Be prepared: Wall Street advisor recommends guns, ammo for protection in collapse

By PAUL BEDARD | DECEMBER 26, 2013 AT 12:33 PM

Topics: Washington Secrets Gun Control Obamacare NSA Surveillance Wall Street Socialism

Image from Marotta's website warning investors to prepare a "bug-out" bag in case of a fiscal...

A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a “bug-out bag” that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.
David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, “Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.”
His memo is part of a series addressing the potential for a “financial apocalypse.” His view, however, is that the problems plaguing the country won't result in armageddon. “There is the possibility of a precipitous decline, although a long and drawn out malaise is much more likely,” said the Charlottesville, Va.-based president of Marotta Wealth Management.

Marotta said that many clients fear an end-of-the-world scenario. He doesn’t agree with that outcome, but does with much of what has people worried.
“I, along with many other economists, agree with many of the concerns expressed in these dire warnings. The growing debt and deficit spending is a tax on those holding dollars. The devaluation in the U.S. dollar risks the dollar's status as the reserve currency of the world. Obamacare was the worst legislation in the past 75 years. Socialism is on the rise and the NSA really is abrogating vast portions of the Constitution. I don't disagree with their concerns,” he wrote.
In his latest note, he said that Americans should have a survival kit to take in case of a financial or natural disaster. It should be filled with items that will help them stay alive for the first 72-hours of a crisis, including firearms.
“A bug-out bag is a good idea depending on where you live even if the emergency is just power outages, earthquakes and hurricanes. And with your preparedness you will be equipped to help others who might be in need,” he wrote. “Be prepared. Especially because it keeps you from being scared.”
He provided a list of items and even a link to bug-out bags on Amazon.

The Colt Marine Pistol

	Although the M1911A1 in .45 ACP was superseded in 1985 by the M9 as the official sidearm of the U.S. military, the U.S. Marine Corps has adopted an updated version of the gun—the M45 CQB, or, in its civilian version, the Marine—for some special operations troops. By Wiley Clapp (RSS) December 19, 2013

The battered old chest held 43 pistols in individual slots, with seven empty spaces. Made from some of the strongest oak that ever grew in this fair land, the chest had a new coat of paint. Not surprisingly, it was green, with the freshly painted blue tactical markings of a company of Marines. That old chest, used for decades, was typical for its time and place. Every rifle company had one to hold its allotment of pistols to arm those Marines in the company assigned to carry them. Mostly, they were the guys who manned crew-served weapons, grenadiers, senior NCOs and officers. In the summer of 1964, the pistol was the U.S. M1911A1 .45 ACP semi-automatic. Now, pretty much everybody knows that the .45 Auto was the nation’s choice for fightin’ iron from 1911 on.
A decision was made to adopt a new 9 mm Luger service pistol in 1985, and I have never met a true handgun man who was happy about that. Back when it was the Browning-designed gun, we were content with the armament. As for me, I drew an M1911A1 pistol from the old chest the first time my new company went to the field and turned it in when we came back. But one day in the summer of ’65, I drew it from the box, slipped it into my holster and left it there for more than a year in Vietnam. A year like that tumultuous one tends to grow a bond between man and tool.
I do not mean to say that I was in any way different from hundreds of other Marines of my generation. When we went to war, the .45 was part of our gear; that is no longer true.

I understand the need for upgrading our equipment, but there was nothing wrong with the M1911 in the first place. That’s why so many of our troops—the ones closest to the pointy end of the spear—have been finding one means or another to lay hands on a .45 when they actually deploy to Southwest Asia. That unusual situation is no longer necessary. Colt’s Mfg. Co. now produces a special version of the M1911 pistol for the United States Marine Corps. And a smaller number of the special guns will be available for sale on the commercial market.
That constitutes good news, but there is some that is bad. Not all Marines will be getting the new version of the old pistol. The Corps asked for bids to provide somewhat more than 4,000 pistols to arm certain units of the Fleet Marine Force. Basically, the guns will go to Marines whose duties might require them to engage enemies at close range. In current military jargon, this is “Close Quarters Battle.” Many readers are going to be unfamiliar with the USMC unit abbreviations, so let’s take a moment to sort them out. MARSOC stands for Marine Special Operations Command, a fairly small unit of deeply trained Marines who work directly for the Dept. of Defense and theatre commanders. MEUSOC stands for Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Capable. Built around an infantry battalion, reinforced with smaller special units (tanks, artillery, recon), a MEUSOC exists for a couple of years. It is then relieved from deployment by another infantry battalion that has run through the special training cycle that gives it the MEUSOC designation. Because of some additional training, such units are deemed capable of conducting special high-risk operations. Certain reconnaissance units—Division and Force—may also get the gun. It will not be issued to every operational unit of the Marine Corps.
Like everything else in today’s complex military establishment, the new gun has a designation. It is the M45A1 Close Quarters Battle Pistol (CQBP). Several makers submitted their versions of the gun, which were built to specifications developed by the Marine Corps. It was Colt’s Mfg. Co. that won the right to build 4,036 pistols and spare parts. Interestingly, the contract is written to be extendable in both numbers and time. There may turn out to be as many as 12,000 M45 pistols.
At the heart of the matter is a very nice version of the Colt Rail Gun. Many of the features found in this new .45 Auto are things developed by tactical shooters and police SWAT team members.

Read full story here:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/review-colt-marine-pistol

Christian Photographer Who Refused Gay Wedding Gig Pays 'Price of Citizenship'

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Christian photographer asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to reverse a New Mexico Supreme Court decision that required her to abandon her freedom as the “price of citizenship.”



On Aug. 22, the New Mexico high court upheld a decision against Elane Photography after its co-owner, Elaine Huguenin, declined to use her artistic expression to communicate the story of a same-sex ceremony. A concurrence accompanying the opinion concluded that Huguenin and her co-owner, husband Jonathan, “now are compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives,” adding “it is the price of citizenship.”

“The idea that free people can be ‘compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives’ as the ‘price of citizenship’ is a chilling and unprecedented attack on freedom,” says senior counsel Jordan Lorence. “We are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make it clear that no American has to abandon their constitutionally protected freedoms just to make a living. No American should be punished or put out of business simply for disagreeing with the government’s opinion on a moral issue.”

“Every artist must be free to create work that expresses what he or she believes and not be forced by the government to express opposing views,” adds legal counsel Jim Campbell. “Should the government force an African-American photographer to take pictures of a KKK rally? A government that can force anyone to promote messages against his or her will is a government out of control.”

The petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court explains that the Huguenins “will serve anyone; they do not turn away any customers because of their protected class status. But they will decline a request, as the First Amendment guarantees them the right to do, if the context would require them to express messages that conflict with their religious beliefs. The New Mexico Supreme Court ... held that the Huguenins do not have a constitutional right to be free from compelled speech because they create expression for paying customers. That decision conflicts with this Court’s compelled-speech precedent.”

A July Rasmussen poll found that 85 percent of American adults believe a Christian photographer has the right to say no if asked to take pictures at a same-sex ceremony that conflicts with the photographer’s religious beliefs.

In 2006, Huguenin declined Vanessa Willock’s request to photograph a commitment ceremony between Willock and another woman. Huguenin declined the request because her and her husband’s Christian beliefs conflict with the message communicated by the expressive event, which Willock asked Huguenin to help her “celebrate.”

Willock easily found another photographer for her ceremony, and for less money, but nevertheless filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission against Elane Photography. After a one-day trial, the commission ruled against the Huguenins and ordered them to pay $6,637.94 in attorneys’ fees to Willock. The case then made its way through the New Mexico state court system as Elane Photography v. Willock.

A Roundup Of This Week’s Political Cartoons: Good ones!

December 20, 2013 by Personal Liberty News Desk 

The National Security Agency was a hot topic again this week, as more surveillance details were revealed. But what really got tongues wagging this week was that Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” fame quacked his way out of a job.

http://personalliberty.com/2013/12/20/friday-fun-a-roundup-of-this-weeks-political-cartoons-5/

Missing POW's remains returned to his widow 63 years after his death

The remains of Joseph Gantt, a soldier who died in the Korean War, received an overwhelmingly emotional homecoming this morning from his widow Clara at LAX after 63 years.

By Samantha Schaefer

December 20, 2013, 11:20 a.m.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt told his wife to remarry if he didn’t come back from the war. She told him no. He had a hard enough time getting her to say yes. He was it.
For 63 years, the World War II and Korean War veteran was missing in action and presumed dead, but Clara Gantt, 94, held out hope and never remarried.
On a cold, dark Friday morning on the Los Angeles International Airport tarmac, the widow stood from her wheelchair and cried as her husband’s flag-draped casket arrived home.

• Photos: Missing for more than 63 years, veteran's remains returned to family
• Video: Remains Of Missing Korean War Vet Return To LA After 63 Years
• Video: Remains of missing WWII vet return to LA after 63 years

“I am very, very proud of him. He was a wonderful husband, an understanding man,” she told TV reporters at the airport. “I always did love my husband, we was two of one kind, we loved each other. And that made our marriage complete.”
Joseph Gantt joined the Army in 1942 and served in the South Pacific during WWII. He met his wife on a train from Texas to Los Angeles in 1946 and they married two years later. They had no children.
In the Korean War, he was assigned as a field medic, Battery C, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when he was taken prisoner by North Korean forces in December 1950. He died in March 1951, it was learned later, but his remains were only recently returned to the U.S. and identified, said Bob Kurkjian, executive director of USO Greater Los Angeles Area.
Clara Gantt, of Inglewood, bought a home and got a gardener so that when her husband returned, he wouldn’t have to work in the yard — he could just go fishing and do whatever he wanted, she said.
“I bought a home for him. And I am in that home now,” she said.
In her bedroom, the widow keeps a shrine with her husband’s awards, including the Bronze Star with Valor, awarded posthumously for his combat leadership actions while defending his unit's position, and a Purple Heart, Kurkjian said.
Joseph Gantt will be buried later this month.
The pylons at LAX glowed red, white and blue in honor of the veteran's return, and an Airport Police and Army honor guard met the plane as it touched down from Honolulu, where the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and forensics labs are located.
“It’s a holiday homecoming for the Gantt family to finally be able to close that chapter and move forward knowing with certainty that their husband, uncle, great uncle is finally home,” Kurkjian said.
This is third Korean War veteran whose remains have been brought home in the last 18 months, he said.

Message to Police

You can bury it but you cannot hide it! Battlefield Sensors Continue To Make Technological Leaps

By Stew Magnuson 

Over the past dozen years, the U.S. military has rapidly fielded next-generation battlefield sensors to find roadside bombs and the insurgents who plant them.

Hyperspectral and wide-area surveillance sensors are two examples of technologies that military leaders have touted as success stories. 

But the military can’t stand pat, one government researcher said.

“The last 10 years we have been concentrating on [intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance] in environments where people can freely say, ‘We are swimming in sensors and drowning in data,’” said Stefanie Tompkins, deputy director of the strategic technology office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

But the permissive environment, where unmanned aerial vehicles carrying such sensors fly over warzones unmolested, may not be the situation in which the military finds itself in the future.
DARPA is thinking about new ways to gather data in access-denied areas, she said.

Operating in contested environments means either employing sensors from stand-off distances, or somehow secretly placing them inside enemy territory, she said.

The ultimate challenge would be something buried underground, with a lake over it, a jungle to the side “and maybe a bunch of people trying to shoot at you as well,” she said recently at the Defense Security and Sensing Conference in Baltimore.

In the future, peer adversaries will be doing everything possible to prevent the military from experiencing that “drowning in data” situation, she said. Meanwhile, in permissive areas of operation, there are challenges remaining, she stressed. Finding a specific person in a crowd, for example, hasn’t become any easier, she said.

“At the same time, we are moving into an environment of incredible cost constraints, so we have to try to do the most with less,” she added.

Read full story here:..........
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/July/Pages/BattlefieldSensorsContinueToMakeTechnologicalLeaps.aspx

Senate Passes Bipartisan Budget Deal – Here Are the 36 Republicans Who Voted Against It

The U.S. Senate voted 64-36 Wednesday to pass the two-year Ryan-Murray budget agreement.

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) explain their budget agreement (Getty Images).

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, say their plan will reduce the nation’s deficit by $23 billion and scale back the March 1 automatic spending cuts known as sequester.

“This vote shows both parties — in both chambers — can find common ground. We can work together,” Ryan said shortly after the vote.

The deal, titled “The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013,” will replace sequester cuts with savings from future-year cuts, according to the deal’s authors. It also sets the budget cap for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 at $1.012 trillion and $1.014 trillion, respectively. Prior to the bill’s passage, the budget cap for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 was $967 billion and $995 billion, respectively.

The bill will require federal civilian and military employees to contribute more to their pensions, it will increase premiums on companies whose pension plans are insured by taxpayers and it will levy new airline fees on travelers.

These are the 36 senators who voted against the bill:

1. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
2. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)
3. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
4. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
5. John Boozman (R-Ark.)
6. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
7. Dan Coats (R-In)
8. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)
9. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)
10. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
11. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
12. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
13. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
14. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.)
15. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
16. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)
17. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
18. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
19. Dean Heller (R-Nev,)
20. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
21. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)
22. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
23. Mike Lee (R-Utah)
24. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
25. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
26. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
27. James Risch (R-Idaho)
28. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.)
29. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
30. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
31. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)
32. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
33. John Thune (R-S.D.)
34. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
35. David Vitter (R-La.)
36. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)

Sens. Alexander, Blunt and Flake voted “yay” on cloture, moving the bill to a final vote, but voted “nay” on the bill’s final passage.

Here are the nine Republicans who voted in favor of the bill:

1. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)
2. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
3. Orin Hatch (R-Utah)
4. John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
5. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
6. Ron Johnson (R-Wiss.)
7. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
8. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
9. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)

Although it passed with little resistance (64 “yays” to 36 “nays” is a blowout in Senate terms), the budget deal, which takes the possibility of a government shutdown off the table for the next two years, sparked a minor war between GOP leaders and several conservative groups including Heritage Action and FreedomWorks.

“They’re pushing our members in places where they don’t want to be, and frankly I think they’ve lost all credibility,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in reference to attacks on the bill. “It just comes to a point where some people step over the line. When you criticize something and you have no idea what you’re criticizing, it undermines your credibility.”

Paul Ryan responded to critics, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), by arguing that the bill, although not perfect, is a good step toward future deficit reduction.

“Read the deal and get back to me,” Ryan said in response to Rubio’s claim that the budget deal would “make it harder for Americans to achieve the American dream.”

“People are going to do what they need to do. Look, in the minority you don’t have the burden of governing,” he said, adding that Rubio’s move to condemn the bill “was a little strange.”

The fact that the deal does not include an extension of the long-term unemployment benefits that will expire on Dec. 28 has prompted loud criticism from several Democrat lawmakers and left-leaning pundits. In the days leading up to Wednesday’s vote, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who voiced her support for the deal early on, advised her colleagues to “embrace the suck.”

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill last week; it now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk for final approval.

Obamacare Enhances Globalist Effort to Restrict Freedom of Travel

Freedom of movement without restriction long considered an individual right
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
December 19, 2013

Forget that winter vacation in the sun. Your healthcare might be nullified. Photo: Nick Harris

Reading through the 381,517 words of the Obamacare bill, American Thinker’s Stella Paul discovered something overlooked in the ongoing discussion about the law — it discourages freedom of travel.
The Founders included the Privileges and Immunities Clause in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution because they understood the importance of freedom of movement. A similar provision was contained in the Articles of Confederation prior to the drafting of the Constitution. James Madison discussed freedom of movement in the Federalist Papers. He wrote that “those who come under the denomination of free inhabitants of a State, although not citizens of such State, are entitled, in every other State, to all the privileges of free citizens of the latter; that is, to greater privileges than they may be entitled to in their own State.” Alexander Hamilton also addressed the proposed Privileges and Immunities Clause to the Constitution in Federalist No. 80.
From the Magna Carta onward, the idea that a free individual shall be allowed to travel without the interference of the state became a fundamental right. In previous eras, kings and emperors restricted the travel of citizens, merchants and serfs as part of an effort to control humanity, often for political reasons. For instance, when Augustus established the Roman Empire in 27 BC he imposed monarchical powers over his subjects and prevented senators and others from traveling freely.
According to Stella Paul, Obamacare will indirectly impose limitations on travel. “Americans are among the most mobile people on earth, but ObamaCare may soon start freezing them in place,” she writes. “Millions are losing their health insurance policies and being forced onto the ObamaCare exchanges, where most plans only provide local medical coverage.” Millions of Americans “will have their insurance as a consideration for their mobility, which they never had before.”
A control freak global ruling elite, viscerally opposed to the idea of human liberty, is working behind the scenes to shut down human mobility. They are exploiting the debunked theory of anthropogenic climate change in an effort to radically modify human behavior and thus curtail individual rights as a part of their eugenics agenda. “Your energy consumption will be controlled until you can’t farm, can’t manufacture, can’t travel, can’t fish, can’t use your land,” writes Rosa Koire, author of Behind the Green Mask: U.N. Agenda 21.
Dutch researcher Jurriaan Maessen cites a report issued by the European Commission and World Wildlife Fund spelling out how the Agenda 21 sustainability plan will be used to eliminate the freedom of movement. By 2050, the authors predict, “Europeans are forced to adopt green lifestyle habits — for example, via bans on non-essential individual long distance travel. By this stage, air travel has long been too expensive for the majority of people. The state controls or heavily influences all available channels of education, media and marketing to spread this message to continually reinforce its adoption and mould perceptions of sustainability.”
Agenda 21 is not a crackpot conspiracy theory, as the establishment would have you believe. “Presidents George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, through Executive Orders, have signed onto Agenda 21,” writes Karen Sweetland. “Hundreds more governors, mayors, and county commissioners have also signed on. There presently are over 600 cities, counties and states in America signed on to Agenda 21… 179 countries, including the United States, initially signed on to the Agenda in 1992. Many more have joined since then.”
Urban areas in the United States are now encouraged by the Environment Protection Agency and other agencies of the federal government to adopt “smart growth” policies, including parking restrictions, closing roads to traffic and carfree zones to restrict travel and movement. Chicago, Pittsburgh and many smaller communities from California to New Jersey have signed on to the smart growth agenda.
The mobility discouraging aspects of Obamacare add to overall sustainability policies mandated on several governmental levels, including the United Nations, and as mentioned above, by federal, state local government in the United States.
Americans may think twice about traveling to another state or taking that vacation if their health insurance is either nullified or medical costs are drastically increased. Obama and Congress attempted to sell Obamacare as a remedy to America’s escalating healthcare problems — problems created by government interference in the marketplace allowing the establishment of insurance monopolies. Instead, the government has not only limited access to healthcare and increased its cost to the benefit of its corporate partners (the true definition of fascism), but has also, as Stella Paul points out, enhanced the globalist effort to destroy human liberty and promote a radical eugenics agenda.

Government Using NSA to Change Amount in Bank Accounts, Warns Panel

Americans at risk of enforced Cyprus-style bail-in
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 19, 2013

A White House review panel report into the activities of the NSA suggested that the government was using the spy agency to launch cyber attacks against financial institutions and change the amounts held in bank accounts.

Image: ATM Customers (YouTube).

The 300 page report prepared for President Barack Obama by the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology called for the NSA to be stripped of its power to obtain bulk collections of telephone records.

Page 221 of the panel’s report states;

(1) Governments should not use surveillance to steal industry secrets to advantage their domestic industry;

(2) Governments should not use their offensive cyber capabilities to change the amounts held in financial accounts or otherwise manipulate the financial systems.

Trevor Timm from the Electronic Frontier Foundation responded to the report by suggesting that the NSA was targeting major financial institutions.

Does this NSA report recommendation imply that NSA is conducting
offensive cyber attacks against financial systems? pic.twitter.com/UlO0HN1vH7
— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) December
18, 2013

In the aftermath of the Edward Snowden revelations it was confirmed that, “The National Security Agency (NSA) widely monitors international payments, banking and credit card transactions,” under the auspices of an international branch called Follow the Money (FTM), and that the spy agency has full access to the VISA and SWIFT payment systems.

“Top financial experts say that the NSA and other intelligence agencies are using information gained from spying to profit from this inside information. And the NSA wants to ramp up its spying on Wall Street … to “protect” it. “Whose money, exactly, is the NSA “protecting” … and how are they protecting it?” asks Washington’s Blog, “What about the money of people that the U.S. government considers undesirables?”

The government’s ability to use the NSA to directly amend bank accounts increases the risk of Americans being subjected to a Cyprus-style “bail-in” where a tax on savings deposits is directly levied in the name of austerity.

Earlier this year, Chase Bank customers attempted to withdraw their cash from ATMs only to be shocked at seeing their balance reduced to zero by a mystery system “glitch”. Was this in any way connected to the NSA’s activities?

With banks increasingly moving towards capital controls in a bid to stave off the risk of a sudden flight from the US dollar, the prospect of the US government relying on cyber attacks launched by the NSA to manipulate financial markets and bank accounts remains a genuine possibility.