To GMO or Not to GMO?

That is the question …
         And ultimately it is up to you and you alone to answer.

"Control the oil and you'll control the nations;
control the food and you'll control the people."
Henry Kissinger (1970)

I have chosen to avoid GMOs.  Why?

Well first off, the biotech firms (like Carghil, DOW, Syngenta, Okanagan, Genective and Monsanto to name a few) that are “owners” of the genetically modified seeds, DO NOT allow anyone outside their own industry to perform any studies, yet alone true, documented, scientific studies.  Oh they do have some rather ‘intense’ excuses as to why they do not allow this … from corporate espionage fears to convoluted copyright laws and the like.  Then, to make matters worse, what studies these seed companies do publish DO NOT contain all the parts to a true scientific experiment (The Research Question, The Hypothesis, The Procedure [and process], Parts of an Experiment [variables & controls],  Materials, Results, The Conclusion), yet alone what is needed in a study vs experiment.

So, to me, ANY entity that is NOT willing to let scientists and students from around the globe perform their own independent (a true scientific) study on their product – is “bad” or “suspect science” and not worth more than the paper it is printed on.  It’s a huge red flag that these studies and experiments CANNOT be quantified.  Pure and simple – Why on earth would ANY entity be afraid of a non-biased, independent scientific study?

Second, I don’t like the shysterism that these biotech firms use with their “farmer contracts”.  When I read these contracts it reminds me of the US Welfare system – a TRAP and nothing but, as well as an economical heyday only for the biotech firms, NOT the farmer and most certainly not us consumers.

"It is the silent acquiescence of millions that supports the system. When you don’t oppose a system, your silence becomes approval, for it does nothing to interrupt the system…Many people say it is insane to resist the system,
but actually, it is insane not to."
Mumia Abu-Jamal

Thirdly, one set of facts these biotech firms cannot hinder is that those farmers that get stuck planting their GM seeds continue to NEED fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.  Yet, isn’t that supposed to be some of the stuff these GM seeds and plants are supposed to reduce? - At least according to the studies published (only) by these biotech firms.

"Big Government and Big Business … will try to impose social and cultural uniformity upon adults and their children. To achieve this they will (unless prevented) make use of all the mind-manipulating techniques at their disposal and will not hesitate to reinforce these methods of non-rational persuasion by economic coercion and threats of physical violence. If this kind of tyranny is to be avoided, we must begin without delay to educate ourselves and our children for freedom and self-government. Such an education for freedom should be …
first of all in facts and in values — the facts of individual diversity and genetic uniqueness and the values of freedom, tolerance and mutual charity, which are the ethical corollaries of these facts."
Aldous Huxley
(Brave New World Revisited)

Fourth, the recent droughts in the bread basket of the US have proven, in the real world, that these so-called drought resistant GM seeds are just as susceptible to lack of water as non-GM and in some areas, even more susceptible.
 
Fifth, since because of Reason 1, all the studies to date on the effects of GM food products on humans is at best “tainted” and that is IF it is possible to find one NOT funded by (and hence controlled  and manipulated by) the biotech firms.  This leaves a huge hole that we can fly a fleet of Starship Enterprises through! 

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and

you're a thousand miles from the corn field.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

    
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to the lives of my loved ones and me – I will error on the safe side!  Hence I am 100% behind clear and concise labeling of ANY and ALL GMO foods and ingredients.  This labeling will help us decide for ourselves if we want to consume these things, which is the basic principle behind ALL of our founding documents – Freedom of Choice (within the constraints of the 10 Commandments or the Golden Rule).

"There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew."
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

On top of the GMO threat, we in America are also facing the scourge of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers that our food products are washed in, grown in or sprayed with and food animals are injected with other chemicals, antibiotics and hormones; many of which are labeled as poisons!
    
Other things are done to our foods like dyes in beef and salmon, along with saline solution injections for “plumping” and other “aesthetic treatments” – just to get us to buy the product. (The 6 Creepiest Lies the Food Industry is Feeding You  http://www.cracked.com/article_19896_the-6-creepiest-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html)

On top of all of that - Very little of this is labeled; we don’t have the foggiest idea that we are consuming these chemicals!

"Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country; but its real strength and stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of the land."
William Pitt

As goes California, so goes the nation!   

Shortly, California voters will have a chance to exercise their Freedom of Choice on an unprecedented bill in their state congress – Proposition 37 (GMO Labeling requirement).  I hope the voters will choose in favor of the labeling to allow true Freedom of Choice to all of its citizens and set the precedent for other states to follow suit.

Below is a list of the top 10 contributors to the No on 37 campaign, which is trying to stop GMO labeling in California:  (This is another red flag – What are these corporations afraid of?)

1) Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO, $7,100,500
2) E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., Washington, DC, $4,900,000
3) BASF Plant Science, Research Triangle Park, NC, $2,000,000
4) Bayer CropScience, Research Triangle Park, NC, $2,000,000
5) Dow Agrosciences LLC, Indianapolis, IN, $2,000,000
6) PepsiCo, Inc., Purchase, NY, $1,716,300
7) Nestle USA, Inc., Glendale, CA, $1,169,400
8) Coca-Cola North America, Atlanta, GA, $1,164,400
9) ConAgra Foods, Omaha, NE, $1,076,700
10) Syngenta Corporation, Washington, DC, $1,000,000

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson

Corporatism or oligarchy (marriage of our government with corporate backed political parties) plays a major role in incomplete and inaccurate food labeling, the shysterism of “agribusiness” and the downfall of good old fashioned agriculture.

"The first farmer was the first man.
All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land."
Emerson, Ralph Waldo

As of April 2012, 10 companies that own most of our food-grocery products and Organic Operations Accounted For Less Than 1% of Total Crop Acreage in 2008!

 Keep in mind that in the United States:

• The term “Natural” does NOT have a legal description or any regulations for use.
• The term “Fresh” does NOT have a legal description or any regulations for use.  However, the food industry generally “accepts” that as long as only refrigeration (and air circulation, including gassing) was applied and the item arrives at the point of sale in under 5 weeks, that the item is considered fresh.
• The term “Local” to the Fed generally means anything up to and including 400 miles from where it was grown/raised and farmers generally consider up to 50 miles local.
• The term “Organic” in the US is the one of the most loosely defined by law of ALL the nations in the Codex Alimentarius.  IE: Much of what the US terms organic would not be considered so in many other nations.
• The terms “Natural” and “Organic” are NOT interchangeable.
• The average distance from the farm to your table is 1,500 miles for “fresh” produce and a typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table.
•  In 1866; 1,186 varieties of fruits and vegetables were produced in California. Today, California's farms produce only 350 commercial crops.

It seems that when we buy “Organic,” we are buying products that are guaranteed to be produced without GMOs, but not guaranteed to be 100% GMO-free!

In 2001 the US imported:

• 68.2% of our fish and shellfish
• 27.3 percent of confectionary products
• 21.4 percent of fruits, juices and nuts
• 15.5 percent of vegetable oils
•  9.3 percent of red meat
• Hawaii imports 90% of its food.
• According to a report by USDA in 2007, US fresh produce imports have exceeded exports starting in 1990.

Now add us consumers.  How much do we know about what it takes to produce our food?  Most of us don’t understand the basic intricacies and inter-dependencies that bring foods to our grocery stores, restaurants and tables.  There is nothing really wrong with that.  What is wrong is when we let others have us believing that “just this one little thing” is the problem or the solution. 

Reality is that it is NOT JUST the farmer/rancher, government or corporatization of our agriculture; it is NOT JUST meat eaters or dwindling bio-diversity. 

How many of us know what is actually produced in the U.S. or imported and what is seasonal or not in our area?

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet."
James Oppenheim

Do we know what products are GMO, what are sprayed or injected and the like? 

Do we demand and hold accountable the food processors and our government as strictly as our food producers or do we “let someone else worry about it”?

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time,

and your government when it deserves it.”

Mark Twain

How many of us actually know what we consume in a week?

Ultimately we the Citizen/Consumer have the power to hold the government and corporations accountable.  We have the power to read the labels on our food, purchase local and in season; avoid GMO’s and demand honest labeling.   Other countries are doing this, so we can darn sure do it too!

"The best stock a man can invest in, is the stock of a farm;
the best shares are plow shares;
and the best banks are the fertile banks of a rural stream;
the more these are broken the better dividends they pay."
Henry Ward Beecher

Benefits of Buying Local:

• Communities reap more economic benefits from the presence of small farms than they do from large ones. Studies have shown that small farms re-invest more money into local economies by purchasing feed, seed and other materials from local businesses, whereas large farms often order in bulk from distant companies. Large factory livestock farms also degrade local property values because of the intense odors they emit and other environmental problems they cause.
• In the U.S., a wheat farmer can expect to receive about six cents of each dollar spent on a loaf of bread—approximately the cost of the wrapping.
• Farmers' markets enable farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer over 5 to 25 cents of each consumer dollar via supermarkets and grocery stores.
• About 1/3 of all U.S. farms are located within metropolitan areas, comprising 18% of total U.S. farmland. 

"The farmer works the soil, The agriculturist works the farmer."
Eugene F. Ware

The Farm Bill 2012 aka Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2012

The bills in the House and Senate that comprise this bill have been in debate since 2011.  That is because in late 2012 the previous bill of 2008 expires.  There are all kinds of innocuous “riders” and “clauses” in the 2012 bill, ranging from energy usage, to corporate exemptions, to climate change.  We must watch these bills and be sure they are for the family LLC farmer/rancher and NOT just for the corporate farm/ranch.

Now most of us may think that this bill only affects farmers and ranchers – WE ARE WRONG!

This bill determines all the emergency funds allocated to farmers and ranchers, like say for this year’s drought; Farm/Ranch subsidies; School Lunch programs; the Food Stamp program, subsidies, corporate exemptions (not LLC but Big Business) and a slew of other “programs” that affect each and every citizen of the United States!

"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most

to real wealth, good morals, and happiness."

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787)

What Can We Do?

• Buy in season
• Buy Local
• Read the Label
• Plant a vegetable garden, change your yard to edible landscaping
• Use only open-pollinated seeds.  (Remember that all Heritage/Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated but NOT all open-pollinated seeds are heirloom.)
• Question the purchasing manager at your local farmers markets and super markets and let them know how you feel about imported, GMO and non-organic items.
• Let your government officials know you want truth in labeling
• Tell the government that you want the corporatism to STOP
• Don’t settle for the “lesser of evils” and vote accordingly!

As you can see all these different things are all related and inter-dependent on each other.  It’s no wonder our food system, not to mention, food quality is rapidly declining.

TNT

To find out how to read PLU (Price LookUp number) codes, nutritional labels, Proposition 37, Farm Bill 2012, what is in season or not-imported or not and,  about GMO food products, avoiding pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals in our food, as well as legislation around the US and the world go to http://www.scribd.com/doc/106962269/To-GMO-or-Not-to-GMO

"Today is the Tomorrow that you worried about Yesterday"

Fall Is Upon Us Once Again

It’s that time of year again folks!  Time to harvest and preserve the summer crops and plant the fall crops. 

Here in New Mexico we are also roasting chili; setting some aside for rellenos and the rest for spicing up fall and winter stews and soups.
    
On the patio and in the yard and garden, around the home and homestead , our vehicles and other tools and equipment,  with our livestock and pets - Yes, yes, yes, we indeed have plenty of things to do to winterize and put up stores for the winter that is quickly approaching. 

As Preppers it is also time to check our go-bags and emergency supplies for expiration dates and to be sure we now add all those winter things to them.

For a check list to cover all these tasks and chores see:  Fall To Do’s - Preparing for Winter @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/65838445/Fall-to-Do-s-Preparing-Winter

If you are new to canning or just want a refresher see:  Canning Basics – Hot Water Bath @  http://www.scribd.com/doc/55051516/Canning-Basics-%E2%80%93-Hot-Water-Bath  and Canning Tomatoes Hot Water Bath Step-by-Step @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/55051697/Canning-Tomatoes-Hot-Water-Bath-Step-By-Step. 

Remember you can replace vinegar and lemon juice with acidic acid powder and that Ascorbic Acid is only an anti-browning agent, which can also be purchased in powdered format.

For ideas on other methods of food preservation see Did You Know – History of Food Preservation @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/50950471/Did-You-Know-%E2%80%93-History-of-Food-Preservation-vr2b.

To make sure you have the freshest fruit and vegetables for your canning, check out Shopping for Fresh & Seasonal Foods @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/55585307/Shopping-for-Fresh-Seasonal-Foods and for detailed state by state information see U.S. Fruit & Vegetable In Season & Harvest Dates State by State (must download in Excel format to view all tabs) @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/55585033/U-S-Fruit-Vegetable-in-Season-Harvest-Dates-State-by-State.



Available for download @    http://www.scribd.com/doc/105878617/Fall-is-Upon-Us-Once-Again

Prep On ;-}

TNT

PS – For some fall and winter gardening tips see:
Fall & Winter Vegetable Planting Guide  http://www.humeseeds.com/falwint.htm
Vegetable Garden: Vegetable Gardening in the Fall (winter in the hotter regions)  http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/fall.html
Preparing a Vegetable Garden for Winter http://www.howstuffworks.com/preparing-a-vegetable-garden-for-winter.htm
Winter Cover Crops for Your Vegetable Garden http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=208

September 11 - Never Forget !

We should never forget the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001, no matter what the cause terrorism or conspiracy, no matter who or what is to “blame”.  We should strive to learn what conditions permitted the events of that day to happen and then develop methodologies to reduce the risk of them occurring again.

Each and every American should say a prayer or chant or meditate, whatever your spiritualism does, to bless the souls that perished on that day and their family members that live with their memories.

We Americans, we humans, are not immune to all the various crises that occur in our world; natural, human-made, bad luck (fate) or metaphysical.  Not all crises will have “writing on the wall” and give us fair warning to be ready and prepared.

Yes, remember this day, let’s not be victims and Be Prepared, Not Scared!
 
Creator of all races, nations and religions, You know that we cannot change others, nor can we change the past.  With Your help, we can only change ourselves.
We acknowledge that September 11, 2001 will be indelibly inscribed in our memories.
We looked with horror on the inhuman attacks of that day.
We looked with honor on acts of courage by ordinary people who sacrificed themselves to prevent further death and destruction.
We shed our tears in a common bond of grief for those we loved and lost.
We journeyed through a dark valley, but Your light has led us to a place of hope.
We form our hands in prayer to say,
Creator, grant peace to the souls of all those who perished on that day.
Grant comfort to the families who lost loved ones.
Grant healing to those who carry scars, of the heart as well as the body, from that day so long ago, yet so close.
Creator, turn our grief into determination.  Guide us to doing what is good and right and just.
Help us to remember what it means to be Americans — a people endowed with abundant blessings.
Help us to cherish and fight for the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand with courage, united as one Nation in the midst of any adversity.
Creator, hear this prayer from my heart to yours for our nation.

Read more @  http://www.scribd.com/doc/105616665/September-11-Never-Forget


TNT

National Preparedness Month - Pledge to Prepare - Awareness to Action

Ah September!  The fall harvest is just around the corner, kids are back in school and we start hustling to be ready for winter.  Here in New Mexico, September also means roasting chili and the State Fair.  To the nation, since 2004 National Preparedness Month in September was born out of the tremendous response to the 9/11 tragedy.

The concept of "national preparedness" is really the concept of creating a nation of prepared individuals, families and businesses.  It is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security.  It is called “FEMA’s Ready Campaign” (http://www.ready.gov) and correlates ‘public education’ through disseminating information and points us citizens to various national Citizen Corps volunteer groups (like CERTS) for specific training and information.  

All the military branches participate in National Preparedness Month and stress the importance to all the civilian dependants of military personnel and contractors.

“Responsibility for the safety and resiliency of our Army lies with each member of the Army Family. Engagement among Army leaders, Soldiers, Families and Civilians is pivotal to highlighting the role each individual plays in preparedness. Preparedness planning serves as a force multiplier, allowing leaders to dedicate time and energy on the most significant needs of the Army community.” Per Raymond F. Chandler III, Sergeant Major of the Army; Raymond T. Odierno, General, Army Chief of Staff; John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army in a letter to the forces.

Individuals as well as organizations are encouraged to become involved, as a crisis or disaster can strike anywhere, at anytime, can be large or small and long or short in duration.

The U.S. has had numerous other natural disasters, even since 9/11 and although they have, thankfully, not been as severe as say the Japan earthquake and Tsunami, they have been devastating to many of us as a nation. 

In 2005 we had Just Katrina where the up & running response time of FEMA providing aid was 6 days and the communication and coordination between the various levels of government (local to federal) was a disaster in and of itself.

2011 saw more billion-dollar natural disasters than any year on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Some of which were: Major storms from Hurricane Irene which battered the U.S. East Coast, to the spring tornadoes which brought devastation from Wisconsin to Texas.  During the first 11 months of 2011 there were 97 major disasters declared. 

Recently we have had the drought through much of the lower 48 states and the category 1 hurricane – Isaac, which was a very slow moving, extremely saturated storm, whose remnants are still wrecking havoc with continuing power outages and flooding.  All these natural occurrences point to the fact that we don’t know and can’t really predict where or when emergencies or disasters will strike.

Here in the U.S. we have gone from a loosely knit civilian entity, that eventually was ‘guided’ by Department of Defense as Civil Defense; to still a loosely coordinated group of local, state, federal governmental and civilian groups called Civil Defense; then onto a consolidated Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and finally to an overly bureaucratic federally dictated Department of Homeland Security.

Despite all this (or maybe because of some of it), history has shown us that the government can’t do it alone when it comes to: preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters. DHS/FEMA is only part of our nation’s ‘emergency management team’ – along with other federal partners, state and local governments, nonprofit and voluntary organizations, the private sector and most importantly: the everyday citizen. 

Yet, as of 2009, the Citizen Corps National Survey revealed that only 57% of Americans surveyed report having supplies set aside in their homes just for disasters, while only 44% have a household emergency plan.  National Preparedness Month serves to encourage individuals across the nation to take important preparedness steps including: getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, being informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, as well as taking the necessary steps to get trained and become engaged in community preparedness and response efforts.  (See the 2009 Citizen Corps National Survey @ http://www.citizencorps.gov/ready/2009findings.shtm).

Today it is estimated that over half of Americans have emergency supplies set aside and less than half have a plan. Even fewer have the knowledge and skills to utilize their emergency supplies or can guarantee that they are still viable, nutritional and or functional.  This is something you have to work at and maintain.

"Just like no coach would bring a team onto a field without a game plan, every family needs a game plan for emergencies. When disaster strikes, it’s too late," says Russ Paulsen, Red Cross Executive Director of Community Preparedness and Resilience.

 This year’s campaign is called:  Pledge to Prepare – Awareness In Action and there is a great little game online that many states are encouraging people to participate in called; ‘30 Ways, 30 Days to Prepare’.  Go to http://www.30days30ways.com/ to sign up, join and get prepared!


This is an emergency preparedness game that was started by the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) during National Preparedness Month in 2010 and is again being "played" nationally for 2012.


Ok I can hear people screaming “Your working with FEMA?!!”   Despite my lack of trust and respect for our government and that its own actions and reports consider ‘Preppers’ as potential threats to national security (http://prepperphil.com/2012/07/15/the-hb-nation-declares-janet-napolitano-top-domestic-terrorist/),  I firmly believe that Citizen Corps and Ready.gov, along with the Red Cross are excellent places for basic ‘getting started’ preparedness information.  Besides if one actually reads the citizen slandering DHS documents, they do draw a fine line or ‘split hairs’ between preparedness and domestic terrorists in their ‘deffinition’.  There is an excellent article about this at http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/09/national-preparedness-month-npm-september-2012.html which states:

“To summarize this, FEMA/DHS are good with Preppers when everything can be framed as preparing for a disaster.  Where they diverge is when you are preparing for an attack.”

On top of that preparedness is truly an individual responsibility and not that of any government.

Bottom line:  Organizations like the Red Cross and governmental instruction from DHS, FEMA, CDC, etc are valid and precise,  yet short-sided in that none of their instructions promote self-reliance for longer than 72 hours and ‘disasters’ since 9/11 have shown that the average timeframe is actually 5-7 days, with Isaac now taking us into weeks!  So please keep that in mind as you and yours prepare.

Check out the American Preppers Network (APN) at http://americanpreppersnetwork.com each day this for daily insight on “Prepper Disaster Preparedness”.

Read more on tips to get your started, additional non-government resources or continue to have your family prepared and not scared ;-}  @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/105388481/National-Preparedness-Month-2012-Pledge-to-Prepare-Awareness-to-Action

Don't forget your Fall To-Do's @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/65838445/Fall-to-Do-s-Preparing-Winter

Today is the Tomorrow that you worried about Yesterday

TNT

Mindset! What Mindset?

According to several dictionaries a mindset is:

Mindset:  a fixed frame of reference, the minds orientation or perspective. The mental grid a person uses to filter data from their environment.

Noun: a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines one's behavior, outlook and mental attitude.

Mentality:  a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations.

There are all kinds of ‘mindsets’ that we develop over the course of our lives and all of them are important in determining just how we act, react and move through our world during our daily lives.  As always, there are degrees to any mindset and some requirements – personal, mental and physical.

For instance, at the root of a self-reliant mindset is a conscious effort of replacing an "I need help" attitude with an "I can do it myself" attitude.  Therein lies the silver-lining of self-reliance; when you achieve even a modicum of it, you feel really good about yourself.

I found this fancy psychological study done on mindsets to determine what traits or attributes hinder or help a person with any particular mindset.  What the long, wordy study said was that basically all mindsets are either of the Fixed or Growth type. 

The more ‘growth’ mindsets you have, the more adaptive and resilient you are – the better capable you are to not only survive adverse situations, but thrive.

While a Lifestyle is:

Lifestyle:  A way of living of individuals, families (households), and societies, which they manifest in coping with their physical, psychological, social, and economic environments on a day-to-day basis.  Lifestyle is expressed in both work and leisure behavior patterns and (on an individual basis) in activities, attitudes, interests, opinions, values, and allocation of income. It also reflects people's self image or self concept; the way they see themselves and believe they are seen by the others. Lifestyle is a composite of motivations, needs, and wants and is influenced by factors such as culture, family, reference groups, and social class. The analysis of consumer life styles (called psychographics) is an important factor in determining how consumers make their purchase decisions.

Noun: the habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc., that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group.

Adjective: pertaining to or catering to a certain lifestyle: unhealthy lifestyle choices; lifestyle advertising; a luxury lifestyle hotel; suggestive of a fashionable or desirable lifestyle a lifestyle café

A mindset and a life style are similar in that the mindset is how we view or ‘filter’ what we see around us and how we react to it.  While a life style is what we do to meet our fuzzy wuzzy side of wellness and how we want others to see us while doing it.

Over the years I have worked with seniors that needed to downsize because of health and or the economy.  Just about all of them felt that they were somehow losing their status in society by downsizing.   Now some of these people felt that anything under 3,000 sq ft was just right or small.  Granted that might be true if there are 6 or more of you in a home, or a household member is claustrophobic, but the reality is that that is a huge home for the majority of US households of 4 or less and in most cases that much space is not being utilized.

Up until the late 1800’s to early 1900’s closets in homes were small as most people only had a few articles of clothing and rooms were much smaller or cozy.  In the 1980’s large master bedrooms with walk-in closets and master baths was all the rage.  Remember the sales pitches or the marketing and advertizing; “Have your own master suite”, “Relax in luxury in your own private spa-like bath” and the like?   Yet just how often do these people utilize all the clothes in their closets or relax in their master bedrooms and baths?  Yet they are paying for it with their mortgages, time to clean and maintain and money to heat and cool these underutilized rooms.

Then there is the old stand-by of “Look good, feel good”, which is great for depression riddled people but has absolutely no value to people who accept life as it really is.  Reality lifestyles are people that know that how we feel and perceive ourselves to be, is rooted in our own minds and not our outward appearances.

That is not to say that the people living in reality are not happy and content with life, because I can assure you most of us are and then some!  The real difference is how we perceive ourselves and civilization.  We have become a society driven by stuff and convenience.  We have been lead to believe that the more stuff, the flashier the stuff, the more expensive the stuff we surround ourselves with equates to success, wealth and beauty.  The reality is that this is just stuff and success, wealth and beauty are not attributes that can be readily displayed.  We can project the illusion of them, but display it to achieve it – NO.  Studies around the globe have proven that people that are truly content and happy in life usually don’t have tons of stuff around them and that people who are striving to reach this state of mind do.  The realist knows the difference and still strives to fulfill their dreams in the face of it – without any illusions.

What does all this have to do with preparedness? 

In many ways being prepared, having the preparedness mindset, is a lifestyle change, however in a very real sense it is not.  Instead it is merely an extension of frugality, positive thinking, readiness, faith and common sense used to control some of the many factors in our environment.  This means that the changes to our lifestyles for preparedness are rather superficial and not bone deep.  True you have to live it to have it; however it does not require much in outward changes to our lifestyles.

When thinking of preparedness or survival in a worst case scenario, most people focus on storing food, water, medicine, fire starters and other survival gear.  We prepare ourselves in every way imaginable.  But how many of us stop long enough to prepare ourselves mentally?  To prepare our mindset to survive and thrive?

So, what is the preparedness mindset? 

It is a mental attitude you take on that breaks you from your normalcy bias, or the mentality that nothing bad can happen to a person.

With Preparedness this means having more than insurance policies, first Aid kits, bug-out bags and meeting places for our families.  It means being ready, spiritually, economically, intellectually and physically.

There really is nothing to be afraid of because we are already more capable than we can imagine.  If we are prepared spiritually, economically, intellectually and physically; then when the time comes, we will be able to tap into our inner survivor and stay focused and strong - no matter what is thrown at us in a SHTF world.

This will be much easier for us, if we prepare ourselves ahead of time.  And the sooner we start training our mind and body the better they will respond when the time comes.

Remember that 99.99% of the disasters we will encounter will NOT involve a widespread, government/world altering event.  Instead they will take the form of lost jobs, accidents, medical issues, fire, crime, etc., followed by the usual severe weather and natural planetary issues. 

Key points from the Pro’s on Preparedness/Survival Mindsets:

In all my research on a Preparedness Mindset, a few things stood out as being the most important.  Now granted these are those relatively intangible, fuzzy wuzzy things, and no matter how hard they are to describe and implement - they are vital to a healthy preparedness mindset!

• A Positive Mental Attitude – Can Do, Will Do rather than Can’t or Won’t

•  A Firm Grasp of Reality – Fact oriented rather than conjecture or perception, allowing calm informed action vs panic-like uninformed reaction.

These two factors appeared in article after article, book after book, study after study.  Since they were repeated so frequently this places them at the top of the Preparedness Mindset requirement list.

Read on to find out what else makes up a Preparedness Mindset @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/104447717/Mindset-What-Mindset


"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
Winston Churchill

TNT

Perspective - Operation Vigilant Guard

I have received many alarming and outright threatening emails about Operation Vigilant Guard.  Now since I have no desire to run around scared out of my wits all the time and like to put things into perspective I did my usual research thing on this.

As far I can tell Operation Vigilant Guard was proposed by name in 2006 but mentioned in 'mission' in the Patriot Act of 2001.  It was first budgeted for by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2007.  Between 2007 and 2008 ten to 20 states took part in any given year. 

Since it encompasses US National Guard, standard US military branches (special teams like CERN and CBRN & MP) as well as civilian volunteer groups, like the Baptist National Relief Group and US defense contractors, it appears to be different states during different years participating, with states that tend to get more frequent 'natural disasters' participating each year since 2007. 

It is classified as a National Level Exercise (NLE). The Vigilant Guard exercise program is sponsored by US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) in conjunction with the National Guard Bureau (NGB). The program provides State National Guard Headquarters and supporting units with an opportunity to improve cooperation and operational relationships with their civilian, federal and military partners in preparation for domestic emergencies and catastrophic events.

The local library didn't have much on this and when you search the web 99% of all the links to the first 50 pages of search results are for 2009-2012.  The 10 or so articles I found (outside of the national guard links, where I looked for local newspaper online presences) for 2007 & 2008 were very positive and often stressed that this was to reduce the confusion, lag-time and screw-ups that occurred during Katrina.  Anything after 2008 from the public media seems to be sensationalism and fear mongering ... because when you read the actual agendas on the national guard sites, the exercises are the same as previous years like 2007 & 2008 - when hardly anyone shouted an alarm!. 

When I search various state's government hazard and or preparedness websites, Operation Vigilant Guard was often referred to as the way CERT (Civilian Emergency Response Teams), MARS, RACES and a whole slew of other civilian groups (including the Civilian Air Patrol) volunteers to become involved with their states emergency plans and to be prepared.

This 'operation' does not scare me and most certainly not like Operation Garden Plot, aka The Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan (18 USC 1385 Posse Comitatus Act) which is a general U.S. Army and National Guard plan to respond to major domestic civil disturbances within the United States and are  joint military, law enforcement & civilian exercises. The plan was developed in response to the civil disorders of the 1960s and is now under the control of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). Yes, this is the same group that controls Operation Vigilant Guard so it does warrant watching.  It provides Federal military and law enforcement assistance to local governments during times of major civil disturbances.  The Pentagon also activated it to restore order during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Garden Plot was last activated (as Noble Eagle under NSA & later DHS) to provide military assistance to civil authorities following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

To top it off: the concept of Garden Plot was spelled out in the Patriot Act by name:  "Oversight of these homeland security missions should be provided by the National Guard Bureau based on the long-standing Garden Plot model in which National Guard units are trained and equipped to support civil authorities in crowd control and civil disturbance missions." Testimony of Major General Richard C. Alexander, ANGUS (Ret.), Executive Director, National Guard Association of the United States, Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing on Homeland Defense, April 11, 2002. 
 
Since the 9-11 attack DHS has used 'Garden Plot' guidelines for other continuing "operations" and "missions" including Fast & Furious.  Which is why it scares me way more than this Operation Vigilant Guard!

On top of that Operation Vigilant Guard was awarded very few funds in the 2012 NDAA budget, as it is mostly a state funded NLE operation. While the new versions of Operation Garden Plot was awarded close to 1 billion from both the NDAA budget as well as the DOJ budget (the DOJ budget bill does not receive the public scrutiny that the DOD NDAA bill does) and is a full federal level NLE JTF (joint task force) operation.

I will grant you this:  In states like say, California (among a few others) BOTH operations took place as a combined event, their newspapers even listed them as such and THAT I find alarming!

One basic reality check we should all use no matter what our beliefs, is this:

If our town were devastated by something that produced mass displacement, mass casualties and mass  mortalities - What would we expect the authorities to do?
   
Remember whatever this crisis is,  it will NOT just hit us God fearing, law abiding citizens - it will hit the prisons and jails too ... meaning all the people running around will be a mix of “the good, the bad and the ugly”!
   
           
We would need shelter, food, water, medical, spiritual, communication, transportation, defense, safety and security - to name a few necessities.
   
Mortalities will need to be addressed for humans, animals, pets and livestock to reduce the spread of bacterial diseases caused by decaying bodies (not to mention the smell); we humans will want closure on our beloved pets and loved ones; escaped criminals will need to be rounded up to protect us, we will need medical attention, shelter, food, clothing and whole slew of other things to survive let alone recover.

Next consider that exercises like rapelling are part of getting into an area when access roads are not available and have been utilized not just by the military but in Urban and wilderness S&R for decades.   
  
Night flying and rapelling is much more hazardous than daylight operations, especially in urban areas with all the higher buildings, electrical wires, towers and the like ... that takes practice just to be sure our 'rescuers' do not die in the attempt!  Of course that also means any military needs to practice for the same reasons too.

Now if this was you or a loved one, say; trapped on a roof with rising waters all around you – do you want to wait until daylight for rescue or to be rescued by untrained and unprepared personnel?

How on earth do we expect any entity to do this without pre-planning,  pre-budgeting,  supply storage units, predesignated housing sites (or camps) and replacement of items as they exceed their shelf life?  Remember shelf life is not just about food and drugs it’s about tires, body bags, ropes, clothing, paint, fuel and just about everything else we may need to recoup from a disaster.

Reality is that we can either have a discombobulated, unplanned and unprepared for response or we can have a pre planned, pre funded and pre practiced plan and response that coordinates civilian and governmental entities - in place before a crisis hits and actually have a chance at an effective and efficient response of help and assistance.  Of course this means that we must keep a vigilant eye out for abuse of these plans, however the plans alone are nothing but simple common sense and not tyrannical in and of themselves.

Bottom line: Since I have not and do not, trust the US government (at any level) any farther than I can spit, I would say it is always wise to keep a watchful eye out.  In this case however, the various state events so far, do not appear to warrant an alarm of Martial Law or Police State from Operation Vigilant Guard (unlike Operation Garden Plot).

Note: When one of my friends reviewed and double checked this writing they said:  “Excellent research and a great service to American citizens.  Unwarranted panic reduces our effectiveness when our alarm is really needed.  It is impossible physically, psychologically and mentally to stay on red alert all the time and often leads to missing signs that warrants our concern.  Great job! :)”
    
 Knowledge is Power - Be Prepared, Not Scared

TNT

This can be downloaded from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/102690249/Perspective-Operation-Vigilant-Guard

Top 10 GMO Foods to Avoid Eating and Produce Pesticide Dirty Dozen & Clean 15

An infographic on GMO foods to avoid and Pesticide in Produce, the 'Dirty Dozen' and 'Clean 15'

To download and or print see  (formatted for Legal Sized paper):  Top 10 GMO Foods to Avoid Eating and Produce Pesticide Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 http://www.scribd.com/doc/102086285/Top-10-GMO-Foods-to-Avoid-Eating-Produce-Pesticide-Dirty-Dozen-Clean-15

Today is the Tomorrow that you worried about Yesterday

TNT