My Name is Debbie and I am a Prepper

  Michael Crichton wrote a book years ago called "State of Fear" the premise being that situations can be "tweeked"  to make people afraid thus furthering a particular agenda and to simply keep the cash flow going from a gullible public. The Jakarta Pandemic by Steven Konkoly follows the survival of a single family during a true pandemic and is frightening because it is in the realm of possibility.   No one will ever ask me to do a book review but I will tell you that the books were excellent and had the  underlying truth that most individuals will do anything to protect ourselves if at all possible even if it is an exercise in futility.  I can remember in elementary school kneeling under desks or in the hallway with our hands on the back of our neck in the "tuck and duck" position.  Now this was supposed to protect us from a bomb attack.  I believe that this was during the Bay of Pigs incident and no one questioned just how stupid this was. My mother was impressed that the schools were being so proactive and I remember thinking that if I would follow the exercise that I would survive.  A. Nuclear. Attack. Boy were we dumb but we practiced almost daily.  Every hospital I have ever worked  had practice disaster drills. For years we practiced plane, train, and bus accidents involving mass causalities.  They were useful and in my career I have participated in 2 real life mass casualty situations and I was grateful for the preparation. The tone of our emergency preparation has changed in that we now practice radiation poisoning, decontamination and treatment for chemical weapons.  I do at least one online educational program a year about chemical weapons. What I know without a doubt is that we are all unprepared for a true national disaster that would interrupt the delivery of food, the flow of water, the ability to receive medical care and electricity.  Think Hurricane Katrina and expand it to cover a whole region of the US or the entire country if you really want to be depressed. I believe that the general public will be reduced to its lowest form..... again look at Katrina and see what happened to the unprepared people of New Orleans.  The thing about hurricanes however is that you have ample warning to get the hell out of town.  If we would be hit with a true pandemic or an E-bomb(electromagnetic bomb) we would be thrust back to a time where there was no modern conveniences, like food delivered from all over the country to stock our local grocery  shelves, or electricity and to go along with the electricity NO AIR CONDITIONING OR HEATING, refrigeration, water flowing into our homes and an end to perishables that we take for granted.  Anything controlled by a computer will fail.  How would you care for your family or even yourself?  I imagine a large portion of people will assume that the government will care for them.  After all they are certainly caring for a huge amount of people in the form of food stamps and welfare. Good luck with that.  What people don't think about is that there will be no food to use your stamps on. If a major national disaster happened the stores would empty out of everything faster than poop through a goose.  What can you do as a responsible individual to protect your family or even yourself. Well, glad you asked... you can prepare.  Prepare for the worst and pray for the best.  Looking on line I went to a government site and was greatly amused at their advice.   The following is copied directly from www. ready.gov/make-a-plan

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation

Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food

Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both

Flashlight and extra batteries

First aid kit

Whistle to signal for help

Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place

Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

Manual can opener for food

Local maps

Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

They forgot the guns and the ammo to protect that huge supply of food you have amassed. But then in our current political correct environment gun owners are considered a lower life form. Considering the government is trying to take our guns away they couldn't very well list the need for self protection on their preparation list.     Well if this list makes you feel better then by all means get it together it is better than nothing at all. You need to consider that after the three days of supplies you have collected what are you going to do for day 4 till however long? There are many sites on line to assist you in getting prepared for a national disaster.  Keep in mind the owners of these sites and stores are getting rich on our fears.  I personally don't mind paying for information and for assistance in getting prepared but I am certain there will be those "grasshoppers" who will play and not prepare like ant in Aesop's fable. Keep in mind that those grasshoppers will feel entitled to what you have saved.    I have many friends who are taking preparation seriously and they are perfectly sane individuals from all walks of life who recognize that we are living in perilous times.   There are others who think that the preppers are nuts.  I for one will err on the side of caution.  If the worst happens then I want to be able to feed and protect  my family.

9/11/2013 Twelve Years Later

It has been twelve years since we became survivors.  In those twelve years we have watched as the specter of terrorism has grown like a cancer.  Yes Osama is dead but like the  Lernaean Hydra, one head was cut off and two more have taken its place.  We can never rest and never  forget.  Our president stated that we have al-Qaeda on the run.  al-Qaeda has become synonymous with terrorism for most Americans  and whether they, as an individual group,  have recovered their funds and strength is not really  known but like the Hydra there are dozens of other terrorist groups who have sprung up from the ashes of Osama with the purpose of destroying our way of life.  Last year  Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith and Ty Woods were murdered in terrorist attack on our diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.  They have never had justice, there has been no closure for their families.  There has only been ongoing lies by our administration to cover their mistakes.  In the past twelve years we have ongoing assaults on the second Amendment, we have an out of control government bent on making us dependent, people are fined and threatened arrest for flying the American Flag and Christianity is under fire from all sides.  Patriots are viewed as  gun toting morons by many students in colleges where  liberalism  is king and love for the Republic is outdated.  Many view our Constitution as old fashioned and needing improvement to keep up with the times.  Our freedom of speech is slowly eroding and being political correct is more important than being honest.

We are on the cusp of momentous change and we can only took to the past to see what our future will hold if we do not limit our government and hold them responsible for the lies  that have plagued this administration.  We have to stop the eroding our  freedoms.  We cannot  sit on the side and expect someone else to take care of what is our responsibility.  We have to teach our children what our forefathers fought and died achieving.  We have to remember the past to protect our future. 

He Got Some Balls: Too Little Too Late

It amazes me that as of 9/11/2013 a year has gone by and still we have no answers to what happened in Benghazi, Libya.  We have no answers as to why 4 Americans were deserted by their country's administration and left to die at the hands of terrorists.  Ambassador Chris Stevens repeatedly begged for help from the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and was ignored.  The President was God knows where doing God knows what. Then the lies started by the State Department about a stupid tape.  Our President did nothing except send the FBI in a MONTH later to assess the crime scene.  They should have stopped by the White House and watched the tape that was done live.  The four people who were "held responsible" have quietly been reassigned to other jobs instead of being fired.  The Benghazi whistle-blowers were smeared by this Administration.  Outright lies were being told by Obama's staff and to date no one was held responsible.  Go forward a year and we have Syria and the chemical attacks on their own people.  Obama states that  he has "high confidence" that  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime committed this act while Assad  says rebel forces were behind the chemical weapons attack.  He has no credibility.  I wouldn't trust Obama or anyone from his Administration to pass me the salt over dinner.   Over a year ago Obama STATED on record that his "red line" in Syria would be if Assad used chemical weapons.  Now, on record, he stated that he didn't say that.....it's the worlds red line.  He now has decided to take it to congress before he slaps the hand of Assad. He suddenly developed balls and wants to send missiles into Syria but feels that he needs Congress to agree.  What he needs is someone to blame because he really can't lay this at Bush's door.  No American was killed in Syria but he wants to go in further arm the rebel "freedom" fighters and depose Assad.  Libya was never held accountable for our American deaths.  Those who know me know that I am by nature a hawk.  I believe that we should have gone in and laid waste to Libya.  I do not believe we should go into Syria, we do not have a dog in this fight.  Who will be left to run Syria? Should we support the rebels who have strong al-Qaida backing ? The terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra,  part of the Syrian rebels, attacked the largely Christian village Maaloula.  The rebels have strong radical Islamic leanings and if they are allowed to take over we will likely have yet another country run by the brotherhood.  Honestly there are no good answers.  Iran is threatening to attack Israel if we attack Syria. My bet would still be on Israel if that happens however  I think we need more answers, a clear head, and a leader who can lead.  We do not have that in Obama.  He is a Islamic sympathizer.  Our military forces are depleted and moral is poor.  Obama is not a friend to our military.  No one can argue this.  Look at this administrations attitude of the attack on Ft. Hood.  Major Nidal Hasan opened fire on his own military and killed 13 and injured more than 30 others.  This was labeled as work place violence instead of a terrorist attack even though this man, a Jihadist,  bowed his head then shouted "Allahu Akbar " when he opened fire.  Because it was work place violence our service people were denied Purple Hearts which includes veterans' medical benefits and increased disability compensation.

The fact is we do not know what is going on in Syria and who did what to whom. The rebels are as violent as Assad even though Secretary of State Kerry states that  of the nearly 100,000 "oppositionists" in Syria  at the most only 20 percent were extremists. Mr. Kerry in case you forgot only 19 terrorists took control of 4 airplanes and brought down the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon, and crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania all told killing over 3000 Americans.  So Mr. Kerry 20,000( in your words) "bad guys" scare the shit out of me.  I have stated before that my heart broke when I saw the videos of the poor babies that were subjected to the sarin gas.  This upset people everywhere but yet we murder thousands of babies a year here in America.  They just aren't born yet so I guess that's okay according to our President.