Preparedness Notes for Sunday — May 31, 2020

Happy 90th birthday, Clint!  May 31, 1930 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood.

On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. The avalanche moved downhill at a speed estimated at 100 MPH. with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic feet of ice, mud, and rock. The avalanche traveled nearly 11 miles, burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca in up to 300 feet of rock and debris. It is estimated that this earthquake and avalanche killed more than 20,000 Peruvians. It is the deadliest avalanche in recorded history.

May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides.

We just got this update from Brad Stieg, the owner of Harvest Guard Reusable Canning Lids: “All orders at canninglids.com have been on back-order status since April 24th due to Wuhan Virus-related manufacturing issues/delays at our reusable gasket supplier in Indiana.  Today we received word they are finally shipping us product and we will commence shipments early next week. We increased the SurvivalBlog discount from 10% to 20% during this period of turmoil, but all good things must come to an end.  We will continue to honor the 20% discount code “survivalblog” through June 7, 2020, after which it will return to 10%.”

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  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, 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. 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 in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. 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.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 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 (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. 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)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. 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.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 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 88 ends on May 31st, 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.




14 Comments

  1. I just This morning had an alert sent to me about a 6.0 Quake in Peru. It seems like they get some rather large rattlers on a regular basis. I believe this is in the Ring of Fire.

    Have a Rockin great day

  2. SurvivalBlog has a number of articles about >staying physically fit. [It will help in survival situations and overall ~lifetime health too.]

    Clint Eastwood in the movies seems to be physically fit. This event happened, when he was young and in the US Military.

    “In 1951, Eastwood was drafted by the United States Army and assigned to Fort Ord in California, where he was appointed as a lifeguard and projectionist of training films.”

    “Eastwood was in the radar operator’s compartment of a Douglas AD-1Q dive bomber that crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the Point Reyes Peninsula near San Francisco.” [The Pacific Ocean current comes down from Alaska; the water is Cold.] …

    “Both Eastwood and the pilot were uninjured and Eastwood was able to swim to shore using a life raft.” [The pilot made shore too.] …
    …….. “He [Eastwood] later reflected on his thoughts during the crash, “I thought I might die. But then I thought, other people have made it through these things before. I kept my eyes on the lights on shore and kept swimming.”
    [Wikipedia]
    *********************

    Plus from the Internet Free Dictionary.
    to·pon·y·my
    The place names of a region or language.
    The study of such place names.
    toponymist
    a person who studies place names

  3. “Happy 90th birthday, Clint! May 31, 1930 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood.”

    Back in the 1980s, comedian Sam Kinison had a line that went something like

    ‘What a great time for America! Ronald Reagan is president, and Clint Eastwood has his own police force’

    referring to Clint’s term as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

    Yeah, the 1980s was a great time.

      1. RKR, I doubt that I have ever disagreed with you.

        Sigh. Your 80s rocked. For others, a different experience.

        On Oct 23, 1983 my heart broke as I heard the news that 241 Marines had been murdered by a truck bomb in Beirut. I learned later of what made that possible. This excerpt just touches on it.

        “After the barracks bombing, many questioned whether President Ronald Reagan had a solid policy aim in Lebanon. Serious questions also arose over the quality of security in the American sector of war-torn Beirut. The U.S. peacekeeping force occupied an exposed area near the airport, but for political reasons the marine commander had not been allowed to maintain a completely secure perimeter before the attack. In a national address on October 23, President Reagan vowed to keep the marines in Lebanon, but just four months later he announced the end of the American role in the peacekeeping force. ”

        Years later a co-worker told me of a time, in 1985, he was helping his church group build a school in El Salvador. The village he was staying in was attacked and he spent the night on his belly as bullets blasted through his hut. He told me it seemed like a sort of justice since he had attacked several villages in Vietnam with his Marine company. He said he then knew the terror the Vietnamese villagers must have felt. He also told me his research of that time in El Salvador revealed some facts he hated to read.

        The fully-fledged civil war lasted for more than 12 years and included the deliberate terrorizing and targeting of civilians by US-trained government death squads including prominent clergy from the Catholic Church, the recruitment of child soldiers and other human rights violations, mostly by the military.[24] An unknown number of people disappeared while the UN reports that the war killed more than 75,000 people between 1979 and 1992.[25][26][27] The war ended with the Chapultepec Peace Accords, but in 2016 the El Salvador Supreme Court ruled that the 1993 amnesty law was unconstitutional and that the El Salvador government could prosecute war criminals.[28]

        The United States contributed to the conflict by providing military aid of $1–2 million per day to the government of El Salvador during the Carter[29] and Reagan administrations and provided significant training. The Salvadoran government was considered “friendly” and allies by the U.S. in the context of the Cold War.[30] By May 1983, US officers started to take over positions in the top levels of the Salvadoran military and were making critical decisions and running the war.[31]

        On 15 March 1981, the Salvadoran Army began a “sweep” operation in Cabañas Department in northern El Salvador near the Honduran border. The sweep was accompanied by the use of scorched earth tactics by the Salvadoran Army and indiscriminate killings of anyone captured by the army. Those displaced by the “sweep” who were not killed outright fled the advance of the Salvadoran Army; hiding in caves and under trees to evade capture and probable summary execution. On 18 March, three days after the sweep in Cabañas began, 4–8,000 survivors of the sweep (mostly women and children) attempted to cross the Rio Lempa into Honduras to flee violence. There, they were caught between Salvadoran and Honduran troops. The Salvadoran Air Force, subsequently bombed and strafed the fleeing civilians with machine gun fire, killing hundreds. Among the dead were at least 189 persons who were unaccounted for and registered as “disappeared” during the operation.[82]

        Our government…

        Carry on in grace

        1. Dear Once a Marine, About Beirut, I had to do a double take at the date. Why didn’t I remember that? I was doing a college semester in Europe, without t.v. or radio, busy studying and traveling… I’m so sorry for your pain and the loss of our Marines. I can only compare it to my sorrow watching the two towers get hit on 9/11. It’s like time stopped. You remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you found out. I know my scenario is nothing in depth of pain as yours with fellow soldiers.

          About El Salvador, um, I was completely ignorant, and I am indebted to you for giving me a history lesson…

          It is hard to find words… Shock. Horror. Disillusionment.

          ***

          My favorite name of God is, “El Roi,” the God who sees. Gen. 16: 1-15.
          I believe He saw all that happened and will bless those that loved Him, and repay the evil ones for what they did or commanded be done. I love the end of Revelations, because God makes a new world and those of us that loved Him, will live again in the new Jerusalem in joy. My hope is that those cut down and murdered will be there too.

          Thank you for sharing the truth. Krissy

          1. I appreciate your tender reply, Krissy. There is a large trove of information out there about the war in El Salvador.

            Carry on in grace

          2. RKRGRL, I was also oblivious at that age.

            I accept your apology while requesting that you forgive yourself. You did nothing to cause me pain. The pain was there and you gave me an opening to further grieve. I offer you gratitude. If we were in the same room I would offer you a hug, coronavirus be damned.

            BTW, I wasn’t brave or tough in my military time. Just did a job. I have actually showed more bravery and service to my community since I was discharged.

            I hope your young Marines continue to be well on their bases.

            Oh, and your dad. Tell him I saw a bumper sticker: No longer lean/Just as mean/Always a Marine. When was he in the Marines?

            Carry on in grace

        2. Once a Marine,

          I read and re read your post about a dozen times and also cried. I feel ashamed that I was so trite in describing my experience in the 80’s. I was young then and of course thought I was on top of the world. Back then I was woefully unaware of these things that were happening in our world because I was selfish and uneducated about what brave people like you and your friends sacrificed day in and day out for the freedoms that we all have. I have so much respect for you even though I have never met you and I honestly never realized how much a few words from someone like me could be so hurtful. I’m so grateful for your guidance and friendship. Please accept my apology for my ignorant statement

          Respectfully your friend
          RKRGRL68

  4. Tim Pool : New Video Emerges Showing This Is ORGANIZED Insurrection, We Are Entering Full Civil War Territory 05/31/2020

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT3CZ-BDwnQ

    “The image you’re seeing on your screen is from NBC in the Bay Area. A federal office was shot and killed in the riots. The police don’t know if the men who did this are connected to the riots, but they think that organized groups are using this as cover to commit acts like this.”

  5. it may have been a mistake but when he picked bloomberg the socialist for president i lost all respect for him…i also found out through wiki that he doesn’t believe in God either…one more childhood idol crushed…Thank God we have John Wayne!!!!

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