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”.
Chronic Wasting Disease
Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, sent in this article on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). In 2017, 32,000 deer were harvested from the four counties in Wisconsin with the highest incidents of CWD. Forty-nine states are represented in the zip codes of hunters that participated in the kills. In those four counties, up to 51% of the bucks test positive for CWD. for those who still haven’t connected the dots, that means that CWD has the ability to spread to every state in an uncontrollable manner if the conditions are right, devastating the deer populations throught America.
Running out of Water
Reader G.P. sent in this article on Cape Town, South Africa’s severe water shortage. The country is experiencing an extreme drought and water rationing has already been implemented, but there is no relief in sight for the city. What happens when the city runs out of water? there short video talks about the difference between a crises and a catastrophe and the fact that people will be issued water rations under the “protection” of a gun.
Gasoline Lines
Venezuela’s maduro regime instigated a new policy in an attempt to keep people from profiting off of the gasoline shortage in this oil resources rich country. Under socialism, the country is unable to utilize their resources properly and as a result, the economy is collapsing in on itself. this last week, people had to wait in a queue that was literally five days long to get their ration of gasoline for their vehicles. Yep, that’s socialism hard at work for your interests making sure that everyone is equal in the queue (except for the select few of course.) thanks to H.L for the link.
Faraday Cage
Reader T.Z. sent in this article on building a Faraday cage out of things that you can buy at a hardware store. while it provides some direction on how to build it, I would note that there are problems with it. The author recognizes that he didn’t build a bottom for the cage which results in a completely ineffective cage, but he also used a 1/4” hardware cloth for the screening. This is far to large of a weave to protect against EMP. A better choice would have been metal window screening (which may be difficult to find at the average hardware store). Still, it’s a good beginning for an easy to use cage design. the comment section is also a worthwhile read.
Smartphone Voting
According to this article sent in by reader T.P., West Virginia has implemented voting on your smartphone for the mid-term elections causing concerns about the security of the vote. You still are not required to prove that you are a citizen in most states to be able to vote and now there is a pilot program that makes it easier than ever to hack your vote. the move was made because they believe that mor epeople own smartphones than home computers which were needed in their other voting schemes to allow people remote voting access.
Health Care Hacks
Under the Obama Care mandates, health providers began unifying their data keeping with the intent of making access to your medical profile easier for health care professionals to access. We warned that this would mean an increase in hacking attempts because this is a very rich data source for detailed information about identities. Sure enough, the statistics bear that out. Health care hacks are on the rise with marked increases in actual data breaches over the last few years. Thanks to DSV 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!
@ Water shortage in Cape Town – while South Africa certainly has a water problem, placing blame entirely on the drought is too much. I think their larger problem is the population growth in Cape Town and government failing to expand their infrastructure in accordance with population dynamics. So, what happens when the city runs out of water? My guess is that people leave the city to move to another city.
State water Projects?
California governor Pat Brown would later say it was to “correct an accident of people and geography”.
I do not understand the context.
A wooden crate and hardware cloth do not a Faraday cage make. That was a terrible design.
Re: Faraday Cage.
A large metal popcorn tin lined with bubble wrap works goods for our hand-held ham radios and small electronic items. We tested for protection with and without metal tape sealing its lid and found the tape not necessary. Cheap (look for them at Christmas time), simple, and easy open/close.
Roger D,
Do you ground the popcorn tin/Faraday cage? Or not?
Seems to me that you would want to ground the cage.
It may sound oddly counterintuitive, but grounding is good for lightning protection but BAD for EMP/solar flare protection. For that, you will want complete isolation. DO NOT ground a Faraday cage.
Chronic Wasting Disease
Is this CWD in deer = CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) in people = Mad Cow in bovines?
And what, if anything, is being done to develop tests to detect it while one is still alive?
(current detection seems to center on end-of-life advanced symptoms, and brain dissection after death)
(personal rant) I’m asking because it seems to me that Red Cross is continuing to ask more people to donate blood, while rejecting people who have spent any appreciable time overseas, because they MAY have been exposed to Mad Cow, and MAY carry the prions for CJD—-all without working to try and develop a test to detect if one has those prions/that disease or not. (end rant)
CWD was impacting deer in the redoubt in the 1990’s. Campbell, Sheridan, and Johnson Counties of Wyomng. I sat at the desk next to our government biologist.
So all those who are ‘going to live off deer’ hunting will obviously have to turn their rifles onto other targets. Look up the phrase , “Slow Elk”, as used by those in cattle country.
If you want meat protein, invest now into a small animal operation that is fairly protected. ideally, partner up with someone with experience.
Or learn how to hunt and cook gophers. A Savage .17 WSM works pretty well unless prairie winds affect trajectory.
Faraday Cage: take a new electronic item in box you want to protect and double wrap in aluminum foil (wrap like a gift wrap Christmas present). Use aluminum foil adhesive tape over the seams (tape like that is in hardware store for taping duct insulation ). Keep stored until after EMP. Simplest faraday Cage possible and effective.
My Fainting goat herd are prolific breeders and they have the best , sweetest , creamiest milk of all breeds . Average two babies every 5 months if you let them breed freely which I seldom do . The Slow Food Usa group dedicated to heritage/heirloom foods has what they call ” The Ark of Taste ” in which they choose the best tasting heirloom food of every category and the Fainting goat is their choice for goats . Not at all like any other goat meat but very close to beef with a tiny bit of Lamb thrown in . They are also very entertaining and will bond with humans and any other critters . They eat plants that no other will eat and thrive on it . I named one girl Ivy cause she ate every Ivy/Sumac/Oak plant on the farm . Another we called Rosie and she keeps the multi-flora roses in check . Yeah ! Thorns and all .
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.jsonline.com/amp/1149433002
New rules for hunters here in Wisconsin to reduce spread of CWD.