North Korea today launched a missile from submarine South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The missile flew for about 19 miles (30km) and a typical submarine-launched ballistic missile has a range of nearly 200 miles.
This significantly increases the risk to the United States and other countries around the world of a sneak EMP attack.
Vandita
April 22, 2015
(ANONHQ) After disastrous tremors from a 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the city of Fukuoka on April 15 – just a day after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the same area – the streets of downtown Tenjin and Imaizumi were covered with a thick layer of mysterious foam, sending shivers down the spines of its residents.
While people posted photos and a video of the unexplained froth on Twitter, which led many to wonder what may be behind the snow-like layer engulfing Fukuoka, there are speculations that one of the many tremors may have caused an underground water pipe to burst. Others have suggested that the foam was caused by a spillage of fire-fighting foam; however, no fire trucks were spotted in the area, and no one has come up with an official confirmation as of yet.
The two powerful earthquakes killed 48, injured over 1,100, left 410,000 homes without water and 200,000 with no power, and destroyed as many as 9,900 homes, leaving more than 100,000 residents in shelters. 765 aftershocks have hit the Kyushu Island since the 6.5-magnitude earthquake on April 14. The tremors also triggered an eruption in Mount Aso, Japan’s largest active volcano.
This Article (Residents and Experts Baffled After Mysterious Foam Blankets City After Earthquakes) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Vandita and AnonHQ.com. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: TAKAFUMI/Twitter. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
From theantimedia.org Team
April 23, 2016
Today on Survival Saturday, we have a series of stories that could all be headlined, “What could possibly go wrong?” Do you remember the reality show by that name, where a couple of guys apply science and logic to ill-conceived ideas and explain exactly what could go wrong when you power a skateboard with homemade rockets? Perhaps our future doom won’t be caused by some kind of epic disaster, but by the unwillingness of the people to actually accept reality and apply logic to it.
Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.
Since regular pesticide isn’t bad enough, the officials of Seattle, Washington have taken things one step further: they’re going to douse the city in a genetically modified bacteria in an experimental attempt to eradicate gypsy moths. What could possibly go wrong with that one? (Well, for one thing, the story about the Zika virus originating in the area of South America where GMO mosquitos were released comes to mind.)
If you ever wondered whether you might possibly be an unwilling participant in a science experiment, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that you are.
The Washington Department of Health has recommended that people stay indoors for half an hour after the spray. (They don’t mention anything about sealing doors and windows with duct tape or closing vents to the outside, but hey, maybe that’s just me.) Of course, the USDA, always a proponent of things GMO and unnatural, says everything will be just fine, claiming that “the acidic diet of most Americans renders the bacteria harmless, though it is persistent in produce and food products.” Apparently, this GMO bacteria pesticide has been sprayed on our food for a while now, although I must have missed the announcement of that practice.
Speaking of pesticides, if you’re trying to avoid them check out this newly-released list of the fruits and vegetable with the highest pesticide residue this year. Grab a kleenex, because the things that must now be purchased organically will make you weep.
Let me preface by saying that this little rant does not reflect my opinions on who can use which bathroom. Honestly, I don’t care. There are stall doors. Don’t even get me started on pondering how bathroom laws would be enforced or how it isn’t the government’s place to be potty monitors. We have bigger problems in this country than who pees where and you’d be wise not to get sidetracked by that ridiculous debate.
Okay – back to the story.
I’ll never forget when my kiddo was in 4th grade. She was telling me about an event that happened in school and being very vague in her description of the girl involved. Finally, it dawned on me. I asked her, “Are you talking about the girl in your class who is black?” Since there was only one child in the class of African American descent, that did indeed narrow it down. But my daughter was horrified because the kids had been taught never to refer to a person’s race, even when it was the most accurate descriptor. If I thought that was absolutely ridiculous, I had no idea at the time what was coming down the pipe of political correctness.
Well, here it is. And what has come out of the pipe is the pure sewage of cognitive dissonance.
What could possibly go wrong in a society that politely accepts fantasy as fact? It seems pretty obvious to me that college students are being prepped for the world Orwell had imagined.
I sent out an extra email last week because I stumbled upon a series of events that made me wonder if the economic collapse is truly upon us. The Fed (which isn’t at all federal, but that’s another story – and one you really should read) has issued warnings to 3 major banks that their contingency plans simply won’t cut it. Chillingly, the Fed wrote to JPMorgan Chase that their plan was “not sufficiently actionable” and that it contained a “deficiency” so great that it could “pose serious adverse effects to the financial stability of the United States.” Gulp.
Meanwhile, secret meetings between those in the economic know abounded last week and Saudi Arabia threatened the US with massive economic reprisals – and by massive, I mean billions and billions of dollars – if their part in 9/11 came to light in a bipartisan bill on the table in Congress that would allow victims of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments.
A commodity trader has come forward (sort of…anonymously) and said that the current plan in the economic world is even worse. In his own words:
Here comes my Very-REAL Conspiracy Theory: the stupid FED and other Central Bankers around the world acting in unison to artificially raise inflation so that they can hopefully get out of the F’ing mess they got themselves into with this low/negative rate BS. Call me crazy, and I am not a “conspiracy theorist” – but what is happening has absolutely no “reasonable” explanation. So I have to think outside the box…
The FED and other Central Banks have already destroyed the equity and other macro-financial markets… it is now turn for the commodities markets…
Gee…what could possibly go wrong if/when that plan was enacted? Read the rest of his theory here.
Oh – and on a related note, if you ever wondered why no bankers have gone to jail for their parts in the economic cluster pulling the rest of the country under – an insider explains exactly why in this article. What could possibly go wrong with ignoring that?
I’m not one to say “I told you so!” – wait – who am I kidding? I totally am.
So, here it is.
Remember how I said Scalia’s sudden death, whether it came from natural causes or he was murdered, could change everything? At immediate risk, it seems, will be our right to bear arms.
If you’re wondering what could possibly go wrong if we get someone left-leaning in office, consider that Scalia’s replacement could very likely be the deciding factor in whether or not the Second Amendment remains strong. And now, Chelsea Clinton has danced on his freshly turned grave affirmed the plan to poke even more holes in our right to protect ourselves and our families, and even points out how much easier it will be now that Scalia is no longer on the bench. As reported by SHTFplan:
“It matters to me that my mom also recognizes the role the Supreme Court has when it comes to gun control. With Justice Scalia on the bench, one of the few areas where the court actually had an inconsistent record relates to gun control.”
“Sometimes the court upheld local and state gun control measures as being compliant with the Second Amendment and sometimes the court struck them down.”
“So if you listen to Moms Demand Action and the Brady Campaign and the major efforts pushing for smart, sensible, and enforceable gun control across our country — disclosure [they] have endorsed my mom, they say they believe the next time the court rules on gun control, it will make a definitive ruling.”
Stock up, folks. Food, ammo, and firearms.
Oh – and on a related note, did anybody else notice that Prince was immediately autopsied and a Supreme Court Justice was pronounced dead over the phone and instantly embalmed, thus precluding the possibility of an investigation into his death? Just sayin’.
Do you have the supplies you need to survive an interruption in the supply chain? Regardless of what type of disaster you are preparing for, it pays to have nutritious, long-term supplies that you can rely on. Preppers Market features the products I use to ensure my own family’s health and well-being. You won’t find any GMOs, any soy, or chemical preservatives in our foods. Gluten-free products are also available for those who do not tolerate wheat products.Go here to check out the
Go here to check out the high-quality offerings, or try a sample pack first. You won’t be disappointed in the delicious taste!
Oh – I do! Here’s one last link. Remember how our cat disappeared on moving day? Well, our pampered housecat managed to survive almost 5 weeks in the forest, and now he’s back. Of course, it got me thinking about how we could all learn some survival lessons from a lost kitty – you can check out the story here, assuming you don’t hate cats or happy endings.
Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! I’m especially interested in learning about the things going on locally to you – the stuff we can’t find on the mainstream news. Please post your links in the comments below!
Ready for Hillary?
If her daughter Chelsea is any indication, a Hillary Clinton president quickly become an even better gun salesman than Obama is now.
The wife of the president who enacted the assault weapons ban in the 90s may well become the next commander in chief, and a Supreme Court without Justice Scalia is more likely than ever to uphold gun control – only this time in a way that sticks.
Chelsea Clinton just said what everybody has been thinking – that the Second Amendment may not survive the next president or the next Supreme Court justice.
Chelsea was on the stump when she shared some wisdom imparted to her by her mom — actually stating openly the advantage for gun control made possible by Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death:
“It matters to me that my mom also recognizes the role the Supreme Court has when it comes to gun control. With Justice Scalia on the bench, one of the few areas where the court actually had an inconsistent record relates to gun control.”
“Sometimes the court upheld local and state gun control measures as being compliant with the Second Amendment and sometimes the court struck them down.”“So if you listen to Moms Demand Action and the Brady Campaign and the major efforts pushing for smart, sensible, and enforceable gun control across our country — disclosure [they] have endorsed my mom, they say they believe the next time the court rules on gun control, it will make a definitive ruling.” (via The Daily Caller)
Watch the Video:
Normally this falls under the category of things that are quietly done once the election is over; but to say it during the campaign is quite unnerving.
There are many reasons to believe that the country may be too far gone already, but it may be unrecognizable in just a a few more years.
Do you think the Second Amendment will survive the next wave of judicial activism, or a Hillary presidency (which is becoming increasingly likely as November approaches)?
Read more:
Obama’s Nominee Will Unleash Supreme Court Assault on Freedom: “Gun Rights Would Not Survive”
Hillary Wants to Sue Gun Industry Into Oblivion, But Give Vaccine Manufactures “Absolute Immunity”
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
U.S. Army photo.
What’s that being sprayed in the skies?
Residents living in Western Washington are about to be doused with a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), as a government agency attempts to control gypsy moths who plague agriculture in the area.
It has many people alarmed at the use of the genetically modified pesticide in the area where they live and breathe.
KOMO News in Seattle reports:
A controversial pesticide program will be underway Saturday in Pierce County.
“Once [the troubling gypsy moth] become established it becomes very difficult to do anything that slows it down,” said Hector Castro, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “We don’t want it to become established at all in Washington State.”
[…] Saturday the state will start spraying seven areas in Western Washington with a pesticide called Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki or Btk.
As Your News Wire points out, this insecticide has been genetically engineered by leading biotech firms specifically for use on GMO crops:
The program, opposed by many residents, will spray a bacteria with pesticide properties called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), the same bacteria gene commonly used in GM crops to kill insects.
Now, residents across Washington state are part of an unannounced experiment where they are being sprayed with a pesticide that can admittedly accumulate in the body, and has been found in tissue samples of people throughout North America. Though the exposure level is said to be low, it doesn’t mean that there is no effect.
The state authorities claim that the pesticide is safe for the general population, yet conversely admit that it could affect people with health problems:
Lauren Jenks with the Washington State Department of Health… says people who could be impacted by the spraying are those with repertory issues.
“We recommend they try to minimize their exposure to the Btk by staying inside for up to a half hour after the spray,” said Jenks.
However, the USDA and other organizations claim that the acidic diet of most Americans renders the bacteria harmless, though it is persistent in produce and food products. It is widely used on crops, and is even used on organic crops.
Nevertheless, in countless cases, agencies throughout the government have proven far too willing to accept ‘minimal risk’ in favor of policies for the great good, even if it means a negative health impact on the community.
In the past, the government has tested bacteriological agents over American and British cities, including San Francisco.
The tests, conducted in secret, have now been declassified, but their negative impact has been minimized.
What happens when they decide to treat us all like bugs?
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
Claire Bernish
April 22, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) Fascism doesn’t often sweep in overnight and take over some hapless nation’s government; rather, it gradually seeps into the cultural fabric — as is quietly taking place all around the globe, evidenced by an upsurge in sales of riot equipment that has gone largely unnoticed.
A new report from analysts with industry research group, Sandler Research, forecasts the Global Riot Control System Market for the next four years — but beyond a burgeoning market to parallel the expanding global police state, it appears world governments are also keenly aware of civilian discontent. Sandler predicts the market will have an annual growth of 3.5 percent, and makes a telling juxtaposition, emphases added, involving the United States:
“Law enforcement agencies around the world are the biggest market for riot control systems. This market is expected to generate revenues of over USD 3.5 billion by the end of 2020. Countries such as the U.S., Iran, Egypt, Russia, China, and Thailand have started procuring riot control equipment and are investing heavily in [non-lethal weapons]. Moreover, special vehicles that are equipped with water cannon and reservoirs have been designed for security personnel, for use in areas of conflict to handle large crowds and demonstration. Demand for such equipment is expected to rise during the next few years.”
Note the last sentence in its truncated time frame.
Specifically, the analysts continue:
“In North America, the prominent markets are Canada and the U.S. and law enforcement agencies in these nations are best equipped with the upgraded weapons. The militarization of the police department and other law enforcement agencies in the Americas has encouraged the use of advanced riot control equipment.”
While swaths of the country debate the finer points of which lesser evil should take the helm of the corporate plutocracy, various U.S. law enforcement agencies have been gearing up for the virtually inevitable unrest both during and following those elections.
Militarized police forces have become de rigueur, even in the nation’s smallest towns — but arming law enforcement with the weapons of war, rather than protecting civilians, has birthed a chasm of distrust and animosity on both sides. It isn’t as if this equipment is being produced by a marketplace intent on keeping civilians safe from an ostensible outside threat.
As the report, which does not offer a breakdown of specific agencies it might be referring to (though may in its body which can be purchased for $2,500 here), definitively states:
“Law enforcement agencies use riot control systems to maintain the public order and safety and to enforce laws. They are used to disperse, control, and arrest people involved in riots and protests. Riot control systems include lethal and non-lethal weapons (NWLs), body-worn cameras, armored vehicles, and communications systems.”
As if released in conjunction with one another, a report by Lloyd’s intones the necessity of preparedness as mass civil unrest can not only spark without prior warning, but flare outward, unpredictably — what the insurer calls “Political Violence Contagion.” According to the report, instances of political violence “contagion (pandemics) have become more frequent, and the contagion effect ever more rapid and impactful.”
Considering massive worldwide demonstrations in the U.S. and elsewhere — as people finally grasp how corrupt governments actually are — it becomes apparent in these reports the politicians and their enforcement agencies comprehend the greatest threat to their power. As caucuses and primaries fall into chaos — and the City of Cleveland gears up for the Republican National Convention — voters and nonvoters alike harbor greater disillusionment than ever before.
Cleveland, whose police are currently under federal oversight following a Department of Justice probe that found a general pattern of brutality, plans to spend around $20 million to beef up security measures for the RNC. While part of the sum will focus on training, personnel expenditures, and the like, Vox reported 40 percent will be earmarked for “equipment and supplies” — including, in part, 2,000 sets of full-body riot gear. Additionally, if not ominously, the city “has put out bids for, among other things, 24 sets of ballistic body armor, 300 patrol bikes, and more than 3.7 miles of interlocking steel barriers, all of which can be used to curtail protestors,” according to Vox.
Together, the reports paint a dire prediction — not as much for its illustration of a world in chaos, but for its intimation authoritarian actors may act aggressively to quash even positive and peaceful change by the rest of us.
This article (New Report Proves US Law Enforcement Preparing for Rioting on a National Scale) 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
SM Gibson
April 21, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) Springdale, AK – On Monday, an 18-year-old man was arrested after filling a water cup with soda at an Arkansas McDonald’s.
The incident began when Cody Morris, who is now facing felony robbery charges, drove through his local McDonald’s drive-thru accompanied by two friends. He placed an order for three large waters. After receiving their complimentary drinks at the window, the trio parked the vehicle and went inside the establishment to fill the freshly emptied cups with soda.
A manager noticed the renegade group of thirst-queching teens and did not hesitate to confront the mischievous rabblerousers. Upon approach, two of the three handed over their McBooty to the employee without incident. Cody would not give back his free cup of liquid diabetes so easily.
The band of soda-guzzling pirates walked out of the establishment and got into the car to leave – but they couldn’t, because the manager decided to stand directly behind the path of the running vehicle to prevent the lads from driving away. According to police, Cody, who was driving, hit the fast food supervisor with the car. As the manager then reached into the vehicle to grab the keys, which were still in the ignition, the driver hit the manager with the car again. All of this over $1.49 cup of fizzy sugar.
According to USA Today:
“The car drove off, and the manager called police. Officers found the car and Morris at a bowling alley, and he was arrested on suspicion of felony robbery. (Allegedly hitting the manager with the car is what presumably elevated the charges.”
As reported by KHBS in Arkansas, despite allegedly hitting the manager with his car, “The police report lists one charge against Morris – that of felony robbery. The Washington County Detention Center website shows Morris was booked into jail Tuesday, and had a Rule 8.1 hearing scheduled for Friday morning.”
This article (Teen Charged With Felony After Filling Water Cup With Soda at McDonald’s) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to SM Gibson 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
Anti-Media Staff
April 21, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) In a rare show of bipartisanship, President Obama and top Republicans in Congress have come together to shield Americans from knowing the truth about who was behind the 9/11 terror attacks, which took the lives of 2996 people in 2001. However strange it is for neoconservative members of Congress to agree with Obama on anything, there is no doubt the issue must be serious if it warrants this level of partnership.
The issue at hand is the classified, 28-page section of the 9/11 commission report, which many experts and politicians with knowledge of the documents have said point to Saudi Arabian government officials’ direct role in the terror attacks. This is why the Saudis put out a stern warning several days ago threatening to dump up to $750 billion in U.S. assets if Senate Bill 2040 becomes law; S.B. 2040 would make public the 28 pages and also allow for victims of 9/11 to sue foreign governments found responsible.
The Saudis’ warning seems to have worked, with Obama now in the nation to “mend ties” with the monarchy and top Republicans sounding the alarm about the 9/11 bill. In an interview with Charlie Rose, President Obama claimed:
“If we open up the possibility that individuals in the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries,” apparently referencing the U.S.’ own attacks overseas that have taken the lives of countless civilians.
Currently, Saudi Arabia enjoys “sovereign immunity” with the U.S., meaning even if the 28 pages proved Saudi officials were indeed behind the 9/11 attacks, Americans would not be able to seek justice for their losses. The new 9/11 bill would change that, and the Saudi response to the legislation moving through Congress reinforces suspicions the kingdom is somehow behind the 9/11 attacks.
The video below further explains why both Saudi Arabia and members of the U.S. government don’t want the 9/11 bill to pass:
This article (Why US Govt. And Saudi Arabia Don’t Want Americans Knowing the Truth About 9/11) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Robert J. Fisch. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
From theantimedia.org Team
The news network reports have been combined with leaks within the intelligence communities of Europe and the United States to paint a picture of a possible spring offensive in Eastern Ukraine by Russia. Now that Ukraine’s “bid” to enter the EU seems to be coming apart at the seams, the United States and the Western IMF hegemony seem to be in an indecisive state about what option to pursue next.
Arseny Yatsenuk, the puppet of the United States installed by Victoria Nuland, John McCain, and Lindsay Graham has resigned, so no more words of ventriloquism will be emanating from his lips. Petro Poroshenko the chocolate magnate will now hold the reins in his hands while the IMF/NATO cartel figures out what is next in store. The plan to “take” Ukraine into NATO and the EU was nothing more than a thinly disguised design to encroach upon Russia’s back door and invade her sphere of influence.
The Daily Mail’s Allan Hall reported that Vladimir Putin has been building a secret army of trained battle groups for close combat operations in Western Europe, specifically in Germany. These battle groups are reported as being ready to go into operation “at a moment’s notice.”
Actually this is nothing new. Vladimir B. Rezun, writing under the pen name Viktor Suvorov has written such revelatory pieces such as “Inside the Soviet Army,” and “Inside the Aquarium,” the latter work chronicling the GRU and Spetsnaz operations throughout the world on behalf of the Soviet Union. The techniques (as corroborated by Stanislev Lunev, a defecting Colonel and author of several works on the subject) have carried over into Russia today.
Russia has always been adept at inserting agents and clandestine operatives in other countries in the event of hostilities. Of course, these agents are also performing intelligence-gathering functions, but they are in a “hold” pattern for the most part. The agents Hall refers to in his report have a wealth of experience drawn from more than a decade of brush and ghost wars (such as Chechnya I and II, Georgia, Ukraine, and recently Syria). The Russian military policy is to expose their special units in these brush wars to “get their feet wet” and give them a taste of combat operations. Subsequently they are inserted into their target countries, and the ones who have experienced combat are pegged for leadership positions in an operational capacity.
The Russian response in Eastern Ukraine is justified and, under the circumstances, completely understandable. Ukraine is very important for the transmission of natural gas resources through Gazprom Russian pipelines: Ukraine is the “bridge” linking those gas supplies to Western Europe. The United States and NATO have failed miserably in their attempt to undercut Russia by securing part of Syria for a planned competing gas line running from Qatar. So much for the IMF’s bid to deprive Russia of natural gas income from Western Europe.
In Eastern Ukraine, the fighting against the Ukrainian military is always reported by the mainstream media as being “initiated by pro-Russian separatist rebels.” In all actuality, the fighting was initiated by the Ukrainian army against Ukrainian citizens who are ethnically, culturally, and linguistically Russian. The United States and NATO overthrew Viktor Yanukovich because he was pro-Russia. The Ukrainian Constitution and the duly elected leader of the Ukraine were trampled upon, as Nuland played the role of Geppetto, and Yatsenuk the part of Pinocchio.
Insert into all of this Soros and his Open Society Initiative foundations, and you find that he was responsible for the rise of Maidan and the ultra-nationalist faction that staged the protests and enabled the confusion for the coup to come to its fruition.
The Russians, on the other hand, neither mince words nor fool around. As soon as Sevastopol and their naval base on the Black Sea was threatened, they acted. With the current Russian military-supported actions by the separatists, what is not being reported upon is the high level of atrocities that almost amount to ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ukrainian military.
Soros and the other Oligarchs are bent and determined to have Russia capitulate and allow Ukraine to join the rest of their European hegemony. They’re not going to succeed. We will probably find out this spring or summer if indeed Russia feels it must secure more territory in Ukraine in order to more firmly establish a buffer against the West and its allies. Ukraine is a hotspot to watch, and surely the U.S. will try to insert another yes-man of the ilk of Yatsenuk, probably one with a little more ability this time.
Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson is also a Gunsmith, a Certified Master Herbalist, a Montana Master Food Preserver, and a graduate of the U.S. Army’s SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape). He lives in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with his wife and three cats. You can follow Jeremiah’s regular writings at SHTFplan.com or contact him here.
This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.
Also Read:
How an Attack on America Would Probably Begin: Possible Courses Of Action By Foreign Military Powers
How To Survive Occupied America: “Red Dawn Just Started… And You’re In It”
Collision Course: As Obama Weakens America, The Russians And Chinese Prepare
Report: Is China Preparing For a Land Of Invasion Of the West Coast Of the United States?
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.
Editor’s Comment: The system has been giving its all to wear-down the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But despite it all, we are still individuals with God-given rights, and people everywhere are refusing to give them up. If that ever changes, the last bulwark between total control will break down.
Police generally are trying to do their job, but those who attempt to trample on the 4th Amendment, or spite the 1st are helping to destroy the country whether they realize it or not, and whether or not they have good intentions. The people in this video should be commended for asserting their rights, and refusing to be intimidated and aid the police in their own enslavement by giving into a “nothing to hide, so why not” warrantless search.
Dept Won’t Identify Cop Who Showed up at Couple’s Home Without a Warrant and Lost it When They Refused a Search
by Piper McGowan
Police protecting or serving, or a gestapo goon squad? You decide.
Welcome to America, where you never know when the gestapo is going to knock on your door and attempt to search you for “crimes” that you didn’t commit, especially if you answer the door armed with a gun you legally own. In fact, it’s a lot like that old saying about if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Well, is living in America a crime until a cop shows up?
Looks like someone forgot what the 4th Amendment is. And the 2nd Amendment. Aw heck, let’s just say the whole Bill of Rights.
The video below shows an unidentified Valdosta Police Officer completely lose it in the doorway of Earl Cannady after the officer tries to imply they might be doing drugs because they are “investigating” and his wife’s brother has a history of drug use.
It goes a little something like this:
“You’re at my house. I don’t even know why you’re here. You’re at my house asking why I have a gun?” Mr. Cannady said to the police.
Cannady shuts the door and gets his phone to record the nice little visit.
The officer insists the couple might be involved in drugs because the cop knows the wife’s maiden name and links it to her brother (because every person is immediately guilty for the crimes of their family members, okay check).
The officer then asks “Do you mind if we search your house?” — proof they have no proof because if they did, they would have probably initiated one of those lovely no-knock raids that always get innocent civilians killed.
Cannady responds, “You ain’t searching sh*t, you got a warrant?”
The cop obviously doesn’t, so he goes, “Bet I can go get one.” Gee, really? Then why didn’t you?
Cannady simply goes, “Bye” as in “bye bye tyrannical officer showing up at my door and trying to strip me of my 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures without legitimate probable cause.”
Then it goes from bad to worse:
“Now if you got a problem with those kids, you take it up with those kids, but I’m going to tell you something right now, you don’t got a f*cking investigation on me,” Cannady says.
“Number one, you’re going to quit f*cking cussing at me,” the detective shouts.
“You’re at my house,” Cannady responds.
“I don’t give a f*ck if I’m at your house or not, you ain’t going to talk to me like that, you understand me?”
“I think you’re getting too close,” Cannady warns.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think,” the detective yells, flipping out, to which Cannady says, “I need you to calm down.”
When I demand people stop cussing at me, I always cuss at them even more while I do it, leaving them wondering why it matters if anyone cusses.
The police still claim illegal drug use was happening in the house or a nearby house or… somewhere… but no warrant has been served and no one has been arrested, so again, if a tree falls in the forest…
The Valadosta Police also claim this cop was disciplined for his unprofessional, ridiculous behavior but they didn’t clarify exactly how so, again, if a police department says it disciplined a cop but the department refuses to even release the guy’s name, let alone what type if any discipline happened, did it really happen?
And the winner for best comment goes to:
Yep, that’s what being a hero is all about. Make sure and share that with all those first graders who say they want to be “American heroes” when they grow up…
Related Reads
Police State USA: Simply Wearing an ‘Anonymous’ Mask in America Can Get You Arrested Now
Call It What It Is: America Is a Police State
Disturbing Video Shows What Public School Looks Like in a Police State as a Cop Beats a Student
This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
This article was written by Joshua Krause and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.
Editor’s Comment: As the economy tilts towards outright instability, silver and gold (among other precious metals) are worthwhile items to have. So it is no wonder that the price of silver is at a highpoint right now.
Anyone paying attention has to be wondering how much long the paper dollars in hand – or worse, inside a bank and beyond the reach of the ATM – will be worth much of anything at all. Is a tipping point coming?
Silver Explodes: Precious Metal Price Reaches 11 Month High
by Joshua Krause
In recent months a lot of attention has been given to gold. After a decade long rally that saw its price rise above $1,800 per ounce, gold has disappointing investors after floundering for the past 3 years. But now the precious metal is rallying again. The price of gold has increased by 17% this year, making the 1st quarter of 2016 the most impressive in 30 years.
Silver however has been lagging behind. Despite normally keeping pace with gold, silver has only increased 8% this year, but that may be about to change. Silver was up by more than 4% on Tuesday and briefly reached over $17 an ounce; the highest it’s been in 11 months. It’s believed that the gold-silver ratio is what’s driving the price. The two metals typically rise and fall together, and investors believe that silver is poised to catch up to gold.
But more than that, the price of both metals has grown in light of a weakening dollar, volatile markets, and concerns that a major recession is on its way. Most hedge funds are currently betting that the gold rally isn’t over yet, and the number of contracts on gold futures hasn’t been this high since 2012.
What do you think? Is gold and silver finally ready to break out and recover from the losses of the past few years?
—
This article was written by Joshua Krause and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.
Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshua’s reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger .
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
You don’t necessarily have to pull out your wallet, and pay big bucks for storable food, emergency camping equipment, ammo and fatigues… though you can if you want.
Instead, if you are just starting to prep, check out these essential items and focus most of all on the mindset of being ready for anything.
This video by the Dynamic Prepper gives some good insight into doing what counts – instead of what costs.
The Dynamic Prepper writes:
Top Ten things to get to start your prepping. Have you wanted to prep but don’t know where to start because of too much info and too many big prepping companies telling you to buy expensive “starting packages”. Tell those prepping corps. to take a hike!!! Start this list today. With a little money and weekends worth of shopping you will be well on your way to keeping yourself and your family fed and safe in extreme times.
In many cases you can make your own kits – for first aid, bug out bags and more – and perhaps you should.
Not only could it save money, but it will ensure that you are thinking about the use and purpose of every item you intend to carry or use.
Read more:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: Where Every Prepper Should Start
5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes
How Horrific Will It Be For The Non-Prepper?
29 Essential Tips for the New Prepper: “Start Small. Develop Your Skills. Create a Plan”
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
It seems the end really is nigh for the U.S. dollar.
And the mudfight for global dominance and currency war couldn’t be more ugly or dramatic.
The Saudis are now openly threatening to take down the U.S. economy in the ongoing fallout over collapsing oil prices and tense geopolitical events involving the 9/11 cover-up. The New York Times reports:
Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
China has been working for years to establish global currency status, and will strengthen the yuan by backing it with gold in moves clearly designed to cripple the role of the dollar. Zero Hedge reports:
China’s shift to an official local-currency-based gold fixing is “the culmination of a two-year plan to move away from a US-centric monetary system,” according to Bocom strategist Hao Hong. In an insightfully honest Bloomberg TV interview, Hong admits that “by trading physical gold in renminbi, China is slowly chipping away at the dominance of US dollars.”
Putin also waits in the shadows, making similar moves and creating alliances to out-balance the United States with a growing Asian economy on the global stage.
Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange asks “Is This The End of the U.S. Dollar?” in the video below.
He writes:
In this video Luke Rudkowski reports on the breaking news of both China and Saudi Arabia making geopolitical moves that could cause a U.S economic collapse and obliteration of the U.S hegemony petrodollar. We go over China’s new gold backed yuan that cannot be traded in U.S dollars and rising tension with Saudi Arabia threatening economic blackmail if their role in 911 is exposed.
Visit WeAreChange.org where this video report was first published.
The Federal Reserve, Henry Kissinger, the Rockefellers and their allies created the petrodollar and insisted upon the world using the U.S. dollar to buy oil, placing debt in American currency and entire countries under the yoke of the West.
But that paradigm has been crumbling as world order shifts away from U.S. hegemony.
It is a matter of when – not if – these events will change the U.S. financial landscape forever.
As SHTF has warned, major events are taking place, and no one can say if stability will be here tomorrow.
Stay vigilant, and prepare yourself and your family as best as you can.
Read more:
Pay Attention To The Economy Right Now, Because A Disturbing Series Of Events Seems To Be In Motion
Here’s How We Got Here: A Short Primer On The History Of The Petrodollar
Shock Report: China Dumps Half a Trillion Dollars: “Something Is Very, Very Wrong”
Dollar Moves Shake the World: “Federal Reserve Could Start a Currency War”
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
April 21, 2016
Having a nutrient rich dinner tonight? Want a salad? Choosing healthful ingredients like kale, spinach, tomatoes, and cucumbers?
Here’s the sad truth: unless that salad is organic, those healthful-sounding ingredients could contain more pesticide residue than nearly anything else on the produce aisle. Sure, Big Agri will tell you that the pesticides they use are different and that they won’t harm you, but scientific evidence does not back up their claims.
The good news is, you can avoid all that and you can also speak out by voting with your wallet. The Environmental Working Group has announced their annual Dirty Dozen list for 2016, featuring the foods with the most pesticides. This year, there are two “bonus” foods to avoid when conventionally grown.
I looked at the sentence I just typed and thought, wow, it should be evident why we should avoid those foods. Why would we want to eat something that has been doused in a chemical that kills another organism? In what world does that possibly make sense?
But the thing is, it has become normalized. Everyone knows the plants are sprayed. Big Agri has made it seem like food simply cannot go from seed to table without a heavy, frequent dousing. Anyone who has ever raised even a tomato plant in a pot on the patio knows that is not the case, though.
Pesticides are a big deal. Huge. The ingestion of pesticides can cause health problems such as “birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time.” Especially at risk of harm from pesticides are children. The EPA, you know, the same group that approves pesticides for use, ironically warns:
Infants and children may be especially sensitive to health risks posed by pesticides for several reasons:
- their internal organs are still developing and maturing,
- in relation to their body weight, infants and children eat and drink more than adults, possibly increasing their exposure to pesticides in food and water.
- certain behaviors–such as playing on floors or lawns or putting objects in their mouths–increase a child’s exposure to pesticides used in homes and yards.
Pesticides may harm a developing child by blocking the absorption of important food nutrients necessary for normal healthy growth. Another way pesticides may cause harm is if a child’s excretory system is not fully developed, the body may not fully remove pesticides. Also, there are “critical periods” in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual’s biological system operates. (source)
The website What’s On My Food takes a stronger stance than the EPA regarding the risks of pesticides.
The human health impacts linked to pesticide exposure range from birth defects and childhood brain cancer in the very young, to Parkinsons’ Disease in the elderly. In between are a variety of other cancers, developmental and neurological disorders, reproductive and hormonal system disruptions, and more.
- Autism
- Breast Cancer
- Children’s diseases
- Endosulfan
- Gestational diabetes
- Parkinson’s Disease
I know organic food is expensive. I know your Grandma and your Great Uncle Henry never bought fancy organic produce at Whole Foods and both lived to be 110 and that you, personally, are most likely the picture of health. But things have changed since Grandma and Great Uncle Henry were kids.
Every day, folks who are trying to make good choices end up ingesting a daily dose of poison. Why would you willingly ingest poison if you know it’s there? That’s what this list is all about: knowing the poison is there.
There are a few new entries on the EWG’s naughty list this year. If you can’t afford to eat strictly organic (and who can these days?), be sure that these are the foods you splurge on.
Bonus Badness:
To help budget your trip to the organic aisle, these are foods that the EWG says can be purchased with less risk. Farmers use fewer chemicals when raising the following fruits and vegetables. You may notice that two of the items on the list are marked with an asterisk. That’s because these foods are frequently genetically modified. So, you might be avoiding pesticides, but if you’re also trying to avoid GMOs, go for the organic versions of these, also.
Do you have some local farmers near you that sell vegetables all summer? Get to know them and ask how they raise their food! Even without the organic designation, many small farms do not use pesticides like commercial farms do. You can find a local farm or market HERE.
Better yet – you can easily grow quite of few of these yourself! This link will help you learn how to start a garden on a strict budget and at this link you can find more than 300 resources to help you free yourself from the food system.
Take control of your health by making informed choices about what you put into your body. There are many ways to skip the side of poison with dinner. How do you avoid the side of poison in your kitchen? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
America’s proud moniker of ‘Leader of the Free World’ is slipping fast into the recesses of increasingly authoritarian and secretive government.
The World Press Freedom Index, issued by the Watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, ranked the United States at a dismal No. 41 out of 180 countries – putting it just barely in the top quarter of nations, which itself was actually an ‘improvement’ over the past year.
That is a far cry from the perceptions that most Americans have cherished, and politicians have so frequently touted in televised speeches.
The U.S. has lost a lot of ground in such rankings over the course of the past several years of repression in the post-9/11 world and in particular with the clamp down and persecution of whistleblowers, and the journalists who enable them.
According to NPR:
The U.S. is ranked 41 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, which measures the “level of freedom of information in 180 countries.”
Citing the U.S. government’s “war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism,” and the country’s lack of a “shield law” that would allow journalists to protect confidential sources, the report takes a decidedly negative view of U.S. press freedom.
[…] as NPR’s Sam Sanders has reported:
“[Obama’s] Justice Department has cracked down on reporters in an effort to prevent leaks; it also set a new record for withholding access to government files under the Freedom of Information Act (despite calling for a “new era of openness” on his first day in office);
Basically, every major Western democracy ranked ahead of the U.S. in freedoms, and the overall trend is in decline, and a lack of respect for the rights of photographers, citizen journalists and even credentialed press – particularly when asking inconvenient questions with real substance.
[…] The group’s U.S. Director Delphine Halgand says in the report that there is still “room for improvement in the country of the First Amendment.”
The reaction to leaks by Edward Snowden, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange have epitomized this, but there have been many other whistleblowers who were ignored and mistreated.
Former CBS investigative reporter Sheryl Attkisson was harassed by a host of alphabet agencies who hacked her computer and let it be known that her reports on the scandals of the Obama Administration would not be welcomed. Michael Snyder wrote:
Let’s review what has happened to former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson. She was an award-winning journalist for more than thirty years, but that didn’t stop the Obama administration from systematically harassing her. In her new book entitled Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington, she makes some extremely startling claims. She believes that the harassment and intimidation that she experienced were the direct result of her determination to get to the truth about Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the green energy scandals and Obamacare. The following are some of the main points that she has been sharing with the media in recent weeks…
-While she was working at CBS News her computers were hacked by the government, her keystrokes were monitored and potentially incriminating classified material was planted on her hard drive.
There are many more cases, but most of them never make the news, and some are difficult to confirm or report on.
The point is that our rights are slipping away, and the system itself is becoming more entrenched with corruption, and more secretive by the day.
Moreover, it has become sophisticated about its branding and image – Obama appears jovial and friendly towards the ideas of democracy, but in substance his administration has not respected the First Amendment, and obviously not the Second, nor the Fourth Amendment, or due process.
Of course, the most dangerous agencies, like the NSA and CIA, stand above any president, and carry on actions that undermine the rights of Americans as a matter of course, and readily use national security as a pretext to steamroll over the Bill of Rights whenever they get the chance.
Things will only get worse from here unless the core issues are dealt with.
Read more:
National Guard Whistleblower: “Doomsday Preppers Will Be Treated As Terrorists”
When Is It OK To Tell The Truth In America?
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
Claire Bernish
April 20, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) After New York’s stunningly disorganized and questionable primary results proved, yet again, our elections are rigged to ensure establishment darling Hillary Clinton garners the Democratic nomination, a new video from Abby Martin’s Empire Files could topple Clinton’s entire campaign.
Evidence of said rigging isn’t difficult to find — it’s written directly into the electoral process in superdelegates, whose 700 “unpledged” votes remain uncommitted to a candidate until the nomination. This is “to ensure nominees are hand-picked party insiders,” as Martin explains in the video.
“The single vote of a superdelegate is worth thousands of ours,” Martin notes. “Many of these people are current and former members of Congress, and dozens more are literally corporate lobbyists working on behalf of every industry from healthcare to private prisons.”
In fact, the employment of superdelegates was initiated precisely for situations when the people’s choice doesn’t align with the establishment’s — such as the current overwhelming popularity of Bernie Sanders.
But the web of corporate media executives and insiders contributing directly to Hillary Clinton’s campaign couldn’t possibly explain the extreme bias, lack of criticism, and virtual media blackout on Sanders’ success, right? And her campaign, dripping with corporate lobbying cash, wouldn’t concern the American voting public, even though lobbyists literally act as superdelegates — would it?
Watch Empire Files: Abby Martin Exposes What Hillary Clinton Really Represents to see the proof the establishment doesn’t want you to discover.
This article (The Video That Could Bring Down Hillary Clinton’s Campaign) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Gage Skidmore. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
From theantimedia.org Team
Are children safe in public schools?
If the answer seems pretty obvious, it is confirmation that society has definitely gone to extremes that would not have been recognizable in past decades of American history.
Now Denver-area schools are becoming the first to guard their student populations with military-style semiautomatic rifles, and things certainly appear to be escalating.
via NBC News/AP:
A suburban Denver school district is arming its security staff with military-style semiautomatic rifles in case of a school shooting or other violent attack, a move that appears unprecedented even as more schools arm employees in response to mass violence elsewhere.
The guards, who are not law enforcement officers, already carry handguns.
[…]
The move raised new questions about how far school officials should go in arming employees, a practice that has become standard in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.
One can only hope that these weapons would stop a shooter before they could hurt anyone, but there isn’t any guarantee.
Active shooters, mass killings and militarized police and security now haunt the halls where education and learning is supposed to be taking place. More children than ever before are on pharmaceutical medications, despite the known links to suicide and homicide. Between Common Core and politically-correct policies, these institutions are teaching that up-is-down, and down-is-up like never before.
One school in Florida even punished a 16-year old student for wrestling a gunman threatening other students to the ground and preventing a shooting. Active shooter and martial law drills have become commonplace, and many of them have been unannounced, causing terror and panic in students and teachers.
While most schools remain “gun-free zones” and have been reluctant to allow teachers to be armed in the case of the worst incidents, many have readily invested in armed security, surveillance technology and counter-terrorism approaches to “safety” in schools.
The result has been a heightened atmosphere that is increasingly paranoid, and ready to treat anyone and everyone as potential suspects – including children:
Ken Trump, a school safety consultant in Cleveland, said the Douglas County case may mark the first time a district has equipped its in-house security officers with semiautomatic rifles.
“Taking this step certainly ratchets up a notch the whole idea, the question of what’s reasonable, what’s necessary in terms of arming officers,” Trump said.
But are they being protected from potential violence, or indoctrinated in a police state society where even children are under sharp suspicion, and misbehavior is criminalized? Can we see down the road as to whether this is likely to tend towards more freedom, or less? More armed citizens is positive, but more guns only in the hands of police, but private and public, may prove not be.
Regardless, it is a precedent for the growing police state society that expects individuals to conform to the masses, and obey authorities at all costs. Michael Snyder argued that public schools are purposely preparing students to live in such a society:
Our children are the future of America, and our public schools are systematically training them to become accustomed to living in a “Big Brother” police state. All across the United States today, public schools have essentially become “prison grids” that are run by control freaks that are absolutely obsessed with micromanaging the lives of their students down to the smallest detail. As you will read about below, students all over the country are now being monitored by RFID microchips, their lunches are being inspected on a daily basis by school administrators, and the social media accounts of students are being constantly monitored even when they are at home.
[…] One thing that was unheard of back when I was in high school was “active shooter drills”. They are being held in school districts all over the nation today, and they often involve the firing of blanks and the use of fake blood.
In typical fashion, Snyder goes on to make a long list of bizarre school practices that will make your head spin, and are, frankly, teaching the future members of society how to become helpless slaves.
Everyone can see that there is a problem, but nobody seems to know the way to fix it.
There is a fine line somewhere in there…
Read more:
Public Schools Are Preparing America’s Children For Life In A Police State
Zero Tolerance: High School Student Suspended For Disarming School Bus Gunman
Unannounced Shooter Drill Terrifies Students: “I Thought He Was Going to Shoot Me”
Should Your Kids Know How to Bug Out…from School?
1956: “America Peaked Back Then and We’ve Been In Decline Ever Since”
School Threatens to Take Kids If Parents Are Late for Pickup
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
Does your accountant, financial advisor, or bank encrypt your tax return or other financial document with the “last four digits of your SSN”? Many professionals do so with great intentions of protecting their client’s information. So far in the first few months 2016 we’ve seen every accountant and several bank send we’ve dealt with send information encrypted with the last four of the social security number – or request that you send it to them with it encrypted with the last four of your SSN. However, it is not providing any security if someone has the document.
Accountants and other professionals are doing this so that if someone intercepts emailed documents between their computer and your computer the documents are password protected. The problem is that this provides essentially no protection. There are only 10000 combinations between 0000 and 9999 and there is nothing stopping someone from trying all 10000 and trying them quickly. For example, a low end computer from 2014 or 2015 can run through all 10000 possible combinations in just a few seconds.
In short, using a 4 digit password doesn’t do anything to protect the data and is essentially just security theater once your document has been obtained.
The real question is whether or not someone can obtain a copy of the document. If both your email providers (e.g. gmail.com, yahoo.com, live.com etc.) are using an encrypted connection (a SSL/TLS layer) then it is more difficult for someone to intercept the documents and a 4 digit password will do little to more to protect them.
If a professional wishes to use a password, a password should be exchanged by phone prior to sending them over the phone, by mail, or some other method.
This article was written by Daisy Luther and originally published at her TheOrganicPrepper.ca site.
Editor’s Comment: Stability is paper thin, an illusion, a coyote over a cliff. The big banks on Wall Street have seized even greater power since the 2008 and collapse and are poised to consolidate the balance in the wake of the coming “third wave,” as Goldman Sachs recently warned in its own ominous statements.
For preppers, and anybody with a head on their shoulders, staying informed will mean staying ahead of the curve. The insiders at the top know the right moment to pull out their money, but the rest of us don’t. In the absence of privileged information, we can avoid the obvious traps, and hedge ourselves against some of the worst potential repercussions. But the truth is, this next wave could mean wipe out for tens of millions.
Economic Collapse? Fed Issues an Ominous Warning to JPMorgan Chase and Leaders Flock to Secret Meetings
by Daisy Luther
Tick. Tock.
Do you hear that? It’s the clock on the time bomb, and it appears to be ticking relentlessly toward our economic collapse.
It seems like every day, there is a new threat to the financial well-being of the disappearing middle class in America. Of course, less affected are the members of Congress and their buddies on Wall Street. You know, the ones that put the politicians in office to get favorable decisions made on their behalf in Washington.
But if you happen to have been ignoring the folks Obama calls “peddlers of fiction” who have been warning us all of an impending economic crisis along the lines of the last financial collapse, you might want to pay attention now, because a disturbing series of events is in motion.
First of all, the Fed just issued a terrifying warning to the biggest bank in the country.
Finally, the Fed has admitted that we just can’t take another hit without incurring an epic disaster.
And by “admitted” I mean they’ve issued a chilling warning to JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in America.
The letter is addressed to Teflon-coated Jamie Dimon, the leader of the bank (who seems to have made a deal with the Devil to become completely immune to prosecution, no matter what he does.)
It is 19 pages and heavily redacted, but here are some excerpts that should send a chill down your spine. The emphasis is mine.
The Agencies also identified a deficiency in the 2015 Plan regarding the criteria for a rational and less-complex legal entity structure. In order to substantially mitigate the risk that JPMC ‘s material financial distress and failure would have systemic effects, JPMC should ensure that its legal entity structure promotes resolvability under the preferred resolution strategy across a range of failure scenarios. Flexibility—or “optionality”—within the resolution strategy helps mitigate risks that, if not overcome, could otherwise undermine successful execution of the strategy and, more broadly, pose serious adverse effects to the financial stability of the United States.
Then there’s this:
These divestiture options do not appear to provide sufficient optionality under different market conditions.
The divestiture options in the 2015 Plan also were not sufficiently actionable, as the 2015 Plan sections fore did not contain detailed, tailored, and complete separability analyses. For example, only one obstacle to divestiture to the [redacted] key vendor contracts was adequately analyzed; the analysis of the other key obstacles cited regulatory approvals, client communications [redacted]
This is also concerning:
JPMC does not have an appropriate model and process for estimating and maintaining sufficient liquidity at, or readily available to, material entities in resolution (RLAP model). This is notable given J?MC’s liquidity profile in its 2015 Plan, which relies on the firm’s ability to shift substantial amounts of liquidity around the organization during stress, as needed. As explained below, JPMC’s liquidity profile is vulnerable to adverse actions by third parties.
Even without a degree in finance, I know this is bad:
JPMC’s 2015 Plan relied on roughly of parent liquidity support being injected into various material entities, including its U.S. broker-dealers, during the period immediately preceding JPMC’s bankruptcy filing. This includes reliance on funds in foreign entities that may be subject to defensive ringfencing during a time of financial stress.
Here’s the long and the short of it:
Every year, large banks must create a contingency plan that explains what they’ll do if they begin to go under. The biggest bank in the country has such a lackluster, half-baked plan that the Fed called them out on it for 19 pages and warns that their nonchalance could be responsible for the financial instability of the entire country.
PS: Since this isn’t my first rodeo, I downloaded the entire PDF. It’s funny how things have a way of disappearing off the internet when the mainstream media wants to ignore them. You can download it yourself too at this link:
Living-Will-Letter-Issued-to-JPMorgan-Chase
JPMorgan Chase is not alone.
But they’re not the only ones.
Bank of America and Wells Fargo also saw their contingency plans rejected. Zero Hedge reports:
Three of the five largest U.S. banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) have now had their wind-down plans rejected by the Federal agency insuring bank deposits (FDIC) and the Federal agency (Federal Reserve) that secretly sluiced $13 trillion in rollover loans to the insolvent or teetering banks in the last epic crisis that continues to cripple the country’s economic growth prospects.
Are all three banks going down?
But that isn’t even the scariest part.
In case you think it’s just a normal day at the Fed…It isn’t just these warning letters that should make you pay attention. At the risk of sounding like I’m selling Ginsu knives, there’s more.
The Great Recession Blog posted a bullet list that should blow your mind when taken in conjunction with the news above. (Be sure to read the full article – it goes into a lot more detail.) It seems that there’s enough concern to spark a flurry of secret meetings among those in power.
- The Federal Reserve Board of Governors just held an “expedited special meeting” on Monday in closed-door session.
- The White House made an immediate announcement that the president was going to meet with Fed Chair Janet Yellen right after Monday’s special meeting and that Vice President Biden would be joining them.
- The Federal Reserve very shortly posted an announcement of another expedited closed-door meeting for Tuesday for the specific purpose of “bank supervision.”
- A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central-bank heads starts in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, too, and continues through Wednesday.
- Then on Thursday the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund meet in Washington.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta just revised US GDP growth for the first quarter to the precipice of recession at 0.1%.
- US banks are widely expected this week to report their worst quarter financially since the start of the Great Recession.
- The European Union’s new “bail-in” procedures for failing banks were employed for the first time with Austrian bank Heta Asset Resolution AG.
- Italy’s minister of finance called an emergency meeting of Italian bankers to engage “last resort” measures for dealing with 360-billion euros of bad loans in banks that have only 50 billion in capital.
How does this affect you?
Maybe you think this won’t affect you. Maybe you don’t have an account with anyone affiliated with JP Morgan Chase, BofA, and Wells Fargo. Maybe you aren’t an investor. Maybe you don’t have real estate. Maybe you are absolutely certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that your job is secure. Perhaps you have money in the bank, or maybe not – maybe you keep it stuffed in your mattress.
The trouble is, the money you are working overtime to make, the security you feel that you have by saving it…it’s perceived value can be completely wiped out by a financial crisis that occurs on a national level. That’s because if a huge bank like JPMC fails, lots of other companies fail with it. Then this stuff happens:
The bottom line is, income will remain the same, decrease, or even disappear entirely for many of us. Meanwhile, the price of darn near everything will go up. Expect to pay more for things like keeping your utilities on, feeding and clothing your family, keeping a roof over your heads. Aside from that, those dollars you are carefully saving? They are only providing you with the illusion of security.
Aside from that, those dollars you are carefully saving? They are only providing you with the illusion of security.
Here’s what you need to do
Here’s what you need to do immediately in the event of either a market crash or further news of a bank failure. (Of course, if you wait until a bank failure has been announced, you may have waited too long.)
For the long term, focus on information
Hopefully there’s no need to empty out your bank accounts, stock up on last minute supplies, or lock-and-load for home protection. However, if this is an actual 1929/2008-style stock market crash, you need to take your preps to the next level. If you can’t buy your necessities, you’re going to have to produce them, something that is a complete turnaround for most folks.
Information is the key. It’s imperative that you learn everything you can so that you know what you need to add to your preps. As well, it’s essential to acquire the knowledge you need to fend for yourself. Take these two steps, if you haven’t already.
#1. Bookmark these preparedness websites. (Free)
The internet is a wonderful place, and best of all, this knowledge can be found for FREE! The more you know about crisis situations, the more ready you will be to face them. Some sites are friendlier to beginners than others, so if you stumble upon a forum where people seem less than enthusiastic about helping people who are just starting out, don’t let it get you down. Move on and find a site that makes you feel comfortable. Following are some of my favorites, and the link will take you to a good starting point on these sites. In no particular order:
Following are some of my favorites, and the link will take you to a good starting point on these sites. (Actually, it’s wise to begin increasing your knowledge even if we get a reprieve.) In no particular order:
#2. Build your library. (Small expense)
This is where some money could come into play. Most of the time, people in the preparedness world like to have hard copies of important information. This way, if the power goes out and you can’t access the internet or recharge your Kindle, you still have access to vital advice.
Some of these books are for just such an event, while others are guides to building your self-reliance skills. Commit to picking up a good book each pay period until you have a library to reference during any type of scenario.
(This is the be-all and end-all Bible of prepping. I wish I could put my own book first, but Tess’s book is the most complete compendium out there, broken into easy, manageable steps.)
(This is my newest book, which outlines building your pantry while on a strict budget)
(While this book is about hardcore frugality, trust me, there’s crossover. There are a lot of great suggestions for creating stockpiles on a budget, living simply, and doing things the old-fashioned way. And saving money is always a good idea, so that you can use it to help you become more prepared.)
(A compendium of all things self-reliance)
(If you can’t protect it, you don’t own it. It’s that simple.)
(By James Wesley Rawles, who many consider to be the “Father” of the modern preparedness movement)
(Quick, inexpensive preparedness steps that anyone can take)
(It’s vital to have a guide on hand that doesn’t rely on 911 for serious injuries, in the event that you’re completely on your own)
(It’s awesome to grow your food, but how will you make it last through the winter, particularly during an off-grid scenario?)Be sure to check out used bookstores, libraries, and garage sales, too. Look for books that teach self-reliant skills like sewing, gardening, animal husbandry, carpentry, repair manuals, scratch cooking, and plant identification. You can often pick these up for pennies, and older books don’t rely on expensive new technology or tools for doing these tasks.
Have they finally kicked the can to the end of the road?
Things aren’t looking good. It makes me wonder if all of the quantitative easing and can-kicking has finally reached the point that they can’t push economic disaster back any further.
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
Also From Daisy Luther:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Guide To Prepare For Any Disaster
Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)
How to Prepare for a Cyber Attack: ‘These Systems Could Be Completely Inoperable or Breached’
San Andreas for Preppers: 12 Essential Survival Lessons from the Movie
12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed
Lock and Load: Are You Prepared for Civil Unrest?
You’ve Been Warned: Why You Need to Be Ready for Total Grid Failure
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
Michaela Whitton
April 19, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Women who have become a little too fond of their night caps are being treated with implants to help them curb their drinking. According to Irish media, women between the ages of 30 and 50 have replaced afternoon chats over tea and cake with a glass of wine — and they are increasingly seeking help for addiction. Naltrexone, the implant prescribed, is traditionally associated with heroin users, but the opiate-blocker also reduces the pleasures and highs associated with alcohol consumption.
At first glance, the report in the Irish Independent reads somewhat sexist. It warns against the wine drinking culture of “ladies who lunch” and “middle-class women” who have become accustomed to a bottle of wine every night to shake off the day. Doctors claim the increased consumption is partly caused by the feminist revolution and “newly defined gender roles” that place pressure and expectations on women.
Archaic as their logic sounds, the concerns about the troublesome culture shift are echoed by hepatologists at Cork University hospital. Dr. Orla Crosbie said in the last decade there has been a huge increase in the number of women in need of treatment for alcohol-related liver disease. In her own practice, almost 40% of the patients being treated for cirrhosis of the liver are female.
Naltrexone implants are inserted under women’s skin during a fifteen-minute procedure. Prescribed to both alcohol- and opiate-dependent patients, they help combat cravings and assist in reducing or controlling the patient’s substance misuse. Lasting for three months and costing a whopping €1,150, the implant requires patients to abstain from their drug of choice during treatment. However, the implant is not a cure-all, and as with anything, the individual must be motivated to change. Proof of this is evidenced in rumours of desperate users contemplating the extreme measure of cutting out their own implants.
Since One Step — an Irish clinic for addiction treatment — began the programme 18 months ago, hundreds of patients have attended the part-time rehab programme, which allows them to access treatment and still attend work. Many are receiving counselling in conjunction with the implant.
Describing the troublesome new trend in alcohol use, Dr. Crosbie said it certainly isn’t something Ireland would have seen ten or twenty years ago. She said it is tragic to see so many young females with very significant health issues due to alcohol, and added that some are dying and leaving behind young children.
“We do need to change our attitude towards alcohol to try and reverse the situation, and have a healthier relationship with alcohol in Ireland,” she said.
This article (Women Being Prescribed Surgical Implants to Combat Alcohol Issues) 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. Image credit: Multimotyl. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
From theantimedia.org Team
April 19, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) Amid further reports of numerous problems with today’s primary election — including reports of some 126,000 voters purged from the rolls — New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer announced on Tuesday he will be auditing the city’s Board of Elections.
“There is nothing more sacred in our nation than the right to vote, yet election after election, reports come in of people who were inexplicably purged from the polls,” the Comptroller stated. “The people of New York City have lost confidence that the Board of Elections can effectively administer elections and we intend to find out why the BOE is so consistently disorganized, chaotic and inefficient.”
Stringer was so alarmed, he penned a letter to NYC BOE Director Michael J. Ryan about the audit, noting his “deep concern over widespread reports of poll site problems and irregularities” — and demanded the BOE provide viable explanations for each.
“Voters across the city have complained about poll workers erroneously redirecting them to different poll sites, poll workers unable to operate voting machines, poll workers unable to produce the correct party ballot for an individual voter, and poll workers giving conflicting information,” he wrote.
“Of particular concern are numerous allegations of widespread removal of eligible voters from voter-registration rolls, as well as instances of incorrect party affiliations on individual registration records. These errors have conspired to bar first time and longtime voters from exercising their fundamental democratic right.”
Stringer’s concerns were echoed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio this afternoon, who issued a statement cited by Politico about the ongoing turmoil and outrage:
“It has been reported to us from voters and voting rights monitors that voting lists in Brooklyn contain numerous errors, including the purging of entire buildings and blocks of voters from the voting lists. I am calling on the Board of Elections to reverse that purge and update the lists again using Central, not Brooklyn borough, Board of Election staff.”
In fact, a spokesman for State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman claimed his office has already received “by far the largest volume of complaints” from any election since 2011, Politico reported.
In concurrence with Stringer’s audit announcement, de Blasio added:
“We will hold the BOE commissioners responsible for ensuring that the Board and its borough officers properly conduct the election process to assure that voters are not disenfranchised. The perception that voters may have been disenfranchised undermines the integrity of the entire electoral process and must be fixed.”
Despite these telling public statements from officials, Ryan told the Observer:
“I bristle at the suggestion that some folks might be making that there are widespread problems. We’re just not seeing it.” He added the snafus occurring Tuesday were “what we typically see during elections.”
Ryan did mention he’d been away from his office most of the day, yet repeatedly rebuffed suggestions the voluminous number of reports were anything out of the ordinary for an election.
“Comptrollers audit agencies, that’s why comptrollers are there,” Ryan told the Observer about Stringer’s intent to audit. “If Comptroller Stringer believe that it is a worthy use of his agency resources to investigate the Board of Elections, we’re no different than any other city agency.”
With voters increasingly irate over inexplicable difficulties in simply casting a primary vote, we may be in for quite the ride in November.
This article (Primary Chaos: NY Elections Face Audit After 126,000 Mysteriously Denied Right to Vote) 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
AnonHQ Staff
April 19, 2016
(ANONHQ) It seems that Costco can’t get enough organic fruit and vegetables to supply its customers; and is now bypassing its competitor Whole Foods with a whopping $4 billion in its annual organic sales. In a bid to assist the supply to their warehouses, Costco is lending money to farmers to help them purchase land and equipment to grow more organic produce.
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek told investors in Washington earlier this year “We cannot get enough organics to stay in business day in and day out.”
The financial assistance for organic farmers is only a pilot program and still in its infancy, reports the Seattle Times. At this stage, they’re working with one partner, a San-Diego based Andrew and Williamson Fresh Produce purchase a further 1,200 acres of land.
But Costco is hopeful that the project will be expanded for future farmers if successful. Long-term contracts and advance payments to organic farmers may soon be an initiative of the future as Costco struggles to keep up with customer demand in an era plagued by uncertain GMO production.
Costco has also led the way in similar schemes. Two years ago it worked with a Mexican vendor who initially relied on shrimp caught in Thailand, to diversify. Now, the vendor gets their shrimp from the Sea of Cortez, rather than the Thai fishing industry where slave labor is prevalent.
In 2015, Costco started the contracting process with Nebraskan owners of organic fields. After purchasing cattle, they’re now encouraging ranchers to raise the livestock, ensuring a supply for its organic ground-beef program, Seattle Times reports.
Costco’s initiative is a step in the right direction, but Organic Trade Association spokeswoman Angela Jagiello said “demand is increasing. But we’re not seeing the same level of farmland.” Something that may have to do with the ever increasing stronghold Monsanto and the like have over agriculture.
It’s forcing food chains to buy their own land to produce what they need for their consumers, including Nature’s Path Foods Inc. and Pacific Foods, Wall Street Journal reports.
Ultimately, this move has been driven by consumers demanding a healthier choice. Establishing a sustainably grown organic agriculture again, is speaking volumes against Big Ag companies.
Ronnie Cummins, the international director of the Organic Consumers Association stated its “a transition we have to make if we’re going to address the multiple crises of declining health, declining local economies, [and] declining biodiversity.”
This Article (Costco Begins Helping Farmers Buy Land to Supply Exploding Demand for Organic Food) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
From theantimedia.org Team
The War on Cash has many fronts.
The latest battle is for the face of the currency itself, and the central bankers, who control the front anyway, have imposed a symbolic defeat against the leaders in America’s past who have fought against the stranglehold of the money makers.
Naturally, there are liberal politics at play, fighting for every inch of ground in the war for ideological re-engineering. History is being whitewashed, various figures of antiquity rolling in their graves….
At stake is a dispute for the powers of government even better than the more famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, of whom we also speak.
The iconic $20 bill, with the face of President Andrew Jackson, and the $10 bill, with the face of the nation’s first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, have long pitted two ideological extremes against each other as they pass along as some of the most used denominations in circulation.
But now, the money powers at the Treasury Department have decided that it is time to add a woman’s face to the money supply as well.
As such, the powers-that-bank have decided to oust Andrew Jackson from the line up, and with it, part of his legacy.
It will be “removed in favor of a female representing the struggle for racial equality,” according to CNN, while an early proposal to remove Alexander Hamilton’s bill will be scrapped, though the proposal includes a redesign on the backs of his and several other notes with scenes from the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, Susan B. and all the gals.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce this week that Alexander Hamilton’s face will remain on the front of the $10 bill and a woman will replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill, a senior government source told CNN on Saturday.
Dramatically, it seems that there was a backlash to counter the coup against Hamilton, including support from former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke:
The decision to make the historic change at the expense of Hamilton drew angry rebukes from fans of the former Treasury Secretary. The pro-Hamilton movement gained steam after the smash success of the hip-hop Broadway musical about his life this year.
Those pressures led Lew to determine that Hamilton should remain on the front of the bill.
And there’s a reason for Bernanke’s bias towards Hamilton.
Here’s the scoop from the Economic Policy Journal, who called it a “despicable decision”:
It was Hamilton, who from the early days of the nation clamored for a central bank and a strong interventionist federal government.
I have quoted Thomas DiLorenzo on the evil Hamilton before:
Hamilton was a compulsive statist who wanted to bring the corrupt British mercantilist system — the very system the American Revolution was fought to escape from — to America. He fought fiercely for his program of corporate welfare, protectionist tariffs, public debt, pervasive taxation, and a central bank run by politicians and their appointees out of the nation’s capital….
Hamilton complained to George Washington that “we need a government of more energy” and expressed disgust over “an excessive concern for liberty in public men”…
The Philadelphie Federal Reserve publication. A History of Central Banking in America, reports:
Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, urged Congress to also assume the war debts of the individual states and then create a national bank to help refinance all these debts. Hamilton’s proposal faced major opposition. Critics said that Hamilton’s bank was unconstitutional, would be a monopoly, and would reduce the power of the states. Although Hamilton won, the bank’s charter was limited to 20 years.
And that’s right where Andrew Jackson’s legacy with the banks picks up.
With the charter of the first “Bank of the United States” ending, Jackson was determined to stop the charter of the second “Bank of the United States” and famously stated:
“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.” (Andrew Jackson, to a delegation of bankers discussing the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, 1832)
President Jackson likened their agents to the hydra-beast, with its many heads, and even survived an assassination attempt, by staving off an attacker personally.
The bankers, and the powerful families including the Rothschilds who supported it, wanted a “national bank” because they could load the board with “their” guys and outweigh the will of the people and the normal channels of government.
Of course, the same exact state of affairs has been going on today for more than a century with the Federal Reserve, which is run by the successors to the same exact banking interests, including the still immensely-powerful Rothschild family.
The struggle is depicted well in “The Money Masters,” which spans several centuries of history with the threat of banking powers over individual sovereignty in stark contrast. To be sure, there is an important and nefarious plot afoot to ensnare you, your family and everyone on the block with debt.
There is a line, and you should figure out what side of it you’re going to be on.
Jackson narrowly succeeded in staving off banker domination of the U.S. during his day.
Of course, Andrew Jackson, who was the United States’ seventh president, was also a complete controversy his entire lifetime. It is no surprise that the same people who took down the Confederate flag from the South on the back of a mass shooting tragedy are now trying to tear down the image of a particularly controversial and intriguing figure from the American past.
Jackson was a recalcitrant and unyielding general and war hero, and later an outsider riding a wave of populist support into the White House, bringing in sometimes unscrupulous companions, and plenty of Masons. Many of his backers were diametrically opposed to the entrenched power of New York bankers and speculators, as well as patrician politicians who dominated the first phase of politics in the nation’s history. Jackson played a nasty role in the Trail of Tears affairs with Indians, too, and with the South and Western expansion of slave-friendly territories. Many shades of grey.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes in the founding days of this country, Alexander Hamilton, an advocate of strong central government, and maneuvered on behalf of his banker masters to collectivize the war debt from the states and create a central bank to control the financial strength of the country, and ingrain the early United States with the mindset of the British masters they had just fought to shake off.
After the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, and the crisis and consolidation of wealth during the Great Depression, and ever since the 2008 economic collapse, the rule by bankers has become a foregone conclusion, though there will be more chances to shake off their yoke of control. (BitCoin is one possible avenue; Congressionally-controlled greenbacks another; gold and silver yet another…)
Erasing Andrew Jackson from the faces of the fiat funny-money that is passed around by an increasingly ignorant and dependent society (which itself has adopted digital currency as the new norm) will further cut off the past from the masses, and ensure their enslavement.
Read more:
Americans Face Impoverishing War on Cash: “More Big Banks Are Shunning Cash”
As Banks Seek Monopoly Over Economy, “Cash Is Being Gradually Taken Away”
Too Big To Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever Before
SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com
April 19, 2016
Remember how I told you that the day we moved, our beloved kitty escaped out a window into the forest and our missing cat was never heard from again?
Well guess what?
He’s HOME!
Sylvester has always been a skittish cat. We got him when he was just a few weeks old, after some horrid person had tossed him and his sibling into a trash can to be picked up on garbage day. He was starving and scrawny, and my daughter fell madly in love with him, setting her alarm to bottle feed him in the middle of the night.
I guess you could say, he’s always been a survivor. Soon, he had become healthy and basically took over like a little 2-pound purring dictator.
Fast forward to a year and a half later. Sylvester was a big, beautiful, luxurious house cat and the adored companion of my teenage daughter. His hobbies were jumping on our elderly cat, swatting the dogs tail, and scratching things he wasn’t supposed to scratch.
Then, just over a month ago, we moved to our new home on the edges of a national forest. I brought the cats and dogs over myself, in the back of my Jeep. I put the cats into the bathroom and shut the door. But what I should have done was shut the windows, because unbeknownst to me, the screen on one of them was not in properly.
When we went in later to bathe the cats because of an unfortunate incident during the car ride, Sylvester was gone.
We searched frantically, long after dark, calling him, shaking treat containers, opening cans of cat food. It was all to no avail. Our cat, who had never been outside at all, was lost in the deep dark forest.
Over the next few days, we did all the things you’re supposed to do when you have a missing cat. We put up lost kitty ads, we canvassed the neighbors, we put his litter box and some personal items outside hoping he’d find his way home.
He never did. After a couple of weeks went by, we were pretty sure that something had eaten him. There is quite frequently evidence of bears and mountain lions in the forest around our property, and he would have been a big, tasty meal for them. My poor daughter was broken-hearted.
A couple of days ago I was walking out the front door to water the herb garden when I startled a cat on the upper patio. It took off before I could do anything more than stand there with my mouth open but I was pretty sure it was our missing cat. After all, how many fluffy gray and white kitties could there possibly be in the forest?
We went out and called for him to no avail, but I put out a dish of food and water on the patio. The next morning it was gone, but of course, we had no way of knowing if it was eaten by the kitty or something else.
The vet here in town lends out live traps in certain situations, so we picked one up the following afternoon. Within an hour of putting in the stinkiest cat food I could find, we heard a rattling. As we sat there and watched, hardly daring to move, a skittish, skinny kitty suspiciously sniffed all around the trap. Finally, the hunger was too much for him and he went in and ….
We have our cat back!
He was frantic when we caught him, absolutely terrified, and it took him a few minutes to recognize us. We carried the trap into the house and went into the bathroom with it so we could release him in a controlled area. After about 15 minutes of hand feeding little bites of kitty kibble, he was back with his mama.
He’s headed to the vet today for a check-up, but here’s our initial assessment.
But holy cow. I can’t believe our pampered house pet survived in the forest for this long.
It really got me thinking about how unprepared most of us would be to survive in the forest alone for a month. You know, Sylvester didn’t pack a bug-out bag before his journey. He didn’t have food stored or a canteen of water or a firestarter. He only had the weapons nature provided him: his claws, his agility, and his speed.
Maybe the lessons from Sylvester aren’t absolutely everything you need to know about survival, but he covered the basics – you just have to fill in the skills to achieve those basics.
The main lessons are these.
Here’s our boy’s before and after picture. Poor fellow sure is happy to be home. I’ll add an update after we see the vet!
Michaela Whitton
April 19th, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Britain’s secret intelligence agency has apologized for the “horrifying” treatment of one of its most famous members, as well as for the organisation’s historic prejudice against homosexuality. Speaking at a conference organised by LGBT rights charity, Stonewall, Robert Hannigan — director of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) — paid tribute to former staff member Alan Turing, who was dismissed by the espionage service over his sexuality in the 1960s. Hannigan went on to apologise to all those unfairly dismissed as a result of the archaic policies, which included a ban on LGBT people joining the agency until the 1990s.
Described as a visionary and a brilliant mathematician, codebreaker Alan Turing’s skills are said to have shortened World War Two by two or more years, yet he was hounded from the secret service because of his sexuality. Known as the father of the modern computer, Turing led the well-known Bletchley Park codebreakers who cracked the encryption devices used by the Nazis.
When his home was burgled in 1952, the resulting police investigation uncovered that Turing was in a relationship with a young man. Homosexuality was still illegal in Britain, and he was ousted from his job following a conviction for indecency. Given the choice between prison and being treated with an experimental hormone to “fix” his sexual orientation — essentially chemical castration — he chose the latter. The treatment rendered him impotent and, in 1954, he took his own life by eating an apple laced with cyanide.
Hannigan said he attended the Stonewall conference to champion the right of people to be themselves. Apologising for the treatment of Alan Turing and many others discriminated against by the intelligence agency, he added:
“The fact that it was common practice for decades reflected the intolerance of the times and the pressures of the cold war, but it does not make it any less wrong and we should apologise for it.
“Their suffering was our loss and it was the nation’s loss too because we cannot know what Ian and others who were dismissed would have gone on to do and achieve. We did not learn our lesson from Turing.”
This article (British Spy Agency Apologizes for Chemical Castration and Horrific Treatment of LGBT People) 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