How the Stock Market Almost Crashed

And of course, if the Stock Market did collapse, even from a Cyber Attack, it could be the catalyst for the general economic- societal collapse that would plunge this country into chaos.

How elite hackers (almost) stole the NASDAQ

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/how-elite-hackers-almost-stole-the-nasdaq/

In 2010, elite hackers, most likely from Russia, used at least two zero-day vulnerabilities to penetrate the computer network operated by Nasdaq Stock Market, a hack that allowed them to roam unmolested for months and plant destructive malware 
designed to cause disruptions, according to a media report published Thursday.

The intrusion initially caught the attention of officials inside the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and departments of Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security for two reasons, Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Michael Riley
reported in an article headlined How Russian Hackers Stole the Nasdaq. 

One, it appeared to be the work of hackers sponsored by Russia or another powerful nation state.

Two, far from the typical espionage campaigns that merely siphon out secret data, the malware involved in the attack contained what early on appeared to be a digital bomb that could cause serious damage.

Riley's 3,100-word cover article traces the resulting federal investigation, which also involved the FBI, Secret Service, the National Cyber security and Communications Integration Center, and on at least three occasions, briefings provided to President
Barack Obama.

Ultimately, analysis of the malware showed its capabilities were less destructive than earlier believed, but there was still cause for concern. As ARS reported last year, it came around the same time that five eastern European men allegedly breached networks belonging to Nasdaq and at least seven other financial institutions.

According to federal prosecutors, one of the suspects, upon gaining persistent control over the world's second biggest stock exchange, proclaimed "NASDAQ is owned."

"While the hack was successfully disrupted, it revealed how vulnerable financial exchanges—as well as banks, chemical refineries, water plants, and electric utilities— are to digital assault," Riley wrote of the 2010 campaign. "One official who experienced the event firsthand says he thought the attack would change everything, that it would force the US to get serious about preparing for a new era of conflict by computer. He was wrong."

UrbanMan's comment: What would a cyber initiated attack on the stock market mean? It would certainly cause a panic on the banks. A shutdown of banking transactions, including ATM's and debit card purchases, even credit cards. This means that there would be 40 -100 million people hungry, pissed off and likely armed rosaming around on Day Two, maybe Day Three. Even if the cyber attack damage is fixed within a short time,....3 to 7 days, there would be chaos and anarchy on our streets and in our neighborhoods. I hope you have cash on hand, at least some silver rounds and coins stored, firearms for protection and water-food for sustanence.

The UN Is Preparing to Impose Martial Law On the US

This is an article by Dave Hodges, titled "The UN Is Positioning to Lock Down the US" and published on another site as "The UN Is Preparing to Impose Martial Law On the US", as the word "martial law" spins people up.

Urban Man's Comments: This title stood out for me as I am currently reading the excellent Survivalist series by A. American. The fourth book as recently published and the entire series now includes these titles: Going Home, Surviving Home, Escaping Home and Forsaking Home.

This series prostelizes a collapse of the United States where DHS emerges as the national power, building "refugee camps" where Americans are brutalized and forces into hard, manual labor and where the words freedom or liberty don't mean a damn thing. Can it happen? Essentially, anything is possible when the power and other utilities grid is down for the count.

I think A. American's series is the best series in the Survivalists genre. Realistic as far as what you could expect, and, instructional as you can see potential solutions to the problems that arise in the books. And isn't that why we read these novels? To see problems and situations and ask ourselves what would we do?

While, I do not subscribe to Mr. Hodges fears of a U.N. occupation force enforcing martial law some of the supporting facts either support his hypothesis or are being manipulated to support, namely the purging of the military by the Executive Office, support of the UN small arms (gun ban) treaty which appears to be happening somewhat. As far as FEMA purchases I cannot determine the validity of these.

The UN Is Preparing to Impose Martial Law On the United States?

I have been writing that my military sources tell me that their greatest fears are beginning to become realized because the United States will be, in the relatively near future, this country will be under martial law and the bulk of the occupation force will be comprised by foreign troops operating under the flag of the United Nations. Under the heading, “Hiding in plain sight”, the United Nations is advertising for the following position:

Posting Title: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Officer, P4 Job Title Code: DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIBATION AND REINTEGRATION OFFICER
Department/Office: Department of Peacekeeping Operations
Duty Station: New York
Job Description: A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration or related area. Experience working within peacekeeping, peace-building or development programs operations is desirable. Experience with small arms control, conflict/post-conflict crisis management, economic recovery is desirable. Experience coordinating multiple partner agencies, funds or programs is desirable.

Analysis of the Job Description

Peacekeeping is normally the euphemism reserved for gun confiscation and population subjugation. If there is any doubt to the veracity of this claim, the following phrase “Experience with small arms control“, should remove any doubt as to what is coming. Further this job description uses phrases such as “demobilization“. Further the phrase “reintegration” is also significant. By definition, what is a re-education camp designed for? Quite simply put, it is designed for reintegration back into society. Back into society from where? This question can be answered with a pair of four letter words, FEMA Camp.

No doubt that some people, wanting to remain in a state of denial, will ignore the term used in the UN job advertisement, “small arms control“, which is significant since because we know that Secretary of State, John Kerry, illegally signed the UN gun ban treaty representing an unconstitutional end run around the Second Amendment. What is highly significant is that nobody seems to be talking with regard to this illegitimate imposition of foreign troops on our soil is represented in the phrase “conflict/post conflict management“! What conflict/post conflict management? Conflict management is another euphemism reserved for one of two possibilities. First, this implies there will be a civil war.

With over 260+ senior military officers fired by Obama for not embracing the future need to fire on American citizens, speaks clearly to this point.

Ask yourself, what would be the one thing that this administration could do that would guarantee a violent response from many of the people? That one thing would be to start seizing private guns. Foreign troops operating under the UN flag. Obama is in the midst of purging the military leadership who will not indiscriminately fire upon American citizens who would resist having their Second Amendment rights obliterated by this present administration. Secondly, in order to create the manufactured need to impose martial law, the administration would need a pretext. I have been covering the pretext for nearly a year. In fact, the pretext has been rehearsed repeatedly since last fall.

Rehearsing for Martial Law

Last fall, FEMA, DHS and select foreign entities extensively rehearsed for the following contingencies in the following list of list of the preparedness and disaster drills planned and carried out over a six week period:

1. FEMA purchase orders for over $14.2 million for MREs and heater meals to be delivered to Region III by October 1st, 2013.
2. FEMA purchase orders for 22 million pouches of emergency water to be delivered to Region III by October 1st, 2013.
3. FEMA purchase orders for $13.6 million for MREs and heater meals to be delivered to Austin, TX. by October 1st, 2013.
4. $11 million in antibiotics to be delivered to FEMA region III by October 1st ordered by CDC
5, Nine-week training course for UN Peacekeepers in CONUS to learn Urban Warfare, English, and US weapons systems beginning late July for 386,000 troops to be completed by October 1st 6. Great Shakeout Drill Scheduled for October 17, 2013
7. More Than 1,000 Banks Plan National Cyber-Attack Drill Oct. 16-17, Oct. 23-24
8. Quantum Dawn’ Is a Cyber-Attack Bank Drill –
9. GridEx2 Nov. 13-14

The Grid EXs drill was the most concerning of these drills because it rehearsed and EMP attack upon our grid and estimates at the time forecasted a 90% mortality rate. in America. following such an event within two years.

The most telling part of these drills is that they all have in common the need to impose strict martial law in which the tenets of EO 13603 will come into play.

Last fall, I expressed serious concerns over so many of these drills taking place in such a short period of time. I raised the question of martial law arising from any one of these events going hot. In hindsight, I think I was too close to the truth as to what is coming because even the Russian media invited me on a news show that is distributed in New York City and Washington DC, as well as in 35 other countries.

On October 28, 2013, I was contacted by reporter and producer, Victoria Mashkova, from the Voice of Russia (formerly Radio Moscow), and was invited on to their radio program to discuss the possibility of martial law coming to America. I accepted and in the early morning hours I participated in a 10 minute interview.

Inside of the United States today, there are untold numbers of Russian troops for which I have received reports of sightings from first-hand witnesses. It is quite apparent that Russian troops will be used as a UN force whose purpose is gun confiscation, American citizen detention and Lord knows what else when martial law is finally declared.

The Russians have a vested interest to conceal their true intentions related to why they have thousands of troops inside of our country. As I lay out the events connected to the interview it will become increasingly clear that I was invited to appear on VOR to completely discredit the notion that America would be going into martial law.

Now, if I was a merely some crazed conspiracy theorist, this Russian version of the mainstream media would just simply ignore me. However, when they go out of their way to discredit my views as it relates to them, they clearly have something to hide and were operating from a state-sponsored agenda.

Voice of Russia Attacked Dave Hodges to Conceal Russian Participation In Martial Law Preparations

After inviting me to appear on the VOR, the producer, Victoria Maskova, had requested a bio which I provided as detailed below:

“I am a retired college basketball coach. A former mental health counselor. I have taught graduate and undergraduate psychology, sociology and research classes.”

At the beginning of the interview, the Russian host, Kate Zickel, introduced me as merely the “Host of The Common Sense Show” and there was no mention of my academic credentials. Immediately, I felt this was an attempt to marginalize my credibility by ignoring the requested credentials I provided VOR with regard to my background in which I characterized myself as a researcher, someone who is knowledgeable about social systems as well as human nature.

Over the past several years, I have done enough mainstream radio media interviews to recognize a “set up” when I see it coming.

Make no mistake about it, VOR is a propaganda instrument of the Russian government and their handling of the interview and post-interview situations pointed to their propagandizing of their interview of me. After the interview, their post-show analysis categorized me as an extremist for stating that America was prepping for martial law. If we were not prepping for martial law then what the hell were the nine referenced FEMA/DHS drills, taking place in a six week period, in which foreign troops played a prominent role, used for?

Look at item number five in last year’s martial law preparation drills. “5, Nine week training course for UN Peacekeepers in CONUS to learn Urban Warfare, English, and US weapons systems beginning late July for 386,000 troops to be completed by October 1st“.

Please note the designation and use of terms for “386,000 troops” and, “UN Peacekeepers in CONUS to learn urban warfare”. This does not leave much to the imagination now does it?

And when the UN does take control, they won't have to round up a large percentage of Americans. Many of them will come willingly to the camps. You can bet on it.

Urban Man

Pandemic Disease as a Collapse Catalyst

Note:  Since I wrote this story preparing to post it there have been two related incidents involving disease or pandemic catalysts:  1 - vials of  small pox being found in the closet of the National Institute of Health,...obviously some employee planning, maybe years ago, to steal this deadly virus, and 2 - a case of Pneumonic Plague found in Colorado - and this disease killed millions of people in the Middle Ages. 

Friends of mine in Texas have been sending me e-mails and links about the mass of illegal aliens, many of whom are "unaccompanied alien children", that are flooding the border. We have all seen the news article of the federal government busing groups of these illegals to military bases and other towns where they will be released after being given a date to come back for an immigration court hearing. I am being told that 99 - 100% of these released aliens do not come back or otherwise appear for an immigration hearing nor does the federal government know where these illegal aliens are.

Some of the other related stories are that there are many sick illegal aliens having H1N1 Flu, Scabies, Dengue fever and even TB, then not only being released but being bused to locations in the interior U.S. before being released.

As we know about communicable diseases and the incubation timeline, some aliens who are sick or carrying a communicable disease will be asymptomatic for a numbers of days until they become disease spreaders.

Imagine a terrorist group either unwittingly infecting aliens right before they cross into the U.S. Or infecting jihadist volunteers who enter the U.S. to spread a disease. What would that be like if that disease was a weaponized disease?

At the very least this should bring to light medical screening processes and standards for prepper groups if/when they encounter refugees knocking at the gates. Do you have procedures? Protective equipment? AT the very least rubber gloves and masks!  Any test equipment aside from visual inspection? If you plan on the possibility of accepting refugees, do you have a quarantine process?

I was sent this news article written by Todd Starnes of Fox News concerning this threat of contagious diseases, and the Federal governments desire to minimize reports of the border being over run and the disease threat these illegal immigrants bring.

Medical staff warned: Keep your mouths shut about illegal immigrants or face arrest

A government-contracted security force threatened to arrest doctors and nurses if they divulged any information about the contagion threat at a refugee camp housing illegal alien children at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, sources say.

In spite of the threat, several former camp workers broke their confidentiality agreements and shared exclusive details with me about the dangerous conditions at the camp. They said taxpayers deserve to know about the contagious diseases and the risks the children pose to Americans. I have agreed to not to disclose their identities because they fear retaliation and prosecution.

My sources say Americans should be very concerned about the secrecy of the government camps.

“There were several of us who wanted to talk about the camps, but the agents made it clear we would be arrested,” a psychiatric counselor told me. “We were under orders not to say anything.”

The sources said workers were guarded by a security force from the BCFS, which the Department of Health and Human Services hired to run the Lackland Camp.

The sources say security forces called themselves the “Brown Shirts.”

“It was a very submissive atmosphere,” the counselor said. “Once you stepped onto the grounds, you abided by their laws – the Brown Shirt laws.”

She said the workers were stripped of their cellphones and other communication devices. Anyone caught with a phone was immediately fired.

“Everyone was paranoid,” she said. “The children had more rights than the workers.”

She said children in the camp had measles, scabies, chicken pox and strep throat as well as mental and emotional issues.

“It was not a good atmosphere in terms of health,” she said. “I would be talking to children and lice would just be climbing down their hair.”

A former nurse at the camp told me she was horrified by what she saw.

“We have so many kids coming in that there was no way to control all of the sickness – all this stuff coming into the country,” she said. “We were very concerned at one point about strep going around the base.”

Both the counselor and the nurse said their superiors tried to cover up the extent of the illnesses.

“When they found out the kids had scabies, the charge nurse was adamant – ‘Don’t mention that. Don’t say scabies,’” the nurse recounted. “But everybody knew they had scabies. Some of the workers were very concerned about touching things and picking things up. They asked if they should be concerned, but they were told don’t worry about it.”

The nurse said the lice issue was epidemic – but everything was kept “hush-hush.”

“You could see the bugs crawling through their hair,” she said. “After we would rinse out their hair, the sink would be loaded with black bugs.”

The nurse told me she became especially alarmed because their files indicated the children had been transported to Lackland on domestic charter buses and airplanes.

“That’s what alerted me,” she said. “Oh, my God. They’re flying these kids around. Nobody knows that these children have scabies and lice. To tell you the truth, there’s no way to control it.”

I don't mean to upset anyone's Independence Day vacation plans, but were these kids transported to the camps before or after they were deloused? Anyone who flies the friendly skies could be facing a public health concern.

The counselor told me the refugee camp resembled a giant emergency room – off limits to the public. “They did not want the community to know,” she said. “I initially spoke out at Lackland because I had a concern the children’s mental health care was not being taken care of.”

She said the breaking point came when camp officials refused to hospitalize several children who were suicidal. “I made a recommendation that a child needed to be sent to a psychiatric unit,” the counselor told me. “He was reaching psychosis. He was suicidal. Instead of treating him, they sent him off to a family in the United States.”

She said she filed a Child Protective Services report and quit her job. “I didn’t want to lose my license if this kid committed suicide,” she told me. “I was done.”

The counselor kept a detailed journal about what happened during her tenure at the facility. “When people read that journal they are going to be astonished,” she said. ‘I don’t think they will believe what is going on in America.”

So it was not a great surprise, she said, when she received a call from federal agents demanding that she return to the military base and hand over her journal.

She said she declined to do so. “I didn’t go back to Lackland,” she said. Both workers told me while they have no regrets, they want to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

“They’re going to crush the system,” the nurse told me. “We can’t sustain this. They are overwhelming the system and I think it’s a travesty.”

BCFS spokeswoman Krista Piferrer tells me the agency takes “any allegation of malfeasance or inappropriate care of a child very seriously.” “There are a number of checks and balances to ensure children are receiving appropriate and adequate mental health care,” she said.

Piferrer said the clinicians are supervised by a federal field specialist from HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. She also said BCFS have 58 medical professionals serving at Lackland.

“Every illness, whether it is a headache or something more serious, is recorded in a child’s electronic medical record and posted on WebEOC – a real-time, web-based platform that is visible to not only BCFS but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” she said. As for those brown shirts, the BCFS said they are “incident management team personnel” – who happen to wear tan shirts.

My sources say Americans should be very concerned about the secrecy of the government camps. “This is just the beginning,” one source told me. "It is a long-term financial responsibility.”

Survival Planning, Prepping and Bugging Out With a Handicapped Family Member

Urban Survival Skills received this request for advice concerning prepping and bug out with a disabled child. I edited the letter to provide some semblance of OPSEC for the writer but want to post this to reach a larger group for potential advice to this prepper with a special needs child.

I am a single parent of a severely disabled child. My child is wheelchair bound, tube fed, in diapers, and developmentally at a pre-schooler level. My child is on medication for seizures. I'm stockpiling Nutren, diapers, and feeding supplies at our family farm which is a fairly short drive away (approx. 28 miles) though a suburban area. I am very concerned about getting myself and my child to the famr as well as having meds for long term care in the case of disaster. Could you please give advice on:

1) How do I know when to bug out?
2) Bug out bags. My child is 80 lbs and I'm 115 lbs. I can put a bag on the wheelchair chair and carry a bug out bag myself, but what weight? What are top priority items?
3) I have a small 4 wheel drive vehicle if driving is an option. Any advice on choosing route, stopping for extra fuel, etc.?
4) I have safety concerns about walking alone with my child. Advice? I am still learning to shoot and getting a gun soon. I am in pretty good shape, but small.
5) What can I do to get seizure meds for long term?

We are working on getting the farm prepared with food, water systems, generators, etc. at the my relatives adjoining property. Getting there with my child safely is my biggest concern. Any advice you have is appreciated. Thank you!
Okay readers, lets help this person out. Here is my initial response:

When to Bug Out. This is an individual call and not a one size fits all protocol. It is based on how safe and prepared you are where you are currently at, and, how far you have to go and the associated risks involved with that movement. I can advise that it would be too late when there are riots in the streets over food, or lack of food; too late when mass of refugees flood the routes; too late when cell phone communications are down; and, too late when martial law and therefore freedom of movement is restricted.

  It may be time to Bug Out when utilities (water and electricity) are intermittent and there are long lines at gas stations and grocery stores with associated shortages. It may be time when your and instincts tell you things are not going to get better. I advise multiple means of communications between you and your family members or friends that are going to bug out and rally on the farm. Develop a brevity code as well so if and when you have comms (voice or text) you can minimize transmission times and therefore chances of misunderstandings or intermittent service cutting you off.

Bug Out Bags. I think the priority are all the meds and supplies necessary for your child. Food, water and all gear necessary to support a walk from your house to the Bug Out location (the farm). This may include food that does not have to be cooked. Depending upon where you live and the seasons, e.g..weather factors, you may need sleeping bags or cold weather gear and things like that. In your case a short walk to your Bug Out location (the farm) could be accomplished in one day, but if you are pushing a wheelchair this may turn into 2 maybe even 4 days depending again on factors outside your control such as weather, threat, etc.

If you have selected Bug Out routes you may elect to emplace a small cache or two to support the movement to your Bug Out location (the farm) as support in case you can't make the distance as planned or the threat is too much that it reduces your travel speed.         

Bug Out Vehicle. A 4x4 is ideal, especially one that's good on gas and has a short wheel base for mobility. If you never let your vehicle get below 1/2 tank of gas you'll have plenty to make the Bug Out movement, based on the travel distance you mentioned. But I would advise an extra 5 gallon fuel can or two. Keep these full and rotate fuel every month. Or you can just get them filed when you think the collapse is beginning and when fuel is till available. You should have several routes if possible. When you have to Bug Out, choose the route based on the current events and threats. You need to drive routes as a rehearsal. You should also look at several foot routes in case you have to move over land on foot. Look for routes that provide cover and concealment and will not be routes for the refugee traffic or obvious routes for anyone else.  This is going to be hard to move a wheel chair over.  Maybe you can look at an ATV with a small trailer to move your child with?    

Walking Alone/Security/Weapon Choice.   By all means learn how to shoot and buy a gun. Actually a handgun and a rifle would be good. Weight and bulk of ammunition is going to impact what you can carry overland on foot. Think about pre-positioning additional ammunition and firearms at the farm. But if you are planning on Bugging Out by yourself, driving or walking, you will need to protect yourself. A semi-auto, magazine fed rifle such as an M-1 carbine, Mini-14, M-4/AR-15 type clone - these are all lightweight (as they come) and would allow you the firepower to defend yourself against multiple bad guys. And here's a hint, almost everybody will be a bad guy.

I have recently been in contact with a lady who just could not afford a modern magazine fed rifle such as an M-4/AR-15 type.  She already had a .22 LR revolver, so she ended up buying a Ruger 10/22 semi-auto .22 LR rifle and a couple of large capacity magazines for it.   Certainly a person would not want to have their safety dependent upon a rimfire cartridge,....but the first rule of a gun fight is to have a, gun and ammo compatibility plus affordability was paramount to this lady.      

Lastly, Medications. I know this is a primary concern of yours. Medications have a shelf life, which is usually several years after the expiration date if you store it in a safe and controlled manner. Research what Vet (animal) meds could possibly be used to mitigate or treat your child's seizures.   Locate the nearest Vet. Many rural vets operate out of a truck with a refrigerator. Vets can also serve as make shift Doctors too in an emergency. You may be able to stock up some meds if you don't use them but continue to get scripts for them but be aware that this is likely illegal. 

You may need to have some silver in order to barter for some meds during a collapse.  Consider having a silver bullion in 1 ounce rounds of bars in case this is the case.  

You have tough conditions to work out, but I know you can do it as you have no other choice.  Get to know your neighbors around the farm (your Bug Out location).  If the houses are close enough you may be able to string a couple of TA-1 military phones and wire between to facilitate communications.  Make sure that stocking food, seeds and having a safe water source are taken care of at the farm as well. 

I hope readers will respond with some additional advice. Many, if not most, of the readers will have better ideas.  Good luck and be safe.