hope and change

A couple years ago I suggested stockpiling enough food to keep you and yours going for nine months.  At the time, I thought nine months was a long stretch but after reading how Europe wants their people to stop consuming milk and vegetables because of the radiation entering their food chain, I guess nine months is just about right.  It's not just Europe but the U.S. east coast has been showing some abnormal radiation readings and milk from grass fed cows are testing radioactive.  It's just a matter of time before our whole food supply is contaminated.

CRIIRAD, the French research authority on radioactivity, is now warning expectant mothers and young children to avoid drinking milk or rainwater. They should also avoid certain types of vegetables and cheese due to the dangerously high levels of radiation they may contain thanks to the radioactive fallout spreading across the globe, thanks to the Fukushima disaster in Japan last month.

On the other hand, the U.S. is having an economic meltdown and I'm hard pressed to guess which meltdown is worse.  Last Friday we avoided a government shutdown at the eleventh hour.  Yawn.....
This theater they put on is just as scripted as professional wrestling and everyone knows how it'll turn out but the unwashed masses who are convinced the major fuckups in congress are really trying to do what's right for the American people.  I have two words to say to that... Bull SHIT!  These guys are either brain dead morons or they're purposely and systematically trying to ruin this country and take everyone with them.  The law of averages say that flipping a coin will give you positive results half the time.  These guys haven't done one, single positive thing in a decade and we let these spendaholic buffoons in charge of the economy?  We may as well let an army of junkies in charge of our heroin because these guys don't know the meaning of moderation, let alone cutting back.  In the real world, these guys should all be executed for treason.

Needless to say, all this crap brought me down so I decided to do something about it so I bought a case of evaporated milk, went shopping for Geiger counters, scored a few bottles of potassium iodide, and decided to renew my carry permit.

As I walked into the sheriff's office the deputy said, "gun permit?" and handed me a clipboard with about twenty names, all of which specified gun permit as the reason.  I was number twenty one and it was only 2pm.  There was a cute blond getting her picture taken and her dad was next, followed by me.  A few minutes later another guy came in and then an elderly lady.  An interesting cross section of small town voters, all with one thing in common... We came to exercise our second amendment rights to carry a concealed weapon.

I asked the deputy if this many people applying for carry permits is common and he said, "Today it's been slow and steady."  He quickly mentioned it was pretty hectic all last week.  I figured the slow and steady day might supply less than 50 people with permits.  Hectic might mean 50 or more but a quick calculation gave me the impression there were about 250 people in any given week getting carry permits from this office alone.  Just before I left, I asked him one, last question... How do you feel about all these people legally packing as they go about their daily business?  He smiled and said, "It's great."  I don't think he meant his job was secure by processing an endless stream of paperwork but rather liked the idea that regular people were becoming proactive with a need to protect themselves, instead of letting the nanny state do it for them, after the fact.

It's reassuring to know The Oath Keepers was started by a group of sheriffs.

I left that office with a feeling of pride and optimism