If you’ll notice the headline captured in the photo above, it’s still a pretty good summary of how many of us feel, eleven years later.  I for one, am still angry.  We are supposed to forgive and forget but, I cannot.

I cannot forgive or forget the fact that almost three-thousand of my countrymen were killed, over six-thousand injured, and all our lives were forever altered. I cannot forgive and forget the fact that in the years since then, we have lost nearly 6,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Over 42,000 of them have been injured in that time.  And of course, no one counts the scars we can’t see…Injuries inflicted on even those who have managed to come home “without a scratch.”  There’s no official tally for families torn apart, dreams deferred, or those that will simply never be.  No, I cannot and will not forgive those responsible the attacks and I will not forget those moments of terror or the decade of pain, suffering, and sacrifice that has followed.

In a cruel twist of irony, our country knew a sense of unity it hasn’t seen since World War II.  That time however, was fleeting.  Politics and politicians couldn’t let a tragedy go to waste.  Someone had to be held responsible and the finger-pointing began before the bodies of those we lost were cold. It continues to this day.  And while our Armed Forces have spent a decade fighting and dying to defend our way of life and the freedoms we take for granted, many of our politicians have been busy since September 12th, 2001, stripping us of those very freedoms. All in the name of “safety and security.” Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

So as we remember this day, I am suggesting that we also remember who we were prior to September 11, 2001.  While we were never perfect and never will be, it seems that we need to once again, embrace our own magnificence as a people.  I am suggesting a renewed recognition of the fact that living in the US means living a life of greater opportunity than many, if not most other parts of the world, in spite of our flaws.  I suggest that rather than continue the path to be more like every other country in the world, that we remember our legacy as the land of the free and the home of the brave.  I for one would rather live dangerously free than safely enslaved. I think that is the only proper way to memorialize September 11th.

-Gary

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/

I really do find this funny coming from this administration.  You’ve got a great many liberals convinced that “zombies” is conservative, Republican, and racist “code speak” for liberals and minorities. We know better and no, I’m not linking you to the podcast to THAT show!  I’m all for disaster preparedness, it’s part of what I do professionally in my day job.  But, the thing this administration consistently leaves out is making sure you’ve got the ability to protect and defend yourself from looters and others who often take advantage of the loss of access to emergency services that of often accompanies a major disaster.

Having a water supply, food, extra meds, et al is just fine. That should be standard fair for any of us.  But the realities of life on the Gulf Coast have shown us that if the fecal matter ever truly hits the spinning impeller, we are on our own because the people charged with helping us, may just abandon us.  You can’t call 911 if the cell phone and land line telephone networks are down.  This means you may very well have to provide your own emergency medical care and when the “zombies” do come, you will be all that stands between those zombies and whatever provisions and shelter you have in place.  That fact, predictably, is not something they mention in this advisory.

While we’re on the subject of “zombies,” lets take a second to state the facts for our liberal friends. “Zombies” can and will be of any race, creed, or religion. The “zombies” will likely be people who look just like you. They may in fact be, your next door neighbor. At the end of the day, the “zombies” we are concerned about are those who were not prepared for a disaster. It is a sad reality that most “zombies” will be those who have been dependent on the government for all their essential needs prior to any major disaster. But again, some of them will be your neighbors.

So in addition to all the stuff the CDC says, you should at least consider buying one or more guns (probably a semi-automatic rifle and/or handgun), a dozen or so spare magazines for each, and several hundred or even several thousand rounds of ammo as well as the training to use the gun(s) effectively.  Also, you and those in your care need to know how to administer CPR and stop or at least control severe blood loss from a traumatic wound. James Preston of Preston Tactical offers a great curriculum on this as do others. Few if any first aid kits for the home include the necessary items for treating traumatic wounds but many retailers like Preston Tactical and Practical Trauma offer pre-assembled trauma kits with the necessary supplies to treat severe blood loss to give you a chance to seek professional medical care.  Guns, ammo, trauma kits and the training to use this stuff are not cheap but, how much is your life worth?

– Gary

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-5-2012/hope-and-change-2—the-party-of-inclusion

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve watched the Daily Show but, I’ve been frustrated by the alleged “openness” of the Democratic Party for years. The claim of tolerance, inclusion, and the willingness to accept a different point of view is as false as that of any Republican you care to name but, you’d never know it if you only believe what the popular media tells us. Stewart might have done this as a joke but, I’m convinced he’s stumbled into the truth and the truth is very, very, ugly. -Gary