The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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 “HJL”. We’ll start today off with the Bundy Trials.

An Explanation of the Bundy Trials

Federal prosecutors have a terrible record of convictions in the trials related to the Bundy conflicts. So far, after three trials, only two defendants have been convicted (and those convictions were on only a few of the charges thrown against them) Why is the Federal Government’s record so bad? This article sent in by DMS has some pretty good answers. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the whether the defendants are guilty or not, but the government, in its zeal to convict, has created it’s own hostile environment. Most people (even jurors) see the machinations that the Feds are going through to make sure that only part of the story gets told. The average American just doesn’t react well to that sort of railroading.

Finnish Defense Forces in Pictures (1939-1945)

The Finnish Defense Forces have released more that 160,000 war time photos from 1939 to 1945 of some of the most brutal conditions encountered in World War II. The 49 photos shown in this article encompass evacuation of civilians, airplane crashes, and armored columns and trains. Even pictures of pack Reindeer hauling provisions for soldiers. It’s an amazing capture of history and well worth the read. Thanks to reader T.R. for the link.

Second Amendment

There is nothing louder than hearing a “click” when you expect a “bang!” Or hearing a “bang!” when you expect a “click”. Do you rotate your defensive carry ammunition? Reader DSV sent in this article telling a hair raising story of the writer who witnessed this as he taught a couple how to handle a gun. A revolver that was carried on a daily basis and had actually been used in self defense suffered a malfunction due to bad ammunition. He’s quite sure that it was excess lube that worked it’s way into the cartridges over the course of several years that was the culprit. Rotate that ammo!

Artificial Intelligence

Google’s DeepMind AI project recently reached a milestone. It was able to read almost four times as many words in a lip reading competition than a trained human expert with 10 years of experience. The significance of this was underscored because the test videos used were from “the wild”. Videos taken from BBC broadcasts with actual sentences used by the announcers rather than a limited set. The dataset contained more than 100,000 natural sentences. One can only imagine how this can be used to violate your privacy. Thanks to B.B. for the link.

Cooking After SHTF

Reader S.G. sent in this National Geographic article on Guatemalans who used to cook over open fires in their homes. An initiative is helping them with locally built stoves that reduce the amount of smoke in their homes and, as a result, reduce the health problems that they face. The organization working to get these stoves in use is the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. If you are looking for alternatives, this site may be of interest to you.

Are Libraries Obsolete?

Reader H.L. sent in this article asking if libraries are obsolete. The up-and-coming generation (the Millennials) don’t seem to think so. It would appear that in many locations, the social interactions available are as important as the books. But they like the books as well. While you can have any book you want by tomorrow (through Amazon), it is still nice to explore those books without having to commit to buying them. Sadly, our local library doesn’t get it. I would spend much more time there if they had more reference books and things of interest, but the reference section pales in comparison to the size of the slutty romance section. Even the computers of our local library here are in bad shape.

CIA Infiltrating Academia

A recent document has surfaced showing the CIA’s plans to infiltrate academia and change university/college curriculums. It would appear that a significant amount of “fake” news is actually generated by these alphabet agencies in a bid to change social norms to further their own goals. The document in question was written in 1984 and outlines the CIA’s goals to influence journalism. It certainly makes you wonder…Is Wikileaks a threat to National Security? Or are they simply a threat to the deep state who attempt to manipulate society to further their own power grab?

News Tips:

Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!