Monthly Archives: October 2013

12 Shocking Clues About What America Will Look Like When The Next Great Economic Crisis Strikes

The collapse of American society is accelerating.  For the moment, much of our social decay is being masked by the tremendous level of affluence that we are experiencing.  It has been reported that 4 out of every 5 adults in the United States “struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives”, but in general Americans still enjoy a debt-fueled standard of living that is far beyond what most of the rest of the world enjoys.  When that debt-fueled standard of living permanently disappears, it is going to unleash chaos unlike anything that America has ever seen before.  Right now, economic conditions in this country are not anywhere close to where they were before 2008, but this is just the beginning.  We are in the midst of an ongoing economic collapse which is going to get much, much worse in the years ahead.  When the next major wave of the economic crisis strikes, millions of people are going to become extremely desperate.  And desperate people do desperate things.  We are already starting to see this play out all over the nation, but this is only a preview of coming attractions.  What we are going to witness in future years is going to be almost too horrible for words.

So how can I be so sure that this is going to happen?  After all, the United States didn’t descend into complete and utter chaos during the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Wouldn’t an economic depression unfold in a similar manner today?

Unfortunately, a lot has changed since then.  A lot more Americans were self-sufficient back in those days, and the truth is that the character of our nation has been rotting and decaying for decades.  In a previous article, I described it this way…

“We are simply not the same country that we used to be.  Americans are proud, selfish, greedy, arrogant, ungrateful, treacherous and completely addicted to entertainment and pleasure.  Our country is literally falling apart all around us, but most Americans are so plugged into entertainment that they can’t even be bothered to notice what is happening.”

Just last weekend, there were “mini-riots” in several U.S. states when “technical issues” caused the food stamp system to go haywire for a few hours.

What would have happened if there had been an extended outage or if the political crisis in D.C. had caused food stamps to be completely cut off at some point in November?

Let’s be thankful that we did not have to find out.

But even though major food stamps riots may have been averted (at least for now), there are a whole host of other signs that America is going to become a very unstable place during the next major economic downturn.  The following are 12 shocking clues about what America will look like when the next great economic crisis strikes…

#1 Would you continue to work as a bus driver if you were stabbed while driving or if a passenger poured urine all over you?  Just check out what has been going on in Detroit lately

After two drivers were recently stabbed and another had urine poured on her by an angry rider, union officials representing bus drivers for the city of Detroit are set to protest in front of city hall at 10 a.m. on Monday.

#2 We are starting to see a lot of “group crimes” happen all over America.  For example, just the other day in Brooklyn, New York a gang of 10 young thugs dragged a young couple out of their vehicle and brutally beat them…

Ronald Russo was dragged to the ground. Then he was punched and kicked in the head. He felt more blows all over his body, investigators said. He suffered a fractured nose, a broken septum, a blood clot and abrasions to his shoulder. He was treated and released from Beth Israel Medical Center.

In the midst of the attack, there was a steady chorus of epithets. “White motherf—–!” screamed the attackers, who ranged in age from 12 to 18.

Alanna Russo, 30, was calling 911 when the 12-year-old girl pulled the woman’s hair and threw her to the ground. The victim’s head slammed into the concrete. She suffered a black eye, bleeding and difficulty breathing, prosecutors said, but she refused medical attention.

#3 A lot of people assume that they are perfectly safe inside their own vehicles but that is not the case at all.  A story in the New York Postabout a gang of bikers that ruthlessly hunted down a young family that was driving an SUV made national headlines a few weeks ago…

A gang of bikers terrorized a dad driving with his wife and baby daughter on the West Side Highway — chasing after their SUV and then dragging the man out and beating him to a pulp in front of his horrified family, authorities said.

When the bikers caught up with this family they showed the father of the baby daughter absolutely no mercy…

One biker can be seen on the video ripping off his helmet and using it to bash in Lien’s driver’s-side window.

The crew pummeled Lien on the pavement in front of his wife, Rosalyn Ng, and their 2-year-old daughter, police sources said.

Lien, who also was slashed during the melee, was rushed to Columbia University Medical Center. He needed stitches to his face and chest and had two black eyes.

#4 We are living at a time when hearts are becoming very cold.  Some Americans are becoming so desperate for money that they will do almost anything to get it.  In fact, one couple in Tennessee has actually been charged with selling their four daughters for use in sex films

An East Tennessee couple is facing a list of charges, accused of selling their children to take part in sex films.

Connie Sue McCall, 40, and her husband, Ronnie Lee McCall, 61, of Johnson City have been charged by a federal grand jury.

Paperwork shows the couple was selling their four daughters.

Prosecutors say the four girls were between the ages of 5 and 16 when this happened.

Could you imagine such a thing happening in your neighborhood?

Perhaps it is happening, but you just don’t know that it is going on.

#5 And it is not only older people that are having their hearts grow cold.  It is happening to young people too.  Last week, a 17-year-old girl was caught carrying around a dead baby (which she probably gave birth to) in a shopping bag in a Victoria’s Secret store right in the heart of Manhattan

The dead baby found in the teen’s shopping bag at a Victoria’s Secret store in Manhattan was born alive and then asphyxiated, police said Friday, as the macabre discovery turned toward a possible homicide case.

Police believe 17-year-old Tiana Rodriguez gave birth to the baby at a friend’s house and that the infant was later asphyxiated. However, the city medical examiner’s office said an autopsy was inconclusive, and more tests were needed.

Who does something like that?

#6 Sadly, a lot of mothers appear to be losing the natural affection that they should have for their children.  Just check out another incident that happened in New York City recently

So much for no child left behind.

A stroller-toting mom who used her 1-year-old son as cover during a massive candy shoplifting spree at a downtown Duane Reade used the tot’s pram as a battering ram when workers confronted her — and then ran away without the baby, the NYPD said.

#7 One of the clearest signs that American society is decaying is the fact that groups of kids are banding together and agreeing to commit absolutely horrible crimes.  We have seen this with the “flash mob” robberies that are plaguing many cities, but what is even worse is when groups of kids band together to commit violent acts.  In Pennsylvania recently, a group of teens cheered on attackers as they beat up a 15-year-old girl…

Speaking exclusively to CBS 3, a 15-year-old high school student, whose identity we are concealing, described a terrifying attack by a gang of at least nine teenage boys as she was leaving an Interboro High School football game Monday night.

The teenage victim described first being taunted by the attackers, who followed her down a neighborhood street, cursing and spitting at her, before she was repeatedly kicked and punched, suffering at least one blow to her head.

The attackers even tried to throw her in front of a passing vehicle and nobody tried to stop them…

The victim says as at least two of the teenagers pummeled her, the others cheered them on shouting, “Come on, let’s get her!” At one point, the victim says, the gang tried to throw her under the wheels of a passing car, which swerved, narrowly missing her.

What is happening to this country?

#8 We have also been hearing about a lot of “gang rapes” lately as well.  The following is an excerpt from a first-hand account from a 14-year-old girl in Missouri that experienced this type of horrible ordeal…

About five shots tall, I drank it. I guess I didn’t know how badly it would mess me up. But the boys who gave it to me did.

Then it was like I fell into a dark abyss. No light anywhere. Just dark, dense silence — and cold. That’s all I could ever remember from that night. Apparently, I was there for not even an entire hour before they discarded me in the snow.

You can read the rest of her sobering story right here.

Are you starting to understand why I am so convinced that we have a major problem with our young men in America today?

Instead of raising young gentlemen, we are raising wild animals that seem to have very little self-control.

#9 And sometimes the public does not do anything to stop sexual assaults even when they happen on public streets.  In a recent incident in Athens, Ohio, not only did the public not stop a sexual assault, many actually took photos of the assault and posted them on social media websites…

Horrific photos of an alleged rape in progress have been shared on social media after crowds at a college homecoming celebration chose to take pictures and videos of the sex act rather than stopping it.

Would such a thing have happened in our country 50 years ago?

Of course not.

We need to come to grips with how far we have fallen.

#10 In America today, young kids can beat a homeless man to death and it barely even makes a blip on the news.  I’ll bet hardly any of you have heard about what happened recently to a homeless man in New Jersey

Three teenagers were in custody Saturday morning, on charges of beating a homeless man to his death in Hoboken, N.J.

As CBS 2’s Janelle Burrell reported, Hudson County Acting Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory said two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old were charged in the Sept. 10 death of Ralph Eric Santiago, 46.

What would cause 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds to behave so savagely?

Could it be because we are raising them in a society where basic morality is not taught any longer?

#11 Our young people certainly do not have much respect for the very elderly anymore either.  Instead, the elderly are looked at as “weak” and “easy prey”.  Just check out what recently happened to a 70-year-old man in upstate New York…

A 70-year-old man was seriously injured early Saturday morning after being attacked outside of a 7-Eleven in Syracuse.

Police say James Gifford had just left the store at the intersection of Valley Drive and South Street just after 6:00 a.m. and was attacked by a group of five or six black males, according to Syracuse Police.

Police also said this appears to be an unprovoked incident with an innocent victim.

#12 In this day and age, it is very hard to tell who you can trust.  You might meet someone on the street and they might smile and seem very nice, but inside they may be full of all kinds of garbage.  For example, just check out what one man in the Boston area planned to do

A Boston-area man, who was planning to kidnap children, lock them in a basement dungeon, rape and eat them, should be imprisoned for at least 27 years, federal authorities said in court documents filed this week.

Geoffrey Portway pleaded guilty in May to distribution and possession of child pornography and solicitation to commit a crime of violence, according to court documents. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17.

“Portway has pled guilty to some of the most vile and heinous crimes known to our society,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing recommendation.

This is how twisted and perverted our society has become.

A lot of Americans believe that if we could just elect “the right politicians” or if we could just change our economic system or if we could just fix one particular issue that everything would be right in America again.

Unfortunately, what we are facing is not so simple.  Our problems are not just in Washington D.C. or on Wall Street.  The truth is that our biggest problem is what is going on inside of us.

America is rotting and decaying on the inside, and the next great economic crisis is going to reveal just how bad things have gotten.

Or could it be possible that I am overstating things?  Please feel free to share what you think about the ongoing collapse of our society by posting a comment below…

Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years. Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream. If you want to know what things in America are going to look like in a few years read his new book The Beginning of the End.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

12 Strategies to Build the Ultimate Pantry

In every relationship there comes a time when you have to sit down and take a serious look at the future.  Where do you want to go?  Are your goals compatible?  Are things working as they stand right now or do some changes need to be made?

Your pantry is no different.  People create food storage stockpiles for many different reasons, and because of this, there is no “one-size-fits-all” formula for doing so. You must figure out what your goals are and develop a road map towards achieving them.

Having a food supply just makes sense.  Every time there is a disaster, the masses become hysterical and chaos ensues because there is no food available because of our “just-in-time” food delivery system. Your stockpile can mean the difference between continued freedom and bowing down to your “masters” for a cold MRE and a bottle of water.

There are three basic types of food supplies.  Learn about these food storage ideologies and then take the most applicable strategies and combine them to create your own version of the Ultimate Pantry.

The Bunker Pantry

This is the most “hardcore” of the food storage types.  A Bunker Pantry is the type of food supply that could keep you going for the next ten years without a single trip to the store.  Sure, it might be a little bit boring and lacking in variety, but it is a supply that will see you through any disaster that allows you to remain in your shelter.  This type of pantry focuses on huge quantities of long-term foods, repackaged carefully to resist spoilage due to pests or the elements.

If this is the type of pantry you’d like to build, focus on staples such as wheat, rice, dried beans, salt, and sugar.  Check out this article on 11 Emergency Food Items That Can Last a Lifetime for more suggestions. These foods can be purchased in bulk and repackaged by the user, or you can purchase them already packaged up through vendors like the LDS warehouse or online food storage websites.

Variety can be added to this type of pantry through commercially canned fruits, vegetables, and meats.  When looking for sales on these items, be sure to check the expiration dates. If you are storing for the long-term you want to be certain to grab cans with the longest shelflife.

Another great way to add fruits, veggies, meats, and dairy to your Bunker Pantry is through the addition of freeze-dried foods. If properly packaged, these foods can last up to 25 years.  As long as you have water to rehydrate these foods, your diet can remain fairly normal throughout a long-term scenario. Imagine rehydrating the ingredients to make a fluffy cheese omelet with ham and peppers!

It takes a lot of space to store this much food, so generally a dedicated area must be used as a storeroom.  Items should be clearly marked with expiration dates, and when that date draws near, the items should be rotated in to the family’s kitchen.

The Agrarian Pantry

This type of pantry is the kind our ancestors had.  Most of the purchases are made during the growing season and only small shopping trips are needed to supplement this throughout the year. It combines enough basic staples for the year ahead with enough of your preserved harvest to get you through the next growing season.  (This is the type of pantry that we keep in our family, with a few of the other strategies added to increase the usefulness of our stockpile.).

To build an Agrarian Pantry, stock up on a year’s supply of basics like grains, baking items, tea, coffee, and dried beans.  Then focus your efforts on acquiring items in season and preserving them when they are at their peak.  Try your hand at canning, dehydrating, and root cellaring.  Items can be grown on your own property or purchased by the bushel from local farms and orchards.

Look into purchasing a side of beef and a side of pork to add to your pantry. One purchase per year is sufficient for most families, and your price per pound drops dramatically when you buy meat in this type of quantity.  Don’t put all your faith in the deep freezer, however, because a grid-down scenario could leave you with a smelly mess and a large lost investment.  Try canning, smoking, salting and dehydrating for the bulk of your meat purchases.

This type of pantry must be replenished every year. Basically, the items in your pantry are purchased and put back with the intention of consuming them within the next 12 months.

The Bargain-Hunter’s Pantry

This is the type of pantry made famous by the extreme couponing shows.  Using a variety of strategies, people can amass an enormous quantity of food for very little money.  Couponing, sale shopping, bartering, and buying from outlet stores and warehouses can help to create a pantry full of packaged items.

While this is a great way to get started or to supplement your other strategies, this is my least favorite way to create a stockpile.  This is simply for two reasons: much of what you are acquiring is highly processed, and without a lot of personal discipline, you aren’t building a balanced pantry, but just stockpiling whatever is the cheapest.  If you use this method, you must be extremely careful not to end up with a pantry full of carbs, but no protein or fruits and veggies. (25 cent ketchup is NOT a vegetable)

Warnings aside, you can build up a huge amount of food on a very limited budget and still be careful if you are a smart shopper.  Read THIS and THIS to learn how.

When building a Bargain Hunter’s Pantry, consider the following suggestions to create more balance:

  • Look for the items with the least number of ingredients – don’t stock your shelves with chemistry projects, no matter how cheap they are.
  • Strive for balance by creating an inventory list to keep in your purse so that you know which types off foods are needed to keep your family healthy. (Are you short of protein sources?  veggies? healthy fats?)
  • Don’t add it to your stockpile merely because it’s cheap, particularly if your storage space is limited.
  • Be sure to rotate the items into you kitchen by expiry date.  Often the items that have the deepest discounts are the closest to expiration, You aren’t saving money if you end up throwing out spoiled food.

 Combine the Best of Each Strategy to Build the Ultimate Pantry

The Ultimate Pantry combines the three strategies listed above to create the optimal supply for the needs of your particular family.

The key is organization.  Keep the following tips in mind to create the best possible pantry.

  1. Keep an up-to-date inventory so that you know what you have
  2. Catalog your coupons by type and expiration date
  3. Track the sales cycles
  4. Keep your products rotated into your kitchen so that you don’t lose foods to missed expiration dates.
  5. Store longer term foods in optimum conditions to prolong their viability.
  6. Maintain a list of what is needed to balance your pantry nutritionally so that you can focus on those items when an unexpected bargain pops up.
  7. Buy pantry staples (like beans in grains) in the largest quantities you can manage in order to maximize your savings.
  8. Remember the adage “Store what you eat and eat what you store” – it isn’t a bargain if you purchase something no one in your family will eat.
  9. Supplement your pantry by growing as much as possible in your particular circumstances, even if you are just adding a windowsill herb and salad garden.
  10. Tap into your inner hunter-gatherer with strategies like foraging, fishing, snaring, and hunting.
  11. Purchase seasonally and in large quantities from local growers (or harvest from your own gardens).
  12. Become a food preservation expert and stock up on the necessary tools and supplies.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: theorganicprepper

Shadow Stick Survival Tips

What type of survival strategies do you have in place for making navigation an easier ordeal in a SHTF situation? Does your bug out gear have maps, a compass, waterproof clear plastic protectors and a log book? Do you know how to use ranger beads in conjunction with pace counts to determine how far you may have traveled in a given direction? Have you packed surveyor’s tape to mark the path you have chosen in case you need to backtrack? Have you ever heard of using a shadow stick as a back-up plan in case any or all of these other items are inoperable?

Using a shadow stick is a survival skill that could help you get back to civilization, provided the proper conditions are met. A shadow stick is not something that can be used in all locations, or at all hours of the day. It is called a shadow stick for a reason; it has to use the sun to cast a shadow across a flat patch of earth.


“Pretty much every one knows that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. But many people don’t know how you can use a stick and it’s shadow to help you determine general cardinal direction (North, South, East and West) if you were ever lost in the wilderness. If you were stranded without a compass, you could use the Stick and Shadow Method to help you navigate in a specific direction, assuming you knew which direction you needed to travel.”

The shadow stick is not unlike using a sun dial to determine what time of day it is. The shadow stick is a very primitive method of discovering general directions. This method will not give you true magnetic north, but rather a well-informed opinion of where celestial north lies, which cannot be determined during the daylight hours. In other words, the shadow stick strategy will allow you to determine where the North Star would be if it were night out.


“The Stick and Shadow Method is relatively simple, but it does take about 20 or 30 mins of time to complete for accurate results and you need a good view of a sunny sky and a fairly flat and level place to set it up. So the Stick and Shadow Method isn’t the fastest method and most practical method of finding cardinal direction in all conditions and in all situations, but it can be useful. Keeping a small compass on your person or in your gear is always better and more reliable than the Stick and Shadow. But if you have nothing else this might be able to help.”

The shadow stick method of finding cardinal directions is not something that you would want to use to plot journeys over enormous distances, as maps are generally aligned with magnetic north, rather than celestial north. Over a longer journey, the degrees of difference present in using the shadow stick method, compared to a magnetic north reading compass, will expand exponentially and result in you arriving at a point considerably off course.

The shadow stick method should be used in conjunction with maps and pit stops along the way to make necessary adjustments based on where you find yourself on the map in comparison to where you thought you were headed. The video below depicts the proper method of using a shadow stick to find your way out of the wild.

 

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

via: survivalist

FBI Investigating Threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems: “On High Alert”

Reuters reports that the FBI and other agencies are in the process of investigating multiple threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems. Specifically, the FBI has named Wichita, Kansas as a target, but utility facilities have also been put on alert in other Midwestern cities.

(Reuters) The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of the threats in the past two days and has contacted the water supply facilities and law enforcement offices for the municipalities, said Bridget Patton, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Patton declined to discuss the nature of the threats or the number of cities affected. She said investigators had been sent out in response to the reports, but offered no details.

“We were made aware of the threat,” Patton said. “We have not been able to substantiate any of the threats.”

Wichita city officials warned employees in emails to be on guard for suspicious activities. City officials also told residents the water is safe to drink and the public will be notified immediately if this changes.

Wichita Police Lieutenant Doug Nolte said Friday that the city had taken steps to keep the city’s water supply safe, but would not describe what measures had been taken.


(KSN News) “The FBI as of our law enforcement agencies take any threats to the public personal safety very seriously,” said Bridget Patton, Media Representative for the FBI.

For the last several days, the FBI has been looking into a regional water threat.

KSN News learned the potential hazard affects four major water systems in the mid-west including Wichita. 


The Wichita water utility plants serve about 500,000 people, but many millions may be affected should systems in multiple Midwest cities fail or come under attack simultaneously.

In 2011 cyber security McAfee issued a warning titled In the Dark: Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks, in which they noted that all critical infrastructure systems connected to the internet could be compromised by rogue attacks resulting in shutdowns or malfunctions.

The sectors on which this report focuses — power, oil, gas, and water — may well be the first targets for a serious cyberattack.

What we found is that they are not ready. The professionals charged with protecting these systems report that the threat has accelerated — but the response has not. Cyberexploits and attacks are already widespread. Whether it is cybercriminals engaged in theft or extortion, or foreign governments preparing sophisticated exploits like Stuxnet, cyberattackers have targeted critical infrastructure.

In the case of water utilities, if hackers were to take control of the computers that maintain safe water levels and chemical treatment they could potentially poison the water supplies of millions. In such a case people could go to sleep like any normal night, wake up in the morning and have a glass of water, and be poisoned by any number of chemical or biological agents that have been released into the water supplies.

Hackers have already broken into water utility computer systems recently, despite assurances that the systems are safe. In November of 2011 a Stuxnet-style virus infected the physical components of the Springfield, Illinois water utility plant and shut down water pumps, demonstrating that not only can systems be infiltrated from outside of protected networks, but that the physical equipment can be overtaken.

But it’s not just the computer systems. There is a woeful disregard for perimeter security in and around critial infrastructure assets around the United States, including water plants.

Security around national water reservoirs may not be as safe as we thought:

In a time where people talk all the time about droughts, 21 year old Josh Seater has cost the city of Portland Oregon 8 million gallons of drinking water.

After a night on the town, a heavily intoxicated Seater began urinating a water reservoir.  “I didn’t know it was a water supply, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it, I thought it was a sewage plant”.

The cost of Josh’s drunken behavior has cost the Portland Water Bureau $36,000, as the 8 million gallons have had to be completely drained away.

While TSA gaterapes grannies in diapers at our local airports and steams ahead on expanding enhanced pat-downs and searches to all public venues including train stations, sporting events and malls, the real security holes are completely ignored.

With so many billions of dollars being spent on homeland security, Americans have been left with a false sense of security. The government tells us they are protecting us, and most people simply take this at face value.

In reality, even if the government was  efficiently deploying its resources for effectively securing critical infrastructure, the fact is that nothing can ever be 100% secure. This is evidenced by recent comments from outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who warned that a widespread cyber attack on our national power grid and other infrastructure is not only guaranteed, but imminent.

In previous comments, Napolitano, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has advised Americans to stockpile at least two (2) weeks of essential supplies, including food and fresh drinking water, citing concerns that emergency responders could be overwhelmed in the event of a widespread emergency.

Failure to prepare for short and long-term disaster could be deadly. Most Americans have about three days worth of food supplies and almost no reserve water supplies or methods for filtering water should the water supply be compromised.

As we saw with Hurricane Sandy, any disruptions to the normal flow of supplies or commerce would lead to a breakdown within 72 hours as those affected struggle to acquire limited resources.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

Brits Lose Control of Nuke Reactors: “Unbelievable… Seriousness of a Major Radioactive Release”

After the world witnessed a widespread radioactive disaster following the Tsunami that took down power systems at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan you would think that nuclear regulators and operators would have taken the threat of unforeseen accidents seriously.

Apparently, this is not the case, according to a new report from the United Kingdom.

Nearly the exact same scenario played out in the Devonport Dockyard last summer, when the primary and secondary power sources for nuclear cooling fuel became inexplicably inoperable.

It was a situation kept secret because the implications were so serious that the entire country of Britain could have been turned to a radioactive wasteland overnight.

A major nuclear incident was narrowly averted at the heart of Britain’s Royal Navy submarine fleet, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. The failure of both the primary and secondary power sources of coolant for nuclear reactors at the Devonport dockyard in Plymouth on 29 July last year followed warnings in previous years of just such a situation.

Experts yesterday compared the crisis at the naval base, operated by the Ministry of Defence and government engineering contractors Babcock Marine, with the Fukushima Daiichi power-station meltdown in Japan in 2011.


But last July a series of what were described as “unidentified defects” triggered the failures which meant that for more than 90 minutes, submarines were left without their main sources of coolant.


John Large, an independent nuclear adviser who led the team that conducted radiation analysis on the Russian Kursk submarine which sank in the Barents Sea in 2000, said:

“It is unbelievable that this happened. It could have been very serious. Things like this shouldn’t happen. It is a fundamental that these fail-safe requirements work. It had all the seriousness of a major meltdown – a major radioactive release.”


Among a number of “areas of concern” uncovered by the Babcock investigation was what was described as an “inability to learn from previous incidents and to implement the recommendations from previous event reports”.

A subsequent review from the Base Nuclear Safety Organisation revealed the “unsuccessful connection of diesel generators” and questioned the “effectiveness of the maintenance methodology and its management”, while advising Babcock to “address the shortfalls in their current maintenance regime”.


Its own “stress test” on Devonport safety, launched after the Fukushima disaster, said that in the event of the failure of both power supplies, heat levels in reactors could be controlled by emergency portable water pumps, and added that such a failure had occurred a “number of times” previously.

If you think nuclear facilities in the United States and other Western nations are any safer than Fukushima or Devonport, you’d be mistaken.

Because these facilities often operate under the cloak of secrecy, it is impossible for us to know how many times such incidents have occurred in the United States. What we do know is that on March 28, 1979 the 3-Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania experienced the worst nuclear power plant accident in American history when a meltdown occurred in one of the facility’s two reactors. Thus, accidents at these facilities are not unprecedented.

There are currently 65 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states around the country.


What Chernobyl, Fukushima, 3-Mile Island and Devonport show is that we are not immune from the real possibility of a massive nuclear disaster.

Given the sheer concentration of these facilities around major population centers, especially in the eastern United States, one can’t ignore the potential for an emergency on U.S. soil that irradiates a huge portion of our population and forces region-wide evacuations.

Consider a situation where the United States comes under attack by a Super-EMP (electro magnetic pulse) weapon or a powerful solar flare that takes down the power grid. In such a scenario, a collapse of our banks, stock markets, economy, and systems of commerce would be the least of our worries.

We already know that the processes and procedures in place to test and maintain back-up power generators is lacking, as evidenced by the failure of similar generators at medical facilities following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Couple those system failures with an EMP or solar flare that renders the system completely inoperable, and people living within a 100-mile radius of a nuclear reactor would have about 90 minutes to evacuate before radiation spews all over them.

While a nuclear disaster of this magnitude is an outlier, it is not out of the question. We’ve experienced one in the last few years, and it’s still not under control and continues to contaminate ocean water, as well as the residents of Japan (and perhaps even the United States).

The threat of a nuclear meltdown if you live within several hundred miles of a nuclear facility is one worthy of consideration, planning and preparation. You’ll need to have a bug out plan in place and be ready to put it into action in seconds – not minutes.

You’ll have to move fast – very fast – at the first sign that a nuclear event is imminent. Tens of thousands of scared and panicked people will be trying to figure out what to do, how to get out of town, and where they will go. If you have a plan in place ahead of time you’ll at least be able to move a few minutes sooner than the rest of the golden horde. And when we’re talking 90 minutes until meltdown, even 5 minutes could be a life saver.

Nuclear disasters can happen. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. It will happen again. That is just about guaranteed.

Be prepared to act when it does.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

The Anatomy of a Breakdown

Tess Pennington over at Ready Nutrition has this great article:

 

If we can all agree on one thing, it’s that the government and disaster organizations alike grossly underestimate how dependent the majority of the population is on them during and after a disastrous event takes place. We need not look any further than the last major disasters that have occurred to find our answers: the Haitian earthquake that occurred in 2010, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2011 super tornado of Joplin, MO, and even as recently as Hurricane Sandy.

As preppers are well aware, when the needs of the population cannot be met in an allotted time frame, a phenomena occurs and the mindset shifts in people. They begin to act without thinking and respond to changes in their environment in an emotionally-based manner, thus leading to chaos, instability and a breakdown in our social paradigm.

When you take the time to understand how a breakdown behaves and how it progresses, only then can you truly prepare for it.

The Anatomy of a Breakdown

This glimpse into a systemic breakdown is based on an isolated, limited disaster or event where emergency responders have been deployed. I must emphasize that all bets are off if the event is wide spread, affecting multiple tens of millions of people simultaneously.

Phase 1: The Warning

Although disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes can come on so quickly that timely warnings are not always given, for the most part, governments typically provide adequate time to get a population ready in advance. Local governments even go as far as to err on the side of caution and sternly warn the citizens to evacuate.

For one reason or another, there will be a select group that stays behind. Some of these citizens are prepared and ready for what may come and may feel the need to stay to defend what is rightfully theirs but the majority of the population will not be ready for what they are about to endure. Those that are in this unprepared majority who choose to ride out the disaster do so because they are either unaware of how to fully prepare for disasters, have become complacent or numb to the heeds of warning from the local government and news media, or are overly confident.

This is the point in this cycle where herds of people go to the grocery stores frantically grabbing supplies. Most grocery stores will not be able to meet the demand of the people’s need for supplies, and many could go home empty handed.

Bracing for the disaster, the prepared and unprepared will be hoping for the best outcome. What many do not realize is the hardest part of this event is soon to be upon them. Within days, the descent into the breakdown will begin.

Phase 2: Shock and Awe (1-2 Days)

After the initial shock wears off  of the disaster, many will have difficulty in coping and adapting to what has just occurred. As they are  trying to wrap their thoughts around the severity of the disaster, their losses and what their future holds, local government leaders are scrambling for answers and trying to assess the situation.

At this point, the unprepared survivors will be expecting organizations and local government to step in to meet their immediate needs at any moment. The reality of the situation becomes more bleak when they realize that due to downed power lines or debris blocking roadways and access points, emergency organizations, emergency response and distribution trucks supplying food, water, fuel and other pertinent resources will be unable to get to the area. Once the realization hits that resources are scarce and the government leaders are incapable of helping them in a timely fashion, desperate citizens will take action into their own hands.

The breakdown has begun.

Phase 3: The Breakdown (3-7 Days)

Have you ever heard the saying, “We’re three days away from anarchy?” In the wake of a disaster, that’s all you have is three days to turn the crazy train around before crime, looting and chaos ensue. In reports during the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, residents from Staten Island were pleading for help from elected officials, begging for gasoline, food and clothing.

“We’re going to die! We’re going to freeze! We got 90-year-old people!” Donna Solli told visiting officials. “You don’t understand. You gotta get your trucks down here on the corner now. It’s been three days!”

Similar stories of looting occurred during the tornado in Joplin, MO of 2011. This time, the looting occurred from national guard soldiers patrolling the area.

“The night of the tornado, as emergency responders rushed from one shattered home to the next, Steve Dixon sat outside his father’s destroyed house with a baseball bat. They wouldn’t see me sitting here in my chair, I was in the dark,” he told NPR. “I’d turn my bright spotlight on them and tell them they needed to move on. Then when the police came by, I’d tell them which way they went.”

Multiple factors contribute to societal breakdowns including failure of adequate government response, population density, citizens taking advantage of the grid being down and overwhelmed emergency response teams.

For whatever reason, 3-5 days following a disaster is the bewitching hour. During this short amount of time, the population slowly becomes a powder keg full of angry, desperate citizens. A good example is the chaos that ensued in New Orleans following the absence of action from the local government or a timely effective federal response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In such troubled times, people were forced to fend for themselves and their families, by any means necessary. This timeline of Hurricane Katrina effectively illustrates “the breakdown,” and within three days, the citizens of New Orleans descended into anarchy, looting and murder (Source).

If this scenario isn’t bad enough, at the end of this time frame, there will be an increase in illnesses due to cramped living quarters from emergency shelters, sanitation-related illness, compromised water sources and exposure to natural elements. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, sanitation- related epidemics became a large concern for the disaster victims. In fact, the outbreak erupted into the world’s largest cholera epidemic despite a huge international mobilization still dealing with the effects of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake (Source).

Victims from Hurricane Sandy are also beginning to see their share of illnesses. Due to the horrible weather plaguing the area, many of the evacuation shelters in Brooklyn were closed last week for sterilizing due to a vicious viral outbreak that struck.

Phase 4: Recovery (8-30+ Days)
Despite what we want to believe, most recoveries are slow and difficult in progression and require long-term planning. On average it takes a city around 1-2 weeks after the event took place to start this phase of the cycle. Every disaster is different and the length of recovery efforts vary greatly on the nature of the incident.

7 years after Hurricane Katrina leveled parts of Louisiana, the state is still in the recovery phase.. “We are in a process of long-term rebuilding,” said Christina Stephens, Spokeswoman for the Louisiana Recovery Authority. “There is at least another 10 years of recovery.” (Source)

Within this recovery phase, essential goods and resources could will still be hard to come by, thus forcing local officials to implement the rationing of resources to ensure there is enough for the population. We are seeing this right now with the gasoline rationing in New York.

It could be months before the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy is cleaned up. Damaged communities are coming to terms with the devastation that delivered an unprecedented punch to the region’s economy, causing more than an estimated $50 billion in losses and forcing hundreds of thousands to rebuild their lives. (Source)

Don’t Be Another Statistic

Now that you understand what we’re dealing with, there are ways you can use this information to prepare for the next event so that you will be a part of the population that is ready for what may come.

Trust yourself. Learn to be self-sufficient and rely on yourself. When it is all said and done, you are the only one who can care for yourself and your family the best. You will be the one who has your family’s best intentions at heart. Having a stock of your family’s favorite canned or dry goods, a supply of water and a simple medical kit can maintain your basic needs for a short-lived disaster. This simple preparedness supply could set you apart from the unprepared.

If you live in a highly populated area, understand that resources will diminish quickly, so preparing beforehand can circumvent this. You can always start out with the basic 10 preparedness items you will need to skirt through a disaster:

  1. Food and alternative ways to cook food
  2. Water
  3. Fuel for generators, cooking stoves and mantels, charcoal for outdoor grills
  4. Batteries
  5. Generator
  6. Emergency lighting
  7. Ice
  8. Medical supply
  9. Baby formula
  10. Sanitation supplies

Or, if you want a more comprehensive supply, take a look at the 52-Weeks to Preparedness series.

Educate yourself. Learn from the disasters, folks! Each time there is a disaster, the same pattern occurs: the warning, shock and awe, the breakdown and recovery. Study the effects of disasters that effect your area and what items you will need to get through the event. Further, find the weak points in your preparedness supply and correct them. Supply inventories twice a year can do wonders in this area.

Get into the mindset. Learning what to do in the face of a disaster or how to care for your family during extended grid-down emergencies can put you well ahead of the race. The more prepared you are, the faster you are at adapting to the situation. You can learn anything as long as you research, gather and apply the information. For example, while many on the East coast were still in shock from Hurricane Sandy and were sitting in their homes panicking and watching their perishable food items go bad, those that had learned how to survive in off-grid, cold environments were well prepared for this type of disaster, and had already begun packing their perishable items in the snow to preserve them. It’s that simple!

Practice makes perfect. Practice using your skills, your preps and prepare emergency menus based around your stored foods. The more you practice surviving an off-grid disaster, the more efficient you will be when and if that event occurs. Moreover, these skills will keep you alive! For a list of pertinent skills to know during times of disaster, click here.
Further, to make your family or group more cohesive, cross-train members so they can compensate for the other during a disaster.

In summation, only until we see the cycle for what it is and the effects it has on society will we be able to learn from it. There is always a breakdown in some form or fashion after a disaster. If you can prepare for this, you will be able to adapt more quickly to what is going on around you.

The cycle is there and we can’t look past it. Prepare accordingly and do not overlook ensuring you have your basic preps accounted for.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: readynutrition

The Three Stages of US Martial Law: “What Will It Be Like?”

If you’ve ever wondered what Martial Law in America may look like, then this detailed report will be an eye opener. It explores the ramifications of our current economic and political climate, motivating factors that necessitate a lock-down of America by The-Powers-That-Be, the signs to look for before it happens, implementation, and your life once troops have been deployed.

America has gone from being annoyed with their government to the point of resisting their government. In my previous article, I have detailed how state governors, veterans, truckers and just average everyday citizens are resisting the tyrannical and egregious abrogation’s of the United States Constitution. The police state crackdown mechanisms are in place which are designed to break the back of any resistance to federal authority, legitimate or not.

The net effect of the establishment of “Police State America” is that it is designed to subjugate the populace and stamp out any remaining vestiges of Constitutional liberties and create a society where the state is all-powerful. With America’s new found spirit of civil liberty being expressed through acts of civil disobedience, martial law is being put into place. When one couples this undeniable fact with the fact that President Obama is under extreme pressure and is struggling to maintain control of the country, these measures are going to be rolled in a style reminiscent of the Shock and Awe style witnessed in Gulf War I.

Obama Is a Wounded Animal

Obama was clearly given a mandate by the central bankers to get the US in a war in the Middle East, first with Syria and Iran. This conflict was designed to temporarily preserve the Petrodollar which Iran is threatening by selling oil for gold to China, Russia and India. The powers that be were hoping that Russia and China would resist and any final resistance to a complete central banking takeover of the planet would be eliminated. Obama’s initiatives, designed to provoke a war with Syria, as a first step, were turned back. Obama has been publicly humiliated by Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.The world and specifically, the alternative media thwarted Obama and the central bankers on this front.

Obama’s Motivation for Martial Law Implementation

Richard Nixon was unable to survive one direct hit upon his administration, namely, the Watergate scandal. Conversely, Obama is facing five scandals which dwarfs Watergate in terms of criminality, abuse of power, malfeasance of office and outright treason. The damage inflicted upon the American people by the criminal syndicate occupying the White House, in American History, is unparalleled.  

Last May the central bankers, through their corporate controlled press, released five Watergate type scandals in a brief 10 day period designed to force a reluctant President’s hand in the Middle East. America is outraged by (1) Benghazi-Gate; (2) IRS-Gate; (3) AP Spy-Gate; (4) Whistle-blower-Gate; and even (5) Fast and Furious made a second pass. The alternative media is being so effective that it is forcing the MSM to jump off Obama’s ship and claim they do not support him any longer (e.g. MSNBC Chris Mathews). These five events are real threats to this President remaining in office. Unable to get a war started in the Middle East, how can the President survive these five crises? He has no choice but to move from the soft forms of martial law to an all-out implementation of martial law if he wants to remain in power.

The Three Stages of Martial Law Roll-Out

Under martial law, Obama can effectively eliminate all opposition to his administration. Under martial law, Obama can eliminate all media opposition to his presidency. Additionally, under martial law, Obama can remain in power, perhaps indefinitely. The pattern for the implementation of martial law follows three very distinct stages.


Stage one of martial law consists of the gradual roll-out of government controls over citizen liberties. Travel is restricted through inland border checkpoints. The internal DHS VIPR programs which randomly search citizens at public events and on the highways. Citizens are conditioned by the TSA that they do not control or own their bodies as the flying public is molested by the TSA everyday in our nation’s airports in an extreme violation of our citizens Fourth Amendment rights. Stage one also begins to create an enemies list and we have already seen this in the MIAC report in which Christians, Ron Paul supporters, Second Amendment supporters, Libertarians and Constitutionalists have been branded as domestic terrorists. The enemies list has been created and will be acted upon at a future date. In Stage one, the government elevates itself above any pretense of constitutional liberties. America has been firmly under Stage one martial law governance since the events of 9/11.

In Stage two, martial law implementation becomes obvious to all citizens except for the ones who invoke cognitive dissonance as a psychological coping mechanism. Stage two is marked by restrictions on travel, the loss of free speech and the right to assemble to air grievances against the government.

Press release date: April 4, 2012

Owner: Department of Homeland Security

Project Description:

Shelters Direct provided the Department of Homeland Security with this 4×13 Steel UL 752 Level 3 Bullet Resistant Booth.

This guard building features a standing seam hip roof, a thru-wall HVAC unit, (2) UL 752 BR Level 3 sliding doors, UL 752 Bullet Resistant Level 3 glass and a Low]E coating.


(Pictured: DHS bullet proof checkpoint. “Papers Please”)

National ID

In Stage two, the free internet as we know it, will disappear. Subsequently, the truthful, alternative media will disappear as well. Stage two is also characterized by the total loss of due process of law with regard to detainment, imprisonment or worse. This stage is also marked by limiting participation of members of the society who have been previously identified as enemies of the state (i.e. MIAC Report). This would include the ability to hold certain kinds of employment, a special designation on a form of national ID, the imposition of restrictions on who can marry, where one can live, etc.


(Rwanda: This ID led to 90 days of genocide resulting in one million executions.)


(Pictured: Your soon-to-be ID card)

When the national ID card is implemented, it is time to run for the hills because history shows that nobody will be safe.

The Loss of Private Property

Stage two also witnesses the total loss of private property and free will in terms of choice of domicile (i.e. Agenda 21), choice of employment and exercising any form of political choice. In short, Stage two is characterized by creating a political caste system in which the legal rights of certain groups are set in place (i.e. NDAA, Executive Order 13603, etc). The MERS mortgage fraud inspired thievery of legitimate home titles and the MF Global theft of privately secured investment accounts are cases in point. Stage two is often preceded by a false flag attack (e.g. burning of the Reichstag) designed to create a perceived enemy which serves as the excuse for the encroachment of  “necessary” tyranny in a society in which “we must trade our liberty for security” approach to governance.

Stage three martial law has given history some of its darkest days. Warrantless detentions become common place in which suspected political dissidents are removed from society, usually in the middle of the night. In modern terminology, these would be referred to as the “Red list” tagged citizens who are detained and normally executed. These include outspoken preachers, outspoken talk show hosts, people who have any kind of history of civil disobedience.

The remainder of this article will exclusively focus on the establishment of Stage two martial law.

Police State Measures

From unconstitutional border checkpoints which are  dozens of miles inland, America has been under a soft form of martial law for some time. The TSA conducts illegal and unconstitutional sexual assault, everyday, upon the flying public. The TSA has expanded their illegal detention and search operations through Operation VIPR on highways, malls and even a high school prom in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The NSA spies on your electronic move and has created a threat matrix database on every American. Why? What have Americans done that is so bad that our federal agencies have to invade rodeos, NASCAR events and the I-40 highway in Tennessee to pull over Americans without probable cause and molest their bodies in the name of national security? These unwarranted actions are the preliminary event to the roll out of Stage two martial law.

Creating the “Reichstag Fire” Justification

When the lights go out


I do not look for one false flag event designed to move the country into martial law, it is likely that several false flag events will take place, in different regions of the country. The pattern is almost always the same in which the authorities conduct a drill related to terrorism. The drill is used to mask a false flag attack arising from the drill. This happened on 9/11, the 7/7 bombings and most recently, at the Boston Marathon. These drills combined with resulting false flag events will give the administration the ability to incrementally implement martial law in a fashion similar to what happened in with the implementation of  illegal martial law in Boston following the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15th. The roll out of Boston’s martial law was clearly a beta test for what is coming all across the country. And who could ever forget the images of the federal subjugation of an American city in which we saw troops in the street, curfews imposed and free travel eliminated.


Recently, DHS sponsored a self-study entitled, “Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission“, in which DHS proclaims that they are no longer concerned with foreign inspired terrorism. They are only going to focus on domestic terrorism, ostensibly, against the American people. Does the DHS purchase of 2.2 billion rounds of ammo, the acquisition of 2700 armored personnel carriers and the beta test of martial law in Boston last April begin to make a great deal of sense. Total control over the country, through a false flag event scenario seems entirely likely given the pre-positioning of assets by DHS.

The real purpose behind the creation of this American version of the East German Stasi secret police was to monitor and control the American population. Unfortunately, DHS has shared its high tech toys with most local police departments and Sheriff’s Departments and has, as a result, co-opted their local function. In other words, the federalization of local police forces, in violation of the 10th Amendment, is well underway. The early returns on this process are in and the results are extremely ugly, and through the federalization of local police departments, DHS is acquiring the manpower to enforce its soon-to-be martial law edicts.


The Importance of PDD 51 Cannot Be Overstated

Further support comes from Presidential Decision Directive 51 handed President Obama dictator status in times of declared, and not necessarily real, national emergency. PDD 51 is a Bush era executive order that gives the President dictatorial power in times of national emergency, eliminates any roadblock to declaring martial law in the United States. It gives Obama the power to suspend elections. Under this arrangement, Obama could have 50 Watergate type of scandals hanging over his and he does not have to worry about leaving office.

Stage Two and the Abrogation of Civil Liberties


Can there be any doubt?

When the first false flag event occurs, America will witness the implementation of Obama’s Executive Order 13603. In Section 601 of Executive Order 13603 signals the most Orwellian aspect of this executive order in which “upon request by the Director of Selective Service, and in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, assist the Director of Selective Service in development of policies regulating the induction and deferment of persons for duty in the armed services” (paragraph 2). What is particularly troubling is that the Secretary of Labor will possess oversight over the Selective Service process, instead of the Secretary of Defense. This revelation left me scratching my head as I wondered why would the Department of Labor be in charge of the coming military draft? Then it dawned upon me that we were not just talking about military conscription. I refer to the 2008 Presidential campaign in which Obama stated that “we need to construct a national civilian security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded” (as the military).

Obama is clearly planning to conscript civilians, train them and send them where they are needed and will pay them whatever wage the Secretary of Commerce determines (Section 601; paragraphs 3, 4-Section 801; paragraph C). In one fell swoop, Obama has sidestepped the 13th Amendment as we are talking about the introduction of forced labor (i.e. indentured servitude).

Under Executive Order 13603, the Secretary of Transportation has been authorized control over civil transportation which “includes movement of persons and property by all modes of transportation in interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce within the United States, its territories and possessions, and the District of Columbia, and related public storage and warehousing, ports, services, equipment and facilities, such as transportation carrier shop and repair facilities.” “Civil transportation” also shall include direction, control, and coordination of civil transportation capacity regardless of ownership” (Section 801 part A). Can there be any doubt that the expanded surveillance program by of the TSA, in their unconstitutional, hands down our pants VIPER program, is designed to control all travel in the United States? The former Soviet Union used to have checkpoints every 20 miles in order to restrict travel and to prevent the congregation of “revolutionary forces” for purposes of opposing government control as well as to limit the ability of political dissidents to flee from their governmental pursuers. I feel compelled to ask, what is the government going to do that is so nefarious and so intrusive that they are seeking to set up a control grid which will accomplish these same goals? The present day Border Patrol checkpoints are part of a conditioning process designed to get Americans used to the fact that they have no constitutional liberties (e.g. Fourth Amendment).

Under EO 13603, the Secretary of Energy will have control over all “Energy” (which) means all forms of energy including petroleum, gas (both natural and manufactured), electricity, solid fuels (including all forms of coal, coke, coal chemicals, coal liquification, and coal gasification), solar, wind, other types of renewable energy, atomic energy, and the production, conservation, use, control, and distribution (including pipelines) of all of these forms of energy…” This means the government will have total control over all utility prices, the installation of smart meters along with the implementation of the smart grid and the amount of energy which can be consumed by average Americans will be severely curtailed under this new system of energy feudalism which will be imposed on the new American serfs. Obama, in the 2008 Presidential Campaign, stated that “under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Previously ignorant Americans will soon come to know the true meaning and the accurately prophetic meaning of these words (Section 801, part b).

Starving Americans Into Submission

Stalin did it, Hitler did it and now Obama has the ability to do it. In Stage two martial law, if you want to eat, you must obey.

The Secretary of Agriculture will posses control over “fertilizer” (which) means any product or combination of products that contain one or more of the elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for use as a plant nutrient.” The Secretary of Agriculture will also control “food resource facilities “(which) means plants, machinery, vehicles(including on farm), and other facilities required for the production, processing, distribution, and storage (including cold storage) of food resources, and for the domestic distribution of farm equipment and fertilizer.” This is the total control of all food. This will allow Monsanto which demonstrably controls the Department of Agriculture, the FDA and EPA to move forward, unabated, for the total GMO takeover of our food supply. Even more disturbing is that a few men will have total control over all food production and the dissenting masses who oppose this fascist takeover can be effectively starved into submission or starved to death (Section 801, parts c-f).

There can be no doubt as the Secretary of Defense will be placed in charge of all water resources Section 801, part n). I can draw no other conclusion that placing the control of water under the DOD represents the weaponizing of water and the intended target of this full frontal assault are the American people for the purpose of imposing population control and complete compliance. I hearken back to the move The Hunger Games, this is exactly what lies in our future with regard to a martial law roll out which reaches Stage two.

What Will It Be Like to Live Under Martial Law?

In summary, Stage two martial law will follow a false flag event in which the internet will be taken down. All bank accounts, pension funds and 401K’s will be frozen and stolen. Extreme travel restrictions will be put in place. Random house to house searches will be conducted (Don’t forget about the 386,000 foreign troops which just completed their training on American soil). What will they be looking for? Of course, they will be looking for guns and the false flag events will give them the pretext to do so. And they will also be looking for known trouble makers. We will all be living in a society where we can be singled out for persecution, or worse. We will all have to watch every word we say. As it was in the Soviet Union, your young children will be used to spy upon and tattle on you at their school. And of course, you will be totally dependent upon the government for food, water and shelter. Traveling will be so onerous, that you will be content just to huddle in your home. When the false flag events commence, we will look at these days as the good ‘ole days.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfplan

Redundant Methods of Food Preservation

We’re exploring redundancy today.

I want to talk today about some of the ways I use redundancy in my food preservation.

My first line of defense against rot is canning food. Properly canned, all sorts of food can last for years. In terms of numbers, I keep hundreds of jars in my house, of varying sizes, mostly quart and pints, with small numbers of the half pints and gallons. Lids I buy almost every week during peak preservation times, it’s our habit to buy at least two packs of either size we need. I like to have at least 2 or 3 canner loads worth of both sizes of lids on hand. I have a shelving system in the basement, away from light and heat, where all the jars go.  The obvious and major drawback to this form is that the end product is bulk and slightly fragile.  It also needs electricity to run my stove. You can see discussions here on SHTF about ways to put some redundancy into this, various forms of gas setups can allow canners to can when the grid is down. I have a rocket stove setup, I’m trying to adapt it to hold the weight of the canner, but it’s a work in progress.

This leads me to my next major preservation route, drying. Drying is nice because the end product is light and very portable. In order to dry, I have two different methods, purposefully redundant. I have my electric dryer; it works great as long as the power is on. My backup system is a solar dryer. It works when the power isn’t on, but it doesn’t work in cold or cloudy weather.

Of course, if it’s cold and cloudy out and I have a need for preservation, I can usually turn to freezing. My major beef with freezing is that it requires electricity in order to stay frozen, (excepting the middle of winter.)  You can argue that you can keep your freezers  going for weeks with your generator and whatnot, but that’s a lot of complexity to add for something that should be kept simple. (Food, don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.)

The simplest back up of all is the food I keep fresh in the ground. Ground storage works really well for root crops over winter in most cold climates. (See a post on clamps here) Parsnips and kale will last without any help from me well into winter.  Leeks and Swiss chard will last quite a while into winter with a little bit of mulch/cover.  During warm months, I make sure I have multiple sowings of our favorite varieties so that I always have some producing, and if one gets wiped out with a weather calamity, I’m more likely to have some that will survive.

I try to maintain a variety of methods for preserving, so that no matter what’s going on in my life, I can preserve and eat my own tasty food. If I have to Bug Out I have dried goods, if we get trapped in our house, I have canned goods. Important crops/foods get preserved in multiple ways so that I’m sure some is available when I need it.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfblog

EBT System Crash: 16 States Out of Service: “How Am I Going to Feed My Family?”

 

(Pictured: Grocery stores and retailers are posting signs for shoppers about the Electronic Benefits Outage)

The Electronic Benefits Transfer system responsible for providing 50,000,000 Americans the means to put food on the table has crashed.

The outage is reportedly affecting at least sixteen states.

Via The Organic Prepper:

Abandoned carts full of food were a frequent sight in grocery stores Saturday morning, as the EBT food assistance debit system stopped working without warning.

According to a Xerox spokesperson, a routine system check by the vendor resulted in system failure, leaving assistance recipients across the country with no way to buy food.

Xerox spokeswoman Karen Arena confirmed via email Saturday afternoon that some Electronic Benefits Transfer systems are experiencing temporary connectivity issues. She said technical staff is addressing the issue and expects the system to be restored soon. U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Courtney Rowe underscored that the outage is not related to the government shutdown. Xerox runs EBT card systems for 17 states and all were affected by the outage. (source)

Users of EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards in California, Ohio, Michigan and several other states are unable to make purchases due to connectivity issues.

But it gets worse…

Xerox is notifying retailers to revert to the manual system, meaning SNAP customers can spend up to $50 until the system is back online. SNAP recipients should call the 800 number on the back of their card, and Xerox will guide them through the purchase process. (source)

However, that system is not working either – it’s “closed for maintenance.”

Shoppers left carts of groceries behind at a packed Market Basket grocery store in Biddeford, Maine, because they couldn’t get their benefits, said fellow shopper Barbara Colman, of Saco, Maine. The manager put up a sign saying the EBT system was not in use. Colman, who receives the benefits, called an 800 telephone line for the program and it said the system was down due to maintenance, she said.

“That’s a problem. There’s a lot of families who are not going to be able to feed children because the system is being maintenanced,” Colman said. “No one should put maintenance in during the daytime.” (source)

Despite the fact that government workers report orders from the Obama administration to “make life as difficult for people as we can”, the nation is assured that the EBT failure is in fact due to server issues and NOT due to the government shutdown.

Hattip NinaO

If you ever wanted to know what the United States might look like and how people will react should the EBT system fail, then pay close attention

I go to the register and they ask me “how you going to pay.”

I said with food stamps.

“Oh, we’re shut down, you can’t pay with food stamps.”

I got kids to feed. You know?

And because the government’s down I can’t feed my family?


What’s going on with America? Now they trying to starve us to death?

…This is crazy

…I got six kids I have to feed.


I’m just trying to figure out how to get something to eat.

 


 

More from Zero Hedge via The Daily Sheeple:

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

Via: shtfplan

What Happens If TSHTF ( major event ) While You’re Flying On A Business Trip?

Not long ago I seen a comment on the SHTF Facebook page asking what to do if you’re flying on business or vacation and something happens.  Many of the items in your BOB would be illegal on an airplane, so what’s a prepper to do?

As it turns out I used to be a business traveler on a regular basis.  Most weeks I was away from home from Sunday afternoon to Friday evening (5 1/2 days) and I flew anywhere from two to four times a week depending on where they needed me.  One day I’d be in Toronto, Canada and the next day they might fly me off to Jacksonville, Florida, or any and all points in between.  As a matter of fact I was stranded after 9/11 for a couple of weeks.

So… I know a little bit about flying.

I think flying is even more difficult today than it was then because in addition to the enhanced security they came out with after 9/11 they also have the airlines nickel and diming every move you make once you hit the airport.  An extra GHB (Get Home Bag) could really run the price of traveling up for you.

One of my big fears back then came true when I was grounded after 9/11.  My next big job was in Indianapolis, but what would I have done if I needed to get home to Maine?  Cell phone service was spotty at best and flying was next to impossible in the days following the attack.  I managed to rent a car and could have driven home if I needed to, but what if traffic was shut down and I had to go on foot?

So let’s assume for a minute that there’s been a traffic lockdown, or maybe the grid is down, and now I’ve got to walk home.  Or at least find a place I can hole up because now I’m on my own.  I have very little in the way of a BOB because security won’t let me travel with much of anything that might prove useful in the way of survival.  No knife, no gun, no fuel for a stove… you get the picture.  Remember, this was a way of life for me.  There’s no way I would be able to financially make it feasible to have a firearm at every destination I went to.

A Plan


The best thing to have is plan.  “Chance favors the prepared mind,” right?

The first thing I’d want is a large reserve of cash on my person at all times.  At least $500.  Why?  I think that shortly after TSHTF people are going to be buying things in a frenzy such as food and other items from supermarkets and hardware stores.  Even if currency is about to become extinct if you have some cash on you people will be accepting it over credit or debit cards.  Why?  Because people love to make money off emergencies.  Ever notice how gas goes out of sight after a storm knocks the power out?  People get greedy and want to make as much money as they can off the disaster.

Fine.


If I have $500 on me I’d gladly trade it all for a good pair of boots, a sleeping bag, pack, mat, knife, stove and a few other items as well as dehydrated food, gorp, or whatever else they might have for hiking food.  In a true large scale emergency money won’t mean as much as the stuff you can buy with it in the first few hours.  The key is to know when to buy.  As soon as you think there’s an issue don’t hesitate.  Get to a sporting goods store, a Walmart, a hardware store, or whatever and trade that cash in for stuff that will likely be much more useful than pretty bills.  Hell, if you’re lucky you might even be able to pick up a shot gun and some shells.  That depends on how much money you have of course.  $500 won’t get you all the things I listed above, so you’ll have to pick and choose carefully.  People will wise up eventually, but if you get in quick you might catch them while they’re still thinking the dollars are worth something.

You might also want to carry gold and silver, but I’m not sure how powerful the attraction will be to those with goods to sell.  Whether it be cash or gold make sure you have enough to get what you need if TSHTF.

You could save yourself some headache by wearing your hiking shoes and making sure you have a


set of hiking clothes in your luggage.  I have some 5.11 tactical pants that I wear at work and can away with because they look semi-professional.  Combine these with a good pair of boots and you’ve got the beginning of a bug out kit.  A backpack filled with goodies is always a good idea if you can get away with it, but even a computer bag with a few essentials can be useful.

My computer bag has a small bug-out kit in it.  Some of the items it contains are a small knife, cordage, firesteel, canteen cup, head lamp, whistle/compass/match case, a real compass, and a small stove.  They sit nestled right in my computer bag inside of a little water proof bag and nobody is the wiser.  (Shhhhh.)  You could also add a garbage bag or even a small poncho to help keep rain off in case of an emergency if you don’t always carry a rain jacket with you.

The Long Walk

But how are you going to get home?  There’s the real kicker.  If you’ve traveled to where you are on a plane there’s a pretty good chance you’re at least hundreds of miles from home.  Now you’ve got to figure out a way to get back.

If there are no cars on the road or planes in the air you might try seeing if there are any railroads nearby that you might catch a ride on.  Be prepared though because RR personnel don’t look kindly on people hitching free rides on their trains.  Normally I wouldn’t suggest something like this; however, in the event of an emergency like the one I’m describing all bets are off.  “Do no evil to others,” would be one of the rules of the road, unless they do evil to you first.

If there’s a river nearby heading in the right direction you might look into catching a ride on a boat or buying a canoe or kayak.  If you’re on the coast it’s possible a boat heading in your direction might get you at least partially there.  Maybe you could trade work for safe passage.  Look around and think creatively.

But no matter what you do you can rest assured that you’ll be hoofing it at least part way.  That’s why a good pair of shoes and a pack will be so important.  I hope your camping and survival skills are up to par because you might be doing a lot of it.

With a pack you can pick stuff up as you go if you have to.  I like to play a game when I’m out running or walking along side the road.  I keep looking to see what I could use in a survival situation if it ever came down to it.  The roads here in Maine are kept pretty clean, but there are always things like sheets of plastic that could be used for shelter, bottles and cans for storing and disinfecting water, various tools, lighters, paper, and on one occasion I even found an axe!  There are plenty of ways you can survive on the move if you’re resourceful enough to look around as you move.

What About the Family?

First, let’s assume you have a family.  If you’re traveling on business this probably means that your family is at home, which is likely to motivate you to want to get there as quick as you can.  Before leaving make sure they know what the drill is for emergencies and know what to do.  For example, does your wife know how to start the generator if needed?  Can she shoot a gun if it comes down to it?  How about your kids?  Do they know what to do if you’re not around?  Do you have a plan on what they should do if you can’t communicate.

If not it might be time to start bringing them up to speed.

If you’re on vacation then your family is likely with you.  In my mind this is a much tougher scenario because you not only have to move yourself, but now you’re responsible for getting your family home safely through who knows what kind of trouble.

Again, have a plan.  In some cases it might make sense to try and stay where you are until the emergency blows over.  Or if you have older kids and a wife who is willing and able maybe you can try to make it home.  Either way is fraught with danger and there will be some very tough decisions to make for the leader.  It all depends on the situation and capability of each family member.

Once more, having extra cash or gold on hand will likely benefit you at least in the short term.

I’m going to wrap it up here, but I’m sure there are many other things you can do to prepare for traveling by air.  How about ya’ll coming back with a few ideas for your fellow travelers?

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

Via: shtfblog