The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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”. The socialist utopia of Venezuela strikes again with public transportation known as Venezuelan kennels.

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

Most people are smart enough not to plug unknown USB devices into your computer. You never know what can be hiding in the USB plug. Of course, the vast majority of USB powered devices are benign and do exactly what they claim they do, but according to this article sent in by reader T.Z. this is a prime target of hackers. Your computer, by design, trusts anything plugged into a USB port that reports itself as a “human interface device”. Because of restraints on design, the computer has to do this. Otherwise, how would it accept data from a keyboard or mouse. As it turns out, there are devices in existence that can be hidden in a USB plug that pretend to be a keyboard that are fully functioning computers themselves and capable of injecting malware as if you typed it yourself on the keyboard.

ITAR Restrictions Eased

From the desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, comes this article on the Department of Justice’s settlement with Defense Distributed. You may remember the firearm that spawned this particular lawsuit under the Obama administration. Cody Wilson had just produced and publicized the computer files for a 3D printed firearm named the “Liberator” (in honor of the famous WWII underground weapon). The ability of your average Joe being able to make his/her own firearm at home on a $300 printer was groundbreaking. It basically meant the collapse of gun control. The DOJ jumped in with both feet and attempted to claim such digital files were restricted from public consumption. With the DOJ basically folding, gun control is effectively on life support now though many will not admit it.

Homegrown Terror Threat

The jihadist threat from homegrown terrorist in America is continuing to increase each month according to this article sent in by G.P. Making the terrorists more difficult to track is the fact that they are often inspired by foreign terrorist groups like ISIS, but not directly connected with them. In the month of June alone, there were nine jihadists arrested or convicted of terror plots (in NY City, Ohio, and Alabama). In Europe there were at least 10 plots foiled over the same time frame. The article reports that since 2013, there have been 154 homegrown jihadist cases in the United States.

OSINT

Reader T. sent in this link that collects and correlates information on every states national politicians (usually involving money) along with this comment:

Drill down by zip code and individual contributors if you’d like – would you like to know who in your neighborhood contributed to Bernie Sanders? How about Killary? Or the DNC? Have any of those people stopped in to say hi? Are they collecting on you?

Like to know what businesses contribute to whom? Carry that last point one step further and compare the money to the voting records for your elected officials. If Bob’s Health Insurance Agency contributes to the DNC for example, find another insurer and make sure Bob’s gets the economic boycott they deserve.

You can also design your own mash up. No matter what the level of conflict, or what the field of battle is, the one with the best intelligence usually wins. Or at least, lives to fight another day.

Venezuelan Kennels

In the socialist utopia of Venezuela, a new form of public transportation has appeared. These buses are known locally as kennels. Passengers risk their lives by packing themselves inside barred pick-up trucks (looking eerily similar to cages). Even though their have been several high-profile accidents resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, one might think that the government would be in a hurry to ban them and protect the citizens. That would be far from the truth though. The need for public transportation is so great that governors and mayors are launching their own fleets, free of charge. So far, 55 people have died since April using this improvised for of transportation. In typical socialist fashion, the government blames the transportation crises on the labor unions. Thanks to H.L. for the link.

Groundwater Contaminants

Do you have a well or is your water derived from a well? If so, you may be interested in this article sent in by H.L. We are all pretty much aware of how bacteria and viruses migrate through open water ways that many municipal sources are derived from. William Johnson, a geoscientist from the University of Utah has researched how these same contaminates can move through groundwater. The answer lies in heavy rain and flooding and how well the contaminant sticks to sediment. You normally think of sediments as a particular kind of filter that will sift out large particles like bacteria, protozoa and viruses, but that may not always be the case depending on the type of sediment that the water is moving through. It’s an interesting, though somewhat technical read.

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!




11 Comments

  1. It always amazes me how people that have never traveled in 3rd world countries are shocked by the means of transportation that have been used successfully for many years in these countries. They always point to how safe our transportation systems seem to them without any thought that we spend dollars per passenger mile for public transportation while due to necessity other countries spend very few pennies per mile. A good idea of how this works is the California high speed rail system that in its 400 mile trip will actually only travel 150 miles at above normal rail speed, and will require massive public subsidy for every passenger and is doomed to economic failure from the start. It will be near the top of list of government boondoggles financed by the tax payers.
    There are no end to the failures of public transportation schemes.

    1. It depends if you need machining (Ghost Gunner from Defense distributed to finish 80% firearm parts), or plastic, additive versions. Dremel even has one.
      It also depends on what you are printing – think laser printers v.s. inkjet – color v.s. monochrome, water resistant vs runny. That and things are changing rapidly so that even if I knew exactly what you wanted, I would have said something different 3 months ago than today. Check out adafruit.com or other maker sites for the latest.

    2. I have an M3D that I’m quite happy with. They have a number of different printers at various price points. You can get a small, cheap one to experiment with and graduate up to larger, more capable and more expensive ones. I’ll note none are suitable for 3D printing of firearms. However, you really need some experience with 3D printing before diving in the deep end of the pool.

    3. I’m on my 3rd personal 3D printer and at work we are on ur 4th generation of them.
      For the $$ the Prusa i3-MK3 is the best 3D printer you can buy. It’s quality and durability rival printers that sell in the $2500 to $3,00 range. Assembled it’s available for under $1.000

      https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-i3-mk3/

      If wanting to dip you toe in that world there are some decent printers available for under $350, but the trade off compared to the Prusa is pretty much constant tinkering to make it work the way you want. The news for some of these units there is a thriving network of other owners that are available to help, because the factory will not help much

      Take a look at – Monoprice Maker Select 3D Printer v2 $300
      https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=107&cp_id=10724&cs_id=1072403&p_id=13860&seq=1&format=2

      Make Magazine really does the best job of reviewing 3D printers, check them out.

  2. Regarding the justice department settlement, isn’t a basic tenet of the Second Amendment that citizens may keep arms to resist tyranny in a military manner? Does this agreement open up sporting firearms to severe regulation or elimination because they are “not military in nature” ? Are the trees blocking our view of the forest?

  3. George Will once researched the 2nd Amendment and concluded that not only did it mean what the NRA said it meant, but citizens should have equivalent arms to an infantry soldier’s issue weapon.

    Being George Will, he further concluded that we should get rid of the 2nd Amendment.

  4. OSINT – Had several neighbors trying to gain support online to get the local police put in a camera in my tiny no crime neighborhood this week. Needless to say, I am packing to leave. I’ve offered free copies of Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm to anyone in my neighborhood who would like to read it. No takers so far. I do declare, I am shocked and dismayed! Ya’ think they voted for the left?

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