Archives for March 9, 2016

This Is How Bad The Economy Really Is: “Walmart Customers Are Too Broke To Shop”

March 9, 2016 by mac slavo

You may find that the below report is, as President Obama might suggest, once again “peddling fiction.”

But for the average American, we can assure you that the economic recession is a very real situation.

Walmart, which made its billions serving low to middle income Americans, is struggling and it’s because their core customer base is too broke to shop. As Michael Snyder recently pointed out, they are just one of many domestic retailers laying off workers amid falling store sales. But they are certainly the biggest and baddest of the retailers out there. If they are having problems it should be a big red warning sign that despite mainstream cheerleaders telling us not to panic because the economy is still in good shape, we are in for some rough times ahead – in fact, the rough times are a reality right here and now.

Walmart’s customers are too broke to shop

Walmart is facing a “perfect storm” that’s hurting its sales growth, according to Moody’s.

The company’s core customers are struggling with flat income levels, and savings from lower fuel prices aren’t translating into more retail spending, Moody’s vice president, Charles O’Shea, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

The business is also under pressure from deflation in key product categories, such as food, and the effects of the strong dollar abroad.

“Walmart is facing an almost perfect storm when it comes to top-line growth,” O’Shea wrote. “Until the health of the lower-to-middle-income consumer improves, Walmart will continue to face macroeconomic headwinds in the US.”

Walmart said last month that it’s expecting virtually no sales growth in the coming fiscal year.

Source: Business Insider via Yahoo

The entirety of the growth story being disseminated to the American public is being revealed, almost daily, for the sham it really is.

Stock markets may have recently rocketed back up with many an analyst suggesting they are back on track to go to new highs. But when you consider that one of the lowest price retailers in the country can’t increase or even maintain their sales, then it suggests that something has to give.

As Brandon Smith warned this week, we are experiencing the most unstable economic conditions possible and coming central bank action (or inaction) may well lead to another leg down in global stock markets.

Regardless of what stock markets do going forward, to the average person trying to put food and clothing in their Walmart grocery basket it doesn’t really matter whether the indexes are lighting up red or green.

For them, the collapse isn’t some future event.

It is right now.

Also Read:

How To Prepare For Economic Collapse

Unemployment Prepping: What You Can Do Beforehand

Forecasting an Economic Collapse: These 7 Indicators Are All You Need to Know

Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills

The Self-Reliance Manifesto: More Than 300 Resources to Guide You on the Path to Radical Freedom

How Do You Prepare Now to Make Recovery From Economic Collapse “Manageable”?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

You Won’t Believe How They Rigged Ohio Against Trump: “Intentionally Confusing Ballot”

March 9, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The ~~Dai~~

ly Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: The GOP has a history of manipulating the primary, but this time they are going all out to destroy Trump. Is it any wonder that Ohio’s ballot – which will be cast next week – is so confusing that Trump may lose votes just as a result of the ballot’s design?

It is the home state of Governor John Kasich – a lackluster candidate who, nonetheless, was expected to win Ohio, and keep the delegates for the establishment side. But according to the polls, Trump is beating Kasich in Ohio AND Rubio in Florida – and they are big delegate, winner take all states. However, Kasich is close enough in his homestate, that a bit of meddling could change things. If Trump wins both, the GOP insiders have even less of a chance to trip up The Donald.

But if the Ohio GOP ballot leaves as many people scratching their heads as the newscaster in the video below, anything could happen in Ohio. Polls will not translate into votes if the machines are designed to deceive.

You Won’t Believe What They Did to the Ohio Ballot to Stop Trump

by Piper McGowan

We all know the elite are on the warpath against Donald Trump, with everyone from pundits, to major world leaders, to the Pope speaking out against him. Newt Gingrich recently said it’s because Trump isn’t part of the secret societies and hasn’t taken the initiation rites.

Regardless, Trump has received a groundswell of support from the average conservative American, winning state primaries left and right. Ohio’s primary is coming up on March 15, and it’s a big one because it’s a “winner takes all” state.

Well now it’s being alleged that Ohio’s GOP has intentionally set up a confusing ballot in a bid to try to make sure Donald Trump does not win.

The Dem ballot has one place for voters to mark their choice for president. Period.

The Republican ballot in Ohio this year apparently has two, leaving a lot more questions than answers about whether or not voters will understand how it works.

Take a look, (via the Conservative Treehouse):

Is the ballot intentionally confusing by design?

Given the previous discussions on State Party shenanigans, and the intent of state republican party leadership to hold complete influence over their delegate’s decision-making, many believe the answer is “probably”.

Look at that ballot. It definitely raises a lot of questions… that aren’t answered on the ballot.

Do the majority of voters know the difference between “Delegates-at-Large” and “District Delegates”? Does a person need to choose their candidate twice, or are they only supposed to chose once? Which is right? What if they pick a different candidate in each box, do they cancel each other out? What if they pick someone in the first box and not the second, or vice versa?

Why the confusing GOP ballot, Ohio?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Leaking Beachfront Nuclear Reactor Near Miami Threatening Florida Everglades

March 9, 2016 by claire bernish

Claire Bernish
March 9, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Biscayne Bay, FL — According to a study released by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Monday, the waters of Biscayne Bay measured 215 times the level of radioactive tritium as is found in normal ocean water.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope traceable to nuclear plant cooling tower operations. In this case, the leak appears to be emanating from the aging canals in the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station located nearby.

“This is one of several things we were very worried about,” said South Miami Mayor and biological sciences professor, Philip Stoddard, as the Miami New Times reported. “You would have to work hard to find a worse place to put a nuclear plant, right between two national parks and subject to hurricanes and storm surge.”

Biscayne Bay harbors one of the largest coral reefs on the planet and is situated near the Everglades. Hot, salty water from the canals appears to be flowing back into both national parks, which has caused concern among environmentalists and others from the time Turkey Point planned to expand its reactors in 2013.

“They argued the canals were a closed system, but that’s not how water works in South Florida,” Stoddard remarked.

“How much damage is that cooling canal system causing the bay is a question to be answered,” Everglades Law Center Attorney Julie Dick told the Miami Herald prior to reviewing the report. “There are a lot more unknowns than knowns and it just shows how much more attention we need to be paying to that cooling canal system.”

Tritium, a hydrogen isotope, is considered a precursor indication of leaks from nuclear plants, as it ‘travels’ or spreads faster than, and often precedes, other radioactive agents.

“While the tritium levels far fall below levels experts consider dangerous, the telltale tracer provided the critical link that high levels of ammonia and phosphorus in sections of bay bottom — pollution that is more damaging to marine life — likely came from the canals,” the Herald explained. Samples for the county monitoring study were gathered during December and January — and the tritium levels seem to show Florida Power & Light in violation of both local water laws and federal operating permits.

FPL, which operates Turkey Point, will likely receive another violation due to the leak — the county issued a citation in October for tainted groundwater — to force FPL to bring the plant into compliance, the Herald reported Tuesday.

After news of the report made headlines, critics, including environmentalists, nearby rock miners, and Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, came forward in full force calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene in the matter.

“For years our state regulators have failed to take seriously the threat to our public safety, to our drinking water, and to our environment posed by FP&L’s actions at Turkey Point,” Rodriguez asserted, according to the New Times.“Evidence revealed this week of radioactive material in Biscayne Bay is the last straw and I join those calling on the U.S. EPA to step in and do what our state regulators have so far refused to do — protect the public.”

The leak also serves as possible confirmation for environmentalists who have suspected radioactive leaks from Turkey Point as the cause of algae blooms appearing in the bay for years.

“Biscayne Bay has not traditionally had algae blooms,” explained executive director for Miami Waterkeeper Rachel Silverstein, reported the Herald. “That’s from pollution. From sewers, septic tanks and now we know, cooling canals.”

Indeed, though FPL claims it continues to protect the health of the bay, as the Herald noted, Turkey Point has created issues for the waterways since the facility began producing more energy three years ago. “When you look at the big picture,” FPL environmental director, Matt Raffenberg, insisted, the canals “are not impacting Biscayne Bay.”

At a meeting on Tuesday, county commissioners discussed the imperative need to bring FPL and Turkey point into compliance with the law.

“We’ve had stop gap measures we’ve approved,” Gimenez said. “So far they’ve not proved to be the solution.”

Referencing the last time FPL was forced to implement changes following a lawsuit in the 1970s, he added, “It’s time we enter the 21st century.”

FPL’s continued problems with Turkey Point might have finally crossed the legal line by violating the federal Clean Water Act.

“There’s a certain validation to critics in seeing this result in the study,” Stoddard said. “But more important, it’s now crossed the threshold of federal law here.”

This article (Leaking Beachfront Nuclear Reactor Near Miami Threatening Florida Everglades) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Mr. Usaji. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

The iPhone Is Just the Beginning: FBI Already Accessing Your DNA

March 9, 2016 by jake anderson

Jake Anderson
March 9, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Private genetic databases like 23andMe and Ancestry.com are increasingly used by people for genealogy tracing and medical diagnostic tests. With a million customers each, the two companies receive a great deal of attention from privacy advocates, who for years warned the government would eventually seek access to citizens’ DNA in order to assist with law enforcement.

They were right, and yet another conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact…

It turns out both the FBI and local law enforcement departments routinely seek DNA samples from these companies for familial DNA searches. In fact, according to Ancestry.com’s recently released transparency report, the company received 14 law enforcement requests in 2015. They provided customers’ genetic information in 13 of those cases.

A similar, recently released report by 23andMe discloses there were four law enforcement requests to the company in 2015.

The issue has received increased attention in part because of a frightening article by Wired. The story recounted the legal imbroglio filmmaker Michael Usry endured after Idaho Falls police “matched 34 of 35 alleles” from a crime scene to Usry’s father’s DNA.

Years earlier, his father had donated some DNA to a genealogy project funded by his Mormon church. Ancestry.com purchased the project and made the database of samples publicly available. Though Idaho Falls police ultimately concluded Usry was not involved in the murder of Angie Dodge, they had been able to obtain a search warrant for Michael’s cheek cells based on the sample they found online.

Ancestry.com didn’t realize police would be able to use their information to conduct genetic searches, but as they would soon learn, law enforcement authorities around the country are looking to expand their ability to conduct DNA searches beyond the FBI’s current national genetic database.

Anti-Media reached out to Ancestry.com for more information regarding how the company responds to national security requests. They referred to their transparency report, which states:

“As of December 31, 2015, Ancestry has never received a classified request pursuant to the national security laws of the United States or any other country. In other words, Ancestry has not received a National Security Letter or a request under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”

Could this change in the wake of a terrorist attack? In the midst of the increasingly rancorous debate over civil liberties and national defense — epitomized by the FBI’s court case against Apple — it doesn’t seem like too big of a stretch, given the right political climate, to imagine private DNA databases being turned over to Homeland Security.

In Kuwait, citizens must submit their DNA to a government database to assist with criminal cases. Some actually argue the United States should have a similar mandatory DNA database, though this seems unlikely to gain widespread support given the backlash over electronic privacy violations in the aftermath of controversial NSA surveillance programs.

For now, the debate revolves around whether the United States government and local law enforcement should have the legal authority to access private DNA databases while investigating crimes. There hasn’t been a major Supreme Court ruling on this issue, so for the time being, companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com will have to deal with police requests on a case-by-case basis.

As 23andMe’s first privacy officer Kate Black has stated:

“In the event we are required by law to make a disclosure, we will notify the affected customer through the contact information provided to us, unless doing so would violate the law or a court order.”

This article (The iPhone Is Just the Beginning: FBI Already Accessing Your DNA) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Jake Anderson and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: thierry ehrmann. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Who Is a Threat To You? “Dangerous People to Avoid After the Collapse”

March 9, 2016 by mac slavo

Who can you trust, turn to or rely upon during a collapse?

Morals are effectively suspended in the midst of a great crisis. And, as the Canadian Prepper explains, you will want to consider and profile high risk people, dangerous personalities and groups to avoid during a disaster – well in advance.

Those with nothing else to turn to will act in desperate ways, and could act unstable during a collapse, during martial law or civil unrest. Many will turn to the system, and go willingly into FEMA camps – but others may drag, steal or lean on you. Worse, they may expose your hideout and compromise your carefully laid survival plans.

Just a few of these types are discussed below:

– MEDICALLY DEPENDENT/DRUG ADDICTS: People who are dependent on medication may become desperate for drugs when prescriptions fall through, and could become unstable, dangerous or a liability to your survival plan. Most wouldn’t mean

– PANICKED/WEAK MINDED: Emotionally unstable, prone to upset, who can’t keep their cool under pressure and those who are temperamental are difficult to trust, and who put your life in danger

– GANGS/CRIMINALS/LOOTERS: Then of course there are always going to be violent gangs, looters and outright criminals. It’s pretty obvious what they want, but it may still surprise you how far they are willing to go to get it. Only, some criminals won’t be as easy to spot, and historically they have taken advantage of hard working, prepared and ultimately naive individuals using any and every tactic they can think of. Keep in mind, this includes color-of-law rogue government agents, too; historically the appearance of authority will be used to gain entry, take advantage and catch you off guard. During Hurricane Katrina, some cops were caught on tape looting Wal-Mart… just imagine the type of stuff that wasn’t seen by cameras.

– WANNA-BE LEADERS: Narcissists, selfish, egotistical, grandiose and those willing to use psychology and tactics to gain advantage of your group and your resources, let you down when a plan needs to come to fruition, or turn tail when the going gets tough. These people are in it for themselves, would create a mutiny if they thought they had the leverage to do so, and will be even more undependable than the easily panicked and the addicted.

– ALSO BEWARE OF: The above category is closely related to those who are overly macho, those who hold obvious and disproportionate gun fetishes, those prone to uncalled for paranoia, the weaselly and conniving salesman types, and the foregone-conclusion doomsday nihilist who secretly wants to fulfill his entimes fantasy and die in a fight, rather than living to fight another day. There are other variations of these types, but few of them will be all that helpful when reality sets in, regardless of how big they talk as things gear up.

– PARASITES AND NOSY PEEPERS: Perhaps the most dangerous type of person, at least immediately when the SHTF, is the one who knows about your prepping, your supplies and stocks, and expects to come over to your place and join you without contributing any skills or having prepped in advance. Even worse, if a reward or a position of power is offered, this person is far-too-willing to turn you in and turn you over to a FEMA camp if they can derive any benefit. Though this individual may be a nosy neighbor or family friend during times of normalcy, they are a very dangerous liability for you and your family during times of emergency. Here’s what to do when those types come knocking…

Good character and common sense just aren’t as plentiful as they used to be, so be careful about who you willingly associate with. These kind of mistakes could easily cost your life.

There are many people worth working with, trusting and helping during a collapse, but you should be very judicious in determining who these people are – and careful to keep away from the rest as much as possible. If you find yourself in captivity in a government facility, many of these same types will cause you just as much or more trouble inside the system.

Ideally, you want to be working with those people already, and eliminate anyone from the group and from your confidence with unstable and dangerous personalities. Moreover, you should be able to read and identify people to screen out these traits and avoid the people who will endanger or prey upon you.

Above all, don’t lose sight of the fact that they are all still human beings, and unless they are physically attacking you, should be treated as such. Nonetheless, they can and will work against you if you trust the wrong people. It is simply human nature.

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

If you don’t use a bank, where should you stash your cash?

“I’ll Come To Your Place When SHTF” – No You Won’t

10 Prepping Mistakes That Could Get You Killed (And How To Avoid Them)

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Martial Law at Republican Convention? Riot Cops “Preparing For A Siege Rather Than Political Event”

March 9, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Joshua Krause and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: It looks like RNC 2016 could end up being as chaotic as the DNC in 1968 – and potentially as violent – as the system then clamped down in an arbitrary and over-blown way in order to send a message that dissent will be stifled, and that state power will be defended at all costs, and against all principles.

By all accounts, the Hillary and the GOP insiders are taking it farther than ever – preparing to bare their ruthlessness in order to stop Trump and quell the angry masses who’ve had enough of the status quo rulers, and would rather the novelty of being fooled by someone new.

What is going to happen in June, and why are the police preparing as if for civil unrest and widespread martial law?

Here was ’68:

Cleveland Stocks Up On Riot Gear For Republican National Convention

by Joshua Krause

As the July Republican National Convention looms, the city of Cleveland is preparing for any eventuality, including civil unrest. In exchange for hosting the convention, the city has received a $50 million federal security grant, and they haven’t wasted any time spending it on all kinds of goodies for their police departments. In fact, when you read the list of gear they’re trying to acquire, it sounds like they’re preparing for a siege rather than a political event.

That list includes 2000 sets of riot control suits, batons, and bags to carry it all in. Plus another 310 sets of riot gear that are designed for bicycle mounted cops (I bet you can’t imagine a cop riding a bicycle in full riot gear without laughing). Last week they ordered 300 bicycles, 15 motorcycles, 25 sets of tactical armor and two horse trailers. To top it all off, the city is going to rent 3 miles of 3.5 foot tall steel barriers, and 3,250 feet of 6.5 foot tall barriers.

Welcome to America, where a supposedly free and open electoral process must be accompanied with barricades and an army of stormtroopers.

Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshua’s reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger .

This article was written by Joshua Krause and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com