March 12, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Start Shooting Better Episode 7: FBI Qualification"--Lucky Gunner (8 min.)

This video discusses the course of fire for the FBI Qualification test, showing each step. Something to use for testing your abilities, or for practice. You will need a shot timer or someone with a stop watch to time you.

• "Physical Training For Competitive Shooters Equals Better Performance"--Shooting Sports USA. The article notes:

There are several benefits to a physical fitness program for shooters.

• Being in good shape increases your ability to handles stress in competition.

• Greater flexibility and improved circulation help you to develop coordination and control in shooting positions.

• Overall fitness contributes to general health and well-being.

A good physical fitness program for shooters should include sport or physical training activities from each of the following areas: aerobics, flexibility improvement, strength training, and participation in other team or individual sports. 

The article indicates that "[a]erobic exercise should be done five to six days per week and should last at least 20 minutes a day." The author suggests that running or swimming are the best, but that cross-country skiing is also good. The article also lists some general flexibility exercises, which includes not only stretches but also twists to limber up the torso. Finally, the author stresses that "[i]t’s important that you strengthen the muscles you will be using. Activities that increase leg and upper body strength are especially good. Sit-ups build stomach muscles used in standing. Additionally, holding the rifle in position is a good isometric exercise." The author concludes by recommending other sports which will help, including cross-country skiing, cycling, skating, table tennis/ping pong, soccer and volleyball. (The author is a woman, which probably explains some of her choices: I'm sure that basketball or touch football would also be excellent).

• It depends: "Are Neck Shots on Big Game a Good Idea?"--American Hunter. The author discusses the pros and cons of neck shots. In most cases, according to the author, neck shots should be avoided because of the difficulty of getting a lethal hit, let alone one that is immediately incapacitating. Nevertheless, the author notes a couple of exceptions:

I’m a proponent of a double lung shot, but there are exceptions, as with the mountain goat. I hunt antelope and whitetail does every season. These are meat hunts, and I obviously want the least amount of damage as possible. If I have a solid rest, and the quarry is reasonably close (100 yards away) and looking directly at me, I’ll aim squarely under the jaw and put the bullet high in the neck. To do that, the animal must be stationary and you must have the utmost confidence in your rifle.

• "Understanding the Why and How Behind FBI Ammo Testing Standards"--Tactical Life. The author explains that the FBI ammo penetration testing protocol exists today to make sure that bullets will perform up to an objective, repeatable standard. The author also explains the how and why of each of the 6 tests: (1) bare gelatin (2) heavy clothing (3) steel (4) wallboard (5) plywood and (6) automobile glass. 
• "Editor’s Notebook: Micro Mouse Gun"--The Tactical Wire. The author argues that there are some situations where a small .22 LR handgun may be what you need for self-defense. He specifically discusses the S&W M43C , an 8-shot .22 LR revolver intended for concealed carry.
• An unforced error: "DOJ Moves to Reclassify Bump Stocks as ‘Machine Guns’"--The Firearms Blog. President Trump had recently ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prepare regulations that would include bump-fire-stocks within the definition of "machine gun" under federal law (however, Trump is backing away from any attempt to raise the age for all gun purchases to 21 years old).  I suppose that there is some political purpose for this, such as to take pressure off Republicans running for office during this year's election cycle and/or weakening support for gun control bills in Congress. And as an administrative action, it could be challenged in court on the grounds that it goes beyond the definition of machine gun as set forth in the National Firearms Act. However, courts almost always defer to agency interpretations of statutes, and most judges are hostile toward the Second Amendment, so I believe the odds are low that a court would overturn such a rule. 
• Remember names: "California Billionaire Is Hidden Hand Behind Florida Protests" -- Down Trend. The financier of much of the astroturf support for gun restrictions in Florida was Tom Steyer.
• News from a country with some of the strictest gun control laws in the world: "59 politicians killed so far during electoral process"--Borderland Beat. The article states that "[f]rom September 2017, the month in which the electoral process started, to date, 58 politicians have been assassinated, including mayors, deputies and candidates for a position of popular election, an average of 9.6 people per month." It then adds that "[t]he ex-precandidate for the PRD from the mayor’s office of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Homero Bravo Espino, was assassinated Friday night in said municipality" bringing the total to 59. Keep in mind that this is the political process which liberals want to import as they scream for open borders. 
• Yet more allegations of pay-for-play vis-a-vis the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton State Department: "Australian diplomat who gave FBI tip on Trump aide helped arrange large donation to Clinton foundation: Report"--Washington Examiner. Per the article: 

        Former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer helped arrange a $25 million donation from Australia to the Clinton Foundation that would support screening and medication to AIDS patients in Asia in 2006, the Hill reports.

       Downer is currently Australia’s ambassador to London and was the one who notified the FBI of a conversation he had with Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. That conversation initiated the FBI’s Russia probe. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last year to misleading FBI agents concerning his contacts with Russians.

I'm beginning to wonder if Hillary Clinton is the whore of Babylon.

• Related: "Why have we donated to Clinton's Foundation?"--Herald Sun. A 2016 article from a prominent Australian newspaper asking why the Australian government was donating to the Clinton Foundation.

• Draining the swamp: "Sessions Appointed Prosecutor Months Ago to Investigate Possible Crimes, Might Appoint 2nd Special Prosecutor"--Breitbart. The article reports:

        Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed prosecutors in 2017 to investigate matters Congress referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as growing scandals possibly involved criminal activities.

         These prosecutors will report directly back to Sessions, who told Fox News on Wednesday night that he will then decide whether a second special prosecutor is necessary to take these matters to court.

         Critics of the attorney general have said he needs to look into matters where there are suspicions that crimes may have been committed, such as the growing scandal regarding Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) search warrants to spy on members of President Trump’s campaign and transition team in 2016. Emerging evidence suggests this surveillance continued after the presidential election.

          He is doing exactly that, Sessions told Shannon Bream during an interview Wednesday. The attorney general has appointed a prosecutor with “many years in the Department of Justice” to investigate these things, and will “consider seriously” appointing a second special counsel to possibly bring criminal charges.

• Diversity is strength: Another Muslim run child-sex ring in the UK that sounds even worse than the  Rotherham scandal from a few years ago: "Report: Afraid of Racism Accusations, British Police Didn’t Address Child-Sex Ring"--National Review. From the article:

        British authorities failed to meaningfully address an epidemic of child prostitution that claimed as many as 1,000 victims over the past three decades, according to a new report by the Sunday Mirror.

       The report reveals that authorities in the town of Telford became aware of the scale of the problem in the 1990s, but failed to prevent the continued drugging, beating, and rape of hundreds of girls, some of whom were as young as eleven, until an official investigation was launched roughly a decade later.

* * * 

       Police avoided sharing information about the abusers with Telford’s Asian community for fear of being called racist, the report alleges. Social workers in the town, meanwhile, treated the victims as “prostitutes,” according to police records.

       The Telford scandal resembles those exposed in the British towns of Rotherham and Rochdale, but is longer running and likely claimed many more victims.

• More: "Britain's 'worst ever' child grooming scandal exposed: Hundreds of young girls raped, beaten, sold for sex and some even KILLED"--Sunday Mirror.  From the article:

         Up to 1,000 children could have suffered in Britain’s worst known abuse scandal - where sex gangs targeted girls as young as 11.

         The rape hell of vulnerable young girls in one town - Telford - went on for a shocking 40 years, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

         As many as 1,000 children could have suffered at the merciless hands of perverts and torturers in Telford since the 1980s.

        Girls as young as 11 have been lured from their families to be drugged, beaten and raped in an epidemic that, say victims, is still ongoing.

        THREE people were murdered and two others died in tragedies linked to the scandal.

• Cultural enrichment: "Arab Gangs Targeting Berlin Police With Threats And Sex Rumours To Intimidate Officers"--Breitbart. The article reports:

          Over the past several years, the power of Arab family organised crime gangs in Berlin has increased substantially as they have largely taken over the city’s drug and prostitution trade. According to a new report, the gangs are now using their power to threaten and intimidate authorities to stop investigations, German media reports.

         The gangs have developed several different tactics to intimidate or discredit officers including spreading rumours that certain officers have been visiting with prostitutes or even that they were being given free girls for sex, insinuating they were corrupt.

        Berlin police spokesman Benjamin Jendro said “such slander is very stressful for our colleagues.”

       Another tactic the gangs use is to cause mayhem during arrests by calling on their large extended families to show up and cause trouble, with the intention being to free their family member in the ensuing chaos.

       Direct threats are also said to be employed by gang members against officers which can and has included posting gang members outside police stations and the officers’ private homes to intimidate them. In one case, a Syrian gang in Saxony-Anhalt sent members of the gang to a police station to incite a riot.

I guess this is still better than the situation in Sweden where the Muslim gangs have resorted to gun fire and grenade attacks to intimidate police. Police in the UK have avoided this problem altogether by ignoring even the most heinous crimes committed by Muslim gangs--they (the Police) are intimidated just by the fear of being called racist. 

• "The Utah School Bombing"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz discusses the ISIS supporter who was caught in the process of attempting to bomb a high school in southern Utah. Specifically he warns that as it becomes more difficult for attackers to get semi-automatic rifles, they will increasingly turn to using bombs. He also warns of secondary attacks: that is, after the initial attack, survivors will generally rush outside (and 1st responders will begin to arrive) and the danger of a gun or bomb attack after the initial detonation. This was a favorite tactic of the IRA and a few others. Heck, there doesn't even need to be an initial attack: set off a fire alarm or call in a bomb scare, and everyone will evacuate in huddle in dense crowds. I also expect to see more vehicle attacks. Perhaps we will see a call to ban F-150 Ford Trucks if one gets used in an attack. (Just kidding; according to liberals, guns are the only inanimate objects that are imbued with "evil" while other objects are just that--an object).
• No country for white men: "Foreign-Born Engineers Dominate Bay Area Tech Jobs"--IEEE Spectrum. From the article:

Nearly three-quarters of Silicon Valley women who work in computer, mathematical, architectural, and engineering occupations were born outside of the U.S., mostly in Asia. That includes nearly 79 percent of those in computer and mathematical professions. The data showed slightly more than 70 percent of men in those professions are foreign born.

We don't have a STEM crises; we have an H1B visa crises.

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "'Proton' battery uses cheap carbon instead of lithium"--Engadget. The battery works somewhat like a hydrogen fuel cell, except there is no need for the intermediary step of producing and cracking hydrogen. It so far offers at least the efficiency of lithium, but will be a lot cheaper.