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, a bunch of MSM outlets (unenthusiastically) retracted the Trump/Russia stories, a massive cyber attack makes us consider potential ramifications, and we paid an illegal alien almost $200K for arresting him even though he was suspected of a crime.
The Real Reason for the Trump/Russia Narrative
Just in case you’re not sick of the Trump/Russia plotline, here are your weekly updates.
Newsflash: it was all BS. Just on the off-chance you didn’t know this yet.
Several media outlets have printed half-hear this one from the New York Times, and this one from CNN. (Incidentally, one of CNN’s producers recently referred to American voters as “stupid as sh*t” so you can see what respect they have for viewers.) But the quasi-retractions aren’t enough to undo all of the damage that has been done. Hundreds of innocent bloggers and website owners were also targeted as Russian conspirators when the Washington Post published propaganda compiled, ironically, by a group called Prop or Not. As of yet, no retraction has been made for that work of fiction.
Brandon Smith of Alt-Market has an interesting spin on the Russia plotline, in which he refers to 4th Generation warfare, which is fought by actors who aren’t apparently part of the state:
…some analysts assume that Trump is being “targeted” and that the goal is to remove him from the White House. This makes little sense to me. If the elites wanted to stop Trump they would have done it during the RNC selection process just as they did to Ron Paul, and just as the DNC did to Bernie Sanders.
Clearly, Trump is more valuable to them sitting in the Oval Office, as I outlined above. The Russian circus is going nowhere because it was never meant to go anywhere. It is distraction and drama, a soap opera for the ignorant masses. Trump will not be removed from office. If he does end up impeached, the impeachment will fail. As I have said since before the election, the establishment needs Trump as president.
So, if I am correct and the Russian conspiracy narrative is not intended to take Trump down, what is it intended for? As stated earlier, this is 4th gen warfare, and the intended target for propaganda is not always the obvious target.
As noted, Leftists are the initial target. They will continue to believe that Trump is a Russian collaborator because they want to believe it, regardless of how absurd the whole idea is. They will ignore the fact that there is no evidence to support the accusation. They will embrace the propaganda wholeheartedly and develop more violent methods to express their outrage.
The secondary target of the Russian conspiracy manipulation is conservative groups.
Here is the reality of our predicament; the US system is going to move into the next phase of collapse under Trump’s watch. Period. The math is undeniable. Every economic indicator except stocks is in severe decline, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to deliberately ignite greater instability and time is running out. I believe that this phase will begin before the end of 2017. When the next downturn arrives on the doorstep and in the pocketbooks of the average American, the leftists and most of the world will blame Trump as an “incompetent buffoon” or a “vitriolic fascist”.
Just as the elites need to make Trump and conservatives the best possible scapegoat for the left; they also need a perfect scapegoat for the political right. The narrative will be turned against the leftists and conservatives will exclaim that Trump was not able to reverse economic damages “created by the Obama administration” because leftists used the fake Russian conspiracy as a means to undermine him at every opportunity. Leftists will be labeled economic and political saboteurs, and this accusation will work to a point, because it is partly true…
…Leftists and socialists around the globe will blame Trump and conservative principles. Conservatives will blame the left and their obstructions of Trump. The West will blame the East. Globalists will blame “populists” and nationalists, and nationalists will be scrambling to protect their ground by any means necessary, including unconstitutional measures, which will only help the globalists in the long run.
A core catalyst for this geopolitical blame game is the Trump presidency and the use of the Russian conspiracy to ensure that the left remains crazy, inspiring the right towards extreme measures. Again, this is not about removing Trump, it is about manipulating the left; it is about using the Left’s cultural Marxism to trigger an iron-fisted reaction from the political right. (source)
If you haven’t been following Brandon’s work, you should be. Go to Alt-Market.com and make sure you keep checking in. His predictions and analyses have been incredibly accurate. This guy knows what he’s talking about.
San Francisco Paid Suspected Criminal Illegal Alien Nearly $200K for Violating His “Rights” and Arresting Him
The city of San Francisco was successfully sued by a man who was arrested when there was a warrant out for his arrest.
Because, sanctuary.
Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, who was in the country illegally, was recently handed over to immigration officials after he brazenly visited a police station despite the warrant out for his arrest. The lawsuit contends that by steering Figueroa-Zarceno into the arms of immigration officers, the police officers violated “sanctuary city” laws. KEEP IN MIND THAT HE WAS SUSPECTED OF A CRIME.
Zero Hedge reports:
Attorney Saira Hussain wants you to know that it’s “really important” that San Francisco’s sanctuary city laws are protected…other laws, not so much.
“It’s really important for San Francisco to remain a sanctuary city not in name only but also in practice,” said Saira Hussain, a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, who represented Zarceno.
City law, the Due Process for All Ordinance, bars law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other federal immigration officials, except in a few exceptions when violent criminals are involved. Part of the law’s purpose was to encourage immigrants to report crimes they may otherwise not report because they fear law enforcement will turn them over to immigration authorities.
Of course, none of this is particularly surprising given that, as we recently noted, the city of San Francisco launched a whole new group in the Public Defender’s office specifically dedicated to representing illegal immigrants. (source)
So, when Figueroa-Zarceno took his claim to court, the court said, “oh, we’re sorry” and awarded him 190,000 taxpayer dollars as a settlement for infringing on his sanctuary.
This sets an incredibly dangerous precedent that illegal immigrants are immune to the laws of our land.
PS: Before someone pipes up, let it be noted that I have nothing against immigration. I lived in another country for years when I married a Canadian, and one of my children immigrated to the United States. However, we jumped through the hoops, filed the papers, paid the fees, and refrained from committing criminal acts.
The Petya – or notPetya – Cyberattack
In my opinion, not enough attention is being paid to the massive cyberattack that took place this week.
Initially believed to be just another ransomware attack like the WannaCry attack of a couple of months ago, the malware exploited a vulnerability created by none other than our National Security Agency. The attack originated in Ukraine and quickly spread through industries across the globe. (Here’s a list of business that were hit.)
But fairly quickly, experts realized this was something different – first, it wasn’t actually Petya Ransomware, so they renamed it notPetya – and furthermore, it looked like an all-out attack on the Ukrainian infrastructure.
Although it demands about $300 in Bitcoin to unscramble the hostage data, the mechanisms put in place to collect this money from victims in exchange for decryption keys quickly disintegrated. Despite the slick programming behind the fast-spreading malware, little effort or thought was put into pocketing the loot, it appears.
“The superficial resemblance to Petya is only skin deep,” noted computer security veteran The Grugq. “Although there is significant code sharing, the real Petya was a criminal enterprise for making money. This [latest malware] is definitely not designed to make money. This is designed to spread fast and cause damage, with a plausibly deniable cover of ransomware.” (source)
According to NATO, a “state actor” was most likely behind the attack that targeted Ukraine.
A “state actor” was behind the cyberattack that hit over 12,000 devices in around 65 countries on Tuesday hitting major industries from advertising to oil, according to NATO.
The “Petya” ransomware attack encrypted files on a computer and demanded $300 worth of the cryptocurrency bitcoin in order to unlock them. Kaspersky Lab estimates at least 2,000 targets were affected, mostly in Russia and the Ukraine, but attacks were registered in several other countries, including Germany, the U.K. and China.
Researching the attack, NATO says it was likely launched by a state actor, or by a non-state actor with support and approval from a state, as the operation was very complex and expensive…
“As important government systems have been targeted, then in case the operation is attributed to a state this could count as a violation of sovereignty. Consequently, this could be an internationally wrongful act, which might give the targeted states several options to respond with countermeasures,” Tomáš Minárik, researcher at NATO’s CCD COE law branch, in the press release.
NATO investigators added that the cyberattack was a “declaration of power” and a demonstration of the culprit’s ability to cause disruption. (source)
Ukraine has practically been shut down due to the attack. Some things that were affected were:
- Banks and ATMs
- Gas stations (which shut down transportation)
- Trains and airports
- Hospitals
- Commerce (due to the banking system being offline)
- The power grid
Even the Chernobyl nuclear plant lost its ability to monitor radiation via computers
Now…think about how easily this could happen here in the United States. Our country runs on the ability to use computers. Our financial systems, our transportation systems, our public utility systems, and our inventory and supply systems. I wrote up a piece wargaming this scenario, and the outlook is almost as grim as what we’d face after an EMP. Give it a read and let me know if there’s any horrible detail I overlooked.
This Week in Preparedness…
I hate to always be the voice of doom…the ray of sunshine…the narrator at a funeral…but I have some more bad news. You know those low gas prices everyone is so happy about? They may not be the best sign for our economy because about a quarter of our GDP comes from the oil industry.
This means that low gas prices may signify:
- Jobs lost
- Companies that employ thousands going into crisis mode
- One of our few industries where we produce something in trouble.
We have overall become a nation of consumers, not producers, so when the value of the thing we produce plummets, it affects us all. Here’s the article I wrote that goes into more detail about why dropping gasoline prices can be a warning signal for our economic outlook.
Personal Note:
I want to take a moment to wish my Canadian friends a happy Canada Day today, and to those of us in America, a happy Independence Day on the 4th.Enjoy your time with family and friends, be festive, and be safe!
Preparedness Articles of Interest
- Here’s How a Massive Cyberattack Could Happen To Us
- Here’s Why Cheap Gas Prices May Actually Be a Very BAD Sign for the Economy
- How to Make a $12 DIY Compost Bin (and 50 Things You Can Compost In It)
- The Herbalist’s Bookshelf
- Red, White, & Blue Yummies from Your Food Storage Pantry
- How to Make Your Life a Declaration of Independence
- This Emergency Food Storage Tip Could be a Lifesaver if the Grid Goes Down in the Summer
Other Articles of Interest
- The Petya Ransomware Cyberattack: “THERE IS NO KILL SWITCH.”
- Russia, Syria Respond to White House Chemical Attack Allegation, Threaten Retaliation
- Conspiracy Theory Confirmed: Federal Reserve Exposed Working as Arm of US Intelligence
- The Government Completely Destroyed Health Insurance and Is Going to Continue to Do So
- The 2nd Amendment Comes To Europe: Czech Republic Expected To Enshrine Right To Bear Arms In Constitution
- The World Is Now $217,000,000,000,000 In Debt And The Global Elite Like It That Way
Anything to add to Survival Saturday?
Do you have any news links you want to share? What are your thoughts on the topics above? Now’s the time! Please post your links in the comments section below and join the discussion!
Ref the payment to the illegal……….Since they are a ILLEGAL I was under the impression that they HAD NO RIGHTS? I hope they have been deported, of course a lot richer then when they came……Of course if he was arrested for a crime just maybe he should be convicted and let them spend their money in a jail with a max sentence, before deportation.
RE: Payment to the illegal. The Socialists in charge of San Francisco have gone totally bonkers. Their Sanctuary law doesn’t trump (if you’ll pardon the expression) State and Federal laws. He was here illegally so he broke that law. He was arrested on suspicion of having committed another crime. He was turned over to Federal Immigration authorities–which was the right, and legal, thing to do. Then weirdness began. Instead of being deported–which should STILL happen–he got a lawyer.
Only in the upside down, bizarro world of San Francisco, could he even be allowed to sue, let alone get a settlement.
It is also federally illegal to grow or sell Marijuana, but that hasn’t stopped several states.
Big Survival Saturday today. Lots of hefty items.
First: Donald Trump is showing incompetence as a leader, which is why the Left hate him and how he has such a low rating among the general population. This isn’t his fault per say, rather he didn’t have enough experience to lead before the election. I feel sorry for him.
Also, a majority of terrorism in the US (approximately 74%) is conducted by right-wing terrorist groups such as the KKK, then Islamic extremists (~24%), then approximately 2% are left wing extremeists, but that number is said to be rising.
Second: the issue of the man being an illegal immigrant should not be the main issue here. The issue should be that a SUSPECTED CRIMINAL SUED THE CITY & WON. It shouldn’t happen. You don’t see murderers or rapists or anything suing over being arrested. It’s like if a suspected murderer got arrested and was handed over to the prison guards, but they got upset because the law said they wouldn’t hand people over to prison guards. Whatever. It’s messed up.
Third: This cyber attack is just something we will most likely have to get used to as technology advances. We might see a future with wars fought by drones and tanks and battle robots with humans only working in the background, as EMPs and cyber attacks become the norm when fighting. No-one knows the future, but one thing that’s certain is that technology is only moving forwards.
In summary, Donald Trump may be in serious trouble, left-wing extremism is on the rise, criminals should not sue for being arrested and cyber attacks are (most likely) on the rise. Yep, that pretty much sums up the situation ????