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 “JWR”.  Today, we focus on how SurvivalBlog has been shadow banned.

Pills to Protect Against an Apocalypse

A short but fairly accurate piece was recently posted over at The New York Times: Potassium iodide offers limited protection to those exposed to a Chernobyl-type disaster. Every family should have some on hand.  But keep in mind that they only protect against one form of cancer and not any other radiation effects. Several of our advertisers stock them.

SurvivalBlog Has Been Shadow Banned by Google

I ran some tests and found that search engines are now actively shadow banning SurvivalBlog via manipulation of  their search results. Searches at Google.com on words like “survival”, “preparedness”, “food storage”, “disaster readiness”, “prepping”, and so forth all are now de-emphasizing SurvivalBlog. Instead of showing up near the top of the first page of search results as we once did, SurvivalBlog now often shows up on Page 2–where it is often overlooked by newbies. This shadow banning was done despite the fact that we are still consistently posting daily original content, and are considered one of the very best sources of information on preparedness.

In an attempt to “play the game” in the search engine world, we changed a few things. This was in hopes of maintaining at least a marginal position in search engine results. This included adding a comments section, and adding photos or other illustrations atop each article and column. Without those, we would probably no longer  be visible at all. Meanwhile, in the Social Media world, it is only at the conservative FreeZoxeeFriends site that we get any coverage. (Note: I refuse to get a personal Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account.)

Bottom line: We are not going to “win” in the now overtly-politicized search engine world, or in the social media world. Doing so would mean making too many compromises to our integrity. They have declared war on SurvivalBlog and have certainly shadow banned us. But they can’t stop the signal!  We need to run an Internet guerilla campaign to remain visible and viable. Please share SurvivalBlog articles you’ve enjoyed with your family and friends, by e-mailing them links. Encourage them to bookmark and visit SurvivalBlog. And for those of you that do use Social Media: Please post links to SurvivalBlog articles that you have enjoyed reading.  Lastly, please consider putting a mention of SurvivalBlog in your e-mail signature footer. Thank you!

Massachusetts Gives In, Will Process Some Gun Permits

Long-time content contributor D.S.V. sent us this:  Massachusetts Gives In, Will Process Some Gun Permits Under Court Order.

An Experienced Border Wall Builder Speaks

This was recently posted over at American Thinker: We Built the 2006-2007 Wall: ‘Over 100 Miles in 90 Days’. Here is a quote:

“James Bonk came to speak at the Northern Virginia Tea Party, skeptical of discussions about Trump’s border wall being solid concrete slabs.  From his years of experience, transporting giant concrete slabs to the middle of nowhere would be expensive and inefficient.  He has worked on concrete wall projects but would not recommend that design on the wilderness frontier.  Mixing and pouring concrete slabs on site in the middle of nowhere would be difficult.  Logistics and transport of components are an important part of any such project.

Opponents of a border wall keep saying we must listen to experts.  Along with border patrol agents on duty, those experts include those like James Bonk, who have actually built the parts of the border wall we have now.  But those experts and border patrol agents on site are calling for a metal wall of vertical pipes or slats they can see through, which is exactly what Trump is now promoting.

James Bonk is concerned that bureaucrats a decade ago sabotaged and undermined the project with “designed to fail” illogical requirements and that ideas being discussed today are similarly aimed at intentionally failing in the project.  The wall-building project abruptly stopped when Barack Obama became president.  Nevertheless, despite the hindrances, they successfully built hundreds of miles.”

Maryland Seeks to Restrict Transfer of Rifles and Shotguns

The latest from attorney Adam Kraut: Maryland Seeks to Restrict Transfer of Rifles and Shotguns Between Law Abiding Citizens.

Too Much Sun Avoidance?

Over at Mercola: Researchers Call for Immediate Revision of Sun Avoidance Recommendations. The article begins: “Researchers call for an immediate revision of public health recommendations on sun exposure, noting that ‘nonburning UV exposure is a health benefit and — in moderation — should be recommended as such.’”

H.R. 8 is Still on The Fast Track

H.R. 8–the congressional bill that would criminalize private firearms transfers–is still on the fast track. It now has 231 co-sponsors (including five wishy-washy Republicans) and it is being ramrodded through committee. It should be out on the floor of the House in less than a week.  Its passage is a fait accompli in the House by simple majority (218 of 435 congresscritters), but it can be stopped in the Senate.  Please contact your Senators, frequently!

You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!




38 Comments

      1. My browsers are always defaulted to StartPage. As I understand it, SP was launched by ex-Google staff who saw the signs long ago of where the Google Juggernaut was heading, and chose to create something that offered more privacy reminiscent of the early days of the Internet.

        As the saying goes, you can’t float above the sand as you walk on the beach, but you can minimize your footprint for others following you to see.

    1. Used Start Page for years and it is absolutely reliable for any search content. The “anonymous” view is a nice feature yet some sites, i.e., DNC-official website, will not have that option.

  1. I truly appreciate the information on pre-1898 firearms….it’s quite intriguing. A question i have is, would say, troops loyal to a Mao-ist regime care if your rifle was pre-1898? “Oh…..he’s OK…….his Mosin’s serial number is pre-1898.” Communists will murder you if you are holding a fountain pen in an angry manner. Or holding a fountain pen and wearing glasses.
    I suspect we have long lost the battle with millennials because none of them know what socialism really is, civics classes being removed from American high school curriculums since 1973.
    My parents offered me an education at a premier military academy during the late ’60s -early ’70s, when Free Angela Davis and other radical Left posters adorned the walls of my St. Louis high school. Books authored by well-known communists were promoted by the school library. I ran with the military school, where my mentors bore fresh scars from their first-hand experiences in Vietnam and Korea. Many of the staff there were career NCOs and officers in the army. Nothing like viewing photos taken by men who “been there, done that.”
    We have a bumper crop of Americans who know nothing of socialism/communism, and care only about free stuff other people will pay for.
    As the folks in Venezuela have discovered, you can vote your way into communism, but you have to shoot your way out.

    1. The actions of individual Sturm Abteilung (Stormtroopers) are beyond my control, your control, and almost even the government’s control. What is at issue is what will keep us out of PRISON. Our own government is on the cusp of converting a RIGHT into a FELONY. What I’m offering folks is the last bastion of firearms sales privacy and a large potential profit. Yes, there will also be a black market for privately-transferred modern guns. But stay out of it! We shouldn’t give the government any excuse to prosecute us. After H.R. 8 is enacted, it will be like living under the watchful eye of the Stasi, in East Germany. People will be reporting their neighbors in exchange for either rewards or political favors. Between the private sales ban and Red Flag (ERPO) laws, it will become Open Season on gun owners. Liberals will soon discover that just like SWATTing, they can be used as weapons against their political opponents. But those are just mischief, compared to actual felony charges–that could put outspoken folks behind bars for decades.

      1. Each and every day I find we are slipping away into something I am not quite ready for if that makes any sense at all .As a Canadian, looking at what is potentially an all out attack on your rights in the states , what has transpired in my own socialist country , is there any doubt what the end game is for north america ? I am not wishing any of this on my son to have to deal with .

      2. JW,R- if the scenario that you describe comes to pass, with neighbors turning in neighbors, and family turning in family, we will have no choice but to attack the lawmakers with our only remaining tools- you know what they are. It will bring about the civil war. God help us !

        1. Actually in the American Revolution there were three targets to eliminate:
          1) Lawmakers
          2) Law Judges
          3) Law Enforcers

          Those three of course being in favor of legalizing LEFTist policy… which by derivation automatically criminalizes RIGHT behavior. Some of us will need to take the lead and became the first casualties otherwise our Christian principled Constitution and families will pay the ultimate price. There’s no turning back now, but going forward into what lies ahead.

          Get ready for the wave folks–we need to start a wave of resistance and never let up! It’s going to happen! Be watchful, be prayerful, and when a Patriot goes to jail for committing one of the LEFTs many felony charges, just for being RIGHT, go and visit/pray and get into the fight.

          There’s a reason the United States is not listed as one of the countries in book of Revelation. It will be gone…! Get busy… Get fighting!

  2. Re: FreeZoxee.com
    Globalists need to build dependency (slavery) and a destroy self-reliance. The solution is building individual self-reliance and our own systems. SurvivalBlog and FreeZoxee are great examples of ‘our own systems’. We need to support them!

  3. In regards to your piece on survivalblog being shadow banned: I just did a search using yahoo and the keywords “survival” and “blog” (no quotes in my search) and survival blog came out on top, as did the same search using google.

    I have an old 2009 mac, running firefox as my browser. I find that I have virtually no problems with spam, scams, or phishing. My searches don’t result in my browser suddenly spewing ads that pertain to my keywords, and in all the years that I have been online, (over 20 years) I’ve had my email hijacked exactly once.

    Many people have told me they don’t like to advertise on craigslist because of all the scam calls/emails they get in response. I have never had this happen. I’m not an IT security expert… I’m a housewife, so all I can think it that my set-up is inherently safer.

    I did take the time several months ago to turn off all tracking etc, on google and firefox. I don’t use a smartphone at all. And I don’t have facebook.

    Maybe we should all be stocking up on macs! I don’t know, but it seems to work for me.

  4. Rush and all the Right’s pundits say a court challenge to Trump’s National Emergency Order will stymie securing the border.

    Poppycock.

    FDR stood up to the Supreme Court and they blinked.
    Reagan didn’t worry about a court order for Grenada.

    It’s called the ‘How many divisions does the Pope have?’ option…courtesy of Uncle Joe Stalin.

    Trump must reestablish the primacy of the authority of the Commander in Chief in securing the country while ignoring judicial or legislative roadblocks.
    3 Courses of Action…used separately or together:

    1- Declares a national emergency and deploys active engineer units to begin securing the border…and ignores any court order. ‘Wobbly’ commanders are relieved of duty until an officer who can follow ‘legal, moral, and ethical’ orders (the Lieutenant Calley standard) takes command. (How many battalion commanders does the 9th Circuit direct?)

    2- Declares that all National Guard and Reserve units, as part of their ‘Annual Training’ (2-week ATs each summer), are ‘redirected’ in their training plans to remote areas of the border near Ft. Bliss, Ft. Huachuca, and Yuma Proving Grounds, to install hundreds of tons of concertina wire, pickets, and barrier material that is rusting away in motor pools across the country from the Gulf wars (ALL already paid for).

    3- Redeploys the forces from both Syria and Afghanistan to ‘demobilization’ training to areas vicinity Ft. Bliss, Ft. Huachuca, and Yuma Proving Grounds for temporary duty installing wire, pickets and barrier material in the most remote areas of the southern border.

    Is it a wall? No.
    Is it a steel barrier? Kinda.

    It is a barrier though, helps channel illegals to more actively secure locations on the border, demonstrates resolve to secure the border, reestablishes the President’s role and authority as Commander in Chief, and ‘moves the ball forward.’

      1. Agreed…kind of a pickle. On one hand, the courts are (Constitutionally) only granted the power to offer their opinions, and don’t hold any power over the Executive. On the other, the danger of an “armed tyranny” is exactly why the Founders didn’t establish a national army.

        However, we’re now in 2019, and we have to deal with the state of things as they are today. Trump should not kowtow to any individual Circuit judge who decides to get in the way of our border security. The Federal Gov’t has only a few duties as outlined in the Constitution, and national security is one of them, and therefore bona fide. This is one of the very few things in which the Fed Gov trumps (ha!…see what I did there?) both circuit and state courts.

        Build the wall and finally get this over with.

        1. If the courts´ve no power over the executive, than the executive can do no wrong.
          Even in the starchamber or worse.

          Then it´s constitutional if the president does it and national security is such a convenient rug.

          1. Again, there was (originally) not supposed to be a permanent standing army. Congress is the body that has the Constitutional power to keep the President in check. They can impeach him in the House, and convict him in the Senate.

            At least, that was the original setup. Whenever anyone (such as Ron Paul) attempts to remind his colleagues of this, he gets painted with “red-headed middle child who won’t shut up” brush before the media.

    1. The only solution to the border wall problem. 1. Tear down any walls along the border and just have a three strand barbed wire. 2. 4 million land mines placed along entire border. 3. We have to be nice– put signs on fence showing south saying ‘Danger, Land Mines’. After a few illegals are blown to pieces, illegal crossings completely stop.

  5. 20th or 21st [ranking]- page 2 for the word survival, on duck duck, which wasn’t, but has recently made itself a mirror of google without the trackers. A few other ‘survival’ web sites are above this one, sites I’ve never heard of actually. I’ve noticed a serious decline Duck Duck Go’s returns as everything becomes algorithmically scaled for your safety, of course.

    1. Yes I agree with the Duck Duck Go comments. I use startpage but sometimes Duck duck go and I just noticed it recently but in reading your comment maybe it’s been a while and I was just assuming whatever came up was accurate. I guess I’m back to startpage only.

  6. For those readers who have a youtube channel, it takes only a moment to make a video reviewing the benefits of a great site like survival blog. Here is a video I made a while back on how to be a citizen journalist thanks entirely to the information provided by survivalblog. The blog has many benefits that can be featured in a youtube video.
    Spread the word.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPRWhCThw8

  7. I also checked with Duckduck Go and the key words mentioned in above article brought mostly government FEMA type sites and survival food businesses. Will be switching to startpage. I do send links of SB to my friends, I will advise them to bookmark them for easy reference.
    Thanks for the heads up.

  8. regarding “Pills to Protect Against an Apocalypse”

    hubby and I are type 2 diabetic, taking metformin (me) and janumet (he). we do not take insulin yet.

    we are also taking the GNC herbal supplement Milk Thistle 200mg once daily

    Milk Thistle supports liver health

    this has dropped our morning fasting numbers down to and below the 110 glucose reading. i haven’t had an A1C check since starting Milk Thistle 6wks ago

    I AM NOT A DOCTOR

    check with your doctor before trying this supplement. you must monitor your blood sugar readings so it does not take you too low

    this supplement might be a good thing for type 2 diabetics to have as a prep, in case you are unable to get your pills.

    again–check with your doctor first before trying this. I did !!

    1. I can’t say if this would be always true, but I can say that a patient who was waiting for a liver transplant started taking eight capsules of milk thistle a day.

      This is not a normal dose, it was a dose for someone who was clearly dying of liver disease.

      Within a bit over a month, his complexion was rosy instead of yellow-gray, and he no longer needed a liver transplant.

  9. Thoughts on the wall.
    1. Mexico might not pay for the wall but our government should insist on them providing the real estate. Mexico retains ownership we provide the materials, maintenance and manpower.

    2. The secure fence act of 2006 took care of the low hanging fruit. The fencing was built where it made sense at the time. I may be wrong but I believe the Feds may still be dealing with eminent domain settlements. Have Mexico provide the land that issue goes away.

    3. One day a smart immigration attorney is going to set up shop on the Mexico side of the existing fence. Technically, the land acquired via eminent domain is the property of the USA. Question for the attorneys on the blog. What’s to stop any immigrant from camping on the 20′ of land on the Mexico side of the fence and seeking asylum?

    I just don’t think any of this has been thought through. I know that I am way off base but I believe our President may have miscalculated the scope and scale of meeting this promise.

    Don’t worry, the Dems are making the same mistake with their push for Medicare for all.

    Ed

  10. I believe in only legal immigration, the best and easiest way to stop illegal immigration (and it will save us billions every year), is 1. Do not give illegals free housing, do not allow their children into our schools, no welfare money and no food cards!
    2. Severely fine ANY company that hires illegals.
    Take these programs away and they will not come. All must be strictly inforced.
    A multi billion dollar wall will not stop illegals, but taking away all of the above incentives will.
    I live in Texas and I see so many of these programs helping people who end up rarely helping themselves (why bother they can sit home and do noting ), I’m even willing to say all illegals currently here in the US have 3 months to register, be screened and get on a path to legal citizen ship, the entitlements will be on a limited time basis, if they fail this trial then they are deported. We take money away from hard working people to pay for these benefits and it’s getting worse all the time (I’m not including social security as an entitlement, people work all their lives and pay into that program, but it has been continually been robbed and given to people who never work). This is a main reason we are losing our middle class. Forget a wall that will cost billions, it will never work and it just more money down the drain. Stop the entitlements and they will not come illegally.

    1. I’m with you TXnurse. The single thing I’d want to see first is birthright citizenship removed for children of illegal aliens. There is no developed country in the world besides us that continues it. Who does? The developing countries in South America.

      I personally don’t think the wall is a big deal. Why go through the border from a godforsaken piece of land when you can go right past the security folks at the airport – they’ve missed 95% of the guns and weapons when they’ve tested it. I might feel differently if I lived near the border so I defer to those who do.

      What barrier, folks will find a way through. Every big employer in America wants the cheapest labor they can get and will lobby their politicians to get what they want. They have exactly what they want now. It will not change.

  11. I don’t do social media and I have a flip phone “cause you need a smart operator for a smart phone, right? And my Dell is 8 years old and uses Internet Explorer 7
    whose chief of security said don’t use anymore and besides my computer is becoming cranky and stubborn lately and freezing up a lot.

    So, my next computer will be a Dell or HP and will have Microsoft Edge and I’ll presumably get stuff I’m no longer getting now.

    I went into “startpage.com” and discovered the following from them: “You can’t beat Google when it comes to online search. So, we’re paying them to use their brilliant search results in order to remove all trackers and logs.”

    Remember when Google said you could turn off their tracking? And was later outed for still tracking under the counter. They apologized so we can all trust them right? Good luck with that.

    On the same page when Survival Blog comes up there is a site called “Top 100 Survival Blogs Websites & Newsletters for Preppers in 2019.” They put Survival Blog as #10. I was taken aback by the fact that they show 982 Facebook followers.

    I guess it’s like everything else in life. You pays your money and takes your chances.

    1. There is only one way to deal with traitor politicians and American organizations who are helping to continue this invasion, and it isn’t being nice or civil…….. This country was founded on God, bullets and blood and that is the only way to keep it….

  12. Potassium iodate is much better than potassium iodide. Less stomach upset, better for children, and excellent storage.

    I do not know why iodide is still the default. It should not be.

  13. Search engines I’ve used that seem to ‘work’ for me and present some good and unbiased results:
    https://www.mojeek.com/
    A nice search tool

    http://yippy.com/
    the best one I have used – gives you sorted “clusters” and good results

    https://www.yandex.com/
    Newer to me but I am starting to use it too

    https://www.startpage.com/
    the most recommended – I am using it in place of duck duck go now

    Way back machine https://archive.org/index.php
    this is good for finding past versions of pages and sites on the internet but is not really a search engine.

    Hopefully some of this will help.

    1. I also use startpage. It is my default search engine. I use duckduckgo on occasion just to see if there is much difference.
      I prefer startpage because as I understand it, it is not U.S. based. And duckduckgo is, or so I have been told.

  14. Unless you put in all the terms you listed or put in the terms “survival” and “blog” Survivalblog does not come up on the first page on duckduckgo or startpage. I will play with startpage for awhile. I also noticed there is a website called survivalblog.org. I didn’t read it all, but it looks like a very poorly made site, little more than a bunch of reviews.

    I don’t know if you need better SEO or if Survivalblog is being shadow banned by a lot of search engines. Looks like a problem that needs some attention.

  15. “But they can’t stop the signal!” Will do what I can to spread the word to the little connections I have. God hears all and even if they silence all of us, He will hear our prayers. I have been crying out for JUSTICE! I pray this can be peacefully resolved and we can all keep our heads.

    I was shadow banned on Twitter/YouTube and banned for 30 days for speaking against Marxist feminist ideology. So, I decided to go Alex Jones-style on Twitter and Tweet TRUTH and RIGHTEOUS ANGER up to 888 and then pulled a Seinfeld (get out when its good). Twitter is done! Christians and non-Christians are waking up and getting fed up. They are starting to look up from their “CRYSTAL-meth” I-EYE-phones. WAKE UP PEOPLE!

    This is getting heavy fast. Everyone with a blip of historical knowledge understands that censorship precedes death cult behavior acted out first on useful idiots and second on the “least of these.” I am starting to plan ideas for sending cookies/care packages to The OathKeepers if you know what I mean. Wondering where the men are going to come from to lead this country. Most of the women have turned into literal “WITCHES.” GOD HAVE MERCY ON US!

  16. 1. Unpersoning

    I live in S. Texas. First I got commie-piled on Twitter after years of refusing to use it, then denounced as a thought criminal for being Christian and pro border security. BANNED. I was only on it eight weeks.

    Unpersoned on YouTube for not giving them a phone number to “text my password in case I lose it.” Cannot imagine my comments where positively received by commienazi docent. Thought criminal, nonconformist. BANNED.

    A couple of WordPress sites have banned my IP as soon as I profess allegiance to Christ and the Founder’s Republic.

    Always been aliased. Now I use a VPN and aliases. We all know what happens when you refuse the Beast’s mark.

    They will come for all your comms. Sooner or later.

    2. Guns

    It will not stop with post 12/31/1898 antiques. They will come for all firearms. Sooner or later.

    3. Life

    A child born of its mother is an unperson, a thing. It therefore cannot be murdered and is by the millions. He has no voice, no comms and no one is protecting him with a gun he cannot have.

    They kill babies. They will kill you. Sooner or later.

    1. “They kill babies. They will kill you. Sooner or later.”

      If only the populace majority would see it this way. A child can see what is happening, it ain’t rocket science. Censorship precedes death cults.

      Sometimes I feel like shutting my mouth and hiding away but then I realize that is exactly what they want me to do. “They” – those who “kill babies” want me to shut my big mouth and stop railing against Marxist feminist ideology. In fact, I can imagine they would be happy if I were to die. I am extremely ill as of late (probably on the VA’s death wish-list) so I can only imagine their glee in that reality. These people are really sick

      What is most sick is watching people (who are supposedly allies with libertarians) turn against each other and bite necks off. Character boys…it’s all about character.

      WATCH OUT FOR ADULT CPS. They will find any excuse to falsely accuse Christian families who are innocent and simply living a quiet life. Those who hate Christians in the medical system (VA/state run hospitals) are weaponizing psychology just like Goebbels did. Get yourself a constitutional-minded lawyer and get on your knees. God is the ALL SEEING EYE. Nothing gets by Him. Trust in God to set you free with the TRUTH if you are being attacked by these evil men! The ONE TRUE GOD is the only JUST ONE! Don’t fear man, fear God.

Comments are closed.