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Tuesday, November 6, 2018

November 6, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Slide Catch Vs Slide Rack"--Tier 1 Citizen (5-1/2 min.)
The author of this video complains about some of the trivial debates that crop up in shooting circles, yet seem to generate considerable vitriol. One of these is whether to use the slide release or to rack the slide after a reload of a handgun. The author takes the position that it doesn't really matter, so use the method you like. My position is that I use the release if I can easily reach it (such as my Glock 34), and I rack the slide if I can't (such as on 1911 style pistols).

  • A new Woodpile Report is up. He complains about a seeming obsession with trivialities among survival/prepper blogs, writing:
       What's happened to survival websites? It's not just the offensive popups, the finger-wagging about cookies, or the blackout if yer running an ad blocker. It's the content. What kind of survivalist writes about dental floss for dogs? After all, you don't eat the teeth. Nor will solar powered sprinklers be uppermost in your mind when the Death Squads For Democracy are hunting you in the hills.
          "Keep it simple, stupid" used to be the common wisdom. Survivalism was mainly what you carried between your ears, not in your pack. It came from hard experience, not from Amazon. Survivalism was understood to be an in extremis proposition where death was the probable outcome even for the skilled and prepared. Now it's country living with endearing retro practices from grandma's day, a sort of Better Homes and Gardens for Inconvenient Times.
      Read the whole thing.
              Some of the things I learned:
               "Hope is not a strategy"
                 STOP THE BLEEDING FIRST!
                   Call 911 as soon as possible.
                     The primary thing is to stop the bleeding.  The person will bleed to death before anything else kills him.  A person can bleed to death in 3 minutes.
                       My how things change.  I was still thinking "direct pressure" to stop bleeding, but the modern theory is:  
                    1.  If the bleeding is on an arm or leg, tourniquet first (the tourniquet should be high [as close to the torso as possible, no matter where the bleeding is] and tight [no pulse]).  Use a CAT or SOFT tourniquet.  If you don't know why, take a class and find out.  Using a cheap tourniquet you found on Amazon.com is stupid on many levels.  Using a tourniquet will not cause the victim to lose a limb.  This is 2018 A.D.  Let the doctor remove the tourniquet.  You can apply a tourniquet in 30 seconds, if you've done it before.  It takes 3 minutes to bleed to death.  So, this is a big win.
                      2.  If the bleeding is from the torso, seal (every hole, entry and exit wounds).  You must prevent air from entering the body. 
                        3.  If the wound is at the junction of torso and limb, pack the hole until you fill it, and then apply a pressure dressing.  Apply direct pressure.  Tuck the bandage or use duct tape.

                          * * *

                                 Once you stop the bleeding, call 911.  Yes, as a matter of fact, the victim will bleed to death while you are chatting with the dispatcher.  So, stop the bleeding first.

                              ---

                                     If you find an unresponsive person check for a pulse by feeling in the valley between the muscle on the side of the neck and wind pipe at the front center of the neck.  Check for 10 seconds.  If 3 or less beats in the 10 seconds, start CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).  100 thrusts per minute.  
                                          The songs "Staying Alive" and "Another One Bites the Dust" are 100 beats per minute songs.  So, you can sing them while performing CPR to maintain appropriate blood circulation.  If you go [too] fast, you won't allow the blood to enter the heart (so you won't get any blood flow).  If you go [too] slow, you won't achieve adequate blood pressure to keep the brain alive.  After 2 minutes of CPR (You will be exhausted if you are doing it correctly.) take a break to call 911.  
                                         The chest compressions must go to 2/3rds the depth of the chest.  Yes, you will break the ribs.  That's okay.  (In Tennessee you are protected by Good Samaritan laws.  Unless, you intentionally engage in gross negligence.) The ribs will detach from the sternum.  Nobody ever died from broken ribs.  They do die from lack of blood to the brain.  Lock your elbows.  Use the muscles in your back.
                                           It takes 4 to 5 chest compressions to get the blood pressure up to a useful level.  Once you stop CPR the blood pressure drops to zero.
                                             If they have a pulse, stop CPR.

                                          ---

                                                 Don't worry about breathing for the victim initially.  Take care of bleeding first, blood pressure second. The human can go 6 minutes without breathing before lack of oxygen will cause brain damage.  If the person is not breathing, tilt the head back to clear the air way, otherwise he will choke on his tongue.  Pinch his nose and blow into his mouth.  If the face is small as with a child, cover the nose and mouth, and blow.  If his chest does not rise (being filled with air), clear the air way as best you can.  (Yes, this is dirty messy business.)  
                                                    30 chest compressions, 2 breaths, repeat.  Keep going until relieved by medical personnel.
                                                     If you don't want to tilt the head back because of neck injury, lay the victim on his back, grab behind the jaw bone, and pull the jaw bone straight up.
                                                       If you have any kind of barrier (as a tee shirt), use it, because the victim will vomit (even if he doesn't regain consciousness), and you don't want to get his vomit into your mouth.
                                                         If they are breathing (coughing), stop mouth to mouth resuscitation.
                                                      Again, read the whole thing.
                                                      • "Six People You Do Want In Your Group, by Kit Perez"--Survival Blog. This is not a list of people with certain skills, but certain characteristics: (1) the teachable guy, (2) the critical thinker, (3) the flexible thinker, (4) the mentally stable guy, (5) the good home life guy, and (6) the good decision maker. 
                                                      • "The Pros and Cons of Being a Suburban Prepper"--Backdoor Survival. Essentially it comes down to being around people being a double edged sword: people are sources of support, protection and trade, but being close to urban areas also carries the risk of crime. The author also cites to an article from Organic Prepper entitled "Bloom Where You’re Planted: Prepping to Survive Where You Are Right Now," which offers some sage advice: "Stop waiting until you move to the perfect location. Make preparations for the situation you have, not the situation you want."
                                                      • "A Slight Turn Could Save Your Life"--Schafer's Self Defense Corner. The author discusses techniques to increase your situation awareness, then adds:
                                                                The last awareness skill isn’t really a skill, I guess it is more of a technique. The technique is: keep your body at an angle. How many times have you been in line for an ATM and the guy at the ATM has his body pressed against it like he’s making love to it? That guy is totally unaware of what is behind him. If he just stood at a 45 degree angle to the ATM he could still interact with the machine (and hide his pin number) while being able to simply turn his head and look around him. If he wanted to look the other way he simple adopts the opposite 45 degree angle by facing the other way and now he can see that way.
                                                                 How about at the urinal? Crimes happen in public bathrooms. By standing at a 45 degree angle you can use the urinal while being able to see the room. At a restaurant one reason why I always want a table is because not only can I move freely if I want but I can turn my chain 45 degrees and still eat and be social but also see the rest of the room.
                                                                  If you’re standing at a counter at a convenience store paying for gas you could again be at a 45 degree angle and interact with the clerk while seeing behind you. How about while you use the gas pump?
                                                                     If you’re standing in line at a movie theatre with your spouse are you standing facing the front of the line oblivious to what is behind you? Stand at a 45 and you can still see the front of the line, interact with your spouse, and be aware of what is behind you.
                                                              • Juxtaposition these: 
                                                              • "DA Marian Ryan: Silencers are Only for Insidious Purposes"--The Truth About Guns. The District Attorney was quoted as stating: “The defendant is alleged to not only have been in possession of multiple illegal firearms, but to also have been illegally modifying the guns making them all the more dangerous. Simply put, there is no reason that a person with good intentions would require a silencer. Those devices are strictly made for violent and insidious purposes.” 
                                                                        Spokane PD were quick to allay civilian fears about cops using ‘silencers’ with the Department’s lead firearms instructor Lt. Rob Boothe saying: “It’s nothing more than like the muffler you put on your car.” He explained: “They’re still pretty loud – enough to where if you’re standing there, you would hear it and get that startle effect. They’re just safer within the [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] standard.”
                                                                         Spokane City Council members were satisfied with the explanations of how the suppressors will improve safety provided by the police department, Councilwoman Candace Mumm said: “It was expressed to us the intent of using the suppressor was only to protect the officers and the public, not to make others unaware of the weapon.”


                                                                  "The Implications of Immigration"--Blonde In The Belly Of The Beast (14 min.)
                                                                  Jorge Chabat, an expert on U.S.-Mexican relations at Mexico’s University of Guadalajara, captured the reality of the situation in an interview with the Journal. “There is pressure from Trump to return the migrants,” he said, then asked, “but how do you do that with the thousands that have crossed without having an incident where somebody could get killed?” On the other hand, “if you let them all in, then tomorrow you will have four more caravans.”
                                                                            On April 26, 2017, Ahmad traveled with the sources and the FBI undercover agents to an apartment complex in Las Vegas. He brought with him a number of items to build the bomb, including a circuit tester, electrical tape, and Permatex epoxy. The undercover agents also brought items from a list provided by Ahmad.
                                                                             Over the course of several hours, he built the bomb and explained to the others how to do it. He showed one of the agents where to place the blasting caps and the explosives.
                                                                               He then supervised the building of a second device. Once completed, he explained how the bombs operated.
                                                                                 Mohammed is a citizen of Libya, and has been arrested or charged in connection with multiple sexual assaults since arriving in Sweden in 2009, including one involving a 14-year-old girl and another in which he was armed with a knife, according to Kvälls Posten.
                                                                                  He also has prior convictions for robbery and assault.
                                                                            In June 2009, Noreen was harvesting falsa berries with a group of other women farmhands in a field in Sheikhupura. She was asked at one point to fetch water from a nearby well; she complied but stopped to take a drink with an old metal cup she had found lying next to the well. A neighbor of Noreen, Musarat, who had been involved in a running feud with Noreen's family about some property damage, saw her and angrily told her that it was forbidden for a Christian to drink water from the same utensil from which Muslims drink, and that some of the other workers considered her to be unclean because she was a Christian, referring to the caste system in Pakistan. Noreen recounted that Musarat said to her: "That’s right, you’re just a filthy Christian! You’ve contaminated our water and now you dare speak for the Prophet! Stupid bitch, your Jesus didn’t even have a proper father, he was a bastard, don’t you know that?" Noreen recounts that when they made derogatory statements about Christianity and demanded that she convert to Islam, she responded, "I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind? And why should it be me that converts instead of you?
                                                                            The consequence was that she was charged with blasphemy, and condemned to death. Last week, however, she was acquitted by Pakistan's highest court. That did not go over too well with members of Pakistan's National Assembly. Per the article:
                                                                                      Pakistan's top court acquitted Asia Bibi on Wednesday and ordered her release in a move that infuriated the country's hard-line Islamists, who have held nationwide protests demanding her death. 
                                                                                       The National Assembly fight erupted over an agreement the government made with Islamists in which it agreed to impose a travel ban on her while the case is reviewed. 
                                                                                        Earlier this year, Germany admitted that it could not fulfill its NATO obligations. It doesn't have enough tanks or armored vehicles, and the overwhelming majority it does have aren't operational due to a lack of spare parts and insufficient funds. Out of 244 Leopard 2 tanks in service at the end of 2017, only ninety-six were combat-ready. A German military report on the issues "added that [Germany] was also lacking night-vision equipment, automatic grenade launchers, winter clothing and body armor."  
                                                                                       The decline extends to the Luftwaffe, which apparently only has aircraft available for 4 months out of the year. "In 2015, it was revealed that out of ninety-three Tornado strike jets officially in service, only thirty were combat ready." 
                                                                                         In December 2017, it was reported that Germany did not have a single submarine that was operational out of a fleet of 6. Even if Germany could get the submarines repaired and operational, it couldn't use all of them: it only has 3 trained crews. It's surface ships fair somewhat better, but have limited ability to operate outside the Baltic. Germany lacks any aircraft carriers, however. 
                                                                                         And, although this is from 2011, it is emblematic of their ground forces and probably little changed today:
                                                                                         “German soldiers mostly don’t know how to use their weapons.” They “have no or little experience driving armored vehicles.” For German field commanders, “the necessity and ways [to protect their units from roadside bombs] are to a large extent either unknown or incorrect.”
                                                                                           These are quotes from a series of secret internal reports on the German army, the Bundeswehr, whose 5,000 soldiers in the northern Kunduz sector of Afghanistan were supposed to help the U.S. rout the Taliban and stabilize the country over the past 10 years.
                                                                                             The reports are from 2009 and 2010 and were leaked to the Bild, a German tabloid that is Europe’s highest-circulation newspaper. But they are an indication of the poor state of the Bundeswehr, which only two years ago even started fighting in Afghanistan. Before that, they weren’t allowed to shoot except in self-defense, and only after they had shouted repeated warnings in the local language.
                                                                                      The reality is that Germany's defeat by the allies in World War II psychologically castrated the nation, and I don't think Russia is going to give back to Germany its balls. 
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                                                                                      Weekend Reading -- A New Weekend Knowledge Dump

                                                                                      Greg Ellifritz has posted a new Weekend Knowledge Dump at his Active Response Training blog . Before I discuss some of his links, I want to ...