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The List: A to Z Survival for the Abysmal Times Ahead Be Informed June 2nd, 2012 SHTF Plan In a follow-up to his wildly popular article discussing How Horrific It Will Be For The Non-Prepper, contributor ‘Be Informed’ provides SHTFplan readers with an extensive list of preparedness and survival keywords and concepts for beginners and seasoned preppers alike. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems like no matter how well someone prepares, they inevitably find out they have forgotten something. That all important item or items that aren’t “remembered”, that merely only have to be mentioned by name to remind a person of what...

It has been said many times in recent months that we aren’t Greece. Now it will start to be said that we aren’t Spain. Both propositions are certainly true. (For one thing, Spain elected its socialist government in 2004, thus getting a head start on us.) But if we compare America’s debt crisis to Europe’s as a whole, how do we stack up? The Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee did the math and produced this graphic, which shows that the U.S. is now deeper in debt than the entire Eurozone, plus the United Kingdom. UPDATE: Mark Steyn thinks I...

As the title suggests, please name the latest bubble: (see picture - answer below)

There are those in America who have absolutely no clue as to what is going on behind closed doors. They are ignorant to the fact that over 22% of Americans are unemployed, nearly 50 million depend on nutritional assistance to put food on the table, 100 million are living in or on the edge of poverty, and that as a nation we have borrowed more money than we can ever hope to pay back to our creditors. These people, with their heads buried in the sand, whether by habit or choice, go about their day as if nothing has changed....

Bix Weir of www.RoadtoRoota.com fame was with us yesterday and explained that Ron Paul is actually ahead in the delegate account for the Republican Presidential Nomination. It seems that his supporters have been working the system and getting Ron Paul delegates installed even when others have won the popular count! If this is true, it could be a major election game changer. Time will tell if Dr. Paul has the winning electoral special sauce. Bix is expecting major market gyrations in March. He believes that a global financial realignment will be rearing its ugly head and that this will further...

Michael Snyder joins us today to discuss the impending global economic collapse and what you and your family can do to survive it. The statistics are bleak, but you shouldn’t allow yourself to become a statistic. We are obviously near a new inflection point in the ongoing collapse saga. Most people refuse to even entertain the possibility, that life as they know it is going to change dramatically in the months and years ahead. Easy credit and the ability to shift vast amounts of debt around the globe is rapidly coming to an end. Those who recognize the new reality...

David Knox Barker in an article Two Roads out of the Global Financial Crisishttp://www.marketoracle.co.uk/article32045.htm believes that if only the politicians will behave just a little bit and make some of the right decisions, the world can escape the current crisis and enter a period of unequaled prosperity. He quotes Robert Frost’s epic poem, The Road Not Takenas some kind of model for governmental action around the world. However, Mr. Barker fails to understand that there were many opportunities to travel down the road of economic salvation and that the United States and the World blew by them like Jeremy Clarkson...

Millionaire taxes wind up costing everyone more. Jay Hancock of the Baltimore Sun cannot understand why the State of Maryland is rapidly becoming devoid of the dreaded Millionaire. He can't fathom why a little thing like a 25% increase in Millionaire income taxes could possibly encourage wealthy citizens to flee the State for more Millionaire friendly climes. And Hancock is part of the problem. He, like his state's leadership, doesn't understand that self-employed high networth citizens are fleeing high tax jurisdictions all over the country. California, New York, New Jersey, Massachussets, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois are all seeing these people...

Bix Weir of RoadtoRoota.com joins us today to talk about gold and silver manipulation and the impending collapse of the world fiat money system. Bix has been studying economic history and the markets for a long time and has arrived at the conclusion that once the collapse occurs, it will be the largest debtors who fare the best. And of all the debtor nations, the United States stands head and shoulders above the rest. According to Bix gold and silver are still screaming bargains who's time will soon come. He believes that eventually the gold to silver ratio will go...

As the U.S. economy tanks and the Mid-East appears poised for war, a chain of survival gear stores in Missouri has reported a jump in sales due to people getting ready for the possible ‘collapse’ of society. Steve Dorsey, a manager at one of the Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters stores in Webster Groves told KMOX-Radio that: “We had to order fifty cases of the meals ready to eat to keep up with the demand in the past three months. That’s not normal. Usually we sell 20 to 30 cases in a whole year.” When local stores start running out of...

As I write this, I can’t avoid feeling two very clear sensations. The first one I can only explain by saying that it’s like stepping out of a boat just as it finishes its slow, decadent sinking and finally goes under the surface. The second one is genuine sadness. Of all the posts I’ve written, this is without a doubt the saddest one I’ve written. I’m not talking about the loss of culture, standards of living or the death of a friend. Its not about the starvation of children of violence towards people close to me. It’s about all that...

Denial. Denial is safe. Comforting. Religiously and relentlessly abused by politicians who don't want nor can face reality. A word synonymous with "muddle through." Ah yes, that "muddle through" which so many C-grade economists and pundits believe is the long-term status quo for the US and the world just because it worked for Japan for the past three decades, or, said otherwise, "just because." Well, too bad. As the following absolutely must read report, which comes not from some trader of dubious credibility interviewed by BBC, nor even from an impassioned executive from a doomed Italian bank, but from consultancy...

Remember the mantra that "consumers have delevered" which has been run over the last two years as an incessant bark from the media, attempting to goad you, the consumer, into more spending and more consumption to "lift the economy." This claim has been a lie and a fraud upon the public and the new Fed Z1 makes this clear. The peak household credit liability was $13.92 trillion. It currently stands at $13.30 trillion, a reduction of a mere 4.6%. This all came from home mortgages going ka-boom; $10.6 trillion to $9.9 trillion, a reduction of $700 billion. Total net reduction...

Even Goldman Sachs Secretly Believes That An Economic Collapse Is ComingSeptember 1, 2011 Even Goldman Sachs is doing it again. Goldman is telling the public that everything is going to be just fine, but meanwhile they are advising their top clients to bet on a huge financial collapse. On August 16th, a 54 page report authored by Goldman strategist Alan Brazil was distributed to institutional clients. The general public was not intended to see this report. Fortunately, some folks over at the Wall Street Journal got their hands on a copy and they have filled us in on some of...

If Sarah Palin were Vice President of the United States does anyone think she would have ever said anything even remotely deferrential about China's one-child policy? Palin is the mother of five, including three girls and yet she's supposedly the one who would have been a horrible embarrassment to America instead of our current Veep Joe Biden, who incidentally, was the one who declared that he wouldn't "second guess" the Chinese policy of forced streilization, forced abortions and coerced abortions. Biden's attempt at fixing the problem, by having his spoekwoman issue a statement wasn't helpful either. "The Obama Administration strongly...

Last Sunday, legislators and the president, convinced that the United States was facing an imminent risk of default and their sound decisions were needed to wrest global well-being from the jaws of collapse, purportedly scrambled to announce a deal on the debt ceiling hours before the Asian markets opened. Instead of cheering the deal, however, global markets thumbed their nose and turned down within hours of the announcement. Indeed, the most striking response to the “successful” conclusion of the United States debt ceiling cacophony on Sunday was the sharp fall in global stock markets the next day. Then, on Thursday,...

As part of its most recent issue the New Yorker has released a must read interview with Ray Dalio - head of the world's biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater. Dalio's fund, which according to some may now be as large as $80 billion, continues to outperform even in this problematic environment, indicating that unlike various other managers who shall remain nameless, and whose wealth is built up almost exclusively on one trade (and that belonging to someone else in the first place), Dalio, despite rumors that he is preparing to leave his current position and is actively seeking a replacement, is...

Can you smell it? There is blood in the water. Global financial markets are in turmoil. Banking stocks are getting slaughtered right now. European bond yields are absolutely soaring. Major corporations are announcing huge layoffs. The entire global financial system appears to be racing toward another major crisis. So could we potentially see a repeat of 2008? Sadly, when the next big financial crisis happens it might be worse than 2008. Back in the middle of 2008, the U.S. national debt was less than 10 trillion dollars. Today it is over 14 trillion dollars. Back in 2008, none of the...

The dollar collapse will be the single largest event in human history. This will be the first event that will touch every single living person in the world. All human activity is controlled by money. Our wealth,our work,our food,our government,even our relationships are affected by money. No money in human history has had as much reach in both breadth and depth as the dollar. It is the de facto world currency. All other currency collapses will pale in comparison to this big one. All other currency crises have been regional and there were other currencies for people to grasp on...

Are you familiar with Robert Kiyosaki? He is best known for the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series of books. Over 26 million books authored by Kiyosaki have been sold and he is recognized as a financial expert by millions of people across the globe. Well, guess what? Even Robert Kiyosaki is warning that an economic collapse is coming. In fact, Kiyosaki and his team of financial experts are encouraging Americans to stock up on food, guns and precious metals. This is yet another sign of just how close we are to the total collapse of the U.S. Economy. Kiyosaki,...

For the last few days, we’ve been having an important discussion about the magnitude of the economic challenges in the west; if you didn’t read yesterday’s letter, I really encourage you to do so before proceeding because it’s important to understand why the west has truly passed the point of no return. Simply put, the United States and much of Europe are borrowing an extraordinary amount of money now just to pay interest on the money they’ve already borrowed. They cannot even self-fund their mandatory entitlement programs without going into the hole, and their options are limited: Option 1: Continue...

If you listen to Ben Bernanke, Barack Obama and the mainstream media long enough, and if you didn't know any better, you might be tempted to think that the economic crisis is long gone and that we are in the midst of a burgeoning economic recovery. Unfortunately, the truth is that the economic crisis is far from over. In 2010, more homes were repossessed than ever before, more Americans were on food stamps than ever before and a smaller percentage of American men had jobs than ever before. The reality is that the United States is an economic basket case...

Right now, we are witnessing a truly historic collapse of the economy, and yet most Americans do not understand what is going on. One of the biggest reasons why the American people do not understand what is happening to the economy is because our politicians and the mainstream media are not telling the truth. Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke keep repeating the phrase "economic recovery" over and over, and this is really confusing for most Americans because things sure don't seem to be getting much better where they live. There are millions upon millions of Americans that...

We're already in May, and so suddenly people are wondering: Where are all the muni market disasters we're supposed to be getting this year? Why has it been so quiet. Why haven't munis fallen, like Meredith Whitney said they would? Fear not: she hasn't given up. Speaking today at the Milken Conference in LA, she doubled down on her call for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of defaults saying, according to Bloomberg: "This municipal issue, you can criticize me for anything you want, I’m numb to it, because I have more conviction on this than I’ve had on any...

No Buyers For Treasuries aka "Toxic Waste" Bob ChapmanMay 2, 2011 We believe there will be something similar to a QE3 by another name and the Fed will probably have to create some $2.5 trillion to buy Treasuries, Agencies, and toxic waste and perhaps inject funds into the economy. Japan certainly won’t be a buyer and probably will be a seller. China has indicated that they won’t be purchasers in the future either. The question also arises concerning the continued purchase of these securities by countries in the oil producing Gulf States, which are in turmoil. The three countries make...

Considerations For SHTF Living & Bug Out Locations Mac Slavo May 3rd, 2011 Editor’s note: If you are not yet in the location you want to be if the S were to hit the fan, and are currently looking for either a home or raw land, then we recommend that you also read What Is The Best Place To Live In The United States To Prepare For The Coming Economic Collapse. The opinions expressed below are a supplement to that article. If insulating yourself from a worst-case scenario is your primary concern then the following considerations, some of which were...

How QE2 Has Changed Everything By Bill BonnerApril 4, 2011 05/04/11 Baltimore, Maryland – Monday was a no-action day on Wall Street. Tuesday was dead too. Except that gold dropped $16. The killing of Osama bin Laden was supposed to raise prices. Especially the price of the dollar. The buck has been going down for 3 years. It’s now within a few cents of its all time low, registered back in the ’70s. We were prepared to advocate more killing, maybe even mass murder, if it would lower the unemployment rate…but the ‘killing lift’ was short lived. It lasted only...

What Is The Best Place To Live In The United States To Prepare For The Coming Economic Collapse?May 2, 2011 What is the best place to live in the United States? I get asked that question all the time. My answer can be summed up in two words: it depends. The truth is that the answer is going to be different for each person. All of us have different goals and different needs. If you have a very strong network of family and friends where you live right now, you might want to think twice before moving hundreds or thousands...

The dollar doesn’t have much clout these days. The greenback has lost 12 percent of its value against foreign currencies since the chaotic period after the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and nearly 5 percent since the end of 2010. Economists are debating the end of the era of the dollar, while news organizations paint it as a 98-pound weakling. Our so-called “fiat” currency, backed only by the full faith and credit of the government, no longer commands respect. So wouldn’t we be better off without it? Imagine you woke up tomorrow and the dollar had vanished. The Federal...

What is the best place to live in the United States? I get asked that question all the time. My answer can be summed up in two words: it depends. The truth is that the answer is going to be different for each person. All of us have different goals and different needs. If you have a very strong network of family and friends where you live right now, you might want to think twice before moving hundreds or thousands of miles away. If you have a great job where you live right now, you might want to hold...

In case you haven't noticed, the world is on the verge of a horrific global food crisis. At some point, this crisis will affect you and your family. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but it is going to happen. Crazy weather and horrifying natural disasters have played havoc with agricultural production in many areas of the globe over the past couple of years. Meanwhile, the price of oil has begun to skyrocket. The entire global economy is predicated on the ability to use massive amounts of inexpensive oil to cheaply produce food and...

The discussions and facts concerning an impending economic collapse have been an ongoing source of contention since the last presidential election. I am cognizant of the facts and the Cloward-Piven Strategy as well as the lack of leadership in the political arena to address the necessary measures to return to a responsible fiscal policy. The issue that I want to address is one with “We the People”. How many conversations have you had concerning your personal finances in respect to credit cards? Have you considered running up multiple credit card balances since the dollar will collapse or hyperinflation will make...

Click the link. It's devastating to Obama.

In response to my ongoing discussion of a deflationary depression versus an inflationary depression, readers often ask me if a “soft landing” is possible. I guess the answer to that question depends on how you define soft landing. If by soft landing, you mean we will somehow muddle through, things will calm down on their own, and we will not experience a great deal of pain, the answer is no. But if your definition of soft landing is an economy that declines slowly, without violent revolution, I would say such a scenario is possible. There are a number of complex...

It was during that conversation with Ray a few days ago that he nailed me with that question. We had been talking for about an hour about how things went down here in Argentina, the similarities, inflation, how “shopping carts” keep getting more and more expensive, how crime affects your lifestyle. But what to do? The person now gets it, the person not only understands the wisdom in preparing for disasters large and small but comprehends that due to the current economic situation, life in general is going to change from now on, unemployment, inflation, loss of life quality in...

WHEREAS, the present monetary and banking systems of the United States, centered around the Federal Reserve System, have come under ever-increasing strain during the last several years, and will be exposed to ever-increasing and predictably debilitating strain in the years to come. WHEREAS, many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System’s currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future. WHEREAS, in the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, for which the Commonwealth is not prepared, the Commonwealth’s governmental finances and Virginia’s private economy will be...

In the lead up to the 2008 Presidential election college campuses fairly crackled with excitement and anticipation. The oh-so-much-more enlightened “Youth vote” was ready to explode and “show” the older generations who was the smartest most compassionate and most politically correct generation in American history. They intended to elect America’s first Black president, and they did. Now two years later those 18 to 24 year olds look like the dumbest group of people ever to walk into a polling place. The most recent USA TODAY analysis of the employment picture reveals the startling fact that, as a group, those aged...

Unlike Zimbabwe, the U.S. can easily get the currency it needs without being beholden to anyone. But wouldn't that dilute the value of the currency? No... ...If the Fed were to follow the lead of Japan and hold federal debt equal to the country’s gross domestic product, the Fed would be holding $14.75 trillion in federal securities, enough to refinance the ENTIRE U.S. federal debt of $13.8 trillion virtually interest-free. The federal debt hasn’t been paid off since the 1830s under President Andrew Jackson. It is just rolled over from year to year. An interest-free debt rolled over indefinitely is...

Is the beast of deflation crouching outside our door? Could this be the real reason behind the Federal Reserve's recent injection of $600 billion into the economy? Despite the logic of much of the criticism being aimed at the Fed, it may be doing what it has to do to keep the country from spiraling down into a deeper recession. In the midst of what amounts to a virtual economic war with some of our trading partners, it's important for us to understand exactly what is at risk and what the Fed is up to. First, the risk: Deflation is...

Even if IÂ’m wrong, and my old rival Paul Krugman is rightÂ… and that is possible. I donÂ’t rule that out. Even if heÂ’s right and the interest rate is low, the bond market is in a coma, and the vigilante go off and take up some other activities. Recurrent deficits year after year, never much less than 5 percent of GDP even on the administrationÂ’s optimistic forecasts, plus debt accumulation as a result mean inevitably that interest payments will consume a rising proportion of tax revenue. The process I have described you is independent of any bond market panic....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po6HhQ1ZRxE&feature=player_embedded Subscribe Free http://www.inflation.us Must See! End of Liberty http://www.inflation.us/videos

The rapper, who gave the world the hit single "Ice Ice Baby" in the early '90s, is showcasing his little-known talent for flipping homes in his new DIY Network show "The Vanilla Ice Project." Robert Van Winkle, a.k.a Vanilla Ice, chats about remodeling houses for 15 years and his new album. Video at site.

.... a must-see interview on Democracy Now where he says a second, more catastrophic crisis is unavoidable because our economic model is "dramatically poisonous." ..."Greed is the dominant value today in the world and as long as that persists, we're done!" But he doesn't just mean done economically, he means done as a species. Snip ... "next crisis is coming, and it will be twice as much as this one (referring to financial collapse of 2008)." Only for this one, "there will not be enough money anymore -- so that will be it!" Even more frightening are his views that...

Investing For Mexico’s Social And Economic Collapse Politics / Mexico Aug 13, 2010 - 08:05 AM By: Sean Brodrick There is a war next door, and our neighbor may be losing. I’m talking about Mexico’s ongoing battle with violent drug gangs. The northern parts of Mexico are becoming lawless, and the drug gangs are taking steps to set themselves up as de facto governments. This could have big implications for Mexico and for its oil production. And Mexico is our number 2 supplier of imported oil. Does the fallout from Mexico’s collapse extend beyond oil? Heck, yeah! The U.S. share...

Democracy could ‘collapse’ in Greece, Spain and Portugal unless urgent action is taken to tackle the debt crisis, the head of the European Commission has warned. In an extraordinary briefing to trade union chiefs last week, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso set out an ‘apocalyptic’ vision in which crisis-hit countries in southern Europe could fall victim to military coups or popular uprisings as interest rates soar and public services collapse because their governments run out of money.

Is this finally the economic collapse? By Keith R. McCullough, contributorAugust 11, 2010: 2:07 PM ET FORTUNE -- The Great Depression. Wall Street in 1987. Japan in 1997. Points of economic collapse are generally crystal clear in the rear-view mirror. Professional politicians in Japan have been telling stories for 20 years as to why they can prevent economic stagnation. In the US, the storytelling started in 2007. All the while, stock market and real-estate prices have repeatedly rallied to lower-highs, then collapsed again, to lower-lows. Despite the many differences between Japan and the US, there is one similarity that continues...

This video provides shocking details about the future of America's economy. It's a MUST WATCH.

Dr. Ron Paul explains why income tax and the FED are contradictory to individualist freedom. Most freepers disagree w/ Dr. Paul on foreign policy and I do too but this video is worth listening to.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sen. John McCain hasn't always talked tough on immigration. That haunted his presidential ambitions, and now his political survival hinges on whether he can show that his conversion is genuine. It hasn't been easy. Boycotts, vigils and a legal fight over the state's attempted crackdown on illegal immigrants have kept voters attuned to each nuance in his run for re-election. "Since 2007, I've said we have to secure the border first. I said it in 2008 and 2009 and 2010," McCain told 120 people at a town hall meeting in suburban Phoenix. Leaning against the back wall...

Arthur Laffer explains how proposed January 2011 tax hikes could be creating terrible unintended consequences today, and are setting the stage for an epic collapse next year. People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the nine states without an income tax are growing far faster and attracting more people than are the nine states with the highest income tax rates. People and businesses change the location of income based on incentives. Likewise, who is gobsmacked when they...