Hello Everyone, Frank here.
A little shy of a year ago, Fern wrote an interesting piece called Trouble Is Brewing. And it is. The pot just keeps on boiling, things continue to get worse everyday. Our government is unquestionably out of control. Most of us just sit around and watch it happen like we don't have a care in the world. We all need to pay attention, because the better informed we are, the better the outcome will be. If you wouldn't mind, take the time to re-read this article that Fern posted. Then if you have comments, please share them. I hope you enjoy this article. It's mind provoking and stimulates thought.
We'll talk more later, Frank
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Folks, we're all in a lot of trouble. Things
are changing so quickly in our country that it's literally impossible
to keep up with everything. But there are a few things that are becoming
very, very obvious. So much so, that it appears there is a planned or
intentional means of upsetting the populace and putting everyone on
edge, or worse yet, forcing us into a corner.
We
Americans speak much of our rights. What are rights, really? Do we have
a right to liberty? We believe we do, based upon the founding of our
country. But that seems to be one of the things that is changing very
quickly. Remember, you can now only have free speech if you can find one
of those 'free speech zones'. If there is not one near you, you may have to travel a ways
before you can express yourself, or you may have to apply for a permit
to set one up closer to your location. That will decrease the need to
burn more evil fossil fuels and decrease your portion of the carbon
footprint, which is increasing global warming. Okay, so some of that was
a little sarcastic, but you get the drift.
Back to our rights. According to the foundations upon which our great country was founded, The Declaration of Independence states "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." You notice the title of that document includes the word INDEPENDENCE not DEPENDENCE.
This is one of the things that appears to be fading quickly into a
distant memory. There are people that couldn't care less. There are
those that embrace a full-fledged take over by a tyrannical government.
There are those that only want their checks to keep coming so they can
continue to talk on their free cell phone, eat chemicalized food and
stare endlessly at their giant screen television and video games. Some
people don't care that others rights are being stolen like a thief in
the night. They can't even pull themselves away from staring in a
zombie-like trance long enough to notice. There are even places that
have made texting and walking illegal
because it is such a problem. Rights come from God. I don't remember
reading anything in the Bible that says people have the right to a cell
phone. People have the right to the pursuit of happiness. Pursuit
is an action, it requires work on the part of the person that is doing
the pursuing. They do not have the right to take away my happiness to
support their happiness. We have lost the true meaning of what rights
are meant to be.
Another
unfortunate side effect of staring at these screens all day is buying
into the mantra that anyone who disagrees with some of these government
tactics is a domestic terrorist or mentally unsound in some way. We have
actually heard a high school counselor say that everyone that has ever
been in the military has mental problems. Every single one of them. And
this person is a counselor for high school students. Unbelievable, but
true.
It appears
there will come a day when these two sides will have to choose. For the
mindless millions now demanding their free cell phones and giant screen
televisions, it will be an easy choice. They will do whatever it takes
to never work a day in their lives for all of this 'free' stuff. They
will do whatever it takes to continue enslaving the 'workers' so that
they can NEVER WORK A DAY IN THEIR LIVES. So even if the SHTF, they
won't know how to work anyway. Besides that, the working class folks OWE
them the money anyway. It's one of their rights.....right? We've all
heard of the experiments of how you can get good, decent people to do
utter atrocities by threatening them or their families with harm. It
will be no different this time.
It's
amazing how it has now become okay for most, and unfortunately I now
include most, politicians to lie, cheat and steal from the American
people. If they have a microphone in front of their faces, they're
lying. If they make a promise to The People, they will break it.
It doesn't mean anymore than the hot air escaping from their lungs. Most
of the political arena appears to be so deep into the pockets of major
corporations or power hungry elitists, that it doesn't matter one single
iota what The People need, want or demand. Not one bit. The People
have become an expendable commodity, useful only to the extent that it
pleases the Masters. If birds, fish and bugs can bring thriving
industries to a screeching halt, regardless of the devastating impact
upon the lives and welfare of The People, then what will they stoop to next?
I really think it is a matter of control. Gramsci
had it right. If you try to force control upon a population in a
conflict, they will revolt. But if you gradually take control of a
little bit here and a little bit there, they will acquiesce.
Like the frog in the pot, slowly waiting for things to cool off while
it cooks to it's death. That's where we are. In the midst of cooking to
death. The rights and liberties of We The People are being carved away one brush stroke of the pen at a time. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1839) was right, 'The pen is mightier than the sword'. And it's writing us into a corner of slavery with a life devoid of freedom.
The
recent treatment of the men and women of our armed forces is enough to
bring us to tears. Then after that initial reaction, it angers and
frustrates us to no end. Our once proud military is facing more downsizing; denied the opportunity to back up fellow Americans under fire; have been exposed for duties performed under orders when that exposure brought danger to their lives; mandated sensitivity training
instead of spending their time training for battle and the protection
of our country and assets abroad; and most unbelievably, the men and
women that have signed an oath to protect us are now considered possible
terrorists because of the training they have received. For the life of
me I cannot comprehend the motivation behind gutting and demoralizing
our military.
How many executive
orders have been signed and implemented in the past, let's say, year and
a half, since January 1, 2013? According to The White House, thirty (30). And since January 1, 2012? Sixty-nine (69). Now some of these may actually be in the
best
interest of all of the country, but many of them are not. This
president is not the only one that has employed executive privilege to
further his agenda, many in the past have done so as well. It is just
during this presidency the use of such privilege has increased
dramatically, circumventing the democratic process of approval by the
congress. This has been just one cog in the wheel that has increased the
divisiveness in our country, and thus the willingness of people to get
along all across the country. We have not been so divided in many years.
The sense of working together for the common good no longer appears to
be within the grasp of the common man. This sense of antagonism toward
those that disagree with your agenda has increased the level of stress
and discontent across all cultures, economic backgrounds and locations,
and it grows more and more everyday.
Where is all of this leading to? I don't know. But I do
know that it doesn't look good. The tentacles of control have slowly but
surely wormed their way into the lives and minds of us all. It's now
okay to be groped if you want to travel by air or go to a major sporting
event, just to name two
venues in which TSA plies their wares.
The national department of education continues to mandate the type of
permissive education that teaches our children that anything is okay.
Things that I will not specify here, are being taught to the youth of
today that people would have been put in jail for when I was a kid. If
you try to disagree or state a differing opinion you are labeled some
kind of 'phobe' and a hate monger. We read a news story a few days ago
about a 42 year old female teacher
that gave a student a 4 minute lap dance for a birthday present, in the
classroom, with other students video taping. It is beyond me how any
adult, especially one in a supervisory capacity, would think this was an
appropriate activity. Totally beyond me.
So,
what do we do? How do we manage? Frank and I have talked many times
about the things transpiring in our country, and what we keep coming
back to is this. We need to be informed about what is happening, and
with this knowledge we hope to make wise, informed decisions. Most
events in this life we have no control over at all. They may bother us,
or give us the courage and determination to live the best life we
possibly can. But most
importantly,
we can control how we react and deal with these events. We can evaluate
information as it comes in, analyze the data, and determine the best
choice of action for us, for our lives. That is what we are going to do.
The best we can. It is all we can do. If we allow ourselves to get
totally bent out of shape, we are no good for ourselves, each other, or
anyone else. Some days this is a difficult feat to master, but our
efforts continue to be focused in this direction. There is a scripture
that says something like, after all we can do, God will help us with the
rest. That is our prayer. Do all you can to maintain your honor,
dignity and freedom. And remember, God is with you.
Until next time - Fern
How do we find contentment and peace in these unsettling times? Can you be content with what you know and have and can do? Can you have peace of mind knowing that something disastrous is not far around the corner? I do. Not all of the time, and sometimes at varying degrees, but I do. I will try to explain how.
First, I have a deep, abiding faith in God. He has led us to this place and inspired us to learn much. That is my foundation upon which all else is built.
Second, I have had many experiences along the way that have led to a confidence in my ability to do and learn. Frank and I have always been 'learners'. A partial, but not all inclusive list of our experiences include:
Frank is a proud veteran of two branches of our Armed Forces.
Small scale, personal farming - The opportunities to learn are limitless and for us have included things like gardening; food preservation; pasture rotation; growing forage for specific animals like sheep or goats; teaching ourselves to sheer, process and spin wool; milking goats and making edible
(usually) products from the milk; attempting to grow fruit (not a lot of success there yet); incubating and hatching chicks, which grow into a replacement flock, as well as meat that is in the freezer or in a jar or digested the same day; training a livestock guardian dog; making sure there are enough cats on hand to control the mice population; sewing clothes, knitting, and quilting; and on and on.
Volunteer Reserve Law Enforcement - The reserve police academy taught us a great deal about ourselves and our surroundings. Then when we volunteered to serve and protect our community, it gave us a different mind set.
Teaching school for many years - When you teach, you learn everyday.
Volunteer Rescue Squad - The EMT class was very intensive and very enlightening, not to mention putting it into practice when we were on call. Our motivation for pursuing this was for our own personal knowledge as well as serving the community. Our very first call was a small plane crash with nine souls on board. Frank's last ambulance call was one of his students that did not survive. We learned a great deal.
Volunteer Fire Department - Frank had some great training during this time.
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| Nunam Iqua, Alaska |
Bush Alaska - Remote living in harsh conditions, sometimes without
running water (for nine months), taught us a great deal about our own
internal tenacity, as well as many survival skills.
Radio communications - Frank has had a basic knowledge of radios for many years, but the ham radio portion of our experience only started a year ago. His learning curve in the last year has been tremendous and extremely valuable. It will be most beneficial in the days to come.
Third, most of these experiences occurred while we both worked a full-time job. Our volunteer experiences were pursued in conjunction with the farm, garden and working. This required organizing time and effort to get everything completed. It also tested our commitment to the things we were pursuing at the time.
These are just a few things in our lives that have helped shape who we are. Sometimes these opportunities seem to kind of fall in our laps, and others we intentionally pursued just for the chance to learn the knowledge and skills involved - like becoming EMTs. There are always things to be learned. Some of them may be used now, or may not be used until later, when you least expect.
Finally, back to peace and contentment. Am I totally satisfied with my current knowledge and skills? No. I blog about what I am learning regularly. There is not enough time in a day, week or year for me to learn all I would like to know. But.....What I have been able to learn has made all the difference in the world for me. Am I ready for a collapse or life changing disaster? No. Can anyone be? I don't think so. I only know that I have done what I could, learned what I could, and continue to do so every single day. And as long as I have done that, I believe that God will see to the rest. In that I have peace and contentment. I pray that you do as well.
Until next time - Fern
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