
How to get your ham radio license

By Rich Gilbreath SHTFandGO February 7th, 2019 (Free License to share with link back to original article)
We all know people that do not prepare, save, or stock up on water,food, and supplies. One thing certain after an emergency event, there will be people without provisions, or people that have lost their supplies to flooding, fire, etc. If you live in an urban area or highly populated community, you will undoubtedly run into those in need. The question you will be forced to consider, “Do you Help?” If you are one of the prepared and have a surplus of supplies, will you give aid, food, and water to those around you in need? There’s a good argument to make for either decision. Let’s analyze the benefits of helping your fellow man and the detriments and exposure to harm you may be accepting.
Anyone that has received help from a stranger in a minor situation, as in a disabled car, dead battery, or a flat tire, definitely feels the immense power of good will, and a feeling of indebted gratitude. Now multiply this exponentially, when a major disaster, catastrophe, or emergency situation is forced upon the public, and people are placed in a hopeless situation. Anyone in distress will be highly emotional with fear, doubt, disbelief, and perhaps anger. These feelings will be compounded if the person in distress has a family or perhaps small children. The saying, “Don’t mess with momma bear”, rings true in humans as well. When you couple a high stress situation, with a family’s fear for their children, people will make rash decisions in the attempt to protect family. This in turn can and will put your family in danger, if this happens. I personally have been on the side of receiving help and is one reason why I prepare for emergency. I do not want to repeat that scenario if at all possible, be it even the most prepared can find themselves in dire straits.
Individual possibilities are endless but here are a few as an exercise in thought.
All the above situations have a different dynamic, but every possibility would require situational awareness and some much more than others.
Let’s break each one down to help understand the underlying issues.
Practice a high level of Situational awareness regardless of the encounter.
Obviously, these examples above are just some of the possibilities. Be aware that in helping others, you are assuming and putting your family at some level of risk. This should be evaluated on an individual basis, and yet, we should never lose the fact we are humans, and humanitarian efforts should be made to help others in need. That doesn’t mean you have to do it with blind faith. While humanitarian efforts will be rewarded most times, human atrocities have and always will exist. It is good to help your fellow man, but just as you have prepared for you and your family, prepare to make hard decisions to protect them as well. This exercise, doesn’t mean you will help others, but it at least get you preparing and thinking about this kind of decision, before it is thrust upon you and you have to make a decision quickly.
We have seen after natural disasters, people in general are willing to go to great lengths to help others. Helping others after an emergency seems like a noble endeavor. You have to ask yourself, wouldn’t you want someone to help you if you were in distress. What to do, and how to react are not always clear. Some things you will need to focus on are possible length of the emergency, how much provisions you have available, and whether or not you have supplies to spare.
How to make an evaluation:
There is plenty of good reasons to help others in distress. There are also very good reason, not to help. You and your family will need to make a decision on each situation your presented with at the time. Just think about different options you have, and what level you may be willing to contribute. There is no right or wrong answer. There is just your answer. Sometimes when choosing to help others, your emotions may be at a high level, especially if the decision to help includes young children.
If you decide to help others or not, you need to protect your family. Using your awareness of the situation, you will need to decide ahead of any conflict, whether you are willing and to what extent you will defend your provisions and family. The extent of emergency will be a factor. For example, a destructive tornado, being a localized event, will have emergency support people helping after the disaster has passed. Where as, a national or world disaster, may not ever have emergency professionals coming. These factors will greatly change the way you think about helping others.
Some things to think about in preparation.
Whatever you decide and how you react in an emergency situation, you will need to live with your decisions. Deciding to help others or use deadly force during a disaster, doesn’t automatically exonerate you from responsibility or allows you a clear conscience. If you and your family are threatened use like force in response. If you decide to help others, realize you may be on the receiving end of help at some point in the future. Be kind, Be good, and Good Happens to You. Live by this and you will be fine.
JAN 25, 2019 6:30 AMBY LOIS YOKSOULIAN | PHYSICAL SCIENCES EDITOR | 217-244-2788
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Microplastics contaminate the world’s surface waters, yet scientists have only just begun to explore their presence in groundwater systems. A new study is the first to report microplastics in fractured limestone aquifers – a groundwater source that accounts for 25 percent of the global drinking water supply.The study identified microplastic fibers, along with a variety of medicines and household contaminants, in two aquifer systems in Illinois. The findings are published in the journal Groundwater.“Plastic in the environment breaks down into microscopic particles that can end up in the guts and gills of marine life, exposing the animals to chemicals in the plastic,” said John Scott, a researcher at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and study co-author. “As the plastics break down, they act like sponges that soak up contaminants and microbes and can ultimately work their way into our food supply.”Groundwater flows through the cracks and voids in limestone, sometimes carrying sewage and runoff from roads, landfills and agricultural areas into the aquifers below, Scott said.The researchers collected 17 groundwater samples from wells and springs – 11 from a highly fractured limestone aquifer near the St. Louis metropolitan area and six from an aquifer containing much smaller fractures in rural northwestern Illinois.All but one of the 17 samples contained microplastic particles, with a maximum concentration of 15.2 particles per liter from a spring in the St. Louis area, the study reports. However, deciphering what that concentration means is a challenge, Scott said. There are no published risk assessment studies or regulations.
The researchers did find, however, that concentrations from their field areas are comparable to those of surface water concentrations found in the rivers and streams in the Chicago area, said Samuel V. Panno, an Illinois State Geological Survey researcher and lead author of the study.
This shows exactly what happens to bacteria and pathogens after boiling. Water Distillation is by far the most effective way to purify drinking water. Once boiling dirty water, the water vapor is separated from all the debris and condensed into pure drinking water.