Special from NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
July 13, 2002

1) FEMA Preparing for Mass Destruction Attacks on Cities
2) Japan's Banking Collapse Nearing
3) Churchill Still Cursing the Nazis

1) FEMA Preparing for Mass Destruction Attacks on Cities

FEMA, the federal agency charged with disaster preparedness, is engaged in a crash effort to prepare for multiple mass destruction attacks on U.S. cities, NewsMax has learned.

FEMA is already preparing for nuclear, biological and chemical attacks against U.S. cities, including the possibility of multiple attacks with mass destruction weapons.

The agency has already notified vendors, contractors and consultants that it needs to be prepared to handle the logistics of aiding millions of displaced Americans from urban areas that may be attacked.

The agency plans to create emergency, makeshift cities that could house hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans who may have to flee their urban homes if their cities are attacked.

Ominously, FEMA has been given a deadline of having the cities ready to go by January 2003 – in about six months.

A source familiar with the deadline believes the effort is related to making the U.S. prepared for counterattacks if the U.S. invades Iraq sometime next year.

FEMA is currently seeking bids from major real estate management firms, and plans to name three firms in the near future to handle the logistics and planning for these temporary cities.

FEMA officials have told these firms they already have tents and trailers ordered. The tents and trailers would provide shelter for displaced populations.

The real estate firms are expected to provide engineers and architects to lay the plans for emergency infrastructure needs, such as sewerage and electricity.

2) Japan's Banking Collapse Nearing

The senior economist for one of Switzerland's largest banks tells NewsMax that Japan's banking system is on the verge of a complete collapse.

Already in a 12-year recession, Japan's economy shows no signs of a turnaround. Near-zero-percent loans have not spurred economic growth.

Last year, some 46 credit unions and cooperatives (our version of a savings and loan) went belly up. Japan's government has also dramatically reduced its version of FDIC, saying it would protect accounts of less than $75,000.

The Japanese already see the handwriting on the wall. The recent run-up in gold is linked to Japanese capital fleeing the Japanese economy.

3) Churchill Still Cursing the Nazis

Sounds unbelievable, but it is true.

The oldest surviving pet of Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime prime minister, is a parrot named "Charlie the Curser."

Decades after Churchill's death, Charlie is still parroting his former master, voicing a stream of expletives for all to hear.

His most common refrain, we hear, is "F--k the Nazis," or the equally obscene "F--k Hitler."

Parrot Charlie, we hear from Churchill scholar James Humes, is 103 years old and resides comfortably in a pet sanctuary in Reigate, Surrey.

Churchill bought the pet in the mid-1930s. Humes says Churchill had a varied pet collection, which included lambs, pigs, cattle, swans and, at one point, a leopard.

But Charlie was among Churchill's most-favored pets.

Charlie did have residence in a Surrey pet store for many years, but complaints emanated from customers upset with the expletives Charlie would utter in front of the children.

"Churchill may no longer be with us, but that spirit and those words of defiance and resolve continue with us," Humes told NewsMax.

Editor's note: James Humes has been a speechwriter to five U.S. presidents and a consultant on communication to executives of several major U.S. corporations. In "Success Talk: the Speaking Secrets of Winston Churchill and Other Great Leaders," Humes reveals how the very inarticulate Churchill became a master communicator. Humes says Churchill's speaking secrets can be used by any professional and will help them to the top of their fields.

Click here to find out more about "Success Talk."