Why everyone needs a shortwave radio

The Senate is considering a bill that would give President Obama unprecedented new powers to control the internet in a national emergency. The bill, introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) would give the White House what some have called an internet "kill switch" allowing the president to shut down specific websites or whole portions of the internet. Lieberman says this will help protect "our economic security, national security, and public safety" from cyber-threats, but commentators on both the left and right have condemned the measure as a violation of online freedom.  Read the rest of the story HERE.

This has been dubbed "The Internet Kill Switch". Will it pass? Who knows what the government will do. They are certainly not asking me for my opinion. I am no alarmist but, this is one more reason to keep your radio gear and antennas in good working order. If you can, keep a generator or batteries on hand at all times. Make a Go-Kit and keep it stocked. Put together a family emergency kit

If you are not a HAM, buy a shortwave radio.  Get one with a digital readout and an external antenna jack. You do not have to spend a fortune on this. Kaito makes one that can be had for around $70. It has been rated very highly by the Passport to World Band Radio. Grundig and C. Crane also make some very good portable shortwave receivers. Try to avoid the no-name knockoffs.

If you have a radio, you can at least hear what is going on.  A shortwave radio will let you hear around the world. An Amateur Radio transceiver will let you communicate around the world. No Internet required! Get that HAM ticket!

...no country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.
- Mark Twain, The Gilded Age