The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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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”.

Algorithms

Algorithms are increasingly being used to make critical decisions that affect you and me. this article sent in by reader H.L. profiles a couple of disturbing incidents that really make you shudder when you realize how deeply embedded this concept is. In one case, a defendant was convicted of murder by a computer algorithm matching DNA. Then the designer of that algorithm decided that it wasn’t quite right so the conviction was tossed. When the prosecutor refilled the charges with a new DNA algorithm making the case, the maker of the algorithm refused to allow the defendant to inspect it because of its proprietary nature.

Spying Speed Detectors

The next time you see one of those speed boards that tell you how fast you are going you may want to think twice about taking that route. According to this article sent in by reader R.C., a good portion of those are put in place with federal grants and many will actually record the license plates of cars, reporting home with the tracking information. This is yet another method of collecting meta data on you that really serves no purpose other than just allowing government entities to track you at their whim.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“There is no better way to return the matter of taxation to full public discussion than to repeal the withholding taxes on wages and salaries. Only when the American people are confronted with the enormous excesses of government in a personal and direct way – by an annual bill for services rendered – will they be able to make an informed judgment about which services they want and which ones they can do without.” – Karl Hess

Maxxeon Work Star Jr. and Cyclops Work Lights, by Pat Cascio

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If you have a need for some extra light when working on cars, firearms, or just about anything, we have tested two outstanding portable light sources– the Maxxeon Work Start Jr. and the Cyclops. We are covering both in this article.

Portable Lights

We have come a long, long, long way, when it comes to portable lights. It wasn’t all that long ago that we had a two cell, D battery, inexpensive, plastic flashlight. While these were barely okay when it came to lighting things up, they fell far short of what we have today in the way of portable lights. First off all, we have much better batteries, and secondly we’ve really grown leaps and bounds when it comes to LED light bulbs.

Hi-Intersity Light for Gunsmithing Work

I don’t do a lot of gunsmithing these days. There is just not a lot of time or great pleasure from it. Yeah, I still work on my own guns and at times make a simple fix for a friend’s guns. However, that’s about it. Still, I’ve found that the older I get the more light I need to work on things, especially small things, like gun parts. I usually turn on a magnifying, lighted lamp on my head. These go by different names, but I just call ‘em “gunsmith goggles”, for lack of a better term. While the small, white light thrown by this setup is usually sufficient for most work, I find at times that I’m reaching for a hi-intensity flashlight, and it is difficult to hold a firearm, parts, plus an extra light. It even gets frustrating at times.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the global wheat market. (See the Commodities section.)

Stocks:

We’ll start with this warning from Michael Snyder: Why Are So Many People Talking About The Potential For A Stock Market Crash In October?

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At Seeking Alpha: The SEC Comes For Elon: The View From Longsville

Economy & Finance:

What Will Surging Mortgage Rates Do to Housing Bubble 2?

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At Wolf Street: Inversion Watch: Dancing the Global “Yield Curve” Tango?

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“My wife and child and I were on a camping trip and we stopped in Virginia City. In the Opera House, I saw a photograph of Maude Adams, the famous American actress. It was such a great photograph that creatively I fell in love with her. What if some guy did the same thing and could go back in time?” – Richard Matheson, on his initial inspiration for the novel Bid Time Return (1975). It was later made into the film Somewhere in Time

 

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – September 30, 2018

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On September 30th, 1938, British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier signed the Munich Pact with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The agreement temporarily averted the outbreak of war but gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest. In one fell swoop, the people of Czechoslovakia were betrayed while the world leaders followed what would be a failed policy of appeasement. While Daladier abhorred the agreement, Chamberlain celebrated it. However, he was eventually required to declare war against Hitler when Germany invaded Poland. After eight months of ineffectual war time leadership, he was replaced as prime minister by Winston Churchill.

It’s Time To Leave- Part 2, by Pat Cascio

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Our family has a plan for bugging out, if it’s time to leave and things come to that. Actually, we have several plans. I am continuing to tell you my plans. Yesterday, I shared my choice of weapons for self defense and hunting.

My Choice of Blackhawk Products

Let me share a word on my choices here. As long time readers will realize, I’m a big fan of Blackhawk products. (Know that they do not pay me to promote their products. I just happen to think very highly of the quality of their gear, and that’s why I selected it.) My family all have similar setups, but they use different makes of gear to their liking.

The Bug Out Bag

As to the bug out bag (BOB), this is a pretty subjective thing. We all have different needs. I have at least one spare mag for whatever rifle I’ll carry and one spare mag for whatever handgun I might be carrying. Magazines get lost or damaged, so it just makes good sense to have at least one spare for your long gun and your handgun. I also have one hundred rounds of spare ammo in my bug out bag for the rifle and the handgun. I recently put a Ruger limited edition Black Hills Ammunition .22 pistol in the bug out bag, along with a couple hundred rounds of extra ammo and three mags all total for it. It’s ideal for taking small game for the stew pot.

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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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”.

Terrorism

Last week a 47 year-old man was arrested near LA with shrapnel laden explosive devices in his possession. Saleh Ali was driving his vehicle when he was pulled over on a routine traffic stop. The officer noticed the suspicious looking devices and detained the driver while contacting the sheriff’s bomb squad deputies. The devices were identified and destroyed on scene by the sheriff who notes that there is nothing to connect Ali with terroist activity at this time. thanks to W.W. for the link.

South China Sea

Reader G.P. sent in this article showing the U.S. in live fire drills in the south China sea. with the Chinese aggressively expanding into this critical shipping lane, the U.S. is flexing it’s muscle in an obvious message that it will not be willing to just hand over the critical shipping routes to China’s control in this hotly contested area. this area has long been a flash point between the U.S. (and it’s Pacific allies) and China.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” – John 7:37-38 (KJV)

It’s Time To Leave- Part 1, by Pat Cascio

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Timing is everything, if you decide to bug out and leave! I receive no less than 150 e-mails per day. Many of these are from our readers, even though my e-mail address is no longer listed on SurvivalBlog.com. Readers kept it, even after it was removed. I honestly don’t have time to respond to every e-mail I receive each day. However, one question I get the most often is about bugging out before, during, or after a SHTF scenario, and there is no one answer to this dilemma.

Plan For Many Situations

I’m getting on in years. Very shortly, I’ll be 67 years old, and I realize that I’m no spring chicken any longer. I can’t do the things I used to do not too many years ago. Bugging out from where I live isn’t something I anticipate doing. However, I always like to plan ahead, or prepare, for as many situations that may come into my life as possible. To be sure, no matter how well prepared you think you are, even if you’re a millionaire, something will come up that you didn’t expect or plan for. That’s just life.

Plans For My Family

Now, with the above said, I do have plans for myself and my family in the event we might have to leave our rural and fairly secure location on short notice. We have several plans.

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Editors’ Prepping Progress

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers:

We had a pleasant, cool, week at the Rawles Ranch. Some out-of-State relatives came to visit for a few days, and we showed them the sights. Frosts are now a real risk, so we’ve been busily harvesting–now mostly tomatoes.

This week we rushed to harvest celery, mint, and tomatoes, before any hard frosts.  Many of the tomatoes were still green, and Lily simply pulled up the vines and brought them into the house intact, in the hope that the tomatoes would continue to ripen indoors. The sheer volume of tomatoes was quite gratifying. We have lot of work to do, to get them preserved!

I am itching to set our slash piles ablaze, here at the ranch. Despite the recent rains, our county government has not yet started the fall “open burning” season. At this rate, there may be snow on the ground before I can legally burn.  But I will defer to their judgement.

This week I had to make an adjustment to the latch on our poultry house.  It had to be tightened considerably, because one our mouthy mares was developing some expertise at fiddling with that latch. Her goal, of course was nosing into to poultry house to try to gain access to the grain bins. “Horses will be horses.”  The potential goes beyond mere equine naughtiness. If they were to gain access to a grain bin and eat their fill, there would be a risk of what could be deadly foundering. I urge SurvivalBlog readers to always take precautions to prevent foundering incidents!

 

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 39:25-29 (KJV)