Category: Emerging Threats

Is Venezuela on the Verge of Becoming Another Syria?, by Brandon Smith

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Establishment elites have always had a predilection for regime change. Obviously, this strategy helps weed out nation states that might be uncooperative with their future plans for a fully centralized global economic and political order. We have also seen regime change occur when former puppet leaders go rogue and refuse to follow the script they have been given. Most of these men have acted as dictators and are not very empathetic public figures, so we rarely care when they get overthrown or murdered. That said, there are always wider implications to such events. I believe the reasons for regime change …


Downturns and Financial Crises – Sequence, by Gary Christenson

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Editor’s Note:  This concise bullet point market and economic summary article first appeared at The Deviant Investor and is re-posted with permission. Pay attention folks. This echoes my own writings on the economy. Another global economic crisis could be approaching. — Bond Market Turned Down & Interest Rates Up – Check! Two-Year yield bottomed September 2011 Five-Year yield bottomed July 2012 Ten-Year yield bottomed July 2016 The 30+ year bond bull market is done. Housing Market Turned Down – Check! Mortgage rates bottomed in July 2016. Mortgage applications have fallen hard. London, Vancouver B.C. and Australian prices are down. New …


S.42: How a Freedom Becomes a Felony

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The U.S. Congress is now on the cusp of passing a horribly unconstitutional law. It is designated H.R. 8 in the House and S.42 in the Senate. These bills would criminalize the American tradition of private party sales, trades, and gifts of firearms. It would become a felony crime to transfer any post-1898 firearm without first visiting a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder to fill out an ATF Form 4473, paying a transfer fee, and having that FFL phone the FBI to conduct a background check on the transferee. Without a “Yes you may” response from the ‘Mother May I?” …


Eight Lessons Learned From the Polar Vortex Plunge

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The recent plunge of the Polar Vortex deep into the American Midwest should serve as a wake-up call for those who are preparedness-minded. Here are some recent headlines: Polar Vortex Triggers Coldest Arctic Outbreak in at Least Two Decades in Parts of the Midwest Minneapolis could break low temperature records originally set in the 1800s, and Chicago could challenge its all-time record low of minus 27 F, set on Jan. 20, 1985. (BBC): Polar vortex brings deadly cold snap to US states (BBC): Polar vortex: Ice quakes, burning railways and other quirky effects Polar vortex brings coldest air in a …


Guest Article: Maps and Pins Won’t Save You, Part 1, by Kit Perez

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  This article on Intelligence first appeared at the excellent American Partisan web site, and is re-posted with permission.  Part 2 will be posted on Saturday, February 2, 2019. I recommend American Partisan as “must reading.” Consider bookmarking it. — Part I: Understanding Your AO There’s a disconnect among many in the prepper community between information and intelligence. In recent years, a disturbing notion has become fashionable; namely, that in order to effectively operate in your area — whether it be due to a societal meltdown of some type or a natural disaster — you need a big …


I Survived an Economic Collapse – Part 2, by Siempre Listo

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  Part 1 of this article on the Mexico currency devaluation was posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2019.  Today, Part 2 concludes this article. — In Part 1, I described how, while I was living and teaching in Mexico in 1982, there was a nearly 50% devaluation of the Mexican Peso, resulting in major economic hardship for the average citizen. In this installment, I would like to share a few lessons I learned from experiencing a currency devaluation –essentially an economic collapse– and how these lessons can help us prepare for a similar, or much worse collapse in …


I Survived an Economic Collapse – Part 1, by Siempre Listo

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There is corruption at the highest levels of the government: The president, along with key officials in the government, financial institutions, corporations and the military, quietly move their money out of the stock market and banks and transfer their assets into gold and Swiss bank accounts. Once the members of the elite have safely parked their money away, the president suddenly announces a devaluation of nearly 50% of the currency. The move stuns the stock market, which plunges to epic lows. There is a run on the banks as panicked depositors withdraw most, if not all of their money. The …


Guest Post: Will Globalists Sacrifice the Dollar to Get Their ‘New World Order’?, by Brandon Smith

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Editor’s Introductory Note: The following article original appeared at the excellent Alt-Market blog, and is re-posted with permission. Brandon Smith’s economic and geopolitical analysis is usually spot on. I recommend bookmarking his site and checking it often. – JWR — Trade is a fundamental element of human survival. No one person can produce every single product or service necessary for a comfortable life, no matter how Spartan their attitude. Unless your goal is to desperately scratch an existence from your local terrain with no chance of progress in the future, you are going to need a network of other producers. …


Escape and Evasion in Standardized Testing, by Autistic Prepper

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A Little Background The very word “test” is enough to make us cringe. Spelling tests, math tests—every school day brought another test. And then there were the “achievement tests”, which were supposed to find out how much we’d learned that year. The Tests that Really Mattered in Our Lives From high school, many of us went on to college. Here tests were crucial as we labored through the ACT, SAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, et cetera. Our scores helped determine whether we would get into the college and profession we wanted. Okay, So I’m a Rebel I tried hard on all …


Preparing for a Private Gun Transfer Ban

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There is some bad news from the halls of the U.S. Congress: H.R. 8 has been introduced by Representative Mike Thompson–Democrat of California. Dubbed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, this is horrible piece of legislation that is likely to become law! The word from the District of Criminals is that this Private Gun Transfer Ban bill is on the fast-track through committee, for passage. Ominously, it quickly gained 225 co-sponsors. And President Trump has given mixed messages about whether or not he would sign such a bill. Uh-oh! A Private Transfer Ban, But it Sounds So Reasonable The …


Guest Post: The Modern Prison-Industrial Complex- Part 2

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Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was originally published on Ammo.com, and is reposted with permission. This is the concluding continuation of Part 1, which was posted in SurvivalBlog on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. Prison Guard Unions and Private Prisons Lobbying Elected Officials Anywhere government money is being spent or the state is picking winners and losers, there you will find lobbying. Like the military-industrial complex, private prisons are no exception to this rule. The two largest private prison corporations have put more than $10 million into electing favorable candidates since 1989, and more than $25 million into lobbying. Marco Rubio …


Guest Post: The Modern Prison-Industrial Complex- Part 1

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Editor’s Introductory Note: This article on prisons was originally published on Ammo.com. It is reposted with permission. The size of the U.S. prison population is of considerable concern to survivalists.- JWR — There’s no two ways about it: The United States of America and its 50 state governments love putting people in prison. The U.S. has both the highest number of prisoners and the highest per capita incarceration rate in the modern world at 655 adults per 100,000. (It’s worth noting that China’s incarceration statistics are dubious, and they execute far more people than the United States. Indeed, the so-called …


The Legislative Onslaught Begins: Federal Gun Grabbing in 2019

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As they promised, the Democrat Party majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is wasting no time in gun grabbing in 2019. They are launching a raft of new civilian disarmament legislation. Although there is still a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, there is a risk that some of these bills may be passed into law, following some across the aisle quid pro quo deal-making or legislative bundling. What I fear most is President Trump accepting such a deal, in order to get his coveted Border wall funded. I’m also concerned that some grand “compromise” might be reached, with …


The Coming Second Civil War

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A new paradigm has become evident in both the demographics and the political landscape of 21st Century America. Our nation’s major political camps are becoming increasingly polarized. The differences between the more populous and liberal coastal regions versus the lightly-populated and conservative inland regions are growing more sharp with every passing year. In the long term, a clash of wills between the Red and the Blue is almost inevitable. Whether this will result in conflict or in eventual partition and accommodation remains to be seen. Trouble might occur as early as the year 2020. Or it might be a full …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Today, I’m making a special post to this regular column, outlining my economic predictions for 2019: JWR’s Economic Predictions for 2019 As we all know, a new Democrat Party-dominated congress will be seated on Thursday January 3, 2019.  The actions of the 116th Congress are bound to have a profound effect on the U.S. economy. Given the history of profligate spending and public debt accumulation by both major parties, we can expect more of the same. And, in the event of a credit, bank, or stock market crisis, we can expect a Democrat dominated congress to spend even more. An …