Desert Wolf

By Nicholas West

The Orwellian use of non-lethal weapons that can have deadly results just got another boost. A South African company called Desert Wolf (“Be Anywhere, See Everywhere”) has developed a drone called the Skunk Riot Control Copter which can be equipped with pepper spray and 4 high-capacity paint ball barrels to strafe the target crowd of protesters.

While this is the first announcement that states an intention to imminently deploy this type of weaponry, it is not the first of its type; non-lethal weapons-equipped drones have been in development for quite some time and are a hair’s breadth away from seeing action across the planet.

The widespread acceptance of pepper spray – a chemical weapon that is stated as such by the founder of the product – has found its way into the hands of police and military the world over. As an increasing number of locations become flashpoints for unrest among worsening economic conditions and manufactured conflicts, the evolution of non-lethal weapons continues to be touted as a more humane way to address uprisings. The global drone arms race and the proliferation of non-lethal weapons creates a tempting integration of both technologies.

The latest development is being spurred by South Africa’s largest strike since the Apartheid era.  Platinum mine owners and unions have been in conflict for months, resulting in losses north of $1 Billion according to reports. Reports from the defense industry, however, conveniently ignore the socio-political and economic issues that might be resulting in legitimate protest. Rather, the workers in these clashes have been labeled simply as an “unruly crowd” which needs to be suppressed for the safety of “security staff.”

The Riot Control Copter’s description doesn’t sound like safety is its first priority; it sounds like punishment is.

The Skunk is equipped with 4 high-capacity paint ball barrels firing at up to 20 bullets per second each, with 80 Pepper bullets per second stopping any crowd in
its tracks.

The current hopper capacity of 4000 bullets and High Pressure Carbon Fiber Air system it allows for real stopping power. Bright strobe lights, blinding Lasers and with on-board speakers enables communication and warnings to the crowd. [emphasis added] (Source)

The new weapon in crowd management was revealed at a security exhibition. Defence Web reports that this model of anti-protest drone will likely see action beyond the current conflict zone, while acknowledging the risk for abuse that such detachment from those on the ground could engender:

A camera and microphone on the operator’s station records the operators (a pilot and payload operator) so their behaviour can be monitored. Hennie Kieser, Director of Desert Wolf, said people tend to be less aggressive when they are monitored.

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Desert Wolf will soon deliver the first 25 units to customers in the mining industry and the UAV will enter service around June/July. Kieser said it was sad that the mines are in a predicament with strike related violence and this is why the mines are the biggest market for the system. A full system including cameras, ground control station etc. will cost around R500 000.

Kieser said Desert Wold will definitely export the Skunk into Africa, primarily for mining operations, and that South African success will lead to other orders. He felt the best market is not in South Africa because of the current legislation restricting drone use. 

“I don’t think there’s anything like that in the world,” Kieser told defenceWeb regarding the made in South Africa UAV.

Desert Wolf also offers other UAVs, including the Mozzy, a multicopter for darting game. A live video link enables the operator to monitor the target animal. The company also offers the Wasp helicopter for day and night surveillance. [emphasis added] (Source)

Actually, the merging of non-lethal weapons and drones is not exactly new. While there has been pushback, in 2012 it was announced that the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office near Houston, Texas would be acquiring a ShadowHawk surveillance drone. Police Chief Randy McDaniel was excited about other applications:

On the topic of tacking a tear gas dispenser or a firearm that shoots non-lethal rubber bullets, McDaniel says it could eventually be an idea the department decides to go with.

“Those are things that law enforcement utilizes day in and day out and in certain situations it might be advantageous to have this type of system on the UAV.” [emphasis added] (Source)

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In July of last year it emerged that the Department of Homeland Security U.S. border control was considering non-lethal weaponized drones used to “immobilize people.”

 The documents, obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the CPB suggesting in a “law enforcement sensitive” report to Congress that its drones could be upgraded to include the weapons to shoot at “targets of interest.” The documents do not detail specific weapons, but “non-lethal” rounds deployed on drones could feasibly include rubber bullets, tear gas, or a Taser-like shock. [emphasis added] (Source)

For now, such implementation has not happened, but when one sees the growing outrage over the current U.S. immigration crisis threatening to spiral completely out of control, might this be more easily embraced as a “solution”? Once the precedent is set, as it appears it will be in South Africa, there is only one direction where this can can lead.

While the situation in South Africa is assuredly a complex one, if the use of weaponized drones and non-lethal weapons elsewhere is any guide, their use is likely to cause additional injuries, death and conflict, not less. And when that is part of the business model? It is all but guaranteed.

Source:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/17/5819564/skunk-drone-shoots-crowds-with-pepper-spray-paintballs

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Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post

If you want to figure out what is going to happen next in the financial markets, carefully watch what the insiders are doing. Those that are “connected” have access to far better sources of information than the rest of us have, and if they hear that something big is coming up they will often make very significant moves with their money in anticipation of what is about to happen.

Right now, Wall Street insiders and central banks all around the globe are making some very unusual moves.

 In fact, they appear to be rapidly preparing for something really big. So exactly what are they up to? In a previous article entitled “Are The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse?“, I speculated that they may be preparing for a financial meltdown of some sort. As I noted in that article, more than 600 banking executives have resigned from their positions over the past 12 months, and I have been personally told that a substantial number of Wall Street bankers have been shopping for “prepper properties” this summer.

But now even more evidence has emerged that quiet preparations are being made for an imminent financial collapse. That doesn’t guarantee that something will happen or won’t happen. Like any good detective, we are gathering clues and trying to figure out what the evidence is telling us.

Why Is George Soros Selling So Much Stock And Buying So Much Gold?

Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post

In 2007, the Sentinel Management Group (SMG) collapsed, leaving many segregated customer funds lost after they had been used as collateral. After a plethora of lawsuits and creditor claims, a a decision earlier this month in the 7th Circuit Court placed the banking cartels ahead of customer claims for funds returned. Essentially, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) sued to be first in line for return on stolen customer account monies – and won the right by the US court system.

In the mainstream media (MSM), the SMG collapse and subsequent ruling in favor of BNYM was touted as a difficulty “for customers to recoup money lost”.

SMG, a Chicago-based futures broker, had stolen more than $500 million in segregated customer funds to use as collateral on a loan to BNYM for in-house proprietary trading operations. Their books were audited by the National Futures Association (NFA), however the NFA admitted that they could not understand the convoluted mess they were provided by SMG to sign off on. And yet they did; and approved the audit.

BNYM sued SMG to re-coup any monies owed to them. However, these monies were customer segregated funds that SMG stole and re-hypothecated.

In federal court, John D. Tinder, US Circuit Court Judge ruled “that Sentinel failed to keep client funds properly segregated is not, on its own, sufficient to rule as a matter of law that Sentinel acted ‘with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud’ its customers.”

This means that once a banking customer deposits their money into an account with a bank, the funds become property of the bank. The customer, at the point of deposit, relinquishes all rights to that money regardless of any laws in place, legal assurances, claims or guarantees; and this extends from investments to private checking accounts.

Once the bank has physical possession of your money, they own it and can use it for any means they deem fit. The veil has been lifted on separation of customer and bank funds. They are now legally co-mingled.

The bank could use it as collateral (as SMG did), to pay off debts, or place it on the stock market to bump up their trading with extra cash. And in the event that the customer allocated funds are lost, the bank does not owe the customer the money back.

Essentially, once your deposit money in your bank account it is gone.

Fred Grede, SMG trustee remarked: “I don’t think that’s what the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had in mind. It does not bode well for the protection of customer funds.”

The MF Global (MFG) scandal rocked the investment world because Jon Corzine, Chief Executive Officer of MF Global, instructed the transfer of $200 million from their customer segregated funds to cover the corporation’s overdraft account with JP Morgan Chase.

Corzine emailed this order just three days before the official collapse of MFG. At the same time Corzine was moving customer money, this missing $6.3 billion dollars were used on bets on European indebted nations. As those European nation’s credit ratings plummeted, JP Morgan profited financially.

Our financial institutions have been planning for a financial collapse wherein the US government will not offer assistance. The resolution plans required by the Federal Reserve Bank, described schemes to have the major domestic banks remain afloat by selling off assets, finding alternative sources of funding, reducing risky measures that make a quick buck. These strategies were to be perfected with “no assumption of extraordinary support from the public sector.”

Selling “non-core assets” without upsetting shareholders, while protecting the monetary system, taxpayers, and creditors is the work of the mega-banks who have contributed solely to the destruction of the global financial markets. Bank of America (BoA) and Citibank have already begun to liquidate some of their assets – an action a bank takes when they are insolvent.

Both mega-banks and credit unions have been silently altering their deposit/withdrawal policies to deter customers from emptying out their accounts.

Because the digital record of monies is greater than the physical cash held by banks, this is a scheme to stave off a “run on the banks”.

With the PATRIOT Act, signed in 2001 by former President George W. Bush, and extended in 2011 by President Obama, it is stated that all banks must record all banking transactions with photo ID and fingerprints that will then be sent to an FBI database wherein all banking information tied to each individual on file can be traced for future reference.

Of recent, when withdrawing cash from an ATM, the daily allotted amount has decreased with some banks, thereby forcing the customer to go into the branch and extract the difference with a teller. At this point, according to anonymous informants, the customer is taken into a backroom to be questioned as to why they want the cash, what they are purchasing with the cash, and why they are not choosing to use a debit card or another form of digital trade to make the purchase. These questions are not only intrusive, they are illegal.

Some anonymous sources have said that banking representatives who conduct the interrogations are directed to keep a record of customer responses on an online application that will be sent to the FBI in conjunction with PATRIOT Act mandates on tracking banking activity.

While American citizens sit on the fence about whether or not they even subscribe to a banking collapse in the US, globalists like George Soros are investing heavily in gold.

Soros recently “unloaded over one million shares of stock in financial companies and banks that include Citigroup (420,000 shares), JP Morgan (701,400 shares) and Goldman Sachs (120,000 shares). The total value of the stock sales amounts to nearly $50 million” and then purchased 884,000 shares of Gold with SPDR Gold Trust.

The mega-banks, through Wall Street, are also acquiring firearms, ammunition and control over private mercenary corporations like DynCorp and ‘Blackwater” as authorized by the Department of Defense (DoD) directive 3025.18 .

DynCorp is a military-based private mercenary contractor that provides (among other services) intelligence training and support, international security, contingency plans and operations. Ninety-six percent of their funding is based on annual revenues from the US federal government.

The international branch of DynCorp has operated as a “police force” even assisting local law enforcement during Hurricane Katrina.

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Named as investors for the amassing of gun and ammunition manufacturers are Citibank, BoA, Barclays and Deutsche Bank who are pouring money into Cerebus and Veritas Equity who have taken over private corporations involved in controlling riot situations.

The Federal Reserve Bank, one of the heads of banking cartels, has their own police force which operates as a protective security for the Fed against the American public. As part of the Federal Reserve Act signed in 1913, the designation of a Federal Law Enforcement – special police officers that are exclusively regulated by authority of the Fed (whether in uniform or plain clothes. These specialized police officers (who train with Special Response Teams) can work in tandem with local law enforcement or US federal agencies. These officers are heavily armed with semi-automatic pistols, sub machine guns and assault rifles as well as body armor.

Just this month, the Kaspersky Lab discovered Gauss, a banking surveillance virus believed to have the capability of stealing money out of customer’s bank accounts, as well as spying on banking transactions, stealing login information for social networks, email and instant messaging. So far, Middle Eastern banks have reported having been affected by Gauss – however both Citibank and Ebay’s Paypal have also been infected by this new viral threat to our banking systems.

It is clear that the financial collapse could be imminent. Banks are not only preparing with contingency plans, but also amassing a private police force for protection. With the legalization of stealing from customer-secured funds, combined with a possible banking virus that could provide the perfect cover for an all-in-one banking holiday, the stage is being set for utter financial devastation.

Once all customer funds have been electronically transferred into off-shore accounts, the specialized police forces and hired mercenaries would be allocated forward to protect the technocrats from retaliation for their crimes.

The banking holiday will not come with flashing neon signs. Our warnings are right in front of us, if we choose to see them.

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Susanne Posel is the Chief Editor of Occupy Corporatism. Our alternative news site is dedicated to reporting the news as it actually happens; not as it is spun by the corporately funded mainstream media. You can find us on our Facebook page.

Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post

Igor Panarin, dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry School for future diplomats, believes that President Obama will announce martial law by the end of 2012. He explains: “There’s a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur.”

In 2009, Panarin lectured at the Diplomatic Academy where he said that he believed that the US will begin to collapse in 2010. He compared America to Nazi Germany and blamed the US for the global financial crisis that destroyed the Russian economy.

Panarin said that American society is in decline, referencing school shootings like Columbine. Combined with the banker bailouts in 2008 as proof that the US is no longer the global dominating economy, Paranrin believes that the American dream is over.

He asserts that mass immigration, economic decline and moral degradation will plunge America into a civil war that will center on the collapse of the US dollar.

Panarin created a map [below] of how he perceived the US would divide. He asserted that parts of the US would be taken over by foreign interests.

Considering the social climate emerging in America, Panarin’s words seem prophetic.

Yesterday, Lubbock County Judge Tom Head said on a local FOX affiliate station that he is convinced that Obama’s re-election would spawn civil unrest which would justify the US government’s use of martial law to quell the public. Head is seeking an increase in local taxes to “beef up” the Lubbock County Sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office.

Head expressed concern that Obama would deploy UN NATO troops onto US soil should civil unrest be declared. Head said:

He’s going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the U.S. to the United Nations, what’s going to happen when that happens? I’m thinking worst case scenario. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe…we’re not just talking a few riots or demonstrations.

In March of 2012, Obama signed the National Defense Resources Preparedness (NDRP) executive order that declared peacetime marital law. Obama granted himself authority over all domestic energy, production, transportation, food and water in the name of National Security.

The NDRP has roots in the Defense Production Act of 1950 wherein the US government was empowered to dispense “national resources” in the event of a national emergency that would define any or all Americans as a challenge to the government. Control over all US citizens would be required to maintain continuity of government. The president and advisors would be able to use this directive as they saw fit if the situation warranted.

It was no mistake that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) declared the domestic US a “battlefield”. The ability to detain any American citizen without charge or trial, solely on suspicion is key to the power of the NDAA.

As defined in the NDRP, the President allocated control over American resources to specific federal agencies to oversee their dispensation.

• The Secretary of Defense has power over all water resources.


• The Secretary of Commerce has power over all material services and facilities, including construction materials.


• The Secretary of Transportation has power over all forms of civilian transportation.


• The Secretary of Agriculture has power over food resources and facilities, livestock plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment.


• The Secretary of Health and Human Services has power over all health resources.


• The Secretary of Energy has power over all forms of energy.

Under Nazi-controlled Germany, the beginning of Totalitarian control was evidenced in May of 1942 when freezing of food prices led to national rationing in 1943. With the Nazis controlling resource dispersion, all citizens needed ration cards to obtain food, gas, and even a vacation pass that allotted the restriction of movement.

Between the NDAA and NDRP, a Nazi-model of control over the general population in America is laid out. The Executive Branch, having been given the power to control all resources that are necessary to sustain all citizens, they have forced Americans to become completely subservient to the US government.

The executive order is not permitted by the US Constitution that states:

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All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The advent of executive orders completely circumvents the power of the Congress and gives the Executive Branch unilateral power. The use of executive orders has become popular as a way to control America in wartime and the advent of national emergencies.

Obama has set a precedent by announcing the pre-cursor to suspension of the US Constitution during peacetime.

The first suspension of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights was performed by Abraham Lincoln during the US Civil War. This enabled Lincoln to authorize the unlawful detainment of “political prisoners” without Congressional approval.

The second declaration of unconstitutional detainment of US citizens was ordered by President FDR in 1941 with the roundup of Japanese-Americans who were sent to detainment camps to be held without charge during WWII.

For the past 30 years, plans for the takeover of America have been laid in a long line of executive orders. By stifling Congressional approval, the Executive Branch has been empowered to detain any and all US citizens, suspend all media and restrict any and all Americans in any and all ways deemed appropriate by the President.

We are in the midst of a Fascist takeover of our Constitutional Republic.

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Susanne Posel is the Chief Editor of Occupy Corporatism. Our alternative news site is dedicated to reporting the news as it actually happens; not as it is spun by the corporately funded mainstream media. You can find us on our Facebook page.

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Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post

The fall of the House of Morgan has begun as stock prices on the global market at Morgan Stanley (MS) begin to fall on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

According to Rick Wiles: “I’m hearing rumors that another major financial house is going to implode. In fact, the name I’ve been given is Morgan Stanley . . . It’s going to be put on the sacrificial alter by the financial elite.”

MS, technically speaking, is classified as insolvent based on mark-to-market valuation. By selling off non-core assets, MS has been able to “reduce its European exposure” through the manipulation of hedge funds and allocation of funds to failing financial corporations. Some mainstream media outlets tout that the Federal Reserve Bank will come in and assist MS in their insolvency and that MS “just isn’t going out of business anytime soon.”

However, on the bond market, MS is being treated like “a junk-rated company.” Moody’s, the rating agency that sells their ratings to whomever will pay for a triple A score, have announced they will downgradge MS’ ratings which would put all US banks at risk.

Otis Caset, director of credit research at Markit confirms: “What has driven that, obviously, is Europe. The perception is — correctly or incorrectly — that Morgan Stanley is one of the U.S. banks most exposed to Europe’s problems.”

In 2008, with the first pre-meditated financial explosion, the cause for the bailout of the banks was a large sum of cash needed quickly to repay China who had purchased large quantities of mortgage-backed securities that went belly-up when the global scam was realized. When China realized that they had been duped into buying worthless securitized loans which would never be repaid, they demanded the actual property instead. The Chinese were prepared to send their “people” to American shores to seize property as allocated to them through the securitized loan contracts.

To stave this off, the American taxpayers were coerced by former President Bush and former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. During that incident, the US Senate was told emphatically that they had to approve a $700 billion bailout or else martial law would be implemented immediately. That money was funneled through the Federal Reserve Bank and wired to China, as well as other countries that were demanding repayment for the fraudulent securitizations.

To further avert financial catastrophe, as well as more debt or property seizure threats by the Chinese, the Euro was imploded there by plunging most of the European countries into an insurmountable free-fall for which they were never intended to recover.

MS exposure to mortgage-backed securities and derivatives fraud may have finally brought the financial implosion to America. As Otis points out, it is the exposure to the Eurozone that was the nail in the coffin at MS. This only furthers the fact that financial collapse is imminent in America and the repercussions are already laid out.

However, this planned implosion of the mega-banks only serves to fit the global Elite’s plans.

John Paulson recently traded in his stocks for 4.53 million shares in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) while investing deeper into NovaGold Resources.

George Soros has also sold his shares and interest in JPMorgan (701,400 shares), Goldman Sachs (120,000 shares), and Citigroup (420,000). He has reallocated these funds to gold.

The insolvency of MS means that the customer funds that are held in MS can be hypothecated (or co-mingled) by the bank into their funds to be used to pay off any loans or debts owed by the bank.

Earlier this month, on August 9th, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (CCA) ruled that BNYM can be moved to first in line of creditors over the customers that had their funds stolen by Sentinel Management Group (SMG).

Before SMG collapsed in 2007, Eric Bloom, former chief executive, and Charles Mosely, head trader of SMG stole $500 million in customer secured funds and were indicted because they exposed customer segregated funds to “highly risky derivatives.”

The SMG ruling means that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SPIC) regulatory systems will not insure customer funds, investments, depositors and retirees who hold accounts in banks.

In fact, the banking institution is now legally allowed to use those customer funds deposited as collateral, payment on debts for loans made, or free use on the stock market to purchase investments as the bank sees fit.

When a customer deposits money into a bank, the bank issues a promise to have those funds available when the customer returns to withdraw the deposited amount.

With the SMG ruling, those funds become property of the bank once they are deposited. If the bank is insolvent, under duress or filed bankruptcy, those customer deposited funds can be co-mingled with the bank’s funds and used for the purposes of the bank without recourse to the customer.

As explained in Readiness Exercise 1984 (Rex84) the end of the US dollar combined with civil unrest would cause the US government to declare martial law in order to preserve continuity of government.

Since 2010, all the mega-banks in the US have filed resolution plans with the Fed describing how to liquidate banking assets without causing further damage to a failing financial system. By selling “non-core assets” without upsetting shareholders while protecting the monetary system, taxpayers and creditors is the work of the mega-banks who have contributed solely to the destruction of the global financial markets.

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Both Bank of America and Citibank have already begun liquidity with the sale of their non-core assets proving that these two financial institutions are insolvent. Add to this list MS.

While mega-banks are unloading their assets under duress, they are acquiring smaller banks and keeping their names to fool the American public into thinking they are banking with an independent as they consolidate financial power in the US.

In response to the coming implosion, the Federal Reserve Bank is inventing electronic fiat currency. This keeps the Ponzi scheme going. On the surface it all appears to ok. However, undercover and out of the general public’s sight, the manipulation of insurance rates, market values, and mortgages are directly contributing to the complete banking system collapse.

An estimated 70% of some of the mega-banks’ worth is provided by the government by subsidies; meaning that without the money provided by the US government, these banks would go under tomorrow. And by watching the financial climate as it is emerging, it appears that we are witnessing just that.

Combined with the solicitations of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for 1.8 billion rounds of hollow point bullets, 1400 pounds of highly dense explosives material and urban warfare drills being conducted across the nation, it is clear that this insolvency of MS is one more proof that marital law coinciding with financial collapse is dangerously close.

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Susanne Posel is the Chief Editor of Occupy Corporatism. Our alternative news site is dedicated to reporting the news as it actually happens; not as it is spun by the corporately funded mainstream media. You can find us on our Facebook page.

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Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post

A devastating global food crisis unlike anything we have ever seen in modern times is coming. Crippling drought and bizarre weather patterns have damaged food production all over the world this summer, and the UN and the World Bank have both issued ominous warnings about the food inflation that is coming.

The truth is that we are not just facing rumors of a global food crisis – one is actually starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. The United States experienced the worst drought in more than 50 years this summer, and some experts are already declaring that the weather has been so dry for so long that tremendous damage has already been done to next year’s crops. On the other side of the world, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have all seen their wheat crops devastated by the horrible drought this summer. Australia has also been dealing with drought, and in India monsoon rains were about 15 percent behind pace in mid-August. Global food production is going to be much less than expected this year, and global food demand continues to steadily rise. What that means is that food inflation, food shortages and food riots are coming, and it isn’t going to be pretty.

The United States exports more food than anyone else in the world, and that is why the entire globe has been nervously watching the horrific drought in the United States this summer with deep concern.

It has been the worst drought in more than 50 years, and it has absolutely devastated corn crops all over the nation. According to Bill Witherell, the U.S. corn crop this year “is said to be on a par with that of 1988 crop, the worst in the past thirty years.”

Sadly, this will be the third year in a row that the yield for corn has declined in the United States.

That has never happened before in the history of the United States.

And coming into this year we were already in bad shape. In fact, U.S. corn reserves were sitting at a 15-year low at the end of 2011.

So where will we be at the end of 2012?

The official estimates for corn yields put out by the U.S. government just keep dropping, but many fear that they aren’t dropping quickly enough. There have been some reports on the ground from some areas of the country that have been very distressing. The following is from a recent Wall Street Journal article….

Meanwhile, scouts with the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour on Monday reported an average estimated corn yield in Ohio of 110.5 bushels per acre, down from the tour’s estimate of 156.3 bushels a year ago. In South Dakota, tour scouts reported an average yield estimate of just 74.3 bushels per acre, down from 141.1 bushels a year ago.

Those are catastrophic numbers.

But farmers are not the only ones that have been impacted by the dry weather. A recent article by Chris Martenson summarized some of the other effects of this drought…..

Even though the mainstream media seems to have lost some interest in the drought, we should keep it front and center in our minds, as it has already led to sharply higher grain prices, increased gasoline costs (via the pass-through of higher ethanol costs), impeded oil and gas drilling activity in some areas (due to a lack of water), caused the shutdown of a few operating electricity plants, temporarily reduced red meat prices (but will also make them climb sharply later) as cattle are dumped in response to feed- and pasture-management concerns, and blocked and/or reduced shipping on the Mississippi River. All this and there’s also a strong chance that today’s drought will negatively impact next year’s Winter wheat harvest, unless a lot of rain starts falling soon.

Ranchers have had a particularly hard time during this drought. If you expect to pay about the same for meat this time next year as you are doing now you are going to be deeply disappointed. The following is from a recent Reuters article….

The worst drought to hit U.S. cropland in more than half a century could soon leave Americans reaching deeper into their pockets to fund a luxury that people in few other countries enjoy: affordable meat. 

Drought-decimated fields have pushed grain prices sky high, and the rising feed costs have prompted some livestock producers to liquidate their herds. This is expected to shrink the long-term U.S. supply of meat and force up prices at the meat counter.

All over the western United States pastures have been destroyed and there is not enough hay. It would be hard to overstate the damage that this nightmarish drought is doing to our ranchers….

I spoke with Caldwell [of Indiana horse rescue] and a number of other horse-rescue organizations around the country by telephone this week. The relentlessly hot dry weather, amplified in many areas by wildfire, has been devastating to farmers, ranchers and other horse owners. 

‘Everybody is using their winter hay now. The pastures are destroyed and they probably won’t recover before winter,’ said Caldwell. ‘The price of hay has doubled, and the availability is down by 75 percent.’ 

Caldwell is somewhat sanguine about his own lot, but not optimistic about what lies ahead. 

‘Today the problem is not nearly as bad as it’s going to be,’ he told me. ‘It’s terribly bad today, but it is going to get a lot worse.’

But of course as I mentioned earlier this is not just an American problem.

The truth is that the entire globe is facing a rapidly growing food crisis.

According to the UN, the global price of food rose 6 percent in the month of July alone.

According to the World Bank, global food prices actually rose 10 percent during July.

Either figure is really, really bad.

The other day, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program issued a joint statement in which they stated the following….

‘We need to act urgently to make sure that these price shocks do not turn into a catastrophe hurting tens of millions over the coming months.’

If the price of food at our supermarkets suddenly went up 20 percent that would really stretch our family budgets here in the United States, but we would survive.

On the other side of the globe, such a price change can mean the difference between life and death. The following is from the CNN article mentioned above….

But step outside the developed world, and the price of food suddenly becomes the single most important fact of human economic life. In poor countries, people typically spend half their incomes on food — and by ‘food,’ they mean first and foremost bread. 

When grain prices spiked in 2007-2008, bread riots shook 30 countries across the developing world, from Haiti to Bangladesh, according to the Financial Times. A drought in Russia in 2010 forced suspension of Russian grain exports that year and set in motion the so-called Arab spring.

Already, 18 million people in Niger, Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Senegal are dealing with very serious food shortages.

In Yemen, things are even worse….

Yemen has a catastrophic food crisis. Nearly half the population, 10 million people, does not have enough to eat. While 300,000 children are facing life threatening levels of malnutrition. 

The United Nations says Yemen is already in the throes of a disaster. 

‘The levels are truly terrible. Whatever we do thousands upon thousands of children will die this year from malnutrition,’ Unicef’s man in Yemen, Geert Cappelaere, said. 

‘In some areas child malnutrition is at 30%, to put it in context, an emergency is 15%. It is double that already.’

But this is just the beginning. These food shortages are going to spread and we will eventually see food riots that will absolutely dwarf the food riots of 2008.

Many scientists fear the worst. Some are even now warning that food shortages will become so severe that they will eventually force much of the globe on to a vegetarian diet….

Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world’s population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages. 

Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world’s leading water scientists. 

‘There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations,’ the report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.

The days of very cheap meat are coming to an end. Meat will be increasingly viewed as a “luxury” around the globe from now on.

Sadly, there are some in the financial world that actually intend to make lots of money off of this crisis….

The United Nations, aid agencies and the British Government have lined up to attack the world’s largest commodities trading company, Glencore, after it described the current global food crisis and soaring world prices as a ‘good’ business opportunity. 

With the US experiencing a rerun of the drought ‘Dust Bowl’ days of the 1930s and Russia suffering a similar food crisis that could see Vladimir Putin’s government banning grain exports, the senior economist of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Concepcion Calpe, told The Independent: ‘Private companies like Glencore are playing a game that will make them enormous profits.’

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Does that disturb you?

It should.

Driving up the price of food for starving people is not a good way to make money. Food is one of our most basic needs. When people are deprived of food they become very desperate.

Just look at what is already happening in Spain. The economic crisis in that country has just begun, and people are already looting supermarkets. You can see a video news report about Spanish activists looting 3 tons of food from local supermarkets right here.

Much of that food was donated to food banks, but in the future I am sure that the desperate “activists” will not be so generous when things get really tight.

In other areas of Spain, large numbers of people have been filmed digging through trash dumpsters for food.

Could you ever see yourself doing that? Don’t be so sure that hunger will never come to America. Right now, a record 46.7 million Americans are on food stamps, and anti-hunger organizations all around the country are reporting more of a need than ever before.

For now the federal government is able to feed the tens of millions of Americans that do not have enough money for food, but what happens when a day comes when the federal government stops doing that?

And what happens if the drought in the United States continues throughout the winter and into next summer and Dust Bowl conditions return to the United States?

In a previous article entitled “17 Signs That You Better Start Preparing For A Nightmarish Global Food Crisis“, I detailed some more of the reasons why people need to start preparing for food inflation and food shortages.

In the past we could always go out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart and fill up our shopping carts with huge piles of very cheap food whenever we wanted to.

It will not always be that way.

Get prepared while you still can.

Meanwhile, many Americans continue to enjoy life as if nothing will ever change. For example, the “Rich Kids of Instagram” have been very busy showing off their wealth all summer long. You can see some of the ridiculous ways that they are blowing their wealth right here.

Sadly, they are just a product of our degenerating society. We have piled up wealth in these troubled times while the rest of the world has suffered.

But even our great wealth was not enough for us so we went out and borrowed trillions upon trillions of dollars. We have accumulated the greatest mountain of debt in the history of the world, but we are still not satisfied.

In the end, we will weep and howl in misery as everything that we have built falls apart around us.

RELATED ACTIVIST POST ARTICLES:
5 Simple Ways to Prepare for the Coming Food Crisis
Bulk Food Storage is the Answer to the Coming Food Crisis

This article first appeared here at The Truth. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Mac Slavo
Activist Post

One year ago this month it was revealed that throughout the course of this crisis some 40% of all wealth in America had been vaporized. It was a stunning number to be sure, and one that many analysts predicted would reverse as the Bernanke/Obama recovery took hold. Now, a full year on, the news has not gotten any better. It’s gotten much, much worse. According to a new report, the average American household has lost 55% of their net worth since the onset of the recession in 2008.

Many are likely holding to the belief that our benevolent government politicians and financial leaders have taken the necessary steps to turn this economy around.

But they’d be wrong.

The next wave of crisis is imminent and the end result will be a total wipeout for Americans:

“I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we had in 2007,” [Peter] Schiff said. “You’re going to have a collapse in the dollar…a huge spike in interest rates… and our whole economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple when you pull the rug out from under it.” 

… 

According to Schiff, these numbers are unsustainable. 

And the Fed has no credible “exit strategy.” 

Eventually interest rates will rise… and when they do, Schiff says, stocks will tank and bonds dip to nothing. Massive new tax hikes will be imposed and programs and entitlements will be cut to the bone. 

“The crisis is imminent,” Schiff said. “I don’t think Obama is going to finish his second term without the bottom dropping out. And stock market investors are oblivious to the problems.” 

“We’re broke, Schiff added. 

“We owe trillions. Look at our budget deficit; look at the debt to GDP ratio, the unfunded liabilities. If we were in the Eurozone, they would kick us out.” 

Schiff points out that the market gains experienced recently, with the Dow first topping 14,000 on its way to setting record highs, are giving investors a false sense of security. 

“It’s not that the stock market is gaining value… it’s that our money is losing value. And so if you have a debased currency… a devalued currency, the price of everything goes up. Stocks are no exception,” he said. 

“The Fed knows that the U.S. economy is not recovering,” he noted. “It simply is being kept from collapse by artificially low interest rates and quantitative easing. As that support goes, the economy will implode.“ 

Via Money Morning

Peter Schiff knows a thing or two about what’s going on, and he’s been sounding the alarm since before 2008. He, like many others, understand that there is no way out.

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There is no credible financial or economic exit strategy.

The government knows this and that’s why they are actively implementing an expansive control grid across this entire country.

Those with insider knowledge fully understand what’s coming and they have been war-gaming large scale economic collapse and the widespread civil unrest that will follow.

Make no mistake. The powers that be have an exit strategy – it just doesn’t involve recovery, stability or your well-being.

This article first appeared at Mac Slavo’s site SHTFplan.com 

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Dave Hodges
Activist Post

Part one of this series demonstrated the beginnings of a spirit of civil disobedience against the tyranny of the federal government ranging from three governors who are saying no to the Obama administration, to the veterans who defy the National Park Service to visit the war memorials, to average everyday people who are consciously defying the federal government which has been hijacked by the central bankers.

Three Stages of a Revolution

Any revolution contains three stages, and it is always the same regardless of the country or political system. Initially, a revolution consists of the elite, who are characterized by blatant, but disguised abuses of power, versus a few vocal people who openly challenge the status quo of the elite in a public forum. This article is about the apparent transition that is ongoing in this country in which America is progressing from stage one, self awareness of persecution, to stage two, characterized by civil disobedience, on the path to stage three, which is revolution.

The three stages of revolution manifest in the following manner:

1. A minimum number of the persecuted population becomes aware that they are victims and share a collective consciousness with their fellow victimized citizens. Ten percent is the minimum number needed to successfully complete stage one (see below for documentation).

2. Awareness leads to action in the form of civil disobedience.

3. Civil disobedience is met with opposing force by the power elite and the conflict leads to open hostilities culminating in revolution.

It is the hypothesis of this paper that America is transitioning between stage one and stage two.

Stage One

In stage one of a revolution, each side of the conflict engages in a war of ideas and words and feverishly campaigns for their version of the truth. The elite, who control the government and, more importantly, the media, initially win the war of words. However, the dissidents often engage in alternative methods for winning the propaganda war.

In America, the elite control 98% of the media through five corporations, which leaves the dissidents at a distinct disadvantage. The vocal minority has countered with turning the Internet into a news dissemination device. This is why Senators’ Feinstein and McCain have tried multiple times to get control over the Internet and to decide who is a journalist and who is not. They fear our message because they have much to hide in their role of working for the criminal elite.

The fact that the elite are trying to silence the vocal minority of dissidents speaks to the fact about how effective the alternative media has become. The elite know something that most of us have failed to realize: the alternative media is beginning to win the hearts and minds of the American public and the elite are panicking and moving quickly to silence the alternative media. However, it is too late. America has reached a tipping point. Recent research in the field of social psychology demonstrates why.

Rutkowski et al., have demonstrated that group cohesiveness is a primary determining force which determines whether or not a protest movement will go forward and gain momentum. The Obama administration, on behalf of the global elite (i.e. Rothschild banksters) has attacked America on so many fronts, that there a re a lot of like-minded victims who are beginning to see the federal government as their enemy. As many of you know, it is actually the Obama administration who are merely the representatives of the real enemy, they only play the role of the errand boy. However, it is the alternative media which is providing the disenfranchised with a voice constituting a gathering point for dissident voices. The resistance against the New World Order now has a collective consciousness.

Scientists from the prestigious Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have determined that if just 10% of any given population holds to an unshakable idea, that the idea will become adopted by the majority of the country. I contend that this threshold has been met. How can I be so sure? I am certain that people of America are in the midst of redefining its relationship with its government because we are seeing defiance against federal government edicts at every level of our society.

Stage Two

Stage two of a revolution consists of civil disobedience or nonviolent resistance. Thanks to Obama, he has given Americans the perfect pretext to begin to resist our criminally controlled government and America is presently sitting on the edge of being immersed in stage two of a three-stage path to revolution.

In Part one of this series, I identified three governors, many veterans and average citizens who are defying various aspects of the government shutdown, the implementation of Common Core and just the general encroachment of tyranny into our lives. America is indeed transitioning from stage one to stage two, characterized by civil disobedience.

I predict that we are going to see more acts of civil disobedience on a widespread scale. The word of our discontent is spreading like wildfire. I was recently a guest on a liberal talk show. I knew I was walking into the lion’s den, but I was surprised that the liberal talk show host was agreeing with me on nearly every point from the need to abolish the Federal Reserve to the need to eliminate corporate campaign donations to politicians. Most surprising, this program and host wanted to protect the alternative media from Feinstein’s attempt to silence its journalists through an amendment to Senate bill 588. I see signs every day, that despite the globalists trying to divide and conquer humanity, that the awakening is occurring and is growing exponentially. Even so-called traditional liberals are joining forces with the alternative media in an attempt to preserve what is left of America.

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The slumbering giant is indeed awakening and is coming to life. This is cause for celebration. However, the American people and reporters in the spirit of the Michael Hastings and the Andrew Breitbarts are in grave danger, as the elite are not going to sacrifice their hold over all of us without a fight.

The more that we show that humanity is awakening, the harder the elite are going to push back. We know that on October 1st, FEMA had just completed training 386,000 troops in FEMA Region 3. Their primary focus was on urban warfare and teaching the troops to speak English. They are coming for our guns and we cannot let that happen, because every genocide in the 20th century was preceded by gun confiscation. Gun confiscation is a hallmark “push back” by the elite in response to a rising tide of opposition.

False flag attacks are also a prominent part of the transition between stage two and stage three rebellion. Elite-sponsored false flag attacks also provide the justification and also galvanizes the pro-governmental forces to a point in which they begin to enslave the people on the pretext of protecting them from some kind of bogeyman (i.e. terrorists). I recently documented no less that nine disaster preparedness and disaster drills which are being carried out in the period between September 25 through November 13th which will culminate with the Grid Ex II simulating a total grid blackout. Every one of these drills consists of the potential for a false flag event. We have seen this with 9/11, the 7/7 bombings and most recently in the Boston Marathon Bombings.

Conclusion

DHS is arming to the teeth and is preparing to go to war with the American people as evidenced by their purchase of 2.3 billion rounds of ammunition and 2700 armored personnel carriers. Their agents target practice against average Americans on their target cutouts.

Any questions?

Stage three is outright revolution. The elite are going to do their best to ensure that this rising tide of opposition never reaches this level. This is why many of us in the alternative media believe that there will be false flags in our immediate future followed by a brutal martial law crackdown.

Although I celebrate America’s rising tide of awareness, I have a foreboding feeling about what lies ahead. Will the elite effectively stamp out any opposition? Will the coming push back by the elite result in an escalation of violence? Perhaps it makes more sense as to why the local police have been federalized and why we are seeing unprecedented acts of police brutality. These are questions that will soon be decided. We are truly living in historic times.

Dave is an award winning psychology, statistics and research professor, a college basketball coach, a mental health counselor, a political activist and writer who has published dozens of editorials and articles in several publications such as Freedoms Phoenix, News With Views and The Arizona Republic.

The Common Sense Show features a wide variety of important topics that range from the loss of constitutional liberties, to the subsequent implementation of a police state under world governance, to exploring the limits of human potential. The primary purpose of The Common Sense Show is to provide Americans with the tools necessary to reclaim both our individual and national sovereignty.