There are two big stories out there that I feel everyone must know. First, Greece has a big bond payment due to the ECB today. The other story is a bit strange. A source of mine in law enforcement told me that an order came down to check to see if their gas mask filters have not expired.
The Greek payment is just another rung on the ladder out of this recession. I am convinced that Greece will default, but if the ruling oligarchy doesn’t let it be called a default, then the derivatives do not kick in. Without the trigger for the CDS (credit default swaps) on the now-worthless bonds, then the big euro banks stay liquid. Otherwise, it is a free-for-all as the dominoes start to tumble.
I guess we will see later this afternoon and tonight if the payment is made, if it is extended, or Greece defaults. The Greek crisis is the current hole in the levy. If we extend this “world economy as a levy” metaphor, then it is being undermined in many places: the PIIGS, the shrinking middle class, the outrageous US government debt, the “meltup” on Wall St., etc. As the economic leaders sandbag one part of the levy, the rest weaken further, draining resources faster then they can be brought to bear on these weak points. In other words while the world economic powers shore up Greece, Italy and Spain are collapsing. Even here in America, the FDIC is running out of funds to bail out banks. The CBO (congressional budget office) is endlessly revising the cost of socialized medicine upwards, while increasing the costs of our wars.
What’s going to happen when we are at war with Iran? The answer is more money printing, and eventually hyperinflation.
Onto the second story. You would think that a regular inventory of equipment is a normal thing for large law enforcement agencies, but it isn’t. Even after 9-11, there was no organized inventory of gas mask filters. My own conjecture leads me to believe that this is coming down from a federal agency, not at the whim of some higher-up in the chain of command.
As a prepper I am immediately thinking this has to do with the executive order signed by our President last Friday, the National Defense Resources Preparedness . Full text is here. A lot of people are freaking out about this. In short, it gives the Feds the right to take anything you own, make you work at their whim without compensation, and other anti-freedom and anti-free market stuff that gives the Libertarian in me an eye twitch that won’t go away.
I’m not as concerned as most preppers because there was an existing series of executive orders that already allowed this stuff. At first glance this seems to collect them all in one spot for easy dissemination to the goons in charge of the work gangs.I have not read the full text yet, and compared it to the existing executive orders, but I want to. When I do, I’ll make a post about it.
I do not know why this gas mask inventory is going on, but my guess is that some federal agency (DHS, FEMA, etc.) told the head honcho that there was a confirmed possibility of a terrorist strike involving chemical weapons, or there is a concern of riots on the scale of the LA riots in the 90′s.
I have asked my source to look into if his organization has increased their inventory of tear gas or where this order came from. I don’t know if he can get me that information without ruffling feathers, and I asked him not to draw any attention to himself over this. This is also why I will not name him, or even which agency he works for.
So there is a lot of stuff going on, I just hope my grain mill gets here before the bad stuff goes down. Stay alert. Trust no one. Keep your laser handy.