Army manual covering Survival and evasion

Army manual for field sanitation

Army manual for treatment of casualties from a nuclear event

Army Intelligence

Hello Ladies and welcome to the site!

You are a brave and daring sort to have ventured here to a web site with such a name.

Real-Man!

Such a name indeed, and it would suggest that this is a man's only site. I would say that to an extent some of that may be true. You see first of all the subjects discussed here are mostly guy stuff. I know, I am very married and when Kathy locks me down watching the "Bachelor" or some other "girl show" I am in pure sacrifice mode. No, admittedly, I am no fan of that sort of show, and in years past, I used to call the "Oxygen network," "The suicide Channel," Because after a half hour of forced watching of it, while spending "Quality time" with my wife, I was considering suicide as a possible relief for my pain and suffering.
I am one of those men who is pretty much devoid of his "Feminine side" Checked just last night, and yep, it's still missing.

I wanted to say a word about why we created and built this site. It is not really about trucks. It hosts rolling conversations about them, but it is not really about them. What we really want to do is to discuss and attempt to educate and engender a sense of personal responsibility in the men here to prepare for bad times. And not just for themselves, but to take their rightful place at the head of their family, and protect and provide for them.
This site is about Character, This site is about responsibility, and it's about leadership. We will, through the love of Christ, attempt to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of our creator. Men who love God do not need to be weak. On the contrary, they can be very strong! But they gain their strength in their surrender to their eternal king and through the living of a life of humility that first loves a living God, then our families.

I have created a place where secular people can come in and enjoy themselves, while learning skills that might benefit their families. While doing so, my hope and prayer is for the seeds which God has commanded us to sew, will find fertile ground in the hearts of the men who come here.

Ladies you are wholly welcome, and although I suspect we will see few, we indeed hope to see and get to know many of you.

With that said, come in, enjoy, see what your husband or boy friend is doing here, and get to meet each other and share, here, in the Ladies corner

Here is the Army's basic operators manual for the care and feeding of your favorite black gun!

Some interesting research and data here about super-foods from our deep oceans which may unlock vibrant health for us.

Not vetted...

These folks help get the weight off. Here's their advice for good nutrition.

Great field handbook for casualty care

More of an overview and lessons learned than a "how to treat for" clinical manual

Army Special Operations

Some Preppers Will Make Surviving The Apocalypse Even Less Fun
 

Being forced to endure and survive a catastrophic macro event like a monetary or social collapse is perhaps one of the worst experiences I could imagine. Such a crisis leads to just about every crime and inhuman action in existence, and the time required for a culture to right itself and rebuild is severely protracted. A hurricane, earthquake or tidal wave is a short-lived calamity that is easy in comparison. As survivalists who are preparing to make an economic endgame scenario as comfortable to live through as we can, it is incumbent upon us to consider the kind of company we keep during the gambit. Some allies will make that mad world bearable; others will bring the madness to your doorstep.

Many preppers are aware of the dangers inherent in our progressively deteriorating Nation. Unfortunately, some of them are completely unaware of the dangers inherent within themselves. Building a solid community of people to rely on during a collapse is absolutely essential, and the larger the group of liberty-minded neighbors the better. But if certain ground rules are not established from the very beginning, a rainbow of personal issues and character flaws could very well destroy years of effort. Care must be taken by all parties involved to ensure that internal conflicts remain at a minimum and that, when they do arise, each person is wise enough to resolve issues in an adult manner.

I hate to say it, but you will inevitably run into some folks who are beyond compromise and beyond hope. Working with them is like pulling teeth — shark’s teeth — from your jugular. Here are just a handful of powder-keg personalities who will make the apocalypse more than a living hell for you and your friends if they manage to latch onto or take leadership in your survival watch.

The Assumed Leader

The assumed leader is not actually a reliable or practical leader; he just thinks he is. And he loudly reminds everyone that he is whenever he can find occasion. He does not generally do this by screaming, “I am your leader!” Instead, he attempts to micromanage every aspect of the survival group and shows early signs of control issues. The assumed leader will first make forceful suggestions to test the waters, scoffing angrily whenever people do not strictly follow his advice. If he gains traction, his suggestions turn into orders, and he begins to act as though he is somehow in a superior position to the rest of the community.
He seems to have an answer to every question or concern, which would be nice if he actually knew what he was talking about half of the time. Usually, this is not the case. He may have expertise in a certain field, like farming, building, engineering or even defense; that expertise is indeed valuable. However, his mastery of one area of knowledge has inflated his ego to massive proportions and he now pretends as if he is some kind of hyper-educated elitist potentate. When approached with alternative options and methods, he will respond with ridicule as if you have no clue what you are talking about. When his ideas are criticized, he will react with fury and try to remove dissenters from the community entirely.
The best way to avoid these people is to discover them early in your prepping project, and to make certain that no one becomes a de facto dictator. Every person with particular expertise within the community should be deferred to in that particular field, but not given authority over all decisions. The experienced farmer should lead when it comes to farming, but step aside when it comes to defense and vice versa. Keep in mind that the best leaders always ask those around them for aid and advice before coming to any conclusion. The worst leaders assume they already know everything.

The Feudal Lord

The feudal lord is an assumed leader who has managed to lure other preppers into a commune rather than a community, and there is a considerable difference. He is often a well-off survivalist who has suddenly realized that he is basically defenseless to protect all his money, land and supplies and that he needs an organized group to protect his bounty. He entices other preppers into the fold with ideas that he is building a legitimate and fair community. Since he has land available, many take interest. The problem is that the feudal lord believes that since he owns the land the group is defending, he’s automatically the grand poobah. He sees the other preppers not as equals, but as servants and serfs.
The reality is, the feudal lord’s land and supplies are utterly meaningless without security and without aid. His survival riches can be taken in an instant by a mere handful of looters or even one experienced raider. Without other people, treated as equals in survival and ready to lay down their lives to protect each other and him, he has nothing. He is foolhardy to think otherwise.

This is not to say that all landowners who try to centralize a group on their property are seeking to become mini-kings of a mini-kingdom. If rules and agreements are made early on and everyone understands their role, then such an arrangement could work. But if the landowner purposely avoids set agreements, appoints roles to people without asking them and changes the plan regularly to suit himself, then it’s time to walk away before it’s too late. Eventually, he will use his position as landowner as a means to dominate and will threaten to cast out people who disagree with his methods.

The best way to avoid these characters and the commune situation altogether is to not centralize on a single piece of land, but to organize in a neighborhood fashion wherein everyone maintains sovereign control of what they do and all aid is voluntary.

The Moral Relativist

There is, sadly, a small subsection of survivalists out there who do not plan to live off their own preps; they plan to confiscate the preps of others by force and solve every problem at the barrel of a gun. In their mind, a crisis situation calls for the abandonment of conscience and the application of a “survival of the fittest” mentality. They believe that morals are all well and good when civilized society remains, but a source of weakness during catastrophe. Their philosophy is: Only the strongest of men will be able to set aside principle and “do what needs to be done.” That is to say, they believe you must become the monster to defeat the monster.

In fact, only men who are able to hold onto their principles during the worst moments are strong. Weak men run away from conscience, using the excuse that times are “different and difficult.” They are not survivalists; they are terrorists in every sense.

These people should be avoided like the plague. They will make enemies wherever they go, ask you to do questionable things and push your community into annihilation. Eventually, somebody is going to put them out of their misery, and it’s best to not be around when that happens.

The Obsessive

The obsessive is a person whose drive is initially impressive but also ultimately destructive. His entire life revolves around survival prepping and impending doom. Certainly, it is better to be overly concerned about the economic crisis on the horizon than to be utterly oblivious. A smart man over-prepares. But there is such a thing as overkill, even in the world of survivalism.

No one can ever do enough fast enough in this person’s eyes. He will whine constantly about how he is the only one taking preparations seriously and how everyone else is a lazy bum. He will become frantic on a daily basis, admonishing the group or community on their lack of urgency. In a leadership position, this person is a nightmare, creating constant waves of tension and panic instead of calmly offering solutions or constructive criticism.
The obsessive’s motto is, “Let me tell you how you are wrong and why you are lazy,” instead of, “Tell me how I can help you fix this.”

We all need a break once in a while from the horrors we know are waiting for us. To step back and enjoy what we can of a beautiful day or good people is not the same as being a freeloader or a backslider within your prepper group. Survival is about more than sustaining the body; it is also about sustaining the heart and the mind. Otherwise, what is the point of living?

The Ulterior Motive Drama Queen

The drama queen is loosely interested in survivalism but wants to join your community for other reasons — and these reasons may cause many members dismay. The opposite of the obsessive, you’ll notice a strange non-involvement on his part or lack of interest as far as participating in survival discussion and decision making. He will often hand over all his survival preparation plans to others while hovering like a gnat around the community searching for that special something.

The drama queen may be looking for friends and social recognition. He may be afraid of collapse and simply trying to lock into any group regardless of whether he fits, becoming disenchanted later. He may enjoy the excitement of feeling like he is involved, and he is living vicariously through the accomplishments of others. He may just be looking for a date. Ultimately, his primary objective is not to build a working community, but to get something out of the community beyond safety.

If he does not get what he wants, he raises hell, using whatever excuse happens to be handy without ever admitting his real motivations. He will deliberately start unnecessary drama, attempt to create divisions, focus on one person as the cause of all his troubles or blame the whole group for the heartache in his life. He will attempt to draw everyone into his personal soap opera in the hopes of becoming the focal point, sharing strange and extremely private issues with anyone who accidentally offers to listen.
Eventually, he will be seen for what he is and will lose the ear of the other preppers, who obviously have better things to worry about, but only after wreaking some havoc in the process.

The Zealot

The zealot has a perfect picture in his mind of how his survival community is going to look — absolutely perfect. The problem is that all people are imperfect and all have different conceptions of life, and this disturbs and disrupts the zealot’s fantasy. It is one thing to be careful about whom you associate with when assembling a prepper organization, but it is entirely another to hold everyone to insane standards that even you cannot meet.
The zealot generally wants to be in charge so that he can vet and control each member of the group, but this is not always the case. Zealots are also sometimes highly antisocial, showing interest in a group for a short time and then suddenly walking away as if no one is up to par. He may base his zealotry on a misplaced religious fervor or philosophical inflexibility, but he will not be happy until everyone sees the world the way he does or until others meet his grandiose brand of moral flawlessness. For him, it is not enough that the community of preppers around him shares a love for liberty and a disdain for tyranny, the preppers must also be “spiritually pure” in his eyes.

One mistake or disagreement by a member of the group earns him a black mark on the zealot’s list which he never forgets. From then on, that member is the enemy, and the zealot will engineer conflict after conflict until the person gives up and goes away or until he can convince the group that the person is more trouble than he is worth.

The great dilemma for any survivalist is to balance personal freedom and a peaceful home life with the reality he will not last long without relying on a group. Other people bring talent, friendship and safety to our lives, but they also bring baggage. The key is to work with those who know how to manage as much of their own baggage as possible, who are aware of themselves and are willing to police their own quirks and who have not leapt off a cliff into extreme disturbia. No survival community can withstand the savage assault of national collapse otherwise.

Guard your identity

Here are a few steps to foil the ID thieves:
Shred everything. And I do mean everything. ID thieves, often fueled by methamphetamine drug addiction, can piece together small bits of junk mail and other information that might seem innocent to you. They can use this to pull credit in your name.

Monitor your credit. Services like Identity Guard and Lifelock are pretty good at securing your credit report and letting you know when something new pops up. But you need to stay on top of it too. Pull your report at least quarterly and note any changes that seem fishy. Dispute anything and everything that seems inaccurate or suspicious.

Create a verbal password at your bank. Most banks are adopting this security measure now, but you can insist that your bank do it now or lose your business. Create a password that you can remember and make sure that the bank asks for it before any withdrawals, wire transfers, check orders, and any personal info is given out. Scammers often call the bank and pretend they are you to get critical bank information. Make sure your bank knows that you want to be password protected and notified of any suspicious activity on your accounts.
Keep your information out of the public eye. Take your name off the mailbox. Turn on ALL of Facebook’s and Google’s privacy settings. Never make your family tree public, thieves can do a lot of damage with your mother’s maiden name. Keep your name out of Who’s Who lists, they are a detailed biography of usually pretty successful people and ID thieves farm them for names.

Subject: Preparedness Checklist (v 1)
Prescriptions
90-180 day supply of needed prescriptions
Medicine
Antibiotics
Pain medication
Specialized medicines you regularly take 90-180 day supply
Food
Dry goods 6 months to 1 year supply
Salt
Sugar
Flour
Other??
Canned vegetables, fruits, meats, sauces, etc.
Cooking oils
Rice (50) lbs

Shelter
Heat source
Emergency food
Generous water supply
Water filter
Bedding
Additional clothing
Secure location
Personal protection clothing, personal items, toilet, Bags of Lime
Pioneering equipment such as an axe, shovel, hoe, rake
Emergency use toilet
Communications equipment such as a radio, short wave unit. Older is better.
Batteries and or solar power source
Weapon: long gun with enough ammunition
Other_______________________
Go Bag
Per packing list
Contingency Fuel
For cooking and heating. Kerosene, diesel, or heating oil
For vehicle. Shelf life of gas is 6 months, diesel is years
Water
You will need quite a bit of water. Even if you do not anticipate washing regularly. If you can locate near a well or cistern, or create a cistern from your rain spout system this can keep you in survival water most times.
Portable filter for travelling
Water purification tablets
Survival site
Secure
Outside an urban area near a rural community where farming is the primary activity
Realistic. You will not make it to Wyoming from Kentucky if a sudden collapse occurs. You can walk perhaps 30-30 miles a day if you are in shape. Considering how much water you need to travel that distance, think about how far you can reasonably walk. Remember after a couple days you will not be able to walk on roads, you will be travelling overland.
Evacuation Plan
Who?
How many?
How are you moving travelling. Think about plan A being vehicle borne, Plan B being on foot.
Where? How far?
What are you taking?
Who is carrying what?
Rally points/ safe areas to meet if separated
How long will you wait there for family members? Then what?
Evacuation route: Roads good initially, but will soon turn to traps used by criminals and gangs.
Weapon
Home defense and survival site will center on a more powerful long gun such as a pump shotgun or rifle. Movement needs to be fast, thus implying light weight. Carry a pistol, automatics are best with high capacity magazines.
Caliber: Following an emergency and in the months to years afterward ammunition will become scarce. Stick to a few calipers which should always be present. For pistol, use a 9mm, .45 Auto, or .40. 9mm is best since used by everyone including the military.
For shotgun use 12 gage
Rifle, use 5.56 Nato, 7.62 X 39 (AK-47 and SKS), 7.62 X 51 or .308 which is a popular hard hitting military round, and avoid the rest.
Additionally buy a .22 rifle and pistol which you can use to hunt with and kill pests which will begin to show up such as packs of dogs.
Communications
Although an EMP effect will render radios useless, consider a GRMS hand held and settle on  a primary and alternate frequency for your group/family. Figure out a regular communications time in case you become separated such as 30 min after noon and midnight.
Find a short wave radio, wrap itin aluminum foil and store it. Get a battery or two with perhaps a small generator to power it.
Networking
Who else is nearby who is also preparing? Can you coordinate your plans to save money? Can you plan to use a shelter with other like minded people?

Security
Most people have their heads in the sand and are not prepared. Unfortunately we cannot help all of them if any at all. If they know about your preparedness, then their survival plan will be to seek you out to help. Unfortunately a survival situation is just that. If they eat half your food, then you survive half as long. If you treat their wounds with your supplies then run out, will you be prepared to treat your family members later? This is a hard area to deal with. The psychology of the typical American does not allow or make decisions like these easy. The time will come following a disaster, after we become acquainted with crime, violence, death and suffering that the decisions we need to make will become easier. I’d suggest you announce the subject, then set a time and sit down with your family or survival group and talk about this subject. Be open, painfully honest and make some decisions. Based on those decisions you can move forward with your personal plans. If you elect to feed and treat the masses, then fine, continue to save to eventually purchase a Super Wal-Mart which you will need to meet their needs. If not, then construct your plan and physical needs based on those decisions and keep them. Revisit this subject from time to time.

 used a display lower that was custom made for the pilots on a project I worked on in the Stan. It had collected too much dust, but now it will be spraying copper and lead on a regular basis!

THe second build is a scratch POF lower reciever using DPMS small parts kit, and some custom stuff.
Here's the mess:

FYI folks, I was talking to brother Holton about getting the little rangers guns for Christmas. I suggested M4's th which, well saying it mildly, Holton our Marine disagreed. Now I have learned to trust Marines on all things gun. So this MArine says get them Ruger 10-22's.
He sends me some links
I get to lookin
Next few days I'm down at the gun shop. The guy there says I get $269 for a wood stock one and they are drying up! He says I only have one. So me thinks, hmmm, better act quickly so I bought it. But that left one Ranger out in the cold. So I purchased him a hunters series Marlin .22...nice gun.
Then Holton sends me this pic of a new breakdown 10-22 which actually breaks down to 2 short pieces!
Hmmm, this was supposed to be about the boys, but Holton infected me. This morning my buddy teh black hawk pilot calls and says Dick's sporting goods is running a sale on ruger 10-22's! They are only $180 ea!
So I rush over there and snag one up.
Great both Rangers now have their proper squirrel assault rifles! Then I get the idea of giving the Marlin to momma! She would like to kill tree rats as well. WHile there at Dicks, I mention I might order one of those break down 10-22's in the future. The sales guy asks if I want to see one?
You have one? Yes sir, I actually have 2!
So he shows me the one and weakness overcomes me. I start shaking and talking irrationally. SOmewhere in the dribble that followed I mush have said I'll take it, but I know I did not do that from any conscious state, or any other state in the country for that matter!
Anyway here it is on my floor.
Thanks Holton, now I have 2 Ruger 10-22's

So, now you have to help me with the optics!

Hello and welcome to Real-Man TruckWorks and Survival.com! I hope you find this a healthy place where you will find good information and a positive feeling of encouragement and fellowship. Ah, yes used that church word, fellowship. Well I do that when I refer to hanging out with other people, much the same as we do here.

My name is Don. I am a former US Army soldier of some 25 years. I was an enlisted guy there for a few years operating main battle tanks, but changed all that when I went to flight school to become a pilot and an officer. Along the way I was pulled into a classified unit operating highly modified aircraft and what I learned there and did there shaped a lot of the rest of my life. Special Operations is a wild and crazy place and that’s where I lived. After that I flew for many more years as an Army Chinook Helicopter pilot overseas and in the 101st Airborne.
 
When I retired, I became an airline pilot for Comair, a cool place to work where I flew 70 seat Canadair regional jets, perhaps I flew you somewhere. After some 5 years of jet time, one day I was flying when some awful people flew a couple jets into the New York Trade towers and started the wars. When that happened, something happened to me as well, the warrior was not gone. It wasn’t long before a company, BlackWater asked me to fly little birds with all my former customers from the spec-ops days and keep State Department folks more or less intact. After much thought and prayer, I went to Baghdad.

I believed I was sent over there by my creator as while I was wrestling with the decision to go, two women whom I never saw before prophesied over my life making what seemed to be a crazy prediction. A few weeks later in Baghdad, when I flew into an IED explosion, that prophesy was fulfilled. I wrote some about that in my book, “Distant Thunder” but feel compelled to write more of it in a Christian book I have yet to write.

One thing led to another and I moved onto Afghanistan where I settled into flying gunships and CSAR (combat search and rescue) helicopters out of Kandahar. Over three + years of flying those aircraft, later from Kabul and ranging into the foothills of the Himalayas, conducting Combat and combat support missions.

Taking a break from that so to speak, I returned to Iraq where I flew Bell 412 helicopters supporting the US State Department from Kirkuk airbase in the north. That lasted a few months then it was back to Kandahar.

I was selected to be the lead pilot of a bunch of civilian helicopters being put in place to support the US Army and Marines as well as some other folks. My wife and I reveled for the weeks we spent near Milan Italy, where I trained to fly the AW-139 helicopter. This Italian sports car of a helo was made to fly off shore and wisk the super rich off their yachts onto skyscraper rooftops in any weather. As a combat pilot, I could help but notice that they were very roomy and had more power to weight than even the huge and mighty Chinook I had once piloted. This would be a magnificent combat aircraft as long as it could hold together…my guys were not be going to be flying them as smoothly as the designers had envisioned!

I remember flying the very first mission in Kandahar in the AW139…what a day. We continued to fly very long days in the heat and the cold, in the deserts, onto frozen mountaintops, in the north, south east and west. I can’t say I enjoyed all that, but with some guys flying an unheard of 250 hours in just 6 weeks (Thanks Dave O), we were moving a lot of men and cargo to every nook and cranny the Army was creating. And we were getting shot at…

I was away from home too much, I was leading the operation there, and I was flying when I could as a line captain, and unknown to me my body and mind had simply seen too much. It all ended for me in early June of 2010 when an incoming 107mm rocket missed me and the guys, but found its mark hitting the bathroom of a troop billets near us. A female troop billet…and ladies seem to spend a lot of time in the bathroom. I never think about that with shedding tears, it was awful

Well, that was the proverbial straw. That night my heart stopped beating normally. The doctors couldn’t do anything so they medevac'd me home, I was done. Done with combat, done with flying, done with soldiering, done with everything I always knew. But God had a different plan for me, and in taking away my good healthy heart, he protected me from that place.

Why all that? To show you I have a soldier’s heart. I have one’s eyes as well, and I think like one. Having said all that, how did we get here? Well, allow me to continue.

I thought I’d say a few words to let you know how all this got started and why I think it exists. Some years ago while building up my brand new 2011 Chevy Duramax 2500 Silverado, I thought I’d just share what I was doing with others to help them along as well. I wrote and started “My Build Thread” on Duramax Forums.com with the installation of a Glock 9mm below the steering wheel as my first modification. That was followed by all manner of modifications which over time developed into quite the thread with a pretty healthy following. While that thing grew, people began to come into my life who supported what I was doing. The nightly dose of write-ups with the many photos created a magazine like environment which some described as being somewhat addictive.

But there was more, much more. I only had a small inkling (idea) of what was going on at the time when that thread grew to one hundred thousand views, then two then three. The momentum increased as we crossed half a million, three quarters, then came the magic million views mark! People were coming now not only to share in what was going on with the truck but also to socialize. I coined the term D.O.T. for derailleur of Threads to describe all the sidebar stuff that was going on there. But it was all positive, it was encouraging, it was real and it was devoid of the secular world’s harshness, and cursing and porn. Nope it was rated pretty much G and getting along quite nicely.

I make it no secret that I am a Christian. I am not a good one as I fail many times, more than you perhaps, but like always, I get back up, dust it off, come back to the throne of grace through Jesus, my real king, and I ask for forgiveness. God is a part of my life, he actually is my life except for when I am off being Don, and during those times, please suspect something is amiss. Well in everything I do, he is there and so it went with my many interactions with my fellow bloggers over at D-Max.

Folks were seeing something, something I can’t explain very well, but my bible talks about planting seeds. So I guess we were planting some seeds. Then some of those seeds started to take root and I started getting PM’s from guys asking and talking about read stuff. They had identified some of through our actions as believers and they too were seeking. It was quite the day when a member there phoned me, and we talked, and he ended with asking Jesus to come into his life. BTW, he is a moderator here.

I then started the CIEMR (Coffee Induced Early Morning Rant) thread to try to get the chat moved over and it became a place of political exposition. I have copied that thread from there and moved it here so you can delve in or stay away, your choice.

Then while developing my personal survival strategy, I purchased land here and there to use for those purposes and that necessitated me purchasing a Gator. Well Mr. Gator begat, the “Gator 825i Build Thread” which I also moved over here! But it didn’t end there. Realizing I needed to bring down the Silverado for a while to install a solid front axle, I actually needed a back-up truck. That was the beginning of Square D, a 1991 Dodge W250 Cummins truck I found under a couple trees! The simple clean up/oil change project on that truck became a parts replacement, which became a teardown and total restoration, which became a major modification and change up of everything on that truck. It now is the premier build and is found along with the Chevy build here in all its glory.

Charity

There will be a donation tab here where you can give money if you feel so led. Every red cent you give will be given away, I don’t want any of it! Right now I feel the Widows and children out there in need are door #1. Personally, I have a real heart for my brothers in arms who are walking around with prosthetics or internal wounds. I want to help them, so expect some of the money to go to them.

Personal Conduct

I understand that most folks are used to the “Normal sites out there that allow cursing, pornography, flaming, criticism, temper tantrums and the like. Gentlemen, we will not be doing any of that. Hey it’s my site and I wish to honor God with this place, so let me make a fundamental change right now, let’s make this HIS site. So if you understand the “WWJD” thing, then you understand how to conduct yourself here.

Corrective Action

OK to make this fair, this is how we will handle things. I believe almost everyone will conduct themselves as, well, real men. But in some cases, there will be that guy. OK I’d rather be looking straight into your Mark-1 eyeballs when saying this, because I believe real men ought to conduct themselves that way. For you, if you break the rules, I have a great collection of Moderators. These men are wonderful and truly a blessing to all of us. But they will notice, and they will ask you to refrain, all in private. I’ll let them decide how many times they do that to “Teach” you proper behavior. But when they decide enough is enough, you’re fired my friend. You’re off the site, You're gone! I think the good men here will appreciate you being gone anyway, so that’s how I’m going to do it

So, in closing, I want RMTW&S to be a fun place, a positive place where we share information, get to know each other, help one another and grow together. It is not an over bearing in your face Hard core Christian site, but rather a place where everyone is welcome where God will not be a stranger. I hope to honor him with what we do here and if a prayer would be appropriate I would have it say something like Father make yourself much and us little in all we do here, Amen

Soldier-On!

Folks, thought I'd start a thread to let you read new stuff I've written for books which I am currently writing.

I do not sit down and muscle out a 70,000 word manuscript. I do write when I feel so motivated, and add to the story until such a point that I consider it complete. I did that with Distant Thunder, well, sort of.

So in this thread you can ask questions about Distant Thunder and I'll see them, then disregard...or not...just kidding!

I also want a place to share fresh and new material for those who keep asking me to write more

Since we frequently address survival "Prepper" topics, Here's a good one I came across recently.
I'd suggest those interested print out these suggestions, articles, guides, and plans and make up a book to be used as reference later.

This topic deals with leadership. Watching the prepper shows on TV, I see this sort of thing cropping up. A good leader is hard to come by, from my 2.5 decades in the military, I have seen this first hand and can give names to each of these pseudo leaders.

THe concept of community is all important with specialists and cross training amongst the various members. Watch, wait, and listen and the leader will appear over time and usually after some difficult tests. A good leader can get you through, where as a poor one can get you dead. So spend more time than the US population used to select our current leader and be aware of both good and poor leadership traits.
In my view a good leader can make decent decisions but usually will not make them hastily. HE will seek the counsel of trusted individuals and not rely on only him/herself for all the answers. He/She needs to be fairly well experienced and with tough things like life and death. He/she needs not be controlling, however strong enough to make a difficult decision and stand by it.
Here are some descriptions of poor leadership:


Being forced to endure and survive a catastrophic macro event like a monetary or social collapse is perhaps one of the worst experiences I could imagine. Such a crisis leads to just about every crime and inhuman action in existence, and the time required for a culture to right itself and rebuild is severely protracted. A hurricane, earthquake or tidal wave is a short-lived calamity that is easy in comparison. As survivalists who are preparing to make an economic endgame scenario as comfortable to live through as we can, it is incumbent upon us to consider the kind of company we keep during the gambit. Some allies will make that mad world bearable; others will bring the madness to your doorstep.

Many preppers are aware of the dangers inherent in our progressively deteriorating Nation. Unfortunately, some of them are completely unaware of the dangers inherent within themselves. Building a solid community of people to rely on during a collapse is absolutely essential, and the larger the group of liberty-minded neighbors the better. But if certain ground rules are not established from the very beginning, a rainbow of personal issues and character flaws could very well destroy years of effort. Care must be taken by all parties involved to ensure that internal conflicts remain at a minimum and that, when they do arise, each person is wise enough to resolve issues in an adult manner.

I hate to say it, but you will inevitably run into some folks who are beyond compromise and beyond hope. Working with them is like pulling teeth — shark’s teeth — from your jugular. Here are just a handful of powder-keg personalities who will make the apocalypse more than a living hell for you and your friends if they manage to latch onto or take leadership in your survival watch.

The Assumed Leader

The assumed leader is not actually a reliable or practical leader; he just thinks he is. And he loudly reminds everyone that he is whenever he can find occasion. He does not generally do this by screaming, “I am your leader!” Instead, he attempts to micromanage every aspect of the survival group and shows early signs of control issues. The assumed leader will first make forceful suggestions to test the waters, scoffing angrily whenever people do not strictly follow his advice. If he gains traction, his suggestions turn into orders, and he begins to act as though he is somehow in a superior position to the rest of the community.

He seems to have an answer to every question or concern, which would be nice if he actually knew what he was talking about half of the time. Usually, this is not the case. He may have expertise in a certain field, like farming, building, engineering or even defense; that expertise is indeed valuable. However, his mastery of one area of knowledge has inflated his ego to massive proportions and he now pretends as if he is some kind of hyper-educated elitist potentate. When approached with alternative options and methods, he will respond with ridicule as if you have no clue what you are talking about. When his ideas are criticized, he will react with fury and try to remove dissenters from the community entirely.

The best way to avoid these people is to discover them early in your prepping project, and to make certain that no one becomes a de facto dictator. Every person with particular expertise within the community should be deferred to in that particular field, but not given authority over all decisions. The experienced farmer should lead when it comes to farming, but step aside when it comes to defense and vice versa. Keep in mind that the best leaders always ask those around them for aid and advice before coming to any conclusion. The worst leaders assume they already know everything.

The Feudal Lord

The feudal lord is an assumed leader who has managed to lure other preppers into a commune rather than a community, and there is a considerable difference. He is often a well-off survivalist who has suddenly realized that he is basically defenseless to protect all his money, land and supplies and that he needs an organized group to protect his bounty. He entices other preppers into the fold with ideas that he is building a legitimate and fair community. Since he has land available, many take interest. The problem is that the feudal lord believes that since he owns the land the group is defending, he’s automatically the grand poobah. He sees the other preppers not as equals, but as servants and serfs.

The reality is, the feudal lord’s land and supplies are utterly meaningless without security and without aid. His survival riches can be taken in an instant by a mere handful of looters or even one experienced raider. Without other people, treated as equals in survival and ready to lay down their lives to protect each other and him, he has nothing. He is foolhardy to think otherwise.

This is not to say that all landowners who try to centralize a group on their property are seeking to become mini-kings of a mini-kingdom. If rules and agreements are made early on and everyone understands their role, then such an arrangement could work. But if the landowner purposely avoids set agreements, appoints roles to people without asking them and changes the plan regularly to suit himself, then it’s time to walk away before it’s too late. Eventually, he will use his position as landowner as a means to dominate and will threaten to cast out people who disagree with his methods.

The best way to avoid these characters and the commune situation altogether is to not centralize on a single piece of land, but to organize in a neighborhood fashion wherein everyone maintains sovereign control of what they do and all aid is voluntary.

The Moral Relativist

There is, sadly, a small subsection of survivalists out there who do not plan to live off their own preps; they plan to confiscate the preps of others by force and solve every problem at the barrel of a gun. In their mind, a crisis situation calls for the abandonment of conscience and the application of a “survival of the fittest” mentality. They believe that morals are all well and good when civilized society remains, but a source of weakness during catastrophe. Their philosophy is: Only the strongest of men will be able to set aside principle and “do what needs to be done.” That is to say, they believe you must become the monster to defeat the monster.

In fact, only men who are able to hold onto their principles during the worst moments are strong. Weak men run away from conscience, using the excuse that times are “different and difficult.” They are not survivalists; they are terrorists in every sense.

These people should be avoided like the plague. They will make enemies wherever they go, ask you to do questionable things and push your community into annihilation. Eventually, somebody is going to put them out of their misery, and it’s best to not be around when that happens.

The Obsessive

The obsessive is a person whose drive is initially impressive but also ultimately destructive. His entire life revolves around survival prepping and impending doom. Certainly, it is better to be overly concerned about the economic crisis on the horizon than to be utterly oblivious. A smart man over-prepares. But there is such a thing as overkill, even in the world of survivalism.

No one can ever do enough fast enough in this person’s eyes. He will whine constantly about how he is the only one taking preparations seriously and how everyone else is a lazy bum. He will become frantic on a daily basis, admonishing the group or community on their lack of urgency. In a leadership position, this person is a nightmare, creating constant waves of tension and panic instead of calmly offering solutions or constructive criticism.

The obsessive’s motto is, “Let me tell you how you are wrong and why you are lazy,” instead of, “Tell me how I can help you fix this.”

We all need a break once in a while from the horrors we know are waiting for us. To step back and enjoy what we can of a beautiful day or good people is not the same as being a freeloader or a backslider within your prepper group. Survival is about more than sustaining the body; it is also about sustaining the heart and the mind. Otherwise, what is the point of living?

The Ulterior Motive Drama Queen

The drama queen is loosely interested in survivalism but wants to join your community for other reasons — and these reasons may cause many members dismay. The opposite of the obsessive, you’ll notice a strange non-involvement on his part or lack of interest as far as participating in survival discussion and decision making. He will often hand over all his survival preparation plans to others while hovering like a gnat around the community searching for that special something.

The drama queen may be looking for friends and social recognition. He may be afraid of collapse and simply trying to lock into any group regardless of whether he fits, becoming disenchanted later. He may enjoy the excitement of feeling like he is involved, and he is living vicariously through the accomplishments of others. He may just be looking for a date. Ultimately, his primary objective is not to build a working community, but to get something out of the community beyond safety.

If he does not get what he wants, he raises hell, using whatever excuse happens to be handy without ever admitting his real motivations. He will deliberately start unnecessary drama, attempt to create divisions, focus on one person as the cause of all his troubles or blame the whole group for the heartache in his life. He will attempt to draw everyone into his personal soap opera in the hopes of becoming the focal point, sharing strange and extremely private issues with anyone who accidentally offers to listen.

Eventually, he will be seen for what he is and will lose the ear of the other preppers, who obviously have better things to worry about, but only after wreaking some havoc in the process.

The Zealot

The zealot has a perfect picture in his mind of how his survival community is going to look — absolutely perfect. The problem is that all people are imperfect and all have different conceptions of life, and this disturbs and disrupts the zealot’s fantasy. It is one thing to be careful about whom you associate with when assembling a prepper organization, but it is entirely another to hold everyone to insane standards that even you cannot meet.

The zealot generally wants to be in charge so that he can vet and control each member of the group, but this is not always the case. Zealots are also sometimes highly antisocial, showing interest in a group for a short time and then suddenly walking away as if no one is up to par. He may base his zealotry on a misplaced religious fervor or philosophical inflexibility, but he will not be happy until everyone sees the world the way he does or until others meet his grandiose brand of moral flawlessness. For him, it is not enough that the community of preppers around him shares a love for liberty and a disdain for tyranny, the preppers must also be “spiritually pure” in his eyes.

One mistake or disagreement by a member of the group earns him a black mark on the zealot’s list which he never forgets. From then on, that member is the enemy, and the zealot will engineer conflict after conflict until the person gives up and goes away or until he can convince the group that the person is more trouble than he is worth.

The great dilemma for any survivalist is to balance personal freedom and a peaceful home life with the reality he will not last long without relying on a group. Other people bring talent, friendship and safety to our lives, but they also bring baggage. The key is to work with those who know how to manage as much of their own baggage as possible, who are aware of themselves and are willing to police their own quirks and who have not leapt off a cliff into extreme disturbia. No survival community can withstand the savage assault of national collapse otherwise.

Here's another B/O Bag setup to get you thinking:

You will need a bug out bag, I have a couple of them. Here's a list of stuff to put in one to get you started:
The spacing is all junked up because I just cut/pasted one of my lesson plans but I'm betting you can wade through it and figure it out.


Subject: Runaway Bag Contents
The purpose of the runaway bag is to provide the user with emergency need items prepacked in a convenient ruck sack type bag. The bag would normally be stored in a vehicle, aircraft, or even at your primary home or emergency shelter locations. The contents of the bag are varied depending on what needs one feels he/she must be prepared for.

Type of bag:
The best type of bag is one that is large handbag or small ruck sack sized. It should be of a sturdy hiker or military style with reinforced stitching, a heavy duty bottom and provide some water proofing for its contents. I would choose a bag with some exterior pockets, perhaps two to three to help in the organization of the contents. Later styled military bags will come with exterior nylon webbing sewn on in a regular pattern which is called Molle (MOdular Light weight Load carrying Equipment). The purpose of the MOLLE (pronounced “molly”) is to provide a customizable exterior where you may affix readily available pouches, sheaths, or bags.
Whatever bag you select, do not compromise on the quality, you don’t want the bag to tear open spilling out your medical supplies when you’re on the run from a hazardous area. A good surplus military rucksack is a great cost effective alternative to some of the new trendy bags. Just do a good pre-flight of the bag prior to purchase to make sure it is in decent condition. A couple small holes here and there are not necessarily grounds not to purchase. If the bottom, clips, and straps are in good condition it is a keeper.
Since the advent of the two desert wars our military has fought during the past decade, the need for water has become very important. Some bags will include an integrated water bag capable of holding a gallon or more of fresh water. Just keep in mind the bag will become bulkier and water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon. On the flip side, the water bag provides a cushion for your back and as it sweats, it will naturally cool the water inside and your skin as well!

Considerations:
For a moderate climate there may not be as great a need for warm clothing or a blanket, whereas in a northern climate those items would be paramount. Generally speaking the bag will always contain several items because of their universal need. The size of the bag normally should remain smaller so that it will net impede movement and slow you down. Therefore the goal will be to keep the bag relatively light, say no more than 30 pounds again, dependent on who will be carrying it. A full grown man could easily walk all day with 30 pounds, where as a woman or child might not be able to handle that much weight at all.
You may want to put a couple of bags and preposition each in convenient places, say one in the home and one in the trunk of your car. One of your bags might be more universal in what it contains whereas one might be heavily loaded with just a few things you absolutely need and expect to need in quantity. For example a bag to be used in a arid location would obviously contain more water than anything else. A bag to be used where you anticipate urban warfare like conditions might have extra ammunition for your personal weapon. When flying in Afghanistan I always knew there was a threat of being shot down. If that were to happen, I would immediately have been in a survival situation, not due to lack of water or food or shelter, but under threat from those who had shot down the aircraft. Therefore I carried hundreds of rounds of ammunition to help me ward off attempts to kill or capture me, while hopefully others came to my rescue. Long term survival was never going to be an issue. Contrasting with that situation when I would fly in remote mountain areas, I would make sure I had items needed to survive there for days or longer while I awaited search and rescue.

Recommended bag contents:
1. A high quality knife or survival tool with a strong knife blade. Single edge is for survival, double edge is for fighting. Note: Do not purposely engage in a knife fight unless you want to get cut!
2. Water bag or canteen(s). Water bladders which fold down are very useful for bulk storage.
3. Fire starting device such as waterproof matches, a lighter, magnesium fire starter, steel wool and 9V battery. Fire is important so have multiple devices on hand.
4. Signaling device such as a mirror, flare, smoke device, strobe light, or VS-17 panel
5. Compass (attached by a lanyard to pack)
6. Space blanket
7. Flashlight, blue/green lens filter (Reason: Tactical, more on this later)
8. Spare batteries
9. GPS
10. Needle and thread
11. Rope or nylon cord. Military “550” chord is a favorite.
12. Lip balm, sun screen, insect repellent
13. Sunglasses, spare reading or prescription glasses
14. Hat, full brimmed or insulated and waterproof. Place money bandages, thread, and so forth in the brim.
15. Poncho and possibly a poncho liner (Military surplus with a camo pattern)
16. Medical Kit consisting of:
a. Bandages, combat type, US military or Israeli military.
b. Bandages, square cotton type
c. Medical tape
d. Band-Aids
e. Anti bacterial ointment
f. Tourniquet
g. Quick clot type product
h. Heavy Duty Scissors
i. Alcohol wipes
j. Sterilizing wipes
k. Emergency sling
l. Aspirin, 325 mg
m. Anti-biotic
n. Burn cream or ointment
o. Diarrhea control medication
p. Any medication you currently take and require
q. Suture kit
r. Heavy gage needle (to introduce small hole in chest cavity)
s. Breathing tube, nasal or throat
17. Radio
18. Survival book
19. Food
20. Map of the area
21. Water filter or water treatment tablets
22. Lightweight Binoculars
23. Clothing to include: (Wrap these in zip-lock bags)
a. Spare socks
b. Spare underwear
24. Foot powder
25. Ammunition
26. Fishing kit including line, hooks and a lure
27. Cash or barter money
28. Small weapon for animal control, food acquisition, protection if required) Something like a single stack 9mm pistol is easily concealed and light weight.

Training: Practice With your bag
A vital component to your personal survival is your physical condition. You should be exercising approximately once a day with either an organized activity or by merely walking a little more or taking the staircase in lieu of the elevator. When you put your runaway or bug out bag together, try wearing it during one of your walks. Take a hike of about an hour or two in length while wearing the fully loaded bag. Plan to train with some of its contents. For example, move to a highpoint in the terrain and use the compass to shoot an azimuth to a distant feature. Plan for regular drinking intervals and perhaps simulate an injury at some point.
The idea is to become familiar with what you have and where you have it packed. You might discover that some reorganization is necessary for commonly used items, or that other items are adding no value, only extra weight. If you have moved long enough to have generated some sweat and perhaps some discomfort, then any unwanted features of your bag will have shown themselves. You can consequently make adjustments and perfect the proper balance of form and function.

Some other considerations:
1. For the most part, your medical kit is for your use and not for others except perhaps your family. If and when you become serious enough about the threats to your family as well, you will eventually make up survival bags for each of them. The medical kit described above is very limited and only supports a narrow range of trauma for short periods of time. It is recommended you develop a more complete medical supply kit fitted into another ruck-sack type bag to provide more in-depth coverage of wound, injury, and sickness treatment.
2. Unfortunately the masses you will encounter during a time of civil upheaval will not be prepared. Most people, perhaps as many as 90%or more will not have anything except for the clothes on their backs. Their needs will be great and if you share your supplies you will quickly be striped of everything you will need for your own survival.
3. Consider the climatology of your area carefully when out fitting your bag
4. Will you be primarily in a rural or an urban setting? Counter to conventions thinking, urban settings will not always be the safest places to be. When disaster first occurs there will be shock followed quickly by crime such as looting. You do not want to be anywhere near that sort of activity. Some areas will fall into anarchy quickly as police and military assets are retasked to protection of higher value activities such as hospitals, government facilities and critical infrastructure. Those areas unmonitored by government forces will revert to basic laws of the jungle.
5. Construct your medical kit IAW your knowledge of emergency medicine. I would recommend you attend a good emergency medical course then equip your medical kit accordingly. Military and police often refer to the medical bag as your “Blow Out” bag.

Here's my original CIEMR thread started on another web site some time ago.

I'll collect them all here

So here's this morning's CIEMR:

The new Norm vs bedrock

Well this came to me while I was still sleeping, so perhaps the effect of coffee is not necessary in some cases for these CIEMRs to occur. For those of you who don’t know, a CIEMR as an acronym for: Coffee Induced Early Morning Rant. What can I say, I was Army for so long, I learned to talk in the speed talk of the soldier which is a specialized language of acronyms, punctuated frequently with the word Hooah. Now speaking of Hooah, I don’t believe it is actually a word, but more of a generalized feeling or means of expression. For example, “Soldier, eat all of your food!” “Hooah sir” or, “How is everyone feeling? “Hooah sir” OK, sorry, I’m drifting, apologies.

More for those of you new to the CIEMR thing. For some reason I seem to be given to these Andy Rooney style essays. These things will just pop into my head and in my particular case, as the caffeine fires this synapse or that, all sorts of thoughts get combined in a rather unique manner which I will roughly equate to a “style.” Not good, but not bad, just is what it is. Hell, err, I mean Heck, it’s my style and I guess I don’t care who thinks what about it. That’s another component of these CIEMR things, the fact that I don’t care what others may feel about what I say. For some reason in my convoluted mind, I equate curtailing the message with the concept of being politically correct. The latter means very little to me, and if you don’t believe me, just ask anyone who served with me. Yup, tact was never my strong suit. But counter to that, speaking the truth is. So here’s the concept, I mostly don’t care what people think (to some extent to be completely honest) and I feel the truth should be said if it needs to be

That introduces the concept for personal responsibility, something which I assume is a given, at least for the purposes of these musings of mine. Here’s another ground rule for these CIEMR things. I am not going to dumb the thing down. I don’t like being stupid, I think we can all do better. If you have to grab a dictionary to keep up, then Bravo, good for you (Same thing). We accept stupidity in America, and although I am an American, I do not. Since this little spot in the universe is mine, my rules apply. We will talk intelligently for the most part, however drift over into the southern and hillbilly vernacular from time to time as the need suits me.

Today is election day. Today, although by the time some read this will be over, this morning remains a day of immense importance. Many millions of people who do not know their prime numbers from the prime interest rate will check a block. Some of them will be paid for doing so. Some of them will have been dead for many years, Still others some Cannine breed, and even some who will vote dozens of time in the modern tradition of twenty first century elections.

I’m a normal guy. Of normal abilities, except when it comes to making crab cakes, where for just a shining brief moment, I can achieve brilliance. Not as in light mind you, but one bite and hopefully you will agree. Back to the national task at hand, we sit at a Y in the road. We’re in a car, a 1962 Chevy Impala with a two speed power-glide transmission with no reverse. We are idling nosily (The car in my mind’s eye has glass pack mufflers) and there is a rush of vehicles coming down the road just behind us which are leaving one of the two remaining factories still in operation in America. So, we have to go.

Right or left? Which is it going to be. Going to the right will be tough. The road is straight and boring and goes against the desire for a little excitement that the left road offers. It is simply a turn toward a mundane straight road which most people use and have used for decades getting to and from that factory back to their comfortable middle class homes with little celebration. The road on the left, however looks to be fun. It’s full of scenery and curves and holds the promise of a great fun ride. But the fun road also has a lots of little white crosses planted along its length. Many folks have been killed and injured along this road over recent times. You see, even though it looks great, the camber (get out that dictionary)of this road is off by a degree or two and can cause one to lose control instantly with no warning. There are several strategically placed potholes that have claimed their own victims as well.

Thinking about it in my mind’s eye, the Chevy (which is a blue/green color with “SS” badgeing) has the best suspension technology the 1950’s can produce. The shocks are old and worn and just might not be willing to accommodate those dangerous curves. You know, sitting here thinking about it, I’m going right. I think I’ll just stay boring and just focus on getting home. Which road will you choose today? Safe/ normal? Or risky and fraught with risk and danger?

All this election banter has really caused me to think about who I am and I came to several conclusions. I like Chevys! I am definitely a Chevy man, and of the pickup genome to be more precise, although I won’t turn down a ride in a 69 Yenko 427 Camaro. I like Harleys as well. Yep, I really like those things. The Kawasaki’s, Suzuki’s and Ducati’s are all nice, but if I had to pick, I’m swinging a leg over Milwaukies best. I’m a Republican because that party represents most of what I believe in when you separate out all the lobbyists and special interests. I think Abortion is wrong, I actually think it is killing. I am a Baptist, but I put my hands up when the spirit moves me, and make no apologies for doing so. Whenever I see a wounded warrior, I tear up and hurt inside, it just gets me to my core. I love my nation and would sacrifice everything for it. I love my neighbors, I don’t like all of them, but I do love them. I believe as well that one can love and not like another person.

Well here’s a revelation please allow me to ask a question. What is love? A giddy feeling? A warm tingly sensation? Nope, none of those. Love is the willingness to sacrifice for someone or something else. It is to care more about them or it than you do for yourself. That’s straight out of the Book of Don of which you will learn more of if you hang in here with me.

Back to normal. It’s what I strive to remain and what the forces of our society are moving opposite of. It occurred to me sometime during REM 3 that as much as the forces of destructive change (loony left) push against me, I also have the right to pull back. Turnabout is fair play, right? And who sets the ground rules anyway? The uneducated, fad following majority of American society, the “Sheeple” are rather easily coaxed this way or that. Wherever the wind is blowing from, seems to be a good enough reason for change. Well not for me. Unfortunately for me God (and he is real) gave me a brain. I have learned to use it. So when you say something that goes against reason, I go “tilt.” The PC driven world of change frowns upon my stubbornness and attempts to summon me along. But here’s the thing. Who says I have to? How about this for an option? How about I just say no! How about we just say the other side is the one that is wrong and we’re just not going there! No mam, all this evidence you brought is little more than hog wash and I’m not buying it? Well, how about that for a response? I vote that is a perfectly acceptable position for us to take and that is that, on to the next subject!

We don’t seem to want to fight as Americans. I ‘ll suggest that maybe you need to get punched in the nose a couple of times to wake you up.Pain is a good teaching tool sometimes. But that doesn’t seem to work very well, all evidence weighing in, because the beatings have been happening for the past, well, many years and no one has taken notice, or worse yet, doesn’t care. We are repeatedly being punched in the nose and not swing back, and why? Scared? Don’t want to make a fuss or draw attention? What reason or excuse do you have?

I think the change we have been experiencing since the Democrats led by Mr. Obama have accelerated the change from evolution to one of revolution. Allow me to give you an example. We have wrestled with sexuality in America forever. We have experienced periods of big change from the cultural norms. In the 1050’s we hardly spoke about it, now we have porn on our TV’s. Slowly the public school system has developed sexual education which technically explains male/female functions (for lack of a better word) to the satisfaction of we the parents who are ultimately in control. With the past 4 years we have all of a sudden become “Gay happy.” Our Military accepts openly gay relationships, it’s plastered all over television and movies, and some (ME??) are even considered uncool if you don’t embrace the concept. So now there is even a proposal to teach our kids about how people of the same sex would, well, do their thing. I think that’s W A Y too far. It’s a revolutionary change, and not an evolutionary change. I can not and will not go that far, aien’t going to happen!

OK, here’s my point with all this: I think I have the right to stand upright, look you in the eye and say, “Nope, I’m not buying it, I think you’re wrong, and I’m taking my toys and going home!” I think I have every right to stay where I am and not be ushered along, down some dark, evil road. Here’s the other thing. Where am I coming up with all this, what’s my reference as my Army pilot friends always used to query? Well, it’s the bible. That’s it, ground zero, bedrock, footer, the place where I’m anchored. Although the top of the house might sway in strong winds and the roof even be torn off, the foundation will forever stay anchored.

So what happens when revolutionary change comes up against something like a foundation? The irresistible force meets the immovable object? Well, you figure that one out, cause I for one am not going down the road, that road to the left that the forces at hand seem hell bent (hmmm, good choice of words there!) to corral me toward.
I’m going to choose normal. I am going to live a (hopefully) quiet life living with my “normal family” You know, a man, a woman, kids, dogs, cats, stuff like that, loving my god, watching out for my friends and neighbors, reaching out to help those in need. And standing my ground. I’m changing the rules. I’m now the one that is right, not the trendy forces of change. Nope, it’s normal, quiet, regular old middle American and all of our gun loving, God fearing ways that are the center and norm for me. Yepper, that’s where I belong!