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”. Zimbabwe is crashing and burning this week…again.
Lunar Eclipse
Tonight will provide an excellent view of the only full lunar eclipse in 2019. The eclipse is notable because it will be happening during what is called a “super moon”, a time when the moon is closest to the earth, making the moon look larger. Technically, “super moon” is not an official term, but it rolls off the tongue a whole lot easier than “perigee syzygy” which is the proper name. In any case, 12:12 a.m. EST (9:12 p.m. PST) is totality. North and South America will have a great view of this one. Have fun viewing it.
Top Five Lies on YouTube Gun Channels
Reader T.J. sent in this excellent video from Reid Henrichs of Valor Ridge that deals with some of the more egregious lies propagated on YouTube channels. I’ve heard these lies myself many times, but usually from YouTubers that I no longer watch because I recognize them as mostly ignorant trying to pass themselves off as experts. Some of these lies will get you hurt or killed in a critical situation. Reid addresses each of them with actual facts.
Additional Gun Ban Legislation
The NRA has sent out an alert to its members about Washington’s new push for gun ban legislation. Senate Bill 5340 and the companion House Bill 1286 were filed at the request of the attorney General. They would ban possession of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms based solely on cosmetic features along with a list of firearms, and magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds. This legislation is in addition to the already filed SB 5062 and HB 1068 which will ban standard capacity magazines. Yep, thanks to the American voters, we are in for a wild ride for the next two years. Thanks to reader P. for the link.
Credit Card Companies
Reader DSV sent in this article on American Thinker about the trend of credit card companies being used to censor those who operate businesses protected under the Second Amendment. One of the biggest dangers to the American public is the amount of big brother data that the CC company has to collect from you and the merchant in order to pull off this sort of censorship. They have to be able to determine if you are purchasing a vacuum cleaner or a semi-automatic rifle and other private data like that.
It’s one thing for a merchant to collect this information, it’s another matter entirely for a financial institution to demand this sort of info. In the meantime, CC companies are going after merchants who deal almost exclusively with firearms-related matters. This article profiles one of the latest issues where Patreon caved to MasterCard’s demand that conservative author Robert Spencer be banned.
Playing with AI
Security experts are beginning to sound the alarm about the myriad ways that Artificial Intelligence can have it’s data manipulated by hackers. Things like tricking a neural network into misrecognizing an object, tricking facial recognition into falsely recognizing a person or even things like a self-driving car blowing through a stop sign because it didn’t recognize the sign are all possibilities. It shows that machine sensors don’t actually see data the same way that humans do and how good the human mind is at filtering out things that don’t belong. This article goes into some depth on how these attacks work and how they can disrupt seemingly simple things. Since such technology is quickly becoming commonplace, we can expect such exploits to start happening regularly. Thanks to G.P. for the link.
Zimbabwe Shutdown
If you thought Venezuela was a problem, be thankful you are not in Zimbabwe. The Namibia Economist published a letter from a person in Zimbabwe where the entire country is in their third day of a total shutdown. Banks are closed, schools are closed, roads are closed and transport systems have shut down. There are no newspapers and the Internet has been shut down by the government. Vigilante groups are moving through the cities, burning and looting and elements of the police and military are involved in forcing the shutdown. Even in wartime Europe, people still had access to newspapers and retail outlets. This is socialism shining at its best attempting to control people.
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Vote against companies dictating your rights, by voting with your dollars. Refuse to support banks that exercise this kind of control, and make it a point to support those that refuse to.
Look at what has happened to Dicks Sporting Goods since they made their decision on selling guns? YOU can impact these for-profit companies by spending your dollars with companies that do not infringe on your rights. Credit card companies are no different. Let your voice be heard.
Include CitiBank on that “voting with your dollars” list.
They have decided to participate in Operation Chokepoint style economic warfare against lawful gun buyers and sellers.
Regarding learning to shoot with iron sights. My Dad and 3 older brothers learned to shoot LONG before any red dot technology. Bolt action rifles, shotguns, pistols, from around WWI to the 1960’s. All three brothers served in the Army and all three did NOT need training in accuracy. They hunted very SMALL game on our Connecticut farm (back then there were no deer or bear in CT, and rarely even a Red Fox.) So, it was snakes, pheasants, woodchucks, and TARGETS in the Sand Pit. Dad surveyed a large island off the coast of Sarasota back in the early 1920’s wearing high leather boots, and two 45’s on his hips because of the scrub and CORAL SNAKES AND RATTLERS. Gun safety was No. 1 priority with him and his five children, especially when we were young.
AI has neither understanding nor will. It is merely an advanced way of doing really good heuristics. It can “recognize” a stop sign, but doesn’t know what a stop sign is. It will be interesting if driverless cars stop at every crosswalk because the sign has a small stop sign then saying “if flashing” or “if pedestrians are crossing”.
It isn’t even neutral (there’s a list of AI mistakes). AI trying to determine tumors wrongly noticed the cancerous ones usually had rulers.
I listen to someone like Glenn Beck worry – it will escape into the internet and hide in your smart refrigerator. No. These require massive amounts of electronics and power, wouldn’t think of escaping (unless that was what it was trying but wouldn’t add anything else on its own).
Even now, if you try to do a Alexa/Siri/GHome type voice recognition, it has to be online.
It is a threat like any computer or other technology is. But it isn’t some sci-fi monster.
There is real threat and it is already here. How do you set bail, from zero to not allowing it at all? Will AI notice race? Or correlate something that correlates with race? Same with gun and gun owners (our AI says you are dangerous). Or even the Breathalyzer. Conviction by magic box you can’t see the design or source code for and no release 99 guilty rather than convict 1 innocent. But I don’t see the ACLU or ACLJ or IJ or anyone else to end “guilt by reason of computerized device”.
I appreciate your voice of reason, tz.
Carry on
I was just about to send you that link about the Zimbabwe situation. I urge everyone here to read that letter.
I do not use a credit card to pay for a firearm, accessories, or ammo. Why leave an electronic trail where there’s no need to? Pay cash. Also, my last several gun purchases were used ones in good condition, from a private individual. No need for a FBI background checks. There have been too many times when the FBI forgot or failed to delete those electronic files of background checks. It’s a simple transaction with cash, whether buying a gun, extra magazine and/or ammo.
most of the information on the 5 lies video is solid. but he needs to emphasize that fine motor control reduces under stressful situations, meaning you must train to do those tasks till you cant mess them up. (or at least a high level of proficiency)
the other mistake is understanding that you will not always use your sights that does not mean you won’t be aiming, it means you will be shooting from crazy positions. so once again practice practice. just my two cents
If you plopped those “Zimbabweans” in a democracy, that wouldn’t fix the problem. It’s not socialism, it’s Zimbabwe.
As to the article about Washington state. It seems our attorney general likes to legislate rather than go about his responsibilities of enforcing its laws. Already facing felony campaign finance violations, it’s only a matter of months before he announces he wants the governors chair. Then he will go full bore Kalifornia! Time to relocate
Regarding the government shutdown..given that welfare to able bodied people is against conservative principles how can we support paying the federal workers back pay once this is over? They didn’t do any work. Obviously beyond their control but people whose factory burns down don’t get paid while the factory is rebuilt.