A Refugee Story

 

Aylan and Galip Kurdi

  Please see a posting from another one of my blogs, written today:
 

http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2015/09/no-shortage-of-sorrow-on-earth.html

From My Other Blog: On Loss and Grief

 

Peace comes once again.

 The loss of someone we love is a part of being human and it ultimately happens to us all.   These are some of my thoughts from another one of my blogs, on the process of the temporary amnesia we have following the loss of a child or a close family member.

http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2015/08/for-those-who-grieve-memories-will-once.html

Questions from Foreign Lands

      

Graphic from: www.epicparent.tv    

 Because I agreed to have this blog translated into many languages, I get a lot of questions asking for clarification about subjects I have discussed on the blog.    Certainly, computerized translation leaves things to be desired, and this may be one reason that the full intent of some of my posts might not be clear.  I do get a lot of unusual questions, mostly from foreign lands, and I can only think that there are differences between how some things are done in the US and Canada and how they might be done elsewhere.  Still, it is important to share.  I have learned many things that have been abundantly useful to me from many nations other than my own,and I hope I have at least occasionally, I have brought something of interest or of use to you.


Question # 1:    Who controls or chooses what you talk about on your blog ?

          I do.  The adult woman on the sidebar right selects the topics, chooses the links  used, and makes the commentaries in the body of the post itself.

   Perhaps you meant,  where do I get the ideas for my posts ?

           Sometimes a friend has asked me something or suggests I make a post on a particular topic, like oxygen absorbers, repairs of vinyl siding, etc.   Sometimes it's something I have had to research for personal reasons and then after all the research, I have chosen to share what I have learned.  Sometimes, I have been reading some articles about something that has concerned or frightened me, and then I know it's something I should talk about here. This was the case with the series on self defense.   The series on envenomation injuries and dangerous spiders in North America came as a result of my being treated for hemolytic anemia in the aftermath of a brown recluse spider bite, early one Spring when I was bitten at the back of one leg while driving.



Question #2 :      In your country, are you not worried that you will be in trouble for criticizing your government ?

            That is a great question.   Compared to many other blogs which are much more political than my own, my comments regarding my worries for my country are comparatively tame.   I would hope that the attention of computer based intelligence analysts would be focused on others with more unusual views than my own.   I was audited by the IRS a couple of years ago, and I did comment that each time I made a mildly negative comment concerning our federal government, I received another letter from the IRS.  This may well have been coincidental. Let's hope so.
            The United States used to have freedom of speech which was designed to support the exchange of differing ideas about everything from education to government spending.  The free exchange of ideas is supposed to be how our system is to work.



Question # 3:    Have the young men missing from Virginia Commonwealth University ever been found ?

           No,  Jonny Dorey has never been located, alive or otherwise.

Ian Burnet, who was attending VCU, and who disappeared during a trip to New York City, has also never been located.

If you are out of the country, please take a look at these links and see if you have seen them anywhere.

This is a page from another blog of mine:    

http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2011/05/where-is-jonny-dorey.html

 

Information on Ian Burnet:

http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2013/01/where-is-ian-burnet-now.html 

 

   In addition, a young woman who did not attend VCU but who disappeared from college in Bloomington, Indiana, and is named Lauren Spierer also remains missing.

http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2011/06/have-you-seen-lauren-spierer.html

            Thanks for the questions.  Best wishes to you, wherever you are.

 

Where is Ian Burnet Now ?

This was Ian Burnet, a year ago

           

Also taken a year ago, just before his disappearance.

He may appear younger than his 23 years.

 




  A year ago, the imaginations and concerns of everyone from parents to college students themselves were taken up by the mysterious sudden disappearance of Ian Burnet.     Ian Burnet had absolutely everything going for him. He has a devoted mother and father, a loving older brother, and friends who love him.  He has extended family and a church group who would move Heaven and Earth for him.
He was academically successful in high school and was one semester shy of completing a degree in a computer related major, on full scholarship at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Ian also had the distinction of being one of the students who had a job lined up, that he had already reported to, before he received his degree.
              He took a brief trip with friends to New York City for the post Christmas New Year's Eve holiday, and has disappeared without a trace.  To most of us with children this age, this is a horror beyond our imagining.  Yes, although I have personally lost a child, I was there. I know what happened to my son, and I was there for him and with him.   Not to know where he is or if he needs help must be beyond imagining.
              It has been one year since the disappearance of Ian Burnet.   Someone must know something or may have seen him since.  Once again, please revisit these pictures and think.  Ian is slight and may appear to be younger than his years.  His appearance may have changed.

               With all the people who log on to this blog from all over the world perhaps you have seen him.
If you have, and you are international, then please contact Interpol in your country, and tell them you have seen Ian, who is the subject of a Missing Person's Search in the US.

 Ian Burnet is described as 5-foot-8 and weighing 131 pounds. He has green eyes and curly dark brown hair.

Interpol Contact Information :

 http://www.interpol.int/Contact-INTERPOL





 If you are within the US, then please contact  :
The New York City Police Department at 212-690-8811.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/11/mystery-surrounds-disappearance-virginia-college-student-visiting-new-york-city/#ixzz2Hu0vf43f

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the New Kent Sheriff's Office at (804) 966-9500.

Their website:

 http://www.co.new-kent.va.us/index.aspx?NID=334

The Unexpected Loss of a Child and Other Tragedies

Ian Burnet, as of this date remains missing without a trace.

    In life, we can prepare for many things. We can ease our family's passage through challenging times by making preparations and plans, and therefore make our own journey through life easier in the long run. There are however, events and circumstances that none of us can effectively plan for, and unfortunately, this discussion belongs in a preparedness forum.   This week a Virginia family with whom we have been in contact is missing their honor student son who is just a year shy of graduating with an electrical engineering degree. Ian Burnet, a 22 year old student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, visited New York City with friends, just after Christmas. He disappeared just before New Years Eve. A police investigation has revealed that they believe that Ian had a prior history of suicide attempts, but this was uinknown to his 25 year old brother, who by all accounts is his best friend, and was unknown to his parents, who are involved and loving parents who have proudly stood while their son has lived independently in an apartment for years now. I am not sure I believe the story about prior suicide attempts.    If you see someone who looks like Ian Burnet, please go to www.findianburnet.com  where police contact information and full details are given.  Certainly by now, he could be anywhere.

Our youngest son Daniel,   The blog devoted to Daniel and his concerns.

           With Ian Burnet missing and his parents working hard to coordinate all they must do to get the word our to media, I can't help but recall what it was like to have our own youngest son die suddenly.  I have mentioned before, that three years ago, our youngest son, who had ostensibly no significant prior medical history, experienced a cardiac arrest which was resistant to CPR, and died here on the farm.  The medical ICU helicopter and local sheriff's office tried hard, following our own immediate CPR, but we could not save Daniel.  Daniel started the morning completely well planning Christmas shopping and asking us to get up in order to go. He ate cornflakes for breakfast, then walked into the bathroom, collapsed and died.  He heard the crash and entered immediately to help. Daniel had a negative autopsy and medical examiners surmise that Daniel experienced a sudden heart rhythm disturbance.  He had played soccer the day before, and seemed well, but a number of cardiac conduction disorders can produce death in a child who apparently appears healthy otherwise.  Of course, this will be a course of repeated sorrow throughout our lives as we miss Daniel, as our other children pass through the milestones of life.



         I mention both of these very severe and very different losses here on a survival/preparedness forum for a couple of reasons.  Each of us are here on this Earth in a somewhat precarious fashion, whether we choose to think about this, or believe it to be true.  Although each of us hope to pass through life without tragedies befalling our families, somethings they still do.   I would like to go over some practical things which could make differences should you or your family ever experience a tragedy from any source.

1.  Make sure that particularly fathers and mothers in your family have a Will.   Many families have lost a great deal or paid large sums to attornies when the laws in their nation favored the state, rather than their family following a tragedy or a sudden death.   My own aunt died intestate (without a Will) in England.  Her assets were divided by the state and included relatives she had not seen or spoken to(or liked very much)  in thirty years.  The final distribution would likely not have been her wish.   Any young adult with any assets whatsoever should have a Will.  It's fairly easy when your potential passing is imagined to be far in the future, to consider and to write one's Will.  Many US States allow a typed or handwritten Will, especially in a simple circumstance, which is simply notarized.

2.   Both fathers and mothers should have life insurance.  Unless you have pre-existing medical problems, term life insurance can be surprisingly inexpensive. When a mother or father dies, money for funerals, bills, college, and to pay off a mortgage can be a Godsend, especially for a family which may not function as smoothly as it once did.

3.   Make sure that everyone you love knows that they are.  Life's losses and sorrows are easier to bear when you know that the person you have lost knows how valued and how loved they were while you were lucky enough to have them with you here on Earth.

4.  Cultivate your faith. It doesn't matter to me which faith you embrace.  I have no particular interest in seeing to it that the world practices the faith I have chosen.  I do care that you have one however, because it makes surviving possible after a loss in which your continued survival is not necessarily assured. We once had friends who lost their three children in a fire. They survived as a direct result of their faith.  As older parents, they went on to have two additional children, but never to forget the three who await them later in Heaven.

5. Avoid financially overextending your family.  When we overextend financially, as in buy a home in a more expensive area than we can afford, or buy a more expensive car, we lock ourselves into a more stressful existence than we might otherwise.   When distracted or financially stressed, we are more likely to miss prompts to evacuate our region preemptively, or  take someone to a physician "on a hunch".  We need time, in this life, to listen to our positive impulses and intuitions, and we block these when we are financially stressed.

6. If you do experience a terrible loss of some kind, please know that the God who made us all, still loves you. He loves you whether you practice your regions favorite faith, or whether you have memorized stretches of scripture, or whether you are as perfect a person as God intended you to be.  Human beings are tremendously resilient creatures, and suicide by active means, or by default, is still a permanent solution to often temporary problems.

       I hope you have found some encouragement with regard to something said here today.