Survivalist and Prepper websites have been reporting that the Department of Homeland Security has been paying them a visit – for example Off Grid Survival:

So of course I went and checked some of my sites, here are the totals since Jan 1, 2011:

2012 Connect   16
2012 Base    21
Survive 2012    237

That makes sense because the last site contains this blog, so there’s lots more new content to look at. I’m both proud and scared that they find my writing interesting. So I checked DOD and the Navy as well:

Click on the images for a closer look, but there were also 427 visits from the Department of Defence, and 716 from the Navy Network Information Center. Interestingly, the average page views and time spent on the site were extremely similar to DHS. And the spikes in visits correlated with spikes in general – they visited more on days the site was visited more.

It doesn’t feel natural – it feels automated. So I check another of my sites that is unlikely to interest the government, searchenginez.com:

91 visits. The site certainly doesn’t mention any of the major trigger keywords.

My initial prognosis is that:

• These visits are automated, and the same system is used by all branches of U.S. intelligence agencies
• Sites are visited based on popularity, trigger keywords or most likely both
• They have no problem with being identified – letting sites know they are being watched is probably a secondary objective
• While some scraped data might be looked at by humans, it’s most likely just stored

Basically, I’M NOT CONCERNED!!

PS. More information over at Prison Planet

Homeland Security Tracking Preppers? is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve mentioned previously how survivalists could show up on government radar if store owners decide that buying supplies with cash is suspicious – the purchaser could be a terrorist! As it happens, there are 25 different flyers asking for public informants, covering a wide variety of businesses. Here are the worst for 2012ers:

• Bulk Fuel Distributors — New customers not from the area, those using cash for large transactions, nervous, large purchases, having a rental vehicle.
• Farm Supply Stores — New customers not from the area, nervous or impatient, suspicious inquiries regarding equipment specifications, failing to state legitimate use for supplies, rental vehicle, cash for large transactions.
• Home Improvement and Large Retail Stores — Large quantity of ammunition, firearms and ammunition out of season, combination of unusual items, interest in night vision and camouflage apparel, purchases of pipe fittings and supplies, rental vehicle, refusal to complete firearms paperwork, using cash for large transactions.
• Martial Arts/Paintball — Insist on paying with cash, travels long distance to participate, interest in learning offensive moves in a confined space, learning the use of hidden weapons, learning kill and restraint techniques with no occupational need, group training, uttering racist, religious, unusual, anti-US, or vague and cryptic warnings, close combat training, paintball tactics of ambush or kidnapping scenarios, operating a private facility, converting large plots of rural land to conduct these activities.
• Military Surplus — Demanding identity privacy, insisting on paying with cash, suspicious comments, bulk purchases.
• Storage Facilities — Failing to provide complete personal information, using cash to pay fees in advance, placing unusual items in storage, disposing of tools, gloves, masks, or clothing, discarding clothes or shoes in new condition, avoiding contact with rental facility personnel, accessing facility an unusual number of times, storing items that emit unusual odors or leak liquids.
• At Activist Post Michael Snyder also makes some good points regarding motels and internet cafes.

Obviously terrorists are aware of these lists and will do their best to not be noticed. It reminds me of when I boarded a flight in Australia, destined for the USA. There was a big queue to get into the boarding gate, because security staff were patting down every passenger and carefully going through their carry-on luggage and their documents. When they were about 2/3 of the way through the queue, they ran out of the time and the remaining passengers boarded freely. If you were a terrorist, which end of the queue would be at? Or would you even still be in the airport??

For all your survival needs, be cautious. Pay cash, don’t provide an ID, and try and find suppliers that are unlikely to snitch. Ask on survivalist forums, or better still, become a local where your safe spot is located, not a stranger.

USA Govt: Mega Snitch List is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The long term trend is obvious to any Sci-Fi fan – one day all transactions will be cashless. We might even have a universal currency known as credits!

There are some indications in Europe that the shift away from cash has begun:

• Italy -  since 4th December 2011 amounts above € 1000 can no longer be paid in cash. This is to help stop tax avoidance, supposedly.
• Belgium – soon the maximum for cash transactions will be € 5,000, down from € 15,000, for the same reason
• EU – a directive has been issued regarding how they will enable a cashless society

Now a cashless society means that authorities get to track all transactions. And in the USA they are equating survivalist purchases with terrorism. So Preppers should probably only use trusted suppliers, and only pay cash.

And while cash can be kept safe, digital money can be taken from you with the click of a Powers That Be button. Ask a few dictators…

Something will have to replace cash, and it won’t be legal tender. But that won’t stop folk, so here’s some ideas about what we could use instead of cash, for any purchases we don’t wish to be tracked and cataloged:

Dedicated Patsy – the equivalent of the adult who buys liquor for teens. They make purchases on your behalf for a fee, and they don’t care who knows what about them, or what risks they face.

Businesses – shell companies will most likely always exist, so form one and let it buy your stuff. Perhaps run a large group of like-minded people, who share a single debit card… so Big Brother knows one of you bought something, not which of you. 

Bartering and LETS - legal until it gets too popular?

Alternative currency – I don’t mean printing your own notes, but there are items of value that could be traded. Precious metals are an obvious one. What is to stop a business selling little nuggets of metal that fit on a necklace, each of a precise weight? And then folk can adopt it as a currency. In a tiny way, the Pandora charm bracelets are in that direction. What if Pandora sold charms that all weighed 10 grams and were made of pure silver (or whatever) and they sold them at only 15% markup on the raw metal value?

Theft – if you don’t get caught, your “purchase” won’t be traced.

What If Money Goes 100% Digital? is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The leader of the free world has enough power to cause TEOTWAWKI via bad policy or religious motivation. And Obama might be out-voted just before the Mayan calendar ends in December. Even for those who are not in the USA (or Americans who don’t care about politics), each of the remaining four candidates are interesting in their own right

First off is the obvious choice for 2012ers (if they leave religion out of politics) – Ron Paul. The gentleman is obviously intelligent, and he cares about the big picture as well as the rights of the marginalized. A law has just been passed that allows US citizens to be held indefinitely without any trial – in the name of stopping terrorism. This single video is evidence enough that he is needed by the American people:

Next up is Newt Gingrich who just won South Carolina despite the polls predicting otherwise (suggesting to some it was rigged). Here’s some of the reasons 2012ers and voters would probably not want him to be leader of the free world:

• Cheated on both of his first two wives (and asked the second if they could have an open marriage). Yes, that might just mean he’s human, but with so much baggage, why would the Powers That Be be supporting him? Is there really nobody else they could choose?
• A Super PAC that supports Gingrich, received a 5 million dollar donation from noted billionaire Sheldon Adelson who himself is a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Supports geo-engineering
• Has supported the death penalty for marijuana possession!

This video, where Gingrich is asked about Bohemian Grove is enlightening:

The one most likely to win is Mitt Romney. He’s easily the next preferred after Ron Paul. He doesn’t have any scary ideas, and as a Mormon he should understand the value of survivalist practices. Yet his private career in which many jobs were lost and he seems to have been avoiding paying taxes could derail him.

And it goes without saying that Rick Santorum would not be a good choice. He wants to bomb Iran and has evangelistic beliefs. Those two factors alone are enough to cause WW3, and it could potentially start right when the Mayan calender ends.

The Final Four Republican Candidates is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This time last year there was a lot of talk about mass animal die-offs. These things happen from time to time, but the cluster of events made it newsworthy. Turns out some mass deaths can be attributed to deliberate poisoning by US authorities:

A recent mass die-off event witnessed in Yankton, South Dakota was traced back to the USDA which admitted to carrying out a mass poisoning of the birds.

Read the whole story at Earth-Issues

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Congressman Pete Hoekstra was recently heavily involved in US Intelligence:

Mr. Hoekstra, as a former Chairman of the HPSCI one of the best informed men in the world, will share his views on the global threats Americans face, now and in the future. Here is a rare opportunity for our audience to question the man who, until recently, was taskmaster of our nation’s spy agencies.

On Wednesday, noon Eastern time he speaks with EMPact Radio, a weekly broadcast devoted to educating people about the risks of an EMP attack, from foreign powers or the Sun. Check out their previous guests – quite impressive!

USDA Behind Bird Killings / Hoekstra on EMP is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I covered this back in August, but it has taken on a deeper meaning now that US citizens can detained without charge or trial – the law has passed, and Obama didn’t veto it after all… You could theoretically be locked up forever for one of these:

Storing Food. The FBI/DOJ have decided that having more than 7 day’s food on hand is suspicious, even though this is precisely what FEMA recommends (in case of a disaster). There’s a report from a cannery that pimarily has Mormons as customers (their religion compels them to keep one year’s worth of food stored), where federal agents were asking for customer lists – fortunately they didn’t keep one.

Owning Guns and Ammo. You especially don’t want to be a military veteran who has just returned from war. The Dept of Homeland Security have said:

the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks

How about keeping precious metals, or having a Ron Paul sticker on your car? Read the full list, with plenty of links to sources, at OzHouse.org

Update: Definition of a Terrorist is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It is certainly reassuring when a leading politician mentions the possibility of a catastrophe that most people are unaware of. Newt Gingrich is the subject of an article this week at the NY Times:

In debates and speeches, interviews and a popular book, he is ringing alarm bells over what experts call the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP — a poorly understood phenomenon of the nuclear age.

The idea is that if a nuclear weapon, lofted by a missile, were detonated in outer space high above the American heartland, it would set off a huge and crippling shockwave of electricity. Mr. Gingrich warns that it would fry electrical circuits from coast to coast, knocking out computers, electrical power and cellphones. Everything from cars to hospitals would be knocked out.

In the introduction to the 2009 novel One Second After, Gingrich said millions would die in the first week alone.

The US military believe that the following three factors should give US citizens peace of mind:

• The Missile Defense Agency has an arsenal of ground-based interceptors ready to fly into space and smash enemy warheads
• Iran and North Korea don’t have such weapons yet
• Terrorists would prefer destruction over disruption

Well, in response I suggest:

• The Missile Defense Agency hasn’t had much practice, so who knows if they could thwart such an attack
• Russia and China aren’t exactly best friends of the USA, and who says the target can’t be an American ally?
• The mindset of the terrorist in charge is not something to be predicted

Imagine if you whispered into the ear of a maniacal Russian or Chinese general, and told them that with the combination of an EMP and a ground-based attack, they could own the USA. I’m sure they’d at least day dream about it.

Gingrich Fears EMP Doomsday is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Today’s news is quite disturbing.  The U.S. Senate voted to let the military detain terrorism suspects on U.S. soil and hold them indefinitely without trial. This is outside of the normal judicial process. In theory absolutely anybody can be sent to Guantanamo Bay (or some other overseas detention center) and there is no recourse available. Even, say, a political candidate, or an outspoken rap artist. You’d like to think the media would help and highlight any travesties of justice, but I wouldn’t have 100% faith in that.

The problem is a combination of:

1) A DOJ directive that lists criteria for being suspected as a terrorist – as described by Rand Paul (son of Ron) in the video below, including keeping more than 7 days of food, and having ammunition.

2) The government can, via the military, detain anyone suspected of terrorism, without charge, indefinitely.

American Survivalists – Brace Yourselves is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The test of the Emergency Alert System in the USA went ahead as scheduled today, and there was good news and bad news:

Bad news: in many, many instances it did not work
Good news: thankfully they decided to test it

A NY Times blog reports that:

• Most of the reported failures affected cable and satellite television subscribers.
• Some DirecTV subscribers said their TV sets played the Lady Gaga song “Paparazzi” while the test was under way.
• Some Comcast subscribers in northern Virginia said their TV sets were switched over to QVC prior to the alert appearing.
• In some places it was 3 or 10 minutes late
• In one instance it ran for 30 minutes (instead of 30 seconds)

Now for some criticism. In the USA the EAS dates back to 1994, which means it is old. These days people aren’t watching TV as much as they used to. The USA should consider setting up a system like the Australians have – it phones people on land lines and cellphones. I think that would reach more people than TV and radio, especially at like 3am.

Emergency Alert System – Lots To Fix is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.

THIS IS A TEST!

Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 PM EST, for approximately 30 seconds, all radio and TV in the USA will be interrupted by a message that simply says “This Is A Test”.

This type of test has been run regionally and locally in the past, but this is the first time they have tested it nationally. If the Emergency Alert is ever required to run at a national level, it can only be authorized by the president.

Official websites for more info:

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test

http://www.fema.gov/eastest/

http://www.fema.gov/eastest/faqs.shtm

USA: Emergency Alert System Test on Wednesday is a post from: 2012 Blog

©2012 2012 Blog. All Rights Reserved.