Monthly Archives: August 2013

August 21st, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

The 441 TRILLION Dollar Interest Rate Derivatives Time Bomb

Do you want to know the primary reason why rapidly rising interest rates could take down the entire global financial system?  Most people might think that it would be because the U.S. government would have to pay much more interest on the national debt.  And yes, if the average rate of interest on U.S. government debt rose to just 6 percent (and it has actually been much higher in the past), the federal government would be paying out about a trillion dollars a year just in interest on the national debt.  But that isn’t it.  Nor does the primary reason have to do with the fact that rapidly rising interest rates would impose massive losses on bond investors.  At this point, it is being projected that if U.S. bond yields rise by an average of 3 percentage points, it will cause investors to lose a trillion dollars.

Yes, that is a 1 with 12 zeroes after it ($1,000,000,000,000).  But that is not the number one danger posed by rapidly rising interest rates either.  Rather, the number one reason why rapidly rising interest rates could cause the entire global financial system to crash is because there are more than 441 TRILLION dollars’ worth of interest rate derivatives sitting out there.  This number comes directly from the Bank for International Settlements – the central bank of central banks.  In other words, more than $441,000,000,000,000 has been bet on the movement of interest rates.  Normally these bets do not cause a major problem because rates tend to move very slowly and the system stays balanced.  But now rates are starting to skyrocket, and the sophisticated financial models used by derivatives traders do not account for this kind of movement.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that the global financial system is potentially heading for massive amounts of trouble if interest rates continue to soar.

The yield on 10 year U.S. Treasury bonds rocketed up to 2.66% before settling back to 2.55%.  The chart posted below shows how dramatically the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries has moved in recent days…


Right now, the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries is about 30 percent above its 50 day moving average.  That is the most that it has been above its 50 day moving average in 50 years.

Like I mentioned above, we are moving into uncharted territory and this data doesn’t really fit into the models used by derivatives traders.

The yield on 5 year U.S. Treasuries has been moving even more dramatically…


The yield on 5 year U.S. Treasuries rose by an astounding 37 percent.  That was the largest increase in 50 years.

Once again, this is uncharted territory.

If rates continue to shoot up, there are going to be some financial institutions out there that are going to start losing absolutely massive amounts of money on interest rate derivative contracts.

So exactly what is an interest rate derivative?

The following is how Investopedia defines interest rate derivatives…

A financial instrument based on an underlying financial security whose value is affected by changes in interest rates. Interest-rate derivatives are hedges used by institutional investors such as banks to combat the changes in market interest rates. Individual investors are more likely to use interest-rate derivatives as a speculative tool – they hope to profit from their guesses about which direction market interest rates will move.

They can be very complicated, but I prefer to think of them in very simple terms.  Just imagine walking into a casino and placing a bet that the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries will hit 2.75% in July.  If it does reach that level, you win.  If it doesn’t, you lose.  That is a very simplistic example, but I think that it is a helpful one.  At the heart of it, the 441 TRILLION dollar derivatives market is just a bunch of people making bets about which way interest rates will go.

And normally the betting stays very balanced and our financial system is not threatened.  The people that run this betting use models that are far more sophisticated than anything that Las Vegas uses.  But all models are based on human assumptions, and wild swings in interest rates could break their models and potentially start causing financial losses on a scale that our financial system has never seen before.

We are potentially talking about a financial collapse far worse than anything that we saw back in 2008.

Remember, the U.S. national debt is just now approaching 17 trillion dollars.  So when you are talking about 441 trillion dollars you are talking about an amount of money that is almost unimaginable.

Meanwhile, China appears to be on the verge of another financial crisis as well.  The following is from a recent article by Graham Summers…

China is on the verge of a “Lehman” moment as its shadow banking system implodes. China had pumped roughly $1.6 trillion in new credit (that’s 21% of GDP) into its economy in the last two quarters… and China GDP growth is in fact slowing.

This is what a credit bubble bursting looks like: the pumping becomes more and more frantic with less and less returns.

And Chinese stocks just experienced their largest decline since 2009.  The second largest economy on earth is starting to have significant financial problems at the same time that our markets are starting to crumble.

Not good.

And don’t forget about Europe.  European stocks have had a very, very rough month so far…

The narrow EuroStoxx 50 index is now at its lowest in over seven months (-5.4% year-to-date and -12.5% from its highs in May) and the broader EuroStoxx 600 is also flailing lower. The European bank stocks pushed down to their lowest in almost 10 months and are now in bear market territory – down 22.5% from their highs. Spain and Italy are now testing their lowest level in 9 months.

So are the central banks of the world going to swoop in and rescue the financial markets from the brink of disaster?

At this point it does not appear likely.

As has been written about previously, the Bank for International Settlements is the central bank for central banks, and it has a tremendous amount of influence over central bank policy all over the planet.

The other day, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, Jaime Caruana, gave a speech entitled “Making the most of borrowed time“.  In that speech, he made it clear that the era of extraordinary central bank intervention was coming to an end.  The following is one short excerpt from that speech…

“Ours is a call for acting responsibly now to strengthen growth and avoid even costlier adjustment down the road. And it is a call for recognizing that returning to stability and prosperity is a shared responsibility. Monetary policy has done its part. Recovery now calls for a different policy mix – with more emphasis on strengthening economic flexibility and dynamism and stabilizing public finances.”

Monetary policy has done its part?

That sounds pretty firm.

And if you read the entire speech, you will see that Caruana makes it clear that he believes that it is time for the financial markets to stand on their own.

But will they be able to?

As it has been written about before, the U.S. financial system is a massive Ponzi scheme that is on the verge of imploding.  Unprecedented intervention by the Federal Reserve has helped to prop it up for the last couple of years, and there is a lot of fear in the financial world about what is going to happen once that unprecedented intervention is gone.

So what happens next?

Well, nobody knows for sure, but one thing seems certain.  The last half of 2013 is shaping up to be very, very interesting.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: theeconomiccollapseblog

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August 20th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

First Case of H7N9 Human To Human Transmission Reported: Scientists Warn Of Pandemic Potential

There are numerous scenarios that we can discuss in the context of civilization ending events. These include exo-planetary events like asteroid collisions and X-class solar flares, as well as earth bound threats like nuclear war and viral contagion (naturally occurring or weaponized). They are outliers to be sure, but history proves that they can (and will) happen. And when they do, all hell breaks loose. The possibility of an out of control viral contagion spreading to all corners of the earth and wiping out large population centers is becoming more and more probable.

There are various viruses out there that we know  will kill millions of we don’t keep them locked away in Bio Safety Level 4 containment labs. Then there are those that are seemingly benign… until they mutate.

That’s what’s happening with the H7N9 virus, first identified in China earlier this year. We warned our readers several months ago that there was a serious potential for human to human transmission after the virus reportedly went airborne. Though those reports came directly from Chinese researchers, not many people considered the threat significant, perhaps because the assessment originated in non-western medical facilities.

Now, western researchers at The British Medical Journal have provided confirmation of this, and scientists are warning that the spread of the virus could continue.

For all we know it has already made its way to North America. Keep an eye on this one and be aware of potential flu outbreaks in your city or region.

By the time government emergency agencies issue alerts it’ll be too late to contain, so have a pandemic preparedness plan in place and be ready to activate it if you suspect something has gone terribly wrong.


Via: The Daily Sheeple


Photo: BMJ (British Medical Journal)

The British Medical Journal is reporting today that a 32 year old woman became infected with H7N9, caught while caring for her father. Both have since died. This is the first confirmed case of human to human transmission of the disease.

Prior to this case,there was no evidence to confirm contact spread, and it was thought to be caught only from contact with diseased birds. So far there have been 133 cases of H7N9 and 43 deaths, all of them in Eastern China.

Tests have shown that the strain of virus taken from the father and daughter were genetically almost identical, and the family has confirmed that the woman had no contact with poultry at all in the six weeks before she fell ill.

Dr James Rudge, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that limited transmission between humans is not surprising and has been seen before in other bird flu viruses, such as H5N1.

“Our findings reinforce that the novel virus possesses the potential for pandemic spread,” 

He added: “It would be a worry if we start to see longer chains of transmission between people, when one person infects someone else, who in turn infects more people, and so on.

And particularly if each infected case goes on to infect, on average, more than one other person, this would be a strong warning sign that we might be in the early stages of an epidemic.” (source)

So far the virus has not appeared outside of China but the odds are it will. Much of eastern China is given over to agriculture and smallholder farming. Many of the residents do not travel further than the markets and the surrounding villages.

Viruses constantly mutate and this virus is no different. It’s prime objective is survival and that is why they mutate so readily, to ensure their survival. According to the British Medical Journal report the H7N9 virus can be in the body several days before symptoms show up. Even then someone with the virus will not realize how sick they are for a couple of days, often longer.

It’s this that gives rise to the pandemic potential of the virus. Once it makes it to a major metropolitan area, where commerce and business call for national and  for international travel the chances of it ‘escaping’ China rise dramatically.


Contributed by Chris Carrington of The Daily Sheeple. Follow the Daily Sheeple on Facebook.

Chris Carrington is a writer, researcher and lecturer with a background in science, technology and environmental studies. Wake the flock up!

 

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Via: shtfplan

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August 19th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Environmental Sensor That Plugs Into Your Phone & Tracks Radiation Exposure

There’s a thriving cottage industry of smartphone extension hardware that plugs into the headphone jack on your phone and extends its capabilities in one way or another — feeding whatever special data it grabs back to an app where you get to parse, poke and prod it. It’s hard to keep track of the cool stuff people are coming up with to augment phones — whether its wind meters or light meters or even borescopes. Well, here’s an even more off-the-wall extension: meet DO-RA — a personal dosimeter-radiometer for measuring background radiation.

Granted, this is not something the average person might feel they need. And yet factor in the quantified self/health tracking trend and there is likely a potential market in piquing the interest of quantified selfers curious about how much background radiation they are exposed to every day. Plus there are of course obvious use-cases in specific regions that have suffered major nuclear incidents, like Fukushima or Chernobyl, or for people who work in the nuclear industry. DO-RA’s creators say Japan is going to be a key target market when they go into production. Other targets are the U.S. and Europe. It reckons it will initially be able to ship 1 million DO-RA devices per year into these three markets. The device is due to go into commercial production this autumn.

The Russian startup behind DO-RA, Intersoft Eurasia, claims to have garnered 1,300 pre-orders for the device over the last few months, without doing any dedicated advertising — the majority of pre-orderers are apparently (and incidentally) male iPhone and iPad owners. So it sounds like it’s ticking a fair few folks’ ‘cool gadget’ box already.

The DO-RA device will retail for around $150 — which Intersoft says is its primary disruption, being considerably lower than rival portable dosimeters, typically costing $250-$400. It names its main competitors as devices made by U.S. company Scosche, and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo. Last year Japan’s Softbank also announced a smartphone with an integrated radiation dosimeter, with the phone made by Sharp. This year, a San Francisco-based startup has also entered the space, with a personal environmental monitoring device, called Lapka (also costing circa $250), so interest in environmental-monitoring devices certainly appears to be on the rise.

DO-RA — which is short for dosimeter-radiometer — was conceived by its Russian creator, Vladimir Elin, after reading articles on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, and stumbling across the idea of a portable dosimeter. A bit more research followed, patents were filed and an international patent was granted on the DO-RA concept in Ukraine, in November last year. Intersoft has made several prototypes since 2011 — and produced multiple apps, for pretty much every mobile and desktop platform going —  but is only now gearing up to get the hardware product into market. (Its existing apps are currently running in a dummy simulation mode.)

So what exactly does DO-RA do? The universal design version of the gadget will plug into the audio jack on a smartphone, tablet or laptop and, when used in conjunction with the DO-RA app, will be able to record radiation measurements — using a silicon-based ionizing radiation sensor — to build up a picture of radiation exposure for the mobile owner or at a particular location (if you’re using it with a less portable desktop device).

The system can continuously monitor background radiation levels, when the app is used in radiometer mode (which is presumably going to be the more battery-draining option — albeit the device contains its own battery), taking measurements every four seconds. There’s also a dosimeter mode, where the app measures “an equivalent exposure over the monitoring period” and then forecasts annual exposure based on that snapshot.

The company lists the main functions of the DO-RA mobile device plus app as:

– Measuring the hourly/daily/weekly/monthly/annual equivalent radiation dose received by an owner of a mobile/smart phone;

– Warning on allowable, maximum and unallowable equivalent radiation dose by audible alarms/messages of a mobile/smart phone:”Normal Dose”, “Maximum Dose”, “Unallowable Dose”.

– Development of trends of condition of organs and systems of an owner of a mobile phone subject to received radiation dose;

– Advising an owner of a mobile/smart phone on prevention measures subject to received radiation dose;

– Receiving data (maps of land, water and other objects) on radiation pollution from radiation monitoring centres collected from DO-RA devices;

– Transferring collected data through wireless connection (Bluetooth 4.0) to any electronic devices within 10 meters.

Why does it need to transfer collected data? Because the startup has big data plans: it’s hoping to be able to generate real-time maps showing global background radiation levels based on the data its network of DO-RA users will ultimately be generating. To get the kind of volumes of data required to create serious value they’re also looking to shrink their hardware right down — and stick it inside the phone. On a chip, no less.

The DO-RA.micro design, which aims to integrate the detector into the smartphone’s battery, is apparently “under development” at present. The final step in the startup’s incredible shrinking roadmap is DO-RA.pro in which the radiation-sensing hardware is integrated directly into the SoC. “This advanced design is under negotiations now”, it says.

It will doubtless be an expensive trick to pull off, but if DO-RA’s makers are able to drive their technology inside millions of phones as an embedded sensor that ends up being included as standard they could be sitting atop a gigantic environmental radiation-monitoring data mountain. Still, they are a long way off that ultimate goal. In the meantime they are banking on building out their network via a universal plug-in version of DO-RA, which smartphone owners can use to give their current phone the ability to sniff out radiation.

In addition to the basic universal plug-in, they have created an apple-shaped version, called Yablo-Chups (pictured left), presumably aimed at appealing to the Japanese market (judging by the kawaii design). They are also eyeing the smartwatch space (but then who isn’t?), producing a concept design for an electromagnetic field monitoring watch that warns its owner of “unhealthy frequencies.” It remains to be seen whether that device will ever be more than vaporware.

All these plans are certainly ambitious, so what about funding? Elin founded Intersoft Eurasia in 2011 and has managed to raise around $500,000 to-date, including a $35,000 grant from Russia’s Skolkovo Foundation, which backs technology R&D projects to support the homegrown Tech City/startup hub. In September 2013 Intersoft says it’s expecting to get a more substantial grant from the Foundation — of up to $ 1 million — to supplement its funding as it kicks off commercial production of DO-RA. It also apparently has private investors (whose identity it’s not disclosing at this time) willing to invest a further $250,000.

Even so, DO-RA’s creators say they are still on the look out for additional investment — either “in the nuclear sphere” or a “big net partner to promote DO-RA” in their main target markets. Additional investment is likely required to achieve what Intersoft describes as its “main goal”: producing a microchip with an embedded radiation sensor. That goal suggests that the current craze for hardware plug-ins to extend phone functionality may be somewhat transitionary — if at least some of these additional sensors can (ultimately) be shrunk down and squeezed into the main device, making mobiles smarter than ever right out of the box.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: techcrunch

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August 18th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

5 Reasons to Have a Solar Stove in Your Equipment

Although technology could be viewed as the beginnings of the fall of privacy, the innovations that have been developed can also play a pivotal role in survival. Solar equipment of all kinds can be utilized to benefit survival. The solar stove is just one of those devices that can make a difference in food preparation in order to stave off infections and bacterial complications.

A solar stove utilizes the UV and heat provided by the sun and focuses these components on a single location in order to cook foods. The temperatures these units can accommodate are high enough to kill bacteria while cooking meats. Some can reach temperatures of 350-degrees Fahrenheit and more. Aside from food preparation, why else should you consider using a solar stove to other methods of cooking?

1. Leaves No Trace – Unlike a campfire, the use of a solar stove leaves no residue that you were even in the area. No smoldering coals, burnt wood to cover, or scorched rocks will exist if you are looking to be discrete about your presence. There will be no plumes of smoke rising into the air to give away your position. While it won’t conceal the smell of a cooking meal, there will be no visual evidence left behind.

2. Fuel-less – While the solar stove does rely on the intensity of the sunlight in order to provide high enough temperatures to cook food, it requires no other consumable fuel. This means that you don’t have to squander wood and such that could provide warmth at night in order to cook a meal during the day. If you are in a location void of wood or other consumables, the stove could still keep your food cooked. Eventually, you could run out of propane during prolonged absences from civilization.

3. Works Year Round – Even the coldest of winter days could provide enough sunlight to cook virtually any kind of food you wish. Instead of worrying about drying out wood in order to make a fire, the solar stove can still operate. While it may not work during a snow storm, a fire built with wood might have equal difficulty as well.

4. Easy to Operate – Using a solar stove requires nothing more than opening the box and angling it to absorb sunlight. These units can come in a variety of sizes and styles and all of them come with the same functionality. As long as the sunlight can shine on the unit, you are able to cook virtually any meal without the use of explosive propellants or pressure gauges that could fail. It’s an easy enough concept that you could possibly build one yourself.

5. Inexpensive – These units could cost anywhere from $30 to $300 depending on how elaborate you want for your practical needs. A survival kit would benefit more from a smaller unit unless you have the capacity to transport it without taking away from other necessities. If you build your own, the cost is definitely worth the time.

Even if you don’t put the solar stove to regular practical use, it should still be a consideration for your gear. You might as well prepare for a situation where a campfire is difficult and you have food that needs to be cooked. It is great item to have if you’re in a bind.

This post is contributed by Linda Bailey from housekeeping.org. She is a Texas-based writer who loves to write on the topics of housekeeping, green living, home décor, and more. She welcomes your comments which can be sent to [email protected].

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Via: thesurvivalistblog

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August 17th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

How to Convert an Ammo Can into a Faraday Cage

What you plan to do is pretty simple, since the can and lid are already great Faraday shields. The only issue is the gap where they join. That joint needs to be conductive, in order to create a fully protective cage. I recommend that you:

1.) Remove the can’s rubber gasket. (Save it, in case you decide to restore the can to water-tightness, at a later date.)

2.) Wearing eye protection, use some coarse sandpaper or a rotary wire brush to remove the paint on at least a 3-inch section of both the top lip of the can and underneath the lid where the gasket was attached. This bare metal will provide a good electrical contact between the lid and body of the can.

3.) Replace the gasket with continuous thick “fuzz” of stainless steel wool that will just barely allow the lid to to be clamped shut. (Selecting the correct thickness to use takes a bit of experimentation.) The steel wool can be glued in place so long as you do not insulate the short section(s) where you sanded off the paint.

Store items inside wrapped in plastic bags or in heavy duty cling wrap, to insulate them from the can. Use additional padding (bubble pack or gray foam) inside if the cans will be transported loaded with fragile gear.

Do not add an external grounding strap.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: survivalblog

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August 16th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Extending Your Vehicle’s Driving Range, Without Cost, by Steven B.

A while back, I remember reading a tantalizingly titled but substantively misleading news article about a group of junior high school students who built a “car” that attained a fuel efficiency of 150 mpg. After reading the story, my skepticism was confirmed that a bunch of junior high school students “out-engineered” those who engineer automobiles for a living, or more succinctly for profit. The vehicle they built was little more than a soap box racer with a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine; more of a go-cart instead of a practical conveyance.

What I did discover in reading the article was that the efficiency was much more attributable to simple driving techniques rather than technological innovation. I immediately saw the opportunity to save a few dollars. When I practiced and developed these driving techniques, it was no longer a matter of saving a few dollars. Upon extrapolating it out over the course of one year, it was over $300 which is quite substantive to me.
Pulse and Glide Driving (PGD) was the term used in the story and it very effectively captures the essence of the technique. It is not difficult to deduce the practical application from just those four words. I have applied this to my regular driving habits, which living in a major city suburb limits me to about 90 percent city driving conditions. I have proven that it does indeed work in stop and go traffic, although not as effectively as dramatically as it does in highway conditions. There are other factors I have also incorporated to further reduce the impact of fuel expenses on my wallet. I will mention them here as well, but be mindful that the bulk of the improved efficiency is gained by cyclical periods of moderate acceleration and coasting along in neutral.

First, let me tell you about my vehicle.  I do not have a good bug out vehicle. I drive a sensible commuter in the form of a 2008 Kia Rondo and my commute to work is less than two miles. In the South Florida summertime with the air conditioning running, it gets about 16 mpg city and 19 mpg highway. Using PGD, I routinely inflate those figures to 20 mpg city and about 25 mpg highway, and that is with the air conditioning still running. These figures represent approximately a 25 percent improvement without installing a penny’s worth of performance improving equipment or sacrificing environmental comfort. You would be totally surprised (or not) how important both those notions are driving around with three females; two of them under the age of eight.
The basic principles of PGD are very simple:

  • Accelerate to a good cruising speed and decouple the transmission (means shift into neutral for automatics or push in the clutch for standards). When in neutral, keep your foot completely off the accelerator. An idling engine burns little gas and keeps your hydraulic and electrical systems working to maintain steerage and braking capacity. Use your vehicle’s momentum to keep going down the road for as long as practical before re-engaging the transmission for another stretch of acceleration.
    NOTE: You may want to get the engine’s RPM up a bit from idle before re-engaging the transmission to reduce the mechanical stress on the power train as it begins to apply force to the ground again. This takes practice to get the transitions smoothed out and is not completely necessary.
  • Use downgrades to your advantage. Let gravity accelerate your vehicle while your engine sips the same amount of fuel as it does sitting at a stop sign. This is especially effective in hilly or mountainous areas. I have averaged 32+ mpg in West Virginia on a road trip; doubling my city mileage and by far my best record!
  • Shift into neutral when approaching red lights and stop signs. There is no reason to be burning any more fuel than at idle coming up to a place at which you know you need to stop. Additionally, other drivers (even those following closely behind you) will have little reason to become angry since it’s obvious why your speed is bleeding off.
  • Try to keep your cycles fairly even. By this I mean accelerate to your cruising speed, coast until about 10 mph have been bled off and accelerate again to cruising speed. There does come a point of diminishing returns if you coast to a dead stop before reaccelerating.
  • Do not use more braking than is needed. Every time you tap the brake pedal is energy burned off your brake pads instead of moving you down the road. Do not be fooled by “engine braking” either. Using an engine to slow your vehicle is not very effective and puts additional mechanical stress on your engine. Brake pads are much cheaper than engines and far easier to replace.
  • Do not make your target cruising speed too high as this will reduce your efficiency. Any pilot will tell you that induced drag is not a great thing to have more of when it is you paying the fuel bill. The faster you go, the harder the apparent wind pushes back on your vehicle no matter how aerodynamically it has been constructed.
  • Avoid accelerating too quickly as jackrabbit starts do not burn fuel as completely as does a moderate acceleration. If you are in a situation where you do need to move quickly as a matter of safety, then by all means punch it without a second thought. Fuel is far less expensive than life.

There are also a couple extra things you can do to stretch your tank’s range even more.

  • Reduce the load on the engine as much as possible. Air conditioning is something that you might not want to do without depending where you live, however the electrical load of headlights are totally unnecessary in clear daylight hours in all but the most unusual driving conditions. Any other high current devices should also be shut off or otherwise disabled when not needed.
  • Although ethanol blends are nearly universally distributed as the main gasoline fuel supply, search for pure gasoline retailers. Make trips there a couple times a year with your gas cans and rotate them accordingly. Pure gas contains no ethanol, burns more efficiently and will increase your mileage since an inefficient fuel is not being added. Go to Pure-gas.org and see if a retailer is open for business in your area.

This is all well and good, but there are times when you definitely should not use PGD techniques.

  • By constantly varying your velocity on the highway in heavy traffic, you are sure to earn the enmity of all who are driving behind you on cruise control. Exercise good judgment and employ PGD techniques only when conditions allow.
  • If you’re on a busy secondary road with traffic close behind you, do not make yourself a nuisance.  Just drive normally until you have a quarter mile or so of empty space behind you.
  • Do not accelerate to unsafe speeds in order to get the longest glide possible. If you have to ask why, then go find the nearest cast iron frying pan and beat yourself in the forehead because you are an idiot. A speeding ticket will negate half a year’s savings. Additionally, fuel savings are of little consequence to the dead. Keep it sane.
  • Do not expect to develop the technique too fast. If you are like me, get used to the idea of steering with your left hand a lot while operating the gearshift with your right. I was surprised how sore my left arm became on long trips. Other aspects of PGD require much practice to develop and you should not expect to be great at doing it right from the start. Be patient with yourself and the results will come as you put more thought into what you are doing.

Another thing to think about is by developing and refining these techniques is that you are not only going to save money now, but you are also extending the driving range of your vehicle. A tankful of gas that used to get me only 250 miles now gets me 300; more if I turn off the air conditioner, headlights and parking lights. In the less austere times that could lie ahead, this may be an important factor. If maximum range is of the most importance to you, use the highest grade premium gasoline you can get. For everyday driving however, use the lowest octane rating that provides acceptable performance without engine knocking or pinging. It’s also cheaper, which is the whole point here. Imagine the extra preps you could have after just one year!

If you are on the road to your retreat for a permanent move, incorporating these techniques could mean the difference between getting there with the fuel you can carry drawn from your own stocks or facing the reality of having to obtain more fuel along the way. It may be prohibitively expensive, dangerous to scavenge or outright unavailable at any price. Bring your jerry cans and have a few 5 Hour Energy drinks readily available– you never know when you might need them.

JWR Adds: Be advised that coasting in neutral is banned in some jurisdictions, for safety reasons. “Gliding” can be hazardous in areas with traffic congestion. Also be aware that you can burn out your clutch if you don’t fully disengage it during your “glides.” FWIW, I used to turn my engine’s ignition off just before very long downgrades (which is illegal in many jurisdictions.) But of course with modern steering column locks, this is no longer possible with most manual transmission cars and light trucks.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: survivalblog

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August 15th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Carrington Class: “The World Escaped an EMP Catastrophe”

According to researchers at EMPact America, an organization dedicated to studying and preparing for the possibility of large-scale electromagnetic pulse threats that can destroy our modern day electrical infrastructure, the earth came dangerously close to a serious destabilization event. A couple of weeks ago the sun emitted a massive CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) that, had it been earth-directed, would likely have wiped out critical portions of the world’s power grid and sent developed nations back to the stone age within a matter of seconds.

‘The world escaped an EMP catastrophe,’ Henry Cooper, who now heads High Frontier, a group pushing for missile defense, told Washington Secrets.

‘There had been a near miss about two weeks ago, a Carrington-class coronal mass ejection crossed the orbit of the Earth and basically just missed us,’ added Peter Vincent Pry, who served on the Congressional EMP Threat Commission.

‘Basically this is a Russian roulette thing,’ he said. ‘We narrowly escape from a Carrington-class disaster.’

Washington Examiner

It was a “Carrington-Class” event, named after the 1859 incident that left telegraphs around the world inoperable and reportedly even lit some of the equipment on fire because of the electric surge.

Solar flares are measured in classes, and though “Carrington” is not an official classification on the scale, it refers to a solar emission so powerful that it would send Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights as they are often called, as far down as the equator (as was the case with the 1859 event). This means that the size of the solar flare would be massive, and the charged particles contained within it would be widespread, likely affecting every non-shielded electronic device on the planet.

The original Carrington event is estimated to have been larger than an X10 Class flare – a super solar flare. The measurements work similar to the earthquake Richter scale, where the next level up is 10 times more powerful than the one before it. An X1 flare, which is the lowest level of the X flares, is capable of disrupting electronic devices like satellites and even mobile communications. And X2 flare, would be ten times as powerful as the X1.

A Carrington Event flare would exceed X10 Class, making it thousands of times more powerful than an X1, with the capability of disrupting, or even rendering inoperable, everything from electric grid transformers and water utility plants, to cell phones and vehicles.

Though such powerful flares as the one that almost hit earth two weeks ago are rare, they happen more often than you may think. In November of 2003 an X28 Class solar flare – the largest ever recorded – narrowly missed earth.

Were such a powerful electro magentic pulse to hit hit the earth and wipe out critical infrastructure elements like utilities, satellite positioning systems and transportation, civilization as we know it would devolve into chaos within a matter of hours. Estimates suggest that in such a scenario 90% of America’s population would perish within one year’s time due to lack of food, clean water, medicine and other critical services currently made possible by on-demand electrical infrastructure.

Former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has warned that every American should develop an emergency plan for exactly such a scenario:

“We don’t really think of those today, because it’s so convenient to go to the supermarket,” he cautions. “But you know, you’re planning because the supermarket may not always be there.”

The electrical grid could fail tomorrow, he frequently warns. Food would disappear from the shelves. Water would no longer flow from the pipes. Money might become worthless. People could turn on each other, and millions would die.

…

The grid could be crippled at least four different ways, Bartlett says: terrorist assaults on power substations, a cyberattack, a massive solar storm and an electromagnetic pulse attack.

Bartlett has for decades warned of the harm of an EMP attack — a nuclear detonation in the atmosphere that could fry computers and anything with an electric circuit — in his writings, in legislation and in late-night speeches on the House floor, though experts differ on the seriousness of the threat. Some agree the dangers are real, while others say such an attack is unlikely and the potential effects remain uncertain.

…

“Whatever level you’re concentrating on, being as self-sufficient as you can, as quickly as you can, is going to be the right thing to do,” he says.

Bartlett has suggested that those with the ability to do so should move their families out of major cities and become as self-sufficient as possible:


A solar flare or man-made EMP (in the form of a Super EMP weapon) is an outlier.

Two weeks ago, had the sun spot that emitted the Carrington-like flare been directed just a few degrees in our direction, we’d be living in a different world today. Likewise, ten years ago, the earth took a glancing blow.

We have come close, and one day chances are an earth directed flare will take out our modern day electrical infrastructure.

It could happen a month from now or 10 years from now during the next solar maximum cycle. What we know is that it has happened before, and it will happen again.

It’s not impossible to survive such an event. It starts with understanding that the threat is real and then making an effort to take steps that insulate yourself and your family as best as possible should it come to pass:

There are a variety of civilization affecting threats that we face, so preparing for an EMP attack or solar flare will actually ready you for a whole host of other worst-case scenarios.

If you haven’t already started, take it upon yourself to begin preparing today, because those who aren’t ready when disaster strikes will be destined to a fate of hardship and horrors.

It’s better to be prepared a day, a month or a year early, than to be one minute too late.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: shtfplan

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August 14th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Congressman Bartlett: “Every Citizen Should Develop an Individual Emergency Plan to Prepare for the Absence of Government Assistance for Extended Periods”

In the documentary Urban Danger, Maryland’s Congressional Representative Roscoe Bartlett warned those who can to move their families out of major cities.

Outspoken in his belief that each individual American should prepare for a crisis where the government would be unable to provide for the basic needs of the national population, Bartlett has himself created a hideaway deep in the West Virginia forest. His cabin runs on independent power, he has put away food and canning equipment, stockpiled supplies for the long-term, and is ready for a worst-case scenario should it ever come to pass.

“We don’t really think of those today, because it’s so convenient to go to the supermarket,” he cautions. “But you know, you’re planning because the supermarket may not always be there.”

The electrical grid could fail tomorrow, he frequently warns. Food would disappear from the shelves. Water would no longer flow from the pipes. Money might become worthless. People could turn on each other, and millions would die.

Bartlett’s biggest concern, the vulnerability of our national power grid, is justified through extensive research by private organizations and the US government alike. A 2010 report by the Center for Security Policy estimated that 9 out of 10 Americans would die within one year should a catastrophic emergency take down the national power grid and restrict access to key just-in-time delivery systems like food, gas and utilities.

Sitting down with officials and experts at a conference in Washington D.C., Bartlett has been working to pass legislation that would promote individual preparedness on a national level.

Bartlett recently sat around a Capitol Hill conference room table with a group of like-minded experts to unveil legislation that calls for “every citizen to develop an individual emergency plan to prepare for the absence of government assistance for extended periods” and for communities to become capable of providing 20 percent of their own power, food and water if necessary.

The electric grid, everyone agreed, is vulnerable to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. “This is possibly the most serious threat the United States faces right now, because we are so utterly unprepared for it,” said Richard Andres, a senior fellow at National Defense University.

The grid could be crippled at least four different ways, Bartlett says: terrorist assaults on power substations, a cyberattack, a massive solar storm and an electromagnetic pulse attack.

Bartlett has for decades warned of the harm of an EMP attack — a nuclear detonation in the atmosphere that could fry computers and anything with an electric circuit — in his writings, in legislation and in late-night speeches on the House floor, though experts differ on the seriousness of the threat. Some agree the dangers are real, while others say such an attack is unlikely and the potential effects remain uncertain.

…

“Whatever level you’re concentrating on, being as self-sufficient as you can, as quickly as you can, is going to be the right thing to do,” he says.

In “America’s Cities,” a separate documentary with similar themes, Bartlett approvingly cites the financial adviser and author Howard Ruff — an influential figure among survivalists — who counseled that “the most important investment you can make” is to have a year’s supply of food for your family, and “the second-most important investment” is a thousand-dollar stash of silver coins and jewelry to bargain with in an emergency.

“This is great advice for anybody,” Bartlett says. “And maybe you can’t buy a year’s supply of food. All the Lord expects you to do is what you can do.”

Source: The Washington Post

An EMP, a massive natural disaster, or a widespread currency collapse that threatens global payment systems could make it impossible for any the exchange of goods across the globe to take place. This means that food and energy supplies would simply stop flowing and it would leave 320 million Americans without any ability to acquire even the most basic necessities for life.

The US Government has been actively preparing for natural and man-made emergencies by stockpiling emergency foods, equipment, self-defense arms and ammunition, backup shelters, and creating contingency plans to deal with the chaos that would follow such an event.

They themselves, however, have noted that should a truly large-scale disaster come to pass they would simply not have the resources available to help everyone. FEMA recommends that every American household have at least a two week supply of food, water and critical supplies ready for an emergency. At last count, only about 3 million Americans prepare, about 1% of the population, suggesting that any far from equilibrium shock to the system as we know it would lead to outright panic and chaos as those without reserve supplies would stop at nothing to get their hands on them.

The government is preparing to deal with it when it happens.

Are you?

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

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August 13th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

“We’re In a No Win Situation… This Is End of the World Type Stuff” says Leading Economist

If you’re not yet convinced that the path we’re on leads to catastrophe, then consider watching the following interview with Daniel Ameduri (Future Money Trends) and John Williams (Shadow Stats). Ameduri asks the questions no mainstream reporter would dare to ask about the state of our economic, financial and monetary system and what the end result will look like. Economist John Williams responds by laying out a grim picture of how we got here and the impact we’ll soon experience in every facet of our lives.

This is an interview that shouldn’t be missed.

One of the leading experts on statistical analysis and economic theory in our country is giving us an outline of what’s coming and how to get ready for it.

[excerpts follow – see video below for full interview]

Williams: We’re in a no win situation. This is end of the world type stuff.I hate to say that.

Go back to September of 2008. The system was on the brink of collapse. That was in the end of the world as we know it – the financial world. They pulled out every stop-gap measure that they could. They graded whatever they had to do to keep the system afloat. That’s the type of environment we’re dealing with.

We’ve been living through some replays of that, nothing quite as serious. The end of the line fundamentals are not getting better. You’re in a situation now where the rest of the world increasingly has lost its confidence in the US dollar.

Ameduri: When you’re looking at this hyperinflation, when you’re preparing, how long are you actually expecting the chaos part to last?

Williams: I can’t tell you how long it’s going to last. I can tell you it’s likely going to be very disruptive to our lifestyles because we don’t have any backup systems to the dollar.

Ameduri: Are utility workers going to show up for work when if we’re in hyperinflation? Their checks are going to be worthless…

Williams: It depends how creative people get. You also have a chance of seeing disruption to supplies to grocery stores. And if food’s not on the shelves, it’s one of the fastest ways of turing to civil unrest.

What I would look to do is have a backup supply of at least several months of the basic commodities you need to live with – canned food, toilet paper, as well as barter items…

You want to be able to be prepared as you might be for a natural disaster…I think people should have supplies not only for natural disasters, but man-made disasters. And just to keep rotating your stock.

In this type of environment where nobody can get a safe return on their money within the United States that beats the official rate of inflation, buying canned foods and such is actually a better investment than a Treasury bill.

Ameduri: What’s the breaking point where we actually see that loss of faith in the currency?

Williams: Well, I think we’ve already passed it. We’re not seeing heavy dollar selling right now, but if you look at the global market response to what was being done in Washington, that was a loss of confidence…. They’re not going to let a systemic collapse happen so long as they can get away with what they’re doing and the markets allow them to do it.

Moving further down the road to the hyperinflation, it buys them time. That’s all it does. They don’t have a solution.

…Eventually you’ll see a collapse here of the dollar where the dollar becomes worthless. For people living in a dollar denominated world that means that the purchasing power of their primary currency is going to disappear. They need to protect themselves or to protect the purchasing power of their assets.

The proximal trigger for the big problem we have ahead, I believe, will be a massive sell off of the dollar. I can’t tell you exactly when it’s going to happen. It can be triggered by any number of things from a resolution of the Euro crisis to the next round of Fed easing whatever that will be.

We’re moving in a direction that clearly indicates you don’t want to be in the US dollar.

Watch the video via Future Money Trends:


Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

via: shtfplan

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August 12th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Congressman Warns: “Those Who Can, Should Move Their Families Out Of the City”

There are a whole host of events that can bring the world as we know it today to its knees.

From a hyperinflationary economic collapse to an electromagnetic pulse originating from the sun or a nuclear weapon, there exists a real and present danger that our system may, in the near future, experience unrecoverable shocks to the power grid and clean water infrastructure, a halt to just-in-time agricultural transportation systems and a collapse of the currency exchange mechanisms that make the economy function.

US Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), lived through the great depression, so he’s seen how bad things can get. In a new documentary, Mr. Bartlett and others discuss the dangers posed to those living in cities and ways that your family can survive if the worst were to ever happen.

Roscoe Bartlett:

We could have events in the future where the power grid will go down and it’s not, in any reasonable time, coming back up. For instance, if when the power grid went down some of our large transformers were destroyed, damaged beyond use, we don’t make any of those in this country. They’re made overseas and you order one and 18 months to two years later they will deliver it. Our power grid is very vulnerable. It’s very much on edge. Our military knows that.

…

There are a number of events that could create a situation in the cities where civil unrest would be a very high probability. And, I think that those who can, and those who understand, need to take advantage of the opportunity when these winds of strife are not blowing to move their families out of the city.

Source: Urban Danger Movie


We realize that for most people this may be decried as fear-mongering and crazy survival talk. We can’t help but point out, however, that it’s not just Representative Roscoe Bartlett, economist Marc Faber, and trend forecaster Gerald Celente that are recommending you prepare and head for rural areas. The US Pentagon and Military are very much aware of these possibilities and they’re preparing for exactly the scenarios described in this documentary.

The threat is out there, and just because it hasn’t happened in our modern-day society up until now doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future. In fact, it has happened through history – strife, poverty, depression, economic collapse, war. You name it and somebody in history has lived it. The government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on emergency preparedness, disaster planning, continuity of government and war gaming these scenarios. There’s a reason for that. We recommend our readers take a queue from them and others who are warning of these outlier possibilities.

For a taste of what’s in the movie you can view the first 5minutes of Urban Danger here.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

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