By Daisy Luther
Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.
This Week in the News
This week’s headline sounds more like Saturday Night Live than Survival Saturday, but unfortunately, it’s all too real. If you happen to be looking for a job, prospects aren’t looking too good out there in the land of fast food. But, hey – the TSA is hiring clowns and people to hand out snacks. Meanwhile, the situation in Venezuela continues to devolve.
How’s That New Minimum Wage Working Out for You?
When employees try to make the rules in businesses, it nearly always backfires.
Case in point? California’s dramatically increased minimum wage. Initially, fast food workers rejoiced at the prospect of earning $15 per hour to flip burgers. However, there are going to be a lot fewer jobs at $15 per hour than there were at the previous minimum wage of $9 per hour.
Now that the minimum wage is incrementally making it’s way to the $15 mark, businesses are scrambling to cut jobs.
Wendy’s has announced that self-service ordering kiosks will be installed at 6000 locations. McDonalds is expected to follow suit shortly. Carls Jr. intends to be close behind. It seems to me like this is a direct example of cause and effect and that our system is (or soon will be) beyond repair.
But hey. Way to go with that whole “forced increase.”
How Long Do You Think Maduro Will Remain in Power in Venezuela?
In Venezuela, the situation has gone from absolutely horrible to even worse, as the starving citizens begin to turn on the government.
The president has decided that an excellent solution to the lack of food is to divert half of the food slated to arrive at stores to state-run distribution points.
Under the state of emergency imposed by President Nicolas Maduro, the military, along with government-organized civilian committees, ensures that food packets are delivered door-to-door in order to — as officials say — cut out black market operators.
Imagine the rage of a group of thousands who stood in line for hours for the supply truck to arrive at a government-run grocery store, only to watch soldiers get in the truck and take it away. With this kind of public sentiment, one would imagine Maduro cannot be long for this office. The police are currently holding off the protesting citizens with rubber bullets and tear gas in a violent uprising that is sure to get far worse.
Maduro, however, has a lot of people to blame for the dismal downfall of his country. For example, he accused the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) of being a “traitor” and CIA agent. (This accusation triggered the former leader of Uruguay, José “Pepe” Mujica, to say that Maduro is “mad as a goat”.) Maduro has turned down all offers of US assistance, telling his people that the United States is only after the country’s oil reserves. (Hmmm…well…still, people are hungry.)
As we watch our own economic situation devolve here in the United States, we need to pay attention to the goings-on south of the border. You absolutely must remember that as recently as the late 1970s, Venezuela was one of the 20 wealthiest countries in the world. They still have some of the largest oil reserves. If you think it can’t happen to us – that we’re somehow immune to the awful decisions of our politician and the elite financiers – then you need to go reread some history.
Literal Bread and Circuses at the Airports While TSA Lines Make Passengers Miss Flights
Remember how they used to recommend you get to the airport an hour or two before your flight? Well, now, thanks to the TSA and their searches, passengers must be there 3 hours before their flights. Some passengers are spending more time in line to be groped to be cleared by the TSA than the actual time they’ll be spending on a plane.
Needless to say, passengers are enraged. So much so that the airports are trying to assuage their rage with clowns, snacks, and ponies. That’s right, they are putting on little mini-circuses to amuse and distract you while they infringe on your Constitutional rights. There’s honest-to-goodness video of the spectacle.
Was this increase in wait times just a power play to get more funding for the TSA? If so, they won. Your tax dollars will soon be spent to pay more goons…oops… thugs… I mean agents.
The union representing TSA officers called on Congress to pass emergency legislation funding the hiring of an additional 6,000 full-time screeners.“Congress has starved TSA of the resources it needs to meet growing demands at our nation’s airports,” American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. wrote in a letter sent Thursday to House and Senate leaders.Congress did give the agency some relief earlier this week.The Department of Homeland Security received congressional approval Wednesday to reallocate $34 million in its budget to increase the number of officers at airports.
Self- Reliance: Create a Collapse Supply List Based on the Things They Are Out of in Venezuela
Sometimes a cautionary tale is more motivating than any amount of positive reinforcement every could be, and the horrifying reports from Venezuela are a perfect example. If you’re paying attention to the things they’ve run out of, you can put together a collapse supply list to see you through the crisis in the event of a breakdown in our own country. The time to prepare is now, well before the situation devolves to one that is similar.
Click here to find out what supplies have disappeared in Venezuela
Anything to add to Survival Saturday?
Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! I’d love to hear your opinions on today’s stories, too! Is there anything newsworthy going on in your area that we may not have heard about?
The door is open – please use the comments section to share information that you find important.
Oh, wow. You still fly? I haven’t flown (and REFUSE to) since back when it was transformed from a fun and relatively free form of travel, into Gestapo Hell. I did SOoo used to love flying. I can’t even count the number of times I decided against going to Disney Land and had a stay-cation instead. I saved a Ton of money though, and still had a good time.
After our overlords demanded Americans – must – remove their shoes in a symbolic act of submission I thought things would change back to the way they used to be (to: freedom first) and that Americans would not allow this travesty to continue, or at least, not go along with it all. Boy, was I ever naive about how comfortable American’t’s were to being Lorded over.
Your post reminded me of this recent bit O fact on the ever expanding Blob:
“here’s the dumbest reason ever for tolerating the inept, invasive, totally unconstitutional bumbling of the TSA: because otherwise you “will undermine the important public union rights that are an integral part of why people become first responders.” That’s right: you should cheerfully wait hours for the TSA’s pervert to grope you because he’s union. I kid you not.”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/less-24-hours/
Distracted by all that, most people don’t seem to notice the real reason for the insane clowns in costumes:
“The entire US mainstream media is not able to remain coherent regarding the “extremely long airport security lines” that have received so much attention recently.
There is still NO reporting on the obvious reality of what has occurred:
What’s that? That Homeland Security has created an airport disaster and caused tens of thousands to miss flights in order to force people into its PreCheck program.” …
http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/propaganda-helps-push-more-toward-tsa-tracking-program/
New boss, same as the old Stasi control-freak Boss?
Combine the above with what’s going on in places such as Venezuela, or how China is getting all buddy-buddy with U.S. ally Qatar,
“Presumably, China would not be seeking a closer relationship with one of the US’s staunchest allies in the Middle East if there existed real enmity between the US and China.”… http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/china-no-enemy-of-the-west-as-recent-regulatory-and-diplomatic-moves-show/
… and with the big who-ha goings-on and ‘entangling alliances’ in Armenia and Azur-whatever-land ( Armenians in the Crosshairs – Propaganda Countdown to WWIII
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/05/joachim-hagopian/propaganda-countdown-wwiii/ ) and I’m reminded of a film I saw long ago titled, ‘Land of the Blind’. It’s so Very,… today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Blind
It’s eerie. I’m amazed that more people don’t notice. What’s being built is Very spooky.
I must be surrounded by more brain dead people and hood-rats than I originally estimated.
Anyway, some people I know (without a single prepping bone in their body) just bought $200,000 to $300,000 houses. That’s expensive for here. One of them is going to spend all their extra money (and Time!) fixing the place up (new wires, new pipes, all while juggling new babies) while another two (who never have much Time to spend at home) are not going to have Any extra money to spend due to an increase in housing payments ($2400+ per month) on top of two car payments!
I tried telling them they are buying at the peak of Housing Bubble 2.0 (not too mention the Car Bubble which is crashing right now) and that houses are depreciating liabilities rather than the current easy Fed money illusion of “investments” – but – they would hear none of that. Or, this:
“So 90 months of essentially zero rates in the context of financial markets that have been transformed into gambling casinos can only have one result.
To wit, what is coming down the pike is the Mother Of All Financial Meltdowns. And this time it will be evident to the world as to who is responsible for the resulting carnage.”
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-inflation-targeting-scam-and-why-it-guarantees-the-mother-of-financial-meltdowns/
Anyway, I came across a copy of that Fannie Farmer cookbook you rave about,… for 25 Cents. It’s a nice one.
Update on Venezuela…
Venezuela Launches Biggest Ever “Military Exercise” In History: A Preview Of What’s Coming
“Venezuela is preparing for the biggest military exercises in its history on Saturday after the South American country’s government said it’s on high alert as the opposition pushes for a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro. “This is the first time we are carrying out an exercise of this nature in the country. In terms of national reach, it’s going to be in every strategic region.”
For those who need a reminder of just how much Maduro’s socialist paradise has taken away from the people it is supposed to represent, here is a stark reminder:
•Inflation in Venezuela is predicted to reach 700 percent within the year, which would be the world’s highest.
•According to the Confederation of Venezuela Industry, in the Chavista era, approximately 8,000 businesses have closed.
•More than 70 percent of Venezuelans believe President Nicolás Maduro should step down.
•There were 2,138 protests and more than 170 lootings between January and April this year, according to the Venezuelan Observatory for Social Conflict. That’s about 18 per day.
•Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world. There were 28,000 in 2015. That’s 76 violent deaths per day and three per hour.
•According to an Encovi survey, 87 percent of Venezuelans can’t afford to buy food.
•According to the National Federation of Farmers, 2015 saw Venezuelans reduce their meat consumption by 42 percent compared to 2012 — the largest drop in 55 years.
•Ninety percent of citizens said they buy less food due to scarcity.
•According to polling group Datanalisis, there are shortages of basic food in 80 percent of supermarkets and 40 percent of homes.
•While Latin America’s infant malnutrition rate hovers around 5 percent, the Bengoa Foundation found that it was near 9 percent in Venezuela as of 2015.
•Public medical systems have reported that 44 percent of operating rooms are non-functional, and 94 percent of labs do not have sufficient supplies.
The Venezuelan people have no medicine, electricity, food, water or hope. What they do have, and plenty of it, is street crime, homicide and desperation. And, whether faced with a militarized army or not, they will soon have a revolution, because when yet another country is destroyed by a regime that chooses to only look after itself, that is the only possible outcome.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-20/venezuela-launches-biggest-ever-military-exercise-history-preview-what-coming
I’ve given up talking to people about anything deeper than the weather because when I do, they say I think too much. It’s not a compliment. They pride themselves on not worrying. All that matters is that the free food, etc. keeps coming. That frees up money to pay the cable bill. I’ve been asked what I do all day since I don’t have a television, which I consider to be an open sewer. I read! But there are no books in the neighbor’s homes. Place of honor is given to the big screen TV, not a bookcase full of books.
Let them think I’m odd. I don’t care.
You are one of the sane in an insane world. When you walk into a house and see a lot of books, you know you’re going to be hanging out with someone who can think, who questions the world, who seeks information and maybe even a bit of wisdom. When you walk in and see a huge tv and stacks of video games you know you’re in the wrong place.
Here is some food for thought about jobs. The media has been saying that our military has the lowest number of troops since before WWII. I don’t think soldiers who have mustered out of the service can go on the unemployment rolls. So how many more unemployed do we have that the labor department doesn’t have to report.
My daughter just took a teaching job on an island several hundred miles off the Alaskan coast. Talk about a stocking up exercise. There is one small store. Milk runs $16.00 a gallon. Everything you buy has to come air freight or US mail or by barge. You need to order about six months in advance to use the barge. She is getting an education in bypass mail, shopping services and just plain logistics.
Rose Wilder Lane is the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie series.
Rose is one of the founding mothers of Libertarianism.
I was reading about her on Wikipedia and found the following excerpt very interesting.
In 1943, Lane came into the national spotlight through her response to a radio poll on Social Security. She mailed in a post-card with a response likening the Social Security system to a Ponzi scheme that would, she felt, ultimately destroy the United States. Wartime monitoring of mail eventually resulted in a Connecticut State Trooper being dispatched to her home to question her motives. Her strong response to this infringement on her right of free speech resulted in a flurry of newspaper articles and the publishing of a pamphlet, “What is this, the Gestapo?,” that was meant to remind Americans to be watchful of their rights, despite the wartime exigencies. During this time period, an FBI file was compiled on Lane; it now available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
I wonder what she’d say about what’s happening now.