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UPDATED: EnteroVirus 68 ED-V68 Alternative Prevention Essential Oils, Herbs and Homeopathy

Filed under: Alternative Medicine — 2 Comments
September 12, 2014

virus681Enterovirus 68. It is here in the US and although considered ‘rare’, it would seem that it is currently reaching epidemic proportions if reports are true of hundreds of children across the country being admitted to hospitals for severe respiratory complications. According to the CDC, only Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri having confirmed cases. However, it is of such concern, that yesterday, September the 11th, 2014 that the New Kent County Public Schools in Virginia where I live (which is a rural area outside of Richmond, Virginia) felt the need to call all school age parents and issue a statement regarding enterovirus 68. The message was to let parents know that ‘they’ were monitoring the situation, to teach children not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth, wash hands repeatedly, do not share cups or toys or clothing and to keep home any child who was sick. The school system also referred parents to the CDC website for more information on the enterovirus 68.

About EV-D68

Typically, EV-D68 causes upper respiratory illness, such as low-grade fever, cough, runny nose, sneezing and body/muscle aches. Infected individuals generally recover on their own without incident by treating symptoms. However, some individuals, especially those with weakened immune systems or underlying medical conditions, such as asthma, may experience severe complications and require hospitalization with supportive therapy. This is what the CDC says about EV-D68. Although one documented case in Indiana the child had no such underlying medical conditions and yet was hospitalized.

However, many parents with children infected with EV-D68 report severe upper respiratory distress within hours of coming down with what seems to be a cold/flu. Including high grade fevers uncontrollable with Tylenol/ibuprophen, extreme headaches, neck pain, rashes and vomiting, blisters in the mouth, limpness of limbs and ultimately the inability to breath (shortness of breath, wheezing).
My own doctor called it a very, very bad ‘cold’

How do you contract enterovirus 68?

According to the CDC: Since EV-D68 causes respiratory illness, the virus can be found in an infected person’s respiratory secretions, such as saliva, nasal mucus, or sputum. EV-D68 likely spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or touches contaminated surfaces.

Prevention according to the CDC includes:
Wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after changing diapers.
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid kissing, hugging, and sharing cups or eating utensils with people who are sick.
Disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick.
According to the CDC there is no treatment, vaccine or ‘cure’ for enterovirus 68 (which is in the same category of viruses that cause polio and hand/foot/mouth disease) only ‘palliative’ care, ie, managing the symptoms and keeping people comfortable.
Okay, so we now have that out of the way…as a mom of several school age children and an alternative health care advocate/practioner and prepper, I have some thoughts on ‘prevention’ and ultimately managing this ‘rare’ virus that seems to be sweeping across this country so quickly.

The basic question is what can YOU do to keep you and yours safe without going overboard and setting up a clean room to enter and leave through. We are NOT talking about a biohazard level 4 after all. However, getting sick is not fun and the following is what I will doing to hopefully prevent my children and myself from getting this virus:

First and foremost, goldenseal tincture used once a day, daily for the duration of the cold and flu season. I personally make my own goldenseal tincture and use it regularly whenever someone gets a cough, cold or the flu given that this herbs nature is to work on viruses first and foremost in the mucus member body systems (eyes, mouth, sinuses, stomach, intestinal tract). There is no danger in using this herb preventively and maybe used in children 6 months and up. The tincture works best and the best part is that a small amount, when properly prepared will go a long way! Goldenseal is safe for pregnant and nursing women also.
Another herb worth noting is Devils Club (Oplopanax horridum or Fatsia horrida) though I would tend to reserve this herb for the first sign of cough or cold and not so much as a preventative.

Please be sure that when you buy any herb in tincture form you buy from a reputable source. The best would be to buy from an herbalist who makes their own tinctures (ie a private person). Next best a nationally known company. An herbalist who makes their own tinctures will have the strongest available tinctures. Unfortunately, due to FDA regulations and other national and state ‘authorities’ large companies engaged in herbal products often are required to dilute their tinctures down to the point that in many cases you have to use twice the amount of tincture recommended below to get the desired results.

How much to use and how?

The BEST way to use a tincture is to place the desired amount directly under the tongue and hold it in the mouth for as long as possible without swallowing!! Yes, it tastes nasty, but no one said medicine tasted great. If necessary, it is fine to dilute the tincture in a small amount of water or juice and sip very slowly, again, not swallowing immediately.

As a general rule of thumb for tinctures:

Adults: 60 drops
Children:
Younger than 3 months — 2 drops
3 to 6 months — 3 drops
6 to 9 months — 4 drops
9 to 12 months — 5 drops
12 to 18 months — 7 drops
18 to 24 months — 8 drops
2 to 3 years — 10 drops
3 to 4 years — 12 drops
4 to 6 years — 15 drops
6 to 9 years — 24 drops
9 to 12 years — 30 drops

In some cases if you do not want alcohol in your tincture or cannot tolerate it you may be able to make your own glycerin tincture at home or, to rid the tincture of alcohol, boil water, place the tincture in the bottom of the cup and pour boiling water over it. It is up to you, personally I just use as is as I have found it more potent this way.

There are herbs that are great for the respiratory system that you can buy bulk and put into a large pot of simmering water that will also help to disinfect the whole house without you going crazy cleaning.
They include:

Inula (not recommended if anyone in the house has asthma or other medical conditions involving the lungs)
Mullein
Thyme
Ginger

At the very least your house will smell great!

If you like teas then try a daily cup of Astragulus it is excellent for strengthening the lungs and helping the immune system stay strong.

Next up, homeopathic prevention. In past cold/flu season I have always had a homeopathic for the flu at hand to take one dose weekly when no known exposure has occurred or if know/likely once a day. Boiron Oscillococcinum is the traditional remedy for the flu. I am not sure how much this may or may not help, but it is cheap and only 5 pellets need to be taken. At best, it may help at worst you might not get the seasonal flu.
I also found a homeopathic called LUNG LIQUESCENCE,RESPIRATORY DETOX FORMULA that supports the lungs in getting rid of viruses and mucus that I am incorporating into our routine. It should be taken the same way.

I would be remiss not to discuss essential oils under prevention. My favorite is the following:

A blend of specific essential oils including clove, lemon, cinnamon, rosemary and Eucalyptus Radiata. Frankly, just a few drops in honey (or on a piece of bread) will work at keeping you healthy. You may also put this blend into an ultrasonic diffuser to spread the germ fighting virus killing essential oil particles around you home or workplace. Word of note: do NOT put this blend into water and use to disinfect anything besides metal as many of these essentials oils will break down plastics and paint and may harm stone surfaces also.

Now lets talk FOOD! Yes, food…food as medicine! Onion and garlic are two of nature’s BEST anti-virals available to everyone! I use a lot of these two ‘herbs’ in my own cooking. However, you can make teas or tinctures out them. There are a million and one ways that can be found online to do this. I also include onions and garlic in my homemade anti-sick honey syrup (do not give honey to children under the age of 1).

Take a clean quart sized jar and thinly slice up the following into about ½ inch sized pieces:
2 fresh lemons (including the rind)
2 medium sized onions
Fresh ginger root (I typically get a piece about the size of my hand)
4 tablespoons of minced garlic.
I put all of this into the jar and then cover with honey to the top. Be sure you stir the honey down to the bottom. Typically it takes just over 1 pound of honey.
Next, grab that crock pot! Place the jar (with lid on) into the middle of it and add enough water to almost fill the crock pot. Place the lid on it (most likely will not close, but the idea is to retain as much of the heat as possible) and then turn onto to low and allow it steep/warm up this way at least 16 hours or up to two days. Stir occasionally. The food ‘material’ will separate from the honey…that is okay, that is why you stir it and once done, it will be A LOT easier to get the pieces of food out before use. To use your anti-sick honey infusion, I use 1 tablespoon of honey stirred into one cup of hot water and drink slowly.

Another great ‘preventative’ is to cleanse your sinus cavities using a nettie pot or even simple saline solution daily before going to bed. This will help clean out any nasty germmies lurking around in your nose and sinuses and the added benefit is that you will help keep them from drying out during the winter preventing sinus headaches and sinus infections.

This is all I have for prevention at this time. In my next article I will be talking about what do IF you get that dreaded cough/flu called enterovirus 68.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me at laura@iempoweredhealing.com

Per law I am required to tell you that I am not a medical professional and all information above is based upon my private experience and documented research by medical professionals online. Always seek professional medical assistance if you are unsure.

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Preparing Children for a Home Invasion or SWAT Raid

Filed under: children, Emergencies — Leave a comment
June 16, 2014

swat raidLet’s face it folks, with the increasing militarization of our public law enforcement we are now seeing more and more SWAT team style ‘raids’ on homes and businesses. Right, wrong, good, bad or indifferent, it’s a growing trend that unfortunately, I do not see ending but increasing in numbers in the coming months and years.
At a highly regarded blog site that I regularly read, someone wrote in about looking for information on how to prepare children for a SWAT team style raid on their organic farm (yes, it happens because of federal regulations, Mr. I HAVE A PEN and a PHONE loves to use regulations to further his Agenda 21 plans and Fascist policies). But this is a side note. It got me thinking about my own situation about 2 ½ years ago which I have blogged about in the past, when State officials decided to raid my house with the SWAT team and FBI, early one morning due to some content that an ex of mine had posted on his facebook page. Mind you, he was no longer living in the house and I was cooperative with the State Police when they first made contact with me regarding my ex and his behavior. I was and still am deeply effected by the SWAT raid on my home in the early hours of a January school morning. My children however, I don’t think they even blinked an eye about it. So, with this person’s question, ‘how do I prepare my children for a SWAT style raid?’ I had to ask myself why my children were completely unaffected by it and why I am still suffering PTSD from it. What is it that happened before the SWAT raid on my home that allowed my children to emerge unscathed?

Interestingly enough, about the ONLY answer that I can come up with is that we, as a family had run a few drills involving ‘home invasion’ by strangers with guns in hand. Now this may sound strange to you, but at the time I owned a bailbond business and live in the middle of nowhere where the average LEO response time is at least 10 minutes. My ex, who had experience in these matters, set out to teach us how to respond and ‘what to do’. Kinda like a tornado drill or nowadays, an active shooter drill that they do at schools. Think in those terms.
My own children were taught to stay absolutely still unless given a directive by an ADULT when there was a potential threat. We practiced different scenarios on what to do depending upon point of entry and time of day. But the bottom line is and still is: following INSTRUCTIONS given immediately and without question. So they stayed right at the breakfast table without moving, because that is what I told them to do. I had no warning, just the red dots on my chest before being manhandled out of the house and out of sight. Just enough time to tell them to STAY PUT.

To my children’s credit, they remained at the table until they were brought out by a female agent into a ‘safe vehicle’ and actually looked very calm. I will emphasize at this point:
MY CHILDREN WERE AND ARE USED TO SEEING FIREARMS IN THE HOME.

So two things to ‘prepare’ children for a SWAT style raid on your home:
1) Get them used to seeing firearms in and around the home. If it is ‘normal’ to see this and be around them, then most likely they won’t freak.
2) Practice what to do if you experience a home invasion (legal or not).
3) And I should mention, that if you do have firearms in the home, be safe regarding them. But at some point, as a LEO told me, they need to understand how to use them and what they do, seems to prevent accidental shootings in the home and takes away the ‘fun’ and ‘I am not allowed to do this’ factor.

These three things will make it easier for you and them. You practice fire drills, tornado drills, and at school they practice ‘active shooter’ drills, why NOT practice home invasion? It’s a growing trend, both legally and illegally so it makes sense to do this. What you do and how you do this is up to you and your unique home situation, but increasingly, home invasions are becoming common place. So, what’s your plan?

Next, I would like to address the otherside of this equation. Having an understanding myself of the legal system and the steps that have to be taken before action can be taken (though more and more it seems like shock and awe is standard operating procedure) I do KNOW for a fact, that you will have contact with some form of law enforcement BEFORE a SWAT style raid occurs. There’s your tip off, your ‘advanced’ warning. If state police, federal agents or regulatory agents are knocking at your door then your alarm bells need to be going off and my advice, at least for the moment is to be polite, answer their questions and do NOT BE HOSTILE. Cooperate and be beyond reasonable with them. If you appear to be a threat then they will react to you as a threat and their law enforcement training now demands overwhelming force to neutralize a potential threat to THEM. This includes your facebook posts, emails, etc. While it is okay to voice your opinions make sure you are not making threats, or even veiled threats. Trust me when I tell you, they do their homework on threat assessment (ie your potential for violence). In my case it wasn’t about my own personal threat to them, but my ex’s potential for violence and I got painted with the same brush. So its not just you, but who you associate with, your family and those who may or may not be there at the time.
Much can be avoided with clear communication and cooperation. Yes, it can be a hassle boarding on pure harassment and irrationality on their part, but if you want to head off a SWAT style raid, then do all you can to avoid it.

Next, lets talk about home/land security. Do you have motion detectors? Security lights? Cameras? How about a mouthy dog who will alert you if something or someone who doesn’t belong there? You can go as far as you want in this matter including denial of entry type setups. But the main thing is this: you are more likely to face in this day and age a true illegal home invasion than a legal one and THIS is where you should aim your security at. But it will also come in handy ‘just in case’. The point behind all of this is to give you, the adult a heads up and a few precious moments to make a decision. Unfortunately, many people have been killed in their homes because they simply did NOT know who or what was coming in and reacted in such a manner that put themselves and their family in harms way.

And finally, lets talk frankly, the thought that if you are doing ‘nothing’ wrong will keep you ‘safe’ needs to go out the door. Unfortunately this mindset gets people killed. Because you feel ‘safe’ because you are doing nothing wrong, therefore there is NO WAY they would come knocking on your door ergo something happens and you pull out your firearm because only someone intent on doing you harm would kick your door in. WRONG. Go back to the above statements and understand one thing, shock and awe works for them, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. Is it potentially used wrongly? Yes, but on the otherhand see their side of it. Most LEO’s are just following orders and commands from higher ups who most likely will forget to mention that you were cooperative, etc. All they know is they are there and wouldn’t be there unless someone knew you could be a threat. Just saying…that is how it is, right or wrong. Better to argue in court and go broke than into the ground.

On the otherhand, illegal activity of any sort can and will get you into trouble. Stay on this side of the line people. If you have had contact with law enforcement or a regulatory agent, then they perceive something is going on and if you are belligerent, uncooperative, etc. then you become a threat. Regulations carry the force of law and while I in no way support even half of the ‘regulations’ that are place, at this moment in time, tis better to argue in court. GET IT? Tis better to let them do their job, see you are not a threat and then sue their butts off later, than to fight back when everyone is running on adrenaline.
Been there, done that, in the heat of the moment, YOU need to be running your own threat assessment. Which is why I make it a point to suggest that you look for tip offs and get in place an early warning system so you can differentiate between an illegal threat and law enforcement threat. That way, you can make an informed and appropriate decision on ‘what to do’ when the invasion comes.

As a side note, in my own experience, those who entered my home unexpectedly that weekday morning were very professional. While I am still angry and I am personally still dealing with their actions (which I did receive an apology for later on), I can say that they treated my children very well. One agent even sat down with my girls and painted finger nails with them! After I got a grip and figured out what was going on I was then able to do what was necessary in dealing with them being there and my own calm in the moment allowed my own children to feel safe and relaxed which allowed everyone else to feel safe and relaxed.

Seriously, its up to you how you want things to turn out.

Home security first and foremost, situational awareness, making sure your children are NOT scared of firearms in the home, practicing ‘active shooter’ drills and attitude will determine the outcome. Unfortunately we no longer live in Camelot and we aren’t in Kansas anymore. While I see the over reaction and mistakes that get made, I have come to understand that I (YOU) truly have control in whether or not you become a victim and in turn, your children.

Stay safe and aware and prepared.

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The California Shootings and Why I Believe It Happened

Filed under: Reuse Repurpose — Leave a comment
May 27, 2014

The recent tragedy in California where 3 young men were stabbed to death and 6 young women killed and 13 others wounded by a lone, young, marginalized, mentally unstable young man welding at least one firearm has once again, gotten anti-gun control proponents talking again.
I offer my sincerest sympathy and prayers to all the families and friend involved in this very sad event and wish that it had not occurred. This will leave scars for life on all concerned and involved, and I am truly sorry for your losses and pain that you now carry.

However, we, as individual people and as a society need to take a deep breath and really begin to look at what created the circumstances in which a young man could go so far as to kill at least 9 people and wound 13 others. And I mean, really take a LOOK. Not just at the ‘tools’ the young man chose to end the lives of many and his own (ie guns and a knife), but take a hard look at how we deal with mental illness (most often by sticking our heads in the sand or just giving them a pill or two to medicate them into a fog).

We, both as individuals and a society need to take a look at what created a young man who felt so isolated, alienated, confused and disenfranchised that his only recourse was to retreat into ineffective, self-defeating anger and hate who could not understand that it is society itself is as we now know it, is built upon the chase of unattainable beauty, wealth and status that few ever achieve, is the real problem, not the young women. We promote beauty, youth, material things to the nth degree, yet we at the same time, also promote Globalism and ‘diversity’ in all places and things we do. The environment and social/economic equality is of the utmost importance. The individual does not matter, but we all do! Kinda opposite things yes? Confusing to say the least. Chase the materialism and yet save the world and be kind to all no matter what.

We need to understand that we as adults have created young men and women who expect the world to be handed to them and that we are allowing, through media and our school systems, our young adults in the making, to be indoctrinated into group think and mob rule. Our culture on the whole is falling into this problem. Communitarianism (Global Group Think) and mob rule (where by if you express and opinion different that others you are immediately shut up by any and all means including hate speech, name calling, marginalization and isolation by the group as a whole). We have unwittingly (or perhaps knowingly) made being a male somehow ‘wrong’. But yet we honor the youthful, beautiful male as something to be desired. We praise the man who makes a lot of money, we honor him and what he can do. We teach young girls that they can be and do anything they like, but by the way, you also need to blonde, a size 0 and that the most desirable ‘male’ is tall, muscle bound and has lots of money.

Everyone is equal but everyone is different and this is a good thing.

We teach our young children that diversity is great and good and that bullying is wrong, that we should be all inclusive no matter what but then they (our children) figure out pretty quickly that in order to make it to the ‘top’ you have to pick and choose and pack up with those who look like you or something on that theme. And by the way, we have also taught our children to ‘speak up’, that they have the ‘right’ to be heard and say what they want without any real consequences because personal ‘rights’ (and that means opinions too) are paramount. Does anyone not understand that this creates unsolvable conflict among all? That rather than promoting ‘diversity’ and ‘equality’ that we are simply setting up our children into little ‘groups’ of ‘diversity’ that have a mob mentality because they ‘have rights too’? Just look at flash mobs if you don’t believe me.

Are you starting to the get the picture?

Let me color inside the lines a bit more so you can see more of the picture.

Our communities are being destroyed…that means families, friendships, group identification or it is such that we are put into ‘boxes’ of ‘community’ based upon stereotypes which are decried by all and yet encouraged by the policies of our government. Yes, I am speaking directly to the feminist movement and ‘gender equality’. I am sorry, but when we as women came out of the house back during World War II we went to work to support the men who were fighting. Yes, we as women are capable of doing great things on our own, heck, I own my own home and business by myself, but when we begin to chase the materialistic world we begin to fall into ‘traps’. Our children are raised by someone else, we know that the most ‘beautiful women’ get the highest amount of money and the best ‘things’ so we race to the gym and have created eating disorders all types. We dishonor our sons, fathers and husbands by putting ourselves and our NEEDS before theirs all in the name ‘equality’. And then wonder why we can’t find a husband or why so many young women are single mothers struggling to make ends meet. Don’t get me wrong here, I am all for being given the OPPORTUNITY to have the choices available to me and my own daughters. But I don’t buy into the hype that I get to wear the pants and that men are useless. But this is what is ingrained into our culture now in so many forms, from the loss of meaningful work to the war on poverty (I mean, we are women after all and can do it all, don’t NEED YOU MEN thank you very much.

So is it any wonder that boyfriends, husbands or men in general don’t stick around? After all, you can take care of yourself and don’t need ME you got it goin’ on GIRL!). Take a deep breath now…stop and think…we honor and admire ‘beautiful women’ by objectifying them. We have taught men, our young men, that ‘to get it’ is all we are good for to them, or that a woman who is not the model is somehow ‘less than’ (which is odd since we are ‘equal’). But I am digressing here. And not all boys or young men or adult men are like this. But I ask you to question the values we knowingly or unknowingly instill in our next generation and our own thinking. I am in no way saying that women belong in the kitchen or teaching only. But I do question just how far we have taken ‘raising women up’ and the toll it has taken on our country in the name of equality and social justice. We have created a culture where by the pursuit of beauty and materialism and/or entitlement has destroyed so much in terms of good relationships (with others and ourselves) that we are now facing a generation of young men and women who don’t know which end is up and have no guiding light in which to follow.

We have a culture in which drugs, sex and violence is glorified, but is frowned upon at the same time. We have a culture that is rapidly being turned upon each other in the name of ‘safety’, ‘the environment’ and ‘equality’ and ‘justice’. We are being manipulated into packs that fight amongst ourselves over trivial matters. We are spoon fed through the media what to think, what to do, how to do it, when to do it. We are made to believe that what we see on TV or here on the news or learn in school is the absolute TRUTH and our reality is or should be everyone else’s. But we have forgotten that we are not all the ‘same’ and while I believe in equal basic rights for all human beings, I am not buying into the game that we are indeed ‘all equal’. I know for sure I cannot be firefighter, though I know some women can. I understand some women are better suited to fighting than raising children, just as some men (like my #2 son) are excellent with children. But we are being forced into ‘diversity’ based upon ‘equality’ and ‘justice’ and all this does is create divisiveness, anger and finally…action. And increasingly that ‘action’ is in the form of some sort of violence or show of force against those perceived as the oppressors. But yet we are being groomed more and more into homogeneity…meaning we are equal, group think, mob rule. Nothing more, nothing less for anyone no matter what. How did this work in the past and right now? (think USSR, Nazi Germany, The EU).

I am just touching the tip of the iceberg here on what is going on. I am deeply troubled by what I see on youtube and facebook, especially how the 20 somethings and younger seem to think violence and mob rule or ‘their rights’ are somehow more important than another’s. That they can say and do anything because no one says NO. After all, we are free to do and be who we are right? That is equality and justice. We as adults see this and do nothing, say nothing, after all, that’s just how it is right? That’s just those kids.

Until a young man actually takes action on his rage of confusion and then, its all about the gun isn’t it?

Its all very sad and I pray that from this pain, we can all make a change.

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Learning: What is a Green Fish?

Filed under: Hunting — Leave a comment
May 19, 2014

Image

The more I get into the great outdoors the more respect I have for the ‘old timers’ and am amazed that human beings, before organized agriculture survived and thrived enough to bring us to the point where we have 7 billion people on this planet.

Hunting, fishing, gardening, plant identification (wild edibles), and making do with what was found in your local environment…woah…lots of work, patience and knowledge is needed for it all! And HOMESTEADERS way back in the day did by themselves with knowledge learned the hard way (hit and miss, mostly miss) or learning by/from example through practical knowledge and know how learned from the elders or just from someone who has more miles than you do on a particular subject.

 

Personally, I prefer to learn the easy way…from others. The advent of printing and finally the internet we have access to so much information/knowledge that I believe many are falling prey to THINKING they know how to do something or could do it, after all, it all sounds so easy But applying that knowledge in a hands on situation is another matter entirely. Finding someone who already has that hands on know how, well, that can be a daunting task, but it sure makes it a lot easier, especially when you learn from someone who will let you learn how you need to learn instead of by a strict set of rules. Guidelines are great, ridgity is not when you are trying to learn a new skill, unless it’s a safety rule.

 

Case in point, my partner in crime who has had the pleasure of trying to teach me how to hunt and track has taken on the challenge of teaching me how to fish. Now, you might think that fishing is easy and honestly, its easier than hunting! But there are so many ‘things’ involved in being successful (you can see his posts here on fishing at VaCreepinOutdoors) that its crazy, at least to me, but on the otherhand, me being an herbalist/homeopath I am sure he feels the same way about trying to learn from me about what I do well. And sometimes, just plain luck is involved too. I have spent hours just learning how to cast the line and am now comfortable enough that I am practicing getting it under trees. VCO showed me the basics and then let me run with it. Even got a compliment Saturday that I actually looked like I knew what I was doing!

 

Well, we went out carp fishing this past weekend and he cast in, first cast he caught a channel cat. Here I am sitting going: ‘reel it in! reel it in!’ and to me it looks like he is playing with it, letting it run out, reeling it in, letting the fish run back out, reeling it back in. This went on for a few minutes with him telling me that he didn’t want to bring the fish in with it ‘still green’. What the HECK DID THAT MEAN???? It was a nice size catfish, big enough for eating (wound up releasing it) but why in the world did he let it run? I mean, you hook the thing and bring it in right? That’s what you do with blue gill and the other smaller fish so why not these bigger guys?

 

Fast forward an hour or so, we’re just standing there with bread on the hook doing not much but watching the line for movement (there is a trick to ‘hooking’ a fish too by the way) and I am thinking, screw this and told him “I bet if I sit down I’ll hook a carp” he laughed and said, ‘yeah, then you get to figure out how to stand up with that thing pulling!’ I thought, ‘whatever’ and proceeded to sit down and dang it, do you know that within minutes my line was busy running out really fast and I am sitting on the ground trying to reel who knows what back in from the sitting position? He’s telling me to let it run out and then reel back in and all I can think is ‘gotta land this sucker’. But I slowed down, followed his directions (kinda) and lo and behold, after a good fight out comes this 4 lb carp! Big fish, strong and a fighter. It was kinda fun, but man! Reeling that thing in was like trying to keep two pitbulls apart that wanted to fight each other.

So, I learned something…what it means to ‘not reel a fish in green’. It means that you let it wear itself out (kinda like putting the 2 year old outside to run around) before trying to bring it onto land. A fish flopping around crazy on the ground is not fun to get your hands on as many of them have fins that will cut you or the darn thing will flop back into the water (have that happen to me before). And getting the hook out so you can put it on a stringer…well, its better, easier and much less painful to let that fish wear itself out than to fight it on land too. Lesson learned about ‘green fish’. The fight was fun and now I am hooked, but next time, I will let it run and fight in the water until it almost gives up. And it was released. Yes, it was pretty small compared to what a lot of people catch size wise but lesson learned about big fish fishing…let them run, play with them. Much less tiring that way and you are less likely to get hurt and keep the fish too or get the hook out with minimal damage to the fish. Btw, I still let him take the hooks out if he’s around.

 

Just for fun…I learned there are no hard and fast rules about bait that day too, you can catch bass with bread. I did it that same day. VaCreepinOutdoors calls it top water fishing…but with bread? He said he’d never heard of such thing…guess the joke was on him that day. Granted it was only a 4 inch big mouth, but by bouncing the bread through the water, it jumped right on.

 

Have fun, get out there and learn! Now I gotta figure out how to get new line on the reel.

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Monsanto Formally Joins Global Agenda 21 Front Group

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March 25, 2014

If you believe in freedom please help boycott the companies who are apart of the Agenda 21 initiative which seeks to control you and what you can and cannot do with your own land, property, what you do and don’t eat, what your behavior, living style and so much more.

Jurriaan Maessen's avatarExplosiveReports.Com

MONSANTO-1

Jurriaan Maessen
ExplosiveReports.Com
January 24, 2013

The global front group of the Agenda 21 program which was formalized during the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit is proud to welcome Monsanto as its newest “member”, joining the likes of such “sustainable” businesses as Coca Cola, Dutch Royal Shell and other global leviathans.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has put out a press release, announcing that Monsanto has joined the effort for “global sustainable development”. The Council consists of several global mega-corporations such as Dutch Royal Shell and Coca Cola, to mention just a few.

The press-release notes that by joining the Council “Monsanto is taking an important step along a continuum towards developing a more sustainable agriculture system – one that improves our daily lives, respects our global environment and recognizes the importance of the world’s small-holder farmers”.

President of the WBCSD, Peter Bakker, stated that “a future…

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Fear, Doubt, Change and SHITF and People

Filed under: Reuse Repurpose — 1 Comment
February 16, 2014

Often there is talk about ‘when to leave’ if the SHTF. Frankly, no one in the world but you can make that judgment call based upon your particular set of circumstances and the situation at hand. My only hard and fast rule about ‘when to leave’ or get out of dodge is this: If it is life threatening…or highly likely to be so, it is time to get out or leave.
With that said, often times it won’t be that obvious and it then becomes a matter of how much control and power you have within the given situation/circumstances or are likely to have that motives (or not) you to stay or go…misreading the situation due to fear and doubt about trusting your own heart and gut instinct can and will have consequences.

Fear and doubt are going to be the two major factors that determine most peoples actions if and when it hits the fan.

Some will become paralyzed, deer in the headlights, in complete denial and act as if everything is just fine. Selco, who survived the Bosnian War of the mid 90’s speaks about this and the results. Guess who died first?

Others will fall into the learned helplessness position…I can’t do anything about it so why even try? Keep your head down, don’t talk about it and it won’t happen/I won’t have to take action. The fear and doubt here results from not having the confidence within themselves to do for themselves or having the fear of making a mistake and getting wacked for it. Often you see this behavior within people who have been prisoners of war or abuse victims. The doubting of themselves and their ability to trust themselves and instincts (not irrational fear based ones) and others for that matter, leads then into apathy. They KNOW what they need to do, but can’t. Skinner proved it with his dog experiments. Everytime the dogs tried to eat they’d get shocked to the point that they would cower if they even saw a bowl that looked like food and wouldn’t go anywhere near it and starved to death. This is a simplistic view of learned helplessness but a lot of people, when faced with something resembling change/SHTF will go with it. Guess who dies next?

Then we have an interesting type of learned helplessness that I see ALL OVER this country…I can’t, so you will/have to. For decades we have had ‘wars’…wars on poverty, wars on drugs, campaigns against this, that or the other…drinking and driving, teen pregnancy. Its called dependency upon the system or some ‘authority’ for some form of survival assistance. In this case you will find people, who like junkies, will just sit and wait for some higher power (ie someone else) to come and save them just like they always have. And if you really think about it, people who stay at jobs they hate and are completely unhappy have this learned helplessness/dependency mindset, because they believe that, this is just what life is about.
Guess which ones go next or turn to addictive behaviors, violence or some other form of ‘getting what they deserve’? so much for the learned helplessness at this point…either they go down or they fight ‘for their right’.
Those that choose to ‘fight for their rights’ become very dangerous and controlling. They swing the opposite way in dramatic change/SHTF situation. They will not CARE. For once the drug has been taken away they seek it out like a junkie who has run out of money. On the otherhand, the person who stays stuck in a job they hate, a life they hate will find ways of coping that will keep him/her anesthetized or will just check out literally or figuratively.

Now we can step it up to something a bit better…those who see what is going on, takes some action, but then gets frozen (see the above three) and can’t go any further. Here again we have fear/doubt, power/control playing within the person. There is less fear/trust issues but enough that they will do just enough to fool themselves into believing that they have done all they can do to help themselves (or others). These people in my opinion are the sheeple, done all I can, what more do you want, you take care of the rest…Next on the food chain, they fall into a false sense of security because they have ‘done their best’ but still stick their head in the sand. When it hits, they struggle and try, but ultimately roll over to despair and learned helplessness.

Next up, we go to those who are able to see past fear and doubt that is ego based. They know what may happen and take steps to prepare to take care of themselves and theirs but its not fear based…its merely a risk assessment and then taking the next steps. They act not out of fear but out of confidence that they do have control (somewhat) over the ‘ending’ or their lives. This can play out several ways in the real world, but you can recognize right now these sorts of people…they are first responders, preppers, those who say, okay, yep, it can happen, I know it can and might/will….and they think it out in a positive way (if they go negative they fall into the above category). They might be scared, might work from fear initially but they see the risks and take positive action to get ready. They do NOT hide from change, rather they see it may happen and then change behaviors to make a more favorable outcome. These types of people might stay ‘just in case’ but they sense when’s its time to go/leave BEFORE panic hits.
They survive and learn to adapt. The mind set is ‘okay, what do I have to do?’…it’s the first stage of total personal responsibility.
They tend to live with a steep learning curve.

Next, we have those who fit into society but see beyond the myth…they are not radical nor paranoid, they just see through the illusions. They know and understand where events are leading and prepare accordingly. They tend to be preppers, survivors. They are almost inherently those who instinctively know what to do or not to do. Many are first responders or sheep dogs. But they also know their limits and family is first. They stock pile just in case. Even if just a bit. They WILL leave before things get bad because they see the writing on the wall before hand because they have no fear or doubt about what they feel or think. They will survive. They will find others to trust and work with. THEY THRIVE.

Lastly, and this has to be addressed, we look at two types of no matter what survivors. The paranoid type who has gunned up, fooded up, hunkered down, and sees everything and everyone as a threat. That’s great. But that is FEAR in over drive. Isolation takes over as a manifestation of fear and honestly, they are just as bad as the helpless/dependent but have staying power and WILL come into conflict with others because they doubt and fear others.

I don’t know, this is just how I see things as someone schooled as counselor, criminology major and having worked as a domestic violence counselor.

But here is the bottom line…fear and doubt will control you. When this happens, you don’t know what will happen. Being prepared, even if a bit will give you a sense of control and put aside some fear.

So where do you fall at this time? You have the power of choice in this matter. When do you are making personal decisions you gotta first understand where you are coming from.

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