Merry Christmas

In a free country we should be able to say Merry Christmas without fear of offending others. Our right to say this should be respected as we should respect the freedom of speech of others.

Despite the oppressive Political Correctness disease that is sweeping our country (led by the main stream media), we are still blessed to live in a time of such abundance. Never in history has even royalty had the luxuries that most of us have today. Even Americans that live in so-called “Poverty” are well above the world’s average income level.

The worldwide median income is about $9,733 per household according to Gallup.com
or $808 per month.  The US Poverty level is $24,250 for a family of 4 according to HealthCare.gov which is $2020 per month.  In addition, they get earned income credit, food stamps, health care benefits and more, worth an estimated $1,000 per month.  So Americans in poverty live over 3 times better than the average citizen of the planet earth.  According to Euro News, 48% of the worlds wealth belongs to 1% of the population, which includes Americans in Poverty. 

According to the Global Rich List,  ....a family of five living just above the poverty line in the US is actually “the one percent” compared to the rest of the world.

But as the planet becomes more globalized and socialized, the lower income citizens will increase and the higher ones like us will decrease, moving closer to parity.  

So for now, we should give thanks and appreciate and protect our country.  While charity is good, we would not borrow money to provide for strangers, which is what our country is doing when we bring in immigrants and let them get on welfare, food stamps and free health care.

 For more information see:

Blog Table of Contents
Protecting America 

Protecting America

 The greatest threats facing our country today are:

1. Radical Islam
2. Gun Control
3. Big Government and the NSA
4. Excessive Immigration

All very politically charged topics that our country will never fully agree on, but let me explain why they are serious threats.

1. First, anyone who lacks tolerance and believes all non-believers (in their religion) are enemies and should be killed are a serious threat.  Anyone who would blow themselves up to kill their enemies are a serious threat.  Iran has massive oil and natural gas reserves; why do they need nuclear power? What happens when these suicide bombers start getting equipped with small Iranian nuclear bombs?

The enemy is among us already.  Unless we put strict immigration laws in place and start enforcing them, they will continue to infiltrate our country further. For someone who hates and wants to destroy America, major targets are likely to be Houston, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, Dallas, Boston, Detroit & Washington DC.  This would kill millions and destroy most of our ability to produce electricity and gasoline plus our financial and government centers.

Granted, most Muslims are good peace loving people, but there are a large percentage who are radical or support radical Islam ideology.  Estimates and surveys I've heard have been between 13% and 20% while only 10% Germans were Nazis; the rest were coerced with political correctness and later fear of disappearing in the night.  Listening to Soccer fans in Turkey cheer the attack on Paris, this 13-20% seems believable.  This is obviously not enough to attack the US directly, but it is enough to infiltrate our country, create division between races and classes and cause major disruptions.  With the Billions of dollars in trade deficit we have sent to the middle east for oil, they have used that money to buy most of our businesses and politicians including millions of dollars to one of the leading presidential candidates today.

2. As long as we are armed, law abiding citizens can defend themselves against these other threats.  If there was strict gun control in 1770, the united States would not exist today except as a part of England.  Poorly armed and unable to secure our rights by force as George Washington did, we probably would have ended up on the short end of the stick like just the Native Americans, who initially had more people but were not armed as well.

The Right to Bear Arms that Shall not be infringed, wasn't intended to protect our ability to hunt for food, nor enable us to be safe in our homes but rather to protect us from a tyrannical government.  Our Forefathers that won our freedom carried the same guns the military did. The more our government infringes on the right to bear arms, the more important that right becomes to protect against them.

Oppressive countries enforce strict gun control and as a result, countries with less private firearm ownership tend to have lower personal rights, with the government deciding most everything of importance for them.  Things like what they can get, how much they are paid, which doctor they can see or even how many children they can have.  Mexico gun laws are very restrictive and very few citizens own guns and look at their terrible crime rate.  Countries that brag about low gun crime after banning them, either change the way they measure crime or fail to talk about total violent crime, which goes up after banning guns.  FBI statistics clearly show more guns correlates to less crime.  Banning guns only disarms law abiding citizens as the criminals still have them. See Gun Free Zone Facts This is based on an FBI report, not the "facts" of some special interest group.

Do we prohibit guns from criminals & those who are mentally ill?  The obvious answer seems to be yes, but think about this.  If we disagree with the government, they can declare us criminals or mentally ill.  Anyone who would want to own a gun must be mentally ill.... right?  Anyone who owns the wrong kind of gun, that gets more and more restrictive over time is a criminal, right? Can you see where this could go.  Next, an annual mental examination will be required to own a gun at our expense and a huge government fee/tax.  Slowly over time, more and more "common sense" gun regulations are put in place until it becomes nearly impossible to legally own a gun... no problem for criminals; actually unarmed victims is favorable for criminals.  Interesting how a large majority of all mass shootings are in Gun Free Zones.  Perhaps the people who implement those gun free zones are in part responsible for the victims who are shot, far more so than the gun manufactures being responsible when a criminal uses a gun to commit a crime.

It should be noted that almost all mass shootings in public since 1950 are in places were guns are banned.  So obviously banning guns does not work.  See Gun Free Zone Facts

3. Big government is the least efficient way to manage things.  Look at the US Post Office which lost billions of dollars while Fed X and UPS are making nice profits.  Look at Social Security which is about to go broke, while private insurance and retirement funds are making money hand over fist.  Look at the VA health care with Veterans who fought for our freedom having to wait months for medical care.  Hundreds of thousands reportedly died while waiting for Government ran Health Care.  This was such a problem in the UK that in 2010 they passed a law to "ensure that no person waits longer than 18 weeks from the date that a patient is referred to the hospital to the time of the operation or treatment."  This law was passed because UK government health care was taking much longer, just like the US Veterans health care was and like US health care for everyone will be if we don't get and keep the government out of it. 

The NSA tracks the average American's phone 25 times per day in 2014;  Where you are, who you talked to, how long, even what you said; every text message and photo you send. Such total knowledge is ripe for abuse.  Every politician or person who is opposed to the NSA, Big Government or the President in power could have incriminating information leak out about them that destroys their life, even if it was only circumstantial evidence and they were totally innocent.  The NSA tracking every American with out a warrant is not the answer and the loss of freedom that it represents is not worth the small (if any) increase in safety.  We need to stop letting potential enemies into our country, not erode our rights so we can bring even more in.

Our prosperity and security has led us to be passive as our Government has grown larger and larger and our federal debt has exceeded 18 Trillion dollars which is over $55,000 for every man woman and child according to USDebtClock.org .  A typical family of four, owes $220,0000 in federal government debt, in addition to our own personal debt and state debt.  The total debt is over 65 Trillion, or $200,000 per citizen, $800,000 per family of four.  This is despite about 4 Trillion dollars in federal tax revenue which is an average of $10,000 of annual federal taxes per US citizen, or $40,000 for a family of four.  Our federal tax code is over 60,000 pages long.

4. Our government is supposed to be "Of the People, by the People and for the People." The people being the citizens of our country and not everyone who visits legally and especially not those that come to or stay in our country illegally.  Illegal immigrants often steal someones identity to use their Social Security number to get a job.   They claim 99 dependents so that no taxes are withheld.  Their tax burden then falls on the person whose SS number they use.  Donald Trump was once criticized for saying most illegal immigrants were criminals. I take exception to that statement because they are ALL criminals.  Granted, most are hard working & otherwise law-abiding individuals but too many get welfare, food stamps and all the government free benefits with out paying any taxes. If legalized, they could file past tax returns for 3 years and get over $20,000 in Earned Income Credit despite not having paid any taxes. At the same time, educated professional people who would not depend on welfare seek to immigrate and can't.

Don't get me wrong, when our country was under populated, selective and regulated growth through immigration is healthy, but excessive or unregulated growth is cancerous.  During historical periods of excessive immigration, we have experienced gang wars, riots and turf battles between the different ethnic groups.  This is starting again and will only get worse if we don't get things under control now.

Many today don't come here to adopt our ways and fit in to our country, but rather to change our ways to be like theirs through political correctness and claims of racism and profiling.  Profiling is actually a case of law enforcement working smarter.  Would we expect them to question female suspects in a typical rape case or suspect someone with out gang tattoos in a gang related shooting? Not profiling is stupid, but it must be done right. Asking to see ID to vote or confirm the legal status of a drunk driver who doesn't speak English should be fine, especially since speaking English has been a requirement for over 100 years to become a US Citizen.

Let me be clear; I am not a racist despite what many are thinking now.  Further, I resent hearing this all the time and would push back with this. With 97% of the black voters voting for a Black President while about 50% of the whites voted for him and 50% voted against him (an even distribution), who are the real racist? I was raised for many years by a woman of a different color; I worked in Mexico for years and some of my best friends plus the best boss I ever worked for and that I respect highly was a different color.  While charity is good, we would not borrow money to provide for strangers, which is what our country is doing when we bring in immigrants and let them get on welfare, food stamps and free health care. We can't afford it.  When our budget is balanced, it is okay.

So how do we fix these things?  The Declaration of Independence says that "it is the Right of the People to alter" .. our government.  We have a means to achieve this peaceably.  We must all VOTE these principals above all others. Here are some links to help you write to your US Government representatives.

Find Your Senators
Find Your Representative
NumbersUSA
NRA 

We get rid of every politician in office that supports any form of gun control & expands government spending.  If the deficit goes up, no incumbent politician should be eligible for re-election. Businesses balance budgets all the time. Most Americans do it every week with their paychecks.  By normal business standards our country is bankrupt.


Obviously we can NOT deport every illegal immigrant. Its inhumane and our country needs the ones that work, pay taxes and do not draw welfare or other government handouts and speak English. Will there be some sob stories on the news and protests? Every illegal immigrant who violently protests should be immediately deported and never eligible to legally return under any circumstances.  Peaceful protests are 100% acceptable. Yes, the solutions to difficult problems are not easy or they would have been fixed already.

We must start by stopping the flow of more immigrants.  A wall is not practical and will not work, but requiring the use of E Verify or face employer fines of $50,000 for each illegal immigrant hired & enforcing it will solve the problem.  Those already working, paying taxes for the past 3-5 years, and not on any form of welfare, no criminal background, will receive a green card (not citizenship) and are temporarily exempt from deportation along with their immediate families.  They will be allowed to apply for citizenship like all other immigrants. Eventually many will go home because they won't be able to get jobs and welfare....others will stop coming.... problems solved.  Those that stay will be hard working law abiding citizens. 

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents
The end of FREE America

Terrorist Attack - Best Preparations
The Best Gun 
NRA Gun Safety Rules
Gun Free Zone Facts   

Prepper Gift List

Giving the right gifts at Christmas or for birthdays can help the entire family’s level of preparation. For example, giving:

1. A good set of MURS Walkie Talkies for the nephew, kids or grand kids so they can play in the neighborhood and communicate. Play with the new toys with them. Pick “our channel” so they will know what to use in the future if an emergency occurs.  Pretend a hurricane has taken out all communications.
2. Water distiller, good filter, dispenser for the refrigerator and spare filters to “help save money on bottled water… or drink healthier water” but also have the ability to filter rainwater, pool or creek water if necessary.
3. Crank radio with flashlight “for those power outages like we had this spring.”  One that has the NOAA Weather channel available for emergencies.
4.  Camping gear to take the “family to experience the great outdoors.” Things like sleeping bags, water filter bottle, water treatment, and tent, and emergency whistle, fire starting equipment, backpack, and a compass.  Even if you only practice in the back yard, its good experience.
5. Outdoor solar powered LED lights, to "highlight the landscape" but also provide a source of lights and charges AA batteries when the power grid is down.  Some use AAA batteries.
6. State or US Map for getting where needed when there is “no cell signal,” Google or even GPS.
7. Gas can for reserve fuel “extra for the lawn mower” so we always have a full one. Be sure to include some gas stabilizer as gas has a limited shelf life.
8. A good 12 VDC to 120 VAC inverter for your car so you always have a plug to power things.
9. Motion lights solar powered for around house / yard. Ideally they use common replaceable rechargeable batteries (like AAA, AA, and 9V, C or D). These are very useful as a deterrent to intruders and alerts residents.
10. Medical or First Aide hand book or family First Aide Kit.
11. Ammo for shooting practice; you can't have too much. See: The right amount of Ammo 
12. Prepper Books and Movies are good gifts. 
13. Silver Dollars for collector coins
14. Security Lights and Alarms to protect the home. 
15. Thermal Vision for hunting at night or detecting heat loss in your home.
16. Rechargeable Batteries are another good stealth prepper gift.  

Convincing your family, friends and neighbors that preparation is important can be difficult if not impossible in today’s busy times. A gradual approach will be required if you are to be successful. Otherwise, you should keep your preparations confidential and not let others know about them (as much as possible). But also plan on providing help for skeptical love ones & even neighbors.

Supplies like gas masks or razor wire should be concealed until things get bad…..when the skeptics stop thinking you are crazy and wish they had listened to you.  The Prepper Handbook on Amazon offers about 50 such gift ideas and can be previewed free. You can also down load a free Kindle reader to your phone or computer.

J Ray

For additional information see the following link:

Blog Table of Contents

 

Gun Free Zone Facts

The Gun-Free School Zones Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate in October 1990 by Joe Biden then signed in November 1990 by George W Bush.  The Supreme Court soon ruled it was unconstitutional and it was revised in late 1996.  Since that time, the number of mass public shootings have increased steadily (bar graph below) according to page 8 of a study starting 4 years later (2000) by the FBI titled A Study of Active Shooters.

INCIDENTS WITH THE HIGHEST CASUALTY COUNTS:

1. Cinemark Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado: 70 (12 killed, 58 wounded), July 20, 2012.
2. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia: 49 (32 killed, 17 wounded), April 16, 2007.12
3. Ft. Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center in Ft. Hood, Texas: 45 (13 killed, 32 wounded), November 5, 2009.
4. Sandy Hook Elementary School and a residence in Newtown, Connecticut: 29 (27 killed, 2 wounded), December 14, 2012.

ALL IN GUN FREE ZONES. Had one of the many law abiding victims in these shootings been armed, the casualties would likely have been much lower. Unfortunately, someone in a position of authority was responsible for making these locations a Gun Free zone, or more accurately, an Easy Victim zone.  To date, none of these decision makers have been held accountable.

In fact, if you look at the locations of the 160 shootings (pie graph below), about 86% are typically "Gun Free" zones.  

Note the comments in red were added for clarity and the link to the original report is included above.

The FBI has an educational video of an Active Shooter incident titled "Run. Hide. Fight. Surviving an Active Shooter Event."  If you watch it, 58 seconds into the video, there is an official "No Guns" notice on the door.  

That is most likely why shooters chose these easy locations.  The report does not mention any mass shootings in a gun store, and I've never heard of one.  On top of this, there are many documented cases of armed citizens preventing crime and far more that are undocumented, which makes sense because the crime never occurred.

So 5 years after Gun Free zones were approved, the frequency of mass public shootings begin to increase.  Most were in  Gun Free zones, especially ALL the ones with the highest casualty count.

From all of this, it seems obvious that Gun Free zones are dangerous places.  So what should we do? Avoid Gun Free zones as much as possible, get proper fire arm training/permits and carry a gun with you.   

It is better to be armed and not need it, than to need a gun and not have one.  Granted the chances are small, but most police officers never fire a gun in the line of duty, yet they still wear a bullet proof vest.... just in case; because the consequences are too severe if they need one and don't have it. 

We also need to start holding Decision Makers responsible. Civil suits can achieve this or perhaps amending the Gun Free Zone law to stipulate that Decision Makers are responsible for providing adequate security to ensure our safety when they create or enforce a Gun Free Zone.

For more information:

Blog Table of Contents 
FBI GUIDE ON ACTIVE SHOOTERS
NRA Gun Safety Rules 
The Best Gun
Terrorist Attack - Best Preparations 
Why I avoid doing business in Gun Free Zones

Terrorist Attacks are not just a US problem; see this Video:
Graphic Video of Paris Terrorist Shootings