How to Prep for War – Market’s Wall of Worry

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If you are reading this morning’s report on a web site whose address is OTHER than UrbanSurvival.com, you are reading a rip-off site.  Been a growing problem – and we’re going after not only the copyright infringers but also their website hosting providers.  Please check that you are reading the legit https://urbansurvival.com site. World’s full of sleazebags, but like that’s a surprise, right?

How does one prep for War?

Before we wonder whether “Walla Worry” is near Walla Walla, seems pertinent to ask.  Prep while you can because we’re now in a ‘Race against time’ to get tanks to Ukraine before Europe engulfed in war with Russia.

Obviously, there are multiple flavors of war, so the answer quickly gets complicated:

  • Russia Conflict (Style 1):  This is where Russia attempts to overrun Ukraine, the U.S. unloads outdated military hardware into the conflict, and after tons of European deaths, eventually both sides tire of fighting. Stocks rally, the U.S. investors (even us small fry) do OK because “war is good for business.”  But, only to a point…
  • Russia Conflict (Style 2): Decapitation strike on American military assets and leadership.  Lead in with a few tactical nukes in Europe, and a “sales closing call” on the Moscow-Washington hotline, but if – after three in-theater nukes Slow Joe ain’t getting that his world could blow up his Corvette, then our military bases are attacked and then we launch the massive doomsday play.  A lot harder to prep for, because so much is location, location, location.  Big city?  Top 10 civilian pop centers?  Little point prepping if this plays out.  Cities in  the “under 500 biggest” are not likely on targeting lists, unless there’s an obvious military item: The Pantex Plant in Texas, or you just want America to collapse internally, in which case major energy switching centers like this one matter. The population of Erath, Louisiana is a bit less than 2,100 people, so being small may not matter in this kind of “special situation.” War has more styles than Martha Stewart.
  • Russia Conflict (Style 3): A series of electromagnetic pulse explosions over key population regions, perhaps not even done by the Russians – could be a proxy like Iran which could give Russia plausible deniability, With the grid hard down, no back-up transformers, and insane national energy policies that threw energy independence under the bus (thanks Dems!) this one gets a lot harder to figure.  See, there is a case where Russia might be able to survive without an overwhelming U.S. response if the proxy was unclear.  You need power, the stores need power, as do traffic lights, hospitals…you have read One Second After, by now, for sure?

As of this morning, the One Second After book has more than 16,000 reviews on Amazon and the average rating is a 4.6 out of 5 with good reason. A damn fine read and a useful playbook.

War is a very ugly thing to contemplate, and even uglier to prepare against.  There are just so many possibilities.  Yet, even in our hyper fortified joint in the outback, taking out four huge trees Thursday increases our survival margin against, oh, fire storms after a nuke strike, and will ensure the solar panels are all open to unfiltered sunlight again.  But will it matter?  Aye, there’s the rub.

There are seven physical systems that support life in first world countries.  When they are all up and working right?  Life can work toward “pretty good.”  But when down, the terrorists in office will all go Reverse Robinhood and steal from the prepped to save their own sorry asses.  Which explains, I hope, the gun range out back.  We fervently hope marksmanship and dronesmanship won’t matter.  But a review along the urban to rural battlespace continuum suggests otherwise.

We’ve wailed endlessly about the Liberal Fake Industries (LFI’s) like gender-swaps, race rekindling, climate scams, and shaming of all stripes, but these are merely your indicators that we have run out of large-scale industrial innovations to power the economy.  What happened to the bullshit about higher wages and more time off?  All lies told by crooks holding office.

Wars, in economic terms, are a chance to kill people (and break things) on an unprecedented level in order to “till the soil” and set the stage for the world to be “regrown” which, of course never seems to work out as planned.

Which means you come down to your own shopping, making, and prepping list based on your preference levels of:

  • Food and water
  • Shelter
  • Transportation
  • Communications
  • Environment
  • Finance
  • and Energy

When the BioWar portion of WW III began, who would have thought toilet paper would have been so important?  Yet here we are in the intermission between acts in the (invisible to most) World War III wondering what will be the next shortage?

Brains?  Humans? Food? Breathable air?

We just laid down $1,750 to “solve” the tree problem. Firestorm resistance up, less hurricane worries. We will be laying down another $1,250 to fix a dental problem, shortly. After that?  Another $5,200 worth of eye treatment because insurance won’t cover corneal cross-linking if you’re over 65, we’re told.  Even with a Medicare Advantage plan.  Age discrimination is a no-no in the workplace, maybe, but actuaries have invented defensible discrimination in healthcare. F**kers.

We work hard only to eventually end as the best-prepped people in the cemetery.

Personal Income

How to prep for the (collapsing, likely) world ahead won’t be a problem for us:  We’ve known since 2003 that the Global Playbook would have a bad ending to it.  Because while the government touts various economic data, the reality is America doesn’t have a budget, doesn’t have leadership, and the quality of life is on the skids.  Mainly because our money is being thieved by the rich Bankster class through the process called inflation.

Let’s see how “Personal Income” is doing, shall we? Nitrous or crack pipe at the ready?

“Personal income increased $49.5 billion, or 0.2 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending decreased $41.6 billion, or 0.2 percent, in December. The increase in personal income primarily reflected increases in compensation and proprietors’ income. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 3.4 percent in December, compared with 2.9 percent in November.

After this little bit of financial crack, Dow futures down 23, S&P down 16.  I’m too busy today to care, but have fun with it.

All dandy until we remember that the social security increase this year was supposedly 8.7 percent. Doesn’t seem to have held the price of eggs down, does it? $18 a dozen: how did America’s eggs get absurdly expensive?  Out here, egg prepping might come to 50 pound bags of corn and “scratch” for chickens. Not yet, though because it sets up a running gunbattle with the raccoons and possums who want a free lunch.  (We wonder if they voted for Biden?)

The majority of news is (as always):

Bitter Harvests

Why does organic always cost so much more?  In Vermont, organic dairy farmers seek state assistance. We’ve planted GMO and Heirloom seeds next to one-another and the plants work about equally hard.

Oh, look: Government caught lying again: Feds adapting AI used to silence ISIS to combat American dissent on vaccines, elections | Just The News. Land of the Free now Home of the Gullible.

“Shut your mouth Dear” department: Video of Jill Biden Ushering Joe Away From Reporters Goes Viral. Our Democrat Womens Fan Club is also tracking Paul Pelosi attack video to be released Friday. Side of victimhood for breakfast?

More thoughtfully:  Doomsday Clock Jitters and “How to Fix a Broken Planet” – CounterPunch.org

The march to monetize on public display:  Coronavirus tally: FDA panel agrees with plan for annual COVID boosters in new approach to virus.  Say, are the vaxxed considered “armed and dangerous?” Just curious… Even the scientists can’t agree on this as reported in Should COVID vaccines be yearly? Proposal divides US scientists (nature.com).  But there’s a reason we refer to the Fooled and Drugged Administration.  Money will win.  Watch.

Say, you like documentaries, right?  Pamela Anderson on Her New Netflix Documentary, Starring in That Jacquemus Campaign, and Possibly Joining the ‘White Lotus’ Cast | Vogue. (Marginally better than the study of arms deals.)

ATR: Tree Clean Up

We will be short and to the point for a spell.  Some before and after pix this morning and then Ure will begin 4-hour a day spins on the Kubota cleaning up the four HUGE trees we had taken out Thursday.

City folk can’t think in these terms, of course, but an 80 foot tree with a 24 inch diameter trunk runs 20,000 pounds.  And since these were bigger around and taller, figure 30,000 pounds or more.

A tractor bucket holds (call it) 400 pounds.  So, uh, 300 buckets worth. times (man, this is discouraging!) 5-minutes per load is…25-hours of serious tractorfying. Which you can’t do in the rain because it wrecks the ground you’re on.  Swell, huh?  Now begin when it’s 35 degrees outside…

Are we having fun, yet?

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

WW III: Slow Boil & Data Dump Thursday

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Our (soon to be Mars-like) “simmer on” planet continues its escalation toward unthinkable devastation.  But seems no one cares.  Instead, a higher open for stocks and “normalcy” is ruling the House of Cards.

We will get into Markets in a sec. But first, remembering “Must be Present to Win” is an immutable law, we’ll begin with…

The War Game

As we explained yesterday (on Peoplenomics), the only obstacle to Global War is the waiting game between Israel (which is likely to use nuclear “bunker busters”) and Russia (likely to use tactical nukes) on NATO/Ukraine.  Neither wants the blame for First Use.  Since history will judge this “The War Crime that lit-off World War III.”

For now, the “low simmers” of Global War include the U.S.-Mexico front, the China-Taiwan front, the North vs. South Korea front, the Turkey-Cyprus front, the Serbia-Kosovo front, the Ukraine-Russia front, the Israel-Iran front, and (escaping notice of many) the India-Pakistan front. Global conflagration could ignite from any of these.

Another escalation looming is a direct flare-up between Russia and Turkey, which is a NATO member.  This means Russia further engaged NATO directly this week as Russia Carries Out Missile Strikes Against Turkish Ships In Kherson – Charter’97 .

Some offer the potential for “slow escalation” from the standpoint of American investors, while others are quick. As an example of the slow ignition, we just learned this week how India, Pakistan came ‘too close’ to nuclear conflagration in 2019: Pompeo (thekashmirwalla.com).

The prospect of the 10-minute flashover arises as Russia has routed hypersonic missile carrying hardware into the Atlantic.  Vladimir Putin stages provocative war games with ‘hypersonic missile launch’ – Mirror Online.

Curiously, American neocons have known they are playing “risky business” as they began running the New York nuclear “public service announcements” in the middle of last year.  If you haven’t seen them yet, they are on Youtube here.  We would have thought NOT pressing WW III would have been a dandy “public service.”  Not my wheelhouse, not my shipwreck.

That’s Cynical George’s battle space overview.

Simmer is Heating Up

The problem Biden administration planners are facing is akin to the juggling of “hot potatoes.”

This weekend, for example, the U.S. and Israel will be holding drills (but will it remain just practice) to simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear enrichment and weapon assembly areas. As The Drive reports: Biggest U.S.-Israel War Games Ever Are Underway.  We can’t think of a slicker move than for the “exercise” to “go live” when expectations are low.

But such braggadocio is worrisome for home war gamers because everyone knows (or should, at some level) that a country that doesn’t have a Budget deal, can hardly afford to piss away resources when there are at least nine conflict fronts to address.

The hottest of these is, of course, Ukraine.  Which – having receive promises of improved technology tanks from the (slow) Biden administration, is now demanding advanced aircraft, as well: Ukraine will now push for F-16 fighter jets, government adviser says | The Hill,

The problem (and it’s part of the deceptive neocon playbook) is that as soon as enough advanced war materiel is in hand, Ukraine will begin striking behind the current front.  Oh, yeah, this means the neocons are still trying to goad Russia into first use.  Ukraine Predicts Attacks on Major Russian Cities (thedailybeast.com).

From here, it’s only a matter of time. Flash, boom, bang. Sis, boom, bah.

Rolling Through the Data

I wish all these reports didn’t drop at 8:30 AM Eastern – because it gives me only a few minutes to post.  But let’s run through them:

Durable Goods Orders

Our problem child in the data is Durable Goods weren’t just good – they were so strong that they give the Fed room to raise a half or more next week.

Gross Domestic Product

This report was fairly close to expectations:

International Trade

This was also much higher than expected:

Part of this could be blamed on the falling Dollar, though, since it takes more (of weaker bucks) to buy the same goods.

Inventories Data

Inventories is seen “in bounds” mainly.

New Unemployment Claims

This shows falling new filers and again, is supportive of a Fed rate hike, as we figure:

We went short going into the close Wednesday – purely a gamble –  but it was a difficult coin toss.  See, if the numbers themselves are good, then the Fed next week may raise rates 1/2 a percent (my money’s on this pick).  If the numbers are bad in the market’s view, then the hype will turn into “With so much bad, the Fed will only raise a quarter…”  Which will send the markets up ahead of the Fed, which will then raise a half point anyway and the market could see a hard-down next week.  Wars, pandemics, and D.C. idiots with no budget, aside.

The News Compactor

News of the Seattle Communists:  Rather than expose illegal city cooperation (and support) with the Capital Hill Uprising, did you see where Seattle officials deliberately ‘purged’ thousands of CHOP-related text messages, despite ‘legal obligation’ to retain them: Federal judge? Awe, but you know ultra-woke looney lefties only apply laws to others, not themselves, right?

Social Courts the Orange Man: Meta to reinstate the Accounts of Donald Trump on Facebook and Instagram.  But now that we know how far the lefties have their [you know what’s] up their [you know what’s] will Trump fall for the bait?

Social Security Hostage-Taking:  We’ve penciled in personal planning for two months of no Social Security income based on the pricks in both parties acting like spoiled little bitches: ‘Where Are Your Cards?’ Democrats Ask GOP as Debt Ceiling Divisions Harden. (What?  You mean it’s not an act?) GTFU – look it up.

Crypto is STILL dirty money department:  Dutch central bank fines Coinbase over €3.3 million for ignoring AML, terror financing rules | NL Times. BTC today is trying to claw back to the $23,000 level today.

Roger’s Good Eyes

Long-time reader (and thus sufferer) Roger out in Tucson is (best I can remember) in his 80’s.  But still sharp as ever and always looking to the future.  So, when he sent me a link to 4 Private Longevity Research Companies (Updated 2023) (investingnews.com), I got to wondering to what degree this might have the potential to become a new hotbed for hot money?

Pardon the link to Bombshell Report: Spike Proteins Invade All Major Organs, Induce Hyperaccelerated Cellular Aging Prompting Shorter Lifespan, but is there a reason this kind of investing could be very important, sooner than later?  We wonder…

ATR: Trees and More

Paul’s Bunyon Department:  After a couple of bids, we have the 100-foot high trees between the house and shop coming down today.  Crew will work it with their bucket truck and it’s a non-trial project since there’s a big propane tank, two buildings, and a power pole with live wiring to work-around.  Might snap a few pix for ShopTalk this weekend.

Houston Bureau Well!  Thanks for the prayers on behalf of our Houston Bureau chief.  She had a successful surgery Monday, although a planned return home Tuesday was delayed by plain crappy weather in the area:

“I’m sure by now you’re aware of the god-awful storm that hit Houston yesterday. The damage was centered citywide, south Houston, Pasadena, Friendswood, Baytown, etc., then headed east towards LA, MS, AL & even parts of AR. That’s the main reason I wasn’t discharged yesterday afternoon…”

Speaking of the TXWX:  There is a chance of snow in the East Texas Outback showing up (depending on forecaster) for a week out from now.  Made a dump run Wednesday and picked up 15-gallons on diesel for the greenhouse diesel heater which continues puttering along.  Details on the install were in one of our ShopTalk Sunday pieces a while back.

Prepping:  You might want to read our prepping piece from last October on these small diesel “parking heaters.”  If the grid goes down, it’s one option to think about for the heating of a home.  Another is to take a cast iron box wood stove, or a medium-large rocket stove, and literally bury it in concrete and make a thermal mass machine, too.  You can find a lot of ideas on sites like this one A Rocket Mass Heater in a Swedish Outdoor Kitchen.

Small Chainsaws:  Since we will be up to our ears in branches from the trees, I’ve recently picked up a small Mini Chainsaw Cordless 4 Inch with Safety Lock, Rechargeable  Lithium. It was like $45 on Amazon.  Don’t know if it will be a “lifetime tool” (like a gas-fired Stihl chainsaw) but with less than a month to age 74, not as much point to buying “lifetime tools” out at this end of the spectrum.

Ham Radio Notes:  My friend (of a mere 70-years) the Major picked up a new Icom 7300 from HRO this week. With the mail-in rebate it came to just a shade under 1-kilobuck which ain’t bad.  I’d have already been on the air – having owned it 48-hours.  But he’s always been one of those “Read the Manual” kind of guys.  I still don’t have the W5GI Mystery Antenna up, so it’s not like I’m a scheduling genius, either.  A like to his Mike and Key Club NVIS presentation is expected for Sunday’s hands-on column.

Off to set up for tree slaughtering…gotta take down Elaine’s clothesline before we “branch” into real work.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net