Find out what it really means to live off-the-grid
Lasqueti’s way of life will make you feel like you are stepping back in time.
Many would like to keep this island a trade secret. They like it that way.There is little to no industry. Bartering exists & money is not necessary.
There is one pub, one cafe and what is known as “The Free Store.”
The untapped beauty of Lasqueti – lush forests & rippling waters – actually betray the hard, dedicated work that is required for someone to live here.
Residents of Lasqueti have seen many come and go.
The locals say that the majority of people who set their sights on living the free “off-grid” style of life, fail. Most don’t have the skill set required to survive, so they pack up and leave.
Residents claim that only around 30-40% of people will actually adapt & adjust to Lasqueti.
The engineering of homes in Lasqueti is so impressivethat you have to see them to believe it.
One in particular known to locals as the “Earth Ship” will blow you away – turn to the “Electrical power in the conventional sense, would destroy their way of life” – therefore residents of Lasqueti harness solar, wind and, where available, water energy to generate what little power they need.
But the Island is defined, even more, by the colorful cast of character’s all sharing the same mindset. Like, Al Gainesbower (you’ll see him in the video) who was an engineer in the year 1989, but when he asked his boss if he could have the summer off and his boss said no, Al packed up his things and headed to Lasqueti.
And at 83 years old – He looks good!
Pay attention to this, because as Monday’s Iowa caucus on the Democrat side shows there are an awful lot of people whose brains are poisoned with Marxist thinking – and American culture and education are rapidly descending into a socialist point of view from which only disaster can result. When Bernie Sanders gets 70 percent of the youth vote in the Democrat Iowa caucus, it’s a problem.
Here’s the meme…
This issue is not a new one. Here was Margaret Thatcher, taking questions in the British Parliament on this precise topic some 26 years ago. At the end of her time as prime minister, she caught a question from a socialist MP from the Labor Party about the increasing gap between rich and poor. And knocked it straight out of the park…
Another way to describe this phenomenon is as follows – the rich, generally speaking, will always make money. They’re rich, in large measure, because they have the skill of moneymaking – either they know how to invest money wisely, they ply a lucrative trade, they own assets which turn out large amounts of revenue, or what have you.
And no matter how awful the economy might be, they will continue to do well. If society collapses and we descend into something out of the Mad Max movies, there will be some enterprising opportunist who will find a water well or an oil derrick somewhere, defend it with guns and make a comfortable living selling his water or oil to those passing by.
For the rest of us, who don’t have great skill in accumulating wealth, it is necessary for a vibrant, growing economy to exist so that we might get ahead. Some of us might become rich off the bountiful opportunities that economy provides, while more of us might become middle and upper-middle class. Others may never acquire the skills or resources to achieve social mobility and better themselves – but that is even more true in a moribund socialistic economy than it is in a vibrant, growing capitalist one.
And history shows that the vibrant, growing capitalist economy is the one in which people volunteer their time and money toward helping those less fortunate. The generation of surplus – whether in goods, services or money – is the key to advancing the cause of the poor. And in a comfortable society the voluntary sharing of that surplus, combined with the conditions of incentive making the sharing of that surplus a good investment – meaning that those helping the less fortunate aren’t just giving a man a fish but insisting on teaching him to fish – is what makes for fewer poor and less of them.
That is a just and honorable society, and not one based in envy.
So the real question is, do you favor the forced redistribution of wealth from those who have the skills and resources to improve their lot to those who lack those skills or their application, or don’t you? If you do, you’re a socialist and you’re part of the problem.
Everyone must listen to the Steve Worthingtn speech
Spend the 30 minutes to understand what the Federal Government and the BLM are doing to this Ranchers
Remember what the USA Government has done to the Native Americans?
Nothing much has changed, don’t let apathy and ignorance allows the control and the power hungry freak Federal Government torments these Americans.
Video By:
Steve Worthington I can`t believe how many people still don`t understand. You owe it to yourself to listen and learn. It could be the best 30 minutes of your life if you can learn from it… This video keeps getting deleted so you better hurry!
The Readers Digest version is the Modern Male = Historical Woman.
One of the tenets of the modern man is: The modern man has no use for a gun. He doesn’t own one, and he never will. Or testosterone.
Here’s the deal all you moisturizing half-a-sissy modern males.
America was not made strong, wealthy and a world power by men more concerned about what women’s shoe manufacturer’s sizes runs small or large than winning world wars!
So while a good many males in America have beaten their swords into lavender scented bubble baths, a whole hell of a lot of us haven’t. And it is we who will survive when the next big thing happens where it will require killing over being killed.
Bill Whittle always seems to make good common sense out of the liberal lunacy spewed by types who read the NY Times. And moisturize.
I encourage everyone, especially Beta-males, to watch Bill’s latest video:
Amid a discussion that was both heated and contentious, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly managed to get a smile out of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on his Wednesday night show.
However, he did not get Trump to change his mind and agree to attend Thursday’s Republican residential debate. In fact, O’Reilly had to agree that he had broken a pre-show agreement with Trump in which O’Reilly had promised not to bring up the debate.
O’Reilly trotted out a variety of logical arguments to get Trump to appear at the debate, but none worked.
O’Reilly accused Trump of being “petty,” and said Trump’s decision was flawed. “Would you say that right now, Donald Trump is a person who can let petty things influence him to the extent that he doesn’t do what maybe he should do?” O’Reilly asked.
“I don’t like being taken advantage of,” Trump said. “In this case I was being taken advantage of by Fox. I don’t like that. Now when I’m representing the country, if I win, I’m not going to let our country be taken advantage of. … It’s a personality trait but I don’t think it’s a bad personality trait.”
Then O’Reilly made his last-ditch case.
“Would you do me a favor? Look, you owe me it because I’ve bought you so many vanilla milkshakes!” O’Reilly said at last. “I’ve bought you so many vanilla milkshakes you owe me!”
Trump offered a smile in response, but no words.
“Will you just consider?” O’Reilly continued. “I want you to consider. Think about it. Say, ‘Look, I might come back forgive, go forward, answer the questions, look out for the folks.’ Just want you to consider it. You owe me milkshakes! I’ll take them off the ledger if you consider.”
“Well, even though you and I had an agreement that you wouldn’t ask me that, which we did, I will therefore forget that you asked me that,” Trump said.
O’Reilly admitted he had made that agreement.
“I told you up front don’t ask me that question because it’s an embarrassing question,” Trump added.
“But I’m not going to listen to any political person who tells me not to ask anything. But, you’re absolutely an honest man that I said I would try not to do it. But the milkshake thing just overwhelmed me. But I’m asking you to reconsider it,” O’Reilly said.
” … this odd exchange might tell us as much about Trump as anything else we’ve seen in his campaign. O’Reilly’s milkshake argument — and its ineffectiveness — is a prime example of just how strong Trump’s independent streak really is,” wrote Callum Borchers in The Washington Post.
Borchers noted that skipping the debate carries a risk for Trump.
“But bolstering his outsider image is more important. He wants voters to know that nothing — not even milkshakes — can make Donald J. Trump do something he doesn’t want to do,” Borchers wrote.
It’s been a very long 36 hours since yesterday’s events began unfolding. Avoidable tragedy struck Tuesday afternoon when LaVoy Finicum was shot and killed. Since then, there have been at least four different accounts of what happened. We’ve seen wild and inaccurate speculation about what’s going on at the Refuge, which has been contradictory to on the ground reporting.
In these times, we need to focus on discerning facts from opinions, and separate what’s more likely to be true from what’s less likely to be true through a structured process. What follows is my personal account of following the situation, including talks with sources on the ground and on conference calls with Sergeant Major Joseph Santoro (U.S.A., Ret.), Stewart Rhodes, State Representative Matthew Shea (R-WA), Jason Van Tatenhove, and others.
Here’s what we know.
– Just before 5:00 pm local on Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) made a felony stop on two vehicles carrying Ammon Bundy and six other individuals headed to a community meeting in John Day, Oregon, in neighboring Grant County. During the stop, which occurred on federal land just inside the Malheur National Forest, law enforcement personnel fired shots, wounding Ryan Payne and killing LaVoy Finicum. Here’s a breakdown of the four known accounts.
Ammon Bundy allegedly called his wife to tell her that LaVoy Finicum was unarmed and had his hands up when shot and killed. Ammon received this account second-hand and was passing on what he was told. We know that the altercation with LaVoy occurred outside the line of sight of Ammon Bundy.
Victoria Sharpe was allegedly in LaVoy’s vehicle during the shooting, and she claims that around 120 rounds were fired during the altercation, and that LaVoy had his hands up while walking towards FBI and OSP officers. FBI and OSP officers, according to Victoria Sharpe’s account, shot Lavoy and continued to shoot him after he fell down. At one part of her account, Victoria says that LaVoy was shot three times after falling down, and at a second part, she claims that LaVoy was shot at least six times after falling down.
Mark McConnell’s account draws heavily on the alleged first-hand accounts of Shawna Cox and Ryan Payne. Mark’s statement claims that LaVoy drove through the felony stop further north up the road. According to Mark, Shawna Cox continues the story she related to him, saying that they drove towards the FBI-OSP road block, where LaVoy then attempted to drive around the road block. After the truck got stuck, LaVoy exited the vehicle and charged law enforcement personnel. Mark cites the stories of Shawna Cox and Ryan Payne that LaVoy was not on his knees and was not cooperative when he was killed.
Finally, according to a joint FBI-OSP statement published Wednesday morning, three shots were fired during the stop. It provides no additional information about the altercation.
(Analyst Comment: Each of the three eye witness accounts agree that LaVoy drove his truck past the felony stop, towards the road block. Each of the three eye witness accounts agree that LaVoy had his hands up in the air, and two claim that he was walking towards FBI and OSP personnel when shot and killed. From there, the eye witness accounts get very contradictory. The accounts of Shawna Cox and Ryan Payne, according to Mark McConnell, support the limited information provided by the FBI-OSP statement. The account of Victoria Sharpe is the outlier. Two things are sure for me: there was no “shoot out” as the media has reported. According to each of the eye witness statements above, no possibility exists that LaVoy Finicum fired at police. After surveying three weeks of his video statements about the potential for his death, and speaking with him in person a little over a week ago, I’m more inclined to believe that LaVoy was shot on his feet than on his knees. “I’m not going to end up in prison. I would rather die than be caged. And I’ve lived a good life,” he told reporters during the first week of the occupation. He went on record numerous times later saying, effectively, that he was going to walk away after the mission was accomplished or that he was going to die trying. If we’re to believe LaVoy’s conviction that he would have rather died than go to prison, then in the face of overwhelming odds that he would be arrested, we must accept the possibility that he died for the cause. If Shawna and Ryan’s accounts, as told by Mark McConnell are accurate, then he was walking towards police when he was shot. That increases the likelihood of a wrongful death scenario, and gives no credence to the claim that he was executed while on his knees. Additionally, we need to ask why non-lethal/less-lethal means weren’t used in order to subdue LaVoy, especially if his hands remained up.)
– After the felony stop, Sergeant Major Joseph Santoro (U.S.A., Ret.) began communicating with FBI contacts. A top priority for SGM Santoro, acting in coordination with Pacific Patriots Network, Oath Keepers National, Stewart Rhodes, State Representative Matthew Shea (R-WA) from the Coalition of Western States (C.O.W.S.) and a Coalition representative at the Refuge, was to work with the FBI in order to give enough time for women and children at the Refuge to leave. He repeatedly expressed his concern that an FBI action on the compound would result in further loss of life, including the potential for harm to women and children. SGM Santoro convinced his FBI contacts to delay any action on the Refuge, while a C.O.W.S. representative at the Refuge worked to get the women and children packed up to leave. Through numerous phone calls and face to face coaxing, a majority of the occupiers agreed to leave. Additionally, a YouTube video posted by David Fry early Thursday morning confirms that conditions at the Refuge were ‘chaotic’ as occupiers packed up to leave as quickly as possible.
– The mission of the Pacific Patriots Network has been to prevent another Waco, where federal agents mass murder American citizens during an assault on a compound. That mission has so far been accomplished.
– According to sources at the Refuge, there weren’t enough vehicles to transport everyone who wanted to leave the Refuge. SGM Santoro relayed that to the FBI, and the FBI contacts instructed those without a vehicle to drive a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) vehicle parked at the Refuge into Burns and park it at a location where it would later be picked up by BLM officials.
– According to sources at the Refuge, Jason Patrick, who decided to stay, became angry that most occupiers were leaving, and refused to move a vehicle so that they could leave the Refuge Headquarters. Those leaving were forced to drive through private property in order get back to a highway, where they began their trip back into Burns, and then home.
– At approximately 0200L on the morning of 27 January, sources in contact with the FBI claimed that the remaining occupiers were given until 0400L to vacate, implying that action might be taken to remove them if they stayed past the deadline. At 0400L, no action was taken, and as of 0100L on Thursday, 28 January, no direct action has been taken at the Refuge.
– On Wednesday afternoon, Duane Ehmer, the cowboy who infamously rode his horse while hoisting an American flag, was arrested by the FBI.
– On Wednesday evening, negotiations with Jason Patrick were finally successful and he agreed to leave the refuge. According to sources familiar with the story, the FBI told Jason Patrick that he was free to leave, however, he would be arrested if he had an outstanding warrant. After walking seven miles out of the Refuge to the FBI checkpoint to be picked up, he was arrested by law enforcement at 1910L due to an outstanding warrant. (Analyst Comment: Jason Patrick was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Being one of the more ardent protesters at the Refuge, the FBI likely considered him to be one of the top instigators, especially after he decided to stay as most others left.)
– A video posted to YouTube early Thursday morning indicates that five occupiers remain at the Refuge. In the video, David Fry says they’re refusing to leave because one individual has an outstanding warrant and will be arrested. They told their FBI negotiator that they would all leave if his warrant is revoked. No further information is available.
– There are efforts underway to organize large gatherings in Salem, Oregon to protest the killing of LaVoy Finicum in front of the governor’s office and another building. There’s also a protest being scheduled in Eugene. Follow the Pacific Patriots Network for additional and up to date information.
SAMUEL CULPER
Samuel Culper is the executive editor of Forward Observer Magazine. He was an Army and contract Intelligence analyst with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He now splits his time between the American Redoubt and the Deep South.
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