NC Renegades

True preparedness is about building up necessary supplies and talents, but it is also about organizing with uniquely qualified people. Ignoring the latter task is to set yourself up for inevitable failure.

Brandon Smith

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The concept of the three legged stool is the basis for the organization of a geographic area: Tactical, Communications and Intelligence. As with any foundation, it must be built on bedrock, not shifting sand. That bedrock is composed of qualified instructors, equipment and leadership. Most people have never met a true leader. The most essential quality of leadership is followship. That simple tenet should always be the guide for judging leaders.

But there are other qualities that are necessary for success: courage, morality, sacred Honor and attitude. You are starting to see the obstacles that must be overcome. It would be easy to give up before you even start. It would be easy to give up even after you start: this is not an easy project. As Mr. Smith stated above: “it is also about organizing with uniquely qualified people”. Attitude and common goals are the keys to winning. Winning is defined as a series of successes. Successes are goals that have been agreed upon, are attainable, and then achieved. It is human nature that people want to be on the winning team. Nothing will destroy your organization quicker than failure. But success also breeds contempt. Which is why people sharing a common goal is necessary as well as understanding the consequences of failure. Continue reading →

by Brandon Smith

I have never lived through a national scale crisis and like most people, I hope I never have to. That said, with the growing instability present in the state of the world today it would be rather foolish to assume that the near future holds nothing but fairy dust, unicorns and gumdrops. Preparation is a necessity.

Many Americans cannot yet relate to the concept of full spectrum crisis, but most of us have at least experienced localized disasters. In order to understand what a national emergency might look like, one simply needs to examine the microcosm of localized disasters and then imagine the same exact problems but magnified 1,000 times.

From my personal experience with local crises, I can say that the worst threat comes not from the event itself, but the ways in which people choose to deal with the event. That is to say, for smart, courageous and prepared people with the right traits and skills, there is no such thing as a crisis. For stupid people who overestimate their abilities or who let fear dominate their thinking, any crisis becomes an insurmountable moment of utter terror.

The right people in the right place at the right time — no crisis. The wrong people in the right place at the right time — total destruction. Therefore, the key to surviving any crisis is to have the right people in place, and to be well away from the wrong people.

The question is, who are the right people? How do we identify them? And, how do we examine ourselves and determine if we are ready or unready? Here are some of the increasingly rare character traits and skills that make a crisis manageable for any community.

The Ability To Act Without Permission

More…

A 4-year-old Aurora girl was kicked out of a preschool last month when her parents raised questions about books read in her class, including ones that told the stories about same-sex couples and worms unsure about their gender.

Her mother, R.B. Sinclair, sees it as sex education and wanted to opt her daughter out of those discussions.

Instead, school officials from Montview Community Preschool & Kindergarten in Denver — run as a private, parent cooperative — explained the stories were part of the school’s anti-bias curriculum, and because the discussions are embedded through the day, they told her that opting out was not possible.

The school’s anti-bias curriculum is part of a growing push in public and private school classrooms where educators use more diverse depictions of families and gender roles to expose students to differences before children have a chance to form negative opinions.

“Biases start as kids get older and start to see differences as negative. At a young age, kids are exploring all different kinds of things,” said Kim Bloemen, director of early childhood education for the Boulder Valley School District. “It’s about just providing them with all these experiences.”

In a letter sent home to Montview parents, the school defended the books and in a newsletter suggested ways for parents to discuss the topics at home.

More…

h/t John P

Even when lawmakers pass bills to protect Christians from government retaliation for refusing to participate in homosexual “weddings,” governors and courts strike them down. But that’s not stopping lawmakers determined to preserve free exercise of religion.

The Mississippi Senate passed a bill this week called “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” would protect businesses, religious organizations, and government employees who hold religious objections to homosexual “marriage.” From the Clarion Ledger:

Sen. Jenifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, presented the bill to the Senate. Debate bill lasted over two hours.

“This is presenting a solution to the crossroads we find ourselves in today as a result of Obergefell v. Hodges,” Branning said, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriages. “Ministers, florists, photographers, people along those lines — this bill would allow them to refuse to provide marriage-related business services without fear of government discrimination.”

Opponents of the bill say the bill could allow discrimination of those in the LGBT community and possibly single mothers, but Branning said the bill deals only with same-sex marriage.

More…

h/t Carolyn U

Scientists from the National Park Service began considering the possibility that a volcano could exist in the region after an earthquake hit the Smoky Mountains in February 2015. Although the 2.1 magnitude earthquake was a minor tremor, it raised red flags among geologists. Earthquakes in the Smoky Mountains are exceedingly rare, with only three quakes on record within the national park boundaries.

While the first earthquake occurred in 1979, the earthquakes in 2011 and 2015 were only a few years apart. Unusual earthquake patterns can indicate the presence of volcanic activity, so the National Park Service assembled a team of researchers to investigate.

More…

h/t Shannon G

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the story:

For more information about the volcano, don’t check back here. This entire story has been an April Fools’ Day joke! There aren’t any volcanoes in the Great Smoky Mountains (that we know of), so you can breathe easy if you love to vacation in the area. To learn real facts about the Smokies, check out our Great Smoky Mountains National Park page.

Source

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I understand. You want to believe. You want to believe that you are free and that your chains are an illusion. You want to believe that the political elite will solve our problems. The same problems that they created. For their own benefit.

But at some point, you have to take stock of reality. You have to understand what is at stake. You have to understand that the choice is simple: will you submit your children to slavery?

David DeGerolamo

Hillary Clinton belongs in jail for treason. Along with Eric Holder for Fast & Furious and Contempt of Congress. What about the murderers of LaVoy Finicum? The announcement that the State Department has suspended the “probe” of Clinton’s treason shows the arrogance for the people. The delineation of the two-tiered justice system are clear. The murder of LaVoy Finicum should have started an uprising across the country. But then again, what difference does it make?

To some of us, it does make a difference. The FBI has been put into a difficult situation: what happens when the Department of Justice refuses to bring charges against Clinton? Then again, it was FBI agents who murdered Mr. Finicum and are now under investigation. Do you see the pattern?

David DeGerolamo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

State Department Suspends Probe Of “Top Secret” Clinton Emails

While the media goes into a frenzy every time someone is punched or maced at a Trump rally, or frankly any time Trump says anything out of place (and lately he has has had more than his fair share of supply), what according to many is the real scandal, is quietly being doused with the media obligingly looking the other way.

Moments ago, AP reported that the State Department has suspended its internal review into whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or her top aides mishandled emails containing information now deemed “top secret.”

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said Friday the department had paused the review to avoid complicating or impeding an ongoing FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server while she was America’s top diplomat. She said the review would remain “on hold” pending completion of the FBI probe. The review could result in counseling, warnings or other action if findings show information was mishandled.

More…

We are one step closer to another full-blown return of the cold war.

Yesterday, during a briefing in Latvia’s capital Riga, NATO Gen. Philip Breedlove said that NATO and the United States are switching their defense doctrine from assurance to deterrence in Eastern Europe in response to a “resurgent and aggressive Russia.”

The comments by Breedlove come a day after the Pentagon said it would begin continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade of about 4,200 troops in Eastern Europe beginning in early 2017.

“We are prepared to fight and win if we have to … our focus will expand from assurance to deterrence, including measures that vastly improve our overall readiness,” Breedlove said following talks with Baltic region NATO commanders.

“To the east and north we face a resurgent and aggressive Russia, and as we have continued to witness these last two years, Russia continues to seek to extend its influence on its periphery and beyond.”

Meanwhile, this is a map that roughly lays out the regional balance of power between Russia and NATO:

More…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does anyone not see what is coming? War is peace in the minds of the rulers.

David DeGerolamo