Using Stored Grains

If you are laying in a store of bulk food for lean times, here is a useful post on SuvivalBlog.com:

Using the Grain You Have Stored

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The End of Retirement

The Greater Depression is forcing elderly Americans out of retirement. From WTSP in St. Petersburg, Florida:

Doug East and his wife, Bonnie, are both 78 years old and they decided together that the time was right to end their retirement and go back to work.

"It's a trying time right now and that's for all people, particularly in the older age," said Doug East, who retired after owning a real estate business for over fifty years.

Bonnie East says that, in this economy, it's all about survival. "Surviving is the most important thing right now, and it's been a real learning curve for us all."

The couple decided to open up the Attic, an antique and consignment shop located in the Gandy Shopping Center, to help make ends meet.

"It took us about three to four months just to get started and it was an immediate success," Doug East said.

The couple retired from the real estate business and had been living on their savings for the past six years, and then they realized their money was slowly running out and they decided to do something to reinvent themselves in this economy.

"Things were getting tight and we said, 'What are we going to do? Wait until we don't have anything left or get out there and supplement the little that we do have and let's build again." [Emphasis added]

The last paragraph neatly sums up the predicament of ordinary people living under a system of central banking, fractional reserves, monetary inflation, and speculative credit bubbles. Their earnings and savings, plundered by design, either vanish or become insufficient for survival.

Preparing for the Underground Church

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand's booklet is more relevant than ever:
http://preparingfortheundergroundchurchbook.blogspot.com
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It's Time to Boycott the Airlines

National No-fly Zone

We're not traveling by air anymore until the TSA removes the porno scanners and stops the groping.

Update

On second thought, that's not going far enough. We should boycott air travel until the TSA is eliminated.

Surviving the Cold When You Cannot Heat Your Home

We may speak figuratively about the death of the American middle class, but in colder parts of the country death becomes a literal threat when families can no longer afford to heat their homes in winter. For these people, guarding against hypothermia will be a major safety concern.

Here is an article on Hypothermia Prevention. It focuses mainly on outdoor activity but some of it will be applicable to the home as well.

A more specific home survival article: How to Stay Warm At Home Without a Heater.

Why Voting in America Accomplishes So Little

As the Tea Party is about to find out, electing new politicians to the imperial legislature does little or nothing to curb the power of the government. Isabel Paterson describes the problem succinctly:

"....political power has a ratchet action; it works only one way, to augment itself. A transfer occurs by which the power cannot be retracted, once it is bestowed. In the lowest illustration of this, a candidate for office may promise the voters that he will reduce taxes, or the number of offices, or the powers of office. But once he is elected, he can use the taxes, the office holders, or the powers to ensure re-election; therefore the motive of the promise is no longer operative. By cutting down expenditure or the number of officeholders or graft, he will certainly create enemies, so the reverse motive, impelling him to evade his promise, is doubled. The voter can only vote the incumbent out; but the next officeholder will come into those augmented powers, and be still harder to get rid of in turn. The difficulty of taking back powers once granted is illustrated in the repeal of the Prohibition Amendment; although it was demanded and carried by overwhelming sentiment of the citizens, the article of repeal contained a proviso which would retain numerous Federal jobs; it was impossible to make a clean sweep of the pernicious usurped power."

Isabel Paterson, The God of the Machine (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1993 ) pp. 163-164

Karl Denninger, who believes the Tea Partiers were easily and quickly co-opted by the Republican Party, advises Americans to stop playing by the establishment's rules and begin massive, continual street protests:

You don't need a leader. You need balls. The proper question is when you will find them? If not now, when?

The Perfect Euphemism

The Fed's inflationary debt monetizing policy is officially called Quantitative Easing. Considering that in King James Bible English the verb "to ease" means to defecate, this is the perfect euphemism for what they are doing to the dollar.

What is More Important Than Physical Survival?

If you're reading this blog, and if you agree with me that the world (or at least a good part of it) is about to experience tremendous hardship and suffering, then you are probably taking measures to keep yourself and your loved ones safe during the turbulent times ahead. Considering the possibility of near-term severe inflation, it's a good idea to gather as much storable food and provisions as possible, now, before prices soar. But recognize that no matter how well supplied and securely situated you might be, that even if you manage to avoid starvation and violence, death will catch up with you one day. Make certain that you are ready for that day (click image below to enlarge) :

An Observant Briton Corrects an Ignoramus

In the comments section of Las Vegas Tunnel People (Daily Mail, November 4), Mark from London responds to a fool who thinks we Americans are being under-taxed:

Quote: "This is what happens when you have low taxes.....".

The US does not have 'low taxes'. It's a myth.

I lived in Florida for many years: $8,000/year property tax. $12,000/yr health insurance. So, the first $20K earned (....AFTER deductions) doesn't even pay for a glass of water. And before anyone states that health insurance is not a tax, you're right. At those rates (and believe me that wasn't the best cover), it's State sanctioned extortion.

While their Federal income tax may be 25-28% for most people, once FICA, State tax, (and local taxes in some instances), annual property tax and the myriad of licenses, fees, levies etc. (all 'taxes' by any other name) is deducted, the rate is anything but low. You should see their phone bills. Some even include a 'war tax' - no kidding.

I think the term is nickle and dimed to death but the 'low tax" illusion still seems to be perpetuated.

And Mark isn't even taking inflation into account, nor the horrendous costs on production and barriers to capital formation imposed by bureaucratic regulations. All that crap is what's driving the insane medical care prices he complains about.

A Sign of America's Approaching Imperial Collapse

Britain, evidently recognizing that America's days as a global power are numbered, is entering into a military alliance with her old rival across the Channel:

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Britain and France will launch a broad defense partnership on Tuesday that includes setting up a joint force and sharing equipment and nuclear missile research centers, a French government source said.

Treaties to be signed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron at a meeting in London will pave the way for an unprecedented degree of military cooperation between the two neighbors.

Quote of the Day

Comment posted by Nate on the Vox Popoli blog:

"I suggest you all stop worrying about how to fix [America]... and start figuring out how you're going to survive it."

Citizens Are Learning to Protect Themselves

In Detroit, a group calling itself the Detroit 300 is patrolling the streets. These people are so sick of the rampant crime in their neighborhood (including the robbery and rape of a 90 year old woman) that they've dispensed with the "no snitching" code that is common in underclass black communities and are helping police track down suspects. As local governments grow ever more feeble in the collapsing economy, and as the police fade away, I expect groups like this to evolve into outright vigilante squads.