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”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we again look at the rise of YouTube censorship.
YouTube Demonetization is All About Control
Communist China & YouTube – Demonetization isn’t censorship, but it is control. Here is a related web page, on some of YouTube’s outright bans: Channels that Have Been Recently CENSORED By Youtube, and How to Find Them.
Bunker Explosion Kills Three in Texas
Atlas Survival Shelters posted this: Bunker Explosion Kills Three in Texas. And here is a television news story on the same tragic event: Three dead following explosion in Red River County. A quote from Atlas Shelters: “Ron has been preaching that you should not have explosive materials in your bunker. We are sad to report that three men are now dead probably because they put a propane water heater inside their bunker. At this time we do not know who built this bunker but it was not Atlas Survival Shelters!” (A hat tip to Tim J. for the links.)
Washington Racist is Red Flagged: A Very Bad Precedent
SurvivalBlog reader Pat C. sent this news link: Police seize guns in Snohomish County from man accused of ‘preparing for race war’. JWR’s Comment: This red flagging event is a very bad precedent case. While I absolutely loathe racism, I can see that this red flagging case was the proverbial “Camel’s nose under the tent.” If they can red flag this man for a non-specific threat, based on his beliefs, then they can red flag you or me, because of our beliefs. In his case, it was his hateful belief that people should arm themselves in preparation for a race war. But what if they start red flagging people simply for the belief that people should arm themselves in preparation for a socioeconomic collapse or a natural disaster? Please contact your legislators and urge them to oppose all “red flag” and “Extreme Risk Protective Order” (ERPO) laws!
New ‘Invisibility Cloak’ Diffraction Material
Alan W. was the first of several readers to mention this article: New ‘invisibility cloak’ is remarkably effective. JWR’s Comments: I’d like to know how much this material reflects sunlight. And I’d also be curious to know how it looks through light amplification and thermal scopes. That will tells us if it something practical, or just a gimmick.
Ethnicity Recognition Face Scanning
Reader M. in Canada sent the link to this paper written by Chinese scientists: Facial feature discovery for ethnicity recognition. JWR’s Comment: This “technological advancement” has some frightening prospects for future totalitarian subjugation or even for genocide.
Anti-Gunner Michael Bloomberg May Run for President
Reader DSV sent us the link to this piece over at The Truth About Guns: With Biden Sinking, Michael Bloomberg is Waiting in the Wings. JWR’s Comment: Bloomberg’s possible candidate is frightening, because he is even more anti-gun than Beto, yet he has a good chance of winning against Trump, if the economy tanks.
A Primer on Blue Light Hazards
A primer on the hazards of excessive blue light exposure is available at: BlueLightExposed.com. (Thanks to DSV for the link.)
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The technology is probably OLED, Organic Light Emitting Diodes developed in the early nineties, or perhaps 1980’s. The 1987 movie, Predator, illustrated the concept. To tempt investors, the ‘start of the art’ versions were said to be sprayed on most surfaces, cloth and metal surfaces were proposed, and a camera viewing the opposite side projects that image on the front side, so that a picture of what is behind you appears. Because processing speeds were slower then, the image displayed was lagging. With careful observation, a blurry image could be seen as the camouflaged person or vehicle moved. They probably got the bugs worked out by now, and there might be a high definition, HD, version, that could be very difficult to see. My guess is that they could not hide fr FLIR.
RE: Censorship and GAB
One of the best places to avoid censorship of all kinds, is over at GAB. There is a growing audience, and I’ll be once again be participating there as the only moderation is the reader’s ‘ignore button’. This is a nifty innovation. Matt Bracken posts there daily.
https://gab.com/Matt_Bracken
In the spirit of this day and age, more and more platforms have unwittingly adopted authoritarian postures that have been exemplified, and validated by Big Tech, and are quick to censor, or ban others. This is bad trend. They have adopted the method of their enemy, and the free flow of ideas is squelched, as they also avoid competition under the guise of controlling content. The creative and productive participants will then seek other venues. Soon the trend will not be their friend as Big Tech has raised the ire of freedom seekers, and these platforms are reduced in audience when they could have flourished.
If only they had embraced the ideas of free speech instead. I whole heartily agree with Thomas Jefferson, and would rather deal with the excesses of liberty, rather than the lack of it.
Not everywhere is the principle of free speech so paramount than in the US and not everywhere People, states and nations made so “good” an experience with free speech as the US.
Violation of Human dignity, banning of hate speech, Insults etc and some of These are not so tolerant defined than on this blog.
I don’t understand the last sentence,but I want to.Please explain.
On this blog free speech has a very high priority/is very important, iin other societies the prorities are different.
I understand that Matt Bracken is a hero of many patriots. I’ve read EVERY book of his. I was a founding member and one of a handful of steady financial supporters of his site FreeZoxee. The site had an abundance of ‘patriots’, full of testosterone, but thought freedom was free. It quickly went bankrupt.
My postings were polite and respectful. I spoke out for the principle of non-aggression. Smedley Butler would have had no problem with my postings. Nor would Jesus Christ. On multiple occasions both Matt Bracken and Zoxee personally and publicly attacked me and threatened to censor me. In truth I was grateful for their site and supported it even when it came time to chip in and pay the last electric bill.
My point: Most ‘conservatives’ today are as purely agenda-driven as the Left. Woe to anyone critical of America’s perpetual wars, or Republicans or Trump. They have zero tolerance of differing opinions. They will censor them in a heartbeat. They have abandoned the principles of conservatism.
Montana Guy,
That is good to know. There are other ‘patriotic sites’ I have frequented that have censored myself as well in the distant past. American Partisans on two separate occasions by two separate ‘editors’ in different years.
I was fully supportive and appreciative their goals and activism, yet my posts where excluded. I therefore will never again attempt to contribute, or promote any one who does that regardless of their ‘justification’. They themselves violate the principles of that which they pretend to stand for. I cannot support that hypocritical behavior.
I believe they and others are shooting themselves in the foot and discourage participation. This does damage to our cause, especially in the times we live in, where even the President is censored. The animating contest is suppressed by those who should be our own, and they do for the sake of their pride and pocket book. The ideas of freedom are dying, and are weak even in our own ranks. Free speech, or liberty is not free. It require self sacrifice and tolerance. We must participate vigorously to exercise the principles of liberty in all our activities. And we must respect and honor these principles, and not be hypocrites. So we must define what is free speech, as the ideas of freedom have been forgotten. We do this directly and presently.
And while there are so few who would vigorously promote and exercise the ideas of freedom for the sake of preserving our liberties and Republic, and not to make a buck, these ‘editors’ yet stunt the growth. Shame on them, they are not my brothers. They promote themselves, and do harm to the fruit that would come from Tree of Liberty. They make themselves profiteers, or are certainly not patriots, and not my brothers. Where there is the Spirit of Christ, there is liberty.
Amen Tunnel Rabbit. Like you say as each year passes fewer Americans remain who remember what we have lost.
As for censorship, we know where it is heading. You are doing an awesome job educating others in ham radio and the local communication bands. I can foresee America waking up one morning and having a ‘Forest Gump moment’. Like the line in the movie, “And then one day it was over, just like that.”
Thanks for that. I also act locally. Just picked up more radios to program. And I do not charge for the service, even though I could use the work. Often they give me a radio, or some token if they can afford it. Local is where is really counts. This simple act is proving to be a very important service to the community. If we wish to build a community, this requires volunteers, be it a volunteer fire fighter, or whatever. We have to learn to work with all walks of life and get it done.
The cheap, and now ubiquitous Baofeng, can bring together Patriots with in a community. The price is still so low that most can afford a few. A few here, and a few there, and eventually there is enough around to get the job done. At the very least, even if only used as receivers, information can be quickly disseminated and allow others to act independently. All Paul Revere will have to do is hit a few repeaters, or broadcast on simplex, and with in hours or minutes, the entire county will know. And just as it acts to protect it self from forest fires, the heavy equipment shows up. We know what to do. It is the regular folks who will get the job done, and any one with a radio is a force multiplier.
I’ve done what I could here, and will be looking at doing something locally instead. We shall see…
Presidential speech has been censored for many years. I would often watch what I called “lip flap” on the news. A president would be speaking, and the video would show his face and moving lips, but the only words that could be heard were those of the TV anchor telling us what the station wanted us to think the president said.
It just wasn’t obvious, or pointed, as it is today.
You can add Liberty Rush to list of supposedly free speech websites/social media platforms that will ban you for going your own way when it comes to questioning the policies and politics of Trump, Republi-can’ts, or anything else that might make people think for themselves. May they also die a slow and expensive death as they flood their ranks with wholesale trolls imported from Facebooger.
An animator from Australia (SuitYourself) who is on Gab nailed FreeZoxee early. It ended up FZ was just an instance of wowonder – dot com. His problem is he wanted to be verified (blue checkmark thing) without sending ID. Dan Zoxee at first didnt’ respond, so he made a video critical, then it went downhill.
Warning: SuitYourself is NSFW, but his interaction showed the problem.
Basically Dan Zoxee is what Vox Day identifies as a “Gamma” who can’t emotionally handle much.
As I read your comments, I reflect that I haven’t been on any of the sites you refer to, except to read a bit. This is the only site I have participated in and I am grateful for JWR’s generous encouragement of our discourse. Sometimes we agree, sometimes not. Most importantly, we have a forum to express ourselves and be exposed to the opinions of others.
Carry on
Once a Marine, between June 2015 and August 2019 I sent 9 checks to USAWatchdog despites threats of being banned. I was finally banned August 27. You are familiar with the nature and style of my posts. They are arguably more factual and civil than those of POTUS. SB has posted every one of them. Yes we are very fortunate to have this site.
“The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” ― George Orwell
Censoring Wranglestar?, Really??… Whats next, Kicking puppies?
Re. Red flag gun confiscation
Where are all the testosterone-charged ‘patriots’ who said they would draw a line in the sand at gun confiscation? They remind me of smokers parroting ad nauseum about their line in the sand being drawn at $1.00 per pack.
Yes. The vast majority are all talk. I live the life and work diligently without pay to that end. We will see who are the real Patriots. There will be few. Usually the loudest are merely parrots, posers and profiteers.
Red Flag Laws=Guilty until proven innocent.
This is only going to get worse. Once acquired, it is nearly impossible to rescind power. We should prepare accordingly. If we cannot rely on our fellow man to come to our defense in time of need (and it would be foolish to do so at this point), then we had better have a plan B in place for keeping ourselves properly “equipped to survive”. Never keep all your “eggs” in one basket.
Another good point: in the current paradigm, you might do well do just keep your mouth shut about what you have, where it is, and your opinion on what some would view as controversial. It will all be used against you apparently.
I have faced death many many times, yet it was not my time. It does not matter when I die, and I cannot choose the time. It does not matter what I say that might provoke, they would execute me anyway. I do not have to say or do anything, they hate what I represent. These people are monsters, and their lust for power and the death of Christians is insatiable. There is no hiding from these people. They will seek us out.
Tunnel Rabbit,
Sometimes, if we are real lucky, we do get to choose when we die, and what we will die for. It may or may not make a difference in the big picture of things. But then again, who do I have to impress? It would be nice to meet my Maker knowing I sacrificed my life for a cause He saw as worthy. It doesn’t have to be that way, and it won’t make any difference in how He treats me, but it would be nice just the same to please my Lord, one last time, in this mortal form. Whatever may happen here, after that point, I really won’t care.
They said this day would come. We’ve been told about what will happen since childhood. We must remember what is truly important, and that whatever may come, good or bad, in this life is just temporary. What endures will be far greater than anything we can yet imagine. That is always a comforting thought.
And if I am wrong, then it really doesn’t matter what happens to us in the long run anyways. Dead is dead, what more can they do to us after that.
Red flag laws will be abused just as domestic violence laws and restraining orders are. They are used to harm innocent people who have crossed, knowingly or unknowingly, someone corrupt enough to use these laws to punish. The police and courts know this and willingly and even eagerly participate in these unconstitutional vengeance schemes. They are almost always used against a group/gender/race that is not the preferred category, i.e. white men. This is a dirty game with dirty rules that you cannot win. What you can do is play the game by the same rules. For example; if 50 or 100 people in Seattle made red flag claims against the individual members of Seattle’s city council perhaps then they would get the message.
Just a comment regarding censorship. I taught US Government to 12th graders for over 25 years. I distinctly remember a paragraph in the first chapter of the text I used for many years exploring the dangers of the internet to totalitarian regimes. The ability to control information being difficult. Just before I retired, we bought new editions and that paragraph had been removed. A related test item was also missing. I made sure to pull out my old teachers edition and share the revisions with my students.
John,
I am a current high school teacher myself, I teach high school agriculture in a fairly rural area. I haven’t got 25 years in yet, I’m working on year number seven currently. Usually when we have book discards of the older textbooks in almost any subject I try to get a copy. Like you said about the history book, there is quite often a difference in the books. Even my agriculture books have information, sometimes entire chapters, left out as compared to the older editions. I have some older leadership textbooks that also would most likely never be bought by a school board now.
It is truly sad how the schools have changed in recent years. The reason that I continue teaching is because I am teaching a subject that I believe has value to my students. The few who actually want to learn gain skills and knowledge in animal science, plant science, hunter education, agricultural mechanics, and other areas that can actually help them succeed in the real world. There are still some of us who give our students REAL skills and knowledge to help them succeed, instead of the indoctrination that many teachers give. I wish there were more folks still in the classroom like yourself. I believe that we are part of a rapidly diminishing group.
GW, Fall windup has me reading this late. I commend you for trying to help your students succeed. If I can ask. Do you feel your fellow teachers have the same goal? Do you feel you need to keep your ideas about indoctrination from administration and other teachers to avoid retribution? Your opinion as an insider could give the rest of us some insight. Whether you can answer or not , thank you and keep up the good work.
I think it was something to do with Atomwaffen, not racism specifically.
The problem is a red-blue divide. It won’t be a “race war” per se, but different races will be demographically taking a huge majority one or the other side.
The evil is we can’t say the truth, no more than noting the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. Somehow Iran who was uninvolved was sued (this is not to say anything else about Iran though they offered via Switzerland to help the investigation into 9/11 and was rudely rebuffed).
The battle is now not between races, sexes, or anything else.
It is between Logos – (And the Logos was made flesh and dwelt among us) which represents a rational natural law universe, and anti-Logos where feelings dominate especially if reality makes people feel bad.
To point out bad behavior and the consequnces to minorities is Logos. To try to silence it because it is hurtful is anti-Logos.
Satan’s ploy is to convert someone attacked by the anti-Logos side (consider the father of the Boy whose mother wants to castrate him chemically in TX, some #MeToo false rape accusation like Kavanaugh, or Ferguson’s Michael Brown shot by Darren Wilson or Trayvon Martin where there is a new book exposing the hoax) to go anti-Logos with irrational hate of anything the other side did instead of keeping things rational and charitable.
Diabolo seeks to divide, and doesn’t care whether you enter hell via the left or right gate.
tz, you reference Atomwaffel. I searched to learn about it, having never heard of it. Found quite a lot, mostly innuendo and unsupported opinions.
This stood out: History and ideology
In 2015, the group announced its creation on the neo-Nazi website IronMarch.org,[2][17] that has been linked to several acts of neo-nazi terrorism and violent militant groups such as the Nordic Resistance Movement, National Action, and the Azov Battalion.[18][3][4] In its initial posts, the group described itself as a “very fanatical, ideological band of comrades who do both activism and militant training. Hand to hand, arms training, and various other forms of training. As for activism, we spread awareness in the real world through unconventional means.”[17]
Atomwaffen encourages flag desecration, the burning of the United States Constitution, and attacks on the federal government of the United States, minorities, gays, and Jews.[19] Atomwaffen Division has engaged in plans to cripple public water systems and destroy parts of the Continental U.S. power transmission grid.[19] Atomwaffen has also been accused of planning to blow up nuclear plants in order to cause nuclear meltdowns.[19] The organization’s aim is to violently overthrow the federal government of the United States via terrorism and guerrilla warfare tactics.
I trust the opinions of my fellow SB readers more than most of what I encounter out there. So, I ask for your insights into this Atomwaffen, folks. And, tz, what were you pointing to in your reference? I missed it.
Carry on
That is the organization. I knew it was just a fairly nasty bunch, but I didn’t know about the rest, but I’m sceptical how much is real, how much is LARPing, and how much is SPLC hype. Its hard to separate things sometimes as people in the Redoubt have been accused of the same things.
I am of the mind that posting on any Internet site, this one included and I take that risk because JWR is a true patriot and a Christian, comes with risk. I am a frequent reader of many sites, but I do not choose to have an account on any of them. Part of the reason is I don’t want to be on “a list”. Should things progress in the wrong direction, and I’m praying mightily against that, being on lists that become the subject of an “investigation” would be a bad thing. Southern Poverty Law Center has been challenged in court and may be falling out of favor, but for a long time they have determined who the “haters” are. We all know there’s been a concerted effort to label and harass people who don’t fall in line with the current insanity against christians, conservatives, Trump supporters, prolifers, anyone against the LBGTQRXYZ+ lifestyle, etc etc. The Red Flag, Extreme Protection Order, gun grabs stuff is just more of that. With a generation of kids being indoctrinated against the American idea in public education, it seems to be only a matter of time before things get dicey. Again, while I hope and pray things turn around, I think everyone needs to be prepared to keep a very low profile. Be the Gray Man. Be the Gray Woman. I would avoid having accounts and posting regularly on the alternative chat sites in addition to avoiding social media. One thing that has changed radically with the Internet, is our communities are often virtual, and thereby trackable. I think we need to choose face-to-face communications where possible. Just my humble opinion. Something to think about. Carry on.
My wife posted a short speech by Abraham Lincoln on Facebook.It was taken down in short
order.Yet online you can buy “The Anarchists Cook Book” and “The Turner Diaries”.
This picture off our society is so far out of focus that I doubt it will ever be clear again.
It is all the work off Satan.
YouTube is a private company and can censor just like a baker can refuse a to make a cake.
Censor Free Speech?Well then we are done for!
Free speech has been censored since I’ve been alive. Same with you. It ain’t new.
This is a business that has the right to do so.
Same as I have the right to censor speech in my house. Same as JWR has the right to censor my speech on this forum which has been done. So who is wrong YouTube or Survival Blog? Neither
Cakes are not protected by the Constitution.
That’s what you took from that conversation!?!
“Cakes aren’t protected”. Is forced servitude right then?
Both sides serve koolaid. The flavor is just different.
The “power elite”, whoever you wish to presume they are, have only two entities they must destroy at all cost. The first is a strong dictator and the second and, most difficult to control is a “Constitutional Republic”. Most wars have been fought, to some extent, over this very simplified nexus. Someone above stated that they were shocked on how much our country has changed over the past decades. I agree, but then again, that is exactly the way the system is set up to control the masses. Things that we not only accept, but don’t even question, would have been abhorrent to most of the founding fathers. The “long view” of those fighting to destroy “liberty” has always been done on a generational basis. Case in point….. Ask nearly any person in the U.S., under the age of 60,” is the dollar bill in your pocket a statement of ‘value’? Most won’t even know what you are talking about. My point is, the dollar in your pocket is a “debt note” owned by a private bank, that draws interest (National debt} until it is retired. True, “Constitutional” money was backed by Silver or Gold and not distributed by a “private company”. We are so far from what was envisioned by the founding fathers that there is really no comparison. True education is the answer, are we to far gone?