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”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at more Wuhan news: a mandatory 14-Day Quarantine.

Coronavirus: Beijing Orders 14-Day Quarantine for Returnees

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there is this report: Coronavirus: Beijing orders 14-day quarantine for returnees. A snippet:

“Beijing has ordered everyone returning to the city to go into quarantine for 14 days or risk punishment in the latest attempt to contain the deadly new coronavirus, state media report.

Residents were told to “self-quarantine or go to designated venues to quarantine” after returning to the Chinese capital from holidays.

The measure came as Egypt confirmed the first coronavirus case in Africa.

Over 1,300 people have died from the virus, which originated in Wuhan city.

The notice on Friday from Beijing’s virus prevention working group was issued as residents returned from spending the Lunar New Year in other parts of China.

The holiday was extended this year to help contain the outbreak.”

CDC Director: Wuhan is Coming

J.L. suggested this, at Zero Hedge: ‘It’s Coming’: CDC Director Warns Coronavirus To Become Widespread Throughout United States, ‘Probably Beyond 2020’. A key quote:

“‘We don’t know a lot about this virus,’ Redfield told CNN‘s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. ‘This virus is probably with us beyond this season, beyond this year, and I think eventually the virus will find a foothold and we will get community-based transmission.'”

Los Alamos Study: Wuhan More Infectious Than First Estimated

Some sobering reading from the folks at Los Alamos National Laboratory:  The Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, is Highly Contagious and More Infectious Than Initially Estimated

The ALPR Threat

Reader DSV sent us this one: California Auditor Releases Damning Report About Law Enforcement’s Use of Automated License Plate Readers. The article begins:

“California police and sheriffs are failing to protect the privacy of drivers on city streets, the California State Auditor’s office determined after a seven-month investigation into the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by the Los Angeles Police Department and three other local law enforcement agencies. California State Senator Scott Wiener sponsored the State Auditor’s report.”

Death to Fire Ants

Reader Tim J. sent this: UCF biologist invents first pesticide-free method of killing fire ants

Broward County Has Already Red Flagged 412 Guns

And finally, another from Tim J.: A Single Florida County Seized 412 Guns Last Year Under the State’s Red Flag Law. A brief excerpt:

“A new report from a gun control group has found that law enforcement officials in Broward County, Florida, seized 412 guns last year by filing 255 petitions under the state’s extreme risk protection order law (aka, “red flag” law).

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the organization behind the report, believes its findings provide evidence that similar red flag laws should be implemented by all 50 states.

“Extreme risk laws are a proven way for law enforcement to take action, without resorting to the criminal justice system, before gun tragedies like mass shootings and suicide occur,” the report states. “These findings provide compelling evidence that we hope will help support more states in passing—and effectively implementing—their own extreme risk laws.”

In Florida, only law enforcement officials can request an ex parte order from a judge to seize an individual’s firearms. If a judge grants the request, the individual (or “respondent”) must surrender his or her firearms without a hearing or trial.”

Siri is Now Refusing to Say the Word “Gun”

Reader T.P. sent us this at Summit NewsSiri is Now Refusing to Say the Word “Gun”

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




32 Comments

  1. The article about how to kill fire ants is very funny! Here in Texas we are plagued with them, and in our yard we having been putting boiling water on them for more than 30 years! Very funny this guy thinks this is a new idea, i know lots of people who do this. We drink our well water and are very careful using any pesticides. Maybe he can get a patent for boiling water!

    1. Yes. He can get a patent for boiling water just like that one guy on the ads who says that he “invented” his pillow. Excuse me, I have to go to the kitchen now and invent a peanut butter sandwich.

  2. Thanks for sharing. While I agree with and understand the implied motivation behind red-flag gun laws, I fear they will be interpreted by our court system to seriously infringe on our rights. “Won’t someone think of the children…” indeed.
    You can see the writing on the wall: the article positively gushes about their success in collecting 400+ guns … did they prevent 400 mass shootings? 400 homicides? What exactly did the collection of those guns prevent from happening? Never for a moment did that thought cross anyone’s mind. Measuring the success of the law with quantifiable data? Pshawww…. thats raciss. “We” (i.e. me and people who think like me) are safer because of this law! They just said so themselves, didn’t you hear them congratulating each other on what a wonderful job they all did?
    Yep, the echo chamber is alive and well, coming soon to a state near you. We are doomed, truly.

    1. And no mention of how many of those cases were immediately dismissed by a judge.

      They unwittingly I’m sure gave the perfect reason why these laws are unconstitutional:“Extreme risk laws are a proven way for law enforcement to take action, without resorting to the criminal justice system…” Law enforcement should not be taking action “without resorting to the criminal justice system”. Can I be physically muzzled because I MIGHT yell “fire” in a crowded theater? There is no difference in my mind.

    2. K in Tenn,

      I agree with you completely…….red flag laws are about so much more than just guns! Most people probably think, oh I’m not crazy so I don’t have to worry. These laws scare me more than any new laws out there, these laws will eventually be applied to much more than just guns….of course acting in and for the safety of the general population! We all want to be safe don’t we!! The part I really don’t understand is when they take their guns away what are they doing with the “crazy” people? Is this curative for crazy?
      SCARY Law.

      1. Red flag laws are a direct result of gun rights advocates toeing the company line about all shooters being mentally ill.

        And the often uttered statement “if only somebody did something earlier….”

        God forbid any one take any kind of kind human to human action to help some one.

        Instead the anti gun interests tried to limit guns…. When that didn’t work the got together and came up with red flag laws… Now guns can be removed by relying on soft science and deviation from social norms.

        Hype and crisis management triage thinking are the enemies.
        Dogma kills more than anything else.

        Please people be careful. Stay low key watch out.

        These types of laws will are spreading will be worse and are the frame work that this next generation and their next will “improve upon” to make their cult of self-importance better.

      2. Remove the crazy people instead of the guns. No, that would make too much sense. There are TWO objectives here. One, to take away the guns, and two to make the public associate guns with mental illness. Promote the idea that only crazy people would want to own a gun. It’s all propaganda.

  3. One interesting aspect of the coronavirus infection may become more apparent. I have not read of any non-Asian individuals who have died or become seriously ill. The ACE2 receptor protein that the virus binds is known to have significantly greater expression in the lung tissue of Asians as opposed to other races. This may account for the disproportionate rate of overall infection and serious infection among Asians.

    We know about the differential rate of expression of the protein from studies involving ACE inhibitors, a type of medication. One side effect of these medications is chronic cough which occurs in approximately 30% of Asians, but only a small minority of other races have this side effect. The discrepancy was traced to the differential expression of this protein which binds to the medication, and by happenstance also binds to the virus.

    1. MM

      I wouldn’t count on that, many people have had to change from an ACE inhibitor to another blood pressure medicine because of the cough, myself included. It’s the most common side effect I’ve seen in people taking ACE inhibitors.SARS and MERS have not been that selective. Also we have not seen non-Asian deaths yet because most of the newly infected outside of Asia are still sick, just as the majority are still sick in China. This is going to take awhile to see real figures.

      1. The dry cough side effect is known to occur in 5% of Caucasians but 20 to 30% of Asians. A white paper in 2010 documented this was because of differential expression of the ace 2 receptor protein along racial lines. The virus is known to bind to the same protein.

        I’m never bet on anything. I’m simply presenting known and factual information and making the inference. I’d like to see evidence of a Caucasian who was seriously ill or died as a result of the virus, which would cause me to rethink my supposition.

        Perhaps it’s too early to know. Time will tell.

    2. MM.

      No, the ACE 2 info you’re quoting was refuted by the study critique conducted by professionals. The correct correlation linked the susceptibility to smokers and vapers, not Asian genetics.

      See the MEDCRAM updates on YouTube.

    3. Smokers have about five times as much of the enzyme ACE2 in their lungs as nonsmokers. Over 60 percent of Chinese men are very heavy smokers. Only about 3 percent of Chinese women are.

      Most of the photos of bodies appear to be men.

      In addition, there is, or was, a list of genetically susceptible ethnic groups, I think on ZeroHedge. I have not been able to find it again.

      Chinese and Japanese had the highest susceptibility, with other Asians somewhat lower, but still in the upper 50 percent, as were various African groups. Northern and western Europeans were pretty far down the list, as were whites in Utah (at about 51 percent). The groups scoring in the bottom 50 percent were not shown on the chart.

      if anyone can find this list, and send it over to JWR, it could be helpful for people in their planning.

      Persons of Chinese and Japanese ancestry who also smoke have the highest risk of death. But smoking, by itself, will put you in the Chinese risk category, regardless of ethnicity.

    4. Readers might want to check Martin Armstrongs predictions on the virus.

      There are actually two sets of predictions: 1. his opinions, which in my opinion are sloppy and wrong, and 2. his Socrates computer predictions, which are not his opinions, and are usually very accurate.

      His Socrates prediction is that 2020 is probably an initial wave of disease (not specified), and that a wave of disease will be intense in 2022.

      The 2022 wave may or may not be corona virus. The CDC predictions that it will become endemic, like the flu, suggest that it will be the corona virus.

  4. We’ve been using hot water to kill fire ants for over 5 years in Texas. If you use boiling water, it will sterilize the ground and not grow anything for a couple of years unless you mix the soil afterwards with good soil. It really does work and is cheaper than buying insecticide every year. If you don’t know what fire ants can do to a homestead, count yourself fortunate.

    1. JG
      We have not seen a problem with grass growth, or anything else, after boiling water applied to ant hills in our yard ever, but I’m sure by the time we carry the pot of water outside and pour its cooled some. But you are right this works well and we hate pesticides.

  5. Another thought on red flag laws: I’d be interested to see how many were rejected by the law enforcement agencies as well. I was a cop for over 20 years, LE agencies and municipalities are very lawsuit conscious. No agency wants to be the one who turned down a red flag request only to have something happen and then be sued. Better to pass the buck to the judge and make him decide. Hopefully judges are more conscientious because although they don’t want to be the scapegoat after a shooting either, in most cases they can’t be sued. Unconstitutional in my mind regardless. I hope one of the cases gets to SCOTUS soon.

  6. One more bit– it seems that local health-care providers may have financial incentive to under-report suspected cases, because reporting a “suspected” case would tend to take the provider out of service for the duration of testing and observation.

  7. I really don’t know why everybody is so riled up about all that’s going on today .
    Don’t they realize that Mr. Bloomberg (“Mike will get it done.”) will save us ?
    After November’s election, all our problems will be over.

  8. RE: “Red Flag”:
    “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,…to be confronted with the witnesses against him;…etc.”
    The Constitution of The United States, Amendment VI

    OK…so “red flag” seizure is not a criminal prosecution, eh? In most cases, those who initiate the process main remain anonymous. Neat work-around.

    “…nor shall any person… be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;…”
    The Constitution of The United States, Amendment V

    Of course, they’re only taking the guns for a short time, until the owner is deemed stable and worthy of Constitutionally-protected Rights….right?

    I can’t IMAGINE leftists doing “their civic duty” by turning in as many gun-owners as they can. Can you? After all, integrity always guides their actions. No?

    Hmmmm. I’m not a “professor of constitutional law” (like our ex-president, Mr. Obama), but something seems amiss – at least when considering the Spirit of the law!

    On a related topic, wasn’t it fun hearing all the Democrats appeal to The Constitution with great emotion during the impeachment proceedings? Strange! I usually don’t swoon over the toilet paper that I’ve used for the last few years…

    1. Amazing that I’ve counted 28 times Adam Schiff (pencil neck Hollywood screenwriter) used the term “Article 2 of the Constitution” needing to be preserved due to having a means of removing the sitting president. “If Article 2 goes, then Article 1 goes…” is his exact words.

      However, no one rebuked him illustrating how the LEFT wants to preserve the Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution with grandiloquent speeches and fearverant heart felt pleas whilst at the same time Democratic governors and Congress critters want to REMOVE Amendment 1 and Amendment 2 from the US Constitution.

      If these “Constitutional Folks,” on their way to Hell anyways, had a constitution written by them instead of the Founding Fathers, it would be a living document-changed periodically and result in the fraudulent removal of every conservative in every pocket of human society. Oh that is coming to a town near you… soon. Wait till the next democrat is elected president-if you can fathom that.

    2. You raise some very good points. Your last paragraph was one I had not thought about. It does show that the Democrats still know how to go where the votes are. They will try to use the Constitution to their advantage if it helps them, but then the next day they are trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Doubletalk!

    3. To be honest… (I don’t vote nor have a political party nor do I have enough liberal or conservative points of view to be called one or the other)

      It’s hilarious that the common view when gun rights are violated is that it’s the liberals who ruined the Constitution.

      When in fact aside from the 2nd amendments stripping it has been when Republican conservative government that has stripped away the most rights from the constitution.

      Seperation of church and state .. … Conservative gov removal (with wanted or done)

      Removal of free speech yup (by being termed an enemy of the state “terrorist”) gone.

      Right to not incriminate one’s self…. Right to speedy trial… Right to face accused…. Right to not have double jeopardy…. All gone. During Republican conservative rule…

      Check the Patriot act etc…. George h.w. bush.

      Check the policies that lead to and time frame when the recession hit…. Yup that’s right bush era with Republican majority Congress.

      I’m not looking to argue liberals are good or conservatives are bad.

      I’m just pointing out that both sides are equally guilty of removing Americans inalienable rights.

      And both sides have been straight up playing a play by play blow by blow game directly from scenarios like Orwell’s 1984 and Rand’s atlas shrugged… Not to mention (as always seems to be mentioned ) the play book that Mr. Adulfus H. Used.

      History does not repeat but it rhymes more times than not.

      This quote should be pondered in depth …. Meditated upon.

      “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

      -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe –

  9. Referring to Orwell’s ‘1984’, “doublespeak”: when words lose their meaning.
    They mean whatever those in power (Government) want them to mean.

  10. For anyone who has not stocked up on the N95 masks, check out local hardware stores in the paint section. I was able to find some at “normal” prices. I went ahead and bought extras because I know I can ship them through the Post Office to family members who aren’t prepared. With that in mind, I purchased a few more boxes of nitrile gloves. As these types of things sell out, it’s important to go ahead and search them out at the pharmacy chains, grocery stores, dollar stores, any place you can think of in order to avoid paying ridiculous prices. I’ll probably put together “kits” and mail to family members. As much as I’ve hammered them all about storing water and food, I think they’ve only made half hearted attempts. I can’t fix that for them.

    Fascinating about elderberry and the cytokine storms. Hmmm… I’ll have to investigate that. I wonder how the “flu shots” are interacting with this new virus. I always avoid the flu shots, much to the chagrin of my doctor. Immune systems are tricky things and I take full responsibility for mine.

    1. Hi SaraSue! Kits are a great idea. We did these for family in the PNW related to concerns about tsunami risks. In addition to a care package of supplies, we included information and ideas to consider related to go-bags (or BOBs), communications, evacuation routes, and more. Care-kits are very thoughtful, and may be life saving. Among our family members, this helped to launch a broader conversation about emergency preparedness.

      Remain steady. Be safe. Stay well everyone!

  11. For anyone interested: Check out something called “A Constitution for the New States of America.” It’s really interesting and, of course, terrifying. It appears to be the constitution (for the most part) that we live under today. It was written by the Ford Foundation somewhere around 1960 or so.

    So when our scumbag politicians and bureaucrats take their loyalty oath, that is the constitution they are swearing their oath to. They, for darned sure, are not loyal to the US Constitution or We the People.

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