Dear Black Bag Confidential Reader,
What if you could open a locked door with a wave of your hand? Or pay for a purchase without using a credit card, bank card or cash? What if your doctor could monitor your vitals remotely and offer treatment options based on up-to-the-minute data?
As you’ll read in the first of this week’s must-read articles, modern science is edging closer and closer to science fiction. And while the possibilities are endless, so is the potential for overreach.
Let’s take a look.
1. Microchips Should Be Used as “Identification Tool,” Says Doctor With Six Implants
Last month, The New York Times reported on Wisconsin-based technology company Three Square Market, which offers its employees the option of having a microchip with RFID functionality embedded in their skin. What’s even crazier is that 50 out of the 80 employees voluntarily complied.
Then, just yesterday, Zero Hedge posted the article above quoting Siberian doctor Aleksandr Volchek, who considers this biohack an innovative time-saver with a variety of applications: “My dream as a crypto anarchist is to have an identification tool for encrypting an electronic signature, and of course for medical application. I also want an implanted glucometer that will resolve a ton of problems many are currently facing.”
I don’t know about you, but this sounds too much like the beginning of The Matrix to me. Would you let your company — or the government — implant a microchip in your body? Send me your thoughts at SPYfeedback@LFB.org.
2. These Five Survival Knots Can Save Your Life in the Wilderness
A good knot doesn’t just come in handy out in the wilderness — there are many everyday applications where your life may depend on a strong knot. For example, a few weeks ago a friend of a friend fell from 40 feet at an indoor climbing gym because (admittedly) he hadn’t double-checked his knots. (Luckily, he is expected to make a full recovery.)
This piece from our friends over at Skilled Survival runs down five survival knots you ought to master. It also suggests six highly rated brands of paracord and offers detailed diagrams and how-to videos to help you learn the ropes.
Click on the link above to discover which knot you can tie with one hand, what knot works best for tying two pieces of rope together and the No. 1 survival knot for anchoring.
3. The Five-Day Challenge for Advanced Preppers
Earlier this month, we ran Survival Sullivan’s five-day challenge for beginners. If you aced the first round, here’s a more advanced set of skills for you to conquer.
Learn how to build a rocket stove (and what a rocket stove is, if you’re not already familiar with this device), make an emergency charcoal water filter, construct a smokehouse out of pallets (imagine enjoying delicious smoked meat in the wilderness), set up a cold-frame greenhouse and fashion a bow out of PVC pipe.
Instructions and videos are included — check it out!
4. The Rules of Retirement Have Changed
America is changing in profound ways. Quite simply, you can no longer rely on conventional institutions like the government, Wall Street firms or corporations for your income security.
But click on the link above and you’ll learn how to master the “new rules” of retirement so you can live out your golden years the way you’ve always dreamed. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to create extra income for retirement, so don’t delay.
5. Personal Bodyguard App to Launch in Northeast China
In our app-saturated culture, you can summon food, rides, even a date on command. And come September, residents who feel unsafe in the city of Qingdao in northeast China will be able to use an app to hire a personal bodyguard.
It’s certainly an interesting idea, and I can think of some circumstances where it might be useful to hire protection — like when you’re walking to your car late at night — but I can also think of some glaring risks. Who is vetting these “bodyguards” and how thoroughly? What if a criminal poses as a bodyguard to get easy access to victims?
It will be interesting to see how the launch goes. I’ll keep you posted…
Stay safe,
Jason Hanson
