcycles are very quick both in flat out speed, but agility as well. May save you butt in egressing from a threat.

Disadvantages

· Maintenance intensive. I hated owning motorcycles because of their intensive maintenance requirements. Maybe be easy for a motorhead, but not for me. When I had government maintenance workers maintain and repairing my bikes, I made sure to smooze them from time to time. When I used commercial mechanical support,…..well you paid through the nose. I include tires in this maintenance category as a disadvantage.  I have treid the green slime that you pump into tires to seal punctures, and that never worked very well for us.  The canned Fix-a-Flat actually worked better as it also provided air to inflat the tire. 

· Noisy. Motorcycles are noisy so they are hard to hear over. This takes away one of your best threat detectors and that is your hearing.

· Substantial Skills Required. Not everyone can ride a motorcycle. Most people can be trained, but how much time and fuel are you going to have for that.

· Can’t Fight very well from the Motorcycle when moving. You generally have to have both hands on the machine when you are moving. You may be able to operate the motorcycle for short periods of time with one hand if you can shoot a handgun or operate a radio with the left hand, as most throttles are on the right hand side of the handlebars, but when maneuvering in rough terrain this would be very tough.

In closing Mikali, I choose not to procure or maintain motorcycles for SHTF. A couple of the guy on my team have ATV’s which we may use for specialty purposes. We can more easily carry two people on an ATV with the possibility of the passenger engaging threats, at least with a handgun.

Survival Bug Out Houses for the Collapse

I have a service which searches for and forwards to me links to specific real estate articles with key words. This is one of the collapse indicators I use for planning. However imagine my surprise when I was sent a link to an article about houses built for specific extreme temperatures. One of the factors in planning your secure Bug Out location is how you are going to heat and cool your living areas after the collapse of infrastructure.

As good as some solar panels are for recharging batteries and the fact that solar panels should be in everyone's survival equipment load list, they cannot power, by themselves, conventional HVAC systems. That largely leaves housing construction design and materials to bridge the gap.  Anyway a Yahoo article you can use.

Unrelenting winter nights and endless summer days. Temperatures that can plummet to 120 below or more. Snow, ice, and rock. There are few environments on earth more hostile than the frozen Antarctic wastelands. But even with winds of up to nearly 200 mph, it’s not impossible for people to survive in the coldest place on the planet. In fact, humans are able to live in almost every world climate, driest deserts and densest jungles included—and it helps if you’ve got the right kind of shelter.

With permanent bases from countries all over the world, there are a number of approaches to building design in the harsh Antarctic region. Construction company Misawa Homes, which built most of the Antarctic facilities for the Japanese government’s Showa Station, opted for single-shell housing technology — useful when trying to keep out some of the coldest temperatures on earth. On the other end of the climate spectrum, rainforests demand a much different approach to adaptive construction. One house in the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil, is specially built to its jungle environment. The Iporanga “tree house” stands three stories tall, is partially wrapped in glass walls, and is tightly nestled into the forest, with the trees all but scraping the windows. The house, with its modest use of concrete and steel, plays chameleon by blending into the leaves which surround it. Read on for more about these and other homes built for extreme climates:

Frozen Wasteland Cocoons East Ongul Island, Antarctica Outdoors.
The thermometer reads 80 below and the winds whirl at 120 mph. Indoors, it’s toasty warm. The ultimate in form following way behind function, these Antarctic boxes are also wrapped in a “single shell,” with features to withstand the most unforgiving climactic conditions on the planet. With a design based on the company’s wooden-panel adhesion system, the polar dwellings are built to take an estimated 100 years of Antarctic punishment.

Iporanga Jungle Tree House Near São Paulo, Brazil. 
Chimps have got it figured out: if you’re going to live in a rainforest, it’s better to be perched up in the trees. Brazilian architecture company Nitsche Arquitetos Associados designed this home in the thick forest outside São Paulo in 2006. Five bedrooms on the top level of this three-story home provide both a high lookout from which to survey the surrounding jungle and privacy due to the height. But the main level is unquestionably the main attraction of the home, with a hyper-modern living room, dining room and kitchen. Structural elements, such as I-beams, are as exposed as the residents within. Though much of the home is made of steel, glass and concrete, the house never feels out of place, thanks to the way in which outside foliage plays a central role in the design scheme.

Rondolino Residence Near Scotty's Junction, Nevada. 
Nottoscale, a San Francisco-based architectural company, used its own prefab building system to put together this one-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot desert house. Situated on a 40-acre lot, the home is completely dwarfed by its surroundings and looks every bit like the prefab home (with a modern sensibility) that it is. But the home isn’t the point – the location is. “Isolation is much of the beauty of the property,” says the firm’s website. Another beautiful aspect? Its environmental efficiency. The desert dwelling is heated with a hydronic radiant system and features high-performance insulation. The home’s minimalist approach includes a simple 900-square-foot deck.

Hof House Skakafjördur Fjord, Iceland.
Located 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, this sturdy home efficiently protects its residents from outside elements. Built on an estate that includes a church, barn and a cowshed, the home is built with natural and recycled construction materials such as cedar and concrete walls designed to visibly age according to the weather. Geothermal and solar sources heat the entirety of the home. The grass turf on the roof, which was salvaged from some of the ground on which the home was built, isn’t the only material the architects reused: stone from the old house was cut to pave ground surfaces outside the new one, and old telegraph poles were used for building windows. The home was designed by Icelandic architectural firm Studio Granda.

Aleutian Island Geothermal Bunker Atka, Alaska.

This eco-smart bunker is built to withstand the harsh Aleutian Island environment while using as much energy and water as it produces. Though the home doesn’t actually exist yet (it's still in the design phase) its ingenious design won the Living Aleutian Design Competition, which asked architects to design a home that was net-zero water and energy usage and made use of locally sourced materials. In an environment that brings frequent 100 mph winds and punishing rains, the concept home would hunker down against the elements, drawing heat from geothermal sources below, and energy from wind turbines that harness the elements. Architecture collective Taller Abierto won the contest in May, and along with it $35,000 plus the opportunity to follow up and actually build a home in Atka, Alaska.

Evaluating a Reader's SHTF Preps

I recently received this via e-mail: "Urbanman, please give me some feedback on my preps: For firearms I have: a Colt 5 shot 38 special snubnose and 400 rounds of ammunition; a Woodsman 22 LR with 4 magazines and two bricks of ammunition which is 1,000 rounds; a 12 gauge ITHACA riot slide action shotgun with 150 rounds of mixed buckshot and slug; a 1903 Springfield rifle and 120 rounds of .30-06 ammunition; a Mini-14 rifle with four magazines and over 400 rounds of ammunition. I have a extra custom gastank in my truck bed so I can carry an extra 40 gallons. I have enough canned goods to easily last 30 days plus I have enough survival food in dehyrdated packs to last six months. I have a good tent and some sleeping bags but my main plan is to head to my wife's uncle's farm is about 340 miles away if the chaos is bad enough. What do you think?"

UrbanMan's comments: HTM, I am posting your e-mail and using it to push the agenda that equipment and material does not readiness to survive SHTF make. It takes more than equipment, guns and food. It takes long range planning, and contingencies in case those plans are not executable. While you have a good start on a Survival battery of firearms, taken the initiative to make your vehicle capable of longer road time, are on the way to a decent amount of stored food, and have a Bug Out location (Uncle's farm) which is probably a rural area reducing threats from a population gone mad, I don't have enough information to render a good opinion. Not do I want to know more and you should protect information (practice OPSEC) about your capabilities, preps and planning.

However, I would ask these questions to provoke thought on your end:

How many routes do you have to the farm? Have you thought about mechanical or other failures on your truck which would force you on foot? If so, could you get to the farm via other means? Have you thought about caching some supplies along the route and at the farm? Can you get everything you need into/onto your truck (in a hurry) to take with you?

Who else would show up at the farm? Is the Uncle and wife's family also prepping? Are they as prepared as you?

Is there a full year water source at the farm? Can you grow crops there? If so, do you have a stockpile of non-hybrid seeds? Can you build a greenhouse and grow some crops during cold weather months? Have you considered how you would store your harvest, such as canning?

What about your stocks of first aids items,..bandages, disinfectants, anti-infection creams, medical tape or cobain wrap, etc.

Is there sufficient hand tools at the farm? What about common tool sets and a decent supply of nails, screws and bolts?

Do you have a power supply at the farm? Such as solar or wind generated power for small power needs like re-charging batteries, running low wattage lights?

Do you keep any cash on hand for immediate purchases before the U.S. dollar is no longer acceptable? Do you have any precious metals such as silver or gold?

Concerning the firearms,....I would get a few more Mini-14 mags,...I would have much more ammunition on hand, especially for the Mini-14. Neither handgun you have are really suitable as a defensive handgun, but the first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun.

Don't take offense to my questions as they are given to create thought,.....we can all get better and to continue getting more prepared is the name of the game. Good luck.

Should I Buy Gold for SHTF?

I recently had a friend of mine, not in my immediate survival group, but a prepper none the less, ask me if he should buy some Gold, and if so, should he buy one ounce rounds, or smaller weights. He had around $6,000 to spend. Part of his question was should he wait awhile as Gold and Silver prices seemed to be going down.

I told him that trying to time the market now would require some constant observation and some luck. Sure, Gold and Silver may yet go down more, in light of some good economic news the last few weeks, but that "good" economic news was really just "not as bad of news as usual".

I told him that while the Greece, Italy and Spain economic problems seemed to have leveled off, we will certainly see more bad economic news in the very near future. I told him to watch for more banks defaulting, instability in the U.S. and Foreign exchanges, higher U.S. deficit and national debt, worsening unemployment, lower oil imports, higher oil prices, higher inflation and downward spiral of the housing market all would be factors signaling a rise in precious metals.

This conversation was about two weeks ago and now we are seeing the following headlines:

World stocks fall amid economic reports from the largest economies forecasting a global downturn.

Job growth much lower than expected and fears of heightening unemployment amid reports that applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months.

Housing gloom ahead as sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5 percent in May and are forecsted to be even lower in June and July.

Eurpoean leaders are trying to work out a solution to a spreading financial crisis across the European Union and global lessening confidence in a solution and the value of the Euro.

Major banks being downgraded. Moody's lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.

So yes, the time is right to buy Precious Metals. However I would not put all of the $6,000 into Gold. I would spread it out with Silver bullion and maybe some junk silver as well. All this would depend upon how much precious metals I already had and any other holes or lack of essential equipment, material and supplies in my Collapse Preparation Plan.

Maybe one ounce of Gold, 4 one-quarter Gold rounds, $1,000 into Silver rounds and the rest in long term food maybe a good choice for my friend as I know he primarily focusing on survival guns and gear for SHTF and is well preparaed in that aspect.

Him having some viable precious metals for bartering and some long term food would also possibly benefit me as he is one of the families on a short list my survival group keeps of possible recruits or straphangers we would accept into our group as his ethics, morals and skills are known to us. Anyway, if you don't have very much or any precious metals at all, then what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, consider this an invitation.

Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

Prepared Society, which is a emergency preparation and survival forum, asked me to notify readers about their new chicken forum for people who are keeping chickens.

I am not currently keeping chickens, although two other members of my survival team are. I have enjoyed eggs from their efforts and during a collapse fresh eggs are great food as well as a barter item. 

I do however have a pre-made chicken hootch still in the box as well as some other materials on hand so if I have enough time when the warning signs for the collapse are imminient, or if survival team members arrive at my site, I can house and raise the chickens.

Here is the link to Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

U.S. and World On Edge of Collapse

The bandwagon is getting more crowded week by week as financial experts joint the chorus on an
impending world and U.S. financial collapse.   Paul Krugman and Chris Martenson are among
prominent analysts.

The latest is the former co-manager of the GLG Global Macro Fund, Raoul Pal,  who believes  that a
global banking collapse and massive defaults will bring about “the biggest economic shock the world
has ever seen” — and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

China, for one nation is trying to make the U.S. dollar collapse.  They are buying not only the world's
gold. but the gold mines as well, to prop up their currency, the Yuan.   Their attempt to corner the
world's gold market is to weaken, then replace the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.   The
dollar has been weakening abruptly since 2010.  And not only China is wanting the dollar to collapse,
the U.S. gives refuge to George Soros who is also actively seeking the U.S. dollar's demise.  Figure out that crap?!?  

If the Dollar ceases being the world's reserve currency, the demand for dollars would evaporate leaving
a glut in dollars and therefore the value or buying power would plummet resulting in high inflation
or hyper-inflation.  You think food and gas prices are high now?

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, funded and/or financially supported largely by
leftist/liberal groups such as Open Society Institute (now called the Open Society Foundation), Media
Matters, The Tides Foundation, Alliance for Global Justice, Adbusters Media Foundation, will be an ant
hill compared to the mountain of protests and civil unrest is the dollar collapses leaving well over a hundred million people living hand to mouth,....and being really pissed about it. 

Adding to the gloom is the National debt.  If countries continue dumping or accelerating the getting rid of
U.S. treasury notes then the dollar devalues and the interest payments alone on the $16 trillion dollar
debt could go from just under $500 billion annually to over $1 Trillion.  If this happens, the dollar will
automatically cease being the world's reserve currency and inflation/hyper-inflation will happen.   You
can bet on it.  If you are reading this site, you probably already are betting on it.     

Is The Army To Be Used for Domestic Enforcement?

This was written by Joe Wolverton in The New American, titled "Use Army for Domestic Enforcement"

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and
carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs.

The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions.  In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from domestic disasters, including terrorist attacks.

Odierno writes:
Where appropriate we will also dedicate active-duty forces, especially those with niche skills and equipment, to provide civilian officials with a robust set of reliable and rapid response options.

That’s right. Should the sheriff suspect that a particular citizen in his county poses a threat to security and feels he doesn’t have the proper “skills and equipment” to deal with the situation, he can just call out the U.S. Army and bring a “rapid response” force that is robust enough to eliminate the problem.

These are not the musings of an unknown academic written in an obscure journal of little importance.  These are the black-and-white plans for “building a flexible force” as laid out by the man in charge and published for all the world to read by the people who may have put him there.

In order to justify this new (and illegal) mission for the Army, General Odierno points to three “major changes” that have precipitated the re-tasking of the troops: First, “declining budgets due to the country’s worsened fiscal situation; second, “a shift in emphasis to the Asia-Pacific region; and third, a “broadening of focus from counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and training of partners to shaping the strategic environment, preventing the outbreak of dangerous regional conflicts, and improving the army’s readiness to respond in force to a range of complex contingencies worldwide.”

There are so many things wrong with every one of these points that each deserves its own article focused solely on its deconstruction. Unfortunately, there is only so much space and each of these considerations has one critical flaw in common: no constitutional authority for any of it.

Start with the woeful economic state of American affairs. Odierno lists this first among his unholy trinity of reasons the army must “transition” from its traditional role to one with a wider domestic and international scope.

Perhaps it has escaped General Odierno’s attention, but the decline of America’s economic fortunes may be in some significant part tied to the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that siphon about $13 billion per month from the U.S. Treasury. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, estimates are that Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion in military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care spread over three operations: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

There is a certain macabre irony to the claim by a military leader that his troops are forced to adapt to
stringent budget considerations partially brought about by the use of his troops as the tip of America’s
sword of empire.

General Odierno’s third “major change” is the need to use the Army to solve complex international
conflicts. Again, these conflicts and the solutions to them are made more complex by the fact that there
is not a single syllable in the Constitution that grants the President or Congress the authority to deploy
American armed forces to work out the world’s difficult dilemmas.

On this point, regarding the rules to govern the creation and governing of a federal army, the Constitution says very little. In Article I, Section 8, Congress is authorized to “raise and support Armies” and to “make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.” That’s it.

That paucity of information has been magnified by the Council on Foreign Relations and their members in positions of power to include the use of the Army in ways and means that would seem unimaginable even to the most martial of our Founding Fathers.

One of the unconstitutional missions advocated by Odierno and the CFR is the use of the U.S. Army as
“a critical guarantor of stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” This is one of the many new “assigned missions” promoted by Odierno in his Foreign Affairs article.

This echoes the pronouncement by his Commander-in-Chief made in Australia last November:
This is the future we seek for the Asia-Pacific — security, prosperity and dignity for all. That’s what we stand for. That’s who we are. That’s the future we will pursue in partnership with allies and friends and
with every element of American power.

That is to say, General Odierno and President Obama believe that deterring aggression against our
allies in Asia and the Pacific trumps any constitutional stricture on the appropriate use of the Army.

There is nothing it seems that will stand in the way of our Army being placed at the disposal of foreign
princes and presidents, provided they appreciate their resulting status as satraps of the American
Emperor.

Not to worry; other provinces of the emerging American empire are accounted for in the Odierno/CFR
plan.

“The posture of the U.S. military in the Middle East is critical to maintaining regional stability there,” writes Odierno, again without any noticeable sense of irony.

Is the general privy to some reports of stability in the Middle East kept secret from the rest of us? There is no end to the media’s reminders of the instability in the Middle East. In fact, it is this very unsettled
foundation upon which the need for ongoing American military presence there is built.

In other words, the Middle East is stable because of the Army, the Middle East will remain stable only so long as the Army remains on permanent patrol, and if we were to completely abandon our posts, the region would devolve into outright — instability. Thus is the quality of the reasoning demonstrated by those with command and control of the armed forces of the United States.

One of the timeliest tenets of the Odierno/CFR proposal is the integration of “cyberspace capabilities into our tactical and operational units.” According to an article published last Friday in the New York Times:

From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.

For the CFR it seems the message from the Obama administration is ask and ye shall receive.  Lest there remain any doubt as to America’s resolve, Odierno wants our nation’s enemies (foreign and domestic) to understand that we are not afraid to “compel capitulation.” Should those “potential adversaries” be American, moreover, Odierno promises that the Army will “be ready to decisively achieve American ends, whatever they may be.”

Finally, we will, Odierno declares, demonstrate “our country’s commitment to global security.”  Sadly, Americans know this too well, as there are rows and rows of white headstones and flag-draped coffins already demonstrating the seriousness of that commitment.

Apocalypse Fairly Soon?

Apocalypse Fairly Soon? That is the title of an article posted on the New York Times by Paul Krugman. Krugman writes about the possible fall of Euro, beginning in Greece, then making its way through the other financially unstable countries. This impacts in the U.S. as Europe holds a alot of our debt and our banks are holding European debt as well.

Krugman’s article: Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams. We’re not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. And the costs — both economic and, arguably even more important, political — could be huge.

This doesn’t have to happen; the euro (or at least most of it) could still be saved. But this will require that European leaders, especially in Germany and at the European Central Bank, start acting very differently from the way they’ve acted these past few years. They need to stop moralizing and deal with reality; they need to stop temporizing and, for once, get ahead of the curve. I wish I could say that I was optimistic. The story so far:

When the euro came into existence, there was a great wave of optimism in Europe — and that, it turned out, was the worst thing that could have happened. Money poured into Spain and other nations, which were now seen as safe investments; this flood of capital fueled huge housing bubbles and huge trade deficits. Then, with the financial crisis of 2008, the flood dried up, causing severe slumps in the very nations that had boomed before. At that point, Europe’s lack of political union became a severe liability.

Florida and Spain both had housing bubbles, but when Florida’s bubble burst, retirees could still count on getting their Social Security and Medicare checks from Washington. Spain receives no comparable support. So the burst bubble turned into a fiscal crisis, too. Europe’s answer has been austerity: savage spending cuts in an attempt to reassure bond markets. Yet as any sensible economist could have told you (and we did, we did), these cuts deepened the depression in Europe’s troubled economies, which both further undermined investor confidence and led to growing political instability.

And now comes the moment of truth. Greece is, for the moment, the focal point. Voters who are understandably angry at policies that have produced 22 percent unemployment — more than 50 percent among the young — turned on the parties enforcing those policies. And because the entire Greek political establishment was, in effect, bullied into endorsing a doomed economic orthodoxy, the result of voter revulsion has been rising power for extremists.

Even if the polls are wrong and the governing coalition somehow ekes out a majority in the next round of voting, this game is basically up: Greece won’t, can’t pursue the policies that Germany and the European Central Bank are demanding. So now what? Right now, Greece is experiencing what’s being called a “bank jog” — a somewhat slow-motion bank run, as more and more depositors pull out their cash in anticipation of a possible Greek exit from the euro.

Europe’s central bank is, in effect, financing this bank run by lending Greece the necessary euros; if and (probably) when the central bank decides it can lend no more, Greece will be forced to abandon the euro and issue its own currency again. This demonstration that the euro is, in fact, reversible would lead, in turn, to runs on Spanish and Italian banks.

Once again the European Central Bank would have to choose whether to provide open-ended financing; if it were to say no, the euro as a whole would blow up. Yet financing isn’t enough. Italy and, in particular, Spain must be offered hope — an economic environment in which they have some reasonable prospect of emerging from austerity and depression. Realistically, the only way to provide such an environment would be for the central bank to drop its obsession with price stability, to accept and indeed encourage several years of 3 percent or 4 percent inflation in Europe (and more than that in Germany).

Both the central bankers and the Germans hate this idea, but it’s the only plausible way the euro might be saved. For the past two-and-a-half years, European leaders have responded to crisis with half-measures that buy time, yet they have made no use of that time.

Now time has run out. So will Europe finally rise to the occasion? Let’s hope so — and not just because a euro breakup would have negative ripple effects throughout the world. For the biggest costs of European policy failure would probably be political. Think of it this way: Failure of the euro would amount to a huge defeat for the broader European project, the attempt to bring peace, prosperity and democracy to a continent with a terrible history. It would also have much the same effect that the failure of austerity is having in Greece, discrediting the political mainstream and empowering extremists.

All of us, then, have a big stake in European success — yet it’s up to the Europeans themselves to deliver that success. The whole world is waiting to see whether they’re up to the task. What can U.S. preppers do to protect themselves? The same thing we have been doing. Stock food for the possibility/probability of inflated food prices and diminished supply, and, protect against inflation/hyper-inflationary prices and/or bank runs/reduced monetary supply by having some cash on hand, and ensuring that we have some precious metals (gold and silver).

The Apocalypse Survival Bag

Glenn Beck has long been advocating the stocking or food and the buying of gold to help a family get through a economic collapse or greater collapse of society. The risks or the problem with advice from the wealthy is that their preps are often "top shelf" and their general advice is coming from a lack of experience.

However, I welcome any and all people getting into the "advocating preps" arean as this can only make the possibility of a rebound after a collapse better. From an article on the Blaze, titled "Survive and Thrive": You Won‘t Believe What’s in this Apocalypse Survival Bag, author Liz Klimas covers a Bug Out bag from Uncrate.

The Article

Uncrate, a magazine “for guys who love stuff,” has quite the all-in-one survival kit that it says has everything you may need to not only “survive” but “thrive.” But is it really the motherload of survival kits?

Some have thoughts for modifying it. First, here’s all it lists:
Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit ($40).
Ontario SP16 SPAX Firefighter Axe ($60).
Steripen Adventurer Opti UV Water Purifier with Solar Charging Case ($120).
Leatherman New Wave Multi-Tool ($60).
MSR MiniWorks Microfilter ($90).
Survival Seed Vault ($38).
Adventure Medical Fundamentals Kit ($110).
MSR Packtowl UltraLite($10 – $30).
Snow Peak Titanium Spork ($9).
Paisley Cotton Bandanas ($6).
Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit ($49).
McNett Gear Aid Tenacious Tape ($1 – $15).
PROKNOT Outdoor Knots ($5).
DMM ALPHA Quickdraw Holster ($28).
Suunto Global Compass($63).
MSR Titan Pot ($112).
Sierra Designs Tent Stakes ($10).
Guyot Designs Bowl and Cup Set ($13 – $20).
Petzl Tikka Headlamp ($53).
Swedish Firesteel Scout Model ($6 – $20).
COGHLANS Emergency Tinder Kit ($5).
American Silver Eagle Coin in Air-Tite Capsule ($39).
Cold Kukri Machete ($30).
BIC Disposable Classic Lighter ($7).
UTG Elite Tactical Leg Holster ($11).
Smith Abrasives Diamond Combination Thumb Guard Micro Tool ($29).
Type III Paracord ($12).
Gregory Mountain Products Tarne Backpack ($140).
Mammut Supernova Climbing Rope ($150).
iOSAT Potassium Iodide Tablets ($8).
Gregory Accessories Raincover ($30).
Etón SCORPION Solar Powered Weather Radio ($50).
Mossberg 500 Pump-Action Shotgun ($500).
Hennessy Explorer Deluxe A-Symmetrical Hammock ($177).
MTM Survivor Dry Box ($15).
Mountain Hardwear Phantom Sleeping Bag ($290 – $365).
Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme Thermolite Liner($59).
HK P2000 Pistol ($941). Hydrocodone ($TBD).
Ciprofloxacin ($TBD).
Atovaquone($TBD).
Shotgun Shells ($TBD).
9mm Bullets ($TBD).

Given an average cost for the items priced "TBD", the entire Bug Out Bag comes to at least $3,500. Comments from my 5 minute analysis comments: Add some Aspirin; Get rid of the Hammock; Who would pay $941 for an H&K P2000? - save $400 and buy a Glock;

Not much food - add some Main Stay Bars, some dehydrated soup, bullion cubes and salt; Do you really need the climbing rope? For $7 you be able to buy a handful of Bic lighters; I would reduce the size and expense of the fishing equipment; the Ontario Axe or the Kukri - not both;

Add a short fixed bladed knife and a folder; $500 is excessive for a Mossberg Shotgun; Ditch the Thermolite liner and add a couple of military surplus ponchos;

The author says that although this “Apocalypse PAK” or “Bug-Out Bag” is well-equipped, fans of Uncrate’s Facebook had some thoughts on the bag. For one, they are upset that even though its website uses the words “stuffed into one bag,” there doesn’t appear to be a way to actually purchase it all together in the manner it is advertised — at least not yet.

Others have said it has too many duplicate or unnecessary items that would add up to too much weight. Even with some suggestions of what the pack should get rid of or add, it still has more than 130 likes in less than 24 hours.

Earlier this year, author Brad Thor and Barrett Moore were on GBTV to discuss how to protect your identity and what you need to “prepare for a collapse.” Check out the clip. I like the quote: "We live in a 7-11 syndrome,...that is two generations of people who have only ever known 7-11 to be open 24/7 and the shelves stocked 24/7......"



 

The Day the Economic Collapse Started

A well put together 7 minute video on You Tube titled "The Day The Dollar Died", offers fictional but realistic look at what we could see shortly. All the pieces of the puzzle are in place and we are moving towards what the video describes.

I would have liked to see the video expand a bit on the food shortages and civil unrest that will be a result of the Death of the Dollar, but again this video is only Day One of the Dollar Collapse. The video explain how the Oil and Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC) will stop trading Oil in U.S> Dollars furthering the economic collapse that we will see in this country.

Perhaps one of the best lines in the video below is: "Educate yourself before time runs out." Go to http://inflation.us/ and sign up for thier newsletter as one way to edcuate and help prepare yourself. Good luck everyone,.....we are going to need it,...but as Vince Lombardi said "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Know Your Survival Threat- Racists Skinheads

I think alot of us worry about a substantial collapse that brings security destabilization to our cities and
suburbs.   One of the larger threats are already organized groups, usually criminal in nature,  and
based on their organization along racial lines are well organized and well armed. 

I have previously written about street gangs, which may be part of national organizations, they are
regionally or locally bound.  

Another group to be aware of are the Racist Skinheads.  Organizing since the mid 1980's, the Racists Skinheads and alike groups such as the Aryan Nation have been rising in membership for 10 years and now have over 133 separate skinheads chapters across the country. 

Somewhat simlar to Outlaw Motorycle Gangs, Racist Skinheads represent a big threat not just to
miniorities but to all groups that are weaker than them especially in a SHTF where normal security
mechanism such as local and federal law enforcement are over whelmed or not effective.

Location, physical defenses, well equipped survival team, and good tacticial SOP's are your counter -measure for highly mobile and violent groups like the Racist Skinheads.  But first it starts with being able to recognize their members and know their tactics. 

For an education in Racist Skinheads, watch the short video below. 

Wargaming a Good Tool

I received this e-mail from "John": "Urbanman, like your info. me and my friends discuss prepping all the time. We have five of us in our hunting and survival group, but of course we expect to have all sorts of relatives bust our group when the time comes. That's cool, because we're ready for it. We have a farmhouse belonging to one of guy's grandmas about a mile and half out of town. That's our meeting point and security point. We plan on staying here as long as we can maybe forever because we have woods and two water ponds. After we hunt or shoot we have a practice of dicussing scenarios. The last one was two weeks after SHTF. If we go into town to see what is going on, or maybe look at a couple of spots where solar panels. It's a no brainer if we have cell phone service, but may not so we may have to go into town to look around and see what's available plus the solar panels would come in handy. What do you think? Call me John if you write this."

UrbanMan replies: John, thanks for writing. It's a good routine to get into talking about scenarios with your group. It can help identify areas where you disagree and need to come to a resolution about plans and protocols. It can also help identify equipment, material and even skill sets gaps that can be fixed before you are doing it for real.

This game of "what if'ing" is called wargamming. If you were leaving your secure site to conduct a patrol into town, you would need to have clear cut objectives,...a mission if you will. Such as making contact with selected town residents to get an situational update; procure any needed items, especially food and fuel. And even if you are only going 1.5 miles, you need to plan at least the primary route using the terrain to your advantage for cover and concealment.

Some principles from which to plan your patrols, be it the scenario into town or a longer security or forage type patrols:

Control. Sometimes simplicity is the key to controlling a patrol and the actions. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for patrolling, arm and hand signals, reaction drills, crossing danger areas, and more, helps the patrol operate as one team and make control easier.

Security. During a patrol, security is achieved through choosing routes that provide the least chance of contact with bad guys, as well as give you cover and concealment, especially on approach to the target or the tentative observation/ listening post. Good employment of light, noise and litter discipline also helps the patrol stay undetected.

Communications. This covers radio communications to visual signals. Consider recongition signals and distress or duress signals, and code words. Use brvity codes for radio communications. Have scheduled communications contacts or windows, however even at only a mile and a half, FRS/GMRS type radios will not have the range.

Planning. Contingencies,......contingencies,........contingencies,......use PACE planning. Ensure everyone, even the guys remaining, know all contingency plans,...situations like if the patrol is ambushed or the secure site is attacked.....where you emergency rally point is,.......this list is endless but needs to be considered so the patrol operates with backup plans. As far as the solar panels. I am not advocating conspiracy to commit theft, but in a very decayed world without law enforcement or order of any type, I too would consider "requisitioning" available solar panels to hook into my home power grid.