Archives for March 2016

The Bubble Will Burst, But #Fed Is Waiting For Politics “With #Trump Lurking Around”

March 24, 2016 by mac slavo

It’s no conspiracy. The music will soon stop and the economy will take a big hit when the bubble bursts – even the timing has been chosen.

The Fed has been pumping easy money and buying time with future pain for years now, but the worm is turning. Only, the turn is taking a pause so as to avoid helping – yes – Donald Trump and his bid for the presidency.

SHTF just reported on the startling revelation that not only has quantative easing changed the financial landscape in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, but it has been directly responsible for a full 93% of market action since that time.

The Federal Reserve is a leviathan if there ever was one. Even its whispers float boats and sink ships. Easy credit has gone so far beyond the logical extremes, and the proverbial roadrunner has pointed out that we are all hanging out over a cliff.

Contracting the money supply (by raising interest rates) is the snap reaction, but it will hurt. So they are prolonging the pain in order to shift the blame and distract everyone from the real problem as much as possible.

Like everything else, it is now somehow Donald Trump’s fault. This time, because the Fed is a in a position where it supposedly “can’t” raise markets and stabilize the economy.

Via the New York Post:

Like it or not, the Federal Reserve will play a big role in this year’s presidential election.

The Fed last week pulled back on its economic outlook for 2016 and beyond. […]

The upcoming election and, especially, the surprising strength of Donald Trump also make it almost impossible for the Fed to boost rates. If Trump gets elected, the Fed will almost immediately be hit by audits that will reveal lots of secret, sinister things.

So Fed Chair Janet Yellen and her fellow central bankers can’t do anything — like raise the cost of money — that might slow the economy down and give Trump a better shot at winning the presidency.

[…]

But then the Fed gets boxed in by politics, especially because of Trump. Even though it eased policy in a controversial move right before the re-election of President Obama, the Fed will probably use the November election as an excuse to freeze policy until after the vote. It doesn’t want the economy to weaken or, worse, the stock market to tank.

Wow.

Sounds like the Fed, which so often claims not to be political, is admitting to the political weight of its station – which is, incidentally, private and quite powerful indeed over American life. The “politics” are over calls to make it accountable, a task which is apparently insurmountable and somehow detrimental to economic stability, itself a fragile ghost.

The Federal Reserve’s power over monetary policy and the power it derives from issuing currency to the nation at interest are at the heart of why former Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has called for auditing and ultimately ending the Fed:

Allowing a secretive central bank to control monetary policy has resulting in an ever-expanding government, growing income inequality, a series of ever-worsening economic crises, and a steady erosion of the dollar’s purchasing power. Unless this system is changed, America, and the world, will soon experience a major economic crisis. It is time to finally audit, then end, the Fed.

Donald Trump, who has proven to be a lightning rod on all issues, has pointed out that Janet Yellen is likely holding off on raising rate because it is clear from basic policy dynamics that the massive recession that has built up like a puss-filled sore would burst, and in turn, Obama’s Administration would appear culpable for the decline.

Instead, Trump has charged, the Fed is putting that off in order to avoid giving his candidacy a boost – nevertheless, the recession is probably inevitable, and a clear result of Federal Reserve monetary policy.

Yellen is “keeping the economy going, barely,” Trump told The Hill. “The reason they’re keeping the interest rate down is Obama doesn’t want to have a recession-slash-depression during his administration.”

He added: “Janet Yellen is highly political and she’s not raising rates for a very specific reason: because Obama told her not to because he wants to be out playing golf in a year from now and he wants to be doing other things and he doesn’t want to see a big bubble burst during his administration.”

They’ve got everyone at gun point, but the gun is concealed, and they won’t let anyone looking in their pockets or question their moves.

‘Don’t anybody get political around here, or the economy gets it…’

The problem with gun control is that criminals don’t follow the laws, and the rest of the economy is totally disarmed and unable to do anything about the hostile actions of the nation’s central bank, save the few who have a bit of gold or silver to turn to. This is economic autocracy in action.

Ron Paul: Unless the Fed is Stopped, America Will “Soon Experience Major Economic Crisis”

“Fed Risks Triggering Panic and Turmoil”: World Bank Warns Against Raising Rates

Federal Reserve Insider Alan Greenspan Warns: There Will Be a “Significant Market Event… Something Big Is Going To Happen”

Proof It Is Rigged: “Fed Moved 93% of Entire Stock Market Since 2008″

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

CLAIM: Governments Had Prior Knowledge of #Brussels Attack, Did Nothing

March 24, 2016 by claire bernish

0 Total Shares

Claire Bernish
March 24, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Brussels, Belgium — A startling allegation concerning Brussels emerged on Wednesday: according to Haaretz, Belgian and Western intelligence agencies had “advance and precise” knowledge about the attacks, which claimed at least 31 lives. Haaretz reported:
“The security services knew, with a high degree of certainty, that attacks were planned in the very near future for the airport and, apparently, for the subway as well.”

Though the news outlet does not reveal its sources’ names, the allegation mirrors similar reports that authorities knew attacks were imminent.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had warned on Friday that terror attacks in Europe would likely be forthcoming, specifically naming Brussels as a possible location.

“There is no reason why the bomb that exploded in Ankara cannot explode in Brussels, in any other European city,” Erdoğan stated during a speech to commemorate a famous World War I battle in Canakkale. It should be noted it’s possible he mentioned Brussels to make an analogy, as Ankara is Turkey’s capital city and Brussels is the de facto capital of the E.U.

Regardless, mounting reports indicate a number of strange coincidences surrounding the Brussels attacks.

“One of the attackers in Brussels is an individual we detained in Gaziantep in June 2015 and deported,” stated Erdoğan, who did not name the specific attacker in question. “We reported the deportation to the Belgian Embassy in Ankara on July 14, 2015, but he was later set free.”

He added, “Despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism.”
An unnamed official from the Turkish president’s office later claimed the deported attacker was Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Ibrahim and his brother Khalid El Bakraoui have been named by Belgian authorities for carrying out the airport attack with a third attacker, Najim Laachraoui, who remains the subject of an extensive manhunt. Laachraoui could be seen accompanying the two brothers in airport surveillance footage, but managed to flee the scene after the bombs went off. According to Haaretz, Laachraoui “created the explosives vests used by the bombers” — and thus bears particular concern for authorities.

Erdoğan has waged an aggressive, relentless, and often controversial battle with the Kurds, who are seeking to establish an independent state. After the attacks in Brussels, Erdoğan — who has been accused of working in concert with Daesh (ISIL) — attempted to appear sympathetic with the victims in a written statement:

“The heinous attacks in Brussels have reiterated that terror cannot be a method of struggle for freedom, and once again underlined the need for the common struggle against all types of terror.”

This article (Governments Had Prior Knowledge of Brussels Attack, Did Nothing) 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. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

0 Total Shares

From theantimedia.org Team

Surviving a #Terror Attack: Strategies To Save Lives If the Worst Happens: “Run, Hide, Fight” #Trump

March 23, 2016 by mac slavo

Terrorism is a fact of life.

The political causes and effects of it are complex, and the reaction is often used in politically expedient ways. In other words, the default is to use fear to sell an agenda – perhaps for war, security measures, diplomatic pressure.

Regardless, the chances of being caught up in the scene of an attack is very low.

But if you do find yourself in such a situation, here are some strategies to maximize your chances of survival, avoid disaster, fight back or flee and hopefully help other would-be victims get out of the way.

Hone your skills of assessment and situational awareness to make quick life-or-death decisions and avoid at all costs becoming a victim or statistic. Obviously police, SWAT and/or other forces won’t be there until after the fact, once all the victims have been killed or injured. Individuals must do something while they can.

Via Paladin Press:

How to Survive a Shooting Attack: LIVING SAFELY IN DANGEROUS TIMES

If an attacker shows up on scene, your first response should be to get out of his line of vision and avoid the assailants ability to lock eyes with and target you.

If armed, consider the reality of the situation (hopefully from cover) to decide whether or not it is your fight – quickly, but with good judgement. Sometimes it is simply better to walk away, but if you are in a position to stop a shooter and save other lives, then it may be the right decision.

Meanwhile, some police are now being trained to take out active threats…wait for it… without waiting for back-up to arrive. This is a good sign that things are turning back towards common sense, and perhaps our civilization has a chance:

No strategy will be foolproof in every situation, but this kind of training can improve your chances if the worst happens unexpectedly.

Do you have any advice to add?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

The View Hosts Admit #Trump Was Right About #Brussels: “I Can’t Believe It, He Seems Reasonable”

March 23, 2016 by mac slavo

Is Donald Trump really the voice of reason the day after the attacks in Brussels?

These left-leaning women from The View are besides themselves in having to admit that they agree with The Donald on his foreign policy and ISIS views.

He apparently called months ago that something was going on in Belgium, and that new waves of terror attacks were forthcoming.

As The Blaze reported:

The co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” appeared to soften a little on GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Tuesday, admitting that his foreign policy positions don’t seem all that outrageous in the aftermath of the deadly terror attacks in Brussels.

Joy Behar, an outspoken critic of Trump, pointed out that the Republican was “right” about the Iraq invasion being a “huge mistake” and everyone seemed to be in agreement that Trump accurately noted in January that “there’s something bad going on” in Brussels.

“He was right, so his foreign policy isn’t so outrageous,” co-host Sunny Hostin said. She later added, “I can’t believe I’m feeling this way, but he seems reasonable today.”

Watch this incredible clip as Joy Behar and some of the other co-hosts come to terms with their unlikely agreement with Trump:

Is this any indication that Trump would really be a president to bridge the partisan divide and actually address the real problems going on, and deal with them in a strong way?

That’s up for debate, but I’m sure this isn’t the last surprise defection in this election season. There have to be some very uncomfortable Democrats who see Hillary’s presidency as a greater threat than Trump’s.

Trump Video From 25 Years Ago Will Shock You: “I’m Tired of Seeing This Country Ripped Off”

Trump is Riding a “Rising Tide of Discontent Within the U.S.,” But Can He Really Change Things?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

All War Is Based On Deception: What Is The True Intent Of North Korea’s Provocative Action And Saber Rattling?

March 22, 2016 by contributing author

“All of warfare is based on deception.” –Sun Tzu

One of the important points to keep in mind regarding North Korea’s actions is that they are probably not “unilateral” actions…that is, without any influence from any of the other “evil empire/axis” nations. Russia and China both exert a profound amount of influence on North Korea. Kim Jong-Un’s decisions within recent days to launch several missiles have prompted more outcries from the U.S. and the UN to enforce tighter sanctions, etc., ad nauseum.

But what is the true intent of all of this provocative action and saber rattling?

Firstly, the United States and South Korea are in the process of conducting military exercises that North Korea has been pointing to as a (possible) justification for using their nukes. But with all of this, did everyone notice that the aid coming in to North Korea from China and Russia has not abated? Last year Putin and Un signed off on a deal for heightened economic and military cooperation between the two countries. That culminated with a deal to trade for coal and other resources. The two nations are allies: this is clear and evident.

China publicly denounces North Korea for its aggressive actions and rhetoric, but the words are just that: mere words. China actively exports a tremendous amount of food to North Korea, and (as China is communist) the amounts cannot be either monitored or stemmed by the “free” Western nations. Remember, China and Russia (who both possess crucial votes on the UN Security Council) always manage to veto the more serious actions against North Korea proposed either by the United States and/or other nations.

Yes, North Korea is “on its own sheet of music,” however, the actions of Un are used to obfuscate the actions of those nations that publicly denounce him but privately support him. Those nations do include the United States. The U.S. uses (as it has in the past when the Soviet Union existed) the “increased threat” to justify spending and theft within its role as the state that enables the existence of the military industrial complex. North Korea is just one of the “boogeymen” that rotates into the position of public enemy number 1 as the U.S. sees fit.

One week the U.S. is against East Asia…and has always been against East Asia. The next week East Asia is (and always has been) an ally….and it is actually Eurasia that is, and always has been, our enemy. In the manner of Orwell’s “1984,” the script is continually being rewritten as it is needed to justify the narrative.

The true threat from North Korea comes from its unstable responses due to its consistent communist policies…always under a “war footing” to justify their actions. In many ways, they mirror the Western actions (especially those of the U.S.) of the “Star Trek” amber/yellow/red alert drills of the U.S.S. Enterprise…always quick to point out a threat, real or imaginary, to divert the attention of the people. Diverting the attention and creating a focus toward one thing, when the government is doing something heinous out of the public view.

Make no mistake about it, North Korea does have the capability to launch an EMP attack against the United States. They would possibly (and in all probability) not be acting alone in this regard. At the bare minimum, they would be acting with the approval of other nations. Remember, our nuclear first strike capability isn’t…we have struck a solemn, taciturn vow never to strike first. In addition, an EMP attack would not be met with a nuclear strike. That is Obama policy, not conjecture.

North Korea is a threat, but they are a threat that will not be operating on its own, without the tacit approval of either of their allies. The problem is in the form of a question: will Un and his family be granted safe haven in one of these countries, if North Korea does attack the U.S. and Un uses this attack to sacrifice his country in return for such safe haven? They are a “loose cannon,” but they are not operating alone or unadvised. Perhaps Obama could have outlined such a sacrifice for Un to follow…to usher in Martial Law in the U.S. and the suspension of rights under the Constitution, and “indefinite postponement” of presidential elections.

Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson is also a Gunsmith, a Certified Master Herbalist, a Montana Master Food Preserver, and a graduate of the U.S. Army’s SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape). He lives in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with his wife and three cats. You can follow Jeremiah’s regular writings at SHTFplan.com.

This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.

Also Read:

Obama Pushes For Widespread Surveillance State: “At This Rate We’ll All Be In Cages… Either Electronic Or Literal”

How To Survive Occupied America: “Red Dawn Just Started… And You’re In It”

Collision Course: As Obama Weakens America, The Russians And Chinese Prepare

Forced Economic Free Fall the Precursor to Collapse: “The World Is About To Enter A Global Depression Unlike Anything Seen Before”

The Trigger: If This Ever Happens You Know You’re Days Away From Nuclear War

Jeremiah Johnson’s Green Beret Survival Guides

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Europe Just Got Hit: “Many More Involved… Some Still On The Loose”

March 22, 2016 by mac slavo

Following the Paris and the subsequent San Bernardino shooting we warned that open border policies allowing unfettered, undocumented immigration would undoubtedly lead to more attacks. The evidence was clear, as not only have a probable tens of thousands of Islamic extremists already entered Europe as “refugees,” they have been stockpiling war-grade weapons and in another incident in December, were found by Swiss police to be transporting chemical weapons of mass destruction.

Today we awoke to news reports that at least 26 people are dead in Belgium following two separate explosions.

But if you think it’s over, think again, because according to officials, there are more terrorists still on the loose.

“We are at war,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. “We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war.”

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

…

“It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed,” he said. “There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere.”

“We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene,” he said.

Source: ABC News

And while European leaders across the region have renounced the violence, the fact is that they have only themselves to blame.

Germany’s Prime Minister Angela Merkel may as well have strapped on the suicide vest herself.

The worst part of this latest attack is that literal millions of Europeans and Americans knew it was coming and were powerless to stop it. Moreover, it should be clear that this is the new normal, because now that Europe and America have opened the Pandora’s box of forced cultural assimilation it can never be closed.

According to reports, terrorists have already been captured on the southern border of the United States.

These attacks are premeditated and are being carefully planned. One FBI terror expert has warned that Paris was just a test. The successful attack in Brussels has confirmed for terrorist organizations that Europeans are sitting ducks.

And America is next.

Donald Trump’s wall isn’t sounding so racist now, is it?

Today it was Brussels. Where will it be the next time they hit America?

And will you be ready when they do?

Also Read:

The Prepper’s Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Guide To Prepare For Any Disaster

Weapons Of Mass Destruction Have Been Smuggled Into Europe: “Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear”

Terrorists Captured At Mexico Border… But Homeland Security Denies Any “Credible Threats”

Soft Targets: FBI Arrests Islamic Terrorist Who Planned Mass Casualty Attack On Rush Hour Commuters and College Lunch Room

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Apple TV iOS / tvOS Slideshow bug – 4th Gen Apple TV

March 21, 2016 by admin

On any larger (50+) album, if you choose to play a slideshow with it, at some point the slides will skip from being in order to a random spot earlier. In some cases, the slideshow will continue, in others it will play a few earlier slides and quit. This has been reported to Apple since TV OS 9.0, as you can see in 9.2 it is still there. (It occurs in three different Photos libraries on three different Macintosh machines, all running the current (at that time) OS X, iTunes and Photos versions and has persisted through all versions since the Apple TV 4th generation was released.)
This video demonstrates it. It has the numbers 1-10, capital letters A-Z, and lower case letters a-z. It is in a new photo library with only one album, but the same occurs in larger photo libraries with 1000s of photos and 50+ albums. It doesn’t seem to be impacted by the time between slides or the transitions (e.g. Classic, Ken Burns etc).

Here is a 2 minute video showing the problem:

And one of several Apple Support forum discussions:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/29961343

Occurs in Apple tvOS / iOS 9.0 – 9.2 (March 21, 2016 current)

Update: The May 13, 2016 Apple TV/tvOS update seems to have fixed the bug based on a quick test. Let’s hope so!

We Throw so Much #Plastic into the #Ocean That Now We’re Literally Eating It

March 21, 2016 by claire bernish

Claire Bernish
March 21, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Recent reports of a phenomenal quantity of plastic inundating the world’s oceans are alarming enough — but another aspect of the problem should snap everyone to attention: humans ultimately consume that plastic.

According to Plastic Oceans, this pollution and its effects are “an environmental catastrophe of our own making.” Indeed, humans produce in excess of 300 million tons of plastic each year — “equivalent to the combined weight of all adult humans on earth” — and nearly “half of this we use just once [and] then throw it away.”

Further, the perceived conveniences of tossing items into the garbage is pure illusion.

“There is no ‘away’ because plastic is so permanent and so indestructible,” said Sir David Attenborough, according to Plastic Oceans. “When you cast it into the ocean … it does not go away.”

For the benefits plastic originally appeared to offer, the untold number of products now made of or contained in plastic has created an environmental and health nightmare arguably unlike any other.

In 2015, the BBC reported eight million tons of plastic — enough to cover “an area 34 times the size of New York’s Manhattan Island to ankle depth” — finds its way to the planet’s oceans every year. Such a quantification of our plastic waste was finally possible thanks to a study published in Science Magazine and presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

“The quantity entering the ocean is equal to about five plastic grocery bags full of plastic for every foot of coastline in the world,” Dr. Jenna Jambeck, study lead author from the University of Georgia, told the BBC. Study researchers caution the findings and quantifications are a middle ground, as plastic — despite its indestructible traits — can still break down into smaller pieces and particles.

A more recent study by the World Economic Forum estimated the world’s oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050 — in part because a “staggering” 32 percent of plastic packaging “escapes collections systems.” Even so, only 5 percent of plastics are effectively recycled — making the WEF’s prediction for the use of plastic to double in the next 20 years even more dire.

Truthout noted recent “estimates indicate that upwards of 8 million tons of plastic are added to the planet’s oceans every year, the equivalent of a dumptruck full of plastic every minute. That is enough plastic to have led one scientist to estimate that people who consume average amounts of seafood are ingesting approximately 11,000 particles of plastic every year.”

Unless we turn to alternative and less toxic means for producing plastics — such as hemp — our failures in recycling will, indeed, come back to haunt us. As phytoplankton populations drop and overfishing remains an issue, marine plastic pollution simply compounds a massive catastrophe.

This article (We Throw so Much Plastic into the Ocean That Now We’re Literally Eating It) 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. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#Wikileaks Drops #Hillary Email Bomb That Could End Her Campaign but FB Censored It

March 21, 2016 by michaela whitton

Michaela Whitton
March 20, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — On Wednesday, a major archive containing over 30,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails were released. Though the State Department began releasing the emails in May last year — after a Freedom of Information Act request — it is the first time the messages have been made easily available in a searchable format, courtesy of WikiLeaks. Before the launch, the FBI was investigating the Democratic candidate’s use of a private server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The archive contains over 7,000 emails written by Clinton herself.

The scary, albeit fascinating exposé on who’s in bed with whom in the halls of global power has expanded to include Facebook, according to WikiLeaks. The organization has accused the social networking site of censorship, saying Facebook is blocking users’ access to the latest Clinton dispatch.

As a result of the outing, Twitter users are calling Clinton wicked, a thug, and a hypocrite. The released emails uncovered that the presidential frontrunner was instrumental in spreading chaos and extremism in Libya. They also revealed that she pushed for oil privatization in Mexico and forwarded emails claiming a Sunni-Shiite war would be good for Israel and the West.

For those who are fascinated but don’t have the time or inclination to sift through more than 30,000 documents, here is a snapshot of what Clinton’s emails revealed:

@chriskkenny Not sure you’ve covered this. Recent Hilary email leak shows Obama rejected democratization in Libya.https://t.co/GqVtzPacnD

— Fashionista (@Lopez19880110) March 19, 2016

Removal of Assad regime was aimed at maintaining strategic & nuclear domination of Israel, reveals Hilary’s email. https://t.co/J80LVo0bDT — Murtaza Solangi (@murtazasolangi) March 19, 2016

Upvoted: WikiLeaks: Hilary Clinton’s India related emails! via /r/india https://t.co/Q6bHpoWH23

— પ્રશાંત શર્મા (@iprashantsharma) March 20, 2016

WikiLeaks: Hillary Clinton Pushed Mexico’s Oil Privatization https://t.co/7ZssN6OjQU — Anarcho-Communism (@anarcho_commie) March 19, 2016

Put #Hilary to prison for calling for overthrow sovereign country,#Syria leader https://t.co/HC84Jk6p6n pic.twitter.com/CAVmfTIVP3

— True Love Syria (@Heresay1) March 19, 2016

brought down a country that didn’t need ur money or help, country that was debt free ur wicked Hilary! https://t.co/5RwsNFN0K0 — Rahma Said Swaleh (@Rahma_TheRevert) March 18, 2016

ICYMI: Hilary Clinton’s relationship to Google and State Dept — Network connections undermine power of citizenry: https://t.co/dyao3AhlNh

— Elizabeth Woodworth (@Abettervision) March 19, 2016

#Elections2016 Hilary Clinton, Warmonger. Email: “help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad” https://t.co/WbNjEiz0uN — Servus Pecum (@ServusPecum) March 19, 2016

This article (Facebook, WikiLeaks and Clinton’s Warmongering Emails) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Venture Capitalist Says Investors Are Terrified Of Market Volatility And Weak Economy: “They Are Scared And Don’t Know What To Do”

March 20, 2016 by mac slavo

With stocks having rebounded following a major down-swing earlier this year, it’s all smooth sailing going forward if you believe the mainstream financial pundits and renowned economists who continue to encourage the general public about the unfettered strength and stability of the U.S. economy. But according to well known venture capitalist and resource sector investor Carlo Civelli, last week’s Fed action, or rather, inaction, suggests that exactly the opposite is the case.

It goes to show that the economy is not as strong… or the markets were too volatile even for Yellen to stomach.

In his latest interview with Crush The Street Civelli explains why the stock market is the only game in town for many investors, why people are being forced into negative yield investments, how stabilizing stocks markets doesn’t necessarily translate to a healthy economy, and where to position yourself today to avoid the wealth destruction to come:

(Watch at Youtube)

It was just a few months ago when the Federal Reserve was so proud of their work that they took to raising interest rates and announcing that no more monetary action would be necessary. And, though most of the investment world would like to believe that the best and brightest central bankers on the planet have everything under control, it turns out, as Civelli notes, those who are manipulating the global economy, financial markets and monetary policy actually have no clue as to the consequences of their actions:

Nobody, not even the central banks, knows how this is going to end. They keep on pumping money…

Volatility in financial markets has left an air of uncertainty across the globe. So much so, says Civelli, that many of the investors he talks to on a regular basis are just as concerned about the unknown as the Fed, with many either sitting in large cash positions, making risky stock market bets in an effort to generate some yield on their investments, or willing to pay governments to keep their money “safe”:

The central bank of Switzerland, for example, has a negative interest rate of 0.75%, so you’re paying the bank 75 basis points to keep your money there… and therefore people even go to the extreme of buying a Swiss government bond with a negative yield of, say 35 points, which makes them still up 40 points… it’s getting ridiculous.

…

What else do we do with the cash? Everybody I talk to holds unprecedented cash positions, is scared and doesn’t know what to do…

So the only way out right now is to play the stock market.

And then, as we can see in January and February.. if something that was not in the cards happens, the markets go wild.

The unpredictability of central bank and government action has left many anxious and confused.

But despite the challenges being faced by most investors, there are still opportunities available. Civelli, who is focused on acquiring assets while they’re cheap through his latest project Callinex Mines, remains positive that precious metals will weather the storm of unprecedented monetary intervention from central banks and the consequences that will follow:

The consensus, obviously in a situation like this, would be that gold has to go up.

For investment reports, interviews, and market analysis visit Crush The Street.

Click here to learn more about Carlo Civelli’s latest investments and projects.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Dr. Doom Warns: “Hillary Will Destroy The Whole World… Look How Successful Her Nation Building Has Been”

March 19, 2016 by mac slavo

Do you ever wonder how it is possible that millions of Americans could support Hillary Clinton?

Going back the last three decades you’d be hard-pressed to find any actual success stories or accomplishments – even Hillary can’t name her own accomplishments! In fact, if you actually cared about America like many Hillary supporters claim they do, you’d be aghast at the corruption, violence and sheer arrogance surrounding the person who may become the President of the United States.

While Trump certainly has his faults, we remain bewildered that someone who gives the term “human being” such a bad name is even in the running to become the leader of the free world.

It turns out that we’re not the only ones who think another Clinton Presidency would be a disaster.

Economist and trend forecaster Marc Faber, in his traditional hilarious yet brilliant style, makes it clear that not only will Hillary be bad for America, she will destroy the entire world in the process:

It’s all relative… Given the alternatives I’d vote for Mr. Trump… because he may only drestroy the U.S. economy, but Hillary Clinton will destroy the whole world… that’s the difference.

Look at her nation building in the middle east… how successful that has been.

While some of his suggestions, such as his recommendations to protect your property with high voltage fencing or to buy a machine gun and a tank for personal defense, often elicit laughter from mainstream media pundits, he’s dead serious about the potential for widespread global destruction.

In 2012 Faber warned that World War III would start within five years.

With a potential Hillary Presidency on the horizon and the disastrous result of America’s foreign policy under her leadership (and we use this term loosely) as Secretary of State, coupled with her overwhelming desire to go down in the history books for having accomplished something – anything – of historical significance, one can’t help but consider that so long as she’s remembered for centuries to come she would be more than willing to push the red button.

You know, because what difference does it make?

Also From Marc Faber:

Doom Economist’s Asset Protection Strategy: Buy A Machine Gun… and a Tank

Either Through War Or Financial Collapse: “It Will Be Very Painful”

Dr. Doom: “A Lot Of Problems Are Coming… Revolution… Social Strife…”

Doctor Doom Warns: “World War III Will Occur In the Next Five Years”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#Netflix’ House of Cards Is Much More Realistic than We’d Like to Admit

March 19, 2016 by jake anderson

Jake Anderson
March 19, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) — ***MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Netflix original series, House of Cards, has never shied away from controversial storylines. The narrative has followed Frank Underwood’s rise to power from Congressional whip to Vice President to President. His meteoric ascent to power was always trailed by a dark shadow, though — one that perhaps mirrors the real life brutality, scandal, and corruption that accompanies the machinations of most high-level politicians.

House of Cards is particularly ruthless in this regard. Frank Underwood has personally killed two people. One, a journalist with whom he has been having an affair. She learns too much, and during a discreet subway station meeting, Frank takes advantage of a well-timed metro train to push the young woman into its oncoming path. Another Underwood victim is a ruined, alcoholic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania (who had become politically toxic for the Democrats). Late one evening, he passes out in his car, and Frank, who has driven him home, leaves the gas running and closes the garage door.

Frank, of course, has addressed the camera and been open about his Machiavellian philosophy of power. “For those climbing to the top of the food chain there can be no mercy,” Frank once said. At one point, he also stated, “I’d push [the Russian president] down the stairs and light his broken body on fire just to watch it burn if it wouldn’t start a world war.”

Season 4 of House of Cards picked back up in the middle of the savage Democratic primary, where Underwood is pitted against an ethical judicial reformist, Heather Dunbar, who promises to restore dignity to the White House. Unfortunately, her brief inconsequential meeting with journalist-turned ex-felon Lucas Goodwin, who pleads with her to listen to his evidence of the president’s crimes, spells her end. After Goodwin attempts to assassinate Underwood, rendering him on the brink of death, Dunbar’s dalliance with Goodwin is a nail in her political coffin.

Season 3 also ended with Claire Underwood leaving the president, though she returns to him as the season progresses. While Underwood is the frontrunner on the Democratic side, he trails in the general election polls to a Kennedy-esque Republican by the name of Will Conway. After his recovery from the near fatal gunshot wound to the liver, Frank and Claire come up with an unprecedented plan for her to be his Vice President. This effectively reunites the two and makes them a formidable opponent against Conway, who is a war hero. He is also the user of a mysterious data analytics company deploying a proprietary data mining surveillance tool to gather voter information.

Underwood begins his own surveillance program, obfuscating its paper trail with a military strike that would necessitate surveillance. Here we start to see the full measure of Frank Underwood’s manipulative warmongering — Wag the Dog mixed with some black ops. Underwood, who is a moderate Democrat toeing the line with conservative policies (he proposed ending social security, as well as doubling down on foreign interventionist strategies), appears very much as a Clinton-like centrist ideologue who uses the military for nebulous political gains and geopolitical chess moves.

The real manifestation of this comes in the last few episodes of Season 4 of House of Cards. Underwood negotiates with ICO — a radical Islamic terrorist group clearly modeled after ISIS — for the release of a family held captive. The mother and daughter are released, and the Underwoods allow the kidnappers to speak with their imprisoned leader. When that goes awry, a federal raid turns up nothing, and a news story draws attention to his previous crimes, Frank begins to panic.

Claire, overwhelmed by emerging scandals from their past that threaten to dismantle their political dynasty, devises a sinister but calculated plan.

“I’m done trying to win over people’s hearts,” Claire says to a dejected Frank, insinuating the Underwoods should start a war to help win the election. “We can work with fear.”

The fear instilled in the public from terrorist attacks like ICO’s often serves as fodder for foreign intervention, and in the season finale, Claire realizes it can also serve as a distraction from their corruption.

This is more than a reflection of the times: this is political reality. Americans live in a militaristic empire that thrives on using fear as leverage to coerce the population into thinking war is a necessity. In reality, it is a boon for defense contractors… and the politicians who facilitate this wealth. Distractions abound as those in power execute hidden agendas in Washington D.C.

During an address to the nation in which Frank notifies the public he will not negotiate with terrorists — leaving the father of the family in the hands of the domestic extremists who kidnapped him — Underwood declares a merciless war on ICO. It is presumably declared without congressional approval. “We must move beyond reason, we must respond with force,” he says. “It will be a war more total than anything we have waged thus far in the fight against extremism.”

After the terrorists share video of them slitting the kidnapped father’s throat, the Underwoods share a moment together. Frank casts his characteristic gaze into the camera, readying to speak. Only this time, Claire is looking at us, too.

“We don’t submit to terror,” the president says. “We make the terror.”

House of Cards Season 4 ends.

This article (Netflix’ House of Cards Is Much More Realistic than We’d Like to Admit) 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. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Rape Prevention With the Push of A Button

March 18, 2016 by michaela whitton

Michaela Whitton
March 18, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) A groundbreaking device was launched this week to make sure everyone can access help in an emergency, regardless of where they are. A team of engineers and developers have created Revolar — a tiny, wearable device that sends immediate alerts to contacts if the user feels threatened or unsafe.

Hoping to address the culture of fear women and other vulnerable groups face on a daily basis — Revolar means to fly again in Spanish. The gadget is the brainchild of CEO Jacqueline Ros, whose teenage sister was a victim of sexual assault. In the aftermath of the rape, Ros found herself wishing her younger sibling had been able to push a button to ask for help, so she set about creating one.

Using the tragedy to try to ensure the same doesn’t happen to others, Ros and her team launched a successful Kickstarter campaign. In addition, the developers took part in the Techstars Boulder 2015 accelerator program, made the Top 25 for Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge, and more recently, closed a $3 million financing deal with The Foundry Group. After Ros raised a whopping $3.5 million, the wearable device, designed to clip onto your clothing or keychain, began shipping on March 15. It is due to be on the shelves in shops in April.

Marketed as the “world’s smartest personal safety device,” the slimline, 2-inch long gadget enables users to send differentiated alerts by the simple press of a button. Two presses sends a yellow warning alert while three times signals a red alert. Built-in GPS means contacts immediately receive a text revealing the user’s exact location.

For those who feel they need an extra layer of protection, Revolar can be ordered at revolar.com. A video showing the device in action can be found here.

This article (Rape Prevention With the Push of A Button) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#Trump Video From 25 Years Ago Will Shock You: “I’m Tired of Seeing This Country Ripped Off”

March 18, 2016 by mac slavo

The Donald has completely taken over the news cycle.

His path of victory after victory in GOP primary states has the establishment freaking out, and every major media outlet scrambling for a way to stop Trump, or at least to damage his reputation.

But why is he being compared to Hitler and inducing aneurysms among the political elite?

Obviously it isn’t the name-calling or fiery rhetoric that has the system’s minions losing sleep and openly-plotting his demise.

No. It is for one basic reason: his rhetoric and campaign promises have centered around restoring American sovereignty.

Economically, he has talked about undoing globalism and free trade, bringing back good American jobs, protecting the border (and yes, building the 10+ foot high wall) and saying no to a culture of exploiting illegal immigrant workers at the expense of American employment.

Never mind if he can keep any of those promises, because just hyping them up has been enough to cause mass panic and hysteria in the corporate halls of Washington, Wall Street and the lapdog media.

But what might surprise you, even shock you, is that he has been talking this way for decades.

Just listen to what he told Oprah and her audience more than 25 years ago (circa 1987):

“I’d make our allies pay their fair share” “I’m tired of seeing what’s happening with this country.” “I’m tired of seeing this country ripped off.”

And there’s much more than that. The Daily Caller rounded up several examples of his consistent appeals for a “strong negotiator” on trade and foreign affairs.

Promising to balance trade and fight for American workers is NOT what the prevailing elite – who are losing control of the political establishment – want to happen.

Their plan, as voiced at exclusive think tanks and confabs like Davos, Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations and many others, has been to level the prosperous American middle class and force workers in the United States to whittle their way down to complete serfdom – and absolute dependence upon government handouts and a meager place in the grand pecking order of world domination.

Trump won’t be a savior, but things now are looking like they might bump him off just for even reminding the American people of how far things have fallen and little anyone else on the political stage has done to stop the free fall of the American Dream.

To the contrary, most of the political tools on stage have been only too willing to play a hand in the destruction of this once strong and vibrant country in exchange for favors and kickbacks.

2016 is about one thing: how fed up and angry people are at the system which has operated on behalf of the interests of a handful of insiders and the expense of everyone else.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

This Man Stops Police From Illegal Search in Just 7 Seconds: “Honor Your Oath, Scumbag!”

March 18, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Melissa Dykes and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: When people are too lazy and complacent to stand up for their rights, tyranny creeps right in. Despite the fact that police abuses have been in the spotlight during the past few years, little has been done to reassert the basic and cherished rights of free speech and privacy. In fact, the 4th Amendment has been totally trashed by the NSA, the TSA and quite possibly your local police department and law enforcement community.

Refuse searches without warrant, or even a basis of suspicion. Don’t cooperate with fishing expeditions or attempts to condition slave-like masses at public events. Take a page from this guy – who put police in their place right away, and spared no time for niceties or politically correct language. And guess what? The cop respected his stand and realized the wisdom in backing off.

“Honor Your Oath, Scumbag!”: Watch This Unlawful Search by Police Get Defeated in Just 7 Seconds

by Melissa Dykes

Sick and tired of beings asked for papers, please or other Fourth Amendment violations when you, as an innocent citizen not suspected of any crime other than walking down a city street, are just trying to mind your own business?

Well, so is this guy.

This video is brief and to the point.

(Warning: language)

This article was written by Melissa Dykes and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Proof It Is Rigged: “Fed Moved 93% of Entire Stock Market Since 2008″

March 18, 2016 by mac slavo

Fact: The Federal Reserve has screwed over the country.

Monetary policy has been the single most important factor in the economy for some time.

A new analysis from economist Brian Barnier shows that while future GDP, household debt from credit cards and tech accounted for past bubbles in American history, the bubble that has risen since Obama became president is due to one – and only one – factor: the Federal Reserve.

And the private banking cartel – which masquerades as a public government institution – has become plenty controversial for its ties to elite hidden agendas and its debasement of the economy.

However, few Americans realize just how huge – and detrimental – this institution has become.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed, then chaired by Ben Bernanke, began an unprecedented quantitative easing (QE) program that literally changed everything.

During the last eight years, monetary policy has completely upended the economy, and concentrated wealth into fewer and fewer hands, while making it more and more difficult for ordinary people to stay afloat. This intervention has gone way, way too far and has driven up a particularly unstable bubble that is ready to burst.

Through QE and bond purchases, the Fed managed to double the S&P 500 value, while more than doubling its own balance sheet in the process.

Yahoo! Finance reported:

The factors behind that and previous bubbles can be illuminated using simple visual analysis of a chart.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) doubled in value from November 2008 to October 2014, coinciding with the Federal Reserve Bank’s “quantitative easing” asset purchasing program. After three rounds of “QE,” where the Fed poured billions of dollars into the bond market monthly, the Fed’s balance sheet went from $2.1 trillion to $4.5 trillion.

This isn’t just a spurious correlation, according to economist Brian Barnier, principal at ValueBridge Advisors and founder of FedDashboard.com. What’s more, he says previous bull runs in the market lasting several years can also be explained by single factors each time.

[…]
As the financial crisis reached a fevered pitch in 2008, the Federal Reserve took to flooding the financial market with dollars by buying up bonds. Simultaneously, interest rates fell dramatically, as bond yields move in the opposite direction of bond prices. Barnier sees the Fed as responsible for over 93% of the market from the start of QE until today. During the first half of 2013, the Fed caused the entire market’s growth, he said.

Barnier, who compiled this data analysis, dubbed this the “Era of the Fed” – as this ill-reputed institution has been more responsible than any other factor (including the 2008 financial crisis) for how bad the economy has gotten for average Americans, college-graduates seeking careers and small businesses.

The above chart is simplified from others before it to show that the Fed was the single most important factor during the last era – overlapping Obama’s presidency – and that a staggering 93% of the economy has been dictated by the Federal Reserve. See the Yahoo! article for more data and charts.

As many analysts have discussed before, this unprecedented intervention has distorted and warped the American experience. Savers, pensioners and investors have all take harsh blows as the interest rate held at zero and even dipped into negative – forcing some customers to pay for deposits and others to take a haircut on their life savings and retirement packages!

Federal Reserve About To Do “Tremendous Amount of Damage” To U.S. Dollar

Trump Accuses Fed of Not Raising Rates Because Obama “Doesn’t Want a Bubble Burst” Until He Leaves

Ron Paul: Unless the Fed is Stopped, America Will “Soon Experience Major Economic Crisis”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Shock Report: #Oil Oversupply Exaggerated: Millions of Barrels Go Missing: “Oil Market Could Tighten Substantially”

March 18, 2016 by mac slavo

You may remember that just two months ago the International Energy Agency warned the oil market could “drown in oversupply” in 2016. The outlook for oil, which had tumbled 75% since 2012 and hit a low of $28 per barrel by mid January, was looking bleak with some analysts suggesting that sub-$20 oil was a real possibility.

The official numbers were compelling – the world was awash in oil with scores of tankers brimming with black gold reportedly sitting in limbo with nowhere to go. Oil storage was at capacity. OPEC warned that oil wouldn’t return to triple digits for two decades.

The entire North American oil sector had collapsed. Tens of thousands of jobs disappeared almost overnight. And with prices so low, many producers and exploration companies who had taken out large financing packages started missing payments. The energy debt bubble had burst.

But what if the oversupply that was threatening to topple mid east governments and unravel the global economy was a complete fabrication?

What if it the numbers upon which the entire narrative was predicated were nothing but fantasy?

It turns out that this may well be the case, according to Fortune:

The IEA was unable to account for 800,000 barrels of crude per day last year–the highest level of missing crude in 17 years.

The missing crude could simply be a figment of statistics, showing up in the agency’s data due to flawed accounting.

…

If the oversupply has been exaggerated and those barrels don’t exist, market analysts say that the oil market could tighten substantially. Crude prices have wallowed at their lowest point in more than a decade over the course of a nearly-two-year crash marked by concern about oversupply.

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

Long story short: no one actually knows where these missing barrels are or if they even existed to begin with, suggesting that someone, somewhere Kashkaried the numbers.

This means that millions of barrels of oil that were reportedly filling up storage depots around the world may have never actually existed in physical form, which would in turn imply that said oversupply threatening to catalyze World War III and wipe out the North American energy sector for the next several decades has been fabricated.

Most ironic, of course, is that if the International Energy Agency’s latest official report is correct we are about to witness a massive global supply crunch, the consequence of which could be an unprecedented price swing in the opposite direction.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

GOP Insider Admits: “That’s Just the Way It Is… We Choose the Nominee, Not the Voters”

March 17, 2016 by mac slavo

This GOP official made a brazen admission that, well, voting doesn’t matter.

If you haven’t come to terms with that fact, then it’s probably about time that you did.

Given the complex and deliberately obscure rules that the Republican and Democratic parties create for themselves, it is clear that it is not the voters of this country, but the insider party officials who actually determine who our leaders will be.

This system is hardly a democracy, but it is reality.

Many have surmised as much, as they watch the country going down the tubes year after year, but now their suspicions have been confirmed. CNBC reported:

Political parties, not voters, choose their presidential nominees, a Republican convention rules member told CNBC, a day after GOP front-runner Donald Trump rolled up more big primary victories.

“The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,” Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. He even questioned why primaries and caucuses are held.

[…]

This could lead to a brokered convention…

“It could introduce Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, or it could be the other candidates that have already been in the race and are now out of the race [such as] Mike Huckabee [or] Rick Santorum. All those people could eventually become candidates on the floor,” Emineth said.

[…]

“The rules haven’t kept up,” Haugland said. “The rules are still designed to have a political party choose its nominee at a convention. That’s just the way it is. I can’t help it. Don’t hate me because I love the rules.”

They make the rules, they break the rules, everyone else follows their decision.

It’s not like the Democrats even offered a real choice against Hillary Clinton – instead, the illusion of voting has moved forward, while the party tightly locked around super delegates and byzantine procedures to ensure that the decision had already been made before a single vote was cast.

Power tends to corrupt, and create institutions for holding onto power. That cycle repeats, intensifies and expels excrement, corruption and tyranny.

This network of control had allowed connected insiders, rich billionaires and elite, global architects to steer elections, select candidates and tilt the system in their favor.

As Mark Twain keenly noted: “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.”

Shocking Hidden Video: America’s Voting System is a Complete Farce

Election Results: “What’s Going To Change Is Only Who Is Going To Screw You — Not Whether You’ll Get Screwed”

Hostile Takeover: Ron Paul Delegates Barred From Voting at the Republican National Convention *Video*

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Survival Hacks: With These 17 Tricks, You Can Improvise Through Any Crisis

March 17, 2016 by mac slavo

One part of prepping is gathering and storing lots of useful gear and supplies.

Another part is honing your skills so that you could likely manage without any of those supplies – if you had to.

This video will start you out with some tips on how to whip up some useful devices out of practically nothing.

Tips in this video:

1. Use an aluminum soda can, cut open, to reflect and magnify the light of a candle

2. Use a piece of cloth and two containers to purify dirty water by transferring through the cloth. Then boil.

3. Instantly light a fire without lighter fluid. Place charcoal briquets in the spaces of an empty egg carton, and just light the egg carton for a quick lunch out and about.

4. Use or burn rosemary, basil or other common herbs to repel mosquitoes and irritating insects

5. Create an instant solar oven by cutting open a box, lining the top and inside with foil. Just add sun, and your food can be warmed in just a short time.

6. When the compass gets lost in your gear, you can point towards north by static charging a sewing needle by rubbing it on clothing. Place the charged needle on a leaf floating in water, and you’ll find orientation by connecting man, metal and nature.

7. Combine cooking oil with a paper-towel wick in a spare can, and create an emergency candle… more expensive the more virgin and imported it is.

By starting to think this way, you can conceive of and notice hundreds of other ways to modify, improvise and “hack” your way through survival – anywhere, anytime.

Here are even more life hacks that could help in a crisis.

Perhaps even cooler are the “life hacks” presented by the CrazyRussianHacker:

His hacks include:

– Making a candle out of an orange peel, which provides container and wick, and vegetable oil (as above)

– Creating fire with an aluminum-coated gum wrapper connected to the opposite terminal ends of a AA battery (way cool)

– Make a makeshift harpoon-like weapon out of a wooden BBQ skewer, a balloon, and a stabilizing bottle top

– Open a can the Russian way: using just a knife and some strategic angles

– Pick a padlock with an aluminum scrap from a soda can

– Modify an aluminum can into an alcohol-fueled gas stove

– Use aluminum foil to create a battery-dud to complete the circuit when you only have one battery to power a flashlight that requires two.

– Power small devices with the miniature cells inside a AA battery by peeling it open, carefully

– Reconfigure paper clips into wire electrodes to connect batteries to a light bulb and create a flashlight.

Seriously, this guy is the Russian MacGyver!

Train your mind to re-envision the common items around you. Many of them can serve your survival needs and create comfort at times when there is little else around to work with.

There are infinite possibilities, and you are only limited by your cleverness once you understand the basic principles involved.

These Clever 100-Year-Old Life Hacks Can Still Make Your Life Easier Today

Can’t-Do Generation: “Expect Everything to Just Work,” and Throw Out What They Can’t Fix

How To Get a Family of Four Prepped for The Coming Collapse – In The Quickest and Easiest Way Possible…

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

“The 2nd Amendment Will Be Under Siege Before The Election” – New Supreme Court Nominee Supports Whatever Big Government Wants

March 17, 2016 by contributing author

As with most of Obama’s actions, his nomination of Merrick B. Garland as the replacement for recently-deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is hardly unpredictable. This article will outline Garland’s background. Obama will “fast-track” this appointment, as if evidenced by Orrin Hatch already “jumping on the bandwagon” and agreeing with Obama’s choice. Right out of the chute, here comes one “RINO” in the rodeo to “rope” in another liberal democrat to follow the herd of Obama-appointees. First Sotomayor, then Kagan, and the third rodeo clown appears to be Garland. Here’s the “punch line” for the clowns:

Garland will be fast-tracked in, and the 2^nd Amendment under siege before the election.

So, this man grew up in Chicago, Illinois, attended Harvard, then subsequently Garland went to Harvard Law School for his JD. He served under Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Friendly attended Harvard Law School), and then under William J. Brennan, a leading liberal Supreme Court Justice appointed by Eisenhower. Brennan, let it be noted, also received his JD from Harvard Law School, and was a giant liberal who opposed the death penalty and was a staunch supporter of abortion and Roe vs. Wade.

Just to give you an idea of Brennan’s mindset (as he was a mentor to Garland), guess what little gem he helped to set into the crown of our broken American society? He wrote the rulings for Texas v. Johnson, and United States v. Eichman. These rulings enabled the Court to uphold that desecration of the American Flag is protected under the First Amendment.

In 1993, Garland worked for the Department of Justice under another Clinton appointee, Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, Garland’s mentor there who personally asked for him to serve as her principal deputy. Gorelick, let it be noted, also attended Harvard Law School, picking up her JD there. Gorelick later became Vice Chairman for Fannie Mae, and during her tenure from 1997-2003, Fannie Mae underwent a $10 billion accounting scandal.

Garland was later appointed under Clinton in 1995 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He didn’t start until 1997, however, because his initial appointment was turned down, to consider whether or not the court needed him as a judge. Clinton’s reelection in ’96 enabled him to slip through in ’97. Now Obama is fast-tracking Garland into the Supreme Court. Obama, let it be noted, also attended Harvard Law School.

But wait…there’s more. Back when Parker vs. District of Columbia (submitted 2003, the basis for Heller vs. D.C. ruling in 2008) came about, part of D.C.’s restrictive gun law was struck down as unconstitutional under the 2^nd Amendment. The mayor at that time for D.C., Adrian Fenty and a squad of his liberal assistants brought a petition in April 2007 to the circuit court of D.C. to hear the case en banc, meaning with all of the justices on the appeals court voting. That petition was struck down and denied on May 8, 2007, at a vote of 6-4. Guess who was one of the dissenting 4 voters? Yep, you guessed it…Judge Merrick Garland!

This guy supports whatever big government wants. With him in the vacant SCOTUS seat, it will just be a matter of time before the 2^nd Amendment comes under attack. We have seen what happened when Obamacare was voted in under the color of law with Roberts leading the way. Now it won’t even need a (pseudo)conservative to break the deadlock. Now Roberts can appear to be the “dissenter” …while Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kennedy, and (soon) Garland…vote to negate or cripple the 2^nd Amendment.

This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.

Also Read:

Obama Pushes For Widespread Surveillance State: “At This Rate We’ll All Be In Cages… Either Electronic Or Literal”

How To Survive Occupied America: “Red Dawn Just Started… And You’re In It”

Forced Economic Free Fall the Precursor to Collapse: “The World Is About To Enter A Global Depression Unlike Anything Seen Before”

Jeremiah Johnson’s Green Beret Survival Guides

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

‘Thunderstorm Spiral’: Pentagon Trains for Underground War/Disaster In Densely-Populated MegaCities

March 16, 2016 by mac slavo

As populations grow into cities across the globe, and increasing majority of people will live in urban areas – places which quickly become very desperate and vulnerable during a major crisis.

Every prepper knows the dangers of being stuck in a major metropolitan city in the event of a major hurricane, a grid down scenario or civil unrest and societal collapse.

In such a situation, as every prepper knows, food, water and other vital resources will quickly become scarce or unavailable. The gridlock of survivors trying to get out, or get their hands on assets.

Increasingly, the Pentagon is looking at the likelihood – perhaps the inevitability – of war/conflict inside of a destabilized or decimated megacity urban center like New York.

According to the Daily Mail:

The Pentagon is calling for help from technological innovators to take on the future of warfare.

In the program titled ‘Thunderstorm Spiral,’ the US government solicits demonstrations to tackle the challenges of megacities and underground environments, which will become increasingly prevalent as populations continue to grow.

[…]

A megacity is defined as a city with more than 10 million residents. To put this in perspective, there are currently over 8 million people living in New York City.

As these numbers continue to grow within defined areas, infrastructure will have to adapt, pushing megacities toward the development of subterranean – or underground – environments.

In 2014, there were 23 megacities with ‘vast subterranean structures’; in 2025, it’s expected this number will reach 37.

To meet these needs, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Emerging Capability and Prototyping, Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) Technology Demonstration Program is sponsoring the request for information (RFI) issued by the Pentagon.

‘As the world’s population grows, the probability of the U.S. needing to conduct combat and humanitarian assistance / disaster relief (HA/DR) operations within a megacity (defined as a city with more than 10 million residents) also grows,’ the solicitation states.

[…]

The ‘desired capabilities’ in focus of the program include GPS techniques for underground and dense urban environments along with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensors for use in tunnels.

As major American, Asian and European cities grow with extreme rapidity, urban planners have been expanding large underground facilities. Increasingly, it is not just subway systems, but shopping malls, parking lots, utilities and perhaps even residential units that are being built underground.

While this may be practical to facilitate crowded above-ground conditions, it brings new dangers for populations who could be trapped underneath in the event of a bombing, terrorist attack or major natural disaster.

Inadequate design to accommodate flooding and allow evacuation for people underground is perhaps the biggest threat facing these quickly expanding facilities.

The United Nations University has studied many of the disaster scenarios that could occur in underground spaces, noting the rapid growth of underground facilities in mega-urban areas across the world:

The rapid and extensive underground expansion of mega-cities – for subways, malls, parking and public utilities – takes place often with too little knowledge of associated risks and too few plans to minimize the effects of a natural disaster, United Nations University experts warn.

With growing land pressures in cities (which contain about 50% of all people today, seen rising to 65% by 2030), creating new space underground becomes increasingly attractive. In many places, however, studies of potential natural disaster risks are often neglected, says Srikantha Herath, UNU Senior Academic Programme Officer.

While many underground shelters can withstand earthquakes and other disruptions, flooding stands as one of the biggest and untested underground disasters cities may face in the near future:

Modeling a variety of catastrophic events is essential for building contingencies into underground infrastructure designs, including evacuations and the emergency containment and transport of flood waters, for example.”

Via underground interconnections, water can travel considerable distances away from the flood source. However, there are often no subsurface maps; underground space is usually mapped in relation to a building overhead.

Strategic relocation expert Joel Skousen and other prepping experts have warned against allowing yourself to be trapped in a major city – particularly on the East Coast – where evacuation may be nigh impossible. Being trapped underground in such a megacity only adds another layer of disaster to that recipe.

If you have your own underground structure, make sure that its design has accounted for flooding, because the possibilities are all too real.

Strategic Relocation: Where To Go When It Hits the Fan (Full Movie)

How This Man Converted “Underground Shelter Using a 20 Ft. Shipping Container”

Elite Hiding in Bunkers to Escape War with China: “Intended Survivors Are Moving Underground”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

China’s 7,000 Year Old Strategy Hints That A Massive Move Is Coming : “Largest Gold Rally Of Our Lifetime… It Will Go Ballistic”

March 16, 2016 by mac slavo

Up until January, the majority of people assumed that governments and central banks had everything under control. Zero-Interest and Negative-Interest rate policies coupled with unprecedented monetary printing appeared to have stabilized the economy and financial markets. But then something broke. Stock exchanges crashed following the New Year and investors the world over went into panic mode. They sold pretty much everything, including oil and the oft touted Internet 2.0 behemoths that were, in some cases, selling at 500 times their earnings. It was a rush for the exits.

But as we’ve noted repeatedly in recent years, when financial panic, confusion and uncertainty take hold, the smart money will rapidly moves into wealth preservation assets of last resort. And, this is exactly what we saw over the last two months. Though broader stock markets were crashing, precious metals and the companies that mine them exploded to the upside. Exchange traded funds that track gold were up double digit percentages and in some cases stock prices nearly doubled.

With more economic machinations from the powers that be sure to come and a currency crisis looming, what we recently saw with gold and silver is just a small preview of how precious metals will behave during serious and sustained market disruptions. Some analysts have suggested that the next stock market crash will be deeper and more violent than what we saw in 2008. And as Future Money Trends notes in their latest video below, that could mean massive moves for gold:

We believe the gold price will go absolutely ballistic… with a repricing of a level of $10,000 per ounce or higher as predicted by former CIA adviser Jim Rickards.

(Watch At Youtube)

And how does one position themselves to take advantage of this crisis asset of last resort?

Holding the physical asset in the form of bullion is, of course, highly recommended.

But for those with investment accounts like 401(k)’s or IRA’s, consider following China’s lead:

For 7,000 years man has mined gold deposits, making it possibly one of the most reliable businesses in human history… and one of the smartest because owning a gold mine allows you to keep producing the gold after your initial investment…

Think about it, for all of human history gold is so precious, so rare, that if you took all the Egyptians mined… the Romans… and everything since… we would only have three Olympic sized swimming pools full of gold.

The headlines for gold these last few years have all focused on physical gold accumulation by China, Russia and Eastern central banks… but what they have missed is a 7,000 year old strategy that China is doubling down on… According to data compiled by Bloomberg, in 2013 asset purchases by Honk Kong and mainland miners increased by $2.2 billion. China is buying gold mines at a record.

…By August of this year Chinese influence will have infiltrated the biggest financial institutions in the world with China only revealing their physical bullion above ground while saying nothing about their mine acquisitions. This explains their long-term strategy to implement some form of gold-backed currency.

The world may well be on its way to the largest gold rally of our lifetime.

When it comes to positioning oneself for crisis, gold and silver have stood the test of time for thousands of years. There will no doubt be ups and downs going forward, but the trend is clear.

For more videos, interviews, news and commentary visit Future Money Trends.

Click here to learn how you can follow China’s strategy of accumulating mining assets ahead of the next bull market.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Self-Driving Cars Programmed to Sacrifice As They Hit the Road: “Someone Is Going to Die”

March 16, 2016 by mac slavo

Self-driving cars are poised to take over U.S. roads and destroy American jobs… and they will also kill people, even if by accident.

Right now, they’re makers are in the process of convincing Congress that they can handle their own regulations – even as they continue working out the kinks.

The U.S. Senate subcommittee for Commerce, Science and Transportation heared testimony from Duke University roboticist Missy Cummings, who admitted that fatalities and accidents are inevitable as self-driving cars attempt to integrate with a busy and complex society.

The London Guardian reports:

The robot car revolution hit a speed bump on Tuesday as senators and tech experts sounded stern warnings about the potentially fatal risks of self-driving cars.“There is no question that someone is going to die in this technology,” said Duke University roboticist Missy Cummings in testimony before the US Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation. “The question is when and what can we do to minimize that.”

Automotive executives and lawmakers sniped at each other over whether universal standards were necessary for self-driving cars….

Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, who have cosponsored legislation that proposes minimum testing standards for automated drivers… “The credibility of this technology is exceedingly fragile if people can’t trust standards – not necessarily for you, but for all the other actors that may come into this space at this point.”

These “standards” reflect the programming that will make sometimes fatal choices in the mix of situations that may involve innocent by-standers and no-win situations.

In these cases, is there a “moral” gradient that computers and people can see eye-to-eye on?

If the self-driving car is designed to avoid children at all costs, does that mean it could be programmed to kill (or sacrifice) you if/when you are caught inside of a car headed for disaster, or on the opposite side of the road as the child? There are no clear answers.

The standards are already becoming morally complex. Google X’s Chris Urmson, the company’s director of self-driving cars, said the company was trying to work through some difficult problems. Where to turn – toward the child playing in the road or over the side of the overpass?

Google has come up with its own Laws of Robotics for cars: “We try to say, ‘Let’s try hardest to avoid vulnerable road users, and beyond that try hardest to avoid other vehicles, and then beyond that try to avoid things that that don’t move in the world,’ and then to be transparent with the user that that’s the way it works,” Urmson said.

But the “morality” of the decision-making structure of the computer’s processes, and the inevitability of chaos for at least some individuals is only part of the story.

Autonomous vehicles will, ironically, also be quite vulnerable to hacking – as Internet-connected devices in the car can be manipulated and used to takeover the commands and data of really any of the newer “smart” cars on the road. The problem will be even bigger as self-driving cars become a bigger part of our life.

“We know that many of the sensors on self-driving cars are not reliable in good weather, in urban canyons, or places where the map databases are out of date,” said Cummings. “We know gesture recognition is a serious problem, especially in real world settings. We know humans will get in the back seat while they think their cars are on ‘autopilot’. We know people will try to hack into these systems.”

“[W]e know that people, including bicyclists, pedestrians and other drivers, could and will attempt to game self-driving cars, in effect trying to elicit or prevent various behaviors in attempts to get ahead of the cars or simply to have fun,” she said.

Back in 2013, a couple of white hat hackers demonstrated how vulnerable a number of newer cars are to hacking. The possibilities are down right frightening – everything from the stereo and windshield wipers to the brakes can be hacked and remotely controlled – or shut off when you need them most. Just imagine what is possible in 2016.

What happens when these self-driving cars of the future disagree with the human passenger about the priorities, or what is allowed in a critical situation – like escaping a car jacking assault or avoiding a cop in pursuit?

It isn’t hard to see how trusting technology on the roads is going to complicate the future, and restrict our human ability to make decisions about important factors on the road. Let’s just hope somebody programs these intelligent machines with some common sense.

“Government Wants to Control Your Car” and Prevent You From Tinkering Under the Hood

How Smart Devices Could Take Out Power Grid: Hack “Air Conditioners, Turn On/Off Repeatedly”

Cyber Attack May Be To Blame For Deadly Amtrak Crash ‘Throttling Speed’

Infrastructure Cyber Attack: “We Don’t Know How Many Utilities Are Compromised”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Obama Pushes For Widespread Surveillance State: “At This Rate We’ll All Be In Cages… Either Electronic Or Literal”

March 15, 2016 by contributing author

On Friday, March 11, Obama was in Austin, TX attempting to make his case for an allowance of a “back door” for government to enter into mobile devices. His plea is predicated on the government’s “need” to gain information for use against “war on terror” suspects, and also to find evidence to prosecute those attempting to bypass tax laws. Obama used the phrase “we” to refer to those making the decision to utilize such back door venues. The pronoun does not refer to “we the people,” but instead a nebulous “we” such as the TV series “the Outer Limits.” His “we” wants to control the vertical, the horizontal, and everything in between.

Obama said the following at the South by Southwest Festival on Friday:

“The question we now have to ask is: If technologically it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong that there is no key, there’s no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer, how do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have available to even do simple things like tax enforcement because if in fact you can’t crack that at all, government can’t get in, then everybody is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket.”

He uses “we” as if it applies to us, the American people. That paragraph is very interesting. Of course, none of it applies to him or any of the communists on his staff, present or former. Where’s the “back door” request for Hillary Clinton’s e-mail accounts? Where are the demands for all the data from the servers? How about Hillary’s cell phones? How about Obama’s cell phone records and e-mail account? Yes, Obama, how do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot such as the Fast and Furious operation that placed weapons into the hands of terrorists who killed a U.S. Border Patrol Agent?

It is a simple equation: the laws are made by them for us to obey.

Such is a truism we are forced to deal with as daily these criminals hide behind the badge of the color of law and inflict their illegal edicts onto those who have no legal remedy or financial wherewithal to defend themselves. The end state has not happened in the U.S. but it is predictable, because it has happened with other societies. History repeats itself. It happened in the Soviet Union, as chronicled in the work “The Gulag Archipelago.” It happened with the formation of Red China. It happened in Nazi Germany. It is happening here.

They didn’t build a $50 billion data recording and storage facility in Ogden, Utah for nothing. The emphasis on technological development is much the same as in “1984” by Orwell. Improvements in technology do nothing to alleviate any of the burdens of poverty, overcrowding, food shortages, disease, or any of the things afflicting mankind. The focus of technology is on developing new methods of surveillance, of data recording, and intrusion into people’s private lives. All of this is anent control and dominion, plain and simple.

Obama asks for “…mechanisms… to even do simple things like tax enforcement…” in such a nonchalant manner.

Oh, what about how James Clapper declared Iran the foremost supporter of terrorism, and Obama was the one who enabled the Iranians to obtain $12 billion in taxpayer funds to continue funding terrorist operations? What “mechanism” do the American people have to prevent such things? Impeachment? Elections? Yeah, we see how well all of that has been working.

Obama still has almost a year left to continue gutting and destroying the country. If elections even occur, what will change? In the meantime, the Bill of Rights continues to be under assault and shredded. At this rate we’ll all be in cages…either electronic or literal, as the U.S. turns into the Hotel California. We’ll be prisoners here of our own device who can check out any time we like…but can never leave.

This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.

Also Read:

How To Survive Occupied America: “Red Dawn Just Started… And You’re In It”

Forced Economic Free Fall the Precursor to Collapse: “The World Is About To Enter A Global Depression Unlike Anything Seen Before”

The Trigger: If This Ever Happens You Know You’re Days Away From Nuclear War

Jeremiah Johnson’s Green Beret Survival Guides

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Putin to Withdraw Russian Forces in Syria: “Objectives Achieved… Terrorists Have Been Forced Out”

March 15, 2016 by mac slavo

Now it is Putin’s “Mission Accomplished” moment in the Middle East.

Who can say what Putin’s long term objectives are, but regardless, he has won this round.

His decision to bring Russian troops into Syria has weakened ISIS, secured Assad’s regime (for now) and put American aggression into check.

Perhaps the ceasefire in Syria means that WWIII has also been averted, or at least delayed.

RT reports:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to start the withdrawal of forces from Syria starting Tuesday. Russia will however keep a military presence at the port of Tartus and at the Khmeimim airbase to observe ceasefire agreements.

“I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow,” Putin said on Monday during a meeting with Shoigu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“In a short period of time Russia has created a small but very effective military group [in Syria]… the effective work of our military allowed the peace process to begin,” Putin said, adding that with the assistance of the Russian Air Force “Syrian government troops and patriotic forces have changed the situation in the fight with international terrorism and have ceased the initiative.”

The global chess game is hardly over, but President Putin managed to time his moves with the precision of a master. For all its heightened rhetoric, the other side blinked on the supposed “red line” in Syria.

After Vladimir Putin spent considerable effort politely calling out the hoax behind the ISIS crisis in Iraq and Syria – which has been covertly supported by the U.S. and 40 other countries, many of whom belong to NATO – the White House eventually seemed reticent to even go on pretending that it has a case against Assad, or a moral position in the rise of ISIS.

Seemingly, the entire broiling situation has been defused… for the moment anyway.

Erdogan, not Putin, has been caught engaging in a charade, pretending to fight against ISIS while in actuality funding and fueling their rise in the Middle East. It was Turkey who lost all legitimacy as a result of shooting down Russian planes, not the other way around.

The double game was revealed, and Assad is clearly relieved at the “save” on Putin’s part. For Assad, it can’t take much imagination to watch Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi go down, and know that they had plans for him next.

[During a] phone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Syria’s President Bashar Assad … [t]he two leaders agreed that the actions of Russia’s Air Force in Syria have allowed them to “profoundly reverse the situation” in connection to fighting terrorists in the region, having “disorganized militants’ infrastructure and inflicted fundamental damage upon them.”

[…]

Moscow launched its anti-terror campaign in Syria on September 30 last year. Russia’s participation in the operation, according to a previous statement by Putin, has its basis in international law and has been conducted “in accordance with an official request from the president of the Syrian Arab Republic [Bashar Assad].”

The Russian Air Force has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist targets in the region, eliminating military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, arms and fuel depots.

As many recall, Putin’s war on terrorism quickly made a mockery out of Obama and Bush’s War on Terror, which has raged on for 15 years only to face setbacks and blowback that has created many fold more terrorists than the region started with.

As RT reported, Putin’s air forces have essentially liberated Syria from terrorist domination, destroyed ISIS petroleum routes to Turkey and ousted them from 400 populated areas… while the U.S. hyped up the threat of ISIS but did little to nothing to stop them:

“Backed by our aviation, Syrian forces have freed 400 populated areas and over 10,000 square kilometers [3,860 square miles] of territories,” Shoigu said during a Kremlin meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Terrorists have been forced out from Latakia and Aleppo, and Palmyra has been “blocked,” the military official reported to Putin, saying that military actions to free the UNESCO heritage site from militants continue. Hama and Homs Provinces in central Syria have been largely mopped up, and Kuweires airbase that had been besieged by terrorists for over three years was retaken.

Saying that Russia’s Air Force in Syria has conducted more than 9,000 sorties starting from September 30, 2015 […] “As a result of airstrikes, terrorists’ resources’ provision has been largely cut,” Shoigu told Putin, saying that petroleum trade routes with Turkey, as well as main routes of weapons provisions to terrorists have been blocked.

Nevertheless, the world is hardly peaceful, and with so much angst over the sour deal with Iran and the rise of Trump-lican politics, people would be best to stay on watch for nasty tricks and devilish surprises.

US Complains As Putin Bombs its Terrorists: “ISIS Is An Intentional Creation of U.S.”

Watch Putin Hammer Obama: “Not Grounded In The Real World… Absolutely Unprofessional Politics”

New Patch for U.S. Troops Fighting ISIS… Looks Like ISIS Logo

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

« Previous Page