http://sweetgrassroots.org/non-partisan/
The article says it all.
Monday, October 31, 2011
NEW OBAMA REGULATIONS INCLUDE LYING
 | Gun Owners of America |
| New Obama Regs Direct Agencies to Lie to the Public -- And more Representatives join call for Holder’s resignation The Obama Administration has issued a regulation under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) directing government agencies to lie to the public. We in the gun community have faced an analogous situation when Attorney General Eric Holder and other high Justice Department officials lied about their knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious -- and the department’s role in placing guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. But even this falls short of a written regulation requiring bureaucrats to lie. Click here to see what you can do to help stop this regulation from going into effect. MORE CONGRESSMEN JOIN CALL FOR HOLDER’S RESIGNATION Thank you so much for communicating with your Representatives last week in regard to Attorney General Eric Holder. The day after we asked you to contact your Congressman, the number of Representatives calling for Holder’s resignation officially doubled. And since then, the number of Congressmen calling for Holder’s ousting has more than doubled again -- the total number now reaching 17. They are listening to you on Capitol Hill! |
OBAMA TRUSTS SUPREME COURT TO OKAY OBAMACARE
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/41890
I love that slogan - we creeksiders should adopt it:
IF OBAMA FAILS, AMERICA SURVIVES!
I love that slogan - we creeksiders should adopt it:
IF OBAMA FAILS, AMERICA SURVIVES!
COLLECTION OF VIDEOS ON AGENDA 21 AND WHY WE SHOULD BE PREPARED TO FIGHT IT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esJY2SK_4tE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8YCLzlpDlw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rXr5FpPhSE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ee6S9_H1Vk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEzbQotyu9k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqTcXu3swSE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUSRC-TOjlc&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8YCLzlpDlw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rXr5FpPhSE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ee6S9_H1Vk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEzbQotyu9k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqTcXu3swSE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUSRC-TOjlc&feature=fvwrel
LEAVING IRAQ? RON PAUL'S OPINION
Leaving Iraq?
“It is not too often I am pleased by the foreign policy announcements from this administration, but last week's announcement that the war in Iraq was in its final stage and all the troops may be home for Christmas did sound promising. I have long said that we should simply declare victory and come home. It should not have taken us nearly a decade to do so, and it was supposed to be a priority for the new administration. Instead, it will be one of the last things done before the critical re-election campaign gets into full swing. Better late than never, but, examining the fine print, is there really much here to get excited about? Are all of our men and women really coming home, and is Iraq now to regain its sovereignty? And in this time of economic crisis, are we going to stop hemorrhaging money in Iraq? Sadly, it doesn't look that way…”
Click here to read the full article: http://bit.ly/sZCj3G
“It is not too often I am pleased by the foreign policy announcements from this administration, but last week's announcement that the war in Iraq was in its final stage and all the troops may be home for Christmas did sound promising. I have long said that we should simply declare victory and come home. It should not have taken us nearly a decade to do so, and it was supposed to be a priority for the new administration. Instead, it will be one of the last things done before the critical re-election campaign gets into full swing. Better late than never, but, examining the fine print, is there really much here to get excited about? Are all of our men and women really coming home, and is Iraq now to regain its sovereignty? And in this time of economic crisis, are we going to stop hemorrhaging money in Iraq? Sadly, it doesn't look that way…”
Click here to read the full article: http://bit.ly/sZCj3G
BROKE GREEN CO. GREASES DIRECTOR 6 FIGURES FOR OBAMA LOANS
Broke Green Co. Greases Director Six Figures for Obama Loans
A financially-troubled Canadian alternative energy company with ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid paid a director the lion's share of $758,828 (CAD) in reported consulting fees, according to an analysis of the filings made by the company. The fee was a part of a consulting agreement in order to successfully arrange a loan guarantee by the Department of Energy.
The loan, made by insurance powerhouse John Hancock, could put taxpayers at risk for 80 percent of both interest and principal due to the insurance company under the terms of the agreement amidst signs that the energy company may be bankrupt by the end of the year.
In the June filings for Canadian-based Nevada Geothermal, which according to the New York Times employs only 22 people in Nevada, the company’s auditors issued “going-concern” warnings that without additional investment or revenues, the company could cease operations.
At stake is about $135 million in financing by the federal government including loan guarantees and grants, says the Times.
The note from auditors Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Canadian office notes that “the Company has incurred net losses over the past several years, has an accumulated deficit of $44.0 million and an anticipated inability to retire its long-term liabilities. These conditions, along with other matters as set forth in Note 1, indicate the existence of material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Note 1 states that the company is “not able to service its loan with EIG Global Energy Partners (“EIG”) for the full loan term,” and that company did not have sufficient “power production” to meet the terms of the loan. The EIG loan is in addition to the government guaranteed loan made by John Hancock.
No wonder they gave the director a big, fat bonus. They were able to get a loan guarantee from Obama even though they couldn’t service their existing loan.
It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase: “Occupy Wall Street.”
The fee was detailed in the Consolidated Financial Statements for the 4th Quarter ending June 30th, 2011.
What do you call a loan that’s sub-sub-sub-prime? Guaranteed by Obama, that’s what.
At these negative rates of return, no wonder he wants to tax the rich.
The company’s stock is trading around $0.13 from a 52-week high of $0.89. The downward price on very low volume means that there is a good bet that negotiations with EIG are not going successfully. To be clear, this is an investment that, because it’s a penny stock with low volume, wouldn’t be suitable for even the most speculative of public investors.
So why would the Obama administration, with an assist by Harry Reid, make a loan of this type? Why would they have made any of these loans that look like such bad bets?
I’m guessing that the real beneficiaries of these loan guarantees will be the investors behind the investors.
Nevada Geothermal has a partnership with a company called Ormat Technologies. The head of Ormat Technologies is former Harry Reid energy and public lands staffer Paul Thomsen. Thomsen is the ultimate “clean energy” insider.
According to the Clean Power Campaign Thomsen is “the President to the Board of Directors of the Geothermal Energy Association; serves as past-chairman of the United States Clean Heat and Power Association; is an industry expert on the DOE Geothermal Technologies Program Blue Ribbon Panel; and, sits on Senator Harry Reid’s Blue Ribbon Council on Renewable Energy.”
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy Sector Fund Stock Chart by YCharts
“Just last month, again with Mr. Reid’s support,” writes the Times, “Ormat secured its own Energy Department loan guarantee, worth $350 million, to help support three other Nevada geothermal projects.”
I expect that as Nevada Geothermal unwinds, Ormat will be there to pick up the pieces for pennies on the dollar.
Only Democrats could make “clean power” so damn dirty.
Last week I wrote that I thought GE and Obama pal, GE head honcho Jeffery Immelt, would be there to buy up all the bad investments by the federal government in the solar business, as indicated by their aggressive move into the industry over the last several months.
First Solar received $2 billion worth of loan guarantees on projects in California in the waning days of the controversial Department of Energy’s loan program. The company then sold the projects to other, better-connected companies within hours of getting the guarantees.And when I say better connected, I’m not talking transmission lines.Which other companies you ask?GE and NextEra Energy.
You might remember them because the executives from GE and NextEra sit on Obama’s jobs council.
This isn’t the first time that people with ties to Reid- and Reid himself- have been accused of dealing improperly in companies tied to the federal government.
A year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that Reid energy-staffer Chris Miller doubled his money on a stock investment in a company that benefited by Reid’s support of legislation aimed at helping the company, apparently a common enough problem in Congress.
From the Wall Street Journal: 
Mr. Miller isn't the only Congressional staffer making such stock bets. At least 72 aides on both sides of the aisle traded shares of companies that their bosses help oversee, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of more than 3,000 disclosure forms covering trading activity by Capitol Hill staffers for 2008 and 2009.
Insider trading laws are only applicable to you, me and Martha Stewart.
As I noted in an earlier column, in 2008 one month before oil prices took an historic plunge, Senator Harry Reid (D-Healthcare) sold between $15,000 and $50,000 of energy holdings he owned in the Dow Jones Energy Index. In return, he purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of healthcare holdings in the Dow Jones Health Care Index at a time when he was contemplating rewriting healthcare laws. Try convincing members of the public- or anyone outside the DSCC- that the sale and purchase of these indices were just coincidental.
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy Sector Fund Stock Chart by YCharts
If you’re a liberal, go tell this story to the Occupy Wall Street crowd but use Republican names and say the companies are in the oil patch. Let’s see what they have to say about then.
I’ll wait for you to report back to me.
A big thank you to Ed for this. He is outraged!
The Picture That Everyone Needs To See
- OCCUPY WALL STREET - THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO THE TEA PARTY!
- Posted by AWD 6:24 PM
- Monday, October 24, 2011
- LOOK REAL HARD, AMERICA !
- Yeah, that's a scumbag Wall Street protester SHITTING on the AMERICAN FLAG
- Most Americans are not politically aware.
- While they can name all 5 finalists on American Idol, they cannot name their Congressman.
- I's nice they have priorities. And it explains how we have the morons we have governing us in Washington presently. The Tea Party movement came out of nowhere to stand up and speak out against out-of-control government spending. While the Tea Party has been vilified by liberals and the Democrat party, it has continued to grow in strength.
- Leftists have used everything from Alinsky tactics to lying to name calling to the total use of the mainstream media to destroy the Tea Party. But they underestimated the patriotism of the producers in America who support the Constitution and believe in capitalism.
- Many of the American Idol experts have sat idly by listening to Chris Matthews and Katie Couric disparage the Tea Party movement. They had nothing to compare the movement to. All of that changed when the Occupy Wall Street circus came to New York and spread quickly across the country.
- Like an infection, small bands of idiots with stupid signs printed by unions spouting lunacy have littered and shit across the formerly pristine parks they now infest in dozens of American cities.
- What a stark difference from the Tea Party movement.
- Patriots holding American flags have orderly events with poignant messages about liberty and freedom and then leave in an orderly fashion.
- Contrast that with the Occupy Wall Street miscreants!
- Arrests, rapes, flag burnings, pro-communist chanting, garbage, incessant drumming, filth, profanity and lots and lots of losers who still don't really know why they're there!
- Americans now clearly have a choice of what political ideology they want to support. On the one side, they can support hard working, law-abiding, patriots who pay this nation's bills or they can support the moochers who don't bathe while calling for killing the rich…whoevver they are…and socialism!
- What does this say that the Democrat Party supports this group of leftist wasteoids while lying about tax paying, productive Americans in the Tea Party? It says the Democrat party must go away until it can return to the political scene as a serious, pro-American party instead of a party more aligned with America's enemies!
- Thank you George Soros and labor unions! You have exposed the idiocy of socialism once again and the stupidity of the people who call for it. Stalin used to call these people useful idiots. Angry White Dude calls them useless idiots and the best thing that ever happened to the Tea Party movement and America! Look hard, America, at what your liberal schools and government has created! And bring a bar of soap and a hose!
CHUCK BALDWIN ON TENNESSEE TSA/DHS CHECKPOINTS
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=4086
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "TSA has yet to catch a single terrorist. We don’t need obscene screening methods at airports, and we certainly don’t need them on our highways or bus stops." - Washington Times editorial
The TSA's "VIPR" program is a growing bureaucratic monster that will bring groping and body scans to train stations, highways, sporting events and concerts, as well as shopping malls near you.
This is just the latest instance of the Federal State's poisoning of American rights and freedoms.
The hardwired message begins:
Please abolish the TSA, and permit airlines to provide their own security plans.
I added these additional comments. You may borrow or copy them...
Obviously, I also strongly object to the TSA's growing VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) program that conducts searches in places like weigh stations and bus terminals.
As illustrated in Tennessee this week, VIPR deploys TSA agents and works with local law enforcement to stop and search people who are doing NOTHING suspicious. (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/like-tsa-youll-love-vipr/247221/)
This so-called "Transportation Security Administration" has even...
* been present at the Super Bowl (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2009-01-29-supersecurity_N.htm)
* and had been asked to conduct searches of students going to the prom (http://www.koat.com/r/27984342/detail.html)What has either event to do with "transportation?"
Moreover, as John Whitehead reported in July (http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=718)...
* In a training exercise in Atlanta, VIPR teams allegedly arrested a man after discovering a small amount of marijuana in his semi-trailer
* In San Diego, a VIPR investigation at a trolley station resulted in the deportation of three teenagers apprehended on their way to schoolThis tells me the TSA's purpose is NOT to protect us from terrorism, but to be deployed as a national police force to enforce federal laws.
And it is a force that has no respect for the Fourth Amendment. As Whitehead also notes, VIPR units engaged in thorough inspections of EVERY private and commercial vehicle entering and exiting the port the Brownsville, Texas port, even though there was no specific threat.
None of this has ANYTHING to do with protecting the American people from terrorism. Instead, the TSA and its VIPR program seem designed to break the will of the American people, so that...
* They become accustomed to seeing uniformed federal agents as a permanent presence in their daily lives
* And become habituated to surrendering their privacy and dignity to uniformed agents who search them without causeMeanwhile, the government employee unions grow with each new TSA hire, and contractors get richer by equipping them. This makes no sense, because...
* The terror "threat" is nearly non-existent, as shown by the small number of plots over the years
* The infinite number of potential targets means TSA is powerless to stop the next attack
* The TSA only has the power to harass and humiliate the innocent and waste taxpayer dollarsThe TSA is perhaps the most prominent symbol of the loss of liberty and privacy in America today. Please pass legislation to abolish it!
END LETTER
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
We'd like to thank Chuck Baldwin for his kind words about DownsizeDC.org a few weeks ago.
Mr. Baldwin also has a good column on VIPR and the erosion of liberty.
James Wilson
Policy Research Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
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CHRISTIAN CHURCHES READ QURAN FROM PULPITS ACROSS AMERICA
http://godfatherpolitics.com/1776/christian-churches-read-quran-from-pulpits-across-america/
It's a good thing I'm not a churchgoer. There would be some righteous fireworks from me if I heard this.
If this is happening in your church, I'd sure like you to leave a comment for others to leave theirs in response.
It's a good thing I'm not a churchgoer. There would be some righteous fireworks from me if I heard this.
If this is happening in your church, I'd sure like you to leave a comment for others to leave theirs in response.
NEWT GINGRICH - I GUSHED ABOUT THE SPEECH AND I APOLOGIZE...SEE BELOW. MY MEMORY IS SHORT - HE WAS A TERRIBLE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
http://logisticsmonster.com/2010/08/07/the-real-newt-gingrich-new-world-order-globalist/
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59919.html
http://reddogreport.com/2011/07/gingrich-flip-flops-on-climate-change/
http://gunowners.org/gingrich-mixed-record.htm
http://www.nationalgunrights.org/potus2012/
http://logisticsmonster.com/2010/08/07/the-real-newt-gingrich-new-world-order-globalist/
My apologies.
A few days ago I gushed about a speech Newt Gingrich ran in 5 parts from the Restoration Weekend bash, a conservative event.
Well, I am listening to Alex Jones this morning, and he suggested we do our own research, and I found out that he was right, like he always is.
Newt Gingrich is a globalist, a new world order guy, member of the CFR. He is NOT fit to be president because of his stance on gun control and our Second Amendment rights.
He also flip-flopped on climate change.
It was an inspiring, clear speech, but he can't be trusted. The tyranny that is being planned is very sophisticated, and we have to be suspicious of all the hype.
So I am apologizing. The choices are being narrowed for us with the Herman Cain "sex" incident, even though it was 20 years ago. There is only one choice.
I am a proud Ron Paul supporter. And he will get my vote. There's no one better.
m
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59919.html
http://reddogreport.com/2011/07/gingrich-flip-flops-on-climate-change/
http://gunowners.org/gingrich-mixed-record.htm
http://www.nationalgunrights.org/potus2012/
http://logisticsmonster.com/2010/08/07/the-real-newt-gingrich-new-world-order-globalist/
My apologies.
A few days ago I gushed about a speech Newt Gingrich ran in 5 parts from the Restoration Weekend bash, a conservative event.
Well, I am listening to Alex Jones this morning, and he suggested we do our own research, and I found out that he was right, like he always is.
Newt Gingrich is a globalist, a new world order guy, member of the CFR. He is NOT fit to be president because of his stance on gun control and our Second Amendment rights.
He also flip-flopped on climate change.
It was an inspiring, clear speech, but he can't be trusted. The tyranny that is being planned is very sophisticated, and we have to be suspicious of all the hype.
So I am apologizing. The choices are being narrowed for us with the Herman Cain "sex" incident, even though it was 20 years ago. There is only one choice.
I am a proud Ron Paul supporter. And he will get my vote. There's no one better.
m
CORDON MULTI-TARGET PHOTO RADAR SYSTEM LEAVES LEAVES NO CAR UNTAGGED
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/31/cordon-multi-target-photo-radar-system-leaves-no-car-untagged-v/
I WILL BET YOU THAT JANET NAPOLITANO IS ORDERING THESE RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE!
I WILL BET YOU THAT JANET NAPOLITANO IS ORDERING THESE RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
CLARICE RYAN OF MT, SENDS THIS - AN SOS FOR A LAND GRAB OF HUGE PROPORTIONS THAT INCLUDES THE BAKKEN OIL FIELD AND WILLISTON BASIN. WORRY ABOUT THIS.
Subject: ALARMING! State land Board Intends to LOCK UP SCHOOL TRUST LAND USE and more
Are MONTANA citizens saying bye, bye to our natural resources: oil, gas, minerals, timber, water, LAND ?????????
WAKE UP FOLKS, IT IS TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.
A LOT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED AND MORE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN ! !
It is an "off " year for our Legislature ! Holiday Season is upon us ! The time is right for the death blow !
Will we welcome in the UNHAPPY NEW YEAR - INSECURE & POVERTY STRICKEN ????? ACTION IS NEEDED URGENTLY! NOW !
The MT State Land Board composed of state elected officials including the Governor and the Attorney General have been working diligently in combination with the Nature Conservancy to lock up the use of our state's natural resources. It is all under goals and objectives of the environmental movement and its misguided supporters who have gradually been gaining control of policy making and operations of all levels of our government,: city, county, state and federal.
Through this here in Montana they have both been active in placing use restrictions on our land and property converting it to non-productive uses: Federal lands such asForest Service, BLM, wetlands, Glacier Park, Crown of the Continent, Blackfoot Challenge, Forest Legacy, wilderness areas, stream set-backs, the new Baucus Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, and on and on.
(Refer also to Kalispell Daily Interlake, Sept. 8. 2011, " Governor Mulls Land Swap with Feds " )
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has not only been acting as an unlicensed real estate agent FOR the federal government, but has also been enticing private property owners using our own tax dollars as a benefits enticement, to gain control and limit the use and value of all land in PERPETUITY (FOREVER) .
TNC uses an assortment of tactics in addition to conservation easements, including outright purchase of private property which they in turn dedicate to an assortment of land lock-ups under various appealing labels to supposedly protect the environment. ALL OF THIS ASSURES THE ELIMINATION OF ANY FORM OF MINING, DRILLING FOR OIL OR GAS, AND ACCESS TO RARE MINERALS as well as the TIMBER HARVEST ALREADY LOST !!
Growth policies and other protections will prevent people from even LIVING on "open space" and restricted lands like the future "buffalo commons".
For heavens sake, just what does the pet term really mean? "Preserving it for future generations" These people are committing our children, grandchildren and all future generations to poverty. They are stealing from us the wealth of our beautiful state of Montana which belongs to its citizens. We must protect it from environmentalists who are unconstitutionally grabbing our land, its resources, its use and enjoyment, and giving it to THEMSELVES POSING AS "PROTECTORS" !
READ OUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION as well as the U.S. CONSTITUTION which were established to protect citizens from exactly this sort of atrocity.
Clarice Ryan
PLEASE keep in mind my previous articles pointing out the expanse of BLM land in the north east corner of MT that is interspersed with DNRC School Trust Lands. Checkerboard lands will automatically become part of federal lands bordering them, whether by swap and trade, selling to govt. or declared ESA Habitat.
THIS IS THE AREA OF THE BAKKEN OIL FIELD AND WILLISTON BASIN. Will this also fall in the 100 mile buffer zone of the proposed SB1505 Homeland Security bill? cr
From: LeeF Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 10:22 AM
Subject: More road blocks coming to forest management State land Board
Take a minute to read more regulation coming and look who supports the current State land board, Defenders of Wildlife and others. Everyone of these top 5 on the Land board need to be replaced.
Montana’s wildlife need your help.
The State Land Board will vote early this Fall on a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP) that the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has
been developing for nearly eight years. This HCP covers five threatened and endangered
species including grizzly bears, Canada lynx, and bull trout. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires DNRC to develop an HCP in order to receive a permit to conduct management activities such as logging impact endangered species. Under the ESA, DNRC’s plan must minimize impacts to these species to the “maximum extent practicable.”
The HCP would guide DNRC’s land management activities
on 500,000 acres of forested State School trust lands for the
next 50 years. And, according to DNRC the plan would set a
precedent for future habitat conservation agreements on both
public and private land. The HCP’s large geographic scope
and long duration make it critical that it follow ESA guidelines
to protect species and their habitats. Unfortunately, DNRC’s
proposed HCP prioritizes timber harvesting over wildlife, and
will almost certainly diminish habitat for species over time.
The long process is almost complete, but it is not too late to
contact Land Board members. Ask them to require DNRC to
make changes:
Cap road densities miles of road per square mile of land.
Widen the streamside buffers beyond 50-foot no-cut
buffer by at least 100 feet, and eliminate the numerous
exemptions for logging, road building, and gravel mining.
Maintain or increase grizzly bear “core security” habitat.
The current plan replaces core security areas with much
weaker “quiet” areas where roads and other human
disturbances would be allowed.
Develop an adaptive management strategy to adequately
describe threats to species posed by climate change, and
identify how DNRC will adjust its management activities
based on potential impacts.
Require a thorough technical and scientific review of the HCP after 25 years to see if management strategies have been biologically effective.
Contact Land Board Members: www.leg.mt.gov
Governor Brian Schweitzer: governor@mt.gov
Attorney General Steve Bullock: contactdoj@mt.gov
State Auditor Monica Lindeen: stateauditor@mt.gov
Sup. of Public Instruction Denise Juneau: OPISupt@mt.gov
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch: sos@mt.gov
Montana Conservation Voters
endorsed and helped elect the
current Land Board, the state’s top
five elected officials. We track the
Board’s votes and decisions affecting
the air we breathe, our clean, cold
water, protection of public lands and
abundant wildlife. MCV works with
conservation groups who identify
common policy priorities, coordinating
our common work to develop and
advocate for strong policies to
protect Montana’s outdoor heritage.
In that spirit, MCV is advocating a
strong Habitat Conservation Plan
that protects our treasured wildlife
resources. Allies with whom we are
working on this campaign include
Defenders of Wildlife, the Earth
Justice Legal Defense Fund, Friends of
the Wild Swan, Montana Audubon,
Montana Environmental Information
Center, and the Natural Resources
Defense Council.
CALL TOLL-FREE 866-220-0044 OR 866-338-1015 TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS
All of in the USA need to understand that this will eventually creep into our states, but Montana's Bakken and Williston Basin is crucial to our energy resources, our fuel and gas, to our very survival. We cannot, as Americans, let that be taken from us. BY ANYONE!
Are MONTANA citizens saying bye, bye to our natural resources: oil, gas, minerals, timber, water, LAND ?????????
WAKE UP FOLKS, IT IS TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.
A LOT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED AND MORE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN ! !
It is an "off " year for our Legislature ! Holiday Season is upon us ! The time is right for the death blow !
Will we welcome in the UNHAPPY NEW YEAR - INSECURE & POVERTY STRICKEN ????? ACTION IS NEEDED URGENTLY! NOW !
The MT State Land Board composed of state elected officials including the Governor and the Attorney General have been working diligently in combination with the Nature Conservancy to lock up the use of our state's natural resources. It is all under goals and objectives of the environmental movement and its misguided supporters who have gradually been gaining control of policy making and operations of all levels of our government,: city, county, state and federal.
Through this here in Montana they have both been active in placing use restrictions on our land and property converting it to non-productive uses: Federal lands such asForest Service, BLM, wetlands, Glacier Park, Crown of the Continent, Blackfoot Challenge, Forest Legacy, wilderness areas, stream set-backs, the new Baucus Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, and on and on.
(Refer also to Kalispell Daily Interlake, Sept. 8. 2011, " Governor Mulls Land Swap with Feds " )
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has not only been acting as an unlicensed real estate agent FOR the federal government, but has also been enticing private property owners using our own tax dollars as a benefits enticement, to gain control and limit the use and value of all land in PERPETUITY (FOREVER) .
TNC uses an assortment of tactics in addition to conservation easements, including outright purchase of private property which they in turn dedicate to an assortment of land lock-ups under various appealing labels to supposedly protect the environment. ALL OF THIS ASSURES THE ELIMINATION OF ANY FORM OF MINING, DRILLING FOR OIL OR GAS, AND ACCESS TO RARE MINERALS as well as the TIMBER HARVEST ALREADY LOST !!
Growth policies and other protections will prevent people from even LIVING on "open space" and restricted lands like the future "buffalo commons".
For heavens sake, just what does the pet term really mean? "Preserving it for future generations" These people are committing our children, grandchildren and all future generations to poverty. They are stealing from us the wealth of our beautiful state of Montana which belongs to its citizens. We must protect it from environmentalists who are unconstitutionally grabbing our land, its resources, its use and enjoyment, and giving it to THEMSELVES POSING AS "PROTECTORS" !
READ OUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION as well as the U.S. CONSTITUTION which were established to protect citizens from exactly this sort of atrocity.
Clarice Ryan
PLEASE keep in mind my previous articles pointing out the expanse of BLM land in the north east corner of MT that is interspersed with DNRC School Trust Lands. Checkerboard lands will automatically become part of federal lands bordering them, whether by swap and trade, selling to govt. or declared ESA Habitat.
THIS IS THE AREA OF THE BAKKEN OIL FIELD AND WILLISTON BASIN. Will this also fall in the 100 mile buffer zone of the proposed SB1505 Homeland Security bill? cr
From: LeeF Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 10:22 AM
Subject: More road blocks coming to forest management State land Board
Take a minute to read more regulation coming and look who supports the current State land board, Defenders of Wildlife and others. Everyone of these top 5 on the Land board need to be replaced.
Montana’s wildlife need your help.
The State Land Board will vote early this Fall on a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP) that the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has
been developing for nearly eight years. This HCP covers five threatened and endangered
species including grizzly bears, Canada lynx, and bull trout. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires DNRC to develop an HCP in order to receive a permit to conduct management activities such as logging impact endangered species. Under the ESA, DNRC’s plan must minimize impacts to these species to the “maximum extent practicable.”
The HCP would guide DNRC’s land management activities
on 500,000 acres of forested State School trust lands for the
next 50 years. And, according to DNRC the plan would set a
precedent for future habitat conservation agreements on both
public and private land. The HCP’s large geographic scope
and long duration make it critical that it follow ESA guidelines
to protect species and their habitats. Unfortunately, DNRC’s
proposed HCP prioritizes timber harvesting over wildlife, and
will almost certainly diminish habitat for species over time.
The long process is almost complete, but it is not too late to
contact Land Board members. Ask them to require DNRC to
make changes:
Cap road densities miles of road per square mile of land.
Widen the streamside buffers beyond 50-foot no-cut
buffer by at least 100 feet, and eliminate the numerous
exemptions for logging, road building, and gravel mining.
Maintain or increase grizzly bear “core security” habitat.
The current plan replaces core security areas with much
weaker “quiet” areas where roads and other human
disturbances would be allowed.
Develop an adaptive management strategy to adequately
describe threats to species posed by climate change, and
identify how DNRC will adjust its management activities
based on potential impacts.
Require a thorough technical and scientific review of the HCP after 25 years to see if management strategies have been biologically effective.
Contact Land Board Members: www.leg.mt.gov
Governor Brian Schweitzer: governor@mt.gov
Attorney General Steve Bullock: contactdoj@mt.gov
State Auditor Monica Lindeen: stateauditor@mt.gov
Sup. of Public Instruction Denise Juneau: OPISupt@mt.gov
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch: sos@mt.gov
Montana Conservation Voters
endorsed and helped elect the
current Land Board, the state’s top
five elected officials. We track the
Board’s votes and decisions affecting
the air we breathe, our clean, cold
water, protection of public lands and
abundant wildlife. MCV works with
conservation groups who identify
common policy priorities, coordinating
our common work to develop and
advocate for strong policies to
protect Montana’s outdoor heritage.
In that spirit, MCV is advocating a
strong Habitat Conservation Plan
that protects our treasured wildlife
resources. Allies with whom we are
working on this campaign include
Defenders of Wildlife, the Earth
Justice Legal Defense Fund, Friends of
the Wild Swan, Montana Audubon,
Montana Environmental Information
Center, and the Natural Resources
Defense Council.
CALL TOLL-FREE 866-220-0044 OR 866-338-1015 TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS
All of in the USA need to understand that this will eventually creep into our states, but Montana's Bakken and Williston Basin is crucial to our energy resources, our fuel and gas, to our very survival. We cannot, as Americans, let that be taken from us. BY ANYONE!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
RALLY IN DC TO RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION 11/11/11
http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/on-the-rally-to-restore-the-constitution-111111-washington-dc/
Why isn't the mainstream news telling us about that?
You know why....
Why isn't the mainstream news telling us about that?
You know why....
Friday, October 28, 2011
WHILE OBAMA PLANS DISBANDMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, RUSSIA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS BULAVA BALLISTIC MISSILE
http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/while-obama-plans-disbandment-of-nuclear-weapons-russia-successfully-tests-bulava-ballistic-missile/
OBAMA MUST GO.
IMPEACH HIM! HE IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER NOT ONLY TO OUR COUNTRY BUT TO OUR LIVES.
And you need to be listening to Alex Jones EVERY SINGLE DAY! Turn off Hannity, Rush, and all the others and listen to ALEX JONES. His audience isn't growing because he's had years of lies to tell you.
http://www.prisonplanet.com
OBAMA MUST GO.
IMPEACH HIM! HE IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER NOT ONLY TO OUR COUNTRY BUT TO OUR LIVES.
And you need to be listening to Alex Jones EVERY SINGLE DAY! Turn off Hannity, Rush, and all the others and listen to ALEX JONES. His audience isn't growing because he's had years of lies to tell you.
http://www.prisonplanet.com
Thursday, October 27, 2011
NEWT GINGRICH AT RESTORATION WEEKEND - PART 1 OF 5 AND I WILL FIND ALL THE PARTS TOMORROW AND POST THEM HERE! VICTORY OR DEATH! (NO TELEPROMPTER)
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qtjfMjjce2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceqhimfT_o&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL346DFCD2C94D1498
Part 3 is supposed to be here and I can't find it. Please send me the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYu0sXrAD9Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qtjfMjjce2Y
Thank you to my cousin JoAnn who sent me part 5. This is an incredible speech. I have to take another look at Newt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceqhimfT_o&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL346DFCD2C94D1498
Part 3 is supposed to be here and I can't find it. Please send me the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYu0sXrAD9Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qtjfMjjce2Y
Thank you to my cousin JoAnn who sent me part 5. This is an incredible speech. I have to take another look at Newt.
JUDGE NAPOLITANO SAYS OBAMA IS IMPEACHABLE -
http://www.impeachobamacampaign.com/video-judge-napolitano-says-obama-is-impeachable/
Send this link to your Representatives and Senators. Both parties. And be sure to tell John Boehner.
Send this link to your Representatives and Senators. Both parties. And be sure to tell John Boehner.
HOWARD STERN AT THE OWS IN NYC - IT'S LIKE JAY LENO STREETWALKING!
They don't have a clue. They are idiots. They don't need money as long as they suck off their parents who worked for it.
47% OF AMERICANS OWN GUNS - FIGURE SOARS (EVEN FOR THE LIBERALS)
http://www.prisonplanet.com/gun-ownership-soars-to-18-year-high-47-of-americans-admit-to-owning-a-gun.html
The "permits" you must have to carry a concealed weapon are unconstitutional. The Second Amendment says NOTHING about regulation or databases. We should be fighting that tooth and nail.
I love those stats for the Democrats. They are such hypocrites. Just ask Barbara Boxer and Feinstein.
The "permits" you must have to carry a concealed weapon are unconstitutional. The Second Amendment says NOTHING about regulation or databases. We should be fighting that tooth and nail.
I love those stats for the Democrats. They are such hypocrites. Just ask Barbara Boxer and Feinstein.
GUN OWNERSHIP SOARS TO 18 YEAR HIGH - 47% OF AMERICANS ADMIT TO OWNING A GUN
http://www.prisonplanet.com/gun-ownership-soars-to-18-year-high-47-of-americans-admit-to-owning-a-gun.html
Key word here..."admit"!
And look at the numbers for those anti-gun Democrat/liberal/progressives! Hypocrites all.
Key word here..."admit"!
And look at the numbers for those anti-gun Democrat/liberal/progressives! Hypocrites all.
FUKUSHIMA PLANT MAY HAVE EMITTED DOUBLE RADIATION THAN ESTIMATED
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-27/fukushima-plant-may-have-emitted-double-radiation-than-estimated.html
This means, readers, that wherever you are, you have been irradiated - through the air, the food, the water.
Radiation effects are stunningly grave. We have all been exposed.
This means, readers, that wherever you are, you have been irradiated - through the air, the food, the water.
Radiation effects are stunningly grave. We have all been exposed.
SHERIFF JOE HAS SOME SERIOUS STUFF ON OBAMA - GONNA BE A SHOCK
Sheriff Joe - I'm ready for anything. Thank you! (and thanks to Merlin)
......and likely, not given over to hyperbole or sensationalism. Obama's DO"J" has been after SJ for a couple of years now, and he has still eluded their clutches; in itself, amazing and a story of personal courage. I wish him success in getting to the truth, as so many others have failed to do, or actually thwarted.
Sheriff Joe predicts Obama investigation to be a ‘shock’
......and likely, not given over to hyperbole or sensationalism. Obama's DO"J" has been after SJ for a couple of years now, and he has still eluded their clutches; in itself, amazing and a story of personal courage. I wish him success in getting to the truth, as so many others have failed to do, or actually thwarted.
Sheriff Joe predicts Obama investigation to be a ‘shock’
October 27, 2011
The results of a formal law-enforcement investigation into whether Barack Obama is eligible to be president of the United States will come as a “shock,” according to Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Tuesday night, speaking to a tea-party group in Arizona, Arpaio said, “I can’t tell you everything, but there could be a shock there somewhere that my guys came up with. I can’t talk too much about it. It’s in the process.”
Arpaio has constituted a special five-member law enforcement posse to investigate allegations brought by members of the Surprise, Ariz., Tea Party that the birth certificate released to the public April 27 might be a forgery.
The posse, assembled under the authority of Arpaio’s office, consists of three former law enforcement officers and two retired attorneys with law enforcement experience. Members have been examining evidence since September concerning Obama’s eligibility to be president under Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, which requires a president to be a natural-born citizen.
He referenced disputes over the Social Security number attributed to the president and said, “There are a couple of things you and nobody else here knows anything about yet that could be a little bit exciting.”
OAKLAND POLICE THROW GRENADE INTO CROWD OF PROTESTORS TRYING TO HELP INJURED MARINE HOME
http://dailybail.com/home/make-this-go-viral-oakland-police-throw-grenade-into-crowd-t.html
I make no apologies. This is despicable. The federalized, militarized police against unarmed US!
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/685964/at_occupy_oakland_crackdown%2C_oakland_pd_put_iraq_war_vet_in_critical_condition/
I make no apologies. This is despicable. The federalized, militarized police against unarmed US!
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/685964/at_occupy_oakland_crackdown%2C_oakland_pd_put_iraq_war_vet_in_critical_condition/
PATRIOT POST'S 2012 GOP CANDIDATE RATINGS AND COMMENTS
http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2011/10/27/the-patriots-2012-gop-candidate-ratings/#commentform
Read the comments for Ron Paul!
Ron Paul for President!
Read the comments for Ron Paul!
Ron Paul for President!
PREPPING ... NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF (Thanks Colonel)
Survivalists go mainstream. It might be interesting to chart the progression of Newbie becoming some urban Jeremiah Johnson. Whole lot of attitudes are shed with new ones sprouted, nourished and bloomed. Harvest time will be an event.
A bit long as I searched for all three parts...that led to copying over ALL 3-parts. Well, I gots to thouroughly read it!
Preppers - Part I
Prepping for disaster
10/23/2011
EDITOR'S NOTE: Today we begin our three-part series on "preppers," those who believe in being prepared for whatever calamity befalls us by setting aside food, water, emergency equipment and even guns. Preppers who spoke with the Journal did so with the understanding that their names would not be used for fear that their supplies might become targets.
To a growing contingent of folks, signs abound that all is not well in the world.
Y2K.
9-11.
Hurricane Katrina.
Joplin, Mo.
Fukushima.
Solar spasms.
Overpopulation.
Peak oil.
Food scarcity.
Economic collapse.
Societal breakdown.
Zombies.
Zombies? OK, not in a literal sense, but as a metaphor for some horrific, walking-dead-like scourge.
A sense of unease has them scared, worried and frightened. They envisage an inevitable cataclysmic shift, a "when," not a "what-if," scenario.
But rather than wringing their hands, sticking their heads in a dark place and trying to convince themselves that the future will be all blue sky and birdsong, they are taking action, but not by marching, flamboyant public protesting or overt political activism.
They are preparing by, well, preparing.
Water.
Food.
Shelter.
Weapons and ammunition.
This is the basic shopping list of those known collectively as "Preppers."
Never heard the word?
So, what is a prepper?
Google "preppers" and watch as more than a half-million sites pop up.
At the top, or near the top, will be Prepper.org. On its homepage, it offers a definition of a prepper: "An individual or group that prepares or makes preparations in advance of, or prior to, any change in normal circumstances or lifestyle without significant reliance on other persons (i.e., being self-reliant), or without substantial assistance from outside resources (govt., etc.) in order to minimize the effects of that change on their current lifestyle."
On the side is a link to an organization called the American Preppers Network.
There are chapters in all 50 states and in Canada's 10 provinces and three territories. In fact, the movement is global.
National Geographic has aired a television documentary on the prepper movement. The Discovery Channel has one in the works. The phenomenon has appeared in online media and in print publications. It even was the subject of a Sunday Dilbert comic strip.
So, who are these people?
And, a few on the fringe
Anyone who has a well-stocked, oft-used pantry could be considered a prepper. The definition can extend to those who preserve their garden produce. The ice storm of a few years ago that brought down power lines and darkened a large segment of Kansas for days probably turned many into preppers. Post-storm homes probably now have more food, flashlights, batteries, candles and perhaps a gas generator.
What they, as a group, are not are anarchist militia types training to overthrow the government, nor are they likely to be overly paranoid survivalist whack jobs.
That said, the prepper phenomenon, as do all movements, has its lunatic fringe. There are those who espouse extreme right-wing political views, who believe President Obama is, at best, a Kenyan, and at worst, the antichrist. There are the gun nuts, whose website posts suggest their collection of weaponry has grown beyond the basement firearm cabinet into an arsenal more befitting a military armory. There are the hard-core conspiracy believers who take to heart the 2012 world-ending Mayan prophecy. These folks largely expect the apocalypse and have established hardened rural redoubts from which they plan to ride out the end of the world as we know it.
A lot can go wrong
Mostly, though, preppers are much more ordinary. Janet Liebsch has her own definition of a prepper: "Survivalist Lite."
Liebsch and husband, Bill, run Fedhealth, an Arizona company they founded to help people prepare for a variety of catastrophic events.
Their book, "It's a Disaster! ... and What Are You Gonna Do About It?" covers everything from A to Z: avalanches to -- well, not zombies, but almost. Chapters deal with earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tornadoes, cataclysmic storms, terrorism, nuclear threats, radiation, hazardous materials, infectious diseases, poisoning and chemical and biological agents. There are tips on basic first aid and instructions on how to assemble a family emergency action plan.
"Preppers have always been around," Liebsch said. "They never had a name for themselves."
What preppers are not
Liebsch has seen an uptick recently in the number of people who fit the prepper mold.
Not that they are willing to talk about it, mainly because many don't want to be confused with hard-core survivalists, the weaponized loners hunkered in a bunker somewhere.
"Preppers in general are not like that," she said. "They are average Joes, with kids, families. They live in suburbia, they don't have 'bug out' land to go to. Some do, but a lot of them don't."
One website offered an illustrated difference between a prepper and an over-the-top survivalist. Beneath a photo of a camouflaged, rifle-toting G.I. Joe type was a smiling, Betty Crockerish woman standing in front of a packed shelf of canned goods.
"We hope people realize it might take two weeks or longer for people to get help," Liebsch said. "If something traumatic hits them, would they be able to make it 72 hours?"
Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency suggests a three-day stockpile of food, water and other necessities. Visit fema.gov and click on "plan and prepare" for suggestions on dealing with a multitude of hazards.
"If you look at the numbers, there are only about 2.1 million first responders for over 300 million (people)," Liebsch said.
She said this includes about 800,000 law enforcement personnel; 1.1 million firefighters, more than 70 percent of whom are volunteers; and 210,000 paramedics.
Longer than three days
In severe disasters, help may take longer than three days, but Liebsch said preparing for a longer period can become a burden for some people.
"Three days is not as overwhelming as three weeks or three months," she said. "You go into prepper forums and they are intimidated. They throw up their hands and say, 'I can't do this.' "
The other barricade is the topic itself.
"People are resistant," she said. "They don't want to talk about it (because) it's not going to happen. We have to break that barrier."
But some are talking, although they are not shouting it from their rooftops. For these stories, they agreed to discuss their preparedness as long as their names were not used. They might have as much as a year's worth of essentials -- food, water, medicine, money, precious metals, guns, ammunition -- stashed in basements, sheds, or in remote locations and they worry that in the event of a major event, such as a partial or complete economic collapse, unprepared neighbors will raid their cache.
Is Dilbert a prepper?
A recent "Dilbert" cartoon spoke to this concern. Dilbert is chatting with Alice, his triangular-haired coworker: "I'm preparing for the complete meltdown of our financial system. I've got six months of food and water. I have batteries, flashlights and gold coins."
Alice replies: "I'm prepared, too. I have your home address and I noticed that your preparations are light on defensive weaponry. Can you add some protein bars to the shopping list?"
Fear of the whacko label
Those agreeing to talk asked that only their online names, the appellations used in forums, such as the Kansas Preppers Network, be used.
Here's Mad Coyotee, via email: "If people know you are a prepper, then guess who will (be) sitting on your doorstep waiting for handouts? Some say to be out in the open, that way everyone can see who you are as an individual or as a group. With the mindset of people today, all it takes is someone's ignorance of the law or their fear to label someone as a whacko."
Mad Coyotee grew up on a farm and sees his prepping simply as a continuation of his rural family lifestyle.
"I would say that the events of the mid-1990s encouraged me to begin preparing my family for future events where self-sustainment would be necessary in order to survive," he wrote.
--Gordon D. Fiedler Jr. can be reached at 822-1407 or by email at gfiedler@salina.com.
http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Prepper-Main
Preppers II
Preppers a diverse group
10/24/2011
By GORDON D. FIEDLER JR. Salina Journal
* EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of our three-part series on "preppers," those who believe in being prepared for whatever calamity befalls us. Preppers who spoke with the Journal did so with the understanding that their names would not be used for fear that their supplies might become targets.
Smoke curled from the modest campfire and wafted aloft through the cottonwoods. An aluminum coffee pot warmed over some coals. The day was sunny, cool, with just a whisper of wind, a near perfect Kansas fall.
Relaxing around the fire on this Saturday in early October were almost two dozen folks, many meeting for the first time. They had journeyed here -- to Ottawa County State Fishing Lake north of Bennington -- from all over Kansas.
It was a diverse bunch. All different shapes, sizes, ages, gender and political persuasions.
Some were ex-military. Some never served. Some were unemployed, some had jobs. A few were retired.
But they all shared a common bond: They call themselves Preppers, and they had gathered to share ideas, demonstrate various skills, enjoy each other's company and to put faces to the online names they use to disguise their identity.
Lionheart, Trekker, Kanman, MoEngineer, Guntech, High Hopes and others -- all asked their real names not be used. They are trying to keep their passion for prepping hidden from neighbors and, in some cases, employers who they said would frown on their association with such a group. Two admitted their appearance here would probably get them fired if their companies found out.
A few held deeper suspicions. While there didn't seem to be much love lost among them for the current administration judging from comments, the more wary found the Patriot Act contemptible for giving the feds license to confiscate weapons. They also feared the act could be used to ferret out preppers as food hoarders.
Katrina and 'Red Dawn'
They came to this place, literally and figuratively, from different starting points. Hurricane Katrina was a motivator for some.
A desire to become more self-sufficient stirred one to action.
One's eyes were opened by the movie, "Red Dawn," a 1980s flick about a Soviet Union invasion of the United States.
Peak oil awoke another to action.
A souring economy and its possible consequences also received knowing nods.
"For me, it started with Katrina," said Lionheart. "I saw a lot of failures on different levels. Many people trusted the government. They weren't self-reliant."
He wasn't caught up in the disaster personally but watched it unfold on television.
"I saw people get in their car, thinking of escaping to be safe. They spent three days on the damn turnpike trying to get out of New Orleans. These people weren't prepared. Many didn't have gas in their cars, or food or water for their family. That was my inspiration."
Katrina also was Trekker's motivation.
"There are going to be situations when the authorities and the government can't help you out. You are going to have to help yourself. You need to be better prepared to have a better chance."
It's about self-reliance
A desire to live more sustainably moved MoEngineer to take stock of his situation.
"I don't put as much focus on the economy as other people," he said. "My whole thing is self-reliance. That's my hobby and what I aspire to."
Kanman once lived in Florida and always had essentials close at hand during hurricane season, but it wasn't until he moved to Kansas that the prepper bug bit.
"I've been a closet survivalist for several years," he said. "I've always been worried about the economy, the way the world situation is, with terrorists, wars. I really came out of the closet this past summer and really started stocking up."
Despite his online moniker, High Hopes doesn't have much hope at all for the world's resources, particularly oil.
He subscribes to the Peak Oil theory, espoused by observers in and out of the oil business, that claims the world's oil supply is approaching its zenith, that production is on a decline or at least is unable to keep pace with consumption.
"We're not going to run out, but we'll blaze through it very fast, overusing it faster than we can pump it," he said.
Exploding world population
A growing world population also is on his mind.
"What I know about ecology, we are way above bounds, population-wise. We are taking way too much advantage of our resources, and that's probably going to kick us in the butt."
He believes the world will achieve equilibrium at the expense of the human race.
"A lot of people will have to perish in order to set the balance right," he said.
He's sold many of his electronic appliances, because he doesn't believe eventually they will be of any use.
"My preparations revolve around taking us to the early 19th, late 18th century type of living," he said.
He's investing in a rural homestead where he plans to grow his own food and survive whatever comes his way.
72-hour preppers
Trekker doesn't see a future quite that dire. He and his wife live in a city and plan to stay put.
"We consider ourselves more suburban preppers," he said. "We're looking at a 72-hour situation where we may have no help from the government or we have to leave the area for a tornado."
However, they have more than a three-day supply.
"We've always had 30 days of groceries on hand," he said. "We started looking long-term within the last year and started stocking up beyond that," he said.
"We're not looking at more than 90 days. We're not looking at a complete collapse of society."
Worst case, if they have to leave, they have at the ready "bug-out" bags, backpacks loaded with food, water, first-aid supplies and other essentials.
Guntech's eyes were opened the first time he saw the movie, "Red Dawn."
The scenario was a popular one at the time.
"It was always an outside force that would invade America," he said. "I never looked at a natural disaster or economic disaster or anything like that."
Those calamities now are on his radar.
Buy a little at a time
He didn't want to reveal how much he's stored, except to say he didn't stockpile it all at once.
"Nobody can afford right off the bat to buy 20 years of dehydrated mashed potatoes," he said.
He would buy a little extra every time he went to the store. Peace of mind increases as the larder grows, he said.
"If you stock food for a year and lose your job, you can at least eat for a year," he said.
Besides food and water, his stash includes certain medicines and some cash -- "If it's worth anything in the end" -- and important documents, some of which he's duplicated and stored off site.
"You can't be prepared for everything, but for whatever you can," he said.
'Thought dad was crazy'
The youngest at the gathering was 16. While most teenagers can't see beyond the next weekend, "iPhone" joined the prepper bandwagon after watching her father.
"At first, I thought my dad was crazy because I believed he thought the world was going to end," she said. "In reality, prepping is all about preparing for a disaster, big or small. To be completely independent."
While she hasn't come clean to her friends about being a prepper, she has tried to discuss sustainability.
"Some thought I was a little crazy. Others thought I was completely correct."
What scares her most is what she can't see: the future. "All I know is history tends to repeat itself and the world has so much bad history such as global disease, solar flares and economic government collapses."
A few years of food
One who didn't make it to the lake that weekend is "Christy," who in a phone interview said she and her family have been serious preppers for about a year.
They live in the country and routinely put food by.
Her focus now is on long-term food storage.
"We've done well," she said. "We probably have a few years of food stored."
A larger concern is access to money if the electrical grid goes down and ATMs and other banking options stop working.
"What happens without electricity? You can't do anything."
Her worst scenario is society devolving into a barter-and-trade economy.
Think that can't happen?
The solar flare danger
There's a slim chance an angry sun could belch a solar flare powerful enough to do just that.
"If we get now what happened in the Carrington event, you're looking at no power for six months to five years," said Brian Camden, principal of Hardened Structures, an engineering and design firm specializing in bomb shelters.
The Carrington Event is named for Richard Carrington, a British astronomer who in 1859 witnessed the largest solar storm ever recorded.
"It caught telegraph offices on fire," Camden said.
According to the National Geographic, the northern lights created by the flare were bright enough for people to read by.
If such an electrical disruption occurred now at the same intensity, it could cause catastrophic damage.
"It's never happened since we've had the power grid in," Camden said.
Worst case? Food riots
Worst case? "Water runs out in 48 hours, food in three or four days, then you have food riots," Camden said.
If all the mega transformers get fried, don't expect electricity to be restored any time soon. The Carrington event occurred during a maximum of solar activity similar to the period the sun now is entering.
Although the odds of another Carrington event are extremely low, those with the prepping mindset say they would be ahead of those who believe systems will remain in place, which is why they are relentlessly gathering supplies while the infrastructure remains intact.
Where do preppers go to acquire all this stuff?
-- Gordon D. Fiedler Jr. can be reached at 822-1407 or by email at gfiedler@salina.com
http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Prepper-Part-2-FOR-MONDAY-S-PAPER--OCT--24--2011
Preppers - Part III
Bad times mean good times
10/25/2011
By GORDON D. FIEDLER JR. Salina Journal
* EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third of our three-part series on "preppers," those who believe in being prepared for whatever calamity befalls us.
A recent gathering of preppers at Ottawa County State Fishing Lake, north of Bennington, drew folks from all over the state. They were alerted to the "meet-up" because they are members of the Kansas Preppers Network, which is part of the American Preppers Network.
They go by such online names as Lionheart, Trekker, Kanman, MoEngineer, Guntech and High Hopes. They didn't want their real identities known for fear of home invasions by the unprepared and also, in some cases, to hide their efforts from suspicious employers.
As forum members, they can post questions and comment on queries from others, rant about current events and share an occasional joke among their prepper peers in every state and in all of Canada's provinces and territories. There are even groups in Britain, Italy and New Zealand.
APN's co-founder and current director is Tom Martin, who maintains the site from his Idaho home.
He launched the site in January 2009 and patterned it after online forums in Texas and Utah. Others began popping up and he and associates decided the time was ripe for a larger, more cohesive organization.
"We saw the writing on the wall some time ago," he said.
He could see ominous signs in the housing bubble, the federal debt and other events.
The movement's infancy
But when he started the site, the prepper movement was in its infancy.
Back then, there were fewer than a 1,000 Internet sites that answered to a search on the word, and many of them dealt with such subjects as auto body restoration.
"There were only four or five at the time that dealt with preparedness," Martin said.
A search of the word now delivers more than a half million sites.
There are even preparedness videos posted on YouTube.
Martin's forum also has swelled, with more than 9,000 registered members, and it is growing daily. But he admitted the prepper/survivalist movement is much larger than that.
"Even though we were the first major website, we're by no means the leader in the movement. I don't think there is a leader."
He said people are being drawn to the site for varied reasons and bringing with them a broad spectrum of philosophies.
"We've got people on the left, on the right and everything in the middle," he said. "We've got people preparing for things as simple as a job loss to people preparing for natural disasters, economic disasters. A few people believe in the 2012 (Mayan prophesy) theory. Anything and everything."
Self-reliance the key
Despite the differing political persuasions of his forum members, Martin said they seem to rally around a common cause: self-reliance.
"Almost nobody that I know (who) is a prepper thinks they can rely on the government to help them in a disaster," he said. "Even FEMA comes out and says we have to have three days of food and water. They know they can't get to you immediately."
Martin said he's traced the origin of the word "prepper" to the Y2K scare, when people taking precautions against the anticipated computer collapse were known as Y2K preppers.
While Y2K was an end-of-times bust, it was instructive, Martin said. Perhaps, he said, the precautions by businesses and individuals on the eve of the new millennium prevented a larger catastrophe.
The prepper term simmered on the back burner for nearly a decade before being picked up within the past few years by people worried about the souring economy, the housing and banking crises, oil and food prices and political gridlock in Washington.
And business is good
As the movement has grown, so have businesses that cater to the prepper crowd.
Forum chatter from preppers on such topics as sources for food-grade containers, home canning and processing, gardening, water filtration, alternative energy, backyard livestock, defensive weapons and ammunition, rural property, hunting, post-collapse coinage and wilderness survival has spawned a growth industry.
Pam Molloy is general partner of Mayflower Trading Co. in North Fork, Idaho, a 14-year-old business that supplies not just preppers, but others seeking a self-sufficient lifestyle.
It offers emergency food, housewares, first-aid and alternative energy products.
"I have seen a huge increase in storage food and the first-aid stuff, disaster kits, trauma kits," Molloy said.
"When we first went online, people were interested in food, survival stuff, tents, knives, outdoor cooking," she said. "It was real popular as people prepared for Y2K. Then when that was over, we started seeing a lot more business in alternative energy. Even though Y2K didn't go down the way it was going to happen, they were awakened. This whole place is fragile."
She said her clientele now includes homesteaders; latter-day back-to-the-land types; the "greens" who want to lessen their carbon footprint, and the survivalists.
" I use that term for people who believe that if things go bad, they can run off into the woods and survive," Molloy said.
Multiyear food supplies
The storable food business was first generated by rural dwellers who simply wanted a garden backup to get them through the winter and early spring.
"Now, people are buying multiyear supplies," said Molloy, who wonders where people are putting all of it.
"I don't know if they're remodeling houses, storing it in crawl spaces, clearing out the lawnmower shed."
She knows of one customer who has chosen food as his investment of choice.
"One guy told me he's spending his retirement savings on food. He thought he would need it because his (money) will buy twice as much."
He said he'd rather buy a bucket of wheat now for $20 rather than $40 later on as food prices rise.
Creating thriving lives
Another business preppers have tapped is Shelf Reliance, a Utah company that first catered to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are commanded to maintain a year's supply of food.
Marketing director Sebastian Nilsson said the company got its start in 2005 manufacturing and selling shelving that automatically rotates the stock.
Now it's tapping into the prepper movement by offering, besides the shelf systems, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods and emergency kits and supplies.
"We have the tools to help people build up a home store," Nilsson said.
"We're trying to find a vision to help create thriving lives. We feel to be prepared gives you peace of mind for whatever hits."
Ready for the really big one
And if the big one -- the really big one -- hits, then Brian Camden should have been at the top of the preparedness list.
He's principal of Hardened Structures, a manufacturer of bomb shelters, including high-end models that go for up to $600 a square foot. His company is building them all over the world for private, commercial and military clients.
"A lot of people are scared about the economic collapse," Camden said. "That's 50 percent of our business. In the last four to five years, it's picked up, definitely."
These are not the septic-tank-like backyard structures of the Cold War. Not for $600 a square foot.
For that kind of money, you're getting "a reinforced concrete underground bunker with blast overpressure protection with full NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) filtering," Camden said.
"We build them with hydroponic food growing systems, barns underground for livestock, water generation, sewage disposal," he said.
Shelter dwellers could survive for five years in one of them, he said.
Selling freeze-dried food
After 9-11, Victor Rantala was another who saw an opportunity.
"The buzz was that the world had changed," he wrote in an email. "Danger was around every corner. I wasn't necessarily buying into that thought process, but I had always been into preparedness to some degree and have always believed it just to be common sense to be ready for the unexpected on any number of levels. What I saw was that folks were not being well-served in the preparedness marketplace, in spite of the sudden surge in interest."
So in 2002, he founded Safecastle Royal in Prior Lake, Minn., and started selling freeze-dried food online, then expanded into storm shelters.
Other entrepreneurs, seeing an opportunity in the prepper market, also jumped on board.
"Market niches ... have steadily, and sometimes suddenly, grown through the 10 years I've been materially involved," he said.
He declined to reveal sales figures but said business is growing.
"What I will say is that our annual revenue growth each of the last 10 years has easily exceeded expectations most investors or business owners would have for an average business in today's environment. We are growing, expanding, and hiring (part-time people) from time to time," although he's not adding staff at this time.
"In a sense, I welcome the fact that preparedness is so much more mainstream today than it was several years ago," he said.
Take care of yourself
One who would agree is Tom Martin. If his American Preppers Network does just one thing, it is this: "I'd like to see every able-bodied American become self-reliant, to be motivated and capable to take care of themselves."
The preppers who met at Ottawa County State Fishing Lake hope they will pass that test when the "whatever" hits.
In prepper-speak, this event is referred as "WTSHTF," an abbreviation involving a profanity and a fan.
Another thrown about is "TEOTWAWKI." That mouthful stands for "the end of the world as we know it."
There is also the acronym "G.O.O.D." -- short for "Get Out Of Dodge."
It's understood among the group that WTSHTF likely will lead to TEOTWAWKI, and at that point it will be high time to G.O.O.D. While they pray it never comes to pass, they want to be ready.
Prepare for the worst
"Hope for the best but prepare for the worst," is how Kanman put it.
Some jokingly applied the zombie test to their preparations. Those supplied well enough to survive a swarm of undead will probably survive anything.
MoEngineer had a more serious litmus test.
"Take the ice storm. If I can't make it through an ice storm, how can I expect to make it through an economic downturn?"
--Gordon D. Fiedler Jr. can be reached at 822-1407 or by email at gfiedler@salina.com.
http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Prepper-No--3-FOR-TUESDAY--OCT--25--2011
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROPOSES LYING, AND EXISTENCE OF RECORDSS UNDER NEW FOIA LAW - THIS IS SO SERIOUS, PEOPLE. IT'S END THIS REGIME TIME!
http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/24/justice-dept-proposes-lying-hiding-existence-of-records-under-new-foia-rule/
If you want truth and justice, you aren't going to get it in the Obama/Holder totalitarian justice department.
This is what you get for hiring a corrupt lawyer with no past for a president.
If you want truth and justice, you aren't going to get it in the Obama/Holder totalitarian justice department.
This is what you get for hiring a corrupt lawyer with no past for a president.
MUSLIM DHS ADVISER ALLEGEDLY LEAKED INTEL AND SHOPPED CLASSIFIED INTEL TO MEDIA
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/10/mohamed-elibiary-homeland-security-adviser-allegedly-leaked-intel-shopped-classified-info-to-media-p.html
GOOD JOB, BIG SIS - YOU KNOW HOW TO PICK EMPLOYEES, DON'T YOU?
GOOD JOB, BIG SIS - YOU KNOW HOW TO PICK EMPLOYEES, DON'T YOU?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
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