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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

Posted By James Wesley Rawles On In Odds 'n Sods | Comments Disabled

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 warning on Ghost Tapping.

The New “Ghost Tapping” Card Scams

Reader C.B. spotted this, at Newsweek: ‘Ghost Tapping’: What to Know About New Scam Warning [2].

Army to Bring Nuclear Microreactors to Its Bases By 2028

TMZ: Army To Bring Nuclear Microreactors To Its Bases By 2028 [3]. A pericope:

“Army installations within the lower 48 states will have operating nuclear microreactors starting in the fall of 2028 if the Army’s Janus program [4] moves forward on schedule. The addition of nuclear power will diversify the energy sources available on military bases and provide a critical enhancement to their resiliency, the Army says.”

AI Models May Be Developing Their Own ‘Survival Drive’

Several readers sent this, from the UK Guardian: AI models may be developing their own ‘survival drive’, researchers say [5].

Our Aging Nation

Published in June: An Aging Nation: U.S. Median Age Surpassed 39 in 2024 [6].  An excerpt:

“The U.S. median age — the age at which half the population is aged above and the other half below — has increased by 0.6 years from April 2020 to July 2024 when it reached 39.1, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates [7] released today.

Given that nearly 294 million people (86% of the U.S. population) lived in one of the nation’s 387 metro areas in 2024, many metro areas saw an increase in their median ages, too.

Median ages in metro areas in 2024 ranged between 26.4 and 68.1, with 192 metro areas having a median age higher than the nation’s.

Many of the metro areas with the highest median ages were in Florida and Arizona, both popular retirement destinations (Figure 1).

Metro areas with the lowest median ages tended to have one of two things: a relatively high proportion of young adults, often due to the presence of a college/university or large military installation; or a relatively high proportion of children. Some had both.”

Russia’s New “Skyfall” Missile

Russia tests ‘Flying Chernobyl’ missile super weapon that has unlimited range, claims Putin [8].

Ukraine War Morphs Into a Long Siege with Infrastructure Attacks

In the WSJ: As Putin Digs In, a Long—and Different—War With Ukraine Looms [9]. The article begins:

“Russia’s refusal of a cease-fire and an aborted peace summit in Budapest [10] have raised the grim prospect that the war in Ukraine will rage for years to come—even as the nature of the conflict transforms.

President Vladimir Putin remains convinced that Russia will eventually wear down its smaller neighbor, causing a collapse of the Ukrainian economy and society. An elusive victory would allow him to make the case that the devastating war he unleashed nearly four years ago was worth it, after all.

For Ukraine, despite all the hardship and the mounting losses, the situation so far is nowhere near a defeat. President Volodymyr Zelensky would be almost certain to face a revolt if he were to agree to Putin’s latest ultimatum to abandon strategic cities in the eastern Donetsk region in exchange for a cease-fire that wouldn’t likely last.

The drone revolution in the battlefield, meanwhile, has redefined the nature of combat operations. This means that neither side is likely to make major territorial strides soon.”

Will China Bury Us?

Our own Tom Christianson suggested this, from The New Criterion:  Will China bury us? [11]

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You can send your news tips to JWR [1]. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact [12] form.) Thanks!