Super Serious Situation in Syria

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SAFE Ark Two Newsletter
August 23rd, 2013

Super Serious Situation in Syria

There is little doubt in my mind that the people were gassed.

By WHOM they were gassed - I have no idea. I would guess maybe by some loose cannon in the Assad Government.

But it could equally be some rebel false flag operation to bring about the government defeat.

There is lots of speculation going on. One of the whistle blower documents indicated that the US had such a plan way back in January - but surely no one here would believe that.

Whoever, whatever, there are no good guys in this war. Many may believe that God is on their side. The Americans, the Jews, all the different Muslim factions. If God has chosen a side, then I can tell you that is the side I want to be on.

There are many sides - and they are all at war with each other. They just occasionally form alliances against a common enemy among them. Iran and Hezbollah and the Alawites have supported Assad and are bitterly opposed to Al Qaeda and the Saudi Sunnis. The Saudi Sunnis are bitterly opposed to Al Qaeda but support the Muslim Brotherhood, whom they wouldn't support otherwise, in sending thousands of 'volunteers' into Syria to defeat Assad. There are dozens of intertwined factions that actually despise each other, but they would ALL unite to invade Israel if that were possible.

There are NONE on the American side, certainly not the Russians or Chinese in the UN, and one may well ask why there is an American side? We all know the American INTEREST. American self-interest in BIG OIL and BIG MONEY, although they say they are there to establish peace, democracy and justice. No one else is buying that.

PR is important. But it is just words and not even words that are just. The American way, American Diplomacy, is self-interest. It is the philosophy of the neo-cons. It is the philosophy of Ayn Rand, the Tea Party, soulless Corporations. It is also the philosophy of Putin, Russia, the Chinese, and most every political power player in this world. There are NO good guys in this game.


Support our Soldiers send them NOT to Syria. War is going to happen anyway. With us or without us. The US can choose any side or faction but no faction or side will choose the US to walk them home after the dance.

What does all this mean to you, or me? I have no idea. It is just a part of the growing disturbance and momentum as the world walks/runs towards the GREAT Catastrophe. In my paradigm that will all start between Pakistan and India a year from now - more or less. The rumbling there is equally intense. We just don't hear that much about it because the US doesn't have a dog in that fight.

Okay, not your fight either. But when it gets bad enough it will come over here and bite you. Leaving that for now. Problems looming on the homefront in the next five weeks. Budget and all that. All that being stock market/bonds, financial markets, Fed actions, International Currency Exchange, and a plethora of things that I know nothing about. G-20 will be G nothing as far as solving any problems and the October 1 budget crisis may get finnessed just like the sequestration thing (remember how bad that was to be).

One rule of the world, however, "All things end." Much of this is very new in the history of the world - banks breaking with billions, definitely distinguished by derivatives (which we didn't have before), to all come tumbling down. Fun and games then. If not war already - war will certainly be the answer. In actuality we have been in Armaggedon for almost a hundred years. We are just waiting for the Last Great Battle.

Of course, I have been saying all this for way more than fifty years - and I have always been wrong. But, time is on my side, although I may never live to see it (which would be a good thing for me.) I don't think that I am that lucky.

So, bottom line - Bruce is expecting the serious situation in Syria, no matter what happens, to NOT immediately cause the last great battle of WW3, that the US economy will greatly worsen in the next year, whether the budget is passed or NOT, and that the race riots that I was expecting this summer won't happen until next summer.

I understand that in many peoples' eyes race is now a non-issue. Yes, we have a black president, have had a black Secretary of State, have a black on the Supreme Court, black generals, and lots of black face dressing, but there is a racist undercurrent that is the worst it has ever been and there are plenty of angry black young men. Check in with me in a year about this one. Hope that I am wrong.

America has died in its soul and values. When the American sense of fairness went - all else went with it. What would Americans think of foreign troops with a different language and religion invading their homes? What would Americans think of drones bombing their weddings and funerals? What would Americans think of another country assassinating its leaders or even involving itself in its elections? But we think it is okay for America to do this. I say we, because as an American I have to take responsibility for it.

We let those who commit war crimes go free and put in jail those who expose war crimes. We hear little about the serious crimes Manning and Snowden exposed. We hear lots about how serious it was that they exposed them and that they should be punished. Most Americans agree with THAT.

How many things do you know that Manning and Snowden exposed? The government says they exposed thousands of things. The best one known about Manning is the helicopter shooting unarmed civilians, children and reporters from the air. If you do not feel that the war crimes and US Constitutional violations were serious enough that Manning and Snowden should have become whistle blowers at what level of constitutional violation beyond what Manning and Snowden disclosed would you be willing to become a whistle blower? Or never? I think that is a question we should all ask ourselves.

Here is someone else just today
making that decision

Okay, rant off. People keep asking me not to do this, and I keep saying that I won't - but old habits are hard to break. Anyway, all we can do is keep prepping.


Increase in Prepping Activity

Lots more prepping going on out there. A hundred times more than ten years ago. Not with us mind you. People don't like our prepping style. Their system is - stock enough for me and my family along with enough ammo to defend it.

Won't work I tell them. The more you stock - the more you will attract people to come and take it away from you. No matter how many guns you have, you can only fire one at a time and given enough times someone has always managed to take out even the very best. Then those you are protecting are gone also. That whole approach is what is bringing down the whole world. Selfishness. Or, for the world as a whole - National Interest. God knows. And I am not being facietious.


The SAFE/Ark Two Plan

SAFE/Ark Two is about the alternate plan. Service. Cooperation. Education (getting others to buy into the plan.) You may ask, "How is THAT going?" Well, not well.

Someday, maybe something will happen and a lot of people will become interested. We keep trying to build structure and prepare in case they do. So, I am going to spell out once again the plan. The plan is designed for a single mother who is barely feeding her family each month. Not a lot of stocking up that she can do. Not a good idea for her to get into a gunfight to protect her children. But what she can do - you can do.

Yes, we all need to put aside a month of dried beans or whatever we can for starters. And she, and you, need alliances for protection. But beyond that the thing that is going to most assure your survival is that you are VALUABLE. If you are valuable you will come first on the list for food and protection.


a. One of the valuable things at the outset, in my paradigm, will be radiation detection equipment. Look at the videos - I explain how our single mom can make the equipment for free and stock it for trading. You can too.

b. The second most important thing will be education. Being able to explain to people what they have to do about forming TRIADs and LERNs, because they won't have a clue as to what to do. Someone who can say to them - "This has all been thought out, and here is what we need to do," will be very valuable to them. This is how you will get people to cooperate.

c. The third important thing will be communication. Communication to know what is going on. Communication to be able to reach loved ones. Communication to coordinate the cooperation on a larger scale.

It is this third and last area with which we are having the greatest problem. If we can solve the problem so we have the radio for less than $200 then our single mom can join in with ten others for $20 each and they will have all they need.


The Radio

But the radio is the problem - and that is what I want to describe now. It has been an ongoing saga for the last several newsletters, so I will bring you up to date. This newsletter is late because I have been working so intensely on the problem. Many hours each day.


The Survivor

Where we left off was that I had a lead on a radio called "The Survivor" and was having to wait a week for the supplier to reopen. Finally got through to them, and here is what occurred:


a. The owner was not willing to supply assembled units because it would require getting approval from the FCC and that would be prohibitively expensive.

b. The owner would not supply us boards to assemble ourselves because of his investment.

c. For the same reason the owner would not agree to our making them and paying him a royalty.

d. He did not feel that we could upgrade the circuit so that it would provide the power wattage that we want.

All in all - the Survivor did not survive. It was a dead end.


Looking for a new solution

I spent many hours looking for a new solution. Several people wrote me with suggestions - but nothing that will work. One suggestion was that everyone learn Morse Code and that we use CW. Another was that everyone build a unit from scratch. And so forth.

I tracked down a number of units from a contest that had been held for designing an 80m band QRP transceiver. Many entries and many designs, but nothing I found that would be satisfactory - although I communicated with some of the winners.

I spent many more hours, even days, talking to government agencies regarding the Survivor owner's concern. There is a lot going on there. Many will feel that it is not good. We can go into that another time.

The bottom line, for this newsletter, is an email that I sent out this morning. I told you last week that out of the over 400 engineering resumes that I reviewed, there was one that seemed a possibility. Your input on the following email will be appreciated. Most importantly, I need a response from the PhD to whom I sent it.

The email I sent this morning

    Problem with Softrock is that several do not feel that the crystal generated frequency will be stable enough to amplify and that there will be too much variation between units.

    Yes, the FCC thing is a problem and I am wondering if we could make a kit (or maybe several kits) that people could assemble to make a unit. I am envisioning separate completed boards that they would just then assemble together. The different kits could be ordered from different locations.

    Please outline the design stages and the costs and timetable for each stage - and I will ask in the newsletter if we have sufficient support for this approach.


You can see where this is going.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org

US National
Coordinator's Corner

Christopher Verreos
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com
Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina
Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina


This week's article is titled:

Chain of Command or Chain of Fools?

Earlier in the week, my DSL service went out! Other than my phone, we were pretty much cut off from our SAFE network! That begs the question - Where are we at (our states) regarding their SAFE networking?
I have already emailed the STLs a request to appoint two assistants, to identify a local HAM member,  and have requested each to either create or delegate someone in their respective states to establish some type of User Group Bulletin Board to facilitate local networking. To date, four states have responded!  That's a huge disappointment. I have done my very best to limit emails, to prevent micro-managing, to avoid hassling STLs. 

Most of us are pretty busy. I get that.  I'm pretty busy too. And it's no surprise that the tornado/hurricane/flood/blizzard folks understand the need for SAFE principles/agenda in a way that most of us just don't. I will, therefore make another attempt to get more of our states to, at the very least, check in with me and give a brief accounting of their status before I am forced by necessity to seek members who can step up and grace me with the dignity of a neighborly response. Time is short.

On a more positive note: regarding our networks, here's a great idea. Ask your STL (state Team Leader) who your closest HAM operator is. If that person is too far away, find a local HAM (Google it). Ask that person to sit down. Then ask them what you can do to help them function in an emergency (they may pass out after hearing that!).

Specifically, as a non-operator can you maintain one or more back-up batteries? Can you store or cache back-up equipment? If they have to leave their home to operate in an emergency can you watch their place while they're gone, take care of pets etc.? If that person(s) is working their equipment in shifts of  24/7 or more, can you provide food/coffee/run errands for the family? You get the point. This would be a life saving contact. And you can make it happen!

In addition to our SAFE radio project, we have members working on creating a supplemental radio resource for SAFE members. Namely, a very simple, very basic state by state emergency radio directory. Why? First, because most of us DON'T have it written down, let alone laminated! Second, because we need something very simple that people can use. And, third, because it will alleviate a lot of confusion since the overwhelming majority of us will be listening for news/updates rather than transmitting. If you would like to assist in this effort, feel free to contact me and join our small task force. We can submit our finished product to Carlton for his professional input, prior to distribution. Thanks Carlton :-}

We are making serious progress on our Database, and things are looking very, very good - thanks Jonathan and Nick!

Peace & Action,
Christopher Verreos
National Coordinator, SAFE USA
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com

This is the old man and doggy picture.

Bruce Beach
161 Main St.
Horning's Mills
Melancthon
Ontario L9V 1X7
Canada
TRIAD book cover
This is a link to the book
everyone needs now -
and which we hope they will buy
and support our cause.
This is a link to the book
everyone will need the day
AFTER the Great Catastrophe -
but which they need to buy
and read NOW!.
Society AFTER Doomsday book cover

Radio on the Rampage

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SAFE Ark Two Newsletter
August 11th, 2013

Radio on the Rampage

Once again the subject of the newsletter is the radio. It has been the subject of my daily concern here now for years. I started this project in February of 2011 which is over two years ago. I am going to once again write a bit about the history so that you understand where we are at.

The History

In the fall of 2010 I got my advanced Ham License and started looking for the best solution for a SAFE Ham Net. For our members it needed to be:
      a. Simple
      b. Reliable
      c. Cheap
We did really consider EVERYTHING. There were very strong advocates for anything you can imagine. Modified Citizen Band, RTT (Radio Teletype), CW (Continuous Wave) Morse Code. I could list thirty others. Most people who suggest that we do something different have not really studied the problem.

We thought we had found a remarkable solution. The designer of the system, Skip Teller, had a truly genius idea. A simple little radio built around a NTSC color crystal. This is what was used to provide the color bar on old TVs. The crystal was dirt cheap and readily available. A number of people used his circuit or modifications thereof.

The first such radio was called the Warbler and there were raves about it. I tried to get the kit manufacturer to provide us his boards but he refused and suspended production. We hired an engineer to build our own board based on the circuit but got ripped off and he provided us absolutely nothing.

We quickly went through three more engineers. They all had problems but with the fifth engineer we finally got a bench prototype working and built a prototype board. This latter (the present one) we could never get to work satisfactorily. It turns out that the crystal system had a stability problem. This is why the Warbler was discontinued. We thought it was just an amateur user assembly problem and that we get around it by controlled manufacture - but it turned out to be more serious than that. Fatal.


Our Engineer felt that other manufacturers such as Softrock would have the same difficulty when we tried to use their designs to drive an amplifier. There was nothing to do but start over. Once again we reviewed everything that was out there and what had happened in the interim. SDR (Software Defined Radio) had always been a dream and we thought we had found a lead in that direction but it turned out that it was going to be way to expensive.

Suddenly, in this seemingly hopeless situation, Carlton found a completely new and different solution. Actually, a very old solution. Since Skip's solution of the inexpensive NTSC crystal wasn't going to work - someone else had decided to go back to 30 year old technology and had designed what they called The Survivor Radio. It supposedly became available in February of this year but we probably won't be able to get our hands on a kit until around October. The distributer is undergoing remodeling and their answering machine says that I can't even talk to them for another week and it will take that long before we could get delivery.

The New Survivor Solution
      a. It is not simple
        it is a kit that you have to build.
      b. It is not reliable
        (it is rated at 10w) and we feel that we need 20w.
      c. It is cheap.
        $100 plus shipping
Our New Solution
      a. Simple
        we would have the units factory built
      b. Reliable
        We would modify the design as discussed below
      c. Cheap.
        Under $200 as was our original goal.

Details about the Survivor

Until I can reach the company I have no idea how we might cooperate with them. However, here are the details:

The Survivor is based upon the Epiphyte, a ssb transceiver designed by the now deceased Derry Spittle, VE7QK. Some modifications have been made to that circuit by Steve at http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/ I have talked with Steve and we are free to do our own redesign of the circuit. You can look at the Survivor as it now stands at http://www.qrpkits.com/survivor.html

On the latter link you want to go about half way down the page and look at "The Background of the Survivor".

To really understand about it download the .pdf for the Survivor Assembly Manual

Details about the Modifications we would like to make

One engineer in our group has suggested:

1. that we might more fully utilize the Power MOSFETS and that the one they used COULD net 60 watts out.

2. that twenty five components of the 2N3904 "Gain Blocks" could be replaced with one op amp chip if done in a modern way, and would work better than a bunch of NPN discretes and support components.

3. that there may not be much receiver sensitivity since the antenna drives a mixer chip.

4. that it would be better to replace the VFO tuning that is being done with a zener diode, with a variactor.

5. that regarding the IF filter string... a pair of narrow 10.7 crystal filters and a 10.7 carrier oscillator for a good voice-grade bandpass would provide a full waterfall in our application but I am wondering if it may not be that our waterfall is software restricted rather than hardware restricted.

6. that the "SA612A" data sheet needs to be checked to see if these are deployed properly.

7. that the Q4 & Q8 stages and support components can be replaced by 1/4 of a modern Quad op amp. As shown, it is right out of the early 1960's.

Q4, a soft transistor is driving an untuned T2 for a mere voltage step up for the gate of Q16. These MOSFET's gates are essentially a big capacitor. A torroid is NOT the best way to present a signal to them. And, the gate will pierce [damage] and at surprisingly low voltages. Driving the gate directly with a modern hard op amp is the preferred method. (Another section of the quad) This way, the Vcc rail will not be exceeded and the gate not killed.

8. that Thermal tracking for the Class B operation (an unpreferred method for MOSFETS but can work, is more simply facilitated at the input of the driving op-amp. Presenting a one-fifth-ohm load for the MOSFET in order to get 60 watts out will need a far different output network. If one were going to change all of that, then change all of that to a Class D PWM output which these days is an easy task with modern design.

9. that the need for a heatsink would likely vanish, then.


Not all our people agree with all these points. Another engineer says:

I'm not sure I agree with some of the fundamentals -- like driving a power mosfet with an op-amp? That seems like one of the worst ideas I've seen. Mosfet gates have a lot of capacitance and also a lot of "charge" related to the gate-drain junction, and most op-amps (not all) are very unhappy driving capacitive loads. I've not analyzed the circuit but the 2n3904 is a pretty versatile part... And besides, you want a linear amplifier here, so the FET is biased partially on so that it is operating in a linear fashion (meaning that you don't want to be switching it hard, you want to be driving it "soft"). If it were a CW transmitter you could slam everything on/off hard and simplify the design, but SSB/PSK/AM/ETC you really want something resembling linear operation.


Some of my own comments:

While 60w would be splendid - our original target was 20w - but I agree a bit more would be even better.

I think that since the Survivor uses the PTT on the microphone that we would also need to add a PTT switch - or at least put one in the microphone line coming from the computer.

I am wondering if antenna tuning and RF isolation might not still be concerns. The latter might still be helped by doing a two board design. Most everyone other than Adam agrees about this - but Adam prefers a single board design.

The current Survivor design will fit into our shipping can - although we might need to look for a couple of lower profile knobs.

The current Survivor cabinet is only half the height of our proposed cabinet - so our proposed cabinet would accommodate two boards - and provide the additional room for the increased MOSFET Power and increased RF with a separate amplifier board - and provide better grounding on that board.

So there - you have all the current thinking. I will try to answer any questions you may have.


The Current Strategy

I have been energetically trying to find an engineer who can execute these design changes. The reason that I am putting all these details into the newsletter is that I hope you will share them with any engineers that you know and help me in my search.

Today alone, I have gone through the qualifications of over 400 EE RF engineers and have sent invitations to 17. I have gotten back 7 replies but none of them turned out to be qualified.

Current Situation at Ark Two

We are definitely getting older and needing help. Two nights ago had to go to emerg for the first time in a year. Wouldn't have gone but was deteriorating and concerned if I got worse I knew that Jean couldn't take me and we would have to call an ambulance.

When I got there alone it turned out unknown to me that my blood pressure was 157 and I was running a fever. They got it back down to 127 (I don't generally have high blood pressure) and stopped the fever before they sent me home with a bag full of medicine for the next day. The good news is that they did a CAT scan and I don't have a kidney stone - which is what they suspected. Just an infection and I am on an antibiotic for the next two weeks.

The weird thing is that I can't lie down. No pain sitting up. So I sleep in my chair. But only naps - so I am getting lots done.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org

US National
Coordinator's Corner

Christopher Verreos
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com

Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina
Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina

Greetings SAFE Team!


There's a lot going on, but first, we need to keep the recent flood victims and others who are in need in our prayers! Can you imagine dealing with your home being washed away - really! OK, now imagine that happening in the pitch black of night! Throw in the separation of family members and you start to see what I'm talking about. Play it SAFE!

Now that member lists are being distributed by our Database Mgr. Jonathan Lucas and his Assistant Nick Soriano, SAFE is entering a new phase. SAFE members in each state will quickly be able to network in a whole new way! Each STL is being asked to develop a Yahoo User Group or equivalent to facilitate things. Each STL has been asked to appoint at least two Assistants, and identify any HAM radio operators in their state, and report that to their Database Mgr.

Several STLs have already gotten their User Groups rolling, and I have to say - YOU ALL ROCK! One suggestion came in from Matt in Kansas: Have STLs invite each other to their respective User Group/Bulletin Boards. It's optional but has potential for much good. Please consider it.

As you know, SAFE doesn't sell anything, nor do we want your money. We also DON'T want burnout! Please know that the coming developments should not require much time/effort. The emphasis was and still is on creating/developing our networks/Triads. STLs:  1) please find members who are eager to assist and plug them into your network,  2) please feel free to contact your RTLs. If that fails, contact me, and I'll do my very best to help. Thanks to you all, we're making good progress. Stay SAFE!

Peace & Action,
Christopher Verreos
National Coordinator, SAFE USA
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com

This is the old man and doggy picture.

Bruce Beach
161 Main St.
Horning's Mills
Melancthon
Ontario L9V 1X7
Canada
TRIAD book cover
This is a link to the book
everyone needs now -
and which we hope they will buy
and support our cause.
This is a link to the book
everyone will need the day
AFTER the Great Catastrophe -
but which they need to buy
and read NOW!.
Society AFTER Doomsday book cover

Consensus on Concerns

top flag
Safe
America
For
Everyone
This newsletter powered by:
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Unsubscribe instantly from these emails by clicking here.

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Click HERE to go to
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Click HERE to go to
Ark Two.


Click HERE
to go to list of
Ark Two Videos

Forward this email to a friend.

This newsletter is Copyleft:
and may be used by anyone.

SAFE Ark Two Newsletter
August 4th, 2013

Consensus on Concerns

There is little consensus about what one should be MOST concerned about. Some think:
Climate Change
World Food Shortage
Syria/Iran/Israel
G-20 - Upcoming Budget - Monetary system
There does seem to be some consensus among some of the Governments in the world that some sort of threat is imminent. The US State Department has ordered closed the following US embassies and consulates from August 1st to August 31st:

-US Embassy Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
-US Embassy Algiers, Algeria
-US Embassy Amman, Jordan
-US Embassy Baghdad, Iraq
-US Embassy Cairo, Egypt
-US Consulate Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
-US Embassy Djibouti, Djibouti
-US Embassy Dhaka, Bangladesh
-US Embassy Doha, Qatar
-US Consulate Dubai, United Arab Emirates
-US Consulate Erbil, Iraq
-US Consulate Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
-US Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan
-US Embassy Khartoum, Sudan
-US Embassy Kuwait City, Kuwait
-US Embassy Manama, Bahrain
-US Embassy Muscat, Oman
-US Embassy Nouakchott, Mauritania
-US Embassy Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
-US Embassy Sanaa, Yemen
-US Embassy Tripoli, Libya

France, Germany and Britain on Saturday announced the temporary closings of their embassies in Sana, Yemen, and Russia has already moved people out of Syria.

This week is the 15th anniversary of the bombings of the American Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people and wounded 4,000 others.


To put that latter into perspective - there were over 1,000 people killed in the conflict in Iraq, in July alone. That is a conflict that has been more or less pushed from the news headlines. (Do check your MSM this moment for the truth of that statement.) I don't know what is related and what isn't, but most commentators think the embassy closings somehow all swirls around Syria and its Russian connection. Iran says that it is tightly tied to the Syrian conflict, as does Turkey. It may well be that I just don't have those things in perspective. Ramadan ends this week. Iran has gone on high alert and has announced new nuclear powers and threats against Israel (or not - depending on the news source) as it changes government leaders.


China Concern

Several times every week - I will comment to my wife about some hysterical email, news item, video or blog that we receive - and I will comment about the passion that people put into these subjects when there hangs over their heads the Damocles' sword of nuclear WW3 and EMP. The latter is a subject about which I am considered a one stringed instrument and quite frankly - a nut.

Oftentimes - in my view - the other current concerns are related to my primary concern. This week, for example, the astounding news (from an authoritative source but not in the MSM) that China may have now become the world's leading nuclear power with a greater stock of active weapons than either the US or Russia. We don't know what its Missile delivery systems are in its deep caves (and China isn't saying) but it is still weak so far as the TRIAD goes of airborne bombers, and nuclear submarines. Both of these latter may be irrelevant in a pre-emptive world-wide nuclear war.


Climate Concern

A subject that remains front and center in the news and with much of the public is the concern about the climate. Less than a year ago the headlines were:

UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013

• Global grain reserves hit critically low levels
• Extreme weather means climate 'is no longer reliable'
• Rising food prices threaten disaster and unrest
John Vidal - The Observer, Saturday 13 October 2012

There was also concern about drought in the US and flooding of the Mississippi River that was causing long term disruption of the barges and which was expected to greatly impact world food supplies. To top that off there was the problem of the conversion of US corn supplies to ethanol which was going to have terrible effects on the price of corn in Mexico and elsewhere.

Now, today I am ASTOUNDED to learn that there is a world food glut. ESPECIALLY in rice. So terrible many countries don't know what to do. Also corn surplus has exceeded expectations but even wheat, which still seems to be in trouble, has reached the point that some countries are forbidding its importation.

Things can change in a minute with hail or pestilence, but I must say that locally I have never seen such lush fields in my life - and I am an old Kansas boy. It may be that the weather change has made it especially good for up here and, as I have mentioned before, there aren't many bugs (sadly including bees). Altogether though - locally at least, and I am reading similar reports for elsewhere, it looks like the greatest bumper crop ever. Still a few weeks until harvest, but just what does all this mean.

Millions starving in the world - and the world can't get rid of the surplus. There is concern about the Malthusian laws. The theory is that if the non-productive are fed they will continue to multiply and eventually overrun the food supply. There is a counter theory that if people's standard of living is raised that they will have fewer children.

Whichever. In my paradigm we are about to reduce world population by about 80% and it is God's decree to 'multiply and replenish the earth' that will still hold for the next century at least. But, food and diet are a predominant concern in the communications that I receive. Worry about GMO (I tell my wife that it is not a personal concern for us because we are too old for its longer term effects, if any, to impact us). But there is endless concern by others about how healthy their diets are. Just doesn't get up there very far in my list of concerns. I am more concerned about the people currently starving in the world - and the many more that will starve if there is a social disruption.

There is lots of hunger among many people right now, right in the US, as the one of the last things the US Congress did, before going on vacation, was take a BIG chunk out of the Food Stamp legislation. I don't know how all that works - needing Senate approval and Administrative signature.


Where has all the Good Gold Gone?

A month or two ago all the clamor was about Greece and how the banks were going to take half their depositors' money. Yap, yap, yap. Headline after headline. But then it all went away and you don't see that on the front page anymore. People told me that it wasn't going to happen. Did happen finally, this week. But hardly anything in the news about that. Go figure.

Another strange thing going on has been a lot of discussion about gold and gold transfers. A couple of weeks ago they ran the Queen down to the Bank of England gold vaults to show her standing among all the gold. Lots of discussion in some circles this week that a bunch of it is no longer there. I really don't know anything about any of this but here is an interesting interactive video that I spent an hour on. These kinds of virtual tours are astounding to me. We can truly travel the world from our living rooms these days and gain more access than if we actually went there.

Concerns Clouding the Horizon

Lots of talk about how the NSA/Snowdon debacle may impact the G-20 Russia summit at the Constantine Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 5–6 September 2013. Obama says he may not attend because Putin didn't send back Snowdon. Of course it bothers no one that the US didn't send back Lady to Italy.

September 30, 2013: FY 2013 ends. Congress and the President must agree on appropriations for FY 2014 by September 30 so the government can function when the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2013.

If lawmakers do not reach an agreement about the sequester by Oct. 1, the government will shut down and the Treasury will face the risk of default. I don't know how any of that will actually work out either because there is also the Continuing resolution (CR): Legislation that permits government agencies to continue to operate at existing funding levels if a new appropriations bill has not been enacted for a new fiscal year.

It all revolves around the debt ceiling and the Tea Party attempts to squash Obama Care (not a doable). Anyway, Congress just went on a 5 week holiday that ends mid-September, (after the G-20) and just two weeks before the budget runs out.


Current at Ark Two Whatevever all these world events mean - that some think the US is getting ready to go into Syria, (the real reason for closing the Embassies in Arab countries), that Iran is arming Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon to attack Israel, that Israel is preparing for that and going into Iran after the nukes, or that Russia and China are saying that they won't stand idlely by - or -or -or.

And whatever that gold thing is about, if it is about anything, but there are lots of people who think the world is about to go into a monetary crisis, G-20 or no.

The Oct 1st budget bomb may be the biggest blast pending on the horizon. But Congress is enjoying its vacation, and we should too. Five weeks of calm is not too many. I was greatly surprised by the calm in the ghettos after the Zimmerman trial, but you know I think that is simply smoldering underneath.

So we are having good weather, maybe getting bumper crops, and a mild winter - I don't know, but, here at Ark Two taking advantage of all this calm to try to get in the winter wood supply - EARLY (for us). Most serious preppers keep a year or two ahead but for the last years we have run out in February. Did get our chimney cleaned yesterday. Putting in the largest indoor water supply that we have ever had in the house. Just doing a bit extra on a number of fronts at this moment. Not telling anyone what to do. Just saying.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org

US National
Coordinator's Corner

Christopher Verreos
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com

Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina
Christopher Verreos and his wife Regina

Greetings SAFE Team!


As we wait for the highly anticipated developments with our Database, I have some additional present observations to share. As we "prep" for various scenarios, form working mutual support Triads, and wonder about the great "what if", there are some folks already putting skills to the test, and evaluating survival principles for us to review.

Specifically, there's more than one TV series featuring families in the great state of Alaska undergoing varying levels of hardship - just to put food on the table and keep the home fire lit! Guess what? In each case, their success comes down to how dynamic their network is! I highly recommend those shows over the "lone survival expert" ones because they're practical and not so sensational. Just the nuts and bolts of family survival.

Even the "lone wolf" survivalists have their super support network, if you know where to look. So, the question remains: What are we doing to build OUR networks to ensure positive results? 

I spent the past few days in some very rigorous high Sierra backpacking enjoying the natural beauty AND honing important survival skills. I'm still recovering - ha ha! The end result? We had a group of three, where we could divide tasks, divide resources, divide skills to greatly improve our chances. Sitting at home waiting for the Big Event or watching someone else on TV tough it out in the wilderness might offer some motivation or good input, but it's no substitute for the real thing. The tornado alley members KNOW what I'm saying. 

If you have water purification materials, do a trial run, or two. Practice. Evaluate. Adapt. Same thing for alternative heat and lighting. The list goes on. You'll develop your interests and skills, AND you'll have an improved skill set to offer your family, Triads, and neighbors when needed. Stay SAFE.

Peace & Action,
Christopher Verreos
National Coordinator, SAFE USA
coordinatorsafeusa@gmail.com

This is the old man and doggy picture.

Bruce Beach
161 Main St.
Horning's Mills
Melancthon
Ontario L9V 1X7
Canada
TRIAD book cover
This is a link to the book
everyone needs now -
and which we hope they will buy
and support our cause.
This is a link to the book
everyone will need the day
AFTER the Great Catastrophe -
but which they need to buy
and read NOW!.
Society AFTER Doomsday book cover

The countdown is winding down

As we can see on the blog, the countdown for the #3DD has not yet arrived. Still, it is my firm belief that the #ThreeDaysOfDarkness will co...