Obituary Of An Old Friend

Common Sense Commentary:  

An Obituary printed in the London Times.....Absolutely Brilliant !!

 

 

Fitting for today as we say goodbye to life as we knew it in the good ole USA……

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).


His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

He declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death,
-by his parents, Truth and Trust,
-by his wife, Discretion,
-by his daughter, Responsibility,
-and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 5 stepbrothers;
- I Know My Rights
- I Want It Now
- Someone Else Is To Blame
- I'm A Victim
- Pay me for Doing Nothing

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

62 Years Ago Today, Orace Edwards & I Survived

Common Sense Commentary: This is an e-mail exchange today, between two old Marines who survived in Hell Fire Valley to serve our Lord. As Orace says in his e-mail to me, our Lord gets all the credit for anything we may have accomplished in this life. Neither of us would have lived these past 62 years except for His love, forgiveness and grace. I love you Orace. You were my brother in battle and you are my eternal brother in the Lord. God 's best to you ... and I'll see you in glory when all of this is done. Psm.115:1, Rayburn

(Orace, it's interesting to me that Nov.29, 1950 was also a Thursday. My mother was at a Wednesday night prayer meeting in Arlington when we entered Hell Fire Valley in North Korea. RB)

Thursday, Nov.29, 2012
Hello Rayburn

62 Years Ago TODAY you and I were on Task Force Drysdale and the Truck I was on was blown up in Hell Fire Valley. I know the Hand of God had to be on me or I would never have made it. Your probably one of the ones that helped Save me from possibly being captured or who knows what. I'll always feel a debt of gratitude to you and to God for placing you there to help me. That experience was Life changing to this then 19 year old boy too.

God took me down a path that gave me an opportunity to love God back through the ministry of Gospel music (The Harbinger Singers 1970 -1975) that achieved Group of The Year in 1973 in the SGMA and the Love Notes). My wife and I were also Team Teaching the 4th 5th and 6th graders, and visitation for God in our church at Grand Prairie, Texas, - Arabi, Louisiana, - Canoga Park, California then Back to Grand Prairie, Texas in 1968.

I was also allowed to help Build Evangel Temple Assembly of God Church in Grand Prairie and always felt like I got more out of the Experiences than I put in. Myself and one other Person Literally Electrically wired the Church Sanctuary (I soldered all the connections and the Electrical Inspector Passed them), The school Class Rooms and Gym that housed the Church School that My Youngest Son (That Sang with My Wife and I in the "Love Notes" Group) Graduated from. The Church got an Electrically Wired Church Building - I got the knowledge of being able to wire up anything I ever wanted to after that. Who got the best deal?

Now age has made my hands too shaky and weak to now only be able to have my middle son do it and show him how to do the complicated things. I can also no longer play my Guitar.

I can still type on my Computer Key board with my two fingers.

My wife used to Type over 100 words per minute when I was in College (Texas A&M). Went to College as a Disabled Vet.(Public Law 16)

You've Got me beat on offspring. I have 4 Children, 4 Grand Children and so far 2 Great Grand Children. All but one lives in Arlington.

I don't Text, Don't Facebook, Don't Tweeter, or Blog.

A lady (Lynnita Brown) at korean war-educator.org did write my memoir for me, I fed her the information through a series of online interviews and she wrote it with me Proofing it. I'm an Engineer and sure not a writer. My wife is pretty good at writing. She is smarter than I am. I'm more Educated, but she is smarter., and there is a difference.

I was very lucky to get her 60 years ago. (It was probably not Luck).

We found out about 2007 that she is Ed Miller's first cousin. It is a Small World. Her father and Ed's Mother were siblings.They lived a block away from each in Texarkana other until she was began the 5th Grade.

God Bless you and your family

and Semper Fi

My answer to Orace:

Orace, I can't tell you what a blessing that testimony is to me. Thanks for sharing it. I think all us old guys have some of the problems you mentioned or others just as bad or worse. And, of course, I have a few of my own. God spared us both, Orace, and not by accident. He had His own purpose for our lives... Rom.8:28. Would it be OK with you if I reprinted your testimony, and incorporated it in a blog. If you would like to change anything or add anything, let me know. There weren't but about 20 of us at that particular place on the Drysdale Convoy and we were alone with a truck load of wounded,cut off from  both ends of the convoy. We were the last truck which got in to Hagaru-ri at the Chosin. We were the tail end of the front third who made it through. Everything behind us was killed or captured except for those way back nearer Koto-ri, where we jumped off from that morning. A few made it back.  I doubt that there are more than 8 or 10 of the 20 with us left. If you would rather I not publish it, I understand. Let me know. Psm.115:1, Rayburn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Orace Edwards
To: rayburnblair@att.net
Date: Thursday, November 29, 2012, 4:38 PM
 

Rayburn

As for as I know every thing I said is the Truth. I'm too Lazy to Lie. I would have to keep track of when I did to not contradict myself.

My memoir pretty tells the same thing. It's long but can be accessed on Google by using my Name "Orace Leon Edwards"

I don't mind, but God gets the Credit for anything that I've accomplished. and gets none of the Blame for any of my short Coming.

I've attached My favorite Song from our Album that I believe that Got the New Harbinger Singers Group Of The Year in 1974 of the Southern Gospel Music Association.

I'll have to give you some CD's of them and of the Love Notes.

Hope the song comes through.

Semper Fi

Orace

 

 

 

Impossible Breach In A Precious Relationship?

The chasm is so deep and wide that you are helpless to bridge it, and every word you hold out over the impossible breach is blown away like a straw and turned against you. The realization that it is totally beyond your ability and seemingly beyond your grieving prayers, breaks your heart completely, and leaves you totally at the mercy of Jesus. At that point, there is nowhere else to go but there....at His feet.  Could it be, maybe, that is exactly where God wants you?

Such a terrible division may be caused by Satan but since "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose", God takes hold of it , twists it into a useful form, and uses it for His own purpose for our good. So that, no matter how huge, evil or unbearable the canyon is, God converts it to our good and His Glory even as He converted the wicked Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul ... a persecutor of Christians and Christ into their greatest human defender. Remember how Jesus said to him on the road to Damascus, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Acts 9:4. It was Christians whom Paul was persecuting, but Jesus takes our pain and persecution personally as if it is He whom Saul was persecuting ... and if fact, it was Christ in us that he hated.  So it is Jesus, not us, who is the target of the devil's and the world's hatred and attacks. That includes both you and all of us, "who love God". We can be sure that Jesus is more moved by these things than we are humanly capable of. He knows the entire extent, physically, mentally and spiritually, of the effects, for eternity, of every wound we suffer in this "Battle of The Ages" between good and evil, God and the Devil. For the Christian, "all things work together for our good."  But in the midst of the tears, blood and carnage, it is hard to see, but it is true nevertheless.  Believe it, and rest there, with Jesus. He understands ... but do you and I? RB

 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Matt.11:28.
  
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7

The Stranger Who Moved In And Changed Everything

Common Sense Commentary: This is the story of the small, innocuous, progress of evil change.... it's entrance, gradual deviation and certain, eventual destruction of it's willing host.  It's the frog in the pot of water on the stove scenario or the splinter in a good board, which gradually splits and ruins the whole board. RB

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger... He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet.

(I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or any visitors. After our long time visitor stayed longer he became more daring however, and even got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?

We just call him 'TV.'

He has a wife now....we call her 'Computer.'

Their first child is "Cell Phone".

Second child "I Pod "

Author unknown

Muslims Burn 1st Temple Cedar Beams

Common Sense Commentary: The significance of this is, first, that these are relic, cedars of Lebanon beams which were in the First Temple Of God, built by King Solomon according to God's design, as a place for God to dwell among his people.
Second, the Temple ruins prove conclusively that the Temple Mount was first used by the Jews as their place to worship Jehovah God, in the land God gave them as an everlasting possession; and this was long before the Romans destroyed their rebuilt Temple, scattered them out of their homeland and the Arabs occupied it and built a mosque over the ruins. The Arabs claim it never was so; as they also claim there never was a holocaust. They are destroying the evidence but it does not change the fact it belongs to the Jews  who will one day rebuild their Temple on that same Mount. We have some exciting days ahead.   God will keep his promises to the Jews and to us. God could easily stop the burnings... but it just compounds the Muslim's offence.RB

I Kings 7:2   "He built also the house (of God) of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars."   You may want to read the entire account in I Kings 4:33 to 9:11. RB
Muslims burning First Temple cedars
Cedars of Lebanon beams dated to biblical times
Dumped for use as firewood in Jerusalem


Cedar beams dating to biblical times found at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, moved some time ago out of doors and left in the weather, now have been deposited unceremoniously at a dumping ground for local Arabs to use as firewood, according to a new report.
According to Israel National News, it was a group of Jews who ascended the Temple Mount on Sunday who were shocked to see the ancient beams – apparently used during the time of the Holy Temple – left to be used for firewood.

Archaeologists have dated the beams to the First Temple period, and they have been described as the “Cedars of Lebanon,” which are discussed in the Tanach.
Officials with the Temple Mount Sifting Project appeared to confirm parts of the report, citing an article from Nadav Shragai of Israel Hayom! that the beams were endangered.
“Some of these beams predate the first al-Aqsa Mosue and have been used and reused numerous times in various structures, which actually aided in their preservation. We have some fragments of these beams among the finds at the Sifting Project,” the report said.

“We have been monitoring these beams for many years as they law exposed to the weather in the open courts of the Temple Mount,” the report said. “We hope the Israel Antiquities Authority will succeed in placing them in a safe shelter before the coming winter. We have been requesting that the IAA deal with this issue more than three years, but these ancient beams have yet to be properly secured.”
According to the new INN report, the beams first appeared in the 1930s at a time when the Muslim mosque on the Temple Mount was being refurbished.
“At that time they were said to be thousands of years old by archaeologists – preserved only because they had been used in the building,” the report said. Some pieces were dated to Roman times, others to the Byzantine era.
After they were taken from the mosque, they were placed in a museum, but in recent years were moved to a corner of the Mount in the elements, the report said.
Now, many of the beams have been placed at what appears to be a dumping ground next to the Golden Gate of the Old City, “apparently for the use of local Arabs as firewood,” the report said. “Jewish groups that visited the Mount saw the beams being moved, but reported that the Arabs forbade them to take photos of the activity. Officials of the Archaeology Authority, who are responsible for the safety of these ancient beams, are nowhere to be seen.”

Our Choices Determine Our Destiny & God Foreknows Them Before We Are Born

Common Sense Commentary:    " I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live..." Deut.30:19. The choices we make will influence and affect our descendents for years to come. We are each, personally responsible for our own choices, not God or the devil or someone else. And WE will give account to God for our choices because we choose them. They are ours alone.

The original human choice was to obey or disobey God ... to choose to do right or wrong, which is to choose "life" or "death", "blessing" or "cursing".   "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:   But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen.2:16-17. God gave permission to "freely eat" of all the fruit trees but one, and He commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of that one tree. The choice was theirs, not God's.
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and (she) gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Gen.3:6. It was their choice... not God's.   God's "perfect will" was what He commanded them, that they not eat of that one tree. He made it  clear, but He knew they would disobey. Their will was "to eat" and they did. They made the choice in disobedience to God's perfect will.  It was God's soverign will to give them the power to make choices and then be responsibile for their choices. He did not make the choice for them and was not responsible for their choices. God did not "want" them to disobey, but He foreknows all things and foreknew they would disobey.  He did not program them to disobey but He gave them the choice and the responsibility for their choice.  God was not responsible for their disobedient sin, they were, and they would pay for it for the rest of their lives. Whatever we buy with our choices, we will benefit or pay for with our time or pain or blessing or health or regret or guilt for the rest of our lives as did Adam and Eve. The choice is ours.  Our perfect will for our children is that they choose to be honest, honorable, Christians, responsible and self reliant, but we want them to learn to choose to be and do those things in their own hearts and minds.  If we always made them do our will as they grow up, their will would be restrained until the first chance they got to do what they wanted to do all along .... make their own decisions and choices.  We must teach them to make good decisions and desire in their own hearts to be right with God and make right choices for themselves.  If they do not chose it in their own hearts it is not theirs, it is yours, their parent...  That is what God wants in His children.... that they choose to love Him and obey him because they love Him, not because they have no choice to do otherwise. Our children are not supposed to be little predestined pegs on a game board who have no mind or decisions of their own.  God created us each to be an individual, unique person, not just a member of a herd of mindless sheep who can do nothing of their own thought and choice. What glory would God get out of a bunch of robots programed to do only His will? None!

The only way you can call that "predestined" is the fact that God foreknows all things.  Prophecy is a sample of God's foreknowledge.  Not that He predicted what He had "dictated" but He foreknew not only what He would do but what we would do, the choices we would make.  He foreknew who would obey Him and who would not.  And since He foreknows our choices, we are "destined" to do  what He foreknew we would choose to do.  It was pre-known not pre-determined. The key word is "foreknowledge".  God is Omniscient, which means "All Knowing" not "All Dictating".  God's foreknowledge is destined to play out exactly as He foreknows the future will unfold. Some of it He dictates or determines, but much of it, we decide to do on our own, right or wrong. 

A bad choice:
"Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan (Sodom)...." Gen.13:1. God did not choose Sodom for him, "Lot chose" it and suffered the consequences of his choice.

A good choice:
"Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people...." Gen.18:25. 

It's your choice:
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve...." Josh.24:15.

Results of bad choices:
"Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in time of  your tribulation." Judges 10:14.

Every individual has their own choices to make. Only God knows how and when and why and what we will choose to do before we do it or even know it ourselves. We can't blame God for knowing ahead of time what we will choose to do.  Our decisions are up to us and the consequences of wrong decisions and wrong choices are our own fault. Don't tell me that God pre-determined Adam and Eve to disobey Him and sin.  He foreknew it, but they determined it, not God. God is not guilty of making people sin by disobedience.

Jesus said, "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement." Matt.12:36. If they could not help doing it, He would not judge them for doing it. If it was His will that we sin, He would not punish sin.

"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom.14:12.

"For whom he (God) did foreknow, (the key to pre-destination... God foreknew )
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...." Rom.8:29.
In a sence, God's foreknowledge IS predestination, inextricably linked as one thing.

We were foredestined  because God foreknew what we would do and what God "foreknew".... had to happen, of course, or He would not have foreknown it.

Study the meaning of the word "Forknowledge"..."To know before"

Unintended Consequences: From Expedience To Excess

Common Sense Commentary: Expedience means, "Timely and fitting".  Excess means the opposite, "Untimely and Unfitting". So much of what we human beings do to ourselves, to others, to society and to nature, is well intended, but ends in unintended consequences; in war, collateral damage; in medicine, side effects or death. Half of the happy, young lovers eventually become bitter, resentful, hateful or murderous opponents of their former lovers.... all unintended and unanticipated, but there it is. 

Expediency: In John 18:14, "Caiaphas ... gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man (Jesus) should die for the people."  It was expedient because the people could not save themselves, forgive their own sins, cleanse their souls or raise themselves from the dead .... so Jesus did it for them.... expediently.

Excess:  Jesus said it in Matt.23:25 "Woe unto you ... hypocrites, for ... within (you) are full of extortion and excess."   Apostle Paul warned in Eph.5:18, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess...."  And Apostle Peter reflected back, "For the time past of our lives... we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess ...."  1 Pet.4:3

Conclusion:  So, the sinner, lost, without strength and without hope to save himself, is totally dependent on the expediency of Christ's sacrificial death to cover his spiritual insufficiency within himself.  Then, having been freely lifted up, delivered, and saved by the grace of God, he consumes the free gift and returns to his sins in riotous excess. "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"  Heb.10:29.  From the expediency of redemption to the excess of folly.

Likewise, there was a time, in the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl on the plains of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, when dry land farmers could no longer help themselves and feed their families. That awful draught with constant dust storms, lasted for several years. The Dept. of Agriculture grew out of that need.  Outside help was expedient if those farmers were to be saved.  Now, and for many years since then, the urgency passed, the expediency of depression and dust bowl programs has become excess.  Many farmers, for the 77 years since then, have been paid excessively  to let their farms lay fallow without any cultivation at all, or being subsidized financially and with guaranteed prices if they farm their land.  Expediency became excess and excess... greed.

There was also a time when workers were little more than slaves, could barely make ends meet and feed their families.  It was expedient that they organize and strike for better treatment and higher wages.  So, they organized and demanded more and then more and then more and more and more until finally, trash-collectors up north were getting $100,000 a year and unions finally broke United Airlines and now own it as well as Chrysler Dodge. Even Twinkie's Momma ... Hostess Bakery, has gone bankrupt and has had to let their union's demands die with 16,000 jobs. Expediency became excess and excess... greed. A business which does not make the investors a profit, must close it's doors and empty the jobs it employs.

Then, there was a time when so many blacks were abused and misused that it was, yes, expedient that they be relieved and gain justice.  Even that has now been carried to excess all across America. "Affirmative Action", as well as dozens of welfare programs, are terminally ill and will be dead within five years for lack of  government funds.

So, where are we now?

The once great, free enterprise, democratic Republic of the United States of America, where everybody had a job,  is mortally corrupted by expediency gone aerie, and has become an excess addict.  A little "feel good" expediency became a life controlling, bad habit, craving to be fed more and more and still more free stuff narcotics so that we are a nation of self-centered addicts selling our souls for another free-money fix.  The scene is like unto dozens, even hundreds and thousands of once pretty, young ladies and their pimps roaming the streets of America with one thing in mind, and it isn't sex, it is money, money money for another drug induced high ... at the cost of  their pride, dignity, cleanliness, health, children, parents, and life itself.  At the same time, across town, major banks and CEOs sitting atop the pyramids below them are going all out, not to make their investors a reasonable profit, but themselves wealthy, at the expense of their investors and customers.  Mammoth salaries and bonuses spew out while the company suffers and finally terminate. 

Now look down on the border where illegal aliens, from all over the world, crowd into what they still think is the American Dream... only to discover it isn't what it once was ... So, many of them join the expediency to excess to prison population which costs, for each of them, more per year than attending college... away from home.

On top of all that, abortion is also adding another layer of corruption upon corruption, excess upon excess. All of which, by lowering moral standards,  generates more  lawlessness, and every kind of excessive immorality.  It reminds me of the infectious, flesh eating bacteria, Necrotizing Fasciitis, which has been showing up recently in the U.S.  and eating people alive.  I wonder how many such plagues there are out there in the dark, damp, festering corners of our society. We shall surely find out.

If you wonder why I deal with these subjects ... I am doing what God's prophets, preachers and watchmen on the wall,  have been charged to do since the first recorded prophet, Abraham, in Gen.20:7 "... For he is a prophet...." God said.  If preachers don't stand up and tell the truth about sin, consequences and forgiveness, who will? RB

America In A Word: Emasculated

Common Sense Commentary: If you were to ask me to describe, in a word, the following ten segments of American society, my answer would be....

1. Large City Ghetto Culture.... SAVAGE !

2. Stock Markets/Wall Street .... UNTRUSTWORTHY !

3. Educational System .... DYSFUNCTIONAL !

4. Major News Media .... PRECONTRIVED !

5. Democrat Party .... NARCISSISTIC !

6. Republican Party.... INEFFECTUAL !

7. Other Political Parties .... IRRELEVANT !

8. Labor Unions .... CROOKEDASASNAKE !

9. Churchianity .... HYPOCRITICAL !

10. True Christianity .... STARLIGHT....
       on a dark night, is that much more important !

I Am Thankful For You... My Blog Readers

Common Sense Commentary:  This may be Turkey Day to the world but it is Thanksgiving to the people of God ... Be thankful Christian.
 

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles."  Rom.16:3-4

"We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you...." Col.1:3 
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1Thess.5:18

"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."  2Thess.2:13  

I Thank you all. RB

This Marvelous Video Speaks For Itself... To You

 If you can't watch all three videos, watch the first one. RB

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W5mbldTkruM&feature=share

A second appearance with different message to highschoolers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W5mbldTkruM&feature=share

A third appearance is Vick ... getting married

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W5mbldTkruM&feature=share

Government Is Not America; The Constitution Is

Common Sense Commentary:  Those who hold high the torch of Liberty and The U.S. Constitution are not anti-American but anti-Everything that would destroy America.

Most people are hopelessly confused on this important distinction but it is critical to understand . Confusing government with country is one of the adverse side effects that works to advance the power and influence of the abhorrent statist perversion of country.  Why is it so hard for people to understand this?  Upton Sinclair put his finger on the answer.... “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.”

 

Von Mises wisely pointed out:

No one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping toward destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interest of everyone hangs on the result.”

 Thomas Jefferson, a vital USA founder understood this, as his own comments prove: 

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."  

 

"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."

"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all."

"The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society."

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"Most bad government has grown out of too much government."

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

The Government we have today was elected by a majority composed of professional politicians, their partison supporters, professional welfare recipients and benefactors of huge amounts of government largess.  This government bribed them with promises and proof of free stuff and free money and blinded them to the loss of Constitutional rights and freedoms. They are a majority and that is what a democracy, without the restraints of a Constitutional Republic of Law, is. 

In our Constitution, as originally and wisely conceived, the people of the USA were supposed to have inalienable rights that can't be voted away by the mob. As originally and wisely conceived, congress could not make any laws it pleased, but only in allignment with the Constitution. RB

Various historic commentary on government: "The best argument against a pure democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." Winston Churchill

“The Fathers who invented it [democracy], if they could return ..., would never recognize it. It was conceived as a free government of free men; it has become simply a battle of charlatans for the votes of idiots.”-H.L. Mencken

“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” ~ Gustave Le Bon

 “The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and saying 'You see, without me you couldn't walk.’” – Harry Browne, Libertarian Party candidate

 

 When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."French economist, statesman and author Frederic Bastiast (1801-1850)

 

“The opinions of ten thousand men are of no value, if none of them know anything about the subject.” – Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of the Roman decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggles and failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, and consuming wars.–The Story of Civilization III (1944)

 

"Mischief springs from the power which the monied interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, and from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges…which are employed for their benefit." –Andrew Jackson

 

 “When a well packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” – Donald James

 

It [the State] has taken on a vast mass of new duties and responsibilities; it has spread out its powers until they penetrate to every act of the citizen, however secret; it has begun to throw around its operations the high dignity and impeccability of a State religion; its agents become a separate and superior caste, with authority to bind and loose, and their thumbs in every pot. But it still remains, as it was in the beginning, the common enemy of all well-disposed, industrious and decent men. Henry L. Mencken, 1926.

 

"Money, when considered as the fruit of many years’ industry, as the reward of labor, sweat and toil, as the widow’s dowry and children’s portion, and as the means of procuring the necessaries and alleviating the afflictions of life, and making old age a scene of rest, has something in it sacred that is not to be sported with, or trusted to the airy bubble of paper currency."
–Thomas Paine

 

"Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves." Norm Franz

 

 “The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates.” ‐‐Tacitus

 

 “Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide…” John Adams 1814

 

“It is not an endlessly expanding list of rights ‐‐‐the “right” to an education; the “right” to health care; the “right” to food and housing. That is not freedom. That is dependency. Those are not rights. Those are the rations of slavery – hay and a barn for human cattle.” ‐‐Alexis de Tocqueville

 

"Truth is treason in the empire of lies" - Ron Paul

____________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hilariously Sickening...Multiplied By Millions

Common Sense Commentary: Judge Judy puts her finger on the pulse of America...

 

 

Would you like to take a guess at who he voted for?

 

Click on this:

Why our Country is Going Down The Drain    Another word for "Drain" is Sewer.

 

The Sun Is Always Shinning... Above The Clouds

Common Sense Commentary: When life seems dreary, lonely, fearful or useless, and is full of storms, dark clouds and overcast skis .... remember .... The sun is always shinning above those clouds.  And even dark clouds are white and gleaming clean, on top, where they face the sunlight of God.  So lift up your eyes and see beyond the troubles and fears of life ... up above the clouds where there is no sin or fear or death. RB

"And (Jesus) said ... Ye are from beneath; I am from above...." Jn.8:23.

"Far above all principality or power or might or dominion ...." Eph.1:21.

"One God and Father of all, who is above all ...." Eph.4:6.

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above....
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Col.3:1-2.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh
down from the Father of lights ...."  James 1:17.

Look up my friend.  RB

Nazi And Communist Holocosts Never Happened

Common Sense Commentary:  Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.


We need to be reminded....... As General Eisenhower said at the end of WWII, in the death camps,"We want plenty of photos so no one can ever say this did not happen".

Remember this brave, compassionate lady?



Irena Sendler
Died: May 12, 2008 (aged 98)
Warsaw, Poland



During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist.
She had an ulterior motive.
Irena smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried.
She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger kids.
Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.
The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.


During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.
Ultimately, she was caught, however, and the Nazi's broke both of her legs and arms and beat her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled out,
In a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and tried to reunite the family.
Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.


In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming. Later another politician, Barack Obama, won for his work as a community organizer for ACORN.
In MEMORIAM - 65 YEARS LATER
It is now more than 65 years since the Second World War in Europe ended, but the Soviets continued the killing until recent years.
In memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests and pastors who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated!
Now, Iran , and others Muslims, claim the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again, and very well may if we do not keep them from it. How? Pray and speak up and work with those who care and are standing against this evil.

Pass it on. RB                holocost

A Word To The Wise: Prepare

Common Sense Commentary: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." Prov.6:6 
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer."
Prov.30:25.   

"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Prov.27:1 

17 reasons to own gold and silver now....

According to Mark Leibovit, leading expert, of Leibovit VR Gold Newsletter.

• The gold market has entered a once-in-a-lifetime period of opportunity. Gold, which surged over $800 in 1980 and then tanked to the depths of $280 in 1999, is now embarking on what may be a 20-year advance which will likely carry it to as-yet-unforeseen levels – possibly as high as $11,000 an ounce and silver to $700 an ounce.

• Proportionally, the silver market price can be dramatically influenced. Any look into the history of silver prices shows that the metal can escalate quickly, often 10-20 percent in a period of just a few weeks. Since mid-August, silver prices are already up 32 percent.

• Since October 2001, silver has increased in price from approximately $4 to a recent high of $49 which is an approximate 1125 percent gain. Once we clear $49, the sky is the limit! It’s the poor man’s gold! Mark Leibovit predicts Americans will be standing on street corners to buy silver (and gold) before the ultimate top comes!/li>

• Silver has both intrinsic and industrial value. From film emulsions, to antibacterial products to circuitry, silver has literally thousands of industrial applications that help to limit the amount of physical silver in circulation. We are already holders of silver in our TV, computer and electronic equipment, batteries and car bearings. Silver is utilized in medical technology, solar energy and water purification. As technology advances, so do applications for silver.

• Gold demand has continued its rapid acceleration. According to the World Gold Council, demand in 2010-11 reached a 10-year high of 3,810 metric tons, a 10 percent increase over the previous year. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that total global gold production has been falling steadily over the past decade to just 2,350 metric tons in 2011. We question whether sovereign nations have been accurately reporting.

• Gold is still underpriced relative to inflation. Inflation-adjusted prices for gold range from $2,382 to $10,226, so at $1,922 an ounce (the Sept. 6, 2011 high), gold is not even close to reaching prior price levels.

• Gold bears have been consistently wrong. Mainstream financial media predictions of a gold bubble have not come to pass. One influential analyst at Kitco predicted gold would end 2011 at $800 an ounce … yet it ended the year at $1,405 despite an anticipated correction.

• We are drowning in debt. Government debt is skyrocketing. The national debt is now $16 trillion, more than $50,000 for every American man, woman and child. Bernanke, Obama and Draghi (European Central Bank president) are promoting dangerous policies that create only an illusion that the economy is stable. Any hope that the runaway spending of the Obama administration and other governments was a temporary "emergency," a reaction to the 2008 credit wipeout, has been derailed. The federal budget deficit went from $160 billion in 2007, before Obama’s election, to $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.56 trillion in 2010, and was projected to hit $1.65 trillion in 2011. The 2011 budget has the biggest one-year debt jump in history, or nearly $2 trillion, reaching $15.476 trillion – the first time since World War II that U.S. deficits hit over 100 percent of GDP.

• Do you think that is scary? That is nothing. According to data presented at the U.S. Debt Clock, U.S total debt is $55 trillion and total U.S. unfunded liabilities are $116 trillion.

• The federal government is in a mayhem printing spree, with the M2 money supply increasing 21.1 percent from June to September 2011. As the dollar devalues, investors are scrambling to buy hard assets. It took a lawsuit by Bloomberg to uncover the Fed's "Secret Liquidity." The Federal Reserve mounted an unprecedented campaign, secretly providing as much as $1.2 trillion to banks and private companies without any congressional or public approval.

• Large-scale gold buying is just beginning to make its way into mainstream "retail" financial institutions and pension programs. Five years ago, only gold "fanatics" and other "extremists" were buying gold. Today, central banks are buying again. Famed hedge-fund managers George Soros, John Paulson, Paul Tudor Jones and David Einhorn have piled into gold, gold exchange-traded funds and mining stocks.

• Gold is in the process of reemerging as an international reserve currency. As central banks around the world have engaged in massive money creation, smart money will allocate a greater percentage to gold as a "store of value."

• Gold bullion holdings amongst the world's central banks have risen to a 6-year high, according to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund. Emerging and developing nations have swollen their gold reserves 25 percent by weight since 2008. The debt-heavy West is a net seller.

• Investment overtook jewelry as the largest source of demand for the first time in three decades in 2009, according to GFMS Ltd., a London-based research company. Investor demand will climb 9.9 percent to 1,597 tons this year and another 11 percent in 2012, Morgan Stanley estimates.

• The U.S. Mint sold 85,000 ounces of American Eagle coins since May 1 as the Standard & Poor's GSCI Index of 24 raw materials fell 9.9 percent. The last time sales reached that level, bullion rose 21 percent in the next year. Gold will keep gaining in 2012, a Bloomberg survey of 31 analysts, traders and investors reports.

• Supplies of physical precious metals (especially silver) are diminishing. The time is not far off when obtaining physical delivery of the metal will be very difficult if not impossible.

• We are nowhere near a market peak. The signs you see on street corners offering to buy gold represent smart commercial buyers – not a sign of a market peak. When you later see long lines of retail buyers (some waiting overnight), then a top may be near.

Survival, Sucess and Spirituality Are A Way Of Life

Not Luck or Chance.  Survival is mostly accomplished by people who have a survival mentality.... Survivors!  They are almost always analyzers, planners, preparers and action oriented people.  They keep up with current events and world trends so they can anticipate the likelihood of difficult reversals and dangerous situations which the vast majority of people disregard.  Survival is seldom random, accidental or incidental, but due to diligent planning and quick action. Most people do not plan beyond, "If I need help, somebody will save me".  The only preparation they make is voting for those they think will bail them out or rescue them in crisis.  They sell their freedom for security... promised by some politician, political party, friend, or employer.  The fact is, when the chips are down, the average person rescues only those who can do something for them.  when you are both in a crisis, they rescue themselves.  In a real, nation wide Armageddon type crisis, they help themselves, their family, their house and their stuff, not yours.  Those most likely to help you are those expert survivors who are so prepared and secure that they have time for you.  Survival is a way of life not luck or chance.

Success is built on very similar attributes as those of survivors.  Successful people are most likely to also be survivors.  They are more financially able to make preparations, spend the time required, and help you.  By success, I do not mean just wealth, but the mentality to organize, sacrifice, save, and build a life and a business.  This does not include those cheaters, crooked business people or heartless multinational corporations.  When Obama said, "You didn't build that", to business people, he was only about 95% wrong.  Some business people inherited it.  But their parents built it, not the government.   Success is a way of life, not luck or chance.


Spirituality is somewhat similar, but the analyzing is in Bible study.  The planning is mostly on how best to serve God and reach others for Christ.  The preparation is usually done through a church, giving, attending Christian seminars and classes. All of that requires money and it's not enough to say, "God will supply the money".  How does God supply finances for a church and all it's expenses?  Does He drop it on you from heaven or does He use people to tithe and give offerings?  And how do the givers give money to God?  Do they throw it up into the sky or send it by mail, addressed to "God in heaven" or do they bring it to His church and give it there, or give to a needy person, directly?  That's the only way we can give money to God. If those givers have any money they are willing to give, they already have a certain amount of life success and employment or business success too.  This kind of people also pray and love and forgive.  You may say, "I know some who do not".  Yes, there are always  some of those in every church; but they are in the minority.  There was only one among the Apostles ... Judas.  That's one twelfth.  True Christianity and Spirituality are not achieved by luck or chance.  It is a way of life.  Committed Christian people preparing for eternity and for giving an account to God are more giving and helpful than any other segment of any society.   RB

All three of the above attributes are very often found in the same people.

Only Growth Market Is In Gun And Ammo Sales

 Common Sense Commentary: A swirling, funnel shaped cloud on the horizon foretells a tornado.  The ground shaking radically under your feet portends an earthquake. The increasing number of good citizens buying guns and ammo over the last four years and now speeding up, reflects fear, uncertainty or preparation for an evil wind sweeping this country and anticipation of extreem danger. Pray that the tornado won't hit us but you will be wise to get in the basement with a flashlight, radio and blankets. Good sense hopes for the best but prepares for the worst.

Are Americans Preparing for a Revolution?

Many people, including myself, have predicted that the re-election of Barack Obama will lead to the destruction of America as we knew it. We believe that he is using policies such as Obamacare to bring about the financial collapse of our once great nation and that he will use his emergency powers to declare martial law and seize dictatorial control of the nation.

In the process of Obama’s power hungry scheme is the belief that he will do away with the Second Amendment right to bear arms and try to remove all firearms from the hands of the American people. Obama has never hidden his anti-gun agenda, although he did do his best to avoid the topic during the debates and his many campaign appearances. In one of the debates, he did mention about his desire to see a ban on assault weapons to be re-established.
Some are questioning whether or not Obama will actually push to ban all firearms or just assault weapons. If so, how would be go about it? He’s been using regulations and executive orders to bypass Congress on other important issues including immigration, so why wouldn’t he try to do the same with guns? He knows he could not get any kind of anti-gun legislation passed through the Republican controlled House, so he most likely will have to use some kind of subtle or secretive method to accomplish it.

Over the past couple of years, gun sales have seen a dramatic increase. In fact, it is one of the few industries that have actually benefitted by Obama’s presidency. Last Christmas, saw a huge jump in background checks which hit the 1.5 million mark. In the six days prior to Christmas, there were 500,000 requests for background checks.
In the month prior to the election, background checks for prospective gun buyers was up by 18.4%. However, in the week since the election, gun sales in the U.S. have skyrocketed, especially sales of assault weapons like the AK-47.
Dragonman Arms, a gun store in Colorado Springs owned by Mel Bernstein said the demand for assault weapons is so high right now that ammunition for them is starting to run short. He normally orders around 7,000 rounds a week but could only get 3,000 from his distributors this last order because of the high demand. Concerning gun sales, Bernstein reported:“We’re going from normally six to eight guns a day, to 25. I stocked up, I got a stockpile of these AK-47s, we’re selling these like hot cakes. Luckily I had an idea of what was going on because it happened with Clinton.”
In Hankins, New York, Fernwood Firearms owner John Kielbasa told reporters:

“Sales are up. I had a guy waiting here first thing in the morning (the day after the election.) He came in, bought two AK-47s. It’s going to be good for me for business.”

So why are so many people buying so many guns? Some say they are buying them now before the government forbids anymore sales. Yet others are saying that they are stocking up on weapons, ammunition and food in preparation of America’s collapse.
I heard from one person who said they believe that America will fall under Obama and the country will go into complete chaos. Food and supplies will become scarce causing millions to riot and loot and steal from others. He said that he intends on protecting his family, his house and supplies from any and all intruders. He also said that he expects government forces to start confiscating firearms and when they come to his house, it’s going to be a battle to the death.
I’ve also read numerous accounts saying that when America collapses, it will be time for another revolution. It will be up to the millions of Americans who own guns to join in the revolution and help take our nation back from those that destroyed it, namely Barack Obama.
No matter how you look at it, these are dangerous and scary times and it seems that it’s going to get a lot worse in the foreseeable future.

Scroll down for headlines of Gov. purchases of inordinate amounts of weapons and ammo......



 Where there's smoke, there's fire and where there's stockpiling, there's fear. What does our government know that we don't ?

NOAA Buying Hollow-Point Ammo … for Weather Service??

August 15, 2012 by Tad Cronn in Godfather Politics

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has put in an order for 46,000 rounds of .40-caliber hollow-point bullets.
This follows the order of 450 million rounds of hollow-point ammo by the Department of Homeland Security.
The NOAA order was originally attributed to the National Weather Service, but once the news got out, the NOAA said the ammo and 500 paper targets were intended for its Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. The online order still says National Weather Service, however.
Hollow-point bullets are designed to flatten and spread out on impact, causing a larger wound than ordinary ammunition and increasing the likelihood of a fatal injury.
It’s not the sort of thing you would normally waste on shooting paper targets. Or on fish. Or on rainclouds.
All of which raises a few questions. …
Meanwhile, back at the Department of Homeland Security, officials have been making preparations for what looks like a civil war.

In addition to the millions of rounds of bullets, the DHS has been ordering riot gear, bulletproof traffic-stop booths and even more bullets — these .357-Magnum rounds capable of shooting through walls.

All this beefing up of DHS forces is ostensibly in preparation for the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the presidential inauguration.
The New Black Panther Party has threatened violence at the Republican convention. Chief of Staff Michelle Williams threatened the RNC, saying the Black Panthers’ “foot will be on you goddamn motherf—ers’ necks.”
These are the people Attorney General Eric Holder gave a pass to in a voter intimidation case.
Occupy Wall Street, according to its website, is planning protests during both political conventions, but since OWS is manipulated by the White House, the real action will likely be at the Republican convention.
With the DHS and other agencies armed to the teeth, look for things to possibly get ugly very quickly in Tampa.

Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets

Preparing for civil unrest? Ammunition to be delivered to 41 locations across U.S.

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
UPDATE: DHS Now Covering Up Ammo Purchases?

First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.”

An online ammunition retailer describes the bullets as suitable “for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns,” noting that the ammo is “a great personal defense bullet.”

The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing

maximumdamage by tearing apart internal organs. (Scroll down to rest of article)

It’s not outlandish to suggest that the Social Security Administration is purchasing the bullets as part of preparations for civil unrest. Social security welfare is estimated to keep around 40 per cent of senior citizens out of poverty. Should the tap run dry in the aftermath of an economic collapse which the Federal Reserve has already told top banks to prepare for, domestic disorder could ensue if people are refused their benefits.

Indeed, earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security ran a drill called Operation Shield which included turning the entrance of a Florida Social Security office into a checkpoint manned by Federal Protective Service officers armed with semiautomatic rifles.

“With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-9s, sifted through the building,” reported the Daily Commercial.

A rash of solicitations by federal agencies for hollow point bullets in recent months has stoked fears that the government is preparing for civil unrest caused by a financial collapse on a scale similar or even larger to scenes already witnessed in Europe over the last two years.

As we reported yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has put out a contract for 46,000 rounds of hollow point bullets along with 500 paper targets.

Despite initially asking the bullets to be delivered to the National Weather Service, NOAA claimed this was a “clerical error” and insisted the ammunition was being sent to the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. Why powerful hollow point bullets that are designed to tear apart internal organs are needed for practice shooting at paper targets has not been explained.

Back in March, Homeland Security purchased 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage, prompting questions as to why the DHS needed such a large amount of powerful bullets merely for training purposes.

This was followed by another DHS solicitation asking for a further 750 million rounds of assorted bullets, including 357 mag rounds that are able to penetrate walls.

The DHS recently put out an order for riot gear in preparation for the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration. The U.S. Army is also busy buying similar equipment.

The DHS also recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights. (Scroll down to next article on FEMA)

Early last year, we reported that the federal government was quietly stockpiling millions of emergency meals, tying up so much capacity that consumers were reporting shortages in the stores. Now the feds are doing it again. On July 12, FEMA published a 33-page solicitation document inviting vendors to put in a bid to produce "an indefinite quantity" -- but up to 17,500,000 million units -- of survival meals. Here's an excerpt from the official documents: All meals must be shelf stable, self-heating, and include an entrée along with additional meal components that can be consumed either as part of the meal or reserved for a supplemental snack. The meals should provide a variety of nutrient dense foods that reflect the basic food groups... Meal components should be appropriate for consumption by the full range of disaster survivors including children and seniors (65 years and older)... All meals/kits must have 30-36 months long shelf-life remaining upon delivery... The contractor must have the capability to produce and ship up to 1,000,000 meals within 48 hours of notification. According to the official documents, chosen vendors should be prepared for multiple orders to come in over a period of time, and delivery could be required to multiple locations. In other words, the government is saying, "We may need millions of meals, on multiple occasions, and in different places." Vague as it is, it's nonetheless chilling. What do they know that we don't? I can think of at least 3 scenarios that the government may be quietly preparing for... A major EMP event takes down the grid: potential disaster #1? Last month, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post about the effects of an EMP event. Whether from an enemy weapon or a naturally occurring solar flare, an electromagnetic pulse would devastate the national power grid, with repairs taking months or years to complete. With the grid down, civilization as we know it would come to a grinding halt. Gingrich is one of the few political insiders working on this issue -- and it's possible that his ongoing efforts have finally gotten some attention from FEMA. Remember, if the grid goes down, the U.S. food distribution system literally grinds to a halt. With just 3 days' worth of food in any given community, we depend on electricity to run gas pumps to fill the trucks that carry food from farm to market. We depend on electricity to prevent food from spoiling by keeping it frozen or refrigerated. We depend on electricity to keep stores open and cash registers running so people can purchase food. If the grid goes down, within 72 hours the supplies of food coming into cities and towns will stop. (And then all hell breaks loose.) We're delighted that FEMA has the foresight to order up to 17.5 million meals. But in a major crisis, that's barely a drop in the bucket. You simply can't depend on FEMA to keep you from starving. That's why it's so important to have your own emergency food supply. An event that involves a nuclear incident and destruction of housing: potential disaster #2? If you want to know what the government is worried about, just watch what they're buying. A few weeks ago, the feds put out an RFP for "Program Management Support (subject matter experts) for the FEMA Domestic Emergency Support Team and Nuclear Incident Response Team... This is a new requirement... to acquire subject matter experts and technical support." Around the same time, with Solicitation No. HSFE80-12-R-0033, FEMA announced plans to award contracts to housing inspectors -- the folks who assess the damages in disasters. The work involves onsite inspection of disaster-related property information, including the extent of damage to the dwelling, insurance status, how the habitability of the home is affected, verification of ownership, damage to personal property including vehicles, road and bridge access, and more. According to the official documents, "FEMA anticipates awarding multiple Housing Inspection Services contracts. Multiple Contractors may be required to respond to the same disaster(s) as needed and required by the DHS-FEMA." Whether it's a New Madrid earthquake that affects nuclear power plants, a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, or some other disaster, these days the federal register is filled with contracts like these. Are they just being prudent, or do they know something we don't? Rioting and civil unrest during election season: potential disaster #3? On July 25, according to news reports, the Department of Homeland Security put out a rush request for riot gear on the Federal Business Opportunities website. According to the reports, online government documentation explicitly stated, "riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, and other future similar activities." The solicitation was a rush order, proposals were only being accepted for 24 hours, and fulfillment of the order was expected by mid-August. (That solicitation no longer appears on the Federal Business Opportunities website.) Is DHS really anticipating civil unrest during election season? Many experts think they are. The Obama team, reported the Huffington Post in June, is already lawyering up: "President Barack Obama's campaign has recruited a legion of lawyers to be on standby for this year's election as legal disputes surrounding the voting process escalate." If legal remedies stall, will riots break out? (And if they do, are the 450 million .40 caliber hollow-point bullets purchased by the Department of Homeland Security in March part of the plan to control the crowds?) Rest assured, if civil unrest does occur, you don't want to be out and about. Hunkering down in the safety of your own home, if at all possible, is the smartest way to weather the crisis. Depending on your location, going to work or sending the kids to school can be risky. No, you don't even want to go out for groceries... so make sure you have at least one month's supply of emergency dehydrated food. Even if these crises fail to materialize, one thing IS for sure... The U.S. corn crop leaves hungry consumers in the dust The news reports about this year's corn crop don't even begin to describe the truly appalling devastation to U.S. agriculture. Over half of all the counties in the United States have been declared natural disaster areas because of drought and scorching heat. Here in Illinois , you wouldn't necessarily know it to look at it. Many of our cornfields actually look pretty good. Much of the corn is, amazingly, still green. Unless you take a close look, you'd think everything was hunky dory. But examine a corn stalk closely, and you're in for a nasty surprise -- because much of the corn this year never pollinated. Pollination is a fragile process that requires temperatures and moisture within a narrow range... and the extreme weather this summer short-circuited pollination for million of acres of corn. When corn doesn't pollinate, it doesn't produce food. And because corn is in almost every kind of packaged or processed food, because it's used in ethanol production and as cattle feed, demand will far exceed supply. Prices are already spiking in response. And that's just corn. We haven't even mentioned all the other crops that were affected. Some experts are quietly starting to quietly utter two frightening words: "dust bowl." The 1930's Dust Bowl has been referred to as "the most extreme natural disaster in 350 years." Malnutrition and starvation were rampant. Are we ready for another one? If a 21st century dust bowl is imminent, what are your contingency plans to feed your family? Connecting the dots... and preparing your family We're glad to hear that FEMA is being proactive with emergency food rations. Everyone should prepare--even if they're not exactly sure what they're preparing for. Most Americans assume the government will step in during any disaster and "bail them out" -- with food, water, and supplies. But as we've learned the hard way, only bankers and car manufacturers get bailed out. The rest of us are left to drown, starve, or get shot, as were the thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Even with the latest order of 17.5 million emergency meals, it's not nearly enough. That's why YOU need to prepare. If you haven't started on your emergency food supplies, why not start with a simple, one-month supply? You'll find all the details here. If you do have emergency food on hand, it's still a smart idea to add more. For complete information about the best-tasting, most space-efficient long term food storage, click here . At the moment, we're fully stocked, and we'll rush your order to you right away. But don't delay. Who knows what's right around the corner? Sincerely, Bill Heid, President Solutions From Science