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”. Amazon polices are being looked at in detail in today’s features. This is not a nice company when you are a seller, but one that you have to do business with.
M4/M249 SAW Replacement
Military.com has an article explaining the Army’s move to a 6.8mm based weapon system to replace the M4 and the M249 SAW. The system is intended to capitalize on the recognized weaknesses of the M16/M4 and M249 platform that the operators of the weapon have had in the course of operations. Primarily among them is the decreased lethality of the current 5.56mm cartridge at long ranges in wide open territory and in the reduced barrel length of the M4. The new round is not yet a sure thing and the program is merely a step in the right direction to remedy problems experienced in the field. The plan is to have gun makers submit proposals for their designs in April with the prototypes delivered by June.
Amazon.com News
Amazon now has nearly half of all retail sales in the U.S. But it’s not actually Amazon that is the power behind the sales. It’s their “marketplace” program that allows other retailers to sell under the umbrella of Amazon. With the huge market commanded by Amazon retailers vie for the top search return spots and things are not always rosy. Common among retailers to target your competitor by buying reviews for them and then turning them in for fake reviews. There are also instances where companies have bought their competitors products, set them on fire and then written safety hazard reviews. At issue is Amazon’s policy of suspending retailers for infractions of their Terms of Service, but not telling you what you did. They also don’t just accept apologies.
To get back on, you have to provide an action plan of what you are going to do to fix the problem and keep it from happening again. It doesn’t even matter if you are innocent – and millions are at stake so you can’t just walk away. It’s like that stereotypical movie wife who is mad at you and is giving you the silent treatment. You have to figure out what you did wrong on your own, admit to it and fix it even if you didn’t do it. This article is long, but a definite must-read. Thanks to T.Z. for the link.
o o o
Not only does Amazon want access to your home for package deliver and Alexa, they now have a doorbell that will spy on the neighborhood with facial recognition from your front porch and report directly to police. While marketed at protection for you, it’s not really there to protect your house or your neighborhood. With this system, the system can use the matches from the camera to compare to databases of “suspicious” people. The owner can also add photos of people they want. If a match is found, the camera forwards the picture to police automatically. By the way, the product is marketed by Ring which Amazon acquired this year. Thanks to DSV for the link.
Wranglerstar and Patreon
Patreon recently banned political commentator “Sargon of Akkad” from their service platform. He didn’t violate Patreon’s terms of service, but they didn’t like what he said on some other platform. When they kicked him off, they also pressured other services to do the same in an attempt to defund him. Wranglerstar has quit supporting creators using that platform and is requesting that others do the same. The hope is that a mass move will open the door for an alternative to step in and provide a viable means of funding without the political left leaning bias.
License to Kill in Rio
Things have gotten so bad in certain area of Rio de Janeiro that the police will now be authorizing sniper overwatch teams to deploy in the slums with a license to kill. Up to 120 sharpshooters will accompany police into the city’s slums in a “weapons free” manner. The teams are authorized to immediately neutralize anyone carrying a rifle. While I understand that the crime problem is considerable, this represents a policy of execution without trial. There doesn’t even have to be an immediate threat to police officers. Just the act of being seen carrying a weapon is enough to bring the death sentence down on a person. Thanks to T.Z for the link.
Prepping Strategies for Seniors
Are you over 60 and wondering what you can do to prep? James Wesley, Rawles was recently interviewed on this very subject. You can listen to the interview and use the information to create a strategy for you and/or your family. After listening, be sure to read the archived articles on SurvivalBlog. There is a plethora of authors who are old enough to qualify for Social Security benefits, yet still have an active role to play. An intergenerational family will be best equipped to survive the hardships of any collapse and being “elderly” does not mean that you are now useless. By the way, I’ve noticed that my definition of “old” changes as I get older. Old is always at least 20 years older than me.
SurvivalBlog Classifieds
I noticed that a recent real estate listing on SurvivalBlog’s classifieds recently sold. Don’t miss out on opportunities– both buying and selling. Listings change daily, so you should take a look at least a couple times every week.
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!
Re. License to Kill
Oh like Ruby Ridge, Lavoy Finicum, Branch Davidians? And now we have the Republicans’ NDAA. Get if folks?
RE: the Rawles >age 60 prepping interview – I won’t listen to podcasts or watch videos longer than 3 minutes. I read much faster than even trained announcers speak. Many seem to like Youtubes/podcasts, but I want a written transcript, especially when there may be very useful info in a Youtube or podcast that I would like to copy and archive in written AND searchable form.
I agree. I rarely watch videos, even by my favorite commentators. Too slow. I do read the transcripts, if they are provided.
I’m 61 and my wife is 64. We are more prepared than anyone we personally know. Age really has nothing to do with being ready.
Wranglerstar makes a very good point. I supported Viking Preparedness and Patriot Nurse. I just cancelled my support for both. I do hope an alternative comes up. It is very scary what is happening to free speech. We must defend everyone’s right to speak. It how we learn and how others learn. If you don’t let people speak they will become angry and lash out in other ways that are much worse than anything anyone can say.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable.”
JFK 1962
An “elderly person” or someone referred to as “old” is anyone with more cumulative years than I have. A “kid” is anyone with fewer cumulative years than I have.
Re: Patreon
Cody at Wranglerstar also offered an alternative video hosting site he’s trying out called BITCHUTE.COM.
My 2007 iMac computer takes along time to download the content, but that could be for any one of a dozen reasons including snow, antenna clutter or the fact its running Safari 5.1.10. Cody says Bitchute is what YouTube used to be.
I’m still ambivalent regarding the whole private company v. public accommodations business, (https://survivalblog.com/survivalists-odds-n-sods-182/#comments) but until Colossus achieves full world control, there will be a place for the free market to create a consumer-driven niche filler to replace the likes of Patreon and YouTube.
Edwin, I’m with you regarding transcripts. Even the most golden content is constantly mangled by people who can’t hold a camera still, edit effectively or speak coherently. If your content is so golden as to be shared with the world, for the love of Cecil B.DeMille, people, get an editing program!
I don’t watch any video either. We live out in the sticks and down load time is too slow and I have better things to do than wait around for a download. Write me an article and I’ll read it.
Something worse is going on, apparently the “trust and safety council” insiders.
Note this was over something Sargon of Akkad said years ago using a racial slur to attack white supremacists. This is hardly offensive compared with maybe 1/4 of the rest supported on Patreon.
There was an upstart called “Subscribestar.com” that everyone was moving to, but Paypal and Stripe deplatformed them. Like Freestartr, and Hatreon, and Makersomething..
This is all in the name of fighting “hate speech” which is subjective – Islamic terrorists can still be on Patreon, but don’t say th wrong word in even a “private” text.
In Afganistan and Iraq, they allowed the 2nd Amendment for citizens of both countries but not out in the public eye. In fact, US military tactics were to use nippers in many hostile areas to shoot on site anyone in the public eye with a gun visible. Apache helicopter pilots also needed confirmation to shoot on site by radioing that they see a Gommer with a visible gun.
“Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;” Ecclesiastes 12:1 (ASV) The verses to follow give a good reason why as you age you should up your preparedness.
When you are young you can recover from a personal loss as you have more time and resources; at an older age you need to have things nailed down.
Edwin, when you listen to YouTube videos and notice that people talk slower than you have patience for, adjust the speed and listen to the video at 1.5 speed. You can find where to adjust that when you click on the gear icon.
We are planning to sell a bunch of stuff online. I looked into selling on Amazon, since they are the leading company to sell stuff like this on. I pulled up their seller’s agreement. I carefully read any agreement like that. I had planned to have my husband read it, since he is very familiar with contracts like that after dealing with John Deere for so many years. I didn’t even have to have him read it. I read the first 10 lines or so and quickly figured out that I would never agree to their terms and further more, I now refuse to buy from them. I would so much rather buy from someone’s individual website and pay shipping than encourage amazon. I encourage all other liberty lovers to also boycott them. Globalism is running amuck, and it isn’t good what is being done to our world. Pay attention.
Getting rid of the old .223. It’s about time! My experience would lean me towards the 6.5 creedmore. Actually for most applications I do just as well with the 6 creed, but that’s just me. Both of those rounds will shoot a long ways and have enough pepper to get the job done when they get there.
6.8 is just too big.
License to Kill in Rio
We call that one ‘War’.
The problem is, it isn’t War. If they’re shooting anyone who has a visible weapon then what happens to someone who is standing on their front porch defending their house? Do you want to be that guy? Do you want to be a casualty of War for defending your family?
Several years ago, I read a biography of Wyatt Earp. I seem to remember that the author, when commenting about the difficulty in Tombstone of getting juries to convict, said that it was critical to have law and order, not just law, and not just order. If the law could not protect society, i.e., juries being unwilling to return a unanimous guilty verdict due to intense factionalism in the community (not just Clantons vs. Earps then, think O.J. Simpson in more recent times). then citizens would seek order outside the rule of law because everyone knew that there would be no justice administered in the legal system.
In the Old West, it was the vigilantes who were most often the “good guys.” They were usually the more important citizens in the community who administered justice when they knew that crime was rampant and the hands of law enforcement were tied by a legal system that was rendered impotent by rules that all too often allowed the “bad guys” to get away with their crimes.
Related to this concept is this personal anecdote: Many years ago I was speaking to a lawyer in a small town in Kentucky. He talked about his client (who I will call “Bobby Joe”) who was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to a few years in state prison. He said that he was shocked at the verdict, since there was very little evidence to support the conviction. He spoke with the jury foreman after the trial and asked him how in the world the jury could have convicted his client with such little evidence. The foreman responded, “Well, to tell you the truth, Frank, we weren’t really sure that Bobby Joe was guilty of this burglary, but everybody knew what he had been getting away with for so long, so we figured it was simply time for him to spend a little time in prison.” People want order.
It is well-known that large portions of Rio de Janeiro have been plagued with crime for decades. The murder rate in Rio is staggering, making the murder rate in Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit pale by comparison. The gang activity is rampant in large areas of Rio to the extent that it is uncontrollable, and decent citizens in those areas are denied the semblance of normal lives. It does not come as a particular surprise that the police are being cheered by the residents.
One can only wonder just how quickly after a massive catastrophe that has resulted in a true “Mad Max society” in the US that a similar policy would be adopted. In my personal opinion, it would be fairly soon.
A shoot on sight order can go both ways and the size of those favelas(ghettos) would boggle the mind of most who haven’t been to the third world. If the gangs that operate them were to join forces I don’t think even the Brazilian military could control them without shutting off food and water and martial law. 10 million hungry people rioting and looting makes for a really bad day.