Empty store shelves: Grocery supply chain issues in Europe.

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 grocery supply chain issues in Europe.

Empty Supermarket Shelves in Germany

As western Europe begins a winter with scant fuel: Empty shelves as German supermarkets resist price hikes. An excerpt:

“With German inflation running at a record 10 percent, supermarket giants are pushing back against what they see as unreasonable price increases by some of the world’s best-known brands.

Food multinationals argue that their manufacturing costs have risen on the back of soaring energy and transport costs, in part because of the war in Ukraine.

But retailers in Europe’s top economy say they are protecting customers’ purchasing power at a difficult time, and that price hikes of up to 30 percent in some cases are overblown.”

Supermarket Shelves Picked Bare in England

The London Times reports: Supermarket shelves picked bare as bargain hunters shop around.

And here is a related news piece: British Grocery Stores Are Stocking Empty Shelves with Cardboard Cutouts of Food.

JWR’s Comment: Ay, ay, ay… Tesco no tengo. Que lastima!

Mixing Your Own Lidocaine

Reader M.M. wrote:

“This is just informational. I’m not giving any medical advice. But this might be interesting for folks.

As I understand it, 1% lidocaine has a limited shelf life. It is basically lidocaine powder mixed with 0.9% normal saline. 1% is the typical concentration we use for procedures and surgeries. Thus, 1 g of powder in 100 cc of saline.

I believe the powder does not have similar shelflife limitations. I personally stock a fair amount of the powder, which I purchased over-the-counter online without a prescription. Mine came in a mylar bag hermetically sealed. It was fairly inexpensive and I bought 250 grams.

Honestly, I don’t recall exactly where I purchased it, but a quick search shows numerous vendors.

One can always make 0.9% normal saline up on the fly, with salt and sterile water by weight, and make the solution. Keep in mind that if you screw up the dilution, it can cause serious heart arrhythmias and potentially death. That is, not recommended except for as a last resort.

Again, this is informational and academic only. I’m not providing medical advice. Thought you might find it interesting. Something that could be potentially useful in the event that modern medicine is not available to you.”

Google’s Election Campaign Tampering

Google Caught Manipulating Search, Buries GOP Campaign Sites in 83% of Top Senate Races.

Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake Rattles S.F. Bay Area

Reader H.L. sent us this: Magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattles San Francisco Bay Area, the largest to strike the region in years. The piece begins:

“A magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattled the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday, shaking buildings and marking the strongest quake the region has seen in eight years.”

EU Policies Destroying Energy Sources in Midst of Crisis

EU countries agree to hike climate change target next year. JWR’s Comments: Western Europe is in its worst shortage of liquid fuels since the Second World War,.And now the EU member nations are scheming ways to “reduce greenhouse gasses” compounding their energy deficit. What absolute insanity!