SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. The water shortage in Capte Town continues to be a source of potential conflict.
Water Shortage
Cape Town is bracing for clashes as the city clamps down on water usage by its occupants. The kind of drought that they are experiencing only happens about once in every 300 years and the water levels are dropping by as much as one percent every day. That means that there is not enough water to bathe and the government is asking residents to use washcloths to clean themselves. They are also asked to flush the toilet only once a day. Thanks to G.P. for the link.
JWR added to Sunday’s update on Cape Town: “Is this a preview of urban life in America in another 10 to 15 years? By the way, the household electric fences seen in this video have a lethal voltage. That would be an invitation to a huge lawsuit in the US or Canada. But it is standard practice in South Africa.”
Educational Straitjacket
A recent study shows that kids are basically born geniuses, but that the educational system destroys imagination. Who would have ever thought that an indoctrination system designed to make children conform to accepted social norms would destroy imagination? The study was commissioned by NASA to help the agency identify and develop creative talent. The researchers were tasked to research school children and attempt to identify creative individuals that the agency could tap to help with their many products. 98 percent of 5-year-olds tested at the “genius” level. By age 10, that number had fallen to only 30 percent. By age 15, only 12 percent tested at that level. Yep, these are the people that will vote in three years. Thanks to G.M. for the link.
Private Police
Showing that anything the government can do (except for destroying things), private industry can do better, Britain has a “private police force” that has caught over 400 criminals with a 100 percent conviction rate after taking on cases regular officers are too busy to look at. The firm is led by former Scotland Yard senior officers and is investigating murder inquiries. Some of the activities include guards patrolling streets of wealthy neighborhoods (£200 a month each), high-profile murder investigations dogged by allegations of corruption and cover-up, and help in cases of rape, missing persons, burglary, theft, stalking and blackmail.
Venezuela
Reader H.L. sent in this article from Bloomberg talking about life in Caracas. Notably, nearly all the ads on the radio there are encouraging and marketing fleeing the country. Visas for the whole family, house purchases in Florida and even lawyers promising to help you land a job abroad are all standard fare. Then there are the radio ads telling you to turn your commuting car into an armored vehicle. When there aren’t ads encouraging people to flee the country, there is the endless droning of state propaganda or the Castro-esque, rambling speed from Maduro that can drag on for hours. Basically, live life in fear or live elsewhere.
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Then there is the fact that prices of common goods are doubling every few weeks which makes life exceedingly difficult for those trying to find a way to pay for their basic transactions. Alfredo Infante has found an interesting way to track the inflation. Six months ago, donations from one Sunday mass could buy 30 eggs for church events. Now he needs almost 50 Sundays to buy the same number of eggs.
Church Corruption
A recent statement released by the appropriately named German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said that he could envision blessing homosexual couples in the Catholic Church. He did add that it would be up to the “pastor on the ground” rather than a universal rule. If you wonder why churches are seen as irrelevant in today’s society, look no further than this sort of nonsense. The Bible is clear in how it regards this behavior and any church that bends the rules to fit the popular culture is no more than a humanistic social club. Thanks to D.B. for the link.
Gender-Bending Chemicals
BPA, a chemical found in many plastic containers mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen and is linked to low sperm counts and infertility in men, as well as breast and prostate cancer. A recent study by the University of Exeter found that 86 percent of teenagers had traces of BPA in their urine. given the widespread use of this chemical in plastic packaging of food, experts are concerned that it is nearly impossible to avoid exposure to it. It should be noted that the sample size of this study was rather small, but the results indicate that this is a problem that needs to be looked at on a larger scale. One more reason to raise your own food. Thanks to W.W. for the link.
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Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
you can not raise crops or livestock without water. the february 4th posting noted an estimate of 55% compliance with water rationing. nestle uses loopholes in the great lakes compact to take our water and sell it in china. mexico city and others are literally sinking as water tables drop. a few years ago in the U.S. , cows were slaughtered because drought conditions caused both water and feed shortages , raising beef and dairy prices.the water crisis is already here. people are turning a blind eye because they do not want to hear it. washing cars,using the hose instead of a broom and watering lawns are not crucial to survival. water levels drop daily as population increases. people need to wake up.please. thank you survivalblog. readers please take the 10 cent challenge. help keep the great content coming.
There isn’t a water crisis everywhere, mostly in places where the communists are in control. Take California for example. They are supposedly low on their water supply. And yet they sit right next to an entire ocean of water. 10 years later, they are finally deciding that maybe they should put in some desalination plants. No kidding, ya think? If people want to live in communist California, I guess they can pay the taxes to do things the communist way, by paying for taxpayer supported desalination plants. Or, in non-communist areas, people could do things their own way and collect rain water and utilize other water saving techniques themselves, without government interference.
As far as public education goes, H L Mencken said it best and I quote.
” The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.”
The Bloomberg link above goes to an Anti-Trump story, not Venezuela. Probably like my usual ‘W F fat thumb errors’-Ha! Best Wishes!
Fixed. That’s really odd. I was looking right at the article when I did a cut/paste. Thanks for the heads up.
Regarding German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, please know that as a faithful, traditional Catholic, this Cardinal has a long history of saying things contrary to Christianity / Catholicism. As could be demonstrated in other contexts, don’t let a bad person taint your opinion of the true Catholic faith.
If you want more Catholic news from a proper (faithful) perspective, there’s a “drudge report” like news aggregator called http://www.canon212.com. There are plenty of faithful news outlets & blogs that rag on people like Marx all the time to point out the errors in their statements.
@AMDG,
Understood that it doesn’t represent the entire church, but if Marx’s superiors don’t reign that behavior in, it is basically agreement through silence. That is the reason the rest of the world minimizes churches and faith. In a top-down structure like the Catholic Church, those in positions of authority must immediately repudiate such blatant disregard for Scripture. That’s the whole point of a top-down structure like that.
The problem is harder to deal with in a church that does not have a central authority, but by the same token, those types of churches often don’t have such wide ranging influence. The average person only hears “Catholic Church” and it doesn’t matter if it’s halfway across the world. It’s up to the church authorities to disavow and discipline.
Dear Hugh
The Catholic Church is very close to the point of schism. As many people have commented, it has been in de facto schism for years. Cardinal Marx has only one superior, Francis, and he is appointing, protecting, and fraternizing with gay clergy and pedophile clergy.
There is also serious question as to whether Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was valid. It may have been forced, which would make it invalid (meaning he is still pope, and Francis is not). Benedict’s statements about his resignation were completely contradictory, the reasons he gave were obviously false, he continues to wear the papal white almost five years later, and when asked why, absurdly said it was because he did not have a black set of clerical clothing. He is still addressed by the papal title, including by “Pope” Francis. Ann Barnhardt, at Barnhardt.biz has discussions on the reasons for the invalidity of Benedict’s resignation.
Most of the Catholic hierarchy are gung ho for a one-church world, celebrate Martin Luther, and fire or demote anyone who teaches traditional Catholic morals and doctrine.
There is a video online made by the Vatican showing Francis approving different world religions. The agenda appears to be to unite with as many Christian churches as possible, and then with other world religions. (You can insert your own comments about the book of Revelation here.)
He has just thrown the suffering underground Church in China to the communists, demanded that two faithful bishops turn their diocese over to excommunicated communist bishops, and sanitized seven more. The real bishops in China are under constant observation, imprisoned and tortured, dead, or disappeared. One bishop was returned to his family dead, naked, and wrapped in clear plastic. They found his body thrown on the ground in front of their house. This is common practice.
The church authorities are not going to disavow and discipline anyone except traditional, orthodox Catholics who believe in the Christ of the Bible, and in following His moral teachings.
The clergy at the Vatican, including senior, high-ranking cardinals, have their phones tapped, and are spied on constantly. They live in fear of Francis, and are afraid to speak. Those who do are publicly humiliated and thrown out.
Francis will be holding a new Synod later this year, all pre-scripted, which is expected to violate and discard traditional Christian morality to an even more drastic degree than he has already.
Thus the impending schism. The vast majority of Catholics will probably side with Francis, and traditional Catholics will almost certainly lose their churches, institutions, and resources, and become a persecuted underground minority.
The only member of the hierarchy who is standing strong and speaking clearly is Bishop Athanasius Schneider – of Kazakhstan. Cardinal Robert Sarah of Africa did speak up, but seems to have been silenced.
If any readers want to keep an eye on developments, I recommend OnePeterFive. Unlike Canon212, which is an excellent news aggregator, OnePeterFive often has articles by the major players themselves.
God help us all.