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”.
Robots
The governments of the world continue their march towards robotic weapons. It really only makes sense. A robot is considerably less expensive to replace than a trained person if it is a casualty of a battle. Robots can also make decisions much faster than humans can. The danger, of course, is that a robot has no conscience and no sense of right and wrong. If you make a robot designed to kill, it will be an efficient killing machine. The U.S. has pledged to keep a human in the decision loop, but other countries have not, mostly due to the advantage that gives them on the battlefield. The robots are also getting quite good at things. I’m embarrassed that this robot from Boston Dynamics has more moves than me on the dance floor.
On a serious note, the main battle tank as we know it may soon be a thing of the past. Reader G.P. sent in this article on how smaller robotic vehicles are being armed with the Javelin anti-tank missile (and a .50-caliber machine gun) turns the 1.6 ton, 8 foot long robot into a lethal tank killer. This robot, made by Milrem Robotics of Estonia. The thinking is that tank killing is such serious business that they become high priority targets making it a dangerous job. So why not put a remote console on it to remove the operator from the majority of danger. Again, Milrem promises to always have a human in the loop, but I wonder how quickly that would be removed if the operators are on the losing side of a battle.
Police No-Show
Reader P. sent in this article showing why you should be responsible for your own safety and not depend on authorities. In Everett, a couple of window cleaners were assaulted, beaten, and robbed at gun point in front of a bank and no police officer ever showed up in response to the 911 calls. After waiting for over an hour and a half, the workers had to physically go to a police station to fill out a report, but no officer ever even showed up to the scene to look at video surveillance or pull fingerprints. This is apparently the result of the location of the bank and there seems to be some confusion as to who’s jurisdiction it was. How are bank patrons supposed to know this? As the saying goes: “When seconds count, authorities are only minutes away” (or in this case, nonexistent.)
Body Cameras Pulled
According to this article sent in by reader DSV, the New York Police Department is down nearly 3,000 body cameras. This particular brand and type of camera apparent has an issue with its internal battery. One officer, on a midnight shift, noticed that his camera had started smoking. The officer took it off and within a few minutes, the camera caught fire and exploded. Thankfully, no one was injured. That reduces the number of body cameras used by the police department by nearly a third. Given that the cameras exonerate police officers far more than they indite them, we hope that they are quick to replace the cameras.
Tracking Apps
Have you ever installed an app on your smart phone only to discover it really didn’t do what you wanted so you uninstalled it. Then, suddenly, everything you do on your phone is inundated with ads for that app? It would appear that programmers have figured out how to game the operating systems of both iOS and Android, enabling companies to figure out which users have uninstalled their app and allowing them to focus ads on these users to attempt to win them back. This article lists several companies that offer uninstall trackers as part of a set of developer tools and their users include companies like T-mobile, Spotify and Yelp. Yet another reason to assess whether you really need a smart phone or not and if you have one, whether you really need that app or not. Companies seem to no longer even pretend to care about your privacy.
Reloading Manuals
Reader DSV sent in this article on the usefulness of reloading manuals. Every reloader should have several of them. Bullet manufacturers and powder manufacturers always have reloading data for their products and there are lots of independent publishers that have them as well. While I personally have an entire shelf of them, I tend to use Load Data, an online service more than anything else right now. This is an online reloading database that is constantly updated with recommended load data. I’ve yet to find a load that they don’t have something on and they’ve had many that I didn’t expect. I still keep my manuals around though for the same reason I keep books around.
Yeast Storage Live
Reader SH in TX wrote in:
I just proof-tested some yeast that I bought from a wholesale club in July, 2012. I had placed it in my freezer immediately after purchase. The product is Fleischmann’s Instant Yeast, in a 1 lb vacuum-packed brick, product #2139. Today (10/22) I retrieved it from the freezer, added 1 heaping tbsp yeast, and 1 heaping tbsp sugar to about 2/3 cup of 115 degree (F) water and mixed. Within 5 minutes a beautiful, fragrant, bubbly head had formed above the liquid that almost doubled the volume! I immediately re-vacuum-packed the yeast, added today’s test date, a placed it back in its corner of the freezer. Thought y’all would like to know!
The Horde
The migrant caravan encouraged by the liberal/progressive machine is steadily marching north. They’ve recently overrun the Guatemalan border and are expected to hit the U.S. border right around election time in two weeks. That is awful convenient. President Trump has promised to bolster the border with military troops to stop them, but I suspect we will start seeing reports of starving babies and crippled children right about then in the news media. Somebody is feeding this horde right now and there have been no reports in the news media of who is supporting it. I expect that support to be withdrawn right about the time they reach the border causing the migrants to be desperate and hurting.
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!
I also pulled some yeast out that went out of date in 2014, which means I probably bought it in 2012. The neighbors wife came over asking if we had any yeast, she wanted to try her hand at making wine. I told her it was bread yeast, she didnt care. I pulled it out of the cabinet just to find it was long expired. I recommend we try it anyway just to see if it was still alive and usable, so we did. And yes its still good, it was foamy when we checked back 10 minutes later and the jugs are still fermenting now. The yeast we used were the Fleischmann’s Instant Yeast strip packets that you tear open.
“Life finds a way.”
Surviving is what yeast is all about. Those spores go into a kind of suspended animation, happily encased in their shells, waiting for the future.
I imagine the wrapped up Fleischmann’s is even more cozy in those air tight packets.
Or, you could wrap them in a pyramid in the Egyptian desert for 3000 years.
Our sourdough starter collected our region-specific mold this summer and is happily bubbling away. The first loaf of crusty, tangy bread is a start-of-fall tradition around here.
Freezer and Canned Storage Comment: I have one well stocked freezer dedicated to long expiration date food preps that don’t really need freezing, but will expire with time if kept at room temperature….Yeast, Olive Oil, Butter and Peanut Butter, block Cheese (for melting) Summer Sausages/Jerky, Country Ham, Peanut Butter, Cheese, german “dense brick” rye or pumpernickel bread (at Aldi food store), bulk spices, non-GMO seed bank, etc. No need to rotate items at all, just keep in freezer basically forever until needed. If power goes off due to EMP, etc., the expiration date “clock” just starts again. (also keep many prep meds (pill form only) in the freezer too to stop the “expiration clock”. Also keep frozen bottles (cases of 12 oz plastic bottles in same freezer for a thermal (cold) load if power goes out to buy more cold time. FYI, also so far my experiments with canned food in a “cool storage room” average of 60 degrees F year round has shown many items 7 years past printed “expiration dates” are still very good. I think biggest issue was lowering humidity in the room with dehumidifier to prevent rust of the cans.(a few cans started rusting prematurely. So prevent the rust, keep cool, and I think such canned good can often good well past their “expiration dates”. (Never eat from a severely rusted or leaking or bulging can or can that explodes when opened; I did have some can tomato paste that “exploded” and I think the acidity caused the cans to be compromised just past the normal expiration date; also some canned milk that was rusted before I dehumidified. Note: rate of any steel corrosion is slowed by low humidity! Corrosion is related to: temperature, oxygen, and humidity. Decreasing any of these items slows corrosion )
Mr. C – Please tell her to get some real wine yeast. It can be ordered online or at a local winemaker’s supply store She is going to make some nasty tasting wine with bread yeast! Been there – done that – puked on the t-shirt!
I told her that there was special wine yeast for fermenting, but she said she read somewhere that bread yeast would work too but it just may not be as good. Lol! I’m not drinking it! It looks pretty gross already, already been 1 1/2 weeks. I’ll re-iterate again next time I see her, Thanks.
Too bad tropical storm Willa is northwest of the Migrant Caravan in Mexico. A course correction to the south east would be awesome!
Funny thing about the “caravan”; there are countries who would meet this invasion with deadly force at their border.
(Before anyone gets all upset, no I am NOT suggesting we do that.)
We do need to do something, though.
After watching the link of the BD robot dancing, I watched the next one. The machines they have developed are truly amazing. They have mastered bipedal and quadripedal locomotion.
I want those guys on my side.
Carry on.
After watching the link of the BD robot dancing, I watched the next one. The machines they have developed are truly amazing. They have mastered bipedal and quadripedal locomotion.
I want those guys on my side.
Carry on.
Re. The Horde being “encouraged by the liberal/progressive machine”
When will patriots wake up? Despite having a Republican majority in both houses of Congress and a Republican president for 2 years. And yet the ‘The Wall’ was not built.
Will we ever learn that Republicans are the enemy we are sleeping with?
Lastly, Vox Popoli is right, “If the US military will not defend the borders of the USA, there is literally no point to its existence.”
The government will act to secure the border. All we have to do is arm up and go down there and stop that caravan ourselves. Our government will come running immediately. They will kill or arrest us and welcome the foreigners, likely with an apology for any inconvenience they suffered. Try it and see. I’ll watch.