Is The Devil In The Vatican?

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
February 7, 2013

An excellent documentary supporting much that I have said through my news updates and articles....

Popular Artists Are Puppets of the New World Order

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
February 7, 2013

Here is a very interesting news report by Infowars.com, and I simply will add my thoughts to the excellent report by Melissa Melton.

What is important to understand behind the exploits of these popular artists who depict the secretive symbols  of ancient mystery/secretive groups such as the Illuminati, is this:

This is done to slowly acclimate viewers to the  Idea that these artists are in fact a part of these secret organizations (when in fact they are not), and also to give the idea that by showing these symbols and gestures openly to the public, these ideas brought out by those who expose them, then show them to be harmless or meaningless, while at the same time reinforcing the idea that the controlling powers that these symbols refer to are in fact in charge.

In other words, the Elites use the music industry (primarily) to impose the Idea of a New World Order through subliminal symbolism and lyrics to desensitize the masses to the idea of a "New World Order" while at the same time making it seem preposterous that such a plan exists since lower classes of people would so readily understand and decipher such ancient and secretive messages. After all, if they are so secretive then how is it that they are so easily deciphered?

This then plays a two part propagandising effect:
 1. By showing that the masses know the secrets, they in fact have no power
 2. subliminally, the masses accept the secrets and plans of the "Illuminati" as something cool, and even to be embraced.

The fact that popular celebrities use these symbols, makes the younger masses feel that they are somehow connected to the secret groups through their Icon celebrity figures who are "connected".

Really this is just propaganda and mind control, plain and simple.

Fabian Calvo: "If Rates go Up Housing Will Implode"

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
February 7, 2013


http://usawatchdog.com/

Real  estate investor Fabian Calvo says, "The Fed realizes there needs to be a low rate environment for housing to recover or it's a huge implosion. They have thrown underwriting guidelines out the window. They are going to continue with no money down loans or very little equity." The Fed also knows that many big banks are technically insolvent. Calvo contends, "You have a lot of these zombie banks. If you mark-to-market their assets, they would be bankrupt." So, the Fed and the government will continue to print money to keep housing prices and the big banks from collapsing. Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Fabian Calvo from TheNoteHouse.us.


Show aired February 5, 2013

Monopoly banking & the Fed

August forecast & Review
February 7, 2013

Monopoly Banking

The Fed­eral Reserve has run out of ammu­ni­tion. For all the money that the Fed has thrown into our finan­cial system, the economy actu­ally shrunk in the fourth quarter of 2012. Unem­ploy­ment is also ticking up again.

Con­trary to pop­ular belief, the Fed does not have absolute con­trol over interest rates. It often acts in hind­sight, adjusting its internal rates to market forces, and such has been the case during the long term bear market in interest rates. What the Fed does do, how­ever, is dis­lo­cate free mar­kets in order to pro­vide pri­vate money-making oppor­tu­ni­ties to its members.

This is seen in recent years by the blow-up of the sub-prime mort­gage industry and the mul­ti­tril­lion dollar bailout of large finan­cial insti­tu­tions. If the Fed had been absent during this period, these things never would have happened.

The Fed’s actual agenda has been to pro­tect its pri­mary con­stituents – the large U.S. and global banks. It’s feigned atten­tion to the Amer­ican economy, workers and cit­i­zens is a phony as a three-dollar bill. The largest U.S. banks, all of which hold shares in the Fed include,

• JP Morgan Chase
• Bank of America
• Cit­i­group
• Wells Fargo
• Goldman Sachs
• Morgan Stanley

How do you sup­pose they got to be the largest banks in the country? By free-market com­pe­ti­tion? Hardly.

John D. Rock­e­feller, the early patri­arch of the Rock­e­feller for­tune and founder of Stan­dard Oil, was an unabashed monop­o­list who famously stated, “Com­pe­ti­tion is a sin.”

The Rock­e­feller family has con­trolled the Chase-related line of banking since the 1920′s. When Chase Bank merged with Equi­table Trust  (John D. Rock­e­feller, Jr. was the largest share­holder) in 1930, it became the largest bank in the world. It is STILL the largest bank in the U.S. and the ninth largest in the world!

The essence of monopoly cap­i­talism is to always game the system in their favor while dis­crim­i­nating against com­peti­tors. These banks, and espe­cially JPMor­gan­Chase have turned gov­ern­ment manip­u­la­tion into an art form. Communist/Marxist Lenin was the first person to define “state monopoly cap­i­talism” as the suc­cessor to simple monopoly cap­i­talism. According to Marxist theory, state monopoly cap­i­talism is the final his­tor­ical stage of capitalism.

Per­haps this is why the global banks and cor­po­ra­tions are pushing so hard for a new eco­nomic model that they them­selves call a “green economy.” Under the cover of green lies Tech­noc­racy, which I have written about for sev­eral years now.

Interest Rates Headed Up

The long-term bull market in 30 year Trea­suries is over. As bond prices have recently moved lower, we can also say that the bear market in interest rates is over as well – it’s the flip side of the same coin.

The July 2012 low of 2.44 per­cent should stand as the bottom of this entire trend, with rates soon moving above 4 per­cent. Over the next five years, rates should move back up into the 6 – 8 per­cent range.

Read the entire article

Easter's Origins

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
February 7, 2013

Mark Matheny discusses the true origins of Easter.....

Tune  in!

Listen to internet radio with Mark Matheny on Blog Talk Radio

Ann Bressington Exposes Agenda 21, Club of Rome

Infowars.com
February 5, 2013

Ann Bressington Exposes Agenda 21, Club of Rome, Sustainable Development, at the Lord Monckton Launch 2 Feb 2013 at the Adelaide Convention Center.

EXCLUSIVE—ZIMMERMAN BROTHER: OBAMA 'BULLIED' MY FAMILY

Breitbart
February 6, 2013

George Zimmerman was back in court today for a hearing on the start date for his trial on murder charges. Zimmerman, of course, was the Hispanic neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Florida, who trailed a young black man named Trayvon Martin after calling 911, got into an altercation with Martin in which Martin ended up pounding Zimmerman’s head into the pavement, and then ended up shooting Martin in the chest. The media used the Zimmerman case as an opportunity to bully Americans over their supposed racial intolerance. Even the President of the United States weighed in in the midst of an election cycle, suggesting that if he had a son, he’d look like Trayvon Martin.

Breitbart News had the opportunity to sit down for a one-on-one interview with George’s brother, Robert, in Los Angeles. Excerpts of that interview played tonight on Fox News’Hannity.

Robert didn’t pull any punches about President Obama’s role in raising the threat level to his brother – and to his family. “We do feel that we’re threatened,” Robert told Breitbart News. “There’s not been a legal resolution in this matter. And even the day that there is legal resolution in this matter, the day that happens I don’t think that every single fear of some kind of retribution will simply just go way, but we’re coping as bets we can, day by day.”

Robert saved especially harsh criticism for President Obama, who inserted himself in the Zimmerman case, even inviting race-baiter Al Sharpton to the White House shortly after Sharpton threatened the town of Sanford over the Police Department’s decision not to arrest Zimmerman originally. When the President was asked about the Zimmerman case in the Rose Garden, Robert said, “Here was this president, from the backdrop of the Rose Garden, making comments about someone based on his skin color. I think we felt bullied, we were a little let down initially, and that disappointment grew because if you don’t have the support of at least the law on your side, of the most powerful man in the Western Hemisphere reminding the world that it is entitled to watch, reminding Americans that the world is watching and that we will get through this with due process, but instead bringing up statements about his skin color … it was alarming to say the least.”

Robert went further: “I don’t think a white president would have been able to get away with the same thing from the Rose Garden in an election season.”

The fallout to the Zimmerman family has been extreme. According to Robert, they often require security for everyday tasks. They have had to move around to avoid targeting. And now, George faces a trial in a case where many legal observers agree there is no evidence to support the prosecutor’s second degree murder charge. No matter what happens, George Zimmerman will, thanks to the President and the media, remain a racist in many Americans’ minds. “If you can’t rebut assertions of racism,” said Robert, “the noise kind of drowns you out. You’re really left defenseless, and you have no other choice but to go into hiding.”

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).

Iran's Ahmadinejad seeks strategic axis with Egypt

Reuters
February 6, 2013

1 of 6. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) gestures in front of the shrine of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein ibn Ali at the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the grandson, in old Cairo February 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

(Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the first visit to Cairo by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, called for a strategic alliance with Egypt and said he had offered the cash-strapped Arab state a loan, but drew a cool response.

Ahmadinejad said outside forces were trying to prevent a rapprochement between the Middle East's two most populous nations, at odds since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in the same year.

"We must all understand that the only option is to set up this alliance because it is in the interests of the Egyptian and Iranian peoples and other nations of the region," the official MENA news agency quoted him in remarks to Egyptian journalists published on Wednesday.

The two countries have not restored diplomatic ties since Egypt overthrew its long term leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but its first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on Tuesday to a summit of Islamic nations.

"There are those striving to prevent these two great countries from coming together despite the fact that the region's problems require this meeting, especially the Palestinian question," Ahmadinejad said.

Read the entire article

States step up fight against use of surveillance drones by law enforcement

Fox News
February 6, 2013

Lawmakers in at least 11 states are proposing various restrictions on the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the unmanned aerial vehicles could be exploited by local authorities to spy on Americans.

Concerns mounted after the Federal Aviation Administration began establishing safety standards for civilian drones, which are becoming increasingly affordable and small in size.

Some police agencies have said the drones could be used for surveillance of suspects, search and rescue operations, and gathering details on damage caused by natural disasters.

Virginia lawmakers on Tuesday approved a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by police and government agencies.

Proponents of the legislation say the unfettered use of drones could infringe on Virginians' privacy rights. The legislation was supported by the ACLU, the Tea Party Federation and agriculture groups, while several law enforcement organizations opposed the moratorium.

"Our founders had no conception of things that would fly over them at night and peer into their backyards and send signals back to a home base," said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico and sponsor of the Senate bill.

Read the entire article

The United States of Debt Addiction: Our reliance on debt has created an entire economy fortified in the fires of moral hazard and fiscally dangerous leverage.

MyBudget360
February 6, 2013

16 point 7 trillion dollars.  That is our current national debt.  12 point 8 trillion dollars.  That is the amount households carry in mortgage and consumer debt.  We are now addicted to debt to lubricate the wheels of our financial system.  There is nothing wrong with debt per se, but it is safe to say that too much debt relative to how much revenue is being produced is a sign of economic problems.  At the core of our current financial mess is how we use debt as a parachute for any problem.  We’ve been masking the shrinking of the middle class by allowing households to take on too much debt for a couple of decades.  The results were not positive.  Too this degree, we have now created a massive moral hazard economy where savings are punished into oblivion.  There is very little incentive to put your money in a bank account yielding zero percent interest when real inflation is eating away at your money like a hungry wolf.  So what do people do?  Well many simply cannot save and therefore choose to go into debt to finance cars, housing, and education with very little down.  Where does this debt addiction lead us?

A little bit of deleveraging

US households have deleveraged from the peak in the crisis.  However, much of this deleveraging has been forced via the 5 million foreclosures that have occurred:

I’m not sure if we can interpret that as some sign of a healthy and growing economy.  Households have had their access to debt limited in many sectors.  Yet one sector that never retreated was that in higher education.  There is little doubt that there is a major bubble in higher education.  Instead of addressing the problems head on we now have more access to debt as the solution.  In order to compete in our service driven economy, having a skill is very important.  Most will make the investment to pursue a college degree but the issue is that with easy access to debt, prices have soared.  It is no surprise that college prices are following the trajectory of what happened in housing.

If you look at the above chart, a big part of the contraction has come from deleveraging from mortgages and credit card debt.  Yet we are now once again loading up on auto debt and college debt.  The system is now setup to punish any type of savings.  Good luck trying to stash your money in a bank account and outrun even the steady pace of inflation.

Take a look at the current savings rate for Bank of America:

Of course the Fed has a hand in all of this.  The Fed realizing that our system for over a decade has been juiced by debt spending, had to step in and make it unattractive to save to the point that people are willing to dive into risky investments yet again.  Because of this however, you create moral hazard.  For example, with housing you have many government backed loans that are now accessible with very little down.  In fact, this has been the path of ownership for most Americans since many are without savings.  One out of three Americans has no savings and nearly half are one or two paychecks away from being out on the streets.

This is why we have seen such a dramatic rise in food stamp usage:

Why save to buy anything when you can simply go into debt for it?  That seems to be the course we are treading on.  We have reached a critical point where our national debt is now higher than our annual GDP.  This crossing of the Rubicon is seen as a major financial tipping point.  We have also mastered how to hide certain employment figures:

If we look at the U7b measure, the unemployed + underemployed + discouraged workers are nearly up to 25 percent.  We were discussing how many younger Americans are simply riding out the weak economy by going to college.         

People think that this recovery has come from organic forces when in reality, it has come because of number games and also the Fed injecting trillions of dollars into the banking industry.  Ironically these banks are using this money to speculate in markets like stocks and housing where they are now crowding out working and middle class Americans.  When you have access to a printing press with no restraints, it becomes too tempting to spend into oblivion.  Instead of confronting the core problems of the crisis, we are simply repeating them yet again; easy access to low down payment mortgages, easy access to student debt, consumer credit slowly expanding, and major Wall Street speculation.  Addictions are never easily cured and we have yet to come to terms with our insatiable appetite for debt.     

Gene Simmons to Obama: "You Have No F--King Idea!"

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
February 6, 2013

When it comes to policies regarding Israel and the defense of it's borders, Singer Gene Simmons says Obama has no clue. Gene also had some revealing things to say about the UN....

Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

NBC News

February 5, 2013

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the  September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.  

The secrecy surrounding such strikes is fast emerging as a central issue in this week’s hearing of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, a key architect of the drone campaign, to be CIA director.  Brennan was the first administration official to publicly acknowledge drone strikes in a speech last year, calling them “consistent with the inherent right of self-defense.” In a separate talk at the Northwestern University Law School in March, Attorney General Eric Holder specifically endorsed the constitutionality of targeted killings of Americans, saying they could be justified if government officials determine the target poses  “an imminent threat of violent attack.”

Read the entire article

Young riding out recession by going into debt for college: Millennial unemployment jumps by two percent.

MyBudget360
February 3, 2013

As the animal spirits of the economy rage wild, there are still difficult challenges ahead for younger Americans.  While thestock market is up highlighting corporate euphoria, many companies are doing this with 4 million fewer workers.  So the economic recovery is not evenly distributed and they rarely are.  Yet younger Americans are still facing tough challenges ahead.  One major trend has to do with many people going back to college.  While education is positive, the costs are becoming incredibly high and many simply cannot afford it.  This is why total student debt outstanding is now over $1 trillion.  Why is this so important?  Well for one, we are seeing data showing that recent graduates, those in the last decade, are not yielding solid gains from their ventures into college.  With 4,000 colleges in the US, many are subpar and many are designed as vehicles to extract student loans.  How is this economy treating younger Americans?

The trend for college

One piece of data that is very telling is the number of students enrolled in college:

What does the above chart tell us?  For one, it shows that more high school graduates are going to college.  Over 70 percent of high school graduates now enroll in college.  Those finishing college is much lower of course, below 30 percent.  However the above chart may not tell the entire story.  We have to account for the rise of women attending colleges as well.  This is also one of those important points to understand where in the past, one income was sufficient for a middle class lifestyle while now we are deep into a two-income trap.

Simply going to college is not a guarantee for a successful career.  It never was.  However now, there is a major mismatch between college costs and the actual value that is extracted in the market.  People have a hard time questioning the mission of college but when the costs are so high, you have to ask questions.  Plus, the only reason it is so expensive is the massive amount of loans funneled into the industry.

We also have a very high number of young Americans living at home:

Many have come back home after school concludes being labeled the boomerang generation.  In an age of independence, you can rest assured that this trend to move back home has to do more with economics rather than cultural changes.  I found it interesting that many of the new building projects in real estate now are focusing on mulit-unit properties in anticipation for these young Americans to move out of their parent’s place as they seek to strike out on their own.

What we find underneath the recent employment reports is that many are getting work in lower paying service sector jobs.  Certainly not any employment that would justify tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.  The unemployment rate for those 16 to 19 is well over 37 percent.  This has been common for a very long time but highlights how common it is for people to flow right into the college education system.  Yet how much thought is given behind this?

“(Policy Mic) Youth unemployment shows signs that worse things may be around the corner.

Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan organization advocating for millennials ages 18-29, shows the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for January, 2013 was 13.1% (NSA). For December 2012 it was 11.5%, while the unemployment rate in November was 10.9%.”

The declining labor participation rate actually puts an astounding 1.7 million young adults out of the employment figures.  They are not counted in the unemployed figures because many have given up looking for work.  It is still challenging for many young Americans and the student debt bubble is likely to align with the current youth crisis.

Shocking Numbers That Show The Media Is Lying To You About Unemployment In America

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
February 2, 2013

Did you know that the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed has continually been falling since 2006 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics?  Did you know that the increase in the number of Americans “not in the labor force” during Barack Obama’s first four years in the White House was more than three times greater than the increase in the number of Americans “not in the labor force” during the entire decade of the 1980s?  The mainstream media would have us believe that 157,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in January.  Based on that news, the Dow broke the 14,000 barrier for the first time since October 2007.  But if you actually look at the “non-seasonally adjusted” numbers, the number of Americans with a job actually decreased by 1,446,000between December and January.  But nowhere in the mainstream media did you hear that the U.S. economy lost more than 1.4 million jobs between December and January.  It is amazing the things that you can find out when you actually take the time to look at the hard numbers instead of just listening to the media spin.  Back in 2007, more than 146 million Americans were employed.  Today, only 141.6 million Americans are employed even though our population has grown steadily since then.  When the government and the media tell you that we are in a “recovery” and that unemployment is lower than it was a couple of years ago, I encourage you to dig deeper.  The truth is that even the government’s own numbers tell us that the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed continues to fall and that the U.S. economy is heading into a recession.  The Obama administration and the media have been lying to you about unemployment and about the true condition of our economy.  After you see the numbers that I have compiled in this article, I think that you will agree with me.

First of all, let’s take a look at the percentage of the civilian labor force that has been employed over the past several years.  These numbers come directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  As you can see, this is a number that has been steadily falling since 2006…

2006: 63.1

2007: 63.0

2008: 62.2

2009: 59.3

2010: 58.5

2011: 58.4

In January, only 57.9 percent of the civilian labor force was employed.

Do the numbers above represent a positive trend or a negative trend?

Even a 2nd grader could answer that question.

So how in the world can the Obama administration and the mainstream media claim that the employment picture is getting better and that we are in a “recovery”?

But most Americans believe what they are told.  It is almost as if we are in some kind of a “matrix” where reality is defined by the corporate-controlled propaganda that is relentlessly pumped into our brains.

The only way that the government has been able to show a declining unemployment rate is by dumping massive numbers of Americans into the “not in the labor force” category.

Just check out how the number of Americans “not in the labor force” has absolutely skyrocketed in recent years…

2006: 77,387,000

2007: 78,743,000

2008: 79,501,000

2009: 81,659,000

2010: 83,941,000

2011: 86,001,000

In January, there were supposedly 89,868,000 Americans that were at least 16 years of age that were not in the labor force.

That number has risen by more than 8 million since Barack Obama first entered the White House, and that is highly unusual, because the number of Americans “not in the labor force” only increased by2,518,000 during the entire decade of the 1980s.

You sure can get the numbers to look more “favorable” if you pretend that millions upon millions of American workers simply “don’t want a job” any longer.  The truth is that if the labor force participation rate was at the same level it was at when Barack Obama was first elected, the official unemployment rate would be well above 10 percent.

But that wouldn’t do at all, would it?  7.9 percent sounds so much nicer.

And of course even if you do have a job that does not mean that you are doing okay.

If you can believe it, in America today 41 percent of all workers make $20,000 a year or less.

To me, that is a mind blowing statistic.  It would be incredibly challenging for anyone to live on $20,000 a year, much less try to support a family.

If you live in Washington D.C. or New York City and you have a “good job” working for the establishment, you may not realize it, but there are tens of millions of American families that are really hurting out there.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either “poor” or “low income” at this point, and most of those people actually do have jobs.

For much more on the “working poor” in the United States, please see my previous article entitled “35 Statistics About The Working Poor In America That Will Blow Your Mind“.

If something is not done, the middle class will continue to disappearand poverty in America will continue to explode.

In a previous article, I noted that during Obama’s first term, the number of Americans on food stamps increased by an average of about 11,000 per day.

How bad do things have to get before people realize that we are living through a nightmare?

Sadly, most Americans still have faith in the system.

Most Americans are still convinced that our politicians will somehow find a way to turn things around.

Most Americans will gather around their television sets this weekend and watch the Super Bowl and laugh at all the funny commercials without even thinking about how America is literally falling apart all around them.

But there is one group of Americans that is acutely aware of how bad things have really gotten.  Small businesses have traditionally been the primary engine of job growth in this country, but right now small business owners all over the nation are facing a tremendous crisis.

Millions of small businesses are on the verge of extinction, and yet our politicians just continue to pile on more taxes, more rules and more regulations.

A recent Gallup poll found that 61 percent of all small business owners in America are “worried about the potential cost of healthcare”, and that an astounding 30 percent of all small business owners in America are not hiring and fear that they will go out of business within the next 12 months.

In a previous article entitled “We Are Witnessing The Death Of Small Business In America“, I detailed how small businesses in America are being systematically wiped out.  Small businesses are dying all around us, and the number of new small businesses continues to decline.

According to economist Tim Kane, the following is how the decline in the number of startup jobs per one thousand Americans breaks down by presidential administration…

Bush Sr.: 11.3

Clinton: 11.2

Bush Jr.: 10.8

Obama: 7.8

Is that a good trend or a bad trend?

All of this is so simple that even the family pet should be able to figure it out, and yet most Americans seem oblivious to all of this.  They just keep gobbling up the mainstream media propaganda and they just continue to go out and wildly spend money.

It is almost as if we didn’t learn any lessons from 2008.

Even while household spending in Europe has moderated, household spending in the United States continues to soar.  Just check out the chartin this article.

And guess what?  The infamous “no money down mortgages” are back.  If we wait long enough, perhaps “interest only mortgages” will make a comeback as well.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that time is running out.  we have been living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world, and it is only a matter of time until it bursts.

2008 was just a “hiccup” compared to what is coming.  Our politicians and the Federal Reserve were able to keep the house of cards from completely crashing down back then, but they are not going to be able to avert the economic horror show that is rapidly approaching.

I hope that you are getting prepared.  Back in 2008, millions of Americans suddenly lost their jobs, and because many of them did not have any savings, many of them suddenly lost their homes.  One of the most important things that you can do to prepare for the coming crisis is to build up an emergency fund.  If things suddenly go bad, you don’t want to lose your house and everything that you have always worked for.

In addition, anything that you can do to become more self-sufficient and more independent of the system is a good thing, because the system is failing.  The years ahead are going to be much more chaotic than what we are experiencing right now, and when the next crisis strikes you will be very thankful for the time and the energy that you put into preparing.

So what are all of you seeing in your own areas?

Are businesses shutting down?

Are people having a hard time finding good jobs?

Big brother to log your drinking habits and waist size as GPs are forced to hand over confidential records

Daily Mail Online
February 3, 2013

• +Data includes weight, cholesterol, BMI, family health history and pulse rate
• +Doctors will be forced to reveal alcohol consumption and smoking status 
• +Privacy campaigners described it as 'biggest data grab in NHS history'
• +Part of new Health Service programme called Everyone Counts
• +Officials insisted data will be anonymous and deleted after analysis

GPs are to be forced to hand over confidential records on all their patients’ drinking habits, waist sizes and illnesses.

The files will be stored in a giant information bank that privacy campaigners say represents the  ‘biggest data grab in NHS history’.

They warned the move would end patient confidentiality and hand personal information to third parties.

Data grab: Doctors will be forced to hand over sensitive information about patients as part of a new programme called Everyone Counts but campaigners have criticised the move

The data includes weight, cholesterol levels, body mass index, pulse rate, family health history, alcohol consumption and smoking status.

Diagnosis of everything from cancer to heart disease to mental illness would be covered. Family doctors will have to pass on dates of birth, postcodes and NHS numbers.

Officials insisted the personal information would be made anonymous and deleted after analysis.

 

More...

• 'Hacktivists' who caused multi-million pound losses to PayPal and other websites in cyber attacks walk free from court
• Turn doctors and nurses into hospital inspectors to avoid more unnecessary deaths, says report into scandal-hit NHS trust

But Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, said: ‘Under these proposals, medical confidentiality is, in effect, dead and there is currently nobody standing in the way.’ Nick Pickles, of the privacy group Big Brother Watch, said NHS managers would now be in charge of our most confidential information.

He added: ‘It is unbelievable how little the public is being told about what is going on, while GPs are being strong-armed into handing over details about their patients and to not make a fuss.

‘Not only have the public not been told what is going on, none of us has been asked to give our permission for this to happen.’

The data grab is part of Everyone Counts, a programme to extend the availability of patient data across the Health Service.

Campaigners for privacy: They warn the move would end patient confidentiality and hand personal information to third parties

GPs will be required to send monthly updates on their patients to a central database run by the NHS’s Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Read the entire article