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”. Paraguay has missing rifles.

School Shootings

Remember those 240 school shootings in 2015-2016 that the Department of Education claimed? Neither do we. Reader BDG sent in this article from NPR that fact-checked the Department of Education. They contacted every single school that the Department had listed in their report. it turns out that they were only able to confirm 11 incidents (either directly with the schools or by media reports). In 161 cases, the schools or districts attested that no incident took place or couldn’t confirm one. The Department claimed that they would update the data later this year, but have no intention of correcting or republishing the report. So much for accurate data.

Britons Under Fire

Britain’s counter-terrorism police have released a new video advising people on vacation what to do if they experience a terrorist attack. The advice is summed up as “run, hide, and tell,” in that order. Yep, run and hide, hoping that the bad guy doesn’t notice you. You know, it kind of sounds like they’ve been taking advice from the Florida, Broward County Sheriff’s Department.

Nothing to Hide

Reader DSV sent in this video that responds to the “nothing to hide” argument in support of mass surveillance. The author points out that he has a standing offer to any viewer to send him their complete browsing history so he can publish it unedited on his web site. he points out that no one has ever taken him up on the offer. He notes that privacy is a fundamental part of self ownership. We draw boundaries around ourselves that nobody is allowed to cross without our permission. He notes that we have curtains on our windows and locks on our doors. It is interesting to note that even those who staunchly maintain that if you “have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” inherently understand this concept and would be aghast if you looked into their private lives unannounced and uninvited. It’s one of those double standards again.

South African Gun Confiscation

History confirms that every government perpetuated genocide in history has taken place after the arms of those same people have been taken away. Yet, here we are again. Following on the heels of the South African governments public statements and decisions to confiscate land from white owned farms, 300,000 South Africans have been ordered to turn over their guns. The war is winding up and the government hates competition. The confiscation order comes from Section 24 and 28 of the Firearm’s Control Act. Citizens who sought a firearms license were required to renew that license 90 days before it expired. This is also evidence that licensing almost always leads to confiscation. Thanks to T.Z. for the article.

Missing FAL Rifles

Police in Paraguay have discovered that many of their rifles are toys. Shortly after some “irregularities” were noticed, an inspection was carried out. The police found that 44 rifles and 90 small arms had been replaced with realistic looking air-soft toys. The FN-FAL’s sell for $10,000 each and authorities believe the rifles were smuggled into Argentina and Brazil. Thanks to T.P. for the link.

Nazis Aren’t Marxists

Reader H.L. pointed out this article that correctly identifies socialists. You often hear the media today call Nazis members of the “far right”, especially when there is conflict between Antifa and “right wingers”. As it turns out, the Nazis were socialists too. This is not a “left vs. right” conflict, but instead a “left vs. left”. Nazis were just nationalist as well as socialists. The article points out the difference between the Marxists and the Nazis in Europe, showing the difference in their social and economic policies.

California Crazy

Pat Cascio pointed out this article on a recent bill in California dealing with suspects awaiting trial. Traditionally, non-violent suspects have had to post bail as a bond that they will show up for their court hearings. If they fail to show, the bond is confiscated providing motivation for the suspect to adhere to the rules. California has decided to do away with bail for all non-violent criminals. He wonders how many will now simply not show up for trial. Additionally, will they be set free again if they are caught and arrested for the warrant resulting from skipping out on the trial?

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!




17 Comments

  1. In his book “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” author William Shirer wrote the following: …in 1934 “from the CONSERVATVE RIGHT…came demands that a halt be called to the Revolution, that the arbitrary arrests, the persecution of the Jews, the attacks against churches, the arrogant behavior of the Storm Troopers be curbed, and that the general terror organized by the Nazis come to an end.” Shirer was there and he knew that the conservative Right was opposed to the Nazis! This should be proof enough that the Conservative Right and the Nazis were at opposite ends of the political spectrum!

  2. I know this is not on the above agenda, but I am looking for current news and could use a little help, back in July the ATF sent a letter to Safety Harbor Firearms saying that there .50 cal upper is now a firearm that needs a serial number, or words to that effect, does anyone know if garbage has been fixed and/or ????. Fresh news would help, Thanx.

  3. It’s one of those double standards again.”

    no, it is not a double standard. precociously imitating their owners, the ones pushing this panopticon surveillance see themselves as the humans, and the rest of us as cattle to be managed. humans have a right to privacy, cattle have no rights. no double standard at all.

  4. In California’s near future:

    Officer: I’m here to confiscate your guns.

    Conservative, taxpaying CITIZEN: Sorry officer, but my guns were recently stolen by a “non-violent offender.”

    Officer: You should have filed a police report. Why didn’t you?

    Conservative, taxpaying CITIZEN: I would have, but what the hell good would it have done? You would have arrested him, at which point he would have been booked and released, without bail, as a “non-violent offender,” so he could go on stealing guns. Now; if you don’t mind, get the hell off my land!

    1. not quite. it’s –

      Officer: I’m here to confiscate your guns.

      Conservative, taxpaying plowhorse: Sorry officer, but my guns were recently stolen by a “non-violent offender”.

      Officer: Stand aside while we search.

      Plowhorse: What’s with the bulldozer?

      Officer: That’s what we use to conduct the search.

      there. that’s how it will go.

  5. re: Nazis Aren’t Marxists
    The word “Nazi” is a contraction that meant “national socialist.” People often exclusively focus on the genocidal policies and concentration camps but their entire system was about centralized control. The Nazi’s initially gained popular support by taking control of a struggling economy, creating make-work programs for the unemployed after the depression. They ran a command and control system where private businesses were nominally left in control by the owners, but government bureaucrats told them what to produce, how much to charge, and what to pay their workers. They also offered socialized medicine and “mercy killing” of the mentally and physically handicapped.

    I was once called a “nazi” by a nasty little “20 something” leftist vegan girl because she knew I was a gun owner. She hated gun owners and hunters. It goes without saying that the public school system had left her completely ignorant of history, especially WW-II era history. She had no idea that the Nazis enforced gun control, as well as Hitler himself being a vegetarian who “loved animals.”

    Many people have the misconception that somehow the Nazi’s over threw the existing government. They were voted into office. Hitler was loved by many germans as a “strong man” that took control to fix the problems of the day. The word “Dictator” did not have the negative connotation then as it does now. Hitler and his party “won” with 43% in 1933 because a majority had passed an (unconstitutional) law allowing the Nazi – Deutschnationale Coalition to govern without the consent of the parliament. To put it in context, Bill Clinton won in 1992 in a three way race, with 43% of the popular vote.

    1. “the public school system”

      people keep saying that. “the public schools”, “the universities”, “the educational system”. but the schools themselves do nothing. it is certain people who are driving this, who are behind all this, who mandate the policies and curriculum and teaching from afar using funding – using their control over our money – and then stand back and laugh and watch as we destroy ourselves like demented machinery.

    2. The word “Nazi” is actually how the first syllable of the German word “national” is spoken. It was Churchill and the British Fabian Socialists who coined the nickname. The National Socialists in Germany never called themselves “Nazis”. The name was meant to be an insult.

      This word, like so many others is charged with emotion. Words like Nazi, racist, anti-Semite, and Ni%ger elicit an emotional response instead of a reasoned, rational response. That is why these words and others like them are so effective in ending or preventing any rational conversation.

  6. People are confused about the meaning of the terms “liberal”, “conservative”, “right”, and “left”. We tend to think of “conservative” and “right” as synonyms. The same with “liberal” and “left”. I recently read a very helpful description of these terms.

    “Conservative” means you basically want things to stay the way they are. You are “traditional”. “Liberal” means you are looking to change things, or try something new.

    Joke: “Conservatives are satisfied with the present evils. Liberals want to find new ones.”

    “Right”, or “right-wing”, refers to less government control, and “left-wing” refers to more government control.

    “Extreme-right” is anarchy. “Extreme-left” is totalitarian. There is no such thing as a “right-wing dictatorship”.

    The funny thing is, with the way things are today, those who think of themselves as “conservative” because they prefer traditional values (including myself), may actually be better described as “liberal”. Since traditional values have basically been rejected by society, wanting to go back to them is wanting “change.”

    Maybe that was just more confusing.

    1. Mr. Pettimore you are still confused as to what these terms mean: Liberal vs Conservative is the balance of personal freedoms(less vs more),Right vs Left is the balance of economic freedoms. The easiest way to visualize this is as a X-Y graph(one line up/down,one left/right with zero at the axis) all four groups want control but in different ways,for different purposes. At the center you find anarchists who find no use for centralized government(use of force against others) to control personal interactions(worked well in Spain,but led to the “Spainish Civil War” when neither Fascists/Nazis or Socialists/Communists could abide a Third way of freedom to exist. For a example and a test of where you are on this x,y axis please consult David Boaz”Libertarianism”

  7. School Shootings

    Sometimes even NPR gets it right, even if they don’t mean to.

    Nothing to Hide

    Wasn’t it Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister who said that back in the ’30’s? Or was that some Leninist or Stalinist propaganda minister who said that first.

    I’ve even heard Hannity say the exact same thing. I kind of give him a bit of a pass, he still doesn’t understand the implications of “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear”. Sometimes Hannity, Levin, and Limbaugh come across as unthinking NeoCons.

    California Crazy

    If you live there, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES while there is still time. Or is it too late already?

    Nazis Aren’t Marxists

    Whether it was Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, or Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler, they all read Marx. The roots of Fascism and National Socialism and Communism all began with Karl Marx.

    Fast-forward to today’s Washington, D.C. (The Swamp). There used to be a radio talk show host here in Michigan named Mark Scott. His term for the denizens of The Swamp was CommuNazi’s. I’ve called them that ever since, the term just fit so well. Friedrich Hayek might have called them Communo-Fascists.

    After all what is a National Socialist (Nazi)? Take a serving of Marxist Communism, add a generous serving of Mussolini’s corporatism, and a generous portion of extreme nationalism, and you get a generous meal of National Socialism. Our beloved NeoCons just take it one step further and replace extreme nationalism with ultra extreme globalism. So when we talk about Communists, Fascists, and Nazi’s, we also need to through in the Neo-Liberal / Neo-conservative cabal that actually runs The Swamp. Totalitarian socialists all.

  8. Re: Bail System in California

    I’ve never lived in CA (thank God), but I remember in my early 20’s, as a foolish young man, I was arrested on a non-violent crime. I spent a few hours in Holding to cool down before going before the magistrate and getting a Personal Recognizance (PR) Bond based on my (relative) lack of criminal history and a promise that I would show up in court. I did, and took my comeuppance ($500 fine plus costs and unsupervised probation if I remember correctly), and went on about my life. My point is, I don’t know that bail is really required for the vast majority of criminal cases that move through the justice system. California seems to have MANY problems, but not sure this is really one of them. Just my opinion.

    1. -Jason

      Living in California, I’ve seen first hand what the drug epidemic can do to a community. These people will steal virtualy anything, even if they only get $10.00, they don’t care. They live in the moment and all they focus on is getting high. While not necessarily violent, their behavior does violence to the overall quality of life for the rest of us. Personally, I think it’s a bad idea. There’s no easy answer, but this is definitely not it.

  9. Nazi’s (fascism) and socialism are different heads on the same coin. The takeaway for Americans was best said by Chuck Baldwin. “When the Democrats control things, America gets more socialism; when the Republicans control things, America gets more corporatism, which is a polite word for fascism. Socialism requires government to own everything, while fascism requires government to control everything. And remember, too, fascists and socialists have always hated each other. Big deal! Fascists and socialists alike hate freedomists”.

    So-called conservatives have been deceived by choices of party, both of which are controlled by globalists. Try to explain that there’s not a dimes worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats and you’ll get shouted down. They parrot MAGA when they should be fighting to MAA.

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