Yesterday's Shooting in Arizona

If you have been anywhere near the news since yesterday, you probably heard about the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and 19 other people at a political event in Tuscon. Here's some random thoughts on the topic:

• By the time you start offing politicians, you've pretty much lost democracy. There is a political way to "take back" the government and it doesn't have anything to do with violence or political hatred on all sides.
• And yes, Sarah Palin, your "Take Back the 20" targets look like gun sites to me, not survey markers. This doesn't put the blame on anyone but the shooter but when you carry a lot of political weight, you need to use it responsibly.
• Like almost every other mass shooting, this situation seems to be a failure of the mental health system, not the failure of gun control. Note to people in Congress and other politicians...if you want to prevent many of these shootings you need to fix our horribly broken mental health system. It's the psychopath on the other end of the gun that is causing the problem, not the gun itself!
• A typical knee-jerk reaction was the ludicrous call for all in congress to arm themselves. That's a scary thought. When you choose to carry a gun for protection, you also need to educate yourself about your firearm and, most importantly, PRACTICE regularly. Just carrying a firearm does not protect you!
• If a person in the public eye is thinking that they would be able to carry a firearm to protect themself, think again. It is hard enough for the average (well trained) guy on the street to carry a gun for protection. In the case of your average citizen, they will have to recognize the threat (much easier to do when you are in a common one-on-one situation not in a large crowd) and then be able to shoot without collateral damage (shooting other people who just happen to be around...much more difficult to avoid in a crowd of people). The bottom line, if you are in a position where you need executive protection, hire a professional and don't try to do it yourself. It would seem to be a very difficult proposition to give a speech and smile nicely at the crowd while at the same time scanning for threats and being in the "ready" position with your firearm.

That's about all. I pray for those who were killed in the shooting and pray for a swift recovery for those who were injured.

My Views on Higher Learning

RG wrote in and asked about my views on higher learning after having read the post on JJ Luna's book 'Skip College and Go Into Business for Yourself'.
My views on higher learning, meaning the education your receive pre and post high school that will enable you to become a self sufficient human being, can be summed up in a handful of bullet points:

• You should only go to college if you can pay cash for it (ie: your parents pay for your education sans loans, you pay for college as you go, or you get scholarships. Don't take out loans for college!).
• You should only attend college if you are going into a field that absolutely requires it (writing doesn't, web design doesn't, being a doctor, lawyer, or rocket scientist does).
• You need a skill (or multiple skills) that you can sell to others. This is especially true in difficult economic times. People won't pay for you to be a paper pusher (note the huge layoffs of middle and upper management), they won't pay for you to do a job that isn't economically feasible (such as car assembly in Detroit when cheaper cars can be had from overseas), they won't pay for you to do something they can do themselves (note the number of restaurant closings...people can cook at home and save money).
• People do pay for things they absolutely need: plumbing fixed, surgery, legal defense, car repair, etc.
• Quit waiting for permission and GO DO SOMETHING! No matter what positions I am hiring for, if the job candidate doesn't have credible experience I don't want to talk to them. I don't even care if they have a degree. I care about #1 can they do the job (based on prior accomplishments and not BS chatter) and #2 can they help make me money (this is where skill as well as the ability to think creatively/logically/strategically comes in). It's that simple. I don't care about degrees and internships, what I care about is can they do what I need done and do it well. I would rather hire the geeky kid down the street that eats, breathes, and sleeps web design (for example) than a person who has a new college degree and no actual experience.
• Whatever skill/skills you choose to have, you should learn something more about said skill every day, become an industry insider, practice your skill every day, learn how to market/sell said skill(s), give some of your skill/service away for free to good causes, become known as an expert in your field, do such a good job that word of mouth brings you more than enough work, and leverage your skill/service a number of ways in order to have multiple sources of income from it.
• I think everyone should own their own business. When you own your own business and you are your own boss, many things become quickly apparent. Everything from budgeting to pricing to customer service to continued education to deal making to PR to all of the other things that impact your bottom line become of the utmost importance. There is no padding the expense account, brown-nosing the boss, reading FaceBook all day instead of working, etc. that many people do at work and think it constitutes an income-producing job.
• There is also a place for strategic thinkers which may come with higher learning but often comes with experience/logical thinking. Simply, they see a need in the market and meet that need. Hard times? They open a second hand store because they know people would rather pay second hand prices than full retail when times are tough. There was also the story about a guy who was selling used cars until he noted that people would pay more for individual parts off a car than what the car would bring as a whole so he opened an auto junk yard and made much more than he ever did as a car salesman.
• You also want to work on sub-skills that will allow you to improve your money-making opportunities such as having a good attitude and personality so people will want to hire/work with you, develop your understanding of accounting and finance which is important in any business, brush up on particular areas of your chosen skill (this may include a pertinent college class or two), find a mentor in your field, network in your field, etc.

The bottom line is to pick something you want to do in order to earn a living at it then GO OUT AND DO IT! And strive to do it better than any one else.

Get Your Free Financial Survival E Book

Check out this free e book entitled "In the Trenches-Financial Survival During Times of Hardship" here. It contains useful information and some pretty good ideas for working with your money, even during hard times, and making your money work for you.

Change Your Life, Starting Today

Today is New Year's day. It also conveniently falls on a Saturday so you have a couple of days before getting back to the grind in which to make some major changes in your life. Make this the year that you become your own action hero.
This will include the following things:

• Excellent health and fitness
• Being in control of your money, not the other way around
• Being prepared for anything
• Being an excellent role model
• Building the proper network of people to support and help you in your journey

This will preclude the following things:

• Making excuses
• Sitting on the couch watching TV
• Doing the same things you always do (if you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you are getting)
• Settling (for a less than stellar job, less than stellar relationships, less than stellar living conditions, et al)
• Waiting for direction from others (you're the action hero, you make your own direction)

So start today. What is it you will do to move you forward and make your life the stellar testament that it was meant to be? Now go do that....

10 New Year's Resolutions for the Survivalist

It's that time of year again. Time to make resolutions that will probably be hammered away at for a week or so then put on the back burner then forgotten about entirely before spring arrives. These resolutions are, however, designed to be easy to accomplish, and will, if adhered to, put you in a much better position to survive just about anything.

1. Learn something. Take a class that will teach you a survival-related skill. Get your EMT certification, pass your HAM radio tech test and join the local HAM radio club, join the local Search and Rescue organization and participate in their trainings, etc.
2. Get out of debt. Completely. This will do more for your survival-ability than nearly anything else you do. If nothing else, it will decrease your stress level considerably.
3. Exercise every day. No excuses. Even if it just means walking around your block a couple of times a day, exercising every day could help you save your life or the life of someone else when TSHTF.
4. Pay cash only. For everything. This will reduce your paper trail and up your personal privacy considerably.
5. Spend time building and strengthening relationships with your family and friends rather than being glued to the TV, your computer, or your cell phone. When it comes down to it, the only ones who will have your back are these people. Period.
6. Guard your privacy. Change your passwords, back up your files, wipe the hard drive of your old computer, shred all documents that contain personal information, check your credit report annually, etc.
7. Know where you live. What are the potential natural and man-made threats? Where are local water and food sources? How many different ways can you enter and leave your residence/neighborhood/city?
8. Develop multiple sources of income. I don't care if it is delivering papers and mowing yards. You need to be able to generate income when you need it and on a regular basis. Having multiple sources of income can ensure this.
9. Challenge yourself. Make it something big. Huge. A 40-day Amazon River expedition with NOLS, biking across the US, taking a high risk security operations course with Blackwater...er, XE...er, US Training Center. You get the idea.
10. Change your life. If you aren't happy with any part of your life, change it. What are you waiting for? No one will give you permission to do such a thing so it is up to you to make your own choices and set your own goals. Of course then it will be up to you to follow through on this decision come Hell or high water...

Will you read this list, think it is a good idea, maybe make a few feeble attempts at achieving some of these goals, then forget about the whole thing within a few month? Or will this be the year that you turn into your own action hero? The choice is yours.

Link Round-Up: End of the Year Clean Up Edition

Here's some random links you may find interesting as I clean out my favorites list at the end of the year...

• Redneck University...In Photos
• Something to subscribe to: Secrecy News Blog
• Need goals for the new year? Check out these lists.
• Need travel ideas? 10 Strange Places to Visit
• Someone to follow on Twitter: Adventure Doc
• How average folks really feel about the economy (read the comments section)

10 Reasons Why We Are "Heading For the Hills"...So To Speak

I was going to write a short post today saying "Merry Christmas" like what most bloggers are writing seeing as how today is Christmas Eve. Then I read a response to my last post and decided to answer the question here in an expanded post format.
Anyway, the questions was "why are you leaving for a third world country now?" While my crystal ball is probably about as fuzzy as anyone else's and I don't have any "secret insider information", there have been a number of things that have happened that just sort of ended up culminating in a rather sudden and drastic change to my lifestyle. Including:

1. I have known more than a dozen people who died or become medically incapacitated this year. They always said "when I retire I'm going to..." fill in the blank. Only they never got the chance to. Since I and the spouse are both healthy and while not retired, able to take months or years out of the work force at a time, we decided that now is as good a time as any to hit the road and travel as we have been planning to do.
2. One of the major contracts for my business which required my actual presence is terminating at the end of the year. Although my income will take a hit, I now have the freedom to not have to be anywhere which is great when it comes to traveling. I will still make money through other business endeavours which don't require my presence.
3. The housing market continues to decline no matter what you hear on the news. My house has lot a ton of equity, however at this point, I am still able to get an OK price for its sale and still get money out of the sale which will fund our lifestyle for the next few years. The market may eventually come back up but I don't want to wait around that long. (Note: I told a friend this and he wondered if he should do the same, however since he has a fairly secure job that he loves and four small children I told him that his best bet would probably be to ride out the market since he is in a much different place than I am).
4. I am a fan of minimalism and have been paring down my life for about the last five years. Although the spouse would disagree, I don't need much "stuff" to have a happy and healthy life (compromises are still being worked out at this writing). For once in my life I want complete freedom. No mortgage, no car payments, no need to earn a large income, no responsibilities for work/staff/community commitments/etc. Freedom.
5. We own property and a business in Southeast Asia (said third world country). We visit often but have yet to actually "live" there. And while I don't intend to stay there for years at a time, we do plan to stay for longer intervals such as months instead of weeks. And no, this place isn't any safer, free-er, or better than the US...quite the contrary. But I think that learning how to get along in a foreign culture is definitely a skill worth having.
6. I do have some concerns about the socio-economic-political situation in the US at this time. Minor concerns but concerns nonetheless which make me think that being as portable as possible is a good idea (again, I don't recommend this for everyone).
7. Of course there is the whole "the world is going to end in 2012 thing". Do I think the world will end? No. Could there be significant changes that will impact every one of us? Yes.
8. My life is making me bored silly. Same old thing. Everyday. Now that I have the opportunity to be un-bored on a daily basis, I'm going to take it.
9. We don't have the things that usually tie people to one place and the job treadmill. Namely, the kids are all grown and settled into their own homes and families, we have no debt, we have no need to keep a big house, our parents have all died (no need to care for aging relatives as many others do), we don't shop and buy stuff like we used to, retirement is already funded, etc.
10. This is the perfect chance to explore new personal and business opportunities. Among the plans this year: a month-long+ bike ride, maybe an appearance at Sturgis, attending a couple of conferences that I actually want to attend instead of HAVE to attend, more time for shooting/backpacking/fishing, extended time with the kids and grand kids, etc.

So that's it in a nutshell. Nothing is forcing us to "head for the hills" excect for the opportunities that converged to make it possible.

p.s. Hope you all have a great Christmas!