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Lee’s Prediction Updates on the

Latest Threats…and Opportunities

These are excerpts from a recent interview with Independent Living Founder Lee Bellinger. His remarks have been edited for repetition, focus and ease of reading:

Lee, What do you think of this Ebola crisis and what are you personally doing?Mr. Obama is wired to resist treating the spread of Third World diseases into the continental U.S. as the national security threat that it has become. So far the Administration has dug in its heels on banning international flights from West African nations.

That’s where the disease originally leapt to humans –in that part of the world, rural residents eat bushmeat like fruit bats and monkeys. So far White House explanations sound utterly ridiculous and unconvincing.

Unless the Ebola media frenzy fizzles, I expect the Administration to cave and

Independent LivingPrudent strategies for greater self-reliance, freedom, and wealth!

Volume 9, Issue 11 November 2014

Reality Check on Markets and the Economy

By Seth Van Brocklin

4Volatility returns to the stock market. Is it too early to go bargain hunting?

4Inside: Warren Buffett’s “no brainer” way to short the dollar.

The U.S. stock market finally got a dose of economic reality last month. In October, stocks broke lower in the face of weakening economic data and Ebola fears.

The Dow Jones Industrials slid into negative territory for the year. So far, it’s just an overdue correction. Whether it turns into a more protracted bear market remains to be seen.

This newsletter has been cautioning against buying stocks at elevated levels all year. Those cautions still remain in place for areas of the market still beset by overvaluations, including the broad indexes themselves. However, the recent slide in global equities markets has created some attractive long-term buying opportunities in certain beaten-down areas.

My September lead story specifically urged you to brace for an outbreak of volatility. I highlighted low-volatility investments you could own

See Reality Check on Markets, next pageSee Lee’s Prediction Updates, page 17

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Inside This IssueFree Critical Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Renegade Ways to Make Your Bathroom More Functional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Ask Lee Now: Answering Readers’ Questions . . . . . . . . . 8How You Could Be Put Into a Nursing Home Against Your Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

15 Best U.S. Hospitals for Heart Patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Is Life-Saving Information About Ebola and Other Diseases Being Censored?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Better Than Buffett? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Graveyard Investing Pays Dividends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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Independent Living2 November 2014

Independent Living • $139/12 issues • 377 Rubin Center Drive • Suite 203 • Fort Mill, SC 29708

and hedges you could put on. Is now the time to think about getting more aggressive in some areas?

At this juncture, investors would still be wise to favor dividends over growth stocks. Market averages still have room to fall further. At the same time, dividend yields in many sectors still beat the pants off bonds and cash. So long-term income investors should continue to focus on dividends from equities that are in favorable sectors and countries.

Many of the recent high flyers in the Nasdaq and small-cap spaces pay no dividends. These types of stocks are speculations. Now isn’t an ideal time to speculate in areas that could be expected to come down the hardest if volatile market conditions persist.

Harvest Rich Dividends from the SEAEarlier this year, we highlighted lower-risk, high-dividend sectors such as utilities. The October

pullback has created attractive value propositions in a lesser-known high-dividend sector I’d like to bring to your attention: the global shipping industry.

The Guggenheim Shipping ETF (SEA) tracks an index of shippers involved in the transport of bulk goods and materials via freight ships. SEA’s portfolio of 26 stocks delivers an estimated yield of 3.5%. The vast bulk of its investments are in the United States, Denmark, Bermuda, Greece, Japan, and Hong Kong.

The fund’s top ten holdings by portfolio weighting are: •Moeller-Maersk (18.9%)•Nippon Yusen (6.6 %)• Teekay Corp (5.3%)• Sembcorp Marine Ltd . (4.9%)• Cosco Pacific Ltd. (4.8%)• Teekay LNG Partners (4.3%)• Teekay Offshore Partners (4.3%)•Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (4.3%)•Matson Inc. (3.6%)•Navios Maritime Partners (3.5%)

The global bulk shipping industry is more cyclical than other high-income sectors such as utilities. That’s why it’s prudent to wait for cyclical downturns to play out before buying into shippers. Then, be patient while you collect dividends and wait for the sector to recover into the next up cycle.

From these levels, the sector should prove rewarding over time, especially compared to bonds and other income instruments with inferior yields. But it will

Reality Check on Markets continued from previous page

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Independent Living (ISSN 1943-1686) (USPS 24-808) is published monthly by American Lantern Press, Inc. Known office of publication is 377 Rubin Center Drive, Suite 203, Fort Mill, SC 29708. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Mill, SC, and other mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Independent Living, P.O. Box 1240, Clover, SC 29710-4240.

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Independent LivingNovember 2014 3


give you a more volatile ride than conventional fixed income instruments.

If you are prone to emotional “sea sickness” after experiencing ups and downs in your investments, then SEA shouldn’t occupy a large area in your retirement account and may not be suitable for you at all.

Oil Prices Tumble… But May Soon Find a Floor

Shipping, transportation, and consumer stocks stand to benefit from the recent drop in crude oil prices. (Unless the oil market is serving as a harbinger of a global recession. In that case, beaten-up precious metals mining stocks could be the prime beneficiaries as they see lower input costs and rising gold and silver prices.)

Oil has taken a huge decline from the summer highs of $107 per barrel back toward $80 per barrel. The oil market moved on weakening global economic reports and Saudi Arabia’s vow to ramp up production.

If it weren’t for the U.S. oil and gas fracking boom, we would have surely been looking at record high oil prices north of $150 this summer. Along with a lower dollar and a much worse economy under the weight of Obamanomics.

A surge in supply from hydraulic fracturing has enabled domestic oil production to grow the most since 1970 (source: U.S. Energy Information Administration). Consequently, U.S. oil imports have been plummet-ing. That’s why OPEC now feels compelled to undercut U.S. shale

oil by bringing more lower-cost crude to the market.

At first glance, it seems like the fundamentals are in place for much lower oil prices. But the reality of shale oil is that its costs of production are fundamentally high. Oil from shale formations costs an average of around $80 per barrel to produce – compared with only $20 a barrel for conventional oil drilling.

If oil dips below $80 and stays there, the fracking boom will start going bust. And domestic supplies will start dwindling. There seems to be a fundamental floor somewhere around $80 per barrel. The EIA forecasts that West Texas Intermediate Crude will average $94.58 next year. It could go significantly higher on a spike.

Energy investments look attractive, as do precious metals and natural resources in general. Over the past couple of years, the fracking boom has taken pressure off the government and the Fed to provide inflationary stimulus.

That’s allowed the dollar to strengthen temporarily. Which in turn has put downward pressure on commodity prices. But the months ahead could see a big rebound in the resource space as economic realities set in.

U.S. No Longer Tops Economic Freedom List – But See Who Does

Cheaper fuel prices at the pump act like a broad, major tax cut. The United States economy has been spared from suf-fering the worst consequences of Washington’s misguided policies – so far. But the debt obligations keep piling up. The high corporate taxes keep driving capital flight. And the excess regulations keep stunting small businesses, medical breakthroughs and broader employment.

Once considered the world’s bastion of free enterprise, the U.S. now ranks 12th in the world for economic freedom, tied with its former imperial master, the United Kingdom. That’s according to the Fraser Institute’s 2014 Economic Freedom of the World report.

As Fraser Institute senior fellow Michael Walker remarked, “The United States has suffered from a weakened rule of law, the ramifications of wars on terrorism and drugs, and a confused regulatory environ-ment. Consequently, it’s dropped from second place in the world rankings in 2000 to 12th place this year…”


See Reality Check on Markets, next page

U.S. Net Oil Imports14 million barrels a day

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Source: Department of EnergyThe Wall Street Journal

The recent slide in global equities markets has created some attractive long-term buying opportunities.



The U.S. is still in many respects freer than most other parts of the world. But in other ways, the U.S. is among the most over-regulated and over-taxed places. Take the corporate tax, for example. At 35%, the American corporate tax rate is the highest in the industrialized world. Over-taxation and over-regulation threaten to undo the economic boon we’ve enjoyed from the oil and gas fracking boom.

Unless the U.S. tax system is reformed in a meaningful way to make it more pro-growth, we risk accelerating capital flight in the years ahead.

Some in Washington, D.C. have taken to bashing corporate “inversions” (wherein a company acquires a smaller firm in a more tax-friendly country so that it can repatriate its earnings there). What’s really inverted is our rank in corporate tax rates. The Land of the Free should be near the bottom, not at the top! The corporate tax rate in the United Kingdom of all places is set to fall to 20% in 2015.

Entrepreneur Nigel Green predicts that our uncompeti-tive 35% corporate tax will start hurting the economy, big time: “My prediction that 2015 will be the year that the U.S economy could be defined by this phenomenon is based on deVere Group’s U.S. business-owning client base. The number of requests that we are receiving from them for more information about moving their registered business headquarters overseas is steadily growing.”

Get Your Freedom Portfolio Here! Hong Kong remains the world’s freest economy. Yet it has never been a fully independent, fully democratic society. Concerns that mainland China’s control over Hong Kong would squelch freedom there have been voiced since it passed from British to Chinese steward-ship in 1997. But political freedom and economic freedom appear to be two separate concepts so far.

Recently, student protestors in Hong Kong took to the streets to demand more political freedom. Regardless of the merits of their complaints, they have it pretty good there compared to most mainland Chinese and most of the rest of the world.

More economic freedom means more capital inflows, more wealth creation, and over time more robust equity markets. You can invest in the stock markets of the world’s freest economies by constructing a portfolio of country ETFs. A World’s Freest Countries portfolio could look something like this:

• iShares Hong Kong (EWH)• iShares Singapore (EWS)• iShares New Zealand (ENZL)• iShares Australia (EWA)• iShares Switzerland (EWL)• iShares Canada (EWC)• iShares Chile (ECH)

The portfolio gives you diversification into Asia, Oceania, North America, South America, and Europe – but with a focus on freedom! Where things stand now, the World’s Freest Countries (and most other countries in the world) trade at more attractive valuations than the U.S. Their stock markets give you more earnings for the price you pay for the shares and pack bigger dividend yields.

Some of the single country exchange-traded funds are more thinly traded than the big, broad international indexes. This includes examples such as Vanguard All-World ex-US (VEU). Exercise caution and use limit orders to make sure that you aren’t toyed with by market makers.

Lower Mortgage Rates = Buyer’s Market?What about real estate? Recent data on housing starts suggest the recovery is stalling. The nation’s home-ownership rate has fallen officially to 64.7%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s the lowest level in


1. Hong Kong

2. Singapore

3. New Zealand

4. Switzerland

5. Mauritius

6. United Arab Emirates

7. Canada

8. Australia

9. Jordan

10. Chile

11. Finland

12. United Kingdom

13. United States

Source: Economic Freedom of the World: 2014 Annual Report

Continued on next page

World Economic Freedom Rankings



19 years. The real homeownership rate is probably lower after accounting for the more than one million homes with delinquent mortgages or in foreclosure.

The good news is that there’s no housing bubble! The bad news is that the market may still need more time to recover from the last one.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates are heading back down toward enticing levels for people in the market to buy. The average rate on 30-year home loans tracked by Freddie Mac fell to 4.12% in October. That’s down from 4.53% in January.

Reality Check on Markets continued from previous page 10

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See Reality Check on Markets, page 20

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Independent LIvIng is designed to provide the opinions and findings of its contributing writers. these findings are based on research, experience, and analysis of the subject matter covered. sources for information are believed reliable, but absolute accuracy cannot be guaranteed. this information is not provided for purposes of rendering financial, legal, accounting, or other professional advice. it is intended purely for educational purposes. the authors and publisher disclaim any responsibility for a liability or loss incurred as a consequence of the use and application, either directly or indirectly, of any information presented herein. because the united states currently functions under an evolutionary system, the reader bears the burden of ensuring that the principle or law stated in this work is current and binding at the time of an intended use or application. caution: the law in this country is subject to change arbitrarily and without prior notice.

Renegade Ways to Make Your Bathroom More Functional

Thwart Intrusive Lifestyle TyrantsImagine it. A black market for working toilets that spans from Canada to all of America. And it’s all because a creep is concerning himself with what you do in your bathroom. No, it’s not a peeping Tom. It’s Uncle Sam.

Creepy federal regulations have made it harder for you to keep yourself and your bathroom clean. Neither your sink nor your shower nor your toilet func-tion as well as they could and should.

Back in 1994, the Energy Policy Act went into effect. In the name of conservation, the law mandated low-flow (1.6 gallon) residential toilets. Prior to that, toilets typically used at least 3.5 gallons of water per flush.

It turns out that extra water volume makes a big difference in keeping a toilet bowl clean. Sometimes that extra water is needed to force waste and toilet paper fully down the trapway. The 1.6 gallon toilets are more prone to requiring multiple flushes – and to clogging.

Not Even a Plumber Can Fix What’s Wrong with Today’s Toilets

Today’s government-mandated 1.6 gallon toilets are a downgrade from what your parents had. According to a commenter on a do-it-yourself forum, “I recently had to remove one of those old boys (circa 1955) that had a huge tank by today’s standard. NEVER had to

flush more than once. I suspect it could have flushed a whole roll of paper - while still on the cardboard tube!”

The newest models are at least better designed and more effective than the ones that hit the market in the mid 1990s. So if you’re using an older model

low-flow toilet, you might want to think about replacing it. Unfortunately, any of the conventional, gravity-powered toilets that are legally available will be inferior to the 3.5-gallon and 5-gallon tanks that are now banned.

You could try to obtain a pre-1994 high-capacity toilet used. Or find one from a building salvage company.

You could also try to “import” one from a foreign country where 3.5-gallon toilets are still being sold. In fact, some of the major toilet bowl manufacturers still produce high-flow toilets for foreign markets where they are still legal. There is something of a black market for these toilets coming out of Canada.

Legally Work Around the Low-Flow Government Mandate

If you don’t want to break the law (and we certainly don’t advise doing so), the good news is that there are some legal fixes to government-created bathroom deficiencies.

First, make sure your toilet is running at full capacity (such as it is) by adjusting the float inside the tank to


Some manufacturers produce high-flow toilets where they are still legal. There is something of a black market for these toilets coming out of Canada.



raise the water level all the way up to the overflow valve.

If that doesn’t help, consider replacing your toilet. You can increase the power of the flush on a low-flow toilet somewhat by opting for a Victorian-style high tank. A higher tank means more energy gets released with each flush.

It may not be a real solution to the problem, though. The most effective way to compensate for an inad-equate rush of water is to employ air pressure. Vacuum suction systems of the sort used in airplane and cruise ship toilets work, but they’re noisy and aren’t very practical for homes.

A siphon-jet or pressure-assist toilet may be a more practical way to upgrade. Pressurized toilets contain a bladder that holds water under pressure, delivering a more powerful flush.

It’s one of the only ways to legally get the benefits of a banned high-capacity toilet. It functions as well the old toilets while staying within the 1.6-gallon limit. Of course, a pressurized toilet will cost more.

“Smart” Toilets Could Flush Away Your Privacy

Some high-end toilets now come with bidets, heated seats, electronic controls, and even wireless connectiv-ity. Beware of these “smart” toilets!

As CNET reported of the Lixil Satis smart toilets, their “Android app lets toilet aficionados trigger activities such as flushing and playing music. If a malicious hacker got in Bluetooth range and took control of your toilet, all sorts of havoc could ensue.”

If there’s anything worse than a toilet clogging, it’s a toilet that’s been hacked. Why opt for a toilet that even has the potential to be remotely commandeered? Or to store and wirelessly transmit data about your flushing habits? Creepy.

Speaking of creeps, Uncle Sam’s presence in your bathroom can be felt most directly in your shower. That’s because he has restricted the amount of water that can flow from your showerhead.

Does Your Shower Produce More of a Trickle Than a Gush?

Guess Who’s to Blame…According to the Energy Department, “Federal regulations mandate that new showerhead flow rates can’t exceed more than 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) at a water pressure of 80 pounds per square inch (psi). New faucet flow rates can’t exceed 2.5 gpm at 80 psi or 2.2 gpm at 60 psi.”

The flow rate you’d be able to enjoy from an unregulated showerhead would depend on your home’s water pressure. But it could be expected to be double (or more) the 2.5 gallons per minute the government arbitrarily says you can’t exceed. That would make for a more thorough, more invigorating body wash.

Petty restrictions on water flow have little to no effect on aggregate water usage. People are taking longer showers to compensate for the fact that it takes longer to rinse shampoo out of their hair. Moreover, domestic uses of water are a small percentage of total water use. About 80% of freshwater supplies go toward agriculture, with most of the remainder being used by industry.

Un-Mandate Your Crummy ShowerheadPeople have been getting around this restriction by installing multiple showerheads. The government doesn’t say how much water can flow into a shower, just how much can come out of any one showerhead.

A simpler and cheaper fix is simply to remove the water flow restrictor built into your existing shower-head. With some models, it’s a simple task; with others it’s more difficult or in some cases impossible.

First, unscrew the showerhead off its arm. Pull out the washer and look inside for the reducer. You may need a small knife or a drill to remove the gasket that holds the reducer in place.

Regardless of whether you choose to modify your showerhead, it’s still a good idea to remove it periodi-cally for cleaning.

Over time, deposits can restrict water flow, and bacteria can colonize inside. Soak the showerhead in warm vinegar for several minutes. Scrub, if necessary.

These strategies can help you foil Uncle Sam’s efforts to deprive you of the water flow you need to keep clean.

Make Your Bathroom More Functional continued from previous page



The Resistance Movement to Smart Power Meter SurveillanceKarl S. writes: You have been writing about these smart meters for some time. Now a lot of people know about them. This article [“Fee for Refusing ‘Smart Meter’ Sought,” Springfield News-Sun (September 5, 2014)] was in our newspaper. Sending it to you.

Lee responds: Thanks for sending me the article from your local paper. I often find that on-the-ground local reporting elucidates what’s really going on in the country. At least more so than top-down storylines manufactured from New York City and Washington, D.C.

The article states that Duke Energy and other utility companies are seeking to impose fines on individuals who refuse smart meters. Talk about petty and punitive…Duke Energy plans to charge $1,073 just to uninstall a smart meter from a home. On top of that, it wants to exact an ongoing monthly fee of $40.63 on any household that rejects a smart meter.

These devices transmit data about your electricity usage wirelessly using cellular and radio signals. Utility companies insist it saves the hassle and expense of manual meter reading. But smart metering gives them (and government regulators) access to a much broader spectrum of data about you – instantaneously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As smart meters become the norm, opting out of them will become increasingly difficult. If you want to fully and permanently rid yourself of these data collection/transmission devices and the “signal” pollution they emit, then you may have to go off the grid. It is possible to power a house using solar panels, propane, wood, and backup generators.

Electricity delivered by the power company typically costs between 10 and 20 cents per kilowatt-hour. New-generation solar panels can deliver power to homes in that cost range in many parts of the country – after factoring in the 30% federal renewable energy tax credit that most homeowners will be eligible for.

There are greater up-front costs to becoming energy self-sufficient. But if you are able to do so in your current home (or are willing to move to a location where it’s feasible), the advantages pile up. Greater privacy. More resilience to rolling blackouts or systemic failures in the power grid. Potential savings over time vs. perpetually rising power company bills.

More About BitcoinsLester R. writes: Is the government manipulating the value of Bitcoins? If so, what’s the end game?

Lee responds: The market value of a Bitcoin has dropped 70% over the past year. About the time CNBC started reporting heavily on it last fall was probably the time to get out of it. We’ve cautioned in these pages against owning Bitcoin as anything other than a purely speculative instrument.

I don’t see evidence of direct government manipulation of the Bitcoin price-setting

Ask Lee Now: Answering Readers’ QuestionsWe love to hear from readers! Please email your question or comment to Independent Living editor Lee

Bellinger ([email protected]). Please include your name and home state. You may also reach us via postal mail (P.O. Box 1240; Clover, SC 29710-4240).




mechanisms on the exchanges. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening or that the government won’t one day regulate or shut down some of these Bitcoin exchanges. It almost certainly is tracking all Bitcoin transactions (which are automatically entered into a blockchain database). Of course, some have theorized that the CIA helped promote Bitcoin early on to get the masses excited about digital currency.

That’s the real end game – to bring the cash economy and the underground economy into the digital (traceable) realm. U.S. authorities want a cashless economy for obvious reasons pertaining to law enforcement and tax collection. Physical cash and tangible barter instruments such as gold and silver coins remain the least traceable ways of paying for things.

Hillary Clinton and ISISCharles H. writes: Do you think that Hillary Clinton is the mother of ISIS? She kept them off the terrorist list until they were able to take charge in killing Christians, non Muslims, and Jews.

Lee responds: In my lead story this month, I talk about how the Clinton Administration’s technology giveaway to the Chinese in exchange for campaign cash now threatens U.S. Navy ships operating near Japan.

But sure, Hillary Clinton bears some responsibility for the rise of ISIS. It’s not just that these bloodthirsty savages weren’t treated as terrorists. It’s much worse. Under Mrs. Clinton’s watch as Secretary of State, we (as taxpayers) funded Islamist fighters in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere. The administration called them “moderates.” Now they’re known as ISIS.

Team Hillary is trying to put distance between her performance as Secretary of State and Barack Obama’s foreign policy failures. And also trying to distract from her own on-the-job failures (including her role in the Benghazi scandal). Long-time Clintonite and former Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has come out with a critique of Mr. Obama’s leadership.

Funding Islamic rebels carries huge risks. In the 1980s, the U.S. aided Islamic militants in Afghanistan in their fight against the Soviet Union. These unsavory characters went on to become al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The objective of stopping Soviet expansionism was a legitimate concern for U.S. foreign policy. Today, spreading democracy in the Islamic world has become a core objective of the military. This has nothing to do with our national interests. These globalist democracy spreaders somehow never bothered to consider the consequences of promoting democracy in places where the majority favors Shariah Law (which entails the subjugation of women, stonings and beheadings, destruction of churches, synagogues, Buddha statues, etc.).

Some parts of the world just don’t seem ready for liberal democracy. It would almost take a dictator to prevent groups like ISIS from spreading. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for propping up dictators. Defeating the ability of ISIS to harm our country is a must. And also to realize that the Islamic State is partly a problem of our own government’s creation.

Gold, Silver and Your Personal Time-LineKyle S. writes: I’ve seen losses on some of my gold and silver holdings recently. I have a 10-year holding period in mind, so I’m not selling anything. I would actually like to add to my positions at these levels. Which of the precious metals would you favor for a 10-year investment? Gold, silver, platinum, or palladium?

Continued from previous page




Lee responds: It’s good that you have a long-term time horizon. I would personally want to own all four precious metals (as part of a well-diversified portfolio that includes dividend-paying stocks and other assets).

If I had to pick just one, I suppose it would be silver – not because I’m emotionally wedded to it, but because lately it’s gotten cheap relative to gold. The per-ounce spot price of silver recently got down to 1/70th the price of gold. I think that over time it can move closer to 1/20th or 1/10th the gold price.

There is historic precedent for these ratios and good fundamental reason to think they might be revisited. For one thing, silver is only about 10 times more plentiful than gold in the ground.

Silver is an extraordinarily volatile metal. So if at some point – whether in 10 years or 2 years – the silver market gets overheated, I would be inclined to favor gold. It’s more stable.

About Your Family’s Food SecurityLinda A. writes: You recently extolled the benefits of stocking up on frozen foods. What about the diminished nutritional value of frozen foods compared to fresh?

Lee responds: Frozen foods generally retain more nutritional value, and come with fewer chemical additives, than canned foods. That’s why I suggest buying an extra freezer for longer-term storage of some emergency foods. I’m not talking about frozen snack products like Eggo waffles that have little nutritional value to begin with. I’m talking about things like frozen fruits and vegetables.

Surprisingly, some frozen fruits and vegetables may retain more nutrients than the “fresh” produce at your grocery store. Fruits and vegetables can lose nutrients and acquire chemical contaminants in the process of being handled and transported in different temperature environments before finally being displayed inside a grocery store. Produce can then pick up germs and other contaminants in the air while on display.

Fruits and veggies that are frozen and sealed get their nutrients locked in. They have greater protection from the handling/display environment. Yes, over time, freezer burn can erode the quality of frozen foods. But double sealing them in foil wrap and freezer bags or vacuum sealing them in airtight containers can enable most frozen foods to keep for months.

If you grow some of your own fruits and vegetables or obtain them from a local farmer’s market, great. The less distance they have to travel to get to you, generally the fresher they’ll be.

You should still have some canned and freeze-dried foods in your pantry as emergency reserves. If you lose power and/or the ability to drive to a well-stocked grocery store for an extended period, you’ll be able to fall back on what’s in your pantry.

Continued from previous page

“Ask Lee Now” is presented for general educational purposes only. Because we don’t know enough about readers’ personal situations, the opinions expressed here should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument at any time. We will not be responsible for financial decisions that readers make, and they should be made in consultation with their own advisers.



How You Could Be Put Into a Nursing Home Against Your Will

Prevent This Nightmare from Ever Happening to YouIt’s every aging person’s worst nightmare. Something happens. A change in your health. A fall. An illness. A loss of mobility.

Suddenly doctors and family members are talking about nursing homes. And no one seems to take any note of your thoughts on the matter.

You may wonder … can anyone force you to go to a nursing home if you don’t want to? Unfortunately, under certain circumstances, the answer is yes.

If it’s determined you lack the capacity to make deci-sions, then the person holding your Power of Attorney can put you in a nursing home. If you haven’t assigned Power of Attorney, it will be assigned for you by the court system — usually to someone from your family. If you don’t have family to take on that role, a lawyer will be assigned the task. He’ll recommend whatever your doctor or hospital recommends. It won’t matter what your wishes are.

But don’t worry. You can take action now to stop this nightmare scenario before it ever starts.

First Key to Staying Independent: Building a Good Relationship with a Good Doctor

Obviously, the first key to preventing this kind of horror from happening is to not be found to lack the capacity to make your own decisions.

This is the scary part. Any licensed physician can make the decision that you lack capacity. She just has to do an assessment based on state standards to prove that you lack capacity. The most common reason for a doctor to question your capacity is when you choose not to pursue her recommended course of treatment. In about 15% of cases, the physician will call in a psychiatrist to help determine the outcome of the assessment.

So what do you do? Do you just follow along in lock step with your doctor’s every suggestion? What if she suggests you move to a nursing home?

There is a better way. The first thing to do is find a doctor you like—preferably a concierge doctor. See her regularly. Once or twice a year, minimum. Build a relationship. Get

to know her. Allow her to get to know you.

Doctors are people, too. A doctor is much less likely to challenge the capacity of someone she knows well than that of a complete stranger.

Second Key to Staying Independent: Assigning Power of Attorney

The second thing you need to do is assign Power of Attorney to someone you trust. Someone who wants to see your decisions and wishes respected. Figure out who that person is and grant him Power of Attorney.

Don’t be scared by this. You’re choosing someone you trust. And his Power of Attorney doesn’t kick in as long as your capacity to make decisions is recognized.

Let this person know, in writing, your desires about the kind of care you want to receive should you become ill, your thoughts on living in a nursing home versus receiving care at home, and your feelings about heroic efforts to revive you if you end up on life support.

A good doctor you trust and a good Power of Attorney you trust. That’s the formula for ensuring you’ll get healthcare that meets your wishes … and for staying out of nursing homes (unless and until you choose to go).

Invest in a House with these 8 Features to Let You Live Independently

There’s one more way you can protect yourself from being shuffled off into a nursing or retirement home before you’re ready. It has to do with where you choose to live.

Look around your house. If your mobility decreases as you age, will your floorplan still accommodate you? Does your house have steep stairs that could pose a hazard if you lose your balance? If your loved ones think your home isn’t safe, that’s when the “retirement home” conversation is likely to come up.

Think about your neighborhood. Are you close to medical services? Is there plenty to do nearby to help you stay physically fit and socially engaged?

If your current home would not be an ideal place for you See Nursing Home Nightmare, next page



to live as you age, consider buying a second home with some of your retirement savings. Perhaps a weekend home or rental property for now, but one that you would enjoy moving into later in retirement. According to MarketWatch, there’s been a 60% increase in this kind of purchase, so you’ll be in good company.

For this purpose, an ideal second residence should:

• Be in a climate you enjoy and that won’t be too harsh on you as you age.

•Have an open floor plan with wide halls and doorways.

•Not have stairs leading to or from the exits.• Have a main-floor bedroom if it’s a two-story

home.•Have at least one walk-in shower.•Have medical services close by.• Provide easy access to activities you enjoy.•Not bury you under an expensive mortgage or

high property taxes.Taking critical steps now while they are still easy to

manage can make your later years a happy, healthy, active time. And that’s the mindset you need to be ready for anything … even retirement.

Do This When You or a Loved One Need Extra Care

You should plan on enjoying many years of active retirement. However, there may come a time when you or a loved one are no longer self-sufficient and require medical care or living assistance daily.

Searching for a nursing home is never pleas-ant. Nursing homes can be depressing, with their emergency-room-like atmosphere. The best ones, though, create a more home-like environment for their residents and promote activities to keep people engaged in life rather than waiting for death.

Life in a nursing home is a reality for nearly 2 million Americans. Your chances of needing to enroll yourself or a loved one in a nursing home at some time are therefore considerable.

The average rate for a private room in a nursing home jumped to $90,520 per year in 2012, according to MetLife. Costs are expected to rise year by year. If you have a good long-term care insurance policy, your

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out-of-pocket costs should be quite manageable.

Being able to afford a nice nursing home vs. being forced to accept a low-grade facility due to lack of money can make all the difference in the world as far as whether you or a loved one’s final years will be pleasant ones.

An alternative to a nursing home may be home care. This is typically a less expensive option, particularly when skilled nursing is not needed during most of the day. A person who is medically well but no longer physically able to do routine things for himself or herself, such as dressing and bathing, may require

only supportive services at a fraction of the cost of a full-time nurse or a nursing home. Most, but not all, long-term care policies cover home care.

Medicare provides a directory of thousands of nursing homes nationwide, along with quality measures that enable you to compare one nursing home’s track record against another’s.

To search other types of caregivers for the elderly, call the U.S. Administration on Aging’s Eldercare Locator (800-677-1116) or visit their web site (www.eldercare.gov).

15 Best U.S. Hospitals for Heart PatientsIf you are a heart patient or at risk of cardiovascular disease, you need to consider where you’ll go if you need heart surgery. Not all hospitals are equal.

In the event of a sudden heart attack or other emergency, you may have little choice but to call 9-1-1 and go to your nearest emergency room. When you do have the ability to choose, don’t automatically pick the hospital closest to you.

You can get admitted to virtually any hospital in the country (or even opt for treatment in a foreign country). Most U.S. hospitals accept Medicare patients. In matters of life or death, choose the best.

Consider the hospital scores recently published by Consumer Reports (August 2014).

The following 15 hospitals are the only ones to earn a top score for heart bypass and valve surgeries:

• Baystate Medical Center (Springfield, MA)• Borgess Medical Center (Kalamazoo, MI)• Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH)•Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside (Clackamas, OR)•Kaleida Health (Buffalo, NY)•Mother Francis Hospital (Tyler, TX)• Sequoia Hospital (Redwood City, CA)• Spectrum Health (Grand Rapids, MI)• St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (Ypsilanti, MI)• St. Joseph’s Hospital (Syracuse, NY)

• St. Vincent Heart Center (Indianapolis, IN)• Swedish Medical Center-Cherry Hill (Seattle, WA)• The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano (Plano, TX)•UMass Medical Center (Worcester, MA)•Valley Hospital (Ridgewood, NJ)

Another Great Suggestion to Find Top-Notch Hospitals

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is an independent, nonprofit organization which conducts quality assessments of hospitals. JCAHO accreditation cannot be achieved unless a hospital meets standards in 28 different perfor-mance areas (among these are patient care, medication use, operative procedures, staff standards, laboratory performance, emergency services, and infection control).

JCAHO ratings are open to the public. To find a hospital’s accreditation status, call JCAHO (630-792-5800) or visit their web site (www.jcaho.org).

Another way to screen hospitals is through a web site called Why Not the Best? (www.whynotthebest.org), which tracks performance measurements for nearly 5,000 medical facilities nationwide. Developed by the Common-wealth Fund, the site is intended primarily as a reference guide for medical professionals. But as a proactive patient, you can use the professional-grade ranking system to identify the best hospitals in your area, including the best by specialty (such as treating heart failure).

Nursing Home Nightmare continued from previous page



Is Life-Saving Information About Ebola and Other Diseases Being Censored?

The growing threat of Ebola and weaponized germs points out the need to take prudent precautions. Ebola has arrived in the U.S. from West Africa via U.S. airlines.

Despite this, the Obama Administration so far refuses to restrict flights from Ebola-infested regions of Africa. (See Lee Bellinger’s interview on page 17 of this issue.)

Worse, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preventing individuals and medical professionals from pursuing a full range of defenses against Ebola and other deadly infections.

As scholars Paul Howard and James R. Copland of the Manhattan Institute wrote (October 8, 2014), “FDA regulations are not only pushing many drugs off-label but also keeping cutting-edge information from doctors that could save lives, even when that information is truthful and supported by sound science. Under current FDA rules, companies aren’t permitted to communicate information about off-label uses directly to doctors, with a few narrow exceptions. To do otherwise is considered unlawful drug promotion, and has led to billions of dollars in fines and prosecution of companies by the Depart-ment of Justice.”

What this means is that your doctor may not know about off-label drug uses that might treat a condition that’s difficult to treat conventionally. If he does know about unconventional treatments that could be effective in combating your illness, he may sit on that information rather than put it into practice. The risk of running afoul of the FDA or incurring a malpractice lawsuit is just too great.

Government Overreach Gets Weirder and Weirder

The FDA is also restricting your access to informa-tion about genetic diseases to which you may be susceptible. It has banned most of the diagnostic tools offered by DNA testing services such as 23andMe.

As the Associated Press (September 11, 2014) reported, “last November, the Food and Drug Admin-istration ordered the company to stop marketing its personalized health reports, which purported to tell customers if they were genetically predisposed to more than 250 diseases and medical conditions.

Now, 23andMe is working to win FDA clearance for its health tests one at a time, a process that will take years.”

In 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter to Diamond Foods. Over walnuts. FDA scolds told Diamond Foods to stop referencing scientific and medical studies showing the health benefits of walnuts in their marketing. In essence, the FDA is regulating walnuts as if they are drugs!

Walnuts contain an amino acid called arginine, which is also found in beans, cold-water fish (tuna, salmon), soy products, and oats. Arginine promotes a process called nitric-oxide release, which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow. Walnuts are also a rich source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and Omega-3 fatty acids. They help protect against metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular problems, and type 2 diabetes. Packed with anti-oxidants, they help deter cancer.

But the government apparently doesn’t want you to know any of this.

In 2008, the FDA obtained a court order to silence cherry producers. They cited a peer-reviewed Harvard internal medicine report that indicated cher-ries can reduce the risk of cancer. The FDA argued that claiming such health benefits automatically turned cherries into “unapproved drugs.”

Silver Can Aid Your Body’s Defenses Against Infection

Earlier this year, the FDA recently sent a warning letter to Dr. Rima Laibow demanding that she cease talking about the health benefits of nano silver. Dr.

Health Alert


The FDA is regulating walnuts as if they are drugs!



Better Than Buffett?Warren Buffett is widely regarded as the world’s most successful investor. But there are a handful of other billionaires who could give Buffett a run for his money.

According to Bryan Rich of Logic Fund Management, “Carl Icahn has the best long-run investing track record in history. Yes, better than Warren Buffett, and over a slightly longer period of time.”

Better than Buffett? A case can be made…

“From 2000 to July of this year, Icahn returned a cumulative 1,622%. That compares to 235% for Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and just 73% for the S&P 500. Icahn has returned 27% annualized over a 52-year period. That turns $10,000 into $2.5 billion.”

Icahn isn’t well-liked by all, especially underper-forming corporate executives. He takes an activist approach to investing by which he puts the screws to management and holds CEOs accountable to shareholders.

Six Stocks that Could Get the Icahn Boardroom Boost

Icahn wields the most influence (and typically enjoys the best returns) in companies where he sits on the board. Icahn has taken out large positions in the following six stocks where he also holds board seats:

•Herbalife Ltd. (HLF)•Hertz (HTZ)

•Hologic (HOLX)•Navistar (NAV)•Nuance (NUAN)• Transocean Ltd. (RIG)

Don’t Put Too Much Faith in Gurus – Especially the Ones Who Levy Hefty Fees

We don’t recommend following the stock picks of Carl Icahn or any market guru blindly. Not all of his holdings will show stellar performance over any given period.

But you can piggyback off the research and acumen of top gurus. Just focus your own stock screening process on companies that have already passed muster with world’s top investors. You’ll simplify your research without sacrificing expected returns.

It’s not the investors who spend the most time researching companies who enjoy the best returns. Remember, most investors – including professional money managers – do no better than random stock selection! It’s better to pick stocks at random or buy low-cost market index funds than to put your faith in a fund manager who charges hefty fees for managing your portfolio.

There’s no sure-fire way to beat the market averages. Very few do so consistently over time. Carl Icahn is one investor who has done so. It’s worth considering the possibility that he and others who have been successful in this industry for many decades still know what they’re doing.

Smart Money

Dispatch

Laibow has cited government studies showing that nano silver particles can potentially help the immune system fight off Ebola and other deadly diseases.

But the FDA doesn’t want you to know about this.

Dr. Laibow notes that “the FDA lacks the authority to approve or disapprove a nutrient.” Silver-derived supplements, including nano silver and colloidal silver aren’t drugs and aren’t approved

treatments for any diseases. Nor are zinc and calcium. They are basic elements!

The best defense against infection isn’t a hospital. It’s a strong immune system. Eating healthy foods and taking certain vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements in moderation can help boost your immunity.

Life-Saving Information About Ebolacontinued from previous page



Graveyard Investing Pays Dividends“Deathcare” Industry Poised to Grow as Population Ages

An aging population is set to drive a boom in what might politely be dubbed the “post-healthcare” industry. Or, more to the point, the “deathcare” industry.

In the United States there are some 115,000 cemeteries, 22,000 funeral homes, and 1,155 crematories. There are 300 independent casket sellers. This doesn’t even include sales conducted in funeral homes and cemeteries.

Yes, death is a big business – because in our society it’s expensive to die! Costs for a hearse, funeral home, casket, headstone, burial service, etc., can quickly run into not merely thousands, but tens of thousands of dollars. Obviously, some people are making a “killing” by providing services to the families of the deceased.

It may seem morbid to consider investing in

a coming “death” boom. But companies that help bring dignified closure to the lives of those who have passed provide an important

service. One for which there will be growing demand. Unlike more economically sensitive industries that experience boom/bust cycles, the deathcare industry has very predictable and consistent demand for its service. It therefore offers investors more stable earnings streams.

As for specific compa-nies, Batesville Casket is the world’s largest

maker of caskets. In 2008, Hillenbrand, Inc. (HI) became the parent company for Batesville Casket. The stock has a $1.9 billion market capitalization and a 2.7% dividend yield as of this writing.

We highlight this stock as a starting point for your own research. As always, the decision to invest in individual stocks entails risk. A financial advisor can help you determine whether a particular stock is appropriate for you and your risk tolerance.

Grieved Loved Ones Often Make This Big Financial MistakeIn general, it’s best not to buy a casket from a funeral home. You’ll pay a significant markup from what you’d pay for a similar casket you could buy directly from a distributor. Funeral home directors get away with charging ghastly fees because they know the loved ones of the deceased will be emotionally drained.

However, casket, burial, and other costs can be negotiated. Don’t feel guilty about doing so. You wouldn’t want your survivors to be bilked as a result of your funeral.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

12.5

15.0

17.5

20.0

22.525.027.530.032.5

© StockCharts.com21-Oct-2014HI Hillenbrand Inc. NYSE

Cl 31.76 Vol 335.9K Chg +0.67 (+2.16%)

It’s best not to buy a casket from a funeral home.

The stock has a $1.9 billion market capitalization and a 2.7% dividend yield.



finally ban direct flights from high risk countries.

That’s a description of paralysis, Lee. What do you personally recommend?Scientist Will Block sent me an article summarizing a little known report from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Medical Diseases. This research institute is considered the birthplace of medical biodefense and has the largest containment laboratory in the world.

Its essence is that epigallocatgechin gallate (EGCG) may degrade the spread of the horrible Ebola virus. EGCG is an important component of green tea. The specific mechanism is that EGCG inhibits the virus “chaperone” HspA5. HspA5 is vital for Ebola replica-tion, but when blocked, the growth of the virus is halted under laboratory conditions.

In August, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, the sole U.S. maker of an experimental anti-Ebola drug, exhausted its supply. ZMapp, as it is called, was emergency shipped to high risk regions and is basically not avail-able to most Americans.

I am personally stocking up on green tea. I suggest you do so, too – before the public catches on that the last prescription drug lifeboat has pulled away.

How do we protect our families from this Ebola horror show?Let me repeat: Get and drink high-quality green tea. You can also take green tea extract supplements, if you prefer. Right now that’s the best advice I have. Of course, there are other things you can do to boost your resistance to infection. Will Block is producing a report for me on this subject. I will send it to you via email. Drop a line to [email protected] with “Ebola Report” in the subject line, and I will forward you this key report free of charge.

Lee, you’ve had a lot of dire predictions about the collapse of antibiotics and a post- antibiotic era coming to the world.I am definitely far from alone in that worry. And

events are forcing yet more people to wake up to the danger. As Independent Living has been warning for many years, the politically imposed costs of bringing new antibiotics to the marketplace have choked innovation. The superbugs have caught up and overtaken old antibiotics. And now lots of people are dying as a result. Many of them are younger people in their thirties and forties, too. Strange fungal postoperative complications are among many of the dangers of superbugs running more and more amok.

I noticed that in September, even the Obama Administration tacitly acknowledged that the FDA’s regulatory fist has caused the shortage of new antibiotics. A quietly issued Obama executive order has created a task force to fight the growing menace of antibiotics shortages and lack of innova-tion in that field.

Part of this plan is to curtail public use of antibiotics, so that means they will be much harder for you to get antibiotics going forward. The government is also going to throw $800 million to now suddenly “encourage” the development of new antibiotics – something the market was doing until regulators made development of antibiotics too cost prohibitive.

And there is more mess to come, isn’t there?Dr. Henry L. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist and a fellow at Stanford University, warns of the now-spreading meningitis outbreak. It is a devastating infectious disease that in its early stages is diagnosed as the flu. The disease often kills and results in amputations.

Two major drug companies, Pfizer and Novartis, have submitted marketing applications with the FDA to distribute their vaccines, but at last report it is all being held up by the FDA. My prediction is that it will take numerous meningitis deaths to get these bureaucratic murderers off the dime.

What about reports of censorship for potential new medical breakthroughs?The pro-Obama media have let the country down massively. They will have much to explain as the consequences of Mr. Obama’s decisions continue to come home to roost. The federal government is quite

Lee’s Prediction Updates continued from page 1

See Lee’s Prediction Updates, next page



literally doing insane things as this major national bio crisis continues to mount.

Get this: The feds are actually prosecuting medical tech company heads for making public statements about treatment breakthroughs. It’s part of an ideologically hatched scheme to reduce health care spending by restraining the speech of private firms that promote expensive specialty drugs.

The American Enterprise Institute publicized one case in which a federal judge sentenced the former head of a biotech company to six months of home confinement and a $20,000 fine just for sending out a press release about a drug. A press release!

Growing government censorship is not a wild charge, contrary to what left-wing nuts say. The censorship of medical breakthroughs charge is made by Scott Gottlieb, deputy commissioner of the FDA from 2005-2007.

So we are seeing the rise of drug-resistant tuberculosis now coming into the USA. There are now a reported 500,000 new drug-resistant cases every year and that number is growing fast.

The government has made a hash of protecting us all when it comes to the introduction of new drugs to combat these rising threats. Their crackpot actions are nothing short of criminal.

You have been predicting major power grid collapse for some time. What is the latest?The good news is that this past summer was compara-tively mild and there was less strain on the system than normal. But grid collapse is on its way.

Now some of Mr. Obama’s allies have noticed that the administration’s crazy scheme to take more than 100 gigawatts of electricity off line within 5 years will compromise “the reliability and safety of the electrical grid….a danger to the entire economy and all Americans.”

That’s the observation of Edwin D. Hill, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Of course, Mr. Hill is worried about union jobs.

Former Director of the CIA, James Woolsey, is author

of an ominous book called Electric Armageddon. He quotes billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who recently warned that the detonation of a simple electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon is the most significant threat facing America. In 2008, the EMP Commission estimated that within a 12 month blackout, up to 90% of the U.S. population could possibly perish from “starvation, disease and social breakdown.”

Similar conclusions have been made by the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Energy, the Federal Regulatory Commission, the NOAH Founda-tion and the National Intelligence Council.

A sneak EMP attack is likely to happen at some point. And Mr. Obama’s deliberate policy of dismantling our very old power grid by taking coal plants off line without replacing them guarantees at minimum electricity rationing. The inmates have taken charge of the asylum.

You are inventor of the PowerWhisperer home energy backup unit. How are sales going?We cannot build them fast enough! PowerWhisperer is the only Faraday Cage designed EMP resistant solar generator in America so far as I know. We had some delays because of an Obama Administration chokepoint – concerning the shipment of solar panels. That slowed us down, but we found another way to get the panels. I can’t say any more about this right now but plan to, rest assured. I am very sorry for any customers who experienced a delay in shipment. We worked out the problems.

Can you bring us up to speed on the status of the China threat you have been warning about?Mr. Obama’s passive-aggressive policy toward China continues to increase the chance of a direct U.S. clash with them in the South China Sea before he leaves office. My prediction is that China will strike indirect U.S. allies in that region. And even perhaps Japanese ships or planes (in what I would call a short, sharp, limited regional conflict) within two years. If so, our mutual defense pact with Japan is activated. And that puts Mr. Obama into the square of the fight.

The Chinese say publicly that Mr. Obama is writing checks for military guarantees that he cannot easily


Lee’s Prediction Updatescontinued from previous page



cash. The U.S. Navy has about 100 deployable ships – even as Mr. Obama has (through Japan) quietly extended the U.S. military umbrella to numerous small countries in the South China Sea. Japan is making alliances in our name to protect the Philip-pines, Australia, Vietnam and many others embroiled in territorial disputes with Beijing.

Tangled alliances. Military unpreparedness. Trip-wire troops and military treaty obligations. Right or wrong, the Chinese have repeatedly telegraphed their perception that long-standing U.S. interests in a distant part of the globe are ripe for the taking. These are all ingredients of past surprise wars.

Add to all that a lack of hard reality among U.S. leaders. The Administration is explaining away growing military brinksmanship in the South China Sea as the work of rouge Chinese commanders.

Another historical “Mickey Finn” that could suddenly be delivered to U.S. forces operating near Japan: Much of the new missile technology that the Chinese now have to take out U.S. capital ships in South China Sea waters came to them from the Clinton Administration.

If Hillary Clinton thinks that Benghazi was a big issue for her, wait until the Clinton-era technology handed over to Chinese interests for cash leads to the destruction of a U.S. warship.

Any stories of interest to share closer to home?Yes, take the sudden drop in armed robberies in Chicago. They have plummeted 20% in just one year. Homicides have fallen to a 56-year low. So what explains this sudden miraculous law enforcement success? Recently Illinois started granting concealed carry permits and lots of law abiding citizens got themselves guns. The public has law enforcement’s back. The criminals no longer enjoy their monopoly on firepower.

What else?Major corporate collaborators of the Obama Admin-istration have thrown the White House under the bus. When customers of Microsoft and Google learned how those companies had betrayed their privacy to federal snoops, both companies reversed course. In

addition, both software makers have run up against skeptical international markets. Global competition emphasizing privacy from the U.S. government have sprung up and threatened to capture big market share. The overall result is that there are more privacy respecting software companies and options for consumers.

I am loving it. In September, both Google and Apple said they would begin encrypting data on their smart phone devices so that police agencies cannot unscramble it – even with a warrant! Now federal agencies are fuming. But the heads of Apple and Google say that regulatory snoopers pushing 9-11 for their own power trips have brought it all down on themselves and the finger pointing has begun.

For once sneaky freedom-stealing cohorts have a much deserved omelet on their face. They totally deserve this blow-back. I hope this gives U.S. companies pause before collaborating with freedom thieving bureaucrats going forward.

What do you think that our new Congress should try to accomplish?Don’t worry about passing a thing over the next two years. Instead schedule vote after vote on U.S. energy independence related issues. This can politically re-align states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and many others for decades to come. States like North Dakota are booming due to fracking – as others join them the environmentalist extremists will be politically crushed.

What about other Congressional hearings?Stay after Lois Lerner and her cohorts for using the IRS against Obama critics. Lerner pleaded the fifth, presided over the destruction of evidence and right now is set to retire on a $100,000 per year pension. That is an extremely dangerous precedent. We as a nation cannot allow the abuse of the IRS for politics to stand no matter which party criminalizes the agency. Abuse of the IRS for political gain was rightly an article of impeachment for Richard Nixon. Now the left is singing a different tune – actually they have a mouse in their mouth.

Focus voter attention on abuse of our First Amendment rights. More hearings into government ammo buying and Operation “Chokepoint.” Don’t worry if the media ignore the hearings – if the Republicans hold them consistently it will filter out to the voters and set the


See Lee’s Prediction Updates, next page


Reality Check on Marketscontinued from page 5

Lee Bellinger is Editor of Independent Living. A 26-year veteran to newsletter publishing, Bellinger has made it his life mission to help his subscribers protect their freedoms, assets, privacy, wealth, and health from geometrically increasing threats, especially from the federal government and its corporate cronies and other “stakeholders.” A Capitol Hill insider for 30 years, he is a graduate of Hillsdale College in Michigan, worked as an aide to two congressmen, and led a grassroots advocacy group.

stage for who gets elected president next.

Another great issue to hold hearings on is mandating federal law enforcement bureaucrats to wear cameras and recorders on their person while on duty or interfacing with the public.

Where it has been tried, complaints against police abuse of power have plummeted. Why does civilian law enforcement need tanks, missile launchers and machine guns? What next? Neighborhood nuclear superiority? Talk about Barney Fife on steroids.

In the tiny town of Pineville, North Carolina, the new ultra modern police station is quite literally larger than the entire downtown district (I used to drive through there on the way to work as a teenager and was shocked when I recently saw the town again).

Body cams make law enforcement more accountable to the people. And the reverse. It helps legitimate criminal prosecutions. We should encourage state laws which do the same thing at every opportunity. Congressional hear-ings to shed light on these issues can help to re-establish properly balanced civilian law enforcement.

Last thoughts?Yes, thanks to all our great readers for letting me serve you. It is fun and it is an honor.

Independent Living

P.S. See your FREE blackout reports on page 5.

Thx –


Some analysts now believe rates could dip back below 4%. If so, they likely wouldn’t remain there long-term. Eventually, interest rates will rise back up toward historic norms. Interest rates have been manipulated by the Federal Reserve over the past few years.

With the Fed now telling the public that it will stop buying mortgage securities, perhaps more normal rates of interest will start to set in.

The smart money seems to think that rates will head higher over time as the value of the dollar heads lower. Owning real estate financed at a low fixed rate is one way to gain from inflation – if you’re in it for the long term.

Get A Fixed Rate Home LoanMega investor Warren Buffett is on board with this wealth-building strategy. He said at an October 7th conference hosted by Fortune magazine, “You would think that people would be lining up now to get mortgages to buy a home…It’s a good way to go short the dollar, short interest rates. It is a no-brainer.”

Buying a home or refinancing an existing one is worth considering if your financial and lifestyle situation can support a major long-term commitment to property. Don’t expect immediate benefits.

But if Warren Buffett is right that interest rates will head higher and the dollar lower in the coming years, then now is a good time to acquire tangible contra-dollar assets using low, fixed-rate financing.

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