Shared with permission of Leon from SurvivalCommonSense.com
Originally Posted on April 27th, 2010 by Leon in PETER KUMMERFELDT-Survival Tips

by Leon Pantenburg

Stay or go? A fundamental precept of urban and wilderness survival is that during or after an emergency and/or survival situation, you should stay put so rescuers can find you. But what happens if that isn’t a possibility? What if  a tornado or hurricane just happened, the emergency personnel are overwhelmed or non-existent, and you know there is no possibility of rescue?

 

A survival situation can be caused by weather, or your reaction to it. Be able to tell the difference between real and potential danger!

Or suppose an accident occurs in a remote wilderness area with no potential for a rescue? What do you do in a situation where you have to rescue yourself? How do you tell the difference? How do you make the decision to stay or go?

In this article, survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt looks at the mental and physical processes of  self-rescue. – Leon.

By Peter Kummerfeldt

Definition of “Self-rescue.” Getting yourself out of trouble without having to put other people at risk to rescue you.

If you work or recreate in the outdoors, sooner or later you may find yourself at the fork-in-the-road,  having to decide if you should attempt to get yourself out of trouble or wait to be rescued. You should always be prepared to self-rescue and not rely on others to come to your aid.  Always remember that when you call for help you are putting other people’s lives on the line!

Every life-threatening event is different and the mechanics of extracting yourself from danger will be different in each case. While the techniques used may be different, the actual process of getting yourself out of trouble is the same.

The self-rescue process involves three steps: recognizing the threat; an awareness of “certain” verses “potential” harm, and taking action to remove yourself from the life threatening circumstances.

Threat recognition: The ability to recognize threats to your life is based on the knowledge and experience acquired over a life time. The ability to recognize those situations that place you in harm’s way can also be learned from other, more experienced, people and by attending training programs that teach threat recognition.

Nowhere does the need to be able to recognize danger apply more than when you venture into the outdoors. Being able to recognize warning signs enables you to see what’s coming and then step back from the brink before the hazards threaten your life. Threats to your safety might include inclement weather, dangerous terrain, wild animal attack and many other circumstances.

Certain verses Potential harm. Be able to differentiate between those situations that are going to affect you right

 

Rising water could be a potential danger, and not an immediate, critical concern.

now, and those that are not as immediate, but will still have to be confronted. Certain harm, for example, is finding yourself in a crashed plane that will explode when the ruptured fuel tank ignites. Or perhaps, you find yourself in an avalanche chute with a cornice above that is about to break loose. Potential harm, on the other hand, could be the onset of inclement weather later in the day or the lack of water in an arid area.

Taking Action: When faced with a sudden, life-threatening situation, any immediate action in the direction of safety is better than deciding on the best action that comes too late!

John Leach, author of “Survival Psychology,” Survival Psychology writes: “In an emergency 75% of people have to be told what to do. Only 10-15% of the people act appropriately leaving the remaining 10-15% sitting on the sidelines acting inappropriately!” Those in the top 15% had prepared for the events that they found themselves in.

The Steps to Self-rescue

IMMEDIATE LIFE-THREAT RECOGNITION AND ACTION: When your life’s on the line you must act immediately. You won’t have time to think. Whether you live or die depends on what you did to prepare for this moment. If you’ve never thought through what you might do “when bad things happen” you are more likely to panic and take what you hope is the best course of action. But often it isn’t.

Assuming you can extricate yourself from the event that precipitated the crisis situation, your first step is to deal with any life-threatening medical conditions. That includes your medical condition and the medical condition of any others.

Take care of yourself first. Are you bleeding severely? If so, that needs to be taken care of quickly, using first aid. Next, check the accident scene to locate other people who may need immediate help.

Is the site safe? Do you need to move to a safer area? Once you have control of the medical issues and area safety, then you can sit back and catch your breath.

DON’T PANIC. Easy to say but difficult to do!

Comedian George Carlin once commented: “We should teach people to panic because that what they are going to do in an emergency!”

There may be some truth to Carlin’s observation. But I would suggest people be taught: “The onset of panic is a normal reaction. It’s what happens the moment you realize that you’re in trouble”.

At that moment, adrenaline floods though your system putting you into a “fight-or-flight” mode. This is your body’s instinctive way of handling danger – either fight it or run away from it.

Out-of-control panic must be avoided, however. The steps you take to protect yourself from this moment on can make a huge difference in the final situation outcome. Recognize the threats to your safety and then either remove yourself from the situation or remove the threat.

As dangerous as things can become, you are seldom in a situation where you can’t take just a second or two to think before you act. But you must “act.”

Coping with a crisis depends heavily on the preparations you have made before your life is on the line. Put another way “A person will do what they have been trained to do when they are in trouble and if they haven’t been trained they have nothing to guide them to take the correct action.”

 

Carry survival gear in your wallet. I always have (from left) firestarter, charcloth (in a waterproof, plastic bag) and a signal mirror with me.

ASSESS YOUR RESOURCES. All of the resources you are going to have to work with are those you arrive with, plus whatever you might obtain from the environment you’re in.

Despite the advice given in most survival manuals and that advice provided by such dubious survival experts as “Survivorman” and Bear Grylls of “Man verses Wild,” you should never believe you’ll be able to gather what you need.

Go through your pockets and inventory your possessions. Inventory the contents of your vehicle.

What do you have that will enable you to start a fire, erect a shelter and signal for help? Hopefully, you will have emergency equipment (survival kit) available that will enable you to do what you need to do to survive.

Evaluate the environment. Find and identify the available natural resources that you can build shelter from. Is there fuel available to build and maintain a fire? Is water available? Are there materials present with which to signal for help?

MAKE A TENTATIVE PLAN: The object is to remove yourself from the survival situation and return to your family and friends as quickly and safely as possible.

At this point, it is very important to be totally honest with yourself and develop a realistic plan with a high likelihood of success. It is very easy to allow the desire for comfort and companionship to override what may be a better decision – stay where you are.

Ego, especially with men, often gets in the way. They often grossly overestimate their ability to travel to a distant destination and also grossly underestimate the distance to that destination! Not a good combination!

Do you know where you are relative to the availability of help? What time of day is it? Is it too late to try to walk out today? Would it be better to hole-up for the night and re-evaluate the situation in the morning? Did you let someone know where you were going and when you would be back? If so, you can be assured that help will come. Be patient and allow yourself to be rescued rather than attempting to rescue yourself – it’s safer.

STEP-BY-STEP, PLAN YOUR MOVES: At least, plan the first few moves because you might not be able to see the entire journey. Decide what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. Is your physical condition such that you can safely accomplish the overland travel you are planning? If it is, do you have the clothing you need to protect yourself from the weather conditions that exist?

Do you know where you are going? Do you have the energy that you will need to get to your destination? Do you have the navigation equipment you need to reach that destination safely? If you can answer all of these questions in the affirmative, without letting wishful thinking cloud your decision-making ability, then your next step is to:

PLAN CONTINGENCIES. Make alternative plans for foreseeable problems. Anticipate the problems that might arise as you rescue yourself. These problems may include changes in the weather, rougher terrain than you expected, heavy vegetation, overestimating your ability to negotiate the terrain you encounter and other issues. By thinking ahead, you may already have a solution to the predicaments you may face.

“DO” THE PLAN IN YOUR HEAD. Before you start, walk through your plan step-by-step. Review each stage of the plan objectively, realistically and with an eye for anything you may have forgotten.

Ask yourself: “Can I really do this or is it my impatience and desire to be back with my family that is making me want to “get home?”

If you can’t “do” the plan in your head it won’t work on the mountain! Revise your plan. Find alternatives to those parts of the plan you have doubts about and when you are comfortable with it:

EXECUTE THE PLAN. When all is in order put your plan into action. Do not let the concerns of others, the promises you made to be home by a certain time, the desire to go-for-help or any other issue influence your choice of action. Your decision to self-rescue should not be driven by panic or an overwhelming desire just to “get-out-of-here!

Deciding to self-rescue must be based on a thorough, comprehensive, objective review of your situation.

In the final analysis, even if it looks like you can “do-the-plan” the best choice might still be to sit tight and let the rescuers come to you!

- Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades. Peter grew up in Kenya, East Africa and came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines. For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service. Peter Kummerfeldt has taught wilderness survival for more than 40 years. In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created  Outdoorsafe.com He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions .

Recommended Reading:
Build the Perfect Survival Kit

Basic Essentials Wilderness First Aid, 3rd (Basic Essentials Series)

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why

Surviving a Wilderness Emergency

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia
• Hardtack: A great emergency food

*Author Bio*

ABOUT LEON: Since 1991, Leon has been an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, and a wilderness skills trainer for the Boy Scouts’ Fremont District. Leon earned a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and competed in his last tournament (sparring and form) at age 49. He is an enthusiastic Bluegrass mandolin picker, two-time finalist in the International Dutch Oven Society’s World Championships, and a freelance writer for the Bulletin newspaper in Bend, Or.

Shared with permission of Leon from SurvivalCommonSense.com
Originally Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Leon in Recommended Readings

by Leon Pantenburg

One idea survival book authors may be able to agree upon is that mental attitude is critical to any survival scenario. Countless documented cases  prove  your attitude and reaction to the situation,  not your survival kit or survival knife, is the most important factor is staying alive.

Swampy Lakes Trailhead is on the edge of thousands of acres of wilderness. But still, some visitors to the area deny they will ever need survival gear or training.

Some twenty years before the rash of “reality” or “Survival” shows, or anybody had ever heard of Les Stroud or Bear Grylls,  psychological studies resulted in a book which documented people’s  reactions  in emergency situations.

“Survival Psychology” by John Leach, PhD, of the University of Lancaster, England, Survival Psychology was a groundbreaking study, that today is a reference source for many wilderness and urban survival bestsellers. If  some of Leach’s writing or thoughts sound familiar, it is because you’ve read or heard them before.

Leach studied survivors’  reactions, including those of Union prisoners at the horrific Andersonville prison during the Civil War;  to shipwreck survivors; to people who made it through plane crashes and natural disasters. Distilled down to one sentence, here’s what Leach found: Psychological responses to emergencies follow a pattern.

One goal of  SurvivalCommonSense is to help you develop the survival mindset that will keep you alive. So, start with the baseline knowledge of what happens to people, mentally, in a survival situation. Until you know what might happen in your mind, or in the heads of the people around you, there’s no way to come up with a plan to survive.

Survival situations bring out a variety of reactions – including some that make the situation worse. Leach’s studies show that only 10 to 15 percent of any group involved in any emergency will react appropriately. Another 10 to 15 percent will behave totally inappropriately and the remaining 70 to 80 percent will need to be told what to do. The most common reaction at the onset of an emergency is disbelief and denial.Here’s the typical disaster reaction progression, according to “Survival Psychology”:

Denial: The first reaction will probably be: “This can’t be happening to me!” But an emergency, disaster, accident or crash can happen to anyone, and it can result in a situation where your life is at risk. This disbelief can cause people to stand around, doing nothing to save themselves. The 80 percenters in any survival situation will have to be ordered to help themselves.

Panic: Once you get past denial, there is a strong chance you may panic. This is when judgment and reasoning deteriorate to the point where it can result in self-destructive behavior. It can happen to anyone. To avert this problem, realize it may happen, and use the STOP mindset exercise. (See below).

Hypoactivity, defined as a depressed reaction; or hyperactivity, an intense but undirected liveliness: The depressed person will not look after himself or herself, and will probably need to be told what to do. The hyperactive response can be more dangerous because the affected person may give a misleading impression of purposefulness and leadership.

Stereotypical behavior: This is a form of denial in which victims fall back on learned behavior patterns, no matter how inappropriate they are. The Boss may decide to continue in that role, even though he/she has no idea of what to do. Sadly, the underling may also revert to that subordinate role, even though he/she may be better prepared mentally.

Anger: A universal reaction, anger is irrational. Rescue workers frequently come under verbal and physical attack while performing their duties. A few years ago in Central Oregon, the Search and Rescue team rescued a man who had dumped his raft just before going over a waterfall. Miraculously, he saved himself  by clinging to a mid-stream boulder. During the whole rescue effort, the rafter denied he was in trouble. After being plucked from the rapids, he flipped off the rescuers, and walked back to the parking lot. He never thanked anyone for saving his life

Psychological breakdown: This could be the most desperate problem facing a victim, and this stage is characterized by irritability, lack of interest, apprehension, psycho-motor retardation and confusion. Once this point is reached, the ultimate consequence may be death.

So, according to Leach, one key to a “survival state-of-mind” is to be prepared and confident that you can handle an emergency.

This brings up another deadly behavior pattern: lack of preparation.

People don’t prepare for emergencies (see denial), Leach writes, for three reasons: Planning is inconvenient, preparations may be costly and an ingrained folk myth says to prepare for a disaster is to encourage it.

This is all too common in Central Oregon.

Last November, I was at Swampy Lakes snow park near Bend, getting ready for a snowshoe trek. An older couple pulled up next to me, tourists, apparently, from the looks of their inappropriate clothing and rental equipment. They had no survival gear of any kind that I could see. They struggled to put their snowshoes on, then asked if there were any maps around.

I gave them one of mine, and offered to orient it for them with my compass. Suunto M-3DL Compass

They declined.

They also didn’t want the book of matches and a packet of firestarter I tried to give them. And here comes the quote that keeps the SAR teams busy:

“We’re just going out for quick outing,” the lady said. “We’re not going to do any of that wilderness survival stuff.”

And she was absolutely right.

“Survival Psychology” is out-of-print, as far as I know. But I’ve had no trouble getting a copy through the local inter-library loan program. Your library probably has a similar program, so check out Leach’s book. The knowledge from it can be one more tool in your survival kit!

Recommended Reading:

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

Surviving a Wilderness Emergency

The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia
• Hardtack: A great emergency food
• About Leon Pantenburg

*Author Bio*

ABOUT LEON: Since 1991, Leon has been an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, and a wilderness skills trainer for the Boy Scouts’ Fremont District. Leon earned a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and competed in his last tournament (sparring and form) at age 49. He is an enthusiastic Bluegrass mandolin picker, two-time finalist in the International Dutch Oven Society’s World Championships, and a freelance writer for the Bulletin newspaper in Bend, Or.

Shared with permission of Leon from SurvivalCommonSense.com
Posted on April 20th, 2010 by Leon in Survival Equipment

by Leon Pantenburg

We’ll assume you already have the survival knife and  basic Ten Essentials, and are assembling the rest of the tools needed for a portable survival kit. Do you need to add a hatchet or a small  saw?

This custom pipe tomahawk is a useful survival tool and weapon, but it may not be a good choice to include in a survival kit.

It depends. Some might call this collection a “Bug Out Bag,” or something along those lines. Or you may be a backpacker, hunter or fisherman who needs a light, easy-to-carry wood cutting device. A hunter may be looking for a tool that can cut wood and that will also be useful in  quartering and field dressing a big game animal. Choice of  tools is important, because there isn’t much space, and you need to keep the weight down.

Is your best choice a hatchet or a saw?

Either choice has advantages and disadvantages. When choosing any tool for wilderness or urban survival, start by anticipating  where you might be when you may need the tool, and what tasks it will need to perform.

Will you be in a cold wilderness environment, where gathering firewood to keep a campfire going will be critical for survival? Will the tool be mostly carried, or do you anticipate remaining somewhat sedentary and that the tool may be used a great deal? Will you need to saw or hack bones to butcher large animals?ALL RANGER FOLDING SAW 2-BLADE

Or will the tool be used in an urban setting, where the primary uses might include breaking up pallets and splitting wood scraps from a dumpster for firewood? In an extreme situation, might you need this tool to break down a door, gain forced entry into or egress from, a locked vehicle? In a really extreme situation could this tool be an effective weapon?

Hatchet

A hatchet is a small axe that can be wielded with one hand, and the flat part may be used as a hammer.  A hatchet is a great tool for splitting wood, limbing trees and hammering in tent stakes. Gerber Blades Backpack Axe; The Back Paxe; with Ballistic Cloth Belt Sheath

Many settlers on the American frontier had an axe as their primary tool. The axe may have been the only tool available

 

The pipe tomahawk on top could be useful, but the Plumb hatchet below it is the better tool.

for making a log cabin, splitting rails for a fence and  cutting firewood.  Essentially, the axe only had two parts: the head and the haft, or handle. If the handle broke, it was possible to whittle another out of a piece of hickory or some other hardwood.  Buck 757 Camp Axe

A hatchet can also be sharpened easily with a flat rock. This meant, that for long-term survival, the hatchet could be a tool with incredible durability.

And there’s no question that an axe or hatchet makes a formidable weapon! From the stone age flint war axe, to Viking battle axes, to the tomahawks used on the North American frontier,  these edged  tools have been the weapon of choice in many eras.

My buddy, the late Jim Grenfell, was fascinated with ancient weapons. When he heard I hunt with a flintlock .40 caliber Pennsylvania rifle, he claimed I only had part of the kit. The tradition, Jim said, was that after finishing making a rifle, the gunsmith would take the leftover chunk of wood from the rifle stock blank, and a piece of gun barrel, and fashion a matching tomahawk. No long hunter, he pointed out, would be caught dead without his tomahawk, because if the rifle didn’t fire, the hawk was his backup!

So Jim made me a pipe tomahawk that matched my rifle. I still carry the tomahawk, along with the powder horn, shot bag and other accouterments when I black powder  hunt. The tomahawk could be used to help quarter a deer, or field dress small game.

But I take it along because the hawk  looks so cool tucked in the back of my sash next to the powder horn! When I take a break in the field, it’s fun to stick the tomahawk in a tree, lean the long rifle up against it, and hang the powder horn and shot bag off the rifle barrel. Then, I sit and and admire the workmanship of  my tools while chewing on jerky and hardtack.

 

These saws are lightweight, easy to carry and efficient. From left, is my old reliable Gerber folder; a Fiskar sliding blade, and a double-edged Pac-Saw Wyo.

Saw

Despite my enjoyment of  tomahawks and history-related weapons, I usually carry a saw in my daypack. As a big game hunter, I need a tool that can saw through the pelvis of a deer, hog, antelope or elk. Sometimes you need a saw to cut through the ribcage of a big elk.  And while I can disjoint the lower legs of an elk or deer with my SRK hunting knife, the saw is quicker. SRK, Black Kraton Handle, Plain

If you’re saving horns, a saw is almost mandatory. I haven’t seen anyone chop the antlers off anything, but I did loan my Pac-Saw to a guide once so he could take the antlers off a moose skull.

Many field dressing chores could probably be done with a hatchet. I used a full-sized axe once to help dress out a whitetail buck once, and it worked fine.

But there are a few safety issues associated with axes. The Boy Scouts have banned hatchets at camp outs because of the potential danger. A special axe yard is cordoned off at scout camps, so nobody inadvertently walks behind an axe user. And consider that  the cutting power of a hatchet or axe depends on velocity generated by swinging the tool. Axes and hatchets can bounce, slide or ricochet off wood at odd angles and then an accident is possible.

Wilderness survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt is a proponent of carrying a saw instead of  an axe. He carries an 18-inch, double edged saw made by Dandy, and calls hatchets “weapons.”

“You can give your saw to someone to gather wood, and they probably won’t hurt themselves,” he said in an interview. “But with a hatchet, an inexperienced user could severely injure himself.”

I have several folding saws I regularly use, and generally I have a couple with me. My Swiss Army knife has a very

 

The Leatherman Wave, below, and the Swiss Army knife both have usable, quality saw blades.

useable, small  saw blade, Victorinox Swiss Army Soldier Knife Standard Issue and so does my Leatherman Wave. Leatherman 830039 New Wave Multitool with Leather Sheath
Both saw blades work well for sawing through a deer pelvis bone, removing lower legs for quartering and either blade will easily saw through a stick the size of my wrist.

I’ve also carried a Gerber folding saw for about 25 years. Gerber Exchange A Blade Utility Serrated Hand Saw
Designed as a wood saw, it cuts as you pull. It’s weighs next to nothing, and is a superb limbing tool. For hunting, I carry a double-edged, single piece Pac-Saw with both wood and bone teeth. I also used a Sawsall, a fold-up woodsaw, in the Boundary Waters, and it is an effective tool.

As I see it, the primary reason for including  a hatchet and/or saw in your survival kit  is to gather firewood. It takes an incredible amount of firewood to keep a campfire burning throughout the night, and the person with a survival mindset will start gathering wood as soon as possible. In a pinch, it is safe and effective to pass out your saws and have everyone start gathering wood.

So which tool do you want to include in your gear? As usual, it will depend on your skill level, potential needs, and  willingness to practice. You’ve already shown your survival mindset by reading this far, and now you can make an intelligent choice!

Recommended Reading:
Surviving a Wilderness Emergency

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia
• Hardtack: A great emergency food
• About Leon Pantenburg

Recommended Compasses:

Brunton Classic Compass
Suunto A-10 Compass
Suunto MC-2G Global Compass
Silva Starter Compass

*Author Bio*

ABOUT LEON: Since 1991, Leon has been an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, and a wilderness skills trainer for the Boy Scouts’ Fremont District. Leon earned a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and competed in his last tournament (sparring and form) at age 49. He is an enthusiastic Bluegrass mandolin picker, two-time finalist in the International Dutch Oven Society’s World Championships, and a freelance writer for the Bulletin newspaper in Bend, Or.

We are everywhere…

In a nation where we are led by an extremely liberal (almost Marxist) administration who ignores the mandate of a majority of Americans and

passes laws that ONLY enrich themselves and corporations, taxes more and more of an ever-growing population of the unemployed and underemployed, strengthens an agency of the US to be armed AND dangerous to enforce illegal laws (IRS up 60k new employees), and can not stop the ever widening gyre that is the black hole of our economic future, the very soul of true Americans, and true Americana, is being shaken to the core.

Our savings have been stolen, our jobs have been outsourced, our education has been dumbed down, and our laws have been stretched to the point that EVERY American commits multiple felonies that even they will never know about.

Self sufficiency and self reliance once were the ONLY way of life. Taking from one American to give to another was unheard of. Compassion and good will were the way that the poor and downtrodden were able to bring themselves up out of the gutter. Opportunity existed at every level, to every American who had the guts and drive to reach out for them and push themselves onward.

Self defense was a given to our forefathers. Owning a gun and knowing how to use it was a skill that ensured future generations. Honor and integrity was the heartbeat that our previous generations lived by, when they went to war to free OTHER nations from tyranny and fascism, in World Wars One and Two. Truth and justice was the right of EVERY American, based on, and supported by, our Constitution.

Americans opened their arms to immigrants from other nations and grew this melting pot of culture, society, and religions to be a beacon to the rest of the world. Illegal aliens were unheard of. Bigots, racists, and tyrants were the minority, and overrun by freedom and liberty loving Americans.

Where are we now? How did we elect leaders so corrupt that the very simple act of Taxation without representation become the defacto standard by which THEY lived and become wealthy beyond all comprehension? Why did nations the world over develop terrorist organizations that focused most of their anger on the American Way, and Americans period?

What can we, as a whole nation of Americans who still mostly believe in freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL, reach deep into history and bring forth those ideals that helped us become known as a bastion of hope for the rest of the world? Is it something that Americans as a group will have to do?

Wwhen will huge masses of Americans from all corners of the nation ever come together to quell injustice and corruption, outright theft by taxes, federally funded criminal actions, and government supported fascism and socialist actions? Will these groups face heavy friction and outright war?

Or, will every single American who cares, ever devote some part of their life to trying to live the life of a moral, just, passionate, honest and forthright human being who wants the same rights for all to be the law of the land, and crime to be dealt with no matter WHO the criminal is, fairly and harshly, whether a poor man or a rich man?

Something has to give. Americans must find the strength in each and every one of us to fight for our constitutional and moral rights, our freedom to live, our ability to take care of our families and communities, and our rights to own property without fear of loss to immoral and and corrupt officials.

Pacifism and ignorance of far too many Americans has led us to this precipice… of loss of freedom and liberty. Education and action are the only way we as a nation will even be able to exist in the future.

Not war, not battles, not criminal action. These will always be overwhelmed by those who hold the most cards in the game…the weapons, the finger on the pulses of our infrastructure that can be stopped or shut down, the regulations and laws that will lock up those unlucky enough to be caught for stupid reasons, or outspoken demands.

Action. Focus. Passion. Deliberate direction to make the community at large a better place to live. Action to be the drive and forward motion to bring honest and skilled people to the forefront of our neighborhoods. Skills and education that take us back to the days of justice for ALL. Leaders that LEAD, instead of MANDATE.

Make no mistake. Making a better America, from where we find ourselves now, is NOT going to be an easy road, and it will be rife with corruption, fear, anger, and frustration from those who currently WANT us to be where we are right now.

Again, SOMETHING has to give. It has to INCLUDE you. It has to be built and crafted by YOU. The America that we need to have again, has to be EARNED…by YOU.

Find like minded souls. Learn the skills in daily life, social interaction and business relationships that form the foundation of our new dreams. Do for one, that you would do for all. Live life well in every aspect. Be compassionate to those who truly need a step up. Offer when and what you can spare. Smile at strangers. Open conversations. Be friendly. Set the example…in everything you do…everyday.

Do this, and the America that we once had, will exist…again.

Do it not, and you will personally support the criminals, the ignorant politicians, and the dreggs of society that add nothing to our future…only sucking away the lifeblood of our hard work and hard earned income.

Think of your children and grandchildren. Think of your ancestors. Think of history, and what small yet vital role your life could play in it. Be the change…and NOT the change that our current president has given us.

I didn’t write the quote below, and a search of the web wasn’t very helpful…but…these words harken back to the days of the very foundation of our great nation. And, I believe that if the above continues, the below will be inevitable.

Rich Fleetwood
April 29, 2010

We are everywhere.

We are the undetectable, the undefeatable. We are millions of Americans prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our God-given rights and restore the republic.

We don’t meet in large groups, assuming we meet at all. We don’t parade, we don’t brag, we don’t threaten, we don’t post videos of us training on the internet. We don’t seek new recruits who can serve as spies and provocateurs.

We serve your food, we deliver your newspapers, we fix your cars. We cut your grass, clean your drains, educate your children, and style your hair. We build your homes, and some of us enforce your laws and fight your wars. We are in public office and in private industry. We are in the biggest cities, in small towns, and in the most rural countryside.

Those who seek to peacefully coexist and engage in productive free trade of time and value have nothing to fear from any of us. Those who seek that which they did not earn or continue to violate their oath of office should think long and hard before proceeding on their present course.

By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY

Source – USAToday.com

The White House has warned state and local governments not to expect a “significant federal response” at the scene of a terrorist nuclear attack for 24 to 72 hours after the blast, according to a planning guide.

[Portions of the full article are shared here with respect to our Fair Use Policy.]

President Obama told delegates from 47 nations at the Nuclear Security Summit on Tuesday that it would be a “catastrophe for the world” if al-Qaeda or another terrorist group got a nuclear device, because so many lives would be lost and it would be so hard to mitigate damage from the blast.

A 10-kiloton nuclear explosion would level buildings within half a mile of ground zero, generate 900-mph winds, bathe the landscape with radiation and produce a plume of fallout that would drift for hundreds of miles, the guide says. It was posted on the Internet and sent to local officials.

The document is designed to help local officials craft plans for responding to a nuclear blast. The prospect is anything but far-fetched, says Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Do I think in my lifetime I’ll see the detonation of a nuclear device? I do.”

Please click here to read the full article at [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-04-13-nuke-plans_N.htm]

From the introduction of the Government report, available below, both from the original government link, and direct download from SurvivalRing.

The purpose of this guidance is to provide emergency planners with nuclear detonation-specific response recommendations to maximize the preservation of life in the event of an urban nuclear detonation. This guidance addresses the unique effects and impacts of a nuclear detonation such as scale of destruction, shelter and evacuation strategies, unparalleled medical demands, management of nuclear casualties, and radiation dose management concepts. The guidance is aimed at response activities in an environment with a severely compromised infrastructure for the first few days (e.g., 24-72 hours) when it is likely that many Federal resources will still be in route to the incident.

The target audiences for the guidance are response planners and their leadership. Emergency responders should also benefit in understanding and applying this guidance.
…

The planning guidance and recommendations are focused on providing express consideration the following topics relevant to emergency planners for the first few days of a nuclear detonation; 1) shelter and evacuation, 2)medical care, 3) population monitoring and decontamination.

[Emphasis above is direct quote from the report]

Obtain the document from the original source here.

http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/outreach/pdf/planning-guidance.pdf or below.

*Type Of File”

*Download”

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Thanks, Rich