Survival Gear is the most unused product until a natural disaster happens, then it’s the most desired products, but usually too late to help those that really need the help.
We sell around the World, and pride ourselves on offering a level of customer service that we would want to see ourselves if we were shopping online.
Our product ranges change regularly, so we hope that you come back to our sites to see some of the fantastic offers that we regularly have.
We are all aware of the concept of the Bug Out Bag, but there are times when our Bug Out Bags is at home and …
Read moreBuild a Get Home Bag: What is it, 10 Types of Gear
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Week after week we continue to get economic numbers that are absolutely horrific, and it appears that we are heading for a housing crisis that will be even worse than what we witnessed in 2008. Back then, millions of Americans lost their homes, but this time around it could be tens of millions. I know that a statement like that may sound overly dramatic, but I believe that many of you that feel that way may change your minds after reading this entire article.
In order to make rent and mortgage payments, Americans need paychecks coming in, and right now people continue to lose jobs at a pace that is hard to believe.
On Thursday, we learned that another 1.3 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week. That was worse than expected, and it represented the 17th week in a row when the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits exceeded one million.
And as I keep reminding my readers each week, the all-time record for a single week prior to this year was just 695,000.
Overall, more than 51 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the last 17 weeks, and that is by far the largest spike in unemployment in all of U.S. history.
In fact, the numbers that we have been seeing should theoretically be close to impossible. In February, the number of Americans that were employed peaked at an all-time high of 152 million, and the number of people that have filed new claims for unemployment since that time represents more than a third of that total.
I know that some people are hesitant to use the term “economic collapse”, but what else are we supposed to call this?
Incredibly, one expect quoted by USA Today is telling us that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits could actually “increase” next week…
The rollbacks may spark a new wave of layoffs, especially in hard-hit states like Texas, Florida, Arizona and California, and possibly even push the claims totals higher.
“Next week could easily see an increase” in initial claims, economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote in a research note.
Needless to say, this tsunami of unemployment has resulted in a whole lot of people not being able to make their rent payments.
In fact, the Census Bureau has announced that 11.6 million Americans live in households that did not make their most recent rent payments…
According to the latest weekly Census Bureau data, 11.6 million people live in households that missed their last rental payments.
More than 22 million Americans also have no, or only slight confidence, that they will be able to make next month’s rental payments, the figures show.
Ouch.
Large numbers of Americans are getting behind on their mortgage payments as well. The following comes from Wolf Richter…
In April, the share of all mortgages that were past due, but less than 30 days, soared to 3.4% of all mortgages, the highest in the data going back to 1999. This was up from 0.7% in April last year. During the Housing Bust, this rate peaked in November 2008 at 2%
In the months ahead, millions of Americans will fall so far behind on their rent payments that they will be facing eviction.
And millions of other Americans will fall so far behind on their mortgages that they will be in serious danger of losing their homes.
According to Emily Benfer, we could potentially see a total of “20 million to 28 million people” get kicked out of their homes in the months ahead…
“We have never seen this extent of eviction in such a truncated amount of time in our history,” Benfer said when asked about how the current homeless crisis compares to the 2008 housing crisis.
She continued: “We can expect this to increase dramatically in the coming weeks and months, especially as the limited support and intervention measures that are in place start to expire. About 10 million people, over a period of years, were displaced from their homes following the foreclosure crisis in 2008. We’re looking at 20 million to 28 million people in this moment, between now and September, facing eviction.”
We have never seen anything like this before.
And of course Benfer is assuming that there won’t be another major crisis between now and the end of the year.
So what happens if we get to September, October and November and things in this country start going absolutely haywire once again?
The closer we get to the election, the higher societal tensions will run, and they are already so high that we could see a major eruption at literally any moment.
And I should also mention that the $600 weekly bonus payments that were keeping so many unemployed Americans afloat will be terminated at the end of July. Once those payments stop, millions upon millions of unemployed workers will have a much, much more difficult time making rent and mortgage payments.
Most Americans believe that “the worst is behind us”, but the truth is that we are sleepwalking into an unprecedented economic nightmare.
If you follow my work on The Most Important News, you already know how concerned I am about the end of this year and beyond, and I will be laying out precisely what I believe is coming in my new book which will be released later this month.
The “perfect storm” which I have mentioned so many times over the last couple of years is now here, and most Americans are completely and totally unprepared for it.
I would very much encourage you to take the summer months as an opportunity to make the preparations that you need to make for the chaos that is approaching. As I detailed two days ago, we are already witnessing nationwide shortages of aluminum cans, soda, flour, canned soup, pasta and rice. As the problems in our nation intensify, the shortages will only get worse.
Of course in order to store up supplies you must have somewhere to put them, and for tens of millions of Americans it is going to be a real struggle just to keep their homes during the months ahead.
It looks like we are facing a housing crisis that is going to be far worse than anything that we experienced during the last recession, and unless Congress starts making money rain from the sky it doesn’t appear that there is any hope of stopping it.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
The post The Housing Crisis Of 2020: Millions Of Americans Missed Their Last Rent Payments, And Tens Of Millions Could Soon Be Evicted appeared first on The Economic Collapse.
The easy answer to this question is: It’s already here. Due to the surge of coronavirus cases again, there will be a second wave of lockdown. What will this mean for us?
California Governor Gavin Newsome has already shut down bars and restaurants again. He has made decisions that affect comedy clubs and many other types of businesses based on the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Of course, we are talking about California, but there is a good chance we will see these kinds of actions in other states.
This new rash of cases has people in an uproar. It looks like the virus is spreading to the parts of the nation that it hasn’t run through yet. However, there are still some interesting steps being taken by governors. We are seeing states like Florida issuing 14-day quarantine orders for people who visit from the tristate area. That is unprecedented for them.
Let’s look at several factors to consider in the quest to understand how our states will look in the coming season.
As the cases of COVID-19 rise, you will notice that one stat is lagging and it’s the best one. The deaths from COVID-19 are not going up as rapidly as they did during the infection of the massive infection of the northeast. We have made some serious discoveries since then.
The first is that ventilators, while important in some cases, seem to do more harm to patients who have the potential to recover on their own. To be frank, many people are wondering if an over-reliance on ventilators might have caused more deaths.
Of course, this was not made any better by the fact that some hospitals were getting big money to put people on ventilators.
Long story short, we have gotten much better at treating this virus, so the death rate is going even lower.
The world is not back on yet. If our world were a light switch it wouldn’t be turned OFF, but it most certainly wouldn’t be fully ON. I guess we are DIM at this point. By mid-Fall, it looks like most schools will be back in session and many more people will be back to work. There are whole industries that are still telecommuting.
What happens when large groups of people get back into environments that are pumped full of recirculated air will tell us a lot about another lockdown. Will the cases of COVID-19 spike and what will that mean? By Fall, we could have an even more comprehensive treatment process for all ages and that could lower the death rate of COVID-19 even more.
The bigger questions right now have to do with your personal actions. We should not wait for the government to decide what we are going to do with our lives. One of the best examples of this is schooling. Are you going to wait for the government to allow your child to be taught, or are you going to dive in to make sure your child gets the education they need to be successful?
We will be faced with many challenges just like these in the coming months. The actions of a few heads of states cannot dictate how your life is run.
Another big response will be how you get food. There are rising tensions between health officials and farmers. There is the idea that seasonal workers are at a great risk picking the food our nation needs, and time will come that it is compromised. We saw this in the meatpacking plants.
What will your response be to a lockdown on the agricultural system?
Looking to CSAs and growing your own food is a much better idea than simply waiting until things get back up and running again. We need to take our independence much more seriously and break the chains of convenience.
There are going to be placed in the nation that suffers from the second wave of lockdown. These will likely be the places with the highest population density. It only makes sense that these areas are going to get a rash of infections. The governors of these areas are also well versed in the lockdown and believe in its benefits.
Another round of lockdown will also mean a round of protests aimed at those who refuse to put their businesses and their families through the nightmare, again! It is hard to argue that point. We have watched countless business owners struggle and even go under from the first round of lockdown. The subsequent riots polished off the rest.
For you, it is important that you visualize what a second lockdown would like and how it could affect your life. Now is the time to take action and assure you are ready for round two. Then if it doesn’t happen you just have future protection for whatever comes next.
How are you going to prepare differently for the second wave of lockdown? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
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Christians all over America are talking about Pastor Dana Coverstone, and he just had another prophetic dream about the month of September that everyone should hear. He is warning that “something big is coming”, and he is calling Christians all over the country to pray for our nation from the beginning of the month of September to the end. Hopefully many will heed this call, because we are definitely at a major turning point in our history. I have been hearing from so many readers lately that feel such an urgency about the second half of this year and beyond, and I think that is a big reason why Pastor Coverstone’s original video resonated so strongly with so many people. What he shared in that video exactly matches what countless believers have been feeling, and it also perfectly lines up with experiences that other prophetic voices have been having.
Pastor Coverstone’s original video on YouTube has now been viewed over 1.5 million times. In that video he shared a dream that he had in December 2019 in which the Lord showed him that a great pandemic and tremendous civil unrest would erupt in America during the first half of this year, and events have played out in real life just as he saw in that dream.
Subsequently, Pastor Coverstone had another dream in late June in which the month of September was specifically singled out as having special significance…
Here’s what I saw.
I saw a calendar. Start with the calendar. As I was having this, the calendar was up, a white figure appeared. To me, it was a representing God the Holy Spirit, something pure, something righteous, something true, something Holy because there was nothing sinister about it. Nothing evil, but I heard the voice say, “part two, part two”.
I saw June, go, I saw July. I saw August, and then I saw September, and I saw the finger underneath the word September and I like like emphasizing it and tap the three times.
We don’t know exactly what will happen in September, but from the remainder of that dream it certainly sounds like great chaos is coming in November and in the months beyond.
Other prophetic voices have been warned about the second half of this year as well. Dr. Maurice Sklar was specifically shown that September is a key month, and John Fenn was specifically shown the same thing.
So we have multiple witnesses that are all confirming the same thing, and that should definitely get our attention.
It should be noted that John Fenn was told that the events that he was shown are conditional. In other words, they may or may not happen based on how America responds over the coming months.
And that actually fits very well with the new prophetic dream that Pastor Dana Coverstone just had on July 10th, because that dream appears to be a national call to prayer.
Pastor Coverstone revealed this new dream during a worship service at his church, and you can watch his entire sermon right here. In the dream, Pastor Coverstone saw a hand remove the month of September from the calendar, and the page fell and came to rest at his feet. He was instructed to stand on the page and to intercede for the nation. After praying for a few minutes, he was instructed to call others to pray with him, and ultimately he saw large numbers of people praying. All throughout the month of September, he saw believers united in prayer, and then he saw something else that was very unusual.
He saw a hand come down and write the words “a solemn” in front of the word “September”, and then the hand wrote the word “assembly” after the word “September”.
And so when the hand was done writing, the phrase “a solemn September assembly” was written across the top of the calendar.
That immediately got my attention, because we actually find the phrase “a solemn assembly” in the Bible. In Leviticus 23:36, the festival of Yom Kippur is described as “a solemn assembly” in the King James Version…
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
And guess what?
This year, the festival of Yom Kippur just happens to be during the month of September.
Do you think that is just a coincidence?
Pastor Coverstone did not make this connection in his sermon, and I don’t even know if he is aware of it, and I think that makes all of this even more remarkable.
Once again, God is going to great lengths to point out the importance of the appointed times that He established in the Scriptures, and hopefully we are willing to pay attention.
Another thing that I find very interesting is that “a solemn assembly” has already been planned for Washington D.C. on Saturday, September 25th. It is being called “The Return”, and it is being organized by Jonathan Cahn. It is going to feature some of the biggest Christian names in America, and you can view a promotional video for this event right here.
The period of time from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is known as “the Days of Awe”, and the central day of this event was purposely placed on the weekend that falls between those two very important festivals.
The goal of this gathering is to get people to repent and pray for the nation, and that sounds exactly like what Pastor Coverstone saw in his dream.
Isn’t it amazing how all of this fits together?
We truly serve an amazing God.
But just because God is calling people to pray in September, that does not mean that it will happen automatically.
We have a choice to respond to the call or not, and even if you cannot physically make it to Washington D.C. in September I would encourage you to seek God with all of your heart at that time.
If we miss this opportunity, we may not get another one. Jonathan Cahn is warning that America “may pass the point of no return” if repentance and revival do not happen now, and I agree with his assessment.
Time is running out, and America stands on the precipice of judgment. The only hope for the United States is a return to the one true God who created all things, and the fate of our nation hangs in the balance.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
Severe weather, EMP, solar flares, terrorist attack, or governmental collapse could cause an emergency situation where your cell phone and internet no longer work. Having a Citizen Band radio (CB) can help you stay up to date on the latest happenings because you can both receive critical bulletins and request assistance if need be.
by Jolina Flowers, SHTFblog’s Expat Prepper
CB radios will likely still function after an EMP scenario. The likelihood increases if they are stored in a Faraday cage and have an alternative power source, like batteries, which also have been safely stored.
A CB radio is a citizens band radio. It is a land mobile system that allows short-distance voice communication between individuals. They have a range from three to twenty miles, although some conditions will allow for intermittent communication over a much larger distance. Most countries do not require a license for you to operate one.
Because only one person can transmit on a frequency channel at a time, using a standard language streamlines communication. Whether you are using a vehicle-mounted, base station with external antenna, or handheld CB, the communication codes are the same.
For preppers, having access to communication in various forms is a powerful tool for you and your family’s readiness. You need to know how to speak and understand the language being used, however.
Channel 9 is restricted to emergency communications, including roadside assistance by the FCC. You can find the complete reference guide from the FCC here and the rules for operating a CB radio here.
Related article: Police Scanners for Home Preparedness and Bug Out Bags
Most drivers monitor channel 19 to stay up to date on accidents, speed traps, and road construction. This channel should not be used for chitchat.
Many users identify themselves with nicknames known as handles. Using a handle rather than your own name allows you to maintain a level of anonymity. You can see if someone, in particular, is currently on the radio by saying their handle followed by “Got your ears on?”
Most of the terms we’ll look at use number pairs beginning with 10 to communicate ideas.
Break or breaker, followed by a number, lets other users know that you want to start transmission on a specific channel. So, for instance, Breaker one-five would refer to channel 15. This term is used because you may be “breaking” into another conversation. Affirmative is another term for yes. Negatory is no.
The Uniden 40-Channel Trucker’s CB Radio is a common CB radio suitable for bug out vehicles.
Jabber or babble refers to incomprehensible transmissions. The speaker may be speaking in a foreign language or have inadequate transmission equipment. A mud duck is a person that has a weak signal but continues to talk, although what they are saying is not understandable. On the other end of the spectrum, an alligator station has good transmission but isn’t receiving well, also identified as 10-1. 10-2 is receiving well. To indicate that someone should stop transmitting, use 10-3.
If your technique needs a little work, you might hear 10-91 (talk close to the mic) or 10-92 (your transmitter needs adjustment). 10-11 means you are talking too quickly. If you need someone to help you out, 10-93 asks a listener to check your frequency. Audio (pronounced something like “aaaauuuudddiiiioooo”) can be used to verify your audio or power output.
Respecting air time and other users are vital to successful CB use. Because only one person can speak at a time, you’ll need to be careful you aren’t interrupting an ongoing conversation when you break in. This is also referred to as stepping on or walking over. When more than one user tries to use the same channel, no one can be understood.
Midland USA also sells various CB and two-way radios.
On some occasions, you may need to yield to other, more pressing situations such as accidents, road condition updates, and so on. Be patient and wait your turn. Keep your transmissions short. Use the lingo to facilitate communication.
The terms in this article by no means make up an all-inclusive list. Truckers use more than a hundred 10 codes to communicate among themselves, some of which you might never need to use yourself. One of the best ways to learn any language, including CB radio language, is to listen to it being spoken in an authentic context.
Begin by streaming live CB radio channels when you have time. The CB Radio Club has a listing you can check out to find one in your area. Broadcastify is a New York/New Jersey channel, and Live CB Radio is out of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Knowing how to communicate efficiently on a CB radio is an excellent skill to acquire before an SHTF situation. Odds are good that even after disasters such as EMPs and solar flares, the CB radio you have safely stored away will come in handy. Besides, learning a new language, especially the colorfully descriptive trucker lingo, is fun. What have you got to lose?
The post A Guide to CB Radio Language and 10 Codes appeared first on SHTF blog – Modern Survival.
Scientific evidence continues to emerge that indicates that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a very long time to come. Yesterday, I reported on a recent study that was conducted in China and another recent study that was conducted in Spain that both showed that COVID-19 antibodies start to disappear very, very quickly. In fact, the study that was conducted in Spain discovered that some patients that originally tested positive for antibodies “no longer had antibodies weeks later”. Well, now we have a third study to add to the list. A study of COVID-19 patients that was conducted at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust in London found that “just 16.7 percent of the patients had a potent antibody response” after a couple of months had passed…
Researchers analyzed immune responses of patients and health care workers at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust in London and found that levels of antibodies that destroy the virus quickly declined after peaking several weeks after patients exhibited symptoms.
The study found that 60 percent of the patients had a “potent” antibody response at peak of their battle with the coronavirus. After about two months, however, just 16.7 percent of the patients had a potent antibody response.
This has enormous implications for vaccine development, because if antibodies disappear very, very quickly any vaccine would need to be administered over and over again throughout the year to provide any sort of protection at all.
And of course a large portion of the U.S. population will never want to take any COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstances.
In addition, experts are telling us that even if a COVID-19 victim develops antibodies, that does not necessarily mean that individual has immunity. In an article that he authored for CNN, Dr. William Haseltine explained that “only 15% of those who test positive for antibodies make the neutralizing antibodies necessary to develop immunity”…
Not only do antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 fade, and perhaps fade quickly, studies have also shown that only 15% of those who test positive for antibodies make the neutralizing antibodies necessary to develop immunity in the first place. And not all of those who make neutralizing antibodies make them at high levels. Some of those infected make no antibodies at all.
So what all of this means is that a vaccine is not going to end this pandemic, and any hope of “herd immunity” bringing this pandemic to an end is completely gone.
It turns out that COVID-19 behaves a lot like other coronaviruses. Antibodies for other common coronaviruses typically disappear entirely “between four months and one year”, and as a result people can actually catch the exact same virus “year after year”…
While SARS and MERS are the coronaviruses that grab the headlines, there are four other mostly unknown coronaviruses that are much more common: 229E, HKU1, NL63 and OC43. What we know from 60 years of research into these viruses is that they come back year after year and reinfect the same people — over and over again.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 is far more dangerous that most of the other coronaviruses that are floating around out there.
Yesterday, one reader criticized me for suggesting that COVID-19 often causes permanent damage. But of course that is exactly what the hard science has shown. For example, one study of COVID-19 victims discovered that 55 percent of them had serious heart damage that was caused by COVID-19…
Of the total 1,216 patients, 667 (55 percent) had abnormalities in their scan and one in seven participants had what researchers described as “severe abnormalities,” according to the paper published in the journal European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Imaging.
On average, the participants were aged 62, and 70 percent were male. Sixty percent of the scans were performed in a critical care setting, such as an ICU unit or emergency room, while the others were carried out in general medicine settings, cardiology, respiratory, or COVID-19 wards. Some 54 percent of the patients had severe COVID-19.
As we know, COVID-19 also can do a tremendous amount of damage to the lungs, and some scientists are now linking the virus to brain damage in some instances.
And once you become infected, you may have a very, very long battle ahead of you.
In fact, I came across an article today in which one COVID-19 victim claimed to have been battling the virus for more than 100 days…
My first Covid-19 symptoms appeared on March 14: a low-grade fever, profound leg pain, malaise, and loss of appetite. More than 100 days later, Covid-19 is still with me. Some days I wonder if it will ever leave.
Can you imagine that?
When I was a kid, I thought that if I was sick for a week that was way too long.
But apparently this particular virus tends to stay with people for an extended period of time. If you can believe it, a study that was just conducted in Italy found that only 12.6 percent of COVID-19 victims were completely free of symptoms 60 days after first becoming sick…
Almost 90 percent of Covid-19 survivors still have symptoms including fatigue two months after first falling unwell, according to a study.
Italian researchers tracked 143 people who had been hospitalised with the disease but had since recovered.
Only 12.6 per cent were completely free of any Covid-19–related symptom 60 days after they first became unwell.
So those that are mocking this pandemic need to stop, because there are countless victims that are going through nightmarish ordeals right now as they battle this virus.
I think that most of us had assumed that COVID-19 would be a temporary crisis that would eventually go away and then we could go back to our normal lives.
But if there is no way of ever achieving lasting immunity, this virus will be able to circulate around the globe over and over again, and there will be nothing that we can do to stop it.
In other words, it looks like COVID-19 is now a permanent part of our lives.
I wish that this wasn’t true, but unlike so many other news sources I do not believe in engaging in wishful thinking.
And now that everyone has seen how much damage a virus like this can do, that will just encourage terrorists or others with a very evil agenda to quietly release extremely deadly diseases in the future.
A year ago at this time everything seemed so “normal”, but now our lives have been turned upside down by this virus, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
The last four months have been an unending nightmare for the U.S. economy. Businesses are shutting down at a pace that we have never seen before in American history, the “retail apocalypse” has reached an entirely new level that none of the experts were anticipating prior to this pandemic, and we are in the midst of the greatest spike in unemployment that the United States has ever experienced. On Thursday, we learned that another 1.3 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, and that number has now been above one million for 16 consecutive weeks. Things were supposed to be “getting back to normal” by now, buy that hasn’t happened. Instead, we continue to see a tsunami of job losses that is absolutely unprecedented in American history.
When we look back at the old peaks for unemployment claims, they almost seem laughable compared to what we are experiencing now…
The highest prior weekly total for new unemployment claims was 695,000, in October 1982, according to Labor Department data. During the Great Recession, the country’s last downturn, weekly claims peaked at 665,000, in March 2009.
For those that aren’t old enough to remember, the recession of the early 1980s and the recession of 2008 and 2009 were both really, really painful.
But of course they weren’t anything like this.
Sometimes it is hard to believe that the numbers have gotten so bad. According to Wolf Richter, the number of continuing claims that were filed last week under all state and federal unemployment programs is the highest that we have ever seen…
The total number of people who continued to claim unemployment compensation in the week ended July 4 under all state and federal unemployment insurance programs, including gig workers, jumped by 1.41 million people, to 32.92 million (not seasonally adjusted), the Department of Labor reported this morning. It was the highest and most gut-wrenching level ever.
The number of people who continue to receive state unemployment insurance (blue columns) has been ticking down, as more people got their jobs back than newly unemployed flooded the state unemployment systems. But the number of people claiming federal unemployment insurance, including gig workers under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, continues to surge (red columns), which causes the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits under all programs to rise
Up to this point, the emergency measures that Congress put in place to help unemployed workers have definitely eased the pain for millions upon millions of people that have lost their jobs, but a number of those emergency measures are about to expire…
Several benefits were developed in March to help ease the financial strains on Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Those are set to come to an end before July 31, which could impact 20 million Americans, MarketWatch reports. The CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27 by President Donald Trump, provided benefits like enhanced unemployment payments to supplement lost income from layoffs. It also includes a clause to delay evictions for 120 days.
Of course Congress could choose to extend some or all of the elements in the CARES Act, but that would mean borrowing and spending more giant mountains of money that we do not currently have.
Meanwhile, we are seeing businesses fail at a rate that is absolutely staggering.
According to the Washington Post, more than 100,000 businesses have permanently closed their doors during this pandemic, and Bloomberg just posted an article about 110 major companies that have declared bankruptcy here in 2020…
Retailers, airlines, restaurants. But also sports leagues, a cannabis company and an archdiocese plagued by sex-abuse allegations. These are some of the more than 110 companies that declared bankruptcy in the U.S. this year and blamed Covid-19 in part for their demise.
Sadly, the bankruptcy announcements just keep on coming.
This week, we learned that Brooks Brothers has filed for bankruptcy protection…
The coronavirus pandemic has now claimed one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious retailers.
Brooks Brothers — pioneer of the polo and uniform of the polished prepster — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection from creditors on Wednesday, as it continues to search for a buyer.
That hit me particularly hard, because I have had Brooks Brothers shirts in my closet ever since I was a young man.
They have always made great products, and I just assumed that they would always be around.
Of course lots of other iconic retailers are failing as well. Before too long, naming the major retailers that are still operating successfully may be easier than trying to name the vast number of major retailers that have gone belly up.
Store closings are happening fast and furious these days, and that isn’t likely to change any time soon. Starbucks just announced that they will be closing 400 locations, Dunkin’ Donuts just announced that they will be closing 450 locations, and Bed Bath & Beyond has increased the number of stores that they will be closing to approximately 200…
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) announced Wednesday that it plans to close roughly 200 stores in the next two years.
The retail chain — which also operates Buybuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops and Harmon Face Values — said it would be mainly closing Bed Bath & Beyond stores, starting later this year. The announcement came as the company released its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.
If you are still not convinced that the retail industry is facing an unprecedented cataclysm, I think that the following list will do the trick.
Forbes has been tracking the major store closing announcements of 2020, and their list was recently shared by Zero Hedge…
Forbes’ Store Closure List In 2020
Chuck E Cheese: 54 U.S. stores (bankruptcy)
Destination Maternity: 90 stores (bankruptcy)
GNC: 1,200 stores (bankruptcy)
J. Crew: 54 stores (bankruptcy)
JCPenney JCP: 154 stores (bankruptcy)
K-Mart: 45 stores (bankruptcy)
Modell’s Sporting Goods: 153 stores (bankruptcy)
Neiman Marcus (Last Call): 20 stores (bankruptcy)
Papyrus: 254 stores (bankruptcy)
Pier 1 Imports PIR: 936 stores (bankruptcy)
Sears: 51 stores (bankruptcy)
Signet Jewelers SIG: 232 stores
Stage Stores: 738 stores (liquidating)
Tuesday Morning: 230 stores (bankruptcy)
***
AC Moore: 145 stores
Art Van Furniture: 190 stores
AT&T: 250 stores
Bath & Body Works: 50 stores
Bed Bath & Beyond: 44 stores
Bloomingdale’s: 1 store
Bose: 11 stores
Chico: 100 stores (estimated)
Children’s Place: 200 stores
Christopher Banks: 30-40 stores
CVS Pharmacy: 22 stores
Earth Fare: 50 stores
Express: 66 stories
Forever 21: 15 stores (estimated)
GameStop GME: 320 stores
Gap: 230 stores
Guess: 100 stores
Hallmark: 16 stores
Lord & Taylor: 30 or 40 stores
Lowe’s Canada: 34 stores
Lucky Market: 32 stores
Macy’s M: 125 stores (over 3 years)
Microsoft: 77 stores
New York & Co: 27 stores
Nordstrom: 16 stores
Office Depot: 90 stores
Olympia Sports: 76 stores
Party City: 21 stores
Starbucks SBUX: 400 stores (over 18 months)
Victoria’s Secret: 250 stores
Walgreen: 100 stores (estimated)
Walmart: 2 stores
Wilson Leather & G.H. Bass: 199 stores
Zara: 1,000 stores worldwide (over 2 years)
This week, the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surged to the highest level that we have seen yet, and that means that fear of COVID-19 is going to continue to paralyze economic activity in the United States for the foreseeable future.
That means that many more businesses will be shutting their doors, there will be many more bankruptcies, and millions more Americans will be losing their jobs.
This is what an economic collapse looks like, and it is just getting started.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
The post Job Losses, Bankruptcies And Store Closings Are All At Apocalyptic Levels As The U.S. Economic Collapse Rolls On appeared first on The Economic Collapse.
Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.
Editor’s Note: Another in a series of articles on man-tracking and its utility in prepping as well as conservation, by guest author Kyt Walken
Anti-Poaching Units fight to protect wildlife from those who would kill endangered or protected animals to satisfy commercial demand for animal parts.
Given their location and unique circumstances, activities carried out by various APU are diverse, and include prevention, deterrence, and operational intervention, and are other are just some of the methods used.
The initial employment of microchips pierced inside the horns of the rhinos are intended to monitor the specimens and capture of the poachers, and hopefully acts as a deterrent for the poachers if they know the animal and it are being tracked.
Occasionally, the preventive cutting of the horn without causing any harm to the animal is useful for research and removes the incentive for poachers to kill the animal.
This technique, however, has been found ineffective since the poachers, after following an animal’s tracks, won’t hesitate to shoot it.
In addition, perimeter surveillance of reserves and the setting up of checkpoints for the control of suspect vehicles are also used to deter poachers.
The tracking operation involves sending out teams responsible for the patrolling of large areas of forest or savannah in search of signs of poaching. This activity is certainly the most dangerous, since the severe penalties imposed on poachers often motivate them to use their weapons even against rangers, with lethal results on both sides.
Three AK47-armed men leave their homes before the sun rises, heading for a forest area they know very well. The come across rhino tracks and, after following them for about an hour, they spot their target, about 100 meters…a female rhino with her calf.
The favorable wind allows them to approach without being identified by the animal, whose visual ability happens to be very limited.
Once at a distance that allows them to take aim through the dense African vegetation, the poachers shoot at the pachyderm’s legs, making it impossible for her to escape.
The baby, remains close to the injured mother, which is trying to protect her baby and is killed by a volley of bullets. Even though the calf has not yet developed its horn, it would slow down the work, so it’s killed, too.
The Poachers quickly approach the immobilized animal, which cries in pain from her mangled legs. As the wounded prey tries to get up, the poachers break its spine with a series of brutal axe hits.
While the dying animal cries in pain, the poachers remove the rhino horn with a saw. Often the front of the muzzle is hacked off to make it faster.
This is a tragic but regular story for the more than 1,000 rhinoceroses who are massacred every year. And although the number of rhinos killed each year has decreased, the important thing to comprehend is the fact that a slightly decreasing trend does not represent a decrease in demand, but the scarcity of rhinos left in nature.
The strongest demand comes from some medicine which considers rhino horn a remedy for various diseases. However, research has repeatedly shown rhino horn is nothing more than a keratinous tissue similar to that of human fingernails and, therefore, completely devoid of any medicinal value.
Fortunately, the demand for rhino horns has declined sharply since Yemen, where it was traditionally used to make ‘jambiya’ ceremonial knives.
Criminal organizations, with the help of corrupt local institutions, smuggle rare animals or animal parts. Such trafficking is the fourth highest illegal trade in the world, after drugs, weapons, and prostitution.
The weapons mainly used are rifles, pointed poles, nets, and traps. Poachers work hard to conceal their tracks, as well as to deceive the Trackers who may come across them. In addition to this, the ‘snares’ used by poachers lead to a slow and terrible death. Sadly, the traps kill without distinction, whether it be elephants, cheetahs, antelopes or giraffes. Thousands of animals die in these traps, but in 70% of cases the carcass is never recovered.
The highest levels of the organizations are occupied by wealthy entrepreneurs or by corrupt politicians who, sensing the possibility of an easy profit, hire professional mercenary hunters, and equip them with boats and helicopters.
Local poachers are often satisfied with only a few hundred dollars to kill an animal, but the strong Chinese and Vietnamese demand means a kilogram of rhino horn can cost up to $60,000 to the final consumer, or about $350,000 for a medium sized horn.
Not even the noblest symbol of the African continent are immune to indiscriminate hunting, traps and deforestation: today CITES, the international body responsible for monitoring flora and fauna, has included the lion in the list of endangered animals.
Rhinos have become the symbol of a macabre trade that also affects many other animal species. For example, elephantivory is still in great demand in China to manufacture molds and stamps; tigers are decimated for their furs, as well as for their bowels and bones, which are endowed with healing powers according to traditional Chinese medicine.
These anti-poaching units, like those from Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide, are teams of specialized rangers, sometimes made up of ex-military personnel. They are exceptional trackers, they have to be, since the fight is tremendous, and fought day by day, in both the Bush and in the Jungle.
Some African states, such as Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and with some limitations the Republic of South Africa, have taken concrete action to combat poaching, with the use of specialized personnel.
Kyt Lyn Walken is the official European representative and instructor for Hull’s Tracking School (Virginia, USA), and is a certified Conservation Ranger for C.R.O.W. (Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide). She has been an outdoors and tracking enthisast since childhood. Kyt lives and works in Europe, and can be contacted at www.man-tracking.com
The post Tactical Tracking for Wildlife Conservation appeared first on The Prepper Journal.
