December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (born 1852, died May 9, 1931), who was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. I’m related to him, by marriage, on my paternal side.
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On Dec 19, 1776, Thomas Paine published “American Crisis”.
“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
These words were an inspiration to Washington’s dispirited men, having suffered humiliating defeats and encamped at McKonkey’s Ferry on the Delaware River. The beleaguered troops mustered their remaining hopes for victory, crossed the Delaware, and defeated the hung-over Hessians. The revolution had been salvaged.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 92 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. 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 (a $1,100 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
Second Prize:
- A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
- A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit. This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag. The value of this kit is $220.
- An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).
Third Prize:
- Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!
Round 92 ends on January 31, so get busy writing and e-mail 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.
Inspiring rally video. Lifted my spirits this morning.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/president-trump-releases-video-fight-trump-save-america-save-world/
Heavier than Gold. The Stuff of Black Holes.
The closest relative to myself with any evidence of serious brain power, was a Great Uncle who once headed the chemical engineering part of DuPont, and then later D
uPont. His patents on plastics were some the earliest. However, I still gravitate toward physics from time to time, and perhaps that is why l like studying ballistics, and theoretical physicists, the pre-Quantum Mechanics stuff, as it might pertain to our Constitution. I’m still on the Newtonian stuff. Occasionally something new catches my eye and brings me back. Although not discussed, are stranglets, quarks, quacks, and wackos, that are essential to the long half life of govenmentium, this is yet an interesting read.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/scientists-discover-heaviest-known-element-governmentium-1.764295
MAGPIE:SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known. The new element, governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, according to the team of research scientists in Budapest, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of two to six years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalysed with money, governmentium becomes administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
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T.R.,
Please post this on Editors Prepping Progress so more people can see it! This was terrific!
As always, hoping you…
Seymour Liberty
If you insist. I’ll clean up the intro tho…
As per your insistence, the article was resubmitted over on the Editor Prepping page.
Are you perhaps related to C. M. Liberty, aka. C. Moore Liberty?
Tunnel Rabbit,
Sorry I missed this (it got put in my email spam folder & I failed to check back here)!
Hadn’t seen a commenter named C.M. Liberty. Not me, and no family relation. Only a philosophical/idealogical similarity!
As always, hoping you…
Seymour Liberty
Brilliant. 😀
TR, I greatly enjoyed your addition to the periodic table. As I read all the serious contributions to SB, the chuckle-worthy ones from the likes of TR, StF, 3AD Scout, and you others (you know who you are, humorous ones) brighten my day.
Carry on
This is hilarious. Thank you for the laughs.
(A recycled Gab post)
Think Logistics.
Guns are a ton of fun, and although I am a serious reloader of precision rifles, I can also talk about, radios, infectious diseases, gardening, and solar water pumps, and other ‘stuff’. Boring yes, but also essential. Why a portable, surface water solar pump? Logistics. This article is boring, because it is loaded with technical information few could care about. The article also got me thousands of dollars of useful prizes that a serious survivalist would want.
Why is it important? Because water is life, and gardens require lots of it. This pump is also portable. It packs up small and light. Anywhere an auxiliary guerrilla operation may land, if on good soil, or not, that is within several miles of a surface water source, this class of pump can deliver up to 900 gallons of water per day in ideal conditions. Food will be the most important commodity that others would pay for in gold, or lead. One will have to protect it. Do also have the tactics, and operations in place to protect a small farming operation of many acres. A triangular perimeter is one way to protect a guerrilla, or traditional AGOP (My term, Agricultural Operation).
Based upon my experience as a gardener, if I had to supply the most calories and nutrition with very limited resources, my first choice in vegetables would be Giant Swiss Chard, and Yukon Gold potatoes for here in Montana. Of course a wider variety of veggies would be good. Last year, I had a massive for me tomato crop, but they got hit hard in an early frost. Hard lesson learned. Yet this kind of lesson is the best kind. In a setting were we must grow a subsistence type of garden, chose the most hardy of varieties that tend thrive in soils of certain regions and altitudes. If you cannot afford to stock pile years and years worth of food, at the very least, get high quality garden seedsm and store them in glass jars, and do not freeze them unless thoroughly dried to less than a 5 percent moisture content. But then this boring stuff! Right?
If you already have a small solar system to power radios, then the price of this pumping system is lower. For the price of a case of ammo, or a good AR, you could feed for family for a decade.
Dankoff Solar Powered Water Pumps
This article is essentially a poor prepper’s guide to the affordable solar-powered Dankoff Slow Pump. In my case, I put together a portable DIY solar water pump for only $1,500, including photovoltaic panels.
Water is life and the more ways we can get it, the better. For surface water, the Dankoff Slow Pump is what I would use in many situations. There are so many pumps to choose from, but to make a simple and easy choice; if I could only afford the least expensive, and most reliable solar pump for all surface water sources, it would be this pump. I have the Dankoff Model #1308-12, but I now recommend the #1303-24 as the best for the money for most folks, for several reasons. I learned by doing, and found that I should have got the #1303-24 instead. Learn from the mistakes of others, we…
Read the rest of the article here.
https://survivalblog.com/solar-powered-dankoff-slow-
Thanks Tunnel Rabbit! I hadn’t seen this article the first time around so I’m glad you reposted it.
From Wikipedia about the first people in North America, and some of their choices for a Survival garden. =
Three Sisters (agriculture) [This article is about maize, beans, and squash. For the variety of tomato, see Three Sisters tomato.]
The Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of various indigenous groups in North America: winter squash, maize (corn), and climbing beans (typically tepary beans or common beans). Originating in Mesoamerica, these three crops were carried northward, up the river valleys over generations, far afield to the Mandan and Iroquois who, among others, used these “Three Sisters” for food and trade. …
… The three crops benefit from each other. The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants use, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, helping prevent the establishment of weeds. The squash leaves also act as a “living mulch”, creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests. Corn, beans, and squash contain complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and all nine essential amino acids. ….
[More at Wikipedia and elsewhere on the Internet. … +The Pilgrims were able to celebrate Thanksgiving (to God), because of the Three Sisters and Squanto. He taught them how to grow food in the new world.]
The original 3 sisters process always had fish added to the center of the mound. We learned this as wee kids half a century ago. It was in every kids book about the Pilgrims. SInce then, the writers who sold only seeds left it out as a marketing ploy and the error keeps perpetuating. Add fish to your mounds of Three Sisters, if you are going to use the practice.
Holy Succotash! You are right that this the the Holy Trinity of the west.
The cole crops, carrots and potatoes rule the north.
As a lifetime gardener I appreciate the your comment.