tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61964330995951371852024-03-13T13:48:45.456-07:00The Coming DepressionComing Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-17024254548431673702012-10-25T12:28:00.003-07:002012-10-25T12:28:42.055-07:00Widespread Doctor Shortages in America: “This is a national problem… it is going to get much worse”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Even before President Obama’s much heralded Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act goes into full effect starting next year, the medical community is already struggling with too many patients and not enough doctors. The Association of American Medical Colleges says that there is a shortage of at least 13,000 doctors nationwide.<br />
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But here’s the kicker: It’s only going to get worse as a nationalized healthcare plan is instituted across the United States.<br />
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If you think 13,000 is a big number, consider what the state of our health care will be when, just a decade from now, the shortages are ten times worse.<br />
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Everything that opponents of the health care law warned about prior to it being passed without being read by Congress is now becoming reality, with patients often waiting months for even basic medical care:<br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">Once a problem limited to rural areas, doctor shortages are now hitting large population centers such as Las Vegas and Detroit where people may have to wait weeks or months or travel hundreds of miles for care.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">That shortfall is expected to grow 10-fold to 130,000 doctors within 12 years as the US population ages and 30 million more people are added to insurance rolls under the 2010 health-care law, the medical college association said.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> In the Las Vegas area, with about 2 million people, patients and doctors said it can take six months to see a primary-care doctor for a simple checkup. For more serious matters, the waits are far longer — more than a year, for example, to get an appointment with a neurologist who specializes in autism.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> …</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> In a bid to address the shortage, the medical community has embraced the greater use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who can prescribe medicines and diagnose and treat many illnesses. The number of physician assistants is projected to increase 39 percent to 108,000 by 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, physician assistants can’t replace specialists as regional shortages of all categories of doctors persist.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> ‘‘This is a national problem across the board, and it is going to get much worse,’’ said Christiane Mitchell, director of medical affairs for the Association of American Medical Colleges. ‘‘We have an aging population and a whole lot of doctors retiring. We need to increase the pipeline of new doctors.’’</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> Source: Boston Globe Via Steve Quayle</span><br />
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Given that socialized medicine will lead to widespread bureaucracy in the health care industry (it’s bad enough with existing private and quasi-private insurers), along with forced pay cuts to doctors mandated by government insurance plans, the medical community will be hard pressed to find the amount of doctors that will be required to provide care for an ever growing US population.<br />
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In addition to the shortfalls in medical professionals, our overburdened government healthcare system has already resorted to massive cuts, specifically as they relate to prescription drugs:<br />
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Sixteen states have set a limit on the number of prescription drugs they will cover for Medicaid patients, according to Kaiser Health News.<br />
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Seven of those states, according to Kaiser Health News, have enacted or tightened those limits in just the last two years.<br />
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Via: The Daily Sheeple<br />
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Couple these shortages with a government that has to borrow billions of dollars monthly just to pay the interest on existing loans, and you can see why the health care system in this country is going to very rapidly descend into what was experienced by millions of residents of the East Bloc during the communist occupation of the late 20th century.<br />
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The running joke was that you don’t go to hospitals to seek medical care – you go there to die (often because of a lack of proper medical care).<br />
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It’s not so funny when you consider that we are very quickly approaching the same here in the United States.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/widespread-doctor-shortages-in-america-this-is-a-national-problem-it-is-going-to-get-much-worse_10242012"><span style="color: white;">Source</span></a><br />
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Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-69777068194862002192012-10-25T12:24:00.002-07:002012-10-25T12:24:14.053-07:00Murder, Rape, Robbery and Assault Skyrocket In Bankrupt Stockton, California<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As more towns and municipalities across the country are forced into bankruptcy due to reckless spending and lowered tax revenues, residents of once quiet neighborhoods are waking up to the reality that life as they know it is changing drastically.<br />
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In Stockton, California, which declared bankruptcy earlier this year, your chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime such as murder, rape, robbery or assault are 1 in 70, which is nearly four times higher than the national average.<br />
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Your chances of being the victim of a property crime are even more likely, with 1 in every 17 residents of the city facing the prospect of having their house broken into or car stolen this year.<br />
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This is what happens when a city, county, state or federal government can no longer pay its bills and is forced to lay off workers. In the case of Stockton, the city has cut tens of millions of dollars from their budget, mostly targeting law enforcement and other essential services.<br />
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The result?<br />
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A bizarre shooting spree has broken records in Stockton, making this the most violent year in that city’s history.<br />
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…the City of Stockton has seen its most violent year ever – Stockton police tonight are investigating their 56th, 57th, 58th, and 59thhomicides.<br />
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“I want people to remember that behind every one of those numbers is a person, and a grieving family,” Silva said.<br />
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“This past weekend was obviously one of the most violent weekends we’ve had in Stockton in years,” Stockton police spokesman Officer Joe Silva said.<br />
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Silva said investigating teams worked around the clock to solve the grisly crimes, even relying on detectives from other units to help interview witnesses and process crime scenes.<br />
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“Right now, we’re working the best we can with limited resources,” Silva said.<br />
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“I’ve never seen this many homicides in such a short time span.”<br />
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The causes for rising crime rates in Stockton and other U.S. cities like the war zones that are Detroit and Chicago are multi-fold. Criminals are becoming more desperate and aggressive as police personnel are relieved of duty. Likewise, as economic malaise across the country has left millions without jobs or homes, individuals who never would have thought of committing a crime previously believe they are left with no choice but to rob and pillage in order to make ends meet. Add to that the Stress, Anxiety and Depression in a SHTF World and not being able to meet the most basic necessities for life like food, shelter and health care, and you have a population that is ready to snap because they have nothing left to lose.<br />
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Stockton is just another example of what the rest of America will look like soon:<br />
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The reality is that most of the country has been experiencing a slow decline for a very long time and once thriving cities such as Gary, Indiana and Flint, Michigan have become absolute hellholes. They are examples of what the rest of America will look like soon.<br />
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There are many communities in America today where it seems like all of the hope and all of the life have been sucked right out of them. You can see it in the eyes of the people. The good times are gone permanently and they know it. Unfortunately, the remainder of the country will soon be experiencing the despair that those communities are feeling.<br />
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Government officials on all levels are stuck. They are overloaded with debt and have no more money to spend. The only option is to start cutting services like law enforcement, emergency medical response, public food and homelessness support, and other social services like rental assistance.<br />
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The effect of this collapse of government services is rising crime across the entire spectrum of criminal activity including murder, theft and organized attacks like flash mobs.<br />
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This is more than likely coming to a town near you in short order, no matter where in the United States you live.<br />
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Be prepared to secure your home and your person, because government no longer has the resources.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/murder-rape-robbery-and-assault-skyrocket-in-bankrupt-stockton-california_10242012"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Source</span></a></div>
Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-24629291599052925892012-10-25T12:00:00.005-07:002012-10-25T12:19:27.588-07:00Food Stamp Nation: What a Modern Day Bread Line Looks Like (Infographic)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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With digital technology being used for all manner of government distributions, it’s difficult to overtly distinguish between the severity of the Great Depression of the 1930′s and today’s economic crisis.<br />
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But just because we don’t see thousands of hungry people lined up for hours at a time at their local soup kitchen today doesn’t mean the lines don’t exist.<br />
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Today bread lines have been removed with the help of technology; EBT cards are filled with Government money for Food Stamp participants to purchase food at local retailers.<br />
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If all EBT recipients shopped at only Walmart Super Centers for ALL their SNAP benefits, then this is how the Bread Line would look each month– 14,588 people.<br />
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There are 3051 Walmart Super Centers in USA and 44,510,598 participants in SNAP (2011), making the average SNAP line at each Walmart at 14,588 people.<br />
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The Modern Era’s Bread Lines are not visible because the business is handled discreetly through EBT Cards<br />
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Source: Demonocracy<br />
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The line at a single Walmart, if we include both adults and children receiving SNAP benefits, would be over 7 miles long!<br />
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The following info-graphic provides some additional facts and visuals.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/food-stamp-nation-what-a-modern-day-bread-line-looks-like-infographic_10252012"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Source</span></a></div>
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Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-40900739930178803692012-10-20T12:37:00.005-07:002012-10-20T12:37:58.020-07:0026 things to get done before the global debt collapse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The time between today and the day the global debt collapse reaches our shores is finite. The U.S. national debt clock shows a nation spiraling into financial oblivion. When Ron Paul says “Americans should be panicking” over the Fed’s new QE unlimited policy of infinite money creation, he was actually holding back. In reality, Americans should have been protesting in the streets… everywhere!<br />
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But instead, they’re going to deny reality, vote in the upcoming election, and pretend that whoever occupies the Oval Office has both the intention and the power to make any real difference. That belief is delusional, as is the belief that the national debt somehow doesn’t really matter.<br />
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The delusions are, of course, leading us all directly into a head-on collision with history, where the global debt collapse unfolds at a quickening pace and becomes “real” for hundreds of millions of people in North America who have so far escaped the reality of the financial collapse happening across Europe. Before that day comes, here are 26 things you might want to get done.<br />
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<b>26 things to get done before the global debt collapse:</b><br />
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See a holistic dentist and get the mercury removed from your mouth.<br />
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Buy some hardcopy books so you have something to read when the power grid fails.<br />
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Move your money out of the big globalist banks.<br />
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Bury your gold and silver. Use an appropriate container to protect from moisture and don’t forget to tell someone else where you’ve buried things, just in case you don’t make it.<br />
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Get the heck out of the city and learn some country living skills.<br />
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Pay off as many assets as you can so you have a clear title to anything you don’t want the banks to seize.<br />
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Get right with God or whatever spiritual focal point you practice.<br />
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Wrap up needed apologies or forgiveness. Don’t allow regrets to burden you in a time of crisis.<br />
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Make color copies of all your important documents, then store them in a safe place. (BTW, a bank’s safe deposit box is NOT a safe place. Those will all be looted.)<br />
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Get off prescription meds. Any dependence on prescription drugs is a death wish in a collapse scenario.<br />
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Stock up on diatomaceous earth (DE) to protect your garden vegetables. The stuff stores forever.<br />
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Stock up on extra glasses or contact lenses if you might need them.<br />
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Get fit, you’ll need to be more fit if you hope to survive.<br />
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Take out some cash and start saving nickels. Why? Because nickels are actually still worth a nickel in terms of what they’re physically made of.<br />
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Learn to use shortwave radio, or better yet get a radio operator’s license.<br />
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Learn and practice basic gardening skills.<br />
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Learn how to raise chickens, goats or other small animals.<br />
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Buy a premium-quality set of basic gardening tools, even if you don’t yet garden.<br />
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Get training on how to use your firearms. When you really need them, there won’t be time to practice. If you want to practice on your own, buy the new book by Joe Nobody, entitled, “The Home Schooled Shootist” and start using it.<br />
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If you own rifles, sight them all in and use threadlock on anything that might work itself loose in a firefight. You don’t want your gear falling apart when you need it most.<br />
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Plant some figs, aloe vera or other low-maintenance food-producing plants. Do it now to give these plants as much time as possible to start producing food.<br />
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Stock up on salt, colloidal silver and other hard-to-get items that you’ll routinely need.<br />
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Spend more time outdoors to get used to sunlight exposure.<br />
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Store away an emergency seed kit.<br />
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Get a reliable guard dog who can help provide protection for your family and property.<br />
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Buy extra pairs of socks. You can never have too many pairs of quality socks. And you absolutely do not want to have to make them yourself later on.<br />
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Obviously, this list can go on forever, but these 26 things should be at the top of your “preparedness to-do list.” Bang out as many as you can while staying healthy, informed, well stocked and as far away from high density population areas as possible. The cities will suffer the most in almost any conceivable debt collapse scenario, so take advantage of the relative tranquility that exists right now to move out of the city and get squared away out in the country.<br />
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Trust me, you’ll be glad you did very, very soon. In terms of timelines, many smart people think we are on the verge of a sudden global debt collapse. Others think we’re heading into a “slow collapse” that could accelerate over the next 2-3 years. Some people believe a lot is riding on the upcoming election, and what I’m hearing is that if Romney gets elected, many Obama supporters are going to riot in the streets. Whereas if Obama gets re-elected, U.S. business owners may very well revolt against the failed economic policies Obama has so far pursued. Either way, it’s not a pretty picture. Either way, you need to get prepared now for the inevitable.<br />
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<a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/26-things-to-get-done-before-the-global-debt-collapse.html"><span style="color: white;">Source</span></a><br />
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Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-68524727585816608692012-09-28T10:22:00.001-07:002012-09-28T10:22:11.958-07:00TRUE CONFESSION: I'm Sick Of My Unemployed Husband<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>People have a lot of opinions about money.</b><br />
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In our “Money Mic” series, we hand over the podium to someone with a strong opinion on a financial topic. These are their views, not ours, but we welcome your responses.<br />
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Today, one woman discusses her deep misgivings about her marriage, why she resents being the sole breadwinner and how her dynamic with her husband affects their kids.<br />
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Money is emotional and sensitive, so please respect that each person makes individual choices. For things you can do in a similar situation to strengthen your relationships and talk about money, keep reading.<br />
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I can’t even remember when my husband stopped working.<br />
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And frankly, I don’t have time to think about it, between my full-time job and my fledgling business, volunteering at an after-school program to help teenagers prepare for the professional world and mothering two children.<br />
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But when I do think about it–when I think about all the times I come home to see evidence of his entire day’s activities cluttering the coffee table, or when I have to take our shared car to work and strand him at home because he doesn’t feel like getting up to drive me–I’m angry.<br />
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Why should he get everything, when I do everything?<br />
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The idea of a wife being the primary or sole breadwinner is a relatively new one (though a new study shows that over half of American women are household breadwinners), but speaking as that sole earner: I don’t like it.<br />
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<b>How We Got Here</b><br />
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My husband and I met on my first day of work, at a job with a local utility company that I got right out of high school. That job paid for me to attend college, and I still work there to this day. It took him two weeks to work up the courage to ask me out, and we’ve been together ever since, about 20 years.<br />
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I bought my house before we were married, so although he lived with me, I was the sole owner. In 2001, I took a new position and he left the utility company to care for our daughter after a surgery–I supported that, for obvious reasons. After, he re-entered the workforce to work for a friend’s mortgage company, where he made half of his previous salary.<br />
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Then, when the economy crashed in 2008, the mortgage company failed and my husband was out of a job. Since he would be home, he took on the role of Mr. Mom (though he hates when I call him that): cooking, cleaning occasionally and being there for our two children, who are now 7 and 16. Our kids are older now, and while I’d like him to go back to work, he isn’t interested.<br />
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While he was transitioning, so was I. I started my own party-planning company. Now, I work a 9-5 job at the utility company so the family has health insurance and a steady paycheck. Then, I work nights and weekends to supplement my income with party planning, which is my real passion.<br />
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I would love to do my event planning (a job my husband hates because it takes me away from the house) full-time … but right now, we need my income to pay all of our bills. I don’t have money for an emergency fund, and my husband couldn’t support us if my business didn’t pan out. Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.<br />
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<b>He’s Happy With His Unemployment … and His Secret Money</b><br />
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Considering that my volunteer work means I look into job opportunities for young people and help them with skills such as writing their résumés, I’m in the perfect place to help my husband with his job search.<br />
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He’s been unemployed now for four years, and is supposedly looking. He says that the economy is terrible and that there are no jobs, but I remind him there are job fairs and temp agencies. I forward job opportunities to him, but he has other arguments against getting a job: The kinds of jobs available (things like working for a local transportation company) are “humiliating”; there are no jobs to be had.<br />
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Those excuses are buoyed by the fact that he has money. From where, I don’t know, because he won’t tell me (frustrating, huh?). He thinks I’ll disapprove … which I will, if he’s getting it from his indulgent, retired parents or through gambling with his friends, both of which are possibilities. His money goes toward groceries for the family, car maintenance, hanging out with friends and personal items, like clothes. He actually doesn’t hide his spending from me, but he never tells me exactly what things cost.<br />
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<b>My Finances vs. His</b><br />
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We don’t share bank accounts. I contribute to my retirement savings and our children’s college fund, as well as pay the mortgage and the bills. He contributes to none of these things, and has at this point drained his retirement savings–but I couldn’t tell you how much that was to begin with, because he’s not open about it.<br />
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I have no savings otherwise, because all my money is needed to support our household.<br />
<br />
I see our gender dynamic playing out in our children: Our teenage daughter is a hard worker who does her chores, participates in extracurriculars like debate team and interns with my event planning company. Our young son rarely does his chores or homework, but expects to get everything he asks for, when he asks for it.<br />
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He sees that his father doesn’t work for things, and he doesn’t, either. Plus, when I try to give him tough love, his father or grandparents cave in when I’m not around. Part of it is that he’s so young, but I worry he doesn’t have a male role model to teach him the value of hard work.<br />
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<b>What Next?</b><br />
<br />
Ideally, my husband and I would contribute equally to the household expenses. Even if he could cover half the mortgage, I would be happier. Right now, we can’t afford to go on a family vacation or renovate the kitchen, which needs some work. My husband knows how much his disinterest in working bothers me, and so does the rest of my family. (Except the children–I don’t want them to feel like I do, like their dad isn’t doing what he should for them.)<br />
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I do feel like I’m at a breaking point.<br />
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I’ve told him before that he needs to move out, but after 20 years, he knows how to apologize, promise he’ll change and keep me from pursuing a separation or divorce. My friends say that if he was married to anyone else, he wouldn’t get away with this. They say it makes me a pushover, and I’m puzzled by it, too.<br />
<br />
I’m non-confrontational and generally very laid-back, but I have no problem standing up for myself … except when it comes to my charming, lazy husband.<br />
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Sometimes I think of getting divorced, but we live in Pennsylvania, which means legally he’ll likely be entitled to half of our assets from the marriage–half of my assets. I try so hard to be upbeat and not let this bother me, but on our last anniversary, I started telling him how I felt about his lack of contribution and motivation, and nothing has changed since then.<br />
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Our next anniversary is coming up fast … and I’m not sure we’ll make it.<br />
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<b>Note:</b> Since Jessica told us her story, her husband has taken a job with the above-mentioned transportation company and now contributes $150 per week to household expenses–but she is suspicious about the amount and he refuses to show her his paycheck.<br />
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<b>Editor’s Note:</b><br />
<br />
We’re very grateful that Jessica has opened up to us and shared this very personal story. Please respect her willingness to share and be sensitive in your comments.<br />
<br />
What should she do? LearnVest CFP® Sophia Bera suggests, “Sounds like they could really use couple’s therapy! She should either ask her husband to come to counseling with her or start going by herself so she can figure out what she wants to do. This is so emotionally charged that it’s not even about the money at this point. If he’s hiding money from her, that’s financial infidelity and he leaves her in a tough spot.”<br />
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What about advice for other couples struggling with income disparity? Sophia says, “When there’s a large income discrepancy, we generally recommend each person put the same percentage of his or her income in a joint checking account to cover the household bills. That way, one isn’t using half her salary for rent while the other only uses 10%.” If you’re consistently disagreeing with your loved ones about money, it’s probably time for a “Money Talk.” Read this for more ideas on how to combine finances with a partner.<br />
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If you think your money disagreements are getting in the way of your relationship, consider speaking to a therapist, counselor or Certified Financial Planner® to help you sort out your differences and make a plan that will work for both of you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/money-is-ruining-my-marriage-2012-9" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">Source</span></a><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-64735002384481339842012-09-28T10:13:00.004-07:002012-09-28T10:13:49.011-07:0030 Examples of Why America Is No Longer a Free Country<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Nanny state is no longer on steroids, it has turned into the Incredible Hulk</b><br />
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From people being harassed for paying by cash or having a food garden, to Americans being arrested for letting their children play outside – innumerable examples over the past few months alone illustrate that the United States is no longer a free country.<br />
<br />
The nanny state is no longer just on steroids, it has turned into the Incredible Hulk as collectivism, pernicious bureaucracy, regulation, mass surveillance and outright tyranny runs wild across the country.<br />
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Here are just a selection of stories from scores of recent examples illustrating how America is ‘land of the Free, home of the brave’ no more.<br />
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- Parents across the country are being arrested for letting their children play outside. A stay at home mom in Texas was held in jail for 18 hours for allowing her children to ride on scooters while she was watching them from her home. A mother in Virginia was also harassed by social services and police for the egregious crime of allowing their children to play outside in another example of how the nanny state is running wild in America.<br />
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- The war on lemonade stands, traditionally viewed as a quaint example of America’s entrepreneurial spirit, has intensified in recent months with cops slapping parents with fines for letting their kids run “unlicensed” lemonade stands in three separate incidents over the last year alone. A map of restrictions on child-run concession stands illustrates how there have been dozens of examples of police interference across the country.<br />
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- After an 11-year battle with the state of Oregon, landowner Gary Harrington was found guilty under a 1925 law and sentenced to spend 30 days in jail for collecting rainwater in three “illegal reservoirs” despite the fact that they are on his property.<br />
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- Last year, Oak Park, Michigan resident Julie Bass faced jail time for the crime of growing a “vegetable garden in front yard space.”<br />
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- Americans are being harassed by utility workers who are trespassing on private property and forcibly trying to install “smart” energy meters which spy on homeowners.<br />
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- Cities are passing ordinances that makes recycling compulsory from, with those who fail to comply under threat of fines up to $2500 dollars. In Cleveland, people who fail to recycle are flagged by the RFID chip embedded in their trash can, added to a database and then targeted by green cops who are dispatched to intimidate homeowners.<br />
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- The Eleventh Circuit US Court of Appeals has ruled that private contractors operating toll roads on behalf of the state have the power to detain and store records on motorists who pay by cash at toll booths – another example of how using cash is increasingly being treated as a suspicious activity.<br />
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- Earlier this year we reported on how the FBI was telling businesses to treat people who use cash to pay for a cup of coffee as potential terrorists.<br />
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- We also recently highlighted the case of Texas resident Julia Garcia, who was falsely imprisoned and harassed by Wal-Mart employees for attempting to buy goods with a $100 dollar bill the Wal-Mart cashiers erroneously claimed was fake.<br />
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- Earlier this year a Tennessee man was charged and jailed by police after using an old $50 bill to pay for goods at a Quik Mart store which turned out to be genuine.<br />
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- A DOJ-funded police training manual tells cops to treat people who have a political opinion that “represents a fairly popular point of view” or those who display a political bumper sticker supporting the bill of rights as terrorists.<br />
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- The Obama administration has successfully reinstated the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allow American citizens to be kidnapped and held without charge.<br />
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- The TSA has expanded its grope-down checkpoints beyond the airports to highways, political events and even school prom nights.<br />
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- The TSA is kicking Americans off flights for having a “bad attitude” and refusing to obey bizarre orders quickly enough.<br />
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- A teenager was recently visited by FBI special agents who grilled him over the content of a political You Tube video.<br />
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- Americans are being harassed and having their Fourth Amendment rights violated at so-called “border checkpoints” which are actually hundreds of miles within the border.<br />
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- The EPA is using spy drones to monitor farms as police use Predator drones to hunt down Americans for the crime of allowing cows to wander onto their land.<br />
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- Parents are being harassed and investigated by Child Protective Services and police for feeding his daughters organic food, refusing to make them drink fluoride-poisoned tap water and not having them injected with mercury-laden vaccines.<br />
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- Police arrested Napa Creek resident Amy Larson for writing “9/11 truth now” in chalk on a sidewalk.<br />
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- A Texas police officer shot 45-year-old double amputee Brian Claunch dead after he threatened officers with what turned out to be a ballpoint pen.<br />
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- While the government stockpiles ammo in the billions, Americans like Brian Loftus are being questioned by police for buying a couple of boxes of bullets at their local gun store.<br />
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- Americans like James Ian Tyson are being put on terror watchlists in response to traffic violations in order to prevent them from attending protests.<br />
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- Students in schools across the country are being indoctrinated to accept their treatment as prisoners on parole by being forced to wear RFID tracking chips.<br />
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- Police departments are attempting to secure approval to spy on Americans with drones as well as surveillance blimps that hover 400 feet above a city and report on “suspicious activity.”<br />
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- The Californian city of Lancaster will be the first to experience a “new era in law enforcement surveillance” with residents set to be watched by a permanent eye in the sky which will beam constant video footage back to police headquarters including crimes in progress as well as “scenes of mundane day-to-day life.”<br />
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- The National Security Agency is storing all electronic communications and analyzing them in real time in complete violation of the Fourth Amendment.<br />
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- Facebook is spying on people’s private conversations for “suspicious behavior” and reporting them to police.<br />
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- Former Marine Brandon Raub was kidnapped from his home by police, FBI and Secret Service agents and forcibly incarcerated in a psychiatric ward by authorities in Virginia in response to political Facebook posts.<br />
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- Veterans across the country are being declared “mentally defective” on a whim by the state and having their firearms seized.<br />
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- The federal government is officially backing Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria while declaring conservative Americans to be extremists and terrorists if they are “reverent of individual liberty.”<br />
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Land of the free, home of the brave?<br />
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Most of the these stories are just from the last few months alone.<br />
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America is no longer a free country.<br />
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The state has declared war on the American people.<br />
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<a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/30-examples-of-why-america-is-no-longer-a-free-country.html"><span style="color: white;">Source</span></a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-14356486683459942232012-09-27T08:32:00.003-07:002012-09-27T08:35:43.067-07:00Netanyahu to set "clear red line" for Iran in U.N. speech<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will set out, in his speech at the United Nations on Thursday, an ultimatum for Iran to halt its disputed nuclear drive or risk coming under military attack, an Israeli official said.<br />
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Netanyahu faces the world body after U.S. President Barack Obama disappointed some Israelis, in his own address to the annual assembly, by not calling for a deadline to be imposed on Tehran - though he did say time for diplomacy "is not unlimited".<br />
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Israel sees a mortal threat in a nuclear-armed Iran and has long threatened to strike its arch-foe pre-emptively, agitating war-wary world powers as they pursue sanctions and negotiations.<br />
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Complicating Netanyahu's strategy have been his testy relations with Obama as a U.S. election looms, and the reluctance of many Israelis to trigger a conflict with Iran, which denies that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and has pledged wide-ranging retaliation if attacked.<br />
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"The prime minister will set a clear red line in his speech that will not contradict Obama's remarks. Obama said Iran won't have nuclear weapons. The prime minister will clarify the way in which Iran won't have nuclear arms," a senior Israeli official said en route to New York, without elaborating.<br />
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Though he has not previously detailed when Israel might be willing to go to war, Netanyahu has said Iran could have enough low-enriched uranium by early 2013 to refine to a high level of fissile purity for a first nuclear device [ID:nL5E8KG2P5].<br />
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Israel worries that this final step, if taken, could happen too quickly or quietly to be prevented.<br />
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Iran has said it has no plans to enrich uranium beyond the 20 percent purity required to run a reactor producing medical isotopes. That level, however, brings raw uranium exponentially closer to the 90 percent enrichment required for bomb fuel.<br />
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Though reputed to have the Middle East's sole nuclear arsenal, Israel would be hard-put to deliver lasting damage to Iran's remote facilities using its conventional forces, or to handle a multi-front war.<br />
<br />
<b>WORK TOGETHER</b><br />
<br />
Netanyahu's public calls for a U.S. ultimatum have deepened acrimony with Obama, a Democrat accused by his Republican rivals of being soft on the Jewish state's security. That has stirred American accusations of Israeli meddling in the November presidential elections - something denied by Netanyahu.<br />
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"The prime minister will say that Israel and the United States can work together to achieve their common goal," said the Israeli official on condition of anonymity.<br />
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Netanyahu, who heads a broad-based, conservative coalition government, departed for New York on Wednesday saying he would take the U.N. podium for an Israel "united in the goal of preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weaponry".<br />
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But surveys show that most Israelis - apparently swayed by the open dissent of several senior national-security figures - would oppose launching unilateral strikes on Iran, given the risk of alienating Washington and of provoking clashes with Tehran's Islamist militant allies in Lebanon and Gaza.<br />
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A poll published by the liberal Haaretz newspaper on Thursday found that 50 percent of Israelis feared for the survival of their country, should there be a conflict.<br />
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in his speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday, said Iran was under threat of military action from "uncivilized Zionists," a clear reference to Israel. Earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said that Israel would eventually be "eliminated."<br />
<br />
Haaretz also ran excerpts from a leaked Foreign Ministry report that sanctions had caused greater damage to Iran's economy than anticipated by Israel.<br />
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The findings, confirmed to Reuters by an Israeli official, could undermine any attempt by Netanyahu to argue that the military alternative must be considered imminently.<br />
<br />
Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz criticized Netanyahu for sparring with Obama and voiced confidence in U.S. resolve.<br />
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"I am convinced that the United States, the president of the United States, is determined to prevent Iran going nuclear," Mofaz told Israel's Army Radio.<br />
<br />
Even within Netanyahu's coalition there have been misgivings about the pitch of disagreement with the United States.<br />
<br />
Danny Ayalon, deputy to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, described Obama's Iran remarks at the United Nations as "important, albeit measured".<br />
<br />
Speaking on Israel Radio, Ayalon said the Netanyahu government and Obama administration were in discreet contacts and approaching agreement on setting limits for Iran.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/27/us-un-assembly-israel-iran-idUSBRE88Q0GI20120927"><span style="color: white;">Source</span></a></div>
Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-85558522178093494712012-09-26T10:16:00.001-07:002012-09-26T10:16:42.664-07:00Paul Ryan: “Do You Want Barack Obama To Be Reelected? Then Don’t Vote For Ron Paul”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It took a while for the unspoken truth to be finally spoken, but sooner or later, it always is. Via The Hill:<br />
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Paul Ryan argued Monday that a vote for a third-party candidate would likely help President Obama win reelection.<br />
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Ryan was asked why voters should not vote for Ron Paul. The Republican vice presidential candidate responded that a vote for Paul, who ran for the 2012 GOP nomination, would effectively split the vote in a way that helps Obama.<br />
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“Do you want Barack Obama to be reelected? Then don’t vote for Ron Paul,” Ryan said during a campaign speech in Lima, Ohio, on Monday.<br />
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Ryan went on to say that Paul was a good friend.<br />
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“Actually, Ron’s a friend of mine. I know Ron very well. I like Ron quite a bit. There are many things that Ron has championed that I’m a big believer in, especially liberty and sound money.”<br />
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Although Paul is no longer campaigning for president, he has not endorsed Mitt Romney’s campaign.<br />
<br />
What if one wants Ron Paul to be elected? Can one vote for Ron Paul then?<br />
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<a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/paul-ryan-do-you-want-barack-obama-to-be-reelected-then-dont-vote-for-ron-paul.html"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a><br />
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Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-25415393125181448022012-09-21T13:40:00.001-07:002012-09-21T13:40:24.106-07:00Is America The Most Materialistic Society In The History Of The World?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When it comes to materialism, has any nation ever surpassed what we are seeing in the United States right now? We define our lives by how much stuff we have, to a large degree our personal and business relationships are defined by how much money we make, and even most of the important dates on our calendar are all about materialism. Just think about it. We throw outrageous birthday parties for our kids and we shower them with gifts. Most of our “holidays” have become highly materialistic, and the biggest holiday of all in our society, Christmas, is an absolute orgy of materialism. We make lists of the “wealthiest Americans” and we glorify their achievements. <br />
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We spend most of our time either making money or spending it. Even the phrase “the American Dream” reveals how materialistic we are. When most people are asked what “the American Dream” is, they start talking about a house, a car, vacations, retirement, sending your kids to college, etc. The American Dream has become all about money and stuff. Sadly, no matter how big our homes are and no matter how many shiny new toys we accumulate, we never seem to be happy. We always want more, and we always seem to be willing to go into more debt to get it. We are the most materialistic society in the history of the world, and our endless greed is going to end up swallowing us alive.<br />
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When it comes to materialism in America, there are outrageous examples all around us, but one of my favorite examples is the “Rich Kids of Instagram“. It is a Tumblr blog of photos from Instagram of young Americans showing off how they are enjoying the vast wealth of their parents. The following is how the Washington Post describes the blog….<br />
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The controversial new Tumblr is a collection of snapshots from the photo-sharing site that depicts the children of wealth and privilege — summering in the Hamptons, lounging on yachts and posing by their luxury cars.<br />
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One does a back-flip out of a helicopter near St. Tropez. Others snap pictures of their restaurant bills — allegedly paying thousands of dollars for lobster, champagne and high-end liquor.<br />
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In the warm patina of the Instagram, the youngsters appear to be living over-the-top lifestyles — and enjoying every moment.<br />
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“Our everyday is better than your best day,” reads one caption, a bit tauntingly. And, “Do you have a horse in your backyard? Didn’t think so.”<br />
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But just because you have a horse on your property does that make your life better than the rest of our lives?<br />
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Of course not.<br />
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Wealth does not equal happiness.<br />
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Unfortunately, however, most Americans have totally bought into this lie.<br />
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Most Americans believe that more money equals a better life.<br />
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In response to “the Rich Kids of Instagram”, the Huffington Post recently put together a piece entitled “the Rich Cats of Instagram” that features photos of cats as they “model upscale accessories, lounge with bottles of champagne, sail on yachts and ponder life while relaxing atop piles of money.”<br />
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Of course a lot of those pictures are quite funny, but they also reveal a deep truth about our society.<br />
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We have spent our lives chasing after the almighty dollar thinking that it will make us happy. Study after study has shown that we tend to link wealth and happiness. The following is from a recent NBC News article about one of those studies….<br />
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Many parents already know older children can be materialistic. Some tweens not only want the latest games and clothes, but also think owning these things will bring them happiness, friends and popularity. And marketers are eager to get them to buy: Tweens spend $28 billion a year, not including the more than $200 billion their parents spend on them, according to market research company C+R Research.<br />
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But even though we have an incredibly high standard of living compared to most of the rest of the world, are most of us actually happy?<br />
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No way. In fact, Americans take more anti-depressants than anyone else on the planet.<br />
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It is really easy to get caught up in materialism though. Let me share an example from my own life.<br />
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Several months ago our old truck completely died. Instead of pouring thousands of more dollars into fixing it, we decided that we would get another used truck.<br />
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So the other day I stopped by a dealership while my wife was grabbing some things from Home Depot. The salesperson started showing me some of the used trucks on the lot, but after a while I suggested that he show me some of the new trucks that were sitting on the other side of the lot.<br />
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Before I knew it, I was sitting in the most expensive truck on the lot and he was showing me all of the cool features it had.<br />
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And I have to admit – for a few moments there I was really enamored with that truck. It was the coolest truck that I had ever seen in my life.<br />
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Of course my wife and I don’t need a truck like that. We only need to haul stuff around a few times a month. And we certainly do not need the amount of debt that it would take to buy such a truck.<br />
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But for a few moments there I really wanted it. The pull of materialism can be very strong.<br />
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So would that truck have “changed my life” or brought me lasting happiness?<br />
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Of course not.<br />
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It would have brought some thrills for the first couple of days, but after a while it would just be sitting in the garage taking up space just like any other truck would.<br />
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So did I end up buying a truck?<br />
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Not yet. But we need one soon. My wife has been without a truck for quite a few months now and she is getting impatient.<br />
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But whether we get a nice used truck or a used truck that has one foot in the grave, it really isn’t going to change our lives much.<br />
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In the end, our lives should not be defined by what we own or by how much money we have in the bank.<br />
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But how do we refer to ourselves in this day and age?<br />
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The American people are called “consumers” and the truth is that we consume far more than anyone else on the globe does.<br />
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Just look at our eating habits. Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese.<br />
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The next time you go into a store, take note of how many people are overweight.<br />
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It has not always been this way. Back in 1962, only 13 percent of all Americans were obese.<br />
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But now overeating is a national sport. At this point, approximately 36 percent of all Americans are obese, and it is being projected that number will rise to 42 percent by 2030.<br />
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While we are gorging ourselves with food, what else do we like to do?<br />
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That’s right – we love to watch television. In fact, the average American watches 28 hours of television every single week.<br />
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We have become completely and totally addicted to entertainment, and we have become trained to be constantly “plugged in” to something.<br />
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Our lives have become all about constantly feeding our greed and our selfishness. In fact, that is a major reason for the breakdown of the family in America. We tend to view marriage as a temporary condition that can be quickly discarded when it no longer makes us happy.<br />
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Sadly, the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a very wide margin at this point.<br />
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In addition, more Americans than ever are putting off marriage these days. Young Americans are being told that “an education” and “a career” are more important. According to the Pew Research Center, only51 percent of all American adults are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all adults in America were married.<br />
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As a result of these factors, we are an incredibly lonely nation. Today, the United States has the highest percentage of one person households on the entire globe.<br />
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In order to fill the void, the American people turn to things that will numb the pain. American use more legal drugs than anyone else on the planet and they also use more illegal drugs than anyone else on the planet.<br />
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We have more “stuff” than any other society in the history of the world has ever had, but it has not made us happy.<br />
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And how did we pay for all of this?<br />
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We paid for a lot of this with debt. In fact, we have accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world.<br />
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During my lifetime, the debt of the U.S. government has gotten more than 30 times larger. For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled “27 Things That Every American Should Know About The National Debt“.<br />
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But the federal government is not the only one with a debt problem. The truth is that our entire society is absolutely drowning in debt.<br />
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Over the past 50 years, the total amount of debt in the U.S. has grown from less than a trillion dollars to nearly 55 trillion dollars….<br />
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We have used massive amounts of debt in an attempt to feed our endless greed and materialism and we have gotten ourselves into a whole lot of trouble.<br />
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This is one of the reasons why I write. I want people to understand how bad things have really gotten.<br />
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Thanks to our foolishness, our economy has been declining, it is going to continue to decline, and a massive economic collapse is coming.<br />
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Some people believe that this is a message of “doom and gloom”, but that is not the case at all.<br />
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Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that somehow everything is going to be just fine is not going to do anyone any good.<br />
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Instead, I believe that warning people about the coming economic collapse is a message of hope.<br />
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There is hope in understanding what is happening, developing a plan to deal with it, and preparing yourself and your family for the storm that is coming.<br />
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It is the people that are ignoring all of the warnings that are going to be in real trouble.<br />
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Millions upon millions of people will be absolutely blindsided by what is coming. Many will give in to total despair once they realize that their prosperity is gone and they have done nothing to prepare for what they are now facing.<br />
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My hope is that the information that I write about will be shocking enough that it will wake people up and motivate them to get prepared so that they can handle the incredibly challenging years that are ahead.<br />
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And the truth is that our lives should not be about our money and our stuff anyway.<br />
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Your possessions are just temporary. None of them are going to last forever and you certainly cannot take them with you when you die.<br />
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Even though our economy has had some rough times, we still have a higher standard of living than 99 percent of the humans that have ever lived on this planet have had.<br />
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You would think that would be enough for us.<br />
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But it isn’t. We have hoarded our wealth and we have lived in luxury and self-indulgence.<br />
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When our debt-fueled prosperity disappears, most Americans are not going to know how to handle it.<br />
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Most Americans will believe that their lives are “over” at that point.<br />
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But those that are not caught up in materialism and that have prepared for what is ahead will understand that the next chapters of their lives can be the greatest chapters of all.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/is-america-the-most-materialistic-society-in-the-history-of-the-world_09202012"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a><br />
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Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-34754371699054276802012-09-21T12:29:00.000-07:002012-09-21T12:29:15.605-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“If you can’t protect it, you don’t own it;” this popular prepping phrase describes the mentality the unprepared have about you and your preps. I’m not saying it’s fair that people could steal from you, but it’s a reality, and a concern you should not take lightly. The fact is that crime seems to escalate in the aftermath of a disaster; something we have seen with many disasters, and as recently as Hurricane Isaac.<br />
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Over the last year, we have discussed how important it is for security measures to be in place especially during and following a wide-spread disaster. In an earlier newsletter written on the subject of external security measures, I wrote, “a ‘bug in’ scenario may be our only choice after a disaster strikes and we must prepare not only for our basic needs, but also for our safety. Since the grid may be down following a disaster, each household should prepare for crime.”<br />
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I realize there are some who believe a gun does not belong in the home; and in all honesty, that is your God given choice; be that as it may, if we are talking about protecting ourselves in a short-or long-term disaster, then we have to assume that local emergency responders will not be as readily available and crime could be a threat to our livelihood and well-being. If that is the case, then a firearm should be as much a part of your preparedness plan as having the coveted beans and Band-Aids. I don’t know about you, but if someone kicked in my door, I know they aren’t looking for a cup of sugar. Their motivation is purely to take something that you have or cause harm to you or a family member, and you must assume the worst. Trying to communicate with him or her will not do the trick if they are inside your home. On the other hand, a rifle pointed directly at the intruder’s chest, however, would make a very clear statement, wouldn’t it?<br />
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I would like to emphasize that a gun should never be in the home of someone who does not know how to properly handle or understand gun safety protocols; this is an accident waiting to happen. That said, if you plan on owning and keeping a gun in the home, it is my recommendation that every family member, including children learn the gun safety and handling rules. Further, every time you pick up a firearm, you must assume that it is loaded. Checking the magazine and gun chamber to make sure a bullet is not lodged is going another step further in ensuring safety measures.<br />
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Lisa Bedford, the Survival Mom, also believes in teaching her children about the importance of gun safety. In her article, “Two Things My Kids Know about Gun Control,” she doesn’t want guns to be a mysterious forbidden fruit. “After all, what is more alluring to a child?… So, our kids have been taught how to shoot. Both have shot a thousand rounds or more from their .22 rifles.” Lisa also recommends visiting the NRA website to use their Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program which is available to individuals, schools, and groups and priced affordably.<br />
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Lisa also has a great article geared toward women on the 23 Truths of Firearms you should consider reading.<br />
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Best Firearm for Children or First Time Users<br />
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So what’s the best all-around gun for the entire family? In my humble opinion, the .22 rifle or .22 pistols are the best choices for first time gun owners or for teaching children how to shoot. A great selling point of this caliber is it has little to no recoil, and can be used in a multitude of situations including home protection and used in hunting small game (and even large game from a certain distance).<br />
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An added benefit is the ammunition is reasonably priced, which means that a .22 can be an excellent practice rifle to learn basic rifle shooting skills at a fraction of the cost of other rifles.<br />
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Best Firearm for Home Protection<br />
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My #1 choice for overall home protection is the shotgun. Either a 12-gauge or the slightly smaller 20-gauge are excellent choices. In the article, “An Introduction to SHTF Home Defense, Guns and Safety“, at www.SHTF Plan.com, the author agrees with these sentiments and goes on to suggest that the best all around shot gun to purchase is a 12-gauge.<br />
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“During my concealed weapons permit course, the instructor said something to the effect of “for a home defense shotgun, you can pick any gauge you want…as long as it is 12-gauge.”<br />
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First, 12-gauge shotguns offer a generous spread (i.e., you don’t have to be that accurate) and/or stopping power, depending on the type of ammunition of course. Second, 12-gauge shells are BY FAR the most common and the easiest to find (compared to .410, 20-gauge, etc.) and often the least expensive. Wal-Mart (where I buy much of my ammo) usually carries everything in 12-gauge from very light loads for hunting birds and clay shooting to 00 buckshot and slugs.”<br />
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As far as what bullets to use, the author explains that 2 ¾ shells are the most common, and most shotguns can use them.<br />
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For a SHTF scenario, as opposed to home defense, 00 (‘double ought’) buckshot, which is essentially 7-9 pellets (for a 2 ¾ shell) similar in size to a 9 mm bullet, is probably the way to go, as it offers some spread and SERIOUS stopping power, and decent range (maybe 50 yards or so). If you want more penetration (but no spread), you may want to consider a rifled slug.<br />
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…BUT for home defense, 00 buck and slugs MAY not be the best choice. One of the concerns with firing at an intruder in your house is what happens to the bullet/pellet if you miss the bad guy, or it goes through the bad guy? Some ballistics tests have indicated that various types of buckshot can easily pass through several layers of sheetrock because of the relatively high momentum of the projectiles.<br />
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Therefore, some experts recommend a lighter load if the shotgun is intended only as a “under the bed” weapon. One commonly recommended load is No. 4 birdshot, which has a higher number of smaller pellets compared to 00 buck. While still offering ‘decent’ stopping power, it will spread a bit more than buckshot and really cut down the possibility of injuring a family member in another room or a neighbor.<br />
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Another thing to keep in mind is that you can load your shotgun with alternating rounds (e.g., #4 bird, slug, 00 buck, #4 bird, etc.) just be sure to have the series memorized.<br />
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Two of the most popular, reliable and cost effective shotguns available are the classic Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500. Both are pump shotguns that have been tried and tested in real life situations with excellent results.<br />
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Best Pistol for Home Defense<br />
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Pistols are another popular choice for home defense weapons. Some of the most popular pistols to purchase are .9 mm, .40 cal., and .45 cal., which means that the ammunition is also widely available. In a situation where ammunition becomes scarce, having one of these three calibers, especially 9mm and .40 caliber, may allow you to use it as a medium of exchange to trade for other goods. Likewise, it will be much easier to find than other ‘specialty’ ammunition.<br />
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Before you purchase a weapon for home defense, you want to take into consideration:<br />
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The price of the firearm, magazine and ammunition<br />
How much recoil it will have<br />
Whether or not there is a safety mechanism on the firearm<br />
What type of firearm offers up the highest capacity for magazines<br />
And of course, which firearm offers the most stopping power<br />
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9 mm firearms recoils the least, so it’s generally the easiest of the three to stay on target after pulling the trigger, and usually offers higher capacity magazines compared to the other two. 9 mm is usually the least expensive of the three. A con to this type of firearm is it does have the least stopping power.<br />
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.40 caliber firearms offers (in a defensive round) more stopping power than 9 mm, but usually ‘snaps’ (or recoils) more than BOTH 9 mm AND .45. Many law enforcement personnel have switched from 9mm semi-automatic handguns to the .40 caliber in recent years because of the increased stopping power.<br />
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.45 caliber firearms offers the most stopping power but you’ll generally have to sacrifice a few rounds of magazine capacity and a bit a penetration (which might be a good thing depending on the situation). Comparably speaking, between the three calibers discussed, there usually isn’t that much of a price difference between the three calibers discussed, although the .45 is the most expensive.<br />
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Handguns come in numerous price points ranging from $300 to $1000, so there is certainly a good, reliable weapon out there for anyone who needs to acquire one. The Beretta 92FS 9mm is a favorite in our family and has been used by officers in the United States military since the early 1980′s. Glocks in 9mm or .40 caliber are proven in the field as well. The 1911 model .45 caliber is an excellent choice for those looking for more serious stopping power and has been standard issue (M-45) for the Force Recon element of the United States Marine Corp. since 1985.<br />
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Assault Rifles / Long Range Weapons<br />
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When discussing home defense preparedness we can’t ignore the possibility of a total breakdown of law enforcement capability in our immediate local region. In an event such as this we may be faced with multiple attackers attempting to overtake our homes and land. While a shotgun or handgun are both excellent close proximity defense weapons, they will not fare well at longer distances. If you have a property with acreage that needs to be defended you’ll want to seriously consider acquiring an assault rifle.<br />
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It would be quite difficult to neutralize a target at 100 – 200 yards with a handgun or shotgun, but for an assault rifle it becomes much more feasible.<br />
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Like handguns, there are numerous choices available. Here are a couple of excellent options we have found for our own personal defense.<br />
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One of the more popular “zombie weapons” out there is the AR-15, made by multiple manufacturers and based on the military version of the M-16. This rifle is chambered in 5.56mm x 45mm round, which is essentially a .223 caliber (there are some special circumstances here, so do your research on ammunition for this rifle if you choose to go with this model). The recoil on an AR-15 is negligible compared to other assault rifles of higher caliber, so it’s easier to control. It is highly customizable allowing operators to add force multipliers that include after-market equipment like scopes, magnification, night vision, flash lights, suppression, etc. Because of its popularity, the AR-15 is fairly inexpensive with base models starting in the $800 range. It’s also widespread in the United States, so parts are readily available. So, too, is the ammunition (for now).<br />
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Most families will want to have the same weapons platform – a his and hers model, so that you can share ammunition, after- market equipment and parts. If one gun breaks, you can always use it for parts for your other weapon. Buying two AR-15′s would run at least $1600 for basic models, so cost may be an issue for some.<br />
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One alternative option for an excellent “SHTF weapon” is the SKS. Somewhat similar to an AK-47, the SKS is chambered in a standard NATO round of 7.62mm x 39mm. It is not as easily customizable as the AR-15, but as a perimeter defense assault rifle can be just as effective in the right hands. At a starting price point of around $350 it is an excellent choice for those on a budget. There are numerous manufacturers of this weapon, all foreign and originating from Russia, China and Yugoslavia. Certain models of this rifle have been banned in some states (making it all the more desirable!), but they are readily available for purchase online or at local gun shows.<br />
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For some, home defense also means being able to protect your property at long range. While assault rifles are effective for a couple of hundred yards, a long-range hunting weapon may be a better option for anything exceeding 200 yards.<br />
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Like AR’s and handguns, you have lots of options. And like AR’s and handguns, consider looking into a weapon that utilizes popular ammunition. The .308 is one such caliber and is effective up to roughly 800 yards (though most of us would have a hard time hitting a target at that range). In addition to being able to provide long-range, highly accurate firepower and support, a 308 is an excellent hunting rifle. If society has broken down, there’s a strong likelihood that food will become scarce, so you’ll want to have a weapon with which you can hunt effectively.<br />
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Depending on your personal preference, you can consider looking at a traditional bolt-action single shot 308, or going with an assault rifle model like the Armalite AR-10 (used for guard duty by some military personnel because they can stop oncoming vehicles) or the FN AR semi-automatic 308. A bolt action model can be had for $300 – $600 for basic models, and in excess of $1000 for the semi-automatic rifles mentioned.<br />
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Magazines<br />
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In addition to the magazines that come standard with your firearm – usually two – you’ll want to consider having some in reserve. You can never have too many reserve mags, but stockpiling these can become expensive, so consider having at least three primary magazines and one in reserve.<br />
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You can purchase “factory” mags that are manufactured by the same company that made your firearm, or you can purchase after-market magazines manufactured by a number of different companies. The factory magazines are almost always more expensive, and for good reason. They will almost always perform better than those manufactured by original equipment manufacturers. If you have to purchase non-factory magazines, I strongly recommend that you read multiple reviews from others who have tried them. You are depending on your magazine to work to specifications 100% time. Failure can mean death, so it’s in your interest to spend the extra money on the best magazines you can buy if at all possible.<br />
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Different states have different laws regarding “high capacity” magazines. In some states like California, magazines cannot hold more than ten (10) rounds, while states like Texas have no restrictions. In recent years federal legislation for high capacity magazine restrictions has been introduced, which means at some time in the future owning a 17 round magazine may be illegal in any part of the country. This, of course, poses a problem in a situation where the rule of law breaks down and you are forced to defend yourself against multiple targets.<br />
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One solution for those living in states where high capacity magazines are illegal is to only keep parts on hand. Though I am not advocating that you break or circumvent laws in your state, having parts or a parts kit, as opposed to assembled magazines, may be one way to still be prepared for a scenario where you could be threatened by multiple attackers and a higher volume of firepower is required. If you are ever presented with the worst case, you could re-assemble those parts.<br />
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Certain states, like California, also have laws that require “fixed magazines” in rifles that cannot be removed with a simple push of the magazine release. They require a special, external tool (like a screw driver) to remove the magazine. This, of course, poses a serious problem when dealing with an external threat. Though you’d never want to circumvent these laws, in a situation where lawlessness reigns, having parts on hand to make necessary modifications may be beneficial.<br />
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Note: Research pertinent laws in your state, as firearm restrictions do vary. The better you understand the laws, the better equipped you will be to make quick decisions when under great stress.<br />
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Ammunition<br />
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Over penetration in a home defense situation, IS a concern, especially with Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) ammunition. A ‘nightstand’ pistol, in any of the above calibers, with a defensive round, such as some sort of hollow point, is STRONGLY recommended, as it increases stopping power significantly and reduces the odds of injuring an innocent party.<br />
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Purchase a ‘defense’ type (e.g., hollow point) bullet (as opposed to ‘ball’ or full metal jacket) in any of these three rounds provides plenty of stopping power (Click here for a brief description of ammunition types).<br />
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How much is enough? In all honesty, you can never have too much ammunition. In a long-term emergency, you will want to have ammunition not only for protecting your home, but for hunting purposes as well. Before we get to a specific number, you need to take into account that you will also need a few thousand rounds in reserve for target practice. At one target practice, one person can easily blow through a few hundred rounds. Having a minimum of 500-1,000 rounds for each of your guns is a good starting point. If you can, purchasing ammunition in bulk will be more economical, but purchasing a box of ammunition every chance you get is alright too. Just stick to what is within your budget!<br />
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For something like a .22 which can be used for hunting, personal protection and target practice, you can stock even more especially since it is so cheap. Additionally, take into consideration that purchasing bulk ammunition for popular calibers will be a HUGE bartering item.<br />
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Practice<br />
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You can either panic when confronted with a life threatening situation, or you can be like the security guard in the following video and act without hesitation to thwart an assault by multiple armed assailants:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y3MZHi4YSPA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Put simply, having dependable accuracy when shooting is a skill that takes practice and will depreciate over time if the skill goes unused. Therefore, visit the target range regularly and take an assortment of firearm training classes to maintain or improve your skill level. Courses such as a hand gun class to teach you the right stance, grip, and how to position your body to absorb the gun firing would be a great starting point for beginners. Here is a map to find shooting ranges both indoor and outdoor in your area. One more point I would like to make regarding practicing, is if you or your home comes under attack for any given reason, you will be under a great amount of stress and will need to feel comfortable with the firearm in your hand. When you practice regularly, you become familiar with the gun and subsequently develop muscle memory. If the time comes when you need to use a firearm for defensive purposes, you will be confident in your abilities and your firearm.<br />
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One other recommendation for those serious about improving their skills is to attend simulations. Paintball and Airsoft battles add some realism to your training, as you will be firing at live targets (and trying to evade getting shot as well!). It will give you the ability to hone your skills in environments that will be similar to the real thing. Simulated battles like this will also allow you and your team to learn to work together in high stress, high pace environments. What’s more, you can purchase your own equipment and work together in learning how to defend your own property by setting up simulated scenarios.<br />
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Body Armor<br />
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Here is the reality of it: If you are shooting down range or shooting to protect your home there is a very strong possibility that someone will be shooting back at you. This is especially true should the world as we know it fall apart and you are forced to fend for yourself and defend your family, your home and your supplies.<br />
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People are going to die when the bullets start flying. As such, one of the absolute best investments you can make to reduce your chance of serious injury or death is body armor. This includes a helmet, a vest to protect your chest, neck protector, groin protector, and even side guards to protect your ribs and vital organs.<br />
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As is the case with firearms, there are numerous options for body armor. My advice is that you save your money and go with the absolute best protection you can afford.<br />
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Here is a brief breakdown of the different levels of body armor:<br />
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Type I (.22 LR; .380 ACP)<br />
This armor protects against .22 long rifle lead round nose (LR LRN) bullets. Type I body armor is light. This is the minimum level of protection. (Note: In my opinion this is not going to cut it)<br />
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Type II-A (9mm; .40 S&W)<br />
This armor protects against 9mm full metal jacketed round nose (FMJ RN) bullets and .40 S&W caliber full metal jacketed (FMJ) bullets. Type II-A body armor is well suited for full-time use by police departments, particularly those seeking protection for their officers from lower velocity 9mm and 40 S&W ammunition. (Note: It’ll stop a lower caliber handgun, but that’s it)<br />
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Type II (9mm; .357 Magnum)<br />
This is the next step up from Type II-A and is worn full time by police officers seeking protection against higher velocity .357 Magnum and 9mm ammunition. (Note: It’s good for lower velocity handguns, but that’s about it)<br />
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Type III-A (High Velocity 9mm; .44 Magnum)<br />
This armor protects against 9mm full metal jacketed round nose (FJM RN) bullets and .44 Magnum jacketed hollow point (JHP) bullets. It also provides protection against most handgun threats, as well as the Type I, II-A, and II threats. Type III-A body armor provides the highest level of protection currently available from concealable body armor and is generally suitable for routine wear in many situations. (Note: For the prepper planning on worst case scenarios my opinion is that this is the absolute minimum in body armor protection)<br />
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Type III (Rifles)<br />
This armor protects against 7.62mm full metal jacketed (FMJ) bullets (U.S. military designation M80), with nominal masses of 9.6 g (148 gr), impacting at a minimum velocity of 838 m/s (2750 ft/s) or less. It also provides protection against Type I through III-A threats. Type III body armor is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection, such as barricade confrontations involving sporting rifles. (Note: If you are in a situation where you are firing an assault rifle at the enemy, they are probably doing the same. You’ll want at least this level of protection for those situations.)<br />
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Type IV (Armor Piercing Rifle)<br />
This armor protects against .30 caliber armor piercing (AP) bullets (U.S. military designation M2 AP). It also provides at least single-hit protection against the Type I through III threats. Type IV body armor provides the highest level of protection currently available. Because this armor is intended to resist “armor piercing” bullets, it often uses ceramic materials. Such materials are brittle in nature and may provide only single-shot protection, since the ceramic tends to break up when struck. As with Type III armor, Type IV armor is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection. (Note: If you are digging in this is the body armor you would want. It is expensive. It is also going to be heavier than other types of protection. Combined with other gear you may be carrying when mobile, the added weight with this body armor may require serious physical conditioning. But, it will stop high power armor piercing rounds – something other protection levels simply can’t do.)<br />
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<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
<br />
The fact that we have the luxury of discussing this issue means that
the proverbial you-know-what has not hit fan. In reality, if we were in
the midst of a true shtf scenario, you wouldn’t care what firearm you
had – just as long as you had something to keep the bad guys at bay. We
are lucky that we still have time to research, practice and fine tune
this pertinent skill, so use this time wisely.<br />
I leave you with this advice; do not be solely dependent on a firearm
for protection. As much as I value my firearm, I know that it can be
taken out of my hands and used against me. Learning of other forms of
personal protection such as hand-to-hand combat, krav maga, martial arts
and other forms to self-defense for last resort measures will only make
you more capable of protecting yourself, your loved ones and your
preps.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/home-defense-if-you-cant-protect-it-you-dont-own-it_09212012" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a><br />
<br />
</div>
Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-39392433488338473112012-07-31T12:48:00.001-07:002012-07-31T12:49:52.201-07:00UPDATE: Cascading Grid Crash: Now 600 Million Without Power in India (Are We Vulnerable?)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3bGJz3qD0zhFb-cRsWo9tsDjlBulfbM6ESOa7hohLYvF5MYj1wh_5pP-1XFHw3h2KqdDsC_G0SBp8EWRNKYLmcZJDuFf6nVxfs0D9xvSQjrfS8eG8Fmm5MVDdpJvcM2suFN4YlHj8BYA/s1600/india-clogged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3bGJz3qD0zhFb-cRsWo9tsDjlBulfbM6ESOa7hohLYvF5MYj1wh_5pP-1XFHw3h2KqdDsC_G0SBp8EWRNKYLmcZJDuFf6nVxfs0D9xvSQjrfS8eG8Fmm5MVDdpJvcM2suFN4YlHj8BYA/s320/india-clogged.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Just one day after India’s power grid left 370 million residents of its northern provinces without electricity, the country is experiencing another massive crash of their fragile power grid with some 600 million people – about half its entire population – now going through widespread outages in what can only be described as a cascading power grid failure.<br />
<br />
Though no cause has yet been identified, the power ministry is frantically working to restore electricity as essential services collapse and transportation systems come to a grinding halt. Hundreds of thousands have been trapped in mid transport on trains, while millions sit in traffic jams across afflicted areas.<br />
<br />
<i><b>About 600 million people lost power in India on Tuesday when the country’s northern and eastern electricity grids failed, crippling the country for a second consecutive day.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
<i><b>The outage stopped hundreds of trains in their tracks, darkened traffic lights, shuttered the Delhi Metro and left nearly everyone — the police, water utilities, private businesses and citizens — without electricity. About half of India’s population of 1.2 billion people was without power. India’s unofficial power grid, a huge number of backup diesel generators and other private power sources, kept hospitals electrified and major airports running.</b></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<i><b>Manoranjan Kumar, an economic adviser with the Ministry of Power, said in a telephone interview that the grids had failed and that the ministry was working to figure out the source of the problem.</b></i><br />
<br />
As power grids in emerging and developing nations take on more demand than ever before, it was only a matter of time before the strain became too much to bear. This morning the weakness in global grid systems became apparent when some 370 million residents in northern India were left without power:<br />
<br />
<i><b>Northern India’s power grid crashed Monday, halting trains, forcing hospitals and airports onto backup power and providing a dark reminder of the nation’s inability to feed a growing hunger for energy as it strives to become an economic power.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
<i><b>Some small businesses were forced to shut for the day. Buildings were without water because the pumps weren’t working, and the vaunted New Delhi Metro, with 1.8 million daily riders, was paralyzed during the busy morning commute.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
<i><b>Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde deflected criticism, pointing out that the United States and Brazil also had huge power failures in recent years.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
<i><b>“I ask you to look at the power situation in other countries as well,” he said.</b></i><br />
<br />
A large portion of India’s population regularly operates without electricity – either because they are too poor to have lines installed, or due to regular power outages. The power in this particular instance was restored to the majority of areas within 12 hours, but demonstrates that the Indian grid, as well as those around the rest of the world, could stop pumping electricity at any time.<br />
<br />
Consider how India’s populace would have reacted had the grid gone down for several days, or weeks, without repair.<br />
<br />
India’s grid crash is reportedly a result of excessive energy demand, and thus service was much easier to restore than, say, if there had been a natural disaster or attack focused on the utility infrastructure (from someone like neighboring Pakistan – who, incidentally, probably just got a great idea).<br />
<br />
In any case, what we can learn from this is that even in a country of one billion people, there are critical infrastructure issues that have been left unaddressed.<br />
<br />
The power grid in the United States, while more advanced and apparently better maintained, is also under excessive strain as has been witnessed in recent years with rolling brownouts, blackouts, and unforeseen crashes resulting from key component failure.<br />
<br />
One industry insider who has worked in the utility industry for nearly two decades advised this author recently that it wouldn’t take much to bring down the system even in the United States, potentially affecting tens of millions of customers. Though it’s the 21st century, many grid components in operation are, in some cases, as much as 40 years old, thus replacement parts are almost impossible to find. Other components, like massive transformers may take weeks or months to replace. In the event of a scenario where multiple components are targeted simultaneously, by either a man-made EMP or natural event, it is not too far of a stretch to suggest that the afflicted regions would be engulfed in pandemonium.<br />
<br />
This potential for widespread failure is so plausible that former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who has spoken on the vulnerabilities of the US power grid, has advised that Those Who Can, Should Move Their Families Out Of the City:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GGE1omIaRMI" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
After Hurricane Ike passed through the Houston area 2008 some 90% of the metropolitan was without power. While hospitals, police and critical infrastructure was restored within a few days, residents in outlying suburban areas experienced the outage for over three weeks. We witnessed the rapid loss of patience, increased anxiety and frustration, and the subsequent breakdown of interpersonal interaction at high-demand venues such as gas stations, where long lines, screaming matches and even fist fights became a common occurrence.<br />
<br />
The bottom line: As demonstrated in India today, Quebec in 1989 (caused by a geo-magnetic storm originating from the sun), Ike in 2008, Hurricane Irene on the East coast in 2012 and the plethora of incidents that have taken place over the last couple of decades, the North American power grid, just as India’s, is susceptible to far-from-equilibrium situations, and sometimes it takes extended periods of time to get power up and running.<br />
<br />
With just three major grids running the United States, our dependence on massive flows of electricity to power our home air conditioners, food refrigeration, communications, water and gas pump systems, and daily business operations could come to a screeching halt should the grid ever be struck by a natural disaster like a solar coronal mass ejection or a large-scale earthquake in California or on the Madrid fault. Likewise, as we’ve noted previously, rogue organizations looking to wreak havoc have already demonstrated the staggering security holes in our power, water and oil grid infrastructure, with leading cyber security firms noting that it is just a matter of time before disaster strikes.<br />
<br />
While a short-term, isolated metropolitan outage can be dealt with by sourcing labor and supplies from unaffected areas of the country, considering that the US operates on three key power grid systems, a region-wide outage affecting just one of these nodes could lead to a cascading breakdown in the electrical power system that envelops the entire country.<br />
<br />
The most dangerous possibility emerges when we look at threats posed by the sun or a rogue terror cell or nation that could deploy an Electro-Magnetic Pulse weapon (EMP / Super EMP) over American skies. It’s been surmised that either one of these possibilities could cause damage so staggering that the grid would be down for months, leaving millions without just-in-time food and gas delivery systems, medical care, local emergency response, or even clean water. According to one estimate, some 90% of Americans would die in such a scenario if the power wasn’t restored within one year.<br />
<br />
Thus, it is clear that our power grids are a critical lifeline to keeping life as we know it in the world today operational. And, as we have seen historically and India this morning, power grids can and do crash – even in countries with hundreds of millions of residents.<br />
<br />
Though a nationwide long-term power grid failure in the United States is an unlikely low-probability event, were it to occur it would literally change the face of the world as we know it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/paralysis-grid-down-in-india-370-million-left-without-power_07302012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-56360508055255574592012-07-27T21:09:00.001-07:002012-07-27T21:10:30.935-07:00The Corn Is Dying All Over America<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgsAgvs1jfzr6WTFSlUYR_ieYbIZexIARKB5SkTDpJWkiw8zhvAxLEIoTRmpWwAtniQ6z12z3ebV7sEa390LBzGrCwSWjqHn_RMIXhmEZo-IqOiDwU5KMkIQj3aaeKjnYh6TyYHuPiqI/s1600/The-Corn-Is-Dying-All-Over-America-250x187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgsAgvs1jfzr6WTFSlUYR_ieYbIZexIARKB5SkTDpJWkiw8zhvAxLEIoTRmpWwAtniQ6z12z3ebV7sEa390LBzGrCwSWjqHn_RMIXhmEZo-IqOiDwU5KMkIQj3aaeKjnYh6TyYHuPiqI/s1600/The-Corn-Is-Dying-All-Over-America-250x187.jpg" /></a></div>All over America the corn is dying. If drought conditions persist in the middle part of the country, wheat and soybeans will be next. Weeks of intense heat combined with extraordinarily dry conditions have brought many U.S. corn farmers to the brink of total disaster. If there is not significant rainfall soon, many farmers will be financially ruined. This period of time is particularly important for corn because this is when pollination is supposed to happen. But the unprecedented heat and the extremely dry conditions are playing havoc with that process. With each passing day things get even worse. We have seen the price of a bushel of corn soar 41 percent since June 14th. That is an astounding rise. <br />
<br />
You may not eat much corn directly, but it is important to realize that corn or corn syrup is just about in everything these days. Just look at your food labels. In the United States today, approximately 75 percent of all processed foods contain corn. So a huge rise in the price of corn is going to be felt all over the supermarket. Corn is also widely used to feed livestock, and if this crisis continues we are going to see a significant rise in meat and dairy prices as well. Food prices in America have already been rising at a steady pace, and so this is definitely not welcome news.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">The weather conditions in the middle part of the country during the last couple of months have been highly unusual. The following is from a recent article in the Los Angeles Times....</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">It's not that the Midwest hasn't been extremely hot before, and it's not that it hasn't been incredibly dry.<br />
But it's unusual for a vast swath of the Midwest to be so very hot and so very dry for so very long -- particularly this early in the summer.<br />
The current heat wave -- which is spurring comparisons to the catastrophic heat of 1936 -- is "out of whack," meteorologist Jim Keeney said Friday in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.</blockquote><br />
Corn crops typically pollinate and mature in June and early July. That is why this time of the year is so vitally important for corn. We have reached a make it or break it moment.<br />
<br />
The following is how an Accuweather.com report described what is happening right now....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Either heat or drought can stress the stalks, but both can basically shut down the pollination process. When this happens few, small or no ears of corn form.<br />
According to AccuWeather.com Agricultural Meteorologists, you can't raise a corn crop with less than an inch of rain over six weeks, combined with 100-degree and higher temperatures. However, these conditions have taken place in much of the southern corn belt through the week of July 4, 2012.</blockquote><br />
If pollination does not happen, corn farmers might as well give up.<br />
<br />
Just check out what agricultural economist Chris Hurt said the other day....<br />
<br />
"Pollination problems just can’t be overcome, even if the weather turns. There’s no turning back. There’s just failure."<br />
<br />
At this point, half of all corn in the state of Indiana is already in poor shape.<br />
<br />
With each passing day, the condition of the corn gets even worse.<br />
<br />
As a recent article in the Chicago Tribune detailed, many farmers feel completely helpless at the moment....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Dave Kestel, who farms about 1,300 acres in Manhattan about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, said he feels helpless.<br />
"Every day you get out there and it's the same heat and cloudless sky," he said. "You see your corn just withering out there, knowing you can't do anything about it."</blockquote><br />
The United States is suffering from a severe lack of rain. Just look at the chart posted below. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of the country is experiencing drought conditions right now....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyR1Dk7ik3Dkui-N-hLXrC5JNMi223smCVuGyuGXHg6LXYJLhuNYsuRpWnkj5Jv4furdkhjvL2SZTV3OdLTs-AN_9g3rPetKkF5CgtrRIFnsD6q0S3QRQjlO0oEo2n1nTggi6HwOuLwA/s1600/US-Drought-Monitor-July-2012-440x289.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyR1Dk7ik3Dkui-N-hLXrC5JNMi223smCVuGyuGXHg6LXYJLhuNYsuRpWnkj5Jv4furdkhjvL2SZTV3OdLTs-AN_9g3rPetKkF5CgtrRIFnsD6q0S3QRQjlO0oEo2n1nTggi6HwOuLwA/s1600/US-Drought-Monitor-July-2012-440x289.png" /></a></div><br />
These drought conditions have also played a major role in the huge number of wildfires that we have seen lately.<br />
<br />
There are a few northern states that are not feeling the drought right now, but otherwise the rest of the country is extremely dry.<br />
<br />
So what does all of this mean for you and I?<br />
<br />
A recent article by Holly Deyo summarized why we should all be praying for rain....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Since 75% of grocery store products use corn as a key ingredient, expect food prices to skyrocket. Corn is also a staple in many fast foods. Corn is in ethanol and the main food source or chickens. In addition to this, maize is in many things that aren't obvious like adhesives, aluminum, aspirin, clothing starch, cosmetics, cough syrup, dry cell batteries, envelopes, fiberglass insulation, gelatin capsules, ink, insecticides, paint, penicillin, powders, rugs and carpets, stamps, talcum, toothpaste, wallpaper, and vitamins. That's just for starters...</blockquote><br />
This is a huge heads up for you to purchase corn-using products NOW before these conditions reflect in grocery goods. It will be a narrow window of opportunity.<br />
<br />
These thoughts are being echoed by many agricultural economists as well. According to Businessweek, the outlook for U.S. food prices is bleak....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"When people look at rising prices for hamburger, butter, eggs and other protein sources from higher corn costs, that’s when more money ends up in the food basket," said Minneapolis- based Michael Swanson, a senior agricultural economist at Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. farm lender. "We were hoping for a break, and we aren’t going to get it."</blockquote><br />
Unfortunately, the fact that the corn is dying all over America is not just a problem for the United States.<br />
<br />
As Businessweek also recently noted, the fate of U.S. corn affects the entire globe....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">When rain doesn’t fall in Iowa, it’s not just Des Moines that starts fretting. Food buyers from Addis Ababa to Beijing all are touched by the fate of the corn crop in the U.S., the world’s breadbasket in an era when crop shortages mean riots.<br />
This year they have reason to be concerned. Stockpiles of corn in the U.S. tumbled 48 percent between March and June, the biggest drop since 1996, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week. And that was before drought hit the Midwest.</blockquote><br />
The United States is the world’s biggest exporter of corn by far, and if there is a massive corn crop failure in America it is going to be felt to the four corners of the earth.<br />
<br />
Just check out what Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist with the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization, said the other day....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Everyone watches the U.S. because they can rely on it. Without it, the world would starve."</blockquote><br />
Back in February, I wrote an article that suggested that we could see dust bowl conditions return to the middle part of this country in the years ahead.<br />
<br />
A lot of people were skeptical of that article.<br />
<br />
Not quite as many people are skeptical today.<br />
<br />
The following is from a recent article posted on MSNBC entitled "Fears of new Dust Bowl as heat, drought shrivel corn in Midwest"....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Crop insurance agents and agricultural economists are watching closely, a few comparing the situation with the devastating drought of 1988, when corn yields shriveled significantly, while some farmers have begun alluding, unhappily, to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Far more is at stake in the coming pivotal days: with the brief, delicate phase of pollination imminent in many states, miles and miles of corn will rise or fall on whether rain soon appears and temperatures moderate.</blockquote><br />
As I wrote about last week, if the weather does not turn around soon the implications are going to be staggering.<br />
<br />
Even if we got some significant rainfall at this point a tremendous amount of damage has already been done according to the Washington Post....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Jay Armstrong, owner and operator of Armstong Farms in Kansas, flew his small plane over a portion of the affected area and landed with the impression that the potential damage is far worse than is commonly understood.</blockquote><br />
“At this time of year, when you look down in a place like Indiana or Illinois, you should see just lush green fields,” Armstrong said. “I saw bare soil. I just thought to myself, the market has no idea what’s coming.”<br />
<br />
So is there significant rain in the forecast?<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the answer is no.<br />
<br />
The National Weather Service says that the corn belt will experience "above-normal temperatures" and "below-normal rainfall" over the next week.<br />
<br />
At this point it does not look like there will be any significant rainfall for the foreseeable future....<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"We got a break in the temperatures over the weekend but no rain of significance is in sight for next seven days," said Jim Keeney, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service the US central region based in Kansas City, Missouri.</blockquote><br />
Needless to say, that is really bad news.<br />
<br />
Right now we just have more heat and more dryness to look forward to. The skies are like iron and the earth is like brass. We like to think that we have conquered nature, but at moments such as these we see that is not true at all.<br />
<br />
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about all of the reasons why we should be concerned about the second half of 2012. In that article I did not even mention drought and crop failures. Sometimes major problems have a way of piling on top of themselves.<br />
<br />
The U.S. economy is already in bad enough shape without adding major crop failures to the mix. This is something that we just don't need right now.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQ7zjfMRIR9AvLQOlVEfno49fv_nCnLENOCLGc1Q5SiunzeAN3i8cHTfWjgvvO6KXvIkMHGEhrbMkch2rjz-eswEwzEKfQhLPvrz65jetO-s2cAPJFZ_E0wHE83ySsyGTVN9MyaFpxYA/s1600/Corn-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQ7zjfMRIR9AvLQOlVEfno49fv_nCnLENOCLGc1Q5SiunzeAN3i8cHTfWjgvvO6KXvIkMHGEhrbMkch2rjz-eswEwzEKfQhLPvrz65jetO-s2cAPJFZ_E0wHE83ySsyGTVN9MyaFpxYA/s1600/Corn-2012.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
But it looks like we are going to have to deal with it. Unless there is a major change in the weather, food prices are going to go up even more and large numbers of farmers and ranchers are going to be absolutely devastated.<br />
<br />
Let us all pray for rain. We desperately need it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-corn-is-dying-all-over-america" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a><br />
<br />
</div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-63885095958431830342012-07-16T02:33:00.001-07:002012-07-16T02:34:13.178-07:00Must See Video: “I Don’t Need To Stop at a Checkpoint to Prove Who I Am Because This Is America”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">With local, state and DHS checkpoints randomly popping up all over America many of our citizens believe that we must comply with what more often than not amounts to unlawful requests and orders from law enforcement officials.<br />
<br />
While driving through California, Steven Anderson came upon three such checkpoints and he chose not to play ball with officers who asked him, among other things, to prove his citizenship, prove his identity and pull over for further inspection and questioning.<br />
<br />
When asked whether he was a citizen Anderson’s immediate response was, “that’s my business.” When advised that it was the officer’s job to ask the question, Anderson calmly responds by saying, “I don’t have to answer you, because I have rights as an American.” The law enforcement official courteously asks Mr. Anderson to do him a favor and pull over for further questioning, no doubt expecting Anderson to comply. But not today, as Anderson patently refuses to do so per his Fourth Amendment Constitutional protections. He subsequently makes his own request, saying to the officer, “no thanks, I’d like to just go on my way.”<br />
<br />
All of it was recorded on a digital camera in Anderson’s car and out of view of officers.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
What you’ll see below is a crash course in exercising your Constitutional rights when faced with the threat of detention, interrogation and random searches by Federal or local law enforcement officials. You won’t see this one in mainstream media, and it’s something they certainly don’t teach in college:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Anderson: Is this Nazi Germany now, that I have to show my papers?</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Officer: It’s a simple yes or no. I need an answer or we can detain you until we figure out whether you’re a U.S. citizen.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Anderson: Well, you know what’s more simple is the fact that my freedom is a little more important than you seem to think. Seting up checkpoints where people have to prove that they’re a citizen is not something that America is supposed to be about. So, I’m not sure if you understand that.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Supervisor enters scene: Grunt</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Anderson: Grunt</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Supervisor: Just pull up over there (points to line of detained cars)</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Anderson: No, thank you… I want to go free on my way. Here I am just going about my own business and I don’t need to stop at a checkpoint to prove who I am because this is America. Correct me if I’m wrong – did I stumble into Mexico or is this still the United States?</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Supervisor: This is the United States.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Anderson: Therefore, I should have the freedom to travel unmolested, because I’m in America here.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>(pause)</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Supervisor: Ok, go ahead and go.</i></blockquote><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fDCXzqgD99o" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
Score one for liberty and the US Constitution.<br />
<br />
It really is that simple.<br />
<br />
Sure, some officers will overstep their bounds in an attempt to intimidate and instill fear, but in this case cooler heads prevailed and the officer in charge understood that Mr. Anderson was on the right side of the law, and that their requests for him pulling over and showing identification at a random checkpoint were nothing more than requests, as no such mandate exists without probable cause that criminal activity is taking place.<br />
<br />
Mr. Anderson stood up for his rights – his own individual rights. To be free and to enjoy the liberties reserved and protected for the people by the Constitution of the United States it falls upon each of us, as individuals, to ensure the rule of law.<br />
<br />
On another day Mr. Anderson may have been detained, perhaps even arrested (unlawfully).<br />
<br />
But today in America freedom prevailed.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/must-see-video-i-dont-need-to-stop-at-a-checkpoint-to-prove-who-i-am-because-this-is-america_07112012" style="color: #cccccc;" target="_blank">Source</a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-9972322223761633282012-07-16T02:30:00.001-07:002012-07-16T02:31:20.746-07:00Dr. Doom: “The 2013 Perfect Storm Scenario Is Unfolding”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">There is no hiding the fact that the global economy is now teetering on the real possibility of a complete meltdown – one that promises to be far worse than the financial crisis of 2008.<br />
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Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini, often cited by mainstream and alternative analysts alike, says that we are now in the midst of the “perfect storm” he detailed at the 2012 Skybridge Alternative Conference in Las Vegas in which he forecast a world-wide economic “train wreck”. Among other things, Roubini warned that the United States would fall back into recession, stock markets would go into a tailspin, Europe would begin to break up, emerging markets – namely China – would experience major slowdowns, and military conflict in Iran would lead to further geo-political turbulence.<br />
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According to Roubini, that ‘Perfect Storm” scenario has now taken hold:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">“The 2013 perfect storm scenario I wrote on months ago is unfolding,” Roubini said…<br />
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Roubini said that unlike in 2008 when central banks had “policy bullets” to stimulate the global economy, this time around policymakers are “running out of rabbits to pull out of the hat.”<br />
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“Levitational force of policy easing can only temporarily lift asset prices as gravitational forces of weaker fundamentals dominate over time,” he said.<br />
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Source: CNBC</blockquote><br />
It should be markedly clear that those green shoots which reportedly appeared to be sprouting in the summer of 2009 were nothing but conjecture promoted by governments and financial institutions in an attempt to maintain confidence and stability in the system.<br />
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That perceived stability will soon be overcome with a whirlwind of panic that could very well lead to a total destabilization of the economic, financial and geo-political systems as they exist today.<br />
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In the United States the signs are readily apparent.<br />
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Retail sales for the month of June have collapsed, with fully two-thirds of retailers in America reporting lower than expected sales numbers – the WORST sales numbers in three years.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">Although there are no simple answers for the retail downturn,a lack of consumer confidence is widely believed to have been the driving force behind June’s dismal sales figures. “Consumers are holding back, cautious and losing confidence,” said IHS Global Insight economist Chris Christopher.</blockquote><br />
Employment isn’t fairing any better, with the US having created just 80,000 jobs last month, a far cry from the millions predicted by Vice President Joe Biden after President Obama took office in early 2009.<br />
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Americans and Europeans – the driving force behind global consumption – have no jobs, are out of money, and their credit cards are maxed out.<br />
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Record breaking numbers of Americans are on food stamps, prices for essential goods and services are continuously rising as inflation takes hold, and the only arrow left in the governments’s quiver seems to be to borrow trillions upon trillions of dollars just to make ends meet and pay the interest on our previous loans.<br />
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By all accounts, the entire system from top to bottom is completely broke and on the verge of insolvency.<br />
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Prepare for the next wave. It’s coming and it can’t be stopped.<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/dr-doom-the-2013-perfect-storm-scenario-is-unfolding_07092012" target="_blank">Source</a> </div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-84850497769923417002012-07-16T02:28:00.000-07:002012-07-16T02:28:52.729-07:00They Will Take Everything If You Don’t Stop Them: Ten Things You Must Do To Defend Yourself<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>They will take everything if you don’t stop them.</b><br />
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At first glance a statement like this brings up thoughts of the government coming for all freedom seeking people. In actuality this is about your neighbors and those in your community that will ruthlessly mob up and literally storm your own home for what you have after a long drawn out disaster, perhaps sooner. It is a fact that most people in the United States, upwards of 99%, have little or NOTHING put away for emergenices. When chaos hits and a country’s infrastructure crumbles into powder, so does the nation’s ability to feed and sustain its citizens.<br />
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Self reliance and preparing for a rainy day or even for a full blown hurricane has become almost a taboo for many, and a total waste of time, money and effort for the others. While what a person does with their own money and time is their business, the same holds true for the person that sacrifices much to prepare for future mass disorder and total lack of purchasable necessities.<br />
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The main conundrum with the vast majority of the population is that they have come to totally expect everything provided for them by someone else, human or machine. This “serve me, as I am the only one that matters” attitude is more than an epidemic in the United States and many other countries. As individuals of ALL ages lose the basic skills of self reliance, and more importantly the desire to do any task for themselves, a ticking time bomb becomes more pronounced for when these services breakdown.<br />
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Various scenarios await the preparedness minded person in the event of a societal collapse.<br />
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The majority of the country has become totally reliant on daily shipments of food and other necessities. An oil emergency in the Middle-East, for example, can severely limit transportation of the goods that people depend on. A war that would rage on a half a world away would mean that supermarket shelves would be emptied. This would ONLY be regarded as a moderate hit to civilization until a regional war like this actually went global. Most people can only get by without a few days of food before “snap” reactions begin. Remember ONLY 1 to perhaps 1 and 1/2% of the people have stocked up for just such an emergency.<br />
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One of the most critical threats to be faced will be from those in your immediate vicinity – and those who have prepared will likely be forced to draw a line in the sand.<br />
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Most of us live around neighbors and are not, for the most part, living an isolated lifestyle. We usually have fair to good relationships with those that live around us. This often leads to the misconception that these neighbors and those that live around our community would never just come and take what we have saved up to keep our family alive after a calamity. In some cases this is true. In most cases it is not. After a week of starvation and lack of access to food, most neighbors will gather together and head for any house merely “suspected” of having food. Unless those desperate individuals are stopped, they will ransack a home of everything that is in it like a hoarde of hungry locusts. It is called the irrational conduct of a mob mentality. An excellent example of this is how a person can be trampled to death by a herd of wild eyed shoppers desperate enough to get some electronic gadget at some super holiday sale.<br />
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Let’s look at a fictional prepper family named the Smiths that have 1 year worth of food for 8 people, along with food for their golden retriever and cocker spaniel dogs, their tabby cat, and their macaw bird. The Smiths are friendly people but have not told anyone about their stockpile. After a severe incident, call it an ecomonic collapse, war, Earth changes – it really doesn’t matter – the chain links of food being delivered are now gone. Through casual conversations somehow a couple of neighbors have figured out the Smiths have food and have alerted others through the gossip channel. After almost 2 weeks without much food, no FEMA government trucks have come in to rescue, a crowd of almost 100 people have gathered around the Smith house. Similar size crowds have also collected around other people’s homes suspected of “hoarding” food. The Smiths have taken an unrealistic and idealist sentiment towards believing in the good nature of human beings and their community and have not stocked up much at all in self defense.<br />
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Grandpa Smith understands that trying to feed 100 people would dwindle their supplies quickly and decides to leave everything closed up and not answer the door. The Smiths find out how hunger will drive a civilized person into wanton rage and animalistic acts. Four members of the mob pick up a railroad tie and use it as a battering ram to knock down the front door. Then like a pack of sharks in a feeding frenzy the mob rushes in and takes everything the Smiths have including their food, blankets off the beds, the TV sets and computers, pots and pans, even the refrigerator is hauled out. Why does this happen? People in an erratic state of mind will grab everything they can, most riots prove this all too well. The last items to be picked clean are the family’s pets to the screaming pleas of their 9 year daughter not to hurt her dogs. Of course the dogs, the cat, and the bird are killed and cooked up for their meat. The Smiths are lucky that they too did not become someone’s meal.<br />
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The simple moral to this story is something most survival orientated people already know – that you must have self defense or you will lose what you have when someone decides to take it. The fact that so few prepare means that food is going to be even more scarce and totally sought after. The Smiths are hardly fictional and can be widely expected after a large scale catastrophe. Most people expect someone to have what they need ALL the time and they will flock towards that source and attempt to get it.<br />
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Fortunately for the self reliant family, those that live soft lives and allow everything to be done for them makes for a flabby, both in body and mind, person. Usually this type of person is a also a coward and even during irrational hunger spasms will backdown and retreat in the face of dying or being severely injuried. It is one thing to rush into a home with a mob like a pack of wolves with little resistance. It’s a completely different ball game to rush into a well fortified home watching those ahead of them in line being rapidly dropped one by one. Even with this said, self defense of you and your family and your lifeline in what you’ve stored up takes a host of different dimensions that vary significantly with each situation. There are some basics that can be vastly expanded on with each individual case. A term that can be used for this is “CONFRONTATIONAL AWARENESS”.<br />
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Here are 10 points to think about if and when you are faced with defending you and your own:<br />
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1. What type of self defense fits you the best? Some individuals can make very exotic improvised devices, but everyone that can legally own a firearm should have at least one, preferably many. The extreme number of firearms takes up pages, but everyone should have a firearm that can discharge as many rounds as possible without having to reload. A firearm that has some long distance range to it. A shotgun, call it a scatter gun, with at least size 4 buckshot up to triple ought 000. A handgun of course for close range engagement. The simple answer to which one is what is most comfortable with you personally and what you can afford. You want stopping power, but also to be able to at least slow down a lot of targets if this becomes an issue. Other weapons should also be added, such as bear pepper spray that can slow down or stop a large group of people rushing you. Knowing how to jerry rig various home made weapons adds to your security. Have extra ammunition for all firearms. Don’t depend on just one or two weapons for self defense, have back-ups.<br />
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2. Litigation. This is an extremely sticky point “IF” the society recovers. It should be remembered that (unfortunately) any act of personal self defense might have to be answered for. The state or country that you are in may or may not view the 40 people you shot “outside” your home as a legitimate threat, even if they had a battering ram and other weapons and total anarachy ruled the day and night. In other words, just because it may seem like the end of the world doesn’t mean that it actually is. Protecting you and your family could also mean carefully assessing your situation and not acting without discretional thought. You never want to be indicted with some mass murder charge should the world reestablish itself enough to prosecute you in the future. Checking out the laws of protecting yourself where you live before the world falls apart is an excellent idea and sound precaution.<br />
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3. Determine your boundaries. Where, exactly, does a threat cross that threshold in which you engage them? For some people it is a property line or at the front door - wherever this may be, know it. In some places a mob outside your door constitutes a deadly threat to your family. In some places you may actually have to be backed into a corner and the attacker may even have to possess a weapon for you to legally defend yourself. Know these legal parameters. For some people it doesn’t matter the legal consequences, and this can be a life saving measure taken to stop an attack before a group gets too close that you cannot stop. Establishing a point of no return is a good strategy so that you know where and when you must act to protect everyone.<br />
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4. Know the seriousness of what is happening. This is of course ties into the legal ramifications of defending yourself, but especially with just how desperate people will become to try and take what you have. Has the water been turned off? What about the power? Is there any food left in the stores? Are emergency supplies and other food being shipped in, and if so how often? Is there in town rioting? Are the masses of people roaming around looking for food? Have there already been homes attacked from mobs? The more you know about the threat evaluation the better you can prepare your defenses.<br />
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5. Know what is around you. This includes having some way of seeing a full 360 degrees around your home, up and down, and someone on watch duty most (or all) of the day and night. An ideal security preventative is to have some sort of observation tower, motion detectors, night vision, and anything else to give you advance notice of anyone trying to sneak in unnoticed. Hidden viewpoints throughout the home are a workable and important addition. Booby trapping your property has been an effective method used in warfare all through history as a means of stopping someone and alerting everyone. Dogs and other animals such as geese are often used as early warning systems. Always try to know what is going on for as far a distance from your home as possible.<br />
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6. Decide on your barriers. This brings to mind that raw stopping power of a projectile fired, launched, or even thrown towards you and your family. The standard home (mud and sticks) offers little protection against a bullet travelling at over 3000 feet per second. Consider how you might shield against radiation, and use the same strategy for self defense. The more mass the better. Many excellent materials are out there, but raw materials around the house such as dirt, sand, rock are certainly better than nothing as a shield. Taking advantage of underground levels of the home – because you can’t shoot through dirt – also offers good temperature control and isulation from the outside elements for people, pets and your supplies. Barriers also serve the purpose of slowing down or even stopping advances of individuals trying to come for you and your stockpile. Like many criminals, simple locks and anything that takes effort to break through can impede most individuals enough so they leave you and everyone else alone. The more obstacles you can place to make it as difficult as possible is in your best interests. You want to do everything you can to avoid a situation where you’re left with no other option but hand to hand combat.<br />
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7. Be ready to take a stand. Unfortunately many people feel that when the time comes that they can do anything it takes to survive. Yet some will “freeze up” when faced with pulling a trigger and blowing someone away. This is especially true after someone has actually shot one of the first of many individuals rushing in to take what they have and even hurt or kill them and their family. Hesitation is human nature and throughout our lives society has implanted into our psyche that killing someone, even in self defense, is wrong. This is why it is imperative for those in your survival group who have the responsibility of defending everyone to be willing to use those weapons if and when it becomes required of them. Training and practice will make it possible for you to more efficiently and effectively deploy your weapons on a physical and psychological level. There is a reason behind why the military trains and trains, not to just improve accuracy, but to make it mentally routine that a soldier will not vacillate in a life or death situation. The two words that best describe this is “mental toughness.” You must be able to reliably act to save yourself and your family.<br />
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8. Be prepared for unconventional attacks. Desperate people will do incredibly stupid and irrational acts that defy reason. If a mob discovers a well fortifed home with food in it, they might try to actually light the entire structure on fire. It doesn’t matter to the insane minds that all the food will be ruined inside; they only see and “think” that this will smoke everyone out. Someone may even get the “brilliant” idea of trying to collide a large truck into you home. The list is endless and depending on your unique circumstances, there are defenses against most if not all attacks. The aim here is to make the distance an attacker needs to travel to your home as long as possible and this is where barriers and booby traps play an important role. It is also passive protection in which someone can help protect their home with high water type bushes, plants, and trees that won’t burn easily. In many high danger wildfire areas homeowners will use fire retardants on their homes, as well as having quick means of extinguishing fires ready to use if the time comes. Help ready yourself by reviewing and thinking about the unconventional ways your refuge can be assaulted.<br />
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9. Remember you have the advantage. Mobs will often try to frighten and intimidate people out of their home and/or try to force you to divvy up all what you have. Don’t let them scare you. Those supplies are your lifeline, without them you will be reduced to almost the same level of those roaming around aimlessly that have not prepared. You have the upper hand in that they have to come for you in your own home – a dwelling that you are familiar with. All depending on how well fortifed your place is, anyone coming for what you have will have to get across all sorts of traps and physical hurdles, not to mention various weapons being discharged at them. Most attackers are also going to be depleated in body and mind from not eating, on top of already being out of shape flab bodies. These individuals usually are totally untrained in any type of combat or fighting, and that gives the prepper/survivalist a whopping upper hand. Time is also on the side of the hunkered down people, as a very hungry person will lose interest and go somewhere else easier to get at. They will also likely become too weak to pose any threat after more time. Long standoffs almost always favor those that have everything they need well stored up within easy reach and use.<br />
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10. Avoidance of any showdown. Everyone will be better off if neighbors and others decide not to storm your home for food and supplies. Concealment that you have anything is crucial. Remember that the very first “trespasser” that is shot at lets others know that you have something worth fighting for, use good discreation. Convincing others that you have nothing and are just as “bad off” as they are will take some showmanship. Rundown looking property is one way to discourage many, as well as looking as much like a sick or dilapidated person as possible. Still one of the best ways to ward off hungry people is SMELL. Out of the five senses, scent and smell will drive a starving person rapidly towards a possible food source, or very rapidly away from something that reeks. Horrid smells tell the brain to stay far away. Of course not telling anyone about what you have stored up before a disaster is essential. It is often very encouraging to “think” those living around you are all aboard with preparation, but in reality people are likely only telling you what you what to hear. It only takes one person to betray you and let everyone know you have a mini-supermarket ready to be picked clean. True trust in others must be carefully weighed. Remember this before letting anyone outside your family and survival group know that you are even interested in prepping, “most people are just TALK, too much talk, and are not on the side of the prepper (YOU!)”. There are good reasons why close to 99% of the population freely chooses not to prepare.<br />
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You always hope that you never have to fight off neighbors that have remained friendly and courteous towards you for years, but almost no one has faced what is coming. Insane cicumstances drive many civilized people into blinded insane savages capable of incomprehensible acts of desperation. It has to be remembered that by self sacrificing much, the prepper/survivalist has what they need when civilization implodes. Those who haven’t prepared have consciously decided to enjoy themsleves and waste much. In other words, someone that has taken the money, time, and effort to save for tomorrow makes what they have stored up, “worth it to defend”. Those that have not prepared don’t care if you and your family go hungry in less than a week, if they did they would have stored up supplies themselves. These individuals are going to expect you to “share” everything you have. This is why the prepper needs to be more than ready to defend themselves against those that will “try” to forcefully take your lifeline from you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/they-will-take-everything-if-you-dont-stop-them-ten-things-you-must-do-to-defend-yourself_07132012" style="color: #eeeeee;" target="_blank">Source</a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> </span></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-83810532305514939662012-06-26T21:27:00.000-07:002012-06-26T21:27:30.220-07:00Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets…But Why?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_y2bOKNxvv-Z2X6NNMSLCu60IQliyvoADmuhfYG0CNfIfGH45LH-8QAG7zmPc7FgX0eMdokl8KGlqq2fE8nSQhZOwNGvbS5-3IHIsAr6yh5OoKKkyau8Pf5iVp4L1iOVXT3urhFxWcA/s1600/tankstlouis3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_y2bOKNxvv-Z2X6NNMSLCu60IQliyvoADmuhfYG0CNfIfGH45LH-8QAG7zmPc7FgX0eMdokl8KGlqq2fE8nSQhZOwNGvbS5-3IHIsAr6yh5OoKKkyau8Pf5iVp4L1iOVXT3urhFxWcA/s320/tankstlouis3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I have to say that this event, which is being labeled a “training exercise”, makes very little sense to me. U.S. Army troops all the way from Maryland running open exercises in armored personnel carriers on the busy streets of St. Louis? I know Maryland is a small state, but is there really not enough room at Ft. Detrick to accommodate a tank column and some troops? Are there not entire fake neighborhood and town complexes built with taxpayer dollars on military bases across the country meant to facilitate a realistic urban environment for troops to train in? And why travel hundreds of miles to Missouri? At the very least, this is a massive waste of funds.<br />
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On the other hand, such an action on the part of the Department of Defense makes perfect sense if the goal is to acclimate citizens to the idea of seeing tanks and armed military acting in a policing capacity. Just check out the two random idiots the local news affiliate picked to interview in St. Louis on the subject. Both state that they think the exercise is a “great idea”, because having the military on the streets would help to “reduce crime”:<br />
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<a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/">http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/</a><br />
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I suspect that the news affiliate did not go out of its way to get any counter-opinions, even though they admitted to being contacted by those voicing concerns over martial law.<br />
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Even so, it’s sad and simultaneously terrifying that there are plenty of mindless dupes out there who do not understand the dangers of the Army crossing the Rubicon and acting in a civil law enforcement capacity, never mind that they are completely ignorant of the fact that it violates the Posse Comitatus Act. One of the interviewees even points out that in some countries they don’t use police at all; only military. This is true. We call those countries “tyrannies”…<br />
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Add to the mix the reality that the DOD refuses to respond to any further inquiries by the press concerning details of the training, and you get yet another suspicious instance of behavior on the part of the establishment that seems preparatory for domestic action. I believe that the high frequency at which these activity reports have been coming in over the past year is certainly cause for alarm…<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NlLRx-uSXtA" width="560"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/military-rolls-tanks-onto-st-louis-streets-but-why_06232012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-89458448596404689232012-06-26T21:19:00.001-07:002012-06-26T21:24:13.495-07:00Disintegration: What It Looks Like When a Nation Collapses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYy8UTFquK96qUi5mJ_ShjnL5LmYbcPAHR0ULLP_g6nNEYg_B6WyhJljU_tQ6LrS4COiCtecoSgeQpgpY5ASOWFI8ONbnC7bEbvdBycV4DE9irbljKYmJHOEQ9u602MsiXs7LxM5eXUM/s1600/greek-crete-farmers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYy8UTFquK96qUi5mJ_ShjnL5LmYbcPAHR0ULLP_g6nNEYg_B6WyhJljU_tQ6LrS4COiCtecoSgeQpgpY5ASOWFI8ONbnC7bEbvdBycV4DE9irbljKYmJHOEQ9u602MsiXs7LxM5eXUM/s320/greek-crete-farmers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Whether the system is going to collapse is not the question.<br />
<br />
Most informed individuals understand that out of control spending fueled by trillions of dollars in debt, unprecedented monetary expansion and ever increasing dependence on a government social safety net overburdened by millions of people in need of essential services can not be sustained forever.<br />
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For many Americans and our counterparts in Europe, the collapse is now.<br />
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To suggest that we are somehow on the road to recovery is nothing but conjecture.<br />
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We have no doubt that everyone is tired of bad news, but we are compelled to review the facts: Europe is currently experiencing severe bank runs, budgets in virtually every western country on the planet are out of control, the banking system is running excessive leverage and risk, the costs of servicing the ever-increasing amounts of government debt are rising rapidly, and the economies of Europe, Asia and the United States are slowing down or are in full contraction. There’s no sugar coating it and we have to stop listening to politicians and central planners who continue to downplay, obfuscate and flat out lie about the current economic reality. Stop listening to them.<br />
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<i>Source: Sprott Asset Management via Zero Hedge</i><br />
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We are, by all accounts, sliding rapidly into the abyss of an untenable economic, financial, political and social disaster.<br />
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The only question now is, “how is it going to look when it happens?”<br />
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A glimpse into our future can be found in the veritable canary-in-the-coalmine in Europe – Greece.<br />
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When the government of a nation can no longer borrow-and-spend-and-redistribute as before, when financial institutions reach the point of insolvency, when the consumer economy falls apart and when the people can no longer find jobs, very bad things will happen.<br />
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In addition to food shortages in Greek prisons that are leaving many at the point of starvation, it’s gotten so bad in Greece that thousands of desperate people lined up over the weekend to receive handouts of food from charitable farmers in Crete:<br />
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Starving Greeks queued around the block for free food handouts yesterday as the country’s politicians managed to end a crippling stalemate to form a coalition government.<br />
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Young children as well as the elderly waited in line in Athens to collect the parcels of fruit and vegetables donated by farmers from Crete to help ease the devastating austerity faced by many Greeks. <br />
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Source: Daily Mail<br />
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When the money runs out and the social safety net collapses, there is simply nothing the government can do aid in the recovery of an impoverished nation.<br />
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We’ve opined previously regarding the effects of collapse on emergency services and the power utility grid, and how a lack of funds would lead to shutdowns of essential infrastructure components such as medical care, electricity and water. In modern-day society such a thought seems unfathomable.<br />
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However, this is exactly what’s now starting to happen in Greece, as Natural News reports:<br />
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The economic situation in Greece is only continuing to worsen, as reports indicate that hospitals and care centers throughout the nation are running completely out of medicines, and many healthcare workers are now voluntarily providing care services without pay.<br />
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Strapped with spiraling debt, the Greek healthcare, which is government-run, has had to receive gobs of international financial aid just to keep operating with some semblance of normalcy. There has also been plenty of IOUs issued, and desperate patients quietly forking over cash “gifts” to doctors to receive treatments. All in all, the healthcare situation is in utter chaos, save for those that have sacrificed their own time, often free of charge, just to help those in need.<br />
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…<br />
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Today, the situation has gotten even worse, particularly because the Greek healthcare system heavily relies on brand-name drugs rather than far-less-expensive alternatives. Since the entire system is clogged because of unpaid bills, many pharmacies, for instance, have had to simply close their doors. Those that still remain and continue to supply drugs on credit — these are few and far between — are being overwhelmed by long lines of desperate patients seeking life-saving medications.<br />
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“We’re not talking about painkillers here,” said one Greek woman, a cancer survivor, to Reuters. “We’ve learned to live with physical pain. We need drugs to keep us alive.“<br />
<br />
In addition to the immediate survival needs of food and medical care, Greek utility companies are so far gone that they are on the cusp of having their power and natural gas flows cut off, leaving the entire grid dark and throwing the an entire country back to the Stone age.<br />
<br />
We’ve seen this disaster play out over the course of the last three years, so a ‘collapse’ doesn’t have to be some waterfall event that happens over night. It can take shape over time and slowly chip away at all facets of the system until it simply disintegrates.<br />
<br />
<b>How will it look when it happens?</b><br />
<br />
Looking at such a collapse we’ll have seen food supplies diminish and potentially disappear. The power infrastructure will be so strained by individuals and companies alike not being able to pay their bills that electricity, gas and clean water will simply stop being delivered. Emergency services personnel including health care workers, police, and firefighters will not be getting paid by a government too overwhelmed by debt, leaving many to first act as volunteers. Eventually, they will simply stop coming to work, at which point law, order, and normalcy will go out the window.<br />
<br />
All government services will be strained, leaving those who depended on the government for their backup plan with nothing. They will either stop issuing food assistance, or it will be such a paltry amount with respect to the price of food that it will barely feed your family. Medical care will simply become unavailable, and that includes life saving drugs like antibiotics. Violence and crime will undoubtedly rise and there will be blood in the streets, as the general unprepared population struggles to cope with the new paradigm.<br />
<br />
For those who think it can’t happen here – simply take a look around. Just about every measure of economic, financial and social health in the United States is indicating that we are reaching a breaking point.<br />
<br />
The collapse that many say will never happen, that others are waiting for as some event that will occur in the future, is happening right here and now.<br />
<br />
All we can do now is to learn from what’s happening in Greece and take steps to prepare today.<br />
<br />
We can learn a lot from those on the ground in the midst of a desperate situation. Those like our friend Manos in Greece, who in a recent dispatch noted “My Shotgun is Full and Well Equipped. I Hope I Don’t Need to Use It.”<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/disintegration-what-it-looks-like-when-a-nation-collapses_06252012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-82701257575417258372012-06-06T22:29:00.000-07:002012-06-06T22:29:54.120-07:00Future Shock: Boomers & Retirement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQHLyOZqQTeohvIDXl19qVnCYAKclmK8KSg5XSyc45RNZzyVswTGiTdIV5wM-urJKIQFzlikHW1QMqYm0WfPo97t12MrtSj1p7VpOVt1D-nZgcyNqAuQ6rJxnoW1OUA4w6qXQuojOGw4/s1600/cjohnstonAgedCare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQHLyOZqQTeohvIDXl19qVnCYAKclmK8KSg5XSyc45RNZzyVswTGiTdIV5wM-urJKIQFzlikHW1QMqYm0WfPo97t12MrtSj1p7VpOVt1D-nZgcyNqAuQ6rJxnoW1OUA4w6qXQuojOGw4/s1600/cjohnstonAgedCare.jpg" /></a></div>Born between 1946 and ’64, baby boomers are the children of the euphoric generation who won the last world war and established American global political supremacy. The first boomers began reaching age 65 in 2011, when the population of those 65 and older reached 41 million. About 75 million more boomers are getting ready to retire today—the largest pre-retirement market ever! In the next 18 years, the over-65 age group will expand to about 120 million.<br />
<br />
However, as buyers of retirement products, boomers are woefully underprepared. Since 2008, they have been battered by a cruel economy. Distressed children and parents often have had to move in together. Many boomers have found themselves unable to retire until their early 70s.<br />
<br />
Today’s 60-year-old, having worked 30 or more years, has only accumulated about $200,000 in his 401(k) plan, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and his household spends about $40,000 per year.<br />
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That’s a problem. And yet another problem that’s less talked about is his health.<br />
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Research results from both the West Point Academy and the Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, S.C., show that 18-year-old Americans were extremely fit until 1920, just after World War I ended. According to authors John Komlos and Marek Brabec, the average 18-year-old American weighed a mere 138 pounds in the 1920s and had a body mass index (the height to weight measure) of 19.8, which is in the range for good to excellent health (the median value is 21.7). Even in the ’50s and ’60s 18-year-olds were very fit with weights of about 150 pounds and body mass indexes of 22.5. But that trend exploded later. The 18-year-old of 1980 is now a 50-year-old with an average weight of 168 pounds and a BMI of 28, close to obesity. At obesity, health problems start to accelerate severely.<br />
<br />
The increase in weight has clearly registered on the personal consumption expenditure tables compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The chart below shows how our health-care expenses have changed over the last 25 years for different age bands. Observe the two strong relationships. First, the obvious one. We already require much more health care as we age. Yet that data mostly reflects the health-care consumption of the World War II generation, those already between 65 and 95 who were fitter most of their lives than their boomer children. That means the boomers’ potential body mass index health problems have not yet made their way into the research, and boomer behavior will thus change the data in the future.<br />
<br />
The second obvious relationship one sees in the data is the increase in boomers’ expenditures over the last 25 years, which seem to be very similar to their BMI trend line. Other relationships are less noticeable. For example, health-care costs have been inflating at twice the CPI rate in recent years. Medical advances have increased our average life span even as inflation looms, which means greater chances of bankruptcy.<br />
<br />
<b>Things Money Just Can’t Buy</b><br />
Good health care is not cheap, certainly not with Medicare alone. And health care is the only cost that increases with a person’s age. Figure 2 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the cost of living, after taxes, for different age groups from 1990 to 2010.<br />
<br />
The spending patterns of boomers during these years show that the buying power of pre-retirees is staggering. The 25-year-olds of 1990 went through their careers adding spouses and families, buying houses, spending for transportation and leisure, buying food, spending on education and paying taxes. By 2010, the boomers had ratcheted down that spending as their children left the nest but started spending more on health care. Considering that two-thirds of the boomer population (following national trends) may face the problems of excess weight in old age, even their most essential health-care costs may also turn up sharply. If push ever came to shove on this most essential need, which of all the other spending would you give up for the sake of your health?<br />
<br />
Some good news is that our forced savings—in 401(k) plans, whole life insurance and FICA—have increased over time. The increase in savings is nearly perfectly complemented by the drop in the personal average (not marginal) tax rate.<br />
<br />
Besides access to modern medicine, good health care also requires proper nutrition and exercise, cozy shelter, familial warmth, adequate transportation, taxes (of course), etc. If we could strip away the cost of good health from all the other stuff we spend money on, how much would we really need to ensure it till the day we die? <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvALotM4tZOa_bOjEjVVkjCXicyh7EkKhVEUhoUfpmq2vCNuAjOPK5QkHG7tjrArm_ZswXkj6hBdze-Shk7A56FjLclfWgyyuMkleup187jC_eb5q6q-qe1OT96e2eSCBZvEE-jS2BBUw/s1600/FA_June12_BigPic_Fig1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvALotM4tZOa_bOjEjVVkjCXicyh7EkKhVEUhoUfpmq2vCNuAjOPK5QkHG7tjrArm_ZswXkj6hBdze-Shk7A56FjLclfWgyyuMkleup187jC_eb5q6q-qe1OT96e2eSCBZvEE-jS2BBUw/s1600/FA_June12_BigPic_Fig1.png" /></a></div><b><br />
</b><br />
<b>There Must Be A Way Out Of Here</b><br />
One idea that has piqued the interest of advisors and their risk-averse clients is fixed annuities, which can be used to match health-care expenditures. But to use these instruments in effective ways, advisors must first start stripping out the bare essential holistic health-care costs that clients are likely to pay for the rest of their lives in retirement.<br />
<br />
For example, as someone ages from age 65 to 95, health-care costs will change as he consumes more and faces inflation. What will be the all-in costs for the first 10 years (the go-go years)? For the next 10 (the slow-go years)? Or the last 10 (the no-go years)? If we can deduce these costs, then we can start buying fixed annuities to cover our essential health-care needs for, say, any one of these decades.<br />
<br />
Fixed annuities work much like Social Security. The monthly checks arrive just in time. They can also offer health-care inflation riders so the annuitant maintains his purchasing power. The only difference is that the instrument is purchased from a private company. You can buy into them anytime before the payout begins. You are usually locked into a term of at least 10 years. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9qyTKFa7oXt3-hxyYNUQ0R27szi-VwCqdNlHfAjJZcmXyuq9IpMXXE-7ajBLXzu6bPA66eG9xBOiBMBn_Z6moFG5dnZopvrrOZOhzKYnyXIHnrEehZZa-IxQUjLf5F4zP9KruizSc4U/s1600/FA_June12_BigPic_Fig2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9qyTKFa7oXt3-hxyYNUQ0R27szi-VwCqdNlHfAjJZcmXyuq9IpMXXE-7ajBLXzu6bPA66eG9xBOiBMBn_Z6moFG5dnZopvrrOZOhzKYnyXIHnrEehZZa-IxQUjLf5F4zP9KruizSc4U/s1600/FA_June12_BigPic_Fig2.png" /></a></div><br />
Other varieties of annuity will not do for problems like tackling health-care costs. Not that the large sellers haven’t come up with variations. They often start by building fixed annuities and then add unknown ingredients to the bundle and give it names like “structured notes,” etc. that can turn scary. Just as term life insurance protects clients against the risk of a premature death, fixed annuities protect their beneficiaries and help them match and anticipate future cash-flow needs. If you step out of this realm into variable annuities, indexed products, etc., you are in trouble. <br />
<br />
Somnath Basu is a professor of finance at California Lutheran University and the director of its California Institute of Finance. Dr. Basu also serves as a professor of the Helsinki School of Economics’ executive MBA program. He’s involved with financial planning organizations including the National Endowment for Financial Education, the CFP Board of Standards, the International CFP Board and the Financial Planning Association.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fa-mag.com/component/content/article/11111.html?magazineID=1&issue=192&Itemid=73" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-82949539334513931572012-06-06T21:38:00.000-07:002012-06-06T21:38:59.332-07:00Protecting individual rights is not Stalinist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSAPnLdzlIcqYe3Qoo8k6lVJjNeDGc_X5Iik4SI7u40OX3Gns1nNEvuNGC7JMwirebxMBwuITAJxO6NZOOpBFWWwyfMy-M_LIHpNLfuxL5x3i13_Zy_paLzgF1UJ24_B4s1wVIiaKXt0/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSAPnLdzlIcqYe3Qoo8k6lVJjNeDGc_X5Iik4SI7u40OX3Gns1nNEvuNGC7JMwirebxMBwuITAJxO6NZOOpBFWWwyfMy-M_LIHpNLfuxL5x3i13_Zy_paLzgF1UJ24_B4s1wVIiaKXt0/s1600/0.jpg" /></a></div>THIS week Republicans in the Senate once again blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would take further steps to guarantee access to the legal system for women who charge they've been paid less than men for doing the same job. (That's illegal, in case anyone was thinking of trying it.) Justifying his vote against the act, Rand Paul compared it to Soviet communism. This is sort of a dog bites man story; on a given day, Rand Paul probably compares several dozen things to Soviet communism. But here, for what it's worth, is why he thinks legislation to make it easier for women to sue when they've been paid less than men for doing the same job is just like Soviet communism:<br />
<br />
"Three hundred million people get to vote everyday on what you should be paid or what the price of goods are," Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. "In the Soviet Union, the Politburo decided the price of bread, and they either had no bread or too much bread. So setting prices or wages by the government is always a bad idea."<br />
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Mr Paul does not appear to understand either the law which he has just voted against, or the class of economic transaction about which he is speaking. If a woman sues because she has been paid less than a man for doing the same work, and a judge rules in her favour, that is not an instance of "setting prices or wages by the government". The wage in question was set by the employer. What the judge has ruled is that the employer cannot offer different wages to different employees based on their sex. Why might such a hypothetical judge make such a ruling? Because, as noted above, offering different wages to different employees based on their sex is against the law, and has been so since 1963.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">" I. What Are the Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">2. the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">... "</span><br />
<br />
But should it be illegal to offer different pay for the same work based on an employee's sex? Maybe not. Mr Paul's argument here implies he thinks it should be okay. So, let's try a thought experiment. How would you react to seeing a job advertisement that read: "Associate lawyer in patent firm, 3 years' experience required, salary $100k for man, $77k for woman"? Is that okay? If not, why not? How about this: "Associate lawyer in patent firm, 3 years' experience required, salary $100k for Christian, $70k for Jew"? How about "Salary $100k for white, $65k for negro"?<br />
<br />
The Paycheck Fairness Act, like the Lily Ledbetter Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, is not an instance of government price setting. It is an instance of government prohibition of certain forms of exploitative price discrimination. It is illegal for an employer to pay a woman less than a man for the same work just as it is illegal for a shop owner to charge a Jew more than a Christian for the same loaf of bread. There have been places in the world where at various times shop owners were allowed to charge Jews more based on their religion, to pay untouchables less based on their caste, and so forth. Those places were not freer than America. Indeed, one place where employers were free to discriminate against women and Jews, and did so avidly, was the Soviet Union.<br />
<br />
One of the key differences between the Soviet Union and America is that in America, we have an independent judiciary to which individuals can turn for enforcement of their legal rights when someone is screwing them over because they are of the wrong race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. In America, you have rights, and what makes those rights non-meaningless is that you can use the legal system to defend them. Mr Paul's ideological system has performed the ingenious trick of twisting his head around 180 degrees, such that he views the fact that Americans have legally enforceable rights not to be discriminated against as a form of communism.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2012/06/paycheck-fairness-act?scode=3d26b0b17065c2cf29c06c010184c684" style="background-color: #eeeeee;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-45152743781704578412012-06-06T21:27:00.000-07:002012-06-06T21:27:57.642-07:00Despair As Collapse Accelerates: “My Shotgun is Full and Well Equipped. I Hope I Don’t Need to Use It.”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5j2dnJlY-yZxY7WbGBz4St0a6dWIvDWbWhkCgp90gvr8iGYTxxKrCtUksdTsh3m9PUx3-Ig9LGp12pmB-JBOBq_sWFB0eOUVYkYzBwWxroSpUB0UpjQWP90jPmlJm1hvsHhKV_XbVho/s1600/2224211-icsmp5a4_fireselector_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5j2dnJlY-yZxY7WbGBz4St0a6dWIvDWbWhkCgp90gvr8iGYTxxKrCtUksdTsh3m9PUx3-Ig9LGp12pmB-JBOBq_sWFB0eOUVYkYzBwWxroSpUB0UpjQWP90jPmlJm1hvsHhKV_XbVho/s320/2224211-icsmp5a4_fireselector_super.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Our long time friend and regular contributor Manos has been keeping us abreast of the day-to-day goings on in Greece for the better part of three years. Suffice it to say, it’s getting worse with very little hope of resolution to the economic and political woes facing the country, as well as its European neighbors.<br />
<br />
The following is a first person perspective of the realities on the ground, and what it looks like in the midst of a truly frightening economic collapse that threatens to not only wipe out the financial wealth and life savings of an entire nation, but may potentially lead to a breakdown in the rule of law and civil war between extreme political factions trying to fill the vacuum of power.<br />
<br />
This is real, it’s happening right now, and it’s coming to America in due time.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Hi guys,<br />
The daily life is still the same.<br />
Things keep going because some divine hand still help us.<br />
You wake up in the morning having no mood at all. And it’s this heat which destroys your brain cells. Today, it’s 34 degrees Celsius.<br />
I’ve kept a small amount of around 250 euros, to buy some final provisions. Mostly meat cans, vitamins, and dried bread. I will store them to my parents’ basement, in order to have alternative escape plans.<br />
The rumor about a power shortage is more and more been discussed around people, and alternative media.<br />
It’s being said that the Power Company is no longer having the money to purchase coal and diesel.<br />
We don’t have a generator for home use, so in case of a failure, we must consume all refrigerator food first.<br />
My wife bought two big camping gas devices, with many spare bottles of gas. We can cook all meat and veggies, and then share them with the rest of the family.<br />
My shotgun is full and well equipped. I hope i don’t need to use it.<br />
My car had a small steering wheel failure last Friday, and i had to fix immediately. I don’t know if we have to leave the town in a rush.<br />
I tried to find a small hut in the property but nobody sells at all.<br />
Prices are so low, that they don’t want to sell their properties for nothing. I’m considering to buy a caravan and put it in the biggest olive-field. A small one with 2 beds, light enough to be dragged by my car, costs around 5.000 euros.<br />
Today the stock market is going upwards, but soon enough the final collapse will occur. Spain is going down rapidly.<br />
I’ll keep posting as long as I can. Don’t worry, I’m fully equipped and prepared.<br />
Just take care of yourselves and families.<br />
When the things reach to your neighborhood, you will have to fight.<br />
Your fellow citizens are still living in their utopia. When they realize the danger, they will turn into ruthless beasts.<br />
I pray for you all.<br />
God Bless you</span></blockquote>We wish our friend Manos the very best, as his family and countrymen are on the frontlines of an economic collapse that is about to affect every developed nation in the world.<br />
<br />
Take his warnings to heart and prepare, because once the final phase of the breakdown begins it will be too late.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/despair-as-collapse-accelerates-my-shotgun-is-full-and-well-equipped-i-hope-i-dont-need-to-use-it_06062012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-2795092723811821842012-06-06T20:51:00.000-07:002012-06-06T20:51:23.087-07:00The Realities Of Choosing Your Survival Retreat Location<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi5pSNSIt9dJcFuvrJW5DpazOpIUjH8NoAshXXqhlMYmOav1LRIJaFN8LkyPnTJXzJu3H2_hHQlTDrEzI5_lyOj-Fk-03B1Nmo0qqYAnKmPCFZOUxbTTaNbraZkCJTmzdO4Vo_UP66fc/s1600/cabin3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi5pSNSIt9dJcFuvrJW5DpazOpIUjH8NoAshXXqhlMYmOav1LRIJaFN8LkyPnTJXzJu3H2_hHQlTDrEzI5_lyOj-Fk-03B1Nmo0qqYAnKmPCFZOUxbTTaNbraZkCJTmzdO4Vo_UP66fc/s320/cabin3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unfortunately, having a ‘Plan B’ just isn’t the modern American way. The great and diabolical misfortune of having two to three solid generations of assumed prosperity in one’s culture is the side-effect it has of lulling the populace into comfortable apathy. “Prepping” becomes a kind of novelty; a lifestyle that people joke about while planning out their next vacation or their next suburban home purchase. It’s something that others consider in that fleeting moment in front of the television while witnessing the news of a catastrophe on the other side of the world, only to be forgotten minutes after changing the channel. Such things do not happen here. Not in the United States…<br />
<br />
I am a child of an age laden with illusory wealth, and have benefitted (for a short time at least) from the financial fakery of our economic system, as have many Americans. Most of us have not had to suffer through the unmitigated poverty, hopelessness, and relentless fear that are pervasive in harsher days. All our problems could be cured with money, especially government money, and as long as the greenbacks were flowing, we didn’t care where they came from. Ultimately, though, the ease of our well-to-do welfare kingdom has set us up for a cultural failure of epic proportions. Anytime a society allows itself to be conditioned with dependency, its fate is sealed.<br />
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We do not know what crisis really is. Many Americans barely have an inkling of what it entails. We imagine it, in films, in books, and in our own minds, but the fantasy is almost numbing. We lose sight of the tangible grating salty rawness of the worst of things, while imagining ourselves to be “aware”. Most people today are like newborns playing merrily in a pit of wolves.<br />
<br />
Preppers, on the other hand, are those who seek to understand what the rest of the public goes out of its way to ignore. They embrace the reality and inevitability of disaster, and suddenly, like magic, they are able to see its oncoming potential where others cannot (or will not). The price they pay for this extended vision, however, is high…<br />
<br />
I see the prepper generation as a generation of sacrifice; men and women who must endure the collapse of the façade for the sake of an honorable future society they may not live to experience. Modern day Cassandras? Hopefully not. But, certainly a group of people who have lost much in the path to knowledge. We lose our blissful naivety. That which once easily entertained us becomes banal and meaningless. We set aside many of our dreams to make room for the private and public battle we must wage for the truth. And, in the early days of our awakening, we tend to lose sleep.<br />
<br />
The primary advantage of this otherwise complex life is actually simple: we have a ‘Plan B’.<br />
<br />
Independence, self sustainability, true community, and redundancy in systems; it’s all in a day’s work for the prepper. But, one thing tends to sit upon our minds above all else, and that subject is ‘home’. Not necessarily the home where we are, but the home where we will shelter during darker days. Call it a retreat, call it a bunker, call it whatever you like, but every prepper has to have that place set aside that gives him the utmost advantage while facing off against calamities that normally annihilate average people.<br />
<br />
Choosing a retreat can be easy, or so difficult it explodes your brain depending on how you approach it. The problem I see most often with those seeking a back-up location for a collapse scenario is that they engage the process as if they are still living in 2006, hunting for their McMansion with a view on the sunny hillsides of Colorado or California, instead of thinking in practical terms. So, to help clarify a more fundamental approach to choosing a survival retreat, here is a list of priorities that cannot be overlooked:<br />
<br />
<b>Property Placement</b><br />
<br />
You may be searching for a homestead property or a more discreet retreat area for only the most violent disasters. In either case, property placement should be your number one concern. Where is your subject property located? What are the strengths and weaknesses, economically, socially, and legally, in the state you are considering. What is the disposition of the government and law enforcement in the county your retreat resides in? What kind of environment are you surrounding yourself with? These are all very important issues to consider.<br />
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Even more important, though, are the dynamics of the land you are choosing. Are you looking for a typical flat piece of developed farmland with easy access to roads and town amenities? Then you are going about this all wrong. Are you purchasing a cabin in the woods where you and your family will be isolated and alone? Again, not very bright.<br />
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The ideal retreat location is a combination of rugged terrain and varied topography that is just accessible enough, and set in proximity to like minded neighbors who will aid each other in the advent of a social implosion.<br />
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It may feel strange to consider it at first, but try to think in terms of an aggressive party: a looter, a criminal, or just a hungry refugee. Now, take a second look at your retreat selection. Is it easy to wander into? Can a person stroll right up to the front door, or do they really have to spend a lot of time and energy to reach you? Is it within sight of a major highway? Is it in the middle of a funnel or valley which people would naturally take to get to a tempting destination? Is it flat with little cover and concealment, or is it nestled in the midst of hills and crevices which can be used strategically? How many routes in and out of the region are there?<br />
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Crops can be grown in any area with any climate if the correct methods are used. Energy can be produced with a multitude of technologies and tools. Structures can be built to adapt to the materials that are most abundant in the region. However, once you commit to a particular environment and terrain type, you are stuck with it for good. Choose wisely.<br />
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<b>Community Network</b><br />
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As mentioned in the section above, isolation should NOT be the goal here. The concept of the lone wolf survivalist waiting out the implosion with his family in a secret fortification is not realistic, or likely to work at all. In the most volatile of collapses, such retreats only offer a tempting target for unsavory characters, from Bosnia to Argentina and beyond. If you don’t have a community of preppers around you, you have nothing.<br />
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Ideally, choosing a retreat location, especially for a homestead in which you will be living on a day to day basis, should be done with multiple families involved. The more preppers involved, the larger the perimeter of warning and defense, and the safer everyone will be. It is not enough to have a friend or two on the other side of town, or to have a couple neighbors who are open to the subject of collapse but have made no efforts to prep. A return to a true community foundation is the surest way to secure your retreat. There WILL be people who will wish to take what you have in a crisis situation. Your best bet is to surround yourself with people who already have what they need…<br />
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In Montana, I have used the idea of “Land Co-Op Groups”, expanding on the barter networking concept to include helping people of like-mind to meet and find property within proximity of each other, or to choose mutual retreat areas where there will be safety in numbers. Explore real estate markets near family members who are on the same wavelength. Talk with existing prepper communities and see if you might work well together. Form your own group of land seekers and make purchases together, saving money for everyone. Know who you will be weathering the storm with!<br />
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<b>Defensibility</b><br />
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This has been mentioned in previous sections, but let’s establish what defensibility truly involves. Do the natural features shelter you, or hinder you? How many lanes of sight are near your retreat and will they work to your advantage, or someone else’s? Is your homestead on the top of a wide open hill and visible for miles around? Will attackers exhaust themselves attempting to reach you? How much warning will you have if someone is approaching your location?<br />
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Make sure your surroundings work for you. Folds in the land topography not only off greater surface area for your money, but also cover and concealment. Forget about beautiful views, perfect soil, and room for a gazebo. Is the retreat actually protecting you or not? If this single issue is not considered and resolved, nothing else matters.<br />
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This is why I recommend starting from scratch with raw land if possible. Many people dislike the notion of building their retreat or homestead from the ground up, claiming that there is not enough time, or that the project will be too costly. This is not necessarily true, especially for those who plan the construction of their retreat around off-grid living strategies. Raw land purchases, depending on the region, can be highly affordable. Building using present materials, like native timber, reduces costs drastically. And, as long as your house plans remain simple, construction can be started and finished within a matter of months.<br />
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When building from scratch on raw land you have chosen using the guidelines already discussed, you can place your living quarters in the most advantageous position for defense, while being able to reinforce the home itself as you go. For those using an existing structure, the job becomes a bit more difficult. Additional fortifications will have to be planned carefully to adapt to the framework of the building. Weak areas of the property will have to be strengthened using fences, walls, or strategically placed vegetation that frustrates approach. High points in the terrain should be used to establish observation posts. At every moment of the day or night, someone must be awake to keep an eye on the surroundings. Respect the realities of a collapse, instead of disregarding them, and your chances of success increase a hundred fold.<br />
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<b>Water Availability</b><br />
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Many would place water resources at the very top of this list, and having an ample supply is certainly vital. Digging a well is a must. Building in proximity to a stream, river, or lake is even better. That said, rainwater collection is a viable supplement to weaker indigenous water supply, along with water storage done in advance of any event. The average adult human being needs approximately 2.5 liters of water per day to survive comfortably. The common vegetable garden needs around 2” of watering overall per week. Bathing and general hygiene requires several gallons per week depending on how conservative you are. It is important to gauge the water production and storage capacity available at your retreat. If the math does not add up, and if rain collection is not enough to fill the gap, then move on. Find an area that will sustain you with water, but do not neglect the rest of the items on this list just to be near a roaring river…<br />
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<b>Food Production</b><br />
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This is an area with far more flexibility than most people seem to realize. With the right methods, a garden can be grown in almost any climate, and at any time of the year, even winter. Every retreat should be fitted with a greenhouse, and this does not require much expense, or even energy to build. Makeshift materials often work wonders and the cheapest greenhouses tend to supply as much produce throughout the year as expensive and professionally built models.<br />
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Raised bed gardening is efficient, requiring less water, and producing more food than typical gardens. Small orchards are possible depending on the climate and elevation of the property. Wild edibles in the area should be cataloged. Find out where they grow in abundance, how to cook and prepare them, and which edibles you actually enjoy eating.<br />
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Animals require at least some acreage. Two acres being the minimum if you plan to raise several species. Goats, chickens, and rabbits are much easier to squeeze into a smaller parcel than cattle or horses, and draw much less attention to your retreat. A single milk producing cow and a bull, however, have the ability to keep your family healthy and fed for a lifetime. The trade-off is up to the individual prepper. The bottom line is, the number of animals you plan to raise determines the amount of open field you will need to clear on your property to provide the grasses and feeding area they will require.<br />
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<b>Proximity To National Forest</b><br />
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Another aspect to consider is how close your property is to national forest areas or unclaimed and unpurchased acreage. Perhaps you are only buying 5 acres of land in a well placed area which borders thousands of acres of forest service. Not only have you purchased the use of 5 acres, but the potential use of thousands of acres through attrition, while guaranteeing that no unpleasant or unaware neighbors will move in too snug next door. Abundant resources will be at your fingertips in a post collapse scenario, including timber, wild game, possible minerals, caching sites, secondary retreat locations, etc. The advantages are numerous…<br />
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<b>Secondary Retreat Locations</b><br />
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Never put all your eggs in one basket. We hear that warning all our lives but few take it to heart the way they should. I have dealt with many a prepper who has become indignant at the idea of having to leave his home to escape danger, claiming that they would “rather die” than have to beat feet to a secondary location. I personally don’t get it. Fighting back is admirable, but fighting smart is better. There is nothing wrong with living to die another day, and this is where the multiple retreats strategy comes into play.<br />
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Some survivalists live in the city, and have set up a retreat in an area distant but reachable. Others have taken the plunge and uprooted to start a new life on the grounds of their new refuge, leaving behind the metropolis and sometimes even their high paying jobs. In either case, they have done far more for their futures than the average American has even vaguely considered. However, it is not quite enough…<br />
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Back-up retreat locations should be chosen in remote areas near your primary retreat, and very few if any people (even friends and associates) should be told about these places. Keep in mind, these are last ditch survival spots. They are not ideal for long term living arrangements. Little if any infrastructure will be built in these places, and all shelter materials should be heavily concealed. Caching sites should be set up well in advance and placed on at least two separate routes to the same location. You should have no worries over whether you will be able to feed, clothe, and protect yourself on the way to the emergency site. Hidden approaches to the area should be scouted ahead of time. A viable water source should be present nearby.<br />
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<b>Thinking Ahead: It’s Pure Sanity</b><br />
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There are all kinds of excuses for not doing what needs to be done. Americans have an ingenious knack for rationalizing their own laziness and inaction. If you want to know how to get ahead in the world of prepping, or just the world in general, all you have to do is become a man or woman who makes a plan, and then follows through on it! Welcome to the top ten percent!<br />
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One excuse that I do in some instances take seriously is the problem of the conflicting family. We all know a prepper or two whose spouse or children are not on board, ridiculing or even obstructing their efforts. When expenditures of cash (or large expenditures of cash in the case of a property purchase) are in debate, the tensions can be crippling. In every disaster there are oblivious masses which make things hard on those who are aware. From the Great Depression and Weimar Germany, to New Orleans after Katrina, it is not uncommon for people on the verge of starvation and death to still assume that government help is right around the corner and all will be right as rain.<br />
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All I can recommend to those struggling with the survival-impaired is that you educate friends and loved ones on the nature of recent events like Katrina, or the economic collapse in Greece and Spain, or the tsunami and subsequent reactor meltdown in Japan. Show them that this is real life, not a cartoon. Make them understand that they are not immune to the tides of catastrophe, and that preparation is not only practical, but essential.<br />
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Survivalism is not a product of insanity; it is merely a product of our precarious times. A disaster is only a disaster for people who are not prepared for it. The only madness I see before me in our country today is the madness of those who believe themselves immune to the fall of the curtain. The true “insanity” rests in the minds of men who presume tomorrow will be exactly like today, and that the comfort of their existence is law, a foregone conclusion, set in stone, forever…<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/the-realities-of-choosing-your-survival-retreat-location_06062012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-6968093727852716782012-06-04T21:11:00.000-07:002012-06-04T21:11:08.745-07:00The Job Market Crashes to Earth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VogQIYSe7SCmoWU7OfMT6uAY9zrHO4rMItipWED125dm990yAf9JPLPF-NVCaa7_yM5rPCxoMjKYDBpxIlS8TE0zDbCXaWztXXEkjYMgXugKn1yPNuoEOsQkcm1I8X0woUSrhC6abCo/s1600/330_JOBS_Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VogQIYSe7SCmoWU7OfMT6uAY9zrHO4rMItipWED125dm990yAf9JPLPF-NVCaa7_yM5rPCxoMjKYDBpxIlS8TE0zDbCXaWztXXEkjYMgXugKn1yPNuoEOsQkcm1I8X0woUSrhC6abCo/s320/330_JOBS_Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If you happened to hear a loud, sustained moan of pain around 8:30 this morning, chances are it was the collective sound of the financial world reading the this month's jobs report. Employers added an anemic 69,000 positions to their payrolls in April, less than half of the 150,000 economists were predicting as of yesterday. Worse yet, the labor department revised down its estimate for March's jobs growth, from 115,000 all the way to 77,000. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 8.2 percent, as a few more Americans started hunting for work again (having apparently waited for the wrong time). <br />
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It was ugly. Like, Freddy Krueger ugly. <br />
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Earlier in the year, it seemed as if the U.S. labor market might be capable of defying the gravity of the world's economic problems. The country gained an average of 226,000 jobs a month from January though March, expanding as Europe spiraled into crisis and China showed signs of slowing down. But it might have been false hope. We know some of that economic activity was the result of an unusually warm winter, which moved up construction work earlier into the year. This month, building jobs shrank by 28,000 when seasonal adjustments are taken into account.<br />
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In short, there now two months of data showing that we too are being dragged down into the globe's mess, which is only becoming more severe. Europe has proven itself chronically incapable of getting its act together. China's woes are accelerating as its factory production slides. These are our export markets, and as they contract, our factories, which have been the backbone of this recovery, are going to be in trouble. Already, May manufacturing output grew at the slowest rate in three months. And with Congress effectively on hiatus until the election, there isn't much sign that any help will come from our elected officials. The job market's only lifeline may be the Federal Reserve, which could try to inject some life into the economy by printing more money if hiring continues to disappoint. But there are no guarantees. <br />
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To put today's results in a long term perspective, I headed over to the Hamilton Project's recovery calculator, which lets you forecast how long it will take the country to return to pre-recession employment levels. If we added 208,000 jobs a month, which was the average during the best year of the oughts, we'd make it by around 2020. For some macabre fun, I plugged in 69,000. It couldn't give me an answer. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp9jQuljej6koKnSChmyw3ADqQUTyxDEwTBJT-B6VEB3FlAJIs-soFSUEppIx7TVkFfZ5sXSQAbf6djQhMiy2VS6R6fmaXZDnZUoMpsfI6DlAHEZMx0puwJ_sTAtpD9vbJrdle567fvY/s1600/Please_Enter_a_Number_Greater_Than_88-thumb-615x284-88959.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp9jQuljej6koKnSChmyw3ADqQUTyxDEwTBJT-B6VEB3FlAJIs-soFSUEppIx7TVkFfZ5sXSQAbf6djQhMiy2VS6R6fmaXZDnZUoMpsfI6DlAHEZMx0puwJ_sTAtpD9vbJrdle567fvY/s1600/Please_Enter_a_Number_Greater_Than_88-thumb-615x284-88959.png" /></a></div><br />
Our jobs growth is lower than anybody contemplated it might be a few months ago. And without some help, there's no sign things are going to improve. <br />
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<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-job-market-crashes-to-earth/257972/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-69590134824474330792012-06-04T20:53:00.001-07:002012-06-04T20:55:37.174-07:00The Government’s Boots on the Ground When It Hits the Fan May Be Your Neighbors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcQOLfTU257G0lITXKwa3Pt1rTNeh3JFQxMxy2DqA0xZ4_vpC7kQlBAkM8gsUK1eFUIAaUkQv58tBg9KICLgTNbOws9jf0QElytsAj6bzXR-MTpXlv1eaGkHP0DDg66dJJTNutxIIHCs/s1600/NWAJeffcoSheriffSign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcQOLfTU257G0lITXKwa3Pt1rTNeh3JFQxMxy2DqA0xZ4_vpC7kQlBAkM8gsUK1eFUIAaUkQv58tBg9KICLgTNbOws9jf0QElytsAj6bzXR-MTpXlv1eaGkHP0DDg66dJJTNutxIIHCs/s320/NWAJeffcoSheriffSign.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It had been several years since I left my positions on the city fire department and county HAZMAT team to move to the mountain state to teach wilderness survival and firearms, but I still missed being an emergency responder. Especially after moving to town when I got married and started a family. When a friend asked me to join him at a CERT training session, all I knew was that it was an acronym for Community Emergency Response Team. A rational person would think that meant it was about becoming part of a team within my community that responded to emergencies. A rational person would be mistaken. Sure, the training covered the basics of first aid, emergency preparedness, fire safety, light search and rescue, etc., but lacked the depth of a boy scout merit badge on those topics. I could not help wondering why FEMA would spend so many of our tax dollars to duplicate duties that, in my professional experience, the American Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations provide for free.<br />
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I left the first day of training thinking that CERT, like many other government bureaucracies was just another hole the federal government pours money into hoping it will leach into productivity. I was tempted not to complete the training, but not being a quitter and already halfway to earning a really neat emergency response kit to add to the plethora of gear collected over a lifetime in emergency services, I resigned myself to spending another beautiful Saturday in a folding metal chair or aiming an electronic fire extinguisher at digital flames (we actually did this).<br />
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I was surprised to find that this particular CERT team had never actually responded to an emergency. They were put on alert once which the commander was quite excited to talk about. He told us one day CERT volunteers could be paired with uniformed emergency responders when an incident required additional manpower. Another surprise was the speaker they brought in from the U.S. Department of Justice on the final day. The first words out of his mouth were a question, “Are there any militia members or white supremacists here?” While we sat there in stunned silence he continued to explain there was nothing wrong with belonging to a militia or being a white supremest as long as one did not did so within the confines of the law. “If men want to dress up and run around in the woods practicing their First Amendment right, I have no problem with that” he said. He then spent the next couple hours describing the types of behavior he did have a problem with and how militias and other organizations had been infiltrated, enticed to engage in illegal activities, and prosecuted for thinking they had done so. After several engaging tales of covert operations it was time for the real purpose of his lecture for which he prepared his only hand-out, Homeland Security Terrorist Indicators. It provided contact information for the USDOJ and FBI offices serving our area and instructed us to call them anytime we saw ‘suspicious activity’ which included, but was not limited to:<br />
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Individual’s residence contains little or no furniture Photographing or videotaping in public places such as malls Ownership of police manuals, military training manuals, flight manuals, radio scanners, or other communications equipment Presence of weapons such as knives, pistols, rifles, etc. in a residence.<br />
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Attached to the extensive list was a reminder that these were just a few possible indicators and if it doesn’t feel right, report it! BUT do not disclose to anyone that you did. During his talk, he verbally added to the list several common items including 100# propane cylinders. When I indicated that I had a couple of those lying in my yard until I could get them filled and returned to my cabin, he replied that my neighbors had probably called the FBI on me and that they investigate every report. If my neighbors did report my ‘suspicious behavior’ (which I doubt) then I either have an FBI file or an addition to my existing file.<br />
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In July 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at Secretary Janet Napolitano’s direction, launched a national “If You See Something, Say Something™” public awareness campaign –a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism and violent crime, and to emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper state and local law enforcement authorities. While CERT teams predate this campaign by 25 years, the evidence is overwhelming that the program has been realigned to confirm to that mantra. Other than public relations/recruiting activities, the only service opportunity presented since I joined was entering surveillance data during a large community event.<br />
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If you are concerned about the federal government spending your tax dollars to train your neighbors to spy on you, the shadow army they are building through their Incident Command System should keep you up at night. It includes 428,500 men and women trained (as per the 2012 National Preparedness Report) and organized into local units. Units which have established call-out procedures for emergency response that will work just as well when the emergency is you. Sure, there are those who will refuse to respond (I will be at my retreat), but many will submit to the National Defense Resource Preparedness executive order signed by Barak Obama on March 16, 2012 which redefined authority expanded under the 2009 re-authorization of The Defense Production Act of 1950. The executive order makes it crystal clear that any labor deemed necessary in a state of emergency may be conscripted at the discretion of the government.<br />
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<b>In summary:</b><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are trained and instructed to identify and report ‘suspicious behavior’ to the FBI and other authorities.</li>
<li>CERT volunteers are being actively used in covert surveillance activities.</li>
<li>CERT volunteers are organized to work with local and federal law enforcement agencies.</li>
<li>CERT volunteers may be forced into service in the event of a national emergency.</li>
</ul><br />
It is not the purpose of this article to tell you whether or not to join a CERT Team. The training is beneficial to newbies. The free meals and emergency kit are quite nice. At least with our team it is acceptable to get trained and equipped and not go through the credentialing process to be called out during emergencies. It could not hurt to have a county ID and CERT uniform (helmet and vest) if caught on the road WTSHTF. However, their threat to your personal privacy today and, in a worst case scenario, your personal liberty tomorrow must be disclosed. Those who question how authorities would know where to confiscate unregistered guns under martial law can expect their neighbors to rat them out and quite possibly accompany law enforcement to their homes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/the-governments-boots-on-the-ground-when-it-hits-the-fan-may-be-your-neighbors_06042012" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-3959824972158680262012-06-03T21:35:00.000-07:002012-06-03T21:35:57.463-07:00Here's The Chart That Will Get Obama Fired...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ww4D_nA2AzwXNia9WH1deAwjw4kvsQF3rBAVHdPw5pSDuqgUY6mj9u9o3y4793KQXb6tkpqsdd8EtwBH-gVCa0WDQAi7mgNXov2mi-iKnXlSpwlp3aQQegqbbUtjiHs3SPLNrGBH9mk/s1600/obama-blackberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ww4D_nA2AzwXNia9WH1deAwjw4kvsQF3rBAVHdPw5pSDuqgUY6mj9u9o3y4793KQXb6tkpqsdd8EtwBH-gVCa0WDQAi7mgNXov2mi-iKnXlSpwlp3aQQegqbbUtjiHs3SPLNrGBH9mk/s320/obama-blackberry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Friday's lousy jobs report was a big blow to President Obama's reelection campaign.<br />
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One of the single biggest factors in a President's reelection chances is the direction of the unemployment rate and monthly jobs numbers in the six months leading up to the election. We're getting very close to the six-month mark now. And, from Obama's perspective, the jobs numbers are headed the wrong way.<br />
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The Obama administration will continue to tell the same story that they have told from the beginning: The economy isn't healthy enough, but it's much healthier than it was under the Republicans--and Obama said from the beginning that it would be a long, slow slog.<br />
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That's the truth: It was always going to be long, slow slog. The country's huge debt load, housing collapse, and financial crisis were always going to take years (if not decades) to work through, no matter what policymakers did.<br />
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But the trouble for Obama is that he didn't manage the country's expectations well enough, especially with respect to unemployment.<br />
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On the contrary: He overpromised and underdelivered.<br />
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Last fall, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post wrote an excellent treatise on how the American economy collapsed. Klein included what might be described as "the chart that will get President Obama fired."<br />
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The chart (below) shows three lines:<br />
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<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The incoming Obama Administration's projections for what the unemployment rate would be if no stimulus was enacted in the depths of the financial crisis (light blue).</li>
<li>The Obama Administration's projections for what the unemployment rate would be with the President's stimulus plan (dark blue).</li>
<li>The actual unemployment rate (through early 2011--it's now 8.2%).</li>
</ol><br />
The actual unemployment rate in the chart, you will note, is much higher than the "nightmare scenario" initially envisioned by the Obama Administration (with no stimulus). In either case--stimulus or no stimulus--the unemployment rate was supposed to be down to 5.5% by now. And it's actually above 8%.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcT-HWzADx2RNiOqlsvvTP7b8-1tY3rgbfyBC73ObvgavLXVkxqen7ekl6kJO3-AJtAHRc3RLooEJOZ8Qb0FhD7SFNjJOE6ogJ9DZ0JURmUQoS3XBRvlooMfM4VY4RqVu04TybqvoYU8/s1600/unemployment-rate-obama-stimulus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcT-HWzADx2RNiOqlsvvTP7b8-1tY3rgbfyBC73ObvgavLXVkxqen7ekl6kJO3-AJtAHRc3RLooEJOZ8Qb0FhD7SFNjJOE6ogJ9DZ0JURmUQoS3XBRvlooMfM4VY4RqVu04TybqvoYU8/s1600/unemployment-rate-obama-stimulus.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As the chart makes instantly crystal clear, the Obama administration drastically underestimated how bad the economy was and drastically overestimated its ability to do something about it.<br />
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As a result of this, President Obama over-promised and under-delivered on the single most important challenge of his Presidency.<br />
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Also as a result, President Obama gave the Republicans ammunition to argue that his stimulus "failed," when, in fact, it helped matters considerably (just not enough to fix everything).<br />
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Could the Obama Administration have fixed the economy in four years had they had done something different?<br />
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In my opinion, no.<br />
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As a quick glance at debt-to-GDP charts show, this recession was not a run-of-the-mill cyclical recession. It was a debt-fueled balance sheet recession. And if there's one thing history shows about those, they take a long time to fix. (See Japan and the Great Depression).<br />
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But Obama could have given himself a better chance to get re-elected despite the horrible economy. If Obama had recognized how bad things were, asked for a much bigger stimulus than he ended up asking for, and, importantly, set the appropriate expectations, he'd probably have been able to pin the blame for the mess where it belongs: On the three decades of decisions that facilitated the debt build-up that eventually culminated in the financial crisis.<br />
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Instead, however, Obama over-promised and under-delivered. And this will make it that much harder for him to get re-elected.<br />
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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-unemployment-rate-2012-6" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196433099595137185.post-19798633498869970902012-06-03T21:26:00.000-07:002012-06-03T21:26:10.979-07:00In A Brilliant New Speech, George Soros Reveals The Exact Moment That Angela Merkel Started The Euro Crisis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbXXtnadB4Q_syyDW6473qGCe7dX0TCpjv02ZyxdgW2WnpRoZoSgDbuPKMXg03QuFBBHW6Rp5sRxu81WKbzZFuc8CEdkwrWN813wMHimJPu8l5rflxZeACWKj-eWJEnux6Rq0CS87FaE/s1600/angela-merkel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbXXtnadB4Q_syyDW6473qGCe7dX0TCpjv02ZyxdgW2WnpRoZoSgDbuPKMXg03QuFBBHW6Rp5sRxu81WKbzZFuc8CEdkwrWN813wMHimJPu8l5rflxZeACWKj-eWJEnux6Rq0CS87FaE/s320/angela-merkel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>George Soros delivered a speech today in Trento, Italy today on the Eurozone crisis and it's an absolute dynamo.<br />
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You really ought to read the whole speech, which is on his personal webpage, as it starts off with an overview of his economic theories (which revolve around the idea that markets are deeply imperfect and prone to turn into bubbles based on human fallability and lack of knowledge) and then nicely explains how all of this explains the current crisis in Europe.<br />
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What's fantastic is that he really gets it from all angles.<br />
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This is a really killer characterization of the Eurozone:<br />
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<b>I contend that the European Union itself is like a bubble. </b>In the boom phase the EU was what the psychoanalyst David Tuckett calls a “fantastic object” – unreal but immensely attractive. The EU was the embodiment of an open society –an association of nations founded on the principles of democracy, human rights, and rule of law in which no nation or nationality would have a dominant position.<br />
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The process of integration was spearheaded by a small group of far sighted statesmen who practiced what Karl Popper called piecemeal social engineering. They recognized that perfection is unattainable; so they set limited objectives and firm timelines and then mobilized the political will for a small step forward, knowing full well that when they achieved it, its inadequacy would become apparent and require a further step. The process fed on its own success, very much like a financial bubble. That is how the Coal and Steel Community was gradually transformed into the European Union, step by step.<br />
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Germany used to be in the forefront of the effort. When the Soviet empire started to disintegrate, Germany’s leaders realized that reunification was possible only in the context of a more united Europe and they were willing to make considerable sacrifices to achieve it. When it came to bargaining they were willing to contribute a little more and take a little less than the others, thereby facilitating agreement. At that time, German statesmen used to assert that Germany has no independent foreign policy, only a European one.<br />
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And then came the moment that German, formerly at the forefront of a federated Europe, stopped the progress dead in its tracks...<br />
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The process culminated with the Maastricht Treaty and the introduction of the euro. It was followed by a period of stagnation which, after the crash of 2008, turned into a process of disintegration. The first step was taken by Germany when, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Angela Merkel declared that the virtual guarantee extended to other financial institutions should come from each country acting separately, not by Europe acting jointly. It took financial markets more than a year to realize the implication of that declaration, showing that they are not perfect.<br />
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This is a really huge point to grasp, because a nagging question has been: Why did the market think of Spain/Greece/Italy/Etc. as being risk-free sovereigns at one point, and then decide that they were not risk free and subject to credit risk.<br />
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Soros answer: Because they were essentially risk-free so long as the arc was always towards more integration. That ended when Merkel made the declaration he says above. This is key.<br />
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Despite the fact that the Euro crisis has been happening for at least 3 years now, there are still many who can't articulate the roots of it as well as Soros does in these two paragraphs:<br />
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The Maastricht Treaty was fundamentally flawed, demonstrating the fallibility of the authorities. Its main weakness was well known to its architects: it established a monetary union without a political union. The architects believed however, that when the need arose the political will could be generated to take the necessary steps towards a political union.<br />
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But the euro also had some other defects of which the architects were unaware and which are not fully understood even today. In retrospect it is now clear that the main source of trouble is that the member states of the euro have surrendered to the European Central Bank their rights to create fiat money. They did not realize what that entails – and neither did the European authorities. When the euro was introduced the regulators allowed banks to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds without setting aside any equity capital; and the central bank accepted all government bonds at its discount window on equal terms. Commercial banks found it advantageous to accumulate the bonds of the weaker euro members in order to earn a few extra basis points. That is what caused interest rates to converge which in turn caused competitiveness to diverge. Germany, struggling with the burdens of reunification, undertook structural reforms and became more competitive. Other countries enjoyed housing and consumption booms on the back of cheap credit, making them less competitive. Then came the crash of 2008 which created conditions that were far removed from those prescribed by the Maastricht Treaty. Many governments had to shift bank liabilities on to their own balance sheets and engage in massive deficit spending. These countries found themselves in the position of a third world country that had become heavily indebted in a currency that it did not control. Due to the divergence in economic performance Europe became divided between creditor and debtor countries. This is having far reaching political implications to which I will revert.<br />
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<b>His key warning:</b><br />
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In my judgment the authorities have a three months’ window during which they could still correct their mistakes and reverse the current trends. By the authorities I mean mainly the German government and the Bundesbank because in a crisis the creditors are in the driver’s seat and nothing can be done without German support.<br />
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<b>He ends with a plea:</b><br />
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We need to do whatever we can to convince Germany to show leadership and preserve the European Union as the fantastic object that it used to be. The future of Europe depends on it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-speech-in-trento-on-the-euro-crisis-2012-6" target="_blank"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Article Source</span></a></div>Coming Depressionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07432265810971296748noreply@blogger.com0