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”. Another no-log VPN is busted again for doing what they say they don’t!
Graduation Gift
The 8th grade graduation give given to Philly middle-school students is raising eyebrows. As these students prepared to join the ranks of American high-schoolers, they discovered that their “welcome to high school gifts” was a bullet resistant shield that can be slipped into their backpacks like a book. Parents and guardians told the news outlet covering the event that the gift might be considered extreme, but was necessary. Of course, the shields were provided by a maker of bullet-resistant backpacks, probably as a publicity stunt and it’s pretty obvious that the kids were less than thrilled with the gift. I used to wonder why there was even such a thing as an 8th-grade graduation till I became a teacher. Then I realized that this was probably the last graduation that many of these students would ever see – Not because of bullets, but because they would drop out. Thanks to S.M. for the link.
Civil War Era Wound
Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, sent in this link showing the X-rays of a bullet wound created by a replica of a Civil War era projectile. The .58 caliber minié ball struck the arm of an individual who was hunting, but slipped and fell while carrying the loaded firearm. The wound is devastating and judging by the number of titanium screws and plate along with modern medicine, the wound would have required amputation of the arm if it occurred during the civil war. To the victims credit, he applied the tourniquet himself and walked out of the area he was hunting in to get help. Note that this link is on Facebook.
Busted Again
Yet another “no-log” VPN provider has been busted for saving the very logs they claim not to. IPVanish was a zero-log VPN service provider who claimed “We will never log any traffic or usage of our VPN”. But in published court documents it was found that they did indeed log and provide connection sites, connection timestaps, disconnection timestamps, real IP addresses, full name, email, username and EOB dates. Ugh, where does that information fit into the “no-log” scheme of things. Thanks to P.S. for the link.
Your Phone is Listening – Again
This subject keeps rearing it’s head up over and over. Reader DSV sent in this article on a a writer who decided to test the theory that your phone listens to your conversation and then tailors ads specifically for you from key words you use. In most articles like this, the author leaves too much out for the test to have any sort of validity. The few like this one, that do seem to control variables concerning the phone also leave out other connected variables as well. For instance, even though the author carefully monitors his phone usage while running the test, does he also control his usage on his desktop computer at the same time? We know that Google’s data mining is cross platform, especially when you are logged into your Google account on both machines. Did the author do any searching or research on the subject on devices other than his phone? We don’t know that information. I still remain in the the camp of “plausible but not likely”. In any case, this author probably does the best job I’ve seen yet at attempting to control these variables.
Why We Have the Second Amendment
Reader T.J. sent in this video from Reid Henrichs on why the Second Amendment exists. Here are a couple of good quotes from the video:
“Deerfield, Illinois is in blatant violation of the 2nd Amendment as well as the 4th Amendment. Their local ordinance banning semi-automatic firearms within town limits is Unconstitutional, does nothing to prevent violence, and makes law-abiding citizens into criminals who face over $1000 per day for every day they own their firearms.”
“In addition, the ordinance allows the police chief to confiscate any weapons found after the ordinance takes place. This is outright confiscation without compensation. This is illegal. This should never happen in this country.”
Bitten by a Rattlesnake
Anyone who has grown up in rattle snake country and had any contact experience with them usually understands this concept. I guess what some consider common sense is a complete mystery to others. A Corpus Christi man used a shovel to kill a rattle snake in his back yard by cutting of the head. When he bent down to pick up the carcass, the head bit him and injected venom. When this happens, a snake will release all of it’s venom so the bite is a serious affair. The victim ended up being flown to the hospital. Note that dying from a snake bite is rare, but this is the worst case bite with a large dose of venom and the first 24 hours are crucial to survival. Thanks to M.S. for the link.
Moped Muggings
According to this article sent in by reader P.L. there are apparently up to 60 moped muggings a day in London. This is a mugging where a person riding a moped will swoop by an unwary person, grabbing their purse, phone, or other valuable item and speed away. The attack is increasing in popularity because the perpetrator can speed away faster than on foot and has a greater chance of escape. The attack happens so fast that victims are usually caught completely unaware. Of course, most victims are totally in a “condition white” frame of mind during the crime. Keep your head on a swivel and stay off of that smart phone!
o o o
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!
RE: Civil War Era Wound
I would think that you would know that, for OPSEC, you would never sign up for Face Book. You can’t see the pic without loging in. Never ever.
I’m not a facebook user either and it stumps me why you “must” log in to even see something on facebook. I was looking for a contractor the other day and two of them had only facebook sites. In other words if I wanted to contact them or see if they did the kind of work I needed I had to be a facebook user. How is this good for them? Because of it I went to a contractor from online yellow pages. I did a similar thing with a restaurant choice a few days ago. I may never know what that one restaurant who is only on facebook serves since I can’t see their menu. I am a proud non-member of Costco for the same reason. Why would I pay to be a memeber of a store where I can shop and spend my money. Walmart lets me in for free and even greets me at the door.
No big surprise , saw absolutely no mention of D-day by the lame stream media . Dont watch a lot of Tv , but local news and NBC morning show totally dropped the ball . No small wonder young people are so willing to forfeit god given rights for all of us .
That’s why we homeschool our children.
I wish more people would take the initiative to be as involved in their children’s education as you have . Last year I went to an informational school tax budget meeting , there were as many people there to speak as to listen . 4 speakers 3 or 4 concerned citizens . I was at least encouraged by the fact our school has brought back Future Farmers of America ( FFA ) and the program seems to be doing well . Most parents are to busy trying to keep up with the Jones’ or catch the big game to be involved in education . During the school year these kids see teachers more hours a week than they do their parents . Some feel their responsibility in education ends with paying school taxes . Thank you and keep up the good work .
Yeah, very little coverage of D-day… sad… my dad always said he arrived “D-day plus 3”
I used to talk about stuff like this to younger co-workers… they had no idea what I was talking about… I might as well have been talking about the Battle of Hastings… they can tell you more about Cinco de Mayo than their own history…
Victim shot by back-flipping FBI agent says he initially thought an ‘idiot set off a firecracker’
(2018, June 7)
GMA
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/victim-shot-back-flipping-fbi-agent-says-initially-115504028–abc-news-topstories.html
Firearm safety rule #3
“Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.”
https://infogalactic.com/info/Jeff_Cooper#Firearms_safety
Only 60%? Closer to 99%,time to disarm the FBI(Waco,Ruby Ridge were the proofs they are domestic terrorists). If the perp had any alcohol while carrying he needs a long sentence. Was he using a retention type holster? If not the liability is huge
Rattlesnake,
Folks taught me to immediately cut the head off of any snake and bury it deep.
A “dead” snake can kill you.
The exception being one that has bitten someone, the doctor will need for antivenom perscribing. Carefully, put it in a secure container, using an implement or stick.
There have been cases where a car ran over a rattlesnake and the driver was poisoned by handling the punctured tire.
Gun control supporters, be honest: Your only effective tool is confiscation
Jun 07, 2018 | 4:00 AM
Bill Gravlin, Rancho Palos Verdes
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-gun-control-confiscation-20180607-story.html
I’ve killed several rattlesnakes that came a little too close to my home. I usually dispatch them with a shovel decapitation… and I will attest to the fact that a disembodied head will react to movement and attempt to bite ( opening the mouth and erecting the fangs) even though there is no body to move it forward. Reptiles are cold blooded creatures and have a different metabolism than mammals. As long as the tissues are still oxygenated the creature will live. In my experience the head is usually dead after about 10 or 15 minutes, although the body will continue to squirm. (My wife hates it when I put them in the freezer still moving… waste not, want not, I say… tastes just like chicken… well, sort of… using a nice asado bbq rub helps)
Failure to acknowledge the great sacrifice made on D-day is a disgrace . Hopefully some of the young people you spoke with retained the info and passed it forward . Thank you and keep telling the story of how our parents and grandparents saved the world.
my dogs get bitten once a year or so by rattlesnake (one of them, anyway) and the last one I had to stomp it to death using my MUCK boots, since it would’ve gone underneath my shipping container and bitten again. I see several every year and if you live in texas, you ought to know better than to pick on up by hand after it’s dead! I use a stick or whatever is close by and put it out of reach of my dogs since they’re still curious about a moving snake and I’ve seen one decapitated snake head keep biting after 45 mins!