Like the President said, get used to higher gas prices.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/nbc-s-brokaw-saudis-so-unhappy-obama-adm

Banking Explained in 1957 by British Humorists

http://www.institutionaladvisors.com/pdf/081024-PRIMER_ON_FRACTIONAL_RESERVE_BANKING.pdf


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Radiation Exposure Information

In light of the current crisis in Japan, here is some information in regards to radiation exposure:

Map of US with current radiation levels uploaded from various sources and locations of nuclear facilities:
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/RadiationNetwork.htm

What to do in a nuclear emergency:
http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm

Potassium Iodide tablets, under the brand name Thryosafe, are sometimes available at CVS. They were cheap and have no real expiration date. The only issue that arises is that they don't dissolve as well when they are old but you can crumble and mix with liquid for administration.

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Nobody Wants to Hear the Truth

I had the inestimable pleasure of watching the new Senator from KY speak today in the Senate on CSpan. He’s a slightly better speaker than his father, but the message was no less accurate and no less unpopular.

He showed a chart of our yearly deficit juxtaposed against the proposed budgets now being floated in Congress. They are both a joke and Senator Paul blasted both sides for their refusal to tackle our looming debt crisis.

He made a simple argument. We can do it now, or wait until it is a full blown crisis as witnessed recently in Greece. He spoke of how everyone is insistent on not cutting critical programs, but in reality all of these so-called critical programs will very soon be unfunded, bankrupt, kaput making the point moot.

The United Stated is now borrowing 5 Billion dollars per day. The Democrats want to cut borrowing (not spending) by 6 billion per year and the Repubs want to cut borrowing 65 billion per year. Both plans would be laughable if not so totally dangerous in the long run, as the yearly deficit is more than a trillion dollars!

Our nation is headed for oblivion and our children will pay the price. If drastic spending cuts are implemented now, there will be hard times ahead. If we continue to ignore the coming financial crisis, such “hard times” will pale in comparison to our entire way of life coming to an end.

The vast majority of the Dems are in total denial and the same % of Repubs are running an agenda – neither side is doing anything to fix the problem.

We must demand frugality from our elected employees now! This is not about left or right, but about survival of our nation. It’s about living within our means, from the personal level to the federal level.

It was refreshing to hear Senator Paul speak, to hear an honest man speak in Congress with no concern for his own popularity or electability. The Senator to speak after him immediately set about saying how ridiculous the thought of drastic spending cuts would be in our current economy – that we must ease into the cuts slowly. That is exactly how we got here in the first place.

End deficit spending now, or our children’s children will surely pay a high price for our sins.

Trey Dawson

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Defending Liberty and Faith in Dark Days

For liberty to prevail, individuals, families and small communities must be self reliant (one of the hallmarks of liberty). In recent years, it has become evident that our national government and culture have little restraint and in bad times are likely to become useless and dangerous. Families must be prepared to meet their own needs in any situation. Character and faith will be more important than ever.

Imagine the following scenario:
You decide to stop at the store on your way home from work to pickup some toilet paper and milk. You notice the store is busy but don't think much of it. It's five on Friday. Inside you see the lines are very long. You find no toilet paper and no milk, settling for some high fructose corn syrup laden fruit juice. In line, you ask the guy next to you, "what's going on?" He says something about the bond market and the Chinese that you don't really understand. After a long wait with other frustrated customers you head home. You notice gas is now over $5/gallon.

In the next few days, you learn that due to growing unrest in the Middle East, including the fall of the Saudi government, oil prices have rapidly risen. The impact on the price of oil has further threatened the US economy, crashing the international value of the dollar. The weak dollar combined with the burgeoning US debt has shaken the market for US Treasury bonds.
China's growing influence in the Mideast and their growing economy's demand for oil, in combination with the dollar's decline, has pushed them to seize the moment for a strategic move; dumping their investment in US debt and providing support for the fledgling governments rising in the Mideast.

These events push the price of an unleaded gallon of gas over $10, if you can find it at all. Prices for all products and services rapidly rise in accordance without corresponding rises in wages. Families can't pay their bills or put food on the table. The average family's 3 days worth of food in their pantry is depleted. Worse, truck drivers are striking due to high fuel costs and the
inability of suppliers to meet the new costs of shipping.

(Have you been in the back of a grocery store or Walmart? There is no stock room like in the old days. The only stock you'll find is what has been unloaded off of trucks that day.)

Food prices sky rocket. Within another three days, grocery store shelves are empty. No new deliveries are being made or are at least limited. Those that have money to afford the new prices are buying whatever is being delivered. Those who can't afford to support their families begin rioting and looting. Those who are on public assistance are hit hard and are not dealing well with
the new reality. Good people are desperate after several days without food. The public service systems are overloaded. As in the Katrina aftermath, the employees that provide government services are taking care of their own. People stop going to work and stay home to protect their families or search for food. The power grid becomes unreliable with rolling blackouts. This is the
reality in all of urban and suburban America.

The near future goes in one of two directions at this point: America descends in to chaos, unlike anyone in modern times has ever seen. Or, strong leadership, using martial law and elements of the police state (already in place), secure the power grid and day to day security. In either outcome, the lifestyles we are accustomed to living are gone.

This is not a prediction, but a look at what might possibly happen. Most Americans have not seriously considered such a scenario and virtually none are prepared to endure it. There are some very easy steps any family can take to better prepare themselves for harder times. Below are a few links to help you get started being more self reliant today. Those who can not take
care of themselves will have to submit to the government and what assistance it can provide (remember the Super Dome?). When those systems quickly fail, otherwise good people will sell their souls and sacrifice their principles in an attempt to surivive if they have not prepared.

The best strategy to deal with such a future would be to avoid such a scenario by encouraging a more self reliant culture that restrains it's government. James Ostrowski has written a strategy manual for liberty in America, Direct Citizen Action.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974925349?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=anyMore

Many people will probably be startled by the actual level of emergency preparation our government currently recommends for citizens(that is largely ignored). You can read online or order a free bookelt from FEMA. http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/ The guide leaves out a lot in regards to personal safety, security, and food storage but is a good starting point.

Every self reliant family should take the following, in regards to food, seriously: Visit an old farm house. You'll see large pantries and root cellars. Our past generations have kept food for the hard times on hand. Why have we stopped? Anyone can start storing a little extra food on their next trip to the grocery store. You can take advantage of BOGOs and other sales to actually
save money. By having a stock of your regular items on hand, you only have to buy them when they are on sale. See the following article on food storage, which covers the basics to more advanced. http://www.lewrockwell.com/shirtz/shirtz20.1.html

Each member of your family should have a 3 day bag. Some people call this a "Go Bag", "GOOD (Get Out of Dodge) Bag" or "Bug Out Bag." In the Southeast it's often known as a hurricane supply kit. The following link has some ideas on how to do it right. http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/the-bug-out-bag

Personal preparedness and self reliance have become of interest to me in the wake of 9/11 and even more so following the financial panic of 2008. Our government's continued willingness to prop up the failed system is evidence of the sickness of our nation. I will be posting items from time to time on being more self reliant. I hope the above scenario serves as a wake up call and the links provide some direction.

Changes

I'll be using BlogPress to update with new articles and as a source to send information to facebook and twitter. New Portrait of an American Rifleman articles will be coming quarterly.

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Portrait of an American Rifleman:Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child, plagued by asthma and poor eyesight. However, with the encouragement of his father, the future 26^th and youngest president embarked on a vigorous lifestyle to improve his health. Born to an affluent New York family with a mother of Savannah, Georgia aristocracy, Roosevelt used his advantages to pursue fully what he coined the “strenuous life.” Taking up boxing to increase his strength and health as a boy was the beginning of a lifelong adventurous and sporting lifestyle. He engaged in athletics of all sorts, went west to become a rancher (when the west was still somewhat wild), went on Safari in Africa, and a South American expedition. While president, Roosevelt completely lost vision in his left eye boxing a young artillery captain at the White House.¹ Perhaps Roosevelt’s most famous adventure was leading the Rough Riders during the Spanish American War. In Cuba, with the Rough Riders, he attained the nickname, “The Colonel,” a moniker he retained the rest of his life. Close friends never referred to him as “Teddy.”
As Assistant Secretary of the Navy and an ardent supporter of war with Spain, Roosevelt used his connections to form the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, which became known as the Rough Riders. The regiment was formed in Texas and was composed of cowboys, Indians, Indian fighters, Ivy League College boys, lawmen, and outlaws. The conflict in Cuba inspired ten American men to fight for every one position available and brought northerners and southerners together again for a common cause.² Lt. Colonel Roosevelt deferred the actual top command of the regiment to a more experienced officer, but gained the respect of his men and national notoriety from his exploits with the Rough Riders. Roosevelt’s experience with the Rough Riders also strengthened his belief in the importance of rifle marksmanship. In his second annual message as Governor of New York he remarked “…it should be remembered that target practice proper is the alphabet of the soldier's marksmanship. In a battle the only bullets that count are those that hit.” As president, he remarked in his annual message to Congress of 1906, “if a soldier has the fighting edge, and ability to care for himself in the open, his efficiency on the line of battle is almost directly proportionate to excellence in marksmanship.”

We cannot know for sure how good a shot Roosevelt was himself but he was often called a fine shot in spite of his poor vision. When asked if he was a good marksman, according to his grandson, Tweed, Theodore Roosevelt would reply, “I don’t shoot well, but I shoot often.”³ Roosevelt is still known today for favoring Winchester repeating rifles. He is reported to have owned at least 20 of them and given more as gifts.⁴ The naturalist Alden Loring, who accompanied Roosevelt on safari in Africa reported, “…the Colonel is a good marksman…In hunting dangerous game, such as buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceroses, and lions he exhibited the courage of a veteran big-game hunter, and the quickness with which he mastered the situation when in dangerous places, and the accuracy of his shooting, showed that he never got excited.” Loring surmised that ten times the amount of game taken could have been killed if the expedition had not been fully scientific in nature.⁵

As president, Roosevelt was concerned about the marksmanship abilities of both American troops and the civilian population: “. . . it is unfortunately true that the great body of our citizens shoot less and less as time goes on. To meet this we should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services, by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving the peace of the world. Fit to hold our own against the strong nations of the earth, our voice for peace will carry to the ends of the earth. Unprepared, and therefore unfit, we must sit dumb and helpless to defend ourselves, protect others, or preserve peace. The first step in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come is to teach our men to shoot.”⁶

As president, “The Colonel” took steps to make sure Americans had the ability to remain free through practice with the rifle and the development of marksmanship skills. In his first term as president, Roosevelt established the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice. An annual national marksmanship competition was created and Roosevelt instituted the long standing presidential tradition of writing a congratulatory letter to the winner. Roosevelt also said the Congress should “encourage the formation of rifle clubs throughout all parts of the land.”⁷ The national board evolved into the federally chartered, non-profit Civilian Marksmanship Program. Today, American civilians can purchase surplus military rifles and ammunition from the Civilian Marksmanship Program through participation in marksmanship training with a rifle club. As Roosevelt once wrote, “The rifle is the free man’s weapon.”⁸ Once upon a time, free men like Theodore Roosevelt took steps to preserve liberty for future generations. Those generations must continue to defend that hard-earned liberty through rifle and marksmanship practice.

1. The Life of Theodore Roosevelt, WM Draper Lewis, 1919.

2. The Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt, 1899.

3. Roosevelt Hunt Honors Military and Helps Fight Cancer, 119^th Wing North Dakota Air National Guard News, Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp, 2008.

4. Theodore Roosevelt Outdoorsman, R.L. Wilson, 1994.

5. Tells of Roosevelt’s Hunt, The New York Times, August 25, 1910.

6. State of the Union Message, 1908.

7. Theodore Roosevelt, American Rifleman, May, 1958.

8. Ibid.