"New Flux Defense Glock Pistol Brace Review"--Honest Outlaw Reviews (18 min.)
- Yesterday, I linked to a couple articles raising some questions as to the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas in a raid by undercover narcotics officers, in which 4 officers were shot and one suffered a knee injury. Police did not find the tar heroine that was supposedly being sold from the house, but did recover a small quantity of marijuana. The facts seemed familiar for some reason, and I finally remembered why: the situation seems similar to the Kathryn Johnston shooting in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2006.
In that case, undercover police executed a warrant on an elderly black woman who, according to an informant, had been selling drugs out of her house (it was later determined that the officers involved had simply made up the story of the informant). When the warrant was executed, Ms. Johnston apparently thought it was a robbery and fired one shot at the undercover officers, which missed, while they returned a heavy volume of fire killing her. When the officers couldn't find any drugs in the residence, one of them planted bags of marijuana to bolster their story that the woman had been a dealer. However, when the supposed informant stated that he had not given the police any information, the whole plot began to unravel. Eventually, the officers were charged and convicted of various crimes including making false statements, violating Ms. Johnston's civil rights, and manslaughter.
- "German State Police Adopt NEW Glock 46"--The Firearm Blog. The state of Saxony-Anhalt adopted the weapons for their police. The Glock 46 uses a rotating barrel design instead of the standard tilting barrel found in the rest of their models, and sports a manual safety.
- "Drill-Building for Skill-Building"--Mountain Guerrilla. Mosby relates that the square range can be your friend, because you need to master basic techniques in order to get the most from more advanced techniques. And the basic techniques are mastered via drills which mostly can be practiced on a square range. An important tidbit:
There is a difference between breadth and depth. Breadth is knowing a lot of different stuff. Depth is being able to do those things, under stress, while sleep deprived, because you’ve spent so much time doing them, under so many different conditions.
A certain level of breadth is absolutely necessary, but—as a general rule—depth is more important than breadth.
Read the whole thing.
- "CARBINE SETUP FOR CIVILIANS – 2019 EDITION…"--Civilian Gunfighter. He has updated his article on how and what to get to set up a defensive carbine to reflect new products that have come on the market. He gives his thoughts on barrel materials, coatings, length and twist-rates, muzzle devices, sights and optics, lights (and where to mount them), slings, triggers, etc. I don't think you necessarily need to change anything if your carbine is set up differently, but he explains his decisions with sufficient detail that it can be helpful for evaluating your individual set-up and whether you have overlooked something.
- Related: "CHOOSING A CARBINE SIGHT…"--Civilian Gunfighter. In this article, in response to a question from a reader, the author discusses the selection of a sight in more detail than in his "Carbine Setup for Civilians" article.
- "THE SECRETS: UNDERSTANDING THE RULES OF THE FIGHT"--Gabe Suarez. Suarez has been posting a series of articles on "the secrets" of gunfights, going over the basic concepts and his thoughts on training and other matters. This article discusses the need to overcome hesitation and achieve clarity in which actions you are going to take. It is particular notable because he includes his flowchart of deadly force that takes you through the decision making process of whether to employ deadly force.
- This looks like it would be fun: "SHOT Show 2019: Damko’s Modern Martini Rifle"--The Truth About Guns. These are single shot sporting rifles based on the Martini-Henry action. I was not able to find any information on pricing. I could see these offering some competition to the Winchester 1885 falling block design, or the Ruger No. 1, depending on the build quality and strength of the action. They would probably also do well if they could make a copy of the military rifle, but in .45-70 (which is much cheaper to shoot and easier to find than the .577 caliber used in the old Martini-Henry weapons).
- "Interview With an Operator: Why I Prefer a Revolver for Personal Defense"--The Truth About Guns. The three reasons he gives is (1) it is more concealable and can be safely carried in a pocket, (2) he doesn't feel undergunned because he understands the capabilities and limitations of the platform, and (3) it doesn't leave expended brass on the ground.
- I want! "Tippmann Armory’s 9mm Gatling Gun That Uses Glock Mags"--Armory Blog.
- I also want, and can probably afford: "Magpul Breach Glove: Preserve comfort and dexterity when manipulating weapons"--Loadout Room.
- "Scavenging for Supplies Post-SHTF"--Modern Survival Online. As the author discusses, the issue of "scavenging" is a little tricky because there are a lot of people that regard scavenging as synonymous to theft. The author spends a lot of time on this topic, but concludes:
Bottom Line Up Front: scavenge when you have no other viable options, and your need, or prospective need will be very great. Scavenging is not necessarily criminal or unethical; I only go to such great lengths to inoculate over-enthusiastic survivors against a shopping-spree mentality. There may not be any law, or any law enforcement left. Your town may be blasted off the maps, but morality must always endure, even if we have to bend it a little to keep ourselves alive.
Considering all that, you must be alive to make amends. There is no honor in dying stupidly for want of a can of fruit. There is no disgrace in doing what you must to survive. If you, or your family, were starving, what wouldn’t you do to feed them? Exactly. The same goes for shelter, or water or clothing, or keeping safe from threats.
He then goes on to discuss how you could go about scavenging, including some areas that might be fruitful and are less likely to lead to a confrontation. And if someone does confront you, the author has some points on getting out of that situation alive. The article comes across a bit "Mad Max" until you consider post-Katrina and what those that remained in the affected areas experienced.
"Three of the BLACKEST PILLS of All"--Black Pigeon Speaks (14 min.)
- Some thoughts regarding the Black Pigeon Speaks video. Although the video begins with the doxxing of the Covington students, the three primary subjects of the video are (1) toxins in our environment (and the fact that we don't know how many of them will impact us long term), (2) declining birthrates in the developed countries (particularly declining sperm counts), and (3) a population explosion in Africa. Just a few comments on each point.
In the first point, he discusses the ubiquity of plastic in our environment. I would note that the primary producers of plastic that ends up in rivers and oceans, however, are primarily developing countries in Asia, including China (although I guess China has reached the stage where it should be considered a developed country).
Declining birthrates have been linked to various causes, and Black Pigeon mostly focuses on environmental factors, which may be true for declining sperm count (we do have a lot of estrogen in our food and water). But birth rates are closely aligned with religiosity, education and career opportunities, with the former linked to higher birth rates, and the latter two (particularly among women) linked to lower birth rates.
Finally, as to the population explosion in Africa, BP raises the concern of massive emigration from Africa to other nations, and suggest that we need to increase development opportunities in Africa--basically, assist it to industrialize in order to provide a better standard of living and job opportunities there in order to reduce the incentive of Africans to emigrate. This is unlikely to happen, at least under African self-rule. You may remember my Thought Crime post from a few days ago, and the graph showing I.Q. or educational attainment versus race (specifically, European descendant versus African-American). There was a line showing the median that declined as you moved closer to being pure African-American with no white ancestry. Well, just keep that line declining as you head past African-American into Sub-Saharan African. There just aren't enough high IQ Sub-Saharan Africans to maintain an industrial society. And this is well illustrated by looking at what happened to Africa in the post-colonial period. In other words, industrializing Africa will be an expensive proposition that will be only temporary. This is why, besides their general xenophobia, the Chinese rely on Chinese workers for constructing and operating the various infrastructure programs that they have built in Africa.
- "Russia withdraws from INF nuclear arms pact, after US move"--DW. The INF mostly benefited Europe and China, so this is probably not as significant an issue for the United States as some seem to think.
- Meanwhile, the EU demonstrates why it has become an unreliable security partner: "EU taking a stand through legal trading with Iran"--DW. From the op-ed:
The creation of a European special purpose vehicle to facilitate legal trade with Iran is the expected political signal that Europe is not willing to bow to the US' extraterritorial sanctions. Three European leaders — Germany, France and Great Britain — came together to found the Paris-based "Instrument for the Support of Trade Exchange" (INSTEX). If it takes shape, more states will join. This political act of will is needed in order to convince Tehran that the EU is sticking to the July 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran so that it will continue to exist, despite America's withdrawal.
As part of INSTEX, Europe will be looking at trading without recourse to the U.S. dollar and U.S. financial systems. Since this is only an issue as to oil trading, it is apparent that one of the major impetuses for the EU's actions is to procure oil from Iran and undermine the value of the U.S. dollar (remember that the U.S. dollar is an oil-based currency because international trade in oil must generally be in dollars). This is a dangerous maneuver for the EU--just look at what has happened to other countries that have challenged the oil-dollar hegemony.
- "Democrats’ Inexorable Abortion Logic Has Finally Caught Up With Them"--The Federalist. Key point:
Between New York’s expansive new abortion legislation, a bill now before the Virginia General Assembly, and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s infamous comments about making a just-born infant “comfortable” while the mother and a physician discuss whether to snuff its life out, there can be no doubt that Democrats have acceded to the demands of their own ruthless logic on abortion.
What that logic demands is nothing less than unrestricted abortion up to the moment of birth and after.
The author explains that this is the result of Progressive philosophy that has elevated the mother's will over any rights that might belong to the fetus. "That is, nothing but the woman’s will confers moral status on the unborn child." The next step, and indeed what is being advocated by people such as Northam, is a right to infanticide.
- How convenient: "Irish police find weapons hidden in wood near border"--DW. The article reports that Irish police, on both sides of the Irish border, have located a weapons cache containing large quantities of ammunition and what may be a mortar tube. "There are concerns the weapons were being stored in the Republic for use in Northern Ireland by dissidents aiming to attack security forces and cause disruption." The dissidents apparently are those opposed to a no-deal Brexit and the possibility of the return to a controlled border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The article reports:
Germany's justice minister, Katarina Barley, visited the border area on Friday and emphasized the importance of an open border to Ireland: "Only when the UK has guaranteed an open border to Ireland, can there be an agreed Brexit," she wrote on Twitter.
- Every once in a while, Rod Dreher publishes an article which makes me think that he has taken the red pill, but then he backtracks. This is another of those types of articles: "Fighting To The Death Over Scraps"--The American Conservative. The article begins with a reader's comment to Dreher's recent discussion of leftist's within the Classics field wanting to make sure that only minorities could publish within that field. Dreher's reader suggested it is because the number of PhD's in the field are skyrocketing at the same time that funding is drying up. Thus, the call to promote minorities should be seen as a cynical ploy to eliminate competition for the jobs and money that remains. Dreher then examines recent changes to the tenure rules at Kenyon College that will require professors and academics to be more "inclusive" in their research and teaching. Dreher reasons:
Beneath the moralistic therapeutic diversity cant is this hard reality: if you want to advance in your career as a faculty member of Kenyon College, you had better sign on to identity politics ideology, and prove that you have done so. To put a sharp point on it: you had better formally and demonstrably disfavor those who do not share sacred victim status — most of all, white heterosexual males.
Are you a first-rate scholar and teacher, but don’t share identity-politics ideology? Too bad. You cannot get ahead unless you affirm the academic ruling class’s cultural politics. This is designed to push out dissenters in the short term, and disfavored racial and gender demographics in the long term — all in the name of social justice.
This is happening even as the humanities are in steep decline, and the university bubble is coming close to bursting. Kenyon’s applications are down. And now its faculty, whether they admit it or not — and they certainly will not admit it — are discouraging whites, males, and all who dissent from left-wing cultural politics, from applying. Students should know that their professors will now be under a professional mandate to “strengthen inclusivity [and] diversity” — which, as we know, is moralistic coded language for discrimination.
- A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "In new Starship details, Musk reveals a more practical approach"--Ars Technica. Key point:
... [T]he company appears to have decided to streamline the Raptor engine to a single design that will power both the rocket at liftoff, and the spaceship in the upper atmosphere and outer space. It will take less time to develop, test, and qualify a single engine. It will also cost less money.
Additionally, Musk notes that the goal is "to reach the Moon as fast as possible." The company still appears to be focused on lunar orbital flights, such as the #dearMoon project for Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, as the first missions for Starship.
There is an added benefit to this approach: for the next two decades, NASA appears likely to be highly interested in developing infrastructure near and on the Moon. By flying Starship on early test flights to the same destination, SpaceX has a far greater chance to win government contracts for the delivery of cargo, and potentially astronauts, to the Moon. Heretofore, neither NASA nor the US military has shown much if any interest in SpaceX's ambitious rocket and spacecraft.
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