Random Thoughts

Coffee Cans for Storage. The plastic kind that just about every coffee brand has switched to in the past few years. There are a number of food items that I do not want to store in glass canning jars or five gallon buckets. Glass jars get nixed because of the potential for breakage when moving, and buckets get nixed because I do not want to buy such a quantity of that I can fill a five gallon bucket. The solution I have found is to buy the one gallon mylar food grade bags and pack them inside plastic coffee cans that I would otherwise discard. Between home and office I get about two of these each month. An added bonus is that six of the cans fit into the same size box as six number 10 cans. This size of storage container is ideal for spices, seasoning/gravy/sauce packets, and drink mixes such as Kool Aid. Once full and the mylar bag is sealed, pop on the lid and seal with 100% silicone.

Test Your Tools and Equipment. I bought a sight adjustment tool for one of my rifles a few months ago and filed it away with my other gear. I assumed that when I needed it, it would serve its intended purpose. Big mistake. The other day I was boresighting the rifle and needed to make a sight adjustment, so I dug out the adjustment tool. The tool has a hole through which the sight is supposed to drift under pressure from a thumbscrew. The hole was not big enough. This would have been a major problem in the field, but luckily enough I was sighting in at home. I got out my set of drills and enlarged the hole. From now on I will test every tool and piece of equipment as I acquire it.

Thoughts on Plumbing. Most preppers have a plan for providing water and eliminating waste during a grid down situation. The specifics don't really matter, as situations vary for acquisition of potable water and elimination of human waste, and each must plan according to his or her needs and what resources are available. For those of us on public systems, more preparation may be needed than immediately comes to mind. When the grid goes down and public water pressure drops, it is a simple matter to isolate one's plumbing system from public water: just shut off the main water valve coming into the building or onto the property. But what about sewage? Even with the public water supply being off, people can still pour water down the drain and flush their toilets. And if the grid is down, the pumps that move the sewage through the public system and/or process the waste are likely to be down as well. If one is at the top of a hill, I suppose there may be no problems. However, sewage might back up in other areas. Aside from the water traps in the drains, how does one shut off the sewer system that is connected to the house? I am thinking that one answer may be to have drain seals ready to install in each sink, bathtub, laundry room, toilet, and floor drain in the house. If anyone has any other ideas on this, let me know.

Politics. I am thinking about this week's Retarded Politician of the week. Congressman Fortney "Pete" Stark has come up with a hare-brained scheme to tax the exchange of currencies, so that everyone who trades a U.S. dollar for a Canadian one would pay a tax of 0.005% on the transaction. I am not making the next part up: It's for the children. Oh, and to provide health care in other countries, and to fight climate change. On the other hand, Senator Lindsey Graham has pretty much stated that he will vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court because Obama won the election and is entitled to have his choice provided Kagan is "qualified." Does this idiot remember Robert Bork? He was qualified, but shot down by the Demojackals because he is a conservative. At least Stark is consistent with the "progressive" whack-jobs in his party. Thus I am leaning towards Senator Grahamnesty for a repeat. Who knows, maybe some other elected shithead will catch my attention.

Is it too late for Tom Vilsack to try and get his job back as Iowa governor? It appears that with all the hullabaloo from the racist camps of Jesse Jackson and the NAACP that Vilsack may soon be unemployed for firing Department of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod. Through her own statements at a NAACP gathering Ms. Sherrod cast the USDA in a bad light, which should be grounds enough for firing. It is in the private employment sector. Gub'mint business is different, somehow, especially when race is involved.

Thank You, Senator Jeff Sessions

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama deserves a hearty thank you for his articulate explanation of his opposition to the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read it here, at USA Today.

Senator Sessions lays it out straight, "The American people want judges who impartially follow the text of the Constitution. They reject judges who use their power to impose their own political views — liberal or conservative — on the nation.

Throughout her career, Ms. Kagan has placed her politics above the law."

Thank you, Senator.

I recall that Kagan, when asked if she was prepared to uphold the rights recognized by the Declaration of Independence, could only answer that she would follow the Constitution. Either Kagan is about as bright as a three watt bulb, or is lying her fat ass off.

Judging by the company she keeps, both are likely.

Jeers to Senator Lindsey "Grahamnesty" Graham, R(INO)-SC for voting with the Democrapheads on the Judiciary Committee to send Kagan's nomination to the full senate. The former Retarded Politician of the Week provided additional evidence of his "specialness" when he said, "What's in Elena Kagan's heart is that of a good person who adopts a philosophy I disagree with," Graham said. "She will serve this nation honorably, and it would not have been someone I would have chosen, but the person who did choose, President Obama, I think chose wisely."

Anniversary of a Leftist Massacre

Yesterday marked the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 43 innocent men, women, and children fleeing the totalitarian regime of Cuba's Fidel Castro in a tugboat bound for freedom in the United States. Originally there were 72 men, women, and children, but Cuban patrol boats rammed the tug and mowed down the civilians with a water cannon, sending all but 29 to a watery grave. Only through the intervention of a passing Greek freighter were there any survivors. The survivors were captured and punished by the Castro regime.

Read Humberto Fontova's story here.

Remember that the Castro regime is idolized by liberals. This is an example of what liberals find to be acceptable behavior from a leftist government. This is what you will get if you allow the Marxist Obamacrats to remain in power.

You were warned.

Retarded Politician of the Week

Retarded Politician of the Week honors go to Senator Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska. Nelson announced today that he would support the finance reform bill which is awaiting a vote in the senate. In announcing his support, Nelson said, “I will support the Wall Street reform bill to end bailouts, add commonsense consumer protections and make sure that Nebraska Main Street businesses are not adversely affected as we rein in recklessness on Wall Street."
Let's see, bailouts of all those Wall Street firms occurred because the House of Representatives and Senate proposed and then approved laws that used taxpayer funds to bail out those firms. Then the House and Senate discovered that their poorly written bailout package allowed Wall Street firms to earn obscene profits from taxpayer funds. Then the House and Senate propose a law which would prevent the House and Senate from future bailouts of Wall Street firms with taxpayer funds, which is misnamed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

In essence, Senator Nelson is in favor of a law which would prevent him and his Komrades from passing a law giving taxpayer funds to Wall Street firms.

It's like saying: I voted for a terrible law, so I will support a law that would prevent me from approving of another such terrible law in the future.

How retarded. Nelson proves that you cannot legislate common sense.

Runners up: Senator Olympia Snowe, R(INO)-Maine and Senator Scott Brown, R(INO)-Massachusetts for betraying their principles and supporting such a deeply flawed piece of legislation. Snowe has a long history of colluding with libtards. I had high hopes for Brown, who now appears to be channeling the demon spirit of Ted Kennedy. Nobody who is not an Obootlicker should be voting for a financial "reform" bill drafted/sponsored by the severely ethically compromised Wall Street toady soon-to-be-former-Senator Christopher Dodd. See his list of contributors here.

Legal Survival No. 2: Avoid "Day of Reckoning" Nonsense

First of all, I don't prep just for some cataclysmic end-of-the-world event where the U.S. government will fail and I get my chance to play Mad Max in the post-apocalyptic world. I prep because situations can happen in which I must be reliant upon myself for surival. These range from power outages to the collapse of Western Civilization.

Speaking of the collapse of Western Civilization, it is clear to anyone with two brains cells working at the same time that Western Civilization is in the process of imploding. The reasons are far too numerous to discuss in a blog post. Aside from the pervasive intrusions into our God-given liberty by our supposedly representative federal government, our government has reached the point where it cannot pay out the spoils that the citizens have voted themselves from the public treasury. The last act in this farce will be when the Gub'mint credit card is declined.

Many states, counties, and municipalities face a similar fate. Similar, and not identical, only because states, counties, and municipalities do not have the ability to print money. Any government can borrow with the consent of its constituents. Most have borrowed and/or run up deficits beyond the ability of a vindictive, spurned ex-wife at the casino with the ex-husband's wallet and credit cards. And all with the consent of the governed. After all, 52% of the country voted for Barack Hussein Obama, including a majority of non-felons who were born in the United States and actually voted their own ballot. In my own state, in the last two elections a majority of voters chose the libtard Christine Gregoire for governor, including 100% of the convicted-felon, post-vivos, incapacitated, non-citizen, and non-existent (also known as ACORN-registered) voters.

Now, finally, I am able to get to the point. I have been reading some posts indicating that in this collapse cycle and/or revolution there will be a day of reckoning for government employees, at the hands of liberty-loving citizens. There is some disagreement on targets: It ranges from only politicians and judges and others who have been direct participants in destroying liberty/the constitution/the republic, to all government employees. By the way, all elected officials and appointees (even judges) are government (or public) employees.

This idea that any government employees should be targeted, unless they are directly threatening you or your family, is nonsense. Despite the encroachment of the FedGov on our liberties, we are not at war and are not even close to being at war, no matter how much "tyrannical government" hyperbole is drawn up. We still have something that was unavailable to the colonists in 1776: We can vote to change our government. The government we have was voted into power by the citizens; this government and its abuses are what the collective citizenry voted for and apparently wants. An opportunity exists in November 2010 to change the government, and towards that purpose I recommend voting out every politician who has crapped on the Constitution. That means just about every Democrat, Republican, Independent, and other affiliated politician serving in Congress, state legislatures, governorships, county commissions, and city councils across the country. Yes, we do have a bill of grievances to be resolved, but if we want change we must use our votes first.

Despite my declaration that we are not at war with the government and no where close to being at war, the government has passed laws and taken actions which may reasonably be interpreted by free citizens as increasing the power of the government at the expense of individual liberty. As a free citizen I do take offense at such laws and actions by the government and I do believe that free citizens do have grievances against this currently extra-Constitutional government which need redress.

I know that many have lost confidence in the power of the vote to change the government from its liberty-destroying path. I recall an exchange I had with Ye Old Furt about what I can do with my vocation to help others in the prepping community. I am not a gunsmith, millwright, farmer, military tactician, or other profession which may be inherently useful in a post-government, post-collapse/apocalypse world. I do, however, have legal knowledge that I can pass on to others in order to help those of us in the "liberty movement" and to convert others to the cause. Our founding fathers invested much time in appealing to the citizenry and seeking peaceful redress to grievances prior to targeting the government for revolution. We should do the same prior to taking up arms.

What I do on a regular basis is to talk to others I know and encounter about conditions in this country, how far we have strayed from the Constitution, what individual rights are recognized by the Constitution, and what we can do to change the government and restore liberty. What can you do? What do you do?

This topic has been simmering beneath the surface with me for some time. The main reason is that I see derogatory references from time-to-time, even from bloggers I respect such as Jim Dakin and Michael Boone, in regard to lawyers. Not all lawyers are cogs in the wheel of government oppression. Most are actually decent people, just as most travel-trailer dwelling survivalist types are decent people. I am a lawyer and I am getting a little tired of the over-generalizations about lawyers. I am especially tired of the oft-quoted, mis-contexted Shakespeare, "first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers", which was actually expressed by Dick the butcher in support of Jack Cade's socialistic revolution with Cade himself as dictator. So I naturally take offense at the idea that rank and file, non-lawmaking, non-policy-making government employees should be fair game.

I agree with M.D. Creekmore that government will not disappear in the event of a collapse or other cataclysm. Government will likely still exist, and will likely still be able to take care of anyone who moves to attack it. By definition of a revolution, the government will still exist in the event of a revolution. Attacks on government will be met with government action: persecution, prosecution, suicide by government agent, etc.

Besides the certainty of government action against anti-government action, there are other considerations of a more practical matter:

1) The inherent unconscionableness of attacking low-level, non-policymaking employees. Low-level employees are citizens and have friends and family just like almost everyone else. The public opinion backlash for attacking a low-level employee would be disastrous for the attacker(s) and harmful to the liberty movement.

2) Consistency would require attacking any person or entity that "feeds the beast". I am referring here to persons who have advocated all governmental employees as fair game because they have chosen to be a cog in the machine. So, any person who knowingly and willingly provides service or support to the oppressive government is a legitimate target, if we are to be consistent. Did you pay your taxes? If yes, put an "X" on your forehead. Did you provide service or materials to a goverment entity, even if it was just mowing the courthouse lawn? If yes, put an "X" on your forehead. Do you show up for work at a company that provides services or materials to a government entitiy? If yes, put an "X" on your forehead. Do you get a government check of any kind? If yes, put an "X" on your forehead. So what if you could go to prison for not paying taxes, or lose your home for not going to work, or starve to death if you don't cash the government check, but we are talking about principles of liberty here, which require such sacrifice.

3) There are too many liberty-loving, yet peaceful citizens who would be alarmed at the idea of attacking low-level government employees, and would turn in anyone who had even formulated a plan to do so. I am one of them.

4) There are a lot of government employees who are liberty-loving and armed citizens of this country. Just as any nut-job who thinks he is going to "kill all the lawyers" had better bring his own body bag when targeting me (mine are on backorder), he had better not ignore the fact that many government employees also believe in their right to keep and bear arms and to defend the life and liberty of themselves and their families.

I had not originally thought of making this a "Legal Survival" post, but I realized that I was due for another installment and that this is a perfect opportunity to pass on some legal information for preppers.

So here it is: Don't get any ideas of exacting retribution on government employees or that government employees are fair game in the coming revolution or efforts to restore the Constitutional Republic. The usual exceptions apply for defense of self and family, although you better be damn sure that you or your loved ones are in danger of imminent death or grave bodily injury. In the case of revolution or restoration of the republic, execution of those responsible for tyrannous acts would be proper only after due process of law. If you expect the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, make sure that you are prepared to guarantee that right for all citizens.

Why Kalifornia is in the Crapper and Won't Be Coming Out

The state of Kalifornia is home to the Silicon Valley, perhaps the largest concentration of technological engineering knowledge in the U.S. Kalifornia has about one-tenth of the U.S. population and a state budget larger than the budget of many countries. Kalifornia should be on the leading edge of effective and efficient government.

Kalifornia, however, cannot reprogram the payroll computers before the year 2012 to follow a simple directive: reduce the pay of state workers to federal minimum wagee as ordered by Governator Ahnold Schwarzenegger and upheld by Kalifornia's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The reasons for the inability to reduce the pay of state workers, as given by Kalifornia politicians and bureaucrats, are legion:
--the payroll system is 60 years old and was last updated in 1970, according to Hallye Jordan, spokesperson for the Kalifornia state controller's office
--the 21st Century Project to update payroll computer techology is inexplicably behind schedule despite having been conceived in the 1990's
--the original contractor hired to fix the problems was fired because it went bankrupt (too bad Kalifornia voters don't do the same to their government), according to John Harrigan, former division chief of Kalifornia payroll services
--employees with expertise in the various programming languages used in the payroll programs keep retiring, according to Harrigan
--the legislature would have to pass a bill to modify the computer system or to collect more data, according to the Kalifornia Department of Justice, despite the legislature having approved just such a thing in the 21st Century Project in 2005

Of course, none of the politicians nor bureaucrats will address the two real reasons that Kalifornia cannot adjust its payroll to comply with the Governator's order, much less pass a budget that keeps Kalifornia out of bankruptcy and/or begging at the Obamination's door:
1) The Kalifornia government is completely controlled by Democrats, with the exception of the RINO governator.
2) The Kalifornia Democrats are completely under the control of the Kalifornia state employees unions.
If the real reasons given above do not make sense to you, please immediately move to Kalifornia and commence building a fence around the state to prevent like-minded Kalifornians from exiting Kalifornia. This would also serve as an effective border fence.

As goes Kalifornia, soon goes the rest of the country.

Remember in November.

Happy Independence Day!!!!

The date may be July 4th, 2010, but the celebration is of Independence Day. Just as Christmas has been watered down by the multicultural libtards to Happy Holidays, the day that 13 colonies declared their independence from Britain.

For people like Supreme Court nominuee Elena Kagan, it is July Fourth, and has no real meaning, since she does not recognize the significance of the Declaration of Indendence and the human rights that document recognizes. Note I said "recognizes" and not "creates". For libtards, rights do not really exists. Rights cannot be changed by any man, woman, or government, for they are bestowed by our Creator. When libtards say rights, they mean privileges, priveleges which can be changed or taken away by legislative fiat, executive order, or reinterpretation of the "living" constitution.

Today I am celebrating Independence Day and the men who "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor".

I am remembering these carefully chosen words, directed by thirteen servient colonies to a militarily superior tyrannical master:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Does anyone today know what happened to those brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Here is some information that was recently emailed to me:

"Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished."

When I see libtards reduce Independence Day to July 4th, I am dismayed that a date in history on which our freedom as human beings, not just colonists, was declared has been reduced to a numerical recreational holiday.

On this day, celebrate the Declaration of Independence and its declaration to the crown of your God given rights as a human being. Re-think your participation as a citizen and your commitment to preserving liberty. Two hundred and thirty four years later, the forces of tyranny are still around us. What will you do to keep them at bay?

Remember what Dick Cheney said, "It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you."