On August 15, 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities began building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there.
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All of the major stock indices were down dramatically on Tuesday (August 14, 2019), with the S&P 500 down 2.93% and the DJIA and NASDAQ both down more than 3%. Buckle up! I hope that you took my advice and reduced your stock exposure — and meanwhile diversified into tangibles, including silver. Even though it is more of an industrial metal than gold, I still expect silver to outperform gold, in the months to come. Silver could literally double in price (from $17 to $34 per Troy ounce.) But it is long way for gold to double from $1,500 to $3,000.
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I’m pleased to welcome aboard a new SurvivalBlog banner advertiser: Good2GoCo.com. They offer a wide range of competitively-priced products for preppers and outdoorsmen. If you are preparing for the worst, then they’ll have what you need. At the end of this month they will be launching a Grand Opening Sale, with discounts up to 50% off, on selected merchandise. So be sure to visit their web site today. Our readers in Canada should check out their sister site: Good2GoCo.ca
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Today we present a short feature article written by blog reader H.L. You may recognize H.L.’s initials from the many news items that she has loyally sent us for SurvivalBlog columns, for more than 10 years. Her efforts are greatly appreciated!
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And speaking of blog feature articles: We presently have just a few articles in the queue for our bi-monthly SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It is in contest rounds like this one where we have fewer entries that statistically you have the best chance of being awarded writing contest prizes. The combined value of the prizes awarded once every two months is now over $12,500! Please get your article finished, and send it in. Many thanks.
Re. The Berlin Wall
Walls work both ways. That is why ‘Trump’s Wall’ is a short-sighted fool’s choice, especially in light of today’s technologies. Also half of the U.S. hates the other half. Do you really want to be ‘walled in’ with the other half?
We can afford to deploy 199,000 military personnel on foreign soil yet need ‘The Wall’ to defend American soil?
And does anyone actually believe Texans need the U.S. government to defend Texas soil? It’s laughable. Put a bounty on the invaders. I advocate defense of selves and property, not murder. Make a big incentive to ‘take them alive’. In God we trust. Right? Well, In God’s natural laws we trust.
From Reluctant Preppers, Gregory Mannarino, Aug 15, 2019
“Prelude to the Big One” He sees a hyperinflationary collaspe is unavoidable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFHHImQY-A
Re: The Berlin Wall
From the article. “The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there.”
Yes, indeed the memory, even as only a tourist, is burned into my brain. I was privileged to see the wall from the wrong side, from an East German’s perspective. Grand avenues that ran through the beautiful vibrant city, abruptly ended at the wall. And directly on the other side, iconic buildings, blown up and shot up, abandoned and barren, a scene perfectly preserved from WW2, literally. It was bleak, and cold, and hellish, then, and now a reality for this tourist, as he recalls it.
I’ve had the good fortune to see it from the other side, and to get to know what communism is for real, as a long term student in Europe. I can still speak the lingo too. It is burned into my soul. The Commies mean business. I learned that from my commie professors. We will not be fighting Americans. We will be fighting commies.
I was stationed in west Germany near Frankfurt when the wall and the Soviet empire came to a crashing halt. The talking heads always point to “no WMD’s” as the biggest failure of US intelligence but I believe that the failure to see the collapse of the Soviet Union as the BIGGEST failure of Intel. Posters with a quote from some Soviet General about lulling us to sleep with peace then attacking us were put up on doors all over our post. We were briefed not to put our guard down.
I was in Karlsruhe, West Germany when the wall went up. I was an army brat in the 9th grade. There were 5 different bases around the area and all were secure with fences and guards except where we lived in the American housing area. In the middle of the night US infantry surrounded our area and set up positions. In the event the Russians came through the Fulda Gap, dependents were to drive themselves to Le Havre, France to await evacuation. In this case, we were to evacuate in the same way. Like that was realistic. By noon, everything calmed down and and life went on with lots of confrontation and sabre rattling. We were listening on Armed Forces Radio when American and Russian tanks squared off at Checkpoint Charlie.