Reality Check

I have noted that several folks have had "issues" reading the site.

I have not verified that the problem is NOT the site, but it is INTERNET EXPLORER. 

Therefore, if you want to view the site PROPERLY don’t use IE to do it, I strongly, highly recommend Mozilla Firefox. It’s free, it’s easy to install, and it works a million times better than IE ever has.

You don’t have to be computer savvy, so click the download button, store it some place you can find it, click the icon (or file name) to install, do a standard install and then make it your default browser.  You’ll love it, and love me for pointing you in the right direction.

Please, put down the Internet Explorer and step away from it!

Thanks

The week before Christmas, on Wednesday 20 December 2007 we were hit with our second major storm of the season.  The first one was in October and I did about an hour long podcast on it, complete with Amateur Radio in the background.  We’re expecting more snow, probably starting tonight and going through Friday.  I’ve been looking at the weather maps, predictions and doing a bit of my own predicting and figure the storm will hit sometime tonight around or after midnight.  Up-slope conditions are in the picture — which means a low pressure system south of Colorado, driving the air up and over the mountains.  With the right set up (cold air from the north, low pressure system to the SW and warm, moist air out of the west and southwest) we get massive snow drops over the mountains and along the front range.

I spend a lot of my time talking to people about "survival situations", in my daily conversations and for the most part people tend to ignore me completely or write me off as a "fringe lunatic survivalist" — which is actually kind of hilarious considering the job I do, my background and the place I work.  Anyway, throughout the course of a month, I probably have between six and ten such conversations that extend over the month with various people.  For the most part I’ve noted a very… almost extreme attitude regarding day-to-day survival.  Such conditions that exist this very minute set people up for failure when they engage in such attitudes.

"It can’t happen to me" seem to be the most prevailent among most people. Then there are various degrees of… well, to put it bluntly, ignorance regarding a person’s own safety.  For example people around here don’t bother to place survival equipment in their vehicles.  Even though they may travel 20-30 miles (some travel to Denvery for jobs, 75 or more miles in some cases) and have stated, "Why worry? I won’t be in the car for long, and they won’t let me stay on the highway!"

My thoughts run in two directions on this. The first is bad. "Ok. Good for you that you have that amount of confidence in ‘they’, whomever THEY are."  Because I know for a FACT that yes indeed there will be rescuers out there. Been there and done it myself.  However, some times, they don’t make it to those that need the help the most.

My second thought is that people who think like this are idiots.  They believe they are so immune to Mother Nature, and golly, society is so civilized they can’t possibly be affected by a disaster, they absolutely deserve what they get.  In fact, I almost want to WISH something on them so they will learn a lesson, but honestly, I’m not that cruel. I hope people will take heed of the things I say, no matter how silly they might seem, or frantic, or fanatical, or even… crazy.

The truth is, even my children LISTEN to me, and don’t think I’m completely crazy.  They sometimes think I over-exhaggerate things, but then they have also "been there and seen it", after I’ve said for them to examine or think something through, before it bites them… and they perhaps have been bitten a few times now.  NOW my family takes my survival information seriously and we have some plans in place to meet up in disaster situations so that we might pool resources.  They all understand the need to help others, and to show others how to survive before the survival situation kicks in to play.

Today, I’m writing for all the Coloradians out there who might be reading and haven’t been paying attention.  Pay attention now. This is the third major storm this season, and it is looking wicked.  It might, as sometimes they do, turn out to be nothing at all. But, for the sake of your families, go out today and buy that extra gallon of milk, or food you think you might need if snowed in for a few days.  Don’t DO it when the blizzard hits. Then you’re out in the blizzard, you’re causing problems on the road, you’re in the way and others are out there not paying attention to you then. They are doing the same thing.

PREPARE for the worst, hope for the BEST.

Good luck with it, I am already planning on what to do sitting at home on Friday since I don’t think *I* will be coming to work.

Check out the links below, and read a couple of the articles first, then read  my little rant.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-06/12-22-06/16local.htm

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-06/12-22-06/01opinion.htm

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757392/posts

Ok, let me get this straight.  A Mayor wants to ban assault weapons in his city, specifically the AR-15 (which a civilized version of the M-16).  He wishes to do this because he had some wounded cops in a standoff (which killed several people) with a man who happened to legally own such a weapon.

Scott C. Medeiros, 35, killed two Employees and himself in the standoff at the "Foxy Lady" in  New Bedford CT.  This is a "gentleman’s club" (in our neck of the woods, we call that a lot of other names that I won’t repeat here, but suffice it to say, women take off most of their clothes there).

The Mayor of this town stated….

"I’d like our local delegation to sponsor a bill that takes that type of weapon out of civilian hands … any type of military weapon," he said. "This is not an appropriate weapon for a civilian to have.

"It’s a killing tool. … It’s a weapon that’s used to destroy an opposition army. We don’t need a battlefield in the middle of our city."

Mayor Lang said he would like to see Massachusetts follow California’s example and ban the AR-15. "If it’s legal, it’s a loophole that’s got to be closed," he said.

The AR-15 "has firepower that police do not have available to them, except in extraordinary circumstances," Mayor Lang said.

Basically what we have here is a failure to communicate, as the warden told Cool Hand Luke… We have a man who decided he was going to kill some people, realized the hopelessness of his situation, after shooting some cops, and then killed himself.  He could have accomplished the same thing with a knife, with a baseball bat, any handgun, a steel rod, a piece of rope or a sword.  He might even have been able to do the same thing with his bare hands as some martial artists are trained to do.  I even know how to kill people with my bare hands.

Further, that particular state REQUIRES that one have a LICENSE to purchase weapons.

Let me see. Legally purchased weapon, man with no record.  Had a license to purchase said weapon.

Now they want to BAN THE WEAPON?

This ladies and gentlemen, sounds much more like a failure of the system to begin with.  Perhaps they somehow overlooked his background (no record) and failed to recognize that he was mentally unstable (medical records? Can they look at those legally?).

Bsaically, this Mayor has his head WAYYYYYYYYYY up his ass.   Lawmakers in the state are taking a cautious approach at the very least, but most likely it will not eventually stop the banning of military style weapons throughout America.

Australia’s Parliment banned "Assault Weapons" in 1997.  It hasn’t reduced crime in the cities, and it did little to bring back the dead from the attack at Port Arthur.  Thirty-two men and women were murdered and at least another twenty were wounded by a man with a "high powered rifle".

One man, with a rifle was able to kill that many people, making it the worst massacre in Australian history, by a single man.  As it turns out the man was mentally unstable to begin with.

Does that make it right that Australia went on to ban ALL weapons? No. But, the Aussies, for all their vim and vigor caved in and gave UP their weapons instead of fighting back.  I believe South Africa went through a similar situation.

Two weeks ago one man killed two people and the Mayor is calling for a BAN on WEAPONS because he believes they have no place in society.

Let me explain something, Mr. Mayor.  My family started in this country a long, long time ago, and they carried swords, and flintlocks.  Some of them carried bows and arrows.  America has lived because we, Americans.. all of us, immigrants as well as native Americans believe in FREEDOM first.

The very fact that a government would want to disarm the public and civilians in this day and age is akin to King George ording the removal of guns from Colonists in the 1700s.  The only difference is that now we have a government in place, in our OWN country, not that of a foreign government.  This time we have a Mayor, and American calling for the banning of something that absolutely ENSURES our American Rights and Heritage.

The fact that one crazed individual can cause such consternation amongst those who are supposed to be in leadership postions, forcing them to actually either completely throw out their honest views of America, or worse, allow their hidden hatred for American ways to come to the forefront is amazing to me.

This is a simple matter.  Two people died, and the murderer got away with it by killing himself.  There is no one left to punish, but the GUN that did nothing other than act a tool, in the hands of a man who was variously allowed to own the weapon by the state’s own LAWS (him having been FORCED to have a LICENSE to even PURCHASE the weapon in the first place).  This is an absolute FAILURE of the "system" and the people who are in charge.

My solution? Fire the Mayor, the Police Chief and everyone who was negligent in passing idiotic laws forcing law-abiding people to own weapons in the first place.  Reinstitute "Shall ISSUE" any "gun permits" they want, or better yet… "All Citizens of this city may carry anything they wish, as long as they aren’t already criminals".  

The actual Criminals will then be forced to GUESS who has a weapon, and who doesn’t.  The COPS will have BACK UP for situations like the one that occured at a "gentleman’s club" and half if not more of the customers, bar tenders and other bystanders might have returned fire at the CRIMINAL who walked in with a weapon.

The object is not to ban something that is used as a tool, rather make it more difficult for a criminal to perform such an act in the FIRST place by ensuring that ALL Americans have MORE rights than Criminals and are better ARMED than CRIMINALS. So, police? Get yourselves some weapons and as we say on the Internet today, STFU!

Yesterday, sometime early in the day, my newest grandchild, Gabriel, was born to my eldest daughter, Kristy.

He was 7 pounds even and was 19" long.  He makes the 10th grandchild for my wife and I.

Sorry, I’ve not posted much lately.  In the past few weeks, I’ve lost a Grandmother… Granny, Flora Lette Martin, aged 89 (she would have been 90 in April) and gained a grandson.  I’ve been busy with work and traveling.

Wife and I finally made it to the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis a few weeks ago, and visited a friend and his family (Brian) in the St. Louis area.  Brian has been rather ill of late and has had several heart attacks.  My wife and I thought we’d go visit him and meet him and his family. 

At the same time, we visited a good friend who worked at the White House with me in days of yore, Mike and his wife Cindy, and their children as well.

We got back and a few days later we turned around and headed back east, this time to Kentucky, a little town called Barbourville, KY, the county seat of Knox County, Kentucky.

I saw many aunts and uncles and cousins I didn’t even know I had, but knew me (I’m the eldest of all the cousins on that side of the family, and second oldests on my dad’s side of the family).

My Granny had as many as 25 grandchildren, and we couldn’t count the greatgrand children, and even a few great-great-Grandchildren.  She lived in the house where we all came together as a family before, and after the funeral for as long as I have been alive, almost 50 years.  I don’t know what year she moved into that old house, but it is going to be sold now and that site of 10 acres (what’s left of the original property) will most likely be the site of a Super Wallmart now, or perhaps a hosptial.

I spent several years of my life living "just down the lane" from her, and I walked to a school up on a hill, where we had running water inside, but no bathrooms. We had outhouses.  In the winter time, the school was heated from coal we burned in Franklin stoves, those pot-bellied things you saw in the movies.  I hunted squirrel and rabbit in those woods with a sling-shot and with bow and arrow.  I learned to fish, hunt, shoot and ride horses there. 

I found arrow heads that the Cherokee left behind, and I killed a pig in those woods with a spear as a child.  I learned to grow corn, and tomatoes, beans and potatoes.  I collected eggs from the hen coop, cleaned the hen coop, and milked cows, hoed the gardens, picked green apples and ate them til I got sick.

Throughout it all, I remember my Granny, my mother’s mom.  I remember my Great Grandmother, Dessie Bond (Dessa Suttles) in the early 1960s, and I remember her passing as well.  I went back to Kentucky in 1978, in June for my mother’s funeral.  She died in Detroit, where I was born was buried in a cemetary in Gray Kentucky.

My family… that line, the Bonds go back to England in the 1400s, and I can trace them back there.  My family, the Donaldsons were there since the 1700s, but I can’t go much further back than 1770.

In short, my family are about as American as they come. They came to this country when America wasn’t really a country, just "The New World" and they lived through the region of Virginia, and the Washington area — before America was a country.

My family has fought in almost every war this country has had, and been proud to do so.  My father served in the Korean War.  I served in the service and saw… "combat" in Central America, and I served as part of a group of people who supported the attempted rescue of the American Hostages in Iran in 1979-1981.  My son, Patrick currently serves in the United States Army and is stationed somewhere in Iraq today.

When Daniel Boone traveled across the Cumberland Gap, my people were with him, and they settled all through that area of Kentucky.  I might have been born in the city, and mostly grew up as a city boy, but I thank my Granny, my mom and my dad for letting me learn of the history of Kentucky, and of Daniel Boone, and the settlers and other frontiersmen and women who helped to found this country today.

So… this year… I lose a Grandmother, but I’ve gained a grandchild.  I’m proud of my children and their children, all of them, no matter what their circumstances are today — and some are going through tough times I know.  But, all of my children are dear to me, as are the grandchildren.  I only hope that my grandchildren will remember me as fondly as I remember my own grandmothers when I was a child.

Good bye Granny… You’re in a better place.

And welcome, to my newst baby grandson — may the world treat you better than it did your forebearers.

Love Grandpa… 

I just wanna make something very clear here…. /rant ON

My opinions are mine. I’ll share them if you ask, and sometimes when you don’t ask. I make sure that when I form an opinion it is based on factual data, thoroughly examined and calculated, weighed and OBJECTIVELY read. I also base my opinions on life experiences as well. I know the difference in right and wrong, and I know when someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes. So, if you want my opinion, and ask, I will give it and you can KNOW for a FACT it is well through out. If you don’t like my opinions, tough shit, I probably don’t like yours either.

If I appear to have slammed something someone has said on these forums, then know that it isn’t that I just "disagree" with you, or that I am "brainwashed" by some "Fanatic Right Wing government", nor that I’m a Nazi (I’m not for the record, I’m a dyed in the wool-Reagan-Republican who saw the light after working for Jimmy Carter, the very FIRST President I voted for. Reagan was the second.) — Nor am I a man of no or small principles. It’s because the person that made the crack that I responded to is full of shit, talking out his or her ass, or worse, is merely a misinformed person trying desperately to "fit in" with some group or organization (usually a left-leaning group, by the way).

As Elzie Segar’s, Popeye the Sailorman used to say, "I yam what I yam…"

Somewhere along the way, I’ve gained a kind of "following". I receive non-solicited "Fan Letters" on occasion. They range from awesomely written pieces to manaical personal attacks upon me. In the years since I started doing Anomalies I gained a vast array of–for lack of a better word–evildoers who were at the time hell bent on the destruction of the Anomalies Network. I’ve received, recently in fact, death threats. The shit never stops. The idiots continue to breed. Stupid people, by the way, ought not breed, nor should Liberals. (I suggest you continue aborting your children, and leave ours alone so that the Liberal will eventually go extinct.)

The kooks at Anomalies managed, for the most part to be written off as part of the history of the site. Somewhere along the way, I let my guard down and some of the got the "best of me" and managed to convince Olav that I was a tyrant and evil person, who was hell bent on preventing them, good innocent little people of the world, from "getting the word out". The truth is, I was protecting the site, and Olav with all my heart and soul. I poured more hours each day into that site than I did my family, my job, my hobbies. In short, I LIVED IN that site and was a PART of the site. I left a large mark on the site, and not a Black one as people like Kerry P, Jools, Porque, Tripp, Mr. P and many others are still SPOUTING even THIS day out on other sites out there. They know that they can’t bring a fight to me any more since I never respond to their nonsense on Anomalies these days, and if they come here, they will find themselves quickly in the toilet. And, they HATE it.

Olav, God Love him, was looking for a way to make Anomalies into his vision. I can not, nor would I blame him for that, and he managed to get his chance once day. But, regardless of the original intent of Anomalies, it grew out of love for the stories and information, and the people came. Both sides of the fence showed, and discussed and debated real data. Then it spiraled with the joining of a few trolls — some of whom I converted to be good Moderators. Andy G for one. Andy wasn’t really a troll, per se, but was definately misinformed. The day he took the helm of one of the forums, Andy did an about face, and took a "Right Turn" towards reality. He was one of our better moderators (and they were all damned fine people, don’t get me wrong, even a few I ended up firing eventually). But Andy was a person who, like many sat there and believed a lot of the stuff he read, as long as it fitted into some preconceived notion of his world view.

Then, shortly after taking over as a Moderator, Andy G did what few people do. He realized that belief in a subject is not the same as KNOWLEDGE in a subject and he studied a lot.

Andy was diagnosed with some sort of spinal cancer a year or so back. I was in contact with him for a time, and then that contact stopped. His Girl Friend was to let us know what was going on, but I’ve never heard from her since. I have not heard from Andy in months and I don’t think anyone else has either.

Andy G.– Where ever you are now, we all miss you.

Today, I see Anomalies suffering from piddling little posts and godawful conspiracy theories to no end. It’s sad, very sad. It’s like watching your mother with Alzheimer’s Disease, wasting away, babbling about things that aren’t true, or trapped in her mind that you can never know about.

Here on this site, several folks have taken to making cracks and remarks, which tend to "incite" me. Religion is one. Let me tell you my take on religion. First let me say this, carefully, I have no argument with religion per se. I appreciate it, and I understand the companionship people seek in knowing God. I also understand there are dozens of religions out there and billions belong to one or another. Finally, I understand that we all must take certain things on faith.

Now, stand back and minute and forget anything you knew about ANY religion, just for a moment, including your own. Place yourself as a complete and utter novice in the face of ANY religion, and know you know nothing about it.

Now, completely indoctrinate yourself into one (any) religion, follow it’s tenents, listen carefully to the Preachers (or whatever other teachers are involved) and then understand that you’ve been brainwashed. Now you know why Islamics are so hell bent on killing Americans, Jews and Western Civilization.

Now, knowing that this can happen to people, is it any WONDER that sometimes the Left Wing in America can be so evil when it comes to churches and religion? Is it any wonder that they bitch and scream and want to see something they call the "Separation of Church and State"? You see, where religion is involved, there is a degree of BELIEF and FAITH that must be taken into account. When that belief and faith are used as battering rams against people, say, like me who APPEAR to be "non-believers" then the application of that religious teaching becomes unwanted and unwarranted. I don’t need, nor want "conversion" and I do NOT believe that God is going to take care of me all the time. He might be there to nudge me a bit one way or the other, but what I do, and what happens around him has NOTHING to do with him normally. You believe what you will, and I will believe MY way. Don’t try to tell me that I’m doing something wrong because you disagree with it — but at the same time, don’t think that you’re doing something RIGHT because you simply BELIEVE it.

Things I can’t and won’t tolerate ever:

1) Someone trying to force me to "believe" in ANYTHING including religion, or conspiracy theory… which by the way, are BOTH RELIGIONS.

2) Lies. Damned lies and Statistics. I use statistics, but I show all of them, not part of them (like the crazy, whacko Global warming kooks do). One thing I don’t do on this or other web sites when I write though, is LIE about data. I tell it like it is, exactly. I show the facts. If I interject my OPINION on a subject, it’s not based on vague, feel-good rules. It’s based on facts and personal experience. I’m sure no one likes to think they are wrong, and neither do I. But I STRIVE to be not just right, but ACCURATE, even in opinions.

3) Personal attacks on anyone on this site. I won’t stand for it. And if you think I’ve made one, then look again at what you did to get the remarks I made. If you are going to sit there and tell me I did something I didn’t do, that’s akin to calling me a liar, and you’re going to get creamed. Don’t like that? TOUGH, don’t tell me I said something I didn’t say.

4) Rewording something I’ve said. Don’t do that. My writing is my writing, as is my writing style. I may not remember in two weeks precisely what I said, but it’s there for the world to see. If you wanna question something I’ve said, then you need to make sure you quote me ACCURATELY.

5) I won’t tolerate Communists, Socialists, Marxists, or whatever you wanna call yourselves, I don’t tolerate Enviromental LIBERAL idiots, people who damage others’ properties, murderers, terrorists, rapists and in general criminals. I WON"T tolerate people who threaten me, my family or my friends, and a lot of my friends are on this site.

There’s probably a lot more I WON’T Tolerate… just don’t be one of the "more".

Then, there’s the Right Wing, in particular the Religious right… who deem themselves sometimes completely free of committing crimes or wrong doing, and see that even recently the head of the New Life Church, Ted Haggard got himself in deep doo doo. Well, he and others got himself in to it — and no puns were intended here. People on both sides of the political aisle can be fools, do things they shouldn’t do. I’ve done a lot of things in my time I shouldn’t have and am not proud of them. But, it ain’t nobody’s business but mine. And unlike LIBERALS I don’t go around telling my kids and others what I’ve done "bad" — because it isn’t anyone’s business, and any mother or father that admits to their children they did drugs in the ’60s and ’70s are imbeciles. Your KIDS don’t need that kind of example. They need one that DOESN"T make mistakes. They need Parents who are BEYOND HUMAN. So, if you want to be a good parent, it’s easy. Be strong, and sometimes LIE to your kids when they ask you stupid questions.

When it comes to gathering information, I don’t just sit back, read and listen to one point of view. Neither should you. I listen to them all, so if anyone wants to tell me "You’re brainwashed" — go ahead, but know you’re lying, and I’ll call you out… and in the same vein as my ancestors, I’ll be happy to meet you on the street and kick your ass for saying such a thing about me. I tend to look up things, a lot of things every day. EVERYTHING that catches my attention becomes either a bookmark on a computer, or a piece of information I put in my brain. I’d expect every one of you to do the same, instead of setting your parameters and bias ahead of time, why DON’T you spend time digging into that conspiracy piece that looks so inviting and find the actual, first person source of the data.

You will be SURPRISED, trust me, if you go and read up on, say… "Concentration camps in America". Oh, my God, you will find so LITTLE truth, and a whole lot of run around, it’s truly mind boggling that people can believe this CRAP. (and a little hint, ALL the information you will find will eventually lead back to ONE PERSON, imagine that!)

I don’t mince words. I tell it EXACTLY like I see it. I AM somewhat wordy at times in articles (like this one). This is because I try very hard NOT to leave some of the imbeciles out there that like nothing better than to argue for no reason, and with no argument, no way out.

If you want to complain about my articles. Do it to yourselves. I’m sick of people telling me I write too much, or not enough. I am what I am. I do what I do because I know it is the right thing to do.

So.. for that group of you finally coming back out of the woodwork, who used to hang at Anomalies, and are looking to pick fresh fights with me… I’ll tell you this. I have more backup here than you can imagine. We might argue amongst ourselves at times on the meaning of this or that, but the folks that formed the core of this site have a goal, and we will stick to it. we don’t have any backdoors you’re going to get into and stab one of us in the back. TAA is here, for the duration. Trolls won’t shut us down and they won’t shut me up.

There’s no going behind one of our backs. You stand up, you face us like men, and we’ll face you back. You wanna bring weapons to the fight, feel free, but understand this core group not only outguns you in intellect, it outguns you in real life.

For the forces of evil out there bent on doing harm to the United States of America…

Do your best, but know that there are Americans.. JUST LIKE Me, who will not take your shit, we will point it out every step of the way. We will follow you around and scream at you if necessary, shoot you if we have too. America will not fall to the likes of Leftists, Socialists and Communists. The Democrats in this country need to understand this and get behind the rest of us Americans in fending off the Islamofascists and the rest of the WRONG-THINKING on this planet. Socialism is going to die in the next generation. I will help see to that.

President Bush said, after 9-11, "You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists".

Chose sides. Most already have, those that are on my side will win. Those on the side of the terrorists will lose.

So, when you post on this site, get your FACTS STRAIGHT, don’t lie, and DO by all means DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DATA. Because if I start seeing conspiracy crap on this site, I’m going to go through it with a fine toothed comb and I’ll call you out when I find your sources don’t match or all are circular to the same source.

Get your shit together on this site and expect, EXPECT that you’ll be questioned when you post crap. If you don’t like it, tough, go somewhere simple-minded and sloppy to post your garbage. But if you want to discuss something with an intelligent group, this is the place to do it. Just don’t expect me or anyone else to back down when it comes to hard questions.

If you don’t like my opinion, don’t ask for it. Don’t post things that are going to bring me out to work on what you’ve said. Because, folks, I’m probably the meanest son of a bitch in the valley and you don’t want to screw with me.

Oh… and last thing. The next THREAT I receive, I won’t send to the FBI or the local cops. I’ll take it seriously and I’ll hunt your ass down and make God Damned sure you don’t do that to me or anyone in my family again.

That’s not a threat, that’s a PROMISE. If the cops won’t do anything, *I* will.

have a nice day.
__________________
Rick Donaldson

It’s better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for who you’re not.

If your opponent is quick to anger, seek to irritate him. — Sun Tzu

Illegitimus non carborundum.
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