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1. RE: Beto O’Rourke (RFO)… I believe it was at the very first ‘Demorat’ debate that RFO admitted to owning an AR-15, let him be the first in line (publicly and on camera) turning in, not only his AR but ALL his firearms just to prove that he is not a hypocrite, but then again…he’s a politician so I digress.

2. Give him a break. At least Beto had the cajones to say out loud what the others thought about military-style rifles, but wouldn’t say. Now that the skunk has been released in the room, even the most gullible and trusting gun owner won’t be able to disregard the smell.

   Beto cut to the chase and put into words the ultimate goal of the Left. I fully expect that eyes rolled to the back of some heads at the DNC. Frankly, you could say that Beto’s comment was not “politically correct” for a Democrat, given that Democrat politicians will say one thing about guns in order to get elected, yet take a quite different course after they are elected.

   The ultimate result here? Beto’s comments helped to badly damage the momentum of Congressional anti-AR15 forces following the El Paso and Dayton shootings. How much talk about that have you heard lately? Thank you, Beto.

3. I have a USB cellular data device that appears as an ethernet device
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JWGN9TK
   It works with an adapter for most phones with “On the Go”, or at worst a powered hub. No Wifi, except…

   I also have a wifi and/or ethernet router that can use it (as well as blocking trackers, malware, etc. at the router), so it acts as a shield. So I can connect vie ethernet or wifi but to this firewall router (which I can do things to randomize or hide). Right now I’m waiting for a sale to update because I can’t charge and use ethernet at the same time, but the new hardware will let me.

   Also the originating ethernet address (without a VPN) can also reveal your location, since there IP address shows who is serving you. Just try whatsmyip (dot) com and see how close the GPS coordinates are to you.

   Beyond that for both VPN and this “Ethernet”, if you are on any site and not using ad/tracking blockers, they are still tracking you, often by other means. There was a tech site “Why is it trying to start audio” – it wasn’t, an Ad auditing service was seeing what the audio capabilities were to create a user fingerprint. Even HTTPS “security”, your browser sends it’s app name, version, the operating system, and often many more details when connecting. And trackers can get around VPN.

   It is worse if you are logged in to Twitter, Facebook, Google, Microsoft or whomever else because your login is unique and Facebook and Google are specifically tracking your activity. That little F – share on facebook – on many sites just by grabbing the icon and underlying javascript will know it is you are visiting the site since you are logged in. Also background things like google-analytics. If you aren’t logged in they have much less to go on.

   The only way to avoid tracking is to be completely offline, in the same way that the only way you can avoid theft is not to have any property. But you can make it more difficult for burglars or trackers so they will go for a soft target instead of a firm or hard or heavily armored and shielded target.

4. Robert Francis O’Rourke: If one were actually looking for a way to start a Civil War in America, I would think that this would be it. The government actually physically going around and taking weapons from citizens. Last time that happened America was still called the colonies. Tyranny indeed! And as a Texan allow me to add a personal note, what a jackass.

   Decoding the Genome of the octopi: I love science and all of its wonderful, thought provoking intelligence. But it is the scientists who scare me. Some are very intelligent and humble men and women. Others are so arrogant that it breaches to hubris. The latter are the ones who have given us nuclear weapons and human engineered plagues that are just waiting in vials in “secure” storage facilities around the world. I do worry what hideous intentions lurk within the minds of some of these individuals. What manner of fresh hell awaits Humanity regarding bioengineering and the creation of interspecies creatures with mixed DNA? Sadly, often man’s reach exceeds his grasp.

5. O’Rourke types, the scientists, the educators, the judges and most politicians actually lead approximately 50% of the U.S. population. Think about that.

   The biggest worry should be the leadership of our security agencies. Here lies proof that a substantial part of our government is infected with un-American personnel:

   George Soros is still alive.

6. The Radioflash trailer looks good, thanks for posting it, I’ll defiantly go see it.

   I don’t know if has already been mentioned in SB, but the movie “THE RELIANT, Protect Faith and Family at all costs” looks pretty good also. It stars Kevin Sorbo, and plays one night only. In North Idaho, it’s playing Oct 24 in Coeur D Alene at the Regal Riverstone.
   Even if the quality is not first rate, and I don’t know that it’s not, I will support movies that counter the SJW propaganda from Hollywood and are in line with my beliefs and values.

   Trailer and times here: https://www.thereliantmovie.com

   1. Thanks for recommending “The Reliant”.
      We enjoyed it.

7. Computer Security- tracking.

   I am no computer wiz, but I do know radio, and wifi is essentially radio. I would like any one with more experience to please correct me if I am off on this.

   I use something that is not often discussed as one layer of my security. I see the commentor TZ has a very interesting option that might even be used as apart of long distance WIFI that uses a directional antenna. Simplywifi.com is one of many outlets of this sort of thing. This allows one to connect at distance of up to many miles, to a wifi source. Because the antenna is directional, and because there are no other Hot Spots in the area, my location can not be pin pointed. Our local provider is phone company that has been slowly installing wifi hotspots, in and around population centers, that are now numerous, and now provide several wifi ‘hot spots’ selections at a given location. This makes it easy to use a smart phones, or laptops almost anywhere. These may exist in your area, and provide an opportunity to use a directional wifi antenna that allows the user to use one ‘hot spot’ and not let the other ‘hot spots’ hear you, therefore they cannot have a ‘fix’ on your location. The 24dbi antenna is ideal for this. One can also go peer to peer, talking to only one other computer, or one can create their own net in a larger area of more than 1 mile, and perhaps up to 10 miles, the area of a small city. We could have an Intranet. This means using text, encrypted or not, and would be an unusual way to communicate, especially if the Internet is down.

   Perhaps I’ll some day write more on this. However, interest in this sort of thing is probably low, as it is definitely ‘outside the box’ where few dare or care to go! It is also not practical as this technology is not in wide spread use. However, that is what makes this simple device so powerful. These other options that I am now aware of may provide better security, and may be easier to use. I would look into those as well. If you wish to experiment, I would start with 14dBi yagi, and the shorter length LMR 240 cable that is around 10 feet, and the amplifier. This is the lowest cost way to find out if this could work for you. This can also connect your shop or garage to the router in the house as well. It is multi-purpose for those who like to experiment. The future belongs to those who can innovated and over come.
   I am glad I was not a victim of public education, and other dogmas.

   1. Mesh Net is what you are talking about. It is my understanding that you would still be able to operate among yourselves if the internet where down.

      1. Thanks for the reply.

8. I went to the source of Snowden’s comments since I couldn’t bring up the page at the link provided because my browser doesn’t allow tracking, cookies, ads, etc. so I was blocked. The browser is called Brave and you can download it and use it. It’s awesome. Back to topic, my background is network security, 25+ years. It does not matter if you are connected to a cellular network, a wireless network, or ethernet, or satellite. The entire Internet runs based on IP addresses and routing. IPs are associated with a physical location. Even if you are IP hopping, even if you’re running traffic through Tor, install VPNs, have physical and virtual firewalls in place, encrypted email, etc., you can be tracked. The questions to ask oneself is, what level of privacy do I need and why do I need it? I recently read where the Feds actually tracked a transaction through the blockchain of bitcoin and were able to identify the criminals and indict them. Pretty impressive. I used to use layers upon layers of security, but I don’t any more. Reason being: the only threat I fear is identify theft. I’m not running from the law. I use an encrypted email app just to avoid local snooping, and don’t do social media or browse the Internet indiscriminately. I have credit monitoring. That’s about it. If you have a payroll job, if you have a bank account, if you login to Amazon or Costco, if you use a credit or debit card, if you file taxes, if you take social security, etc., you are tracked by the powers that be and the snoops along the way. Your information is in numerous databases. Those databases are breached often. There’s really no such thing as privacy any more. What you can do is be intentional, conscious, of what you are exposing yourself to and take measured steps to prevent that which might negatively affect you. So WiFi? I use it all the time. My two cents.

   1. SaraSue,

      Makes sense. I don’t try to hide from the feds. Everything on my computer and in my browsing is benign. If I was a fed and someone was busy trying to hide all their activities I would wonder what they were doing. I do my online shopping and banking at work over lunch where the network is constantly monitored. I’m not a computer expert but the only way I can find to protect a computer is to never hook it up to the internet. I have a couple computers that have never touched the internet since set up. I use them to store and archive my camera pictures, pictures of family, friends and vacations that could never be replaced. The SD cards never touch an internet computer. I also have about 700GB of WAV files from my vinyl albums and CDs that I ripped many years ago before I was the prepper of today. That ripping took over 1000 hours over a couple years. Everything comes off these computers on an optical disc. The data is duplicated on multiple computers and external hard drives, some of which are stored off site, for redundancy.

   2. Don’t exclude a driver’s licence,ID card or file taxes-all this information is being sold or given away by your local or state gov. for profit to supplement bloated budgets

9. Thank you for the reply. You are way ahead of me Greg since I’m terrible at backing up my data. I used to! Gosh I used to be crazy picky about security. One of my goals was to “become invisible”, sort of disappear in the noise, but I found it not impossible but incredibly difficult. One very possible approach to security is to “obfuscate” – meaning to muddy the waters of information about oneself so that someone who wishes to do you harm will have a difficult time messing with you. It’s kind of an art form that I’ve dabbled in, and too long of a discussion for this post. I’ve run all the worst case scenarios for my life and came up with a plan that meets most of those, knowing that in the end God has His plan for my life and whatever that is, I’m in. I’ve done my best to “fill my lamp with oil” while I await the bridegroom, Jesus’, return.

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