Are Preppers Really the Crazy Ones?

Having survived the Arctic Vortex of Winter 2014, and the behavior of the general public, I’m left wondering, “Are Preppers really the crazy ones”?

Officially FEMA now suggest we all store at least two weeks of food and water. As soon as news hit of our impending bad weather our local grocery stores were besieged by people not only buying out the supply of milk, bread, and eggs, but all manner of snack foods up to and including selling out of broccoli.

Pretty much with modern weather reporting we knew that we were likely to be snowed in, or at least have travel restrictions, for only 2-3 days max. I could not help but wonder how people would react if suddenly their local grocery stores could not guarantee ANY new supply of food? What would you do to feed your children or yourself if suddenly the store shelves were bare tomorrow? Finally what are the real chances of this really ever happening?

There seem to be many different types of Preppers. Some Preppers save for the recommended two weeks, some save for even longer, and some even save a few bullets to protect the supplies they keep. Say what you will about Preppers but they were not standing in line at the stores and braving subzero weather to buy milk, bread, eggs, or snacks for a weather event that was clearly only going to last a couple of days. So go ahead and sneer at them, watch the extreme ones on TV, but in the end are Preppers really the crazy ones?

Maybe We Should Thank Phil For The Conversation?

What can be said about the “Phil Incident” that wasn't already been said? For those living in a bubble, the popular reality TV star Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty Fame, was quoted in a QG magazine interview as saying homosexuality was a sin, Nazi’s needed Jesus, and he never saw the mistreatment of any black person growing up in Louisiana before the civil rights era.

Granted this statement was BOUND to inflame emotions in today’s world of political correctness, but what happened as a result of his statement has inflamed even more emotions. In a world where we avoid uncomfortable conversation or topics maybe we should THANK Phil? Today we are discussing our constitutional rights being taken away, taking about the rights of homosexuals, talking about the actual mistreatment blacks did in fact suffer before the civil rights movement, and we’re even talking about Jesus in our personal lives.

The network sponsoring the Duck Dynasty show, A & E, hypocritically fired the man then ran a 36 hour duck dynasty marathon, cashing in on the controversy it itself created from his firing. Will Phil return after all the fuss has died down? Will Phil go on to bigger and better things? Will this whole story REALLY change anything? Who knows but instead of  being so overly sensitive maybe we should thank Phil for the conversation?

A Star in Her Crown of Glory

From time to time as a child my mother would make references to what she thought was in the bible, and of course her being my mother, I took what she said as the “gospel”. One phrase I often heard her say when she had heard someone had done an exceptionally selfless act of kindness or generosity that that person had won “another star in their crown of glory”. I asked her once what it meant and she said someday I’d stand before the Lord to be judged and if I had lived a good life the Lord would let me stay in heaven with him and wear a golden crown. She went on to say that that crown would be my crown of glory with stars showing how many good deeds I had done while on earth and how many people I had helped along the way. I took her for her word and for the most part I've helped those in need in my life when I could.

Many years ago I had just separated from my spouse of 25 years, most of them good, but the last few very turbulent for me. After such a split I think most folks go through various emotions ranging from guilt to even feelings of a lack of self-worth. Christmas has always been special to me and my large family always gathered on Christmas Eve at my parent’s home. I always loved being there on Christmas Eve, but this first Christmas Eve as a single person I was alone. I really didn't want to explain my personal decision to divorce to my family, and the kids went to my Ex’s family gathering leaving me alone on the one evening I dearly wanted to be home and not alone.

I decided I’d go out and about and not sit at home with all the depressing thoughts running through my head, some of which I’m embarrassed to say could have been my last thoughts on this earth. I went to a local bar I sometimes stopped by for a quick drink and found that someone must had secretly placed a sign above my head saying, “All complete losers please sit next to me”, it didn't take long for me to figure out this was no place for me on Christmas Eve. I left the bar and just drove around determined not to sit at home alone and let these feelings of depression get the best of me.

Before long I drove by one of the only restaurants open near my home on Christmas Eve and decided maybe a big fat steak would cheer me up. I pulled in to see how much longer they might be open and standing at the door was an old classmate from high school. She immediately smiled and greeted me a hearty “Merry Christmas” and a hug. I got to tell you that was the best hug I had had in a very long time, If not the best, the most needed for sure. She asked what I was doing out alone and I only told her I was newly single and didn't want to be home alone tonight. She smiled and said she hadn't had her dinner break yet and asked if I wanted company with my meal, boy did I ever!

It's funny how life works, I had not seen her in years and nor have I our paths crossed since, but on the one night I needed company more than anything, maybe the Lord sent me that angel. Her simple act of kindness to have a meal with me on that Christmas Eve renewed my faith in God, in myself, and in my belief that things would be alright in my new life. I still have no idea if my mother knew what she was talking about but I’d like to believe my old friend surely received “A star in her crown of glory” that night.

When is a law not a law?

ABC NEWS on its website reported a story about the possibility of homosexual athletes and fans at the 2014 Olympics being prosecuted under its new law that forbids, "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" around minors. This will include public displays of affection like holding hands or displaying gay pride rainbow flags. Russians citizens face fines and possible jail time, foreigners could additionally face deportation.

A Russian lawmaker, Vitaly Milonov, was quoted saying,

"If a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn't have the authority," he reportedly said, stressing that he has not heard anything different from Russian officials.

In our country we have a similar system of government where congress makes laws and our president signs them into law. We however have allowed our president the ignore laws he does not agree with, like D.O.M.A. and the employer mandate on the A.C.A., with no repercussions.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I personally do not agree with the Russian law, although I do acknowledge they have the right to make laws that they want to live by, as do we in our country. If they or we do not like a law we vote in politicians that are more in line with our personal beliefs and have the law amended legally, it is unlawful to simply ignore a legal law in either country. My question is when is it ok to simply ignore a law, and if it's OK to ignore a law I don't like how can I complain when someone chooses to ignore a law I do agree with?

Let's at Least Agree to the Conversation

Wow...I have to say for the longest time I felt a bit 'out of sorts'. I love to blog and share my thoughts online and for the longest time I did just that. Awhile back I posted on my Newsvine blog a copy of my blog from this site , http://nativerobin.blogspot.com/2013/02/when-is-fetus-child.html , the content material was very divisive as it dealt with the question of abortion.

Logging on to make a post one day I noticed that my blog had been pulled with no explanation. I will admit this messed with my head a bit and after several emails with no satisfactory excuse given i came to the conclusion I had been censored by the site simply because they didn't agree with me? As much as I didn't want to think about it threw me into a writer's block that has taken quite awhile to shake off. I mean what's the sense in posting if it's removed by people that are mis-guided, I mean don't agree with me.   

Finally, today I got my blog entry re-instated to the site and this huge weight is off my chest. So I'm posting now that I hope you visit this blog often as I'm going to let the blogging begin again! I think the world would be a boring place if we all agreed on everything but let's at least agree to the conversation.

What would you be willing to do to make a difference?

Recently we heard the inspiring story of a 18 year old man named Jhaqueil Reagan. He was a young man that set out to walk 10 miles for a job interview for a cashier job that pays minimum wage. Along the way he stopped to ask directions from a local restaurant owner who pointed him in the right direction, later the restaurant owner spotted Mr. Reagan still walking and offered him a ride. As they traveled he learned the young man was raising his younger siblings and trying to do the right thing all on his own. The restaurant owner admired the young man and offered him a job at his restaurant, saying, “It’s been a while since I’ve met someone so young with a work ethic like that!”

Yesterday Sen. Rand Paul was given the floor of the senate and to prove a point he filibustered for nearly 13 hours, blocking the confirmation vote for the president's CIA nominee John Brennan. Sen. Paul took issue that the president's current drone policy allowing him to be judge, jury, and executioner of not only people deemed foreign terrorist but Americans as well. I watched Sen. Paul on TV for awhile, he spoke passionately, mostly without notes, and  won the hearts of conservatives as well as many liberals.

Both of these men made worldwide news for what they did, both of these men were only doing what came naturally from their heart, but neither of these men did anything that was superhuman or really beyond the ability of the average person. What they both DID do was not accept the status quo or accept that making a difference in other people's lives was beyond their abilities. It's easy to admire these men and at the same time wonder, "What would you be willing to do to make a difference"?

Mr. President THE SKY IS NOT FALLING

Listening to our President's statements as of late concerning the sequestration and you'd think the sky was about to fall, but by looking at a few FACTS we truly get a different picture. The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) announced that during the month of February alone the National Debt increased by $253,497,921.33. The Presidents "Doom and Gloom" predictions of massive government lay-offs, pay reductions, flight delays, un-safe food, etc. have not planned out nor will they likely anytime soon. The CBO states that $35 billion in discretionary outlays and $9 billion in mandatory spending only amount to $44 billion for 2013 with additional cut happening in later years.

I'm trying figure just how a reduction of $44 billion for the entire YEAR will hurt the funding efforts of a government that borrowed nearly $253.5billion in ONE MONTH. One needs to also keep in mind that the sequestration cuts were only cuts in additional spending, not actual cuts to current spending levels, and even though sequestration cuts were allowed to go in effect we still experience massive increases in government spending over last year.

As we calm down and realize sequestration cuts didn't hurt us one bit we also find out from the CBO that for 2012 the federal government took in a record amount of tax dollars to the tune of $2.7 trillion. Which begs the questions , "If we are taking in record amounts of tax dollars why do we need higher taxes" and  also, "If we take in more in tax dollars now than ever before why are we still borrowing record amounts of money"? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we do not have a revenue problem as suggested by our President but truly we have a spending problem, and yes Mr. President THE SKY IS NOT FALLING.