Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #100
Fellow Patriots,
Greetings and welcome to the PENL Edition #100. Thanks for stopping by to check out this weeks newsletter. WOW!!! We made it. Achieving the 100 week plateau is really something I never dreamed would happen in the beginning. I will share some thoughts on the 100 week journey below under Thoughts for the Week. I appreciate those of you who invested your time over the many weeks the PENL has been around.
HFS 2nd Annual March Madness Donation Drive March 1-31, 2021 - All donations directly covers operational cost to keep licenses, software fees, website and email fees..... You can read more and donate at this link - Hope for Survival - 2nd Annual March Madness Donation Drive - March 1-31, 2021 We have reached about 50% of our goal so far. HFS sends a huge "THANK YOU" for donations received so far. It is greatly appreciated.
Thursday Zoom Rallies – We had Zoom Rally #45 as HFS continues the Thursday night series discussing preparedness related topics like gardening, building preparedness groups and leadership to name a few. If you aren't attending these rallies you are certainly missing out. The rally had two guest speakers again this week. JPW covered Practical Animal Care and shared some outstanding information and guidance for families with animals. We also shared a video tour of Carolina Readiness Supply. We then moved to our "chatter that matters" segment of the evening where all attendees can discuss any and all preparedness topics on their mind. Thanks to everyone who could attend. A big thanks to JPW for her outstanding research, information and practical care of animals. .
Heritage Life Skills will be held May 21-23, 2021 and registration started March 1, 2021. More information about Carolina Readiness Supply and Heritage Life Skills 2021 is provided in the following link to HFS YouTube page. (266) Hope For Survival - YouTube Here is my conversation with Ms. Jan discussing Heritage Life Skills 2021.
If you have never attended a Heritage Life Skills you are missing out. Here is a link to the website and registration page where you can find this years schedule, instructor bios and classes being offered. Carolina Readiness: A Preparedness & Survival Store.
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2
You can watch the most recent HFS YouTube video, HFS February 2021 Update, posted recently at https://youtu.be/YWEb88JLkfQ
Connect and give me a shout. Share with family and friends.
Moving along …
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week –
I am very surprised to be here writing my thoughts for the #100th Edition of the Patriot Express Newsletter. Folks, think about it, the PENL started on a whim for the most part based around a new book and a website. I had a email list of about 10 people at the time. I really had no clue what I wanted to do and where things may go. We have grown from 10 to about 370 preparers. Here we are 700 days later talking about edition #100. I have to chuckle a bit.
I came in to this HFS PENL journey with Ms. Lucy, Festus, and Wilson my random personal counselor who is a make believe squirrel. I know, it sounds nuts, huh? I never in a million years could have imagined or guessed the journey I would travel over the 700 days. 100 PENLs, over 450 posted articles, the amazing friends I would gain and now call family, and things I have learned from all of you.
First let me say Ms. Lucy has been very giving and understanding the past 100 weeks. The amount of time and adjustments to personal schedules to give me time to commit to doing the HFS total package. It has been tough and I know it has been for her. Thanks you Ms. Lucy. From afar, Festus spends countless hours reading and doing analysis of information. Sometimes to his own detriment because not only the hours he spends but the degree of the negative information can take a toll on a person. Remember, Festus and I started researching and tracking all this information years ago. So, imagine mounds of information and trying to remember it and keep track of it has been a real work load. Thank you Festus. I know it hasn't been easy. Just take a deep breath and try to feel it in the air tonight while enjoying the mountain life.
I could cover A-Z here but I won't. One of the important things to know is none of this would ever have happened had Ms. Lucy and I not journeyed to an event in NC where I also met Ms. Jan from Carolina Readiness Supply. I talked to her about getting an opportunity to teach classes at Heritage Life Skills which CRS host. I would never have crossed paths with any of you without this important opportunity taking place. Thank you Ms. Jan. Not only did it open up the door to HLS and all of you, I also gained two dear friends in Ms. Jan and Mr. Bill.
I will share some of the things I take away from the first #100 editions and where we have been over the weeks. Some things you may find comical and other things you may shake your head at. All in all, it is life and the journey we travel through in each of our books in life. I'm thankful we have crossed paths on this journey because you all made me a better person.
From the start I wrote short simple articles. Five to seven paragraphs. Sometimes I go back to the start of the website looking for information and I have to shake my head and ask "why did I write and post that?" I was learning I suppose. The first several months I may get ten reads. I would then go over to Breitbart or Zero Hedge and see 100,000 on a single article in less than 24 hours. Ha Ha. My intent then, and now, has always been information and helping the reader and not about numbers, reads, or visitors. For the record, I think it took over one year to finally get over 100 reads to an article.
The magic question has always been "what do they really want to read about?" Some things I had to consider was experience, knowledge levels, and desires for reading topics. I would throw out different topics, depths, and content. Most folks had no desire reading or learning about Artificial Intelligence, MK Ultra. 5 G - Virtual Reality, Technocracy, Robotic Testing and the One World Brain. Agenda 2030 was a certain no go. Not until recently in 2021 are folks finally paying some attention to the above topics.
This journey has been simply amazing for me. The things I have witnessed is amazing. Good and bad, happy and sad, it is life and it is all good. I have watched people come and go. Some stay and continue to be part of the HFS family and others decided being prepared was over rated. I am always amazed at the families or family leader who's ego is bigger than their preparedness pantry and decides they will be just fine. On the other side we started with those politically left of the fence and now prepare as part of their routine and politically they woke up to see reality. I have witnessed first time fire arm licensing, family chickens with names, how to build potato boxes and heat greenhouses. From ham radios to smoked canned hams, and water well pumps to dumpster diving for preparedness goodies, we have read and heard so much. Families on the move to relocate from a city to a farm and now they are surrounded by four legged family members. Mindsets are changed and built and then I witness the lifestyle changes to go with it. Preparers striving for self-reliance.
In the beginning I wasn't always politically correct and was reminded of such a time or two. One reader blew a gasket over the word "libtard" and let me know know about it. Another reader was offended because I talked about God a bit to much around Christmas. Then another reader asked to be removed from the mailing list because I made a statement about the left going after the guns. Sensitive indeed. Another reader asked to be removed because they didn't want to be associated with a radical website. Ha Ha. Ha. Ha. Now that is really funny. The neat thing about being on this end is I get to read and see it all. Because I try to live my life and each day "left of bang" and outside the box, I may have a different perspective on things. When people are offended by comments such as "Biden won the election through cheating (article title)" or "Put your mask on to help protect others" I tend to generate a sarcastic remark under my breath. Maybe a bit of the British humor in me. I have tried to stay on the fence for the most part because preparing people and families, left and right, is more important than proving a political point or victory. I also want the website to stay alive and not be taken down because of some crazy comment.