M.D. Creekmore

Good morning everyone… remember…

Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of a day.

Anyways, we are all up and awake and that’s great, however, I do have some bad news to report…

After days of my brain not registering the fact that my email load had dropped from an average of 100 emails a day down to 15 or 20 at that those emails that were being sent were sent directly with my email address and not with the contact form of my contact page.

Well, once it finally did register I started looking into it and to my dismay, I discovered that my email contact form was broken and NOT sending me any email. So if you have sent an email using my contact form and I’ve not answered, then, please don’t think that I’ve been ignoring you… I’ve simply not gotten your email because the form was broken…

But the good news is that it’s fixed now, so if your email was really important then please resend it and I will get back with you as soon as possible… thank you for your understanding.

Okay, if you look closely you’ll notice a few changes to my blog design… look closely… there have been five changes to the design over the past few days… the first person to describe all five changes in the comments below will get a new Lifestraw Personal Water Filter!

I also made a few changes to my recommended must have prepper gear page but we won’t include those in the five design changes mentioned above. Now let’s see who has been paying attention… Good luck.

Okay, now let’s get on with our homesteading progress and preps for the week…

My main homestead expensive/progress for this week was that I received my Swisher 10.5 HP 44-Inch Finish Cut Trail Mower. I had to order the mower through Amazon.com because, unfortunately, no one in my area is a dealer for that type of mower.

I have some hillside on my property and mowing it with a typical riding mower was dangerous and exhausting. Once that I finally got the Swisher 10.5 HP 44-Inch Finish Cut Trail Mower unloaded and uncrated, I checked to make sure it had been filled with engine oil (it had) and then I filled with 100% gasoline as I prefer to not use gasoline that has had ethanol added.

I gave it three cranks and it started up and after letting it run idle for about ten minutes I hooked it up behind my side-by-side UTV and proceeded to mow my hillside in record time.

This mower is great for mowing on hillside land if you have a UTV or ATV and it can also be pulled behind a regular riding mower while off-set to the side to mow two times the normal area in one pass which cuts mowing time in half. However, if you’re pulling it behind a regular riding mower then you’ll need to stay on level ground.

Well, folks, that’s my main homesteading for the week… of course, I did other stuff like gardening and removed the suckers for my tomato plants and fed the chickens several times but I know that you probably don’t want to hear all of the details about that…

Now over to you…

by Scott G

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney (I’m not a liar), so what I’m telling you is based on my best understanding of the law and experience. For legal advice, you must see an attorney (although they don’t always know what they’re talking about – you may need a second opinion).

Speaking as a former law enforcement officer, the one thing we are always on guard against is for anyone armed with anything that can be used as a weapon, be it a knife, blunt instrument or a firearm. That said, without question, no person, let alone a law enforcement officer has anything to fear from an armed, responsible, person.

The mindset of a law enforcement officer is that anyone, not a law enforcement officer or his/her spouse or personal friend is a potential threat. The reason for this is that a law enforcement officer has a target on his body. Anyone, no matter how seemingly innocent, can snap and turn on you. A couple weeks ago, in Portland, CT, two boys ages 7 and 11 tried to carjack and rob a woman at gunpoint. In September, in D.C., a group of boys ages 7-14 were panhandling and when a man said go away, one boy pulled a gun and fired it at the victim. During August, in Abilene, TX, a 91-year-old man was convicted of armed robbery.

I could go on and on, but the point is that in the eyes of a law enforcement officer anyone not in a uniform is a potential aggressor. A cop looks at everyone the same way, looking for any signs that fit certain profiles. Cops are big on body language and the better ones also listen to their gut. A potential suspect does subtle and not so subtle things that send up alarm signals. Things like constantly looking around in a certain manner or their way of dressing.

So many people (whining liberals specifically) scream that LEO’s only profile certain races. This is largely a pile of male bovine fecal matter (I don’t swear, so figure it out). Most cops are not racists, they simply hate criminals. I once had a member of a minority race (not black) accuse me of being prejudiced. I told him, “That’s not true. I hate everybody.” The fact of the matter is that LEO’s target people who have a propensity to commit crime. It doesn’t matter the race of the person, it only matters if the suspect fits a certain profile that in the experience of the LEO, falls within a certain criminal profile.

LEO’s know that a legally armed citizen (LAC) doesn’t wear his pants with the crotch dragging on the ground. His hat isn’t on sideways and his underwear doesn’t show. The LAC doesn’t keep his weapon stuffed behind his waistband but in a good holster. The vast majority of felons simply do not use a holster. Studies have shown that LAC’s use the same types of holsters as a LEO. Also, LAC’s usually wear the same style clothes and accessories as cops. Also, LEO’s know that the vast majority of LAC’s are pro-law enforcement and would come to their aid in a heartbeat.

A person illegally carrying a weapon will always give off obvious and subtle clues in the presence of a cop. Things that a law enforcement officer are looking for are gang-style clothing, aggression, challenging and belligerent behavior, looking away or avoiding the LEO altogether. The suspect will be evasive in his answers, fidgeting and nervous, has his hands on hips, arms folded, scowling, etc. The LAC usually does not put off these clues. Yeah, they will be anxious, but the majority of people are anxious when stopped by a cop. This is expected. Good behavior or demeanor is an intuitive characteristic. It is highly difficult to fake. You either have it or you don’t.

However, because everyone not in a uniform is a potential threat, even an off-duty LEO, they are often suspected to be an aggressor and proned out until identification can be made. This is also the case even when a LAC has a suspect at gunpoint, has informed the police and is waiting for a law enforcement officer to arrive.

There are a number of things you can do to alleviate the stress on both you and the LEO:

1. Be polite and respectful. Politeness and respect will get you a long way. In fact, sometimes it will get you out of a ticket (at least with me it did). Many criminals get nabbed during a traffic stop because they were an ignoramus toward the LEO.

2. Do not be aggressive or challenging. This will immediately send up red flags in the mind of a law enforcement officer. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, a law enforcement officer believes you did something to warrant being stopped. If you did something wrong, you don’t have to admit to it, but don’t carry on as if you are innocent. If you don’t think you did something wrong, try to politely explain why you didn’t do what you are accused of. If that doesn’t work, take it to court.

3. Answer his questions honestly. If he wants to know what you were doing driving at 2 AM, tell him. Don’t lie because most people are lousy liars and a law enforcement officer will spot this. Do not sit there and argue. The LEO will dig deeper to understand your aggression. Most likely, he will ask you to get out of your car and then search you. This is legal. He also will probably ask to search your car. You don’t have to consent to this search, but then he might call in a K-9 unit to sniff your car. Personally, I would not consent to any search of my vehicle no matter the circumstances. It’s usually a fishing expedition.

Most people who are stopped by LEO’s comply with orders and answer questions willingly.

4. Don’t refuse to sign a ticket or identify yourself. SCOTUS has opined that while you are not required to carry identification, you are required to ID yourself. If you lie about it, that’s a crime and at the least, you will be detained until your true identity is verified. More often than not, you will be arrested and jailed.

5. Don’t act like a lawyer. LEO’s have a very low opinion of lawyers. One of my favorite jokes is:

What’s the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?

One’s a scum sucking, bottom feeding scavenger and the other one’s a fish.

Don’t start spouting the law even if you are a lawyer. It will not get you anywhere. It will irritate the LEO and guarantee you at least a ticket and probably a deeper check into your background. Not all LEO’s are fully in tune with the law, but most are. If you come up against one like I was, he will know the law forwards and backward.

Quite often, even if he’s wrong and it’s something minor, simply agree with him then take it up with his supervisor and chain of command at a later time.

Matt. 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

6. No sudden moves. Don’t get out of your car. Stay put. Don’t reach under your seat and don’t open your glove box. If you are armed, tell the LEO immediately. Some states require you to immediately notify a law enforcement officer if you are packing. Know the laws of your state. Personally, I’d do it no matter what. A criminal will not do this. If you are stopped while driving, keep your hands on the steering wheel.

When reaching for your wallet, if your weapon is on your hip, let him know where it is and that you are getting out your wallet. He may stop you, he may not. It depends on the LEO. Some of them will ask to see your weapon and verify that it’s not stolen. Usually, only a rookie who doesn’t know any better will do this.

7. Follow all commands. Simply put, do what you’re told. A law enforcement officer doesn’t want to hurt you or for you to get hurt. If you argue or hesitate, you are begging for trouble.

Doing the above things will demonstrate to the LEO that you are cooperative and are not a threat. Remember, a law enforcement officers main goal is to go home in the same condition in which he went to work.

For more information, refer here: http://www.policeone.com/police-products/firearms/articles/2144601-Dealing-with-citizens-legally-carrying-a-concealed-weapon/ and http://www.legallyarmed.com/.

Now, on to if the worst happens.

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an incident involving the use of deadly force, be prepared to be treated with suspicion unless it is obvious that you had no other choice but to defend yourself. This brings up the issue of whether or not you should talk to the police or invoke your rights. Simply put, it depends on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

If you are forced into shooting someone, I’m assuming that you are justified in your use of force (UOF). In our society, UOF must be reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances. I’m a pretty big dude. At 6’1” and well over 200 pounds, I would not be justified in shooting an unarmed assailant who was 5’8” and 160 pounds. However, a 5’6”, 130-pound woman would be justified in shooting me. Also, it depends on the law of your particular state.

Some bleeding heart states require you to retreat if possible from an aggressor, even in your own home. Some laws allow you to use deadly force in your own home only if the person is armed or otherwise able to harm you. My favorite states are those with the “Castle Doctrine.” In these states, you have no duty to retreat if you are in a place you are legally permitted to be.

So, if you do shoot someone and you decide to talk to the police, remember this one thing: tell the police that you shot to stop the suspect. You never, ever tell them that you shot to kill. In the eyes of most pshrinkologists, this makes you a dangerous, unstable person. You tell the police that you stopped shooting when your attacker was no longer a threat. This is nothing more than legal mumbo jumbo, but it is very important mumbo jumbo. It will keep you out of court.

Tell the officers that because of the threat, you were in fear of your life or the life of another person. Explain why you were in fear of your life, i.e., “It was dark; I didn’t know the person; my family was in the other room; he kept advancing on me,” etc. Let them know if you warned the suspect or if you attempted to retreat. Tell them everything. Do not lie. A law enforcement officer can smell a lie a mile away.

Be able to articulate the threat that made you feel that you had no other recourse but to use deadly force. If the suspect had something in his hand that made you believe it was capable of being used as a weapon, be able to describe it and why you thought it was a weapon. I.E., it was a shiny object that appeared to be a knife or a pipe, or a gun, etc.

Whatever you do, do not disturb the crime scene. Don’t move the body or remove anything from the room. The detectives are very, very good at reading a crime scene. A homicide detective is usually very experienced and if something is out of place, he will eventually discover it. If your story doesn’t match the scene, it will eventually be discovered. Maybe not right away, but sooner or later and you will be put to the Inquisition.

As to whether or not you should invoke your rights that depends on the circumstances. By law, if a law enforcement officer believes that you have committed a criminal act, he must advise you of your Constitutional rights. When you are being questioned after a shooting, the LEO will be asking questions to determine what happened. At this point, he is not required to advise you of your rights, but if you say something obviously incriminating, then he should read you your rights. There are some exceptions to this and I don’t know all of the most recent rulings.

Remember, cops are devious when it comes to finding out the truth. After a shooting, you will probably be interviewed two or three times even if you aren’t suspected of doing anything wrong. If a law enforcement officer does suspect you of lying, his questioning will become sharper and certain questions will be rephrased and repeated to see if your story changes. This is a tactic used in court and interrogations. If this happens, you’re in for a long night.

My personal advice is if you think you may have done something wrong, invoke your rights and talk to an attorney. If it’s obvious that your shooting was righteous, then talk away, but with great feelings of remorse. While sadly shaking your head, make sure to express regret and that you were forced into defending yourself. Possibly ask for referrals for counseling and most importantly, do not show the satisfaction of knowing that you defended you and yours from the devil. You can do that later with your close friends.

I’m sure I haven’t covered everything, but you get the gist.

Remember, generally, local law enforcement is on your side. Most LEO’s are on the conservative side and believe in the 2nd Amendment. Most of them know that LAC’s are the good guys. However, there are bad apples in every barrel and there are exceptions to every rule. But as a general rule, the vast majority of LEO’s are honest and won’t screw you over. As for the feds…well, enough said.

Recommended Books:

• Arrest-Proof Yourself
• You Have the Right to Remain Innocent
• You & the Police!
• Battlefield America: The War On The American People
• After You Shoot: Your Gun’s Hot. The Perp’s Not. Now What?

And to add in some controversy to this article below are two of the most controversial videos that you’ll ever watch…

• When Should You Shoot a Cop?
• Cops Are Cowards

Hello everyone. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve received a number of emails from readers letting me know how broke that they are and how that they could not afford to buy any preps, or homestead, however, the strange thing was that when I emailed back asking what they were doing to try and earn some extra money the conversations went silent.

Folks, complaining about being broke isn’t going to help you. As far as I know, complaining isn’t a marketable skill and no one is hiring for it. So stop complaining and get off your butts and do something to earn more money if you need it.

I’ve been broke and I’ve even been homeless, however, I did not just give up, nor did I expect anyone to give me anything. Instead, I got up and hustled. I planned, I worked and I failed a lot, but I kept at it and I finally started earning a living as a handyman.

And you know what… the more jobs I got, the more satisfied customers that I had, which led to repeat business with those customers and also to those customers letting their family and friends know about me and my work which led to even more customers…

And then about 12-years ago I decided to start a blog.

At that time I didn’t know anything about blogging or doing anything online other than a google search. But I had always wanted to publish a print newsletter and a blog is a modern version of that so I moved forward. And after doing a lot of studying, and planning I started my first blog.

I spent hours every day working to add content and to get everything just right. Somedays I’d work 16 hours a day just on my blog and you know what… nothing happened. No one was reading, no one was commenting… nothing.

But I didn’t give up because I have knowledge that I wanted to share with others. I wanted to teach and help others so I kept at it and after a few months and hundreds of hours of work, I started to see my pageviews trickle upwards.

So I kept working, and the page views started to grow along with my subscriber numbers by which 10 or more every day, and it just kept going. It was slow, very slow but as long as those numbers kept going up, even slightly, I knew that I was doing something right, so I kept doing it.

And then after several years and thousands of hours working on my blog for free, I started earning a few dollars a month from it. If I remember correctly my first month as an Amazon.com affiliate I earned just over $1.50.

Keep in mind that this $1.50 was after several years of blogging and having several hundred subscribers at that time. But I kept at it and each month my page views and subscriber numbers increased as did my earnings to the point where I was able to stop working as a handyman and start blogging full-time.

Anyways, the point is that instead of complaining while doing nothing isn’t going to work. You need to figure out how to earn more while spending less on stuff that you don’t really need.

I’ve written several articles recently on doing both… but just reading those articles isn’t going to help you… you have to actually do something.

I’ll link to a few of those articles below:

• 31 Ways To Make Extra Money on The Homestead
• How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost
• How to Start a Profitable Blog in 2018, Step-by-Step Guide

I even have a free blogging course – yes, it’s truly free, with no strings attached – just click on this link to get started.

Okay, now what about my homesteading and preps for the week.

This week, I put in another raised garden bed, set up a 55-gallon barrel to catch rainwater runoff, that I’ll use to water my garden. Planted more peppers and tomatoes.

And ordered one of these that I’ll pull behind my UTV.

Oh yeah, I only have a limited supply of the super awesome Bulletproof Survivor CD left so order now if you want a copy.

And don’t forget to check out my T-shirts and book.

Please, let me know which of my T-shirt designs that you like the best as well as the one that you dislike the most.

Well, folks, that’s it for me… what about you?