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Episode-1474- Listener Feedback for 12-1-14

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Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Today on the Survival Podcast I take your emails on “the holidays”, riots in Ferguson, the presidents executive order on immigration, and more.

Make sure if you submit content for a feedback show that you put something like “comment for jack”, “question for jack” or “article for jack” in the subject line to assure proper identification for my screening process.

Please understand I receive several hundred emails a day and can’t get them all on the air.

I also do put out a lot of information on Facebook from emails that I can’t fit on the program though so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Emails On

  • A message from Jack  on sanity and good will for the holiday season
  • PermaEthos is looking for our 2014 Interns, find out from Jesse Tegtmeier how to join us
  • What Law Enforcement must do to prevent more Fergusons
  • Why the president’s executive order on immigration is largely meaningless, for now
  • What is going to happen in Europe and their “banking crisis”
  • It is starting to become more clear that the public education systems knows itself to be obsolete
  • Final thoughts – what is really matters as we wind down 2014

Resources for today’s show…

This Monday’s Prepper Scenario

Riots have erupted in your area, similar to the Ferguson riots.   The cause is not really relevant so we will leave it out.  The key is that these riots are not likely to spread to your house BUT you and your spouse (if you have one) work near the area where they are occurring.  Additionally you have some concern over the location of your children’s school.   What are your procedures and protocols for travel, when to stay home and how to deal with potential spread of the danger.

Last Monday’s Prepper Scenario

Look at Buffalo New York and the surrounding areas right now. First they were hit with about 8 feet of snow. Now as the melt comes flooding is probable. During this event no help could be sent in. Frankly the melt might be a disaster unto itself but it is also a blessing. With 8 feet of snow there really isn’t many places to push it out of the way to. In such an event you will likely be stuck inside your home for at least a week, if power goes out cold weather is a big problem. Regardless of where you live how would you personally prepare for such an event?

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council you can address your calls to. If you do this you should email me right after your call at jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with expert council call in the subject line. In the body of your email tell me that you just called in a question for the council and what number you called in from. I will then give the call priority when I screen calls.

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Comments

Episode-1474- Listener Feedback for 12-1-14 — 63 Comments

  1. If you traveled ON thanksgiving day… pilots, flight attendants, vendors at the airport, etc.. had to work to get you where you were going 😛

    • I’m sure his intentions aren’t good. Body camera’s are just the next cover point which will cause more problems, and help very little. Same as the push for in car camera’s in the 90’s, it was supposed to fix all the problems, catch bad officers, and protect good officers, yet at least with the in car cameras, the pro list is much longer than the con list, now that most of the bugs are worked out of them, and we have about 20 years of case law. Body cameras, at this time, are a waste of money. We are currently “field testing” body cameras. For the officers that are currently issued them, they are the single biggest time sump in the course of their shift and the officers who have them end up spending hours per shift downloading and charging their body camera, and it took less than a week to figure out how the attorneys are going to get the videos barred from use as evidence, when it suits them. Obama asking for money for body camera’s is all just feel good maneuvering. People can point to it and say, see we did something about it, yet officers are still going to use force, it will be justified, yet there will still be questions raised, and that’s my point. There is a group of this society that has been raised to see everything they don’t like is racism and police corruption, and if you do the right thing, you are a snitch. That assaulting a cop is a badge of honor, and if you have a peaceful interaction with an officer you must be a snitch. A white cop arresting a non-white person always equals racism to many in this group. Regardless of the evidence. Fueled by unsubstantiated claims of racial profiling, and getting pulled over for “driving while black” when the dirty little secret they won’t admit is that 80% of the time, especially at night, the officer has no idea what race or sex the occupants of a vehicle are. If anyone don’t believe that, the next time you are out driving make a conscious effort to identify the race of the driver in the cars in front of you, and passing you.

      And the forces behind this false dichotomy of police vs minorities is so strong that a man that actually witnessed the Michael brown incident and told the truth was later found shot in the head. Cops that break the law go to jail all the time, but it rarely gets heard about outside the local news because just like everything else that doesn’t get reported, it doesn’t feed the dichotomy, it doesn’t divide people.

      And this camera on the front of a shirt that gets hung up in the seatbelt, doesn’t work half the time, is impossible to get pointed straight ahead, and captures 1/10 of what an officer’s senses tell them, which is what goes into their decision making process, all while taking the officer off the street even more because once they have recorded for 2 hours they have to go back to the office to download and charge for an hour or more, is supposed to “fix” anything?

      Even had Wilson had a body camera, would he have had time to turn it on? After examining them I doubt it would have stayed on his shirt during the assault, and since they don’t point straight ahead, it probably wouldn’t have caught the rest of it anyway. Cops are trained to shoot with their bodies squared to the threat so as not to expose the weak spots in their body armor. Even had it been a head worn camera, how many people turn their head slightly when aiming a pistol? Based on what I have seen, about 80%. So then there would have been sections that weren’t visually recorded, and we arrive at the same place. And had it recorded everything perfectly, it was edited, it’s been photo shopped, and yet, here we are again.

      • I agree with mostly what you said. I think this is a feel good move, but its also one more stamp towards a federalized police state with excessive rule of law the end goal. I don’t like it but as Jack has said all the facts seem to point towards that, hopefully Im wrong 🙂

      • Let me make it incredibly simple. Nothing to do with Obama or Ferguson just goverment, this is how it works.

        Guy in charge with a problem – “what can we spend money on to look like we are doing something about this problem”.

        Lackeys – “we can spend it on X, that does Y and Z and we can make a case to the people that this will fix the problem, so they will be okay with us taking their money to pay for it”.

        Guy in charge with a problem – “great let’s do X then, get my speech writer on it, I need to speak about this by _____ time.”

        That is all, your life can no continue with out making things more complicated then they are as to the motivation of a politician.

        As to the problem with body cameras what you describe isn’t the big problem. The big problem is it will remove the ability for an officer to USE HIS BRAIN and say, “just go home”. To find a half ounce of grass and just take it and toss it in the trash and let the guy go with an unofficial verbal warning, etc.

        Body cameras will increase arrests for minor charges and infractions that many cops have traditionally let people off on IF that person wasn’t being a dick just to be a dick.

  3. Another item on your comments on Furgeson.. how screwed up is it when the widely distrusted media is still trusted over the police?

  4. On Nov. 21 I wrote on a forum the following:

    Immigration? Last night’s speech was nothing but cover fire for Republicans in 2016. Republicans will turn around and say, “well, now that Obama has given legal status to all those families how can we take it away. The US doesn’t go back on its promises.” End of story.

    The fact remains that executive order or not no one was getting deported. There is a reason why these families that will be shielded by the executive orders have been here 10 years or more. I’ve been saying this for a long time. Immigration reform will come under Republican rule of the 3 houses. Obama on his way out with nothing to lose is just softening the blows for Republicans in 2016.

  6. There was a 12 yr old kid shot dead recently by the police. He was holding a replica gun out in a park, and the cop or the 911 dispatcher did not use any common sense. I remember as a kid going out to play with pellet guns that looked like real guns. No one ever got shot. I guess cops were not as stupid back then.

    That not withstanding, you’d think the black community– hell! the entire country, especially the media– would stand behind the 12 yr old before Brown who, like as you said, was a thug, but it’s not the case. How many good, innocent people have been killed since Treyvon? Yet, the two cases that stick out and probably had it coming are Tryvon and Brown. What does this say about culture and society?

    • Back then, I also played with toy guns and pellet guns which looked like real guns. What changed is that I was raised not to go pointing them at random people in the park and not to try to play fast draw with a cop who told me to put up my hands. Shot is shot, and dead is dead. Doesn’t matter if the person who pulled the trigger is 12, 22, or 102. What was an officer to do? Wait until he is actually shot? Does a bullet not cause as much damage when fired by a 12 yar old? That incident, while having the added emotional response of the age of the deceased, simply didn’t have the racially based claims that Ferguson had, to grab and run with. No body lied and said he had his hands up and the cop shot him in the back for no reason.

      If a clear cut incident is used as a catalyst, it won’t sufficiently divide people, and the machine gains no control. For these situations to work, there has to be balance on both sides of the issue. Since this incident happened to have video, it is pretty clear the officer was acting responsibly when he pulled the trigger, and most people have already written it off.

      • Clearly the kid is acting weird. Maybe he’s goofing around or maybe he’s disturbed, but I don’t see anyone in immediate danger. He is on an empty park on a cold day. But what choice did the cops have, right? They just had to pull-up and unload. I call BS on the whole thing. There are about 100 other things the cops could have done instead shoot first ask questions later.

  7. I love your show Jack, I totally made that point to my family on Thanksgiving about hey we are watching football and no seems to care about them working. LOL.

  8. I really appreciated your comments that were directed at the law enforcement. I have had some good experiences with them and some not so good. (I really went out of my way one time to avoid running over a motorcycle policeman. in return he pulled me over and gave me a ticket because my tags had just expired … really a seemingly slight injustice, but something you don’t forget) But when you really need them, I’m so glad they are there. They endure tons of crap to help out when things are tough. But the bad ones really make the good ones look bad in the end. They aren’t doing anyone any real justice. On the other hand a good law enforcement officer is worth his weight in gold. I’m aware that there are situations way beyond the ‘simple stuff’, and it’s courageous to speak out against the wrongdoing. But I also want to remember those guys that aren’t that way and who put their butt on the line to save others in their hour of need, risk their lives to make someone else’s day worth living again.

  9. Just had to comment on your prepper scenario today. I was living in S. Cal during the LA riots in 1992 (I think that was the year). Anyway, the riots started in the evening, date not recalled, and although it was “news,” we didn’t make much of it. By the next day, it was getting hot, but my husband didn’t take it too seriously. He was self-employed and had to drive up to LA (we were in Orange Co) for a job. His route, as it was, took him right up La Cienega which also happened to be on the “riot route.” He didn’t know this as he left but I called him and told him not to go that way. Guess he thought I was being an alarmist because he went that way. After getting caught right in middle of the riots (stuck in traffic, windows rolled up and doors locked, with rioters roaming the street), my husband–who had been a soldier in the Israeli army and had been deployed during the 2nd Lebanon War in the 80’s– made it back home to say he had never been so afraid in his life. (You might say stupid too, but no one realized at that time how serious it was getting. No twitter back then or even good internet info, just the radio and TV.)

  10. I will preface this by saying that I am a Christian, so don’t say that I am just a stupid liberal atheist. I can’t stand it when Christians talk about the war on Christmas and saying happy holidays. Their is no war on Christmas. Christians seem to think that anybody doing anything that they don’t like is an attack on the church. We see the same thing with gay marriage, Christians think that legalizing gay marriage is an attack on the church. it’s not an attack on the church, it’s just the right thing to do. This phenomenon is not just observed in Christians, we see the same thing from *some* atheists. They see creationism as an attack on science. All of this is just ridiculous to me. I oppose the death penalty, however, I do not think that having a death penalty as an attack on libertarianism.
    TL;DR Christians need to unwad their panties

    • I think you made my point better than I could with your opening.

      “I will preface this by saying that I am a Christian, so don’t say that I am just a stupid liberal atheist. ”

      The fact that such a disclaimer is necessary says a LOT.

  11. I wish a Merry Christmas to the Christians who celebrate this holiday. I’m Jewish. I don’t observe the holiday, but I have noticed that many other people (mostly Christians) observe it. It took me a while to figure out how to react to Christians who feel compelled to wish me a Merry Christmas. I think I’ve worked it out for myself.

    This wasn’t a problem when I lived in California, mostly because Californians keep to themselves. When I moved to Texas I was delighted by the friendliness of the people but when Christmas came around, I couldn’t walk 30 feet in public without someone wishing me a Merry Christmas. I didn’t know how to respond.

    Here is the problem: I like Christians. I have no desire to make them feel bad… especially when all they want to do is to wish me well on their holiday. I could stop them and explain that I am not a Christian, but after taking 5 minutes to do that with every person who wishes me well in Texas, I would be doing nothing else for a month. So… I had to think about this.

    I really want Christians to have a Merry Christmas. (“Merry” being defined as happy, pleasant, inspiring, good.) Since I really want to wish them this goodness, I have no problem saying “Merry Christmas” as a RESPONSE when I am wished the same.

    However… don’t expect me to wish you a Merry Christmas unless I KNOW that you are, in fact, a Christian. If I am not sure, I might say, “Happy Holidays” or nothing at all.

    Alex Shrugged

  12. Ya know if you are getting your skivvies in a knot about the holiday wishes then I guess you miss the entire spirit of the season.

  15. The marble analogy is one you could keep going forward Jack, along with the tick tock. Maybe shorten the narrative it a bit but keep the principle in mind. Maybe the tick tock at the beginning of each month, and the marble story at the end of the month

  16. On immigration:
    “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
    ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

    “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.”
    ~ Confucius

    Or as Huxley put it..
    “It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘try to be a little kinder.’”

    • The reality is the battle within is definitely one of the most trying and difficult things to master, hence why there is so much on the subject.

      The funny thing is it seems it has the easiest steps possible. Say and believe you’ll make a change, and then having the discipline to make those changes.

    • The last two quotes were in reference to ‘happy holidays’..

      As that fantastic intellect, Stuart Smalley said:

      It’s easier to put on a pair of slippers.. than to carpet the entire world.

      😉

      You can’t fix a problem ‘out there’.. unless you’ve first solved the problem ‘in here’. For a little more rap comedy on this subject, and the TRUTH about the New World Order:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4nSjPdT788

      (for the ironically challenged.. this is ALL HUMOR.. which means its entirely true.. with a slight twist at the end)

      😉

  17. Re: jar of marbles

    Ever noticed that some of us seem to run out of marbles before we’re oUT of days? I sure feel like I have sometimes. ..

  19. Prepper Scenario: Riots have erupted in your area, similar to the Ferguson riots…. just to make this difficult lets assume: my spouse and I still have to go to work, kid still has to go to daycare.

    My policies and procedures:
    1: Closely monitor protests/riots are occurring, stay away from those areas…
    – Don’t drive through those areas, backup routes to/from work
    – Google/facebook/twitter track situation
    – communicate with spouse/daycare if you see an issue
    – be ready to leave work early (work from home, pick up kid)
    2: Personal protection goes up a notch.
    – spouse doesn’t normally conceal and carry, maybe pepper spray
    – maybe I conceal my carry option in places that have No Weapons signs…
    – gear in my car goes up a notch
    3: Get ready to leave quickly if needed
    – review/alter the plan every day (decide when enough is enough, and leave)
    – communicate often with spouse/daycare (call/txt/email/whatever)
    – rally points, hotel phone numbers, backup plans, etc…
    – bags packed and by the door (or even in the car)

  20. Hey Jack
    I’m a long time listener, MSB member, etc. and while I don’t always agree with you, it’s rare I am compelled to type( and yes I have to hunt and pec)
    while I don’t necessarily disagree with your opinions expressed today about police behavior and the lack of trust etc. I must say your blame balance is a bit skewed. ratio wise if you spent 15 minutes in this episode talking about police behavior, you spent 10 seconds talking about the civilian behavior.
    I realize I risk being labeled a racist, and its sad I have to get out in front of that, but you did say, in the 10 seconds, that this guy was a THUG, his friend on the seen in front of the cameras lying about what he saw was a THUG, the actions of his parents, THUGS.
    All these people cant be running around thinking I’m going to behave like an ass because the police are also thugs. the bad behavior is part of who they are base on there own moral compass. black, white, brown, yellow, any color or creed you wish to point to has ass holes in it, and the more ass holes you bring together the worse the behavior.
    All people have the potential for good or ill but it seems the more people you put together the more the mentality leans toward the bad. Hence terms like gang mentality.
    These rioters don’t care about the police or Mr. brown all they saw was an opportunity to loot and act out. The proof is in the acts they committed. the burned down there own neighborhood they didn’t charge the police station, perform acts of terrorism, lash out against the ones you say are oppressing them. No thay went to the electronics store, the liquor store, the convenience store, around the corner emptied it and burnt it down. they weren’t screaming for justice, they were saying what can I take.
    Sometimes Jack I think you give people too much credit, or that most people are like the ones in the TSB community. unfortunately that’s not the case, maybe its my age or I just pay attention too much to the world around me, but every day I see more and more ugliness and more sociopaths than you can shake a stick at.
    We’re all a product of the experiences in our lives, that being said how many of these rouge cops went in to service with the best of intentions but we’re just burned by the ugly ness they see on a daily basis? And how unfair is it to say to them if that’s the case you should get out, probably just as many as were bullies to begin with. cops, civilians, there’s just to many ass holes, count me as one if you like, just my opinion no disrespect

    • If the police would behave as I suggested the public would not be upset when they used force where it is needed as it is needed.

      It is not necessary for me to discuss that rioting is wrong and should be met with force, I expect you and the people that listen to be intelligent enough to understand that.

  21. LMAO I said pretty much the same thing about boycotting the NFL… I cracked up out loud from that.

  22. We all know the police state we is just the same old, same old song and dance, power and money. When their budgets are tight, how do they raise money, quotas, and asset seizure. They are put on a pedestal by our media, who feel they can’t do nothing wrong. They abuse their power and many who are the brunt of their abuse, revolt. But when do those that abuse their power ever get punished, hardly ever, look back in history, czars, Napoleon, British Empire, these powers go on for a long time and hardly ever get overthrown, they usually fail from their incompetence, complexity and inefficiency.

    http://mcalvanyweeklycommentary.com/complexsocieties/

  23. Sorry Jack but thugs will be thugs. assuming one side will change its behavior simply because the other side changes its behavior for the better is just wishful thinking, and its more likely the bad guys will take advantage of the precieved weakness,(again i’m not defending the cops, theres thugs on both dides) and leaving the rioting and looting out of the conversation but including all police bad behavior is a bit unfair. its like talking about milk but never mentioning the cow. an “intellegent” conversation needs proper context

  24. It’s not about public safety anymore, but political special interest and ticket/DUI quotas. I would say 80% of police work today has nothing to do with protecting the public, and that is where the big disconnect between citizens and law enforcement has occurred. As I’m writing this an overweight, waste of tax payer money, parking enforcement cop is writing numerous parking tickets right in front of me. How does this make me safer? It doesn’t, all it does is piss people like me off. I pay you with my tax payer dollars to make my community safe, not write parking tickets and install speeding and red light cams that have been proved to be completely rigged to maximize income, and not make dangerous intersections safer. Remember I was in law enforcement myself, so I don’t say this just to blow smoke. It is sad, but the public trust is for the most part gone. Go back to community policing, walking beats, getting to know the people who pay your salary, instead of looking at us as a way to fund your retirement, and as a potential asshole to harass and our opinion just might change.

    • felt the exact same way when I was given a right turn on red ticket that cost me 150 bucks, oh thank you and have a nice day. Came to a complete stop, forgot about the sign out in the middle of the intersection, and there was no reason for there to be a no turn on red, expect, oh a revenue enhancer. makes ya want to avoid cities that are there just to screw ya.

      • Worst example I ever saw of something like that happened to my Father-in-Law who was in his 80s at the time.

        You know how school zones drop down to like 25 MPH and then it says resume 45 end school zone at the end.

        Get this shit in Mansfield there is a elementary and middle school very close to each other. VERY VERY CLOSE, like throw a baseball from one to the other almost that close.

        They are on the same road which is a strait line, 4 lanes and NO KIDS ARE EVER ON THAT DAMN ROAD ANYWAY and the schools sit very far back from it. So in essence the zones are not really necessary but fine, I get it, no problem.

        Here is how they f’d the old man.

        You enter the school zone but it is for the FIRST school. You drive you 25mph like a moron while all the kids are already in school by the way because it is in force for 90 minutes after the school starts!

        But here is the F-job, you get to a sign that says “End School Zone – Resume 45MPH”

        Then about 25 feet, yes 25 damn feet, I went and measured it, there is another school zone 25MPH sign.

        So you roll along, get to the end, resume and in 25 feet are supposed to notice the second zone!

        These are NOT the one with lights on them blinking when in force just static signs with the hours on the bottom in fairly small print by the way.

        So the old man got popped for 37 in a 25 school zone!

        If I ever happen to meet the officer (yea I have his name from the ticket) I am going to tell him to his face he is an oath breaking piece of shit!

        There is ONLY one purpose to a set up like the above, there is no reason for two zones with 45mph for 25 damn feet. The city of Mansfield knows what they did and the cops writing tickets there know full well what they are doing. Anyone willfully participating in this activity doesn’t deserve a badge that says Mall Security let along the HONOR of being an officer of the peace.

  25. Hey Jack,

    It sounds like Jessie will be taking over Elisha Springs, what is Joe up to? Or is that not public news?

    • Joe is traveling and working on a regional on site PDC schedule, handling most training coordination for work shops, working on doing a Bee Design Course with Michael Jordan. In other words quite busy.

      We learned a lot this year, one was that a farm manager and two farmers under him on a new farm was a very top heavy organization and didn’t warrant the cost and personal conflicts that result from so many chiefs.

      We also learned it was not reasonable to expect that Joe would shoot the PDC and run the farm at the same time.

      That left us with Mike and Jessie and Mike really wants to run his own farm at his own home in TN. We lucked out with Jesse as he is an amazing guy.

      On the internship one thing to note is it could lead to taking over Jessie’s job at some point. Jessie too wishes to have his own farm some day and it is our goal to help him make that happen.

      • Hey Jack, sorry it took me so long to reply here. Thanks for replying though, I was really concerned Joe might be leaving or moving on to other things. I have enjoyed the PDC and am EXTREMELY excited about the plant propagation course. I also think adding more on-farm footage to the PDC would be incredible. I definitely learn better when someone can say “here’s this concept, now here it is in the real world, see how this part exemplifies this concept?”

        If I was 15 years younger and didn’t have a family I would be all about moving to the farm and interning; that would be an incredible experience!

  26. Hey Jack,
    first, I am not angry ;>) not sure how you got that – guess this is the vagaries or using text with little context. I don’t have my panties in a wad… I am taking your advice and postulating my take on this issue and not just swallowing whole what you say… you should be proud that I am challenging some of this story.

    Next, I totally agree, (I never said that I believe the Repubs would enforce deportation or that they won’t do full amnesty), as you said, Mitt is going for full amnesty… and Jeb Bush chimed in as “we need to be more practical” and other comments supporting amnesty.

    So, I agree with you that both sides are traveling in the same direction, maybe at different speeds. Maybe you remember the “me” when I first met you – more of a conservative first, republican second…. but my time with your podcast, lively debates at your homestead and interesting conversations with Josiah about Anarchy have had influence. (Heck, I now listen the Anarchast – a podcast about anarchy)

    My comments were about the big picture.

    I believe what you were saying in a round about way, was very similar to the point I was making. I said this EO would encourage more crossings… I should maybe point out MORE than USUAL. Because they see the olive branch from the current regime more will feel “welcomed” to come as opposed to any President that were to sign an EO that was slanted as anti-amnesty.

    You said “nothing will change.. they will keep coming.” I just said, we would get more as it is a more of a “there’s really no retribution if you come now” attitude.

    You said, “This doesn’t apply to them that show up tomorrow” After Reagan implemented what was “supposed to be a fix” and implemented a form of amnesty for about 3 MM illegals, the result was more came… So we already have a prototype of what is being done and will be done when R’s take office.

    Even though it does not apply to anyone AFTER this action they KNOW that if they get here and stay long enough they will eventually get a similar deal… Heck, if they just get here, like you said, they KNOW they will never, never, never get deported… however, there are deportations…

    I hate to cite the NYTimes but they say: “The Times analysis is based on government data covering more than 3.2 million deportations over 10 years, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, and provides a more detailed portrait of the deportations carried out under Mr. Obama.”
    ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/us/more-deportations-follow-minor-crimes-data-shows.html?_r=0 )

    And just because I point out that I don’t like the idea of not enforcing our borders and it happens to be Obama in office, does not mean I am on the “other side” pitted against the “other side.” Hell, Bush did little to protect our border, so I don’t care if either party does it… I just don’t like folks coming here illegally.

    Not taking a pot shot at you, but you do have a fence all the way around your property… I can give a crap whether they will climb over, burrow under, cut it down, since when should we reward law breakers just because they will break the law. We should build a fence and I am betting the number of crossings will go down… I agree they won’t stop coming, but just because some cops do “bad apple” stuff doesn’t mean their asses should not be prosecuted just as much for being a criminal.

    So, why does my stance on having strong secure borders convey that I am still drinking the Kool-Aid?

    Should we just declare an open border to whoever and whenever anyone would like to come?

    I know that is a rhetorical question, but, it is a fact that depending on the public stance of whoever is in “power” at the time has an influence on the number of folks that come here.

    In fact, if strict use of E-Verify were to be implemented you would probably see a lot of self-deportation…

    here is an interesting take on self-repatriation and E-Verify and border security… http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/fischer/140806

    again, I say this with a pleasant demeanor, unwadded underwear and all… ;>)

      • you are funny. I am as happy as a clam… I just have a few different opinions that you.

        • No you are angry, I know this from your comments here and other comments on this. You are all on about what should be, what should be DOES NOT matter. Further yes we should have what you call an open border, absolutely. We also SHOULD NOT have any welfare, at all period. So I can sit around and bitch about that or I can adapt to what is. You choose to worry about what shoudl be, that won’t be and never will be and you are angry about that. This is sucking your energy into areas where you have zero influence, never will have any influence and every decision has already been made.

          You are on and on about but do you think the border should be secured as though what I think matters, IT DOES NOT. If you think what I think matters you think what you think matters. On this issue it is delusional thinking. You might as well take this issue and just move on, you get NO SAY you never did and NEVER WILL. No politician will EVER GIVE YOU HALF OF WHAT YOU WANT.

          Five stages of grief are what,

          Denial
          Anger
          Bargaining
          Depression
          Acceptance

          YOu are in a state of both anger and bargening. You know your republicans will fuck you so you are angry but you think they might do SOMETHING fing ANYTHING better then the dems so you are willing to bargain, hold your nose and vote one more time for the R and try to get others to do the same.

          So you can either wait until your Republican president fucks you, then be depressed, then eventually accept reality, OR you can skip all that bull and go to acceptance NOW, no matter what you do the results WILL NOT change. You have NO CHOICE about this, never did, never will, you only choose how you react to it.

      • Jack,
        I can have an opinion without having to be bitter or even use strong language… it does NOT mean I have anything invested in thinking I have an influence. You sound angry to me, or about me… Why would you want to have an open border, you have absolutely no influence on that as well?

        You think you know what I am but it is apparent that if I do not agree with you then I must be living in a delusion. You have gotten to a place that all that may be left for you is to move to Costa Rica as you have mentioned before. Is this your acceptance?

        So, I can claim you are the one who is angry. I was just having a stimulation conversation. lighten up bro, I love you man.

        • and by the way, when the hell have I tried to get “others to do the same” when it comes to voting for R’s?
          You said, “no matter what you do the results WILL NOT change.:”
          So, having a conversation is doing something? I don’t and haven’t done anything else about illegal aliens so I don’t know how I am ‘holding my nose’ or taking any kind of action that puts me in your “We vs Them” scenarios…

          Have you ever considered that your reaction to someone who may be on the same path as you but only earlier in the journey may have to go through all the steps – there is really no reason for you to expect that anyone else can “jump” to where you are… be glad folks are on your path – it’s not fun to be clobbered just because I haven’t reach your level of enlightenment.

        • Oh I know full well you are on the same path. Keep walking. If I didn’t care about you personally I’d not likely even respond to you. I just know you are worried about things that really are not worth your energy. See to yourself bro, you need to do that. Focus on Jake, take care of Jake and I don’t mean your attitude I mean your life, your phyical health, your personal well being. Stressing out of shit you can’t control is really bad for you.

        • good advice… I will take this to heart… btw, your cold-weather recipes show was awesome… cheers,

  27. This was one of the best podcasts ever! So much wisdom and clear expression of thought. Loved it!!!!

  28. I will give my 2 cents on the Ferguson deal-very few people understand the reality of violence. It’s the same as Trevon Martin-a young aggressive larger than you person gets on top of you or traps you in your car and starts beating you senseless and to the point where you cant escape and your perception is or you actually are about to go unconscious means you are in a lethal force situation.

    Many would say you cant shoot an unarmed person. If you are beaten unconscious or to the point where you cant stop the person from killing you then you have 2 choices….kill or be killed. That is the reality of combat.

    • True but zero bearing on the WHY of the riots. Absolutely zero. Like I said the officer was apparently justified in his actions but that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WHY OF THE RIOT. If we had a video of the event and it 100% backed the officer we would still have riots and idiot congressmen and NFL players doing the “hands up” bullshit. Why? Why do people believe it? That is the real problem, it has NOTHING to do with the reality of violence and everything to do with the reality of abuse by those in power for so long.

  29. Response for the Prepper Scenario:

    I live in LA during the ’92 riots and have been through three other smaller riots and learned a few VERY valuable lessons. In the “hot spot” everyone is considered to be part of the problem regardless of how innocent you are. If you decide to walk/drive through, not only will you become a target for the rioters, you will also be a target for the Police. The other lesson I learned is that if you MUST get through, you are safest if you look like everyone else. If you try to drive through a bad neighborhood in a really nice car, you’re in trouble. Same thing if you’re on foot. I had to walk through two of the riots they were having on campus and made myself look like everyone else that was setting things on fire. My only caution when doing this is to cover your face – although the Police may not be arresting people, they will be recording and photographing and they will lump you in with everyone else.

    Specifically for the Scenario, if I were home I would stay home, I would not go through the hot zone. If I needed to go out, I would ensure that I did not put the rioting between myself and my home/family. It can grow like wildfire and move, cutting off your routes home. If I were at work, I would leave as soon as there were indications that riots were beginning. My family has the same protocols and during times like Ferguson, they knew to pay more attention to what was going on and their phones in case I called to tell them to get home. If they got that call, they were to leave immediately. After seeing how bad things can be, no job or that is worth risking going out into the middle of a riot (and those jobs that don’t understand that – I’m better off without it).

  30. Jack
    Even if he did charge the cop and punch him in the face(did you see the photos HA!) this officer should have used his extensive police training to subdue him WITHOUT lethal force. The powers that be are dividing us even more. The real issue is that the system is preparing us for when they treat EVERYONE like this. It’s acceptable to treat black people like this when half the country is “scared” of black people but what happens when its your child?

    • Dennis, frankly if you out weigh me by about 100 pounds and you try to attack me when you know I have a gun I am going to blow a hole in your forehead!

      I expect no less from a man just because he wears a uniform. You are full of shit bro, you have drank the other sides koolaid and I bet my ass if you were in this man’s situation you’d of done the same thing.

      Once you try to grab my gun, you die, I consider you a threat to my life and the life of others and the LAW not the police the LAW agrees.

      If you didn’t have a history of legitimate comments here I would say the lack or reality in your comment is so shocking I think you might just be a troll either that or severely mentally deficient in some area.

      I don’t care that Michael Brown was black, yellow, white, green, purple, pink, you try to grab a cops gun off his gun belt or a citizens gun off his waist and you get shot, that is call instant karmic justice.

  31. Hi Jack — I have some comments/questions regarding the downswing in oil prices recently. I highly respect your views on things — especially financial matters — but based on many other sources I follow I’m not sure that the lower prices are such a good thing in the longer term.

    Many of the sources that we’ve come to rely upon in the world — and particularly in US domestic production — are much more capital intensive and therefore require a higher price to make a profit. I’ve seen/heard of reports over the past 6 months that BP and Total already pulled out of shale oil projects in the Bakken because they couldn’t make money at it when oil was over $100/bbl. Now that the price has dropped even further how can the remaining players continue to justify more drilling and production? If they suspend production, isn’t there the danger of not being able to bring projects back up if (eventual) rising prices start to affect economies in a negative way?

    Many members of OPEC are also being hit hard by lower prices. I’ve read that Iran, in particular, is being crushed by current prices. I also can’t help but think that the Saudis agreed to maintain high production in order to keep prices low at the behest of the US government, in a geopolitical ploy to turn the screws on Russia. The fact that this will ALSO hurt the domestic US industry is a secondary concern, since for the US geopolitical matters have almost always trumped economic ones — as they do for pretty much all empires.

    I’d appreciate your thoughts on the above, and whether or not you see some problems arising from these lower oil over the longer term, even if it a benefit to individual businesses and families over the shorter term. Thanks!

    • Hey look something new to distract you with!

      You know what, oil companies are NOT going to loose money. Oil will fall to a point, at that point producers will back off on production, prices stabilize and then start to go back up and find a new plateau for a while.

      No Russia won’t start WWIII because oil goes to low. No Iran won’t chemically gas the Syrians over it.

      Low energy prices spur our economy, a spurred economy increases energy demand.

      Consider that the oil companies are part of the oligarchy, the people that own them own banks, manufacturing companies, mining operations, pharmaceutical companies, food production, they own EVERYTHING.

      If you owned 25 companies and 20 were always making a shit load of money, 5 lost money but no where near as much as the 20 made and those 5 would one day make a shit load again, and 5 of your current winners would rotate to losers for a while and so on, would you care?

      Now don’t get me wrong, economically this is a short term disaster for Russia. But it is short term and a much smaller disaster than a bunch of mushroom clouds and the people running Russia are not fools, most seem smarter then the people running our nation.

      Also those pointing to Russia and oil are really running an assessment based on what was true in 2008. Russia still does run on oil but has diversified a lot.

      Frankly Russia is far more vested in Natural Gas then oil. Russia is 12% of the worlds oil export market, but they are the largest Gas exporter in the world.

  32. Ummm….. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!
    (just heard that song today)

    And a Happy Hanukah
    Happy Kwanzaa,
    Happy New Year,
    Happy Winter Solstice

    I used to know Muslims who would get offended if someone said Merry Christmas to them. I just think people are used to saying it instead of “goodbye” around this time of year. (Although “Happy Holidays” has gained in popularity. It’s probably about 50-50 these days) Really, it does no good to get your pressure up. Even if it is meant as a slam, so what?

    When people say “Merry Christmas” to me I have always returned the greeting. I have ALWAYS had a Merry Christmas, even as a child (no school, HELLO), so I’m always in a good mood in December anyway.

    Plus the twinkly lights are pretty. lol

  33. My experience seems to be that saying Merry Christmas is more risky than saying happy holidays.

    I heard an old woman was banned from working at the polls in NH because she would often say ‘god bless’ to people

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