Category Archives: Other Authors

Survival Net Update: February 17, 2013

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Lifeboat

by Jim Saemann, AB3RA

THE SURVIVAL NET must be making an impact, because we ran into several instances of intentional interference both on frequency and near frequency Sunday night. Band conditions were difficult even without the interference, but we managed to have a great discussion anyway.

Tonight on 3983 kHz we talked about the social aspects of survival.  Specifically, we talked about forming groups of like-minded individuals among your friends and neighbors — the premise being that none of us should be a “lone wolf” in a crisis. We can share mutual assistance and support with our friends and neighbors.

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Survival Net Update: February 10, 2013

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dollar_tiny_400px

by Jim Saemann, AB3RA

SURVIVAL NET Session 6 took place on February 10. While we normally like to use 3.983, the frequency was occupied so we moved to 3.977. Band conditions were decent but we did run into some QRM from another net on a nearby frequency.

The topic of discussion was financial survival in times of economic distress. Before summarizing our discussion, I would like to thank Dieter (K3DK) for standing in for me as net control on January 27.  I was taking my daughter back to college that night and Dieter ran a lively discussion about emergency power generation.

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Survival Net Update: Skipping a Week!

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by Jim Saemann, AB3RA

THE SURVIVAL NET will meet next on Sunday, February 10, at 9 PM on 3.983 MHz. Due to the Super Bowl, we will not meet on February 3.

The topic for February 10 will be investing.  We will kick around some ideas about how to financially prepare for an economic crisis such as runaway inflation and/or a currency collapse.

73 to all!

Survival Net Update

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aquaponics

by Jim Saemann, AB3RA

THE SURVIVAL NET had its third meeting on Sunday, January 13, at 9 PM Eastern Time on 3983 kHz. We had an in-depth discussion about aquaponic gardening and keeping warm in a crisis. Aquaponics involves having a vegetable garden connected to a fish pond. The fish produce waste which fertilizes the vegetables. Water from the fish pond is filtered through the garden and returned to the pond. The result is high quality organic food, year round, without weeds, chemicals, etc.

Listen: Survival Net 1/13″]

One of the subtopics discussed was the very real possibility of a world wide hunger crisis due to drought and dust-bowl type conditions in many agricultural areas. The food shortage, combined with currency manipulation and devaluation, could lead to massive food inflation and possibly even riots. The importance of emergency food supplies, as well as sustainable personal agriculture, cannot be overestimated. Does anyone really want to rely on FEMA for their food?

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Orson Welles in Fine (and Funny) Voice

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by Kevin Strom, WB4AIO

HERE IS ORSON WELLES, ONE of the truly great voices of broadcast radio and film — and a very original wit — performing, in mock-Biblical style, a sendup of American politics circa 1972. Too bad H.L. Mencken did not live to hear this; I think he would have liked it very much.

The Begatting of the President was released as a vinyl album during the run-up to the ’72 elections, and introduced Welles to a whole new generation of young people who were into avant-garde comedy like the Credibility Gap and the Firesign Theatre.

Orson Welles: The Begatting of the President”]

(recording source: archive.org)

The Story of the Electron Tube

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by Kevin Strom, WB4AIO

HERE IS A WELL-DONE film created by Western Electric in 1948 which gives a brief history of the vacuum tube from AT&T’s perspective. The short part near the end about the War to Save the Soviet, during which all this technology was used to blast Western Civilization to bits and enslave its people, was a bit depressing — but the revolutionary genius of DeForest and the men who stood on his shoulders is quite inspiring, as are the pictures of America back before the Third World invasion. This is the world I was born into.

I wonder if, had our civilization not been derailed by the fall of the Classical world and the subsequent Dark Ages, we would have had electronic amplifiers and sophisticated radio communications in 948 instead of 1948. After all, we knew the Earth was a sphere, and its diameter, in 500 BC, and we had steam engines in 50 AD — though this knowledge was subsequently lost when the crazies took over.

‘Obamacare’ Tax Hike List via K4HZY

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Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes: Listed by Size of Tax Hike

(As promised on last night’s Liberty Net session, here is the list showing that the “Obamacare” law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses.)

WASHINGTON, DC — Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. Arranged by their respective sizes according to CBO scores, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, their effective dates, and where to find them in the bill.

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FRRL Recognizes the Liberty Net

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The FRRL — a Web site whose acronym stands for “The Future of Radio and Radio’s Legacy” — has published an excellent article encouraging its readers to check out the Liberty Net. Here’s an excerpt, but do visit the FRRL site for a great array of radio-related features and videos (and much more):

I CAN AGREE WITH the sentiment below – so many amateur radio conversations are vacuous.   How about taking it up a notch and get amateurs into the national conversation on topics of the day?

A past president of the ARRL said that a renewed focus on technology will reawaken the relevance of Amateur Radio.  Will it?  Or will this just drive Amateur Radio into a smaller and smaller niche market on the margins of society?

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