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 “JWR”. Today, we focus on Model Legislation.
From Self-Reliance to Community Resilience
Reader Jim L. recommended this: From Self-Reliance to Community Resilience: Jacqui Riordan & Robb Worthington at TEDxHickory. Jim’s L.’s Comments: “I am impressed. Note especially the comments after minute mark 13:00. They seem to be our kind of folks.”
Copy, Paste, Legislate (Model Legislation)
From Reader H.L.: COPY, PASTE, LEGISLATE. You elected them to write new laws. They’re letting corporations do it instead. I’m posting this quote:
“Each year, state lawmakers across the U.S. introduce thousands of bills dreamed up and written by corporations, industry groups and think tanks.
Disguised as the work of lawmakers, these so-called “model” bills get copied in one state Capitol after another, quietly advancing the agenda of the people who write them.
A two-year investigation by USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic and the Center for Public Integrity reveals for the first time the extent to which special interests have infiltrated state legislatures using model legislation.
USA TODAY and the Republic found at least 10,000 bills almost entirely copied from model legislation were introduced nationwide in the past eight years, and more than 2,100 of those bills were signed into law.
The investigation examined nearly 1 million bills in all 50 states and Congress using a computer algorithm developed to detect similarities in language. That search – powered by the equivalent of 150 computers that ran nonstop for months – compared known model legislation with bills introduced by lawmakers.
The phenomenon of copycat legislation is far larger. In a separate analysis, the Center for Public Integrity identified tens of thousands of bills with identical phrases, then traced the origins of that language in dozens of those bills across the country.”
Court of Appeals Ruling on Sleeping on Public Property
Peter forwarded a PDF link: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling on sleeping on public property. A snippet:
“Judge M. Smith stated that the panel’s reasoning will soon prevent local governments from enforcing a host of other public health and safety laws, such as those prohibiting public defecation and urination, and that the panel’s opinion shackles the hands of public officials trying to redress the serious societal concern of homelessness.”
Amazon’s Digital Book Burning Spree
Bokhari: Amazon Is on a Digital Book Burning Spree.
Jeffrey Tucker on Statism
Reader H.L. suggested this at Zero Hedge: “It’s Not The Economy, Stupid… It’s The State!” Here are two key quotes from the article:
“There really are only two ways to allocate goods and services in society: the markets (which rely on individual choice) and the state (which runs on compulsion). No one has ever found a third way. You can mix the two — some markets and some state-run operations — but there always is and always will be a toggling between the two. If you replace markets, the result will be more force via the state, which means bureaucratic administration and rule by force. If you reduce the role of the state, you rely more on markets. This is the logic of political choice, and there is no escaping it.”
and,
“The reason we hear so little frank talk on this subject is that hardly anyone has ever really enjoyed their dealings with a state bureaucracy when it is imposed upon them. You think that the local DMV experience is subpar; wait until you face your first federal audit or FBI investigation, or seek benefits from some agency. Or perhaps you have a relative who is mixed up in the criminal-justice system. Whatever it is, no experience in the private sector can compare.
It means unpredictable wait times. You aren’t really a customer; you are a bother — at best. Objecting to any aspect of the service is mostly pointless. Step out of line and you are in trouble. You are a subject, and the sullen faces and dreary postures of your fellow citizens in line underscores the point.
The truth is that no one relishes dealing with the government at any level. Where would you rather be: the driver’s license bureau or McDonald’s? The school district office or a local bar? A military base or a car plant? The courthouse or the shopping mall? Want to deal with a government cop or a private security guard?
There’s a pattern here. It’s a hugely important one. The relationship between the individual and the state, vs. the same individual and the market, is fundamentally different. We all know this intuitively.”
Oregon Bureaucrats Decry 30,000 Vaccine Exemptions
Long-time link contributor DSV sent us this: Oregon Blames Downloadable Forms for 30,000 Vaccine Exemptions, Says It Will Crack Down.
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You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!
Sleeping on Public Property
David Horsey in “the Seattle Times made a cartoon on the subject
One has to wonder how the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals members would feel if they found a bunch of drug addicts camped out on the sidewalk in front of their homes as well as the feces, needles, and trash that accumulate until they move on to trash another place. But alas they do not live in areas where this is occurs.
Saving the homeless has a become a big cash cow for non profit organizations and is most likely to continue until the turnip runs out of blood and the golden goose dies. There is no doubt in my mind that when the balloon goes up the entitled will resort to any lawless means to get free stuff from you and me when Uncle Sugar can no longer provide it, without the Ninth Circuit Court to protect them they will find out that their life styles and lives will meet a lot more resistance from the population at large. I am not condoning lack of charity but by definition charity is voluntary, not being coerced by the state to back failed social experiments, that is extortion. Repeating them again and again with nothing to show but more lipstick on the same pig. I have to believe that many well meaning people do not realize that they are being manipulated into become nothing more than enablers for many and cash cows for a few by self serving politicians, bogus organizations, and government bureaucrats.
i have to mildly dissent here.
If you actually read the whole thing, it IS an 8th amendment issue.
The homeless problem is a big problem, but petty, unconstitutional laws are NOT the way to fix things.
In this case there is an existing legal agreement to NOT enforce public sleeping laws WHEN THERE IS NO SHELTER. The latter is key.
If a law is impossible to comply with, it cannot be a valid law.
Even the public urination/defecation is not the issue it is made out to be. They could be arrested if there were facilities available.
We often decry petty rules by the BLM, park service, USF&W, etc. – consider if there was a law requiring you to not do your business out in the wilderness on “public” lands. You would have to carry a porta-potty or something. Or just hold it in.
Meanwhile, these people typically have mental health problems. Locking them up in jails – how will they pay the fines? – is not going to get them treated. It will merely provide a very expensive shelter. Some homeless do commit crimes – but jails have a limited capacity. Seattle (as in “is dying”) releases them, but if they didn’t how long could they hold them?
Add the vagrancy, loitering, and add “disorderly conduct” and other “contempt of cop” charges that are used against anyone to the right of Hillary when they are trying to assemble and petition for a redress of grievances. There is the case where Anti-Fa was attacking a man in Oregon and he was convicted of a felony for merely pulling out his gun to defend himself. In this case there is a second amendment right but you can’t possibly use it to actually defend yourself in Portland. Apparently even the police are having trouble.
The larger problem is no one wants to really solve the problem. The left thinks they are expressing themselves by beng ugly, stinky, self-destructive nuisances. The right just sees bad criminals that deserve prison but don’t want their taxes doubled to handle it. Even the churchians instead of giving them a path to salvation and reform, just enable them, and preventing them from hitting bottom where they might actually wake up that they are in hell and cry to heaven.
One of the problems with the homeless issue is that too many programs are available to them, and this makes those who run the programs “enablers,” to use the addiction treatment terminology.
Public programs help them to maintain their lifestyles. The voters in LA County (where the homeless population is over 50,000) voted to increase the sales tax and to spend $355 million over ten years in order to reduce the homeless problem. Some of this money will be spent on housing. Some will be spent on services. It may make a dent in the problem, but it won’t result in the homeless all agreeing to move to residential units that become available. A substantial number will refuse. They choose their lifestyle because they like it, and others are just crazy or are using too many drugs to care.
In any event, what the programs will certainly do is to serve as an enticement for homeless living in Detroit, Colorado, or St. Louis to “go West, young man.” Why not spend January and February in shirtsleeves with lots of free services?
If people in LA want to increase their sales tax to serve the homeless, that is their business, so I will happily watch their liberal chickens come home to roost as LA serves as a national magnet for the homeless.
It needs to be said, however, that besides additional government services, secular charities and Christian churches that run soup lines are part of the problem. A church in a city adjacent to mine runs a soup line during the week. Just as with feeding pigeons, the number of homeless people increase near the church. I suppose that the church’s membership sleeps better at night knowing that this is “what Jesus would do,” while the quality of life in their city is deteriorating.
One final thought. The homeless camps probably serve as an insight into the likely conditions following a major societal calamity.
The appalling conditions with regard to shelter and lack of hygiene have already produced hepatitis and typhus in the City of LA, and the appearance of bubonic plague has been predicted by health authorities due to the explosion of the rodent population that is related to the filth and garbage at the encampments.
What’s next? Cholera, Dysentery, and Typhoid Fever? That should just about round out the post-Apocalyptic spectrum should things ever go south after, say, an EMP attack that takes out the national power grid.
survivormann99, you are right about ~how homeless encampments, could well be part of our common future, if there is a big disaster. [Check SurvivalBlog for need items to prepare.]
For now:
Matthew 25:35-40 New International Version (NIV) =
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
[In my home town, the Mayor is Jewish, and working to help find shelter for all the homeless people. God Bless his soul; it’s an endless task.
James 1 NIV
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
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In my town, it seems that many of the homeless are also drug addicts. … President Trump with his plan to build a wall, and also arrest the illegal drug traffickers, should be a good plan, to mitigate the homeless situation and the illegal drug problem in the USA.
Plus, it’s reasonable to believe, the more people entering the USA trying to find housing, the more likely someone will end up sleeping on the sidewalk. ‘Sort of like a real life game of musical chairs.’
GGHD:
2 Thessalonians 3:10 …if a man will not work, he shall not eat.
I was the chairman of a church board for many years. We occasionally had to take some firm actions in regards to improper behavior of people within the church. In those case we inevitably were quoted many scriptures regarding mercy and love as people behaved in ways which caused serious damage within the congregation. I noted that these calls for mercy were often conducted in a manner that resembled a “drive by shooting”. A person would swing into a board meeting, quote a verse, pray for our (the board’s) forgiveness in our clearly evil behavior and then scurry out the door prior to being challenged. It did not take long to become immune.
The Bible is balanced. It calls for mercy but also calls for accountability. When Jesus addressed sinners, he was merciful but also said, “Sin no more.”
The bulk of the people on the streets today are there because they want to be there. Not everyone, but the bulk are. They do not want to work. They want unfettered access to drugs and/or alcohol. They do not want to be constrained by things like bathing or other social norms. How do I know this? They say so.
There are numerous programs, public and private, already in place for people who want off the street and some people avail themselves of these programs and we should ensure they continue to have these opportunities. The rest of the people do not need to be made comfortable. They need to be made uncomfortable.
Balance. We need it and we do not have it.
We face a dilemma of our own making. I agree with Matthew, quoted above, though often fall short.
In January 2017, Sarah Latimer posted a powerful essay on SB. I copied much of it and offer her words of wisdom today.
Carry on
Our nation has great need that has been neglected; the hundreds of millions of Americans outside the work force, the problems with our educational system, the violence and crime, the healthcare crisis, and our nation’s enormous indebtedness and economic frailty are undeniable. The Bible clearly speaks about responsibilities to our own family’s needs and then to give to those in need around us. I believe this applies to nations as well. Furthermore, charity isn’t really the government’s responsibility, though it has been delegated to our inefficient government primarily because individuals, churches, and communities have failed to do it. According to the Bible, it is the duty of believers to work diligently as they are able to care for one another, to be frugal in their spending, and to care for those in need around them and those whom the LORD puts on their hearts to care for, whether they must travel to put hands and feet on the ground in caring for those in need, make donations to enable others to meet needs, or to do both. We are also to care for those who are not believers, as how are we to share the Gospel with those who are hungry unless we first feed them? It’s our responsibility and not the responsibility of our government. There were covenants made by our nation’s forefathers, but those had to do with the people submitting to God’s authority. Once again, it is about the people’s hearts and actions rather than the responsibility (through legislation and/or redistribution of monies obtained through increased debt) of the politicians in Washington, D.C.
on:
I agree with you in principle.
I would add though, that IMO the bulk of our problems are not material. They are behavioral and spiritual.
While public policy has gutted many of the good jobs in this country, the majority of people can find decent work. Especially right now. Many do not want it.
Many do not want to do the most basic things such as even clean their living quarters, show up for work (on time or at all), stay reasonably sober, provide even basic discipline for their children, control procreating children, etc. We have lost the ability to live in a responsible manner and we are passing this irresponsibility on to our children.
Additionally these issues are not just limited to the poor in this country. Even those who come from adequate or relatively high income are losing these abilities.
The destruction of the nuclear family is a large part of this. On this point I am sure I am not saying anything new to most on this site. This is probably the number one issue.
To see some good examples of the way to live even in difficult time, I would point to the pre-1960s African American community. Despite real discrimination, they had strong families, a strong work ethic, and strong sense of community. They typically had low unemployment. It was the destruction of the family starting in the 1960s which brought many down even as discrimination let up.
And I am of the opinion that to see where the white community is going to be in perhaps 20 years, look at the African American community today. And to see how to live successfully today, look for the successful conservative black men now. There are still some around and they display the life discipline necessary to get us out of this mess. Of course many other men of other ethnicities show the way as well, but I think the African American men illustrate the contrast well. The ones that have it together and make no excuses contrast so much with the others who do not take responsibility that they stand out a bit more to me and challenge me to not make excuses in my own life.
@Joe, i think you are right. I would go one step further and assert this is a drug addiction crisis, not a homelessness issue. I think anyone would be hard pressed to find many stone-cold-sober homeless people. Most have drug addictions. Locking them up in jail might well be the most loving and compassionate act we can do for them, cutting their access to the rampant illegal street drugs that are tragically ruining their lives, and ensuring they are in a medically monitored facilities (such as jail) where they can safely begin their path to sobriety, wellness, and recovery. I have worked as a medical professional with this patient population and can say with a level of certainty that drug addiction correlates strongly with homelessness. By curing the former you eliminate the latter.
“Each year, state lawmakers across the U.S. introduce thousands of bills dreamed up and written by corporations, industry groups and think tanks.”
“Disguised as the work of lawmakers, these so-called “model” bills get copied in one state Capitol after another, quietly advancing the agenda of the people who write them.” (SurvivalBlog quoting ~ Reader HL in this article page)
The main job of a lawmaker is to ‘raise enough money to get reelected.’ … The future laws are written by the lobbyists, which then become enacted by the legislature.
[Not my words, but commonly said by knowledgeable people writing about the legislative process. … It’s also commonly said, ‘You’ll know when the politicians are lying, when their lips start to move!’ ]
What’s our worry? Our elected lawmakers, ‘Dance to the tune of the money-providers.’ ~ “Anti-Gun Billionaire George Soros Pumps $18 Billion into His Political Apparatus.” NRA/ILA OCTOBER 20, 2017. ~~ Numerous NRA articles detail the ~billions spent by gun confiscation advocates, such as ‘Soros’ and many others.’ ~ Join a gun rights group. There are plenty of them; at least one must be suitable.
The NRA explains how ~millions of potential crimes are prevented each year by just the presence of a good-guy with a gun. … The ‘gun-grabbers’ just want the ~honest people to have a ‘bucket of rocks’ for self defense. (Maybe, that’ll be illegal too!)
It could be an Epitaph on a Tombstone, ‘Here lies Honest ‘bucket of rocks’ Harry. ~ Shot dead by an outlaw with his illegal gun.’
“Flaw in Glock Design”…….
SEQUIM – KONP, in an exclusive investigation, has learned that on March 28th, two days after the nation’s ban on bump stocks went into effect, at around 1:00 P.M., members of the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) and agents with Homeland Security served a search warrant at a residence located on the 300 block of West Fir Street in Sequim, across the street from Helen Haller Elementary School.
The warrant was served after the United States Postal Inspector alerted those agencies that they had intercepted a package from China that contained items that would convert a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic handgun in violation of both state and federal law.
During the course of the search, a firearm compatible with the above parts was located.
No arrests were made during the search warrant as the investigation is still ongoing.
The above information, provided by OPNET, had to be cleared by Homeland Security before we were given access to it.
The devices seized convert the trigger of a Glock handgun and make it fire similar to a bump stock on a semi-automatic rifle. A source in law enforcement told KONP that it “exploits a flaw in a Glock’s trigger design”.
Weapons developer Colin Despins of Madison, Wisconsin and owner of Max Venom Products Group, announced last year that he had invented a bump-stock for pistols, and was selling them for $299.
Also known as a fast fire device, he said it could be readily added and removed from the Glock in seconds and without any tools.
Despins opened an account on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding website for entrepreneurs, with the hope of raising $25,000 to fund production. That account has raised zero dollars and the page has the following heading: “This campaign is under review. It is not accepting contributions.”
How the devices came to be sold out of China and through what website or other source the Sequim resident ordered them is not known, but a source with OPNET told KONP via email: “Because the investigation is still ongoing there is no other information that we want to make available at this moment.”
From a small radio station news department in the PNW.
God Bless
Jeffery Tucker hits the proverbial nail on the head ! While TZ totally misses the point! Twenty or thirty years ago this was not a problem. Local police ( Peace Officers ) had the will and the authority to protect civilization from this. This is nothing less than Liberal Anarchy !
Re: Vaccines
I generally take a strong, clear cut stand on things, especially when they involve government’s or any “authority’s” claim on control of my affairs.
Jefferson’s Rightful Liberty is elegantly simple, universally applicable and really just an elaboration of the Golden Rule. I try to live my life by it.
That having been said, this Vax issue has me on the fence.
On the one hand, no person, group or administration has the power to displace the right of choice you possess by simple virtue of existing as a human being. Nor can they assign to others the authority to remove this ultimate right of choice. Your body, your health, your family, your decision.
But then, as so many passionate “antivaxxers” choose to ignore, also your responsibility.
I acknowledge that humans are corrupt, that power exists for its own sake and that many people have been damaged by the very products they trusted to keep them well and safe. There are verifiable, objective proofs of terrible damage done by some of these products to innocents the world over.
But regardless of any worries about “Big Pharma,” government conspiracies or the rape of the Constitution, the sad and simple fact is this world contains uncountable disease mechanisms, many of which can kill us. Horribly.
They can leave us physically decimated, weak and anguished. They can destroy families, economies, whole civilizations. And they are totally indifferent – to politics, religion, or the inalienable rights of the individual. They don’t care.
Their presence, virulence and aftereffects are fact. Objective, testable, repeatable, verifiable fact. And the way our God-given intelligence has addressed them is by understanding their natures, their mechanisms and weaknesses and activating the human immune system against them. Vaccination.
I’m an advocate for immunizations, but I won’t insist others go against their deeply and, to them, reasonably held beliefs. I certainly won’t support any attempt by anyone to make them yield by social, political, economic or, God forbid, physical force.
But remember that you have the responsibility to accept the consequences of your choices. You can’t demand for example that my kids be exposed to your kids’ measles or pertussis in the raging incubator of disease that is a schoolroom. You don’t have the right to force me to accept the consequences of your choices. Leave ’em home and isolated.
Have the courage to accept the repercussions your Rightful Liberty may bring about. Otherwise you’re no different from the self-entitled Liberal victim snowflakes who expect the world to revolve around them.
Whatever your choice, stay well.
Just a few reasons to be wary of vaccines and the criminal pushers of such vaccines, including the CDC. Below are folks writing on the subject of vaccines and their serious drawbacks. The first three have too many articles to list. The last three are specific articles. You might want to pay particular attention to the work of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on what is going on with the vaccine industry and the serious conflicts of interest between congress, the CDC and Big Pharma.
As for the measles, I’m permanently immune. Why, I had the measles as a child. There used to be measles parties. One kid would get the measles and the parents would get their kids together so they all got the measles. The same for chicken pox. Today, more people are dying from the vaccine than actually die from the measles. But as you say, it’s up to the individual to make the decision for themselves.
As for me, I don’t and won’t get vaccinated for virtually anything. I used to, but the shots made me sicker than the diseases I was getting vaccinated for. Never again!
https://www.lewrockwell.com/author/dr-david-brownstein/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/author/joseph-mercola/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/author/bill-sardi/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/12/gary-g-kohls/roll-up-your-sleeves-folks-271-new-vaccines-in-big-pharmas-pipeline/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/04/no_author/statistics-show-the-mmr-vaccine-kills-more-people-than-the-measles-does/
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/04/no_author/robert-f-kennedy-jr-explains-dangers-of-the-hpv-how-it-could-give-you-cancer/
Just one more for your consideration.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/the-brady-bunch-vs-the-official-narrative/
Dear Gene,
Well said! I have said for years that everyone should be required to take (1) logic and (2) statistics. Armed with a basic understanding of these two topics, an individual should be able to:
Research the research. Study the studies. Then make informed health decisions based on scientific evidence and mathematical probabilities. (Math is a wonderful thing!)
Please check the studies thoroughly, i was very impressed with Arguments and Sources of the anti vaccine movement older than WWI
Very well said!
Two quick thoughts- In my opinion, during the coming Great Emergency, these so-called homeless individuals will be among the first to go in the Great Die-off. In the next Civil War, 90% of the ‘lawmakers’ of the country will do the same.
Question, Does the 9th circus court ruling on “sleeping on public property” mean that I can make camp / sleep in the National Forest / BLM anywhere I want , as long as I want?? I’t sounds as though the ruling does away with the 14 day limit at any on boon dock site???? Waiting for an answer?
The last part of my comment about the homeless problem should have been the first part. =
“In my town, it seems that many of the homeless are also drug addicts. … President Trump with his plan to build a wall, and also arrest the illegal drug traffickers, should be a good plan, to mitigate the homeless situation and the illegal drug problem in the USA.
Plus, it’s reasonable to believe, the more people entering the USA trying to find housing, the more likely someone will end up sleeping on the sidewalk. ‘Sort of like a real life game of musical chairs.”
~While we must offer charity to the homeless, we must also mitigate the sources that creates much of the homeless problems, too.~
There has been an exponentiation growth of homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks of American cities.
Much of this problem is due to the illegal drug availability, and also to the encouragement of illegal drug usage by the American Entertainment Industry.
The ‘Hollywood & New York’ entertainment companies support restricting gun-rights, and making gun companies financially responsible for gun crimes. … There is a 2nd Amendment right in the Constitution. = The gun companies want to provide weapons to honest people for protection against criminals. (Besides sporting use)
Many of the people in the Entertainment Business are advocating that people commit drug crimes. = Maybe, the Entertainment People should be held financially responsible for all the drug related crimes (and the homeless population problems). The Entertainers should wear the big-clown shoes and the Prison Garb.
Amazon is as anti-Christ as any multinational company existing. So censorship of views they disagree with is not surprising. That is why I avoid spending my funds at Amazon as much as is possible, even when I must pay more. I only use their services when they are the only known source.