Full Article

http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=2630#more-2630

TOPEKA | Next year, Kansans will vote whether to change the state constitution to guarantee individual gun rights.

“It is the law of the land today in every state. They (supporters) would like to make sure it stays that way in Kansas,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican.

Supporters of a resolution that passed the House and Senate say the move is needed in case the U.S. Supreme Court ever decides that the Second Amendment does not protect individual gun ownership. In 2008, the court ruled that the Bill of Rights covers an individual’s right to own firearms.

Full Article:
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1113251.html

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nov 20, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – A new report from the University of Minnesota warns that an influenza pandemic could disrupt the coal industry, thereby endangering the nation’s significantly coal-dependent electric power system and everything that depends on it.

Graphic: Coal currently is the predominant energy source for electrical power providing nearly half of the Nation’s electricity in 2007. That same year, the U.S. generated over 4 million megawatt hours of electrical power. At least 71% of this power came from coal or natural gas. As of January 1, 2007, the U.S. had 620 coal-powered plants. Clearly, coal is the cornerstone of electrical power generation in the United States – and has been since the 1950s.

“Despite regional differences in coal usage, a pandemic is likely to break links in the coal supply chain, thus disrupting electrical generation. This has the potential to severely endanger the bulk electrical power system in most of the United States,” says the report from the university’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), publisher of CIDRAP News.

The report says that current federal preparedness plans do not address the possibility of power supply problems resulting from reduced coal shipments during a pandemic. A key planning gap, it says, is that federal plans put coal industry workers among those last in line for pandemic vaccines and antiviral drugs.

The authors, CIDRAP research assistant Nicholas Kelley, MSPH, and CIDRAP Director Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, recommend that power plants stockpile coal to last much longer than the average 30-day supply they have now and that the nation prepare now for disruptions in the coal-supply chain and electrical service. They also urge that coal industry workers be put in the highest priority group for pandemic vaccines and antivirals.

COAL-DEPENDENT NATION

In 2007, the nation’s 620 coal-fired power plants supplied 48.6% of the nation’s electric power, the report says. The reliance on coal varies by region, ranging from 74% in the Midwest to 5% on the West Coast.

Almost 40% of the nation’s coal production in 2007 came from the low-sulfur mines in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin (PRB), which yielded 453.6 million tons, according to the report. With mines from neighboring Montana included, the basin’s 17 mines produced 479.5 million tons. Most of this coal is hauled by train to distant power plants, some as far away as Georgia.

A pair of Wyoming train derailments in May 2005 suggested how an interruption in coal from the PRB could affect the energy industry. Two coal trains on a 103-mile line that connects the region’s coal fields with the national rail network derailed on consecutive days in May. The line, which has three tracks, was out of service for 3 weeks.

During the shutdown, power plants burning PRB coal had to draw down their stockpiles. “By September 2005, many power plants were down to less than 10 days of coal in their stockpile, with some reporting only 2 days of coal on hand,” the report states. “Plant Schere, in Juliette,Georgia, for example, . . . was reduced to 2 days of coal and chose to import coal from Indonesia in an effort to rebuild its coal stockpile.”

As a result of the incident, 25 of 27 utilities and other entities that relied on PRB coal took coal-conservation steps, such as buying electric power from other utilities, reducing generating time, and buying coal from other sources. In the wake of the episode, the energy industry was still rebuilding coal stocks through 2007, the federal Energy Information Administration reported.

“The disruption in 2005 could’ve been catastrophic if we didn’t have the coal conservation strategies the report talked about,” CIDRAP’s Kelley said in an interview. “People say 2005 wasn’t bad, but those conservation strategies likely wouldn’t be available in a pandemic. That’s one of the big take-homes from the report.”

Kelley and Osterholm also examined records related to the flu pandemic of 1918 and found that it caused “serious disruptions” in coal supplies. Their report doesn’t cite evidence of effects on energy production, but anthracite (hard coal) shipments dropped about one sixth, there were reports of coal shortages in New York City, many mines cut production, and some had to shut down for weeks.

GAPS IN GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS

The authors reviewed a dozen pandemic planning guidance documents, including those from the federal government, the World Health Organization, and energy industry groups such as the North American Electric Reliability Council. While one plan, that of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, notes the importance of coal transportation, “none of the 12 documents prioritizes the mining of coal,” the report says. “This absence is likely due to coal not being listed as a critical infrastructure or key resource.”

Further, coal industry workers, depending on their age and health, are classified with the general population, the lowest priority group, for access to pandemic vaccines and antivirals, the report says. Critical transportation workers, such as train engineers, rank slightly higher-in the third tier-for a severe pandemic, but are placed in the general population in a moderate pandemic, according to the federal allocation plan.

The report asserts that federal pandemic plans have failed to “(1) conceptualize the magnitude of supply chain disruptions that will occur in a global just-in-time economy, (2) address how to prevent pandemic-related electric power disruptions, and (3) offer guidance on how to respond if electrical power is disrupted during a pandemic.”

The authors conclude, “Current levels of pandemic planning are likely insufficient to sustain the coal supply chain during a pandemic; the link between the public health response and reliable access to coal-fueled electricity is neither understood nor addressed in current pandemic plans in the United States.” They add that the public health sector would have great difficulty functioning without a stable supply of electricity during a pandemic.

The reasons for this gap, the authors suggest, include the perception that pandemic planning is largely a public health issue, the lack of a meaningful model or conceptual framework for assessing pandemic-related supply chain disruptions in today’s economy, and a lack of leadership in pandemic planning for the nation’s critical infrastructure.

FUEL LEFT OUT OF THE PICTURE

In an interview, Osterholm said pandemic planning in the electric power industry has focused on the power plants and components downstream from them, such as the transmission lines, giving little attention to fuel supplies. In part this reflected a planning model from Ontario, which didn’t address fuel, because the power plants there are mostly hydroelectric.

“The coal industry was almost forgotten. The fact that coal miners were not placed in any of the top three tiers for vaccines is indicative of that,” Osterholm said.

Utility regulatory agencies have generally ignored the issue, he added. “This has almost been a non-issue for them; they have not made coal stocks for a naturally occurring event like a pandemic a priority in any way. It’s not on their radar screen.”

FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS

The report recommends four steps to address the vulnerability of the coal and power industries to pandemic-related disruptions.

The first is to increase power-plant coal stockpiles so that plants could keep going longer if coal shipments are interrupted. Currently, stockpiles reach their annual peak as utilities prepare for peak summer power demand. The report says this current peak should become the year-round minimum stockpile at all coal-fired plants.

Second, coal miners and support workers should be in the highest priority group for access to antiviral drugs, pandemic vaccine, and other critical products and services. “The entire coal supply chain, from mine to transport, and critical electrical-sector employees, should be placed in tier 1 of the federal vaccine allocation plan,” the report states.

Third, the nation should plan for disruptions in the coal supply chain. Without careful planning, the disruptions may be similar to what happened after the 2005 derailments: “Coal shipments are likely to be reduced by at least 15% to 20% for periods up to 60 days,” the report says.

Finally, the country should “anticipate and develop strategies for responding to disruptions in electrical service.” Utilities are prepared for outages caused by storms, but most are not prepared to deal with fuel shortages, because they are rare and localized, the report asserts.

INCREASING STOCKPILES TOPS THE LIST

The most urgent of the four steps is to increase power-plant coal stockpiles, Osterholm said. With larger stockpiles, he said, “Even if the mines go down or rail service is interrupted, we may be able to get through extended periods of time until we can get the mines back up and running and the trains moving.”

He added that even if miners have priority access to pandemic vaccines, they might still have to wait months for a vaccine well-matched to the pandemic virus. “Increasing coal stocks gives us a better opportunity to reduce that impact,” he said.

The report says energy industry experts are aware of pandemic-related risks, but little has been done about them, mainly because of the cost of increasing power-plant coal stocks in current market conditions. In the 1970s, power plants kept a 2- to3-month supply of coal on hand, but utility commissions encouraged them to reduce that to 30 days to save money.

“Most public utility commissions will not allow power companies to raise their electricity rates solely for the purpose of increasing their coal stocks,” the document states.

Also, Osterholm acknowledged that spending money to build up coal stocks is likely to be a tough sell amid the current economic downturn. “I realize that you can’t ignore the realities of this historic financial crisis, but if we don’t address these issues, we’ll pay a very heavy price at the time of the next pandemic,” he said.

MINERS UNION ENDORSES REPORT

After receiving a copy of the report, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) strongly endorsed the recommendation that coal miners have priority access to pandemic vaccines and antivirals.

“Without coal, more than half of the nation’s lights go out and computers go off. Without coal miners, there is no coal,” said Daniel J. Kane, the UMWA’s international secretary-treasurer. “Leaving America’s coal miners out of contingency planning for a potential nationwide influenza pandemic makes no sense and puts America at risk. CIDRAP’s study demonstrates the clear need for miners to have priority access to antiviral drugs, vaccines, and critical services should a pandemic strike our nation. We wholeheartedly support that finding.”

CIDRAP News also asked the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to comment on the report. HHS officials did not respond in time for this article. Shannon Feaster of DHS deferred the request to the Department of Energy, saying DOE oversees energy security issues.

See also: CIDRAP coal report (free registration required): “Pandemic Influenza, Electricity, and the Coal Supply: Addressing Crucial Preparedness Gaps in the United States”

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/biz-plan/news/nov2008coal.html

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Health/081125.pandemic.coal.html

“Mary Jo Schlumpunfunk (with all kudos to Glenn Beck) was driving home from work in the suddenly cold November air of her home town of Jeffersonville, Indiana. Mary Jo was sick and tired of listening to the depressing news about all the problems all those rich bankers and Wall Street types were having so instead of listening to the news station, she switched over to her favorite pop music station tuning out reality and enjoying the drive back to her humble apartment on the outskirts of town.”

the rest of the story at:

http://johngaltfla.com/blog2/2008/10/26/closed-for-business/

This information was learned by a Mountain House dealer who shared it with me this morning. In personally talking with the company immediately after, Mountain House verified the information is true. Customer service stated, “I’m surprised they don’t have this posted on the website yet.” She said they have such a backlog of orders, Mountain House will not be taking any #10 can food requests through the remainder of this year and all of the next.

Full Article

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Food_Water/080721.Mountain.House.html

‘There is a grocery shrink ray that has been unleashed on supermarkets across America,’ said Ben Popken, editor of consumerist.com, a popular consumer affairs website.

Facing higher prices for ingredients and a tumbling dollar, American food manufacturers have been forced to tackle the issue of price inflation. But rather than increase the prices of packets of food on the shelves – which tends to steer consumers away from expensive branded goods towards cheaper varieties – many of the big food manufacturers have simply shrunk the size of their products while keeping prices steady.

Full Article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/13/consumerspending.oil

Article originally found at:

Government Asks Stores to Stockpile Food

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Food_Water/080706.stores.stockpile.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4276490.ece

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

Lacking the stockpiles the governments once had in the past. They are turning toward food chains to serve the public. First the stockpiling, next the rationing. Heed this warning and stock up at home now!

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July 6, 2008
Isabel Oakeshott, Deputy Political Editor
UK Times

Ministers are in talks with supermarkets about emergency food reserves in case fuel protests lead to shortages at shops.

The government wants to ensure retailers and suppliers can continue to sell basics such as meat, bread and milk if hauliers bring the country to a halt.

They have asked supermarkets to make contingency plans “in case the infrastructure of the country breaks down”.

Among those who have taken part are farmers, dairies, bakeries and supermarkets.

At least four government departments are involved. The operation is being led by Bruce Mann, director of civil contingencies at the Cabinet Office.

The government has commissioned IGD, a company that collects intelligence on international food and grocery chains, to supply data about how food is moved around the country and where stocks are held. The information has been used to put together a “map” of depots and supply lines.

The move comes as hauliers warn that direct action over soaring fuel prices is a “very strong possibility”.

Until the early 1990s the government held secret food stocks, typically biscuits, flour and other dry foodstuffs, in grain sheds around the country. It now relies on retailers and suppliers to have plans in place.

Normally supermarkets operate on the basis of “just in time” deliveries, designed to cut waste by ensuring supplies just match demand. The government is keen to ensure stocks of essentials do not run out if the system is derailed because lorries cannot make their usual deliveries.

Tesco, which has played a key part in the discussions, wants the government to allow it and other suppliers to sit in on the cabinet’s emergency committee, Cobra, in the event of a crisis.

David North, the company’s community and government director, said food supplies could be hit by fuel protests, though he assured customers that the situation would have to be “fairly calamitous” for supplies to run out.

A Defra spokesman said plans were put in place during a strike by Shell tanker drivers last month, drawing on experience of the strikes in 2000.

“We are in contact with producers and retailers, to know what food supplies are where, at any given time . . . should the infrastructure of the country break down.”

An IGD spokesman said: “There are various contingency plans in place.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4276490.ece

Article originally found at:

It Couldn’t Happen Here

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Food_Water/080627.food.or.fuel.html

http://www.lakesunleader.com/articles/2008/06/26/opinion/03.txt

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

Recent floods have only made the food problem worse. Fast recovery is not likely. The time is now to stock up on buld food items and long term dry goods.

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June 26, 2008
By William C. Bailey/GateHouse News Service
Lake Sun Leader – Camdenton, MO

Quiz time. Which is more important to you and your family ‘food or petroleum? As you pause a few moments to respond, be aware that the U.S. government has already answered the question for you. And the answer is that petroleum trumps food, big time.

Since 1975, the U.S. government has been buying oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. According to its Web site, “the SPR provides the president with a powerful response option should a disruption in commercial oil supplies threaten the U.S. economy.”

The U.S. government currently has about 700 million barrels of oil in the SPR, but its food cupboard is bare. Both situations – a full gas tank and an empty cupboard – are the result of governmental policy and legislation. While not having gasoline is viewed a threat to the economy, not having food seems to be acceptable.

In 1982, the U.S. government owned enough wheat, corn, butter, cheese and nonfat dry milk to feed the country for months. Today, those items are gone from the government’s inventory. The reasons the government got out of the food storage business are reasonably straightforward: It cost too much money, and a strong belief that business, including farmers, should and would hold sufficient inventory to meet unexpected needs.

In view of the demise of government food stocks and the growth in the SPR, it seems farmers were trusted to make decisions affecting the economy but oil companies were not.

In addition to the government’s ownership of food, there used to be a program, the Farmer Owned Reserve, in which grain farmers received payments to store their grain, for up to three years. The government closed down the FOR in the mid-’90s.

The SPR is currently being funded to provide a response to an oil supply interruption. Would a bad crop year for agriculture — perhaps this year — be interpreted as a supply interruption? If so, given their successful efforts to stop food storage programs, it seems the government is not concerned about supply interruptions in the nation’s food supply.

New farm legislation recently become law. That legislation does not contain a squeak about establishing a domestic food reserve, despite efforts from a number of groups. Maybe it is time for the U.S. government to take a new look at some of the agricultural decisions it made last century. Times change.

Willam C. Bailey is the chairman of the Department of Agriculture at Western Illinois University and a former economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

http://www.lakesunleader.com/articles/2008/06/26/opinion/03.txt

Full article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSN1846853020080618

Article originally found at:

Sheep production lowest in 80 years

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23772301-5005961,00.html

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

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Sheep production lowest in 80 years

SHEEP numbers in Australia have dropped to their lowest level in more than 80 years because of the drought.

Sheep and lamb numbers were at 85.7 million head in the 2006-07 financial year, the lowest since 1924, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today.

Wheat production fell by more than 50 per cent to 10.8 million tonnes, following near record levels the previous year, while barley yields were down by 55 per cent to 4.3 million tonnes.

Cotton production also dropped by half, to 282,000 tonnes, from the smallest crop recorded in 20 years and the smallest planted area since 1987.

Rice production reported agriculture’s worst yield, dropping 84 per cent to just 163,000 tonnes.

Lack of water, caused by the long-running drought, was a major reason for the decline.

Banana production, year on year, increased 14 per cent to 213,000 tonnes, a result flattered by the cyclone-ravaged harvest of 2006.

Article originally found at:

Energy Fears Looming, New Survivalists Prepare

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080524/D90S5MLG0.html

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_USA/080525.survivalists.prep.html

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

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Energy Fears Looming, New Survivalists Prepare

May 24, 5008
Samantha Gross
AP

BUSKIRK, N.Y. (AP) – A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald’s, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.

Photo: Peter Laskowski stacks firewood at his remote home in Waitsfield, Vt., Friday, April 11, 2008. Convinced that the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare. (AP /Toby Talbot)

That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world’s oil supply. Now, she’s preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.

Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.

“I was panic-stricken,” the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. “Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible.”

Convinced the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare.

The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.

These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.

Photo: Peter Laskowski feeds his chickens and sheep at his remote home in Waitsfield, Vt., Friday, April 11, 2008. Convinced that the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations – afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation’s cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.

“There’s going to be things that happen when people can’t get things that they need for themselves and their families,” said Lynn-Marie, who believes cities could see a rise in violence as early as 2012.

Lynn-Marie asked to be identified by her first name to protect her homestead in rural western Idaho. Many of these survivalists declined to speak to The Associated Press for similar reasons.

These survivalists believe in “peak oil,” the idea that world oil production is set to hit a high point and then decline. Scientists who support idea say the amount of oil produced in the world each year has already or will soon begin a downward slide, even amid increased demand. But many scientists say such a scenario will be avoided as other sources of energy come in to fill the void.

On the PeakOil.com Web site, where upward of 800 people gathered on recent evenings, believers engage in a debate about what kind of world awaits.

Some members argue there will be no financial crash, but a slow slide into harder times. Some believe the federal government will respond to the loss of energy security with a clampdown on personal freedoms. Others simply don’t trust that the government can maintain basic services in the face of an energy crisis.

The powers that be, they’ve determined, will be largely powerless to stop what is to come.

Determined to guard themselves from potentially harsh times ahead, Lynn-Marie and her husband have already planted an orchard of about 40 trees and built a greenhouse on their 7 1/2 acres. They have built their own irrigation system. They’ve begun to raise chickens and pigs, and they’ve learned to slaughter them.

The couple have gotten rid of their TV and instead have been reading dusty old books published in their grandparents’ era, books that explain the simpler lifestyle they are trying to revive. Lynn-Marie has been teaching herself how to make soap. Her husband, concerned about one day being unable to get medications, has been training to become an herbalist.

Photo: Peter Laskowski plants vegetables at his remote home in Waitsfield, Vt., Friday, April 11, 2008. Convinced that the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare. (AP /Toby Talbot)

By 2012, they expect to power their property with solar panels, and produce their own meat, milk and vegetables. When things start to fall apart, they expect their children and grandchildren will come back home and help them work the land. She envisions a day when the family may have to decide whether to turn needy people away from their door.

“People will be unprepared,” she said. “And we can imagine marauding hordes.”

So can Peter Laskowski. Living in a woodsy area outside of Montpelier, Vt., the 57-year-old retiree has become the local constable and a deputy sheriff for his county, as well as an emergency medical technician.

“I decided there was nothing like getting the training myself to deal with insurrections, if that’s a possibility,” said the former executive recruiter.

Laskowski is taking steps similar to environmentalists: conserving fuel, consuming less, studying global warming, and relying on local produce and craftsmen. Laskowski is powering his home with solar panels and is raising fish, geese, ducks and sheep. He has planted apple and pear trees and is growing lettuce, spinach and corn.

Whenever possible, he uses his bicycle to get into town.

“I remember the oil crisis in ’73; I remember waiting in line for gas,” Laskowski said. “If there is a disruption in the oil supply it will be very quickly elevated into a disaster.”

Breault said she hopes to someday band together with her neighbors to form a self-sufficient community. Women will always be having babies, she notes, and she imagines her skills as a midwife will always be in demand.

For now, she is readying for the more immediate work ahead: There’s a root cellar to dig, fruit trees and vegetable plots to plant. She has put a bicycle on layaway, and soon she’ll be able to bike to visit her grandkids even if there is no oil at the pump.

Whatever the shape of things yet to come, she said, she’s done what she can to prepare.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080524/D90S5MLG0.html

Article originally found at:

It Couldn’t Happen Here

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/08_Money/080515.hyperinflation.html

http://www.the-moneychanger.com/html/not_here.html

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

Name and number values may have changed but the lesson is the same. It can happen. It has happened elsewhere. Prepare now to survive the coming transition. Position your self to avoid crowds and riots.

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It Couldn’t Happen Here
February 27, 1997
Moneychangers

“Food riots break out in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, & New Orleans. In Cleveland & Chicago, enraged mobs of housewives kill three Kroger store managers before police riot squads & SWAT teams can clear the buildings. In other cities, dazed shoppers are glad to find bread at $75 a loaf, but few can afford hamburger at $119.50 a pound.”

“Traders briefly panic when shots are fired in the gold pit at the commodity exchange in Chicago, but calm quickly when they realise the shots come from the few remaining short sellers committing suicide.”

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It Couldn’t Happen Here

This article appeared first in the 2/97 Moneychanger, & has since been reprinted numerous times in places as far away as Australia. I am posting it because of the economic crises in Asia and Russia. On one day in January, 1998 the Indonesian currency dropped twenty-five percent (25%), & the Korean won dropped about 30% the week before. In Indonesia shoppers surged to buy anything they could of value, stripping stores of appliances & even cooking oil. Rioters have several times violently persecuted ethnic Chinese there. In short, Asian investors have seen a decade of saving evaporate in a few months. In Russia, the last two weeks of August and first week of September 1998 took more than 66% off the ruble’s value. This is the second time in five years Russians have suffered the theft of all their wealth by a collapsing ruble. Still Americans smugly believe, “It couldn’t happen here.” They maintain that in the teeth of a stock market that has already given a Dow Theory signal of a primary trend change, and has dropped 18.2% in the not-quite two months since its July high. Don’t kid yourself:it is already happening here. How do you think those Asian investors fared who bought gold? Sure, the price of gold has dropped this year, but nothing likethe ringit or won or rupiah. In their own currencies gold has appreciated mightily. Take warning from their suffering; sell you stocks & real estate, & buy some gold. Not tomorrow, but right now – before it happens here. In April, 1993 the Russian Rouble collapsed, losing 99.9% of its value in one week. Prices rose 1,250%. It couldn’t happen here? Maybe not, but if it did, here’s how it might unfold.

FRIDAY

Across America it seems like an ordinary Friday. The Dow trades nervously in a 200 point range, weaker at the day’s end on reports the Japanese Finance Ministry is complaining about the high dollar & being forced to digest too many US government securities. Still, the Dow closes up 8.90 points at 6,825.35. Gold jumps strongly to finish the day in New York at $380, silver at $5.25. Experts on Wall Street Week that evening are reassuring, certain that the Japanese complaints are only one more in a series of inconsequential negotiations in US-Japanese financial relations. On the way home, millions of Americans stop by the gas station & tank up at $1.38 a gallon. At the grocery store, they buy bread for $1.25, & pick up a pound of hamburger for $1.99.

THE WEEKEND

The nation’s weekend is disturbed by news that Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin & Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan flew to Tokyo late Friday to confer with their Japanese counterparts about their threatened sales of US government bonds. The Japanese stonewall, insisting that the high dollar will ruin the already suffering Japanese economy, & that they can no longer afford to absorb US government debt. Sunday’s reports brings them no closer to an agreement. Finance ministers from the Asian Tigers fly to Tokyo to join the negotiations. Sunday night finds them still at an impasse.

MONDAY

By the time the markets open on Wall Street, a tidal wave of foreign orders to sell US government securities washes over the market. Panic in the bond market spreads quickly to stocks as the Dow plunges to 3,850. The dollar falls 67%, from 115 to 38-1/3 yen as gold soars to $1,140 an ounce. Silver briefly hits $18.00, but settles at $15.75. Late in the day frantic grocery store clerks, operating under orders from corporate headquarters, begin to change prices, raising bread to $3.75 a loaf & hamburger to $6.00 a pound. By 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, a gallon of gas costs $4.14.

TUESDAY

On orders from the SEC, stock, bond, & commodity markets open an hour late. The stock selling panic turns into a stock buying panic as the Dollar collapses another 75% to 9.58 Yen & investors rush to buy anything of value. Stocks close the day at 75,670 while the US treasury bond market collapses. Gold rockets to $4,560 & silver to $95. Housewives spend their day waiting in lines at gas stations to fill up at $16.50 a gallon — for regular. Latecomers at grocery stores feel lucky to buy bread for $15 a loaf & hamburger for $24 a pound. Grocery store shelves are nearly empty. Banks nation-wide begin to call in loans. The five largest US insurance companies announce they will not honour requests to cash in policies “until further notice.”

WEDNESDAY

Food riots break out in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, & New Orleans. In Cleveland & Chicago, enraged mobs of housewives kill three Kroger store managers before police riot squads & SWAT teams can clear the buildings. In other cities, dazed shoppers are glad to find bread at $75 a loaf, but few can afford hamburger at $119.50 a pound. Coin dealers in major metropolitan centres close their doors & sneak out back entrances, leaving lines of customers blocks long. In Los Angeles, two gas station clerks are burned alive when irate customers trap them in their kiosk, shove a gas tank hose into the payment slot, fill the kiosk with High Test at $82.899 a gallon, & throw in a lit match. The dollar drops another 80%, closing at $1.916 to the Yen. At banks, interest rates rise to 72% per day for creditworthy borrowers. Early in the day, banks began to call mortgages. At 4:00 p.m. the president declares a banking holiday. But Wall Street is booming, with the highest Dow ever posted, 168,650. Trading in the gold market becomes frantic as gold goes crazy, flashing through the $20,000 mark to close at $22,800. Two gold traders suffered heart attacks on the trading floor, but are trodden to death by frantically trading clerks before medics can reach them. Managers of three of the nation’s largest pension funds commit suicide. Silver rises even faster than gold as millions rush to spend their remaining dollars & save whatever they can. The white metal closes the day at $651 an ounce. Under FEMA, the president takes control of all the nation’s businesses & immediately shuts them down for seven days. National guard units patrol the streets. Martial law is declared.

THURSDAY

With grocery stores & other businesses closed, housewives panic. Flea markets sprang up in shopping mall parking lots. Bread, when you could find it, brings $600 a loaf — or a dime in pre-1965 silver coin. The few daring farmers who bring in meat are asking $955 a pound for hamburger, $50 apiece for eggs. In Los Angeles, Korean truck farmers commandeer a US Army armoured personnel carrier & use it to hawk vegetables through Orange County. The president appoints Dr. Jocelyn Elders head of a commission to investigate price gouging in food stores. Army units withdraw from Watts & cordon off the entire area, leaving it to burn. Interstates leading from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago & other major metropolitan areas gridlock as millions of fleeing refugees run out of gas. Tent cities spring up at Interstate exchanges, patrolled by grim armed militias. The Army, with its hands full in the cities, makes no effort to control suburban, much less rural, areas. In the Southwest, border crossings are hopelessly clogged by millions of Mexicans rushing southward. Stock & commodity traders spend Wednesday night at their desks, unable to leave their buildings on account of the mobs. When trading begins Thursday, gold opens at $182,400, while silver climbs to $7,600 an ounce. Traders briefly panic when shots are fired in the gold pit at the commodity exchange in Chicago, but calm quickly when they realise the shots come from the few remaining short sellers committing suicide. Interest rates on dollars climb to 2,880% a day, but only in the overseas markets. US banks remain closed. Brazil, Nigeria, & Mexico pay off their entire foreign debt to US banks. The dollar drops another 87.5%, & closes at $4.174 to the Yen, but the Dow posts another record high at 275,920. Advancers lead decliners by a margin of 108 to 1. The oils & retail businesses are lagging.

FRIDAY

An entire nation is in shock as the remaining millions try to escape urban areas. In Washington, police & Army units wage a pitched battle on Capitol Hill trying to defend congress against a well-armed mob. Order is restored after flame throwers are brought in, but in another part of town a mob ransacks the Federal Reserve building & leaves three hapless economists hanging on the porch. In the markets, chaos reigns. Gold reaches $2,067,180 an ounce while silver climbs through $125,000 an ounce to close at $129,129.00. The dollar is offered at $47.30 to the yen, but nobody is buying. It loses another 91.2% of its value on Thursday. Interest rates climb to 32,639% a day, but that doesn’t stop the Dow, which settles at 595,805. At noon the President addresses the nation on radio & TV, calling for calm. He introduces Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who announces that the Government is issuing a new dollar backed by the 261 million ounces of gold in Fort Knox. Government printing presses in Washington & Fort Worth will work round the clock to overprint the old notes with new denominations. The exchange rate is fixed at one new dollar (“N$1.00″) for 100,000 old dollars. On Crossfire, Bob Dole replaces liberal Newsweek editor Eleanor Cliff as a panelist. In Austin, the Texas legislature, acting on the Treaty of 1848, exercises its right to declare the independence of the Texas Republic. [END]

Editor’s Note:

This story explains why you own gold: not so much to make money but to protect it. Maybe it wouldn’t happen this bad in America. Maybe it would only be as bad as Israel in recent decades (divide by 1000 instead of 100,000) or Bolivia (multiply by 100,000 or so) or Argentina (divide by 1,000) or Russia or Germany or Hungary or China or Nicaragua or 2 dozen other countries where the currency has collapsed one or more times this century. It can & will happen in your lifetime. Be prepared.

http://www.the-moneychanger.com/html/not_here.html

Article originally found at:

Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4832471

Reproduced here for education and discussion.

This is why it is stressed not to trust banks and other like institutions. Keep your gold, silver, and other precious materials at home well hidden and protected away from the corporate greed and state intrusion. There may even come a day when you will be supervised when withdrawing from your safe deposit box. Or worse, they are opened with out your knowledge and confiscated.

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ABC News
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets
Resources to Search for Unclaimed Property in Your Name
By ELISABETH LEAMY

May 12, 2008 -

The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they’re supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a “Good Morning America” investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn’t really unclaimed and then use the money — your money — to balance their budgets.

Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies.

Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter of unclaimed property to the rightful owners.

Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes

San Francisco resident Carla Ruff’s safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked “owner unknown.”

“I was appalled,” Ruff said. “I felt violated.”

Unknown? Carla’s name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address — a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too — still does — and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she’s the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her.

“They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed,” Ruff said.

To make matters worse, Ruff discovered the loss when she went to her box to retrieve important paperwork she needed because her husband was dying. Those papers had been shredded.

And that’s not all. Her great-grandmother’s precious natural pearls and other jewelry had been auctioned off. They were sold for just $1,800, even though they were appraised for $82,500.

“These things were things that she gave to me,” Ruff said. “I valued them because I loved her.”

Bank of America told ABC News it deeply regrets the situation and appreciates the difficulty of what Mrs. Ruff was going through. The bank has reached a settlement with Ruff and continues to update its unclaimed property procedures as laws change.

California’s Class Action Lawsuit

Ruff is not alone. Attorney Bill Palmer represents her and countless other citizens in a class action lawsuit against the state of California.

“They figured the safety-deposit box was safer than keeping it under the mattress,” Palmer said. “In the case of a lot of citizens, they were wrong, weren’t they?”

California law used to say property was unclaimed if the rightful owner had had no contact with the business for 15 years. But during various state budget crises, the waiting period was reduced to seven years, and then five, and then three. Legislators even tried for one year. Why? Because the state wanted to use that free money.

“That’s absolutely correct,” said California State Controller John Chiang, who inherited the situation when he came into office. “What we’ve done here over the last two decades has been dead wrong. We’ve kept the property and not provided owners with the opportunities — the best opportunities — to get their property back.”

Chiang now faces the daunting task of returning $5.1 billion worth of unclaimed property to people. Some states keep their unclaimed property in a special trust fund and only tap into the interest they earn on it. But California dumps the money into the general fund — and spends it.

“It’s supposed to be segregated and protected,” Palmer said. “California has taken all of that $5.1 billion and has used it as a massive loan.”

California became so addicted to spending people’s money, that, for years, it simply stopped sending notices to the rightful owners. ABC News obtained a 1996 internal memo in which the lawyer for the Bureau of Unclaimed Property argued against expanding programs to notify rightful owners. He wrote, “It could well result in additional claims of monies that would otherwise flow into the general fund.”

Seizing More Than Safe-Deposit Boxes

It’s not just safe-deposit boxes. A British man went to retire and discovered the $4 million in U.S. stock he had been counting on had been seized and sold for $200,000 years earlier — even though he was in touch with the company about other matters.

A Sacramento family lost out on railroad land rights their ancestors had owned for generations — also sold off as unclaimed property.

“If I had hung onto it, I would be a millionaire, multimillionaire,” said John Whitley. “But that didn’t happen because we didn’t get to hold it.”

full article here