SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR [1]. 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. In today’s column, a further examination of A.I.’s ramifications.
Can We Trust Artificial Intelligence?
A CalTech Science Exchange article: Can We Trust Artificial Intelligence? Here is an excerpt:
“When people think about the dangers of AI, they often think of Skynet [2], the fictional, sentient, humanity-destroying AI in the Terminator movies. In this imagined scenario, an AI system grows beyond human ability to control it and develops new capabilities that were not programmed at the outset. The term “singularity” is sometimes used to describe this situation.
Experts continue to debate when—and whether—this is likely to occur [3] and the scope of resources that should be directed to addressing it. University of Oxford professor Nick Bostrom notably predicts [4] that AI will become superintelligent and overtake humanity. Caltech AI and social sciences researchers are less convinced.”
A Bird Flu Update
An update at the CDC website: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation [5]. An excerpt:
“Detections in Animals
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- 12,702 wild birds detected as of 3/25/2025 | Full Report [6]
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- 51 jurisdictions with bird flu in wild birds
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- 168,256,678 poultry affected as of 4/7/2025 | Full Report [7]
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- 51 jurisdictions with outbreaks in poultry
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- 998 dairy herds affected as of 4/3/2025 | Full Report [8]
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- 17 states with outbreaks in dairy cows”
China Cuts Off Rare Earth Mineral Exports to U.S.
SurvivalBlog reader H.L. sent this: China Cuts Off Rare Earth Mineral Exports to U.S. in Trade War with Trump [9].
Fauci Touts “The Next Outbreak”
Over at Modernity: This Again: Fauci Touts “The Next Outbreak” [10].
Germany Tells Teachers to Get Children Ready for War
In the U.K. Daily Mail: Germany tells teachers to get children ready for war: Schools urged to give ‘greater focus’ to civil protection after EU told citizens to prep 72-hour survival kits amid growing WW3 threat [11].
Russia Stalls Ceasefire Talks, Intensifies Attacks on Ukraine
Russia stalls ceasefire talks as it intensifies attacks on Ukraine [12].
Canada’s MAiD Program is Casting a Wide Net
Canada is Euthanizing Mentally Disabled People Without Their Consent [13].
How Google AI Destroyed Google Search
Over at Zero Hedge: ‘Betrayed, That’s The Word’: Small Business Owners Reel as Google AI Destroys Google Search [14].
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