Over the last decade the nuclear EMP (NEMP) threat associated with a high-altitude nuclear detonation has gained momentum, fueling the prepper community with visions of a sudden end to our high-tech infrastructure, and returning us to brutal survival conditions in a world of escalating chaos and violence. This threat is talked up by politicians, corporate lobbyists, and those that hope to gain - either monetarily (via government contract) or through the spread of fear (for perception management). Recent novels such as Ray Gorham's 77 Days in September and William Forstchen's One Second After have fanned the flames of this threat with gritty stories of mass death and horrendous struggles to survive. But is this threat really viable in the context of so many other threats that are visible on our horizon?

WikiLeaks has released a major trove of CIA docs revealing their hacking methods and capacities. Shocking to some, no big surprise to others. Among the highlights: the CIA has the ability to hack a range of household devices without you knowing, and evading even encrypted communications. Your phone, your TV, your car, your toaster. (Well, maybe not your toaster.) But not to worry. The docs reveal a hyper focus on spying on other elites (with the aim of gaining an edge over them) - countering terrorism, not so much. Infection and surveillance of the masses is merely collateral damage on the way to acquiring, monitoring and defeating targeted competitors.

Of more immediate concern for users than whether or not Big Brother is watching is that scammers are taking advantage of the 'cyber Mad Max' reality the CIA et al have created to profit from it. Through incompetence and the open-source nature of information, the CIA apparently lost control over their entire arsenal of cyberweapons. Now they're out there for who knows who to exploit.

Today on Behind the Headlines we'll see what all the fuss is about.

Running Time: 02:00:05

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Millennials are people born between the years 1980 and 1994. They have a reputation for being narcissistic and entitled, shallow, obsessed with technology and social media and unable to cope with reality. Social scientists have remarked that this generation is more likely to live with their parents, lack basic living skills, have an incapacity for meaningful relationships and suffer from a high rate of mood and personality disorders. Older generations talking smack about younger generations is a grand tradition but one must ask: How did millennials develop this reputation? Are these youngsters uniquely flawed or are they merely a product of the times?

Join us as we explore these questions and more.

And stay tuned, as always, for Zoya's Pet Health segment where the topic will be suicide among veterinarians.

Running Time: 01:29:45

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Februrary 2017 continued on as January started. Massive flooding in California due to "atmospheric rivers" dumping large amounts of rain on coastal areas and snow on the Sierra Nevada. The snow melt from this caused further flooding in Nevada. Eastern Canada also experienced record snowfall, as did Iran, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Japan.

Wildfires broke out in Eastern Australia and New Zealand while record rainfall inundated Western Australia. Major flooding also hit several South American nations including Chile, Peru and Colombia.

There are at least 30 active volcanoes around the world right now, including a really impressive one in Guatemala. Massive earth cracks opened in Pakistan and Italy.

These are just some of the chaotic events we present in this month's Sott 'Earth Changes' video compilation.

Today on the Truth Perspective we'll be continuing our discussion from last week on the fourth turning, drawing on Harrison's three-part series published on SOTT.

The Fourth Turning and Steve Bannon Pt. 1: Why He's Wrong, Even Though He's Right
The Fourth Turning and Steve Bannon Pt. 2: Happiness, Hedonism, Horror - Repeat
The Fourth Turning and Steve Bannon Pt. 3: Implications for Hysterica-America

We'll be talking about social hysteria, the FakeNews media, the anti-Russian psychosis, Political Ponerology, and the general sense of craziness going around. One recent example of note: Bush Jr.'s newfound popularity among people that used to hate him. All because he doesn't like Trump. Tune in.

Running Time: 02:02:27

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On this episode of The Health and Wellness Show we explore the topic of lies, liars and lying. Some people are compulsive liars. Others are pathological liars. But everyone lies and has done so since childhood. We lie to grease the social wheels, to protect others feelings, to make ourselves feel good, to obtain some personal benefit, and sometimes even for the heck of it.

Given that lying is part of human makeup and the social landscape, there have been numerous books written and talks given on detecting lies. However, it turns out that humans aren't so good at detecting them. History is rife with tales of people being bamboozled. On a societal level we are swimming in an ocean of lies. What are the effects of such falsity? Does lying and believing in lies affect our brains? Are there ever times when lying is necessary?

Join us for a dose of the truth about lies and stay tuned, as always, for Zoya's Pet Health segment where the topic will be lies about the dosage of the mandatory rabies vaccine.

Running Time: 01:19:50

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Continued from Part 2: Happiness, Hedonism, Horror - Repeat

Lobaczewski was exiled to America in the late 70s by the Polish Communist authorities after being denounced by a correspondent for Radio Free Europe. Based on his observations of American culture in New York, he thought the U.S. reached a peak of hysteria in the 80s. Maybe he was right about that, but if he were still alive I would be curious to know his thoughts on American society in the past few years. It seems the hysteria has only gotten worse. Here's what he had to say about the U.S. in 1984:

America is stifling progress in all areas of life, from culture to technology and economics, not excluding political incompetence. When linked to other deficiencies, an egotist's incapability of understanding other people and nations leads to political error and the scapegoating of outsiders. Slamming the brakes on the evolution of political structures and social institutions increases both administrative inertia and discontent on the part of its victims. (Political Ponerology, p. 64)

Sounds like he could've been writing about today.

He also wrote that the U.S. seems to lag around 80 years behind the European cycle. The last European crisis was a bloody nightmare that saw one world war and the emergence of two major totalitarian pathocracies: the Soviets in 1922, and the Nazis in 1933 - then another world war. If Lobaczewski is right, that suggests that it can take at least two full 80-year cycles before a country risks falling into totalitarian barbarism that consumes its own people, which means Europe might get off relatively easy this time around. But maybe not.

Continued from Part 1: Why He's Wrong, Even Though He's Right

I wasn't familiar with the 'fourth turning' before the Bannon media hype, but the idea didn't strike me as off the wall once I read about it. I think it's actually quite useful. And it's not really new either. Howe and Strauss seem to have built upon existing ideas of historical cycles and refined them, tying them to the biological life cycle and filling in a lot of the details. For example, Howe mentions Toynbee's idea of a "great war cycle":

And this is the old lesson of Arnold Toynbee, of what he calls the great war cycle that arose every 80 years or so: it's when the generation who doesn't remember the last great catastrophe finally become the senior leaders.

Another source is Russian sociologist Pitrim Sorokin. I'm not sure if Howe and Strauss were familiar with Sorokin's work, but these blog posts (here, here, and here) suggest that their theory at least "appears to be a clean innovation on Sorokin's work". Sorokin also identified a cycle of 80 to 100 years that ping-pongs between spiritual and materialistic mindsets, roughly corresponding to the awakening and crisis turnings. For Howe and Strauss, the second and fourth turnings - spiritual awakening and secular crisis - form the key moments in the larger cycle of cultural trends.

There's another source, however, that I think rounds out the generational theory even more and provides the perspective we need in order to prevent the current crisis from progressing to a reign of terror. Readers familiar with Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology (which cites Sorokin's work as a source) know that one of main points of the book is that some psychopaths strive for political power, and create societal nightmares once they achieve it. But equally important is his focus on the historical cycles that make such a thing possible. The two are intimately tied together.

At this point in our wild weather chronicles, we're starting to sound like a broken record. But it's not our fault! The climate just keeps on swinging from extreme to extreme...

Last month's highlights include:

• Record wildfires in Chile and Argentina (where there was also record rainfall)
• Record rainfall ending record drought in California
• Record one-day and monthly snowfalls in Japan and the US West
• Record tornado outbreaks in the US South
• Record one-day rainfalls in the US South
• Record-cold temperatures and snowfalls in eastern and southern Europe
• Record snowfall in the Sahara
• Record heat in Australia, and record cold in New Zealand

These were just some of the 'signs' of environmental upheaval around the world in January 2017:

On March 5, 1933, just over a month after gaining office as Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler gave a frighteningly dark speech on race relations in Germany. Here's what he had to say:

My fellow Germans, ... I am very grateful for the many wonderful opportunities to honor African-German heroes, faith leaders, entrepreneurs and the many others who changed the course of our nation. We are blessed by the lives and examples of those who have made this nation a beacon of freedom, talent, and unbreakable German spirit.

This week I had the privilege of visiting the national museum of African-German history and culture right here in Berlin. It's a new, beautiful ... museum that serves as a shining example of African-Germans' incredible contributions to our culture, our society, and our history. It also tells of the great struggle for freedom and equality that prevailed against the sins of slavery and the injustice of discrimination.

The work and love of the people who helped create such a masterpiece is a testament to the legacy of so many leaders and honors. I left that museum confident that together Germany can overcome any challenge. ... Today and every day I pledge to continue the march towards justice and freedom for all so that every German no matter his background, no matter her background, has the chance to climb that great ladder of success.

Chilling stuff.