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The 14 Things You Must Do To Live Free
This comes from The Survival Podcast by Jack Spirko.
The 14 things I think you must do to have personal liberty
- Believe and do as you please (with in the law)
- Spread your belief example, never with force
- Create independence from the systems
- Solve your own problems when ever you can
- Vote for what you believe in, not who you think can win
- Know why you believe what you believe
- Accept challenges to what you believe but require facts
- Never submit to government authority voluntarily (legally resist)
- Create your own systems, your own networks, etc.
- Value education and be a self directed learner at all times
- Let no man speak for you or put words in your mouth
- Accept that others many ignore, demean or attack you
- Argue ideas, do not ague the validity of the individual
- Remember no matter what anyone says, what you do matters
These are great things for anyone to do.
Posted in freedom
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Warning Post
I realize I have not posted in over 2 months. I have changed jobs and do not have the time like I used to. I will be seeking to correct this. In the realm of firearms, I have purchased a Rossi M92 lever action rifle in 45 Colt with a 24″ barrel. It will be a fun rifle and an incentive to reload more. Sheesh, $30 for a box of 50 cheap low powered rounds is a bit expensive.
On the political front, I will start blogging about which candidate I believe is the most gun friendly. I’ve got news for people, it isn’t Gingrich or Romney. I believe it is either Gary Johnson or Ron Paul. I will go into why later.
On the gardening/prepping front, my garden this past year was an abysmal failure. I got absolutely no tomatoes, no squash, no amaranth, no peas, a few spindly carrots and a decent crop of garlic. I blame this partially on the drought and record heat we had and partially on myself. I saw a tomato horn worm on my tomato plants, and did not realize what it was until it was to late. I just didn’t pay enough attention to my garden. I’m not sure if I will try again next year. They are predicting another year of drought, which will make it even harder next year. Oh yeah, my strawberries and blackberries were killed by the drought too.
Posted in Activities, Blogging, food, gardening, politics, President, reloading, shooting
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Why I Carry Around the House
Man attacked by bear in his own home.
This reminds me of why I carry around the house. I’m as worried about 4-legged attackers (if not more so) than 2-legged attackers. Before I started carrying, I was trapped in my garage by a stray dog barking and growling at me. People say the odds of you being attacked in your own home are very small. Tell that to the man attacked by a bear in his house.
Posted in 2nd Amendment
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The Change of Seasons
We have passed the calendar date for the beginning of autumn. But, today feels like the first real day of autumn in North Texas. We had a cool front come through (with strong storms) last night. Today, the weather outside is absolutely perfect. It’s not to hot. It’s not to cold. It’s not to humid or to dry. There is a light north breeze that makes comfortable to even work in the sun. To me, this weather is the first sign of autumn.
The second sign of autumn for me is the start of the State Fair of Texas. It has all of the great harvest festival aspects. You have music, food, competitions in animal husbandry, cooking and gardening. I remember years where, by the end of the Texas State Fair, there was ice in puddles of the parking lot for the fair.
The third sign is the beginning of deer hunting season. Tomorrow is the first day archery deer hunting in Texas. In Texas based blogs, I have been seeing photos of bucks with antlers starting to spar. They, know that autumn has begun.
I find myself longing to be in a tree stand, either with a bow or a camera. I want to hop on my mountain bike, or even be on foot, and go down trails with crispy colorful leaves and enjoy the celebration that is nature in autumn. I want to spend time on my backyard archery range becoming one with my bow, arrow, and target. I want to go to an outdoor rifle range to practice the zen of getting that perfect shot at the longest range I can. I want to harvest fruit, vegetables, and even meat. The reason that this is hunting season is to thin the animals so they have an easier time making it through the winter. It is also the reason it is the time you would see animals butchered on farms.
Posted in Activities, Blogging, Weather
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Americans Are Begging For Someone Who Truly Represents Them
Based on a couple of Facebook posts that I made yesterday, it appears that people want candidates who truly represent them. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans seem to be doing this. People are tired of the growing police state that the TSA is a glowing example of. People who were almost head-over-heels in love with Obama in 2008 are now looking for something better. An example of this is the special election held yesterday in New York. In a congressional district that Democrats outnumbering Republicans 3 to 1, the Republican won. Yet, a great many people see the slate of current Presidential candidates on the Republican side and their reaction is anywhere from underwhelmed to outright horrified. I think people are tired of the ideological purists and want adults to be elected. Unfortunately, the primaries are controlled by the purists.
I do believe that a third party/independent candidate could win next year in the Presidential election. I personally would love to see Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz run. However, he is probably to smart to do that. Plus, if any third party candidate did win the Presidency, he would likely be fighting Congress every step of the way. A large part of our political problems in this country is caused by the continuing divisive dichotomies that we cling to. We label ourselves as conservative/liberal, Republican/Democrat, with our skin color, ancestry and/or religion. All of these divide us and make enemies out of those who disagree with us. And, a sad fact is that most of our news sources seem to intentionally feed and reinforce these divisions.
Instead of playing games of gotcha and hurling insults (as I have been guilty of), we need to start talking about ways of making things better for everybody over the long term. It may take some pain in the here and now, but we (and our descendents) will be better off in the long run if we do so.
Posted in politics
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He got shot in the buttocks
Hammer wielding man shot in the buttock
Summary: Man disguises a small hammer trying to make it look like a gun. He goes into a San Antonio, TX convenience store and uses it to hold the store up. He takes a box of K2 (a synthetic marijuana substitute) and leaves. A customer in the store who has concealed carry license follows the man outside to confront him. When the robber goes for his hammer, the CHL holder shoots him. The CHL holder faces no charges, since this was completely legal.
The lessons to take away from this:
- Drug addicts can be complete idiots.
- Confronting the robber was completely unnecessary. He was no longer a threat to anyone. The CHL holder placed himself in danger over a crappy fake drug that probably had a max value of $60. That is not worth risking your life.
Posted in 2nd Amendment, crime
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QoD
I am a trans woman. Because of that, I can reasonably expect the police to be as likely a danger to me in most of the United States as a source of protection from violence. The idea that the police should have the monopoly on the power to exert deadly force for my protection is completely ludicrous to me.
The scarcity model of gun control does not work for crime prevention, but does work to disarm social movements. If a person intends to murder or intimidate people as a means of support, a gun is of much greater value to that person than the cost increase caused by illegality. Most gun control legislation in recent history has been designed to induce price increases or difficulty of purchase, while having no impact on the operation of the illicit market. That has a greater impact on broad social movements, especially those by the poor.
Marlene
August 26, 2011
More About Guns
Posted in 2nd Amendment, civil rights, QOD
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The Talisman Of A Gun
Many people treat firearms as some sort of magical talisman. Pro-Second Amendment rights people, such as myself, deride those who try to treat firearms as some sort of cursed item that will drive anyone who comes into contact with them into a killing rage. Yet, there are many pro-rights people can be almost as bad.
With the recent riots in London and the violent flash mob attacks, I have seen some say that if there enough people that are armed the riots will just end. I disagree. The best that can happen is that the armed individuals can create islands of security in a sea of chaos. Depending on how bad things are, the rioters will either:
- Go around these areas secured by armed individuals.
- Attack them in mass. Look at London. You can’t cover all directions at once. And, it is hard to fight off Molotov cocktails burning the place down around your ears.
The truth is the situation will probably fall somewhere between these extremes in the USA. To many gun owners have little to no training and do not practice anywhere near enough to be prepared for this kind of situation. Even if they are, how many rounds of ammo do they have? The recent violent flash mobs occurred in public places. And, the biggest sellers in concealed carry firearm carry 5-10 rounds (small revolvers, Ruger LCP and similar pistols). And, how many carry reloads? One of these pistols might help you protect yourself and your family if you find yourself the target of one of these violent flash mobs. But, if you find yourself caught outside of protection by an actual riot, you are likely to run out of ammo.
Better protection for yourself and your family is to pay attention to the local news (from multiple sources) and try to estimate the likelihood of such events occurring. Then choose your activities, locations and strategies accordingly. Some things you might want to consider are:
- Local news events – The London riots were set off by the shooting of a minority by the police. The LA Riots in 1992 were set off by the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.
- Economic conditions – If people are depressed or angry because they can’t find a job, they are more likely to riot.
- Weather conditions – If it is hot so are passions. Generally speaking, riots are more likely to occur in good weather. If it is wet and miserable outside, there are less people outside to take part in the riot.
My biggest piece of advice to anyone is just pay attention and do your best to always have a way out. Do what you can to make people’s lives better. If their lives are are good, why would they riot? Get acquainted with your neighbors. A united front against rioters/looters in a neighborhood will do a lot more than individual homes trying to protect themselves. Last, but not least, if you are a firearm owner get defense training.
Posted in Defense, fear, news, preparedness, Self Defense
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Upcoming Post
Tonight, I hope to make a post about the talisman of a gun and how it does not ward society from evil.
Posted in 2nd Amendment, Blogging, civil rights, crime, fear, freedom, Pistol, Rifle, shotguns, society
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