Tag Archives: espionage

Inside The High Flying & Spying World Of Hot Air Balloons

Remember early last year when we were besieged by strange, large balloons in our airspace- the kind of balloons that certain nations are using to spy on us or possibly manipulate the weather?

Okay let’s put those conspiracy theories aside for now. Hopefully everyone has seen a hot air balloon in flight at least once because they are majestic and otherworldly and quite calming to watch drifting around up in the blue sky above.

But have you ever wondered when the first one was invented? Or how much hot air is required to get them safely off the ground and ready for a flight around the skies? Or where they are stored when they aren’t being used? Our friends at SpareFoot were wondering the same thing, and the data they shared with us below is quite astonishing.

Hot Air Balloon InfoGraphic

SupplementalBaumgartner’s record setting Free Fall event utilized Hot Air Balloon to reach “edge of space”

The World’s Weirdest Museums You Must Visit

More often than not, all our museum experiences are quite similar. We see some art or historical artifacts, learn about a subject, and sometimes listen to a lesson during a tour. 

And while every museum is invaluable, sometimes the heart wants something quirkier and unusual.  Evidently, many people had the same sentiment because if you really look, you’ll find some incredible gems in the world of museums. 

Here are the world’s weirdest museums you must visit. 

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, Osaka, Japan 

Ramen is synonymous with Japan, so no wonder there is a museum dedicated to it! Momofuko Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor, invented Chicken ramen noodles in his backyard shed in 1958.  

The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum shows this Japan’s cult food that went global by displaying ramen noodle packages from around the world and giving the opportunity to taste limited-edition ramen from Hokkaido island and Tohoku region.  Visitors can also design their personal soup packet at the “My Cupnoodles” Factory.  

Spy Museum, Washington DC, USA  

Love spy movies or novels? Then this museum is for you! International Spy Museum in Washington DC has the largest public collection of espionage artifacts that includes various gadgets, cameras, secret weapons, cipher machines, and counterfeit money. 

It’s a rare chance to take a look at this secret profession and see how it’s developed over the years. 

Museum visitors can participate in interactive spy adventures, watch never-seen-before videos of spies and revel in the impressive photo collection.  And who wouldn’t wish for a super-gadget that would help make life easier, to help you in high-stakes situations like basketball betting on BetAmerica.com?  

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi, India 

Roughguides.com names the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi, India, which shows the history of hygiene and sanitation from 2500 B.C. to today, as one of the weirdest museums a person can visit. 

The visitors can see the toilet evolution over the ages – from Roman emperors’ gold-plated toilets to medieval toilets of peasants.  A fun fact – you can find a collection of rare toilet poems in the museum as well.  

British Lawnmower Museum, Merseyside, England 

Can there be something more British than a Lawnmower museum?  If you’re a garden enthusiast or simply like quirky things, you must visit the museum, which details this garden tool’s history. 

Lawnmowers - Picture of British Lawnmower Museum, Southport - Tripadvisor

You’ll find such items as the lawnmowers of Prince Charles and Princess Diana or the world’s first solar-powered robot grass-chopper in the collection.  Probably the cutest lawnmower at the museum is less than five centimeters high and is fully functional!  

Siriraj Medical Museum (Museum of Death), Bangkok, Thailand 

If it sounds scary, that’s because it is. Even though officially named a Medical museum, most people call it simply the museum of death.  If you’re squeamish or find the subject distressing, it’s probably best to skip this one.  

You’ll find severed and mutilated legs and arms, brains, skulls pierced with bullets, lungs that have been stabbed, and other similar things in the collection.  They all illustrate the dark and gruesome ways to transition to death and leave no one indifferent.  

If that’s not enough, you can also see the mummified body of a notorious cannibal Si Quey and the museum’s founder’s skeleton.  

The Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia 

It is just as sad and beautiful as it sounds. It started as a joke by two Croatian artists who broke up after a long relationship and said they wanted to create a museum to honor it. Well, they did, and it blew up all over the world. 

You can see various mementos from people’s relationships in different countries that include an ax used to destroy a cheating partner’s furniture, jewelry, postcards, and more.  

Paris Sewer Museum, France 

Nobody likes to talk about it, but sewer systems are the basis for a civilized society! However, it’s not the first or even the fifth thing people want to see when visiting the city of love.  

Still, it’s so fascinating and complex.  Lifehack.org explains that it’s an entire network of tunnels as large as the city itself, and also a museum that tourists can visit and explored, complete with tour guides.   Don’t worry, it doesn’t smell that bad, and you’ll see a part of Paris you never thought you would. For the Silo, Milda Urbonaite.

The Night The CIA Borrowed A Soviet Space Capsule

A number of years ago the Soviet Union toured several countries with an exhibition of its industrial and economic achievements. There were the usual standard displays of industrial machinery and models of power stations and nuclear equipment.

Of greater interest to the CIA were apparent models of the Sputnik and Lunik space vehicles. U.S. intelligence twice gained extended access to the Lunik- the second time even borrowing it overnight and returning it before the Soviets missed it.

This is a true story of close cooperation between covert and overt intelligence components.

Declassified Lunik CIA Kidnapping

On View Abroad

The Soviets. had carefully prepared for this exhibition tour; most of the display material was shipped to each stop well in advance. But as their technicians were busily assessing the various items in one exhibition hall they received a call informing them that another crate had arrived. They apparently had not expected this item and had no idea what it was, because the first truck they dispatched was too small to handle the crate and they had to send a second.

The late shipment turned out to be the last-stage Lunik space vehicle, lying on its side in a cabin-like crate approximately 20 feet long and 11 feet wide with a roof about 14 feet high at the peak. It was unpacked and placed on a pedestal. It had been freshly painted. and three inspection windows cut in the nose section permitted a view of the payload instrument package with its antenna.

Declassified Lunik CIA Kidnapping

It was presumably a mock-up made especially for the exhibition; the Soviets would not be so foolish as to expose a real production item of such advanced equipment to the prying eyes of imperialist intelligence. Or would they? A number of analysts in the U.S. community suspected that they might, and an operation was laid on to find out. After the exhibition closed at this location, a group of intelligence officers had unrestricted access to the Lunik for some 24 hours.

DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 947003

The Lunik

They found that it was indeed a production item from which the engine and· most electrical and electronic components had been removed. They examined ·it thoroughly from the ·viewpoint of probable. performance, taking measurements, determining its structural characteristics estimating engine size, and so forth but not with sufficient detail or precision to permit a definitive identification of the producer or determination of the system used. It was therefore decided to try to get another access for a factory team.

Plans and Problems

As the exhibition moved from one city to another, an intercepted shipping manifest showed an item called .. models of astronomic apparatus whose dimensions were approximately those of the Lunik crate. This information was sent to the CIA Station nearest the destination with a request to try to arrange secure access if the Lunik should appear. On the basis of our experience at trade fairs and other exhibitions, we preferred access before opening of an exhibition to the alternatives of examining it while in the exhibition hall or after it had left the grounds for another destination.

Soon the Lunik crate did arrive and was taken to the exhibition grounds. The physical situation at the grounds, however, ruled out access to it prior to the show’s opening. Then during the show the Soviets provided their own 24 -hour guard for the displays, so there was no possibility of making a surreptitious night visit. This left only one chance: to get to it at some point after it left the exhibition grounds. In the meantime our four-man team of specialists from the Joint Factory Markings Center had arrived. We brought along our specialized photographic gear and basic tools. We each went out and bought a set of local clothes, everything from the skin out.

We held a series of meetings with Station personnel over the course of a week, mutually defining capabilities and requirements, laying plans for access and escape, and determining what additional equipment we would need. The Station photographed the Lunik crate repeatedly so we would get a better idea of its construction. ~

Photographs showed that the sides and ends were bolted together from within; the only way to get inside was through the roof. We therefore bought more tools and equipment-ladders, ropes, a nail puller, drop lights, flashlights, extension cords, a pinch bar, a set of metric wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers.

After the exhibition the displays would be carried by truck from the exhibition grounds toa railroad station and loaded onto freight cars for their next destination. For the interception we had to choose between the truck run and the rail haul. The initial preference was for the latter; it seemed the freight car carrying the Lunik might most easily be shunted onto a siding (preferably into a warehouse) for a night and resume its journey the next morning. A detailed check of our assets on the rail line however, showed no good capability for doing this. Careful examination of the truckage to the station, on the other hand, revealed a possibility.

DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 947003

Lunik

Lunik on Loan

As the exhibition materials were crated and trucked to the rail yard, a Soviet checker stationed at the yard took note of each item when it arrived. He had no communications bade to his colleagues at the fair grounds, however. It .was arranged to make the Lunik the last truckload of the day to leave the grounds. When it left it was preceded by a Station car and followed by another; their job was to determine whether the Soviets were escorting it to the rail yard.

When it was clear that there were no Soviets around, the truck was stopped at the last possible tum-off, a canvas was thrown over the crate, and a new driver took over.

The original driver was escorted to a hotel room and kept there for the night. The truck was quickly driven to a salvage yard which had been rented for the purpose. This yard was open to the sky but had a10-foot solid wood fence around it. With some difficulty the truck was backed in from a narrow alley and the gates closed; they just cleared the front bumper. The entire vicinity was patrolled by Station cars with two-way radios maintaining contact with the yard and the Station .

Declassified Lunik CIA Kidnapping

Action was suspended for half an hour: Everything remained quiet in the area, and there· was no indication that the Soviets suspected anything amiss. The Soviet stationed at the rail yard waited for a short time to see whether any more truckloads were coming then packed up his papers and went to supper. After eating he proceeded to his hotel room, where he was kept under surveillance all night.

The markings team, in local clothes and without any identification, were cruising in a car some distance from the salvage yard. We were now given the all-clear to proceed to the yard and start work.We arrived about 7:30 p.m. and were let in by a two-man watch and communications team from the Station. They had put all our equipment and tools in the yard and food and drink for the night.

Our first task was to remove enough of the crate’s roof to get in. It was made of 2-inch tongue-and-groove planks nailed down with 5-inch spikes. Two members of the team went to work on these, perspiring and panting in the humid air. The effort not to leave traces of our forced entry was made easier by the fact that the planks had been removed and put back several times before and so were already battered.

DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 947003

The Lunik

While this was going on there was a rather unnerving incident. When we had arrived at the salvage yard it was dark; the only lights were in the salvage company’s office. Now, with two men on top of the crate prying up planks, street lamps suddenly came on, flooding the place with light. We had a few anxious moments until we learned this was not an ambush but the normal lamp-lighting scheduled for this hour.

Photographers at work 

The other two of us meanwhile were assembling the photographic gear and rigging up the drop lights with extension cords. We had ladders up at each end of the crate, and when the planks were off we dropped another ladder inside each end. The Lunik in its cradle was almost touching the sides of the crate, so we couldn’t walk from one end to the other inside.

Half the team now climbed into the front–nose–end with one set of photographic equipment and a drop light. . They pulled the canvas back over the opening to keep the flash of the strobe units from attracting attention.· They removed one of the inspection windows in the nose section, took off their shoes so as to leave no telltale scars on the metal surface, and squeezed inside. The payload orb was held in a central basket, with its main antenna probe extended more than half way to the tip of the cone. They filled one roll of camera film with close-ups of markings on it and sent this out via one of the patrolling cars for processing, to be sure that the camera was working properly and the results were satisfactory. The word soon came back that the negatives were fine, and they continued their work.

We on the other half of the team had tackled the tail section. Our first job was to gain access to the engine compartment by removing the Lunik’s large base cap; this was attached to its flange by some 130 square-headed bolts. We removed these with a metric wrench and by using a rope sling moved the heavy cap off to one side.

Inside the compartment the engine had been removed, but its mounting brackets, as well as the fuel and oxidizer tanks, were still in place. At the front end of the compartment, protruding through the center of .a baffle plate that separated the nose section from the engine, was the end of a rod which held the payload orb in place.

A four-way electrical outlet acting as a nut screwed onto the end of this rod was keyed by a wire whose ends were encased in a plastic seal bearing a Soviet stamp. The only way to free the orb so as to let the nose team into the basket in which it rested was to cut this wire and unscrew the outlet.

DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 947003

The Lunik

We checked with Station personnel and were assured they could duplicate the plastic, stamp, and wire. So we decided to go ahead and look for markings in the basket area. We cut the wire and passed it to one of the patrolling cars. The pair in the nose section photographed or hand copied all items in the basket area while we did those in the engine compartment. The Soviets, in removing all electrical connections and gear, had overlooked two couplings in the basket; these we took back to headquarters for detailed analysis.

Before we had finished, the new seal-wire, plastic, and stamp was delivered to the yard.

Returned in Good Condition

The exploitation of the Lunik was now complete; all that remained was to put things back together and close up the crate. The first job, re-screwing the orb in its basket, proved to be the most tricky and time-consuming part of the whole night’s work. The baffle plate between the nose and engine compartments prevented visual guidance of the rod into position, and the rod was just long enough to screw the outlet on beyond the baffle plate. We spent almost an hour on this, one man in the cramped nose section trying to get the orb into precisely the right position and one in the engine compartment trying to engage the threads on the end of a rod he couldn’t see. After a number of futile attempts and many anxious moments, the connection was finally made, and we all sighed with relief.

The wire was wrapped around the outlet and its ends secured in the plastic. The nose and engine compartments were double-checked to make sure no telltale materials such as matches, pencils, or scraps of paper had been left inside. The inspection window was replaced in the nose section, and with some difficulty the base cap was bolted into position. ·After checking the inside of the crate for evidence of our tampering we climbed out. The ladders were pulled up, the roof planks nailed into place, and the canvas spread back over. We packed our equipment and were picked up by one of the cars at 4:00a.m.

At 5:00 a.m. a driver came and moved the truck from the salvage yard to a prearranged point. Here the canvas cover was removed and the original driver took over and drove to the rail yard. The Soviet who had been checking items as they arrived the previous day came to the yard at 7:00 a.m. and found the truck with the Lunik awaiting him.

DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 947003

He showed no surprise, checked the crate in, and watched it loaded onto a car. In due course the train left. To this day there has been no indication the Soviets ever discovered that the Lunik was borrowed for a night.

The results of analysis on the data collected were published in a Center Brief. They included probable identification of the producer of this Lunik stage, the fact that it was the 6fth one produced, identification of three electrical producers who supplied components, and revelation of the system that was used here and conceivably for other Soviet space hardware. But perhaps more important in the long term than these positive intelligence results was the experience and example of fine cooperation on a job between covert operators and essentially overt collectors.

Intelligence Operative- Iran Source Of Explosives Causing Beirut Nuke Like Destruction

Beirut / Tehran – The 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate which caused a massive explosion in the port of Beirut originated in Iran before being loaded onto the Russian ship MV Rhosus whose cargo ultimately ended up being unloaded in the port of Beirut.

This revelation comes from an intelligence operative within Tehran’s government who has been secretly working with pro-democracy activists. The information comes from the NGO ‘The New Iran’ which has a track record of successfully smuggling sensitive information out of Iran, including much of the video footage seem in the media of widespread protests within Iran following the Iranian military shooting down Ukraine National Airlines flight PS752. 

Intelligence Operative Connected to Pro-Democracy Movement

The intelligence operative communicated the details over a secure messaging technology The New Iran uses for coordinating with their democratic allies within the country.  

Lebanese government sources have disclosed that the ammonium nitrate was seized in 2013. This date is perhaps significant the source says because it follows shortly after the opening of an ammonium nitrate factory within Iran.  

“Our source is risking his life to bring us this information,” says Dr. Iman Foroutan, Chairman of The New Iran, “because he believes that recent developments within the government are going to make these kinds of disasters more common.”

At the end of June, the government of Iran approved an agreement for a “25-year comprehensive cooperation plan between Iran and China.”

The two countries are calling it a “strategic partnership.”

The agreement is designed to help Iran get around the punishing sanctions of the United States, which more and more is being looked at as a common enemy by both Tehran and Beijing. China will be investing $400 billion USD into Iran with an immediate payment of $320 billion USD – a substantial portion of which is going into strengthening ports and military capability.  

“The Iranian regime is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism,” says Dr. Foroutan who along with other influential Iranians in exile are working to fully expose the danger of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s radicalism and eventually free the Iranian people. “Now with the cover of China, one of the world’s rising superpowers, Iran will be able to move more weapons and weapons components throughout the region and the world.” 

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has already twice threatened to blow up the port of Haifa in Israel. Hezbollah allegedly sought to acquire ammonium nitrate via Syria since 2009 and tried to infiltrate the agriculture ministry in Lebanon to do so, according to leaked diplomatic cables.  

In February 16, 2016 Nasrallah also said that ammonia is stored in Haifa and that there are 15,000 tons of gas Haifa and that explosions there might cause the deaths of tens of thousands of people. “the expert added that this is exactly like a nuclear bomb. In other words, Lebanon has a nuclear bomb. This is not an exaggeration.” Nasrallah laughs as he says this in the video. 

https://youtu.be/hp_Pdew_sG8

“With the agreement between China and Tehran allowing the regime to ship under the cover of China, potentially deadly materials like ammonia nitrate [may be] circumventing US sanctions,” says Iman Foroutan, “The next explosion may not be an accident.” For the Silo, Lance Laytner.

Pueblo Incident: Two Failed Submarine Missions ©

In response to the January 23, 1968 North Korea seizure of the USS Pueblo and crew, the Johnson Administration sent an armada of ships and up to nine subs, both nuclear-powered and diesel/electric, into the Sea of Japan. The operation was known as “Formation Star,” the largest build-up of U.S. naval forces around the Korean peninsula since the Korean War. This U.S. naval show-of-force was led by the USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the largest warship in the world at the time.

Less known are the stories of the two submarines sent in response to the Pueblo Incident—the USS Segundo and USS Swordfish—both of which failed to execute their missions as planned. In the case of the Segundo, her detection by the North Koreans off the coast of Wonsan, North Korea nearly led to the deaths of the entire crew. And while not life-threatening, the failed Swordfish mission led to a cascade of Cold War events including, according to one author, the sinking of a U.S. sub in retaliation for the sinking of a Soviet sub, which the Russians had falsely attributed to ramming by the USS Swordfish.

In August 2000, decades after the resolution of the Pueblo crisis, a small California newspaper interviewed Russ Noragon, a member of the USS Segundo crew. In what a staff writer at the Ventura County Star described as a “top-secret mission that might be the stuff of a Tom Clancy spy novel,” Noragon described how his sub had to submerge to the bottom of the sea off the coast of Wonsan, North Korea to avoid capture by the North Koreans. At the time, Noragon was a Machinists Mate (MM); a Chief before retirement.

In an article titled “Local Submariner Recalls Time on Bottom,” Noragon told how he and the other 79 men on board had barely escaped with their lives when the Segundo and crew nearly ran out of air. The incident occurred on the day the Pueblo was hijacked in international waters off the coast of North Korea. Noragon said his sub was “ordered to attempt a rescue of the 83 sailors aboard the intelligence vessel USS Pueblo…,” the planning of which began immediately, he said. According to the Segundo’s Chief of the Boat (COB), there were five special ops on board, but their role was unknown to the crew.

But instead of completing their mission undetected, Noragon said North Korean sonar-equipped patrol boats discovered his sub at periscope depth shortly after it arrived in the area. They then began bombarding the Segundo with depth charges, forcing it to the sea bottom with its engines and most of its equipment shut down. After a couple of days on the ocean floor, “It was miserable,” Noragon said. “We all got terrible headaches from the lack of oxygen.”

Noragon, who was assigned to the engine room, said he didn’t even know the depth of the water, only the tenseness of the situation. Meanwhile, the crew covered everything on board with a “special powder” (presumably lithium hydroxide) that absorbed the carbon dioxide in the air that built up in the close quarters. Some fresh air was pumped in from the submarine’s reserve tanks, but only enough to keep the air breathable.

To avoid detection, Noragon said the crew, who “spoke in whispers,” were ordered to stay in their bunks when not on watch, in what submariners call “silent running.” The seriousness of the situation became all too apparent when classified materials and equipment were readied for destruction. Noragon said he really got nervous when the radiomen brought out all of the Segundo’s cryptography gear and the weighted bags and hammers. At which point, Noragon said to himself, “Oh, this is not good.” When the commanding officer of the Segundo, Cdr. David A. Fudge, realized that rescuing the Pueblo crew was no longer possible, Noragon said his crewmates devised an escape plan.

With North Korean vessels at the surface lying in wait, Fudge had the crew eject hollow can targets, alternating between the sub’s bow and stern. As each target pinged the North Korean sonar, the Segundo moved a little. “We had all these bubbles down there,” Noragon recalls. “Pretty soon, there were so many targets, they [the North Koreans] didn’t know which was real and which were a decoy.” This allowed the Segundo and crew to finally escape. Now fifty years later, the ill-effects of this failed mission remain with the surviving members of the crew.

About ten days after the Pueblo seizure, the USS Swordfish raced to the Sea of Japan from her homeport at Pearl Harbor. The sub’s belated departure might have been to compensate for the withdrawal of Segundo from the area, or perhaps it was sent to help confront the Soviets who by then had sent an armada of their own ships and subs to confront Operation “Formation Star.”

Unfortunately, in early March, Swordfish struck a block of ice that had drifted south, bending her mast back at a 45-degree angle; so she departed the area for the U.S. Naval Base at Yokosuka for repairs, which required ten days. However, when the Japanese press noticed the arrival of a damaged submarine on the surface—a rare event—they requested an explanation from the U.S. Navy. To avoid disclosing the Swordfish’s secret mission—all submarines on special operations were classified—the Navy said the Swordfish had come to Yokosuka for some much-needed R&R. But what about the damage? As the Navy explained, the “damage was likely caused by hyoryubutsu,” meaning flotsam or wreckage, not ice.

When a photo of the Swordfish with a bent mast appeared in an article in a Japanese newspaper, the Russians smelled a rat. About a week earlier, K-129, their nuclear-armed Project 629A (NATO reporting name Golf II) diesel-electric powered submarine, sank without explanation. Had the Swordfish intentionally rammed a Soviet submarine, resulting in the death of all 98 men on board? When the Russians confronted the Americans, the Pentagon would only say that the Swordfish was about 2,000 miles from where their Soviet submarine sank—no mention was made of Swordfish’s secret Pueblo mission. According to Ed Offley, the author of “Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon,” the Soviets intentionally sank a U.S. submarine, the USS Scorpion, in retaliation for the Swordfish’s sinking of their submarine about two months earlier. For the Silo, Bill Streifer.

© bill.streifer@gmail.com

Featured image- USS Scorpion.

USA Asking Countries To Call Huawei Security Threat For Stealing Its Telecom Technology

In May 2019, the Trump administration  filed criminal charges against Huawei for stealing technology calling the firm an espionage threat. The U.S. is asking other countries to follow suit.

Lawrence Ward is a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney in international business focusing on U.S. national security law, CFIUS, and international trade compliance law and licensing. Of the news he says:

“In sanctioning Huawei , the Trump Administration took an escalated step in its trade war with China and in the race to take the technological lead with respect to 5G. That action means U.S. tech companies can no longer supply Huawei or any of its 70 affiliated entities worldwide once they are officially added to the Entity List.

Additionally, foreign companies can no longer supply U.S.-origin parts and components to those entities and certain foreign-made parts and components that incorporate U.S.-origin parts and components may not be able to be supplied either.

Although in recent years Huawei has only sourced between 10 and 20% of its parts and components from U.S. companies, there is speculation that these parts and components – chips, processors, and OS software – are critical to Huawei’s product offerings and business.

China has threatened retaliatory sanctions that could impact U.S. telecom and tech companies. Not only will these new sanctions present a compliance challenge to U.S. companies but the sanctions will also create unique business challenges as U.S. companies will need to more carefully screen overseas R&D partners to snuff out connections to Huawei,” Ward says. For the Silo, Laura Kelley.

Novel Warns North Americans Of Corrupt Bankers And Valueless Dollar

Back in 2012 The Silo reported on a dark novel titled Zurabia. That book held a plot that seems less like fiction with each passing year.  Corrupt bankers, a practically valueless dollar, hyper-unemployment and underemployment, home-grown terrorism, the uptick in natural disasters and the overall lack of trust in our most important institutions – these are some of the reasons all North Americans should be very, very concerned, according to author Peter Dash a world-traveled researcher for Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs.

Peter Dash and his novel

“I predict a brutal world ahead of us,” says Dash, author of “ZUrabia,” a book about rogue forces taking over the world’s most important institutions. “Unfortunately, I have been right since my research at Harvard in 1986, when I questioned the viability of government institutions to meet general needs and growing problems, both domestically and abroad.”

The pragmatic holiday shopper this year will purchase items to safeguard their families against these threats, which have been long in the making and won’t disappear quickly, he says.

From Dash’s homepage- a map of Zurabia complete with mountains and a mushroom cloud. Biblical ! CP

“Terrorism wasn’t inaugurated with 9-11; extremism in Muslim sects has been growing for decades, and Neo-Nazi groups are starting to flourish in failing states like Greece,” he says. “The dollar has been steadily losing its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913; climate change has been on the radar for quite a while; and there have been greedy bankers since, well, banks have existed.”

“If you’re confident that everything is sure to be okay, then you’re not paying attention,” he says.

He offers a four-point survival strategy for holiday and everyday shopping:

• Gold is good: The dollar has lost 95 percent of its value in 100 years, and it will continue losing value. As
the Reserve continues to flood money into the system, thereby reducing current or potential value, more inflation is inevitable, acting as yet another tax on wages. So, collect and buy any gold that you can and consider spending federal notes while they’re still worth something to businesses. Think about your
jewelry, and buying more. Silver is a good option if gold is too expensive, and there are Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, that are backed by physical gold. A reputable banker or broker can help explain for those who are interested. “TD Ameritrade or Charles Schwab may be good places to start getting information on gold and silver ETF trading,” according to Dash.

• Inflation: Spend your money now or smartly invest it before you lose it. Remember, banks often give clients less than one percent on many accounts, but inflation on food and real items we use, like gasoline, are going up by much more. In essence, your banker is stealing your money through the assistance of the Fed, which is killing your savings rate by cheapening money. As if to pour salt on this wound, the bank,
in many cases, lends money at four percent or higher. Rerouting some bank savings/wages by investing in canned food, for example, may protect you against the scourge of food inflation, as well as other disasters.

• Worthy purchases: With food and water, a failed society puts a premium on additional goods. They include home insulation, gardening tools and materials, computer programs and language learning kits – perhaps Spanish or Chinese – because of the increasing prominence of other cultures. Guns, security systems and other measures to protect one’s home will likely prove extremely valuable should law enforcement be spread too thin, or fail as an institution.

• Buy in bulk: Places like Wal-Mart or Costco will help you get the most value with large purchases of food. It’s important to be well-stocked if something happens that results in the emptying of grocery markets, but remember to have adequate space in your house, apartment or cabin for a “safe” room, which is part of a sound strategy for protecting you and your family.

Peter Dash has been a teacher, professor and corporate trainer for the last 17 years, working in Saudi Arabia, the former Soviet Union and China. He has an applied science degree in forestry from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in applied teaching from Southern Queensland in Australia. He was a researcher in world (dis) order and youth groups at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, started by Henry Kissinger. He follows the investment field intensely, focusing on commodity funds and trends.
Fifteen percent of his book’s royalties will go to needy students consistent to the many years Dash has worked in assisting voluntary youth organizations. He lives on a small tropical island that is stocked with the finest well water, fish and food. Dash invests in Gold ETFs and commodity trading companies.

SupplementalCBC radio interview with Dash on Zurabia

SCOTTeVEST Smart Clothing includes Radio-Frequency I.D. blocking pockets and more

SCOTTeVEST (SeV) – an innovative clothing brand for men and women that lets you carry and use all of your gadgets and daily essentials. SeV’s functional fashion enables wearers to live, work and play in a more organized and hands-free way. With up to 42 cleverly designed pockets in a single garment, SeV apparel guarantees that you never have to worry  dropping a phone, losing track of personal items or lugging around an unwanted bulky bag again.

scottEvest
scottEvest1In addition to pockets, SCOTTeVEST clothing has tons of useful features, including the patented PAN (personal area network), RFID-blocking pockets, iPad pockets, clear-touch pockets, ID pockets, key holders, eyeglass chamois, Teflon fabric protector, no bulge pocket technology and much more.
Imagine Giorgio Armani and Bill Gates stranded on a desert island, and you’ll have a good idea of what SCOTTeVEST offers. SeV vests, coats, jackets, shirts and hoodies are the perfect gift for your marathon-training friend, a boss who is constantly traveling, on-the-go parents and grandparents or the outdoorsy significant other in your life. Scott Jordan CEO and Founder SCOTTeVEST