Category: Odds ‘n Sods

News from Maker Faire, Nigeria: Teens Create A Way To Use Urine As Fuel    o o o Florida officials order partial recount in tight House race between Rep. West and Democratic challenger Murphy. (Gee, could it perhaps be because of the 113% to 158% voter turnout? See: Massive Voter Fraud in St. Lucie County, Florida. Avalanche Lily says: Obviously they need to more than just re-count the ballots. Have another election, confirm IDs, and use purple dye to prevent ballot stuffing!)    o o o Reader S.E.M. gave us: Reason # 1,492,683 not to live in an urban area. …

Reader M.E.W. suggested this essay by Dean Kalahar: America Has Sown the Seeds Of Its Own Demise    o o o How nice of them to wait until after the election to mention this: After Obama win, U.S. backs new U.N. arms treaty talks    o o o More legal trouble for Sheila Dixon, one of Mikey Bloomberg’s cabal of gun-grabbing, graft-greedy mayors: Former mayor charged with probation violation. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) She called the charges “a setback”. (Coming up $15,000 short may nullify her sweetheart deal with the court, which had allowed her to keep her …

College Park man fights to keep vegetable garden in front yard. (Our thanks to frequent contributor H.L. for sending the link.)    o o o Is Pakistan’s Paranoia Pushing it Into a Nuclear War with India?    o o o Commercial airliner crash? Yes, it does matter where you sit. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Camping Survival has posted an instructional video on how to roast green coffee beans at home.    o o o Man-Eating Leopard Devours 15. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)

Reader Greg G. sent a link to a video of a hour-long lecture by James Howard Kunstler about his book The Long Emergency.    o o o Some refreshing honesty in advertising: Cullman Mobile Home Liquidation in Alabama.    o o o If you own a Kindle reader (or have Kindle software for your laptop), then you might as well load it up with lots of free classic books. Check out the Catalog of Project Gutenberg E-Books (MOBI Edition) There are thousands of free tiles. All of them that are in “MOBI” format can be read with an Kindle-compatible. And …

“To better serve you…” Baltimore buses to tape driver, passenger conversations. (Just one more reason to avoid the eastern metroplexes. Vote with your feet, folks.)    o o o Reader J.B.G. sent: Homeowners From Staten Island To Jersey Shore Have Stern Warnings For Looters. Meanwhile, we read: Fear of looting grips NYC as new storm threatens    o o o Some news from England by way of Ol’ Remus: Shooting champ is facing jail over huge cache of ammunition. As a comparison to hoplophobic England, here in The Un-named Western State (TUWS), an accumulation of 40,000 rounds is just considered …

SurvivalBlog reader W.J. wrote to remind me about letter in our blog archives that bears a new mention: Hurricane Preparedness Steps    o o o Northeastern Nuke Plants Came Close to Disaster, With Sandy. Reader Pierre M. sent some news that you might have missed: Storm Impact on Nuclear Plants – Oyster Creek, Salem, Indian Point, Peach Bottom, Nine Mile Point and Feds: “Atmospheric steam dump” at New Jersey nuclear plant — All 6 circulators lost at Salem due to debris, high river level.    o o o G.O. mentioned their editorial in a Utah newspaper that decries the funneling …

Avalanche Lily and I recently watched a movie (via Netflix streaming) that we can recommend: Sarah’s Key. Yes, it is the umpteenth movie about the WWII Holocaust, but its particular value is that it shows how obediently the Vichy French authorities became collaborators of Nazi mass murder, and how indifferent the general populace was to the Jewish roundup and deportation. A good companion piece is the documentary The Eye of Vichy. Is there a Velodrome or Drancy in our future? God forbid. Be vigilant for our cherished liberty.    o o o Some quite troubling news from Canada: Mask Avengers: …

Reader Dana H. suggested this in The Wall Street Journal: Lessons from the Ultimate Safe Houses    o o o In New York’s Public Housing, Fear Creeps In With the Dark. J.W.R.’s Comment: Now extrapolate this to a situation where there is no natural gas pressure, and no water pressure for the fire hydrants. Oh, and what if there was no prospect of grid power being restored for weeks… Somehow, I think I’ll be much safer here in TUWS.    o o o A Utah Perspective on Sandy (No, not Sandy, Utah, but rather Hurricane Sandy): Caught in the dark: …

UPDATE: Wiser heads (than Doomberg) have prevailed and the marathon race has been cancelled. His Honor The Mayor’s True Colors: Bloomberg Diverts Needed Food and Generators Away From Desperate Staten Island to NYC Marathon. (Thanks to reader J.B.G. for the link.) They are running a marathon through this? ‘It’s like the Wild West’: Lawlessness and fear take over the outer boroughs as millions in misery endure a sixth day without power    o o o Reader “Nexus” mentioned another piece of evidence of a insidious, lamentable and systemic decline in our Constitutional rights, reported by Declan McCullagh: Court OKs warrantless …

Reader “Crazy Mike” recommended an instructive creative carpentry video that shows a great method for hiding valuables in place sight. The magnetic locks are clever.    o o o For any who doubts that there is a liberal bias in academia: Law Professors back President Obama over Mitt Romney 72% to 19%, according to Brian Leiter’s poll.    o o o Readers Mike S. and Matt H. both sent an interesting article with a very poorly-written (or quite biased) headline: Seattle residents refuse to arm themselves. (I would have instead titled it: “Washingtonians arm themselves in record numbers.”) But of …

Some post-Sandy updates: New Yorkers Hold on to Their Canned Goods in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy. Meanwhile, as some residents dumpster dive to survive, Mayor Bloomberg in effect declares: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!” by approving the running the New York marathon, on schedule. (Since he is so health conscious, I suppose that his next edict will be that if anyone resorts to cannibalism, that they must refrain from using table salt on their fellow New Yorkers.)    o o o Don’t miss out on the Ready Made Resources sale on Mountain House long term storage foods. They are …

Andre D. mentioned that the Alone in The Wild documentary is now available on YouTube.    o o o Two bits of follow-up news on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Tempers Flare in N.J. City Where Thousands Stranded. (People out of food after just two days of isolation? (I told you so…) And yes, there is looting: Jersey City on total lockdown from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. after rash of store break-ins, officials say. (Note that the mayor of Jersey City is Jerramiah Healy, one of Mayor Bloomberg’s Cabal of Illegal Mayors.)    o o o A reminder that …

J.B.G. suggested: Nine ways to make your cell phone last the whole storm even if the power goes out    o o o I will be the keynote speaker at the Get Prepared Expo (via teleseminar) on Saturday, November 3rd, 2012. This is an expanded repeat of a very popular event. There will be 100 Exhibits and 70 Seminars You can save 20% by buying your admission passes in advance at GetPreparedEXPO.com ($8 for a one-day pass, or $15 for a weekend pass.) The expo will be held November 3 and 4, 2012 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield, …

New ‘One-Shot’ Rifle Sight Could Make Snipers Deadlier Than Ever    o o o Reader J.B. used Wayback Machine to find this 1990 FDA article: The Canning Process: Old Preservation Technique Goes Modern by Dale Blumenthal    o o o All too predictable: Storm sets off frantic rush for supplies across East Coast. (Thanks to Jared B. for the link.)    o o o Jason F. suggested a new adjustable serpentine belt that would be perfect to keep in your vehicle and shop.    o o o 14 Unique Water Towers From Around the World

Joe K. sent: 9 Ways to Make Fire Without Matches–Videos that teach us other methods of creating fire    o o o Reader Pierre M. sent a link to some history that might be unfamiliar to some blog readers: .357: The First Magnum.    o o o The Wanenmacher Gun Show will beheld in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 10 & 11.  This is billed as the world’s largest gun show, with more than 4,100 tables–a whopping 5.7 linear miles of tables, if thery were all placed end-to-end. (Thanks to Tom B. for the reminder.)    o o o H.L. was the …