I am always thankful for the arrival of BHM. I believe the magazine is an excellent example of how people can live together, live more fully and more free.
I always enjoy reading Mr. Silveira’s articles because of his depth of knowledge and willingness to say what he feels. I don’t always agree with him though, and must take exception to his use of Plaxico Burress as a good example of a right-to-carry case. Mr. Burress was carrying a locked and loaded firearm in an unsafe manner. He endangered everyone around him by doing so. It is only luck that he and not an innocent bystander was shot.
I’m in favor of concealed carry without restriction generally, but am willing to grant that some mandatory training and qualification could be a good thing. Carrying in an unsafe manner should be a punishable offense, regardless of whether he was carrying legally.
It is this case specifically that makes it harder and harder for gun rights defenders to get their points across. Your magazine is a first rate source of gun information. I believe this article, while communicating many good points, went wide of the mark in citing this example.
Kudos to Emily Chadwick (Call Me Plumber Jan/Feb.2010 issue). I hope her toddler was smart enough to be impressed by Mom’s spunk and self reliance.
When I was a young lad, I accidentally dropped a quarter into the toilet after finishing my business, but before flushing. Oh No! 25 cents was a lot of money to a young one in a poor family in the 1960′s. My mom instantly transformed into a superhero and plunged her hand into the toilet bowl. Feeling around under the brown floaters, she pulled the money from the drain of doom. I could not have been more impressed by Wonder Woman charging into machine gun fire! Washing her hands and my money, she explained that it’s not always pleasant, but we do what must be done. It was one of many incidents proving her to be the strongest, bravest woman I knew.
I am now older than she was then. When I need strength and courage in the face of adversity, I still look to her for inspiration. I expect Mrs. Chadwick’s daughter will feel the same way.
As I have my own business, I get to work with the public and that includes many officers of the law. I have taken a sort of poll. The concensus is hole up your weapons and buy as much ammo as you can afford. Store up food and be prepared. Something is in the air and it’s coming this way.
I am not one to say the sky is falling, but I have done what my senses have told me to do. I am also “networking” with reliable people whom I can trust and depend on and with. (That network is a very small one for obvious reasons)
I cannot comprehend that some people cannot comprehend that someday the store won’t be open and there won’t be any food on the shelves. What will they do?
I truly hope all this bypasses us and things get better but if not I’m ready.
One more thing…Love your mag!! I try not to read the whole thing when I get it in the mail and try to save some for late night reading, but dang!….I read it all again on the day I got it. Just will have to read it again…
This year was my first year subscribing to your magazine and I just wanted to say thank you. I’m 27 now and I know that that’s not really to old or wise but I guess I have a bit of an old fashioned soul and way about looking at life. I’m not caught up in all the trendy junk pushed onto us. Nor do I buy into all the scare tactics thrown at us all over public media. I believe that people actually need to earn what they get and I don’t mind doing hard work to get it. I’ve never felt self gratitude after receiving something I didn’t really deserve. But I do take pride in the unexpected pat on the back I get from doing something right and doing it well. Not because I wanted a reward but because it needed to be done and well lets face it I trust myself (and that’s about all) to get it done.
Anyway, about the age thing. I’m currently in my 3rd year a U.S.Marine and I live in a barracks filled with stupid people. My mom and dad raised me right. Yes ma’am, no sir. You want something bad enough, you work for it. Respect your elders, and most of all respect yourself. If someone does do you a favor be honestly grateful. If you mess up, man up and accept what’s coming. Yes I’ve messed up plenty, but I also am doing what I need to make it right. However to 90% of my co-workers, the task of doing a load of laundry is overwhelming. Oh and don’t even ask them to clean up after their own messes. These guys were sheltered. Mommy and daddy handed them everything they wanted whenever they demanded. Their parents never smacked their bottoms but instead grounded them to their rooms, which of course are filled with tvs, video games and more entertainment then most small countries. Now don’t get me wrong, we work hard when we work, but when work is over (or as soon as somebody isn’t riding their asses and giving them step by step order) their brains turn off. It just amazes me how these big bad marines can be such babies. Common sense vanquished. I wonder how they will survive once they return to the civilian world and have to actually fend for themselves.
I am currently reading your “Stupid People” book and it’s one of the most honest to the point truths I’ve experienced. I only wish I could shout half of the common sense in this book to the people around me. How can the world or at least America really be so blind. I guess I’ve kinda turned this into a rant but what I’m trying to say is I appreciate your work at helping good honest hard working americans stay on the right path. I love your magazine. I feel like part of a big happy family when I’m reading it and I’m glad that real people still exist. Thank you for being real, and telling what some of us think but most of us never get say. Please pass along my sincere gratitude to everyone in and involved your magazine/website. Thank you.
Respectfully
PFC Andrew Nolen U.S.M.C.
East Sparta, Ohio
P.S. I’ve extended my subscription for at least the next two years. I cant wait to see what’s coming next.
It absolutely sucks that the PTB forced you out of your home, but I am glad that you have found a place of like-minded folks to start anew. You wouldn’t be our heroine if you couldn’t land anywhere and make a place for yourself.
Living here in southern Arizona, about 4000 ft lower than where you are, I read your article with even greater interest than I usually give to BHM. I both chuckled and commiserated, remembering how I felt when I moved here in 1991.
Water, of course, is the big thing. I moved here in April before it got hot but often found myself getting faint before I realized I was dehydrated. Even in winter, the lack of humidity can get to you. Sometimes more so, as you think it’s not hot so you don’t need to drink as much. Wrong. The cold and dry will suck moisture out too.
Speaking of moisture, don’t neglect your skin and not just for the typical feminine reasons. The sun and dryness take a toll on the largest organ we have, which has an effect on the other organs. If your skin is too dry, you are not drinking enough. Stock up on moisturizers. I’ve found that Bag Balm is not just for udders anymore. It’s great stuff.
Here are some signs that you have adapted to desert life:
– You automatically shake out your shoes or boots in the morning before putting them on–spiders and scorpions.
– You have a glass of water always at hand and you actually drink from it. Frequently.
– Whenever you are outside and not actually moving about, you will find whatever shade there is.
– Your eyes are constantly scanning the ground for rattlesnakes and you learn what times of the day/night/year when you can relax your vigil.
– You find tarantulas fascinating and not just big, ugly, hairy spiders and that lizards are your friends–they both eat bugs.
– Dust is no more a big of a deal than cat or dog hair. You breathe it, you eat it–oh well.
– You can smell water.
– You accept monsoon storms with an equal mixture of fear, awe and joy.
You wrote very well about the metaphysical aspect of desert living. Courtesy of the US Navy, I spent a year in Antarctica which is the largest “desert” of them all. Living here is not really all that different. Nature will do what nature will do and all we can do is try to adapt. There is a stark beauty here and, yes, that sense of pure survival that folks in woody, watered areas just can’t comprehend.
That holds true even for those of use who are dependent on piped in utilities. In the back of our heads, many of us always have the thought of “what if..” The current economic woes have created a huge interest here in Tucson in rainwater harvesting and gardening and solar power. It’s gratifying to see people ripping up their grass lawns. Some folks, at least, are seeing the light.
Thanks again for your article and I most certainly look forward to more.
From one desert rat to (soon to be) another, welcome.
How I loved reading your wonderful story of living in the desert. You made it come alive!
And now, here you are, in Last Chance Gulch. I do not know if you know that is the name of the main street of Helena, where three young men found gold after they had run out of food, money, and just about everything else.
They found a flood of riches – huge nuggets of gold, right there in the gulch that runs through the middle of Helena.
I think you are going to find your own gold in your Gulch.
I was just reading in the newsletter, about you comparing our current economic upheaval. I have been watching developments and I have found eerie similarities with the economic collapse of Austria, and other European countries, as the National Socialist Party rose to power during the thirties:
1. Using the welfare state to take control of people live and getting them used to having the government take care of them
2. Hyper inflate the national debt, mainly by spending to [pay for] the welfare and increasing government control
3. Hyper deflating monetary value by printing paper money. (to pay for the debt)
4. Taking over and/or over regulating business. to cause failure of the jobs and money making machinery
5. And blaming capitalism for the problems
To those people, they only had two choices. One was the Communist Workers Party and the National Socialist Party. I hope that you can make a better connection than I can. Thanks and please keep up the good work
Reader Jefferey Goss opines in Letters, Nov/Dec 2009 that “In America, we have so much freedom that it’s ‘coming out of our ears, so to speak. Freedom and liberty are ‘over-emphasized’ to the point of ‘ridiculosity’, he says.’ Then he opines “we don’t need ‘less government, but a more efficient one.’
Really, Mr. Goss? How much freedom and liberty do you think you really have these days? Congress and the various states pass “hate crime” laws, which do nothing more than remove our right to free speech. It is now deemed a “crime” to express a personal opinion about protected groups or individuals – the commission of an overt act, i.e. a “crime” is no longer required to prosecute you. Just the mere thought or mention can get one jailed.
That is “freedom,” sir?
A well known pastor from New York who has been virulently opposed to the present administration was recently visited by police and the Secret Service – no doubt at the behest of the Obama administration thought police – over his videos stating that Obama is no doubt an illegal alien who has not proven he is fit by statute to be President. No threats to the president involved that would trigger a visit from the SS for any other President, mind you – just expressing his alleged “freedom of speech.”
How about those freedoms, huh! There is not enough room for me to illustrate for you what other “freedoms” you apparently think you have, you don’t have at all.
I wonder what history books you have read for you to allege that the Constitution’s real purpose was to expand government. Even a casual reading of the document would prove to anyone with a semblance of intellect that time and time again exactly the OPPOSITE is true. The document clearly restricts the power of a central government, gives some to the states, and everything else TO THE PEOPLE.
May I respectfully suggest to readers Goss, Lamkin, and Murray that they might be happier subscribing to “Mother”, and leave the rest of us “keep your nose out of my personal business” readers to enjoy BWH in peace.
Oh – and Ms. Murray … the United States is NOT a “democracy” despite what the great unwashed would have you believe. The United States is and always has been (and God willing always WILL be) a “Constitutional Republic.”
