Politics and Preparedness

 digital  painting I did using a program called artrage. Using mostly the oil paint setting. I find doing art relaxing and yet energizing at the same time. It tends to clear my head some.

As of late I have had some kind of ADD thing going on. Paying attention to the news from all over (finding new sources of news while I'm at it). Watching what is going on in politics which in the past the word politics would cause me to immediately zone out and go deaf. It was the most boring topic ever and right now I am really incensed over it. Especially with what I am seeing going on. It is like the people (who would love to be) in power are wanting to drag us back not so much to the dark ages as to the time of the crusades or something. I will rant on that in a bit. I have not lost interest in other aspects of the news but what I've been seeing lately is rather alarming. As much as it may seem like it I do have interest in other things and I do not spend all my time in some doom and gloom state ...I think of it more as a state of awareness and one of being prepared for whatever may come along that is with in ability to do something about. That in itself actually can reduce worry and bring about calm if you know you have one less thing to worry about. One thing that has been bothering me is watching the gas prices shoot up so rapidly. Knowing what that means for prices for food and commodity items. That is going to hurt as well as the fact that we have a lot of appts and therefor are always having to go somewhere. You can condense trips as much as you can but it doesn't always work. Here is a thought. I think they need to make one of these....electric from a bike and use that design to make one that say you use the bike to go from A to B and it somehow stores the power it creates much like this design does but while you are actually traveling ...not stationary then when you get home you can remove the power thing and use it to power items in your home. I am sooooooo tired right now so forgive me if I am rambling or not making sense but I hope you get the idea. Then it would save on gas (for places that were close enough to make the trip using a bike wouldn't help any on those hour long trips we have to make)...provide exercise (which people really need a lot more of including me)...and also provide electric to take the edge off your bills when you get home. :) If you wanted you could even incorperate the cheesy looking rain cover thing I've seen a few times. This particular model (the stationary one I posted) was about $300-400. Not something I could really afford but would be well worth it if I could afford it....I have 3 teenagers who keep griping that they are dying of boredom and two adults. 

Anyway and then there is this new bill being passed in Wyoming. Doomsday bill  This particular source is the Star Tribune but there are plenty of other news sources reporting on it if you google it. This is the particular article I chose to share CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.

House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.

The task force would look at the feasibility of

Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S.

Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,” state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. “To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.”

Wyoming’s Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it doesn’t cover what the state should do in the event of an extreme nationwide political or economic collapse. In recent years, lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation to create a state currency, all unsuccessfully.

The task force would include state lawmakers, the director of the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security, the Wyoming attorney general and the Wyoming National Guard’s adjutant general, among others.

The bill must pass two more House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration. The original bill appropriated $32,000 for the task force, though the Joint Appropriations Committee slashed that number in half earlier this week.

University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said the potential for a complete unraveling of the U.S. government and economy is “astronomically remote” in the foreseeable future.

But King noted that the federal government set up a Continuity of Government Commission in 2002, of which former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, R-Wyo., was co-chairman. However, King said he didn’t know of any states that had established a similar board.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-house-advances-doomsday-bill/article_af6e1b2b-0ca4-553f-85e9-92c0f58c00bd.html#ixzz1nXWnIXnI

This to me says that at least one state has seen there are problems growing and that we may be teetering on the edge right now. I agree with the statement that it doesn't hurt to be prepared just in case. I'd personally rather have a plan in place and never have to use it than to have nothing. I think other states should maybe look into this. Though I do have to admit the whys of some of it (an air craft carrier???) I find somewhat curious. I notice I am not the only one questioning that part of it but all in all. What could it hurt to be prepared just in case? You would think with all the talk from FEMA and all wanting Individuals to have plans the states would each have their own anyway. ....I will continue my long winded rambling here in a few with a part 2. :)