Behind The Parapet

Another "In The News"

2011-05-23T07:58:00.005-04:00

Un-Raptured

I am pleased to report we have survived the rapture of 2011. To the "true believers" I say... well, maybe next time.

Obama Off To Ireland

I thought this was a cute news item; "Obama In Ireland To Discover His Irish Roots" I can't help but wonder if Mr. O'bama will be off to Russia next, to discover his socialist roots.

Say It Aint So

According to two of his team-mates, Lance Armstrong was not only doing enhancement drugs but, he was trying to convince his pals to enhance also.

I can't really explain why I always get spicious when folks get a conscience and fess up a couple years after a dirty deed was done.

Don't Buy American

At least that is the message I am getting from THIS STORY courtesy of MSN.COM this morning. The story author, Katherine Reynolds Lewis, suggests the notion that Americans who "go out of their way" to find and purchase American made products are doing the economy far more harm than good. Ms. Lewis contends "a complete end to imports would actually hurt the U.S. economy because consumers and domestic companies would lose access to cheap goods."

[A complete end to imports? How do we go from some Americans making an effort to buy American made goods to a nationwide ban on all imports?]

Mark Perry, an economics professor and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (a conservative (?) think tank) says; "If we restrict trade to just the fifty states, what would happen immediately, and increase over time, would be a huge reduction in our standard of living, because we wouldn't have access to the cheap goods we get from other countries. We also wouldn't have any export markets, so companies like Caterpillar and Microsoft would have a huge reduction in sales and workforce."

[Since Caterpillar and Microsoft both have operations on foreign soil, I don't see how they would stand to lose much if their American based operations cut off all exports. As for cheap foreign made goods and their effect on our standard of living; had greedy businesses like Caterpillar and Microsoft (et al) not moved various operations out of the country, to avoid paying big bucks to American workers, there would be more Americans working and enjoying a better standard of living. Of course, if American workers had not been so greedy by demanding big bucks and high priced benefit packages...]

According to Ms. Lewis, who is quoting "financial experts;" "when you spend more on an equivalent product because it's made in the U.S., you're wasting your money and supporting an inefficient manufacturer that, by rights, should become more efficient or go out of business."

[I thought that was how the system worked. A business either produces quality stuff and prospers or, puts out junk and goes out of business when folks refuse to buy said junk. However, Ms. Lewis almost makes it sound as though some "higher forces" should be in a position to PUT those businesses out of business.]

So says Ken Fisher, Founder and CEO of Fisher Investments in Woodside, California, and the author of "Debunkery." "The additional money Americans spend on an inefficient U.S. producer could have been spent on something else, helping the economy further. Or it could stay in their savings account and been funneled into the financial system, which in theory allocates capital to the most efficient producers. These most efficient producers are best-positioned to create more jobs and return profits to their investors, and to the government in the form of tax revenues. "We make the country better by allocating resources toward the ones that can use them best," according to Fisher.

[I'm sorry Ken, whose economy would we be helping out exactly? China's?

Savings accounts!!! Are you serious!!! If the banks decided to have a "holiday," our savings accounts could be going on said holiday with the banks. As for those accounts being used to funnel money into the financial system, are we talking about the same financial system that has allocated capital to all of those big businesses who are building off shore operations? Or are we talking about the financial system that has all but bankrupted America by funneling money into it's own pockets?]

To tell you the truth folks, after reading these stories today, I'm almost disappointed the rapture passed us over. Well, maybe next time.

MikeH.

Forget Those Sunday Drives

2011-05-06T08:56:00.002-04:00

It's bad enough we Americans are forced to pay exorbitant, yet ever increasing, amounts for a gallon of gasoline. I can certainly attest to the fact that it is putting the brakes on our Sunday drives and mini adventure trips through the countryside. Let's face it... the price at the pumps pretty much dictates that starting our vehicles, for any reason other than absolute necessity, amounts to unnecessary waste. So what could possibly make this situation any worse?

Well, it seems the El Zippo administration is "drafting a proposal" to conduct a study that will investigate the feasibility of instituting a mileage tax on those of us who are stuck in that "must drive" station in life. Yes, this tax was brought up in the early days of Zippie's claim to power. And yes, allegedly, His Zeroness pushed down that idea. But as many things do in Zippie's circle of jerks, it has once again raised it's ugly head. (yes Michelle, that includes you)

The writer of the story poses the question; What will Americans find more offensive, the tax or the loss of privacy when government metering devices are installed on all vehicles to determine the miles driven and resultant tax to be levied.

According to the story, federal taxes on gasoline, instituted in 1992, can't keep the coffers full any longer since auto manufacturers keep building vehicles that keep getting better gas mileage. (these democretins always need a patsy on whom to stick blame) Far be it from me to mention the MPG guidelines the government expects auto manufacturers to adhere to. I mean, one would think some bright bulb in government would realize that government would be causing it's own windfall losses through these guidelines... RIGHT!!!

Now supposedly, if a miles tax was to be chiseled in stone, the federal per gallon gasoline tax would be removed. Please allow me to repeat that statement. The FEDERAL per gallon gasoline tax would be removed. That won't bring about any change in the per gallon taxes set by the states. And it stands to reason that if the federal coffers are floundering under the per gallon tax rate, the per mile rate will, no doubt, have an impact we will see (and feel) in our wallets.

Just like with drug dealers... just say NO!!! In my way of thinking, the federal coffers wouldn't be in deep doggie dodo if the people in charge of the purse strings weren't blowing the money like drunken sailors in a liberty port. Those folks, from way back when, came up with an interesting concept; "No taxation without representation." I think that should hold true today.

So, NO, I will not be coerced into paying any new taxes especially without seeing some real government services being rendered in return. And if anyone comes around looking to put any kind of device on my vehicle, they had best bring EMS and a SWAT team along. And it will not be a training exercise.

In an unrelated story, yet another writer asks the question; "Are gasoline prices hurting the jobs market?" In my own digest form, the writer is suggesting that gas prices are preventing folks from driving about in the active pursuit of work. (honestly, stupid people should not be allowed to procreate)

As I recall, last year someone had pointed out that in the last few years, nine million jobs have either left the country or just flat out gone out of business, never to return. Call me a skeptic but, I don't think there would be much change in the jobs market numbers if gas were a dime a gallon.

On a much brighter note, the U.N. wants to know if the U.S. had any plan on taking Osama bin Laden alive. They seem to think he was entitled to a "criminal trial." (I'm telling you... procreation should only be permitted in order to sustain a mentally healthy society. I guess I should thank God I am already grandfathered in)

MikeH.

It All Makes Perfect Sense

2011-05-04T09:32:00.002-04:00

At least it's all perfect sense if you are among the inner circle jerks.

El Zippo's poll numbers have been circling the hole in the bottom of the porcelain throne. He needs a hail Mary play to boost up those numbers if he has any hope of tricking the public into believing he is worthy of holding on to his other throne in the oval office for another term. Enter a long form birth certificate that seems to have been several years in the making. And of course, His Worthlessness jumps on this as an opportunity to ridicule anyone who has even half considered the notion of whether or not he is an American citizen.

Shouldn't (or couldn't) this have been addressed way back when, instead of dragging it out and, even still after the big unveiling, continue to fuel the fire of "birther" conspiracy doubts?

Perhaps realizing his extreme arrogance may well have rubbed some potential voters the wrong way, Zippity Do Duh concludes the need to pull another rabbit out of his hat. So, a mere few days after the birth certificate surfaces, enter (or exit) Osama bin Laden... the number one (well, number two after Zippie) most hated individual in America today.

So, we have Pakistan, military / CIA op, shootout and bin Laden dead. And the news reports start to trickle in.

We learn that SEAL Team Six, the oh so secret military unit that "doesn't even officially exist" has apparently been outed into officially existing, complete with a story on SEAL training and another story told by a unit member's wife. I have to suppose Area 51 doesn't have the big box-office draw it once had.

We are told the operation was in the planning stages for eight months. It is also reveled that one of the two aircraft being used went down near bin Laden's compound after mechanical problems. But, we are also told that the teams have to double up in the one remaining aircraft for the extraction phase. So what was the sense in carrying bin Laden's body out to that craft and transporting it to a U.S. Navy ship? Was that part of the eight month game plan?

An official aboard ship is reported to have said bin Laden's body was cleansed prior to a burial at sea. We are told that this was done to appease Islamic law that requires immediate burial and, to spare any other country from having to bury it. Someone had to figure there would be conspiracy theories by the ship load after being so quick to dump bin Laden overboard. But he sleeps with the fishes none the less.

I don't understand any need to put American military personnel at additional risk of injury or death to carry the body around in what would be considered a hot landing zone, or transport it out of Pakistan. But, I am without doubt a tad confused as to why we should care about Islamic law being satisfied or who gets stuck with the funeral arrangements. I feel sure the Pakistani government was fully aware bin Laden was living there so let Pakistani President Zardari worry about it. For that fact, I think it would have been appropriate if Zardari had awaken that morning to find bin Laden's bloody severed head next to him in bed.

I had a feeling there would be some "we said / they're saying" stories to be told. The first official version reported bin Laden was shot and killed during a heated fire fight that he was actively participating in. Today, bin Laden's thirteen year old daughter has been quoted as saying her father was unarmed when he was shot to death. And Zardari has been quoted as saying this was not a joint operation between the U.S. and Pakistan.

During the last few years, the American public has heard tell from various "experts" who have speculated bin Laden was killed during the carpet bombing of the mountains in Tora Bora. Still others suggested bin Laden had been seriously wounded and died from complications of those injuries in one of the numerous mountain caves. I'm sure with this in mind, theories will abound.

In one of the stories I read this morning, it was reported that bin Laden's location was obtained from a source by way of water-boarding. I thought water-boarding was a thing of history... just like Gitmo.

In yet another story today, a couple of our Congress critters are talking about Pakistan being actively involved in keeping bin Laden under wraps and the U.S. cutting off all financial aid. Call me cheap, but I would think all cash would have been cut off, give or take, eight months ago. I don't think it's too late to send in SEAL teams One through Six to begin collections and repossessions. But that's just the kind of guy I am.

Lastly, another news item asks if America can expect a return to normalcy with bin Laden dead. I have to ask, other than through procreation, where do these idiots come from and how did they find jobs in the media? Mark my words; jihad aint over and there will no doubt be payback to come.

Thus far, I don't believe there is much that makes sense within this entire event. I can't help but wonder though what the outcome would be if bin Laden had been taken alive and brought to trial.

MikeH.

Osama bin Laden Killed

2011-05-02T08:01:00.003-04:00

El Zippo has announced U.S. Navy SEALS and CIA paramilitary teams shot and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last night.

According to the report, since Islamic law requires burial within three days after death, and since no Islamic countries were receptive to receiving the body for burial, bin Laden's body was buried at sea.

I suppose this means we are expected to believe whatever proof the administration presents, especially since no independent testing to establish identity will be possible. I also suppose this will provide a boost to Zippie's poll ratings.

Just something to consider since the only talent Zippie seems to project is that of a pathological bull-stuffer.

MikeH.

Let The Joke Continue

2011-05-01T09:21:00.002-04:00

During the White House Correspondents Dinner of 04 30 11, President Zippo took the opportunity to make jokes "after weeks of attacks" from would be republican presidential challenger, Donald Trump, that questioned Zippo's citizenship and resultant legitimacy to hold the office of president. His Zipness began his evening's monologue with the phrase, "My fellow Americans." Although Zippie's barbs were directed at Trump, who was in attendance at the "gala dinner," I suppose one could easily infer that the jabs were equally directed at the numerous (confirmed and confident) American citizens who are also suspicious of Zippie's credentials.

The Big Z probably assumes a tad more license to ridicule after the release of what is touted to be his official State Of Hawaii long form certificate of live birth. (I personally belong to the group of "birthers" who subscribe to the belief that Stanley Dunham did not give birth to any children who lived.) After that certificate was made public, Trump immediately jumped from the birther train of thought to the believer train... claiming credit for the document's long awaited journey to daylight. I personally am more suspicious of his legitimacy now, than previously, since it took only four years for the certificate to break the surface from the depths of darkness. ("his legitimacy"... I made a funny)

But, just as Nero fiddled while his empire burned, Zero entertains his media admirers while his "fellow Americans" are suffering with even higher gasoline and food prices.

While various sources pump the schmooze about Middle-East instability and / or the fears of speculators driving the price of oil through the roof, the New York Times reported ExxonMobil has posted a first quarter jump of 69% in profits. That's 10.7 BILLION dollars. Up from the previous quarter's pittance of 6.3 BILLION dollars. (it must suck to be them!!!) Obviously the big bucks we are paying at the pumps aren't going to help stabilize tensions or soothe those fears. As I said in my last post; it's called G R E E D folks.

Among shocking prices at the grocery check-out, I noted a 12 oz. container of cherry tomatoes at four dollars and eighty-nine cents. I'm talking about almost $5.00 for less than a pound of miniatures. My family is no longer treating me as being brain damaged since I was the one who insisted we buy and plant thirty two tomato plants in the garden a few week back. Further, I can now understand the full social impact of laws designed to shut down hobby / personal gardens. And they ARE NOT intended to protect ANYONE.

If you haven't already, you better get into the prepper mind-set. I can only pray you still have time. Time is not on our side.

MikeH.

In The News

2011-04-27T07:32:00.003-04:00

Dateline New Jersey

Nine time Olympic gold medalist, Carl Lewis, has been officially ruled ineligible to run for a New Jersey State Senate position on the grounds he has failed to meet a four year residency requirement, prior to the date of the election for the office he seeks. And the NJ. Secretary Of State has ordered Lewis' name be stricken from the June Democratic primary ballot.

The secretary of state, who is also the lieutenant governor under Governor Chris Christie, noted in a fifteen page opinion that "Lewis said" he owns a home in California, has business offices there, was registered to vote there until recently and paid taxes there. Lewis said the ruling would be challenged and he told the Philadelphia Enquirer that Christie had tried to talk him out of running.

Lewis said "what's really clear to me is, first the Governor called and tried to talk me out of my race. Now he's trying to use his power to do it. I didn't realize I would be running against the governor in my 8th district race." The Christie administration told the paper that Lewis "misunderstood the talk."

Lewis, 49, grew up in New Jersey, has owned homes there since 2005, has been a volunteer track coach at his hometown high school since 2007 and has had a valid New Jersey driver's license since 2006.

The 8th district senate seat is currently held by a republican.

Note to Carl: Even though I have absolutely no sympathy for folks of the democratic persuasion, allow me to suggest you sign-up for the Rahm Emanuel pre-primary course on How To Beat Residency Requirements 101.

Note to Chris Christie: Perhaps you need to work on your communication skills. When politicians use their office for political games, their public always ends the losers.

The Royal Wedding

I really don't care. All sarcasm aside, I really REALLY don't care. While the purveyors of propaganda rave on and on (and on) about the nuptials of titular figureheads in a faraway land, closer to home events, like ever rising food and fuel prices, get a semi passing mention.

Note to Will: When you step out on Kate, don't make it with a nasty ugly hag like your daddy did.

A Royal Departure

It's official. Katie Couric is leaving CBS Evening News.

The crowned princess of propaganda told People Magazine about her future plans, "I am looking at a format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling."

I can only assume that means she has grown tired of the single dimensional storytelling she has been purveying up until now.

With that, I'll bid Katie a fond A M F!!! (and I don't mean arrivederci my friend)

In Breaking News

The royal pain in the butt has released his long form birth certificate, at long last, and a pdf copy is available to anyone who might be interested. I am not.

First Party Secretary Soetoro said he realizes that not everyone will be satisfied by the release of the certificate, but said the political discourse could not be helped by "sideshows" and "carnival barkers" continuing to talk about the issue. (God knows enough time has passed since the issue was first raised that a forged document couldn't even be verified by carbon dating tests)

Note to The Donald: I think he's talking about YOU with the sideshow and carnival barker remarks. But then if he had said boardwalk barkers, I'd be positive. Then again, he might be suggesting that the 62 percent of the American people who are not convinced he was born in the U.S. have the mentality of sideshow freaks and carnival barkers. But then, I suppose that is no worse than being called a "birther," "truther" or "teabagger."

Note to self: You really need to avoid the news.

MikeH.

Gas Price Task Force

2011-04-22T07:56:00.003-04:00

Now here is a stroke of true genius that should fall under the category; If ya can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bull-stuff. I know I'm baffled... sorta.

Feeling our pain, Barry (a true man of the people) is creating a task force to investigate whether or not there is corruption, fraud and price manipulations running rampant within the oil industry.

I'm still not the brightest bulb in the crayon box so I may have to work this out in long-hand; First Party Secretary Soetoro wants to be reelected in 2012, really really bad. So in a vain attempt to convince the American people that he really really is a good guy, now, and worthy of being more than a one term despot, he is ordering up an investigation into the cause behind the number one most major problem being faced by said Americans... gasoline prices. That should win him a couple hundred million brownie points.

OK!!! Now I see the first of what will no doubt be several bafflements. Even though the lame-stream media doesn't want to draw attention to this "minor" factoid; gasoline prices rank number two on the problem list. Skyrocketing FOOD PRICES holds the number one spot. But food and fuel both start with an "F" so I may see the source of their confusion.

For those of you who think I may be putting too much importance on food over gasoline, have a nice warm cup of gas with breakfast and see how your work-day goes. You CAN live without fuel. Food is a different story. So why isn't Barry creating a food price task force?

Anyway; back to gas prices, Barry, task forces and the liberal spreading of mayonnaise on a turd sandwich. While big oil is extorting millions upon millions out of our wallets, FPS Soetoro is forming a government investigative group which I'm semi sure will cost the American taxpayers millions, or more likely, billions out of our wallets over the course of numerous years. That IS the way government works after all.

So with millions (or billions) to be spent, what report could the gas price task force possibly produce? If it's anything like the volumes of mayonnaise coated pages found in Barrycare, the American people will never receive or know the outcome. And by then, gasoline will have attained the elevated status of the new version of the gold standard.

On the other hand, the GTF may determine that the conflict in Libya IS the chief cause for higher pump prices. Yeah, right!!!

Of course, we all know the truth of the matter. It's called G R E E D, but, somehow I suspect we will never see that as an official answer. Those folks over in the UAE know it. All the big wigs in big oil throughout the world know it. Bet your buns that every member of our government best (and worst) know it. Hell, even a dim crayon like me can figure it out.

And there's the truth of it. A few very greedy individuals who enjoy the or-gas-mic experience of power felt by making hundreds of millions of other folks dance to their sick little tune.

So if FPS Soetoro would send me just one percent of the total amount that will be spent on this task force, he would have the true answer to tell the American public, and I would be filthy, stinking rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. And by the way, Barry, I prefer cash or PayPal. In Soetoro I do not trust.

MikeH.

Time To Make A Plan

2011-04-18T00:18:00.002-04:00

In my neighborhood, gas is now up to $3.75 a gallon and there are folks ("experts") who claim it will increase 40 percent, nation wide, by Memorial Day. According to my calculator, that works out to around $5.50 a gallon. Higher in the six states, and the District Of Criminals, where gas is already at or above $4.00 a gallon.

I'm retired so I don't have to drive everyday. I can usually get by with only putting twenty or so miles on my truck in a two week period. My wife, on the other hand, drives 71 miles to and from work... A DAY!!! And here I got all pushed out of shape when I bought $15.00 worth of gas the other day and it didn't even fill the tank on my riding mower. You can bet your buns that my property will soon look like a two acre swatch of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail before I blow that kind of cash on something so frivolous again.

On a brighter note; the price of groceries at Wal Mart has been keeping up with gas prices. What you could buy a couple of months ago at four for a dollar you can now buy as one for five dollars. When the wife saw a package of beef ribs priced at twenty dollars, well, suffice it to say we will not be having ribs for Easter dinner. She did take note that at least one enterprising Wal Mart shopper had selected a whole roasted chicken from the deli department and polished it off before making it to checkout. And just tossed the bones on the floor, while cruising the aisles looking for other bargains.

I'm sure many of you have been reading / seeing in the news where thefts of large quantities (read: truck loads) of food items are being committed. And our little adventure into hyperinflation land is just in it's infancy... the tip of the proverbial iceberg as it were. And while gas and food prices are headed for the Moon, how many of you have seen a cost of living adjustment let alone one that will help you pay for the fuel to get to work or the adequate food to fuel YOU so as to complete that work?

I may have spent way too many hours with my head stuck in a bag of Elmer's Glue but I still believe we have a chance to prevent the looming train wreck that is America. We need to make a plan and we need to make it now. As they say in the old country; "schmooze runs down hill." Well, it's time for those of us who live in the valley to pump it right back up to the top. I'm suggesting a general strike. Shut it all down. No work, no school, no driving and no buying. We need to put a severe shock on the entertainment / hospitality / visitor industry. No ocean cruises, no Disneyland and no weekend getaways to a casino, horse or dog track. When big business, big money and the mob starts seeing a loss of revenue, you can be pretty damn sure they will bring a mountain of pressure to bare on government.

If this doesn't work, then we go to war. The only other alternative, as I see it, is to make our peace with God and take our chances as soup-bones in zombieland.

MikeH.

Lions And Tigers And A Goverment Shut-down. . . Oh My! ! !

2011-04-08T11:12:00.003-04:00

In a little less than twelve hours, the government may shut-down if Congress can't come up with a budget plan to Barry's liking.

Leave me try to understand this; The government is threatening to close down the government, if the government can't agree on a government budget?

MSNBC's version of the news today asks the question, "How Would A Government Shut-down Affect You?" In their scenario, the first malady that will directly affect the rank and file American's among us is a delayed tax return from the IRS. National parks may have to close and the Smithsonian, and other national museums, may have to do likewise. On the flip side to that coin, government employees may be ordered to shut off their Blackberry phones.

Scare tactics usually don't work on me. They can keep my tax return. They can lock up the national parks and they can auction off all the old stuff in the national museums. But if the powers that are should be forced to order their hundreds of thousands of Umpa Lumpas to turn off their Blackberrys, dear God above, I may become suicidal!!!

Here's an idea; as the landlords of all things (mis) managed by the government, including the government itself, I think if they shut it down, we should repossess it... starting with the White House and the Capital Building. And kick all the freeloading vermin residing therein straight to the curb. And take their Blackberrys away in the process.

MikeH.

And The Beat Goes On

2011-02-27T10:18:00.002-05:00

It's the story of my life. I take a brief hiatus from the shackles of blogdom and miss out on the opportunity to comment on the really important newsworthy events of the past month. For example; Charlie Sheen has screwed the pooch and shut down "Two And A Half Men." Jennifer Aniston has changed her hair style (about time if you ask me). Lindsey Lohan is in criminal trouble, yet again. Kelsey Grammer has married for the fourth time and, the best news of all, Kate Middleton is winning the hearts and minds of the Royal's loyal subjects. Yea Kate!!!

Considering the vast media attention given to these "world shaping" happenings, I suppose I should be as content as a pig in mud. But instead, I find myself still fixated on the little, less important things in life. For example;

Since last I typed, rebel forces convinced Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak to release the hold of his thirty plus year dictatorship and take his act on the road. Yea rebels!!! I somehow think I'd be highly remiss, though, if I didn't make mention of the fact that just as soon as Mubarak beat feet for parts unknown, Egypt was sucked into a massive black hole where news updates have become non existent. It is as if nothing happened... just another day kind of thing.

Rebel forces in Libya, seeing the effects of Egypt's rebel efforts, have been nudged into action in the hope of breaking the grip of Mohmar "Daffy" Kadafi's forty plus year despotic rule over that country. Go rebels!!! Of course the big surprise here is, the U.S. has frozen all of Kadafi's assets. (and who says Barry is weak) But I can't help but speculate on how much of those "assets" will become secreted away to "off shore" accounts in Chicago.

I have received information, third hand, that I can not confirm; al Jazeera News has allegedly reported Kadafi ordered a large number of children be taken from a day care facility to the center of town, doused with gasoline and set ablaze. He has supposedly threatened more children will burn if rebels don't immediately stand down. It is further alleged that Kadafi has ordered loyalists to attack and rape lone women, in an effort to inspire rebels to stay at home to protect their women. I have to say I wouldn't doubt Kadafi's resolve to stay in power nor his actions, no matter how heinous, to maintain that power. Even the burning of children. I also have no doubts that if these stories are true, the American news media would not report them.

Closer to home; I suffered some very serious personal injury a few days ago. I saw the price of gasoline has "inched" up to $3.29 a gallon and I received massive soft tissue damage from the high speed impact of my sphincter slamming shut. Way down in the small print put out by the lame stream media, it has been reported that the surge in fuel prices is the result of speculator's concerns over the civil unrest in Egypt and Libya and the potential for a disruption in the oil supply lines.

With the exception of Saddam Hussein's igniting of Iraqi oil fields in 2003, how many times have civil upheavals, wars or threats of wars in oil producing countries, actually put a stopper on the oil spigot? Yeah, that's what I thought... zip, zero, zilch (ie. Na Da) In other words, it's just an excuse to gouge the hell out of us end users by Big Oil. And it works every time.

My daughter has come to the realization that her father's fears of food prices (among other fears) going through the roof are not the ramblings of a demented conspiracy theorist. She suffered a high speed impact injury herself recently when she stopped at the local Sav-A-Lot to pick up a head of lettuce and a green pepper. Gouge-A-Bunch now wants $2.39 for lettuce and $2.59 for a green pepper. An increase of more than one dollar in only a week's time.

The weather here in North Carolina has been very nice for February, (75 degrees today) so last week the son in law and I tilled and began prepping the soil for the family garden. I highly suggest you folks do the same at the earliest possible weather opening. Don't get caught with your pants down or your belly gauges below a quarter tank.

Prices are going to get worse and as they do, folks who can't afford to buy will resort to taking by force. Have you already gotten your head wrapped around the idea that it may become necessary to your very survival to protect what you have... by force? We may well have reached the point where it's too late to debate the issue.

Yea Preppers!!!

MikeH.

Chest Waders Or Body Condoms

2011-01-26T10:41:00.002-05:00

There is no doubt in my mind that The Big O (as in zero) is a lot like Thomas Kinkade. The only difference; where Kinkade is "the painter of light," Barry is "the master bullshit artist." And I have to tell the truth here. I can't quite decide which amazes me more, his audacity to reach greater depths in the septic tank to reload his painter's palate... or the vast number of people who buy into his [ah] artistry.

Although there is no way I could stand to watch Barry, or listen to his grating voice, I have taken the time to read the "truth" as propagandized by the lame stream media. Why he was given an hour and a half of television air time, to give a state of the union report, is beyond my meager abilities to mentally process. He could have done it in two words, "We're screwed." Or he could have just said THIS. Of course, he could have written "Dreams Of My Father" on a Post-a-note, seeing as how his father only dreamed of getting drunk and trying not to hit solid objects with his car. I guess it just goes to show Barry's flair for using heavily loaded broad brush strokes.

First off, I want to bring notice to several of the photos where Veep Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner are seen in the background behind Zero. Goofy Joe has his usual goofy grin (perhaps a shit eating grin) plastered from ear to ear, while he has his gazed fixed on Zero's back. Boehner, on the other hand, is seen with what I can only best describe as a fellatioist's muscle spasm going on between his ears. (He just hasn't impressed me as being as strong a Republic-can as Nancy does at being a communist)

Next up for critique is Barry's remarkable(?) remark about; "... revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business. Steel mills that once needed 1000 workers can now do the same work with 100." Until a few years ago, I lived near Cleveland, Ohio. As little as a couple hours drive to Youngstown, OH. and Pittsburgh, PA. Last time I looked, all of the steel mills that employed 1000 or more have been closed up for years and the buildings are rusting back into the earth. But then, maybe Zero was talking about the steel mills in foreign countries? (like China, from where end users receive steel products that have to be well cleaned of casting media before use)

The reason I ponder that question; he went on to say "Just recently, China became home to the world's largest private solar research facility, (does "private" mean privately owned by the Chinese government?) and the world's fastest computer. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn't discourage us. It should challenge us." Well golly gee, Zippy!!! Considering the majority of those job have packed up and moved out of America, several years ago, and since folks over there will work for one tenth of what American workers were making, I'll bet the competition for jobs in China is very real. Problem is, they will take our jobs but not our un / under employed workers who would consider the move there for a chance at a job.

The self anointed one also made reference to the Sputnik Shock of 1957. He sure does find a lot of inspiration in the bastions of die-hard communism, doesn't he.

The stinky stuff really gets deep here; "Over the last two years, we have begun building for the 21st. century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry." Thousands of good jobs for ONE hard-hit industry segment!!! I suppose that means "screw you" to the MILLIONS of un / under employed in all of the other hard-hit segments. Of course, those "good jobs" being in a heavily unionized segment of industry is the primary reason Andy Stern and members of S.E.I.U. also suffer from facial deformities like goofy grins and spontaneous involuntary fellatioist's muscle cramping.

Barry called for building rail systems so that Americans would have access to high speed rail service. To where, I haven't a clue. Me thinks novocaine cranium has never taken notice of the fact that, for the most part, the public isn't real keen on using public transportation. The only high speed transportation system, that would make sense to me, involves saying, "beam me up Scottie, we need to find a new planet."

But Zero's biggest splash of schmooze was; "Let's move forward together." To where, I HAVE a clue. Forward to the total socialization of America.

But last night's preempting of otherwise mediocre television programming was in no way a report by the POTUS to Congress as to the state of the union. It was a pitiful play to boost his low poll numbers and drum up supporters for his 2012 reelection bid, based on (you guessed it) BULLSHIT.

Hey Barry, here is a simple vision test for ya. How many fingers am I holding up... and which finger is it?

MikeH.

Below The Radar?

2011-01-17T10:20:00.003-05:00

In an MSNBC commentary item today, Eileen Sullivan makes a highly disingenuous attempt to justify her continued employment by writing, "Loners Like Tucson Gunman Fly Below Radar." This attempt becomes patently obvious as Eileen's story mentions several incidents in which Jared Loughner flew headlong into the radar field but was dismissed just like the waves of Japanese war planes that attacked Pearl Harbor back in 1941.

I can only suspect that Eileen and I have a widely differing concept of what 'flying below the radar' is all about. I am immediately drawn the the character portrayed by Gene Hackman in the movie, "Enemy Of The State" while Eileen seems to liken a below radar flight as the real life adventures of Charlie Sheen.

For example: "Between February and September, Loughner had five contacts with Pima Community College Police for classroom and library disruptions." The story continues, "Loughner was suspended in September after college police found a YouTube video in which Loughner claimed the college was illegal according to the U.S. Constitution."

According to Don Borelli, a former FBI Assistant Special Agent, these types of actions are "hardly enough to raise suspicions. Students get kicked out of school for a multitude of reasons, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to kill somebody." Well, I'll grant ya that one. However, when students and faculty tell interviewers that they had serious concerns about the guy showing threatening personality traits, I think it's reasonable to suspect a touch of mental instability that could lead a person of semi normal sensibilities to consider the guy a possible danger to himself or others.

Ladies and gentleman of the jury, may I direct your attention to the in-depth investigations following the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech / VT). As a result of numerous fingers pointing in various direction, it was learned that the shooter, Seung-Hoi Cho, had gained some attention around campus as being possibly mentally unstable. VT officials pressed the issue and Cho was forced to obtain a psychological evaluation. It was learned that he had been diagnosed as a danger to himself and others BUT, the information was never forwarded through to the legal channels where red flags would have been raised, and a denial issued by the NICS background check, when he purchased the firearms he used during the shooting. Although described as a loner, it appears that Cho lacked stealth capabilities when it came to flying in and around official radar sites. (perhaps one of the unique differences between an institute and a community college?)

Getting back to Jared Loughner; five contacts with the college police, in a seven month period, for disruptions in class and in the library would seem to establish a pattern of conduct that trained professionals (ie police) could discern between your basic "Animal House" class cut-up type and someone suffering from a long lost grip on reality. To help bring my case to rest, allow me to point out; Loughner was suspended after "the college police found a YouTube Video..."

(1) What were the circumstances that brought this video to the attention of the college police, and

(2) Under normal circumstances, wouldn't the content of such a video be protected under the first amendment and his suspension by the college, therefore, be considered improper and possibly subject to civil litigation? (but remember, the video was described as "cryptic and rambling." words usually best used when trying to lead an audience to conclude there are a few extremely damaged braincells afoot)

Folks, I don't know about you, but I am not convinced that this guy was flying below anyone's radar. For whatever the reason(s), Loughner was allowed to pass through a huge, wide open crack, just like all those planes back in 1941. Maybe we have become too accustomed to having the mentally ill roaming at will, and unsupervised, around us and we don't find a reason to care about aberrant behavior until after something bad happens.

MikeH.

"We Can Be Better"

2011-01-13T09:33:00.003-05:00

During his speech in Tucson last night, Barry told his audience, "We can do better." I am compelled to ask this question; who is "we" and who or what can "we" be better than, or better at?

MikeH.

Sticks And Stones

2011-01-11T03:16:00.004-05:00

Jared Loughner

Though long ago, I recall a saying from my childhood that pretty much summed up the attitude of the nation when assaulted by vitriol; "sticks and stone can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Damn near sixty years later, it appears that words can hurt me, especially if I am the one who is saying them. Of course, it also depends upon whom those words are directed.

Since the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, along with the murder and wounding of numerous bystanders, several sources have suggested the suspect, Jared Loughner, was incited to his actions by the words of people like, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. There have even been some finger pointing at blogger Mike Vanderboegh, from "Sipsey Street Irregulars" also. As a result, some members of Congress want to make politically targeted vitriol illegal.

Ashamedly, I must admit that I'm not the brightest bulb in the crayon box and I had to look up the word vitriol. In a two part definition, the first half says vitriol is a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide. The second says, "abusive or venomous language used to express blame, censure or bitter deep-seated ill will." Likewise, I felt it necessary to look up censure, which is defined as "harsh criticism or disapproval and / or the state of being excommunicated." (bear with me, there are just too many big words here) And excommunicated is defined as "oust or exclude from a group or membership by decree."

Using my best attempts at deduction, (such as it aint) I have been able to come up with this conclusion; If Congress is able to pass this loaf of legal fecal matter, any one of us who strongly objects to the continuing political shenanigans in DC can be charged with political vitriol and shipped off to the gulag. (which in itself is a form of excommunication... i would think) I guess then, in it's most simple form, the political elite want a nation of mindless drones who will follow without question through fear of legal reprisal, regardless of the games the political elite may play. If correct in my analogy, to them I say, take leave and fornicate thyself.

It is a very far stretch of the liberal imagination to cast blame on the words of a few for the actions of others. Especially when the few are some of the most outspoken against those liberals. If it were in fact the case, should anything bad befall Sarah Palin, et al, I would think it reasonable to point a few fingers at the likes of Katie Couric, who took the time to promote the concept of a Palin / Loughner "conspiracy by vitriol" during her Nightly News broadcast of 01 10 11. Take a good look at the photo above and it's plainly obvious. The voices in his head are self created and self contained.

I have read several quotes made by Loughner's friends, neighbors and others who interacted with or around him. All painted a picture of a person who would be the perfect candidate for extended elctro-shock and mega dose lithium therapy. A female who attended a college class with Loughner said as soon as she heard the news of the shooting, she immediately suspected Loughner. She also claimed that, while attending that class, she actually feared that Loughner projected the type of personality to bring an "automatic weapon" to class and start shooting everyone. That doesn't sound like a sudden inspiration of Limbaugh, Beck or Vanderboegh to me. This guy was born with a couple of aberrant brain cells and then allowed to mingle amongst us, unattended, despite his patently obvious lack of social skills.

Rather than talking about regulating freedom of speech or the right to keep and bear arms, perhaps what Congress really needs to consider is the regulating of the mentally insane. But then, I suppose that would severely limit the voter turn out for the progressives... and the progressive candidate pool.

MikeH.

Let The Games Continue

2011-01-07T05:21:00.002-05:00

Two stories in the news yesterday pretty much confirmed my suspicions that it would be business as usual despite GOP control of the new Congress.

In the first story, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is reported to have said, the word of Hawaii's officials regarding obama's birth and resultant citizenship status is good enough for him.

Well, it's not good enough for me or a lot of other Americans, John. Is there anyone in a position of influence, with a pair of metallic central dangling extremities, who will force this issue to the surface? Either way the answer may go, we have a right to know the truth... preferably by way of an unimpeachable source. (John Bolton would meet with my approval)

In the second story, it seems that a day and a half worth of discussions and voting by the House, on matters of repealing obamacare, or parts thereof, may be null and void. It appears that two House members who were involved in the discussions and voting, Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) hadn't been officially sworn into office, yet. And Sessions is on the Rules Committee!!!

A request made to minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D & AH-CA), to allow this minor lapse in procedure to be excused, was refused "since there is a matter of the Constitution to be observed here." Now THAT is funny!!! (made me pee myself a little)

Under different circumstances, like in a Cheech & Chong movie, (Harold & Kumar for you younger folks) this would be some really hilarious shit. But here in the real world, why aren't we dressing these people in tar and feathers while we strip them of their titles and benefits?

How much more will we have to take?

MikeH.

Assumption Is The Mother Of All F**kups

2011-01-03T14:33:00.003-05:00

Here we are, not even a week into the new year and I still feel like the same old me. Regardless, I hope each and every one of you had a very good Christmas and spent some quality time with family and friends. I also hope you took a moment to reflect on the reason (the non-commercialized reason) we observe Christmas and the importance of Christ in our faith. Without Him, we are no better than the Godless socialist heathens in government positions.

So while I'm still feeling like the same old me, I'll pretty much bet the aforementioned Godless socialist heathens in government are feeling like the same old them. For example; the other day I read a news item about California passing over 100 new laws regarding "quality of life" type issues that will be punishable by (say it isn't so) monetary fines. Of course a stay in jail is a possibility; especially if you don't pay the fines.

You might ask, "MikeH., what the heck is a quality of life violation???" Well, some of my favorites include (but are not limited to);

Thou shalt not place your garbage can at the curb earlier than "X" number of hours prior to scheduled pick up, nor leave the empty can at the curb more than "X" number of hours after pick up.

Thou shalt not allow your lawn to exceed "X" number of inches in height.

Thou shalt not store an unlicensed and / or inoperative motor vehicle on your property unless the vehicle is stored in an enclosed garage. Being fully covered under a tarp doesn't count. Nor does having it tucked away behind your house or surrounded by your 10 foot high privacy fence.

Thou shalt not allow the smoke from your outdoor grilling to cross real property lines. That's the fancy legal way of saying, if the smoke crosses over into your neighbor's yard, you're in a heap of trouble boy.

Thou shalt not conduct a casual sale (yard, garage sale) without first applying for a permit. There is usually a price involved for the permit and, I have heard that some communities are considering enforcement of a sales tax.

In other words; Thou Shalt Not pursue life, liberty or happiness without violating a law, and paying some coin of the realm to the realm masters, whether another person is "inconvenienced" by the "violation" or not. And in the end, that's what these laws are all about. Someone's quality of life "may" be inconvenienced because of some actually meaningless action or inaction on your part, so pay a fine and all is forgiven. (even though the potentially aggrieved won't see penny one of recompense for said loss of life's quality anyway)

Let's face it. The court system in this country is predicated more toward financial punishment than any other form of penance. And with the nation's economy swirling around the hole in the bottom of the porcelain punch bowl, what better way of refilling the coffers than sending out the local constabulary to strong-arm the public at large for violation of "nanny laws?" Another fact to face is; these people will not be satisfied until each and every wage earner in America is signing their paychecks and handing the whole thing over to nanny.

There are way too many people in this country who assume this is never going to happen; or assume it's not happening already. Too many people assume that the vote is our most powerful, one and only form of redress when government runs amuck. And, as it appears since the mid-terms, too many seem to assume that the "new conservatives" are going to fight tooth and nail to save us from tyrannical progressives. It's important to remember, they are called conservatives because they use a conservative approach and conservative time-line to screw us rather than in an all at once progressive manner.

A reality check for assumptions is this; NEVER assume that anyone will be as, or more, concerned about you and your continued ability to hold on to your money than YOU. And NEVER assume that government won't explore any and all means possible to separate you from that money. And as long as we continue to assume that government can arrest, prosecute and imprison all of us, no matter the number of the masses, government will continue to become more bold, more controlling over our lives and our incomes until we have damn little left of either.

It's these type of assumptions that put us in this mess and that have held us here under government's thumb. Time for some changes.

MikeH.

2010 . . . The Year In Review

2010-12-29T06:23:00.002-05:00

Golly gee, so much has happened. I don't hardly know where to begin. NO!!! Seriously folks, thanks to a well controlled news(less) media, where does one find any facts based in truth to reflect back upon? Of course, I could drone on for days recounting the exploits of Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus or the Kardashian sisters. And if this sort of drivel isn't proof positive as to how the American public is being deliberately dumb down and treated to a seven course meal of smoke, mirrors and bullshit, then I've picked the wrong year to quit huffing Elmer's glue sticks.

Speaking of glue; Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband mistakes a bottle of adhesive for eye drops, glues his eye shut and makes the news. WTF!!! THIS is news???

Recently, I read a news item that says the year is closing with an upswing in the economy. Hard as I try, I just can't see it. Millions of my fellow Americans are still unemployed and will have no prospects for the creation of new jobs to be filled... EVER. Hundreds of thousands are being, or have been, sucked down into the bottomless pit of the tanking housing fiasco. Ya gotta know that when the bottom is reached, hundreds of thousands more are going to be taking up residency in tents. That is of course unless the upswing in the economy provides some with the luxury of setting up housekeeping in a double-wide packing crate.

On a brighter note; Hugh Hefner is engaged... yet again. (At his age, IF he can find it can he remember what to do with it?)

2010 may be remembered as the year wherein fuel prices were lower and more stable than the previous year. Or the year to come, for that matter. Many of us were able to keep our fuel tanks filled as opposed to only half filled. Electricity was cheap, considering the number of reports of children, geriatrics and the handicapped who were compelled to do the "Funky Chicken" at the end of Taser probes, courtesy of a few of the fine men and women who swore an oath to protect and serve us.

Lindsey Lohan is going to give it a go at a new rehab facility. (Ya gotta give her credit. The girl aint no quitter!!!)

We saw some "sweeping victories" made by conservatives and Tea Party inspired politicians during the mid-terms. Clearly an indicator that the American people aren't too happy with the "hope and change" promised by the globe trotting Kenyan and his court jesters. However, unless I have finally succumb to (even more) permanent brain damage caused by a childhood spent sniffing Prang water paints, it appears to me that an awful lot of folks are losing that little spark of rebellion they had pre mid-term. Please tell me we aren't settling back into that false sense of security one gets when they think someone else is going to "work tirelessly" to preserve and protect their freedoms.

Although not covered by the media outlets, my ex-daughter in law remarried and posted her wedding pics on her Facebook page. She was "kind" enough to email invites to her ex-in-laws (ie. us) to go to said page and check out said pics. After three previously failed marriages and, a lifestyle wherein she has had more tube installed than the Alaska pipeline, she saw fit to wear a white gown for the ceremony? If anyone could pull that off with a straight face, she could. Proof positive that the aberrant behavior of mental illness is the confirmed new normal.

Bringing up mental illness reminds me that in 2010, we were all (well, mostly all) "blessed" with the passage of Obamacare. Of course it's no blessing for those of us who are forced to pay for it. Or those who are too old or too disabled to work in order to pay into it. Just remember Terry Schiavo and the SCrOTUS decision to officially disavow any government recognized guarantee of an individual's right to life.

Ya know, rather than continue a review of 2010, I think it would look much better in my rear-view mirror while I beat a hasty retreat. Unfortunately, we are all on a squirrel cage type of tread mill and the bad stuff just keeps coming back around every few steps we take.

I sincerely wish everyone the absolute best in 2011. However, as is the case for my ex-daughter in law's new husband, I'll hope for the best even though it's a sure bet that isn't going to happen.

MikeH.

Many Times. . . Many Ways

2010-12-24T09:14:00.002-05:00

At the extreme risk of offending members of the politically correct crowd, atheists, socialists, progressives, communists, radical islamists and all the other parasitic scum throughout the world; I would like to extend my most sincere wishes for a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS

If, on the other hand, you subscribe to the ideology of the politically correct, atheists, socialists, progressives, communists, radical islamists or any of the other parasitic scum throughout the world AND are among those who discourage the use of the word Christmas because at the very foundation of the word is CHRIST; please feel free to kiss my fat, hairy, pink, dimpled ass.

MikeH.

Devil's Advocate

2010-12-07T11:59:00.004-05:00

A really good plan always has a back up plan. An excellent plan has a flow chart of back ups and contingency plans. Are you sure you have all your bases covered?

Let's play The Devil's Advocate...

You have prudently considered several of the most likely "stinky stuff through the fan blade" scenarios that will bring about the end of the world as we know it. You have put a lot of thought, time and money into fortifying your stand. You have stocked your stores with enough bandages, beans, bullets and bullion to see you and each member of your unit through a year of hard times.

You listened to the advise of the various experts and didn't put all of your preps into this one basket. You have an EMP proof bug out vehicle in the event you have to beat a hasty retreat out of your stand. You have a well stocked back up location to retreat to and you have several well concealed caches of supplies in case you are forced to beat feet with little more than the clothes on your back.

You have put your spare time to good use by studying a multitude of subjects dealing with self-sufficiency. If you were suddenly thrust into almost any equivalent of a substandard third world country, you would not only survive, you would thrive. And you would have the ability to teach others to do the same; a link in a chain that could help bring about the much better world we all dream of should we make it to the other side of the big collapse.

Ah, if only all of life's little cluster bombs could flow chart down to as happy a resolution as the troubleshooting chapter in a Chilton's automotive repair manual. Unfortunately, life has way too many variables, and a devil's advocate named Murphy pretty much demands that the negative side of the flowchart provide problems that vastly outnumber the solutions on the positive side.

My chart presents what I see as the final problem; For whatever the reasons, all of my efforts have resulted in dismal failure. I am out of food, out of supplies and out of any means to buy or barter for goods. The resolution options are pretty much obvious. Do I turn zombie and take what I need from others, by lethal force, in order to survive or do I succumb to (or precipitate) my own death to prevent that from happening? Does having family, especially children, provide a justification to harm others so that you can provide for that family in such a survival situation?

Don't be bashful. Jump in and let's kick this around a bit.

MikeH.

What Are We Waiting For

2010-12-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

Some days ya just can't find good blogable information to grab on to and run with. There are so many of us bloggers who are on the same page, in the ideology department, that most good stories have already been blogged and commented on several times over, on several different blog sites. Sure makes it difficult to show some originality. Most recently, there have been a few stories that demand attention; two have been blogged over like Turkey Buzzards on fresh roadkill. A third allows me the opportunity to be somewhatly original.

Story One: The past couple of days I have poked a little fun at the folks over at the TSA. Not original but I believe needed in order to keep poking a stick at the hornet's nest that I hope is the American people.

There is hardly a day passing where we don't learn of some new and outrageous degradation forced upon an unsuspecting member of society by the jackbooted bastards assigned to "secure" our air travel. The latest indignation comes in the form of a young mother who objected to a container of her breast milk being sent through an x-ray scanner, and her being held in a glass cell for an hour, in full view of the public, for making that objection. This was a clear cut case of false imprisonment considering TSA policy allows this exact situation to be a reasonable cause for objection by a passenger, and the scanning omitted.

I can't rationalize this. Are the powers that be, within the TSA, getting off on the tyrannical acts heaped against us members of the peon class, or are they working ever so diligently to destroy the air travel industry by making more of us look at other means of travel not currently under their authority to grope or imprison, or both?

Are the folks who have the "hands on" jobs with the TSA too mentally weak to take a stand against a system that permits these acts or are they too getting off on the power trip they are afforded? Personally, I'd rather take my chances in the cold, cruel world by walking off the job than willfully screwing over folks and getting paid for it.

John Ross, in his novel "Unintended Consequences," presented a solution for tax feeders who took pleasure in biting on the hands that feed them. What are we waiting for?

Story Two: In a word... WikiLeaks.

In one of his recent radio broadcasts, Glenn Beck claims to have tracked a financial connection between WikiLeaks and George Soros. (I wouldn't doubt that a little more tracking would uncover a "direct connection" between WikiLeaks' Julian Assange and U.S. politician Barney Frank.)

Whether all true or not, WikiLeaks, in my opinion, has crossed the threshold from the online equivalent of the National Inquirer to a foreign espionage / propaganda agency that is out to help destroy America. To expand on the John Ross idea a tad, I feel a drone launched missile strike on Assange is a reasonable solution to the problem. For that fact, let's send one for Soros while we're at it. Better yet, one launch three hits, on a menage a trois of Assange, Soros and Frank. What are we waiting for?

Story Three: The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that using another person's social security number is not an identity theft crime... as long as that person doesn't use your name along with your SSN.

The case is in regards to an immigrant who used a false social security number to get a job. Advocates say that undocumented workers are fundamentally different from identity theft criminals trying to steal credit. According to Chuck Roth, litigation director at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago, "An immigrant who uses a false SSN to obtain a job doesn't intend to harm anyone, and it makes no sense to spend our tax dollars to imprison them for two years."

The U.S. Supreme Court came to a unanimous decision on the matter. The justices found that a person using an unknown person's SSN to obtain work authorization did not "knowingly" use information that belonged to that other person, as required by the identity theft statute.

The Identity Theft Resource Center argues that immigrants who use false SSNs to get employment often end up using the numbers to obtain credit cards or car loans that can ultimately become blended in with the credit history of the rightful holder of the SSN, all too frequently with disastrous results. The ITRC says this is a dangerous precedent that has now been established and which could permit abuses of the system designed to protect innocent bystanders from fraud.

The way I see it, if an immigrant (of illegal status, no doubt) illegally obtains or just grabs nine numbers out of thin air to get a job, and those numbers happen to be the same numbers officially assigned to you, and said immigrant fails to file a tax return; guess who the IRS will come looking for? And guess who will not be understanding or sympathetic to your situation when you look at them and say you haven't a clue as to how their figures indicate you made a few thousand dollars more this year than what you claimed?

Regardless of whether it's private creditors or government tax agents coming after you, they do not care who, or how many, might be using the information that was assigned to you. And they do not care in what way your identity may suffer. And the courts have given them free reign to stick it to you while the person actually responsible is absolved of any culpability by merely claiming they didn't knowing do it to harm you. (But what happened to the other three standards of culpability; purposefully, recklessly or negligently?)

If we don't do something soon, there won't be anything left to do anything for. So what are we waiting for?

MikeH.

Barney Frank Resigns Congress. . .

2010-11-29T19:09:00.002-05:00

To pursue his dream job at the TSA

MikeH.

2011 TSA Pin-Up Calender

2010-11-29T07:08:00.013-05:00

Way Too High. . . And Rising

2010-11-23T14:41:00.003-05:00

Back in 1974, Johnny Cash released the song "Five Feet High And Rising." It's a rather simple tune about a family forced to flee their farm due to rising flood waters and the recurring questions being posed, "how high's the water, mama?" Mr. Cash ends the song with the water level reaching the five foot mark. Seeing how the song had to end somewhere, I suppose five feet was high enough.

Looking around us here in 2010, I feel a flood of various crisis waxing ever higher, and if you were to ask me "how high's the water MikeH," I'd be dead on target by saying it's way too high, and the stakes are rising. I believe we are at the threshold of losing far more than the farm if that last step is taken to cross over.

My blogging contemporary, Anthony Martin, at "The Liberty Sphere," has written about the mysterious contrail that was observed off the California coast back on 08 Nov. 2010. (See full story here) Mr. Martin reports that two experts claim it was in fact the contrail from a missile, and that the missile was launched from a Chinese submarine. The experts conclude the Chinese were driving home a point regarding their lack of humor over the U.S. government's lack of fiscal responsibility, considering the fact that the Chinese hold billions of dollars worth of U.S. debts.

Now let's look at this story from 23 Nov. 2010, regarding the shelling of a South Korean Island by the North, and the included mention of North Korea's continued efforts to get their hands on nuclear material. Granted, North Korea's "Billy Badass" routine may well be their usual means of forcing sanction concessions and extorting some "good will" cash from the United Nations. However, the folks in the South may not be so easily appeased this time and the world, or a small part there of, may find itself thrust through the doorway of no return and dashed upon the jagged rocks ahead.

Folks, I fear the world is in way over it's head and the dam hasn't yet, but IS about to break. My advise is; don't get caught with a leaky lifeboat.

....................

It may not seem so at times but we do have a lot to be thankful for. May your bird be fat and your stuffing be moist, and don't forget who it is we need to show our thanks to.

MikeH.

What Are The Chances

2010-11-21T11:18:00.004-05:00

As I have mentioned in past posts, I tend to prepare for the absolute worst situations. I suppose IF something bad does occur, and IF that something is far less severe than what I have prepared for, then perhaps I will have far less to be depressed about on the other end. I really don't have a problem coming out looking like a paranoid whack job as opposed to not coming out alive and well, with my family, should the stinky stuff reach it's full disaster potential. That's why someone coined the phrase, "pray for the best... prepare for the worst."

It's a given that food / water is on the top of the prepper's list of "must haves." I'm really not sure how one becomes certified as an expert on the subject but, there are "experts" who recommend having six months to a full year's worth of food, on hand, for each member of the well prepped prepper's family. Personally, I have concerns that a stockpile that could see you through a full twenty-four months might not be enough. But, in the words of Dennis Miller, "that's just my opinion... I could be wrong."

Of course, many of those "experts" claim that non-preppers will far outnumber preppers, and that there will be a huge conversion from non-preppers to non-preppers gone feral (zombies) prior to a mass starve off / kill off of the weaker members of society, fairly soon after the stinky stuff is firmly thrust into those fickle fan blades of fate.

The question I have about this is; what are the chances that, somewhere along the line, this might bring about the total, or near total, decimation of animal life as we know it? The extinction of pet, farm, game and varmint critters as anything that flies, walks or crawls might well be taken for a meal by the hungry masses. I don't think it's that unreasonable of a question given that a few of those "experts" have suggested the possibility of a semi widespread outbreak of cannibalism might occur. (Forgive me a moment while I chuckle at the thought of Sam Elliott telling us "Long pig... it's what's for supper.")

I have brought up this subject because, not long ago, I became involve in a conversation with a man who remarked he was not all that concerned with long term food storage preps, "because country folks can survive. I can hunt, fish, farm and trap to provide for me and mine." Now I could see that as an original thought; except for the fact that we need to consider the idea that somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000,000 American gun owners will also be out there hunting the walkers, fliers and crawlers while an unimaginable number of folks will be taking fish by all means necessary and laying waste to crop producing farm lands.

Hunger pangs will quickly over-rule any thoughts of wildlife conservation that could otherwise provide for supplies in the long term. This is especially true when you realize that nearly every critter in North America is edible. Just consider Sylvester Stallone's character in "Demolition Man" continuing to feast on a ratburger, even after learning the source of the meat.

To further drive home my concerns on this issue, let's consider the near total extinction of the North American Bison, Wild Turkey and Elk herds east of the Rockies, which began early in the 19th. century. A little over 150 years later, numbers of each have been brought back from the brink, but still not to the levels they were before that time.

I guess what I'm thinking here is this. After a major "TEOTWAWKI," those of us who make it through to the other side may be force into a vegan lifestyle and where the cost of meat, if any, may command it's weight in platinum. It could be many years before our decedents might enjoy a steak that we today take for granted.

That ratburger is almost starting to sound pretty good about now.

MikeH

Catching Up

2010-11-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

On The Home Front

10 03 10, my grand-daughter was born... seven pounds, nineteen inches. God blessed her with good health and none of my physical features. I pray that I can be instrumental in securing her, and all of our children and grandchildren, a long life of freedom and prosperity. Lord knows there are damn few in our government who will strive to do the same.

The Political Scene

I still can't believe that Reid won reelection fair and square. On the other hand, I CAN believe that the "Democretins" are writing Pelosi a letter, asking her to realize the damage she will do to the party if she presses her bid for minority leader. Of course, the wording of said letter is a schmoozefest cleverly crafted to avoid drawing the wrath of the West's most Wicked Witch. Calling her term as Speaker of the House "historic" is a bunch of schmooze... crafted under high pressure through a five inch fire hose.

I'm not holding my breathe expecting to see much in the way of hope or change from the newly elected. The few constitutionalists (Tea Party inspired) are too few to make a difference against the progressives and career criminals (er, ah, politicians) from the other two parties, over the long haul. For the here and now, though, those tax parasites will be busy polishing their halos, trying to convince the American people that they are working towards America's best interests. At least for as long as the American people appear awake and watchful.

Prepping Stuff

Here is an interesting piece from the Nation Inflation Association. If these guys are even half right, we are about to be so very big time screwed. This tends to follow the predictions of Gerald Celente regarding the potential for coming food riots. Folks, no matter how much you have, it's not enough.

MikeH.

Grandpa Mike

2010-11-03T08:39:00.006-04:00

I just got the word that my daughter in law has gone into labor. I'll be heading out for a few days so my commentary on yesterday's jokefest will be delayed. However, I am compelled to wonder; was there massive voter fraud in Nevada, or are those people too damn blind or too damn stupid to believe there is still some hope to be found in Harry "Weasel-dick" Reid?

MikeH.

The Rock And The Hard Place

2010-10-26T10:10:00.005-04:00

As metaphors go, the phrase "between a rock and a hard place" can present some interesting implications that can easily apply regardless of whether your participation is active, reactive or passive. I suppose the absolute down side to being forced between a rock and a hard place is, no matter what decision you make to relieve yourself from that spot, "you'll be damned if you do and / or damned if you don't." Understand fully, no matter what you do next Tuesday, we are and we will remain between that rock and that hard place.

It appears to me that there are a lot of folks who are of the opinion that sweeping the Gypsies, tramps and thieves (and socialists) out of government will put us (you, me, the country as a whole) on the road to fixed. Call me the harbinger of bad news if you like but, no matter how you vote, or if you even vote at all next week, we're damned. We are painted into a corner between a rock and a hard place with no way out AND the rock is moving in on us. To be brutally honest, we are so screwed, the only recourse God would have available to help us would be to press the universal reset button.

The "road to fixed" requires jobs and we don't have them. Between the economy forcing businesses out of business, and work force greed forcing businesses to pack up and move out to countries where the minimum wage is the equivalent of nickels and dimes here, the once greatest industrial nation on the planet is now the greatest consumer nation. But consumption can get real expensive, especially when so many are out of work and can no longer afford to, well, consume.

Of course, the political "luminaries" from all parties are out there making those big promises about creating jobs and putting folks back to work. It would be a pretty neat trick if any one, or the whole crew together, could pull it off. However, business creates jobs, and politicians don't create business. Make no mistake, though, even if it were possible, it would take years to re-employ all of those currently out of work, and to have jobs available for the next employable generation.

The next major problem we can not fix or escape is the national debt. I can't believe the number of candidates who are running on the promise of slashing government spending and getting folks to listen and build hope on that snake oil. Considering the amount of damage already done by spending, the problem in need of serious resolution is paying back what's been borrowed against. And right now, we can't even afford to make interest payments on that note. (even if every man, woman and child in the country had jobs)

Have you ever watched a bus load of Chinese tourists taking hundreds of photos of buildings, and monuments, and museum art collections and the such? They aren't caught up in the rapture of a Kodak moment. They are documenting the inventory!!! Do you honestly think for a moment that China can be convinced to reduce, forestall or outright forgive the U.S. debt they hold? I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that those are 1. some odd billion thumbs we will never get out from under. We are far more likely to become prisoners of war or voluntarily submit to indentured servitude first.

Whatever it is that we are hoping to restore is long gone. We have nowhere to go but farther down., no matter who we put in office. If we banned together and took control of the government by force, it will still do no good. All it might do is give China cause and / or an opening to slip in and begin a massive repo operation. And with all the mouths they have to feed, I doubt they will find it necessary to hire local workers.

Yes sir, there is no doubt about it; we are for sure caught between a rock and a hard place.

MikeH. (and I approved this message)

Now Isn't That Interesting

2010-10-13T08:27:00.004-04:00

I've noticed something unusual in the current batch of political campaign ads and commercials. Almost everyone, at least in my area, is claiming to be a "conservative" candidate. When it struck me that TWO "conservative" candidates are running for the same office, I made it a point to pay better attention the next time their commercials appeared. Damnedest thing!!! Neither candidate claimed party affiliation in word or print. This prompted me to check their websites and learn that one is a republican and the other a democrat.

This caused me to pay closer attention to everything from all candidates for all offices, including their political yard signs. No one (read NO ONE) is making their individual party affiliation obvious in or on ads, signs or commercials.

I can understand why democrats would want to distance themselves from tags like democrat, communist, socialist, progressive, liberal, and did I already mention "democrat?" But to claim being a conservative WHILE NOT mentioning democrat is, dare I say it, outright deceitful!!! Almost like an attempt to confuse conservatives (of the republican or Tea Party persuasion) into thinking and voting a name rather than a party. Considering the vast numbers that were sucked in to obama's hope and change snake oil, I think it fairly obvious the ease at which American voters can be intentionally misguided.

The thing I don't understand, though; why are the republicans seemingly playing the same nameless party game?

MikeH.

Perimeter Security

2010-10-06T09:11:00.005-04:00

In my last two postings, I discussed the importance of identifying and beefing up easy breach risks of your structure, then the prudence behind utilizing mechanical devices for intrusion alerting, should an intrusion attempt be made into your structure. I suppose it follows a logical progression to now talk about securing the perimeter around the outside of your structure.

As in my last post, I want to warn against the use of any "booby trapping" that could result in the injury or death of an interloper, regardless of their intentions. There is a very real possibility that these situations can bring about a civil and / or criminal action against you, even if said interloper were a Hannibal Lecter wannabe who is found with a can of Pinto beans and a bottle of "Mad Dog 20 - 20" in his mess kit.

Just like with home construction, landscape design is primarily intended as eye-candy to wow your neighbors and folks passing by, but not enhance your security measures. There are instances where some landscape designs unintentionally enhance security risks. A good example of this would be shrubbery along an outside wall of a structure. If only a few feet high, they can still provide cover and ambush points for bad guys, and covert locations for window peepers.

Low voltage and solar type landscape lighting dresses up shrub beds real nice. Problem is, low voltage systems can be unplugged or their wires clipped / shorted out, and solar lights are easily broken or buried under a layer of mulch. Save the decorative lighting money and pull out the shrubs. If you absolutely feel the need for something in their place, go with a flower bed. And keep decorative block walls around those beds no higher than two or three courses.

Large diameter trees provide another source of interloper stealth plus bullet resistant cover. If you have large old growth trees within 100 feet of the structure, I suggest removal and having stumps ground down to ground level. Stumps too can provide some cover, and they might present a trip hazard if YOU need to beat a hasty escape in the dead of night.

My own property is almost two acres. About 120 feet from the rear of the house is a heavily wooded area that is, at it's deepest point, about forty yards, and bordered by a steep bank creek. The property on the opposite side has a thirty foot grade that rises quickly above the creek. The wooded area is a mess of high weeds, old and second growth trees, junk trees, fallen trees, some very nasty long thorns attached to long slender stems, thick tangle-foot, poison oak, poison ivy and Copperheads. I had considered clearing the land until I considered it's security advantages and discovered it is a bedding and feeding area for a family of fresh venison steaks.

What I have done is create a small opening where the deer trail comes closest to the edge of the back yard. Call it a decompression point that "forces" trespassers to an easy exit of my choosing, and into a 120 foot clearing with no bullet resistant cover and little chance for stealth. High watt motion sensor lights and a pair of Labrador Retriever "alarms" round out the back yard security system. Of course the lights are only a plus as long as there is electrical service or they haven't been shot out.

For some folks, fencing around their perimeter is a good way to go. A fence may not stop someone intent on entering your property, but even a split rail fence will slow people down, and slow equals time... as in time for you to react. Fences provide an advantage over high solid walls; they allow you to see an approach and a breach where with a wall, you only get to see the end result of a climb over breach, if you're lucky enough to be looking in the right area at the right time.

Human beings are like electricity in that they will, more often than not, follow the path of least resistance. It is a predictability that you can almost count on. Put up a fence or wall and include an opening, most folks will chance the opening rather than work at cutting or climbing. At least up until a group sees the first few get picked off by an observant property owner.

So, the optimum perimeter security designs are going to take away cover and close-in ambush points, but creating small choke point openings into designated shooting zones that would force a hoard of zombies to enter slowly in single or double file, rather than an all out bum-rush, and make for easier targets.

As for using mechanical intrusion warning devices, there are certain considerations that need to be addressed during the planning stage. Tripwire noise makers or flares, for example, may be practical in some situations. However, there is the possibility of false alarms, caused by wild or pet animals. In my case, I don't want to chance scaring the hell out of and possibly running off a fresh meat source. You will have to assess your own needs to determine what is right for your situation.

MikeH.

Intrusion Detection Alarms

2010-09-29T09:26:00.004-04:00

You've conducted a structural security survey, determined what are, and addressed your structure's weaknesses. Now what?

Some subjects, like this one, are difficult to discuss because of the vast number of variables (possible scenarios) one may be prepping to defend against. Call me paranoid, but I tend to discuss and prep for what I consider to be the absolute worse case; A societal collapse, triggered by any of a vast number of events. My thinking is that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and be woefully screwed if you don't have it. For this reason, I tend to lean toward the possibility that certain forms of life's conveniences (ie. electricity / phone service) could suffer a disruption.

With this in mind, when discussing intrusion detection alarm systems, I think electronic alarm systems are great... right up to the point where the power goes out for a week or more and the backup battery power is depleted, usually in less than a week, rendering the system useless. Then too, any disruption in phone service can quickly turn a remotely monitored system into a monetary waste. I suppose then, I should say; electronic alarm systems are great, while operating under optimal conditions. Otherwise, they provide nothing more than yet another false sense of security.

Of course, an alarm system, even under optimum conditions, is a lot like a padlock. It's only real purpose in life is to keep honest people honest, and low tech criminals looking for "easier pickins." Just remember my wise old sagery; For every security measure you come up with, someone else has already come up with half a dozen countermeasures.

Of Bells, Lights, Signs, Sirens And Whistles

When considering intrusion detection systems, some folks believe having some form of annunciation device mounted outside the structure is advantageous. Flashing lights and / or loud noise will scare off an intruder and alert neighbors... right? I recall an instance where I had come upon a business, in the wee hours of the morning, where the front window was completely broken out and the alarm system exterior mounted bell was ringing loud enough to wake the dead. Neighbors in the numerous apartments above and to either side slept through it or just didn't care enough to call it in. In another case, a neighbor became so annoyed that he or she decided to "reset" a long ringing bell with a round or two from a shotgun.

For the most part, even your thirteen year old, who has watched enough TV crime dramas, knows you can defeat exterior mounted noise makers with a can of expanding foam caulking sold at any hardware store. As for flashing lights, well, that's what God invented pellet guns for.

Posting "warning" signs around your property is a good (and cheap) way for an alarm company to advertise their business. For the customer, it advertises to bad guys (1) you have an alarm system, (2) you must have valuables worth protecting with said system and (3) cut the phone line and get out that can of foam caulking before making entry.

FYI: Professional burglars are most active at night during periods of severe weather conditions. This is when alarm monitoring companies and police agencies are usually being swamped with weather caused false alarms and delayed responses.

Think Mechanical Rather Than Electronic

Subscribe to the K.I.S.S. principal (keep it simple, stupid) applications of mechanics. The first, and most important, idea here is; the only thing of real value you need to worry about is you and your family / co-dwellers lives. So the most practical application for an alarm system is to alert you to an attempt at intrusion while you are in the structure, and especially while sleeping. Something loud that will "wake the dead" and either (a) scare off the intruder or (b) cause him to hesitate, whether it be to weigh the option to enter or not, or to complete a spontaneous colon evacuation, thus giving you the advantage of time.

Creativity works, just plan it out well and test fire it. Then consider anything that would cause a false alarm. And beware of Hollywood ideas. For example, in the movie "Conspiracy Theory," Mel Gibson balances a glass beer bottle, mouth end down, on top of a doorknob. Bad guy tries door knob, bottle falls, breaks and Mel knows it's time to slip out the back. Cute trick, except, way too many variables in real life can cause the bottle to fall. (ie. thunderstorm, earthquake, a fly on the bottle, etc.)

Stacking empty food cans on the inside of a door is a good noise maker. But stick with food cans that are heavier, rather than the light weight beverage cans. Metal cookware suspended from a trip cord daisy chained across windows and a door could create a "protected zone." It's always a good idea to change the arrangement around from time to time to maintain the clandestine integrity of your devices. It's also a good idea to have a backup device in play. Mine is a Chihuahua that barks when he hears a flea fart from a block away.

I suppose at this point, it would be prudent of me to post this warning. Intrusion detection devices and intruder booby trap devices are two very different things. I am not aware of any place in this country where you wouldn't be found liable in a civil case, or guilty in a criminal case, if an intruder (including Osama bin Laden) were hurt or killed while entering a booby trapped structure, occupied or not. It would be totally on you to prove how your life was so endangered to justify a booby trap as a means of self defense.

MikeH.

Structural Security . . . Part Two

2010-09-22T14:35:00.002-04:00

In the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs, the architects and workers were often ordered killed after building a pyramid. Call it the perfect version of operational security. The bottom line was, those who had the potential to know the secrets of how to enter the pyramid and reach the goodies hidden within were bound to hold the secrets for all time. In short, dead folks tell no tales.

Unless you can build an underground bunker without anyone (outside of close family, and even then you may not be safe) knowing or suspecting, said bunker is likely to become your tomb. Sophistication requires sources for materials and the logistics to get them to your site. Just try getting a rail container to, and buried in, your backyard without raising an eyebrow or two. Or several hundred yards of concrete. Do you think for a second your postal carrier or UPS / Fedex driver isn't aware of at least some of the survival supplies you've been ordering online? It is extremely difficult to avoid paper (and people) trails even when working hard at staying below the radar. How many people would you have to kill in order to keep your secret bunker a secret?

FYI: A bunker requires a fresh air source, and if I know or suspect you have a bunker, I'll find the above ground fresh air duct opening and either choke off the air supply to force you out, or I'll get pissed off from waiting, pour a couple gallons of gas in the duct and drop a match out of spite. As I pointed out in part one, even castles of heavy stone construction fell to highly motivated enemies. A subterranean castle is as much a false sense of security as one built above ground. If you build it, they will come, and destroy it, and take everything you have.

Don't mistake what I'm trying to convey here as promoting a defeatist mentality. Far from it. What I am saying is, you have to realize the benefit of fortification through realistic analysis. And that benefit is TIME.

If, for example, your beefed up entry points can delay a handful of thugs from invading your home, allowing you time to fall back to a "safe room" to call for help and / or arm yourself, then the benefit has been, at least partly, realized. The idea is to continue creating time and distance between you and the threat, then as a last resort, draw them into a choke point where your odds improve if push turns to gun play. However, if you are about to come face to face with a zombie hoard determined to help themselves to your pantry AND / OR YOU, then the benefit you will be in serious need of is time to make a getaway... out the door, window or tunnel and gone. Sure, you might sit in a second floor loft with a panoramic view, picking them off a few at a time but, how long can you stay awake watching? Time is now on their side. (Fat one eye guy says; why blow big bucks on survival stuff if you're going to risk it all in a fight against a numerically superior force?)

The things you need to consider when beefing up your structure's defenses are:

Wooden exterior doors in wooden frames with cheap hardware won't hold up to a battering ram. Steel doors in steel frames and hardened hardware will break too... just not as quickly.

Wood or steel doors with decorative glass panels look great, but you may as well not even bother locking them. Especially if you want to avoid having the decorative glass decorating your floor when bad guys break the glass to reach in to unlock the door.

With a little imagination, a foyer / open entry way can be turned into a 90 degree choke point with a 34 inch interior opening, with eye appeal, using a minimal investment in wall studs, drywall, drywall screws, joint compound, paint and time. This helps to prevent a straight in "bum rush" entry, tending to force "hard chargers" into looking like the Three Stooges trying to jam into a small space at the same time.

Windows... I can't find anything nice to say about windows. It's hard enough to find windows that will keep out a cold draft, let alone uninvited guests. It's first weakness is the glass and the second is the frame. Quarter height decorative wrought iron bar work will slow down unprepared thug type invaders. It will also slow down "retreaters" trying to escape a fire or an advancing zombie platoon. On the other hand, boarding up windows too far in advance of a societal crisis might appear a tad ostentatious to friends, neighbors or the homeowner's association Gestapo.

Provided there is (and I suspect there would be) some advanced notice of a collapse, having a few cases of sandbags, ready for filling and stacking along exterior walls, and inside windows, would be a wise purchase. They will stop repeated hits from most small arms fire, and when stacked with gaps across windows will provide adequate gun ports for returning fire.

Regardless of the best laid plans and preps, it is vitally important to understand; DO NOT become fixed on an "in place" survival strategy. Any structure can be breached. Plan for the possibility of having to make a hasty retreat out and away from your location should the situation demand. Preferably a retreat that can be made out of sight, and therefore out of mind, of those folks you really need to avoid. Of course you do have a list of "Plan B" locations already scoped out, right?

MikeH.

Structural Security

2010-09-20T07:43:00.002-04:00

In my particular situation, the purchase of a survival retreat in the hills of Montana (or elsewhere) is out of the realm of possibles. I'm relatively sure that's true for the majority of us, so we have little or no option but to dig in and remain in place, to face and defend from whatever evil our way may come. Whether we may be the possible random victim of a home invasion or defenders of the stronghold during a societal collapse, the most important question we must address is; just how strong is our stronghold and what optimum benefit will it provide us.

What good is buying massive quantities of bandages, beans and bullets when the structural integrity of your location is of little more than stick and frame construction, incapable of stopping a .22 caliber bullet or a highly motivated "zombie" with a chainsaw? But then, a lot of homes are built for eye appeal above all else.

Most folks feel safe and secure behind the walls of their basic stick and frame homes. They don't realize that those exterior walls consist of, at best, a half inch thick sheet of drywall, a layer of insulation, a quarter inch thick sheet of plywood or particleboard sheathing and wood, vinyl or older style aluminum siding. With the exception of 2" x 4" wood framing, (the stick part of stick and frame) that's spaced about every 16" apart, there is absolutely nothing that's solid enough to stop an incoming bullet, and the sticks won't hold up to a chainsaw.

An upgrade to the basic stick frame construction is brick. However, in most modern day construction, brick is nothing more than a substitute for the wood, vinyl or aluminum siding material. It is a facade that has no load bearing value incorporated into the structure. Brick will stop most pistol and rifle bullets and wreck havoc on chainsaw chains but, a few solid blows from a sledgehammer or a ram and the mortar joints / bricks will fail, leaving the weakness of the underlying sheathing and drywall constructed wall exposed.

Another structural nightmare, from a security standpoint, are windows. And that's because they have no security value whatsoever. Multiply that statement by two if the window in question is a sliding "patio" style door. And on the subject of doors; where an inflatable "love doll" might be a little better than self pleasuring for some folks, most standard doors and door frames are just a little better than having a wide open three foot by seven foot hole in the wall. Watching an episode or two of any entry team (cops / s.w.a.t) themed reality show and you'll see just how much protection "fortified" windows and doors provide neighborhood drug lords. Usually, when "pulls" (chains attached to vehicles) are used to breach barred windows or doors, frames and parts of walls are torn away from the structure as well.

Feeling vulnerable yet? For what it's worth, quite a few castles, and their residents, fell to their highly motivated attackers in the "days of old." Structural security is, in the end, a false sense of security. For every security measure you can implement, someone has already come up with half a dozen countermeasures. If they want in bad enough, they WILL get in. The best you can hope for from your fortifications is to slow them down. But to what benefit for you?

Let this information sink in a bit.

To be continued

MikeH.

Lessons Learned . . . The Hard Way

2010-09-14T00:00:00.006-04:00

Near where I grew up was a used car dealer who, like many used car dealers, had a highly shady reputation. This guy could take a total wreck and have it looking "cherry" using little more than baling wire, body filler and household spray paint. Of course, that A-1 appearance usually wound up all over a customer's driveway after a heavy rain fall. Moral to the story is: buyer beware.

For those of us who are prepping on a budget, the absolute last thing you want is to find out a piece of equipment that you paid good money for won't work or hold up. Especially at the most critical moments when you need it most. Probably top on that equipment list would be your firearm. It's better to have one and not need it than to need one after you discover yours suddenly doesn't work anymore. Enter Century Arms International.

Century Arms markets a number of older military firearms at low prices. Obviously an eye-catcher for buyers on a budget. The problem is, you never know the quality of the weapon you're going to receive.

As an example: Century markets a CETME rifle in .308 caliber, for right around $500.00 each. An outstanding price for a .308 battle rifle. CETME, (Center For The Technical Study of Special Materials) of Madrid, Spain built thousands of these fine rifles for their military as well as for armed forces for a few other countries. As any good business does, they also produced thousands of spare parts. So when the CETME rifle was eventually replaced with new arms, CETME was left holding thousands of unused and used rifles and thousands of unused and used spare parts. Think in terms of warehouses full of rifles and parts.

Through legal business, Century was able to purchase huge lots of the parts, bring them into the U.S. then assemble and market the final product, with some modifications to comply with U.S. gun laws, and to appease the BATF&E. These modifications include; changing the fire control parts so the rifle will not fire in full auto mode and replacing a specific number of original parts (like barrels, receivers, stocks, bolts, etc.) with ones manufactured in the United States. (called compliance parts or a weapon being 922r compliant)

This is where the problems occur. When the "craftsmen" at Century assemble the rifles, they are using whatever parts they have in front of them, be they unused parts in perfect condition, or used parts that are worn to near or outside of their specs. It's not unusual to find rifles that have been assembled with both used and unused parts. Then there is a very common quality control issue where new barrels are out of spec when welded into the receivers, causing a potentially dangerous problem with the chamber headspace.

To be fair, Century has put out some good acceptable rifles. Unfortunately, it's a hit or miss proposition. If the rifle is purchased under warranty, Century will make repairs on the issues brought to their attention. Just don't expect them to look for and correct problems you aren't aware of or don't bring to their attention. Also, they have been known to fix one problem but create another, and lastly, they have a very long turnaround time. On the other hand, if the weapon is no longer under warranty, the cost of having an experienced gunsmith make the repairs can cost a few hundred dollars. At this point, you could have bought a new gun of name brand.

How do I know these things? I own three Century assembled weapons; two AK-47s and a CETME. However, I am an experienced gunsmith / armorer so all I had to invest was a little time and a little cash for replacement parts to bring all three guns into spec.

For those who are unable to do that kind of firearm repairs, you need to be aware of the potential for problems with Century Arms' "pieces / parts" guns if you're considering buying one. If you already own one, it would be in your best interests to have it inspected for problems.

Besides CETMEs and AKs, Century also markets ARs, FN FALs and a host of other foreign produced shotguns and pistols. I'm not saying don't buy'em. I am only warning through experience... buyer beware. It could turn into a lesson learned the hard way.

MikeH.

Resolution To NYC Mosque Debate

2010-09-13T11:20:00.002-04:00

The Imam leading the effort to build an Islamic center and mosque near the World Trade Center site said a resolution to the raging debate over it's location is being examined.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said, "We are exploring all options as we speak right now, and are working to what will be a solution, God willing, that will resolve this crisis, defuse it and not create any unforeseen or untoward circumstances that we do not want to happen."

He did not elaborate on whether the options included moving the center from a site two blocks from the WTC "gorund zero" location.

....................

Folks, this is a seriously silly cause for outrage on our (non Muslims) part. Why can't we forgive, forget and accept people of a culture different from our own? I propose, as a gesture of good faith and good will, we organize a coming together celebration on the intended building site. I was thinking something along the lines of a pig roast and rib burn-off.

MikeH.

Information And Power

2010-09-10T09:22:00.003-04:00

I don't know who deserves the credit, but someone coined these gems of wisdom, "information is power." When you consider the implication; having personal / pertinent information about another person can provide one a certain amount of influence over that other person's life. Of course it stands to reason that, the more information one has, the more influence one holds. The down side to this is, influence translates as power and, as found in these gems of wisdom, "power corrupts."

According to newsobserver.com, the North Carolina State Sheriff's Association wants it's members and other law enforcement officials to have access to state computer records identifying anyone with prescriptions for powerful painkiller and other controlled substances. Currently, doctors and pharmacists are the primary users of the computerized database.

Sheriffs made their pitch to a legislative health care committee looking for ways to confront prescription drug abuse. Local sheriffs said more people in their counties die from accidental overdoses than from homicides. For years, sheriffs have been trying to convince legislators that the prescription records should be open to them. "We can better go after those who are abusing the system," said Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter.

The state began collecting prescription information in 2007 to help doctors identify patients who go from doctor to doctor trying to obtain prescriptions for drugs they may not need, and to keep pharmacists from supplying patients with too many pills. Only about twenty percent of doctors in North Carolina have registered to use the system and only about ten percent of pharmacists.

N.C. Sheriff's Association lobbyist, Eddie Caldwell, said the level of access to the data is up for discussion. "There's a middle ground where the sheriffs and their personnel working on these drug abuse cases get the information they need in a way that protects the privacy of that information. No one wants every officer in the state to be able to log on and look it up."

....................

I suppose some comfort can be found in Caldwell's words regarding no one wants every officer to have access to the database. I'd find more comfort had he said no one wants ANY officer to have access. And the only thing I take for pain is Ibuprofen. However, during the first six months of this year, thirty percent of state residents received at least one prescription for a controlled substance. Nearly 2.5 million people filled prescriptions for more than 375 million doses during that period.

It is also of interest to note that the ACLU opposed a similar bill in 2007, saying there were concerns over potential privacy issues.

In what certainly appears to be an all out sprint toward a full fledged police state, absolutely no good can come from police having access to this data. What useful purpose is served by holding information about millions when only a small percentage are guilty of criminal abuses? If the number of deaths to accidental overdoses is a determining factor, how many of those were caused by criminal abuse as compared to patient error, suicide or doctor error?

If allowed to happen, this will be the beginning of the end for any expectation of privacy between a patient and doctor. It will, though, be information providing even more power to those with a potential to use it against us.

MikeH.

One Must Have Priorities

2010-09-08T08:46:00.002-04:00

The Reverend Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville Florida, is promoting an interesting demonstration, to be held on September 11, to mark the ninth anniversary of the gutless terrorist attacks of 09 11 01. (A day that will, and should, live in infamy) Rev. Jones is calling for an international "Burn A Koran Day," which the White House, religious leaders and other are pressuring him to call off.

According to Jones, he has received more than one hundred death threats, since announcing his plan, and now feels forced to carry a .40 caliber pistol for self protection. Despite the threats and pressure, Rev. Jones refuses to abandon his intentions. Supporters have been mailing copies of the Koran to his church, of about fifty followers, to be incinerated Saturday.

Secretary of State, Hillery Clinton voiced her disapproval of the proposed demonstration, while at a dinner in observance of Iftar, which signifies the end of the daily fast observed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ms. Clinton said, "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths."

U.S. Army General David Petraeus warned in an email to the Associated Press that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan, and around the world, to flame public opinion and incite violence.

White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs echoed the concerns raised by Petraeus saying, any type of activity like this, that puts our troops in harms way would be a concern to this administration.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the planned burning "idiotic and dangerous" according to a Justice Department official. Holder made the statement during a meeting with religious leaders to discuss recent attacks on Muslims and mosques around the U.S.

Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who during his campaign became the target of a Jones led protest because he is openly gay, has declared Sept. 11 as "Interfaith Solidarity Day" in his city.

In Afghanistan, Muslim cleric and Afghan parliament candidate Mohammad Mukhtar said, "When their holy book gets burned in public, then there is nothing left. If this happens, the first and most important reaction will be that wherever Americans are seen, they will be killed. No matter where they will be in the world, they will be killed."

Last month, Indonesian Muslims demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, threatening violence if Jones goes through with the burning.

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I find it easy to comprehend the concept of Hillery Clinton celebrating the end of any period of fasting. I just have a little trouble understanding her celebrating the month long fasting observed during Ramadan. Especially since there would be absolutely no caloric benefit to kissing Muslim ass. And considering the size of those tree trunks she calls legs, I find it difficult to imagine her surviving the period of fasting between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner.

General Petraeus appears to have become blind to the fact that Muslims are offended by EVERYTHING, especially the continued breathing by any group of people who are not Muslim.

Robert Gibbs seems to have become blind to the fact that U.S. military personnel, serving in Afghanistan and throughout the world are already eyebrow deep in harms way, thanks to the idiots who have and who are running the U.S. and the war against terror.

Eric Holder is the Attorney General, still? He has been so far under the radar for so long, I forgot he exists. I'm pretty sure I liked him much better that way.

Gaiesville's Mayor Lowe appears to have an unusual concept of the meaning of turning the other cheek. Then again, perhaps he is a cheek turner from way back, much like the aforementioned high ranking government officials who seem to have made it a priority to nuzzle and pucker up to every Muslim butt cheek they can find.

To Reverend Jones I say this; I would send you a copy of the Quran to burn only I don't think it would ignite because it's soaking wet from cover to cover. And urine soaked paper tends to stink up the air when tossed into a fire.

MikeH.

Forget The Chest Waders

2010-09-06T11:34:00.002-04:00

Once again, a whole week goes by and there's hardly any news coming out of DC. Then along comes a holiday and bada bing... The Big Zero speaks.

According to MSNBC.com, Zippy proposes a massive "rebuilding program" that will include 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of railways and 150 miles of airport runways, costing at least $50 billion. However, a little deeper into the story, the wording is changed to "officials said spending would be front loaded with an initial fifty billion dollars to help create jobs in the future." I suppose it's also worthy of mention that the official spoke on condition of anonymity, ahead of His Nadaness' announcement.

Now, Zero has this bright idea to create a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects. Officials wouldn't say what the total cost of the infrastructure investments would be, but did say the initial fifty billion dollars represents a significant percentage. These officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal.

Other stimulus measures the administration is considering include extending a law passed in March that exempts companies that hire unemployed workers from paying social security taxes on those workers through December.

....................

Let's look at this steamy pile for a minute.

First, it's a little unclear as to whether the rebuilding project is going to cost fifty billion in total, or if that just the opening salvo, with plenty more to follow.

Second, considering there are millions of Americans out of work RIGHT NOW, how far into the future before those jobs are available and how far down the road will the jobs last? I think it reasonable to consider; those construction jobs are generally performed by UNION workers. Union workers are covered by the "seniority rules" by-law where senior members always have first consideration over all others, including new hires. I have to wonder how many new hires will even have a chance at getting one of these jobs.

Third, the creation of an "infrastructures bank" to fund these projects scares the hell out of me. I not only have a clue who will run the bank, I also have a clear idea where the funds will go and who will wind up funding the funds bank.

Fourth, some folks may feel justice will be served when those multi billion dollar gas and oil companies lose their tax breaks. They will continue to make their billions; by laying off workers and charging HIGHER PRICES to consumers. There is no justice... only consequences. "Gas and oil prices will necessarily skyrocket."

Fifth, social security is broke. How does exempting companies from paying those taxes, even for just a few months, help to rebuild social security?

Sixth, it is noteworthy that this "leaked" information comes so close to the November elections.

Folks, forget the chest waders. To avoid contamination from this political BS fairy tale, we're going to need full body condoms.

MikeH.

No Need For God

2010-09-02T21:39:00.003-04:00

USA Today, 09 02 10, reports that Stephen Hawking has concluded "spontaneous creation" is the reason there is something, rather than nothing, and that "it is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going." Or in other words, bow before the great bang theory because there was no need for God... just "poof!!!"

So let me see if I get this: All of the right things just "poof" came together to form a planet that would be capable of sustaining life? Water, animal life (for food), plant life (for food) for both humans and animals, trees for photosynthesis, bees for pollenation, birds to eat and drop seeds, an atmosphere, gravity, sunshine, rain and all the fishes in the sea??? And pray I don't fail to mention all of the many complexities of the human body and amazingly "poof" the way in which said humans were immediately able to adapt to the planet, sight unseen, and without a total die-off if "poof" had made a slight miscalculation somewhere along the process OR, neglected to create predators to keep us from being ass deep in rabbits. That's a pretty powerful AND down right smart "poof" there Stephen.

By the way, should I be using an uppercase P in Poof?

Should anyone be surprised when the American Pledge of Allegiance is changed to "... one nation, under Poof..."

I have a better idea. Since Mr. Hawking made the statement, a month or so ago, about how we shouldn't be pissing off aliens by trying to signal them, and since I am really sure I could never conform to the whole "poof" thing, I think I'll stick with God. And as for Stephen... well Stephen can just go poof himself.

MikeH.

Dear Barry

2010-09-01T08:44:00.008-04:00

From MSNBC.com 09 01 10:

Obama ends Iraq combat mission. President says, "nation's top priority now is repairing the economy."

Just to be clear, whose economy are we talking about here, Barry?

If it's America's economy you're talking about; why is it only just now becoming a top priority? Why not before it reached the point we're at now? Is it because you're too incompetent to multi-task? Why not before (or while) we pumped military personnel and billions of our dollars into repairing the economy of an oil rich, third world shithole? And ya know we aint gonna see a drop of reasonably priced Iraqi oil in recompense or gratitude for the American lives lost or shattered and the money dumped on a lame nag.

Let's face the facts, Barry; you are a world class snake oil peddler. Even though you have ended the Iraq combat mission, I'll wager a bet that American military troops are still going to be killed over there. Bodies and minds will be broken, but those troops are going to come home to the same old sub standard medical care, no prospect for jobs and no hope for a future thanks to you, and the "progressives" from both political parties. God knows, you can't pull any of that off for the folks here at home. Your words are meaningless because, as we all know by now, even if you had America's best interests at heart, there is no magic bandage that can fix, let alone stem the flow, of the hemorrhage that is America's future.

Personally Barry, I am going to make it my life's mission to outlive you. And it's not because I want the opportunity to urinate on your grave. However, I do intend to open a grave-side beer concession. Even at a penny a glass, I'll be richly fulfilled beyond my wildest dreams.

Regretfully Yours,

MikeH.

PS:

I honestly can not believe television programming had to be pushed back fifteen minutes for your pathetic attempt at apple polishing. Barry, you're an arrogant ass.

Firefight Mechanics

2010-08-31T08:55:00.002-04:00

I'm not even going to try to understand where the bean counters come up with their figures, especially since there are too many variables to be considered. The bean, or should I say bullet, counters claim the ratio of ammunition expended to enemy troops killed, during the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, was more than fifty thousand to one (50,000:1). There are reports, that I have not been able to confirm yet, suggesting the bullet to kill ratio for Iraq and Afghanistan is running in the neighborhood of two hundred fifty thousand to one (250,000:1).

Now, I can understand certain elements involved in a firefight. For example, I understand the need for using aimed cover / suppressive fire, which puts enough lead down range intended to keep the enemy face down, rather than heads up and shooting back and thus allowing for an advance or retreat. And if you are laying down that suppressive fire in full auto mode, I suppose it's fairly easy to see where the bullet to kill ratio can get a tad lop-sided.

However, I've seen a lot of taped footage from Vietnam era firefights where U.S. troops cut loose with full auto fire un-aimed, with their heads deep behind cover, while their weapon muzzles danced skyward or into the ground. Commonly referred to as "spray and pray," this mode of fire has no practical application other than it being an act of desperation. Whether you're blessed with full auto capabilities or a nervous tick in the trigger finger, this is not a good thing if your ammo supply is forty thousand rounds short of taking out even one bad guy intent on doing you harm.

Damn few things can ignite the human "fight or flight" (usually flight or dive for cover) response like the sound of gunfire. The stark realization of being thrust into a gun battle is most likely to result in panic mode. And panic turns to mistakes leading to death or surrender. What better way for an enemy to accomplish this than through an ambush attack. Panic and fear demands you DO SOMETHING!!! and the likely response is to open up in spray and pray mode, effectively depleting your ammo supply while scoring no kills.

There should be some warm and fuzzy feelings gained in the knowledge that, aimed returned fire, close enough to enemy combatant positions to at least make them think they are being zeroed in on, will create some fear and panic on their side as well. So, it is vitally important, should you be caught up in a firefight; take the best cover available. Access yourself for injuries. Slow down and control your breathing. Survey the area for enemy positions OR spots you would consider primer cover if you were the bad guy(s) and returned aimed fire. But most of all, suppress the panic induced urge to spray bullets and pray for a miracle.

MikeH.

What Better Place

2010-08-25T10:27:00.003-04:00

I feel the need to explain myself before diving into this story. On one hand, I really have no desire to discredit any of my contemporaries in the blogging world. On the other hand, I think it prudent to post disclaimers where disclaimers are due. Such is the case with information that can be found at the Infowars site, hosted by Alex Jones. In my opinion, many of the stories posted there seem to push (or leap far beyond) the borders of basic logic. However, on occasion, an information item from Infowars will ring true and, if for no other reason than the humor value, the site is on my daily read list.

In an item in today's edition, Kurt Nimmo reports on "Pre-Crime Technology To Be Used In Washington." According to the story, a computer software has been developed that can predict when crimes will be committed and who will commit them, before they actually happen. (Wasn't there a movie based on this idea in the last year or two?)

"The technology sifts through a database of thousands of crimes and uses algorithms and different variables, such as geographical location, criminal records and ages of previous offenders, to come up with predictions of where, when and how a crime could possibly be committed and by who."

Sooo, leave me attempt to understand this. A computer software predicts future crimes, including where they will occur, when they will occur, how they will occur and by whom they will be perpetrated? And it's going to be used in Washington D.C.!!! What better place could anyone pick to utilize this stroke of genius?

But we don't need a computer program, or a mental giant, to predict (with a 110% dead on accuracy rate) where the absolute worst crimes in D.C. will occur. Just look toward 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and Capitol Hill. What we do need is a way to stop the crimes, prosecute the offenders and prevent those crimes from ever happening in the future.

MikeH.

Crossbows . . . The Pros and Cons In Survival Situations

2010-08-23T12:34:00.007-04:00

I recently purchased a Barnett Revolution AVI crossbow package that includes a detachable quiver, a 4 x 32 mm five reticle scope (w/t see thru bikini lens covers) and five 22 inch bolts with field points. I chose the Revolution model because (1) the "prod" (bow section) has a quick disconnect feature, allowing it to be removed from the stock section, giving it a smaller and flatter profile for packing and / or transporting, and (2) it is a compound style that boasts a 345 feet per second velocity. Although it wasn't a deciding factor, the "AVI" designation stands for Anti Vibration Isolation, which basically consists of a ribbed rubber jacket around the limbs to help dampen noise when fired.

The stock body is fitted with an adjustable cheek piece, to help get a consistent cheek weld and alignment with the scope, and an adjustable butt piece for a more custom fitted length of pull. The grip is a large thumb-hole type pistol grip and, the stock is dressed out in Realtree HD Hardwood Green camo. The prod is a subdued shade of black and runs 27" from limb tip to limb tip. The overall assembled length is 35.5" and weighs 7.7 lbs.

The reason I bought a crossbow is because, over the last few years, I can no longer draw a conventional style bow, whether compound or recurve in design. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't hardly draw the string on a youth's model bow, thanks to arthritis in my right shoulder and a couple of fingers.

A crossbow, though, is pretty much a one shot weapon. If you miss on that first shot, don't expect to pull off a quick follow up. (1) Like vertical bows, they are an extremely short distance weapon, where out beyond forty yards is really stretching it's limits. (2) They are not silent. They're not even as quiet as a conventional bow, partly due to the fact the crossbow string contacts the top of the flight rail during firing, and (3) cocking the string back into the trigger mechanism requires far more labor than is needed to charge and shoot an arrow from a conventional style bow. Although the power stroke is only 15.5", the draw weight is 150 lbs.

I should note that a few hunters have reported deer being spooked by the sound of a crossbow firing and being long gone before the arrow reaches what was it's intended point of impact. That is the down side of a crossbow's noise and slow velocity at or over it's practical distance limits. The speed of sound (1124.933 fps) is moving more than three times faster than the bolt.

Due to the laborious cocking process, most hunters will cock a crossbow in advance of a game stalk or climbing into a stand, then loading the bolt when ready. Also, care has to be taken to assure the string is centered in the triggering device since being a little off either way will cause the bolt to yaw to the left or right. Not a task one would want to rely on in haste or under stress. And, it is no plus that crossbows are notoriously front end heavy, making prolonged aiming without a rest a shaky experience.

I suppose by now I have made a solid case against the expense of adding a crossbow to the list of useful survival equipment. The one and only pro I can give is this; they are quieter than a firearm and therefore less likely to alert anyone nearby that you have taken game. A real advantage when stealth may insure one keeps the game, or keeps their life, when zombies are roaming about the neighborhood.

Like a sniper's rifle, a crossbow is a specialty use weapon that fills a specific job function... just not a job in a modern combat role.

MikeH.

Circling The Wagons

2010-08-18T00:48:00.004-04:00

Over the course of the past week, I have been kept pretty busy with moving my daughter and her family, from Ohio to North Carolina, to live with my wife and me. Like a lot of Americans, they too have fallen victim to the regime's "fundamental transformation" of the world's super-power into a world class super porta-crapper.

Considering the circumstances, I can believe plenty of families are (have done or will be) doing the same. After all, that's what families do. When tough times strike; you draw everyone in close and circle the wagons.

Now, despite my fifty eight years, I have not reached the point of total addle mindedness... quite yet. So, I don't have illusions of each and every new day being filled with bliss. I'm sure we all realize there are going to be some drastic lifestyle changes, and clashes, that will strain and test our tempers.

They smoke, they tend to be loud, they have a large dog AND, I have a seven year old grand-daughter who cries and whines for no and / or any reason under the sun. Oh, yeah; I almost forgot. The most major potential for violent conflict within our new family unit... my son-in-law thinks the demo-cretins are going to save us.

It's funny in a way. He has the ability to see and process the fact that the country and it's people are in serious trouble. He believes a collapse of some sort is at hand. And he feels some urgency to prepare for the bad times ahead. He just can't see the big picture, or should I say "rogues gallery," of who is to blame for the mess we are in.

On the other hand though, he enjoys many of the things I like, such as hunting, fishing and shooting sports. So, we came to an understanding several years back that politics will be a forbidden subject between us. But then, that too is what families do. You accept those things you can not change and work around them in order to hold the family together as a unit.

As individuals, we see and understand the utility behind combining forces. Together, we have more hands and minds available for the physical and mental challenges that are sure to come. And, should things turn bad for my son and his family, they know that they too are welcome (actually expected) to come circle their wagon in with ours.

Should that situation come to pass, there would be eight people (number nine is due in a few months) all packed in here fairly tight. (And you think the bathroom schedule is a cluster-mess now!!!) There is no doubt then that a lot of lifestyle changes will be required from all of us. And we can't even consider thinking in terms of "IF we want this to work." There can be no IFs. We HAVE TO make this work. United we stand... united we will prevail or fall. The key word being "UNITED."

Now, if we could just get the rest of the country thinking along these lines.

MikeH.

Cops And Cameras

2010-08-09T12:29:00.005-04:00

Alvie, over at The Cliffs Of Insanity, has written a good piece, "Photography Is Not A Crime," regarding the continuing and ever expanding perils befalling American citizens who venture too close to American police officers while said citizens are packing loaded cameras. Tell ya the truth, I'm beginning to think we have a better chance of a happier outcome if we were openly carrying an RPG while standing on a street corner, distributing kiddy porn and smoking crack with Osama bin Laden.

Let's get honest: Cops are human. Humans are fallible. Fallibility results in cops, et al., doing some really stupid and unprofessional stuff (human stuff) when prompted by either (1) stress or (2) that badge heavy bullshit, Judge Dredd mentality... "I AM the LAW!!!" Everybody, including law enforcement command structures, realizes this. And they know IT IS going to happen. It is, after all, the number one cause for huge figure payouts when folks sue the police over said stupid and / or unprofessional acts.

In an effort to instill some means of "by proxy" self control mechanism into cops, cop commands use the old guilt trip trick: "In every situation you're in, imagine your mother is standing there watching / hearing." Or your spouse, kids, squeeze, priest OR the crew from your local television investigative reporting team, filming every move, every utterance. For some cops, it's unnecessary. For others, it works. For the remaining few... there's just no hope, so cop commands keep that liability insurance policy paid in full.

So, in yet another episode (albeit short) of "History Lessens," we need to travel back in time to the transitional period, when police departments began to require education over mere brawn from their new recruits. The concept was; hiring cops who could resolve problems through logical and peaceful mediation rather than simply resorting to beating the snot out of folks over every petty offense. They wanted to get away from that "striking fear into the hearts and minds" of the citizenry.

Now, let's travel a little forward in time, to the very first amateur captured video of Rodney King getting an ass whomppin at the hands (and batons) of the L.A.P.D., and the results thereafter.

NOTE: I wasn't there to see or hear firsthand. I can only base my thoughts on what I saw from the video, sans any audio. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video (even without audio) is worth ten times that. Those cops, from my point of view, seriously screwed the pooch... with extreme prejudice. And, our amateur videographer made a small fortune off the sale of his tape.

After those cops were convicted, suddenly everyone with a camcorder, SLR Pentax P-3, cellphone or dollar store disposable camera was now out catching cops in some of their most highly retarded "Kodak moments," for fun and profit. (mostly profit) Not exactly a good situation for the retards when the vids and pics are turned over to the local TV station(s) and shown over and over, for weeks on end. Or, worse yet, getting up over a million unique hits per day on You-Tube. (especially when your mom, spouse, kids, squeeze, priest AND command all have You-Tube accounts AND are forced to either move outta town, or live in shame, because all of their neighbors have You-Tube accounts too)

I really don't know what has happened over the ten years since I retired. What with all the attention lurking in every possible vantage point, one would think cops would be on their absolute best behavior. But, instead, rather than worry about what mom and the others might think, it appears that more and more cops are doing the highly retarded, then compounding said act by violating multiple rights of those who would dare record such retardation. BUT, to add insult to the injury, some cop commands seem to be turning a blind eye to these "minor indiscretions."

Folks, I implore you, each and everyone; follow the example shown in Alvie's posting. Open carry your cameras for all to see. Convince all you know to do the same. Let's get a campaign up and running wherein every time a cop interacts with another member of our society, that cop will look around and see dozens of cameras pointed his / her way. And if that doesn't stop the abuse of authority and the abuse of our citizens... then it's time we point something else in their direction.

And for the record:

Michael A. Hill
Retired cop / current camera carrier

Wife And Kids Are Outta Town . . .

2010-08-06T11:22:00.004-04:00

"You are one hot kisser... big fella!!! Way better than that lard-ass Barney Frank."

Global Warming!!!

2010-08-06T10:36:00.004-04:00

Al "Sex Poodle" Gore and his leftest green-weenie pals will go to any length to manufacture irrefutable proof of global warming.

We Are SO Screwed

2010-08-06T01:52:00.006-04:00

Appointed to SCROTUS

That look says only one thing to me: "There is going to be a HUGE strap-on under my robe."

Militarization Of Local Cops

2010-08-04T12:03:00.002-04:00

In an article today, at Lew Rockwell's site, the writer asks the question: Are local cops being trained and equipped to be an army of occupation over Americans... in America.

Over the years, I have known and worked with a few cops, both young and old, who are arrogant and / or ignorant enough to believe they could pull this off, and who would accept the orders if given.

To these few I say; At Your Own Peril.

I have known and worked with far more cops who will turn and walk rather than goose-step to the tune of a despotic regime. A lot of military troops will present the American Eagle salute and walk off too. So, what I consider to be a conservative guesstimate; you few would be going up against an opponent force of 800 to 1 ... give or take.

Are ya still feelin cocky?

MikeH.

Feces Occurs

2010-08-02T14:45:00.003-04:00

We preppers prep for logical reasons, with the primary reason being that, when TSHTF, necessary products and services may suddenly become non-existent. A recent post over at "Sipsey Street" got me to thinking about firearms that suddenly stop going boom. As we say in the old country, feces occurs (stuff happens?) and should something occur that makes any of your battle weapons stop working, mechanically, are you prepared to deal with it? Especially if gunsmithing services become extinct.

One of the respondents to the Sipsey Street post said he has never had a broken parts related failure with his favored weapon in all the years he's owned and used it. And there is the very real possibility that his gun will work every single time he squeezes the trigger. But, to this person I say, "are you willing to bet your life on the idea that such a failure could never happen? It very well could happen within the next 1000 rounds fired through it. Or maybe the next 100 rounds. Or, maybe he might get one more ka-boom before his weapon becomes ka-put.

Repeat after me; "Feces Occurs." And it could have occurred during a critical heat treating process, during manufacturing, leaving a small yet critical metal part too brittle or too soft. An undersized retaining pin that may back out and drop off from the vibrations of firing the weapon. A machining burr that prevents full force transfer on a hammer or firing pin. Of course, there is always the very real causes from normal wear and tear. Metals do suffer from such things as wearing and, well, shearing. You just have to stock up on some parts and tools to prepare for that special, just in case moment.

An emergency use tool that I recommend having is a Broken Shell Extractor for every rifle / rifle caliber you have in your arsenal. For that fact, their cheap and their small; buy several for each rifle. Again... repeat after me, "Feces Occurs." And it can happen to parts and tools too.

Maintenance Tools: Most weapon platforms (AR, AK, FAL, 1911, Glock, etc.) require proprietary specialty tools for maintaining certain parts on their weapons. The remainder of the jobs can be performed using general use tools. You do need to determine what those specialty tools are and what they are used for. Imagine my total disappointment when I learned that a particular manufacturer's proprietary, specialty "armorer's tool" was nothing more than a high priced short piece of 3/32" diameter rod stock with a plastic handle (with company name, of course) that any sub quality 3/32" pin punch can replicate in physical function.

Maintenance / Repair Manuals: Depending on the weapon, some manuals are available free, downloaded from the internet. There are quite a few websites dedicated to specific firearms that contain tons of maintain / repair / upgrade information and the majority only require a free membership registration in order to access that information. Other manuals you would have to purchase from your firearm manufacturer, gunsmith supply houses or other specialty suppliers. Obtain and keep a library for your specific arsenal. Do I need to twist your arm to make you say it? Feces Occurs!!! You need to consider these things NOW. Whatcha gonna do when / if Big Zero shuts off the internet or an EMP shuts off all electricity service before ya get 'round to downloading this stuff?

Parts: There is no getting around it. Prepping is not for the weak of monetary assets. Not only do I most highly recommend you buy replacement parts for every weapon you own, I suggest you buy several of each part. Push comes to shove, you may be the only source of available parts when the stinky stuff smacks those high speed fan blades. Most manufacturers and parts suppliers, for the AR rifle platform, sell prepacked kits containing all of upper and lower receiver parts. These are all of the parts most likely to break, or be lost during maintenance duties. Again, buy two or three of each pack because you don't know how long it may take until normalcy returns (if at all). Considering the price or barter value they could potentially command in a TEOTWAWKI situation, consider buying several. God knows the AR rifle platform is the most popular weapon out there. Just look at a copy of Shotgun News and you'll confirm that statement. Learn how to fix'em and you just tripled your barter value.

My advice on parts is; don't be bashful. Buy replacement barrels for your drop in barreled weapons. (1911, Glock, etc.) If buying a complete upper receiver for an AR is out of your price range, putting a new barrel on an upper receiver is not an overly complicated job and the barrels alone are fairly inexpensive. Used stocks, grips and other parts can be had from several sources and are worth having on hand for your own needs and / or barter use. (I bought a bunch of H&K G-3 mags for .97 cents each... just for barter value)

Almost anyone can perform general, non technical type gunsmith work to their own firearms. Knowing what to do, what you need and having the tools / parts on hand to get it done is just as much a high priority as fully stocked pantries and having a source of potable water. Without them, your life won't be worth a pile of feces.

MikeH.

No Filters In Their Gene Pool

2010-08-02T14:38:00.003-04:00

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part IV

2010-07-27T08:15:00.002-04:00

Some people may think I have reached my full mark, of the proverbial bovine fecal matter, when I talk about the warrior spirit being a mental process rather than physical, or of being a combination of the two. The physical aspect comes from the mind driving the body. The body won't do what the mind doesn't demand of it. And a major part of that mental process has to do with self perception; if you can not perceive yourself as, let's say, becoming and staying "physically fit," you won't have the drive to achieve that state or live a lifestyle to maintain it.

As another example of this mental / self perception process; have you ever seen "unattractive" people who, under any other circumstance, couldn't attract much attention from the opposite sex? Perhaps a chubber with low self-esteem, who avoids eye contact, moves head down and always watching the ground. In short, the type of person who doesn't feel it would do them any good to put a little time or effort into "fixing up" because, in their mind, no one would be attracted to them regardless. On the flip side to that coin, I have seen unattractive people who put in a little time and effort, project a ton of self confidence, and score big with "the pretty people." It isn't the physical aspect at work here, it's the positive mental attitude. Perceive yourself as attractive (or as a warrior) and you will be perceived as such.

Now if you still think I might be full of it, pushing the "it's all a mental thing," there are sites on the internet that have galleries of jail booking photos of "C-lebs" who, after a night of boozing or packing their snot lockers with nose candy, couldn't project, or receive, attraction from Hannibal Lecter. Even if they came prepared with a side of Fava beans and a nice Chianti. (Yasmine Bleeth immediately comes to my mind... what a total let down!!!) Take away the makeup artists, the hair stylists, the buff bod "Silly Putty" implant clinics and the mental attitude and what do you get? Just another, not so unique, brick in the wall.

What I am trying to stress here; mental attitude runs both ways. Project it and others will respond to it. Create it within yourself, and YOU will respond to it. Create the warrior spirit within yourself, hold on to it, live it every single day and believe you ARE a warrior, YOU WILL go farther, longer, than the millions who will fall and perish soon after the SHTF; the millions who will, without that warrior's spirit, answer the door when the angel of death comes knocking, say f**k-it and give in without a fight.

....................

Now, repeat after me: I am a warrior. I will not quit. I will not give in. I am a survivor and I WILL survive. And when the angel of death comes knocking at my door, I may be taken, by force, BUT bet your ass that sissy bitch will go home bruised, beaten, broken wings and deflowered. And the angel knows this to be true, because I say it's so. (Now that's a warrior's attitude)

HOWEVER, if you can not see this concept as being a relevant conditioning for preppers, as the handwriting on the wall of things to come suggests, then I ask you, PLEASE, stop prepping. Sell or give whatever preps you have to a warrior. Otherwise, all you will become is just another free meal and resupply "convenience stop" for the "golden hoard" of zombies, that will, this way cometh... We warriors prefer our zombie enemies to be starving and weak rather than fed and feisty.

MikeH.

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part III

2010-07-25T10:43:00.007-04:00

Most of us have heard those immortal words of wisdom, "If you want to win, you have to think like a winner." But even those who think like a winner can, and do, lose from time to time. On the other hand, those who go through life with a defeatist attitude will always be defeated. In survival, there are only winners and corpses. The winners will be the ones with a warrior's spirit.

Make no mistake about what a warrior spirit is. It does encompass far more than being capable of a decision to take the life of another. Any sociopath can make that decision. A warrior will make a decision of conscience to kill another only in self-defense, in defense of others and when defending his stronghold. Otherwise, a warrior will make every effort to avoid a possible "to the death" confrontation, even if it means staying low in the tall grass. In order to survive, you have to live, in order to live a longer life, you don't tempt fate by jumping out in front of those who could damn well have a tad stronger winning attitude than yours.

A warrior spirit is also a lifestyle. Most people conduct the majority of their lives in condition white; a state of being wherein they are not concerned enough to be, and / or remain, aware of all of the things going on around them. These folks make the best victims, almost to the point of being looked at as "professional victims," by those who make their profession from the victimization of others. When suddenly thrust into a situation of condition red, (the state where the fight or flight instinct kicks in) people in condition white will become so overcome by surprise that they will do neither, fight or flight, but rather end up raped, robbed, beaten or dead.

A warrior remains in various levels of condition orange at all times, even when at home in front of the television... or the computer. (What??? You've never heard of home invasions?) Condition orange is a very conscience state of heightened awareness. (but not to be confused with paranoia, which is a heightened state of mental illness) And condition orange expands beyond a heightened level of awareness regarding only physical confrontations with others. You are wide aware while driving because so many others are not. Or, you are aware of the very subtle changes that occur within nature, prior to a weather change. In my neighborhood, one has to be very aware just putzing about in the garden, least one might learn condition red first hand, when one discovers a Copperhead attached to that hand.

Being in a constant state of condition orange gives the warrior certain advantages. The most important advantage being, the time to access a situation before it has a chance to turn to shit, to mentally prepare a defense if fight, of a retreat if flight. However, it goes a step further by preparing the warrior for those event when things do go wrong. In the garden / ill tempered Copperhead scenario, condition orange would give you an advantage even if you slip up some and are bitten. A warrior would take control of and access the situation, remain calm, apply a tourniquet to slow the travel of the venom and not suck the venom from the bite, and into the mouth. Panic will cause the heart to pump harder and push the venom farther into the system. Shock will bring severely diminished motor skills and confusion. Lose that control and you're done.

During my time as a field training officer, I could usually drive the point home on both FNGs and "seasoned officers."

Thirty one years ago, I had gotten lazy and way too comfortable with keeping up that condition orange stuff. I mean NO ONE would be dumb enough to try to take on 6 feet 4 inches, 250 pounds of me, especially since I had my uniform, badge and 1911 to comfort me. It was about 0330 in the AM and I was all by my lonesome, when I allowed a guy to slip into my personal zone, because I wasn't paying attention to my situational awareness. Of course, I became very much aware when I took, what I thought, was a punch to the side of my face, through the open car window. And the guy stood there for a second or two before he took off running.

It took that second or two for me to fully comprehend that someone actually suffered from such an advanced form of retardation. As I exited the vehicle and moved into the illumination of a streetlight, I became aware of something wet and shinny on the front of my uniform shirt. It only took another second for me to come to the brilliant conclusion that somebody was bleeding like, as the saying goes, a stuck pig. Considering I was the only one standing there...

I reached up and felt around my face and discovered I was bleeding from the area of my left eye. There's an old saying among professional fighters, "he who bleeds first, loses." And I'm here to tell ya that's a true statement. Blood tends to spark panic and panic will take the wind out of your sails and the central dangling extremities right out of your basic machismo, post haste. Even though my assailant was now more that have a block away, and moving faster with each step, visions of my bleeding to death in the middle of E. 18th street danced in my head, and it scared the hell out of me. I drew my weapon and dropped the safety. At that moment in time, a man, woman, child or, a moth from the streetlight would have entered my personal zone and come under fire.

I was literally on the verge of going into condition "yellow." That's yellow as in the color I was about to turn my tighty-whities. Except for the fact they were already red... with blood; as was both outside and in of my vest, the underside of my gun belt and even just into the tops of my boots. I was gushing more blood than the Deepwater Horizon and I wasn't into a full thirty seconds of this little episode, yet. I started shaking so bad that, had my weapon discharged, I probably would have triple tapped myself. I couldn't think straight. In short, I was pushing myself into a mental / physical melt down.

I think it was the recurring thought of bleeding to death, alone, in that street that caused some semi dormant braincells to start firing. I realized I had to overcome the panic and regain all control of the situation. I had been taught, and was well aware, that panic can induce shock. And shock usually means the skinny dirt bedroom. As I fought to bring myself under control, I realized I had to become "un-dangerous" first and foremost. I returned my weapon to safe and holstered it. I then conducted a more detailed physical examination of my injury, knowing that face / head wounds tend to bleed far more freely than wounds to most other areas. When I concluded that my left eye was collapsed and the source of the majority of blood, I forced myself to remain focused. I did what I could at my disposal to control the bleeding. Fortunately, I was only a few blocks from a hospital.

As it turned out, I hadn't been punched. My attacker had pushed a broken bottle into my eye. Had I known the criminal seriousness involved at the time, I might not have questioned my having any justification and shot the son of a bitch. But, then again, maybe having known I had been stabbed in such a manner would have contributed to a non recoverable state of shock, via a higher sense of panic, and I might well have died there in the street. Better late than never, it was the warrior spirit that kept me from curling up into a fetal position on the pavement and accepting a f**k-it mindset.

A far better example of using the warrior spirit under some real adverse conditions would be the 66 year old man whose leg became trapped under a tree he was felling, and was forced to amputate his own leg with a pocket knife in order to free himself. Or the 36 year old who was forced to amputate his own arm with a pocket knife and then twist and fall to the ground to break the bone, to free himself from his farm machinery. THAT, in my book, is the absolute epitome of having a warrior spirit.

If you are critically injured, you stand a far better chance of survival by willing it to happen than not; by telling yourself YOU WILL survive, that you will not allow yourself to succumb to a panic and shock induced death, that you will do whatever it takes to cheat the angel of death out of your life.

To be continued

MikeH.

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part II

2010-07-23T12:47:00.002-04:00

For as much as I wish I did, I have no super power that allows me to see into the future. But then, no one does. Despite this, there are "experts," in various fields, who predict certain cataclysmic events are looming on our horizon. They warn of a societal collapse as a result of economic conditions, wars from both internal and external forces, events that are naturally occurring and, deliberate human planned events. Regardless of the triggering event, any one of these acts may well put all of us into such a fight for our very lives that it will make the word "survival" seem like a simplistic description of what will be required to outlive the event and it's aftermath.

Many of us have listened to these warnings, or are following personal gut assessments of the events around us, and we are preparing to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. We are stuffing our pantries with long shelf life foods, stocking and / or planning the restocking of potable water, purchasing medical supplies, buying firearms and cases of ammunition and making time to practice with those weapons. We are buying and reading books on a multitude of survival topics and many of us are developing self reliant skill-sets that have been all but forgotten in modern day life. But, despite all the money spent, regardless of all the time and efforts invested and the amount of physical survival assets we have amassed; how many of us have put ANY time and effort into analyzing and preparing our survival mindset? How many of us are preparing our minds to meet and accept the challenges that could force us into actually living in a post collapse fight for life?

I'm sure the majority of us have seen television programs or movies where an actor has to jump from one rooftop to another. As is usually the case, the actor falls just short of a perfect touchdown on the other side and, just barely, grabs on to a short wall around that roof-line. (called a parapet, by the way) The drama builds until the actor either drags himself up and over that parapet wall, to safety, or struggles until he eventually falls to his death.

I have seen a couple of different "he doesn't make it" scenes portrayed in separate films. In one, the actor struggles until his strength is depleted, then falls. In the other, I've seen the actor struggle then project a look of having deduced some "logical conclusion" that, no amount of struggle will save him, he accepts this as his fate and lets go to fall to his death without so much as a whimper. I've seen Dennis Leary's character in "Rescue Me" dream (or nightmare) himself in this situation and take on a "f**k-it kind of look on his face as he lets go and falls.

So now that I have set the stage, imagine YOU are in some life or death situation that is forcing YOU to make that rooftop to rooftop jump. YOU have fallen just a wee bit short of that perfect landing and YOU are now holding on to the long drop side of the parapet wall, with safety being just behind the other side. (there's something almost tapping on my brain-stem here. Safety on the other side of this short wall. Being safe if I can just get myself, dare I say, behind the parapet... hmmm!)

Logic and common sense dictates that certain event will happen; some will struggle, fight, with every fiber of their being only to succumb to exhaustion, then fall. Others will hang on, in hopes of some miracle of rescue, only to succumb to exhaustion, then fall. And though I find it highly unlikely, there may be a few who will realize they will become exhausted and then fall, that there is no miracle about to happen in the nick of time so why even fight it, they'll take the f**k-it attitude and just let go.

Enter now the other side of this coin; the people who would find themselves in the situation and, rather than think f**k-it will instead think f**k-this!!! and force themselves up and over the parapet. In this kind of situation, there IS NO time to waste struggling yourself into exhaustion. There IS NO time, or energy, to waste by just holding on. You have to focus all of your mental and physical resources to immediate action and get over that wall. Why? Because you are a survivor. You refuse to accept the failure that is giving into death simply because death has come knocking at your door. You do this not out of fear of death, but rather, because you know that in life there is an everyday struggle; the continuing daily challenge that demands you prove your right to life. And you accept the fight, without hesitation, because you are being challenged and, because you have within you a warrior's spirit. And it is this spirit that separates those who will survive and thrive from those who will not.

According to the so called experts, when the "big event" (whatever that will be) hits, MILLIONS of people will die in a very short time frame. The experts predict food shortages, even food riots. So it seems logical to assume many will die from starvation, others will die when they try to take from those who have and, many of those who have will die trying to defend what they have. It's safe to speculate that many will succumb to disease and that, with all this death, bodies will lay where they fall. And as bodies deteriorate, there will be ungodly sights and smell. Many of us will no doubt bear witness to ungodly acts committed by others, against others and there is a real possibility many of us may be force to commit some of these acts ourselves, such as kill another human being. The question is, are you prepared MENTALLY to see these things, to smell these things or, in the worse case, fight to retain what's yours, even if that means killing someone? In the absolute worse case... would you be prepared to turn away a close friend or close neighbor who comes to you for food or supplies?

If you are not prepared for any of these, or any number of other tough choice (life or death) decision possibilities, and without hesitation, my advice to you is start working on instilling a warrior spirit within yourself right now or, say f**k-it and let go of the parapet. Without a warrior's spirit, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE... period.

To be continued

MikeH.

The Warrior Spirit

2010-07-21T10:22:00.006-04:00

Although history holds many recorded examples of people who have stood toe to toe with death, defied the odds and lived to tell about it, there are two examples I feel worthy of examination here. What makes these two examples more noteworthy than others; the face to face stare-down between certain death, and these two men, involved every minute of every day for months and even years. These two flesh and blood human beings had the angel of death riding on their backs, like a psychotic jockey, and yet, they continued to fight and survived.

Hugh Glass (1780 - 1833) was an American fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West during the first third of the 19th century. Glass was famed most of all for his legendary cross country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear.

In August of 1823, Glass was working as a scout for an expedition led by Andrew Henry, up the valley of the Grand River in South Dakota. While out alone scouting game for the expedition's food supplies, Glass surprised a mother grizzly bear with her two cubs. Before Glass could respond with his rifle, the bear attacked, throwing Glass to the ground and raked him numerous times with her claws. Glass fought back and killed the bear after stabbing it repeatedly with his knife. Glass suffered a broken leg and claw wounds, on his back, that exposed his ribs.

Later, the expedition found Glass and attempted to tend to him but, he lost consciousness and Henry became convinced he would not survive the injuries. Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died and bury him. The expedition then moved on.

The volunteers expected Glass would die at any moment. But he held on, a day at a time, and the two grew more concerned about hostile Native Americans and the growing distance between them and the expedition. Convincing themselves that Glass would surely die, they covered him with the bear's skin, as a shroud, took his rifle, knife and other equipment then fled to reconnect with the expedition. Despite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness, only to find he had been abandoned without weapons, equipment or food.

In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own broken leg, wrapped himself in the bear skin and began crawling for the nearest settlement, more than 200 miles away. To prevent gangrene, Glass laid his wounded back on rotting logs and let maggots eat the dead flesh. He ate mostly berries and roots and, on one occasion, drove wolves away from a downed bison calf and feasted on the meat. Six weeks of crawling, Glass made it to the Cheyenne River where he constructed a raft and floated down river, eventually reaching safety at Fort Kiowa.

Hugh Glass died in the winter of 1833, while working as a hunter for the garrison at Fort Union. He and two fellow hunters were killed in an attack by Arikara Indians.

Shoichi Yokoi (1915 - 1997) was a Japanese imperial army sergeant who lived in the jungles of Guam for 28 years after World War II ended. Yokoi lived in a tunnel like, underground cave in a bamboo grove until he was discovered in January 1972. Two of his fellow soldiers had died, most likely from malnutrition / starvation eight years prior. Yokoi survived on a diet of coconuts, breadfruit, papayas, snails, eels and rats. After being discovered, he was transported to Guam Memorial Hospital where he was found to be in good health, other than anaemic, as a result of his salt free diet.

Yokoi had been a tailor's apprentice before being drafted in 1941. He wove himself replacement clothing using the fibers of wild hibiscus plants. He used a pair of scissors he had through the war to tailor the clothes and to cut his hair.

Yokoi said, "We Japanese soldiers were told to prefer death to the disgrace of being captured alive. The only thing that gave me the strength and will to survive was my faith in myself and, that as a soldier of Japan, it was not a disgrace to continue on living." No one in the history of humanity has equaled Yokoi's record. Few have struggled with loneliness, fear and self as long as twenty eight years.

By all accounts, Hugh Glass should have died soon after, if not during, the bear mauling. Instead, he laid where he was left, himself expecting to be taken by death at any moment. And after a time, when he realized that death was not going to come so easily, he made a commitment to himself to refuse to lay there and so easily succumb. Perhaps in his mind, it would be a disgrace to die from hunger since he apparently wasn't going to die from his injuries.

Eight years after his only remaining comrades had died, Shoichi Yokoi was still going strong, even though he had suspected the war had long been over. What force could drive a person to go on waiting 28 years for orders to quit his post, to eat rats and wear clothes made from tree bark, and still find disgrace in the idea of turning himself in? And again, for years after he suspected the war was over.

What is it that can motivate a person to run into a burning building when others are running out? Or what can motivate a person to dive on top of a triggered hand grenade? Or, what motivates a person to march into battle, knowing they might well die?

For many hundreds of years, the Japanese lived by a very strict code of honor they call Bushido. One lived, fought and died with honor; honor to oneself, their country and their emperor. An act of dishonor could only be atoned for through ritualistic suicide. So what could motivate a person to take a short bladed knife (tanto), thrust the blade into the left side of the lower abdomen, pull the blade across to the right side, turn the blade and pull it upward to the diaphragm and then lean backward to spill their intestines onto the floor at their knees? All without showing any outward signs of pain. Once completed, the "dishonored" could then lean forward so that an assistant could end the ritual with a sword, (katana) by beheading the now disemboweled redeemed one. Just the way seppuku (hara-kiri) had been done, in a very precise manner, for all those hundreds of years.

Let's give this motivation a fitting name; let's call it The Warrior Spirit.

To be continued.

MikeH.

Night Vision Scopes

2010-07-17T14:52:00.012-04:00

Last year, I started putting serious thought toward the purchase of a night vision rifle scope. Due to their prices, I first had to justify that an NV scope fell under a need rather than a want. I had done some internet "window shopping" and found prices from just under $400.00 for a 1st generation model to just under $7000.00 for a 4th generation scope. Of course, I made the uneducated assumption that a 1st gen designation and $400.00 price equaled poor quality, especially since 2nd gen units were up well over one thousand dollars in price. At that kind of price, I'd really have to do some serious justifying.

I've always been a true believer in the old adage, "you get what you pay for," and I have never had a problem paying more for an item, as long as I could see it being of higher quality. But in this particular case, I didn't have hands and eye on scopes for comparison. Add to that, I didn't know anyone who had purchased an NV scope, so I came to the conclusion it was possibly a need I didn't want to bother with.

A few months later, a guy who I am acquainted with on an internet firearms forum mentioned he had bought one of the 1st gen scopes and was not only surprised, but was quite pleased with it's performance. He was good enough to take photos through his scope, and post them, to show the focal quality it produced. Needless to say, I too was surprised and impressed enough to reconsider as a purchase.

Briefly, and I do mean very briefly; a night vision scope gathers available light from any minute source, such as the moon, stars or an infrared light source. That light is then intensified 1,000 times (in a 1st gen scope, 20,000 times in higher gens) by a photo cathode tube, making objects visible through the viewing end of the scope, by way of a projection type process. This process causes everything to be seen in a light green hue. The 1st gen units tend to have low, fixed lens, magnification and a fuzzy view quality around the edges. In each of the succeeding generations, however, lens magnification has been increased, internal power generators have been made with higher output ratings, a more advanced cathode tube version installed and viewing quality has become almost crystal perfect, although still in a green hue.

I decided to purchase an MK 350 Guardian scope manufactured by ATN Corp. based on several factors; the company's reputation, warranty policy, customer feed back through third party sellers and the scope to rifle mounting system. The scope ran $395.00 plus shipping from Optics Planet. The time from order to in my hand was five days.

The MK 350 has an integral Picatinny mount interface that requires a 13 mm wrench or nut driver for installation / removal. This gives it an acceptable height in relation to the rifle barrel, and makes it a perfect match up with an M-4 flat top receiver. The scope comes with an infrared light emitter, two CR-123 batteries (one for the scope, one for the IR emitter) an adjustment tool and a heavy duty shoulder strap type carry pouch. According to the specs, the scope weighs in at almost 3 pounds.

The IR emitter is about the diameter of, but shorter than, a pack of breath mints. It too mounts to a Picatinny accessory rail or, to the top of the scope body. The IR emitter is used to provide a light source to the scope when heavy cloud conditions block out the moon and stars, and when there is no background lighting from even distant street lights or urban lighting reflecting off the cloud cover. IR is invisible to the unaided eye BUT could be a dead giveaway in a sniper / counter-sniper showdown where both, or more, are using NV scopes but only one is using an IR emitter. In this situation, it would be like turning on a giant neon arrow letting your location be known.

There is a thick black rubber lens cover over the front lens of the scope. It is important to understand that it should not be removed in bright light conditions even when the scope is powered down or the battery is removed as this can damage the cathode tube. However, there is a small hole in the cover that allows the scope to be used in daylight conditions. It can be easy to assume otherwise since nothing can be seen through the scope, day or night, while it is powered down. Remember, it uses a projection type viewing method. The scope is also equipped with a lighted standard cross hair style reticle with an on / off / brightness control dial.

According to the user manual, continuous on battery life is about ten hours using the scope only. Turning the reticle on and running it during the same time will shorten battery life to about five hours. The fact that it does require replacement or recharged batteries means it would have some application drawback issues that would require a bit of forethought.

How well does it work? Looking out through a closed window, I can make out the oval "Ford" logo (but not the letters) on the grill of a pick up truck, parked in an unlighted carport that is about 125 yards down range.

Worth it? Oh, you betcha!!!

MikeH.

What's In Your Med Kit

2010-07-15T15:41:00.007-04:00

Before I get into this subject, I suppose it prudent to issue a disclaimer:

(1) I am not a medical professional in any sense of the word. The information I am posting here is intended for discussion purposes only and is in no way meant to be construed as professional medical advice. In any medical emergency, seek treatment and / or advice from a licensed medical practitioner.

(2) I strongly encourage everyone to obtain professional first aid training, such as through the American Red Cross. And if you can arrange for more advanced Emergency Medical Technician type training, go for it. At any cost, it's worth it.

When I began my adventures in prepping, I tried to consider various disaster scenarios that are most likely to occur. Even though disasters fall under three categories, natural, accidental or human caused, the acts and their potential results are almost endless. So, since we could be talking about any act from an insect bite to a nuclear war, I decided to prepare for the absolute worse case scenario. In this case, a total societal collapse where, among other things, professional medical services may be seriously delayed or non-existent.

Consider the after effects of a massive solar storm or electromagnetic pulse (EMP) discharge that might take out electric service over a wide area, disrupting most forms of communications and rendering the majority of automotive transportation useless. In a medical emergency situation, doctor's offices, clinics and hospitals may be closed or so severely crippled that only the most basic of care could be administered. And that is assuming you can even get there, let alone get there in time. I suppose this could easily rate a high ten on the worse case top ten list.

In a situation like this, any number of serious, life threatening, injuries could occur. I considered some of the worst injuries that might come from either attacks by zombies (humans gone feral) or relatively common accidents that can occur in both survival and non-survival (day to day) situations. These injuries would include; blunt force trauma, deep tissue lacerations, deep tissue punctures, amputations and gunshot wounds. The kind of injuries where a shot of Bactine, a bandage and a kiss on the boo boo just aint gonna cut it.

Again, at this point, I want to stress; I am not a medical professional. I am NOT posting this information as advice to anyone. I have made certain decisions as they might apply FOR MYSELF and for MY FAMILY MEMBERS, based on my personal convictions and after some very long and serious due considerations. With this in mind, I have included some "advanced" medical instruments that would ONLY be considered for use in ABSOLUTE WORSE CASE situations, like the one mentioned above. When listed, I will mark these with an asterisk (*).

One item I believe is a must have for any serious med kit is the "Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook." This book is available through the U.S. Government Printing Office for $59.00 plus shipping. (some online sources have it for $200.00 to $400.00) Inside, one can find page after page of easy to understand symptoms, diagnosis and treatments, including some surgical procedures, found in both combat and non-combat situations.

I have included a stethoscope, blood pressure and pulse / oxygen rate monitors in my kit. The stethoscope I chose is a Sprague Rappaport model, that uses two sound transmission tubes rather than one. My hearing isn't all that good so I need all the advantage I can get. The blood pressure monitor is a basic pump up cuff type since there is always that chance the digital type could be rendered useless or electric services and / or batteries may be non-existent. The pulse / oxygen rate monitor is digital and battery powered. However, I can easily revert to monitoring pulse by palpation. Monitoring oxygen without a monitor is difficult, at best.

* 3M Vetbond: is a cyanoacrylate (Super Glue) tissue adhesive that is approved for human use in some foreign countries, but not in the United States. Here, it is available for veterinary use only. I was able to purchase it online ($16.00 each) from a veterinary supply source, as it is available to the public.

* QuikClot 1st Response: is a blood coagulant (clotting) sponge for use in the temporary control of traumatic bleeding. This particular model is a mesh bag containing 25 grams of a chemical coagulant agent. I purchased a five count box ($45.00 Amazon.com) plus I have two field trauma kits that came packed with one sponge each. ($40.00 each at Amazon.com) The only negative factor I find with QuikClot is a short (two year) listed shelf life.

*** (Three asterisks for obvious reasons) A U.S. military surgical instruments kit for performing minor surgery. This kit contains stainless steel wound probe, scissors, hemostats, scalpel, suturing tool, pull back pick, tweezers and penlight. The kit is about the size of a lady's clutch type purse and I bought it at a military surplus store for under thirty dollars.

* Suture packs: Are small foil packs that contain a sterile suture needle and attached suture media. (thread, if you will). I picked up several types at the military surplus store for about $1.50 each. I have also found them available online for a few dollars more.

That's pretty much it for the more exotic stuff in my med kit, at least for the time being. I would be interested to hear what others have or, have to add in the way of discussion.

MikeH.

Bottom Stories Of The Day

2010-07-14T11:28:00.008-04:00

It must suck to live in Oakland, CA. these days. It seems the city is so deep in debt that they are preparing to lay off 80 police officers. And to help drive the point home to city residents, the police chief has listed 44 crimes that his department will not respond to, should some hapless victim call 911.

Here's a good one; providing false information to a peace officer. (Dear Chief, considering such a crime is most likely to be perpetrated upon a "PEACE OFFICER", do ya really think the average Oakland resident is going to give a rat's furry ass if you respond or not)

The city council voted June 25 to eliminate the positions to help close the city's $32.5 million funding gap. According to city officials, each of 776 police officers employed there costs around $188,000.00 per year. The city asked officers to pay nine percent of their salary toward their own pensions, which would save the city about $7.8 million toward a multi-million dollar deficit.

The police union agreed to this concession, provided the city promised there would be no lay offs over the next three years. The city agreed to a one year moratorium on lay offs, but that is not good enough for the union.

Of course, I could be wrong here, but considering the state of the economy and the number of people out of work, I think I would be agreeing to ass kissing concessions as long as it meant keeping a job and having a pension to look forward to.

....................

Over in the land of Lincoln; Illinois is considering a tax on sugar filled drinks, "to fight obesity." Current research on the subject is talking a penny or two per ounce as needed to be expensive enough to affect consumption. So if policy followed research, a two liter bottle of your favorite soft drink might cost you .60 cents to $1.20 more.

Illinois Public Health Institute CEO Elissa Bassler said, "Maybe changing the ways we use beverages can be a part of handling obesity."

Store owner Bill Baffes said, "I think it's silly. Where do you draw the line?"

"That's what the democratic process is about," said Bassler.

Personally, I believe the democratic party is full of shit and, they are going to tax everything in sight to fund their own pension plans.

....................

Swinging back to California; The city of Berkeley is now looking at taxing medicinal and recreational marijuana in the event Proposition 19 passes the state's November ballot. The city council is considering a 10 percent tax on gross receipts of recreational pot and 2.5 percent on the medical version of the old sticky icky.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates concedes the tax will only generate about $350,000.00 per year.

But Tom, once you have your taxing boot on the neck of all those gonja users, you're going to want legalized cocaine, crack, crank, roofies and meth. So $350,000.00 may be a small tax boost for now but, it's a start!!!

....................

Certainly everyone is now aware that the government has imposed a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning. The given reason; to help fund health care for those who suffer from melanoma, as a direct result of indoor tanning.

Once again, I could be wrong here, but didn't the regime force through nationalized health care to treat people with illnesses... like melanoma?

....................

But I have left the best of the bottom stories for last; In a public speech today, Vice Reich's Chancellor Joe Bite-me told his audience that "the administration's stimulus spending is working and has already created 2.8 million jobs."

Is this the same simple minded asshole who hardly two weeks ago told another audience, "we have lost 9 million jobs in America that we will never see return"?

Folks, feel safe in the knowledge that, after the revolution, we will charge and hang all of these socialist thieves for treason. Same day service.

MikeH.

Chipping Away At Freedom

2010-07-12T09:23:00.011-04:00

This past Saturday I was sitting in my truck, in the parking lot of a small strip mall, when I noticed a man and woman standing outside one of the businesses, smoking. After a few minutes, a man exited the business, joining the couple, and fire up his own cigarette. And as the three talked and smoked, it slowly started to dawn on me that the business they were standing in front of was a bar.

It's been a few years but I remember bars... fine Tennessee sour mash whiskey, good conversations, loud jukebox tunes that were popular several years earlier and the smoke from an excellent 52 ring by 7.5" Arturo Fuentes cigar protruding from the corner of my pie-hole. I'd spent numerous hours (and numerous coin of the realm) in such settings in previous years. And while I reminisced about days of old, far off in my mind there were the sounds of screeching tires, metal crunching, women and children screaming and the ear splitting sound of the stereo needle being drug across a 45 rpm record, like when someone who had pounded back one too many had stumbled into the jukebox. That damned anti smoking law!!!

Full grown, adult, human beings have been reduced to temporary banishment from within local gin mills in order to light-up legally. Although I quit smoking several years ago, I can't begin to imagine the consumption of alcohol without the inhalation of burning tobacco. It's un-damn-natural!!! Leave the air conditioned comfort and your ice cold brew on the bar to go outside, in 97 degree heat, because some nanny minded (read: simple minded) excretory orifice feels it's their duty in life to protect you from you. But you just try to take that beer outside to enjoy with your cigarette and you'll likely find yourself tazed and dazed by a member of the local constabulary, for felonious imbibing of the spirits in the public purview. (Another throwback to days of old, when morality laws attempted to shield the fairer sex (or fairer sexes?) and children from seeing grown men take a discrete shot from a vest pocket flask in public)

How did we reach this lowly level of nanny underhandedness? I have a theory:

A bunch of years ago, someone pleaded there case all the way to SCOTUS and succeeded in getting the Pledge of Allegiance banned from public schools.

A few years later, someone else pleaded their case all the way to SCOTUS and succeeded in getting all mention of God banned from public schools.

A few years after that... and all reference of God and religion have been banned from public buildings.

Most recently, local / state government nannies have been taking it upon themselves to ban smoking in ever growing lists of public places.

Of course, there have been other cases over the years, and no doubt, many more to come. (Just too many to include in this simple minded essay)

Do you know what each of these cases have in common? No one of opposing view took them seriously. People of normal sensibilities assumed those causes were so frivolous, they would be laughed out of court or the legislative chambers of state governments. And therefore, with no public hue and cry of righteous indignation, or even a half-hearted rebuttal, a quick bang of the gavel and presto!!! Another Freedom Done Gone.

Folks, we are the stewards of our own liberties and it is incumbent upon no one but ourselves to be and remain aware of what others are doing in their attempts to relieve us of those liberties. Even if a particular issue may hold little or no personal interest, the mere fact that a freedom may hang in the balance should motivate us all to oppose any attempts to squash them. When it's all said and done, pitching a bitch usually doesn't get lost liberties returned.

MikeH.

Games People Play

2010-07-10T20:49:00.002-04:00

According to Fox News, Australian police are investigating the poisoning of 7 million vegetable plants at a seeding nursery near Adelaide. The loss is estimated at $20.3 million USD and could more than double, even triple, produce prices across the country due to the decrease in supply.

About 4 million tomato seedlings were poisoned, as well as bell peppers, melons, eggplant, zucchinis and capsicum. Police have determined that a herbicide was introduced into the nursery irrigation system in late June. The poisoning has affected 350 hectares (about 865 acres) of production land which has the potential to produce about 200 tons of fresh produce.

Police are considering a range of motives including a grudge, competition based, the result of time established market shares or an act of vandalism. (They were very careful not to mention the possibility of a terror plot, though)

I have absolutely no idea as to the short or long term detriment to the soil and the report made no mention as to how long the land would be affected or what costs would be involved in making it fertile again. But, take a moment to consider the implications if this were to happen on a far larger scale. Even if the land would be unusable for only a single growing season.

MikeH.

Intended Or Unintended Consiquences

2010-07-08T23:44:00.003-04:00

According to an article in SFGate.com, the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare is considering an ordinance that will ban the sale of all pets, except fish. The ordinance would include dog, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and nearly every other critter the commission refers to as "companion animals."

According to commission Chairwoman Sally Stephens, "people buy small animals all the time as an impulse buy, not knowing what they are getting into, and the animals end up at the shelter and are often euthanized. That's what we'd like to stop."

Well, that's just freaking brilliant, Sally. Let's pick this gem apart some and see where it takes us.

You make it illegal to sell all pets other than fish. It would seem to me that the meat and potatoes portion of the pet shop business is going to be put out of business. Far be it from me to conclude this assumption on my own but, this might also tend to put some otherwise working people out of work? Didn't Vice Reich's Chancellor Joe Bite-me recently state, (the obvious) "the U.S. has lost more than 9 million jobs that we will never see return"? I guess that will be 9 million and two when pet shop entrepreneurs and pet shop workers bite the bullet.

But wait, there's more!!! San Francisco residents who want a pet would have to go to another city, adopt from a shelter or rescue group or find one through the classifieds. DAMN... I shoulda had a V-8!!! It all makes perfect sense to me now. On second thought, maybe it doesn't. (I knew I picked the wrong week to give up huffing Elmer's Glue Stix) Unless, of course, Sally's husband owns an exotic fish store. Or they don't want companion animals to have a home-field advantage?

Let me try this again. You make it illegal to sell pets in your city but, your residents can still buy them elsewhere and bring them home IN THE CITY? And this will dramatically reduce the numbers of animals these same residents will dump at the local shelter to face possible euthanasia HOW?

Hey Sally, me thinks if anyone should back away from the Elmer's... it's you. Because at the end of the day, whether by design or not, this stroke of shear stupidity will only cause harm to humans. And when political "luminaries" put more value in animal lives than in human lives, it's time we start dumping them at shelters to suck gas.

MikeH.

When Will It End

2010-07-06T08:09:00.002-04:00

Here we are, 77 days in to the crisis in the Gulf Of Mexico with no end in sight. The Washington Post reports an estimated 2 million barrels of oil has been released and all of the Gulf states have oil coming ashore. WP further reports that BP has skimmed or burned off about 60 percent of the amount it promised regulators it could remove in a single day.

"The disparity between what BP promised in it's March 24 filing with federal regulators and the amount of oil recovered since the April 20 explosion underscores what some officials and environmental groups call a misleading numbers game that has led to widespread confusion about the extent of the spill and the progress of the recovery."

"In a news release filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, BP projected it had skimming capacity of more than 171,000 barrels per day, with more available if needed. The news release presented an optimistic picture of a company scrambling to clean up the mess, mobilizing a 'flotilla of vessels and resources that include significant mechanical recovery capacity."

It's time to start skimming the bull-schmooze off the top so that we can see through to the truth. And the biggest, steamiest and smelliest release of BS is the numbers being reported. The lame stream media outlets are reporting a dozen or more barrel per day estimates per story. How much has spilled, how much is still gushing up from the drill site, how much this and how much that. I suppose if one is a bean counter, this is news to know. BP presents their numbers, the government has their numbers and environmental groups should not even be allowed to present numbers. The "mental" part of environmental should be a patent clue of what one can expect from these folks.

Personally, I don't give a rat's furry ass about the numbers. These truths I hold as self-evident; oil is flowing into the Gulf, like blood from an arterial separation, and it needs to be stopped. Cleanup efforts need to be allowed to begin, all out, WITHOUT government interference. And then, we need to put some serious preparations in place to help overcome the inevitable damage to every living thing, whose physical life / health will be affected for generations to come. And God only knows how big of a geographical area we're talking about. Anything (read: ANYTHING) after that is secondary.

As I type this, the world's largest skimmer ship is on scene in the Gulf. It is touted as having the ability to remove oil at a rate of tens of thousands of barrels per day. Thus far, it has been unable to produce those results; but only because the Taiwanese owned ship is undergoing Coast Guard "safety tests." I can't help but wonder if BPs initial removal estimates were a tad on the high side because they expected to enlist assistance from foreign owned companies. Companies who have been denied access to the area "over safety concerns" or severely delayed to act while being subjected to safety inspections. Larry, Curly and Mobama could scrape barnacles off the Edmond Fitzgerald in less time than these safety inspection are taking... per ship!

What really scares me is the recurring talk about touching off a nuclear device in an attempt to stop the flow. And NO ONE has been able to answer my recurring questions; why does it have to be nuclear? Why can't a conventional explosive device be used instead? In my opinion, nukes are bad news above, or below, the surface and I fear it would only add a whole new element of bad to an already bad situation.

When will it end? Perhaps more importantly... HOW will it end? And I have a gut feeling it won't end well.

MikeH.

Silver Sale

2010-07-01T12:17:00.002-04:00

For those of you who are interested, APMEX is selling new 1oz Sunshine Minting silver rounds for .79 cents over spot, per oz.

I have been dealing with APMEX for awhile now and I have no complaints with them what-so-ever. And they ship FAST!!!

MikeH.

Veterans Exposed To HIV

2010-07-01T10:06:00.003-04:00

From a CNN report, 01 July 2010

A Missouri veteran's administration hospital may have exposed more than 1800 veterans to life threatening diseases such as hepatitis B, hep. C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work.

The issue stems from a failure to clean dental instruments properly. According to a hospital chief of staff, some dental technicians broke protocol by hand washing tool before putting them into cleaning machines. The instruments are supposed to be cleaned only in the machines. The hand washing started in February of 2009.

The hospital has set up a special clinic and education centers to help patients who may have been infected.

Rep. Russ Carnahan (d) from Missouri, is calling for an investigation into the issue and has sent a letter to the Big Zero about it. (Uh Oh!!! He'll be looking for some asses to kick)

Carnahan said, "I can only imagine the horror and anger our veterans must be feeling. They have every right to be angry. So am I." (Wonder how Carnahan would be feeling if HE had been exposed? Angry might be a touch overly simplified description.)

There is absolutely NO excuse for this to have occurred. NONE!!! VA hospitals have been little better than dark ally veterinary clinics / bestiality brothels in Baghdad for years. And damn near every president, during my 57 years on this planet, has made some lame ass promise to fix the problems in many of the VA's hospitals.

I would rather die a slow, agonizing death on the field of battle than face even a significantly shortened life of care in a VA hospital. For that matter, I'd prefer to be left in place to rot on that field, than to be buried under the wrong headstone or, in a three deep grave at Arlington.

I suppose I can now understand why Big Shit (er, ah) Big Sis, at DHS, opted to include our veterans on the threat watch-list.

No Sir... there's just no excuse. However, after the revolution, I vote all the politicians who survive be sent to VA hospitals for the care they so rightly deserve. (Especially if I can be a candy striper in the shock therapy ward)

MikeH.

Fill In The Blank

2010-06-30T10:10:00.005-04:00

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay. And I pity any _________ who isn't me today."

MikeH.

Knowing The Rules

2010-06-28T14:00:00.006-04:00

"The enemy, properly goaded and guided in his reaction, will be your major strength." - Saul Alinsky

If you are a frequent listener to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, you have no doubt heard them make reference to Saul Alinsky and his book, "Rules for Radicals." For the most part, the rules they speak about usually pertain to stratagem used by members of the current regime to help bring about a desired end by manipulating human behavior in opponents and the court of public opinion.

So, I decided it was time I learned more about Alinsky; to get inside his head so that I could better understand what his rules for radicals are, how many there are and why Alinsky had a desire to scrap truth, justice and the American way.

Prior to doing my homework for this posting, I had pretty much assumed that Saul Alinsky was an evil socialist son of a bitch and that his book, "Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals" was intended as a guide for all the evil socialist sons of bitches who are intent on the "fundamental transformation" of America. But, it seems I may have been wrong in my assumption.

Alinsky was an American community organizer and writer who died in 1972. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing. His organizing skills were focused on improving the living conditions of poor communities across North America, primarily in African-American ghettos. His ideas were later adapted by some U.S. college students and other young organizers in the late 1960s and formed part of their strategies for organizing on campus and beyond.

For Alinsky, organizing was the process of highlighting whatever he believed to be wrong and convincing people that they can actually do something about it. If people feel they don't have the power to change a situation, they stop thinking about it. (Note as a possible parallel: Alinsky was once ask, if because of his strict Jewish upbringing, he ever encountered anti-semitism while growing up in Chicago during the early 1900s. He replied, "it was so pervasive you really didn't even think about it; you just accepted it as a fact of life.")

During an interview, Alinsky was asked if he ever considered becoming a Communist party member and he replied, "not at any time. I've never joined any organization, not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. I could never accept the rigid dogma or ideology, whether it's Christianity or Marxism." Playboy Magazine had compared Alinsky to Thomas Paine as "one of the great American leaders of the non-socialist left.

Alinsky was a Democrat (of the old school) who believed Americans, in the 1970s, were living in frustration and despair, worried about their future and ripe for a turn to radical social change and to become politically active citizens. He feared the middle class would be driven to a right wing viewpoint, "making them ripe for the plucking by some guy on horseback promising a return to the vanished verities of yesterday." His stated motive: "I love this goddamn country and we're going to take it back."

In the opening paragraph of chapter one of Rules for Radicals, Alinsky writes, "What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be, The "Prince" was written by Machiavelli for the Haves, on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots, on how to take it away.

Whether Alinsky was a bad guy with bad intentions or, a good guy whose ideas became little more than a useful tool from a useful idiot, to be used by evil, for evil, I'll leave for you to decide.

Alinsky's Rules: (He emphasizes these rules must be translated into real life tactics that are fluid and responsive to the situation at hand)

Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear and retreat.

Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat.

Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. "You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."

Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It's hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. "If your people aren't having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic."

Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions, and use all events of the period for your purpose. "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage."

Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.

Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, "Okay, what would you do?"

Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don't try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

And that's it! Eleven simple rules that, when applied to nearly any confrontational interaction, can bring about, a somewhat predictable, desired end. However, in a separate chapter, Alinsky suggests that the perennial question, "does the end justify the means," is meaningless as it stands. The real and only question regarding the ethics of means and ends is, and always has been, "does this particular end justify this particular means?"

I believe it's important to know and understand these rules so that they can be recognized when put into play. This may allow for a non-predictable response to be given, turning their desired end into their failed end.

MikeH.

GaGa, Zero And Facebook Fan Record

2010-06-27T08:52:00.011-04:00

According to msnbc.com, there is a race on to see who will log ten million Facebook fans first, Lady GaGa or the Big Zero. Friday morning, His Zipness was leading by some 30,000 hits, reported CNN. (no bias there, right!!!) A short time later, Lady GaGa's numbers surged ahead to 9,162,832 to Zero's 9,122,063 hits.

Although I have no use for either, my money is on O to win by a landslide. Miss (or Ms. or Mr.) GaGa needs to understand; NaDa has the experience when it comes to voter fraud. As I type this, the new and improved ACORN, and SEIU, are busy "stuffing" the ballots.

MikeH.

No Commentary Required

2010-06-26T11:29:00.002-04:00

But if I did have something to say, I'd probably be required to change my URL to a .XXX address.

More History Lessens

2010-06-25T12:53:00.009-04:00

That good looking fella, in the photo above, is former Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. Way back on 18 Nov. 1956, he was addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow when he made the statement "My vas pokhoronim!" Generally, this is translated into English as "We will bury you!" However, that translation is somewhat distorted. The actual quote reads: "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in!"

This was during the stupidly named period of time known as the "Cold War." It may have been "cold" in that neither the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. were actively engaged in a conventionally understood means of warfare, but it was a very hot war of wills and psychological browbeating. There was a recurring rattling of sabers and the very real threat of a possible all out nuclear exchange between the two countries. So, of course, that four word statement certainly seemed to be a serious threat suggesting the U.S. would surely fall, if or when, the nukes started dropping.

English musician Sting in his song "Russians" written in 1985 said:

Mr. Khrushchev said we will bury you

I don't subscribe to his point of view

It would be such an ignorant thing to do

If the Russians love their children too.

Some six years later, 24 Aug. 1963, Khrushchev remarked during his speech in Yugoslavia, "I once said 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you." This statement is understood to be a reference to the Marxist saying, "The proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism." (Proletariat: the social class who does unskilled manual labor)

To expand on this a bit further; written in chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto: "What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are it's own gravediggers. It's fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable." (Bourgeoisie: the social class between the lower and upper classes)

To understand this thinking requires an understanding of the events that led to the Russian Revolutions, of which there were several in 1917. In my best attempt at a nutshell synopsis: Prior to and into World War I, the Russian people were increasingly ignored by the Russian Empire of Tsar Nicholas II. Living conditions were and continued to become more deplorable, especially as the Russian economy was depleted as a result of funding the war effort.

Russian soldiers were being sent to fight without uniforms or proper clothing for the conditions, food and, without firearms. Only five months into the war, some 390,000 Russian men had lost their lives and nearly 1,000,000 were injured. Soldiers didn't feel they were being treated as human beings, or even as valued soldiers, but rather as a raw material to be squandered for the purposes of the rich and powerful.

Back home, the main problems were food shortages and rising prices. Inflation pushed real incomes down at an alarmingly rapid rate and shortages made it difficult to buy even what one could afford. Strikes increased and so did crime; but, for the most part, people suffered and endured, scouring for food. Working class women in St. Petersburg spent up to forty hours per week standing in food lines. Many were forced to begging or turning to prostitution or crime and grumbling about the rich, and wondering when and how this would all come to an end.

Nicholas was blamed for all of the crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble. In November 1916, he was warned that a terrible disaster would grip the country unless a constitutional form of government was put in place. In typical fashion, Nicholas ignored the warnings and his regime collapsed a few months later during the February Revolution of 1917.

(For my own convenience and in an effort to keep this nutshelled, I am going to go hyper-simple)

Understanding that the masses of the time were poorly educated and unskilled, they were easily taken to the idea that the rich and powerful were bad and a government run by the working class would result in a better deal for the working masses. A government geared to social policies to benefit all of the people, and in a manner that put everyone into one social class. A class wherein the words of Karl Marx would be realized; "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." In short... the redistribution of wealth.

Leon Trotsky said that the goal of socialism in Russia would not be fully realized without the success of the world revolution. And a revolutionary wave caused by the Russian Revolution lasted until 1923. Despite initial hopes for success in the German Revolution, in the short lived Hungarian Soviet Republic and others like it, no other Marxist movement succeeded in keeping power in it's hands.

Joseph Stalin later rejected this idea, stating that socialism was possible in one country. However, in 1924, Stalin reversed his position and used the argument that success of socialism does require the workers of other countries in order to make it happen. The thinking boiled down to, the more countries under communist rule, the less chance the masses might see and be swayed by that nasty old capitalism.

The number one country in the world, where one can bask in the warm rays of capitalism, is the United States. And for more than half a century, the U.S. has been the number one target of the communist's efforts to trash capitalism and bring about communist rule. And the entire time the cold war sabers were rattling, drawing all attention to bear on possible attacks by conventional means, the communists were busy with a far more unconventional plan. The infiltration of every segment of American society, including American politics, by American home grown communists.

So, that's it, in a nutshell. Everything wrong that is going on in America today is pretty much a direct result of communist influence, working to transform or destroy us from within. And they go by different names to baffle and befuddle us, like "progressives." And they use any means necessary to drive us apart and keep us a fragmented society, like race, religion and their old favorite, social status (class warfare). And if the Communist Manifesto and Nikita Khrushchev have the final say, it will be the highly disgruntled proletariat in America who will be digging the grave to bury capitalism.

I encourage you to do your own research into the Russian Revolution and get into the heads of the communists so that you can explain to others the whys and the hows that are conveniently being left out of history classes in schools throughout our country. It is the deliberate dumbing down and re-education of our younger generations; the ones undereducated and unskilled who will eagerly accept socialism.

MikeH.

NOTICE OF IMPORTANCE:

2010-06-24T12:08:00.004-04:00

Jennifer III, over at the "I'll Take Liberty" blog has important news in her post "The Plan" It is well worth your attention.

MikeH.

UPDATE: It appears she has changed the plan, or at least removed it.

Can You Say "Outed"

2010-06-23T06:59:00.006-04:00

From an msnbc.com report, The Louisiana judge who struck down the Big Zero administration's six month ban on deep-water oil drilling in the Gulf Of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports.

OK, with a year and a half into Zero's regime, it has become common knowledge that one is likely to be publicly coated in a thick layer of schmooze should one openly oppose the regime. Such is now the case of Judge Martin Feldman, a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan.

Extensive Investments: In a 2008 financial disclosure report, Feldman claimed owning less than $15,000 worth of stocks in Transocean Ltd., the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The report further showed investments in Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, HALLIBURTON, Penworth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, Parker drilling and others. Halliburton was also involved in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project.

Well, now we know His Honor lacks honor... he has money in the ultra evil conglomerate, Halliburton!!!

He is one of many federal judges across the Gulf Coast region with money in oil and gas. Several have disqualified themselves from hearing spill related lawsuits and others have sold their holdings so they can preside over some of the 200-plus cases.

I think I see a pattern emerging here. Gulf Coast region + oil and gas industry + investing in said industries = judges on the take.

Although Feldman ruled in favor of oil interests Tuesday, one expert said his reasoning appeared sound because the six month ban was overly broad. "There's been some concerns that he is biased toward the industry, but I don't see it in his opinion," said Tim Howard, a Northwestern University law professor who also represents business and people claiming economic losses in several spill related lawsuits. "They (Zilch & pals) overreacted and just shut down the industry rather than focusing on where the problems are.

So, we have a law expert who says the judge made a sound decision. But we must note the fact that the expert has a vested interest in spill related matters. I could be wrong here, but I'll venture a prediction that there are probably several legal experts with a vested interest in the spill related matters.

Josh Reichert, [on the other hand] managing director of the Pew Environment Group, said the ruling should be rescinded if Feldman still has investments in companies that could benefit. "If Judge Feldman has any investments in oil and gas operators in the Gulf, it represents a flagrant conflict of interest," Reichert said.

I wonder if the job prerequisites for the managing director's position at Pew Environment Group includes a degree in law? Or is this guy just another greenie (read: green-weenie) who has his own greenie agenda to push?

Alrighty then. We have the basic drift. Judge Feldman is a crooked S.O.B who invests his money into those evil conglomerates. He only ruled against Zip's drilling ban to insure he and his big business buds will continue to rake in the big bucks. But wait!!! There's more.

... Feldman frequently jokes with lawyers before his court about his friendship with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, known for his strict interpretation of the Constitution as written more than 200 years ago.

THAT'S IT!!! He's a subversive cork-sucker who is dead set on keeping Americans lock in the yoke of archaic ideas from a band of rebellious bastards from 200-plus years ago. And, he makes jokes in his court proceedings. What more could he possibly be up to?

(uh oh, here it is) Feldman was appointed in May to a seven year term on the "secret" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, according to court records. The court meets "secretly" to consider requests for wire taps in national security cases, such as those involving foreign terrorist groups.

....................

I suppose my first question would have to be; Who appointed Judge Feldman to the F.I.S Court? My second question may seem a wee tad trivial but, I'm gonna go for it regardless. How does one (such as a reporter) obtain access to court records that provide information on judges appointed to a secret court that decides matters of national security? If it doesn't already, shouldn't such reporting fall under the heading of seditious? It's certainly more of a seditious act than what we bloggers, of the patriotic faith, are doing.

Of course, the article didn't bother to mention the fact that Zero's ban, which suspended operations on 33 drilling rigs, put hundreds of oil worker's (est. at around 1,200) jobs on the endangered list, which in turn, would have caused an economic dip for the entire Gulf region. Sure... I can see where Judge Feldman had only his interests in mind when he made his ruling.

Folks, it was only a few years ago that the former administration received severe and prolonged political fire, from the democretins, over the "outing" of C.I.A super spy, Valerie Plame. Will anyone, on either side of the political aisle, grow a set of central dangling extremities and bring this "outing" to the forefront of the people's minds? (especially those who still believe in the hope and change bull-schmooze, as promised by His Nada-ness) It's early yet but I kinda think this won't see much light of day.

OH, by the way... did anyone happen to hear the report that BP had donated a million dollars to Big O's presidential campaign fund? And now you see how he rewards his friends.

MikeH.

Consumer Group Vs. Happy Meal Toys

2010-06-22T21:19:00.002-04:00

From an msnbc.com report, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group has threatened to file a lawsuit against McDonald's, charging the fast food chain is "unfairly and deceptively" marketing toys to children through it's Happy Meals.

"McDonald's marketing has the effect of conscripting America's children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to nag their parents to bring them to McDonald's," Stephen Gardner of the Center For Science In The Public Interest wrote to the heads of the chain in a letter announcing the lawsuit.

In 2007, McDonald's made a pledge to advertise only two types of Happy Meals to children under age 12. They both meet the company set requirement of less than 600 calories, with no more than 35 percent of calories from fat, 10 percent from saturated fat or 35 percent total sugar by weight.

CSPI argues that even if those happy meals appear in advertisements, kids order the unhealthier meals most of the time. (but, doesn't the toy only come with the Happy Meal, thus the "happy" designation?)

Some may accuse the group of extremism, arguing that it is the parent's responsibility to monitor what their children eat, not the restaurant's. Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI, says it's the parent's responsibility too, but he equates the toy giveaways to a door to door salesman coming to a family's house and asking to privately speak with the children.

"At some point parents get worn down. They don't always want to be saying no to their children. We feel like an awful lot of parents would be relieved if this one pressure was removed from them."

....................

Well, I'm confused!!! Is it about the toys, the meals, McDonald's, the parents or the linoleum lizards yammering a psychotic breakdown on mom and dad? And who died, leaving this crew of Bozo nanny wannabes in charge of this dog and pony show, anyway?

Folks, there are way too many people wanting to stick their noses into our skivvies, to see if it's time for a change. From "do gooders" outside of government to nary do gooders in government, they all have some ignorantly misguided idea their way is better than our way when it comes to living our lives.

Well, I am ready for a change. Just say NO to nannies.

MikeH.

State Of Emergency

2010-06-22T10:17:00.003-04:00

"State Of Emergency - When The Wrongs Of The Few Outweigh The Rights Of The Many"

The Delaware County, Pa. delawareonline has reported the City of Chester, Pa. (pop. about 36,000) is under a state of emergency following a fourth killing in eight days. This includes the death of a 2 year old boy, a week ago.

Chester Mayor Wendell Butler Jr. proclaimed the state of emergency on Saturday, to begin that night and run through Thursday morning, and he plans to ask the City Council to extend it for a month. During that time, no one is allowed on the street from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and, no assembly of three or more persons is allowed without a permit. However, this is only in effect over four areas of the city that cover a few blocks of territory each.

....................

Is it just me or does this seem like a rather ignorant, if not discriminatory, reaction to events that can not possibly be controlled by such a measure? It almost seems to ring of, "out of sight, out of mind", suggesting the idea that if you can't be seen, you can't do evil?

The fact that the S.O.E. and it's rules are in place over the four areas of town, and not the entire town, will bring protests of discrimination, I'm sure, at least from those four areas. How can the citizens of those areas be forced into curfews, or denied the right to assemble, while the remainder of the city can enjoy liberty?

Those other folks, the remainder of the city, should be thinking long and hard about this "S.O.E." and the implications it presents. They should be outraged. And they should be taking that outrage straight to Mayor Butler with demands he lift this declaration of emergency and put city resources to better use. Otherwise, he may not feel any compunction in suspending the rights of citizens in larger areas of the city, when he can't come up with proper, long sighted answers to short sighted events.

MikeH.

Is This A Sick Joke!!!

2010-06-19T09:20:00.003-04:00

A news item put out by MSNBC this morning, "U.S. buys Russian choppers for Afghan military", has got to be the absolute summit of government insanity... at least for this week.

According to the report, the Pentagon has spent $648 million to buy or refurbish 31 Russian built Mi-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan National Army Air Corps. The Defense Department is seeking to buy 10 more Mi-17s next year and dozens more over the next decade. Some legislators say the Pentagon never considered alternatives to the Mi-17 and, that a lack of competition has enabled Russian defense contractors to gouge on prices. (say it isn't so)

The U.S. has purchased Mi-17s for other allies as well. The Pentagon bought 8 for the Iraqi air force and has purchased or leased 14 for Pakistan, although Islamabad recently returned some after a crash raised questions about their safety. Pentagon officials say the newer Mi-17s retail for about $15 million.

So, let me get this straight; The U.S. once supplied Stinger Missiles to Afghan rebels to shoot down Soviet helicopters, back when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Now, the U.S. is supplying Afghanistan with Russian made helicopters? And (AND) at the same time, the U.S. government would rather prop up the Russian economy than pump our tax dollars into our own economy and possibly create some jobs, right here in the U.S., in the process.

What ever happened to that motto, "America First."

MikeH.

History Lessens

2010-06-17T12:05:00.011-04:00

History is like a crystal ball. It can show us where we have been, how we got here, and where we are going.

When I think back on it, I absolutely hated history classes. I had pretty much assumed the attitude that history, all those dry studies of a long ago past, couldn't possibly benefit me in my adulthood future. I suppose what I hated most was the tests based on putting together dates, names of people, names of places and the particular events that granted it all a place in history. I guess the fact that most of my teachers took little or no interest in making history, well... interesting, didn't help much to pique my interest in the subject.

Of course, years later, I began to see things a lot differently. That's primarily due to the fact that I was seeing things in my present that were mirrored by those old, dry events from long ago. I was beginning to see that the age old adage, "history repeats itself" is true. Certain types of events are like a sku tag on a new tire; it just keeps going around and around and...

As a perfect example of this, let's consider the history of Vietnam during the 1960's. At that time, Vietnam was two, separate, countries; the communist ruled North Vietnam and the democratic ruled South Vietnam. The North, not being satisfied with what they already had, decided they wanted to overthrow the government in the South and invite it's people to join the communist party. A slight problem ensued when the people from the South, having a real good idea regarding the quality of life under communist rule, declined the invite.

The North, now feeling a tad scarred by this rejection, decided to initiate plan "B"; the taking over of the South by force. This plan involved sending troops across the border and laying siege to acreage, villages and towns as they went. To be sure, there was resistance. But the North had the numbers and better equipment (provided by their communist pals in Soviet Russia) and squashed the resistance. These were the first to be eliminated.

To win the hearts and minds of their new subjects, the North systematically executed all local government officials. This included village elders in the rural tribal areas and town mayors and lower ranking bureaucrats in town and cities. The concept behind this action comes in two parts. First, the people are demoralized when they are forced to watch as their accepted leadership is deposed by an AK-47. Secondly, this opens the opportunity for the North to install their own person (read: puppets) into office. So then, the government was second to be eliminated.

To prevent the new subjects from seeking guidance through their religious conviction, the North ordered all religious leaders murdered, in public of course. The third group to go.

Next on the list to be penciled in for a visit by the angel of death were the educators. From village one room school teachers to university professors, they all had to go in order to prevent the people from being educated. Call it a method of dumbing down the people. Educators then are group four to take a bullet.

OK, how does all this killing benefit the North:
(1) It leaves them a lot less people to control initially.
(2) It eliminates all members of the community who are looked upon as leaders.
(3) It dumbs down the present, and all following generations, so they are forced to believe everything they are taught by their new masters.

After that, the North only needed to control the media, communications, food distribution and medical services to insure the masses would lock into a dependence upon the North.

As a "history repeating itself" type of event, one would only have to look back a few years in history to the early 1950's when communist North Korea attempted to take over democratic South Korea in the exact same manner. Murder off the leadership, dumb down the people and force those people into servitude. Fortunately for South Korea, the North was stopped in a stalemate that has remain through today. Vietnam, on the other hand, is now one country and under communist rule.

But the sku tag on the tire is coming around again... right here in the United States Of America. All you have to do is observe current events and process the information you collect in order to realize this to be true.

But first, a little more history: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, is reputed to have stated, "I would never invade the (main land) United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass." Yamamoto had lived in the U.S. while he attended the U.S. War College and Harvard University. Through this, as the story goes, he was aware of the fact that gun ownership in America was like a right of passage. After all, the right to keep and bear arms made private ownership legal. And a lot of Americans owned guns.

Due to that very fact, a direct attack to force America into communism would meet heavy resistance and result in a bloodbath. So the communists had devised and initiated plan "C" for the U.S. takeover. It equates to; if you can't beat them by armed force, infiltrate and conquer them through "passive force". I'll grant that plan "C" moves at a snail's pace but, it does move non the less.

Taking out the government: No shots needed when you advertise yourself as something your not and can win election into the government.

Eliminate religion: No shots needed when you can manipulate the law to help you remove all public reference to God. Or use ridicule to shame people into denouncing God and religion.

Dumbing down: Save those bullets and infiltrate the education system. Change books, change facts, change the way it's done and keep those young minds on the mentality level of a radish. And get them chanting praises to the puppet-in-chief.

Control the media: The lame stream media is already on-board with the agenda. One talking head even get's "a tingle up his leg" just thinking about the president.

Control communications: It's bad enough there has been talk of bringing back the "Fairness Doctrine" in a very patent attempt to scare less supportive media outlets to either fall in line or face hefty fines but, Congress wants to pass a bill that will give the ass-hat the power to cutoff the internet.

Control health care: I think I can rest my case.

It's here folks. Whether you want to believe it or not. All you have to do is remember your history lessens... it lessens the ignorance of where we've been, how we got here and, the bad stuff that is coming our way.

MikeH.

What's The Answer

2010-06-16T09:07:00.003-04:00

My usual morning routine includes reading through the posts of seventeen different bloggers. In today's edition of Crusader Rabbit, there was a post that included a video of Big Zero's various failures to prove his eligibility, professionally and legally, to take up space in the oval office. In the comments section, a blog team member (who I believe is Australian) posed the question, "Why don't the Americans do something?" I, in turn, got a tad tweaked and posed my own question, "What can we Americans do?"

So what exactly CAN we do?

In my opinion, the only way to stop the political insanity in America today would involve a full blown revolution and taking all control away from the government. Assuming it happened and assuming we won... now what? How would this "win" save America and benefit the world at large? We may have won a battle but, the big war would still rage on. We have to realize there is a bigger picture that needs to be looked at and considered.

Folks, I will be the first to admit, I am not the brightest bulb in the crayon box. I could be so far off base here that a long range space shuttle mission, lead by a champion Bloodhound, would play hell trying to find me. Now, with my official disclaimer of intellectual thinking (or lack thereof) in prominent display, let's get to it.

I tend to think the political events going on here are way out of our control and, that it is all part of a more global manipulation for control. However, we seem to be pin point focused on the Big O, and his socialist buds in Washington, for all of our woes. So, let's assume we take it to the streets, kick ass, prosecute and hang all the treasonous socialist bastards / bitches. Now what?

We will repeal ObamaCare, lift the moratoriums on shallow water drilling and exploration, screw cap and trade and maybe even create a political reform wherein all politicians, for centuries to come, will quake in fear at the mere thought of doing bad. But what are we going to do about the economy? How are we going to create jobs for the millions out of work? And for the $64,000.00 question: How do we pay off all that debt we owe to China? (read: COMMUNIST China) Tell me that, should we default on THAT loan, China will resort to having a call center in Bangladesh harass us three time a day for a partial payment with a late fee. We have to remember the big picture.

We are the absolute last, so if we fall under socialist rule, will the rest of the world fall too? Considering most of the world is already under the leadership of socialist governments, I sort of tend to think that's not the case. But America does have to fall IF there is some grandiose plan for a one world government. And the only way to stop it is for a worldwide revolution. A joint effort by all the people on Earth to take back their countries, their lives and eradicate the evil that's trying to control it all.

If that were to happen, perhaps we could all forgive most, if not all, of the trillions in debt that's floating around. If not resolved real soon, one way or another, that in and of itself will most likely be the catalyst for a third world war. And I think it reasonable to assume that if it happens, it will not be fought in the "old version" conventional style. (big badda booms)

The problems in America today are a slice of pie out of a global pie. One way or another it's all interconnected to, what I believe to be, a plan that will, in the end, be a worldwide problem. For those in other countries who ask, "why don't the Americans do something", my reply is: Why aren't you seeing the the big picture and realizing... YOU need to do something as well.

MikeH.

Who Do You Trust

2010-06-13T10:34:00.004-04:00

In his posting of Friday 11 June 2010, "What More Motivation Do You Need?", Chief Instructor at Accept The Challenge blog site noted how a lot of people take on the attitude that they don't feel a need for self preparations because, "the government will take care of things" in the event of some catastrophic event.

If Chief Instructor will allow me, I'd like to expand on that idea a bit.

Personally, I'd like to think that our goofy ass Uncle Sammy would come charging in to support us after the SHTF or, we face TEOTWAWKI. (especially since they should have done their best to shield us from such an event to begin with) It just seems to stand to reason that our elected public servants would be falling all over themselves to insure that the public they serve is, well, being served. That's why we are paying those big bucks for big government... right?

Ladies and gentlemen, please assume your crash positions now by bending forward, placing your head between your knees, and kissing your (soon to be left on it's own) ass bye bye.

As far back as the 1950's, Big Gov was working on an emergency action plan for that "extra special just in case scenario" that would likely change the face of everything. Of course, back then, that scenario was pretty much centered around the fear of an all out nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. (no one was putting much thought into the concept of meteor strikes, solar storm EMPs or Deepwater Horizon oil spills)

So, Big Gov rolled up it's sleeves and took on the arduous task of spending big bucks on big bunkers built deep underground. And they paid extra big bucks so those bunkers would have a minor spartan accessory or two... like independent electrical power plants, air filtration systems, water filtration systems, furnished dorms, staffed emergency medical services, kitchens, dining halls and food supplies to feed the masses!!! That is, of course, referring to the masses that make up the executive and legislative branches of Big Gov.

For an online bunker tour and an interesting story click here.

Big Gov had a slightly different plan for us peon (read: pee-on) masses, though. If given the signal, we were instructed to "head for the nearest fallout shelter", usually found in the basements of schools or other public buildings. And Big Gov spared no expense to insure our safety and comfort... NO independent power plants, NO air or water filtration systems, NO furnished anything, NO protective clothing, NO blast proof doors, NO... (perhaps it would be easier to list what you would find in these "shelters" and that would be damned little) Spartan would have been a two star upgrade.

Imagine, if you will, that sweet scent of dank, mold encrusted basements found in any third world country on planet Earth. (France immediately comes to mind) Add to that the sudden crush of an undetermined, unregulated number of human beings and the inevitable not so sweet scents they will emit and / or become encrusted with during those fun filled days "in shelter". Now, add to that, the aroma coming from the "sanitation system". (a paper board drum with a clip on toilet seat, lined with a plastic sheet and most often separated from public viewing by little more than a couple of blankets suspended from the ceiling)

Shelters administered by state Civil Defense offices did in fact stock public shelters with these highly innovative schmooze receptacles in a drum, along with water in a drum and food in a drum. The number of drums allocated to each shelter was determined by the number of "shelterees" these basement "radiological safe zones" could "reasonably" accommodate. (an estimated figure decided by a low level bureaucrat and which, in reality, could not factor in any of several possible causes for shelter overcrowding)

Breakfast from the drum consisted of crackers or wafers and hard candy as a carbohydrate supplement. (yumm!!!) Lunch... see breakfast. Supper... well, you guessed it. At this point, it would not require a doctorate in human plumbing to understand the most likely consistency and odor quality from the stuff soon to be filling those "crappers in a can". After a few days in shelter, I could easily suspect shelterees would throw all caution to the wind and gladly embrace the radioactive glow found outside of shelter.

And back then, they were thinking a post nuke shelter stay in terms of days... not weeks, not months or even years. DAYS!!! (nuke stuff had a much shorter half-life in those days?)

If you think for one nanosecond I'm spreading it on a tad toward the thick side, click here for a Civil Defense Museum story and photo gallery. Click back and forth between this link and the one above for a serious blood shooting from your eyes experience.

And when members of Big Gov felt compelled to explain the logic behind their survival needs over the survival needs of the people: "In the aftermath, the people (read: mutants and zombies still alive, if any) will need their government, in tact, to lead them through the period of national recovery." (sure... that make perfect sense to me)

For all of those folks who believe the government is here to help you, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is, you won't have to worry about a stay in a Civil Defense "suite" anytime soon. The Civil Defense program was phased out a few years back, along with all those shelters.

And now, the bad news, folks. Think Superdome, 2005, and the lavish service all those Hurricane Katrina refugees received (read: were subjected to) at the hands of local, state, federal governments AND their neighbors since none of the government entities were providing any real security measures. AGAIN, there are no dedicated, well stocked public shelters in America. (not that there ever were, for us anyway)

And so I ask you. With some very real potential for any number of far reaching catastrophic events looming on the horizon, who do you trust to help you survive? In my shelter, it's God and me. And I'm kind of insisting, God will have to bring his own MRE's.

MikeH.

BPA In Food / Drink Cans

2010-06-10T01:34:00.004-04:00

In 2008, health organizations in the U.S. and Canada were calling for bans in the use of the chemical BPA in the making of plastics that went into baby bottles, soft drink and water bottles after it was learned the BPA was leaching out of the plastic and into the bottle contents.

BPA, or Bisphenol A, is an industrial chemical and a carcinogen known to cause cancer in lab rats and, is a suspected cause in the onset of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Most recently, it was discovered BPA is used in the production of a polycarbonate plastic resin that, in turn, is used as a lining material inside "most of the cans" used by the canned foods and drinks industry.

The resin reportedly helps preserve foods longer and prevents the canned products from taking on a metallic taste imparted from the cans. However, it has been learned, over time the resin breaks down and releases the BPA directly into the food or drink product.

Folks, they know but they just don't care. Money is more important than human life.

For the full story read this.

MikeH.

An Urgent Alert From GOA

2010-06-09T15:16:00.002-04:00

"Gun Owners Of America" has issued an urgent alert on a bill introduced in Congress, pushed by Obama, that will SILENCE gun groups and other political opponents. read

From paragraph 4 of the alert: "They only apply to groups which are not reliable Obama allies, like Gun Owners Of America."

Just to be clear, this would also include the NRA and the JPFO as well.

Let me try to understand this... a law that would give the government warrant-less powers to seize (otherwise private information) membership lists that include the name, address, city and state of people who subscribe to views the regime feels threatening to it's own views. Does that about sum it up?

MikeH.

The U.S. Debt Clock

2010-06-09T14:50:00.002-04:00

Just in case you were wondering about the current price tag.

MikeH.

Pretty Much Has It Down Cold

2010-06-09T10:08:00.002-04:00

Kudos to Gunrights4usall for this one.

MikeH.

Coincidental?

2010-06-08T13:44:00.006-04:00

During an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" broadcast, this morning, "His Zeroness" added his voice to calls for BP CEO Tony Hayward's resignation amid claims from a former EPA lawyer that BP is a recurring environmental criminal.

The BP executive last month complained about the amount of time he is spending dealing with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, saying "I would like my life back." Hayward has also been quoted as saying "The Gulf [of Mexico] was a very big ocean, the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."

"He wouldn't be working for me after any of those statements," the "Big O" told Today. (should we take this to mean Hayward isn't a masterful enough bull schmooze artist to work in the Zero regime?)

In other news; the British news outlet, The Telegraph, has reported Hayward sold off 1.4 million U.K. pounds worth of his shares in BP one month before the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The Telegraph went on to report there is no suggestion Hayward acted improperly or had prior knowledge that the company was about to face the biggest setback in it's history. His decision, however, means he avoided losing more than 423,000 U.K. pounds when BP's share price plunged after the disaster began six weeks ago.

The Telegraph went on to report the amount of shares Hayward sold off amounted to about one third (223,288 shares) of his holdings and, he used the proceeds to pay off the mortgage on his mansion in Kent, which is estimated to be valued at 1.2 million pounds. Hayward's pay package is reported to be 4 million pounds per year. ($5.8 million USD)

....................

So let me get this straight; the "Prodigal Kenyan" is more upset with Hayward's words rather than his (coincidental) pre-disaster actions? One would think (at least I am) the administration would be all over this like flies on the proverbial stinky stuff. For this is the stuff that conspiracy theory dreams are made from. In the words of Rahm Emanuel, "never let a crisis go to waste."

And speaking of crisis, as a result of this incident, the "Anointed One" has ordered all offshore oil drilling / exploration halted off the U.S. coast. I could be wrong but, I think this will equate to a lot of folks forced out of jobs in the oil industry and it's various support industries... world wide. (the trickle down paradigm)

But then, since the explosion, BP's share price has fallen by 30%, which has wiped out about 40 billion pounds of BP's total value. The fall has caused pain not just for BP shareholders, but also for millions of BP's pension funds. Certainly, that will have some ripple effect over the world's economy as well.

Jeez, I almost forgot!!! There are millions of gallons of oil and tar balls bobbing around the Gulf Of Mexico, and slowly making their way up the southern half of the Eastern seaboard, causing job and eco-damage in it path. I'm no "green" weenie but I can pull a couple of green leaning braincells together to come up with this prediction; There is going to be an epoch loss of sea life and the foods it supplies us.

Is it all just coincidental, or is it all TOO coincidental? Are we at the very ledge of the Biblical "End Of Days" or a man-planned totalitarian takeover? I don't have the answer to those speculations. However, I am sure we all need to be packing our shelves with bandages, beans, bullets and bullion for the extreme long haul.

MikeH.

Restore The Constitution Rally

2010-06-07T23:52:00.002-04:00

A Restore The Constitution Rally will be held on 14 Aug. 10 in Greensboro, NC.

I'll be there... how about you?

For more information.

MikeH.

And The Richard Crainium Award Goes To...

2010-06-07T12:44:00.009-04:00

Helen "The Icon" Thomas

From: NY Daily News

Monday 07 June 10

Iconic White House reporter Helen Thomas (a hard core leftest and dedicated socialist camp follower) was dropped by her speaking agency and booted as a high school commencement speaker, Sunday, following inflammatory remarks she made about Jews and Israel.

Although Thomas apologized, Nine Speakers Inc. dumped the octogenarian journalist over her videotaped declaration that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go back to Germany and Poland".

*Italicized comment mine

....................

So, I have to consider Helen's intended meaning when she specifically named Germany and Poland as the "go back to" locations for the Jews. According to recorded history; during World War II, Germany and Poland were home to some of the most ruthless Nazi death camps, wherein millions of Jews were subjected to the Third Reich's version of ethnic cleansing. A fact I'm sure is not lost on Helen. (Especially given that I have reason to suspect Helen may have been the illegitimate spawn donor of Dr. Josef Mengele, from back in her days as a fascist camp follower)

Although I could be ignorantly misguided, I can not recall "The Gargoyle" (er, ah) "Icon" having been quite so openly anti Semitic in years gone by. Not even during the Clinton regime. Whether she is now suffering the degradation of geriatric dementia or, she is taking liberal doses of socialized testosterone, by way of Obamacare, it's really obvious the old girl is no longer a useful and productive member of the journalistic community... or civilization.

It appears Helen has failed to remember that, in a world where America has damn few true allies, remarks like that from her and El Numero Zero, et al, are contrary to the Carnegie theory of how to make friends and influence people.

Helen, you've come a long way, Baby. Now turn around and crawl back into the depths of hell from which you mutated.

MikeH.

Darker Days Ahead

2010-06-07T11:34:00.003-04:00

This is, without doubt, a chilling wake-up to the bull schmooze the "El Numero Zero" administration would have us believe. Friends, I'm tellin ya, there are darker days ahead.

Animated National Unemployment Map

MikeH.

The Inaugural

2010-06-07T09:53:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the kick off posting of Behind The Parapet.

I think my profile is a pretty fair indicator as to the course this blog will set. Make no mistake: if you are a leftest, Marxist, Leninist, socialist, collectivist, communist, progressive, liberal, atheist, anti Semite or radical Muslim... have a Coke and a smile, and shut the fuck up. You are not welcome here.

If, on the other hand, you believe the country / the world is in a serious world of schmooze, or that there is a nasty-bad awful storm looming on our horizon and you're looking for preparation suggestions to share or, if you are simply interested in comments and commentary that does not follow in the ideology of the lame stream media... I hope you can find some comfort here.

MikeH.

Behind The Parapet

Another "In The News"

Forget Those Sunday Drives

It All Makes Perfect Sense

Osama bin Laden Killed

Let The Joke Continue

In The News

Gas Price Task Force

Time To Make A Plan

Lions And Tigers And A Goverment Shut-down. . . Oh My! ! !

And The Beat Goes On

Top Stories Of The Bottom Feeders

Chest Waders Or Body Condoms

Below The Radar?

"We Can Be Better"

Sticks And Stones

Let The Games Continue

Assumption Is The Mother Of All F**kups

2010 . . . The Year In Review

Many Times. . . Many Ways

Devil's Advocate

What Are We Waiting For

Barney Frank Resigns Congress. . .

2011 TSA Pin-Up Calender

Way Too High. . . And Rising

What Are The Chances

Catching Up

Grandpa Mike

The Rock And The Hard Place

Now Isn't That Interesting

Perimeter Security

Intrusion Detection Alarms

Structural Security . . . Part Two

Structural Security

Lessons Learned . . . The Hard Way

Resolution To NYC Mosque Debate

Information And Power

One Must Have Priorities

Forget The Chest Waders

No Need For God

Dear Barry

Firefight Mechanics

Top Stories Of The Day

What Better Place

Crossbows . . . The Pros and Cons In Survival Situations

Circling The Wagons

Cops And Cameras

Wife And Kids Are Outta Town . . .

Global Warming!!!

We Are SO Screwed

Militarization Of Local Cops

Feces Occurs

No Filters In Their Gene Pool

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part IV

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part III

The Warrior Spirit . . . Part II

The Warrior Spirit

Night Vision Scopes

What's In Your Med Kit

Bottom Stories Of The Day

Chipping Away At Freedom

Games People Play

Intended Or Unintended Consiquences

When Will It End

Silver Sale

Veterans Exposed To HIV

Fill In The Blank

Knowing The Rules

GaGa, Zero And Facebook Fan Record

No Commentary Required

More History Lessens

NOTICE OF IMPORTANCE:

Can You Say "Outed"

Consumer Group Vs. Happy Meal Toys

State Of Emergency

Is This A Sick Joke!!!

History Lessens

What's The Answer

Who Do You Trust

BPA In Food / Drink Cans