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”. Hollywood can’t quite understand the rule of consequences in today’s lead article.

Hollywood Put to the Test

Those famous and influential people (though know one quite know why they are) who always advocate that you give your money to the government to manage homelessness are now being put to the test. Los Angeles is now grappling with a homeless epidemic. The city has budgeted over $100 million for affordable housing, addiction treatment, job placement and mental health services and can’t seem to understand why the homeless population is increasing instead of decreasing. Of course the average home price is $1.9 million and the residents are showing exasperation and sometimes outright disdain for the transient population. It is almost humorous to see how poorly these rich and famous people can think through consequences. Thanks to reader P. for the link.

Founding Fathers and Gun Control

Reader T.J. sent in this video on why our fathers were against gun control and why you should be too. Prior to the late 1800s there just wasn’t any attempts at gun control on a large scale. As Henrichs points out, the founding fathers understood the saying regarding gun control laws: “Good men don’t need them and bad men won’t follow them.” They had a vision of a free, stable society that was predicated on freedom. Gun control, by it’s very nature, is government limiting your options. That basically means that when the government passes laws that limit your choice, government power increases and individual liberty decreases – the exact opposite of what they wanted.

PTO Driven Water Pump

Here is an interesting video on a pto driven pump. This pump fits on your tractor and can move up to 320 gallons per minute. YouTuber Engineer775 from Practical Preppers uses this pump on screen to fill a 2500 gallon pump in about 7 minutes. If you need to move a large volume of water in a hurry, this pump will do it for you. It’s not ideal for firefighting though. For that, you would need a higher pressure pump at a lower volume. In this video, he is using it to fill up his new compost tea setup so he’s just using pond water. The setup is intriguing for those who need to move water fast.

Bounty Hunters

In a disturbing article sent in to us by reader G.P. we find out that T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are selling access to their customer’s location data and that that data is ending up in the hands of private bounty hunters and others not authorized to possess it. This means that certain individuals and organizations can track most cell phone locations without obtaining warrants or any other “need-to-know” reason. The transaction profiled was a simple $300 cash transaction with a bounty hunter who used a service that was not intended for police, but private individuals and businesses. In this transaction, no hacking was performed. Most customers are blissfully unaware of how much data their cell phone company sells to others, especially to those who should not have it.

Mexico City Pipeline Sabotage

Regarding Mexico’s new president cracking down on fuel theft, reader H.L. wrote in:

I have long believed that Mexico would have an uphill struggle to become an economically viable country. There “governing” philosophy has never been free, and the Cartels have complete control over much of the country. They make our 1920’s plus Mafia look like choir boys. The Cartels have infiltrated every facet of government, even to the personal guard of the former President Vincente Fox, if a recent article I just read is accurate. Another reason we need a secure Southern border. If/when we do have a worldwide Recession/Depression, we will not only have migrants from Latin America, but we will have more from Mexico. As our Government is broke, our own people will be suffering and having thousands and thousands more coming with their “hands out”, or taking from us will only be more of a burden. A decline of a nation can take a long time, but it is assured if poorly run and overloaded with debt. There is no escape from reality. History has proven that over many thousands of years!

Inflation

According to how the government calculates inflation, things are just not that bad. However, a wise person would realize that as inflation increases, the government must pay out more in their entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. It is to the governments advantage to manipulate how inflation is scored. This article shows that restaurant prices are a pretty good indicator of the inflation level and data shows that restaurant prices are soaring. This isn’t money that restaurant owners are simply pocketing either. This reflects their costs in labor, supplies and operating expenses. This article points out that you can actually point to increased costs in food since most of the labor increases 9which also eventually affect inflation) haven’t kicked in yet on the data.

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!




34 Comments

  1. @ Bounty Hunters – The article below goes well with cell phone spying.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/01/10/joaquin-el-chapo-guzmans-spying-tech-hire-could-key-his-downfall/2540295002/

    It would be wise to assume that a cell phone is nothing more than a individual choice of carrying a tracking device.

    “Additionally, Guzmán got a function that secretly let him activate the microphones on other cartel members’ phones, enabling him to hear what they might say about him”

  2. I fully support securing all our borders, not just the border with Mexico. However, a wall won’t work for many reasons, and the people pushing it, know that. It’s all a circus to entertain the American people. If a wall were to actually be built, it would immediately be dug under or over. There are tunnels under the parts that exist now.

    1. To Even,
      Walls are like body armor, there is always something that will defeat it. As the saying goes, “The battle between armor makers and armor breakers has been going on since the days of old when knights were bold.”
      If we don’t have a wall or a fence then we are just giving up. Do you have a fence around your home? How about four walls and a door with a lock? You have those things because they enclose something you value.
      Come back and post after spending a night with your door and or fence gate left standing open.

    2. Walls work…
      The Berlin Wall kept East and West Berliners separate for half a century.
      The Vatican has a boarder wall which secures the Pontiff and the Holy Sea (Cardinals / Bishops / Priests).
      The US military has walls around all of their FOB – Forward Operating Base.
      All Domestic military bases have fencing around every square acre.
      The White House has a wall to protect the POTUS.
      God Himself will have the largest wall ever built around the Holy City with twelve peril gates.
      WALLS WORK.. otherwise the LEFTist/Marxists wouldn’t be to eager to misconstrue a statement of our Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, into their favor in Court President to establish a Wall of Separation of Church from State.
      Since Jerry Brown, while governor of California, had a homeless man arrested for jumping his private residence wall… he should be first to promote the wall!

      Also, Trump is taking proposals now to not only build a sturdy wall which can withstand rocket propelled grenade attacks, but also go down 30 feet under the earth. Not to mention it will have surveilance measures added.

    3. @Even,

      The walls aren’t intended to keep everyone out. They’re intended to stop unfettered passage, and to funnel the legitimate immigrants to supervised entry points where they can be legally documented and processed. The criminals will continue to circumvent a physical wall/barrier – and will succeed to some degree – but if the efforts become harder and the illegal drugs/weapons/trafficking is reduced by even 50%, it will show itself as a benefit to our nation.

    4. Evan, I was trained as an Army Reconnaissance and Surveillance Officer after obtaining a Master’s degree in Geography with a specialty in Remote Sensing. My follow-on assignment was as the R&S Officer for the Second Infantry Division, and was responsible for surveillance of the Western half of the Korean DMZ.

      Walls work. Chain link fences topped with barbed tape work. Minefields work. Of course someone can dig under or ladder over the wall. But it takes time and money, and increases the risk that a Border Patrol response team will arrest you.

      Consider crossing a 30 foot tall wall with two 28 foot ladders from Lowes. You put the first ladder against the wall, and climb to nearly the top, then your partner passes the second ladder up to you. You then have to muscle the ladder over the top of the wall, and emplace it so that it doesn’t slip, from on top of the wall rather than the bottom. Assuming success, you descend down the second ladder and call to your partner to follow. All the while keeping one eye open for the Border Patrol.

      1. Not to mention the fact that the ladders have to either be retrieved and removed by others remaining on the Mexican side or left in place (perhaps just knocked over) because no one is going to carry a 38 foot ladder across the desert. So more time for CBP to find the breach and track or catch the ladder users red handed.

  3. PTO driven pumps have been used for years by farmers and others. They can be purchased from most farm supply stores as well as Northern Tool and Hydraulics. They are available in many sizes and materials. Having a small diesel tractor gives you a great power supply for a lot of PTO driven tools, Post hole diggers, cultivation and mowing equipment, log splitters, generators, sawmills and the list goes on. Using this type of setup you only need to maintain one power source instead of a bunch of small gas engine powered unique items. I am not saying this is for everyone but when the ball drops parts and time for repairs are going to be scarce. And when properly cared for diesel engines live almost forever as well as the fuel can be stored far longer than gas with the proper additives. My neighbor lady recently asked for my help in disposing of a bunch of 15 gallon drums that her deceased husband had stockpiled in the mid 80’s. No problem, I happily moved them to my place where I started using some of this fuel. The best part of this find was that the fuel was of the old type with a higher BTU count and better lubricity for my engines.

  4. I believe the problems of Los Angeles and other cities that are inundated with the homeless is to be laid right on the backs of liberal politicians. Squalor and trash are breeding grounds for rats and other vermin. You may live in a multimillion dollar home in Venice or Seattle, San Francisco, etc. But all the money in the world will not keep you or you children from catching the Plague, Tuberculosis or other communicable diseases if you are surrounded by trash and the unwashed multitude; nor will it protect you from the crime associated with these homeless camps in your front yard. Stupid Band-Aid approaches by liberal politicians are doomed to failure from their inception, after all they have been the major cause of the problem. Providing housing for 1 % of the homeless will have almost no positive impact on this situation. Just look at what happens to and in government housing in the inner cities where welfare is considered an occupation. Doing the same failed thing over and over will never solve a problem. I fear that the movie Soylent Green is a precursor to the end game, with ” Bring in the scoops. ” the final solution. Watch your 6’s folks things are going to get rough out there and getting out of Dodge is your first step.

  5. In the above “article”, Inflation it states that Social Security and Medicare are entitlements. They are not as we have paid into them for decades.

    1. They are entitlement programs not retirement accounts that you have paid into. Social Security is a tax not a savings program. Its amazing how many people don’t know this and have a completely backwards view on this.

  6. Social Security is a tax and a retirement program. The structure is set up that the more you paid in, the more you collect up to a maximum amount. Of course there are the exceptions such as disability payments which I view as an entitlement program. Most of us have no problem with the taxes used to help folks with a disability as long as they REALLY need the help, it’s called charity. Over 50% of American’s have less than $10k saved for retirement. Social Security has been the largest “retirement” program for decades and will continue as such. Democrats and Republicans alike in congress understand this program will be the last fund standing, If the Fed’s try to eliminate social security, the public (liberals, conservatives and everyone in between) will finally burn Washington to the ground. I used to think it would be about gun rights, freedom of speech or some other Constitutional issue, not so, it seems money maintains first place in the hearts of our citizens.

    1. I beg to differ. First off, taxes are not supposed to go to helping those in need, they are meant strictly to pay for running our government, period. There is no provision no direction in our constitution directing our government to provide for the general welfare of its citizenry (and non-citizenry for that matter). Promote and provide are not interchangeable terms.

      Second, any monies forcibly collected from a person or group cannot ever be considered as charity. They were never given freely, they were taken. Charity is a voluntary action.

      Taxes are supposed to cover the cost of doing sovereign business (defense, running the government, territorial acquisition). Taxes were never intended by our founders as a hedge against the risks associated with living in a free society or making poor choices.

      Taxes used for other than their intended purpose are misappropriation at best, outright extortion at their worst. Social Security was never a legitimate tax. Even so, Social Security funds were raided by congress a long time ago to pay for things they were never intended for.

      Let us be clear on our terms.

      1. Differing is part of our free nature and something I respect as freedom of speech. I got a good belly laugh out of “Let us be clear on our terms”. It’s just that I am 60 years old, already retired and found it humorous that you were educating me about the failings of govt and my misinterpretation of Webster. I wish we lived in a Constitutional Republic as intended by the founding fathers, but we don’t. The government wastes our money everyday and spends it without ever considering what we the people want. However, that wasn’t really my point in the discussion. Whether SocSec is a tax or not, it is without question the primary retirement fund of our country today. Call it what you want but that is reality. Everyone gets a statement each year stating what your payout will be at retirement age. Sure the government raided this fund and many others but I don’t believe it will ever go away until we see the end of the USA. When this country goes bust everything will change. That’s why I am a believer in prepping. I’ll be honest though, I never thought we would last this long as a nation. Charity..ok..ok..maybe it is just my way of looking at it in reference to those on SoSec disability. Some folks really need the help, so when the govt wants to spend some of my SS tax dollars, it’s OK with me to help those in need. I understand that others feel different about that.
        I really enjoy SurvivalBlog and the people (that means you too, benjammin, my prepper brother) that are true believers of prepping.

        1. There is a tremendous amount of fraud in Social Security disability.

          Gov’t doesn’t help those in need. It helps those who provide those with power (both bureaucrats and electeds) with the greatest benefit.

        2. Yeah, I agree, this isn’t the place to banter semantics about govt. I think we can be in violent agreement that the government is the least desirable of all possibilities when it comes to running our day to day affairs. But even if not, we are definitely in agreement that this country is sliding downhill fast.

          As for Social Security as a retirement fund, I sure wish it were, considering how much money I’ve paid into it most all of my life. I am not quite at retirement age yet, but it doesn’t matter, as I don’t expect I will ever be able to. In any case, I know for certain I will never get out of that “retirement fund” what I put into it, and I will never be able to rely on it as a means of support. The fact that it is mandatory and that I have no control over it doesn’t seem to make it mine very much. For all intents and purposes, it is just another tax for anyone not already drawing on it. I’ve never seen statement one from that agency in my entire life.

          1. If you haven’t ever seen your Social Security statement go to their website and set up a user name and password. You will be able to view it there and print a hard copy each year for your records. It will show your income annually and an estimated payment that you should receive upon reaching retirement age. My brother was telling me when he checked his SS Statement that numerous years of income listed were incorrect. Of course their information was lower not higher. He had to take tax returns to their local office to get the information changed and updated. I am very much in agreement with you, I have no confidence in the government either and doubt that any of my children will ever see a cent of that money. Being prepared and independent is a philosophy they grew up with and are wisely funding their own retirement through tangible assets. It’s been a pleasure talking with you via survivalblog. Their are a lot of great people on this site daily and the articles have been a help to our entire family.

    2. Old folks aren’t likely to burn DC to the ground. They’ll just elect folks who promise to give them free stuff they haven’t earned instead. Old folks are America’s largest special interest group. And for decades, old folks have been getting more in benefits from Social Security and Medicaid than they paid in — making it a Ponzi scheme and leaving it to their children, grandchildren, and future generations to settle accounts.

  7. HOMELESSNESS The liberal politicans don’t give 2 shakes of a lambs tail about homeless people, they are doing the drama dance to get the funding dollars into their coffers where 75% of it “disapears”.

    THE WALL If a boundary is not physical it will be breached. I think a physical wall with some inhanced deterants would be totaly acceptable. A wall with solar electric weed cutter fencing attached would be a start. And I see NO problem with guard towers, deadman zones and live ammo, if the liberals can’t handle that I ‘m sure they can find santuary on the other side, our EXITS are open to anyone who wants to use them.

  8. Of course SS and medicare are entitlements. Nobody who pays SS tax has a separate account with the SSA in which only his payments are deposited. The law does not say that you may draw out only the money you paid in. Nor are you permitted to withdraw “your” money on your own terms. Nor does anybody in the SSA go to jail if “your” money turns out not to be available when you are so kindly allowed to draw a little bit of it. Nor can you will it to your heirs if you die before you draw it all out.

  9. RE: SSA,
    I look at it as a tax. I never saw it as it was confiscated from me and my employer. I have no choice as to how it will be invested. I cannot will it to my heirs. I really have absolutely no control over it .
    When it comes to inflation, I just do not believe the government figures. My 2019 prescription premium increased 30%, car insurance 15%, groceries about 10%. Interesting times we live in .

  10. SSA: If the goobers get their cut out of my paycheck before I ever see it – it’s a tax. Period. Entitlement vs. a benefit is only semantics because what you call it doesn’t really matter. Entitlements seem to only go to people who don’t earn them, and benefits never equal their cost. Face it, we’re all just a lifestyle support system for a bloated burro-cracy.

  11. Recently saw a news segment about silicon valleys homeless.Yes,these were IT workers making 80 grand,yet having trouble finding homes.Showed some streets and parking lot full of vans,trailers,RVs,etc.

  12. I have tried a number of times to understand how Liberals think. On the one hand they support open borders to allow unemployed, homeless people into their communities.. now they complain about the unemployed, homeless people encroaching on their little ray of sunshine. Their solution is to keep voting in the same people who will tax them to keep unemployed, homeless people, unemployed, and homeless, by giving them free housing.

    I’m not sure how or why Rome fell, But im pretty sure it was because politicians implemented the same kind of logic when dealing with their problems.

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