Last year, Elliott Management's Paul Singer highlighted "one risk that stands way above the rest in terms of the scope of potential damage adjusted for the likelihood of occurrence" - an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). As Michael Snyder previously details, our entire way of life can be ended in a single day. And it wouldn’t even take a nuclear war to do it. All it would take for a rogue nation or terror organization to bring us to our knees is the explosion of a couple well-placed nuclear devices high up in our atmosphere. The resulting electromagnetic pulses would fry electronics from coast to coast.
In the past here at Peak Prosperity, we’ve written extensively on the threat posed by a sustained loss of electrical grid power. More specifically, we've warned that the most damaging threat to our grid would come from either a manmade or natural electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
A good friend of mine, Jen Bawden, is currently sitting on a committee of notable political, security and defense experts -- which includes past and present members of Congress, ambassadors, CIA directors, and others -- who are equally concerned about this same threat and have recently sent a letter to Obama pleading for action to protect the US grid.
We talk a lot about Peak Cheap Oil as the Achilles' heel of the exponential monetary model, but the real threat to the quality of our daily lives, if not our lives themselves, would be a sustained loss of electrical power. Anything over a week without power for any modern nation would be a serious problem. A month would lead to chaos and many deaths.
When the power goes out, everything just stops. For residential users, even a few hours begins to intrude heavily as melting freezers, dying cell phones, and the awkward realization that we don't remember how to play board games nudge us out of our comfort zone.
However, those are just small inconveniences.
For industrial and other heavy users, the impact of even a relatively short outage can be expensive or even ghastly. Hospitals and people on life-assisting machinery are especially vulnerable. Without power, aluminum smelters face the prospect of the molten ore solidifying in the channels from which it must be laboriously removed before operations can be restarted.
Many types of nuclear power plants have to switch to back-up diesel generators to keep the cooling pumps running. And if those stop for any reason (like they run out of fuel), well, Fukushima gave us a sense of how bad things can get.
And of course banking stops, ATMs are useless, and gas stations cannot pump gas. Just ask the people of New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
A blackout of a few hours results in an inconvenience for everyone and something to talk about.
But one more than a day or two long? Things begin to get a bit tense; especially in cities, and doubly so if it happens in the hot mid-summer months.
Anything over a week and we start facing real, life-threatening issues. National Geographic ran a special presentation, American Blackout, in October 2013 -- it presented a very good progression covering exactly what a timeline of serious grid disruption would look and feel like. I recommend the program for those interested.
We're exploring this risk because there are a number of developments that could knock out the power grid for a week or more. They include a coronal mass ejection (CME), a nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device, a cascading grid failure, and malicious hacking or electronic attacks.
Others Are Waking Up To The Danger
Recently, we've been contacted by a well-connected group of powerful people who have formed a commission to study the matter, and have recently made a public and urgent appeal in an open letter to President Obama to take this threat seriously.
This letter was sent to the President over the Memorial Day weekend. It begins (emphasis mine):
Dear Mr. President,
We need your personal intervention to provide for the protection of the American people against an existential threat posed by natural and manmade electromagnetic pulse (EMP).The consequent failure of critical infrastructure that sustain our lives is a major national security threat and would be catastrophic to our people and our nation.
The national Intelligence Council, which speaks for the entire U.S. Intelligence Community, published in its 2012 unclassified Global Trends 2030 report that an EMP is one of only eight Black Swan events that could change the course of global civilization by or before 2030. No official study denies the view that an EMP is a potentially catastrophic societal threat that needs to be addressed urgently. America is not prepared to be without water, electricity, telephones, computer networks, heating, air conditioning, transportation (cars, subways, buses, airplanes), and banking.
All the benefits of our just-in-time economy would come to a deadly halt, including the production of petroleum products, clothing, groceries and medicine. Think about cities without electricity to pump water to their residents.
(Source)
Given the deadly drama that would accompany a such major and sustained grid-down event, you’d think that the US would be spending lots of money to safeguard against one happening. But you’d be wrong.
A bit further in the letter they warn about the vulnerability of nuclear reactors, a risk that causes me a lot of personal concern:
We urge you immediately to issue a Presidential Study Directive (PSD) directing your National Security Advisor to lead a focused interagency effort to provide, in connection with your current budget execution activities and future budget requests, a specific program to address this natural and manmade threat. In particular, this PSD should direct that hardening technology, well known in the Department of Defense, be exploited by all agencies with responsibility for maintaining the electric power grid. It is imperative that plans are immediately implemented to protect America’s at least 100 nuclear reactors and their co-located spent fuel storage facilities from an EMP.
As a reminder, an EMP can also come from a natural cause such as a coronal mass ejection from our sun -- something we’ve covered in detail here in repeated interviews with NASA scientist Lika Guhathakurta (hereand here) as well as in numerous reports centered on the electrical grid and/or warfare:
But the bigger risk, in my mind, is that a military confrontation induces one (or several) players to use an EMP as a means of warfare. With the US poking the Russian bear, and now considering military options to confront China over the islands they are building in the South China Sea, it's not out-of-the-question that one of these world powers could consider using an EMP as a means of retaliation..
A nuclear EMP device is thought to have the potential to completely ruin an unhardened electrical grid for as long as it takes to repair/replace all the ruined electrical items affected. This is especially concerning in the case of large scale transformers, which are specially made in just a few places with very low manufacturing throughput capacity that could take a year or more (and that’s assuming the plants are still up and running after the attack).
RESIDENTS ANGRY AFTER URBAN MILITARY TRAINING SHAKES NEIGHBORHOOD WITH EXPLOSIONS AHEAD OF JADE HELM 2015
A ten-day US Army urban military training exercise has begun in Flint, Michigan with explosions rocking neighborhoods and scaring residents who had no idea what was actually happening.
With less than three hours between a city press release and the beginning of the exercise, residents were left in the dark about the urban military training until the last possible moment. Most had no idea what was happening as their homes shook from the force of the simulated explosions.
“It was like a big huge explosion, it shook my whole house, it shook the ground.”
“I mean it was loud, it blew up the whole sky or whatever, it was like four or five big bangs,” local resident Annette Humphrey told WNEM News.
According to mlive.com, a city press release on the training said, “Elements of the U.S. Army are conducting training June 1-12 in designated parts of southeast Michigan, including the Flint area.”
The urban training, conducted at a closed junior high school and complete with sounds you would normally only hear in a warzone, will include the use of helicopters and simulated ammunition on top of detonations like the ones already felt by residents.
A statement from the military confirmed, without a doubt, that the training is to prepare soldiers for deployment in an urban setting which in military PR doublespeak means to prepare them for use in an American city near you.
The training, “will give personal the upper hand when they go into urban combat.”
The training in Michigan is merely the latest example in a long line of urban military training that has either been conducted or announced within the last 3 months.
From military training with local police for domestic house to house raids to Marines openly practicing for the internment of American citizens, training to take on the American people has hit previously unseen levels.
With so much news being released by the alternative media in regards to the plans for martial law one has to wonder why are we all of a sudden seeing this publicly happen now?
While there has absolutely been plans for martial law after some sort of massive civil disturbance dating back at least 60 years, in the past the military would either train away from the public or put huge effort into insuring that any training the public did see was clearly training for overseas deployment.
Now, day after day, month after month, we see dozens and dozens of reports from mainly local mainstream news outlets that detail some sort of urban training going on in their area without ever mentioning that similar training is happening throughout the country.
Simply put, if there wasnt something big planned for the near future why would all this training be clustered in a few month period rather than spread out as they have done over the years? (every summer there is an increase in domestic military training but nothing in the recent past like what we are seeing now)
There have been various whistleblowers throughout the years who have shared their worry and now, after a stunning report by a mainstream news outlet, we have confirmation that at least some of the people who work in the Pentagon are worried about what they see as Obama’s plan to use the military against the people.
In the viral Washington Times report, an anonymous Department of Defense official revealed their belief that a DoD Directive outlining military support to civilian authorities was literally the latest step towards the President using military force against the American people.
"This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its citizens,” said the defense official.
According to the report, another anonymous US Official also claimed that President Obama considered using the military during the Bundy Ranch standoff but eventually decided against it.
To end on a more optimistic note, it is a good sign to see a defense official risk it all and give the above quote to a mainstream news outlet.
Hopefully, there are many more like he or she and they will come together and stop this from happening before it gets so out of control that there is no turning back.
Residents expressing their frustration over urban training is also noteworthy as it shows that when these plans for martial law start to directly affect the people, the people will respond.
A 2010 Pentagon directive on military support to civilian authorities details what critics say is a troubling policy that envisions the Obama administration’s potential use of military force against Americans.
The directive contains noncontroversial provisions on support to civilian fire and emergency services, special events and the domestic use of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest.
“This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its citizens,” said a defense official opposed to the directive.
Directive No. 3025.18, “Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” was issued Dec. 29, 2010, and states that U.S. commanders “are provided emergency authority under this directive.”
“Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the president in accordance with applicable law or permitted under emergency authority,” the directive states.
“In these circumstances, those federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the president is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances” under two conditions.
A U.S. official said the Obama administration considered but rejected deploying military force under the directive during the recent standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters.
Defense analysts say there has been a buildup of military units within non-security-related federal agencies, notably the creation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams. The buildup has raised questions about whether the Obama administration is undermining civil liberties under the guise of counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts.
Other agencies with SWAT teams reportedly include the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Education Department.
“IT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE LARGEST UNDERTAKING WE’VE HAD AS FAR AS AN EXERCISE FOR THE MICHIGAN ARMY NATIONAL GUARD IN A LONG TIME”
A massive simulated dirty bomb attack exercise is set to take place at the end of June in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Operation Northern Exposure will include over 1,000 Michigan National Guard soldiers and will be the first time in history that local authorities have worked with the National Guard.
“The public may notice more military vehicles in the area, as well as helicopters bringing crews to and from the sites, but the general public won’t be impacted. Local officials said traffic in the area won’t be affected.”
Hoping to quell any public fears, Kent County Emergency Management Director Lieutenant Jack Stewart told WoodTV that, “It’s all off the beaten path. There are no public highways involved other than transportation to the site and away from the site.”
“They are even taking utility workers and getting them involved in what they are calling a dirty bomb scenario, or a nuclear radiation type of scenario,” reported Dahboo777 in a recent YouTube report on the training.
This massive dirty bomb exercise is yet another military/local law enforcement drill announced in the lead up to Jade Helm.
In the last two months we have seen literally over a dozen military drills either take place or be announced. This is happening at the same time as a huge amount of seemingly random (but possibly connected) military movements are being documented throughout the country.
A breakdown of reporting going back the last two months conclusively proves this.
Military drills and troop movements
On March 13th, Intellihub founder Shepard Ambellas detailed photos and documentation of nearly 40 U.S. Army soldiers, wielding training rifles and dressed in full combat gear, participating in an urban warfare style training drill just outside the Texarkana Regional Airport perimeter.
Fast forwarding into the middle of April, a report out of Big Springs, Texas revealed that a train full of military equipment and over a dozen helicopters had arrived in the town ahead of Jade Helm 2015.
Photographs taken in Corona, California a few days later added to the Jade Helm speculation after they showed a MRAP full of what looked to be U.S. Marines driving down the 1-15 freeway. “In broad daylight with not a care in the world”
On April 24th a shocking report on Intellihub News detailed armed troops seen confronting angry protesters in a “professional news package”of riot control training released by the military
“A massive buildup, a lot of movement and its undeniable at this point,” read the headline on April 25th after a convoy was seen in Oroville, California that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Moving into May, photographs taken in Indiana showed a massive military convoy heading down the freeway. The photos, taken by a concerned citizen, show the convoy heading west on I-70 for reasons unknown.
Two days later, video footage, this time out of Texarkana, Arkansas, highlighted a convoy of Humvees driving down the highway as well as a trainload of military vehicles that was seen shortly after.
In mid May, Intellihub reporter Alex Thomas published a detailed report that confirmed that the military was indeed training to take on the American people, this time in the form of domestic house to house raids.
On May 18th, a train full of hundreds of military Humvees was spotted, further revealing the increased military buildup across the country leading into Jade Helm 2015. The train was heading towards Cleveland for unknown reasons although a possible connection to planned upcoming protests had been mentioned.
This past week a massive military war game simulation called Raider Focus was announced. The war game will include the largest military convoy seen on the roads of Colorado since World War II.
On may 23th, Intellihub News reported on pictures sent to ANP that show a 1/4 mile long military train convoy near the Colorado Wyoming border.
Finally, a report published this week detailed a stunning propaganda move by the military involving a New Jersey school and the worship of the military on the streets of America. “As parents, teachers, and students looked on with joy, Marines from the Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force landed helicopters on the baseball diamond of a New Jersey school.”
We are clearly seeing an undeniable buildup to a so far unknown event.
Many believe it may be to initiate martial law this summer but most likely the training and military movements are ramping up across the country because the powers that be know a collapse is imminent and are rushing to be ready to control the population when it finally happens.
If we are not heading into a recession, why does our economy continue to act as if that is precisely what is happening? As you will see below, we learned this week that factory orders have declined year over year for six months in a row. That is something that has never happened outside of a time of recession. We have also seen new orders for consumer goods fall dramatically. In fact, the only time we have seen a more dramatic decline in that number was during the last recession. And when you add these two items to what I have written about previously, the overall economic picture becomes even more disturbing. Corporate profits have fallen for two quarters in a row, our exports fell by 7.6 percent during the first quarter of 2015, and U.S. GDP contracted by 0.7 percent during Q1. Even though Barack Obama and the mainstream media are willingly ignoring them, the truth is that these numbers are absolutely screaming that we are going into a new recession.
Sometimes, a picture is worth more than a thousand words, and I believe that is certainly the case with the chart that I have posted below. It comes from Zero Hedge, and it shows that factory orders have declined year over year for six months in a row. The only times when this has ever happened before have been when the U.S. economy has been in recession…
These charts that I just shared with you are rather compelling. How anyone can see them and still believe that we are in an “economic recovery” is beyond me.
When the economy starts to turn, there are certain things that we look for. As I have written about over and over on my website, so many of the exact same patterns that we have seen emerge just prior to previous economic downturns are happening again right now.
For the moment, the mainstream media is assuring everyone that everything is going to be just fine and that they should go out and spend lots and lots of money.
But instead of spending your money on frivolous things like boats, electronic toys and expensive vacations, I believe that now is the time to get prepared for the great economic crisis which is currently starting to unfold.
Right now, I know that most people don’t actually believe that life in America is about to dramatically change.
So many of the things that people (including myself) have been warning about for so long are about to happen. Our politicians and national leaders have turned a deaf ear to all of the warnings and have continued to conduct business as usual. Soon, the error of their ways will be apparent to all.
We are heading into the greatest economic crisis in U.S. history, and there is going to be no coming back to the false, debt-fueled “prosperity” that we are enjoying today.
Also see:
Most of these economic articles are very frustrating I think for the average reader because it is like reading in a foreign language. They are economists and speak in lingo most lay folks do not understand and I am a business person. I mean I get the gist of what they are saying but they need to remember their audience is not just wall street bankers and investors and I have been reading these articles now for years.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a manager that would say something to the affect of "explain it to me like I'm a four year old" if it was a new concept. I know they can't do it in every article but they need to break it down in elementary terms and definitions. I suppose this would bore their core readers?
Maybe it's just me? Grrrr....vent over....
I agree with that - its hard for me to understand, as my training isn't in finance. I'm tempted to ignore the story until "it happens" - but that could be any day now!
ReplyDelete