The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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 socialist utopia of Venezuela strikes again with public transportation known as Venezuelan kennels.

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

Most people are smart enough not to plug unknown USB devices into your computer. You never know what can be hiding in the USB plug. Of course, the vast majority of USB powered devices are benign and do exactly what they claim they do, but according to this article sent in by reader T.Z. this is a prime target of hackers. Your computer, by design, trusts anything plugged into a USB port that reports itself as a “human interface device”. Because of restraints on design, the computer has to do this. Otherwise, how would it accept data from a keyboard or mouse. As it turns out, there are devices in existence that can be hidden in a USB plug that pretend to be a keyboard that are fully functioning computers themselves and capable of injecting malware as if you typed it yourself on the keyboard.

ITAR Restrictions Eased

From the desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, comes this article on the Department of Justice’s settlement with Defense Distributed. You may remember the firearm that spawned this particular lawsuit under the Obama administration. Cody Wilson had just produced and publicized the computer files for a 3D printed firearm named the “Liberator” (in honor of the famous WWII underground weapon). The ability of your average Joe being able to make his/her own firearm at home on a $300 printer was groundbreaking. It basically meant the collapse of gun control. The DOJ jumped in with both feet and attempted to claim such digital files were restricted from public consumption. With the DOJ basically folding, gun control is effectively on life support now though many will not admit it.

Homegrown Terror Threat

The jihadist threat from homegrown terrorist in America is continuing to increase each month according to this article sent in by G.P. Making the terrorists more difficult to track is the fact that they are often inspired by foreign terrorist groups like ISIS, but not directly connected with them. In the month of June alone, there were nine jihadists arrested or convicted of terror plots (in NY City, Ohio, and Alabama). In Europe there were at least 10 plots foiled over the same time frame. The article reports that since 2013, there have been 154 homegrown jihadist cases in the United States.

OSINT

Reader T. sent in this link that collects and correlates information on every states national politicians (usually involving money) along with this comment:

Drill down by zip code and individual contributors if you’d like – would you like to know who in your neighborhood contributed to Bernie Sanders? How about Killary? Or the DNC? Have any of those people stopped in to say hi? Are they collecting on you?

Like to know what businesses contribute to whom? Carry that last point one step further and compare the money to the voting records for your elected officials. If Bob’s Health Insurance Agency contributes to the DNC for example, find another insurer and make sure Bob’s gets the economic boycott they deserve.

You can also design your own mash up. No matter what the level of conflict, or what the field of battle is, the one with the best intelligence usually wins. Or at least, lives to fight another day.

Venezuelan Kennels

In the socialist utopia of Venezuela, a new form of public transportation has appeared. These buses are known locally as kennels. Passengers risk their lives by packing themselves inside barred pick-up trucks (looking eerily similar to cages). Even though their have been several high-profile accidents resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, one might think that the government would be in a hurry to ban them and protect the citizens. That would be far from the truth though. The need for public transportation is so great that governors and mayors are launching their own fleets, free of charge. So far, 55 people have died since April using this improvised for of transportation. In typical socialist fashion, the government blames the transportation crises on the labor unions. Thanks to H.L. for the link.

Groundwater Contaminants

Do you have a well or is your water derived from a well? If so, you may be interested in this article sent in by H.L. We are all pretty much aware of how bacteria and viruses migrate through open water ways that many municipal sources are derived from. William Johnson, a geoscientist from the University of Utah has researched how these same contaminates can move through groundwater. The answer lies in heavy rain and flooding and how well the contaminant sticks to sediment. You normally think of sediments as a particular kind of filter that will sift out large particles like bacteria, protozoa and viruses, but that may not always be the case depending on the type of sediment that the water is moving through. It’s an interesting, though somewhat technical read.

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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!