SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Today, JWR is filling in, since HJL is busy preparing our annual archives. The updated waterproof archive USB sticks should be available for ordering by January 17th.
Pelosi’s Legislative Crown Jewel
From all reports, incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D.-California) is already a scheming a raft of new anti-gun legislation. In addition to a so-called “assault weapons” and magazine ban, she will be pushing for what are euphemistically being called Universal Background Checks. This is the Crown Jewel of her planned legislative agenda. Emboldened by Trump Administration weakness on banning bumpfire stocks, Pelosi now wants to reach for the Brass Ring. Using feel-good phrases like “closing the gun show loophole”, the Democrats and their RINO Fellow Travelers want to destroy all privacy in private party sales of second-hand guns.
The Commerce Clause is clearly aimed at control of interstate commerce, but private party sales of used merchandise is clearly falls into the category of intrastate commerce. We are talking about two citizens of the same state selling and buying used goods. How does that have any bearing on interstate commerce, by any stretch of the imagination? The absurd mental gymnastics of Wickard v. Filburn were tempered by the reality check of U.S. v. Lopez, but the Supreme Court has not properly and fully revisited this issue. They need to overturn wicked Wickard.
Pelosi and her co-conspirators simply don’t care about the original intent of the Commerce Clause. They want the whole enchilada. They want every gun sale to go through an FFL, with a Brady-style background check and Form 4473 paperwork! (Even sales of used guns, between private parties.) Because FFL guns sales records are permanent and archived, this will create a de facto national firearms registry. Firearms ownership privacy will be destroyed, in just one generation!
Please, please contact your congressman and Senators, and firmly tell them NO to any and all gun control, Red Flag laws, and “Universal Background Checks.”
Meanwhile, In The Senate: In Deep Schumer
Thankfully the Republican party picked up a few seats in the U.S. Senate in the November 20199 midterm elections. But the Democrats, led by Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer (Democrat of New York) are still pushing hard to advance their agenda. Schumer has reportedly been consulting with Nancy Pelosi on legislative strategies for the 2019 session.
Analysis: U.S. Withdrawal From Syria
Here is the latest from Middle East Analyst (and believer) Amir Tsarfati: Special Middle East Update, Dec. 23, 2018. You can scroll forward to 7:50 fro the meat of his update. Tsarafti is a Reserve IDF Intelligence officer. His insights on Middle East affairs are excellent. I recommend subscribing to his channel.
Indonesia Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami
A recent headline underscores the folly of buying beachfront property. (American ex-pats, take note!) Tsunami hits without warning in Indonesia, killing over 220. Here is a quote:
“At least 222 people were killed as waves smashed into houses, hotels and other beachside buildings Saturday night along Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, in a disaster that followed an eruption and possible landslide on Anak Krakatau, one of the world’s most infamous volcanic islands.
More than 800 others were injured and dozens were reported missing after the tsunami hit coastal areas along western Java and southern Sumatra islands at 9:27 p.m. Saturday amid a Christmas holiday weekend, the Disaster Management Agency said. The death toll could increase once authorities hear from all stricken areas.
It was the second deadly tsunami to hit Indonesia this year, but the one that killed more than 2,500 people on the island of Sulawesi on Sept. 28 was accompanied by a powerful earthquake that gave residents a brief warning before the waves struck.”
Later, unconfirmed reports raised the death toll to more than 400. Please pray for the families of the victims.
NIAC Recommends a Culture of Preparedness
In a recently-released report on the risk of grid-down disasters, the Trump Administration’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) now recommends developing “a culture of preparedness, readying the nation for catastrophic disasters.” Here is a key quote: “Ultimately all events, from small to large disasters, are local. This means that those closest to impacted areas are the true first responders during any emergency or disaster—from individuals to families to neighbors and local communities. However, there remains an ongoing myth that the federal government will be able to provide assistance and resources directly after an event to help with response and that is not always the case.”
GoFundMe Border Wall Project is Blossoming
The much-publicized private funding for extending the southern U.S. border wall is blossoming. More than $17 million was raised in the first 10 days. The project on GoFundMe, titled “We The People Will Fund The Wall’ was launched by Brian Kolfage, a decorated triple amputee veteran of the war in Iraq. Given the nationwide publicity and quasi-viral nature of this appeal, I expect it to take on “self-fulfilling prophecy” proportions, with strong contributions to continue into the New Year. If this campaign continues on its current trajectory, I can foresee somewhere north of $25 million will be raised by January 5th, 2019. Hopefully, that will be enough to shame even the otherwise shameless the U .S. Congress into funding the remainder of the $5 Billion USD that DJT has requested. This is the same Congress that appropriated $55.9 billion in its international budget, which includes foreign aid.
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Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
Interesting: CNN video for this article talks about “way of life could grind to a halt” during a flu pandemic. Video title: “How the flu spreads”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/28/health/flu-activity-cdc-report-bn/index.html
Takes three branches of Gov to pass a bill. Not just the Congress…
Trump banned the bumpstocks. He wont say no to Nancy
The House and Senate are Congress- one branch, the Presidency is one branch, the Supreme Court is the third, they have nothing to do with passing bills.
No, they simply bypass that pesky constitution and legislate from the bench.
RE: tuesdayissoylentgreenday; A bill goes from Congress (part of Legislative branch) to the Senate (part of Legislative branch) and than signed by President (Executive branch). Judicial branch (3rd branch) is not involved in passing a bill.
Re. Pelosi’s Legislative Crown Jewel
Will we ever draw a line in the sand for our liberties?
It was just a rhetorical question. We got our answer when the Republicans’ NDAA destroyed your Bill of Rights. Not one shot was fired. That was 7-1/2 years ago.
Like A. B. Prosper stated, “Americans may have hundreds of millions of guns and metric tons of ammo but the question is do they have anything they will fight for?”
” the question is do they have anything they will fight for?”… probably not.
The Deep State and Washingtonian Star Chamber is very adept at manipulating the system… they know how to manage the ventriloquist dummies in congress, the news media, buy off voters, etc. Its the old “boil the frog” strategy. They bring these laws and regulations on very slowly… a little bit at a time. That way, no unorganized militia is going to spontaneously rise up and march around the mall in front of the Capitol waving their assault rifles.
No one is going to protest or start a shooting war over bump stocks. Nor will they when they ban large capacity magazines… nor will they for banning assault rifles… etc. When they eventually curtail ammunition sales, what is anyone going to do about it?
Nothing. We know it and they know it.
The best anyone is going to be able to do is to get really good at hiding stuff, learn how to improvise replacement parts, and possibly learn how to manufacture powder.
Reminds me of a news story I read recently. An old woman who had worked for British Intelligence back in WW-2 died. When they went to clean out her house they found a full auto Sten in the attic. She had apparently been issued one, and held onto it after the war. She had it for years and no one was the wiser.
Prepare yourself for the “long game.” The Left has been playing it for years now.
Yes, American’s will fight for and with Jesus, our Lord and Savior!
Jesus has no interest in human politics
@jima,
You think He doesn’t have any interest in political discussions that lead to outcomes such as ROE V. WADE, which has let to the slaughter of 40+ million innocent babies created in His image in the name of personal convenience? Or the leftward indoctrination of (now three) generations of Americans, of whom many now believe the person sitting next to them is nothing more than protein-based matter with no intrinsic moral value? Considering the core message of Jesus’ ministry and the answer he gave when questioned about which of the commandments are the greatest (love the Lord and those around you), do you really think He doesn’t care at all if our politics lead us away from those tenets?
Strange to say He has no interest…even Benjamin Franklin openly declared (while immersed in a classic political setting in 1787) that God most certainly concerns himself in the affairs of men…
Correct, I do not think He does have an interest in the political wiles and outright evil of men. The days of God’s intercession are gone. God has lifted no hand to stop the evil that men do throughout post Biblical history. His Commandments to Believers are detailed and simple (and all that is really needed for humanity to function morally)…But the truth is that they are generally ignored by both Believers and especially non-believers. God is done with us until the mid-Tribulation second coming, Christians will be martyred…we are on our own until He presents Himself to us again. That doesn’t mean give up, it means that it’s a continuous spiral down the spiritual drain and it’s up to each one of us to hold up those Commandments as best we can.
I have tried to leave a detailed reply to this comment with no luck. Is this FaceBook all over again?
Ask Joan of Arc about that.
@jima,
In follow-up to your reply above, all I can say is…wow. What a fatalistic view. It is highly contradictory to suggest that God both loves us enough to provide a way for personal salvation and a hope with Him (Jesus’ atonement on our behalf), and also that he doesn’t care about us and has “left us on our own” and will not intercede on our behalf if we call on Him.
Private sales and transfers have been banned here already but go on anyway and will continue to do so. People and family who know each other continue to function as usual.
What has stopped entirely is advertising the sale of firearms to the general public by non FFL entities.
Ozarkansan (or Missourian) Redneck,
You stand correct on the NORMAL progress of making law.
Sadly, the more odious of our ‘settled law’ has come through that THIRD branch, the imperial judiciary. The culture of America in the 1950s (when I started school) was solid and relatively wholesome. It has been mostly stolen, hidden, and now even mocked by and with the support of federal court decisions, some of which seem at best, ambivalent at the time, but remove the support for ancillary issues.
The State of Washington has a progressive majority in house, senate, state supreme court, and news media. With out-of-state money, gun rights have been subverted and restricted, usually by initiative. As of a year back, the ‘transfer’ of a firearm to anyone became illegal unless a state permit is obtained. Letting my son borrow my model 12 for a duck hunt would involve paperwork through an FFL dealer and a fee to the state.
This November, it got even worse!
We have only one more day for a twenty-year-old to legally purchase a Ruger 10/22 “assault rifle.” After July 1, 2019, many more odious impacts reach folks of any age.
Do not let this happen to you!
rebIanos
The “no sales to anyone under 21” laws recently enacted in WA, FL, and other states will undoubtedly be overturned in an eventual SCOTUS hearing. The curtailing of core rights cannot be based upon age, otherwise if this were argued to be acceptable then the age itself is a movable line, yes? If the line can be “legally” drawn at 21 and upheld, then it can be moved at any time. Why not move it to 30, or even 40?
In another vein, if one Constitutional right is allowed to be curtailed, why not others? If you can’t enjoy the 2A until 21, then what’s the legal argument why you can enjoy your freedom of speech, or worship, or protection against unlawful searches, or a speedy trial by a jury of your peers?
The logic behind the current onslaught of Red Flag/ERPO laws and “only over 21” firearm laws doesn’t hold water, and will eventually be challenged and appealed to SCOTUS.
That was done many years ago when school children were decided not to have 4th Amendment protection(war on drugs/Reagan hated freedom)
I was referring to those of legal adult age. Our rights are openly declared in the DOI as “unalienable”, which means gov’t cannot remove or infringe upon them. This seems to be lost upon an increasing percentage of our society, and needs to be reinforced in court from time to time.
The 4th Amend. topic you brought up, however, is not cleanly established, as it continues to be debated. I cannot speak for other locales, but here in CA school children cannot generally be searched without their parents or legal guardians present, and parents can always refuse. As a parent, I know this from personal experience.
Back at ya. Do not let this happen to you. Ignore ot. Get everyone you know to ignore it. Start a legal fund to bail out and defend anyone arrested under this law. Fight that battle to the Supreme Court, if needed. If that fails, shoot the tyrants(or hang them, I don’t care). This will not stop as long as we simply cower in fear and whine about how our “rights” were “subverted and restricted”. News flash. The word is infinged. And a right is something you have, not something granted to you. If you want to keep a right, you fight and die for it if needed. Or you admit it was simply a privelege all along and let lesser men than yourself steal your birthright without so much as a bloody nose.
Do we value life more than liberty? Perhaps even our possessions? The Bible says a live dog is better than a dead lion. Of course, the guy that said it slaughtered a ton of folks to protect his country, people, and way of life. Pacifism is for those who fill the mass graves. We must fight this galloping tyranny at every opportunity, or it will be a big hole and a bulldozer for us. You need to be teaching your son to resist, not neutering him for the benefit of the State. And grow a set yourself, so you can show him how a man acts when a bully tries to order him around. All this handwringing, beta male, lay-down-and-take-it, woe-is-us prattle is driving me crazy. Makes me feel like my side is full of a bunch of wussies who are just gonna let the queers, soy boys and geeks tell us what we will do! It really is revenge of the nerds…
Judiciary is the entity declaring all the laws they don’t like to be unconstitutional. Emporer Inslee, the Green Party governor of Washington has his puppeteer’s carefully chosen socialists on the state Supreme Court hard at work and they’re giving him the results the puppeteers want.
Only one day left now for 18 to 20 year olds to exercise the rights millions of military fought to keep.
Somebody needs to be teaching those 18 to 20 year olds about resistance and being a man. Although, with the defeatist sniveling coming from their fathers, I have no idea who is going to do it…
“Americans may have hundreds of millions of guns and metric tons of ammo but the question is do they have anything they will fight for?”
Considering the makeup of today’s America – not much!
California has banned ammo sales outside of FFL dealers. No more UPS ammo to door. Sword canes, blow guns, .50 Cal, pepper spray over 2oz., batons are just a few of the things banned by Nanny State. No private sales either.
Welcome to YOUR future.
It’s time to fight or SHUT up! Your children’s children will be blessed by fight to KEEP your God given rights. Stop allowing these bueracrates in LEFTist Washington demand you to disarm.
Watching David Hogg before Congress was enough to lock and load for me…. There was NO gun control when the Christian principles were taught in the public schools…. There needs to be LEFTist doctrine control–that’s the reason for these mass murders that didn’t happen in a Christian nation with unbridled gun laws.
God Bless!
This is the same Congress that appropriated $55.9 billion in its international budget, which includes foreign aid.
That is true. With that in mind, I suggest that foreign aid may be to war what elderberry syrup is to flu.
We have extremely expensive treatment for disease (medical care) and extremely expensive treatment for armed conflict (military intervention). I prefer, whenever possible, to practice prevention over intervention.
Carry on