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 look at how the US Navy is finding new uses for old flak cannon technology.
Navy to Revive Flak Cannons to Combat Drones
Over at Zero Hedge: US Navy To Revive Flak Cannons To Combat Drone Attacks.
Army Picks Robotic Fighting Vehicles
And speaking of robotics, this was linked over at Whatfinger.com — my favorite news aggregation site: The U.S. Army Just Picked Its First Robotic Fighting Vehicles. A snippet:
“The Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command plans to award a contract to QinetiQ North America to build four Robotic Combat Vehicle-Light prototypes and another contract to Textron to build four Robotic Combat Vehicle-Medium prototypes, all for initial tests that will take place in late 2021.
The Army also wants a bigger, more powerful Robotic Combat Vehicle-Heavy, but the service doesn’t plan to begin testing the larger vehicle until 2023.
After testing the armed robots, the Army plans to make a decision about wider development of the vehicle for front-line use.”
China Locking Down Cities to Stop Wuhan Virus
The Associated Press reports: China locking down cities with 18 million to stop virus
Virginia Senate Passes Three Gun Control Bills
H.L. sent this: ‘Assault on the Second Amendment’: Virginia Senate passes three gun control bills. JWR’s Comment: This news came just a few days before the huge, armed, pro-gun rally in Richmond. Given their arrogance, I believe that the Virginia state legislators would have passed these, even after that rally.
Red Flag Nation: Anti-Gun Laws, Sanctuary Cities and the Second Amendment
Some commentary from John Whitehead: Red Flag Nation: Anti-Gun Laws, Sanctuary Cities and the Second Amendment. Here is an excerpt:
“The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on illegal immigration, asset forfeiture schemes, road safety schemes, school safety schemes, eminent domain: all of these programs started out as legitimate responses to pressing concerns and have since become weapons of compliance and control in the police state’s hands.
Mark my words: gun control legislation, especially in the form of red flag gun laws, which allow the police to remove guns from people suspected of being threats, will only add to the government’s power.
These laws, growing in popularity as a legislative means by which to seize guns from individuals viewed as a danger to themselves or others, are yet another Trojan Horse, a stealth maneuver by the police state to gain greater power over an unsuspecting and largely gullible populace.”
Massachusetts: No Religious Exemptions to Vaccination?
Massachusetts considers eliminating religious exemptions to vaccination. (Thanks to reader DSV for the link.)
Deplatformed: Subverting the Second Amendment
This Ammo.com piece was featured over at American Partisan: Deplatformed: How Big Tech Companies & Corporate America Subvert the Second Amendment. Here is a quote:
“This is the situation in which we find ourselves as a nation today: Guns are not illegal, but private companies will make it increasingly difficult to buy, sell or own them – up to and including pulling your bank account. You have all the freedom of speech you like, but prepare to be deplatformed or have your voice buried by large tech corporations with their thumb on the scale of American discourse.
As the American economy has become more corporatist – such that the market is controlled by the interrelation between monolithic mega-corporations, Wall Street and the state – and less capitalistic and dynamic, the American press and economy are now being dominated by forces hostile toward the American public and American values.”
Seattle Residents Can Vote Via Smartphones
Reader V.G. forwarded this: Seattle is the first area in the US where residents can vote via smartphones. JWR’s Comment: Isn’t technology wonderful? What could possibly go wrong?
Elderly Man’s Life Savings Seized at Airport
H.L. sent us this: Family Sues DEA and TSA After Elderly Man’s Life Savings Were Seized at Airport
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You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!
What do you all think of the coronavirus? I have read up on it a bit and basically its a cold that most people catch in their lifetime. What i was reading yesterday is that if you are a healthy person you typically don’t die from it. Now I saw a dozen videos yesterday that looked like scenes from the movie Contagion. A nurse was having a emotional breakdown. People collapsed on the ground, hazmat gear everywhere. Ate the Chinese really paranoid or is it much worse than we are being told? I hate sensationalism but I don’t think it is that. My opinion is that the Chinese are proud people and don’t want to look weak so they are downplaying how bad this virus really is.I read that 70,000 movie theaters were close, cities quarantined and saw video of makeshift hospitals. Also the Chinese are building 2 hospitals. Something doesn’t seem right but I am not sure what is going on either. Y’alls thoughts?
If nothing else it shows the complete inability to control a pandemic. No governments of any kind have the answer. The expense is overwhelming and just throwing money at it doesn’t help. China is trying to build a hospital in days to house the sick but that will be too little too late.
CDC while well meaning really doesn’t have control. WHO is a talking head with no teeth.
The People are a huge issue. There was even a lady bragging about how she slipped through security running a fever.
A Chinese couple threw a fit and left their children at the gate and boarded a plane without them. The airline caved and put the kid on the plane even with a fever. Either way the contagion wasn’t properly contained.
Our worldwide mobility is an issue.
I’m more worried about the flu than this however the lessons are being taught to us daily in what could happen. I’m using it as a primer for discussion, review of gear, thoughts on where an isolation will/can happen within my own group etc. I certainly don’t have all the answers but I’m surrounded by folks smarter than me and between us we should be able to come up with viable solutions.
Keep watch, train hard, prepare steady.
Like you I am using it as a test run of what to watch for. I am a little concerned because there was a student who is quarantined in Lubbock which is only a couple hours from me as well as I live close to a interstate with a lot of travel from everywhere.
@ LSM,
I am concerned about it. I know little to nothing about pandemics, but I also know that media tends to over sell the fear. However, the amount of conflicting reports is a concern. I can not help but to think that for a gov. to lock down 56 million people (last count I saw), something is certainly more alarming than the media is reporting at this time.
I generally like Chris Martenson, who made a video of warning about the current situation that I saw last night. Even though Chris uses a level headed approach to his reports, he does sell doom. *shrugs*
I’d too would be interested to hear what other people think.
The 56 million quarantined makes me pause as well. I do not think China would be on board with fear mongering when it makes them look incompetent. I will check out Martensen. Ive liked his opinions when Ive taken the time to listen, thanks for reminding me of him.
You can view the video here if you haven’t already seen it.
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/martenson-risk-true-pandemic-higher-were-being-told
Muddy kid, thank you for sharing this excellent video!
@ Muddykid
I’m also unsure as to just what is going on as we only know what gets reported. I’m trying to avoid any unsubstantiated rumors, fear-mongering etc but no idea as to the veracity of the remainder of the reports on this. I too am concerned by the high numbers of Chinese citizens essentially confined to their cities, the cancellation of transportation, closure of tourist sites etc. Were this to be only a “bad cold” I sure doubt China would go to these extreme measures as the impact to their economy is going to be huge.
To some extent it feels like too little too late though as so many infected people managed to leave, many unaware they were even infected as evidently early on no one realized that those not displaying signs of the illness could in fact be contagious. Given the global nature of our world today, I’d expect it to be showing up pretty much everywhere.
I suppose the bottom line for those of us in the US is whether or not our government is putting the necessary resources into this and whether they will be honest with us as to what is happening.
I wanted to follow up about the Martensen podcast video. It is fantastic. I learned several things about how viruses. Thanks so much again!
I’m also somewhat confused by what seems like conflicting data. 1500 or so infected and 50+ dead. While tragic, that wouldn’t seem to warrant the massive quarantine. However, I really know nothing of China’s methods. They built a similar hospital in about 6 days during the SARS outbreak 2002-2003. I don’t know if they did a similar quarantine then because I didn’t follow the news or use internet nearly as much back then but I was actively employed as an ER nurse. SARS eventually killed about 800 people according to my recent readings. Probably less than the common cold kills every year (with complications). I can envision if an enormous labor force could use plywood and plastic sheeting, a 1000 bed “hospital” for quarantine is easy enough. They probably burn the whole thing down afterwards. I can tell you N95 mask have become harder to find this week. I just joked to my wife that the last fictional series I read about a week ago was about a pandemic with a similar non symptomatic incubation period of about the same duration. Let’s hope the outcome is better in reality.
LSM, take a good look at China today. If you see a medical situation think again. China is the model/test ground for the global elites’ NWO. What you see is 100% compliance to tyranny. Over 50 million sheep are living in fear and have accepted martial law light without a whimper. I think that’s what is going on. Is it just a coincidence that these viruses start in China?
Montana Guy:This is the time for level headed conversations.Conspiracy theorists have
nothing to offer.
Haven’t you studied what “our elite leaders” have to say? Have you ever listened to the speech John F Kennedy gave before he was murdered? The president of the United States himself said there is a well orchestrated conspiracy at the highest levels of banking, the military industrial complex etc. Do you think it’s a conspiracy that Americans pay money to a privately owned “Federal ” reserve bank that prints the money out of thin air? He is 100% right, China is the testing ground.
Big Mike: It’s best to stay away from the “Flat Earth” and “Chem Trails” club meetings.
Don’t you agree?The latest issue of Psychology Today cites research that
concluded that mental illness is not contagious.I think they are wrong.
What say you?
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for American Doctors to make an analysis from FIRST HAND experiences. … Communist governments are untrustworthy in all things; we can NOT depend on China for reliable information, about the illnesses that originating in China.
Survivalblog = “A reader wrote to suggest that I (JWR) re-post some items on surviving a pandemic. Since i plan ahead, there is already a static page for that: ~Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic.~”
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A reader of Survivalblog, Wheatley Fisher, wrote a letter 1/24/2020 with a lot links about how to survive a dangerous pandemic. His letter is worth a read; especially now.
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Hopefully the Wutan Coronavirus Flu is >just an average Flu. … I’m seeing information like this in the news.
TheConservativieTreehouse 1/23/2020. =
“Coronavirus Cases Rise Globally – First U.S. Cases Detected…”
…
“Interestingly, a China researcher on Twitter, Ben Tallmadge, often a great source of granular details for all things China, has been providing information about China developing biological weapons specifically in the city of Wuhan.”
“Citing a story from July 2019, Tallmadge draws attention to a level-4 biological lab in Canada that was infiltrated Chinese spy scientists and a biologic agent was removed. What makes this aspect interesting is the location where the Chinese spies returned after they were caught; Wuhan City, the exact place where the Coronavirus started.”
“A year earlier, in July 2018, China inaugurated Wuhan biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) lab in the city. It is the only level-four biological research facility in the country. The Wuhan lab was built precisely to look into dangerous pathogens like the novel Coronavirus; which again is reported to have originated from Wuhan City. This just doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
“In July 2019, there was a considerable protest in Wuhan City because the Chinese government was building a massive incinerator in the event a biologic element escaped the facility. Again, this doesn’t seem like a coincidence.” …
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We’ll just have to wait for American Doctors to make an analysis. ~ It’s always good to have the needed preps. Check out Survivalblog articles and advertisers.
A good start to assess your Pandemic readiness:
http://www.alpharubicon.com/basicnbc/pandemictriggersfp.htm
Since the (liberal’s in) government will never be able to actually eliminate the 2A through legislation, they will do it through Red Flag Lies, er, I mean Laws.
Chances are very slim that citizens will have any say in new red flag legislation, especially in blue states, even at the ballot box, but we must demand strict penalty’s for false accusations against law abiding individuals. (I see this happening between bad neighbors and ex spouses, especially in divorce and custody battles and also teachers in the public nanny-schools).
God Bless America…PLEASE.
Rucksack Rob, the judicial branch of government is as fraudulent as the legislative branch. We are on our own.
It’s TINVOWOOT Time.
Welcome to the CONSTITUTION FREE ZONE. It just keeps getting worse every day We have allowed ourselves to be the proverbial frog in the pot for DECADES.
wells Hubbell, well stated my friend.
There’s very little recourse as one is guilty when accused. So protecting ones self from a position halfway done the slippery slope is rather impossible. Punishment of one who may break the law makes everyone guilty, does it not?
Votes in Seattle are now worthless in the context of measures that effect the east half of Washington state and should be discounted if cast by cell phone.
Is the republic lost?
SVM: Yes, The Republic is lost.
Human nature wins every time.
“We come on a ship they called the Mayflower
we come on a ship that sailed the moon.
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune.
But it’s alright, its alright
you can’t be forever blessed.
Still, tomorrow’s gonna be another workin’ day,
and I’m tryin’g to get some rest.
That’s all I’m just tryin’ to get some rest.
“American Tune” -Paul Simon
SVM, yes.
> US Navy To Revive Flak Cannons To Combat Drone Attacks.
How well will they work against the Slaughterbots?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-2tpwW0kmU ( 8 minutes long )
Sci-Fi Short Film “Slaughterbots” presented by DUST
DUST
October 17, 2019
“Slaughterbots” directed by Stewart Sugg
In a dystopian world a new form of A.I. weaponry has been created. All these drone bots need is a profile: age, sex, fitness, uniform, and ethnicity. Nuclear is obsolete. Take out your entire enemy virtually risk free. Just characterize him, release the swarm, and rest easy.
The 7 minute film opens with a Silicon Valley CEO-type delivering a product presentation to a live audience a la Steve Jobs.
The presentation seems innocuous enough at first — the presenter seems to be unveiling some new drone technology — but takes a dark turn when he demonstrates how these autonomous drones can slaughter humans like cattle by delivering “a shaped explosive” to the skull.The audience eats it up, clapping and laughing along with the CEO as if they hadn’t witnessed anything more dangerous than the unveiling of the iPhone X.
The CEO goes further, showing videos of the tiny killer drone in action. “Let’s watch what happens when the weapons make the decisions,” the CEO says, as the bot executes a number of people on the massive screen behind him. “Now trust me, these are all bad guys.”
What follows is a deeply unsettling portrait of a dystopian world where these small weaponised drones use their onboard technologies — “cameras like you use for your social media apps, facial recognition like you have on your phones!” — to make autonomous decisions about who lives and who dies.
I cried when I watched that video awhile back. It’s the future and there is no escaping it.
Re. U.S. Army Picks First Robotics
Armed robots to follow. Just the next step in Perpetual War.
H/T to Liberty Pastor Chuck Baldwin who dares to preach against this and I believe would support the following.
How Was Perpetual War Created?
https://i.imgur.com/KlOwWAV.png
Re. Wuhan Virus
Take a good look at China today. If you see a medical situation think again. China is the model/test ground for the global elites’ NWO. What you see is 100% compliance to tyranny. Over 50 million sheep are living in fear and have accepted martial-law-light without a whimper. Do you think it is just a coincidence that these viruses start in China?
Big Mike, those working in U.S. alphabet agencies work for blood money. Ultimately the evil people in power need to meet their Nuremburg. If convicted they meet their Maker. The Bundy Ranch would make an ideal venue for the trials.
Re. Virus panic
Last September we purchased several 10-packs of 3M 8511 Respirator, N95, with Cool Flow Valve. These are true N95 respirators. The valve does effectively reduce fogging for folks wearing glasses. (BEWARE the false labeling of ‘dust masks’ ‘surgical masks’ ‘medical masks’ as N95 is out-of-control)
Amazon Sept. 2019 Price: $13.28/10-pack
Today’s Price: starts at $42.98/10-pack
Our local Home Depot is sold out. Yours might have some.
The situation is the same for children’s PM 2.5 micron dust masks (true N95 respirators are not suitable for children). Just like the .22LR price gouging, I believe these too will pass. I suggest repricing them after this panic subsides and take appropriate action.
Disclaimer. I am NOT a qualified medical professional, just an old engineer. With so much disinformation out there today this subject would make a great article on Survival Blog if a qualified SME would address it.
I went to the local Home Depot this morning about some house work and decided to swing by the paint isle to see if N95 masks were sold out. Been seeing reports about it since last night.
No French Toast Zombies here. All looked normal. Plenty available on the shelves in my AO.
Yes, I too bought a 10-pack of N95 masks with valves back in the fall for aprox $14. Now, if even available their price has skyrocketed. I’m petsitting out of state and have a few with my in my BOB; wanted my son to have some though just in case. I ordered one pack through Walmart and one through Amazon; didn’t seem to be any available in the stores there(or here). Will see if they show up; fully expect at least Walmart to cancel the order. The NYT interviewed a guy who was buying huge quantities of the N95 masks at a hardware store in the US to send to his friends and colleagues in China; wonder how many of them have been bought up by people here to send to China as masks seem to be in short supply there?
The common hygiene practices used in hospitals will work to prevent the spread of some diseases. Highly infectious diseases require extraordinary measures to effectively prevent transmission to uninfected people. So extraordinary that we could probably only contain such a disease in a dozen or so people at any one time. So while it is good advice to wash your hands, wear a mask, stay away from other people just know that in a actual pandemic none of this will work. You simple cannot do this 24/7 for weeks at a time and even then the nature of a true pandemic illness is such that common practices like this are not 100% effective. IF it is a true pandemic you will catch it. You would have to live on a desert island to avoid it and even them it is likely that after the pandemic runs it’s course if you returned to society you would catch it then. THAT is the reason for all the effort to prevent this from spreading. Having said that politics gets into the way of that effort. IF the U.S. actually wanted to prevent this disease from arriving on our shores we would have shut off all international and perhaps even national travel. We didn’t do that because we are more interested in trade and politics as usual than we are in preventing the spread of disease.
Totally agree, Emu. I was thinking about that today. We have several items coming in via a distribution carrier next week that we purchased online. Where did they originate? Who came in contact with the package before and/or while being packaged for shipment? What about the distribution carrier personnel? It is absolutely impossible to protect ourselves in our day to day lives, even if we follow the “guidelines” of avoiding crowds, washing hands, etc.
While I read about the movie Contagion mentioned throughout comment threads, the real eye opener is a production from the History Channel called “After Armageddon”. It’s available for purchase on Amazon but is also available via YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtP80Z08lfg
The only safe avenue we have right now is to Pray, Trust in our Lord, and be vigilant.
Blessings to all and stay safe!
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/n95list1.html
The above site lists CDC approved antiviral masks readily available at hardware stores etc for those who want to have some on hand.
So far, using the stats released from China, the fatality rate is about 3% but we don’t yet really know how many are infected nor what the transmission rate is.
Re: coronavirus
I appreciate the various viewpoints shared. A new patient is now in Orange County, CA.
What we know:
1. There is no treatment
2. There is no vaccine
3. Symptomless people can spread virus for up to 2 weeks before getting sick themselves.
If someone has a connection in China that we could send supplies to, let us know how. I tried to google that without success.
Krissy’s point 3 is what makes this virus the most problematic.
Here’s a link to an interesting paper by a team of epidemiologists that offers some interesting insights:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.23.20018549v1.full.pdf
Mark your calendar for February 4th and then come back and read the link. They can only make educated guesses at this point because there are too many unknowns but if they are correct and on February 4th there are in the neighborhood of 200K cases of coronavirus in Wuhan on that date, that means their base assumptions were correct. And if their base assumptions were correct, then look at their Figure 3 graphs which show the virus going parabolic.
Right now the death rate is only between 2-4% but the accuracy of that is uncertain due to the Chinese not truthfully reporting all cases and/or all deaths. At any rate, Krissy’s point 3 that people are walking around for up to 2 weeks before they know they are sick, all the while spreading the virus among the population, means that this has the potential (and probability) of getting out of hand in whatever location it ends up in. If you’re young and healthy, there’s probably no need for alarm since most of the deaths so far seem to be people who already had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel anyway. That doesn’t mean it can’t mutate to something more sinister however.
China is in full scale practice for its downrange exercise in Amerika ….
News indicates that the U.S. sent in a chartered jet to retrieve Americans from Wuhan — diplomats and others. Believe they had about 230 seats available, and hope those evacuees are tested and quarantined on their return home for the safety of all people. This was just prior to the expansion of China’s efforts to quarantine 50+ million.
It’s important to remember that not every coronavirus is created equal. Some versions of these are more virulent than others. It’s also true that some people are more vulnerable than others. There is at least one report that the R0 value is a 3.8 (and that may yet be revised again). If this is the case, transmission is extraordinarily difficult to control. It’s not impossible, but the number of transmissions that must be be prevented in order to stop the spread make it nearly so.
China is currently reporting that the ability of the virus to spread is strengthening. We wonder if it’s more accurate to say that our understanding of the nature of symptoms and transmission is improving — or by contrast if it’s that the virus is actually mutating and the nature of its transmission is changing.
It’s also true that the news does feed on fear. Media behavior in this regard can create very dangerous environment by fostering baseless hysteria — or burn out that leads people to turn a blind eye. Unfortunately, we won’t know until after the fact, and we don’t really have the luxury of waiting to take preventive measures which must come by definition before the fact.
Further… We cannot discount the possibility that something much more nefarious is unfolding.
We hope everyone will exercise reasoned caution. Prevention is key. Lots of good reader tips in the conversation here to help with ideas, information and resources. Stay well. Be safe everyone.
Big Mike: You must have witnessed the money confiscation.I know you don’t believe the print or broadcast media.What did you say to the DEA agent? Just curious.
I have no kind words for “humans” that commit such evil against their fellow man. They deserve no civility as they ate are worse than criminals in prison because they abuse the public trust and power they are given. Montana Guy is right it’s blood money. How could you have anymore civility towards them than a child molester? Anyone who could steal an old man’s life savings under color of law is as evil as they get.
I found this on groupon. I am not sure if it is still viable.
https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-cm-respirator-dust-mask
I just wanted to share if anyone was in need. Be safe and keep your head on a swivel.
The biggest threat I see potential for, is that a scare similar to the recent measles scare will lead to forced vaccinations, and that this will be the actual vehicle of destruction.
I’m not worried about a natural mutation of the flu or common cold, but I am a bit concerned when we see freshly-patented viruses that NWO types are running think-tank wargames about. Especially when there is a close link between the patent holders and the think tank and stated goals of de-population. And then we see the “novel virus” in the headlines.
To put it simply, nature is not our enemy. Biological weapons labs might be, however.
Hopefully, this scare will blow over as many others have. But the damage we see in many states, with the removal of medical freedom, is not likely to blow over anytime soon as long as big pharma controls the narrative among medical professionals.
And yes, the CDC is telling us to treat this disease like Ebola, with full decontamination precautions. Wonder why?
We have had a couple of close calls with pandemics; SARS and Ebola. You may not think that they were close calls but they were and we were “lucky”. That’s right, lucky. Yes the various organizations for protecting our health were active but mostly it was too ;little and too late except… we were lucky. Perhaps someone at the CDC will disagree but I’m talking the big picture and doing everything right. The CDC did what they could within their charter while our politicians and one dumb nurse in particular did what they could to thwart the effort. We were lucky then. Will we be lucky again? Only time will tell. We have already made mistakes and are right now making mistakes. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
Because of some unkind words were exchanged, I’ve decided to shut down any further comments on this column.
Please be civil, folks!