M14 Forum

jim-analog

Greetings,

I'd signed up for the SHTF course from the fellow that made it through a part of the Balkan war as a civilian. Some pretty interesting "lessons" he's come up with. Anyway, (and I don't want this to come off as an advertisement for him), he recently posted an article about the unusually severe winter they are having in parts of Europe (unlike here). It's in the public section of his site, so you can all read it here:

http://shtfschool.com/

Anyway, one point he has made over and over is how the media and the gov will lie (no big surprise there) about whatever events going on may really be. That was true at the start of the war and continues on regarding how well the infrastructure is prepared to deal with the weather. I don't think it's any better or really much different here.

So..........how should we best go about finding reliable Intel? The tv news has really turned into a childish mess of celebrity worship, arguments, cults of personality and worse. The radio is a bit better, but not by too much. On the internet and web sites, anyone can post anything and it can be difficult to find factual info, as much speculation is presented as fact. There are many of us that are not plugged into law enforcement or other more "closed" portions of society where there may be better info.

What do you all think?

Regards, Jim

CharlieEcho

I think you have it right. I keep the news on all morning while I'm at my desk. It's hard to find any good solid news as far as the big three media. One of the local stations is better than the others, for news. I have found the PBS stations that have the French and Russian world news is much better than our US media. PBS provides some good programing, some of which may be a little to liberal in slant. But, we need to hear it from both sides. The point is to be able to hear "it", and not the s*it.

I don't have cable or dish. I have had dish and direct, but I refuse to pay to watch commercials. Our one local news paper does fairly decent job of bringing the news. I haven't yet vidited your link, but will do so when time permits.

n1hook

Start with information

I presume all interested have read COINTELPRO by James K Davis

A 2012 book

ENEMIES The History of the FBI by Tim Weiner

When the government feels it can lie under the hubris of National Security we all lose.

cachunk

Charlie Echo- I agree PBS is a good source, my one question is are the Russian and French Stations state owned stations or are they independent? I would not trust intel taken from a Russian Govt. mouth piece...

CharlieEcho

RT, what it's shown as on our listing, have Announcers that speak very good English and they do much of their reporting right here in the US. Usually on the East coast.

They don't seem to pull any punches or favor one candidate, or policy over another. At least it can be used to counter some of our reporting. What I really like is their world coverage. The French reporting may be a little canted, but I don't live in Europe, yet.

Another good one is the Japanese news. They do a good job of world reporting. There are a couple others I catch though not regularly.

My wife likes Antiques Road Show, we try to catch it each Monday and Saturday evenings. It's the one program we enjoy together.

cachunk

Everyone loves a little road show now and again...

GeneCo

I've been a member of the other site where Selco first posted and have been following his blogs. He's come a long way since that first post. He has alot of good points that can cross over to our situations, but let's keep in mind, Bosnia and Kosovo was about one religion trying to commit genocide on another religion. They had a different political structure and different laws and attitudes.

What he experienced was an invasion and occupation.

IMO, it's not appropriate to try and discuss whether we can trust the govt or not.

Like Dylan said, "I don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows."

I'd rather discuss how to survive when the food and gas stops flowing and raiders start systematically testing neighborhoods.

I went over to Biloxi, Ms and NOLA after Katrina( to help with the rebuild) and found that folks who banded together and organized, fared better.

CHARLIED308

Good info to digest in the brain housing group.

asa sarge

Get yourself a shortwave radio and scan the bands. Listen to all the major (and depending on how good a radio your purchased, minor) broadcasters and get a feel for what the other countries are saying and doing. BBC (out of the UK), Germany, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, South Africa, all have great news broadcasts and you can hear what our "major" news outlets aren't reporting. You will be amazed!

CharlieEcho

I like this sight for news. They also have regularly posted articles, and even discussion. You must sign up for the email to get their news. You can then choose what area of the World is making news you want to hear.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/

I have a shortwave radio sitting on my bench now, but have not yet connected an antenna.

RandyB45

al Jazeera English has good analysis.

The Economist magazine does as well.

BBC is good also.

It's not intel, but they are good for watching trends the MSM fails to report. BBC and al J were about about the only news sources reporting on NDAA and indef detention, for example.

GeneCo

Sorry, but I must be missing something here........exactly what intel are folks thinking that foreign news will give that American media won't?

Believe me, if there's an invasion somehwere, we'll know about it.

Other than that, I hear/see of tornadoes in Joplin, Mo, I can't do a thing about it. I hear/see of a cat 5 Hurricane in NOLA, I can't do a thing about it. I see a riot in Greece( or Detroit), nothing I can do.

We were in Central Fl in '04 and got 2 direct hits from Hurricanes Charlie and Jean, all we could do is hunker down and survive. Luckily, we got NO damage, but folks around us lost cars and houses, etc.

The important thing is to help your neighbors and help defend your area.

What I found important from Selco is the reality of having to eat grass pancakes and that sugar and rats were a luxury, that medicine's worth it's weight in Platinum. That wood , for cooking and heat, is more important than anything and folks will burn down their house piece by piece when the trees are gone.That going out in the daylight was a sniper bullet and that if you did go out, you travel with a group, carry concealed and you trust no one. Good folks go bad and bad folks become animals. That death is as much a part of daily life as life is. That desparate folks will do desparate things in desparate times. That jewelry is more valuable as barter than coins or ingots, but medicine and skills even more. That tactics are more important than arsenal. That OPSEC is the difference between life and death, etc.

bigbang

Indeed, Al Jazeerah and BBC are very objektive sources I like to watch when beeing abroad.
When on my ISAF mission we heard about an attack on our forces and our J2 officer didn`t want to supply us with information we tuned to Al Jazeerah and heared more than he could get us ever.
Wolf

jim-analog

Greetings,

Thanks for the book tips; I'd not heard of them. The Weiner book seems very good; I'd just started his previous one on CIA when it got packed up for storage. Guess the Davis book is out of print, very $ at Amazon.

Regards, Jim

jim-analog

Greetings,

I can get the BBC world news via PBS, and find it a decent alternative. Not yet found any way to get Al Jazeerar. I'd be very interested to hear their broadcasts. Thanks!

Regards, Jim