When The S*** Hits the Fan

Survival Saturday: More #Islamic Terror, Kid Mowing Lawn Makes National News, Babies Die from Vaccines

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March 26, 2016

Islamic terror is in the headlines again, along with deadly vaccines, and a puzzling story that demonstrates just how far away our society has actually gotten from the original “Land of Opportunity” roots of our nation.

Survival Saturday is back after a brief hiatus. Here’s this week’s  round-up of news and recommended reading material for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Deadly Terror Attack in Belgium Blamed on ISIS

300 people were wounded and 31 people were killed in horrifying coordinated attacks in Brussels, Belgium. An airport and a subway station were bombed, and ISIS has taken credit for the attacks.

But don’t blame Islam. It’s the religion of peace, remember? At least one source says that the real culprit is a leadership that is unwilling to criticize Islam for fear of being politically incorrect. Judith Bergman wrote, “Western political and military establishments, as well as media and cultural elites, refuse to examine the political and military doctrines of Islam, and make them a subject of honest intellectual inquiry. When they are facing an enemy that uses these very doctrines as its reason for being, this refusal can only be described as gross malfeasance and reckless endangerment.” Many reports say that there were sufficient warnings before these attacks, but they were ignored, perhaps purposely.

According to some predictions, the terror in Belgium may not be over. The badge of a murdered security guard for the Tihange Nuclear Plant was stolen, the security at the plant has been said to be lax, and the ingredients for a dirty bomb have also gone missing in recent weeks. This article puts together a chilling, credible theory. (Prosecutors in Belgium have “ruled out” any “militant link” in the murder of the guard, so rest easy.)

Of course, every time there’s a terror attack, people scramble to try to guess the next target, and thus far, are never correct. While the experts may not be able to predict the next target, one thing is nearly certain: there will be a next target.  More than 400 trained fighters have been dispatched to Europe with instructions to conduct attacks.

President Obama doesn’t think that Isis represents an “existential threat,” if that sets your mind at ease.

Do you know what to do if you are among the unfortunate souls in the midst of a terror attack? Read this politically incorrect article, because someone, somewhere wishes you were dead.

Boy Mows Lawn, Media Goes Wild

Let me preface this little rant by saying, “Good for you, son” to the boy who mowed the neighbor’s lawn to earn money to take his girl out on a date. I’m a huge proponent of kids who work to earn money and this is by now means an attempt to belittle what he did.

Let me continue by saying, “How the heck is this even news?”  A 14-year-old boy hit up the neighbors to earn some money to take his girlfriend out to lunch, and somehow it made not only the local newspapers, but also got featured on Buzzfeed.

Have we become so far removed from actual work that it’s a huge deal when a kid cuts the neighbor’s grass to make money?  Isn’t that how kids have always made money since the advent of lawnmowers, lawns, and money? Heck, that’s how one of my friends in high school bought his first car.  My kids have raked leaves, mowed lawns, walked dogs, and shoveled manure to earn money and we never, ever realized that this was newsworthy. Heck, most of the things we did for fun when we were kids would get someone arrested today.

If mowing the neighbor’s lawn to take a girl on a date is this big of a deal, then I feel that we’re probably in big trouble when this generation takes the reins of the country.  There are no news articles and freebie meals in the real world, kids. How can kids who never work to earn money function in the real world? The greatest gift we can give our children to prepare them for the future is the knowledge they need to handle their finances wisely. (Hat-tip to my hard-working 15-year-old daughter, who was also aghast that this was news and brought this story to my attention. She was particularly stunned that no Buzzfeed articles have been written about her, since she cleans poop out of barns to earn her shopping and cell phone money.)

Batch of Vaccines Kill, Injure 75% of the Mexican Babies Who Received Them

Out of 52 children vaccinated for tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B in a small Mexican town, two babies have died and 37 more have been hospitalized. This article reports some very grim statistics on vaccine injuries and discusses the current drama being endured by the families in Mexico.

In other news on the vaccine debate, Robert de Niro, the father of a child with autism, pushed the Tribeca Film Festival to screen an anti-vax documentary by none other than Andrew Wakefield, amid much hullabaloo from the mainstream media. The film is called “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” Wakefield, if you remember, was the doctor who first made the link between vaccines and autism. He subsequently had has life ruined by Big Pharma, but Wakefield has fought back for years, even though his medical license was taken. Wakefield’s theories were recently supported by a CDC whistleblower who claims that studies proving the link between vaccines and autism were deliberately covered up.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to vaccinate your children, do your research about the risks of either decision. This is an excellent book with thorough and less biased information.

Preppers Market Pinterest

A few years ago when I began my blog, I did so to combine two of my greatest passions: preparedness and wellness. One of the major issues I discovered when trying to help others become more prepared was that it wasn’t just difficult to find a high-quality emergency food – it was impossible.

For years, I tried various emergency food buckets, only to immediately park them in the back of my pantry to be used as an absolute last resort. There are quite a few food intolerances in my family, and the chemical-laden, gluten-filled products were recipes for headaches and digestive upsets. I didn’t find a single product I could recommend to others without writing paragraphs of caveats, warning them that these products weren’t particularly good for them, but here they were if the person was still inclined to buy them.

Then, after many disappointing taste-testings, I discovered NuManna Foods. Out of all of the products I had tried, there was finally something that I could serve to my family and recommend to my readers in good conscience. NuManna is committed to providing ground-breaking products for those who realize that survival food should help you to thrive, not just keep the hunger pangs away.

The things I’ve stockpiled away from NuManna read like a shopping list from a health food store. Delicious things like

  • Quinoa
  • Organic brown rice
  • Chia seeds
  • Gluten-free meals
  • Organic milk
  • Sprouting Seeds

I could go on and on about the good things contained in NuManna Foods, but instead, I also want to talk about the things you won’t find in their buckets. NuManna is committed to providing food free of the following ingredients:

  • No GMOs
  • No High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • No Added MSG
  • No Aspartame
  • No Soy
  • No Chemical Preservatives

This is the emergency food that I store for my own family, and we’ve personally tried every single item. I am delighted to finally find products that I can heartily recommend. If you’re looking for long-term storage food, it doesn’t get better than NuManna. Stock up, so that you can nourish your family in an emergency, too.

I believe so strongly in these products that I’ve developed a new website, Preppers Market. The site includes only products that I personally endorse and use for my own family.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! You are absolutely welcome to post your links in the comments below. (PS: I missed you guys over the past two weeks while I was moving!)

This Is What’s Happening to People Who Live near the Worst Gas Leak in US History

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Carey Wedler
March 25, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Porter Ranch, CA — On February 18, SoCalGas and the national media declared the “worst methane gas leak in U.S. history” permanently sealed, but just over a month later, hundreds of Porter Ranch residents who evacuated — and are now returning home — are suffering the same symptoms they suffered when the gas leak was active. They are experiencing nausea, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, nosebleeds, and many, including children, are also experiencing a new ailment: irritated skin rashes across their bodies.

Neither SoCalGas, which owns the Aliso Canyon facility, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, nor any other government agency has provided a concrete explanation for these continued symptoms. In fact, one of Los Angeles County’s top medical officials recently told local physicians to refrain from performing tests to determine what is causing the symptoms. Late last week, preliminary lab tests from an independent UCLA study found evidence of benzene, a carcinogen, in at least two Porter Ranch homes. Benzene was reported to have been released in the 100 metric tons of methane that spewed into the Los Angeles basin for four months — a fact SoCalGas previously attempted to downplay and withhold.

Reemergence of Symptoms

On March 4, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitchell Englander issued a press release reporting the Department of Public Health had received at least 150 complaints of reemerging symptoms, including nosebleeds, dizziness headaches, nausea, and skin rashes. Now, the Health Department says it has received 300 complaints since residents began moving home after SoCalGas told them it was safe to do so.

Many residents have said the rashes, which can be extensive, are new and did not occur during the initial, months-long gas leak from October to February. During that time, thousands of families were evacuated and the Department of Public Health received 700 health complaints. Others reported experiencing skin irritation before they relocated, though it appears to be more widespread now.

Residents who left Porter Ranch for temporary housing accommodations and recently moved home told Anti-Media about their symptoms (many still have not moved home, fearful it is still unsafe). Helen Ritenour, a Porter Ranch resident who left the area in December, said that within two days of returning to their home, she and her family began feeling sick.

“The main symptoms are headaches, difficulty breathing, watery eyes, coughing and general fatigue. It feels like I’m in a thick fog of sorts that’s oppressive,” she said. She and her husband were not eager to return home, still concerned about toxins in the area and the health of their newborn baby. But amid long delays receiving reimbursements from SoCalGas — and unable to charge more expenses on their credit card — they moved back to Porter Ranch. Ritenour told Anti-Media that like many other families, she and her husband have had to pay out-of-pocket for relocation services — and have experienced long delays receiving reimbursement checks.

Gabriel Khanlian, a resident who serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Save Porter Ranch, a group formed in 2014 to fight the massive, aging, and leaking facility before the blowout even happened, also said he and his family have suffered symptoms since moving home.

“My daughter Tatiana keeps getting large rashes, red welts and bumps all over her body. Her skin is dry and her behavior has changed significantly and she is very cranky. She has a loss of appetite and is sleeping a lot more,” he said. “My sons, Jayden and Mason, have been getting bloody noses, headaches, upset stomachs, burning eyes, runny nose, dry skin.”

gas leak

He described other troubles they’ve had, noting his sons are experiencing “anxiety, fear, frustration, anger, and stress from not having the ability to play. Their personalities have changed majorly.”

He said his wife, who experienced symptoms during the initial methane gas leak, is now experiencing them more severely than before.

Kyoko Habino, a Porter Ranch resident and co-founder of Save Porter Ranch, said:

“When I go home to pick up stuff or do a few things, within a few minutes, I start having a dull headache and coughing and having palpitations. Nosebleeds follow later on often. My partner has had headaches, fatigue, and a burning sensation in his chest at the same time I have. Our cat has had a nosebleed and vomited. When I am away from home, the headache goes away instantly. The cough and nosebleed stay for a while, and are gone after.”

Walter Arwood, a Porter Ranch resident, experienced nausea, among other symptoms:

“I am rolling over sick right now. My stomach has been so upset, I have gotten all the headaches back, my husband has had three nose bleeds in two days, and now a visiting relative was out of breath just walking up the stairs at my home. How is it safe?”

Arwood was evacuated during the methane gas leak and recently returned home. “Since we have moved back the symptoms have immediately returned,” he said. “Itchy skin is the only new thing.  We have all of our air purifiers on and the scrubber running and still it is happening.”

Residents in surrounding areas, including Chatsworth and Granada Hills, have also reported a reemergence of symptoms.

Sandy Crawford, a resident of Granada Hills, told CBS News in February — after the methane gas leak was sealed — that within a few hours of returning home, her youngest son had trouble breathing and suffered a nosebleed. Crawford moved her sons back to their hotel, and after trying again to move home and experiencing the same results, she returned to the hotel for a second time. She told Anti-Media they recently tried sleeping at home for a few nights and did not feel symptoms, but she remains afraid they could return. As a result, she is staying at the hotel.

“Avoid performing any toxicological tests”

Though these symptoms are pronounced, neither SoCalGas nor the Department of Public Health has offered a definitive explanation of what is causing them. In fact, Dr. Cyrus Rangan, Director of the Bureau of Toxicology and Environmental Assessment at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, recently issued a “Health Update” to “primary care, urgent care, internal medicine, and emergency medicine providers” in the area cautioning them against conducting tests on patients with symptoms.

The advisory, dated Tuesday, March 8, requested that healthcare professionals “look for alternate etiologies other than air contamination,” and “avoid performing any toxicological tests,” claiming “these are not recommended and are unlikely to provide useful data for clinical evaluation of patients.”

Rangan said in the notice that if no “alternative etiology” is found, doctors should consult with him. While it is an indisputable act of due diligence to recommend doctors check for other potential causes of symptoms, it is unclear why a top public health official would discourage doctors from performing tests to better understand illnesses among their patients.

“It’s not to steer the community away from thinking it’s not an environmental issue,” Rangan insisted to the Los Angeles Daily News, adding that, as the local paper summarized, “even when the gas was leaking he did not recommend that doctors perform toxicological tests because there is no test that can determine if a person was exposed to natural gas.”

However, residents are concerned not just with methane, but with other contaminants found in it, from mercaptans to benzene to other toxic emissions (mercaptans are odorants added to natural gas to make it detectable, and are believed to have caused symptoms when the gas leak was active). Many found Rangan’s explanation to be insufficient and an attempt to ask doctors to “look the other way.”

Further, his request that doctors refrain from conducting tests appears to contradict his own supplementary declaration provided for a hearing held last Friday to extend relocation benefits to residents, many of whom feel they were rushed out of temporary housing, evidently, before it was safe to return home.

In that statement, Rangan referred to the continued illnesses as “perplexing,” proceeding to offer potential explanations not previously disclosed to Anti-Media when he spoke with us:

“It could be that there are persistent levels of contaminants still present in the community, or there could be other exposures in areas of the community that were missed in the external environmental monitoring, or perhaps gases may have saturated the soil at the Aliso Canyon facility or other substrates and are being released now that the source has been sealed.”

In spite of Rangan’s multiple hypotheses, however, he has offered no definitive explanation, nor does it appear the Department of Public Health has seriously looked for one (meaning it could be helpful for physicians to run tests on their patients). Asked to investigate a persistent oily residue coating the outside of residents’ homes and the playground of at least one park, representatives sent from Public Health reported they found “no evidence of any oily residue and no health concern for residents or visitors.”

When residents complained to Councilman Englander, representatives from his office confirmed the playsets were coated in oil and SoCalGas agreed clean the park. Three other parks were also shut down amid concerns about the residue, which Rangan insists is safe, aside from causing skin irritation. Mandi Bane, a lab assistant in Rangan’s office, told Anti-Media they have no intentions to test the soil in the community.

Because of incidents like this — such as Dr. Rangan downplaying concerns about long-term side effects from mercaptans, though there is little research to support his assurances — some residents increasingly doubt Public Health’s commitment to helping the community. Many have complained they reported symptoms and received little more than packaged statements in response. Some received no response.

Rangan’s office did conduct door-to-door surveys of residents two weeks ago to gather information on what could be causing the symptoms, an effort reported to be joined by state officials. Bane told Anti-Media they recorded over 200 reports and it would take time to process them before they could comment.

Rangan’s office also requested outside assistance to conduct indoor air sampling, after it was  “determined that such a protocol is beyond the expertise of the Department of Public Health.”

Rangan first solicited the help of the EPA to conduct indoor air testing for contaminants, but it was expected to take until May to develop a protocol. Last week, however, Dr. Michael Jerrett, a professor and chairman of UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, shared preliminary test results from a small sample of homes with Public Health. The independent study raised concerns about the presence of benzene, a known carcinogen, as well as hexane, in two homes. As a result of these findings, UCLA has partnered with Public Health and Dr. Jerrett and his team will begin sampling 120 homes in the coming days to conduct further analysis. According to a press release from the Department of Public Health posted Saturday:

“As a continuation of Professor Jerrett’s independent study, an indoor dust swab sampling was completed in seven homes. Benzene and hexane were found in two of the homes. Benzene and hexane, at certain levels, have known toxic effects on humans, but it is unknown whether the levels found are high enough to be of health concern. Professor Jerrett is sharing these findings with the community and will continue to conduct independent scientific analyses.”

As the Daily News explained, Jerrett’s results showed “higher and more variable concentrations of particulate matter in the outdoor air at locations close to the leak site compared to those farther away, according to the Health Department. Particulate matter is described as tiny pieces of solids or liquids in the air, such as dust, dirt, soot, or drops which can irritate the skin, eyes, nose, throat, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems.”

SoCalGas, however, has failed to provide a conclusive explanation for residents’ illnesses. At a protest on Friday, March 4, which culminated outside the company’s Community Resource Center located in Porter Ranch’s main shopping center, SoCalGas spokeswoman Lisa Alexander spoke to Anti-Media about the reemergence of symptoms. She left the onus of responsibility on the Department of Public Health.

“You know, we recognize that people are saying that they have symptoms, and we hear that, we see the news stories, we’ve been in touch with Department of Public Health to inquire about that,” she said, adding that Public Health expected symptoms to decrease as the blowout’s emissions dissipated — and with them, the mercaptans.

gas leak

“Is there one house that has been tested that shows a harmful level at this time?”

SoCalGas, at the request of County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, agreed to conduct indoor air testing on a ‘random’ sample of 70 homes in Porter Ranch last week. Residents’ increasing distrust of the utility was further intensified when some residents reported they had received calls from the gas company to perform indoor testing on their homes, but were asked if they had legal counsel. If they said yes, multiple residents reported, they were told they were not eligible for the ‘random’ testing.

Nevertheless, SoCalGas shared these test results at a relocation hearing last Friday to assert air quality had returned to normal. SoCalGas’ attorney James Dragna also reportedly cited the Department of Public Health as an authority on the matter.

Matt Pakucko, president of Save Porter Ranch, spoke to local CBS radio station KNX shortly after the hearing:

“This is such propaganda by SoCalGas,” he said. “They used their indoor testing that they just performed over the last week as their main facts on the ground. But they have said themselves weeks ago, months ago, that the mercaptan and the methane — the only things they test for — would be long gone. So they went and tested what they knew would be long gone… I can’t believe the judge bought it.”

Judge Emilie H. Elias reportedly asked, “Is there one house that has been tested that shows a harmful level at this time?” However, Dr. Jerrett’s results, which showed two homes with potentially hazardous levels of benzene, were not presented.

Jerrett’s preliminary findings were shared with the county just before the hearing, and county attorney Deborah Fox expressed a desire to submit them to the court for an appeal this week.

Though the media reported the judge’s ruling as a tepid victory for residents, who will receive one more week of paid relocation services, county attorney Deborah Fox had originally sought two months. She then sought a 30-day injunction, ultimately settling for a single week extension.

Pakucko said of the ruling:

“Any sane person would say [the testing should be complete before a decision is made] … there are people reporting health issues, the cause of which has not yet been discovered.”

Save Porter Ranch and much of the community are campaigning to have the entire, 3,600-acre Aliso Canyon facility shut down.

SoCalGas had previously been ordered to extend relocation services as residents began reporting symptoms again after the gas leak, a decision the company fought. Residents have also complained they have not yet been reimbursed for the months they were relocated, citing long waits, convoluted customer service, and financial strain caused by SoCalGas’ reimbursement process.

On Tuesday, County Supervisor Michael Antonovich announced the court had suspended its Friday ruling, presumably in light of the county’s submission of Jerrett’s results. Los Angeles Times reporter Abby Sewell tweeted an update that residents now have until March 29 — an extra four days — pending further legal proceedings.

As the legal battle continues, the difficulties of obtaining comprehensive, reliable air tests remain complicated by the fact that humans can smell mercaptans at lower levels than equipment can detect them. Pakucko told Anti-Media residents have consistently been reporting the smell of mercaptans, though SoCalGas spokeswoman Melissa Bailey assured Anti-Media via email there were no current leaks.

Neither SoCalGas nor the regulatory South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCQAMD) offered an explanation to Anti-Media regarding elevations in methane emissions since the gas leak was sealed. They are not consistently high, but nevertheless contradict assurances from the gas company that air quality has returned to “normal.” For example, from March 17 to March 22, methane levels in the community exceeded 3 ppm (parts per million); SCAQMD, itself, says “Results greater than 3 ppm suggest some additional sources of methane.” A March 13 sampling of air at the site of the repaired well, SS-25, found methane levels at 46 ppm; according to SCAQMD, “results greater than 10 ppm suggest a considerable additional amount of methane is present.” Though SCAQMD cautions the levels of methane have been dropping since the methane gas leak was sealed in February, 46 ppm is still 43 ppm above ‘normal.’

Further, a recently published government survey, initiated after the Aliso Canyon blowout, found 229 leaks in natural gas storage fields across California. Though the leaks were deemed minor, 66 were found at Aliso Canyon.

As Porter Ranch residents continue to deal with the fallout from the months-long environmental disaster, communities around the country face similar battles. From the increasing number of communities plagued with unsafe levels of lead (among other chemicals) in their water and soil, to the radioactive leaks in New York, Florida, and elsewhere across the country, Americans face an increasingly apparent, non-partisan struggle against aging, dangerous infrastructure — and the apathetic, often negligent authorities and corporate hegemons responsible for maintaining it.

In Porter Ranch, SoCalGas and public officials have, at least, begun to acknowledge something is still amiss in the community. As Pakucko told Anti-Media:

“They’ve stopped saying everything’s fine. I’ve got two words for ‘everything’s fine’: Flint, Michigan.”

Editor’s Note: Carey Wedler is from Granada Hills and has two family members whose health was affected by the leak, one severely (his symptoms have intermittently returned in the last several weeks). She has experienced symptoms herself and felt them recently while reporting in Porter Ranch.

This article (This Is What’s Happening to People Who Live near Worst Gas Leak in US History) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Carey Wedler 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.

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29 Essential Tips for the New #Prepper: “Start Small. Develop Your Skills. Create a Plan”

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kids-bug-out

Whether you are just starting out with prepping and are figuring out what to focus on first, or whether you are a veteran prepper tracing over your plans for potential flaws, you can always make improvements.

These videos can help you cover the essentials, boil down to the most important factors and start actually putting your preps into action.

Don’t wait until the trouble starts, because it will already be too late.

How would you survive if the food supplies stall out, the economy and digital grid crashes, or para-government forces unleash a round-up plan?

Have you made your family as secure as they can be with stored goods, equipment and a fool proof bug out plan for continuity of life off the grid?

There are some good answers on where to start and how to account for just about everything, but the point is that you must start somewhere.

For beginners, the best tip may be to start small and build up from there as you learn what you’re doing:

10 Tips for New Preppers: Supplies, Survival food and Emergency Essentials

Survival Know How explains his Top 10 Tips For New Preppers:

1. Start small. There is no need to prepare for the zombie Apocalypse if you don’t have enough supplies to last you 3 days without power.
2. Start with Food and Water. To often new preppers want to focus on guns, knives and ammo. It may not be as glamorous but your first preps should be food and water.
3. Develop your skills. Prepping is not just about what you buy but is also about developing your skill set and expanding your knowledge.
4. Build a prepper community. Talk about prepping to your friends, co-workers and family.
5. Tailor your preps to your geographical location. If you live up north you need to focus on keeping warm in the winter, if you live down south you need to focus on staying cool in the summer.
6. Develop a plan B. AKA a Bug Out Bag. Bugging in should always be your plan A. Only Bug Out if you absolutely need to.
7. Practice with your preps. Having preps is not enough, you need to be proficient with them and know how to use them when shit hits the fan.
8. Use List to stay organised. Create prepper supplies list, emergency food list and anything else. This will help you stay organized and buy everything you need.
9. Get into shape. When the shit hits the fan and you are forced to fend for your self you want to be in the best shape possible.
10. Learn First Aid. Skills in first aid will literally save your and your family life.

Even if you have everything you need to survive at home, there are many bad situations that could force you to leave your home and seek survival somewhere else – if you can make it.

Here are some important factors to consider when planning to bug out. What will the roads and highways look like during disaster? Likely they won’t be easy to travel on, and could be downright dangerous. Foreknowledge of the back roads and other alternative means of travel are essential if you are in a serious situation.

Setting up cache sites along your bug out route could also be vital to your survival plan, particularly if your travel plans hit a snag.

Bugging Out: What to Know Before You Go! 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning! :)

The Healthy Prepper explains her 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning:

1. Know your routes.
2. Have multiple forms of travel. (car, bike, foot, zodiac etc.)
3. Preload car with bug out bag
4. Bury caches along routs.
5. Know your final destination.
6. Lay low and blend in.
7. Choose off roads, back roads etc.
8. Sleep in a different location than you cook your food or build a fire.
9. Have back up fuel on the car.
10. Keep bug out vehicle maintained and full of gas.
11. Know when it is time to go.
12.Learn to use maps, compass, star navigation
13. Expect to get lost forced off route.
14.Avoid ridge lines and tops of hills.
15. Have alternative bug out locations in mind if the first one does not pan out.
16. Practice you bug out plan with your family.
17. Know where water, food, fuel can be found along your bug out routes.
18. Be prepared for interactions with others.
19. Be prepared someone may have already pillaged for bug out location or has already set up camp there.

Realistically, you may not be able to cover all of these points, and may find some of them to be contradictions with your real world situation. Regardless, you must prepare for all eventualities.

The point is to consider the best information you can, match it up with the realities of your area, your home, your financial situation and the reliability of the people around you (or lack thereof).

Plan ahead, and avoid becoming paralyzed by fear and inaction if and when the SHTF.

Read More:

The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Complete Guide on Where to Start and What to Do

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

Report: Feds Take Down Preppers Accused of Stockpiling Guns and Ammunition: “Federal Conspiracy Charges”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Searching for the Perfect #Prepper’s Retreat

by

March 25, 2016

Do you ever feel like this is it? Did some world event (or a series of them) make you feel like time is running out for getting your preps in order? Have you decided that now is the time to pull up stakes and begin searching for the perfect prepper’s retreat?

Recently I’ve felt a renewed sense of urgency that has prompted me to make some big changes in order to get more prepared.  So many world events lately have pointed toward a looming crisis, and the truly scary thing is, the crisis could be one of many scenarios. Lately it seems that every single month, we are on the sidelines of a dramatic event.

  • The horror of the recent terror attacks happening in places like Paris, Brussels, and right here in San Bernardino
  • The collapses of places like Greece and Venezuela
  • The onslaught of refugees who seem intent on changing the very fabric of Europe through sheer numbers, a refusal to conform, and undermining the safety of European women
  • The slim pickings for the presidential election (do you want a psychopath, a narcissist, or someone suffering from delusions to lead the country?)
  • The looming nuclear threats from that chubby little lunatic running North Korea, not to mention hostile feelings from at least half a dozen other countries
  • The race war going on in our own back yard, egged on by those with an agenda of divisiveness

Combine all of these things and if you aren’t just a little bit uneasy, then you should probably stop reading right now and tune in to the latest episode following the antics of that crazy Kardashian family. Go on, who knows what they’ll do next?

Are you ready for our world to change dramatically?

Any of the things mentioned above could suddenly change our lives in the blink of an eye, and if you aren’t ready, you darn well better get your bootie in gear. Have you given any serious thought to how well your home would work for you in a long-term scenario?  Is it a place where you could dig in for the long haul? Could you raise food, defend it, stay warm in it, cook in it, and survive in it if the grid went down? If not, maybe you need to make some changes.

For some of us, getting down to business means improving the situation at our own homes, and for others it means seeking our version of the perfect prepper’s retreat. As I’ve written about before, planning to have a prepper’s homestead after disaster strikes is doomed to failure. It takes time to learn to raise your own food, and many people overestimate their abilities in this regard. It’s imperative to deal with the learning curve now, when the grocery store is accessible 24 hours a day.

After some eye-opening major issues with the house we moved to last summer, my family and I decided we couldn’t trust that location for the long haul. The week without a working septic system was enough to provide a reality check.  The house was simply too run down, too close to a main thoroughfare, and too dry, despite the coveted well and the most wonderful barn that I’ve ever laid eyes on. Never have I been so happy to be a renter who could pick up and leave an undesirable situation.  There were some red flags earlier, but the septic disaster was the last straw. Had it occurred post-disaster, we would have had no alternative but to leave our home and all of our careful preparations. Moving now was a pain, especially with preps and livestock, but moving later after working to build a homestead would have been even worse.

So, we did an intensive search to find a place that would serve as a retreat, but one that we will live in now. We moved deep into the mountains, down a road that is really more like a trail, to our long-term retreat.

What makes the perfect prepper’s retreat?

Everyone has a different idea in mind for their perfect retreat.  Some folks like balmy weather, while others prefer a cold, forbidding winter. Some people feel better in wide open spaces, while others feel safer nestled in the trees.

Regardless of your personal preferences, there are several characteristics that are imperative if you’re looking for property – the lack of any of these things could doom you to failure in a long-term scenario:

There is nothing more important than water.  Water is the difference between life and death, so start your search by looking for places with more than one source of water.  Look for a place with a well, a body of water, and/or a spring. Don’t count on something “nearby.”  What if you have to carry water on foot from that location? The supply you’ll need each day will get pretty darned heavy, and it’ll be even more work hauling enough to water a garden and care for livestock.

Another concern with “nearby” water is that the people who own the water rights just might not let you cross their property to fill up your vessels. Think about it: would you let people possibly befoul the most precious resource around?

Water is everything in a survival situation.

In the event of a long-term down-grid situation, municipal water will most likely stop flowing from the taps. Even if it does continue to flow, the water will not be treated and may not be safe to drink. Even more alarming is the threat that someone could easily taint a municipal water supply as an act of terror. Think about the accidental chemical spills that have occurred just over the past couple of years here in the US. Now, imagine that someone up to no good got access to our water supply.

Most of America is dependent on municipal water – you truly want your own sources and a way to purify the water to make it safe for drinking.

Is your location one of safety?  Some things to look for are defensibility, distance from large population centers, privacy, and difficulty of accessibility.

Defensibility: Can you protect the perimeter of the property? Can you see someone before they get the chance to sneak up on you? Is your property well fenced? Is your driveway gated? Is your community one that will band together to protect one another?

Distance:  Everyone knows that being as far away as possible from major thoroughfares and big cities is ideal.  However, not everyone can move out to the boondocks right now. Many of us have jobs, families, schools, and responsibilities that keep us near population centers.

Of course, it’s ideal to be about a tank of gas away from the major cities. That will mean that if the fuel pumps are no longer working, anyone headed your way will most likely arrive on foot. In this age of obesity and poor fitness, that rules out a whole lot of folks who might want to eat your food.  Most fuel tanks hold enough to get the passengers between 250-400 miles, assuming the driver starts out with a completely full tank.

If you do live near the city, try to find a place that keeps some distance between you and the major thoroughfares. If you happen to be right by the highway, where do you think people will go when their car runs out of gas? That’s right – they’ll head for the nearest home for help. You don’t want strangers showing up at your door.

Difficulty: If that type of distance is unattainable, another bonus is natural obstacles. If you are up a tall mountain, folks are less likely to hike up your way unless there is some kind of specific draw, like a large body of water.

On that note, while living on the banks of a river or lake might seem ideal, your home will be the target of every person from a nearby city who has ever visited your area.  This means that creeks, streams, ponds, and natural springs are more desirable features. Avoid the tourist spots that draw the crowds. Those same crowds may remember your home as the Promised Land in the aftermath of a disaster.

  • Other Resources

There are other resources to look for when searching for your ideal location. You will want a way to provide food, a way to cook food, and a way to maintain a livable temperature. The following can help:

  • Fertile land
  • Space for raising animals
  • An area for hunting (only count on this if your location is fairly remote and you already hunt regularly. “Living off the land” is a prepper myth that will get you killed.)
  • A strong local economy made of people who produce instead of people who consume
  • Wood for fuel
  • Sun for solar power
  • Moderate temperatures in the absence of wood for fuel
  • A long growing season
  • A local government that supports self-sufficient endeavors, instead of one that charges fees and taxes for every single project
  • A place that isn’t upwind from military targets in case of a nuclear attack
  • An area not prone to natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, or tsunamis

Home Sweet Home

When searching for a home there are different schools of thought. If you have building skills and the wherewithal to purchase necessary supplies, you can purchase a home that requires some tweaking to be perfect. If you’re really talented, you can even build your home yourself and end up with a prepper dream home.

However, this isn’t realistic for some of us. Personally, my budget is limited and I’m a single mom with iffy building skills. Therefore, I looked for a home that checked most of the boxes already.

If the power was out (as it often is in the aftermath of a variety of disasters) would the home you want or already live in be functional without the grid? This should be a top priority when seeking a retreat property.

The things that I looked for were:

  • The ability to use passive solar for heating
  • A secondary, off-grid heat source (woodstove or fireplace)
  • The ability to cook in the absence of electricity (If your stove is propane, you will be able to use it for quite some time if you reserve your propane for that purpose only)
  • Windows placed in a way that allow breezes to help cool the house
  • Tree cover in summer that is absent in the winter to adjust the home’s temperature naturally
  • A well with an off-grid back-up like a manual or solar-powered pump
  • A septic system so you can use the toilet indoors (We have a family of girls – while this isn’t an absolute necessity, it’s certainly a perk)
  • Shelter for livestock
  • Ample storage space for preps (I now have an entire room in which to store these food buckets.)

The home we found is nearly perfect, although unfortunately there was no barn for housing our livestock.  In the grand scheme of stuff to add, that is fairly minimal, so we’re in the process of adding shelters.

The importance of the right neighbors

Very little is more important than the neighborhood you find yourself in.  It’s best if you have a longstanding relationship with your neighbors, of course, but you can get to know people in your vicinity fairly quickly if you put in a bit of effort.

Obviously, you want to be incredibly careful not to disclose too much information about your preps. (Never forget OPSEC!) I like to bond by finding people who also enjoy firearms, for example.  In the community where we relocated, you can often hear a few dozen rounds being fired as people send some lead down range.  Finding other vegetable gardeners is another good way to meet folks who might be like-minded.

When house-hunting during an election year, pay attention to the political signs in the yards. You want to be surrounded by people who think like you do, and if you find that most of the signs support a political view that is diametrically opposite yours, you may not be very happy there.

I chose a house at the very end of a country road. There is only one way to drive into the neighborhood, which means the road could easily be blocked off in the event of a long-term disaster. In fact, I discovered that the neighbors have discussed doing just that, which points to the fact that they will be cognizant of safety in an emergency.

Not everyone is in a position to relocate to a retreat

Not everyone can undertake a major relocation. There are times during which we have to live in circumstances that are less than ideal from a prepper’s perspective. Never let anyone tell you that you’re doomed if you can’t move to 20 acres in the country. We all have to live within our means and within the confines of our personal situations:

While your current situation may be less than ideal, you have to remember that very few locations are actually perfect for prepping. Nearly anywhere you live will be subject to some type of extreme weather, be it crippling cold, blazing heat, drought, tornadoes, or hurricanes. Chemical spills can taint water supplies anywhere. Riots and civil unrest can occur outside of the big city.

The point is, to borrow an old saying, you just have to bloom where you’re planted.

There are many things you can do to create a viable preparedness plan wherever you happen to live.  Apartment dwellers at the top of a city high rise, folks in the middle of the desert, those in a beachfront condo, and people in HOA-ruled suburban lots all have to examine their situations, figure out their pros and cons, and work towards resolving what they can.  With some pre-planning, there is a lot you can overcome if you have the right mindset.  I suspect there are just as many (and probably far more) preppers living in the ‘burbs than there are living in perfect rural locations, with a lake, 10 acres of cultivated farmland, and an off-grid house.

Stop waiting until you move to the perfect location. Make preparations for the situation you have, not the situation you want.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article if relocation is not an option for you.

Is it time for you to search for the perfect prepper’s retreat for your family?

Sometimes, though, you just feel compelled to take the plunge. When you do, be sure to go about your search in an organized fashion. Figure out what your priorities are, have a clear picture of your budget, and find the retreat that fits your carefully chosen criteria.

Remember, it’s far easier to already be at a bug-out location than to go on a journey to get there after it all hits the fan. If you have to bug-out there are many things that can go wrong, such as an issue with your transportation, the inability to get enough gas to get there, impassable roads, and the horrifying reality that someone else may have already taken over your location.

Surprised? #Belgium Knew Terror Attack Was Coming: “Advance and Precise Intelligence Warnings”

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

Editor’s Comment: If the true facts were to come out, they would so totally contradict the official narrative that the entire paradigm of NATO and the whole of the conflicts in the Middle East would look completely different. If people only understood how manufactured and targeted the terrorism was – in serving as a cattle prod to action – the population would revolt over night.

Instead, the weight of tragedy, of tears and loss and the psychological impact of fear and shock take over logical thinking and, of course, all the world’s headlines. Instead, the reality of these attacks are deceptively spun as an enemy instead of as a deliberate catalyst. Then again, no one is buying the red pill, and they just can’t seem to keep enough blue in stock to keep everybody going. The will of the people seems to be to keep riding along with their abusers and captors, even when escape is possible and even likely. The people have learned helplessness, and become conditioned to action only through fear…

Surprised? Belgian Government Knew Terror Attack Was Coming

by Joshua Krause

On the surface, there really isn’t anything mysterious about Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Brussels. Belgium carried out a small bombing campaign against ISIS last year, and roughly 100 of their military personnel remain in the Middle East in advisory roles. Couple that with the fact that Belgium has a sizeable migrant population from the Middle East, and many of their urban neighborhoods have become no go zones for the authorities, and it becomes shocking that an attack like this didn’t happen sooner.

The country is so out of control, that it has become a breeding ground for Islamic terror groups who use the country as a staging area for future attacks against Europe. In fact, the assailants who committed the brutal terrorist attack in Paris last November were originally based in Belgium.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a terrorist attack was attempted in this country, and it isn’t first time this has happened. The only thing that’s unique about it this time around, is the scale of the devastation. What is surprising however, is the fact that the Belgian government couldn’t prevent this attack. According to some sources like Haaretz, Belgian authorities should have known this was coming.

The Belgian security services, as well as other Western intelligence agencies, had advance and precise intelligence warnings regarding the terrorist attacks in Belgium on Tuesday, Haaretz has learned.

The security services knew, with a high degree of certainty, that attacks were planned in the very near future for the airport and, apparently, for the subway as well.

Despite the advance warning, the intelligence and security preparedness in Brussels, where most of the European Union agencies are located, was limited in its scope and insufficient for the severity and immediacy of the alert.

And that’s not all. Turkey’s President recently said something along similar lines.

Belgium had been notified of the terrorist links of one of the suicide bombers involved in the deadly Brussels attacks when he was deported from Turkey last year, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Belgian citizen was detained in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep province, which borders Syria, in July of 2015, and was subsequently deported, Erdogan said.

“One of the attackers in Brussels is an individual we detained in Gaziantep in June 2015 and deported. We reported the deportation to the Belgian Embassy in Ankara on July 14, 2015, but he was later set free,” Erdogan said, as cited by Reuters.

“Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter,” he added.

Similar accusations were hurled at the Belgian government following the Paris terror attack. They had all the intel they needed to foil the terrorists, but completely bungled their counter-terror efforts. For many of you reading this, I’m sure alarm bells are ringing in your head. You may be wondering if a conspiracy of some kind is afoot. It almost seems too convenient for Belgium to repeatedly drop the ball on these attacks.

However, it’s just as likely that Belgian authorities are simply incompetent. That’s certainly what many U.S. intelligence officials believe.

News of Tuesday’s attack was met in some parts of Washington with resigned frustration.

“There was only so much we could do to help,” one official explained to The Daily Beast.

“Belgium has been stepping up the amount of people they’re devoting to intelligence and law enforcement but they’re playing catch-up and we’re seeing the terrible results of that today,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on MSNBC.

Indeed, an official said there were warnings as recent as this weekend.

A frustrated U.S. intelligence official bemoaned the state of the counterterrorism apparatus in Belgium and across Europe.

“Even with the EU in general, there’s an infiltration of jihadists that’s been happening for two decades. And now they’re just starting to work on this. When we have to contact these people or send our guys over to talk to them, we’re essentially talking with people who are—I’m just going to put it bluntly—children. They are not pro-active, they don’t know what’s going on. They’re in such denial. It’s such a frightening thing to admit their country is being taken over.”

So what do you think is going on? Is the Belgian government completely incompetent, or are they letting these attacks happen? Honestly, neither would surprise me at this point.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

New Eye-Opening Documentary Completely Exposes #Barbaric #Saudi Regime

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Michaela Whitton
March 24, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A British television crew recently filmed an undercover documentary in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to penetrate the world’s most secretive and murderous regime. Working with a team of undercover Saudi cameramen, the one hour eye-opener, Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered, was broadcast by ITV on March 22. It reveals the hidden side of the regime, which buys billions of pounds worth of British arms, accepts training from British security forces, sells oil back to the U.K., and enjoys nothing less than red carpet treatment from the British royal family.

After setting up a fake company, the crew flew into Riyadh posing as businessmen, wielding carefully concealed hidden cameras. For cover, they said they were in the country to attend a business conference on cyber-security. What they discovered was a state that beheads — and even crucifies — its citizens; where women lack basic human rights and its children are indoctrinated. Patrolled by religious police, citizens are tortured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for writing blogs and questioning authority. It sounds like the Islamic State, but it’s not — it’s the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And it is fully propped up by Europe and the United States.

The mind-boggling documentary reveals how Saudi Arabia’s money and Wahhabi ideology has helped drive terrorism around the world. Shining a light on Britain’s shoulder-rubbing with the ruling royals, the production has pushed the U.K. government to admit they have provided more than 300 Saudi police officers with training since 2012.

“A necessary evil”

In January 2015, the Union Jack flew at half-mast at Westminster as a mark of respect for the death of Saudi ruler, King Abdullah. During the same month, young Saudi blogger Raif Badawi received 50 lashes in public. Convicted of insulting Islam after blogging about his government and religion, quoting Albert Camus, he wrote:

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

Comments like this earned the father of three 1,000 total lashes and ten years in prison.

“We don’t approve of what Saudi Arabia does, we don’t like what they do, but they are a necessary evil in combating other regimes,” former Head of International Terrorism, Colonel Richard Kemp, told ITV.

“And of course, ultimately they have a lot of oil,” he added.

Undercover cameraman Yasser is from an underground network of Saudi activists. He risked life and limb to provide a window into the brutal and secretive country where the King is all powerful, journalists cannot operate without a minder, and dissent is a cardinal sin. In the country, which is home of some of Islam’s holiest sites, the Saudi state oil company is worth £7 trillion. The royal family is worth billions. In contrast, an estimated quarter of the population lives in poverty, and numerous women were filmed begging and being beaten in the streets.

It is estimated that only one in five Saudi women of working age are employed. They are banned from driving and struggle to perform simple tasks, such as going to the doctor without a male guardian. But some are fighting back, and prominent human rights activist Loujain Hathloul has become the face of the Saudi women’s rights movement.

Moments after uploading videos of herself driving — as part of a campaign to change the ban against it — the activist was arrested for trying to enter Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates while behind the wheel. Imprisoned for 73 days without trial, she remains banned from traveling. Terrorism charges also were filed against her. Facing persistent death threats towards her and her family, for some she is a hero. For others, she is a hate figure.

The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

The religious police, officially known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, patrol streets and shopping malls enforcing strict Islamic laws. Yasser films himself and his friend as they are violently stopped from playing a lute outside. Playing music in public is forbidden, and their instrument and hidden camera are smashed. In other instances, religious police force women to cover themselves and drive people out of cafes to pray.

This strict form of Sunni Islam is known as Wahhabism, and it is the religion on which Saudi Arabia was founded. It is thought that the majority of Saudis support the state ideology, and the activists film a preacher spreading hatred of other religions and the Shia minority. Children are shown being indoctrinated by school textbooks, made in Saudi Arabia and exported to the world.

“No country is the perfect ally, perfect partner, without any reservations whatsoever. Welcome to the real world, welcome to the premier league,” said former CIA Director, General David Petraeus.

Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, Ali al-Ahmed, said the Saudi education system was created as a security measure to protect the ruling family and mislead millions of students into hatred of other religions and cultures. Some say the state has made progress in removing some of the worst examples of hatred from its textbooks, but the books can still be found in mosques and schools around the world.

Al-Ahmed added, “It’s no wonder that thousands of Saudis joined ISIS and other terror groups because they were trained in Saudi schools.”

“Chop Chop Square”

In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 157 people. Traditional punishments are employed, and executions are often carried out in public by one sword blow to the neck. Headless bodies are sometimes displayed publicly, and the documentary shows harrowing footage of a Burmese woman screaming for mercy as she is beheaded in the street.

Yasser says many Saudis are angry but cannot speak out due to fear of imprisonment, adding that the regime relies on secrecy; criticism of the government is considered an act of terror. The film crew visits one of Saudi Arabia’s most notorious landmarks, known as Chop Chop Square. It is the scene of many of the regime’s public executions and has drains in the ground for blood.

Since 9/11, Saudi Arabia has attempted to show the world they are tackling terrorism. The regime has clamped down on private donations to extremists from inside the Kingdom and carried out airstrikes against ISIS. They deny they are supporting the terror group, but many feel it is the underlying Wahhabi Salafi ideology that is the wider problem.

Former Director of Political Islam of the CIA, Emile Nakleh told ITV:

“The ideology of ISIS is not much different from the ideology that Wahabi Salafi Islam in Saudi adheres to. Unless the Saudis deal with this issue, we are going to constantly fight yesterday’s wars. Even if we defeat ISIS there will be another terrorist organisation, perhaps with a different name, as long as they have this ideology.”

Unwilling to tolerate dissent and fiercely opposed to sharing power, Saudi Arabia executed 47 people in January of this year — its largest mass execution since 1980. Some were convicted terrorists, but others were political activists. Footage smuggled out by activists has revealed that the executions sparked the largest public protests since the Arab Spring.

Since the mass executions, Yasser has stopped filming undercover. He claims it is just too risky continue, which, of course, is exactly what these public displays of punishment are all about. Although activists are being forced underground, the spread of mobile phones and cameras means it is becoming impossible for the regime to control what the world sees.

While in the country pretending to be traders, the filmmakers’ website was hacked, leading them to believe their cover was blown. As a result, they promptly left the country.

The documentary ends with a statement from the Saudi authorities condemning the covert filming by ITV:

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia utterly rejects the partisan nature and sensationalist tone of this documentary which sets out to portray the country in a negative and unbalanced light. The Kingdom’s legal system is based on the due process of Islamic Sharia Law. The Kingdom is at the forefront of international efforts to combat terrorism and will pursue anyone who supports and funds terrorist activities. To suggest otherwise is a slur. In keeping with its biased agenda, ITV chose to undertake covert filming when they could have applied for and received a journalistic visa, like many of their counterparts.”

The full documentary, Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered, can be viewed here.

This article (New Eye-Opening Documentary Completely Exposes Barbaric Saudi Regime) 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.

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

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thefed-dees

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

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

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

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

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

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

Via the New York Post:

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

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

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

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

[…]

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

Wow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More:

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

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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Claire Bernish
March 24, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This article (Governments Had Prior Knowledge of Brussels Attack, Did Nothing) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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

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Terrorism is a fact of life.

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

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

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

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

Via Paladin Press:

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

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

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

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

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

Do you have any advice to add?

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

trump-spark1

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

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

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

As The Blaze reported:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more:

EPIC RANT: Fed Up American Explains Why Trump Will Win: “Somebody With Balls”

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

deception2deception1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also Read:

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

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

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

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

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

Jeremiah Johnson’s Green Beret Survival Guides

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

jihad-california-2

jihad1

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

Source: ABC News

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

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

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

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

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

And America is next.

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

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

And will you be ready when they do?

Also Read:

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by


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

Here is a 2 minute video showing the problem:

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

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

 

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

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

by

Claire Bernish
March 21, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This article (We Throw so Much Plastic into the Ocean That Now We’re Literally Eating It) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

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

by

Michaela Whitton
March 20, 2016

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

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

wikileaks-hillary

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

wikileaks-hillary-2

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

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

From theantimedia.org Team

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

by

stock-market-volatility

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

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

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


(Watch at Youtube)

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

marc-faber2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know, because what difference does it make?

Also From Marc Faber:

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

Jake Anderson
March 19, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) — ***MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

House of Cards Season 4 ends.

This article (Netflix’ House of Cards Is Much More Realistic than We’d Like to Admit) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Jake Anderson and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Rape Prevention With the Push of A Button

by

Michaela Whitton
March 18, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

From theantimedia.org Team

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

by

donaldtrump-fear

The Donald has completely taken over the news cycle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

by

nypdscumbag

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

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

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

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

by Melissa Dykes

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

Well, so is this guy.

This video is brief and to the point.

(Warning: language)

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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Fact: The Federal Reserve has screwed over the country.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yahoo! Finance reported:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More:

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

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[…]

This could lead to a brokered convention…

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

[…]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More:

The Shadow Government Blackmails Everyone (Why Voting Doesn’t Matter)

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

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

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

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

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

Tips in this video:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His hacks include:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seriously, this guy is the Russian MacGyver!

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

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

Read more:

Prepper’s Blueprint: All the Tips You Need to Survive Any Disaster – Must Have

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

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

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

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com