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”. Current fear is that the deadly pig disease, African swine fever, will make it to U.S. shores.
Deadly Pig Disease
Reader H.L. sent in this article on the current outbreak of African swine fever. While there isn’t a current case in the United States, experts are warning that its not a case of “if” but “when”. Similarly to the outbreak of avian flu that created fowl and egg shortages, the only real way to deal with outbreaks is the destruction of the whole sounder of swine. In many countries, even the appearance of the disease in a single pig dooms the entire farm. In Spain, they are finding that ticks that feed on the pigs are also carriers and are destroying entire [old] farm buildings, replacing them with modern facilities in an effort to contain the disease. So far, cases have been reported in Africa, Europe, and Asia. The concern for the U.S. is the same one Germany is facing. With a large population of wild boar, there is virtually no way to contain the disease.
Socialism at Work
The proponents of Socialism in America often point to certain European countries as examples of socialism that they want to emulate. Leave aside the fact that all of those countries exist because of America (and the fact that many of them are only recently socialist – they created their wealth under capitalism). If Americans had to pay the 50% or higher tax rates that these countries pay, they would revolt. In Sweden, they have single payer (universal) health care. But examples abound of why this isn’t good. Asia Nader was diagnosed with a hole in her heart at age 21. She was nearly 23 before she could have the surgery to fix it. Sure the law states that patients wait no more than 90 days for care, but one in three end up waiting much, much longer. Most complain about waits longer than six months and the inability to see the same practitioner for continuity of care.
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