The truth about Facebook privacy

And why I no longer use it to post anything political, and am considering deleting my account entirely.

New ground truth: soil microbe negative feedback

Even if global warming were actually taking place (it's not), and even if it were man-made (it aint), every alarmist claim about the catastrophic effects of global warming is turning out to be false. Here we see that soil microbes do not release more carbon in increased heat, which is utterly moot since there is no global warming, but I digress.

But please, Anthony Watts. Stop blowing sunshine up our asses. There is no "game changers" in the global warming "debate". We've won the debate. They don't care. Because this is and never was, nor will it ever be, about science.

Watts Up With That -

This could be a game changer. From the University of California, Irvine press release, a finding that suggests soil microbes have a negative feedback with temperature increase. This has broad implications for the amount of CO2 emitted estimated in climate models. It had been assumed that as temperature increased, microbes and fungii would increase their CO2 output. Globally, this microbiotic contribution is large. The amount of CO2 released from soils worldwide each year is estimated to be about 8-10 times greater than the amount released by humans.



This study shows that soil microbes won’t go into a an “overdrive” mode when soil temperature increases.

Soil microbes produce less atmospheric CO2 than expected with climate warming

Read it all.

FBI agent short on details on militia inquiry

It's all a dog and pony show. Just like almost all "terror" cases.

Toledo Blade -

An FBI agent who led the investigation of nine Michigan militia members charged with trying to launch war against the federal government couldn't recall many details of the two-year probe yesterday during questioning by defense lawyers.



Even the judge who must decide whether to release the nine until trial was puzzled.

"I share the frustrations of the defense team … that she doesn't know anything," U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said after agent Leslie Larsen confessed she hadn't reviewed her notes recently and couldn't remember specific details of the case.

Quote of the Day

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park and when we choose to go on it we think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And it goes up and down and round and round, it has thrills and chills and its very brightly colored and very loud, and it's fun - for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time and after a while they begin to question: Is this real, or is it just a ride? But some people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say, 'Hey, don't worry and don't be afraid ever, because this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.

Shut him up! Ive got a lot invested in this ride. Look at my furrows of worry! Look at my big bank account...look at my family...This has to be real!

But it's just a ride.

But we always kill those good guys who try to tell us that and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride - and we can change it any time we want.

All we need is the choice.

No effort, no work, no job, no savings or money - just a choice - right now - between fear & love.

The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns and and close yourself off, the eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world to a better ride right now. Take all the money we spend on weapons and defence every year and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded and we can explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever...in peace." -- Bill Hicks (1961 - 1994)

Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card

Just like you have to fill out a W2 Form even though there's no law requiring you to, otherwise you can't work, soon you'll need a BELIEVE card to work in this country too.

Alexander Bolton
The Hill -

A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation’s immigration laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday.

Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such as a fingerprint, within the next six years, according to a draft of the measure.

The proposal is one of the biggest differences between the newest immigration reform proposal and legislation crafted by late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The national ID program would be titled the Believe System, an acronym for Biometric Enrollment, Locally stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment.

It would require all workers across the nation to carry a card with a digital encryption key that would have to match work authorization databases.

“The cardholder’s identity will be verified by matching the biometric identifier stored within the microprocessing chip on the card to the identifier provided by the cardholder that shall be read by the scanner used by the employer,” states the Democratic legislative proposal.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil liberties defender often aligned with the Democratic Party, wasted no time in blasting the plan.

“Creating a biometric national ID will not only be astronomically expensive, it will usher government into the very center of our lives. Every worker in America will need a government permission slip in order to work. And all of this will come with a new federal bureaucracy — one that combines the worst elements of the DMV and the TSA,” said Christopher Calabrese, ACLU legislative counsel.

“America’s broken immigration system needs real, workable reform, but it cannot come at the expense of privacy and individual freedoms,” Calabrese added.

The ACLU said “if the biometric national ID card provision of the draft bill becomes law, every worker in America would have to be fingerprinted.”

A source at one pro-immigration reform group described the proposal as “Orwellian.”

Read it all.

Auto bill draft would require black boxes

One does have to wonder, daily, how much more of this Americans are going to take. But then, at the same time, one can't help but wonder if Americans have been so dumbed-down, so indoctrinated, that they actually accept grotesque infringements on their liberties as just part of everyday life in Amurr'ca.

Washington Post -

All new cars would have to be equipped with "black boxes" that record performance data and federal safety regulators would be granted the authority to order immediate recalls under newly proposed auto-safety legislation being considered by Congress.

The draft of a bill was released Thursday by one of the House committees investigating Toyota's massive recalls for unintended acceleration in its vehicles. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House commerce committee, and Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chair of the Senate commerce committee, have said they intend to collaborate on automobile safety legislation this year.

The draft contains a wide array of provisions. Some require new safety features, such as the black boxes -- called event data recorders -- and brake override systems that allow a driver to stop a car even when the throttle is stuck open.

Read it all.

One in eight to cut cable and satellite TV in 2010

Kill your TV, before it kills you.

I used to tell people that if my cable weren't included in my rent package, I wouldn't have it at all. And then I realized, just because it's free that doesn't mean I have to use it. So I moved my TV away from the cable outlet, and now only watch movies - mostly information and documentary DVDs. Turn your TV off and read a book. Your kids will see you reading and will want to read too. And you'll be detoxing yours and their minds. Get outside and interact with nature and your neighbors. Reconnect with reality, and I don't mean reality TV.

CNN -

Despite rising cable and satellite TV prices and easy access to streaming TV and movies on the Internet, few consumers have cut the cord. But that looks like it's about to change.

One in eight consumers will eliminate or scale back their cable, satellite or other pay-TV service this year, according to a new study released this week by Yankee Group.

Read it all.

Thank you

So, let me get this straight:

You tear my veil to free me

You jail me to rid me of my terror

You kill my beloved to liberate me

You shoot my baby to erase my misery

You starve me to show me how to vote

You threaten me to bring me to my senses

You wage war on me to help me find peace

You slay my people to teach me compassion

You humiliate me to aid me live with dignity

You insult me to illustrate freedom of speech

You crush my bones to save me from my evil

You demolish my home to elevate my morality

You torture my children to teach me how to love

You uproot my tree to raise my ethical standard

You steal my resources to bring me social justice

You assassinate my leaders to bring me democracy

You destroy my history to educate me about progress

You dehumanise me to coach me into humanity

You bomb my town to train me into security

You wipe me out to push me to civilisation

You scorn my faith to bring me salvation

Thank you sir

How can I -ever- pay you back?

Super Surprising Facts About 'Our Enemy' Iran Remind Us That We Don't Know Squat

Wait...you mean we shouldn't bomb them? Well shit!

Jeffrey Rudolf
Alternet -

26 basic questions about Iran with answers that might surprise you.

What can possibly justify the relentless U.S. diplomatic (and mainstream media) assault on Iran?

It cannot be argued that Iran is an aggressive state that is dangerous to its neighbors, as facts do not support this claim. It cannot be relevant that Iran adheres to Islamic fundamentalism, has a flawed democracy and denies women full western-style civil rights, as Saudi Arabia is more fundamentalist, far less democratic and more oppressive of women, yet it is a U.S. ally. It cannot be relevant that Iran has, over the years, had a nuclear research program, and is most likely pursuing the capacity to develop nuclear weapons, as Pakistan, India, Israel and other states are nuclear powers yet remain U.S. allies—indeed, Israel deceived the U.S. while developing its nuclear program.

The answer to the above-posed question is fairly obvious: Iran must be punished for leaving the orbit of U.S. control. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when the Shah was removed, Iran, unlike, say, Saudi Arabia, acts independently and thus compromises U.S. power in two ways: i) Defiance of U.S. dictates affects the U.S.'s attainment of goals linked to Iran; and, ii) Defiance of U.S. dictates establishes a “bad” example for other countries that may wish to pursue an independent course. The Shah could commit any number of abuses—widespread torture, for example—yet his loyalty to the U.S. exempted him from American condemnation—yet not from the condemnation of the bulk of Iranians who brought him down.

The following quiz is an attempt to introduce more balance into the mainstream discussion of Iran.

Read all of it.

10 Ways the American Economy Is Built on Fraud

Mark Ames
Alternet -

Fraud has become so endemic in this country that it's woven its way into America’s DNA.

1). Accounting Fraud: Last year, America’s leading banks were insolvent. They had tens or hundreds of billions in losses on their books, and the only way to wipe those losses out would be to either a) own up to the mess, raise enormous amounts of money on top of all the bailout money; or b) get out a big fat eraser, and wipe those losses off the books as if they never existed. The first option was nice and all, but a real hassle. So Geithner and Larry Summers chose Door Number Two: Accounting Fraud. They forced the FASB to accept a rule-change in the accounting methodology called “mark-to-model” which let banks decide how much their assets were worth, rather than letting the markets decide. So if for example a BofA owned a complex security called “Orion Butt Fungus” that was worth 5 pesos on the open market, but BofA was too broke to go out and raise 5 pesos to cover that loss, under the new accounting rules, the government told BofA that rather than pricing “Orion Butt Fungus” at what the market will actually pay for it, why not first ask, “How much would BofA like ‘Orion Butt Fungus’ to be worth, in a perfect world?’” If BofA answers, “Doyee, gee I dunno, how about $500 million?” then under the “mark-to-model” accounting rules, BofA could now value “Orion Butt Fungus” at $500 million, and voila! Their problems are over. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Suddenly, BofA looks like it knows how to pick winners! And no one’s going to second-guess them, because everyone else is mark-to-modeling their “Orion Butt Fungi” too! The end result: under the old rules, BofA would have had to raise money just to cover its debts, sort of like you and me have to do, and that’s just a lot of money going to waste. But now that its portfolio is so profitable, BofA has a much easier time raising money, which it uses to pay ginormous bonuses to its executives.

2). Big Pharma Fraud. Remember that scene early in Fight Club, when Edward Norton explained his job, when it was more profitable to let a car defect go and pay whatever lawsuit settlements come from the deaths, and when it’s better to recall the cars because the number of deaths will result in too many lawsuits? This is humanitarian do-gooder stuff compared to the savage real-world fraud-for-profit model that drives America’s drug companies. It’s really simple and it goes like this: the more fraud a drug company commits, so long as it’s off-the-scale fraud with the most horrible consequences for the victims, the drug company’s profits always outdo the criminal fines and lawsuits by factors of 20, 30, 100… It’s as simple as that. Because the billion in penalties here or the two billion in class action lawsuit settlements there are always far less than the tens of billions you earn from pushing harmful drugs on unsuspecting idiots. To wit: Between May 2004 and March 2010, a handful of top drug companies like Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers paid over $7 billion in criminal penalties for bribing doctors to prescribe drugs for unapproved uses, with sometimes deadly consequences. However, as a Bloomberg report noted, the fines are always a fraction of the profits—Pfizer alone paid almost $3 billion in criminal fines since 2004, yet that was just one percent of their total revenues; Eli Lilly got busted bribing doctors to prescribe a schizophrenia drug, Zyprexa, to elderly patients suffering from dementia, even though company-run clinical trials showed an alarming death rate of 31 people out of 1,184 participants (double the placebo rate). Whatever—the market for elderly dementia patients meant billions in extra revenues. So Eli Lilly continued pushing Zyprexa on the elderly for another four years until it the Feds busted them. Eli Lilly got hit with $1.42 billion fine, but that was peanuts compared to the $36 billion it earned on Zyprexa sales from 2000-2008. To make it happen, the drug companies buy off all the checks and balances: lawsuits revealed the enormous bribes they pay to doctors, and even America’s medical journals are so corrupted by drug company influence that they’re no longer reliable as much more than hidden advertisements, according to a recent UCSF study. Medical journals are 5 times more likely to publish “positive” drug reviews than negative reviews, and one-quarter of all clinical trials are never published at all, leading doctors to prescribe drugs assuming they have all the information. The result: prescription drugs kill one American every five minutes …while Americans pay more for drugs than anyone in the world, spending a total of $12 billion on drugs in 1980 to spending $291 billion in 2008—a 1,700% increase. America is ranked only 17^th in the world in life expectancy.

Read all of it.

Pentagon Report: Still Not Enough Troops in AfghanistanPentagon Report: Still Not Enough Troops in Afghanistan

After Multiple Escalations, Will Enough Ever Be Enough?

Jason Ditz
Antiwar.com -

After 15 months in office President Obama has increased the number of troops in Afghanistan by an almost impossible amount, going from 30,000 (itself the product of an end-of-term escalation by President Bush) to 86,000… with the troop level pushing 100,000 by the end of the summer.

But in what is rapidly becoming the ultimate example of a mission that grows to exceed whatever resources it is given, the Pentagon’s latest report on Afghanistan is warning that they still don’t have enough troops to cover even half of the “key districts” in the nation, let alone the rest of the country.

The report was released yesterday, with an emphasis on the grim assessment of just how unpopular President Hamid Karzai is in those “key” districts. The report also noted that the Taliban continue to grow and claimed, speciously considering the data in the report, that the rising violence had “leveled off.”

Read all of it.

US Government Spending As Percent Of GDP

Here's a handy little factoid when people talk about recovery and economic "growth". I would ask why government spending is factored into the GDP, but we already know the answer to that. Duh.

Health freedom alert: Congressman Waxman sneaks anti-vitamin amendment into Wall Street reform bill

This is why I didn't do too much celebrating when we "defeated" John McCain's vitamin "safety" act. The whole political process is an illusion of control. You have none. Get it through your head. If the passing of Obamacare didn't pound that point home for you, I don't know what will. You melted their switchboards. You'll vote them out of office, and they knew that when they voted for it. They don't care. They answer to a higher power than you, and they will be rewarded for falling on their sword for the New World Order. They have an agenda, and it will be passed, no matter how much you protest. So stop participating. Stop lending your consent to this complete and total fraud. Stop propping it up. Stop enslaving yourself.

Mike Adams
NaturalNews -

Of all the sneaky tactics practiced in Washington D.C., this recent action by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) is one of the most insidious: While no one was looking, he injected amendment language into the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) that would expand the powers of the FTC (not the FDA, but the FTC) to terrorize nutritional supplement companies by greatly expanding the power of the FTC to make its own laws that target dietary supplement companies.

This is a little-known secret about the FTC and the nutritional supplements business: The FTC routinely targets nutritional supplement companies that are merely telling the truth about their products. Some companies are threatened by merely linking to published scientific studies about their products.

Natural News is an essential website with a fantastic daily newsletter. Please sign up and continue reading.

Protecting the State’s Murder Monopoly

Will Grigg
LRC Blog -

The Oklahoma House of Representatives has passed a measure criminalizing “membership in an unauthorized militia or the Ku Klux Klan,” reports The Oklahoman newspaper.The relevant language was added to an existing bill, SB 2018, which would enhance penalties for “aiding or soliciting gang membership” from one year to five years in prison.

“In Oklahoma, we have seen the damage done by militia fanatics,” insists Democratic state Rep. Mike Shelton, referring to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.

Shelton neglected to mention that Timothy McVeigh, the disgruntled former federal employee executed for that crime, was never a member of a private militia. He was, however, a veteran of the state’s officially sanctioned killing apparatus who learned his lethal skills during the orgy of state terrorism called the first Iraq War. (McVeigh’s un-indicted co-conspirators included several informant/provocateurs on the payroll of various federal agencies.)

If McVeigh is the embodiment of the “gang” threat Shelton seeks to address, he should sponsor legislation banning military recruiters from the Sooner State.

Want to get rich? Work for the Feds

In North Korea, you either work for the government, or you starve.

Why am I bringing this up? Oh...no reason.

Washington Examiner -

For decades, public sector unions have peddled the fantasy that government employees were paid less than their counterparts in the private sector. In fact, the pay disparity is the other way around. Government workers, especially at the federal level, make salaries that are scandalously higher than those paid to private sector workers. And let's not forget private sector workers not only have to be sufficiently productive to earn their paychecks, they also must pay the taxes that support the more generous jobs in the public sector.


Data shows the pay gap between state
and local government and private sector
workers. (Chris Edwards/Cato Institute)

Data compiled by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reveals the extent of the pay gap between federal and private workers. As of 2008, the average federal salary was $119,982, compared with $59,909 for the average private sector employee. In other words, the average federal bureaucrat makes twice as much as the average working taxpayer. Add the value of benefits like health care and pensions, and the gap grows even bigger. The average federal employee's benefits add $40,785 to his annual total compensation, whereas the average working taxpayer's benefits increase his total compensation by only $9,881. In other words, federal workers are paid on average salaries that are twice as generous as those in the private sector, and they receive benefits that are four times greater.

Read all of it.

Chemtrails: The Facts

The chemtrail conspiracy holds that some contrails are actually chemicals or biological agents deliberately sprayed at high altitudes for a purpose undisclosed to the general public.

In this presentation we will try to give 4 possible explanations for this phenomena.

Illuminati Symbolism in Hollywood Movies

Quote of the Day

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. - H. L. Mencken

Report: Afghan Violence up nearly 90 percent in last year

Unless you consider the cornering of the opium and hashish markets in a country where these crops were banned prior to our invasion a "victory", there's no other conclusion to draw in Afghanistan except that the war is lost. This is common sense when you consider that all war is a racket, and there is no profit margin in "victory".

CNN -



Violence in Afghanistan is up nearly 90 percent from this time last year, according to a new Pentagon report submitted to Congress Wednesday.

Despite that increase and a 240 percent spike in roadside bomb attacks - a major factor in overall violence statistics - and increasing Taliban tactics to discredit President Hamid Karzai's government with shadow governments, some officials said they are seeing encouraging trends.

"We have the beginnings of the potential for real change," said a senior U.S. defense official who is closely involved with the Obama administration's Afghanistan strategy. The additional troops ordered by President Barack Obama, the official said, "have begun to have some impact on reducing the Taliban's ability to operate."

Read all of it.

Being an Illegal Alien Is a Felony...

...; marrying a foreigner so he or she can live in the country is punishable with a five-year prison sentence; and only economically “useful” people may obtain residence. In Mexico. H/T Thomas DiLorenzo.

Algore buys ocean-front mansion

Algore doesn't seem much worried about his carbon footprint - everybody knows about his 20-room, energy-devouring mansion in Tennessee. But it doesn't seem Algore is much worried about rising sea levels he's been predicting for years, either. Otherwise he wouldn't buy a $9Million mansion on the coast of California.

Los Angeles Times -

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal.

The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

The Longer It Takes the Dollar To Fall, the Bigger the Drop Will Be

Yahoo Finance -

Fear of a sovereign debt crisis in Europe resurfaced Tuesday, sending stocks tumbling around the globe. In the U.S. the Dow shed 213 points and the S&P lost 28 points. Meanwhile, gold rose to its highest level in 2 weeks, hitting $1165 per ounce at its intraday peak.

In other words, today was a great day for Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

"A lot of people were confused – they thought the market going up was somehow ratifying what the government had done – that the stimulus and bailouts were good and the economy was improving – it's not," Schiff says. "The economy is in worse shape than in 2008."

Rather than resolved the crisis, all we've done is papered over problems in the banking system with "phony accounting" and "dug ourselves deeper into debt," says Schiff, a longtime deficit hawk.

The crisis of 2008 was merely the "overture" to the "real crisis" Schiff (still) sees coming: "The real crisis is going to be a currency crisis, a funding crisis, a sovereign debt crisis – and that's when we have to pay the piper," he says. "We're in very bad shape. Sovereign credit risk in the U.S. is just as great -- if not greater than [in] Greece."

Even the most casual watchers of financial media know that Schiff has been saying much of the same thing for a long time now. Clearly, the U.S. stock market and the dollar have fared better in the past year than Schiff expected (at least judging by his public pronouncements).

But, as always, the Senate candidate and author remains undaunted and unbowed, as revealed by the following quotes:

-- "The market has rallied because it dropped so substantially," he says in the accompanying clip. The Dow lost 50% from its 2007 peak so "you're going to get some kind of short-covering bounce, especially when you have the Federal Reserve throwing money at the market."

-- "In the short run, markets are typically wrong – they do the wrong thing. In the long run, the fundamentals win out." -- “The fact the dollar is rising when it should be collapsing doesn't surprise me

-- it makes perfect sense; they same thing happened with dot.com stocks and condos in Vegas. The dollar is just as flawed and will collapse – it's only a question of when. The longer it takes to fall, the bigger the drop.”

Like his warnings about America's coming demise, Schiff’s investment thesis also remains the same: He's "trying to capitalize on better opportunities that exist abroad" by being long commodities like gold and sliver, agriculture, global resource producers and emerging market stocks, notably in China.

Schiff admits some of his stocks "have gotten beaten up in the last couple of days" as the global market, including in China, has shuddered. "But I'm not short-term focused; I'm looking at the big picture so I'm not too concerned," he says.

Judge asks feds to show militia did more than talk

This is a dog and pony show being put on by the feds, and it will be interesting to see if the judge allows them to get away with it. This is encouraging.

Associated Press -

A federal judge challenged prosecutors Wednesday to show that nine members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting war against the government had done more than just talk and should remain locked up.

U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts heard nearly 10 hours of testimony and arguments over two days. She did not make a decision about whether the nine will remain in custody, saying only that a ruling would come soon.

The members of a southern Michigan group called Hutaree have been in custody for a month. An indictment accuses them of weapons violations and a rare crime: conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the government by first killing police officers.

Prosecutors say the public would be at risk if the nine are released. But defense lawyers claim the government has overreached with a criminal case based mostly on hateful speech.

An undercover agent infiltrated the group and secretly made recordings that have been played in court. While there is talk about killing police, it's not specific. In one conversation, there are many people talking over each other and laughing.

Roberts pressed that point more than once as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet argued in favor of keeping the nine in jail. The judge suggested she didn't hear or read in the transcripts any indication that violence was imminent.

"Mere presence where a crime may be planned is not a crime. ... How does this add up to seditious conspiracy?" Roberts said.

Read it all.

20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins

The Economic Collapse -

Today, millions of Americans say that they believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse and will soon be entering another Great Depression. But only a small percentage of those same people are prepared for that to happen. The sad truth is that the vast majority of Americans would last little more than a month on what they have stored up in their homes. Most of us are so used to running out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart for whatever we need that we never even stop to consider what would happen if suddenly we were not able to do that. Already the U.S. economy is starting to stumble about like a drunken frat boy. All it would take for the entire U.S. to resemble New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina would be for a major war, a terror attack, a deadly pandemic or a massive natural disaster to strike at just the right time and push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge. So just how would you survive if you suddenly could not rely on the huge international corporate giants to feed, clothe and supply you and your family? Do you have a plan?

Unless you already live in a cave or you are a complete and total mindless follower of the establishment media, you should be able to see very clearly that our society is more vulnerable now than it ever has been. This year there have been an unprecedented number of large earthquakes around the world and volcanoes all over the globe are awakening. You can just take a look at what has happened in Haiti and in Iceland to see how devastating a natural disaster can be. Not only that, but we have a world that is full of lunatics in positions of power, and if one of them decides to set off a nuclear, chemical or biological weapon in a major city it could paralyze an entire region. War could erupt in the Middle East at literally any moment, and if it does the price of oil will double or triple (at least) and there is the possibility that much of the entire world could be drawn into the conflict. Scientists tell us that a massive high-altitude EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast could send large portions of the United States back to the stone age in an instant. In addition, there is the constant threat that the outbreak of a major viral pandemic (such as what happened with the 1918 Spanish Flu) could kill tens of millions of people around the globe and paralyze the economies of the world.

But even without all of that, the truth is that the U.S. economy is going to collapse. So just think of what will happen if one (or more) of those things does happen on top of all the economic problems that we are having.

Are you prepared?

The following is a list of 20 things you and your family will need to survive when the economy totally collapses and the next Great Depression begins....

#1) Storable Food

Food is going to instantly become one of the most valuable commodities in existence in the event of an economic collapse. If you do not have food you are not going to survive. Most American families could not last much longer than a month on what they have in their house right now. So what about you? If disaster struck right now, how long could you survive on what you have? The truth is that we all need to start storing up food. If you and your family run out of food, you will suddenly find yourselves competing with the hordes of hungry people who are looting the stores and roaming the streets looking for something to eat.

Of course you can grow your own food, but that is going to take time. So you need to have enough food stored up until the food that you plant has time to grow. But if you have not stored up any seeds you might as well forget it. When the economy totally collapses, the remaining seeds will disappear very quickly. So if you think that you are going to need seeds, now is the time to get them.

#2) Clean Water

Most people can survive for a number of weeks without food, but without water you will die in just a few days. So where would you get water if the water suddenly stopped flowing out of your taps? Do you have a plan? Is there an abundant supply of clean water near your home? Would you be able to boil water if you need to?

Besides storing water and figuring out how you are going to gather water if society breaks down, another thing to consider is water purification tablets. The water you are able to gather during a time of crisis may not be suitable for drinking. So you may find that water purification tablets come in very, very handy.

#3) Shelter

You can't sleep on the streets, can you? Well, some people will be able to get by living on the streets, but the vast majority of us will need some form of shelter to survive for long. So what would you do if you and your family lost your home or suddenly were forced from your home? Where would you go?

The best thing to do is to come up with several plans. Do you have relatives that you can bunk with in case of emergency? Do you own a tent and sleeping bags if you had to rough it? If one day everything hits the fan and you and your family have to "bug out" somewhere, where would that be? You need to have a plan.

#4) Warm Clothing

If you plan to survive for long in a nightmare economic situation, you are probably going to need some warm, functional clothing. If you live in a cold climate, this is going to mean storing up plenty of blankets and cold weather clothes. If you live in an area where it rains a lot, you will need to be sure to store up some rain gear. If you think you may have to survive outdoors in an emergency situation, make sure that you and your family have something warm to put on your heads. Someday after the economy has collapsed and people are scrambling to survive, a lot of folks are going to end up freezing to death. In fact, in the coldest areas it is actually possible to freeze to death in your own home. Don't let that happen to you.

#5) An Axe

Staying along the theme of staying warm, you may want to consider investing in a good axe. In the event of a major emergency, gathering firewood will be a priority. Without a good tool to cut the wood with that will be much more difficult.

#6) Lighters Or Matches

You will also want something to start a fire with. If you can start a fire, you can cook food, you can boil water and you can stay warm. So in a true emergency situation, how do you plan to start a fire? By rubbing sticks together? Now is the time to put away a supply of lighters or matches so that you will be prepared when you really need them.

In addition, you may want to consider storing up a good supply of candles. Candles come in quite handy whenever the electricity goes out, and in the event of a long-term economic nightmare we will all see why our forefathers relied on candles so much.

#7) Hiking Boots Or Comfortable Shoes

When you ask most people to list things necessary for survival, this is not the first or the second thing that comes to mind. But having hiking boots or very comfortable and functional shoes will be absolutely critical. You may very well find yourself in a situation where you and your family must walk everywhere you want to go. So how far do you think you will get in high heels? You will want footwear that you would feel comfortable walking in for hours if necessary. You will also want footwear that will last a long time, because when the economy truly collapses you may not be able to run out to the shoe store and get what you need at that point.

#8) A Flashlight And/Or Lantern

When the power goes off in your home, what is the first thing that you grab? Just think about it. A flashlight or a lantern of course. In a major emergency, a flashlight or a lantern is going to be a necessity - especially if you need to go anywhere at night.

Solar powered or "crank style" flashlights or lanterns will probably be best during a long-term emergency. If you have battery-powered units you will want to begin storing up lots and lots of batteries.

#9) A Radio

If a major crisis does hit the United States, what will you and your family want? Among other things, you will all want to know what in the world is going on. A radio can be an invaluable tool for keeping up with the news.

Once again, solar powered or "crank style" radios will probably work best for the long term. A battery-powered until would work as well - but only for as long as your batteries are able to last.

#10) Communication Equipment

When things really hit the fan you are going to want to communicate with your family and friends. You will also want to be able to contact an ambulance or law enforcement if necessary. Having an emergency cell phone is great, but it may or may not work during a time of crisis. The Internet also may or may not be available. Be sure to have a plan (whether it be high-tech or low-tech) for staying in communication with others during a major emergency.

#11) A Swiss Army Knife

If you have ever owned a Swiss Army knife you probably already know how incredibly handy they can be. It can be a very valuable and versatile tool. In a true survival situation, a Swiss Army knife can literally do dozens of different things for you. Make sure that you have at least one stored up for emergencies.

#12) Personal Hygiene Items

While these may not be absolute "essentials", the truth is that life will get very unpleasant very quickly without them. For example, what would you do without toilet paper? Just think about it. Imagine that you just finished your last roll of toilet paper and now you can't get any more. What would you do?

The truth is that soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper and other hygiene products are things that we completely take for granted in society today. So what would happen if we could not go out and buy them any longer?

#13) A First Aid Kit And Other Medical Supplies

One a more serious note, you may not be able to access a hospital or a doctor during a major crisis. In your survival supplies, be absolutely certain that you have a good first aid kit and any other medical supplies that you think you may need.

#14) Extra Gasoline

There may come a day when gasoline is rationed or is simply not available at all. If that happens, how will you get around? Be certain to have some extra gasoline stored away just in case you find yourself really needing to get somewhere someday.

#15) A Sewing Kit

If you were not able to run out and buy new clothes for you and your family, what would you do? Well, you would want to repair the clothes that you have and make them last as long as possible. Without a good sewing kit that will be very difficult to do.

#16) Self-Defense Equipment

Whether it is pepper spray to fend off wild animals or something more "robust" to fend off wild humans, millions of Americans will one day be thankful that they have something to defend themselves with.

#17) A Compass

In the event of a major emergency, you and your family may find yourselves having to be on the move. If you are in a wilderness area, it will be very hard to tell what direction you are heading without a compass. It is always a good idea to have at least one compass stored up.

#18) A Hiking Backpack

If you and your family suddenly have to "bug out", what will you carry all of your survival supplies in? Having a good hiking backpack or "survival bag" for everyone in your family is extremely important. If something happened in the city where you live and you suddenly had to "go", what would you put your most important stuff in? How would you carry it all if you had to travel by foot? These are very important things to think about.

#19) A Community

During a long-term crisis, it is those who are willing to work together that will have the best chance of making it. Whether it is your family, your friends, a church or a local group of people that you know, make sure that you have some people that you can rely on and work together with in the event that everything hits the fan. Loners are going to have a really hard time of surviving for long.

#20) A Backup Plan

Lastly, it is always, always, always important to have a backup plan for everything.

If someone comes in and steals all the food that you have stored up, what are you going to do?

If travel is restricted and your can't get to your "bug out" location immediately do you have a Plan B?

If you have built your house into an impregnable survival fortress but circumstances force you to leave do you have an alternate plan?

The truth is that crisis situations rarely unfold just as we envision. It is important to be flexible and to be ready with backup plans when disaster strikes.

You don't want to end up like the folks in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. You don't want to have to rely on the government to take care of you if something really bad happens.

Right now the U.S. strategic grain reserve contains only enough wheat to make half a loaf of bread for each of the approximately 300 million people in the United States.

How long do you think that is going to last?

Now is the time to get ready.

Now is the time to prepare.

The United States economy is going to collapse and incredibly hard times are coming.

Will you be able to survive when it happens?

Feds Again Invade Amish Farm for 5 a.m. Inspection

I can't think of anything more "free"; a better example - the epitome, really - of liberty, than Feds raiding a farm because they sell raw milk. No, really. That's freedom, baby. That's Amurr'ca...where you're forced to get vaccines that wipe out your brain and destroy your immune system, and you're banned with extreme prejudice from eating or drinking anything that's actually healthy for you. Pasteurized milk is dead, and homogenized milk is poison. Raw milk is alive and nutritious...don't you dare drink it.

Drew Kaplan
Health Freedom Alliance -

HFA members may remember a previous article we published about the FDA invading an Amish farm. The story continues with agents invading the Amish farm in Pennsylvaniayet again at 5 a.m. to inspect cow-milking facilities then followed up the next day with a written notice that the farmer was engaged in interstate sale of raw milk in violation of the Public Health Services Act. A failure to correct the situation could result in “seizure and/or injunction,” the warning letter from Kirk Sooter, district director of the Philadelphia office of the Department of Health and Human Services, told farmer Dan Allgyer of Kinzers, Pa., on Wednesday. The farm invaded Tuesday is the one agents visited in February, driving past “Private Property” signs to demand Allgyer open his property for their inspection, saying, “You have cows. You produce food for human consumption.”

Commercial beef really is made out of chicken feces

It's bad enough they cage these cows in like sardines, feed them food that turns their feces into poison, and then force them to wallow ankle-deep in that feces. They are then slaughtered, covered in their own feces, and this feces often makes its way into the carcass itself, and then into whatever steak or ground beef or burger it ends up becoming. And of course, Big Agra's solution to this is, not to stop feeding the cows grain, which their stomachs are not made to eat, not to allow them more room to roam, in a grass pasture - grass being what their stomachs are made to eat - no. They continue this grotesque, filthy practice and, to remove the meat of harmful bacteria which is a direct result of this, they treat it with ammonia, and are now lobbying hard for irradiation.

Just as sadistic is the practice of feeding chicken feces to cows. Which you in turn eat. You are, literally, eating shit. And they will continue to do this until you stop buying it.

Ethan A. Huff
NaturalNews -

A recent investigation into industrialized agriculture feeding practices has revealed some disturbing information of which many may not be aware. Commercial animal husbandry practices often involve feeding livestock mass amounts of animal waste, including chicken litter, which contains chicken feces, bedding, feathers, and other unknown residue.

Read all of it.

Back from sabbatical

I gotta admit, I got a bit discouraged with the way events were unfolding in the world, and my inability to make any kind of real difference. I thank everyone who has been following this blog, which I put countless hours into, but I couldn't escape the feeling that I was just preaching to the choir.

My plan was to just use Facebook as my blog, and just post news and opinion pieces I felt were relevant there, and publish my own essays whenever I got the urge to write them here. But new infringements on our privacy imposed by FB have sickened me and I will no longer be using FB for political discussion, if I bother to use it at all. The fact is, FB is openly and blatantly spying on us for the government, and they don't even trouble themselves to hide it.

So if you were a regular follower, keep coming back. I'll be raising hell here, venting my worthless opinions, sharing vital information on health, economics, survival, and impending martial law and police state. Thanks again for reading.