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Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 19, 2019

Posted By James Wesley Rawles On In Note | Comments Disabled

On March 19, 1649, the House of Commons of England passed an act abolishing the House of Lords [1], declaring it “useless and dangerous to the people of England”. Perhaps it’s time Americans did the same with our Senate–or better yet return our Senate to its proper role of representing the individual States rather than electing Senators by popular vote.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 81 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [2]. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses [3], excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper [4]. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees [5] in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product [6] from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [7].

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 [8] Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [9] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [10] Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [11], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 81 ends on March 28th, so get busy writing and e-mail [12] us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

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JWR Adds: I hope that SurvivalBlog readers do not dismiss the following article as just a collection of slightly-dated reminiscences. This has great applicability to preppers, moving to retreat areas here in the United States. Whether you are moving from North to South, or from Urban to Rural, or simply from farming country to ranching country, there will always be at least a little culture shock. As the author stated, humility is the key. Be humble, Don’t try to change things in your new community.  You need to adapt to your neighbors and their customs. Not vice versa!

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Comments Disabled To "Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 19, 2019"

#1 Comment By BinWY On March 19, 2019 @ 5:59 pm

In what way would abolishing the Senate benefit us? That would put most of the power into the hands of Representatives, most of whom are from left-leaning big cities.

#2 Comment By N S On March 19, 2019 @ 7:16 pm

I’m of the belief that we need to return the Senate, as well as the House and other branches of gov. to it’s proper role as outlined in our Constitution. Only then can it operate under it’s intended premise. Not only return it to it’s intended course but ensure it cannot stray as it has done through apathy throughout the past 125 years…… But methinks that will take more education than is available throughout or present indoctrination centers…

#3 Comment By Charles K. On March 19, 2019 @ 7:27 pm

Amen and Amen!

Repeal the 17th amendment. If the Senate actually represented the State governments as they are supposed to, Obamacare would rightly never have seen the light of day.

As for having just the House of Representatives, only if we go back to the original representation as noted in the Constitution. No more than one for every 30 thousand, no less than one per state. Though I don’t see where that would change the results very much. Better still, change the Constitution to read no more than one fore every 200 thousand (maybe every 300 thousand) but no less than one per county. This would increase the size of the house tenfold, but throw representation in the favor of red state (or red county) America. Then repeal the 17th Amendment and put the State governments in control of the senate instead of having the political parties in control.

As an aside, I don’t see where the House was granted the authority by the States to limit representation to 435 people. In my case, I have ZERO representation in Washington.

#4 Comment By Travis On March 20, 2019 @ 2:53 am

Abolish the senate, you should listen to yourself say that.
All the legislative branch needs are term limits, it applies to the executive branch.
Increasing the amount of people to represent is even more absurd.
A rep. for every 200,000 or 300,000 seriously?

#5 Comment By Charles K. On March 20, 2019 @ 10:39 pm

Sir,

Our Constitution says no more than ONE for every 30,000. That would be a house of representative with 11,000 members. But one for every 200 or 300 thousand but no less than one per county would give better representation to the actual will of the people. It would also bring back much needed (little “r”) republicanism. The key is no less than one per county. There are a little less than 3200 counties in the US. The number might change for large counties, higher or lower, but the idea is to give more equal representation, representation that we do not currently have.

So, adamantly, Yes seriously!

#6 Comment By Travis On March 21, 2019 @ 2:24 am

Do you really want 3,200 or 11,000 in the House of Representatives?
I understand that would give you equal representation, on paper.
Do you think it would be more effective than the current 435 House members?

#7 Comment By Ole Granny On March 20, 2019 @ 10:41 pm

Actually repeal the 19th Amendment. Ann Coulter was correct, when you give women the right to vote they vote Democrat. it was always construed as a family vote that the man of the house would cast. It was never about genders where now a woman can vote opposite her husband and on purpose.

#8 Comment By Once a Marine… On March 21, 2019 @ 3:29 am

Regardless the number of representatives or how senators get there, remember one thing: They are PUBLIC SERVANTS. They work for us.

Now, we have been slack and allowed many various special interests to use money and cronyism to sway our public servants. Sigh, so it is.

I have had an experience where a U.S. Senator rewrote a bill after a conversation I had with one of his aides. He sent me a personal letter of thanks. I have that letter around here, somewhere…

Carry on