Just an update to remind folks of my currently active blog, now running DIRECTLY on my SurvivalRing.org website. It even has its own domain name....

CosmicEchoes.org

Lots of current content, tools, and fun stuff there, including audio and videos.

Check it out.

Rich

Sorry for the delay between postings. I've got my own site run blog running now, and you can view it at

http://www.survivalring.org/wordpress

LOTS of new comment there....drop on in!

Rich

Discovery Channel comes a'callin'.....

Every few months, someone representing a media organization, a journalist, or a producer comes across my website, and asks for my participation, or assistance, or suggestions, or something similar...to help them along in THEIR project.

I always offer my help, and give details on how I can help them, based on the meager, or almost cryptic, way of how that *specifically* want me to help. Many times before the run-up to Y2k, and many times after September 11th, I gave phone interviews, multipage email response, and more...to all that came calling. Even started a webpage on SurvivalRing called "Y2k Media Help" back in 1999, and connected some of my friends with global media wonks wanting location specific contacts. I helped dozens and dozens of folks around the world make connections, and was mentioned by name ONCE that I know of, on the front page the Canada's National Post, immediately after 9/11, and was "referred to indirectly" in Time and Newsweek.

Today, Yet Another Media Person has asked for my assistance in creating content for more "media" stuff. Yet Again, I have offered my time, talent, experience, and knowledge to *try* to spread the message of preparedness to an ever more hostile and threatening world.

Thought you might like a preview of what "might" happen this summer. Anna works for WAGTV in the U.K. Among other things, they have produced shows for the Discovery Channel.

I replied to Anna's request below, and will keep you up to date on what, if anything, happens.

This is WAGTV's second contact with me this year, so MAYBE something might get done after all.

Enjoy, and comments welcome.

Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: Anna Abbott
To: Rafleet@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 11 May 2005 17:43:10 +0100
Subject: Discovery Channel documentary series
Dear Richard,

My colleague Jo Balcanquall was in touch with you in March, regarding a series we are making for the Discovery Channel. I am associate producer on the series. I’m sorry we have been out of contact. We have been working on numerous other stories, and doing a lot of filming, so things have been very busy!

We have already completed one US shoot, and are planning to come over again in June to film some more. I would very much like to talk to you about your background in the area of survival, and see if you might be interested in doing some filming with us.

Would it be ok for me to give you a call? I’m sure you must be very busy – can you suggest a convenient day time for me to call you? What is the best number to call you on? Also, can you let me know where you are located, so I can work out the time difference!

Thanks very much for your patience. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Anna Abbott

ANNA ABBOTT
Associate Producer
Wag TV
Tel: +44 207 503 8606

---------- My Reply ---------

Hi Anna,

Yes, I'd be glad to help you, in any way I can. Currently I am back in college here in Central Wyoming, but I will be done for the year this Friday, and getting my first college degree (in broadcasting...also earning Web Design and Emergency Management dgrees soon). In June, I'll be teaching here on campus to some of our summer students, but classes are only one day a week for the month.

I'd be quite happy to help you with any interviews, discussion, filming, background, research, etc. you need, and would feel just as comfortable behind the camera as I would in front.

I read about your current productions on your website, and they look like some interesting programs. Could you give me a few details about particulars you would like to see me help you with?

I can give you quite a bit of background material, show you stacks of US government survival materials covering 64 years of civil defense, and provide my take on the citizen perspective to dealing with large crises, and many other things.

My ultimate personal goal is to visit our nation's leaders in Washington DC, and visit them one on one and show them what our nation USED to have in place, and how we lack it now...and how we could create something better to give peace of mind and easy to learn skills and tools to every citizen, for minimal investment.

I have recently received a job offer in the DC area that is open ended, meaning I can finish my college work, and have a job waiting. This may be the opportunity to get there and make those visits.

Of course, getting a chance to help you, and describe those same things on the small screen of TV, and having millions of folks see how easy it is, sure wouldn't hurt to get congressional attention either.

I've spent many years studying all things deadly, from the smallest car wreck, to the biggest global extinction level event, and everything in between. That may be sort of obvious in the large range of data and freely downloadable ebooks from my website. I've also put together a private online group of professionals nationwide who can look at any local or regional threats of any kind, and provide some thoughtful and innovative solutions and ideas to dealing with All Things Bad.

This "think tank" includes active and retired military, public safety, civil defense, media gurus, authors, and more, and I depend on them to help me see things in a different perspective sometimes. I also am very happy to call all of them my good friends.

I work here at the college campus, for Wyoming Public TV, as a master control operator and broadcast assistant, as well as act as the student manager for the college radio station as well. The TV job is overnight hours, and the radio show is for afternoons, but very flexible. I think I can get you access to our TV studio here, if you need studio shots for interviews, unless you want to shoot out in the mountains and valleys around here...some great shots all around here.

Also, many of my fellow production employees here at Wyoming Public TV would be very interested in helping in any way they can, should you require production assistance.

My contact info is below, including my phone number. For the next few weeks, until June, I should be available most days at 307-856-**** until 12 noon (mountain standard time), and some afternoons. Simply email me beforehand, when you think you'll have a chance to call, and we'll set up an appointment to sit by the phone to take you call.

Look forward to hearing back from you, and best wishes for many successful productions to come.

Rich

P.S. If you have a few moments, check out some of my new video productions available on the front page of my website. All are right around a minute long, and are being shown on local TV stations, as well as through the governor's office.

http://www.survivalring.org

Here's one of my latest posts, recently added to my personal blog on the SurvivalRing website. Unfortunately, the PHP scripts on my host are misbehaving, and the blog is not working as planned, so I thought I would share the latest going's on from The SurvivalRing Project, from the educational perspective...

2/6/2005
Rich’s State of the Blog Address…

Filed under: College, Family, Radio — Richard @ 6:08 am

Back after a long delay …. some of you have probably been running that infamous line from the movie, “Dances With Wolves”, thru your minds over and over again….
“Now why don’t he write?”
- (in reference to, for those who may have missed it, the bleached skeleton of a victim of native american vengence and scalping, laying in the grass of a sunny afternoon)

No, I’m not dead…or even mortally wounded…
In case you were wondering, I’ve been REALLY BUSY with college again.
(better have been! geez….*9* months since your last post here on May 2004!)

Being a middle-aged old fart, with a wife and two of my kids -ALL of us- in college at the same time is nerve wracking, to say the least. Annie and I are entering our fourth full semester, and both of us took summer classes as well.

I’ll be getting my Broadcasting (Electronic Media Production) Associates of Applied Science Degree on May 13th, 2005, and will be breathing a BIG sigh of relief when I take that walk across the stage.

I’ll be the first in my family to have earned a college degree on my dad’s side of the family. Dad (1936-2000) came within one semester of getting a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M but dropped out in the late 1950s when we kids started being born. He tried going back to get those last few classes, but never did finish the degree, even though he worked nearly 40 years as an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments.

I’ll have worked my royal buttocks off in getting this first degree, and will be back next fall after this May graduation to continue my work on my SECOND degree…this one an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Web Design, a degree taking a bit longer as CWC only has one Web Design instructor, who also doubles as the college’s webmaster.

Annie will have earned two associates degrees during this same time frame, including English and Social Science, and daughter Laurie will have earned both Theater and English Degrees by then.

Next year, our youngest son Kenny, (visit his website at http://www.kennyfleetwood.com/) will be coming to college after he graduates from Riverton High School, to work on degrees in music.
He already has done tremendous work on his own, getting his first DEMO CD done last fall, and writing more than 40 songs, with lyrics and music, as well as playing several concerts at local venues… including producing a multi-band concert night at the Riverton Fairgrounds to raise money for the Asian Tsunami Relief fund of the Red Cross, sponsored by the Riverton Library, Coca Cola Bottling Company of Riverton, the Ledge Coffee House, and the Armory.

He was invited to sing at the Wyoming Mens Choir event in Gillette on Jan. 16th of this year, with 170 men, making the largest men’s choir ever in the state. He also sang the national anthem at the High School’s basketball playoffs last month as well, and is a member of the Riverton H.S. Jazz Band, Concert Choir, AND Jazz Choir. He’s also played parts in two college theater productions, and is practicing for an upcoming role in the next production here on campus.

He has his own recording studio setup in his bedroom, with hi definition microphones, multichannel recording hardware, his own PC with multitrack editing capability, and his collection of acoustic and electric guitars, midi keyboard, and amps (we’ve helped a little bit with hardware needs for him).

He spent most of the fall contacting record companies nationwide with a letter campaign seeking permission to forward his DEMO CD to them, and got contacts back from Brand New and Victory Records, and has found an advocate in a friend of mine, who spent 3 decades in the music world (country music), who still has contacts all along the east coast. Maybe Ken will hit it big sooner than he thinks…he sure has the talent.

Anyway, enough about the family, the degrees, and parents…
School for me has been exciting, enlightening, and EXHAUSTING.

Up to now, I’ve been working three part time jobs (tutoring, doing an overnite DJ radion show on 100,000 watt KTRZ-FM, and working master control at Wyoming Public TV three nites a week for the graveyard shift) to make ends meet, while taking between 16 to 20 hours of classes a semester. The homework load has been incredible, the labs for web and media ungodly in requirements, and the completion of the past semesters VERY much looked forward to.

Just what have I accomplished here at Central Wyoming College, since walking out of McDonalds in Worland on June 1st, 2003, to seek my destiny, after taking the final straw from a tyrant of an owner/operator, who made threats to my livelihood and family’s future for not working 100 hour weeks anymore?

Well, the summer of 2003 was spent at Worland Cleaners, where I made $100 more a week as a Plant Manager, than I did as a General Manager at McDs.

I decided mid-July to go back to school, if the funding and student loans could be worked out. They were, and the last week of August, 2003, the family and I moved from our little old, drafty rent house in Worland, to a two bedroom dorm on the CWC campus. My wife Annie joined me in going back to school full time, and Rob and Laurie took classes as well.

I’ve done a lot of good, made a lot of friends, and done EVERYTHING I didn’t do at college the first time around (1978-1986 at Richland Community College in North Dallas).

I’ve sitting on a 3.89 grade average, after getting my first 2 B’s last semester (I *was* taking 20 hours of courses, and working those 3 jobs, mind you!), and have been on the Presidents Honor List three times, and the Deans List once.

What have I accomplished with my school work?

4 new student oriented websites, for the entire student body of just over 2000, here at Central Wyoming College.

A series of college student recruiting videos for the college, to help make future students aware of some of CWC’s many programs.

A full 20 hours of music shows producted, directed, and edited for the college radio station (think space and ambient music).

Several full length video productions of campus events, including the September 2004 convocation with Gerry Spence (2 hours), the 2004 Theater Department medeviel “Madrigal Feaste” (2 hours), and the January 2005 Wyoming Men’s Choir in Gillette, Wyoming (1.5 hours, 170 men, 6 songs, two cameras, one operator….me).

One new fully realized website for the SurvivalRing Online project - http://www.myfalloutshelter.com/ , done for my Dreamweaver/Fireworks class project.

Two visits to Cheyenne for Wyoming Public TV to televise State Government events, including last July’s special session, and this years opening sessions and State of the State Address by the Governor. I got to meet Governor Dave Freudenthal twice (see a pic of him and I shaking hands in his office with the Wyoming State Seal behind us on my SurvivalRing homepage at http://www.survivalring.org/ ), as well as the speakers of the house and senate, and my local state representatives, while roaming the floors of the house and senate running cables and checking connections, and then running the audio board of our satellite truck during live digital broadcasts.

I have made the National Deans List, the American Scholars Award, been initiated into Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society, and was one of only two people from our campus to be nominated by the CWC Student Senate for the Wyoming Community College Council Commission’s Student Leader award (7 campus’s statewide, so I’m one of 14 nominated, and we leave Monday for Cheyenne for a special get together on this), and I have voted as a Central Wyoming College Student Senator for Spring 2005 by the student body. Not bad for an old guy, huh?

I’m also president of the CWC Web Development and Tutor Clubs, President of the Alpha Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa, and participate heavily with CWC Student Activity committee each week. And, in my *spare* time, I’m the campus geek, fixing other student’s computers, or saving them from virus infections. It’s nice to feel wanted.

Lot’s of stuff sure has been going on, ya say? Yep…you could say that.

After we finish our coursework here in Central Wyoming, we are making plans to head back south to warmer climates, as the cold here has put Annies bad hip through major stress. We’re looking at Jacksonville State University in Alabama as a possible next stop, where I’d like to earn my Bachelors Degree in Emergency Management, with a minor in Public Safety Telecommunications.

This program is one of only a dozen or so listed in FEMA’s Higher Education Program website as offering 4 year degrees in Emergency Management, and I think this is where I need to be. We’ll know for sure in a year or so.

There….I think that ALL the above should cover the “nine months” of missing bloggingness on this site…I’ll try to be more timely in the future.
There’s much more to come, and many more things to accomplish. SurvivalRing is about to go places even *I* never expected.

Thanks to ALL OF YOU for hanging in there thru the thick and thin, and I hope that you’ll keep coming back for more.

RichSunday Morning….SuperBowl 2004

Back to the blog this evening, to do a little catching up...

IN THE NEWS...
Terrorism hits another nation. It looks like Russia may have been hit this time, with the loss of two airliners within minutes of each other, resulting in 86 deaths. News reports claim the debris of one of the jets shows signs of explosive residue, and two bodies ( one from each jet ) have not been claimed/identified yet, pointing to possible terrorists... some unsubstantiated internet stories mention that "bad fuel" may be involved in these two accidents.

Also in the news, VA hospitals may be in the planning stages as targets for future attacks by Al Queda, simply because of the large number of (former and active) soldiers that may be there... and unarmed. A very low blow, if it happens.

Throughout the summer of 2004, there has been fear ( and multiple venues ) of new terror attacks, including either of the political party conventions, the G8 summit, or even the Olympics. So far, nothing...but the GOP convention starts next week, and the Feds are pulling out ALL the stops to keep anything from happening, including investigating VERY actively any and every PAST activist organization about possible events planned for convention week. The news is also carrying, although in the back pages, news about such groups as the "Weather Underground" doing some nasty business at the convention. It looks to be a very interesting week next week.

Way off the news, and hidden deep in the that oft mentioned "chatter", is word of possible spoiled attacks on U.S. soil, including word of 3 nukes that were set somewhere in the northeast U.S. to go off, and two found and shut down, while a third was supposedly transported at hi speed to the depths of the Atlantic and allowed to detonate since it couldn't be shut down. Of course this is all unverifiable, and NOTHING has been printed, spoken, or reported that backs up these claims. If, however, a nuke of any size was allowed to go off off the east coast, even in deep water, there would have been some kind of seismic event recording the explosion, and some release of radioactivity to the atmosphere. Time will tell if there is any truth to this rumor.

In the sky the past month, the "Perseid Meteor Shower" gave a great show for the northern hemisphere ( at least for areas NOT under cloud cover). Here in Central Wyoming, the show was nothing short of spectacular, with hundreds seen of all sizes and colors in just a few hours. ALso in space, the Hubble Telescope has developed hardware problems...again, a new extrasolar planet has been documented using "small" telescopes, the Mars Rovers are going into overtime finding even MORE proof of water on that dry planet, and the space shuttle MAY get back into space next year, even though the scientists still don't have safer measures in place to protect the leading edge of the Shuttle's wings. Finally, the $10 million prize for PRIVATE space craft making it to space is about to be challenged by more than one contender in the next month. Best chance seems to be Burt Rutan and his crew, with ONE successful proof of concept flight to 61 miles already under their belt.

In the weather, Florida is still recovering from a major Force 4 hurricane hit causing billions of dollars in damage, but minimal death. In Reno, and many parts of southern California, wildfires are wreaking havoc again, and through many parts of the nation, and the world, cooler than normal temperatures are being seen. One EMA professional watching the El Nino effect for the past several years, stated last week that the southern hemisphere is suffering very powerful and more widespread storms than recent years, and claims that El Nino is going to be heading north to visit the US in the next few months and bring with it those same powerful storms and stronger than usual winds, rain, snow, and other natural nasties. Keep an eye out for this effect in your neighborhood. As a side note, another hurricane is now heading into the Carribean that is still hundreds of miles out, but already rated a Force 4 storm...this could be a problem late next week for anyone living on the gulf or east coasts, so keep an eye on it.

Heading back to my local area, college classes start in two days, and it is going to be another tough but promising school year. Gerry Spence, the famous Wyoming lawyer, best known for defending white-seperatist Randy Weaver against the U.S. in the Ruby Ridge standoff, will be giving the Central Wyoming College 2004 convocation keynote speech here next Wednesday, and it should be interesting. I'll be pulling 19 credit hours this semester, while working 30 hours a week, and doing about 10 hours a week in labs. Looks like I'll have to schedule my sleep patterns again to get everything done.

As an side note, I applied last week for a new part time job, off campus....that of Airport Security Screener. You know, that job where SEVERAL folks on the East Coast let ALL those 19 terrorist get through the gates and metal detectors to generate the carnage seen at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11th, 2001? Adverts appeared in my local paper a couple weeks ago, for openings at our local airport, and the pay looked better than anything I've yet to see in this town...including full time work...up to $17 an hour.

Applications were taken online, including posting a digital resume. A quick questionaire took some more info, and within 24 hours, email back to me from the automated TSA system gave me some good news...I would get to take the test (phase I) the coming weekend. I showed up on that Sunday afternoon, along with 5 other folks who made the first internet cut, and took the 4 part test in a couple of hours...online it seems, thru a unique setup. The first part was a 414 question "psych profile" section, and the rest somewhat technical, and for the most part well designed to find the best and brightest.

Needless to say, I thought I did pretty darn good, being a computer geek, graphics hobbyist ( think of looking at sample xrays for you-know-what ), and just a smart guy. Seems, however, that the "profile" part didn't like "my" profile...I think my outspoken ways, ability to communicate with anyone, and general interest in media, computers, research, and understandings of terrorism, preparedness, and survival issues, just didn't quite "mesh" with what the TSA is looking for. I received a "Thanks, but maybe next time" email within 4 hours of getting home from the test, verifying that the test MUST have been online.

Regardless of the outcome, I'm a little disappointed. I really do want to make a difference to my community, my country, and the world at large, and being on the very front of domestic security, after the events of 9/11 really excited me in the same way as a soldier going to war to fight for his country, because "somebody" has to be "right there", and having already spent 10 years of my life as a federal employee, I felt that great feeling of serving my fellow man again, as so few actually get a chance to.

There are many other ways I can still do the above service to my country, and my countrymen...so it's not a problem. I'll just get back to scanning in some of the thousands of pages of government survival info I've been collecting for years.

Coming in my next posting to this blog..."Survivalist vs. Nuclear War". I got a few emails from a lifetime nuclear survivalist a few days ago, sort of feeling me out, almost demanding for me to give details of "my nuclear survival plans" to him, BEFORE he would even consider offering to share some of his gov. docs, thoughts and processes, and general "expertise" from building a 7500 square foot nuclear shelter in the southwest U.S.

This fellow authored some articles 20 years ago in a defunct survival magazine, which I've yet to find any copies of, and really just didn't seem "friendly". What he made me think of, to get to the point, is that of the "classic survivalist"...the one the media hints around, that fiction and action novels refer to, and that a LOT of people who don't know better on the web ( think newsgroups, new sites, etc.) hold up on a pedestal as a GOAL to aim their lives toward. This guy was basically standing fast to the argument "no one will listen to me, or help me, so let the flesh melt off their bones, when the all out nuclear attack, that IS coming, hits our shores...serves those sheeple right!"

He asked me a LOT of personal questions, in three different emails over a week, and I feel the need to do a little introspection over some of those questions, and do some writing for YOU GUYS to learn from, based on what I've learned, have in hand to share, or want to know more about. I'll share his emails (name withheld) with my replies, and my thoughts and ideas, based on that "introspection" I mention. I think you'll find it interesting and worth a few minutes of your time.

Until next time, take care, and keep an eye on the horizon.

Rich
Founder - SurvivalRing.org

SurvivalRing News Update...

More new files have been added to the Civil Defense Now download section, and all the broken links are being fixed.  I have also been working on the NEXT generation of SurvivalRing, with entire new sections, new navigation layout, and lots more online resources for you.  Still in development is a database system for searching, listing, finding, and reading ALL the hundreds of megabytes of authentic civil defense and homeland security information that we have online right this very moment.  It is going to be amazing, I promise.  For a preview of the navigation and NEW areas, just click here!! (new window)

Radio
Probably the greatest news is that the SurvivalRing Radio Program is coming close to being a reality.  Since November of last year, I have been working part time as a radio announcer at a REAL radio station ( KTRZ in Riverton, Wyoming ), for the VERY specific reason of getting real world experience in writing, producing, recording and actually BEING a live radio host.  Of course, KTRZ is "only" a 100,000 watt FM station, and I'm "only" of the three main DJs, covering the 8pm to 5am shift, and certainly not least, our station signal covers "just" one-third of Wyoming...but I consider it swell training for my MAIN goal, of being "the source" of online preparedness and survival information with downloads, links, audio, and soon VIDEO.  SurvivalRing Radio is going to start small, but eventually will have full archive of available shows, either in MP3 format, or streamed.  Topics?  You name it...if I've mentioned it on the site, in emails, or in articles, it will be covered on SurvivalRing Radio.  I'll be interviewing all those same folks you've heard about for years, but without the sensationalistic, opportunistic angles that Art Bell or similar talk show hosts have used in years past. My goal, Facts...not Fiction.

College
My return to college is going great...a 4.0 GPA for the fall 2003, spring 2004 and summer 2004 semesters, which put me on the president's honor list at Central Wyoming College, as well as being invited to join the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society...something I *never* expected.  With this kind of luck ( and continued hard work, obviously ), I hope to get a few more scholarships (I have two small ones for next fall) to get even farther with my college goals. To top off this great turn of events, I just added "another" part time job to the list of current projects of "Richard's Career Enhancement Plan for the future". 

A TV Career
Starting a few months ago, I'm became a "Broadcast Assistant" for Wyoming Public TV.  It's only 10 to 18 hours a week, but it's simply one of the most astounding opportunities I've had yet to get my foot into the door of the media world.  WyoPTV is based here at the CWC campus, where I'm taking classes, and almost 97% of the state gets their public television signal from us.  My job is to sit in Master Control, maintain the logs and update them, grab shows from the main PBS satellites for rebroadcast, keep tabs on all the sat signals, servers, and video players, and even all the tapes for all the shows on a weekly basis.  In other words, I am responsible for the "entire" Wyoming PBS network when I'm on shift. How often does ANYONE get the chance to learn skills like THAT! And, if you read the previous post below, associated work with this job includes Production Assistant jobs that bring me into direct contact with very powerful folks, including the Governor of Wyoming.

Tools
And probably the my most favorite news, and best thing yet for EVERYONE...my tax refund came in, and I have finally, after almost 40 months, been able to upgrade to "state of the art" computer power.  My laptop, which I replaced with another used system last summer ( exact same make, model, speed, etc) with GREAT thanks to many of you who sent donations, and allowed me to be able to continue working on all the projects, is going to be put to rest ( meaning, sold on eBay). 

System
My new system, purchased as "factory recertified", via an online computer discounter I've dealt with for a couple of years now, is almost 3 gigahertz in speed, has 160 gigs of harddrive space, a DVD burner, CD Burner, 512 meg of ram, 128 meg video card, USB2.0, firewire, TV tuner card, and more, gives me ALL the power needed to create, edit, produce, market, and burn any and every video project I can come up with, create all the audio needed for the radio show, and literally handle ANY digital project I can dream up ( and believe me, you don't have enough waking hours available to hear MY list). 

Power
With the 80 gig external harddrive, and 52x external CD Burner I bought for the laptop staying with the new system, I can burn twice as many CD's, compile DVD data CD's of unbelievable content specs ( like half a million pages of documents on ONE DVD data disk with 4 gigs of storage), and have ONLINE and AVAILABLE nearly one quarter of a TERABYTE of info at my immediate disposal.   

In other words, yes, things are going well.  This new system, with extended 2 year warranty, and without a monitor ( I have 3 unused 17 inch moniters sitting around the dorm ), cost me only $900, and with my sale of the good laptop, the dead laptop, and the laptop accessory cards (USB 2.0 card, Realport Ethernet cards, etc.), I'll have less than $500 cash invested in this powerful system. 

Selling the laptop was the deal I made with my wife to enable me to get the new system, and still be able to use our refund and pay on all our other monetary needs ( 4 out 5 family members in college, one approaching wedding for my oldest son, minor car repairs, etc.).  The incredible power of this system, and sheer speed, will let me get that oh-so-behind scanning of all these HUNDREDS of unscanned civil defense documents sitting here in sealed boxes, DONE...faster, easier, and yes, better. 

You will be the recipient of the new documents, which is the BIGGEST reason for upgrading with the focus on POWER.

As always, you're continued support and interest of EVERYTHING I do with SurvivalRing, is why I KEEP doing it.  If it can be done, and it helps folks to learn ANY aspect of how to better take care of themselves in good, and bad, times, I will do what it takes to make sure EVERYONE has a chance to know about it.
 
Til Next Time,

Richard

 

Sometimes things just go good for a change.
 
Step One
 
On my end, Friday, June 16th was a very good day. I was in Cheyenne, Wyoming (the state capital) with Wyoming Public TV, as a production assistant, covering a special legislative session, and Friday was very exciting for me personally. We had a bit of slack time before taping in the afternoon, and we made a few rounds about the town.
 
First, one of my fellow cameraman and I dropped by the Herschner building, where a lot of the state's main offices are, and visited the main Wyoming Homeland Security office. I met the Head Guy there, and spent about a half hour with the Public Information officer, and explained to her what I was doing with my website, gave her two copies of the latest update of my CD, and expressed to her my interest in doing a documentary about Homeland Security as seen from the role of the private citizen, and how one can become more involved with any of the various aspects of local, regional, and state level organizations.
 
She was very receptive to it, and we exchanged email addresses, and she is going to make sure I have access to info, contacts, and any tools I can use for the video project. This would be a project that I would be putting together with the goal of gaining more video production experience for my college media production degree, as well as a possible project to be shown on our TV station sometime after it is done. I am really excited about the possibilities here.
 
Step Two
 
Around 4 in the afternoon, we had an appointment with the Governor, Dave Freudenthal, and I was the cameraman for the shoot, for a segment for our station's special news coverage of the legislative session. Afterwards, during the small talk, while we were putting the equipment back in the storage bags, I was able to talk to him for a few moments, and handed him a copy of the CD as well, and got a picture of he and I shaking hands with the State Seal right behind us. It was a big moment for me, and I hope it bodes well of good things to come.
 
Here's the picture...
 

 
( I'm the cute one on the left!)
 
Governor Dave, although a Democrat, seemed to be a heck of a guy. I met him once before (before he was governor) when I was working in his home town for a few days at the last restaurant I managed, and the guy is about as good as we can get for this state.
 
The one step back, as mentioned above, is quite interesting...
 
Also located here in Cheyenne is Warren Air Force Base...which just happens to be an ICBM nuclear missile base. While filming all the shows this week at the State Museum, we had a little time there. In the main entrance hall, is a very large display rack with brochures for nearly all the special and interesting places in the entire state of Wyoming.
 
One of these was a brochure for the Air Force Base, for the "ICBM missile museum" they have there. The brochure mentions free admission, and weekday hours, and "Bring the Family." Well, we went. And basically got the boot. Kicked off the base, that is...Outside the main gate is a visitors center, where every nonmilitary person must stop and check in.
 
Picture ID, vehicle registration, and car insurance verification must be provided, says the sign in the small parking lot.We park and walk in, paperwork in hand. There's a small line of about 6 folks.
 
We get up to the counter, and provide the paperwork, and show them the museum brochure, and ask if it is currently open today."Oh, no...you can't go in there. It's only open to military personnel, and those with military sponsors."
 
I assume a military sponsor is a family member in the military, or someone assigned by the military to give tours of the base to officials and preselected groups. I was wearing my travel vest with my "Official TV Station PRESS Pass" attached, but it didn't work.
 
The nice Air Force Lady behind the counter looked at us upon saying the above, than without saying another word, we knew we had to look for the nearest exit.
 
Maybe the fact that it WAS open to the public at some point (because of the plethora of those informational brochures) but is NOT now, should be SOME kind of DOT...I mean, they didn't even check my ID on their computer system, just glanced at the brochure, and said "No".Big Bummer.
 
I was really looking forward to this all week. Alas, it was not meant to be. NEXT time I come down this way, I am going to PREARRANGE an official tour, for that documentary video I am going to be working on.
 
Anyway, just wanted to let you folks know that A) your leaders in government ARE approachable...and B) Something is worrying Big Bro Big Time.
 
Just thought I'd share my two cents, after getting home late today...
 
Rich
Founder - SurvivalRing.org
http://www.survivalring.org

 
"Study Yesterday...Prepare Today...Live Tomorrow"