Answering the ACUSATION of a Hijacking.

Where to start with this. I and others have been accused of "hijacking" an idea. First of all no one person owns an "idea". Preparedness by any name, whether it be prepping, stocking-up, putting something back for a rainy day or any of a dozen names you could use to describe what we do has been around since the beginning of time. It's what smart people do to be able to take care of themselves and their family's during the lean times. Any of you that have followed me on this site or anywhere else you may have found me know that preparedness is not something I just dabble in, it IS my passion. I believe with every fiber of my of my being that teaching and helping others prepare themselves is what I was put here to do and the Internet is the best possible tool for the job at this time. And I do think networking is a good idea with many possibilities of helping thousands of people in these serious economic times in this world we call home. If I had not thought it was a good sound idea I would not have poured so much of myself in to the concept for the last eleven months. But, things were not working like they should because of various reasons that I will not delve in to here. I did not think I was doing what I truly wanted to be doing and did not think that was likely to change. There were just to many obstacles in the way for that to happen. I know that many of you do not have a clue about these things and I will not discuss them here, but if you want more answers you can find me as I do not intend to go away or leave the prepper community.
Now, on to the subject at hand. First of all this was not the work of just one or two people but is really a group effort by twenty plus people who have pooled their resources both financial and intellectual and brought a new community of prepping in to being. Tonight we have been called thieves, liars, profiteers and much worse in some instances by people whose feeling have been hurt it seems. To answer the charge of theft I would like to use a direct quote from a post from the APN main page on October 17 of this year by Tom Martin as follows "
So rather than fight over who coined the term "American Preppers" and who has rights to it, in an unprecedented move I am going to donate the term "American Preppers" to ALL preppers in the United States of America. This would be like Coca-Cola or Mcdonalds donating their trademark or intellectual property to the country. Like I said, it was a term that was meant for all preppers in America. If you are a prepper and wish to use it, feel free. The term "American Preppers" IS NOW PUBLIC DOMAIN". If something is freely put in to the public domain how can anyone steal it? As far as the principle of prepping, that is something that is in the heart, mind and soul, and that is not for sale or available for theft but can only be given to another person in the most charitable act one person could do for another. The charge of lying I can not answer without making public some very private information and I chose to take the high road and not do that because I hold my honor and the trust of others above all else. As to the charge of profiteering I can only say a couple of things. One is that to my knowledge not one cent has been made, only time and financial resources spent and the bills keep coming as this project is not yet finished. It was taken public today before it was truly ready because of the fact that someone whom I considered my friend had taken information they were privy to and released it to other people and that had the potential to do much damage to the prepper community as a whole. And nothing was worth that risk. As far as any future money that could be made with this effort I am prepared to make a public offer to a gentleman for whom I have a great deal of personal respect for as every time I had reason to deal with him he always acted with honor and integrity. At this time I offer Riverwalker a seat on the Board of Directors for the "Non-profit Organization" that stands behind this new effort to help people around the world get better prepared. This offer will remain open on my word of honor to Riverwalker as long as my Lord allows me to draw breath.
I know this dissertation will not satisfy some people and there is nothing I can do to change that fact, but I felt I needed to write this because once again I will not allow anything to get in the way of more people getting prepared and perhaps saving their families from a terrible fate. I have tried to present the facts in as straightforward and truthful manner as I possibly can and I have to leave you the reader to be the final judge. I will leave this up for one week and at that time I will turn this site back over to Tom Martin to do with as he wishes. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter. Gary