Archives for May 2016

Signs of a #Slave Nation: Humiliation, #Socialism, Dependency, and Managed Media #Venezuela #feelthebern

May 14, 2016 by daisy luther

Signs of a Slave Nation: Humiliation, Socialism, Dependency, and Managed Media

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Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Is the economy turning the United States into a slave nation? It certainly looks like it, given the stories that we’ll be discussing this week. Jobs are so difficult to find that employers can turn them into sweatshops and people put up with it, just to be able to take care of their families.

Add to this the reliance of the average American on the cheap, easily available processed food system, and we truly are a nation at the mercy of the overlords, who even control the news we’re allowed to see.

Slavery and Humiliation Are Alive and Well in the American Workplace

Are your working conditions unpleasant? If you get to drink fluids during work, and urinate and defecate in a toilet, then you’re living the good life. Unlike American poultry workers, who toil in some of the most horrendous conditions imaginable – including having to wear a diaper to work, since bathroom breaks aren’t allowed. Slavery, it seems, is alive and well here in America.

With decent-paying jobs so few and far between, people who want to remain employed are accepting more and more mistreatment just to survive. Essentially, many American workplaces are becoming little more than sweatshops.

A report by the watchdog group, Oxfam, tells a story that will make you sick:

“I had to wear Pampers,” a worker identified as Dolores stated in a damning reportcalled “No Relief” released Wenesday by watchdog group Oxfam America. “I and many, many others had to wear Pampers.”

Industry employees also have been forced to cut down on drinking fluids “to a dangerous degree,” and some reported having urinated or defecated on themselves while working because they can’t hold it in any longer, according to the report.

“Supervisors mock [the workers’] needs and ignore
their requests; they threaten punishment or firing,” the report’s executive summary states. “Workers wait inordinately long times (an hour or more), then race to accomplish the task within a certain timeframe (e.g., ten minutes) or risk discipline.”

One worker said supervisors at an Alabama plant regularly threatened people by saying, “Go to the bathroom, and from there, go to Human Resources.” Another worker at a plant in the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) region claimed it took between 20 and 60 minutes to get permission to leave her position and use the bathroom.

When workers do get permission to take a break, they aren’t given much time to use the facilities. In another section of the report, poultry plant employees say they are given as many as 5 minutes to leave their post, use the restroom and get back.

It’s bad enough that you can almost see how some people would choose welfare over working. Poultry plants are often in rural areas, where jobs are nearly impossible to come by. The folks working there have no options to leave and find other employment. There is no other employment, and that’s exactly what gives these companies the power to treat people the way they do.

These conditions were reported at four of the largest chicken processing plants in the country: Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue Farms and Sanderson Farms. Is it really a stretch to think that companies whose policies are to torture animals in horrific ways would not value the dignity of human beings either? (If you’re wondering what I’m referring to, this article tells shows some horrifying photos from inside a Pilgrim’s Pride plant. I’m not a vegetarian, but I refuse to spend a penny with a company like this. And the big companies? They’re basically ALL like this. The modern poultry industry is horrendous in almost every way.)

Please consider purchasing your meat from small farms, where both animals and humans are treated with decency. Consider raising your own if circumstances allow. If you just go to the store and choose the cheapest option, you are, by default, endorsing the actions of companies that won’t even allow their employees to go to the restroom.

Venezuela Is Going Down

I know, I know. I’ve been saying it for two years, but it’s happening for real.

The beleaguered South American country is descending into chaos. Thousands of looters pillaged the remaining supplies in stores instead of waiting in hours-long lines for whatever might be doled out at exorbitant prices. Supply trucks just keep having “accidents” after which the contents are stolen. Other hungry people are killing cats, dogs, pigeons, and rodents just to have something to eat. One man who turned to mugging people was actually lit on fire and burned to death by the mob that caught him doing so. Unbelievably, the Venezuelan government has promised even more cuts on imports in order to pay their debts. Since stock is already depleted in this country that relies on imports for food, personal items, and necessities, things are about to get even worse.

Venezuela contains the largest reserves of crude oil in the world, but due to the mismanagement of a Socialist regime, collapse is imminent – even the mainstream media has admitted that it is inevitable.The country is suffering from the highest inflation in the world, electricity has been strictly rationed with rolling blackouts (and this is in the city – rumor has it that in the rural areas, there is no power whatsoever), and a few months ago, it was announced that they simply did not have enough food to supply the country. (This will get far worse when the import cuts get more intense.) People, including city dwellers, were informed that they needed to begin to produce their own food.

With the oil-based wealth of the country, many citizens never expected that collapse was coming. Sound familiar? Now that they’re on their own to feed themselves, the country has devolved into pandemonium. This is why, no matter where you live, as I discussed in this interview, you need to begin taking steps to be more self-reliant. You need to store long-term emergency food, build a food pantry that you use from day-to-day, and learn to replenish your food in your own backyard. While you might not be able to grow all of your food, if things get tight, what you do grow and stockpile can supplement meager rations. You do not want to be a slave to this system, because when the masters stop feeding you, things are going to get ugly.

If it can happen in a country with that much oil, it can happen in the United States. They’re feeling the Bern of socialism in Venezuela and if you haven’t noticed, younger Americans are positively begging for a similar style of government here.

Anonymous Is Taking Down Banks, But Facebook Won’t Let You Tell Anyone

Hactivist group Anonymous has dedicated the month of May to assaulting the global banking cartel in a rather spectacular fashion. Beginning with the Bank of Greece, they’ve targeted the websites of 9 of the world’s largest banks so far.

And here is the follow-up from Anonymous with a list of banks that they intend to target.

In the event these videos are taken down, you can find a list of their targets HERE.

But if you haven’t heard about it, there’s a very good reason. Taking media blackouts to a whole new level, it seems that Facebook has blocked any sharing of a particular link about the takedowns. Here’s the message I got when I tried to share the link in a private message to a friend. Right?????? (This is the link I was trying to share – definitely go read it!)

Hmmm…right as Facebook comes under fire for an apparent policy of censoring conservative news and information, an accusation they vehemently denied.

Now, indulge me just a teeny little bit. I enjoy watching the greedy being taught a lesson as much as anyone else, and because everyone loves a Robin Hood anti-hero story, I really hope this is all legit.

But…

What if…

What if there was something huge going on in the banking world this month? Some kind of excruciating collapse that could cause massive chaos if everyone knew about it? What better way to cover up the financial disaster than to say, “Oh! Our system has been hacked! Don’t worry, comrades, your money is safe and there’s nothing to see here!” What if it isn’t Anonymous at all,but actually the banks themselves? What if Anonymous isn’t who they present themselves to be? There have been rumors for years that they are actually a government-controlled psy-op and part of the manipulative narrative.

This, of course, is nothing but interesting conjecture and something to think about. (Dear Anonymous: If I’m wrong, please don’t get all mad and hack me. I’m just a little blogger being a critical thinker.:) Thanks.)

Prepper Stuff

This week, instead of a round-up, I wrote a letter to folks who are out there doing the family preparedness gig by themselves. Single parent preppers can often become discouraged by information that seems to be specific to families with two adults, but there are many of us juggling the whole shebang on our own.

Not only are these families headed up by divorced and widowed parents, but there are a growing number of people who straddle the line for a variety of reasons. Some are the spouses of our military members who have been deployed overseas. Others are forced to live separately when one spouse finds employment too far away to return home each night. There are families in which one parent takes the majority of the responsibilities due to something that affects their spouses: chronic illness, addiction, or mental health concerns, to name a few. These semi-single parents face many of the same issues as single parents do, and these are topped off with additional worries about the well-being of their spouses. You can read the letter here.

I did an interview recently with my friend Rory, of The Daily Coin. We discussed the situation in Venezuela and talked about the lessons that we can learn if we observe carefully what is going on down there. One thing is very clear: independence means a lack of dependence. It’s time to break free from the system. You can listen to the interview here.

Resources:

An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry

State MinimumWages

Venezuela Before Chavez

Non-GMO Long-term Storable Food

The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food Pantry on a Half Price Budget

Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous

The Prepper’s Blueprint

Global Catastrophe Imminent: “Asteroids, Robots and Engineered Viruses Will Kill Millions”

May 14, 2016 by mac slavo

There is yet more confirmation that near-certain doom is headed for planet earth, and could kill or disrupt the lives of everyone on the planet.

And there’s reason to think it could be in our lifetimes.

A study commissioned by Oxford University identified possibly-imminent catastrophe from asteroids, AI, volcanoes, nukes/EMP or manufactured/weaponized disease sweeping the planet.

And yet we’re the conspiracy theorists…

According to the Daily Mail/Press Association:

In the next five years asteroids, super volcanic eruptions and unknown risks are ranked as the biggest threat to humanity.[…]

It may sound like the stuff of sci-fi films, but experts said these apocalyptic threats are more likely than many realise…

[…]

In the longer term, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been listed alongside catastrophic climate change, nuclear war and pandemics as a threat to humanity.

The biggest long term threat to civilization is natural and engineered pandemics and nuclear war […] the rise of synthetic biology could open the door to the creation of “off the shelf” deadly viruses.

The report, which focuses on global approaches to address these looming dangers, and a worldwide integration of efforts, reminds us that we are all too mortal, and that devastating pandemics have indeed occurred throughout history:

It warns that while most generations never experience a catastrophe, they are far from fanciful, as the bouts of plague and the 1918 Spanish flu that wiped out millions illustrated.

There is no way of knowing what kind disaster could befall the planet, but it is important to prepare for the worst at a personal and local level. Chances are, you’ll be far more effective that way.

Despite the focus on global talk, there is little chance that a bigger and bigger governing structure could protect us all, or come to the rescue when you need it most.

When seconds count, police are minutes away, and the federal/international authorities are days or weeks away. They are only there to clean up the mess when it’s over and seize power.

Indeed, it seems that civilization is all-too-vulnerable, and millions of lives hang in the balance. Don’t be complacent, don’t rely on big cities and trust only those who you know and can rely upon.

The Shaking Continues: “There is Great Reason For Concern” Over Recent Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions

“Looming Catastrophe from Diseased Rates”: Billionaire Icahn Warns of Danger Ahead

Surviving The Unthinkable – Being Prepared For What Is Coming Will Be The Difference Between Living And Dying

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Nuke Threat On Southern #Border: #Texas Game Wardens Issued #Radiation Detectors

May 14, 2016 by mac slavo

After countless reports about the potential for nuclear or radioactive weapons of mass destruction being smuggled into the United States, the State of Texas is has begun to take the threat seriously.

Via Houston Public Media:

Up and down the Texas Gulf Coast, the state’s game wardens are on the water, looking for people fishing or hunting illegally. But as we’ve reported, they sometimes come across things like illegal chemical dumpsites and more says Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Tom Harvey.

“Game wardens encounter all kinds of things on their patrols, including a lot of illegal fishing, and this is a new threat we’re gearing up to be able to address,“ Harvey told News 88.7.

That new threat is terrorism. One fear is that terrorists could try to smuggle radioactive material into the country by boat. The Port of Houston has for years had radiation detectors to scan cargo.

So now, besides guns and handcuffs, game wardens will have one more tool.

“We’ve acquired about a hundred devices that allow game wardens to detect radiological or nuclear emissions. These are little devices that can be worn on someone’s belt,” Harvey said.

They’re about the size of a cellphone and can help a warden determine if something suspicious is radioactive. It wouldn’t necessarily have to be connected to terrorism: radioactive materials used in the energy and medical industries can be illegally dumped.

Game wardens began training with the radiation detectors in January and completed a mock exercise to find radioactive packages along the coast.

In March the Obama administration warned that there were four ways a large-scale nuclear attack on U.S. soil could happen,

The havoc such an attack could wreak in an urban area such as New York or London is concerning enough that leaders scheduled a special session on the threat during the two-day summit. U.S. officials said the leaders would discuss a hypothetical scenario about a chain of events that could lead to nuclear terrorism.

And just last month we learned that ISIS-linked terrorists have targeted at least two nuclear power plants in Europe – one in Belgium in the lead up to the terror attacks in Brussels, as well as a cyber attack on a German plant that made it possible for hackers to take control of highly radioactive cooling rods at the facility. Moreover, as far as Europe is concerned, officials report that CBRN weapons (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) have already been smuggled into Europe, suggesting that mass-casualty attacks are in the planning stages.

The threats to America is equally serious, as officials have reported that terrorists have already been captured attempting to cross into the United States through our southern border. Moreover, in recent years there have been numerous cases of nuclear material capable of being used in dirty bombs being stolen from facilities in Mexico.

The issue was so serious that the Texas Rangers were dispatched to secure the southern border amid the threat.

Though ignored by most Americans as an implausible scenario, the fact that DHS recently announced they will be holding a mock poison gas attack in New York suggests that officials are growing more concerned with the potential for a serious attack on key U.S. cities.

Should a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack become reality, the panic would be unprecedented. Large scale evacuations of entire cities or regions would be likely, and thousands could die or be sickened because of a lack of protective equipment against CBRN attacks.

That terrorists are actively targeting nuclear power plants is a warning sign that should not be taken lightly. The goal is mass casualties, and CBRN devices would be the optimal weapons used.

Also Read:

CBRN Gear: The Most Advanced Tactical Gas Mask System In The World

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

White House Warns Of Nuclear Terrorist Attacks: The Four Ways They Could Strike…

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

7 Natural Supplements You Should Have in Case of Nuclear Fallout

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#Banker Gets Record #Prison Sentence

May 14, 2016 by michaela whitton

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A senior investment banker has been slapped with the U.K.’s longest-ever prison sentence for insider trading. On Wednesday, Martyn Dodgson was convicted of conspiring to deal secretly in company shares. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years at London’s Southwark Crown Court for what was described as “highly sophisticated” offenses. His accomplice and friend, Andrew Hind, received three-and-a-half years in the case, which involved five defendants — three of whom were acquitted.

Insider dealing uses confidential information to trade on the stock market, and the economic offence carries a maximum seven-year sentence in the U.K., though the longest sentence handed out to date had previously been four years. The judge said the two men’s offences amounted to “persistent, prolonged, deliberate and dishonest behaviour,” and it is estimated the duo netted £7.4 million from their activities.

During the period covered by the indictment, Dodgson was employed by Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and Deutsche Bank. After sourcing inside information within the investment banks — either through transactions he worked on himself or by gleaning what colleagues were working on — he then passed the information to Hind, who acted as middleman and traded in shares for both men’s benefit.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accused the senior investment banker and chartered accountant of using elaborate strategies to keep their activities under wraps. These included unregistered mobile phones, encoded and encrypted records, safety deposit boxes, and cash payments.

The sentences drew a line under “Operation Tabernula,” an investigation by the FCA that began in 2007. Described as the FCA’s largest and most complex insider dealing investigation, it is said to have cost £14 million; officials called it demanding and time-consuming.

Dodgson is one of the most senior figures ever to be charged with insider dealing in the U.K. Although the banker’s sentence is higher than any imposed to date, some might consider it pitiful considering the two men stole more than £7 million.

This article (Banker Gets Record Prison Sentence) 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

“#Unconstitutional”: Federal Judge Rules #Obamacare Illegally Funded Without Congress Authorization

May 13, 2016 by mac slavo

The above image is a generic one from the type of SWAT raids the police state has become known for. Though President Obama pretends that he is against these kinds of ‘military vehicles on the streets of America’ is represents exactly how the federal government intends to enforce its Obamacare mandate (it’s already happening with student loans).

Make no mistake, the IRS is armed and the age of debtor’s prison is back in vogue, along with everything else ungodly and unconstitutional. “Tax cheats” and Tea Party-like political targets – now monitored and penalized in fines and audits – will no doubt cross paths with a SWAT team before long.

No one knows the hour, but everyone knows the routine. It is coming, and the witnesses are line up and down the aisle. The proverbial writing is on the wall.

This is a tyranny. It is dressed up in political theater and subtle rationales for the scofflaws and dissidents it targets.

It is the people in mainstream society who must bear the outrageous costs of health care – driven up by self-interested pharmaceuticals, drug listeria, etc. – by being forced at gunpoint to pay for insurance that is unaffordable and so inept and slow as to detriment the health of the people who must rely upon it.

This system encourages sick people, and creates loopholes for crony financiers to reap the profits. It is the people who must pay for it… say what you will, but there is little promise that it will be overturned.

Nevertheless, it is “historic” that a federal judge has ruled that at least one aspect of Obamacare is certainly “unconstitutional” – based on a lawsuit by House Republicans over part of the language of the Obamacare law (in which a vague promise of Federal subsidies for health insurers that cover low income people is made but does not include proper funding or authorization from Congress).

It is significant, but hardly the whole enchilada.

The L.A. Times reports:

House Republicans won Round 2 in a potentially historic lawsuit Thursday when a federal judge declared the Obama administration was unconstitutionally spending money to subsidize health insurers without obtaining an appropriation from Congress.

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer broke new ground by ruling the GOP-controlled House of Representatives had legal standing to sue the president over how he was enforcing his signature healthcare law.

On Thursday, she ruled the administration is violating a provision of the law by paying promised reimbursements to health insurers who provide coverage at reduced costs to low-income Americans.

[…]

The Constitution says “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law,” Collyer noted, but the administration has continued to pay billions to insurers for their extra cost of providing health coverage.

“Paying [those] reimbursements without an appropriation thus violates the Constitution,” she wrote. “Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one.”

[…]

“This suit represents the first time in our nation’s history that Congress has been permitted to sue the executive branch over a disagreement about how to interpret a statute,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters.

It is certainly true, and should be respected, that Congress alone among the three branches holds the public purse.

It will likely be turned over on appeal, and the whole process may head again to the Supreme Court… but that audience is cold to such arguments. Scalia is now quite dead, and what’s left is a travesty for the Constitution.

Much of the damage has already been done; other destruction is coming.

THE UNFOLDING ERA OF TYRANNY

Though the soft phase of the ‘velvet glove’ is still operating on the surface, the worm has already turned. Debt and decline have set into this once great nation; the barbarians have long ago been let in the gate. Useful hordes of low wage immigrants and forced-cultural clashes keep the focus off the titans who pull the strings and force ordinary Americans into a no-win situation, and mocking choices of opposing-collaborators in its leadership “choices.”

The debt can never be repaid, and won’t be anyway through the policy avenues that now exist. The bankers have successfully looted the Treasury, and set up the Federal Reserve as an all-you-can-eat bankers buffet.

The system is collapsing, and these have always been dark days for patriots; the pattern has repeated many times over just in the 20th Century alone.

Today, Venezuela is in obvious collapse, and the people are being brutally starved and repressed. Meanwhile, the same is happening in slow motion in America, though the appearance may be different.

The oligarchs bankrolling Obama’s presidency have inflated the vehicles of socialism, socialized medicine and welfare benefits, only to profit off no-bid contracts and carefully channeled returns through fees, charges and guaranteed business shares. The pensions have been handily disappeared into the derivatives blackhole-market, as equity pirates loot the community chests and leave retirees hanging with a bad haircut.

Ideologues have refused to see why being forced to buy into a socialized system is so wrong and detrimental on every level.

Freedom is being extinguished, and the day is coming when many will meet face to face with SWAT teams and warrant sweeps for unpaid debts to the State.

Be very cautious about what is approaching…

Here are some other snapshots in this unfolding tyranny (It runs the course of years, not hours):

Your “Children Will Be Fined” If You Fail To Sign Up For Obamacare: People Are Going To Be In for A Shock

Short on Cash, “Poor Americans Ending Up in Modern-Day Debtors’ Prison” Over Traffic Fines

“Income Tax Is Government Theft” and IRS Is a Lawless Thief

The Most Important Supreme Court Cases “Derailed” By Scalia’s Death: Amnesty, Obamacare & Guns

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Bombshell Report: Crooked #Hillary Took $100 Million From #MiddleEast Regimes: “Massive Conflicts Of Interest”

May 12, 2016 by mac slavo

How much more of Hillary Clinton’s scandals can America take?

A bombshell report from The Daily Caller says the Clinton Foundation, a purported not-for-profit charity headed by Bill, Hillary and daughter Chelsea, has reportedly amassed a fortune from oil-rich mid east nations to the tune of $100 million.

National Security Analyst Patrick Poole says the amount of cash donated to the Clintons is “simple unprecedented.”

“These regimes are buying access. You’ve got the Saudis. You’ve got the Kuwaitis, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. There are massive conflicts of interest. It’s beyond comprehension,” Poole told The Daily Caller.

A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation reveals that Bill and Hillary Clinton received at least $100 million from autocratic Persian Gulf states and their leaders, potentially undermining Democratic presidential candidate Hillary’s claim she can carry out independent Middle East policies.

The benefits for mid east oil producers amount to billions of dollars in oil trade, and as you might expect, Hillary Clinton is more than happy to oblige – at the expense of American energy companies and workers:

The ongoing Clinton financial relationship with despotic Persian Gulf states could hurt Hillary as a supporter of labor rights and tarnish her image as a vigorous supporter of women.

Yet as secretary of state, Clinton consciously and actively sought to legitimize the sheikdoms through many new Department of State programs.

It’s unclear what kind of promises or concessions the Clintons may have given the monarchs in return for their lavish financial support over the years, but last month the candidate reversed her long-standing support for fracking.

Hillary’s new position, unveiled last month at a CNN presidential debate with Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, put her in alignment with the Gulf State policy which opposes North American oil and gas fracking.

Read the full investigative report at The Daily Caller

There is absolutely no plausible reason for why oil sheikhs in the middle east would “donate” $100 million to The Clinton Foundation, save one. They need direct access to the President of the United States, and like most other establishment groups, they assume Hillary’s coronation as President of the United States is a foregone conclusion.

The donations and Clinton’s subsequent flip-flop to support the policies of mid east producers just months after the donations were made is direct evidence that she has been paid to play.

Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or currently without political party affiliation, it should be clear that Clinton will sell America down the river in pursuit of money, power and legacy.

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump’s “Crooked Hillary” label sums her up precisely.

Also Read:

Watch: Clinton Town Hall Questions Totally Rigged: “I Can See Why they Gave You This Question”

Real Reason Biden Didn’t Run: VP Warned “Clinton Machine Will Destroy You”

“She’s a f*cking liar”: Caitlyn Jenner Destroys Hillary Clinton on TV, Causes Heads to Explode

Sick of It Yet? Hillary’s Big Fat Stinking Piles of Lies Get BIGGER!

White House At War With Clintons: “Obama Does Not Want To See Hillary Become President Of The United States”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Jon #Stewart Just Slammed Hillary #Clinton But the Media Ignored It

May 12, 2016 by claire bernish

(ANTIMEDIA) While it’s hardly shocking that mainstream media targeted Jon Stewart’s latest jab — in which he described Donald Trump as a “man-baby” — the mainstream media establishment mouthpiece virtually ignored his lambasting of Hillary Clinton.

“What I think about Hillary Clinton is, you know … I imagine [her] to be a very bright woman … without the courage of her convictions — ‘cause I’m not even sure what they are,” Stewart told David Axelrod for his podcast, The Axe, to which the audience erupted in applause.

Though the slam represented more than corporate media has managed thus far during the former secretary of state’s troubled run for the presidency, Jon Stewart took the description to a hilarious next level. For reference, Magic Johnson once had a talk show that ultimately failed because … well … witness Stewart’s comparison of Johson to Hillary:

“Magic Johnson was a charming individual, but he wasn’t a talk show host … so, he would sit and he would go, [Stewart affected a flat tone here] ‘Uh, my first guest tonight … my first guest tonight is [with lots of enthusiasm] CHER, everybody!’ But he never seemed authentic and real to his personality. It seemed like he was wearing an outfit designed by someone else for someone else to be someone else, and that is not to say that [Clinton] is not preferable to Donald Trump — because at this point, I would vote for Mr. T over Donald Trump. But I think she will be in big trouble if she can’t find a way, and maybe I’m wrong. Maybe a real person doesn’t exist underneath there. I don’t know.”

Axelrod then asked the former host of the Daily Show about Clinton’s appearance as a guest — and the criticism continued:

[embedded content]

“What was that like?” Axelrod inquired about the former secretary’s interview.

“Really cool,” Stewart deadpanned. “It’s — look, there are politicians who are either rendering their inauthenticity in real enough time to appear authentic, and then their are politicians who render their inauthenticity through — it’s like, when your computer … if you have a Mac and you want to play a Microsoft game on it …”

AXELROD: Yes, yes.

STEWART: … and there’s that weird lag.

AXELROD: Yes. No, I mean …

STEWART: That’s Hillary Clinton.

AXELROD: … that’s a big problem. There’s like a seven-second delay and all the words come out in a perfectly …

STEWART: Right.

AXELROD: … politically calibrated sentence.

STEWART: Right. Now, what gives me hope in that is that there’s a delay, which means she’s somehow fighting something. I’ve seen politicians who don’t have that delay and render their inauthenticity in real time, and that’s when you go, ‘That’s a sociopath.’

So, there you have it. Jon Stewart described Hillary Clinton as inauthentic and not bold enough to follow through on issues she stridently touts — but stopped just short of calling the presidential hopeful a ‘sociopath.’

Jon Stewart speaks ill of Hillary, instantly has his Good Liberal card revoked by hordes of angry Democrats https://t.co/zuW0wmxVK8

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 12, 2016

For the full podcast, visit this link.

This article (Jon Stewart Just Slammed Hillary Clinton But the Media Ignored 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

What the Hell Was That? #SpaceStation Feed Catches Mysterious Object Hovering Over Earth #NASA

May 12, 2016 by contributing author

This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: You gotta wonder what is really going on. One thing is clear: NASA and the government aren’t going to tell us anything remotely close to the truth. What in the hell is up in orbit around the earth? Are we seeing evidence of extraterrestrial life and visitation, or secret space operations with vehicles never disclosed to the public? Or something else?

Personally, I have no idea, but this video doesn’t look like it can be easily explained by camera tricks or video noise/distortion. What do you think?

Space Station Live Feed Catches Giant Brown Object Hovering Over Earth

by Piper McGowan

How many times have we seen this recently?

This is the live feed from the International Space Station (ISS). The sun is actually behind the ISS, so it can’t be chalked up to a lens flare.

It seems like these things are happening more and more and more lately… Surprised NASA didn’t cut the footage like they did last time.

This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Piper writes for The Daily Sheeple. There’s a lot of B.S. out there. Someone has to write about it.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Researchers Just Found Some VERY Surprising Ingredients in Your #Hamburgers

May 12, 2016 by antimedia

(ANTIMEDIA) From the presence of bile and human hair in pork to the FDA’s guidelines that some rat feces, insect larvae, and mold in food is permissible, many Americans are increasingly wary of the products they put in their body. According to a new report, hamburgers, in particular, may be worthy of extra scrutiny.

“The Hamburger Report” was conducted by an accredited independent research firm, Clear Labs, and screened for “for authenticity, major, medium, and minor substitution [when ingredients are observed in testing but not listed on the label], contamination, gluten, toxigenic fungi and toxic plants, other allergens, and missing ingredients.” In addition, the firm analyzed hamburgers for “nutrition content accuracy, such as calories, carbs, fat, and protein.”

The analysis, intended to provide a broad view of the burger industry to help suppliers improve their products, tested 258 samples from 79 brands and 22 retailers. Those samples included “ground meat, frozen patties, fast food burger products, and veggie burger products.” They were tested with next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS), and major issues were found to be discrepancant between product labels and actual ingredients, the presence of rat and human DNA, the presence of contaminants, and widespread mislabeling of nutritional information.

Though the report largely praised the beef industry for improving the quality of its products, it noted a number of issues with the current quality of hamburgers in the U.S. Of particular concern was Clear Labs’ analysis of vegetarian burgers. “23.6% of vegetarian products showed some form of discrepancy between product and label, compared to the 13.6% of all samples. We found pervasive issues in food quality and end-product consistency in these non-meat samples,” the report says.

Sixteen, or 6.6 percent of samples had issues with substitution, “when ingredients are observed in our molecular analysis but do not show up on the label.” Fourteen were missing ingredients that were supposed to be present, pursuant to the product’s ingredient label; this deficiency was found exclusively in vegetarian products. In one case, a black bean burger contained no black beans. In another, beef DNA was found in vegetarian patties, an ingredient undoubtedly absent from the label. Over 15 percent of vegetarian products were missing at least one ingredient.

When it came to meat burgers, researchers found multiple cases where meat not listed on the label was found in products. “We found chicken DNA in 1 sample of ground fresh pork, 1 sample of a turkey burger, and 2 samples of beef burger products. We found turkey substitution in 2 samples of ground beef and 1 sample of ground chicken,” they noted.

The report gave a positive review to the beef industry on low levels of hygienic issues in burgers, which occur when “undesirable but generally non-harmful contaminant is introduced into a burger product.” Even so, they found three instances of rat DNA in products — one fast food burger, one vegetarian burger, and one ground meat sample — and one instance of human DNA. The human DNA was found in a frozen vegetarian patty (Clear Labs also found human DNA in hot dogs last year, though the findings were arguably sensationalized).

While their tests could not determine the exact source of the human DNA, they explained it was likely a result of “hair, skin, or fingernail that was accidentally mixed in during the manufacturing process.” They note the FDA says “certain low levels of contamination are acceptable” but the presence of DNA is still a “potential indicator of low quality and speaks to issues of inconsistent adherence to handling protocols.” Last year, whistleblowers from the USDA revealed contaminants, like hair, fingernails, and bile were present in pork products, and though they may not be ‘dangerous,’ it’s doubtful Americans would be comfortable if they knew they could be eating the genetic content of rats and humans.

Though these revolting ingredients may not be particularly harmful, the report more disturbingly found that 11 products, 4.3 percent, contained pathogenic DNA from “microorganisms that can cause human illness.” Four were found in vegetarian products, a finding of heightened concern to the researchers, who point out plant-based foods are generally believed to be safer and cleaner than meat products. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which can cause tuberculosis-like symptoms, was the most common pathogen.

The report explains their testing methods could not determine whether the pathogens were alive or dead, and that in meat products, cooking them can often kill the live germs. Nevertheless, the findings are consistent with ongoing trends in the American food supply, including a widespread listeria outbreak currently sweeping the country. As the report notes, “The United States’ economy hemorrhages about $7 billion every year due to food outbreaks. One in six Americans get food poisoning each year, and 3,000 of those cases are fatal.”

A final ingredient found in many of the samples tested, though perhaps not as nauseating as bacteria and DNA, may be one of the greatest causes for concern: calories. According to the report, nearly half of all samples tested had more calories than reported on the label. In 49 percent of samples, there were more carbohydrates than listed. Worse, nearly 81 percent (38 of 47) of the fast food burgers tested contained more calories than reported in the product’s nutritional information.

As the report points out, “these discrepancies are potentially worrisome for customers who make decisions about what to order based on calorie counts and other available nutritional information.” Considering fast food establishments already face ardent criticism about their ingredients, these findings further indict the fast food industry’s standards.

The report stresses that “no outside partners, companies, customers, or other entities had any influence on or contribution to the research and testing, and all sample information will remain anonymous,” though it openly seeks to help industry players improve their product. The findings undoubtedly need further scientific study, but the preliminary results Clear Labs has published are cause for concern.

Perhaps most telling is Clear Labs’ subtle, if not unintentional, commentary on the failures of the FDA to keep food safe for consumers; they stress their goal is to improve the safety and quality in hamburgers — “regardless of whether or not they are acceptable according to FDA guidelines.”

This article (Researchers Just Found Some VERY Surprising Ingredients in Your Hamburgers) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Elizabeth Montag and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article at edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#DARPA Creepiest Programs For Human Control: “How Dark Will Our #Future Be?”

May 12, 2016 by mac slavo

How Dark Will Our Future Be?

There’s every reason to suspect that the powers-that-be are writing us out of it.

There are more dark projects and secret research grants than anyone can keep track of, but this list is a good start – and an indicator of how serious they are about control.

From robots to artificial intelligence and software to read your mind, the Pentagon and its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have ways of reducing the population to little more than automatons and prisoners in a high-tech worldwide control grid.

Via Truthstream Media:

Dystopic Hollywood nightmares have nothing on real life military research projects.

In addition to the many robots DARPA has created to mimic human walking, throw cinder blocks, run on four legs at cheetah speed, climb trees, grasp objects, kill targets and more, DARPA has announced projects including mapping the human brain, trying to create a physical, thinking brain for robots, computers that can think for themselves, tracking rat brains over the Internet, real-life Avatar projects, autonomous robots, electronic tattoos and pills swallowed to authenticate online access instead of passwords, mapping the neuroscience of the “fight or flight response,” tracking heart beats and other long distance biometrics, quantifying and track “love” and emotive responses, mind controlling squids…. and much much more.

Truthstream Media provides a long, creepy list of semi-secret projects the military is pursuing under DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

And there’s plenty more where that comes from…

The most recent Davos conference featured a panel of neuroscientists, criminal justice experts and DARPA representatives who have achieved literal mind-reading technology that could “confess” your guilt or your non-compliance to authorities… and this creepy capability is just in its infancy.

Imagine what they will be capable of in just a few more years.

There seems to be no end in sight for DARPA or the applications of technology to control human life on this planet. Their endless taxpayer funds are aimed right back at the people.

Can anyone honestly say things are headed in a good direction?

It is high time you prepare for all contingencies, including the ability to live and sustain yourself and your family off grid, and outside of the track-and-control system they are finalizing and implementing across the grid.

DARPA Develops Implant With “Terminator” Vision: “Plugs directly into a person’s DNA and visual cortex”

Frightening Future of War: “Inescapable Smart Bullets, Biometric Data and Armed Drones with Facial Recognition”

Scientists: Robots Could be Programmed to Kill You ‘For the Greater Good’

Feds Unveil New Surveillance Tool Developed by DARPA that Could Kill the ‘Dark Web’

The Military’s New Microwave Heat Ray Gun: “We Can Shoot First and Ask Questions Later” *Video*

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Study Finds That #Tylenol Kills Much More Than Just #Pain

May 12, 2016 by jake anderson

(ANTIMEDIA) A new study suggests the popular painkiller Tylenol does more than reduce pain — it can actually reduce your ability to imagine other people’s pain. Researchers at Ohio State University conducted three experiments on college students to test whether acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other prescription and over-the-counter painkillers, affects users’ abilities to empathize with others who are experiencing physical or emotional pain. Their findings were published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

The first experiment called for 80 college students to consume 1,000 mg of acetaminophen and subsequently assess various scenarios of someone experiencing pain. One scenario featured a character receiving a knife wound that reached the bone; another involved a person grieving the loss of his father. The students were asked to rate the pain on a scale of one to five. These ratings were compared to a control group that had consumed a placebo.

The second study exposed 114 college students to short samples of white noise ranging from 75 to 105 decibels. They were asked to rate the unpleasantness of the sound blasts on a scale of one to ten; they were also asked to rate how much displeasure they imagined others might feel from the sounds. These ratings were again compared to a control group that had not consumed acetaminophen.

In both studies, researchers say the college students who had consumed acetaminophen perceived significantly less suffering in others. Dominik Mischkowski, co-author of the study and a former Ph.D. student at Ohio State, believes the findings are important in understanding how popular painkillers reduce feelings of empathy.

“These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen,” Dominik said in a statement. “Acetaminophen reduced the pain they felt, but it also reduced their empathy for others who were experiencing the same noise blasts.”

A third experiment introduced a social gaming component to the study. The college students watched scenes of three participants meeting and socializing. In the “game,” two of the participants excluded the third. The students were asked to rate the emotional pain of the excluded individual. Again, the group that had consumed acetaminophen rated the pain lower than the control group.

“In this case, the participants had the chance to empathize with the suffering of someone who they thought was going through a socially painful experience,” said Baldwin Way, a psychology professor at Ohio State and co-author of the study. “Still, those who took acetaminophen showed a reduction in empathy. They weren’t as concerned about the rejected person’s hurt feelings.”

The experiment follows a series of findings about the psychological effects of Tylenol, which researchers now believe influences everything from social empathy and error detection to moral judgments.

“When people feel overwhelmed with uncertainty in life or distressed by a lack of purpose, what they’re feeling may actually be painful distress,” said Daniel Randles, who conducted a similar experiment in 2013. “We think that Tylenol is blocking existential unease in the same way it prevents pain, because a similar neurological process is responsible for both types of distress.”

In addition to these psychological effects, Tylenol is considered the most deadly over-the-counter painkiller on the market, believed to cause significant liver toxicity. As many as 78,000 Americans visit emergency rooms each year because of acetaminophen overdose.

The researchers intend to conduct similar research on the effects of ibuprofen, another popular and widely-used over-the-counter pain treatment.

This article (Study Finds That Tylenol Kills Much More Than Just Pain) 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: Ragesoss. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

This #Irish Isle Will Greet Those Fleeing #Trump or #Hillary With a Hug and a Pint

May 12, 2016 by admin

(ANTIMEDIA) Inishturk, Ireland — A radio DJ from Canada’s Cape Breton Island first introduced the idea of havens for Americans seeking escapefrom a Donald Trump presidency — but now Ireland is joining in with its own offer for possible future expats.

Inishturk, a remote Irish Isle situated nine miles off County Mayo, has decided to court the potentially disillusioned segment of the United States populace with an open-armed offer to provide a safe place to live if the idea of a Trump presidency is too much to bear.

In the midst of a problematic population decline, Inishturk wants to ensure a thriving future, which community leaders feel could be accomplished by becoming a refuge for those escaping the tumultuous U.S. political system.

“I’ve heard there are quite a few people in America looking to move to Ireland and other countries if Donald Trump becomes president. I’d like them to know that we’d love to see them consider moving over here,” explained Mary Heanue, Inishturk’s development officer, as IrishCentral reported.

Inishturk has a vested interest in attracting new residents to become part of its now-tiny community.

“Our big concern is employment and trying to encourage families to move over here because the population is declining,” said Heanue. “The island featured on an Irish TV documentary last year which gave us great publicity and a good few extra bookings. But we ended up having a terrible summer and a lot of people canceled.”

An influx of people would be more than welcome considering just 58 permanent residents now reside on the remote Irish outpost — and with only three students attending the island’s primary school, phenomenal student-teacher ratios could easily be a draw.

“They’d be given a huge welcome and they’d find this is a fantastic place to live and to bring up children,” Heanue continued. “Their kids would probably get the best education anywhere in the country too, because the teacher to pupil ratio is nearly one-on-one.”

Inishturk isn’t all rainbows, blue skies, and unicorns, however. As Heanue cautioned, “Although winters can be hard and it’s the kind of life that wouldn’t necessarily suit everyone, they’d find it very peaceful here and they’d soon find out there’s nowhere as nice in the world on a summer’s day than here.”

Several Twitter users posted enticing pictures of the skies as seen from the Irish island, and IrishCentral published a “guide on moving to Ireland in case Donald Trump is elected,” detailing the steps necessary for obtaining visas or citizenship.

It is worth noting Inishturk’s offer likely isn’t limited to Trump escapees — the island’s desire for new residents means it would happily accommodate those seeking sanctuary from a Hillary Clinton-headed United States, as well.

This article (This Irish Isle Will Greet Those Fleeing Trump With a Hug and a Pint) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernishand theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

“Banned in #Hollywood”: This Film Dares to Show Martial Law and Civil War Coming to America #AmeriGEDDON

May 12, 2016 by mac slavo

Every summer, Hollywood seems to release another batch of disaster and hero films full of action and end of the world scenarios.

But this film hits much closer to home.

It’s the scenario that could happen here, but Hollywood won’t dare to get behind. Nevertheless, it is coming to (select) theaters.

Director Mike Norris, son of Chuck Norris, is bringing a drama to screen ripped from the headlines of America’s real-life looming catastrophes. In AmeriGEDDON, an EMP attack brings down the grid and initiates the collapse scenario that preppers are all too familiar with: civil unrest and chaos as a result of the loss of food and services, followed by a heavy-handed attempt to impose martial law and confiscate the firearms of American patriots.

What follows is basically the beginning of the next civil war against the agents of world government and global control.

Here’s the preview:

Plot synopsis and details from the filmmakers:

AMERIGEDDON, coming to theaters nationwide May 13, 2016, has been described as “the movie the establishment doesn’t want you to see.” Showing what happens when a not-so-future U.S. government conspires with the United Nations to stage an attack on the energy grid, AMERIGEDDON depicts a country ruled by martial law in which citizens are stripped of their constitutional rights and their guns. A group of patriots fight back and rescue the country from slipping into irreversible chaos.

AMERIGEDDON’s release in an election year is not coincidental. The film illustrates a dystopian future all patriots must guard against and is a call to action to preserve the Second Amendment and stop executive rule by fiat. Director Mike Norris, son of Chuck Norris, asks for like-minded Americans to support the film.

“The fact that a recent poll showed a majority of Americans are enraged with the federal government points to a frenzy of unrest with the dictatorial way in which our country has been run,” said Norris. “My family has long been involved in protecting the rights of Americans. We are concerned about the future and and see this film as a call to action. We urge people to join us in theaters and show Hollywood and politicians that true patriots will fight for their rights and want to see their values represented on-screen.”

A collaboration between Norris and entrepreneur and writer Gary Heavin, AMERIGEDDON seizes on fact-based threats and asks the ultimate question, “What happens when government turns on the people it’s supposed to protect?”

Executive Producer Gary Heavin believes the film’s message warning is timely. “We made a movie that is fun to watch but it is based in reality. In AMERIGEDDON, survivors of an EMP attack on the United States must live in a state of martial law led by the United Nations. American soldiers must decide whom they serve, second amendment rights are curtailed and food, water and survival become our primary concerns—unfortunately, these are all likely scenarios resulting from a very real threat,” said Heavin. “I believe if we can entertain while we inform, more people will wake up; and if we hope to restore our freedom we must share the truth with as many people as possible.”

Co-written by Norris and Heavin, the film features Marshall Teague (THE ROCK), Annalynn McCord (“Dallas”, “90210”), Dina Meyer (“Starship Troopers”), Spencer Neville (“Days of Our Lives”), Mike Norris (“Walker, Texas Ranger”), Diane Ladd (JOY) and India Eisley (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”).

For more information, visit the film’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmerigeddonMovie

This video goes into detail regarding the executive orders and preparations for martial law takeover, and the preemptive moves to nullify the rights of all Americans.

As many know, there is quite an extensive list of ways in which the federal government and the United Nations intend to assert control (and many ways you can stay off their radar and prepare to survive).

Ad Shows Army Prepping for Martial Law: “This Is Not Battle Training. This Is Riot Control”

The Pentagon’s Counter-Zombie Martial Law Plan: ‘Concentrate Firepower to the Head’

EMP Attack Would Destroy Civilization: “A Nightmare You’ll Never Wake Up From”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

This Unusual Indicator Confirms That The Tech #Bubble Has Burst: “The Answer Lies In Ping-Pong”

May 11, 2016 by mac slavo

If you’re trying to figure out what the economy is doing and where financial markets are headed in the near future you can focus your efforts on a never-ending flow of charts, earnings reports and scores of daily analyses from professionals around the world.

But as it relates to the technology industry, namely those multi-billion dollar conglomerates and unicorn startups in Silicon Valley, a new report from Silicon Beat says that the answer may lie in Ping-Pong:

The table tennis game — as ubiquitous among Silicon Valley tech startups as free food and T-shirt attire — can be used to measure the market’s health, according to The Journal’s report.

Sales are down among local ping-pong table vendors, and many are blaming a downturn in the tech economy. Billiard Wholesale in San Jose reports sales to companies fell 50 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the quarter before. David Vannatta, sales team leader at Sports Authority in San Francisco, told The Journal that his ping-pong table sales have fallen since Christmas.

And big tech companies that have struggled with layoffs, shrinking revenue and lackluster quarterly reports, such as Yahoo, Intel and Twitter, have stopped buying tables, vendors told The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal explains that the phenomenon is real and tech companies all over Silicon Valley are pulling the plug on reckless spending, noting that startup funding has dropped 25% during the same period as ping pong table sales dropped:

In the first quarter of 2016, his table sales to companies fell 50% from the prior quarter. In that period, U.S. startup funding dropped 25%, says Dow Jones VentureSource, which tracks venture financing.

The table-tennis indicator is a peek into Silicon Valley culture, in which the right to play ping pong on the job is sacrosanct.

“If you don’t have a ping-pong table, you’re not a tech company,” saysSunil Rajasekar, chief technology officer at Lithium Technologies, a San Francisco software startup.

…

Table buying “tracks most closely with startups that hit that threshold where they’re taking out office space,” says Russell Hancock, chief executive of think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley, which follows economic trends. “That’s when you’re going to get your first ping-pong table.”

Table sellers seeing a decline include David Vannatta, sales team leader at Sports Authority in San Francisco. The store was getting a “good flow of tech companies” buying tables, he says, but sales have fallen since Christmas.

A visual, via the WSJ:

But if that’s not enough to convince you there are serious cracks in not just the tech bubble, but the system as a whole, consider that renowned investor Carl Icahn recently unloaded his entire stake in Apple, Inc., totaling some 45 million shares and now holds a massive short position potentially amounting to billions of dollars in expectation of a major market correction or crash:

When asked about this unprecedented bearish position, Icahn Enterprises CEO Keith Cozza said during the May 5 earnings call that “Carl has been very vocal in recent weeks in the media about his negative views.” He certainly has been, although many though he was merely exagerating. He was not.

“We’re much more concerned about the market going down 20% than we are it going up 20%. And so the significant weighting to the short side reflects that,”Cozza added.

And he’s not the only one who’s keeping his eye on the ping pong ball.

As reported by Zero Hedge, hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller, who delivered average gains in excess of 30% for his clients over 25 years, has shifted assets into a defensive position in anticipation of what is an apocalyptic mood in financial markets:

If it wasn’t clear already, Drucknemiller is very bearish stocks: “volatility in global equity markets over the past year, which often precedes a major trend change, suggests that their risk/reward is negative without substantially lower prices and/or structural reform. Don’t hold your breath for the latter.”

The former Duquesne hedge fund manager, who averaged annual returns of 30 percent from 1986 through 2010, also agreed that negative rates are “absurd”, said that he is bearish stocks, and concluded by revealing what his biggest currency allocation is. “Some regard it as a metal, we regard it as a currency and it remains our largest currency allocation” he said, without naming the metal.

We know what he was talking about. Gold.

The smart money investors aren’t the only ones preparing.

The elite around the world are downright terrified, as highlighted by their feverish pace to build emergency bunkers in an effort to insulate themselves from the revolution, rebellion and anarchy that would follow a widespread economic collapse.

You’d think they might be crazy for going to such extremes, but they aren’t alone. The US government has been simulating economic collapse and civil unrest scenarios since just after the Crash of 2008, which suggests they, too, are expecting nothing short of a national apocalypse when this thing blows.

As for the rest of us, if you haven’t already taken steps to prepare for the disaster to follow, now is the time. Major global investors are re-allocating their financial positions, the elite are already getting out of Dodge, and the U.S. government itself is stockpiling emergency supplies and, quite literally, billions of rounds of ammunition.

But don’t worry because President Obama saved the world from depression, so these people must be overreacting to all of that peddled fiction about the world being in crisis.

Also Read:

Prepare For Collapse: A Step-By-Step Guide

Mark Levin: Government Is “Simulating the Collapse of Our Financial System, the Collapse of Our Society and the Potential for Widespread Violence”

Analyst: “Millions Upon Millions of People Are Going to Die on a World-Wide Scale When the Debt Bubble Bursts”

How Horrific Will It Be For The Non-Prepper?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Fewer #Babies During the #Recession Causing Ripple Effects: “The Market Is Not Going to Grow”

May 11, 2016 by mac slavo

How severe has the economic recession since 2007 been? How thin the recovery?

Enough that the birth rate, which partially reflects financial stability vs. stress, has fallen off more dramatically than at any other time in American history, and much more than experts even expected.

In fact, the nation has fallen sharply below replacement rate since the time of the 2008 crisis.

The conundrum is that it is a growing population that corresponds with economic growth, and decline inhibits the social signals that encourage more births (like feeling secure enough to afford the extra expenses and effort of a child).

Though a slight rebound shows up in the numbers, experts see no sign of things turning around in the long term… and that will continue to significantly impact our financial future.

via the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. is experiencing a baby lull that looks set to last for years… a sharp drop in child bearing that started with the onset of the recession in 2007 […] more-worrisome signs that the U.S. may not soon return to its pre-recession average of about two babies for every adult woman. Some demographers have pared their forecasts for future births because an expected post-recession baby boom has been smaller than anticipated.

The leveling-off in births is weighing on sales at children’s stores, prompting hospitals to rework their birth wards and putting pressure on builders of single-family homes, executives and economists say.

[…]

“Everything is slower than we expected,” said Sam Sturgeon… he predicts that the total fertility rate won’t go above 1.9 babies per woman for the next five years or longer. An ideal birth rate is around 2.1 babies per woman, demographers say, since that’s the rate that’s needed to replace the current levels of population.

With so much propaganda about over-population and the need for fewer people on the planet, it is no wonder that the upcoming generations share a different attitude about having children anyway, despite the mixed message for the economy.

The same millenials who are having trouble finding a job, paying student loans and moving out of their parents’ basement are the same 20- and 30- somethings who are putting off having children, or choosing not to have them at all.

As the Wall Street Journal points out, this is having “ripple effects” in the economy, and becoming a serious drag on growth:

Sales of single-family homes are being weighed down by what Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, calls “the great delay,” the trend of millennials postponing milestones like marriage and having kids. Other ripple effects take years to show up, such as the drag of having fewer young workers paying into Social Security and Medicare, said Mr. Mather of the Population Reference Bureau.

At Babies “R” Us, part of the Toys “R” Us national chain of children’s stores, “the assumption that we’ll make is that the market is not going to grow” as a result of near-term changes in the fertility rate, said Reg McLay, senior vice president at Babies “R” Us.

“A part of that is the biological clock, but part of it is if you’ve reached a certain lifestyle by the time you’re 35, having a child may be more disruptive than it was if you were 25,” said Nan Marie Astone, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute.

Given the current state of affairs, which includes unaccountable government spending and generations worth of debt, American life resembles one big Ponzi scheme.

With fewer people than expected in the younger generations, there will be less hands on deck to pay for the exploding financial costs of aging Baby Boomers, and more and more pressure on those who are already struggling to make it.

Economically, they are keeping the ball rolling in part by shifting responsibility and payment due always to the next generation in line…. so it should come as no surprise that things get pretty screwed up when people start exiting the line and there’s no one left to hold the bag.

Worse, it seems those at the top may have done this on purpose to meet their long term agenda. Just check out the words of David Rockefeller:

Shock Interview: Ebola Czar Says Population Growth Is Top Issue Facing the World

China Has Finally Ended the One-Child Policy: “Population Declining Faster Than Anticipated”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#DOJ Employees Investigating Hillary Email Scandal Gave $75K to Her Campaign

May 11, 2016 by claire bernish

(ANTIMEDIA) United States — In what must be described as a massive conflict of interest, Hillary Clinton has amassed nearly $75,000 in campaign donations from individuals listing their place of employment as “Department of Justice.” Considering Clinton is the subject of a sweeping investigation by the FBI — for which the DoJ will determine whether or not charges will be levied — such donations seem at least somewhat dissonant.

As the Washington Free Beacon reported, of all the presidential hopefuls, Clinton received by far the heftiest sum from DoJ employees — $73,437 total, including 228 individuals contributing the maximum allowable by law, $2,700. On its own, the total could be considered substantial, but as the Free Beacon noted, Clinton’s previous presidential run wasn’t favored as heavily by DoJ employees — in 2008, she raised just $15,930 from 23 contributors.

Hillary’s donations from the Department of Justice completely swamp those of the other candidates, in fact, as Sanders’ total from 51 donors was just $8,900 and Trump garnered an inconsequential $381.

“I’m not surprised in the least to see more evidence that shows the politicization of the Justice Department,” said watchdog group, Citizens United, president David Bossie, in a statement to the Free Beacon. “How can Democrat political appointees fairly investigate someone who is about to become their nominee for president? That’s why last July I called on Attorney General Lynch to appoint an impartial special counsel to investigate the private Clinton email server.

“Today, I renew my call that Attorney General Lynch must appoint a special counsel to determine if Hillary Clinton or her agents broke the law and compromised our national security. This investigation needs to be conducted free of political influence once and for all.”

Critics have previously pointed to Lynch personally donating over $10,000 to Democratic candidates as evidence of her lack of impartiality — and sufficient reason she should not be charged with overseeing the investigation of Clinton’s emails.

As if the DoJ connections to the Clinton investigation weren’t enough, the former secretary has also received a number of hearty contributions from the private prison industry.

As The Intercept reported nearly a year ago, two of Clinton’s top campaign donors are Corrections Corporation of America and the Geo Group — two of the biggest private prison corporations on the planet.

For Clinton to not only claim to follow the letter of the law in the face of evidence to the contrary — in her use of a private email server for official State business — but to also tout her devotion to minorities and social justice, while accepting donations from for-profit prisons, belies the flimsiest of façades.

As usual, Hillary Clinton’s stances run the gamut of personal convenience while flouting the public interest. Though evidence grows stronger by the day that at least one of her many wrongs is deserving of an indictment, the levying of charges remains an open question — if not downright doubtful.

This article (Dept. of Justice Investigating Hillary Email Scandal Gave $75K to Her Campaign) 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: Marc Nozell. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#Putin is Less of a Communist than Jimmy Carter or Bill #Clinton

May 11, 2016 by contributing author

Perhaps you may have heard of Vladimir Putin’s latest offer that was just last week. The Washington Post reports that Putin offering the citizens of Russia free land if they will move to Russia’s far East. Here is a quote from Russian news:

“All citizens will be entitled to apply for up to hectare of land in the Kamchatka, Primorye, Khabarovsk, Amur, Magadan and Sakhalin regions, the republic of Sakha, or the Jewish and Chukotka autonomous districts.”

Moscow Times

The bill was signed into law by Putin that grants each citizen a hectare of land (equivalent to about 2.5 acres) and to enjoy a period of five years in which they will pay no property taxes on the land. If the land is being put to use in that time, then the deed will be issued to the owners. Part of the reason it is done is to offset the Chinese populations encroaching in the far East of Russia just across the border.

Now, let’s turn to Carter. Basically, Putin is giving his citizens a chance to follow after a “pioneer spirit” that formed the American Wild West. And Carter? Well, he happened to be the one to repeal the Homestead Act, where people could stake a claim for land. Yes, the current neofeudalism/ “Soylent Green” fundamental transformation of the U.S. into an oligarch and politician-controlled state had a deep rooting when Carter removed the vehicle for Americans to continue to expand and stake out land for their own.

The miner placer claim was the last one to be shown the door. A miner placer claim was where each individual was entitled to stake out land, and mine it for a certain period of time. The miner had to live on the land, and report their findings to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). The placer claim was registered with the BLM, and after a certain amount of time, the miner would be entitled to buy the land from the government at approximately $5.00 per acre.

Clinton finished that one off after 1994, and now you can still live on the land and mine for gold, precious metals, etc., but all miner placer claims now revert to the BLM and are not able to be bought. Great, huh? An Agenda-21-gun salute to that great policy! The Federal Government is not buying land for any other reason than to keep it out of the hands of U.S. citizens. The Federal Government will prosecute you for anything you do on Federal Land.

This is not to say that Putin is a knight in shining armor, and in the end, the government of any nation can take away anything that any citizen may have at any time, and there isn’t anything that can be done to stop them. Eminent domain finished off private property…because all that needs to be done is bus in a whole boatload of illegal aliens and foreign “refugees” to create population demographics. Then it will shortly follow that the “needy” population will justify government actions such as confiscation of property “for the public good.”

The Executive Order for the Resources Preparedness is another gem that Obama signed that enables the Feds to take anything…. food, water, transportation, land…anything that can be used in defense of the sacred Homeland, ad infinitum, ad nauseum…

So Putin displays more of an understanding of free enterprise and the desire of individuals to succeed parlaying into success for the country than he’s given credit for. Sounds very similar to capitalism. The capitalism in the U.S. is a BS capitalism that is based only on consumer spending and disposable income. In addition, the federal and state governments are doing everything in their power to shrink the amount of arable land available to the citizens of the United States.

There we have it, folks! The covered wagons of Cossacks drawn by reindeer heading into the sunrise! “Eastward, ho!” will be their cry. Give me your kholkhozniks, your siloviki yearning to strike it rich! It is almost guaranteed that illegal aliens and Islamic refugees will not be able to claim land, in the manner that they surely would in the U.S…. multiple times. In the U.S., it is the government looking to utilize the covered wagons, and stake a claim on our homes.

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 or contact him here.

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

Also Read:

The New Constantine: Putin Knows Religion Is The Opiate Of The Masses

Russia Has Been Encircled And Pushed To The Brink Of War: “They Have Exercised Remarkable Restraint”

How an Attack on America Would Probably Begin: Possible Courses Of Action By Foreign Military Powers

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Are You Feeling #Depressed? #Facebook May Be to Blame

May 11, 2016 by michaela whitton

(ANTIMEDIA) Few would deny the profound changes social networking has made to society and interpersonal relationships — for better or worse. By now, most people with a Facebook account know how overwhelming the platform can be, and even sarcastic memes have insinuated that people’s lives may not be quite as wonderful as they make them out to be on the social networking site.

As social media has become an increasingly important part of human interaction, research into the phenomenon has continued to develop, and much of it is uncovering a consistent theme. Time and time again, studies have shown heavy use of Facebook and other social networking sites might be responsible for more than just provoking minor irritation — and can be a contributing factor in more serious mental health issues.

The most recent study by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published in the Depression and Anxiety journal last month found the more time young adults spend on social media, the more likely they are to be depressed. To examine the effects of social media on the moods of users, 1,787 adults between 19 and 32 were given questionnaires relating to their use of the 11 most popular platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, and LinkedIn.

On average, the study participants used social media for a total of 61 minutes per day and visited a number of social media accounts 30 times per week. Alarmingly, over a quarter of them were classified as having “high indicators” of depression. Significant associations were noted between their social media use and depression, whether it was measured in terms of total time spent or frequency of visits.

Those who most frequently checked social media throughout the week were 2.7 times more likely to be depressed than peers who spent less time using the platforms. Additionally, those who spent the most time on social media during the day had 1.7 times the risk of depression than those who spent less time.

Researcher Lui yi Lin, B.A., said it may be that people who are already depressed turn to social media to fill a void, but also acknowledged exposure to social media may cause depression, which could then fuel more use.

Facebook — dystopian not utopian

Lin’s analysis builds on the findings of a 2014 study by the University of Houston that specifically focused on Facebook and uncovered why heavy use can lead to depressive symptoms. The study entitled, “Seeing Everyone Else’s Highlight Reels: How Facebook Usage is Linked to Depression,” concluded excessive social comparison to peers negatively impacts the psychological health of users.

Facebook has over 1.65 billion monthly active users worldwide, and 1.09 billion users log on daily. In the U.S. alone, users devote a staggering 19% of their internet browsing to Facebook-related activities. After logging in to the site, they are bombarded with a barrage of information, including status updates, strong opinions, harrowing news, pictures of other people’s romances, babies, or travels.

“Prior research has tied Facebook use to positive effects such as fulfillment of ego needs, greater subjective well-being, and higher relationship quality for those in a romantic relationship. However, for some individuals the results of such cyber exchanges may be more dystopian than utopian,” the study reads.

Comparisons

The University of Houston used a 14-day diary method to examine the extent to which spending time on Facebook encouraged individuals to compare their lives to the lives of others. Individuals were questioned on their usage and how likely they were to make social comparisons. Interestingly, the link between the amount of time spent on Facebook and depressive symptoms was mediated by what researchers referred to as “upwards, nondirectional (neutral) and downwards social comparisons.”

The upwards comparisons, like looking up to someone perceived as more popular or attractive, tended to make people feel worse. In contrast, downward comparisons, like comparing oneself to someone with lower grades, for example, made people feel better about themselves.

Chicken or egg?

Consequently, it seems it is a chicken and egg argument as to whether exposure to social media causes depression or if depression fuels usage. Regardless of what came first, the link between social media usage and depressive symptoms is being proven time and time again, and there are a number of factors that create the connection.

The studies find that along with comparisons — which elicit feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives — engaging in activities of little meaning on social media may give users a feeling of “time wasted,” which can therefore negatively influence mood. Additionally, as the University of Pittsburgh researchers noted, excessive social media use can fuel “internet addiction and spending more time on social networking sites increases the risk of exposure to cyber-bullying or other similar negative interactions — which can also cause feelings of depression.”

This article (Are You Feeling Depressed? Facebook May Be to Blame) 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

#Presidential #Elections: The Business Of Illusion

May 11, 2016 by contributing author

It never ceases to amaze that in this nation of approximately 315 million people, these are the best candidates we can field for the office of President of the United States. Observe the prior and current field, and your “front four” for the Democrat and Republican Parties. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump. Keeping this in mind, it is the business of elections, rather than a process of elections.

The election itself is a sham: it provides the illusion of choice, when it is the ones who pull the strings behind the scenes that select their “president” long before any of the uncomprehending public pulls a lever. Controlled by the bankers, corporations, and those “vetted” and in positions of power within a myriad of interlocking globalist cliques (the Club of Rome, Bilderbergers, CFR, etc., ad infinitum) the elections place in office those who will follow their agendas in a time-frame of their choosing.

Look at them. Just take a long, hard look. Our “vote” is only for the lesser of two evils, nothing more. Just when it seems someone is going to rise up and do in accordance with the Constitution and become a public servant and a leader, either the moneyed interests knock him off at the knees or the press scandalizes him. Both of these two that “X” out the candidate are completely controlled by the aforementioned “ragnatela di controlla,” or “spider web of control,” as termed in the Italian.

The front runners make it all the way to the final steps and are able to keep all of those lovely, tax-deductible campaign contributions. Warren Buffet was once quoted as saying the office of the president is for sale, and it will run you about $500 million. So true. Gone are the “whistle stop” and sack lunches train tours of the country…it’s all Learjet and caviar with a bottle or two of Dom Perignon. The latter beverage the candidates take as donations, rather than make as a purchase.

The television governs every move, every step, and the candidates have almost as much makeup as Tammy Fay Baker once sported. Manicured to the finest detail (Bernie Sanders excluded), they have rehearsed their lines and have voice coaches to maximize emotive impact and the image of sincerity. Everything about them should scream to those watching that it is a fraud that has been embraced by the public, rather than simply thrust upon them by the politician.

Of course, there is no such thing as a spotless person, however, look at these candidates. Hillary Clinton and her husband practically committed murder (indirectly), as in the MacDougal’s, Ron Brown, and others. Hillary was directly responsible for the deaths in Benghazi. She has stolen, lied, manipulated, and sold this country down the river on too many occasions to count.

Look at Trump. Whatever happened to the last time…the other election, when the Republicans fielded a breed of sheep, the Romney, who was already “0 -1” from the 2008 election? Does anyone remember that Trump withdrew from running before? Has anyone seen the photos of him with the Clintons, with Putin? And as far as business is concerned, it’s easy to be considered “astute and successful” when you start on your own with more than a million from mom and dad. Too many these days equate success with a balance sheet, rather than unbalance plainly visible in their personal and professional lives.

Couldn’t we field Peyton Manning with perhaps Marcus Luttrell for Republican President and VP, respectively? These guys would be a ticket to actually benefit the United States: A Super-Bowl winning quarterback and a Navy Seal. At this rate, even Ronald McDonald and the Burger King would give us more of a chance at turning this country around than the cast of characters presently with top billing in the big-top presidential elections.

It’s all about money and power, in that order, and the powers that be will limit the power of the office of the president within the guidelines of their requirements toward a transition of globalist neofeudalism. As I mentioned once before, no matter who wins, the American people lose. The loser who wins is merely a reflection of the society as a whole. The problem is, once they’re in office, to paraphrase Clark Gable in “Gone with the Wind,” they don’t give a damn…except for themselves.

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

Also Read:

Dystopian Fiction of Yesterday is the NWO of Tomorrow: “The Shift is Toward Totalitarianism”

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

“He Is Aiding And Abetting The Enemies Of The United States” – Obama’s Use of Taxpayer Money to Arm our Enemies is Treason

Possible End Game: The United States Has Created a Climate That Could Easily Be Transformed Into a War

How an Attack on America Would Probably Begin: Possible Courses Of Action By Foreign Military Powers

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

An Open Letter to #Single Parent #Preppers

May 10, 2016 by daisy luther

An Open Letter to Single Parent Preppers

Dear Single Parent Preppers:

If there’s one thing I know about, it’s taking care of things by myself. If you’ve been a single parent for a while, you know exactly what I mean. You’re the breadwinner, the disciplinarian, the homekeeper, the chef, and the decision-maker. If you’re new to being a single parent, hang on to your halo, because there are definitely going to be some adjustments to life as you know it.

And if generally holding down the fort isn’t enough work, add to this, your preparedness efforts. When folks think about family preparedness, they usually consider the traditional family unit, with two parents, some children, and maybe a grandparent. Often, it seems like single parent preppers are completely overlooked in these scenarios.

Even worse, when you do see an article about prepping as a single parent, it’s nearly always written by a married person and is a rehash of a prepping 101 article, advising the storage of emergency food and some extra water. You know, because if you are divorced, widowed, or otherwise single it wouldn’t occur to you to read a general prepping article or book. You’d only be seeking an article with the word “single mom” in it.

Ever since my first daughter was born, almost 21 years ago, I’ve felt that it was my responsibility as a parent to plan ahead for emergencies so that I could provide her with security no matter what life threw at our family. In fact, it was my husband’s job loss when she was a month old that sent me down the path of preparedness in the first place. (You can read the whole story about how I got started prepping here.) When I became a single mom of two daughters 13 years ago, it didn’t lessen my commitment to being prepared. If anything, I found that it was even more important.

Unfortunately, I have read some pretty discouraging things out there in Internetland that make it seem like single parent preppers are fighting against terrible odds, which is what compelled me to write this letter. Little aggravates me more than reading articles or forum posts that belittle entire groups of people or that serve to make people feel like their efforts are for naught. While not all of the posts are this judgmental, I’ve even had readers go off on uninformed tirades about what a horrible person I am for not being married, insinuating that a single mom is less than moral and speculating about the reasons even though they are completely ignorant of the situation.

Please remember this: whether you are a single mom, a single dad, or any other single individual in charge of children, your efforts are incredibly important.

Ignore those people who tell you otherwise, because folks who are so narrow-minded may actually discover that they are the ones with the limitations that get in the way of survival. We are accustomed to gritting our teeth and adjusting to the situation because we have no option.

While single parenthood was certainly never my plan when I dreamed about being a mom, it’s not as horrible as some folks make it out to be. Sure, there are difficulties, but every parent on the planet has difficulties. Perhaps your family is having money problems. There could be a chronic illness. You may hate your job because your boss pats you on the butt when no one is looking. Maybe your kid has behavioral issues. Your day might not have enough hours to get everything done. None of these problems are unique to single parenthood.

The lives of single parent preppers aren’t all bad.

There are a few things about it that are actually kind of nice.

First of all, you never have to persuade a partner to get on board with preparedness. A frequent issue with couples is that one person is more involved or dedicated than the other. In some cases, the prepper family member actually has to hide purchases and preparedness expenditure from the non-prepper family member. The extent of the family’s preparedness endeavors is entirely up to you.

In the event of an emergency, you don’t have to waste time discussing your decisions. While it’s great to have another person to bounce ideas off, sometimes you are flying purely by instinct. The ability to immediately respond to an emergency situation can often mean the difference between life and death.

The children of single parents can’t play one parent off the other to the same extent. Some kids like to ask one parent for permission, and if that parent says no, they try again with the other parent. As the only game in town, we don’t have any of that nonsense. It’s merely annoying in good times but could be downright dangerous if the situation changed in the US.

There’s no need to come to an agreement on how much to involve the kids. Some parents feel the kids shouldn’t have to worry about doomsday scenarios and thus, keep their preparedness activities completely on the down-low. Other parents believe it’s essential that the children develop a preparedness mindset from an early age. When parents disagree about what is best for the children, it can cause a lot of tension in the household.

Kids from single parent households are sometimes more independent. Of a necessity, kids in single parent households have to help out more. They aid in caring for younger siblings, they get dinner started, and they have a few more responsibilities. (I’m generalizing, of course – each family has its own dynamic.) This additional responsibility often results in kids that are highly competent and independent, and these qualities can really help out in a survival situation.

Of course, the life of single parent preppers is not all sunshine and roses.

Sometimes I get really tired of running the show completely on my own. Sometimes I sincerely wish there was another person on the planet who cared about the welfare of my children as passionately as I do.

If you can’t do something, you either have to learn or hire someone. In a two-parent household, there are often clearly defined roles, and if one parent isn’t efficient at a particular task, the other parent might be better at it. I can do minor repairs and MacGuyver with the best of them, but I’m not good at building things or doing more mechanical repairs. I’ve picked up a lot of skills out of sheer desperation (anyone need a drain taken apart?) but, if I need something done that requires a lot of strength or know-how, I have to hire someone to do it for me.

No one else will take care of your kids like you will. This isn’t the case in all single-parent situations. Some folks have a good co-parenting arrangement, which is very beneficial for the children. But in other situations, the other parent is absent, irresponsible, or deceased. And that means that it’s all you. Every single decision that affects their welfare, every dime of money that comes into the house, and every mama-or-papa bear moment in which you must defend your children rests on your sturdy shoulders.

No one has your back. In a situation where home defense is necessary, you may find yourself all alone to protect your children if you are without a partner. So, you must train, learn self-defense skills, practice at the range, and train some more so that if a day ever comes when you have to, you will be able to defend your babies. The idea of a middle aged mama going Rambo might sound silly, but that’s only to people who don’t think the way we, as preppers, think.

If something happens to you, what will happen to your children? This is a tremendous concern for me. I’m the only living parent of my children. As such, I don’t participate in risky hobbies (no skydiving for me, thank-you-very-much) or speed in the car or have unhealthy habits like smoking. It’s imperative that I be healthy and strong and able to finish raising my children, because there is not one single person on the planet who will unconditionally adore and protect them with the same motivation that I would. Thinking about the possibility of leaving my children orphaned keeps me up at night, because I am the only game in town.

My advice to single parent preppers

Most of the advice I would give to a single parent who is interested in being prepared is exactly the same as the advice I would give to anyone else. Stock up, be frugal, learn skills, and be alert. You know, the normal prepper stuff.

But there are a few things that a single parent family should pay special attention to, perhaps a little bit more than families with two adults.

1.) Don’t let your tasks be defined by gender roles.

There’s no room in a single parent’s life for stuff like “I’m a tough man, I don’t bake bread” or “I’m a helpless woman, I can’t change my own tire.” You can, and you will, especially if you intend to survive in a long-term emergency. There is absolutely nothing written in your DNA that precludes your ability to do certain tasks that are normally undertaken by the opposite sex.

The major exclusion to that would be physical limitations. While I’m pretty strong, there are some things that I simply can’t do because I’m not strong enough and in the last few years, I’ve had some back problems that would be exacerbated by doing stuff like chopping wood. For those things, I use physics whenever possible, moving things with levers, for example. When all else fails, I hire someone to do those things for me. And speaking of needing help sometimes…

2.) Make reliable friends in your community.

I have quite a few like-minded friends that I can call on when I need a hand. I don’t invite just anyone to my home, so it helps that some of the folks I know and trust are handy. It’s good to have someone on speed dial that can aid when there is an emergency. There may come a time when you need someone you can trust to look after your kids, help you with a difficult repair, or push your vehicle out of the mud. If you have family around, this may solve your problem. Otherwise, look for folks who share your views on the world. A friendly neighbor is always a good thing. Be ready to help out others when they need a hand, and build relationships with folks you can rely on if the need arises.

One caveat: unless you know people very, very, very well, never let them in on the details of your preps. OPSEC, baby.

3.) Be vigilant about security.

Out of all of the suggestions I’m giving, this one might apply more to single moms than single dads. (Of course, everyone should pay attention to home security.)

Some unsavory characters see a single woman and think: TARGET ACQUIRED. They feel that a woman alone with kids will be more vulnerable, simpler to overpower, and easy pickings. Even worse, some see a mom alone with kids and want to victimize the children.

If you only follow one piece of advice in this article, make it this one: DO NOT BE THAT EASY TARGET.

Make your property as secure as possible with better locks, warning signs, barriers to easy access, and visible deterrents. My property, which is rural, is posted with no trespassing signs. I have cameras and warnings about those cameras. My welcoming committee is comprised of a 160 pound guard dog. Then there’s a 70 pound dog in the house. Then, if someone gets passed the gate and the dogs, there’s Mama, armed to the teeth.

You don’t want to be a delicate flower. You want to be Sarah Connor in the Terminator 2: Judgement Day. She trained to become a bada** because everyone was out to get her son. Become that mom. Your children are depending on you, so you must train as though their lives depend upon your abilities. Because some day, their lives might. (This article has some fantastic suggestions for women.)

4.) Teach your children to be self-reliant.

Your kids may need to be a little more mature than kids in two-parent families. Although I think it’s a good idea for any kid to be able to feed themselves, keep themselves warm, keep themselves safe, and defend themselves, it becomes even more important when there’s only one adult in the house.

A difficult lesson for me was when my youngest girl and I lived up North in a cabin only heated by a woodstove. Initially, I wouldn’t let my daughter go near the stove because I didn’t want her to get burned. But then someone pointed out, “What if something happened to you and because the power was out, she couldn’t get a call out for help? You live in a climate where she would freeze to death in just a couple of days without a fire.” So, my pre-teen learned to build a roaring fire in the woodstove and maintain that fire, all on her own. Yes, she got a little burn when she bumped her arm against the door of the woodstove, and I felt like an awful parent for putting her in that position as she cried in pain. But…I would have been a more terrible parent if I hadn’t prepared her for something that could cause her death in an emergency.

Make sure that as soon as they’re old enough your children become competent in the following things:

Doing laundry
Doing dishes
Preparing simple meals
Taking care of pets and/or livestock
Keeping things tidy
Cleaning
Running the various systems in the home: the heater (whether it’s wood or controlled by a thermostat), irrigation for the garden, off-grid lighting and power, kitchen appliances, etc.)
Caring for younger siblings
Driving (as soon as they are old enough)
Firearms if you have them (When they’re young, keep your firearms locked away and make sure they understand the rules about not touching them if they happen to be out. When they’re old enough, begin instructing them in using firearms safely.)

You can gently encourage self-reliance by the entertainment that your kids are exposed to. We like watching movies or programs together that have independent kids or (since I have girls) strong female characters that can kick bootie. Since I have a family of bookworms, the books that I bought my girls were often those that inspired an independent spirit. (Here’s a list of our favorite kid/young adult books to inspire independence and the survival instinct.)

5.) Make sure that your children know exactly what to do in the event of an emergency.

For example, we have bug out lists printed up. My daughter has a list and I have one so we can pack twice as fast. A couple of years ago, when the King Fire was nearly at our door, we were ready to go in just a few short minutes. By having a responsibility, the kids can focus on those tasks, which can help keep them calmer and more productive.

And, worst case scenario, if something happens to you, they need to know who to call, or if it occurs during a situation in which no help is available, they need to know how to take care of themselves and any younger siblings until such a time that an adult can step in. If they have the skills listed above, they’ll be far less likely to panic in such a situation.

6.) Make some things easy.

Sometimes, you need to take shortcuts. I’m all about low-tech, cooking from scratch, raising my own, back-to-the-land living. However, I can’t do everything all the time. No one can, and when there is only one adult, it becomes even more challenging. Remember, you are only one person.

Have some things that are easy. There will be days when you don’t feel like grinding wheat with the manual grinder, baking a loaf of bread, and doing everything from scratch. There will be days when your kids have to fill in for you. For those days, have some things that are a little less challenging.

Keep some easy-to-prepare meals in your stockpile. (We use these because they are non-GMO, only require the ability to boil water and stir, and have no nasty additives. They require no draining and are so simple to prepare that a responsible 8-year-old could do it.)
Have some wood set aside that is already split if you heat that way. Prep food ahead of time, at the beginning of the week so that leftovers are available.
Prep food ahead of time, at the beginning of the week so that leftovers are available.
Set up your watering system for the garden so that it’s automatic – that way no one can forget.
Likewise, automate as much as possible the feeding and watering of your animals.
Keep laundry and housekeeping under control, so that if you have to take a few days off because you are sick or injured, the household can still continue to function.

There’s no shame in taking shortcuts from time to time. If you constantly work yourself into exhaustion, it’s far more likely that you’ll get sick. Speaking of which…

7.) Take care of yourself.

When you are the only adult, it can be easy to get caught up in the grind of a constant struggle. There were several years that I worked so hard to make ends meet that my health suffered, I lost my sense of humor, and I rarely got to spend “fun” time with my daughters. It was grim indeed, but it taught me some valuable lessons.

You absolutely must take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. Your health is even more important than ever before because you have a child or children who are depending on you. If you burn yourself out, eat poorly, develop a stress-related chronic illness, or injure yourself, then you won’t be able to take care of them.

I call it the “flight attendant theory of child rearing.” When you’re on a plane, they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others. This is for the simple reason that if you pass out from oxygen deprivation, there will be no one else to help. The same holds true with parenting in general. If you constantly care for others without a thought for your own well-being, you can become so drained that you are no longer able to help anyone.

Don’t overcommit yourself. The most freeing thing I ever did was learn to say no. I limit the number of commitments we have because there are so many people that want a piece of our time. We all get pressured to do things like volunteer at the school, drive kids back and forth to extracurriculars and social events on a daily basis, and take on extra projects at work. You absolutely have to learn how to say no to some of these obligations if you expect to have a few minutes for relaxation or time for your own projects.
Eat properly. One of the biggest pitfalls of a busy life is taking too many shortcuts with regard to nutrition. Keep healthy food on hand at home instead of going through the drive-thru for dinner. When I worked outside the home, I found that a weekend food prepping session was essential for keeping us on track throughout the week.
Take time for exercise. Many people have a sedentary job that keeps them sitting at a computer all day long. Take time throughout the day to move around. Inertia can take its toll. (Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.) Enjoy a walk during your lunch break and coffee breaks. After work, do something active with your kids. If you are taking the kiddos to an activity, instead of sitting in the car playing on your phone while they are doing gymnastics, use that time to take a brisk walk. This will keep you healthy, flexible, fit, and actually increase your energy levels.
Stop to smell the roses, especially those made by sticky little fingers from cotton balls stuck to construction paper and sprayed with stinky perfume. One day, they’ll be grown up and out of the house. You truly don’t want to look back on their childhoods with regret that all you did was grimly work to keep a roof over their heads.

Are you a single parent prepper?

You absolutely can do this. Lots of us do. Don’t let the naysayers discourage you. Don’t feel that it’s too difficult. Every single step you take toward greater preparedness is a step toward making life safer and more secure for your children.

How do you juggle all of your responsibilities? Do you have any tips for the folks reading this? And, if you are new to either prepping or single parenthood, do you have any questions? Please post in the comments section below.

Hacker #Arrested and Jailed After Exposing Flaws in #Election Website

May 10, 2016 by claire bernish

(ANTIMEDIA) Lee County, FL — A hacker in Florida exposed security vulnerabilities in one county’s elections web domains so officials could fix the problem — but, instead, he ended up behind bars.

Hacker David Michael Levin, owner of Vanguard Cybersecurity, was arrested on Wednesday after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement received a referral from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office after his apparently misguided attempt to help prevent election fraud by pointing out online vulnerabilities.

After spending six hours in jail, where he was held on $15,000 bond, Levin now faces three counts of gaining unauthorized access to a computer, network, or electronic instrument — despite the fact he had not only been doing his job, but also alerted the county to a potentially serious security concern.

To hack the Lee County Elections Office and the Division of Elections in Tallahassee, Levin performed Structured Query Language (SQL) injection attacks — which he documented on video and later uploaded to YouTube. According to the somewhat redacted police report, Levin’s associate, Daniel Sinclair, sent a security report about the SQL vulnerability — including details of the security flaw and a screenshot — to “an employee within the Department of State, Division of Elections.”

That employee then forwarded all the information to Special Agent Christopher Tissot, and the investigation began.

Though superficially, the case appears to be one of an unwelcome security breach despite that it was attempted for otherwise laudable purposes. But some aspects of what led to Levin’s arrest deserve further consideration.

Levin’s associate, Sinclair, is currently running against incumbent Sharon Harrington, Lee County Supervisor of Elections — whose name and password were used in the SQL hack. In the YouTube video about the attack, Levin and Sinclair explain how they obtained data from the elections website, which wasn’t even encrypted.

The possibility Levin chose Harrington’s account to perform the SQL injection as a publicity stunt to make Harrington’s job performance appear untenable must be taken into consideration. That being said, Levin’s foray into the elections data had not been undertaken with the appropriate permission — and because he didn’t alert the authorities as soon as he discovered vulnerabilities, law enforcement is required to be blind to his good intent.

However, in Levin’s defense, the privacy concerns of millions of voters — and any other potential issues with unencrypted and unsecured information — on the official Elections website should perhaps trump the strictures of law. Levin cooperated fully during a raid of his property — during which electronics were confiscated — and has in no way been deceitful regarding the hack.

Considering the sheer volume of complaints so far during the 2016 election cycle, it would seem counterproductive for law enforcement to go after a credentialed individual who obviously has the voting public’s best interests in mind.

With rather overt fraud disenfranchising voters across the country, arresting the one hacker who attempted to help secure elections seems oddly ironic.

This article (Hacker Arrested and Jailed After Exposing Flaws in Election Website) 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

Here’s Why Ron Paul Just Said #Hillary Could Have Run as a #Republican

May 10, 2016 by nick bernabe

Former Republican congressman and presidential candidate, Ron Paul (TX), made some interesting comments in an interview with Fox Business Monday. Paul insisted the neoconservative Republicans could actually back Hillary Clinton, instead Trump.

“Hillary is a Wall Street person and she is a neocon and she wants to spend money on the military. So, a lot of them will go there. They’re not going to get Romney to run. I think it will shift a lot of people over to Hillary because I’ve always argued that Hillary could have possibly run as a Republican with some of her positions.”

[embedded content]

From theantimedia.org Team

Whistleblowers Confirm #Facebook #Censors Certain Types of News Stories

May 9, 2016 by antimedia

(ANTIMEDIA) Former Facebook employees who managed the “Trending News” section of the site are accusing the behemoth social media platform of censoring news stories and “injecting” others to artificially inflate their popularity. Unsurprisingly, in light of these accusations, the developing story appears to have been censored from the site’s list of popular stories, underscoring deeply-rooted problems in the way information is presented online.

The fresh allegations follow a story published last week by Gizmodo, which detailed how some of the journalists tasked with populating the trending news list were overworked and mistreated. The reporters, “a small group of young journalists, primarily educated at Ivy League or private East Coast universities,” select stories for the feed, and also write the headlines and three-line descriptions that show up on the right-hand side of the Facebook home screen.

Gizmodo points out the influence of this seemingly small operation, noting the list of trending stories, “constitutes some of the most powerful real estate on the internet and helps dictate what news Facebook’s users—167 million in the US alone—are reading at any given moment.”

Since the publication of last week’s initial story, other former Facebook employees have come forward to describe the types of stories that were intentionally included in — and excluded from — the feed, which purports to be determined by the stories’ popularity among users.

Rather than reflecting users’ organic interests, however, one of the most glaring components of the Facebook trending stories tool — according to the effective whistleblowers — is the company’s policy of excluding stories about Facebook. According to Gizmodo, “When stories about Facebook itself would trend organically on the network, news curators used less discretion—they were told not to include these stories at all.”

As one former news curator said, “When it was a story about the company, we were told not to touch it. It had to be cleared through several channels, even if it was being shared quite a bit. We were told that we should not be putting it on the trending tool.”

This former employee’s experience was substantiated by at least one other. “We were always cautious about covering Facebook,” another former curator said. “We would always wait to get second level approval before trending something to Facebook. Usually we had the authority to trend anything on our own [but] if it was something involving Facebook, the copy editor would call their manager, and that manager might even call their manager before approving a topic involving Facebook.”

But limiting the exposure of Facebook-centered articles is only one tactic in the social media platform’s manipulation of news stories. As Gizmodo explained:

“When users weren’t reading stories that management viewed as important, several former workers said, curators were told to put them in the trending news feed anyway. Several former curators described using something called an ‘injection tool’ to push topics into the trending module that weren’t organically being shared or discussed enough to warrant inclusion—putting the headlines in front of thousands of readers rather than allowing stories to surface on their own.”

Often, some former employees said, the injected topics would eventually become the most popular trending stories. While on the surface, this practice may seem like a proactive effort to provide more news for users, the injected stories were firmly rooted in establishment pillars of information.

“We were told that if we saw something, a news story that was on the front page of these ten sites, like CNN, the New York Times, and BBC, then we could inject the topic,” said one former curator. Indeed, all three of these outlets epitomize “mainstream” journalism, and, unsurprisingly — or even synonymously — all three outlets have been thoroughly accused of censorship, deception, and bias.

Facebook’s policy to artificially inject stories, as long as they were validated by coverage from outlets like these, reflects the platform’s clear, albeit perhaps unwitting, connection to perpetuating establishment narratives. As the former curator said, “If it looked like it had enough news sites covering the story, we could inject it—even if it wasn’t naturally trending.”

Though boosting placement of relevant news stories seems like a noble cause, the practice clearly violates Facebook’s efforts to make the trending news feed appear as strictly “topics that have recently become popular” on the site.

Whereas censoring stories on Facebook and injecting others were a matter of policy, the subjective biases of the journalists curating stories also reportedly affected the neutrality of the stories presented to users. Though no former curator interviewed by Gizmodo said this was an official protocol, many said stories from conservative outlets were routinely excluded from the trending news list.

One former curator who, as a political conservative was a minority on the curating team, said, “Depending on who was on shift, things would be blacklisted or trending.” He added, “I’d come on shift and I’d discover that CPAC or Mitt Romney or Glenn Beck or popular conservative topics wouldn’t be trending because either the curator didn’t recognize the news topic or it was like they had a bias against Ted Cruz.”

For example, stories about Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS implicated in unfairly targeting conservative groups, were not included in trending stories. Stories from conservative aggregator, Drudge Report, were also censored, along with stories about conservatarian politician, Rand Paul. “It was absolutely bias[ed]. We were doing it subjectively. It just depends on who the curator is and what time of day it is,” a former curator said, revealing the lack of consistency in Facebook’s reporting practices.

Further highlighting Facebook’s establishment philosophies, Gizmodo noted “stories covered by conservative outlets (like Breitbart, Washington Examiner, and Newsmax) that were trending enough to be picked up by Facebook’s algorithm were excluded unless mainstream sites like the New York Times, the BBC, and CNN covered the same stories.”

While to some left-leaning Facebook users the omission of conservative stories seems like a fair — or even necessary — practice, these fundamentally exclusionary practices should be cause for concern to anyone obtaining news from the trending stories list.

Facebook declined to comment on these allegations, but the site is no stranger to accusations of censorship and manipulating information. The platform was recently caught censoring at least one story unfavorable to Hillary Clinton while multiple groups supporting presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have been suspended. On a different note, Facebook also works closely with the United States government to enable surveillance of the internet, a role that better illustrates the company’s establishment culture than the left-wing biases of individual employees.

Between the individual biases of employees and the broader, more controlling policies of injection and censoring stories about the site, Facebook has proven its incompetence in accurately informing users. Gizmodo reports some former curators said as algorithms were increasingly employed, biases became less pronounced, also noting that the employees worked for Facebook between 2014 and 2015, so if changes have been made, the whistleblowers would not be aware of them.

At the very least, however, the confessions of former curators should raise fundamental questions about journalistic integrity among users who trust the friendly social networking site to deliver information in a responsible, education-oriented manner. As Gizmodo noted, “the revelations undermine any presumption of Facebook as a neutral pipeline for news, or the trending news module as an algorithmically-driven list of what people are actually talking about.”

Perhaps most telling is the trending news section’s reaction to Gizmodo’s breaking story on Facebook news practices: it’s nowhere to be found.

This article (Whistleblowers Confirm Facebook Censors Certain Types of News Stories) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Elizabeth Montag and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article at edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#Illegals Dwarf American Households in #Welfare: “ #Obama Seeking $17K For Every Illegal Minor”

May 9, 2016 by mac slavo

Who exactly is the burdensome, broken and disturbingly unsensible welfare system being run for?

A new study found that both illegal and legal immigrants, who typically work low wage jobs, receive more in government assistance each year than struggling American families do.

via the Washington Examiner:

Illegal immigrant households receive an average of $5,692 in federal welfare benefits every year, far more than the average “native” American household, at $4,431…

The Center for Immigration Studies, in an analysis of federal cost figures, found that all immigrant-headed households — legal and illegal — receive an average of $6,241 in welfare, 41 percent more than native households. As with Americans receiving benefits such as food stamps and cash, much of the welfare to immigrants supplements their low wage jobs.

The total cost is over $103 billion in welfare benefits to households headed by immigrants.

Not only is this staggering cost a source of contention with American taxpayers, but it is something of a hidden boon for corporations who can get away with paying workers, many of whom are illegal, less money in wages because their livelihoods are being supplemented by welfare.

For traditional non-immigrant families, it is a double blow to an economy that has forced many native Americans on welfare as well while they watch good jobs slip away and an increasing number of desperate people from all backgrounds race to the bottom.

Though there are many employers benefiting from government largess, Walmart is the classic example of the company that pays its workers minimum wage, only to encourage them to apply for food stamps and other welfare benefits – which are largely then spent inside their own store walls.

But worse than the already over-sized dependence upon the federal government by new arrivals and undocumented immigrants, is that the pace set by the amnesty president who clearly wants to break the system Cloward-Piven style.

Obama is apparently calling for a huge increase in welfare benefits for minors, who according to the Washington Examiner, are often being used by their illegal immigrant parents for household income:

The new report follows another that found President Obama seeking $17,613 for every new illegal minor, more than Social Security retirees get.

While millions of average citizens are struggling and watching the American dream die in front of them, the government is doing all it can to break the back of the real economy, and hand off money from the dole to the very competing workforce that is undermining the effort of Americans just to make it and hold on to what they have.

Stay vigilant, the squeeze is on.

Why Is Obama Encouraging Illegal Immigration When We Can’t Take Care Of Millions Of Our Own Citizens?

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

More Evidence: Slave Labor Not Cheap Enough; Walmart Has Ninth Straight Quarterly Decline in Sales

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Showdown: A Bull And A #Bear Duke It Out: Will #Silver And #Gold Skyrocket… Or Collapse?

May 8, 2016 by mac slavo

The world is in crisis. That’s something most analysts, investors and average Americans can agree on. How markets will behave, what the dollar will do and where capital will flow as investors panic, however, is another matter altogether. Throughout history silver and gold have been used as the wealth preservation assets of last resort and that’s why, according to precious metals bull Gary Christenson of Deviant Investor, we should expect precious metals to rise to new highs in coming years. But bear David Trungale of Trader Tours disagrees, noting that while monetary printing may be excessive, there has been no significant increase in inflation, which points to continued deflationary pressure on silver and gold.

Trungale: I’m not denying that inflation has not existed… It has… I’m talking about an annual basis relative to 2011, inflation has been falling… I don’t care if you use the government CPI or John Williams’ Shadowstats numbers… the fact remains the inflation rate has been coming down. So I consider this, still, a rally [in silver] in a long-term bear market… Money printing does not create inflation within itself.. It’s those dollars actually going into the economy and being spent on consumer goods and services… that’s inflation… The fact remains, I think the longer-term threat is deflation, not hyperinflation.

Christenson: The inflation is only one factor to consider… But just because we have deflation in some areas doesn’t mean we have deflation in all areas… I go back to look at history and I try to see history and human nature and politics of central banking and the conclusion I come to is debt is going to increase… We’re having an exponential increase in prices, we’re having an exponential increase in debt and an exponential increase in silver and right now silver is low compared to all those exponential trends… and that’s why I think it’s likely to pop quite a bit higher… I’m not saying next week or next month, but in the next two years.. Confidence in the currency is critical.

Precious metals and broader market investors looking for insights into how silver and gold are behaving technically, fundamentally and what to expect in coming years should watch the full interview from Future Money Trends:

(Watch at Youtube)

Of note is that David Trungale is a day-to-day trader and technical analyst, so his perspectives are often short-term and based on technical trading data. Gary Christenson, however, is a long-term trend analyst who, while being a technician himself, prefers to look at historical movements, the reasons behind them and how this knowledge can be applied to future market reactions.

Thus, while both may be looking at very similar data and agree on many points – namely that debt is rising precipitously – their unique analysis and assessment yields markedly different outcomes.

Trungale: If you look at silver after the 1980 collapse it consolidated at the single digit price range at about $4 or $5 an ounce and it sat there for 25 years… I’m not saying the exact same thing is going to happen… I’m just looking at things from a technical level… and after things fall from the high point [2011] it’s always going to be difficult to recover… that doesn’t mean there aren’t short-term opportunities… there obviously was in the GDX and various miners, as well as gold and silver. But again, I don’t consider this a screaming buy… and I don’t think that the mining sector or commodity markets are going to skyrocket back to the 2011 levels.

…

Christenson: I respect David and what I consider his intelligent analysis, but I disagree with it substantially. I think the mining shares are going to go much higher and I think they are going to do crazy things that people don’t believe in terms of going up… Yes, 2011 was a huge up move in the price of silver… But if you go back and look at it historically in terms of standard deviations off the trend, ratios to national debt and other kinds of things, it was just a little blip. The 1980 blip on silver was a huge, major, catastrophic generational move and that’s why things took 25 years to recupe. I see silver from 1980 to 2001… to consolidate and start to build a new base… I think 2011 wasn’t nearly the price spike 1980 was… I think we should have, five years from now, silver going up… and gold and silver mining shares will be the same thing but multiples higher.

But to get specific, here’s where the Bull and the Bear think silver will be by the end of 2016:

Trungale: Silver and gold will probably be at the same level they are now. Silver at maybe $17, maybe $15… it will probably consolidate.

Gold, I would say maybe around $1200 or $1300.

…

Christenson: My pick for gold will be $1500 to $1600, possibly a little higher.

Silver at $25 to $40.

And there you have it – two completely different perspectives based on very similar technical analysis and market conditions.

While David Trungale notes that his analysis is short-term and subject to change as events play out, it is quite possible that silver and gold either hold at current levels or potentially go a bit lower.

Yet, the long-term global forecast suggests major crises loom in financial markets, economic growth and the monetary system as a whole. If Gary Christenson is right, that could lead to investor panic, a potential loss in the dollar’s reserve currency status, and exponential price increases, especially in the precious metal space if and when people lose confidence.

Was the 2011 silver high of nearly $50 the top? Or will we see another “huge, major, catastrophic generational move” to highs that most people don’t believe are even possible?

This interview has been contributed by Daniel Ameduri. Visit FutureMoneyTrends.com for more insightful videos, market commentary, news and alternative investment strategies.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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