Incarcerate Criminals, Not Marines
January 9, 2012
In the United States, firearms are used as often as 2.5 million times each year in self defense, in the vast majority of cases without a shot being fired. Best estimates reveal that firearms are used three to five times more often for defensive purposes than for criminal acts.
Firearms are used three to five times more often to stop crimes than to commit them, and accidents with firearms are at an all-time recorded low (National Center for Health Statistics and National Safety Council).
There are thousands of federal, state and local gun laws. The overall murder rate in the jurisdictions that have the most severe restrictions on firearms purchase and ownership – California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. – is 8% higher than the rate for the rest of the country.
New York has had a handgun licensing law since 1911, yet until the New York City Police Department began a massive crackdown on crime in the mid-1990s, New York City’s violent crime rate was among the highest of U.S. cities.
Gun control primarily impacts upon upstanding citizens, not criminals. Crime is reduced by holding criminals accountable for their actions. Crime is NOT reduced by incarcerating Ryan Jerome, an ex Marine, for doing the right thing acting in a responsible manner and asking a ‘Security officer’ where to check his handgun when he visited the Empire State Building while in the city for the first time doing business as a licensed jeweler from Indiana who also happens to be licensed to carry in Indiana.
Said his lawyer, Mark Bederow: “It’s open season on tourists who come to New York and make a mistake. Sacrificing them in the name of stringent gun control serves no useful purpose.”
If and when there is a legal defense fund established for Ryan Jerome (confirmed by an MSB reader who contacted his attorney), we will support the effort here. It’s just plain wrong to waste taxpayer money to make ‘examples’ of people of character who simply screw up or have been misinformed, and who instead should just be given a slap on the wrist while saving the court system’s money for real criminals instead.
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Trouble With The Law You Were Trying To Obey
January 9, 2012
Guest post: by ‘Be informed’
All of us have mistakenly broken the law, most of the time in very minor ways such as going over the speed limit driving. Many individuals will actually try to get away with breaking the law, sometimes get caught and punished. What though happens when you actually make it a point to actually obey the law and go to extra lengths of making sure that you were doing everything correctly, and end up inadvertently committing a crime because you were given misinformation? What about a law that is in total obscurity that lawyers know nothing about it? How can any reasonable district attorney ever prosecute such a case against anyone you ask yourself. It sadly happens all the time.
Ryan Jerome a law abiding citizen that has served his country and all American’s country as a marine faces charges of illegally carrying a hand gun, in which he had a concealed license to do so in his home state. He did not receive correct information about carrying weapons that he seeked as a honest human being, and now faces many years in prison for trying to obey the law. Mr. Jerome is is now in the position of the daunting task of surviving the law system (that he fully supported as a serviceman of the U.S.) that is now contemplating trying to take away his freedom for being misinformed, something that can happen to any of us, anywhere.
This marine is caught between a rock and a hard place in which he could be made as “an example” in the middle of a very intense political maneuvering battle that is going on over the rights of individuals in regards to firearms. All over the United States there is an extreme polarization of both sides of the rights to possess fire arms or not. The real issue here is what is fair and rational to the “sole” individual, the marine or anyone in the future or present, that becomes quite secondary to those in control. What do you do when you or someone you know becomes an unintended pawn in the political game of chess, or an obstacle in some politician’s hidden or even visible agenda?
Unless there is some sort of agenda, prosecutors do not want to waste their time with some individual that obviously had the full intention of obeying the law and simply made a mistake. Not only is this a waste of time, it is a waste of money that could be better spent on the REAL criminals and controlling REAL crime. So assume if you or someone else is being prosecuted for a crime in which it is apparent to a blind man that you were fully intent on obeying the law they say you broke, it is for a higher purpose for those higher up in the government that want to control something. District attorney’s office are controlled by those in higher governmental positions and this is where the DA ultimately gets their commands and duties from.
Being on one side of a coin of an intense passionate issue does have one advantage, that being you have some allies trying to help you. While some may see you as nothing but as also a pawn to gain their advantage is really irrelevant because you will someone in your corner. There are however even better allies that might have any opinion on the issues, and just plain are terrified of a run-away law system that will eventually engulf their own lives and come back to haunt them unless they do something about it.
When it is obvious you have been a victim of a law system gone haywire to any sensible sane person, letting as many know about this as possible is essential. The key here though is NOT the issue to stress, whether it be gun rights or something else, it is to show to the public that this is an example of anyone in the future being a target of a law system ALLOWED to get away with rampant intimidation and unfair practices against its citizens. People feel more outrage and are more likely to do something about it when their butts could be on the line for something else later. The media can in this case be well used as they love human interest stories and drama about government corruption and abuse of the law that we are all under the scrutiny of.
Public outcry is so important to those to trying to curb the irrational actions of those in control, as the last thing a politician wants to be classified as is someone who supports cut-and-dried legal policies that are unfair and dangerous against personal liberties of ALL the citizens. Every politician is well aware of money and if your unjust situation can generate enough interest to not patronize their sources of revenue, this can be tremendous help to someone caught in this legal plight. For example marine Ryan Jerome could get much help in his legal dilemma from fellow marines and other armed forces service people by a boycott against visiting the city until rational fair justice is given to Mr. Jerome that fully intended to obey any and all laws of the city.
If you don’t have much money and have been charged with a crime, whether it is a so called politically motivated charge or not, don’t think that automatically that all public defenders are bottom of the barrel attorneys, some are, but many are not. Public defenders have to have a certain success rate or they risk being replaced, and many are looking to make a name for themselves by winning cases. If you are innocent or if you were wronged in the prosecution process, you can win your case and simply going for a plea deal because you feel that you cannot win without a top-notched widely known lawyer is not fair to yourself.
Even if the worst occurs and you are unfairly convicted of a crime that defines reason, most countries including of course the United States have higher appeal courts that could easily overturn ridiculous court rulings. Not settling for an absurd court decision and continuing to fight for your rights and until you have been vindicated and freed needs to remain your true goal. All the way up the ladder from state appellate courts to state supreme to supreme court of the U.S. Even when you are physically free from incarceration your real final goal is to be exonerated and your good name cleared. They are many disadvantages to have a conviction on your record, especially one that you never deserved, and this makes it worth it to clear your name.
Most survival situations people think of life and death natural and man-made disasters, but under the nose of everyone is the potential for anyone to truly LOSE the survival battle because of obscure and hazardous laws out there that most people, including those with law degrees are not totally aware of or do not understand fully. These laws are a danger for everyone’s freedom because laws are often made to support only a certain group or individual’s benefits. When one of these laws surfaces like a blood thirsty shark and affects one of more people all of us are affected. Simple clarity avoids the ignorance of the law excuse. Any unclear law has to be be made transparent enough so there are no honest mistakes about its interruption are made, much like this poor marine that was only trying to obey the city’s laws like he was taught to obey orders as a marine.
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People are Owned and Consumed by their Possesions
June 10, 2011
A recent post comment got me to thinking about how so many people today are truly “owned and consumed by their possessions”, as recently stated by an observant M.S.B. Reader. This ‘condition’ is arguably one of the core root causes attributing to the high stress of modern day life.
Don’t get me wrong. Who wouldn’t like to have more than just the necessities of life, or bigger and better versions of those same necessities. Who wouldn’t enjoy having nicer ‘toys’ to play with. In fact, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the possession of such things in my opinion, provided that you are not owned or consumed by them!
Here’s what I mean…
A possession that owns you may mean that you owe someone or some institution to have possession of that possession. You have it, but don’t own it, and are under contract to pay for it under the agreed terms. Therefore, the possession really owns you.
You are consumed by a possession or possessions when it or they expends you, or uses you up. How? By either the debt that you owe for it or them, or by the emotion, ‘greed’, – the ‘keep up with the Joneses’ syndrome.
For whatever reason, probably my upbringing, I have never been overcome with the emotion of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, or the mentality of leveraging nearly everything I earn so that I can ‘appear’ to own possessions that are beyond my means. As I have lived life, I have been astounded at the acceptable notion of many that are younger than me, that it is OK and normal to leverage what they earn to purchase possessions that are way beyond their means.
Some may argue with me that this is a ‘bad thing’, since they are perfectly capable of paying their debt each month when the bills come… however they are missing a few extremely logical and important points. What are they sacrificing for having these possessions now (rather than later – or at all), and what if their ability to earn the required sum to pay the bills is taken away from them.
The point is, when you owe, you are a slave, even though you may not feel like it right now. I just heard a news report today that many Americans will now have to ‘work’ into their 80′s before they can retire! Are you kidding me?? What kind of retirement is that???
It used to be that people would live within their means, meaning they would not borrow more than what they knew they could pay off in a reasonable time. Better yet, save the money, forgo the instant gratification of having it now, and pay cash for it later. No debt, and therefore not a slave to the system.
When borrowing money, the interest you pay on that money, over time, will amount to an extraordinary sum… a sum which could have been in your pocket instead.
Don’t fall victim to feeling like you have to keep up with your friends or neighbors who have nice things in their possession. Just know that most of them really don’t own them, and are sealing their fate by burdening themselves with excessive debt and a long life of slavery.
Instead, just smile, and know inside yourself that you will likely build real net worth by simply remaining frugal and happy with the things that you can afford. Your life free of debt will be truly rewarding, and you will have a reasonable chance of retiring at a reasonable age.
…just a thought
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The Modern Day Survivalist
June 6, 2011
Being a ‘survivalist’ these days, does not necessarily or automatically conjure up visions of Rambo trekking through the wilderness with shoulders slung with automatic weapons and belts laden with bullets all the while surviving by eating bugs and edible wild plants…
Instead, there has been a noticeable movement of ordinary folks whose eyes have opened and are seeing for the first time the bigger picture of ‘the system’ which is designed to keep them slaves to the masters who control the money and the world itself.
To become a modern survivalist, it’s really pretty darn easy, and sensible. By my own definition, I would dare say that the majority of people just a handful of decades ago would be considered modern-day survivalists by today’s standards. Does this mean that to be a survivalist or prepper, or preparedness minded, that we have to live like they did – way back when?
No, of course not. Being a modern day survivalist, we can continue to work within the same system that is trying to make us slaves, but instead we simply outsmart it. It’s really quite easy to do actually. Want to know how?
All you have to do is rid yourself of all debt. Period. End of story. I’m sure that most of you reading this have debt in one form or another. That’s not meant to be a dig on you, it’s just a reality that has been subconsciously forced upon most people by various calculated means. Debt is the life blood of the system. It needs debt to even exist. If you can find a way to rid your debt, you will be stunned by the liberation that you will feel in your gut. Without debt, you are entirely in control of your destiny.
To be a modern day survivalist, you don’t need to have a bug-out location, or a survival retreat, or an arsenal of weapons, or a years worth of food storage, or…
Although these things are insurance towards survival under certain conditions, the primary path to survivalism is not to be beholden to anyone else (no debt), and, you need the ability to adapt.
The way to get out of debt is pretty straight forward. It involves will power, and cannot be done unless you really want it. It will require sacrifice, time, and lifestyle change, but the end result will be orders of magnitude better than the sacrifice you will suffer.
The ability to adapt however, is a different story. This is more of an ability to execute actions based around common sensibility, open mindedness, and strategic planning. To survive, you need the ability to adapt. It’s that simple.
Some people think that all you need is money and supplies. This is true up to a point. Once the supplies are gone though, unless you have the ability to adapt, you will be ‘done’. The ability to adapt is a mindset and general skill that is learned over time. It’s not as hard as you think…
Most people are programmed to think a certain way. People are taught to accept a particular way of doing things and to not question the rationale. Those who question are often chastised. This becomes so ingrained in your psyche that you fail to realize that there is more than one way to get from point A to point B, so-to-speak.
Keeping a ‘healthy skepticism’ is a very good thing. Don’t automatically believe or trust what you are told. Use your own sense! The rule-of-thumb is, if something is true or right, it ‘usually’ will ring true. In other words, trust your gut – it’s usually right. The older you get and the more life experience you have, the more often your gut is absolutely ‘right’.
Well, you get the idea. It’s food for thought. Open your eyes, and look around you. Dig a little deeper into the ‘why’ things are happening. ‘Follow the money’. Don’t automatically believe that the main-stream is giving you the story in context. Think. Know what it is that is important to you. Consider what it is that really makes you happy. Motivate yourself. Imagine what it will be like when you’re out of debt. Picture yourself in control of your own life with those that you love, doing what is important. It’s about life. Not things. It is the exact opposite of what ‘the system’ is trying to convince you. You may not know it or believe it now, but one day, you certainly will. Let’s hope that it’s not too late.
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Fat, Dumb, and Happy
May 19, 2011
You’ve likely heard the phrase before, Got to keep the masses “fat, dumb, and happy”. That way we’re all easier to control. Right?
The quote comes from a Modern Survival Blog reader email who hits the nail on the head. In order to successfully keep the crooked and perhaps criminal ‘game’ going, the majority of the public must be kept in ‘check’. That is, fed well, and distracted and busy so that there is not enough time for the reality of the situation to take root. A reality that may be troublesome for the powers-that-be.
Who am I referring to? I’ll let you figure that out…
Lets face it. The typical life of the ‘working’ American is so busy, pressured, and all-time-consuming, that there really is very little time (none if you let it) to really examine what is going on in the world around you – locally, nationally, and worldwide. Additionally, and unfortunately many people just plain aren’t interested to know anyway.
The system is plainly rigged to keep us fat, dumb, and happy. Not that the combination of afflictions is such a terrible thing, being happy of course is quite a good thing. It’s all about the definitions.
Fat
Thick, Large, Puffed up, Yielding plenty, Having an abundance or amplitude.
Being overly fat is of course, not too healthy. However, the powers-that-be wish to keep you plenty full, both with food and the metaphorical. This will keep the complaints to a minimum and lower the likelihood of challenge.
Dumb
Lacking the power of speech, Lacking intellectual acuity, Not expressed.
Ignorance and the absence of the learned process of thinking for one’s self will lead towards a noticeable lack of speech. More specifically, speech that may be considered powerful or listened to by those with power.
Happy
Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
The happier the people are, the less likely they will demand change. Unfortunately, the PTB have re-defined happiness for many people by way of clever marketing and advertising. Most have fallen for it.
The ‘trick’ has been to draw the majority into debt, which in turn slaves them to the system – forever ‘working’, paying into the system, and at the mercy of their employers – who themselves know it, and often take full advantage of it.
When you owe someone money, or, when someone is giving you money, you are instinctively beholden to them to a degree. Most people know not to bite the hand that feeds them. The PTB knows this too, and therein lies much of their power.
If most people were not debt laden, I would speculate that we would be living in a different country, with different politics.
The first and most important step for anyone while attempting to free themselves, is to get out of debt. Don’t accept the notion of fat, dumb, and happy… instead, fight back and free yourself from the system that enslaves you!
End of Message
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The System Creates Zombie Robots
September 15, 2010
It’s sad really, to watch so many people trading and wasting their time for “shiny things”. To what end? Debt?
Hustling and bustling as they all get in lines together, traveling to work in cars and in trains. Lines on the sidewalk, shoulder to shoulder making their way to their cell for the day.
They plan and they plot as they scheme their new ways to trap others into their system of debt. Snaring the young to be caught up in peer pressures to buy their fashions, gadgets, and toys. “The Beast” markets its brand through ever increasing technological outlets, all the while secretly burdening its victims with increasing debt and heavy chains tied from their feet to its walls.
In the corridors, independent talk is frowned on… instead, stick to the plan, stay in lock step and keep your game face on. The system knows no real life, it only knows greed and entrapment to debt while its Zombie members walk with frowns or fake grins, having lost their souls.
When the system encounters a glitch, some of its members see it for what it is, but for most, it’s too late as they realize and tug at the chains of debt on their feet. You see, the big lie is that debt is OK and good. Well my friends, debt is the blood of the Beast, requiring that you spend your precious time feeding the system its food.
It seems no matter the level at which each system member lives, many are never quite happy with all the things that they have, as they themselves have been victims of the system’s big lie while having increased their own debt acquiring even more shiny things.
Working in the system, the higher one gets, there reaches a point where it will require a full LIFE commitment, and is the point where it may be truly over, defeated and destined to the Zombie life of a programmed robot.
Life is all around us and for some, true happiness resides outside of the system, not within. In my humble opinion.
Having said that, there are those that truly enjoy a 24/7 commitment to the system that pays them, and thrive there, without falling in debt. The reality is that most people have no choice but to work within the system to survive, and while some must work more than others, my experience tells me that today compared to times gone by is far more demanding of our 24 hour day, regardless of our “level”.
Our time is our life, which itself is finite and will end one day. There used to be a better balance of the system versus our own time, but then again, today’s economy empowers the machine to take advantage of us… to-be-continued…
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Thoughts of a Nation
August 14, 2010The nation once had a much more self-sufficient lifestyle. Local farmers produced the fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meats that were consumed. Its citizens would often grow some or much of their own food in their own gardens. Some produced even more, and would sell or trade within the local community. They knew there neighbors and many others in town. The local community was able to provide the essentials, and often more than that. There was a higher sense of pride within the community.
Nations would produce, build, and manufacture products and goods from the sweat of their own citizen labor. As transportation systems developed, the goods were transported and sold further into the regions of the nation. The system and process of manufacture through consumption, was a loop that was often contained within the nation itself. The nation grew and developed a wide ranging skill set and strengths. They built things.
The corporations grew within the nation. Some grew very large, large enough to buy politicians, who in turn passed favorable laws enabling the manufacture of goods in other lesser developed nations with cheaper labor. These products were imported back into the nation to be sold with higher profits. For a while, this seemed to work well for the nation while their citizens were able to buy cheaper products than they could produce themselves.
The largest corporations became global entities, with little regard for the nations themselves, other than to purchase political power to use when needed.
Then one day, the nation awoke and realized that it hardly produced and manufactured anything anymore. It only consumed and serviced. The nation was now subservient to other nations, although most of its citizenry did not realize it.
The nations financial markets collapsed after having squeezed out all of the nations goodness and knowing there was no more to be had. The nation was once the largest manufacturing nation on Earth. It had become the largest consuming nation on Earth. Globalism had enabled the nations financial markets to scoop up huge sums of money.
In an effort to maintain a semblance of financial stability, the nations government borrowed massive sums of its own currency to flood into its markets, thinking that its government could create sustainable productivity. Each month, more and more was borrowed in a desperate attempt to avoid a final collapse.
The collapse came. The nation was bankrupt. Everyone saw that the Emperor wore no clothes.
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