15 | January | 2012 | NoisyRoom.net

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Well, I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone tonight. I’m not a big people person, but I do plan on surviving whatever is coming and I believe it is coming fast. So, when I learned of a number of like-minded individuals meeting in my area today, my hubby and I decided to go. I’m so very glad we did, even though I have been told by the media that everything is great and we shouldn’t worry. And since that’s coming from the media, you know it’s got to be true.

Usually, when I get on a roll about prepping, I get the standard eye-rolls and the incredulous look of, “you can’t be serious?” All the while reading on the person’s face that they think I’m a few bricks short of a load. Which doesn’t bother me in the least… In fact it eggs me on and I usually really go out of my way to irritate the person, but it does tend to ruffle my hubby and the rest of the family. So, meeting with these people this evening was a breath of fresh air. They think exactly like we do. So much so, we were all finishing each other’s sentences by the end of the meeting. I have a feeling we will all become fast friends and have a lot of fun with this and it just might save someone’s, or several someone’s, lives down the road. In that future the infallible press tells us won’t be coming.

Over coffee, we got to know each other. All of us bring different skills to the table and all of us are more than eager and ready to learn. Every one of us that was at the meeting feels time is short and expects an emergency of one kind or another. For several years we have felt as if we were the only ones who felt the way we do where we are. We’re not alone and now we have others to work with. I can’t tell you what a sense of relief this brings. This group comprises all ages and backgrounds, but we all feel a great sense of urgency to get it together and fast. We were brought together by several means as if it was meant to be. These are great people – some of the best I have met in a long, long time.

We covered a wide range of topics such as food storage, gardening, water collection, solar power, guns, knives, first aid, canning, short wave radios, etc. I have an extensive survival library which we’ll let the group use and I need to learn just about everything, so I plan on being a dedicated student. It looks like we will meet once a week since we all feel time is short to get this stuff done and I am sure we will form some sort of communication system for when the feces hits the proverbial fan. Which as we all know, will never happen; remember, all the very smartest people tell us it won’t.

Our group right now numbers seven with two others coming on board. We expect it to grow rapidly and we will rotate meetings from home to home. It’s a commitment for each of us.

The meeting started off timidly with each of us introducing ourselves and me cracking jokes about Armageddon to lighten the mood. At first, our fearless leader wanted to stay out of politics, but as the meeting went on, how could you not talk about the end of the country that our Marxist-in-Chief is plotting out in the open? Conspiracy theories you say? I say real threats like an EMP attack, war, a financial collapse or something that several of us brought up at once: Obama contriving an emergency before the election. Think it can’t happen? Do you even recognize your country any more? Think the impossible – it is bearing down on all of us like a freight train. An imaginary freight train that we are assured doesn’t exist, can’t exist and won’t exist.

Now I know all of us have had promises from our leaders that things are getting better and the news tells us everything is just fine. Don’t pay any attention to inflation or to Nigeria cutting off 8 percent of our oil supply. Just ignore Iran, Russia, China and all those other pesky enemies we have. Ignore the fact that the President now has the power to arrest anyone on American soil and make them disappear. Don’t worry your pretty little head over IPA or SOPA – your Constitutional rights will never be infringed upon… The government will take care of us. Don’t worry… Nuthin’ bad’s gonna happen… I’m not buying it and neither are the majority of Americans any more and we are done waiting around. Time to prepare and get ready for real.

Disclaimer: Any references to catastrophic events, crises or extreme social or financial situations are purely speculative and offered only in the interest of entertainment, since nothing like that will ever happen.

By: Chad Kent
CDN

James O’Keefe’s latest video – in which several election officials in New Hampshire handed out ballots for dead people – has a lot of people talking about the issue of requiring photo ID at polling places. But for me, it immediately brings up a different question.

Why should it be illegal to videotape public officials?

When some local politicians in New Hampshire found out that election officials had been handing out ballots for voters who were already dead, they were outraged… with O’Keefe!

For example, look at the reaction of Nashua City Clerk Paul Bergeron:

“They recorded it without election officials’ knowledge, which apears to be a violation of our New Hampshire wiretapping codes, and some of these are out of state residents, so I don’t know if violations of wiretapping or ID theft could hold up in court, but if they crossed state lines to commit these crimes, it may be a federal crime as well. This is serious; we won’t tolerate voter fraud, regardless of what the intent might be,” Bergeron said.

“If these are New Hampshire residents they should lose their right to vote forever, in addition to fines or imprisonment. I take it seriously, and people shouldn’t dismiss this as just a harmless stunt; it’s not,” Bergeron said.

Wow – this guy takes fraud really seriously! Any time fraud happens he’s pounding his desk demanding that something be done about it. Except that, I haven’t been able to find one quote from him expressing even the slightest concern about how easy it was for someone to walk into a polling place and get a fraudulent ballot.

If that seems inconsistent, it is. And a quick look at the Nashua web site will tell you exactly why Bergeron is furious about the undercover video that was taken… but reluctant to talk about how vulnerable this election was to fraud:

[The City Clerk’s Office] conducts all local, state and national elections…

So Bergeron isn’t really angry that someone allegedly broke a random law about videotaping public officials. He’s angry because someone is spotlighting the fact that he didn’t do enough to ensure the integrity of this election.

Now that his ineffectiveness is getting publicity, rather than take responsibility, Bergeron is attacking James O’Keefe – plain and simple.

Another politician who’s outraged and demanding that O’Keefe and his associates be “prosecuted to the full extent of the law” is New Hampshire Governor John Lynch. Why? Last year he vetoed a bill that would have required a person to show photo ID in order to vote. In hindsight, maybe Lynch is realizing that that wasn’t the best decision.

In reality, neither of these guys are genuinely outraged by this voter fraud. Their reaction can be explained with three letters: C-Y-A. That’s all it is. They are angry that someone is drawing attention to their ineptitude so they are lashing out at the person doing it.

This perfectly demonstrates why we as citizens need to be legally able to videotape our public officials. Unfortunately, this type of reaction is common when someone in a position of authority is challenged because people in power will often do whatever they need to do to hold on to that power.

Our elected officials have a lot more resources at their disposal than the average citizen and can even use their position in government to retaliate against anyone who exposes their shortcomings. Because of the enormous power that comes simply from being in government, we as citizens need to have the most powerful defense available to us – video tape.

But this is about much more than just defending ourselves from being persecuted by out of control politicians. Video is also by far the most effective way for individuals to create change in the policies of government. In fact, O’Keefe’s video has already prompted an investigation.

As New Hampshire’s unfortunately named Assistant Attorney General explained:

According to the Union Leader, state Associate Attorney General Richard Head said his office became aware of the effort on Election Day and began investigating immediately.

“That investigation is ongoing,” he said. “Based on the information received on Election Day and the information on the video, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of voting procedures with the Secretary of State.”

Now do you think O’Keefe would have gotten an immediate reaction like that if he had obtained ballots for dead people and then written an article about it?

What if he had interviewed election officials and written about that?

How about if he had written a letter to the Attorney General?

Of course not. If he had used any or even all of those methods there is no way that Richard Head would already be reviewing the voting procedures. That is the power of video.

It all comes down to the balance of power between the people and the government – and right now the scales are tipped way too far in favor of the government. Because of that, videotaping public officials is a tool that we must have at our disposal if we are going have any chance of properly holding our government accountable.