We stopped the bleeding, stabilized the economy, but the fact of the matter is the pace of improvement has not been where it needs to be.
-President Obama – September 2010
There’s a disconnect somewhere – a huge one – between what President Obama is telling the American public, and what is actually happening on the ground. For the better part of his Presidency, Mr. Obama has argued that his policies, and those of a democrat Congress, have gotten the economy growing again. The President admits that things could be better, but it’s nothing that a few trillion in deficits can’t cure, after all, as Mr. Obama recently said at the unveiling of his $3.5 trillion 2012 budget, “the best antidote to a growing deficit is a growing economy.”
It boggles the mind to consider that the President, his top advisers, and most in Congress believe that spending $3.5 trillion next year, on top of the roughly $23 trillion committed to stimulus and bailouts thus far, will yield a different result. Two years into this crisis nothing has improved – prices for essential goods are rising seemingly out of control, unemployment is up, government spending is up, our national debt is breaking records, poverty is up, food stamp participation is up, and the US dollar is being debased to the alarm of many international trading partners. What’s occurring is exactly the opposite of what the experts forecast would happen.
Of course, if you’re looking at the stock market, then things are not only on the mend, but investors are expecting explosive growth going forward. Why else would leading corporations be trading at 80 times their yearly earnings?
One often touted sign of recovery is the real estate market. Week-to-week, month-to-month, Realtors and real estate analysts look for anything that may be indicative of positive growth. Take April of 2010, for example. Many mainstream experts went ballistic when month-over-month home sales rose 27%, calling it a “grand slam” for the real estate market – the biggest single month sales boost in five decades. We didn’t buy it, and neither did the majority of those who live in a little world we like to call reality:
Once the tax credits disappear, the stimulus ends, and these foreclosed homes start getting marked appropriately on bank books, it’s all coming down – heck, it might come down before that. Expect real estate values to be destroyed. What’s really going to hurt the real estate market, is that even though prices might fall 20% or more from here, mortgage rates are going up because of all the money printing and debt being created by Washington. This may make it twice as hard for housing to recover. Back in the early 80’s mortgage rates were over 10% – hard to believe, but it can certainly happen again.
Nearly a year later, it’s clear that the pom-pom shaking mainstreamers were wrong…again. Here’s the chart that should make things crystal clear:
Las Vegas has been on life support since the very beginning, but what’s most interesting is that Seattle, a housing market once thought to be immune to falling prices, has outpaced Vegas’ losses from November 2009 through November 2010. And this once immune city is not alone, according to the New York Times:
Few believed the housing market here would ever collapse. Now they wonder if it will ever stop slumping.
The rolling real estate crash that ravaged Florida and the Southwest is delivering a new wave of distress to communities once thought to be immune — economically diversified cities where the boom was relatively restrained.
In the last year, home prices in Seattle had a bigger decline than in Las Vegas. Minneapolis dropped more than Miami, and Atlanta fared worse than Phoenix.
The above chart should provide ample evidence that the trend in real estate prices has not reversed and continues to decimate homeowners around the country. It was somewhat subdued last year, with prices falling just 1.7%, and this has some real estate analysts and forecasters suggesting that recovery is just around the corner:
The bubble markets, where builders, buyers and banks ran wild, began falling first, economists say, so they are close to the end of the cycle and in some cases on their way back up. Nearly everyone else still has another season of pain.
…
While almost every economist is expecting another round of price declines for the next few months, many see a leveling off in the second half of the year. Fiserv, the company that produces the monthly Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, analyzed prices in 375 communities. About three-quarters of them will be stable by December, Fiserv calculates.
By this time next year, if the experts are to be believed, we can expect housing to be rebounding full force. Of course, the experts didn’t see the real estate bubble in 2006 and 2007, and home buyers who purchased during the peak have since lost over 30% on the value of their homes, with many having already gone through foreclosure or in the process of default today.
While our elected officials and the Federal Reserve continue to take steps to “stabilize” prices, the question that becomes apparent is: what is a stable home price? Should a house today be priced at 2006 peak prices, or should we be utilizing a different pricing model?
What the experts in the real estate industry believe stable prices should be, and what the free market dictates are two complete different things. The following chart should shed some light on this:
From the year 2000 to the peak in 2006, home prices saw an average rise of around 100%, however, we didn’t hear anyone screaming about price stabilization then.
Now that nature has taken it’s course, everyone is up in arms. Based on this chart, prices in Las Vegas are unchanged and your house would be worth the same today as it was in 2010. In Seattle and the rest of the country, you’d still be ahead. But more important than how great everyone is doing over the last ten years, this chart gives us insight into the potential floor in real estate.
In previous commentaries we have opined that from peak to trough the US real estate market may experience price declines of up to 75%. That may seem like an overestimation, but when one considers the meteoric rise in prices over just half a decade – and the historical example of Japan’s real estate market, which was at one time the fastest growing market in the world and subsequently collapsed over around 80% over the last 20 years – the plausibility of such an occurrence in the US cannot be denied.
A number of factors are at play, and it makes us wonder whether the experts have taken any time to consider them. Unemployment, of course, is the elephant in the room. And as we have pointed out previously, there is absolutely no recovery in the jobs market, and there won’t be anytime soon. We can expect unemployment to continue rising (unofficially, of course, because the numbers we get from the government are pure conjecture).
Secondly, and just as deadly for the real estate market as people without work, are interest rates. As the US dollar continues to lose value and credibility globally, interest rate rises are inevitable. The early 1980’s saw mortgage rates in excess of 15%. Predicting how high rates will go is difficult due to the machinations from the Federal Reserve, but using history as a guide suggests that rates are headed up – way up. And this does not bode well for buyers – or sellers. Gonzalo Lira points out, in Inflation, Hyperinflation and Real Estate, that this will likely be the primary reason for why, even during an inflationary environment, real estate prices may continue to crash:
How does inflation and hyperinflation affect credit? By driving up interest rates—obviously. But what is the effects of rising interest rates in an inflationary/hyperinflationary environment?
Real estate price collapse.
Lenders—on seeing prices rising and purchasing power deteriorating in an inflationary economy—naturally raise the interest rate they charge, on the future expectation of inflation during the period of their loan. Obvious: If I lend money for a year, and expect the inflation rate to be 10% for that year, I’ll naturally lend out my money at 15% interest—or more, if I think inflation is accelerating.
Borrowers on the other hand—on seeing interest rates rise, while their wages and salaries are at best playing catch-up to rising prices—curtail their borrowing: They either borrow less, or don’t borrow at all.
Therefore, real estate sellers—who depend on lenders to provide their buyers with credit in order to sell their properties—are forced to lower their prices, in order to attract buyers. Law of supply and demand: They cannot force up the price of their real estate to match the pace of inflation, because if they do, they will simply not have any buyers.
Imagine real estate like a pendulum and you may get a better image of what’s to come. The pendulum swung from ‘stability’, where the average home price was in the $150,000 range in 2000, upwards of $250,000 in most cases. Now, the pendulum is swinging back – it’s rebalancing. It won’t stop at $150,000, however, but will continue to swing to the opposite extreme. Thus, not only is there a significant probability that we will drop to the average prices we saw around the year 2000, but we may swing much further the other way before the pendulum comes to rest back at what we could term ‘stability.’
Denial is not a river in Egypt…
Crash JP Morgan… buy silver!!
I have seen no evidence that the US govt/politicians have any concern about the employment rate, at least not yet. High unemployment means high productivity (fewer workers required to make a product or deliver a service) and that is good for the ppl who are running things. They have to offer the appearance of concern, and Americans, dimwitted as they are, mostly believe it. Statements by Obama do not match the evidence because the measurements used are NOT the measurements that are valued. These are GLOBALISTS, and they consider the unemployment rate in the US to be mostly irrelevant. There is growth elsewhere, therefore everything is fine…that’s the mentality.
I noticed that housing prices were “unreasonably” rising ten years ago and wondered how “normal” people would be able to afford to buy houses if this kept up…
Half the people I knew were agents or speculators – all looked down on me as a renter…now they think I’m a nut telling them to buy silver, food, supplies, etc.
There’s a vacant house next door to me in a nice neighborhood…nrrds work – no payments made for 2-1/2 years – refinanced…thinking of putting a flock of chickens in the back yard…hope squatters don’t move in!
Yeah, yeah, so there’s a “disconnect”,
WTF, the BLS will still say you don’t need a COLA cause they don’t count food in the core, only when oil goes back to 100 bucks a barrel, since that’s what they count, and that Bernakapart fool will keep the fed at the “extended” garbage and keep interest rates at idiot levels cause there’s NO INFLATION……. All to keep the market up.
Now its all about “cut” those worthless old folks, except of course not the jackass yappin heads on CNBC, they’re drollin at that , while at the same time cryin about tax on their 7 figure a year incomes.
There’s a “diconnect everywhere……….
So why worry, be happy, smirks
This is like the 1970’s only worse. In the 1970’s that idiot Jimmy Carter didn’t even know what he was doing.Â
These politicians know exactly what they are doing and we should all be scared. This is intential folks. It’s been in the works for a while now. However they got their “perfect storm” in November of 2008 when the obama zombies, welfare crowd & welfare enablers showed up to the polls & voted for CHANGE! to give the liberal progressives a super-majority. All is good with them as long as they keep getting their “obama money”.
Well, we got change alright.
There is more turmoil than ever in the middle east right now. The administration seems unconcerned. Almost like it was planned by the progressives themselves. Just today it is announced that the Muslim Brotherhood is planning a political party. Surprise!
The Chinese announced today that they are selling off some of their U.S. Debt. This cannot be good. Not good at all.
Many nations have been trying to get the dollar removed as the world standard currency. Our buddies the French joined the club yesterday. Smelly SOB’s.
Underemployment is killing us. Folks who used to make $85,000 are now making $55,000. They likely have a home that they cannot sell so they are stuck with their mortgage payment.Â
The dictator in the white house is issuing executive orders by the hundreds. He regularly meets with Google executives – for what reason? (have you done a google search lately? the results are not what they were 6-12 months ago, test it yourself) He has more non-congress approved czars than any president in history. He pals around with communists and marxists.Â
All I can say it that you need to be prepared. Be ready. The S will HTF soon!
Sorry so long, gotta vent today. Sick of all the crap.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/World-Bank-Food-prices-at-apf-1943856598.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
Well at least someone is coming out and speaking the truth about food shortages.
The price of housing will continue to drop as long a s unemployment is high and real money is not being used for pricing.
But even when (if) employment were to recover, the price would have to go well below the norms we have lived with our entire life. The real income of people has been going down since the early 70’s because of the fiat money system.
Therefore, once the fiat system collapses totally, the price of a new house should be around the same as it was in the 1960s, relatively speaking. The dollar will be dead, so there will be no need to adjust for inflation.
According to this website (http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1965.html) the average price of a new home in 1965 was $13,600. If you multiplied that by the current silver price it comes to 306,000 fake dollars to replace the silver dollars needed to buy a house.
If silver were $100 an ounce like it will be in a year or so, it would take 18,133 real silver dollars to buy a house. That sounds about right since houses are far bigger now than they were then.
The problem is that fewer people can afford to buy a house anyway, especially from within the rigged fiat system. When that system dies and real money like silver dollars can be used for pricing purposes, houses will fall back to the prices before the Government Gold Theft of the 30’s.
Assuming, of course, the people learn their lesson and force the use of real money again. Otherwise, the price will continue to rise in a different bank theft vehicle to be named later.
Here’s a nice visualization of the recently proposed spending cuts announced by our fearless leader, and exactly what they mean for the overall health of our economy isn’t too hard to figure out…….
http://wimp.com/budgetcuts/
Trying to compare this to any other period in history is just nuts. At no other period in history have we ever had this level of debt and its never been global.
As I have said in the past the only way out of this mess is to produce our way out. The problem is we as a nation produce very little now. Let it collapse and start over.
Could it be that we need to make democracy, real democracy happen?
Perhaps what we need, maybe all we need, is an adequately functioning democracy, but first ordinary people will have to liberate ourselves from the pernicious, widely shared and consensually validated thinking of a tiny minority in the human community who extol the virtue of greedmongering as good, as an activity to be valued most highly.
Even an enlightened dictator is not a person in whom I could place much faith. We need for duly elected, common people who are chosen by a society to accept the responsibilities and fulfill the duties of leadership by meaningfully embracing democratic principles and eschewing greed, by not “selling out” to greedmongers.
It appears to me that the most arrogant, foolhardy and avaricious, self-proclaimed masters of the universe among us rule the world in our time, and rule it absolutely. This situation is bold evidence of a corruption of democracy, not an example of the reasonable exercise of democratic principles and practices. These circumstances are not only a colossal insult to human beings with feet of clay, but also are a clear and present danger to global biodiversity, Earth’s environs, its limited resources and to a good enough future for the children.
Democracy requires representatives who reject the entreaties and bribes of greedmongers as well as embrace principles and practices that promote long-term well being of ordinary people and not only the short-term desires and fantasies of masters of the universe.
Â
Yes, but Egypt is in denial and it’s spreading.
Housing is over, kaput, finished!- Forget about real estate. Everyone talks about real estate because it’s the latest bust and fresh in everyone’s minds. But the fact is it’s a commodity, Just like Gold in the ‘80’s, and look how long it took for Gold to come back…same with real estate – decades, not months, not years but decades. As investors and real estate agents cling on and buy because today’s prices are better than yesterdays but those too will be burned by the continuation of falling home prices and lack of interest in this commodity as time passes.
 It’s time to move on to the next bubble that our government likes to create to keep a zombie economy going, at least in the eyes of the sheeple. By devaluing the dollar equities will rise, so, as much as I hate to say it… the stock market will be the next bubble once again because our government believes that we sheeple will have a sense of wealth due to a rising stock market.
Yes be prepared (that’s why we all come to this website) by having physical gold and silver, by growing a garden and being self sufficient, by having food and water storage and of course protection (a gun and plenty of ammo) and then, once you’re prepared then buy blue chip companies that do business in the emerging markets and natural resource stocks along with agricultural and commodity stocks and you will fare better than most and hopefully be able to help others.
Thanks GA Mom for venting and thanks to all of you and your comments that I love to read  – you have great things to say
@GA MOM,
What do you mean the Google searches aren’t the same? I stopped using Google and only use Bing now.
Thanks
@Gods Creation – Jobs, Housing, Food and everything else will never recover. We have pretty much screwed the pooch on those items. The major issue as I see it with employment is all the people I worked with abroad will eventually have their pink bubble popped when we go public with the truth.Â
Those of us who can think and have a brain know full well the purposeful disinformation out there. It’s interesting that even the clueless are starting to wonder why all the stores are still boarded up, the malls are empty, and their wallets are thinner every week.
Unfortunately there are just too many who still believe in the Messiah and the “recovery”; the result, I’m sure of years of indoctrination from an enabling media. The anchors of all the alphabet networks and the editors of all the major city newspapers should be hung for treason.
GA Mom, you are so right about Google. A few months ago I did notice search results seem biased. I hate that autocomplete/read-my-mind look -up BS. They’ve sold out for sure.
We set our HELOC to a fixed rate today. Variable was 5.62, fixed now at 7.74%. Ouch! But I’m not too concerned. Long term, sure, it’s a lot of money in interest, but I just don’t think this loan will live to see it’s term date before TEOTWAWKI. Hyperinflation will get this baby paid off in no time (a little sarcasm here), granted we can still maintain some form of income. The thought of keeping the HELOC on variable with inflation/hyperinflation looming had me losing sleep. So it’s done.
And speaking of being done, let’s get this show on the road already. I have no prob living frugally. Actually I look fwd to going back to basics and getting further separated from the airheaded consumerists. My neighbors complain about $$$, they’ve been waiting on a home loan modification, and in the meantime they keep buying the latest and greatest tech gadgets. WTH is going on???
 I agree with you man-up but gold is THE commodity, not just a commodity. You are spot on plus spread on the rest. GA Mom, I like it! GC, nice to see someone reference reality in real real-estate with real money.
@BJ. Google executives have been visiting the white house frequently.  That is concerning.Â
I’m not much into conspiracy theories but……Why? What are they trying to do? Are they sharing our search data with them? Are they targeting certain people or types and keeping a list of us?  the survivalists? Are they promising to return more left leaning material when we do searches?  Are they setting the stage for what do to with search data if there is ever a breakdown of society over here?Â
They’ve already caved to the demands of the Chinese government. Why not ours too?
When I post somewhere I like to do research to make sure that what I am saying is exactly right. Lately I’ve noticed that when I search something I get about 70% left leaning site returns. Sometimes I’ll search something that I remember searching a year or so ago and the returns are just different. It is so strange!
My husband suggested the other day to switch to Bing. I have made the change. I want no part of a company who cozies up to the community organizer.
@carpenterbee. I’m glad you’ve noticed it too. At least I know I’m not crazy!
@man-up I believe you are correct about housing prices, they are done & have no where to go but down. But I believe land will hold it’s value. We will need the farmland and everyone will want some of it in order to have food. I myself am seriously thinking about buying 10-20 acres right now.
@carpenterbee. Your neighbors have normalcy bias. Mine do too, they are totally clueless.
Interesting…Time to make sure we are jotting down websites we need. Don’t rely on search engines to find things in the future. Better yet, print out reference materials, and bookmark the discussion boards & sources of news.
if you can get the IP address instead of just the domain name. I heard last week that Google is not going to direct anything to news farms anymore…that keeps Drudge Report from being found by anyone doing a google search
@Anonymous – @GA Mom
You are right!
Gold is not a commodity but THE “New Form of Currency†(get some)
And yes, Land is the best place to invest. Housing’s done! Land is the commodity of the future (get some of that too)
Â
As  a former banker I can confirm that in 1983 mortgage interest rates were at 13%. I know because I was shopping for a mortgage at that time and I had 20% down payment, a good job, and excellent credit. Of course back then the government was not purchasing 95% of the mortgages like the U.S. is doing right now.
Folks, Glenn Beck tackled Google on his show today (uncanny timing!).
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/beck-tv-should-we-trust-google/
Very scary stuff.Â
GA Mom,
I had some really important stuff to address from your earlier posts, and then you had to add the reference to Glenn’s Google issues. Ha! As that is something I feel strongly about, yet like a number of things, I think Glenn is actually a bit behind the curve on this issue, as his personal biases will not allow him to see the bigger picture. I like him, but 9/11 is another example of that. He simply will not ‘go there’ on some things, and that only leaves his theories predicated on less than the truth.
Here’s what I mean. Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, was in fact seen present at a Bilderberg meeting last year, along with Charlie Rose, of late night TV fame. But because Glenn dismisses the group’s existence out of hand as ‘conspiracy’ which is exactly what everything the Fed is doing right now. Conspiracy. Schmidt’s presence placed him in that inner circle of elite. Special favoritism going forward. And evidence of a monster company going to the dark side, for reasons clearly seen, due to their ability to gather info, and monitor EVERYONE! Kind of a teacher’s pet for this administration.
If you’ll remember, the White House was also buying search terms at that time, leading all of the masses into their own propagandist organizations. So the relationship was uncomfortably cozy already.
So if you have the Google CEO at such a meeting of elite, but no one pays attention to it out of disbelief of their (very real) existence, your theories are skewed from there. And of course, now we hear Glenn say that he ‘Just doesn’t understand it. Something weird with them here.” Agreed. But he HAS to open his eyes to greater realities. Conspiracy do exist. And in this case, only roads point to Schmidt being at that meeting, with those who will lead this NWO. Or at least, play their role at the behest of the Rockefellers and Rothschilds and such.
So when he goes off the handle on 9/11, I feel he’s going to owe quite an apology to many people one day, as they are way ahead of him in terms of accepting the TRUE reality of the world we live, which includes false flag events like 9/11.
Something to consider. Next post, what I really meant to answer on.
Oh, and how about Eric Schmidt’s recent ‘step down’ from his public position as CEO to something much more secretive. I think he’s been asked to get his hands dirty, and the time to draw attention to himself is over. Very Van Jones of him. Oh, and Googles’ HQ is now moving to Manhattan tax free? Too much. And despite Glenn’s joking, the NSA and Google do pull emails by the hundreds in some cases, if certain subject matter or key words instigate it. Be careful what you email through gmail and Bing.
Now GA Mom, in terms of safe search engines, Bing is not it! Microsoft and Bill Gates are also part of this data mining and surveillance effort. So be careful with them as well. I’ve done alot of researcgh in the strange direction that Gates and Buffet are now playing in all of this, and it ain’t good. Talk about going to the dark side. They are not who they appear, and their roles are now in motion, as the NWO becomes very real. But I digress.
You want to go with a website called ‘StartPage’. They are my home page, and have replaced all other searches on my tool bar. It’s http://www.startpage.com
This is the safest, most secure search engine anywhere that I’ve found. Free and easy, and leaves no trace or history of where you go, for prying eyes to see. If someone is peeking in on what you’re doing from a remote location, such as Google and the NSA do on regular basis, Startpage acts as a proxy of sorts. Their search on you, would only lead them to Startpage on every occassion, and not the sites you visit.
I learned about this from Katherine Albrecht, who is a powerful force and advocate against all things chip and RFID. Brilliant gal, who knows a thing or two about surveillance, and everything happening in the ‘chip’ industry these days. Check her out:
http://www.katherinealbrecht.com/
And in terms of the land you’re seeking, don’t think for one minute that the deals are going to pass you by, or that housing will plummet, while land continues to rise due to its needed use.
All of it, is going down! People that own land may or may not know what to do to convert it to something they can harvest. It’s baggage that isn’t producing income. And when the SHTF, and they haven’t made any other preps, they will dump it for pennies on the dollar! Just as they did during the Depression. And what we’ve seen has hardly even begun yet.
Hold out for just a few more months. Millions in shadow inventory still exist. Jobs (and property) will continue to be lost. Foreclosures have many millions more in the pipeline right now. And food, immediate food, will be the only thing these land owners will care about, when they are confronted with reality, after years of media propaganda telling them all is well.
It’s already happened this way, and will happen again. Right now, if you flip through real estate ads, they still think they can get top dollar for their land, because the price around them have been artificially propped up for so long. It’s all an illusion, and the truth is going to return value to what the market requires.
Keep checking Craigs List, and the site, For Sale by Owner. Watch the decreases now taking hold, and listen to the desperate please already being heard. People taking ANY OFFER, are starting to come forth. I don’t wish that anyone. It is sad. But you will be helping them in their greatest time of need, and getting yourslf some incredible deals.
Good luck!
What do you mean be careful what you email through gmail and BING?? Bing is tied to google?? You gotta be kidding me, I just finally got used to Bing after jumping google’s ship for search engine….now I have to move again?
I can’t give up my gmail as much as I wish I could….too many resumes out there with that email on it 🙁
I bought two lots here n Muskegon two years ago for dirt cheap from a company that came though town and bought lots by the bulk…turned a huge profit on them and still had these two empty lots left…so they just wanted rid of them…I got them on Craigs list for under 200$ total. No being unemployed they sent me a letter saying I will lose them March 1st unless I pay the taxes :-( Sure wish there was something I could do with them..maybe even donate them to a church or something for gardens or something….of course wityhout fencing, they would get vandalized or every thing pillaged from them….Muskegon is a bad area
BJ, sorry for your internet frustrations. I’ve been through it all myself. It’s not that Bing is directly associated with gmail, only that they are each powerful ‘cogs’ in a machine gone amok. The largest players in internet history (Google, Apple, Microsoft, and now Facebook), have succumbed to greater powers, for whatever compensation or protections they may be getting in return for the data and surveillance they are capable of extracting from society. In the case of Google, it’s very obvious. Yes, even the loveable (or vice versa) Apple is now directly funded with government money, through the laundering of government treasury proceeds.
Inn terms of your land, I have an idea. And true, I don’t know your neighborhood, or the additional obstacles you may face, than those in a more peaceful and ‘adjusted’ market. Why not section your plots up in say…30-40 identical gardening ‘squares’, and lease each square to willing members of your community, to grow their own veggies. Create a sustainable co-op that generates income for you, and some much needed growing room for those who may live in an apartment setting, or the like. Say, something like $150/square for one year. They can grow whatever they like. The following year they can renew, or you lease it out again. Alot cheaper to grow one’s own food than buy it for that year! Something to consider.
p.s. And for ultra-secure email, look to http://www.hushmail.com
Thanks Dennis….I’ll look into some Craigs list advertising to see if I can find those intertested in the lots for gardening
@DENNIS,
out of curiosity, what assurance do you have that startpage.com and hushmail.com are really secure??
Thanks
Good luck, BJ. Maybe even put a sign in front of the lot with a phone number, once you have things organized.
As far as Startpage, I’ve used it for some time, and to be honest, I trust Katherine. She knows her stuff like no one I else I know on this subject.
As far as hushmail, I’m new to it, but have a couple of friends who swear by it, who have spent some time themselves learning about all the protections they can find. And once you try it, you’ll see encryption features and verification keys you can use, locking any recipient out except the one you want to see it, by using security questions and answers that only the two of you know.
In the end, do we EVER really know how safe anything else, until that trust is shown to be broken, as Google has done. By then, could be too late anyway. So go with your instinct, and talk to people. But it’s the biggest companies that are able to gather the most personal information on the citizens. That is their value. When it comes to the government, its the big boys they want in their corner. No time for the Startpages and Hushmails of the world.
That’s my take. Good luck.
@DENNIS,
Once I have things organized?
I asked my wife what she thought you might mean by that, as she used to sell real estate until 2005 in Michigan when it took a dive and then the twins were born, so the gig was up then anyway.
But me being totally inexperienced in doing so ething like this…what do you mean get things organized? Just measuring out the plot or are you referring to somethig else?
Thanks
The only security for eCommunications would be Pretty Good Privacy as its never been broken. I used it for years communicating to people all over the world then I got lazy. Never think for a second that you have privacy online as your IP is recorded every time you post something. Having ran blogs, bulletin boards etc. the system would automatically capture the IP addresses. As I posted previously, if you use a debit card, credit card or check EVERY purchase you make is known information that can easily be retrieved. If you want to make a critical and confidential purchase use cash. I randomly call my boss and say all kinds of crap that the NSA would instantly knock on my door for, but so far I guess I am not that important.
BJ…..I’ve dealt with Katherine Albrecht myself in the battle against “Real ID”( nazi drivers license) and NAIS (animal ID) she is top notch in the field of RFID radio tracking tech…she knows her stuff….its certainly up to you but I agree with Dennis,that she can be trusted in her assessments….just thought I’d throw that out there if it helps, Thanks!
Thanks REBÂ 🙂