Global Economic Collapse Predicted by Société Générale

Societe Generale recently released a report titled "Worst-case debt scenario" which highlights three possible outcomes of the current economic crisis.

The report, meant to provide deeper insight and clarity into the next phases of the global economic crisis so that clients can take steps to protect their investments.

It is well put together and provides an excellent view of FRM (Financial Risk Management) and suggests selling off the U.S. dollar (a recurring them as of late, but that is another story), buying Government Bonds, and Cherry Picking certain equities and commodities (read buy gold).

They are also predicting a spike in gold prices as high as $6300 or possibly more in the next ten years. Gold today as I write this is over $1100 and climbing.

Since the report is calling for further posible economic collapse I thought I would add it here. The report is below.

Société Générale Worst Case Debt Scenario Fourth Quarter Nov 2009

Disaster Tip of the Week: Backup Your Files

I've been telling people to back up their data for almost fifteen years now, and I wrote about it in one of my first articles The Importance of Data Backups back in 2005. However, I still constantly run into people and businesses that fail to make frequent data backups and see stories in the news about data loss all the time.

The recent Sidekick and Snow Leopard issues that I did a post on recently also show how vulnerable we can be when we do not properly make these data backups.

Manually backing up your data can save you a lot of headaches in the long run, including issues with compliance and regulatory requirements.

Back when I wrote the article above, someone sent me an email stating that when they have a data loss, they just have the chance to do it all over again and do it better. This may be a great outlook to have, but not a very practical or cost effective one.

According to The Cost of Lost Data, a Pepperdine University report updated in 2003 (Pre-Sarbanes-Oxley) Dr. David Smith estimates the average cost of irrecoverably lost data at more than $10,000 per megabyte lost. This does not take into account the value of the lost data which on average is about $3,400.00 per incident.

In addition to backing up your data, I would also recommend making copies of your Vital records, and other business documents essential to your operations (electronically if you can) and store those off-site as well.

You also don't need an expensive solution, even if you are a small business, indivdual, or on a shoestring budget there are still steps you can take to save and backup your data without having to break the bank.

Fore More excellnet Statistics on Data Loss see this whitepaper from HP & Score:   

Impact on U.S. Small Business of Natural & Man-Made Disasters

Rock Slide Shuts Part of Highway 64

A series of rock slides shut down U.S. Highway 64 in Tennessee, and officials are saying it may take up to a week to clear the debris which include rocks as large as some cars.

The route is a major highway in the area and the Tennessee Department of Transportation has set up detours by using I-75 and U.S. Highway 74.

For more information on this or any other TDOT road construction project, or for weather-related road closure information, visit the TDOT Web site's dynamic TDOT SmartWay Information System or travelers in the local area can call 511.

Video of the Second Rock Slide in Tennessee

Events such as these can cause disruptions to your business, make a plan today.

Pakistan and Nuclear Weapons A Big Problem for the United States

As many of you know, I have written numerous times about the possibility of Pakistans nuclear arms falling into the hands of terrorists who plan on using them against the West.

Posts such as these:

Pakistans President Announces Nukes May Fall Into Terrorist Hands

Taliban May Already Hold Some Key Nuke Sites In Pakistan

Al-Qaeda Declares It Will Use Pakistan’s Nukes To Strike Unites States

(For more posts on this topic use the search box on the right)

Weather or not this actually happens is hard to say, but it is not something beyond the realm of possibility.

I am also a big long time fan of National Terror Alert, as they do an excellent job on reporting on some of these issues, and noticed the story on their site yesterday titled: Are Pakistans Nuclear Weapons Safe?

This post on their site points to the article Defending The Arsenal In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?

My personal views on this is that it is just a matter of time at this point. It could happen 2 weeks from now, or 5 years from now, but the pendulum is swinging in favor of the radicals at this point and they want nothing more than to get their hands on a nuclear weapon.

Make no mistake they are keeping their eyes on the prize, and we in the West are not doing enough to stop it from happening.

Read the articles linked in this post to get up to date on this issue.

Evacuating During a Hurricane and other Hurricane Safety Videos

It is still officially hurricane season, and with tropical storm IDA in the Gulf it I thought I would publish some good materials on Hurricane safety and evacuations.

Evacuating the Area of a Hurricane

Preparing for a Hurricane

Electrical Safety During a Hurricane