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”. A SurvivalBlog reader updates us on his preparations for Hurricane Michael today.
Orwell’s e-dress
Yet another leaked “internal document” from silicon valley shows that the tech giants are indeed attempting control of free speech in their desire to make Trump and the populist movement that elected him a mere blip in history. This time the the document admits that Google and other tech platfroms now control the majority of online conversations and have undertaken a shift towards censorship in response to political events around the world. Despite Google’s claims to the contrary, evidence is mounting that Google (and other tech companies) do indeed wish to control the narrative. Of course you knew that just because conservative voices are so easily squashed online, yet liberal/progressive voices shout louder than ever. Thanks to D.S. for the link.
The U.S.S.A.
The United States appears to be morphing into the United States of Soviet America according to this article sent in by reader H.L. We are seeing an ever growing amount of surveillance by the government over its own citizens along with a lessening of trust towards both sides. The writer clearly shows how America’s news outlets are clearly being used as propeganda just like the Soviet news outlets like RT and Sputnik. Now with the Department of Homeland Security’s media monitoring program, all that is left is monitoring private conversations of U.S. citizens…oh wait, thanks to Edward Snowden, we already know about those.
Illinois Bankruptcy Option
A SurvivalBlog reader sent in this article on how J.P. Morgan is recommending a bankruptcy option for Illinois now. Pensions were never supposed to replace most or all of a persons salary, yet here we are where the government sector does exactly that and now they can’t afford it. Most states have manageable burdens (about 15% of revenue) but Illinois is quickly reaching the point where over 50% of their revenue has to go towards servicing debt, pensions and retiree health care if it were to be fully funded.
Hurricane Michael
Reader C.V. sent in this letter about Hurricane Michael:
It is Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at 8:00 AM. I’m sitting at work where not many will be coming in today due to the expected onslaught of Michael’s wind and rain. I am 189 miles North-Northwest of Panama City Beach, FL in the Fort Benning/Columbus, GA area. My truck is full of gas, I have my get home bag and plenty of water in my truck should I need it. They are expecting wide spread power outages, flash flooding, and with the forty to fifty mile per hour sustained winds there will be many trees down in this area.
At the house I have two chain saws and eight gallons of gas should I have to cut up any trees that come down at my place. I’ve experienced this in 1995 with hurricane Opal as it too hit the Florida panhandle and moved north through Alabama. Then, I was on the east side of the storm and we had sustained winds of fifty to sixty miles per hour. There were thousands of trees down along with power outages for days. This time I should be on the west side of the storm and hopefully the winds will not be as bad, however, I’m not counting on it.
They have not called for any tornado warnings or watches yet, but they always come and this is where the real inland damage comes from. It is calm at the moment and I’ll work here until noon today. I’ll carry my laptop home then and continue to prepare for the oncoming storm. I have my generator if needed, my food supply and water storage are all prepared. Short of a direct tornado hit or tree falling directly on the house we should be fine, but it is always best to be prepared. My faith in the lord keeps me strong during these times and I just want to say thanks to all the survival blog community for being a resource that keeps me thinking and preparing. – C.V.
Flea-borne Typhus
Reader Peter sent in this article showing that a flea-borne typhus outbreak in Southern California has spread to a third city. Health officials said there have been nine cases in downtown Los Angeles, 12 in Long Beach, and 59 in Los Angeles County. The danger of flea-borne, human transferable diseases is obvious. Most wild animals have fleas and the the flea can easily jump to domestic animals, then on to humans making it very difficult to control outbreaks. In the meantime, health officials make the following recommendations:
- Make sure cats and dogs are free of fleas
- Don’t leave food outdoors
- Don’t feed wild animals
- Avoid debris and overgrown vegetation that may attract wild animals
- Store trash in cans with secure lids
- Use insect repel repellent
FBI Actively Confiscating Gold?
Reader DSV sent in this articled about suspicions that the FBI is playing games with a treasure hunting groups gold-find location. Apparently the FBI has performed excavations at the site, yet is claiming that nothing has been found. The FBI took over three months to perform the excavations. It’s an interesting read.
Go Wells Fargo!
Despite their sordid history, I’m starting to like Wells Fargo a lot more these days. Yet again, Wells Fargo bank has bucked public pressure and granted a line of credit to Sturm, Ruger & Co. The bank officially states that gun policy should be made by legislatures, not financial institutions. I really dislike banks and I’m miffed that you often have to have a bank account to do business, but despite their past history of abuses, this was the right move for them. Thanks to DSV for the link.
J Bar S Gunworks In Sandpoint is Closing
I just heard that J Bar S Gunworks in Sandpoint, Idaho will be quitting business, on Saturday (Oct. 13, 2018). I recommend that any SurvivalBlog readers who are local get in there ASAP, and take advantage of the special prices on guns, ammo, accessories, and reloading supplies on their closeout inventory. I assume that the owner will also be inexpensively selling some store fixtures, such as display cases and wooden gun racks. The store is located at: 502 Cedar St, Suite A, Sandpoint, Idaho
o o o
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!
I would not be inclined to let Wells Fargo off the hook so easily, but I do agree it’s a move in the right direction for the corporation to cease politically motivated actions. Sadly, it’s likely only optically motivated, as their previous ‘ban’ was as well.
I too had read that article about the FBI…. Sad testament to what the goobermint has become. Petty thieves.
When Wells “acquired” Wachovia (https://www.wellsfargoadvisors.com/), they failed to clean house of executives from Wachovia (like the Catholic Church doing “re-assignment” of Priests who should have been charged criminally to avoid bad publicity) who were facilitating billions of Dollars in drug cartel money laundering at the insolvent & corrupt institution. I believe that Wells experienced significant departure of high-integrity employees during this time resulting in a cultural takeover of Wells by the criminals.
Don’t be fooled. Wells Fargo does not change it’s stripes so quickly, or easily. After all the abuses they’ve committed, they can easily afford a little PR campaign to woo the suspicious and apprehensive back into complacent acquiesence. But make no mistake, those who were in charge when all the SHTF and they were called out are still running the show, and the only thing they are or ever will be concerned about is the bottom line; their bottom line. If you think any one of these big bank orgs has anyone but their own best interests at heart in any decision they make or action they take, you best take heed. Do not fall into their trap. Keep you business local (credit unions that you can vet are still fairly common), and keep your business with the big boys to an absolute minimum.
RE: your lead.
I was sitting in an adult Sunday school class about 2 years ago. The leader, a former pastor, made the statement that no Christian should ever take up arms against anyone. Huh? I reminded him that if Charles the Hammer (Martel) had not united the southern part of France, we would all be speaking Farsi and wearing burkas.
We should honor Martel in all American Christian churches.
“no Christian should ever take up arms against anyone”
sure. “do not resist him who is evil” and all that.
“The bank officially states that gun policy should be made by legislatures, not financial institutions. ”
While I’m glad they are bucking the trend and funding firearms manufacturers, I disagree with that statement. Whether it is guns, medicine, religion, etc, the legislators shouldn’t be messing with it. Private companies should be deciding for themselves things to fund or support instead of government deciding for all of us.
Even though WF holds my mortgage, I’m still not going to open a WF account, due to their penchant for opening fraud accounts in customers’ names.
More than just opening accounts and their customers names. They also would hold up deposits, even though it would show that the deposit was there, just so they could pull in overdraft fees for no reason other than greed. I had multiple accounts there for several years and got tired of their continual BS and dropped them. I’ll never use Wells Fargo again. I am glad they’re working with Ruger but I despise that company.
Illinois bankruptcy, The article is by a bankster that has not done any basic research only spews back false narrative from another bankster. Yes, Illinois and Chicago are bankrupt and the pension fraud is truly staggering(one day of work for a full pension,pensions for 2x-3x salary,no disqualification for criminal action on the job(torture,perjury,grand theft,murder,falsifying documents),these pensions are protected by the State Constitution and cannot be “reduced” at least without a amendment to the Constitution. This has been tested in the courts a held and may not be review able by Federal Courts. The falacy of Chapter9 bankruptcy has been floated before and is prevented by the 10th Amendment,a territory like PR could use such a device. The real answer is a starve the beast approach(require local gov. to fully fund it’s obligations(massive layoffs,outlay cuts,salary cuts),real fraud and waste reform,dropping revenues from population loss,and prosecution of pension fraud. This can be a lesson to others on the same road.
This is my favorite section because it affords me news that I would not think about looking up. In fact your site is really the best. I thank you for it.
Hurricane Michael,
On Saturday, my phone and Internet service got cut by accident. Monday morning at work, I found out about the storm and business/school closures. At lunch time I went to the ATM, too late, all the cash was gone. After work, I went to the fuel station, too late, some were sold out, others had long lines. Same for the grocery stores. When I got home, the phone and internet service had been restored.
I really didn’t need any cash, fuel, or groceries, because I had already stocked up and prepared. I was just trying to top everything off. However, the loss of communications could have really set me back. Watching everybody else panic was not encouraging, kind of like the first few chapters of “Alas Babylon”
No damage to the house or vehicle, lots of debris and limbs down, power out for many folks, including me. JWR recommended a Yamaha generator, portable battery, and inverter, many years ago and they come in handy during times like this.
It is amazing how far trees can bend over in the wind without breaking…
The west side of the storm was certainly the place to be as Michael traveled inland across Georgia. Luckily it downgraded quickly as it hit Georgia. At one point I was only 75 miles northwest of the eye and I never really saw the winds like I did with Opal in 1995. There were some power outages, but not wide spread. I personally never lost power. I saw a few trees down, but really nothing to speak of. I’m a little more worried about my main retreat as it was only 30 miles northeast of the eye as it passed. I contacted a friend that was only about 15 miles to the west of the storm center as it passed. He is fine with only one tree down across the fence. His daughter that is from Panama City, FL was with him and she found out this morning that she has lost everything to the storm. She has insurance so hopefully things will work out for her. The good thing is that she had a place to bug out to even though Michael seemed to follow her all the way there. Mexico Beach to the southeast of Panama City was devastated. Please keep the residents that suffered from this storm in your prayers. C.V.
Most important part of the Google internal doc: it was 85 PAGES LONG, with the title, “The Good Censor.” And it includes some really juicy, admissible-in-a-court-of-law, quotes showing how they were actively and knowingly using “control” to choose what can and should be viewed, and that they understand they are the main communications platform for people today. Can’t wait to see the Supremes rip into this one …