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 “JWR”. Today, we focus on Prep Smartz Emergency Response Planning Software.
New Emergency Response Planning Software
I was recently given a demo copy of the new Prep Smartz Emergency Response Planning Software. This commercial software was developed by a long-time reader of SurvivalBlog. It is ideal for anyone who is preparedness-minded and who wants to develop a formal Threat Matrix method of planning and risk mitigation for their family or retreat group. It is inexpensive and available for both PC and Mac. I’ve tried it, and it works very well. I should also mention: At their web site they also have a small but quite useful library of reference web pages dubbed The Academy. Check it out!
Army Reveals More 6.8mm Carbine and SAW Plans
Thanks to Gregg for spotting this at Zero Hedge: US Army Set To Field “iPhone Of Lethality” Assault Rifle By 2022. JWR’s Note: Still no word on which 6.8mm cartridge they’ve chosen. Or even if it will even use a traditional brass case. (It might be caseless.) Oh, and if they adopt a different magazine body than that used by the current M16 family of rifles, and that comes after the imposition of a Federal magazine ban, then I’ll be quite miffed. That would limit us Mere Mortals to 10-round magazines–for any of us that want to buy a 6.8 Whatitzz.
Russia Readies Own Web To Survive Global Internet Shutdown
Also at Zero Hedge: Russia Readies Own Web To Survive Global Internet Shutdown. Here is a key quote:
“Across the world, 12 companies oversee the root servers for DNS and none are located in Russia. However, there are copies of Russia’s core internet address book inside the country suggesting its internet could keep operating if the US cut it off.
Ultimately, the Russian government will require all domestic traffic to pass through government-controlled routing points. These hubs will filter traffic so that data sent between Russians internet users work seamlessly, but any data to foreign computers would be rejected.
Besides protecting its internet, Russia is simultaneously building a mass censorship system similar to that seen in China.”
Buppert: Because We Knew Mordor Was Real
Tim. J. suggested this essay penned by Bill Buppert, by way of Western Rifle Shooters: Because We Knew Mordor Was Real. (Warning: Foul language.) Here is a quoteworthy passage:
“Any government beyond self-government is naturally a delimiting affair for liberty as the population increases subject to the coercive nature of its rules. Hence America is too big to succeed at anything but tyranny.
Dunning-Kruger Effect is a serial killer of freedom…it is one of the most vital tools of the government university system, ground zero of the kakocratic mandarins in the faculty lounges.
The present Murder Inc. political combine in DC is nothing more than a gang with colored rags, bad music and really shi**y rationales for mass violence. You’ll notice that the mountains of laws on the books from the Federal to the local level come with a death sentence to any disobedient serf depending on their level of resistance to initial apprehension by the standing army of coproaches that cravenly but obediently carry out every order by their political masters.
After all, they’re only upholding the law. They’re only following orders.
The pathetic Republicans are merely the Menshevik straight men for the Bolshevik comedy troupe prancing about as Democrats. Since the Mango Mussolini has been in the Offal Office, it has been my pleasure to see the mask fall off as the collectivists on the “left’ lose their minds and say what they’re really thinking. From infanticide to private weapons confiscation to wholesale seizure of economic sectors from nominally private hands, the parade of communist caterwauling and virtue signaling has been magnificent to behold.”
Mr. Sociopath Goes to Washington
H.L. alerted us to this piece by Jim Quinn: Mr. Sociopath Goes to Washington. This is a key passage:
“Government holds the monopoly on the legal power to initiate force against the innocent. In other words, government has given itself the legal right to break natural law. Sociopaths live their lives defying natural law. You can see how politics (the control of government) is therefore a safe and attractive home for sociopaths.
Normal people like to control how nature affects them. Normal people fight entropy, keep out the rain, put food in bellies, and by so doing create value in the world for themselves and others. Sociopaths are different. It’s not nature’s effects they try to control. Sociopaths like to control people. Worse, the distorted reward mechanism in their brains cause sociopaths to be neurologically incentivized to cause harm to other people. And how can one cause harm to people and get away with? Again: by gaining political power.
In addition to their magnetic attraction to politics, sociopaths possess a set of strengths that help them be successful politicians. They can be charismatic, and are highly convincing liars. Lie about their political opponent? No problem. Lie about themselves? No problem. Perhaps bribe, extort, blackmail or kill a few people on the way up? No problem.
Sociopaths are great liars who have a desire to control people. Politics is the nexus of both the sociopath’s strength and his desire. Republican or Democrat? Matters not. The sociopath can lie their way through any election.”
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I’ve been hearing about caseless ammunition about as long as flying cars in every garage parked next to household sized nuclear power plants and vacations to Mars. Outfits as diverse as HK and Daisy have given it a good try and so far, nope. So not holding my breath here, boss………
“Sociopaths are great liars who have a desire to control people. Politics is the nexus of both the sociopath’s strength and his desire. Republican or Democrat? Matters not. The sociopath can lie their way through any election.”
Thus we have the reason ‘McStain’, Collins et al voted against repealing ‘bozocare…
…after campaigning for it.
The Dunning-Kruger effect. We can finally put a name on it!
It is also evident in politics, in the court house, and in the newsroom.
Does it all start in the classroom, or does it in fact start in the family unit?
Everybody gets a trophy!
Sociopaths are drawn to all positions of power, don’t narrow your focus to just politicians. I’ve met a few in corporate officers and pastors, for exactly the reasons named in the article.
I agree, Vagus…however, the Dunning – Kruger effect is almost satirical. And has been viewed as a satirical scientific study: ie) the Ig Nobel Prize.
“Normal people like to control how nature affects them. Normal people fight entropy, keep out the rain, put food in bellies, and by so doing create value in the world for themselves and others. Sociopaths are different. It’s not nature’s effects they try to control. Sociopaths like to control people.”
This a brilliant statement and an excellent bit of writing but, me being a Christian, find it to be incomplete because the Natural Law, along with Revealed Law, is God’s law. Yes, sociopaths like to control people, but what they are attempting to do through their control is limit the damage done by the Fall. This is why they are so dangerous in government, instead of acknowledging the Fall and every man’s resultant duty unto Holy God, they assume the role of mitigator of the results of the Fall and BELIEVE that their work will take us one more step back, closer to the Garden. This a most dangerous religion and, as the author rightly points out leads some leaders to consider themselves not only to be acting on God’s behalf but to be a god. This Statism is run by those who hear the devil whispering in their ear, thus the lying, and assumption on their part that the ends justify the means. Why do ‘normal people’ fight entropy? Because God is real and His Natural Law is universal. Study the Word of the living God like your life depends on it, it does.
Oh, and Mango Mussolini is priceless. It’s catchy like a jingle. A bit more poetical in rhythm, although I have yet to see anybody use the term is; Tangerine Mussolini.
I think I will stick to 7.62X51mm and .45ACP.
So when the 6.8 Whatitzz comes around and we can only get 10rd mags, does that mean our 223’s and 308’s with 20 and 30rd mags become obsolete and ineffective, will we just turn them in to the powers that be so they don’t fall into the hands of those that haven’t kept up with the latest fad. Now I’m caught between whether to buy 1899 rifles or to get rid of these soon to be non lethal rifles that I’ve been stocking up all this ammo for. Help me out JWR. Trekker Out
My experience with 6.8SPC is it’s very effective on African plains game, antelope and feral hogs with most bonded or Barnes TSX bullets at 2500 fps or faster and within 150 yards. Much better lethality than 5.56mm. This is consistent with reports from Army 5th SFG which originated the round.
You can get top notch rifles, parts, magazines and ammo, expensive ammo, say again expensive ammo.
However, it’s still an intermediate range cartridge and thus it doesn’t fly as well or as far as a 6.5mm (6.5 Swede, .260 or even 6.5 Creed) or hit as hard as 7.62 Nato. It was always a compromise to retrofit the M4 platform.
Reliability: high
Availability: low-medium due to no large military contracts
Maintainability: Impingement or piston, on par with the M4
Durability: high with quality manufacturers
Operational Utility: low for the survivalist owing to unique cartridge
Verdict: not going to buy ammo cheap and stack it deep. When the magic caseless or whatzizz round emerges, it will be even more so probably for years to come.
If I had to do it again I would stay with the AK, AR, FAL, G3 pattern platforms in surplus calibers, especially those with new improved optical mounts.
You know, I think sticking with almost any AR frame rifle in any of half a dozen calibers, is the safest way to go. I’ve noticed several companies are making an AR in 7.62×39 Warsaw. Any thoughts on such a configuration? They all seem to take virtually any AK47 magazine. I’ve been looking for a visual comparison between the .223, .308. and the
7.62×39, you know, how much damage each can do. Seems like any of the above would make for a good battle rifle round. I’ve noticed Palmetto State Armory has such a rifle at around $600.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-gen2-ks-47-16-carbine-length-7-62×39-nitride-classic-rifle-5165450167.html
Charles I have an AR in 7.62×39 and I can’t seem to get the accuracy out of it that I can with just a plain old SKS or a MAC90 in that caliber. Maybe the Rifle, or maybe just me. Trekker Out
My humble opinion is that Democrats will self-destruct in a no holds barred primary season. I believe that Trump will be re-elected in 2020, and that Republicans will maintain control of the Senate. I am uncertain about what will happen in the House, as I do not have the Congressional district data to assess the likelihood of Democrats remaining in power.
All of that being the case, absent a string of mass shootings on the Parkland scale, something that might cause RINOs to buckle, I don’t see the anti-gun forces in Congress being able to ban “assault rifles” or to ban magazines holding over 10 rounds.
I live in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia. (Please forego the advice to move.) We have had to live with bans on magazines holding over 10 rounds for several years. Unfortunately, we have had no help from the courts.
Until the balloon goes up, however, if we are honest and Hollywood screenplays aside, there is only an infinitesimal likelihood that a person who is not in law enforcement would ever need more than 10 rounds in a magazine. (Understand that I am strongly against this magazine ban, and am only describing the likely reality, and not the right to own these magazines.) If the balloon does go up, then all bets are off. Converting a 10/30 [blocked] AR magazine to a 30 rounder is a small matter.
Despite all of that, survivalists/preppers reading this blog have been warned time after time “to buy ’em cheap and to stack ’em deep.” For those who ignore this advice, I really don’t have much sympathy. With them, “you can only do what you can do,” and then it is up to them. I find their complacency annoying, but there’s not much to be done about it.