FEMA X: Youth Preparedness Camp, Aug. 2019

From FEMA Region X:

Youth Preparedness Camp

FEMA Region 10 is seeking 40 high-school aged youth representing Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska will be selected to attend a Youth Preparedness Camp in Stanwood, Washington in August 2019. This will be an engaging and empowering way for teens to learn about and practice emergency preparedness. There will also be a variety of exciting leadership opportunities, team building, and of course, traditional camp activities to ensure for a fun week for all.

Developed under a youth engagement concept, this six-day, five-night camp, hosted and staffed by camp and emergency management professionals will teach students how to safely assist in the immediate aftermath of a disaster when the professional response may be delayed or limited. Subject matter experts and local emergency responders will support the curriculum delivery and introduce participants to various emergency response professions. As part of the camp program, youth participants will identify and develop a concept for a give-back project where they will utilize their skills to improve preparedness in their communities.

The Region 10 Youth Preparedness Council, made up of high-school aged youth from all four states, will participate in the camp, and help lead their peers throughout the week.

For those selected to participate, FEMA will fund youth participants’ travel costs. It is critical that participants do not make any travel reservations on their own, for FEMA staff will assist with the pre-departure travel voucher process and ensure all required documentation is collected and submitted.

Eligibility

  • Entering 8-12th grade in fall of 2019
  • Reside in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon or Washington
  • U.S. Citizen

Where:

Stanwood, WA 98292

When:

August 18 – 23, 2019

How to Apply:

  • Provide the following information:
    • Name
    • Age
    • Grade entering in fall 2019
    • City
    • State
    • Availability August 18 – 23, 2019
    • Special accommodations (i.e. dietary, physical, mobility, etc.)
  • Answer the following questions:
    1. Why do you want to attend this camp? What do you hope to get out of the experience?
    2. How did you hear about the Youth Preparedness Camp?
    3. Have you been involved in any emergency/disaster preparedness activities or trainings? If so please explain. (If not, that’s ok, you’ll still be considered! Everyone starts somewhere.)
    4. What about disaster preparedness interests you?
    5. How would you like to help your community get better prepared? Some ideas include volunteering with a CERT, volunteering with your local American Red Cross, or starting a preparedness club.
  • Submit your application by the March 15th deadline to fema-r10-communityprep@fema.dhs.gov.

For further information or questions, please contact Ilyssa Plumer – Ilyssa.Plumer@associates.fema.gov or 425-487-4943.

True North Life: Making Maple Bacon

Gillian has a nice blog, discussing aspects of her homesteading life in Ontario – True North Life. In this entry she talks about Making Maple Bacon. Mmm, delicious, delicious bacon.

…As with all meat curing or meat projects, it starts with a great cut of meat. For bacon, you want a nice juicy looking pork belly. Remember this process takes time so you want a pork belly worthy of your efforts. This means from organic hogs or hogs raised humanely without hormones or antibiotics. Or from a heritage breed like Berkshire, Duroc, or Kurobuta. Each has a richer, meatier, more distinctive flavour than industrial pork bellies. By the way, a full pork belly weighs 10 to 12 pounds. Whole Foods will sell you pork bellies by the pound, which may be easier to handle for home smokers. Our smoker can’t handle a whole 12lbs so we usually go for the 2-3lbs and we don’t want to make to much of the same kind of bacon at once until we learn our favourites.

After getting your meat youll need to prep it to be cured. The bottom of a pork belly usually comes with skin (rind), which will be tougher than the rest of the bacon. (It also blocks the absorption of the cure and smoke flavours.) Commercial smokehouses remove it using a slicing machine. At home, you’ll have to work a bit harder. Start at one corner and use a sharp, slender knife to separate the skin from the meat, angling the knife blade toward the skin. Better yet, ask your butcher to skin it for you. Do not discard the pork skin. Direct grill it over a medium flame on both sides (start belly side down) until crisp and golden brown to make “brownies”—crackling crisp bits of skin to fold into pulled pork. Or deep fry it in oil to make chicharrones (pork cracklings). It can also be used to give flavour to beans or greens.

Next is seasoning the meat, the basic ingredients are salt and sugar and optional curing salt (sodium nitrite) and pepper. You can achieve a wide, subtle range of flavours by varying the source and proportions of these ingredients: white sugar or brown sugar, maple sugar, or even freeze-dried cane sugar juice. Ground or cracked black pepper or hot pepper flakes. Bacon makers in Scandinavia add juniper berries and other aromatic spices. For this round, we used maple syrup, brown sugar, and curing salt to make maple bacon for breakfasts. How you season depends on who you ask, and the type recipe you use, since this recipe is mostly liquids we simply poured the ingredients into a large zip lock bag mixed and mixed it well before placing the meat inside…

Click here to read about the entire process.

2019 Benton County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy Accepting Applications

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is now accepting applications for the Spring Citizen Academy. The Sheriff’s Office offers this free 5-week Citizen Academy for the public to be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:00-8:00 pm. The Academy teaches the public about law enforcement and the day-to-day operations of the department. Most classes are held at the Benton County Health Department with the exception of two tours.

Classes include:

  • Patrol Procedures and Traffic Enforcement
  • Detectives and Narcotics
  • School Resource Officer
  • Evidence Collection
  • Crime Scene Investigation
  • Sex Offender Program
  • SWAT Team
  • Crime Analyst
  • Gangs
  • K-9
  • Boat Patrol
  • Corrections
  • Tours of Benton County Jail, Justice Center, and Coroner’s Office
  • Plus more

Classes start Tuesday, April 30th, 2019. Applications must be received by April 16th.

Click here to download a PDF application to fill out.

AmPart: A 4th Generation Warfare Reading List

Bryce Sharper over at American Partisan has a very nicely annotated reading list on Fourth Generation Warfare – A 4GW Reading List. Fourth-generation warfare (4GW) is the name given to modern warfare which blurs the lines between war and politics, and combatants and civilians. It may also be used for any type of war in which one of the major combatants is a non-state actor. Revolutions and insurgencies, as well as much other modern violent conflict, can fall under the 4GW umbrella. As Bryce points out in his reading list, the drug trade in the USA can be viewed as a 4GW conflict. Here I’ve excerpted the first three books on his list.

As the nation-state system goes through its death throes, our own government has admitted that the world is undergoing “Lebanonization.”  For no other reason than that, I think it’s a good idea to understand 4th-Generation warfare in all its forms.  Personally, I felt most of my officer training was useless for war in the world of the declining nation-state, so this topic is of academic interest to me.  In each of these books, question the assumptions and correlate the assumption with those of other authors.  These books are not ranked in order.

  1. Victoria by Bill Lind. A novel about 4th generation war in the United States.  Regardless of what you believe about its premises, it’s an excellent, thought-provoking read about the establishment of insurgency, legitimacy, and prosecution of 4th-generation war in various regions of the former United States.  It has excellent summaries of key ideas of military strategists (Moltke, et al) and philosophers (the Frankfurt School) that influenced the outbreak of insurgency in the United States, for good or bad.  Lind gives an excellent definition of strategy in Victoria from one of Boyd’s talks. He said strategy is the art of connecting yourself to as many other power centers as possible, while separating your enemy from as many power centers as possible.
  2. American Insurgents; American Patriots by Breen. It examines the countryside insurgency that evicted the British occupation from the countryside and bottled it up in the cities.  The interesting thing was the way the insurgency established a larger organization among the 13 colonies and avoided anarchy and established legitimacy. I’m halfway through.  This book is a slog but gives the background of one of the few insurgencies run by good people to good results.  Most insurgencies are by bad people towards bad results.
  3. The Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen tactics in the Russian-Chechen wars 1994-2009. The forward states that “what is lacking in the literature about the guerrilla perspective are collections of the combat experiences of the rank and file guerrillas and their tactical leaders. These people seldom leave written records, yet theirs are often the most interesting accounts.” This book contains stories from rank-and-file guerrillas…

Click here to read the entire article and see the rest of reading list.

Bleyhl: Feb. 2019 Classes

Bleyhl has several workshops coming in February.

Rabbit Owners Workshop (Pasco)
Join us for a fun, educational class about rabbits!
Kamaikin FFA will be sharing information on animal care, health, housing, and showmanship. Feel to bring your rabbit with you! We will have tables set up for showing demos.
No charge to attend, RSVP to save your seat (509) 547-5577.
We will also have door prizes and snacks! Specials and coupons for those attending the class.
Call ahead to order dinner from Great Harvest Bread located inside the Pasco location. (509) 537-1177
fluffy-bunnies.jpg
Wednesday, February 6th
6:30 pm
Pasco location
4H / FFA Show Feed Workshop (Sunnyside)
We are excited to be holding our first CHS Payback Show Feed Workshop in Sunnyside.
Pizza provided by Payback. Receive a (1) FREE bag of feed coupon for those signing up on the Bleyhl Co-op 4H / FFA Feed Program.
Ask questions on how to raise champions!
Thursday, February 7th
6:30 pm
Sunnyside location
Pruning Trees & Shrubs (Pasco)
Learn proper tree & shrub pruning techniques from Fermin Sanchez, a local farmer with over 40 years of experience. Class is Mon, February 18th @ 6:30 pm.
David Sanchez, Bleyhl’s Bahco Representative will also be on hand to answer questions on what is the best type of pruners or saws for the type of job you will be doing.
Hands on demos and tools for you to try out! No charge to attend. Sign up in store or by calling (509) 547-5577 to save your seat. Snacks provided.
Fermin & David are also bilingual and will be able to translate as needed.
Monday, February 18th
6:30 pm
Pasco location

 

Seed Swap (Pasco)
Organized by: Runners of the Sage
Bring extra seeds, garden pots, tools, or equipment to exchange with others! Please bring items that are in decent shape.
Meet at Bleyhl Co-op at 5:30 pm if you wish to join in the 2, 3, or 4 mile run/walk. Free, family friendly, & fun. Learn more about Runners of the Sage while you are there. Grab dinner before the run/walk at Great Harvest Bread located in the store.
Questions please contact:
Chris at chilealby7@hotmail.com
Tuesday, February 19th
6:30 pm
Pasco location
Pet Vaccination Clinic (Zillah)
Dr. Casey & Staff will offering exams, vaccines, Microchips and any minor issues. Please, no sick animals to these events, an at home visit for sick animals can be arranged.
Treats & coupons for pets visiting the Dr!
Look for the red ambulance mobile vet clinic out front. Any questions please contact: (509) 306-6628
english_bulldog_puppies.jpg
Saturday, February 23rd
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Zillah location
Intro to Beekeeping (Pasco)
Have you been thinking of taking up beekeeping as a hobby and don’t know where to start? Do you want honey for baking or bees wax for making candles? The Mid-Columbia Beekeepers Association will be giving us helpful information and here to answer your questions about beekeeping.
This class will show you some of the basics of honey bees and beekeeping as well as de-mystify this incredibly gentle and fascinating creature. Beekeeping is not as “labor intensive” as you may think, but it does require some work and study.
This class will give you the information needed to decide if it is right for you. No charge to attend, we do ask you sign up to save your seat in store or call:
(509) 547-5577. Door prizes, in store specials, and snacks provided.
honeybee.jpg
Thursday, February 28th
6:30 pm
Pasco location

 

Burning Platform: 2019 From a Fourth Turning Perspective

William Strauss and Neil Howe (both historians, among other things) wrote a book in 1997 called The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy — What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny — which introduced what is now called Strauss-Howe Generational Theory. According to that theory, there is a four stage cycles of eras, called turnings, which repeat in cycles of approximately 80-100 years, the fourth of which is the Crisis turning, an era of destruction and revolution. The theory has its critics as well as proponents, so, as with everything, use your think-thingy. The following is an excerpt from a lengthy article on The Burning Platform titled 2019 From a Fourth Turning Perspective, which gives some overview of the theory and applies it to world and US events.

“An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe

Image result for budget impasse trump schumer

Strauss and Howe wrote their book in 1996. They were not trying to be prophets of doom, but observers of history able to connect events through human life cycles of 80 or so years. Using critical thinking skills and identifying the most likely triggers for crisis: debt, civic decay, and global disorder, they were able to anticipate scenarios which could drive the next crisis, which they warned would arrive in the mid-2000 decade. The scenario described above is fairly close to the current situation, driven by the showdown between Trump and the Democrats regarding the border wall.

It has not reached the stage where all hell breaks loose, but if it extends until the end of January and food stamp money is not distributed to 40 million people (mostly in urban ghettos) all bets are off. The likelihood of this scenario is small, but there are numerous potential triggers which could still make 2019 go down in history as a year to remember.

As we enter the eleventh year of this Fourth Turning, the fourth Crisis period in U.S. history, the mood of U.S. citizens and citizens around the globe continues to darken. Fourth Turnings are driven by generational configuration and the emotional reaction to events by the Prophet generation leaders, Nomad generation spearheads, and Hero generation cannon fodder.

As we close out this year, stock markets are gyrating wildly, central bankers are trying to reverse their nine years of interventionist strategies to sustain the establishment, civil chaos spreads across the European continent, saber rattling between the U.S., Russia and China increases, the animosity between political parties reaches new heights, the Deep State relentlessly pursues their Mueller led coup against Trump, mega-social media corporations tighten their grip on free speech by silencing conservatives, leftists push their socialist, open borders, normalizing degeneracy agenda, and global recession gains momentum as trade declines and global debt reaches unserviceable levels…

Click here to read the entire article at The Burning Platform.

Patriotman on American Partisan has his own take on the article, The Fourth Turning & The Future, As I See It:

…I think that the article was very closely aligned with my fears. The biggest threats we face as a country are all intertwined (thus, don’t consider this a ranked list) and are: civil unrest due to a growing divide between ideologies, economic slowdowns due to massive debt and employment trends, and outside challenge of the unipolar world by China and Russia.

I don’t think that any of these are the causation for the others, but if I was forced to choose it would be the differing of ideologies that is driving the other two. The urban and rural divide has always been present obviously, but the obvious disconnect between the coastal elites in their ivory towers and those in the hinterlands seems unsolvable at the moment. The problem mostly lies with the former as the latter would like nothing more than for everyone to be left alone by everyone else. It is the liberal elites who insist on forcing their culture, norms, and ideology on those conservatives in rural America and continually try to remake the system in their permanent favor. They attack our religion, our culture, and our lifestyle because they do not approve of it…

 

 

AIER: The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything

Kai Weiss at the American Institute for Economic Research has a nice, short article on the problems of over-politicization and the solution thereto – The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything. Unfortunately, at least one of the sides will reject the idea of a less-intrusive state.

…This is a problem the great C.S. Lewis also saw when he mused that we should focus on “a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him.” Meanwhile, “economies, politics, law, armies, and institutions, save insofar as they prolong and multiply such scenes, are a mere ploughing the sand and sowing the ocean, a meaningless vanity and vexation of the spirit. Collective activities are, of course, necessary, but this is the end to which they are necessary.”

So what is a possible way out of this conundrum? A multitude of proposals have been made to detoxicate today’s climate, and it would frankly be pretentious for me to claim to know the solution. Nonetheless, one surefire way, as friends of liberty will quickly point out, is to get politics out of our lives. As Kristian Niemietz notes, “The most obvious antidote to a dysfunctional, adversarial political culture is just to do less politics.”

What does that require? It necessitates a dramatic reduction in the size and scope of the state, the building of a wall between the state (so long as it exists) and the rest of our lives, and the restoration of the conviction that society works best when it is left alone. In other words, we need desperately to resurrect the vision of classical liberalism and draw lessons from its modern heirs in the libertarian tradition…

To regain civility in human interactions and finally treat other human beings as human beings again, we would do well to get politics out of human affairs.

Click here to read the entire article at AIER.org.

Benton County Sheriff Swears in First Posse Members

From the Facebook page of the Benton County, WA Sheriff’s Office:

Yesterday evening in Prosser, Sheriff Jerry Hatcher swore in nine of his newest community volunteers as Benton County Sheriff Posse Members. We are proud as an organization to welcome these community members into the Benton County Sheriff’s Office family. They have shown a desire to serve their community and support the mission of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Posse will participate in community outreach programs such as Cops and Kids, the Touch-A-Truck event, and parades. They will also be used in special circumstances in a limited capacity for search and rescue, traffic control, and recovering large live stock. Posse members will also be able to ride with deputies and see firsthand the quality work our deputies provide.

If you’d like to become more involved in the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, please reach out to Lieutenant Jason Erickson. He can provide you with information on the Sheriff’s Posse and other volunteer programs.

Congratulations to our community members who have volunteered to take on the training and service involved in posse membership.

We the Governed: AG Ferguson’s Persecution of Tim Eyman

Glen Morgan at We the Governed has an interesting article up, detailing some of the vindictive strangeness of Attorney General Ferguson’s case against Washington state initiative backer Tim Eyman — AG Ferguson’s Persecution of Tim Eyman, Eyman’s Plea, and a Creepy AG Employee.

…Depending on how one views Eyman’s successful initiatives over the years, they have reduced the amount average citizens would have paid on their taxes by close to $40 billion over 20 years (see link here).  Since Eyman is so clearly a guy identified with depriving the state of this cash which they could have squandered by now, then the wrath and resources of the state is focused entirely against this one guy…

…this current case is unique in almost every measure.  In THIS case, unlike every other campaign finance case filed by the AG in Washington State’s history, the state is uniquely concentrating the full force of the government to destroy one man over violations that are commonly made by many of AG Ferguson’s campaign donors and allies.  There is no proportionality in this lawsuit against Eyman compared to the violations that he may or may not have committed.

How many regular people would think the AG is being fair or honest in the Eyman case?

Here are just a few unique elements to the Eyman case:

  • State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has stated from the beginning that he would never settle this lawsuit with Tim Eyman.  For context, the State settled with the Green River killer, but they will “never settle” with Tim Eyman.
  • Ferguson has spent more on pleadings, staff costs, and investigative costs on this case than any other campaign finance case in state history. (See article for reference here)
  • The level of harassment against Eyman is unique in the AG’s history.  For example, tossing out Eyman’s attorney using the fact the AG is the only creditor in Eyman’s bankruptcy court hearing to force his attorneys to resign and the unique legal attacks targeting Eyman’s wife.
  • The AG (and PDC before them) did not even bother to meet or contact his treasurer (the guy legally responsible for the reporting) for the first few years of this investigation (normally this is the first person they would interview in this type of case), and this failure to meet with the treasurer was particularly tragic because the treasurer, Stan Long, died in a car accident two years after this case started.  There was plenty of time for the state to have interviewed the guy. They did not because they don’t care about the truth. Their focus is only on stopping Eyman.
  • The AG has planned 35 3rd party depositions on supporters of Eyman.  This has NEVER happened in any other campaign finance case.
  • When Eyman’s attorneys have tried to reach out to the AG to ask for a settlement demand (See here), the AG refused to respond and just went to the media.  See article here.
  • Unique in the history of campaign finance lawsuits, the AG wants to deny Tim his rights to participate in the political process with a lifetime ban for participating with initiatives – the only thing he has done for the past 20 years. (for more on this you can read an editorial published by a small paper in Washington State – the Leavenworth Echo (linked here). The AG tried to convince the paper to change their article, which, to the credit of this paper, they refused (linked here)…

…The AG has played pat-a- cake litigation with everyone from the Spokane County Democratic Committee to the Democrat Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (see partial list here for comparative examples) who also violated the campaign finance laws and the AG never bothered to harass these people in this way.  Not even close… Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson appears to be using his office to settle personal vendettas and to assist him with political payback for his friends… 

Click here to read the entire article at We the Governed.

Yakima Herald: Klickitat County Sheriff Won’t Enforce New Gun Law

Joining the growing chorus of Sheriffs and law enforcement chiefs against the laws passed in Initiative 1639, now Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer comes out to say he won’t enforce it, either. here an excerpt from the Yakima Herald’s article Drawing a line: Klickitat County sheriff says he won’t enforce Washington’s new gun law. While residents of Seattle and Olympia were only too happy to vote away the rights of others, most of the rest of the state voted against the initiative, giving yet more reason to separate into a new state.

Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer says he’s not enforcing the state’s new initiative that places stiff requirements on the sale and ownership of semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s, calling it unconstitutional.

“I think it’s a bad law and I think it violates people’s rights,” he said. “This law will do nothing to stop crime or do anything to make our communities safer. But what it will do is make criminals out of our honest citizens.”…

Not all law enforcement agencies in the state are taking a stance as hard as Songer’s. But many are concerned about the constitutionality of the measure and the additional workload enhanced background checks will bring when the initiative takes effect in July, said Steven Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Republic Police Chief Loren Culp announced shortly after the November general election that they wouldn’t enforce the new law…

In November, the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation filed a joint lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the constitutionality of I-1639…

Click here to read the entire article at Yakima Herald.

Related:

Wahkiakum Sheriff, Citing Constitution, Says He Won’t Enforce I-1639

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Won’t Actively Enforce I-1639

Washington Sheriff [Ferry County] Vows to Not Enforce I-1639

Police Chief Instructs Officers Not to Enforce I-1639 Gun Regulations

 

OH8STN: Grid Down EMCOMM Winter Edition

Julian at OH8STN.org is full of useful amateur radio information. In the piece excerpted below, he talks about winter emergency communications and the difference between preparing for emergency communications when there is a large logistics tail on the move to support you and emergency communications in a long term or grid down scenario. Here’s a bit from Grid Down EMCOMM Winter Edition:

EMCOMM VS Communications Preparedness

There’s a huge disconnect between the yellow vest wearing emergency communications Community within amateur radio, and those seeking to learn and or develop skills for communications preparedness. They both have completely different methodologies, but they are overlapping.

  • With EMCOMM (North American Edition), we almost always have an expectation of a large Logistics deployment machine, deploying resources after the fact. Hopefully this will change after the horrific lessons of Puerto Rico.
  • With Communications Preparedness, our focus is grid down Communications in the thick of the disaster. There’s no Logistics, no one’s coming to help right away, so we are left on our own, getting information into and out of an active disaster zone.

Right now neither the EMCOMM community or the Communications Preparedness crowd are speaking the same language. They simply don’t understand one another. I suspect anyone reading this blog, or watching my videos has a firm grasp of both sides of this “Niche within a niche” as my friend John calls it. This disconnect between the two communities is critical for understanding and ultimately deployment in the field…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I87136fTa8

Click here to read the entire article (and see video) at OH8STN.org.

WA GOAL Post 2019-3

From the Washington Gun Owners’ Action League:

GOAL Post 2019-3

Legislative Update from Olympia 28 January 2019

HEARINGS ON TV WASHINGTON

NEW GUN BILLS FILED

ACTION ON BILLS

PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED

MY TRAVEL SCHEDULE

If watching the hearings in Olympia didn’t bring the message home, in today’s world, feelings and emotions beat facts and logic every time. The
one with the most emotional testimony wins.I’ve been watching that for 24 years. The link below goes to last Monday’s Senate Law & Justice hearing: Senate Law & Justice hearing, Monday, 21 January: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?eventID=2019011158

I know that everyone reading this message knows the difference between a democracy and a republic, but in case it slipped your mind…A democracy is mob rule: the issue or the side with the most votes wins. Five wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.A republic is governed by a constitution which places limits on the democracy, (i.e. the lamb has an
AR-15.) There are certain things where a simple democratic majority does NOT win.

Theoretically the Second Amendment and Article 1, Section 24 of the state constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms, no matter what the democratic legislature votes.“Shall not be infringed.” (2A)“Shall not be impaired.” (1/24)That seems pretty clear, but many legislators are constitutionally illiterate. Read the dictionary definitions of “infringed” and “impaired.”

That’s where the Supreme Court (federal and state) step in to ensure the constitution is followed.Sometimes.

Is a 10-round magazine limit an infringement?An impairment? Try SEVEN rounds under current New York State law.Or FIVE, as is being proposed in Oregon right now. (I can see the look on all you smug revolver shooters’ faces.)

Only four new gun bills were filed last week, all in the House.HB 1319, by Rep. Sharon Wylie (D-49), prohibits firearms at all public meetings
of a city, county or other governing body. HB 1346 by Rep.Gerry Pollett (D-46), would ban the transfer of any lead-based or lead core ammunition to anyone under the age of 21 – there go your junior rifle programs (all to prevent lead contamination and protect the chilluns, of course). HB 1374 by Rep. Macri (D-43), repeals state preemption in its entirety.—stand by for every city to enact a multitude of gun laws including restrictions on where and when you can carry firearms – with or without a CPL. The cities have been fighting this since it passed 30+ years ago.Good luck making it from one corner of the state to another without violating SOMEONE’s gun law.  And HB 1381 BY Rep. Mike Pellicciotti (D-3), which prohibits the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs – drones) to deliver contraband to anyone in lawful detention – from guns to drugs to cellphones to anything they declare as contraband.

Several bills passed out of their original policy committee, generally with amended versions (substitutes) offered, and now sit in their respective Rules committees, awaiting a pull to the chamber floor for a full floor vote. These include:HB 1010 (destruction of forfeited firearms), SB 5027 (extreme risk protection orders – substitute passed), SB 5061 (undetectable firearms – substitute passed), SB 5062 (high capacity magazine ban – substitute passed), SB 5143 (firearm seizure in DV cases – substitute passed) and SB 5174 (CPL training requirement – substitute passed that allows NRA or similar courses to qualify). These bills all now await a floor vote.

Public hearings are also scheduled for several bills. The House Civil Rights & Justice Committee will conduct public hearings on HB 1315 (CPL training) on 29 January at 10:00 a.m. and on HBs 1319 (open carry/public meetings) and 1346 (lead ammo ban) on February 1^st at 10:00 a,m. Senate Higher Ed will conduct a public hearing on SB 5150 (college safety officers) at 1:30 p.m. on 31 January.Senate Law & Justice will hear SBs 5181 (firearm possession/mental health) and 5205 (incompetent to stand trial) at 10:00 a.m. on 29 January.

Action has yet to be taken on several more bills that have already had public hearings.Their time will come!It frequently means there is back-room negotiating going on to amend the bills after testimony.

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION:

SHB 1010 Disposition of forfeited firearms by WSP Senn (D-41) H.Rules OPPOSE

HB 1022Prohibiting handgun sale data base Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB 1024Prohibiting gun owner data base Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB 1038Authorizing armed school personnel Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB 1068 High capacity magazine ban Valdez (D-46) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1073 Undetectable and/or untraceable firearms Valdez (D-46) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB1097 Repeals firearm confidentiality waivers Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB1098 Repeals penalties/unsafe storage of firearms Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB 1203 Reporting lost or stolen firearms Doglio (D-22) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB1225 Firearms/domestic violence Jinkins (D-27) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1286 Assault weapon ban Peterson (D-21) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1315 CPL training requirement Lovick (D-44) H.CR&7J OPPOSE

HB 1319 Open carry prohibited at public meetings Wylie (D-49 ) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1346 Lead ammo ban for “youth” Pollett (D-46) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1374 Repeals state preemption of gun laws Macri (D-43) H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1381 Use of UAVs to deliver contraband Pellicciotti (D-30) H.PunSaf NEUTRAL

SB 5016 Authorizing armed animal control officers Van De Wege S.L&J SUPPORT

SSB 5027 Extreme risk protection orders, under age 18 Frockt (D-46) S.Rules OPPOSE

SB 5050 Body armor use in a crime O’Ban (R-28) S.L&J NEUTRAL

SSB 5061 Undetectable and untraceable firearms Dhingra (D-45) S.Rules OPPOSE

SSB 5062 High capacity magazine ban Kuderer (D-48) S.Rules OPPOSE

SB 5072 Extreme risk protection orders O’Ban (R-28) S.L&J NEUTRAL

SB5099 Target shooting on DNR land Sheldon (D-35) S.Ag SUPPORT

SSB 5143 Seizing firearms/DV incidents Dhingra (D-45) S.Rules OPPOSE

SB 5150 College safety/officers weapons Wilson (R-17) S.HiEd SUPPORT

SB 5172 Firearm training/gun bill sponsors Fortunato (R-39) S.StGov SUPPORT

SSB 5174 Training for CPL issue Palumbo (D-1) S.Rules OPPOSE

SB 5181 Firearm possession/mental health Kuderer (D-48) S.L&J OPPOSE

SB 5205 Firearm possession/incompetent for trial Dhingra (D-45) S.L&J OPPOSE

SB 5340 Assault weapons ban Kuderer (D-48) S. L&J OPPOSE

SB 5434 New gun free zones Wilson (D-30) S.L&J OPPOSE

HB = House bill, SB = Senate bill.L&J = Law & Justice, CR&J = Civil Rights and Judiciary, PubSaf = Public Safety, HC = Health Care, H. K-12 = House Early education, Aprop = Appropriations, Fin = Finance, W&M = Ways & Means“S” before a bill number indicates Substitute (amended).

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

29 Jan House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee John L. O’Brien Bldg

10:00 a.m. HB 1315

29 Jan Senate Law & Justice John A. Cherberg Bldg

10:00 a.m. SBs 5181 and 5205

31 Jan Senate Higher Ed Committee John A. Cherberg Bldg

1:30 p.m. SB 5150

1 Feb House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee John L. O’Brien Bldg

10:00 a.m. HBs 1319 and 1346

21 Jan Senate Law & Justice Committee John A. Cherberg Bldg

10:00 a.m. SBs 5061, 5062, 5143, 5174

22 Jan House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, John L. Bldg

10:00a.m HBs 1024, 1068, 1203, 1225

24 Jan Senate Agriculture Committee, John A. Cherberg Bldg.

1:30 p.m. SB 5099

LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE:You may reach your Representatives and Senator by calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Toll free!!! The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993.Also toll free!!!

1-800-562-6000TDD 1-800-635-9993

OTHER DATA: Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature’s web site at “www.leg.wa.gov <http://www.leg.wa.gov>”. Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format.You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe’s web site (http://www.adobe.com). You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573.Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/(you need “RealAudio” to do this, available free at
the TVW web site).

By reading the House and Senate “bill reports” (hbr, sbr) for each bill, you can see how individual committee members voted. By reading the “roll call” for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on any bill.The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is available, on line 24/7 , to any citizen.

GET THE WORD OUT: If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail, send a message to “goalwa@cox.net ” <mailto:goalwa@cox.net>. Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights. Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s). PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS REPRODUCED WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL.I can be reached at “joewaldron@cox.net” <mailto:joewaldron@cox.net>or by telephone at (425) 985-4867. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals.Limited numbers of hard copies MAY be available at the Second Amendment Foundation book table at WAC gun shows.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

Puyallup (Pavilion) 23-24 February

Puyallup 30-31 March

 

“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

Copyright 2019 Gun Owners Action League of WA

Technology and Avoiding Censorship

The world of news reporting has been metamorphosing since the Internet became easily available. Print journalism is dying. The newspaper and magazine news sources that have survived have moved onto the internet to some extent, though they may still have a print presence. But the Internet is a funny place, and it, and dwindling financials, have changed those venerable news dinosaurs. Making profits became dependent upon Internet advertising which was measured by ad views or ad clicks. It became more important to these institutions to have stories that received more views rather than stories of deep substance, not that the two are mutually exclusive. Inevitably, the businesses started catering to specific audiences or demographics, posting stories and headlines that would invite those users to click into the article to view the ads. Once proud institutions like the New York Times have become more of a television sitcom, where the stories are played to a captive audience with implied “applause” and “laughter” cue cards. CNN is more like People magazine than a news network.

Speaking of television, much the same has happened to news sources there. As viewers switched from advertising-supported television channels (or paid cable channels) to watching shows and reading news on the Internet, the financial support of the captive television audience dwindled. As that revenue dwindled, television companies had less money with which to subsidize their news. When once news was a point of pride of the stations that they gladly subsidized, the broadcasters now had to compete for advertising revenue for their news shows. These causes likewise led to a similar chasing after of sensational headlines as was occurring in the Internet space.

In short, the mainstream media news sources have turned into a wasteland as far as actual news goes. Instead they relay stories that will play well with their respective cash-cow herds. Or they run stories that are profitable for them to air, either because they are paid to do so or to ingratiate themselves with government agencies or corporations in order to have access or the personal prestige of being seen with later (for those persons high up enough in the pseudo-news organization). It is well documented, for instance, that the CIA has for decades worked with news organizations of all kinds in order to either relay or suppress the stories or propaganda that they want to shape public opinion. This is no less true for many large corporations and political parties who actively work with these organizations for their own propagandistic ends.

It should be no surprise to anyone, then, that people have turned to alternative news sources. This is a great danger to the power of all those organizations currently involved in mainstream news organizations – i.e. government agencies, political parties, corporations, foreign entities, etc. Controlling the media is a way to control the people. People cannot get angry over something that they never hear about, or better yet, they can’t believe anything that the media is portraying as laughable. Because people are, indeed, looking for real news, these interests are doing their best to prevent alternative news sources or at least people’s access to these sources.

In the past several months, we’ve seen many alternative news voices as well as individual users banned from various Internet social media platforms which they used to communicate with the people who followed them – a process called de-platforming. Because these social media platforms are owned by private corporations there is no first amendment violation, even when some of the corporations are counseled by advisory entities with close government ties. Little justification is given for these deplatformings other than vague mumblings from the corporations about hate speech, extremism, insults, Russian spies, and so forth. The corporations are under no obligation, currently, to provide any truth. They say something the content creator did violated their terms of use and that is the end.  So far these deplatforming actions have been overwhelming against conservative voices, though not entirely so.

Continue reading “Technology and Avoiding Censorship” →

Survivopedia: Sugar and Salt – Your Survival Allies

Chris Black has written an article about salt and sugar food storage over on Survivopedia – Why Salt And Sugar Are Your Best Survival Allies. 

Sugar and salt are among the most common and widely used household substances in North America.

Both sugar and salt are with us since at least 8,000 BC, as according to researchers, the sugarcane plant was first domesticated by the good people in Southeast Asia 10,000 years ago.

People can live without sugar all their lives, except from Americans of course, but salt is another story altogether. While our bodies can manufacture their own sugar from various foods rich in carbohydrates, like fruits and cereal (fruits also contain sugars by the way), salt, formerly known as sodium chloride, is an essential mineral, which is readily available in nature in its natural crystalline form, also known as rock salt.

Unlike sugar, which is a highly refined/processed food, making for the ultimate soluble carbohydrate, and not very good for one’s health, salt is an essential mineral for both humans and animal life in general. While plant life and animal meat (including milk) contain sodium in various quantities (not so much for plant life), if you’re a vegetarian, you may require extra salt added to your diet, because the human body cannot produce sodium chloride on its own, and the plant-based sodium intake may not be enough for your body to function properly.

The Good News about Sugar and Salt

They’re both non perishable substances, provided they’re stored properly…

Click here to read the entire article at Survivopedia.