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Thursday, April 4, 2019

April 4, 2019 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Diagonal Lines Pistol Kata - In Detail"--Gabe Suarez (11 min.). Suarez has been advocating the use of kata in firearms training for about a year now. 

        I have been experimenting with different carry positions lately to try to alleviate or reduce back pain, and have found that shifting the holster to a 2 o'clock position helps. But what works for me may not work for you because there are many different causes of back pain. For instance, back pain can be caused by a sprain or strain of the ligaments or muscles that coat and support the spine. In others, the pain may be the result of injury or degenerative processes to the spine or the cartilage disks between the vertebrae that can impinge on the spinal cord or the nerve roots exiting the spine. As we age, the vertebrae can grow bone spurs and/or the disks may thin or even begin to disappear. On the other hand, trauma (and not even necessarily anything substantial) can cause a disk to tear or rupture, and the disk impinge the nerves. Some people also have unstable spines where a vertebrae can shift and become misaligned, again causing an impingement of a nerve or putting excessive stress on the muscles and ligaments. Here are some illustrations to help you understand the basic structures:
Overview of the spinal column (source)


Ligaments around the spine (source)


Some of the nerve structures (source)
         The main thing to keep in mind is that wearing a firearm on the belt can pull on your lower spine, and cause muscle strain or aggravate a pre-existing condition or injury. If you already have a good belt that adequately supports the firearm but still allows the belt to conform to your body, and a good holster, then the issue is generally one of balancing the weight. There are two ways to approach this: (1) reduce the weight of the firearm so there is less strain and/or (2) attempt to balance or offset the weight in some way. I found some articles that discuss this issue in more detail below:
  • "How To Deal With Concealed Carry Back Pain"--Bigfoot Gunbelt's Blog. This covers topics such as getting a better gun belt (including a real good discussion of what makes a better gun belt), but also recommends getting a smaller pistol, reduce pressure with a different holster, and PT to strengthen the lower back and core and lose weight. 
  • "Concealed Carry Holsters and Pain"--How To Carry Concealed. This article is more about hip pain, and how it can be caused by the pressure of your holster into your side.
  • "THE DANGER OF 'SMALL OF THE BACK' CARRY"--1800GunsAndAmmo Blog. This article discusses some of the specific physiology that can go into a back injury, whether from falling on an object, or just carrying the weight. Recommended reading. As the author notes:
A Spinal Subluxation is a misalignment of the vertebrae of the spine.  A subluxation can occur from a simple fall or carrying heavy backpacks, wearing poorly fashioned shoes, changing a tire, martial arts, any competitive sport or any simple movement whereby twisting or turning is involved or constant pressure is applied.  If the misalignment if not corrected, compression of nerve roots will occur.  The nervous system controls and coordinates all organs and structures of the human body.  Many nerves come from the spinal cord, pass through holes formed by notches in the vertebrae and supply specific areas and parts of the body.  If these nerves are pinched by subluxation, those areas or parts of the body effected by those nerves may malfunction and symptoms of illness may occur.
She also notes:
Constant pressure of a holster in the small of the back may eventually push the skeletal structure, compress nerves, and create discomfort.  Your discomfort may be passed off as a “breaking in period” like a new pair of shoes.  Perhaps the new holster on the concealed carry clothing needs to be softened to conform to your body.  You know it’s a little uncomfortable at first, but you decide to ignore it.  Over time some discernible physical evidence may appear and if you choose to ignore it, further difficulties may manifest.
Read the whole thing.
            Besides an awkward draw compared to conventional carrying positions, the other practical consideration to carrying with a small of the back holster is that of the potential for injury. It isn’t so much that carrying a couple extra pounds on the back of the belt line is going to throw your back out or even present much of a challenge; far from it.
             Instead, the risk of injury is of you falling on it.
               If you fall on your hip while wear ring a hip holster, it can give you a hip pointer bad enough to end some NFL careers, but you’ll probably get over it. Falling on the small of the back, though…can cause much more damage.
                With small of the back carry, your gun sits more or less over your spine, and specifically over the lumbar spine and pelvis. Aside from hips and kneecaps, these are some of the most vital areas involved in ambulatory function. The lumbar spine is practically the foundation of the body; if it isn’t working well, everything else suffers.
          • "Ergonomics and police duty belts: easing their load"--American City & Country. This is a more detailed article on the issue of the weight of police belts and some methods to try and reduce pain or other issues that might arise. Although aimed at law enforcement, some of the ideas are applicable to the civilian. Including wearing suspenders to help with carrying and balancing the weight: "Suspenders are effective because they distribute the weight of the equipment over the shoulders and chest rather than just on the waist. That also means that the belt does not have to be worn as tight, cutting down on pressure exerted on the stomach and waist area." 
          • "Heavy gun belts are giving SFPD officers back problems"--Mission Local. Another law enforcement focused story, it gives some information that the San Francisco Police Department has found from studying work-related back problems. Probably the key point to take from this article is: "In his studies, Janowitz found that 'balance is more important than the actual weight.' The problem, he said, is that properly balancing a belt might not be compatible with placing an officer’s tools in places where they can be most easily accessed."
                   Human hips are contoured, women more than men. Yet, modern keeper and duty belts are made using layers of nylons and plastics and synthetic leathers and cannot conform to the natural contour of the hips. You can wear them for years and they will not mold to the hips.
                    The only belts that will mold to the body are stretch or leather keeper belts and FG leather or contour cut duty belts. FG leather stretches and bends with time and takes on a slight U shape. All other combination leather and synthetic belts use plastics in layers specifically to hold their shape and will to cut into your hips. Add 20+ lbs. of gear and you have a bruising problem.
                Medical professionals agree that a major cause of back pain is weight gain, with many claiming as little as a 10% change in body weight can result in damage to the discs, muscles, ligaments and tendons of the lower back. Guess what that modern duty belt weighs? On average your daily equipment load weighs in excess of 20 pounds, meaning any officer weighing 200lbs or less is automatically at risk. If you take into account aspects of daily patrol duties such as long-term sitting in a patrol car or standing posts, which are in themselves injury-inducing behavior, the risk multiples.  Following my own brush with back problems, magnified following a fall, my physical therapist provided me with some valuable advice that allowed me to get back on my feet and back to work.


                "China’s Secret Invasion of the US | General Robert Spalding | Trump China"--China Uncensored (24 min). An explanation of how China is pursuing a policy of war by other means. Although it is not mentioned, it is important to also recognize that China is trying to isolate the United States from allies (e.g., Germany and Canada) and exert control via "soft power" over the nations that border us (Canada and Mexico).

                          New York Times journalist Nicholas Casey was in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in March when the country was hit by a six-day blackout, considered at the time the worst in Venezuela's history. He says people initially assumed that the outage had been planned and that power would be restored after a few hours. But as hours stretched into days, the country fell into chaos.
                            "By the fourth day of the power outage, that was when you started to hear shots getting fired in the street," Casey says. "People were beginning to loot, and the store owners were coming out to defend their stores."
                              The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday repealed rules that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and that labeled same-sex couples as sinners eligible for expulsion — marking a reversal of policies condemned as jarring detours from a push by the faith to be more compassionate about LGBTQ issues.
                               LGBTQ church members and groups that support them expressed relief about what they called an important step forward for the faith. However, they also said they were angry about the harm the 2015 policies had caused and the lack of an apology by church leaders.
                          Well, up until 5 years ago, there wasn't an issue about gay couples having children so there was no need for such a policy. Anyway, from the Church's news release:
                                    Children of parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender may now be blessed as infants and baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without First Presidency approval, President Dallin H. Oaks announced Thursday morning, April 4.
                                      In addition, the Church will no longer characterize same-gender marriage by a Church member as “apostasy” for purposes of Church discipline, although it is still considered “a serious transgression.”
                                • "The 737 MAX and the Death of MIL-STD-499A SYSTEM ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT"--Chicago Boyz. The author notes how the lack of basic software engineering reliability principles led to the 737 MAX crashes, and he connects this to the aircraft industries abandonment of MIL-STD-499A. The standard was abandoned by the Clinton Administration way back in 1995. The author explains that defense contractors' "support of Bill Clinton was retaliation by the big US defense contractors for Defense Secretary Cheney holding large defense contractors accountable for a major defense program’s failure to perform.  Killing that political precedent was a vital interest for American defense contractors in the 1992 presidential election." 
                                • A reader sends: "WHY 5G MAKES ME RECONSIDER THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF CELL PHONES"--Wired. The author wonders "What if transmissions to and from 5G cells, which will need to be everywhere, and much closer to us than traditional cell towers, pulsing out very-high-frequency radio waves at high power levels, pose real risks to human health?" The author's primary concern is that there is evidence that even non-ionizing (non-heating) radiation can cause health problems, but 5G cell towers (because of their limited range) will need to be omnipresent in all neighborhoods.
                                        First some background. As one article explains, "5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before," and should "offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm." This is possible because 5G networks will make be able to make use of "higher frequencies (FR2), above 24 GHz and into the millimeter waves range," of 30 to 300 GHz. 
                                The characteristics of MMWs [millimeter waves] are different than the “low-band” (i.e., microwave) frequencies which are currently in use by the cellular and wireless industries. MMWs can transmit large amounts of data over short distances. The transmissions can be directed into narrow beams that travel by line-of-sight and can move data at high rates (e.g., up to 10 billion bits per second) with short lags (or latencies) between transmissions. The signals are blocked by buildings, and foliage can absorb much of their energy. Also, the waves can be reflected by metallic surfaces. Although antennas can be as small as a few millimeters, “small cell” antenna arrays may consist of dozens or even hundreds of antenna elements.
                                (See also, "Applications of Millimeter Waves and Future").
                                         There is a downside to the short range: there will need to be many more antennas. Current estimates are that antennas will need to be placed every 10-20 houses in urban areas with 50,000 new cell sites needed in California, and potentially 800,000 or more nationwide; other sources I've come across have stated even higher densities will be necessary. 
                                        But, as the Wired article indicates, many people worry about the health effects of Millimeter waves (MMWs) such as will be used for 5G. MMWs are currently used for the body-scanners at airports, and there is a great deal of concern with prolonged exposure to the these high frequencies (see, e.g., this article and this article from Scientific American). The latter article notes that "that microwaves such as those from the millimeter wave body scanners can interact with the entire body, individual organs or with large molecules, thus having a potentially measurable effect." In addition, exposure to MMWs can increase temperature of the skin and that of the surface of the cornea. In fact, "the Active Denial System (ADS) ... uses radio frequency millimeter waves in the 95GHz range to penetrate the top 1/64 of an inch layer of skin on the targeted individual, instantly producing an intolerable heating sensation that causes them to flee." 
                                       Presumably, the signals used in 5G networks will be less intense than those from an ADS. Nevertheless, as one article explains, there is a concern that even then, the "[t]emperature elevation can impact the growth, morphology and metabolism of cells, induce production of free radicals, and damage DNA." However, research is mixed, with some studies concluding that that there is nothing to fear. (See also this article reporting that there is no harm to the eyes). New York University (NYU) has been studying the issue, though, and concluded that "[o]ur recent research shows that current methods based on estimating power density are not suitable to determine exposure compliance when millimeter wave devices are used very close to the body."  
                                         [C]rashed Teslas being sold at junkyards and auctions are retaining what CNBC says is “deeply personal” and unencrypted data, including video from the car’s cameras that show what happened moments before the accident.
                                           The unencrypted videos – plus phonebooks, calendar items, location and navigational data – were extracted by a security researcher who calls himself GreenTheOnly. The researcher retrieved the content from Model S, Model X and Model 3 vehicles purchased for testing and research from salvage.
                                      I'm sure that other vehicles also retain data.
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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 ...