Are You Standing Up or Sitting Down?

During this political season we are in, it seems that a lot of folks are "sitting it out" instead of "standing up and being counted" for the candidate/party/issue of their choice.
Look, I know that most folks think their vote counts for nothing.
Or that candidates are SE-lected, not E-lected.
Look, I'm right there with you.
Still, we have to let the candidates and parties and our neighbors and our communities know where we stand!
If they don't know what is important to us, then they will continue on ignoring the majority of the citizens of this country.
Look, the MAJORITY of people in this country want to keep their guns.
The MAJORITY wants to stop seeing U.S. jobs going overseas.
The MAJORITY wants to see military veterans get decent health care.
The MAJORITY wants illegal immigration stopped.
The MAJORITY wants GMO labeling.
The MAJORITY wants us to stop getting involved in wars that are only waged to keep the oil flowing into the U.S. from the Middle East.
The MAJORITY is damn sick and tired of corporate cronyism papering the halls of Congress with massive amounts of money to sway the votes of OUR elected representatives.
The MAJORITY wants to see term limits on Congressmen and Senators. Some of those bastards have been in D.C. 40+ years! They have no freakin' grasp on how tough it is to make a living these days!

I wish we could do like they do in other countries and do a vote of "No Confidence" and force immediate elections.
But, barring that, we need to do SOMETHING!
email your Congress Critter. Get their email address here:
http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/
email your Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
contact the White House (although I doubt they will be happy to hear from mere citizens):
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Whatever state you are in MAKE SOME NOISE!!!
Support local farmers. Get your local representative to enter state bills legalizing marijuana, raw milk, whatever you think should be legal!
Write, email and call your Governor.
Bring it down to your local level, too.
Attend City Council meetings, school board meetings, GET INVOLVED!Find out where the hell they are spending your tax dollars. Join a *watch dog* committee that keeps an eye on local police or whatever else concerns you in your town.
Too damn many of us are just sitting down instead of standing up for what we believe in and what is important to us.
STAND THE HELL UP!!!!

Other Blogs and random things...

In case anyone is interested, I have another blog that focuses less on preparing and more on the economy, politics and my Pinky and Brain plans to take over the known universe, lol!
Just click here!
other blogs I follow...
Ten Things Farm
American Apocalypse
Sleep Talkin' Man
The Archdruid Report
The Never Done Farm
Self Sustained Living

and...about a dozen more...but those stand out to me right now. Some are homesteading and preparedness, some are on econics or politics .
And Sleep Talkin' Man? That one is simply FUN!
Give them a look sometime...

Just a Pause to Reflect

I have read some disturbing things in the past few months---as we all have.
Conflict in the Middle East.
Saber rattling in Korea.
Shootings in Germany.
Shootings in the US.
Near war conditions in Mexico.
The economy crashing.
Violence around the corner.
Everything and everyone everywhere seemingly having a meltdown of epic proportions.

It IS discouraging.
Some days reading the news or watching a newscast is too depressing to contemplate.
It seems no matter where you live, you are or soon will be affected by such events.

People USED to ask me, "What are you preparing FOR?"
They don't ask anymore.
I find that rather sad. And disturbing.
More people are asking "HOW?" than "WHY?".

They want to know how to start a food storage, how to garden, how to sew, how to stock up on needed supplies.
I know a little about such things and I share what I have learned.
But it is the look in their eyes that so disturbs me.
Most have a look of mild desperation, or worse, barely repressed panic.
I can give advice, I cannot give comfort.

All I can advise is to prepare the best you can for the worst case scenario, but hope for the best.
That's what I am doing.

Along the way, I eat well, enjoy my preparing *hobby* and share with others.
I am lucky in that my children are grown, I have no major physical problems and I am able to keep a positive attitude.
I think a positive attitude is extremely important.
If you mope and wail and moan and assume the worst will happen, you will be miserable.
Who wants to survive whatever is to come if you are miserable every minute?

So, take a little time for yourself.
Do something that makes you happy, if only for 10 minutes.
A positive attitude will go a long way.
If it means spending a bit of money to go to a movie or buying yourself some little thing that delights you, go ahead.
Just take a bit of time to shake off the *doom and gloom* mindset you may have fallen into.

Cheer up, ignore the world for a bit.