April 6, 2019 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"A more likely SHTF scenario"--Set Apart Homestead (18 min.)

The author of this video argues that Venezuela offers a more realistic SHTF scenario, where the government is still (largely) intact and in control, but the average person is facing food shortages and the breakdown of utility services and economic collapse. 

• Just a reminder that time is getting short to order from Baugo Blades. I just received my order of the Forager Camp Knife and hope to have a short review up in the next couple of days.
• Don't forget to check out Active Response Training's Weekend Knowledge Dump for this week. Lot's of good articles on shooting, self-defense and survival, a warning about some scams, a cautionary tale of women traveling alone over seas who made the mistake of assuming that other countries are as safe for women as the United States, and much more. Some comments that warrant special attention are Ellifritz's comments about a recent Shooting Illustrated article entitled "Stealth & The Home-Defense Shotgun." The author of the article essentially makes the point that if you are moving to confront a burglar, you need to be stealthy about it. Ellifritz counsels otherwise:

      This article contains what may be some of the worst self protection advice I have ever seen in print.  If you think it’s the best tactic to remain silent during a burglary in progress, you are absolutely wrong.  You are not a ninja.  Your goal is to protect your family not to silently assassinate a burglar.

      As soon as you are aware that someone is in your house, you should loudly vocalize that you have called the police and are armed.  You want the burglar to leave.  You don’t want to shoot someone who doesn’t need to be shot.  You don’t want to accidentally shoot someone who turns out to be a friend or family member making an unexpected visit.  Finally, you don’t need the legal hassle or the clean up costs after you silently stalk a burglar and dispatch him with a contact distance shot with your 12 gauge.

     Come on folks.  We need to do better than this.

• Defensive Pistol Craft has posted its monthly roundup of self-defense articles. Among many other points, Jon Low offers the following advice:

      Criminals don't think the way we do.  To think that they do is a fatal mistake.  

      Never beg for mercy.  They won't show any, and doing so excites and emboldens them.  

      Never bargain.  Because they won't keep their end of the bargain.  

      Never cooperate with a criminal.  It will only get worse for you.  The secondary crime scene is always better for him and worse for you because it is more secluded.

     The only thing they understand and fear is force.  The sooner you initiate (without telegraphing your intentions) an explosive counter attack, the better your odds of survival.

      If you take pity on the criminal because of his background, you are wrong.  And he will take advantage of your stupidity.

Also:

       John Holschen says bullets will splatter at 12 to 20 degrees from the hard surface that they hit, no matter what the incident angle is.  So, stay away from walls!

     Stay back away from anything you are using as cover.

     If the target is identified as an enemy, shoot the first part of the target that comes into view.  Don't wait to get the center of mass shot in the A-zone.  If you can see the enemy's A-zone, he can see you.  If you shoot his elbow or foot, when it's all you can see, he probably can't see you at all.  Of course, you have to lean way over to get your eye out in front of any other part of your body.  [Of course, we are assuming that you have previously positively identified the target.]

(Brackets on original).

• A reader, whom I trust on the subject of concealed carry and self-defense, wrote to me in response to my roundup of articles on back pain and concealed carry, and highly recommended a good pair of suspenders. Of course, for civilian carriers, its important to keep a low profile. In this regard, he specifically recommended the Perry brand suspenders (sold by Duluth Trading Company). He notes that these suspenders snap on to a belt, with something similar to C-hooks on a holster rig, and so can be also be easily removed (such as when having to answer nature's call). He indicates that he can wear these under a shirt (but over an undershirt), and it supports a good amount of EDC gear without having to tightly cinch a belt. Another brand he mentioned was Hickman Saddlery suspenders with the “scissors lock” clamp. 
• "Purse Carry"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz begins by assuring us, to our great relief, that he has never carried a firearm in a purse. But he has studied some of the things that can go wrong, and writes that negative outcomes from purse carry almost always involve one or more the following three things: (1) "Carrying a gun that isn’t drop safe or carrying the gun loose in the purse without anything protecting the trigger"; (2) "Carrying other items in the same purse compartment with the gun"; and (3) "Leaving purse unattended and within reach of a young child." Of course, his advice applies to most any off-body carry, whether it is a purse, a day-pack, or a portfolio, etc. 

       A drop safe gun is simply a matter of design and maintenance. Most modern handgun designs incorporate some drop safety system, but not all. And not all are passive systems. For instance, the Colt 1911 style handguns use a safety notch, or "half-cock", that requires the user to set the hammer in the proper position. Other systems that might be used are firing pin safeties that keep the firing pin from moving unless the trigger is pulled (e.g., the Glock), a hammer block that blocks the hammer from falling completely unless the trigger is pulled, or a transfer bar system where the energy from the falling hammer is transfered to the firing pin via a bar that does not move into position until the trigger is pulled (e.g., Ruger revolvers). Different versions of the same basic handgun may have different types of safeties; for instance, one of the differences between the Colt Series 70 "1911" handguns and the Series 80 is that the latter has a firing pin safety.  (For more on safeties, check out this article at USA Carry). 

       Preventing the trigger from being depressed is generally a matter of two things: (i) not storing other crap in the same compartment as the handgun, and (ii) using a holster of thick enough material that something can deform the material enough to catch and pull the trigger (a problem with some cheap pocket holsters or the dividers between purse compartments). Ellifritz recommends the DeSantis Nemesis and Superfly pocket holsters for this purpose. 

      Leaving the purse unattended is a matter of paying attention to what you are doing. The greatest dangers are complacency and laziness. I think that people that carry off-body sometimes forget that they are carrying a pistol at all because they put the firearm in the purse or bag and never remove it except for the occasional cleaning or trip to the range. My recommendation is to always remove the firearm from the purse or bag when you get home so that you consciously have to decide to carry a weapon the next time you take the purse or bag. And, of course, as Ellifritz reminds us: "If you carry your defensive firearm in your purse, you must retain positive control of that purse in every situation."

• Related: "WHY YOU WANT A MODERN, DROP SAFE HANDGUN"--Gun Mag Warehouse.

• Related: "Passive Safety Systems for Guns"--NRA Family.

• Since we are on the subject of concealed carry: "BEST WAY TO CONCEAL CARRY WITH SHIRT TUCKED IN"--Gun Goals. As you would expect, the basic method is to use an inside the waistband (IWB) holster. But not just any IWB holster. 

        A regular clip that clips directly off the holster and onto the belt won’t allow any space to slip your shirt in between to get the desired tucked in shirt and still conceal your weapon.

        You will want to acquire an IWB holster that has an upside down “J” type of clip so that the clip will clip on and you can tuck the shirt in between the clip and the holster. A second element is to consider one with two belt clips as this will enable you to avoid the constant bunching up of your clothing that can happen with just a single belt clip holster.

• One of the article cited by Jon Low in his monthly roundup is "The Appearance of Target Size" from NRA Shooting Sports. The author,  Norman H. Wong, O.D., notes:

The image size appearance of our targets can vary from one individual to another. This is directly related to our vision as determined by our eyeglass prescriptions. ... Mild eyeglass prescriptions generally do not affect our perception of image size. However, with moderate to high prescriptions, there is a marked effect as to how big or small we perceive objects in everyday life.

Dr. Wong explains the why of this phenomena and how it can affect depth perception. Basically, however:

For those who are myopic (nearsighted), images would appear smaller than normal. Images for hyperopic (farsighted) individuals would appear larger. Since contact lenses correct vision at the same plane as the cornea of the eye, there would be minimal to no change in image size as compared to those who are lucky enough to have perfect vision. 

If you wear corrective lenses, you should read this article.

• "How To Physically Prepare For SHTF – Survival Fitness Guide"--The Sensible Survivalists. The author discusses 9 aspects of physical fitness on which to focus, and provides a calisthenics routine you can use. The 9 aspects are: (1) general physical health, (2) cardiovascular fitness, (3) speed, (4) stamina, (5) strength, (6) flexibility, (7) agility, (8) accuracy (not just shooting, but throwing), and (9) balance.
• Getting Started In Emergency Preparedness offers a simple way of planning and thinking of your preps--the preparations circle.

• Related: "The Beginner’s Guide To Sensible Prepping: A Step-By-Step Checklist"--The Sensible Survivalists. 

• Interesting: Four Thieves Vinegar claims that they developed an epinephrine autoinjector which can be built entirely using off-the-shelf parts, for just over $30 US.
• Is there some rash of deaths and injuries by CCL holders that I've missed? "Not Everyone Should Conceal Carry – Train, or Don’t Carry"--Locked Back. The author warns that "[c]arrying a firearm without sufficient training could result in your death or the death of an innocent bystander." While I'm not trying to downplay the importance of training, I dislike the hyperbole of an article like this. The most important safety on a firearm is the one between your ears. As we are reminded regularly when police officers shoot themselves, shoot each other, drop or lose firearms, have firearms stolen out of their vehicles (both private and department), and so on, professional training does endow someone with the common sense to safely carry or use a firearm. On the other hand, it doesn't take training to understand the basic rules of firearm safety, and people with little or no training regularly protect themselves using firearms. 

       Training is a cycle: introducing and instructing on skills, feedback/constructive criticism as you work on or practice the skill, and testing. While you can receive instruction on skills from books and videos, feedback and testing is more difficult or impossible. This is especially true when learning skills that require tactile feedback, such as unarmed combat techniques. This practically requires at least another person with whom you can work. Training with a professional trainer also provides access to resources, such as equipment or training locations (e.g., a dojo or shoot house) to which you would not normally have access. 

       Even with professional training, practice is problematic. The military can afford to mix training with practice, but for most people, their practice must largely be independent of the person(s) providing them with the training. Consequently, you may need to take multiple classes to get adequate testing and feedback. 

"Earth Catastrophe Cycle | Secret of the Sun"--Suspicious Observers (9-1/2 min.)

This is the last of the Earth Catastrophe Cycle series of videos, although the author tells us that he is working on a compilation video of all the parts and add some additional material cut from the shorter videos. 

• Herschel Smith, the author of The Captain's Journal, has been laid off and needs our prayers. He's a nuclear engineer, so, as you can imagine, there aren't a lot of jobs in his field. Right now he is studying to become an industrial hygienist. He writes:

I am not asking for sympathy.  I’m not asking for anything, really, except that you learn from my mistakes and ensure that you don’t make them.  But I do covet your prayers for my examination preparation, and if you think about it, that God would bless my efforts at finding meaningful and fruitful labor.

• One of the most underreported news stories of the year: "Yellow Vests on the Streets for 21st Straight Weekend"--Breitbart. 

• Related: "Nerve Gas and Police Brutality Against the Yellow Vests"--Gates of Vienna. Video and commentary at the link.

• Just because Hillary and Obama are no longer in power it doesn't mean that the mischief they have released on the world has gone away: "Rebel army on the doorstep of Tripoli: Libya is on brink of civil war as anti-government troops surround capital and 'gun battles' break out in suburbs"--Daily Mail. From the article:

       Violence has erupted in northwestern Libya as the rebel army commander Khalifa Hifter ordered his troops to march on Tripoli.

        The U.N. Secretary General Antonio Gutteres was left dismayed on Friday night as Hifter rejected his calls for peace and surrounded the capital of the oil-rich north African state.

       On Saturday morning exchanges of fire were reported on roads south of the coastal city as the self-styled Libyan National Army pushed north into the suburbs. 

       Hifter's army - based in the east - had pushed westward to circle the territory controlled by U.N.-backed Presidential Council and Government of National Accord (GNA) and supporting militias.

      A well-informed U.N. diplomat said late Friday that Hifter's forces were reported to be on the outskirts of Tripoli, around 20 miles out, with gunfire close to Tripoli International Airport.

      On Saturday the rebel army were said to have made their way into the suburbs just 10 miles from city centre, according to Sky News Arabia.

      Local media reported that pro-GNA militias in the Ain Zara suburb were laying down arms and surrendering to the LNA. 

• While we are on the topic of corrupt Democrats: "FORMER SEN. HASSAN AIDE STOLE GIGABYTES OF ‘HIGH VALUE’ DATA"--The Daily Caller. Absolutely incredible:

The plot included the installation of tiny “keylogging” devices that picked up every keystroke. Between July and October 2018, former IT aide Jackson Cosko worked with an unnamed accomplice, a then-current Hassan employee, who repeatedly lent him a key that he used to enter the office at night and who allegedly tried to destroy evidence for him.

And:

     The theft occurred after Cosko was fired from Hassan’s office in May 2018 for undisclosed reasons, then hired by Democratic Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, giving him access to the House computer network.

      “The defendant gained access to Senator Hassan’s Office by unlawfully obtaining keys from a staffer who was (at the time) still employed in the Office” and using it to repeatedly burglarize the office. He placed small, unobtrusive devices on at least six Senate computers that captured every keystroke, including usernames and passwords which he would then use to access further documents.

Keep in mind that this isn't just a random IT guy that was hired, but part of a network of connected families:

       The suspect’s father, Greg Cosko, is the CEO of Hathaway Dinwiddie, a construction company that built a university building named after Feinstein’s husband. He serves on the board of San Francisco State University alongside Willie Brown, the California politician who said he helped make the career of Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris, with an illicit affair.

      As former chairman of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Greg Cosko hobnobbed with then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Feinstein and others. The elder Cosko’s adult son appears to have made inroads in Washington via an internship with Feinstein.

• The birth dearth: "THE WORLD MIGHT ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF PEOPLE"--Wired. An excerpt:

       You know the story. Despite technologies, regulations, and policies to make humanity less of a strain on the earth, people just won’t stop reproducing. By 2050 there will be 9 billion carbon-burning, plastic-polluting, calorie-consuming people on the planet. By 2100, that number will balloon to 11 billion, pushing society into a Soylent Green scenario. Such dire population predictions aren’t the stuff of sci-fi; those numbers come from one of the most trusted world authorities, the United Nations.

      But what if they’re wrong? Not like, off by a rounding error, but like totally, completely goofed?

      That’s the conclusion Canadian journalist John Ibbitson and political scientist Darrell Bricker come to in their newest book, Empty Planet, due out February 5th. After painstakingly breaking down the numbers for themselves, the pair arrived at a drastically different prediction for the future of the human species. “In roughly three decades, the global population will begin to decline,” they write. “Once that decline begins, it will never end.”

Also, one of the authors of the book related that "[w]e polled 26 countries asking women how many kids they want, and no matter where you go the answer tends to be around two." 

• More: If you want a good overview of demographic trends leading to declining world population, check out the documentary "Demographic Winter." 

• Speaking of declining populations, a reader directed me to this article: "Congo Ebola outbreak spreading faster than ever: WHO"--Reuters. From the article:

      Less than three weeks ago, the WHO said the outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever was largely contained and could be stopped by September, noting that weekly case numbers had halved from earlier in the year to about 25.

     But the number of cases hit a record 57 the following week, and then jumped to 72 last week, said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier. Previous spikes of around 50 cases per week were documented in late January and mid-November.

     More alarmingly, more than half of the Ebola deaths last week occurred outside of treatment centers, according to Congo health ministry data, meaning there is a much greater chance they transmitted the virus to those around them.

• "Deadly germs, Lost cures: A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy"--New York Times (via MSM). According to the article, "[t]he germ, a fungus called Candida auris, preys on people with weakened immune systems, and it is quietly spreading across the globe." Also, "C. auris is so tenacious, in part, because it is impervious to major antifungal medications, making it a new example of one of the world’s most intractable health threats: the rise of drug-resistant infections." The real concern, however, is that information concerning outbreaks of these infections is not getting the attention it should because it is being suppressed. One example:

       In late 2015, Dr. Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease expert at Imperial College London, got a panicked call from the Royal Brompton Hospital, a British medical center outside London. C. auris had taken root there months earlier, and the hospital couldn’t clear it.

      “‘We have no idea where it’s coming from. We’ve never heard of it. It’s just spread like wildfire,’” Dr. Rhodes said she was told. She agreed to help the hospital identify the fungus’s genetic profile and clean it from rooms.

      Under her direction, hospital workers used a special device to spray aerosolized hydrogen peroxide around a room used for a patient with C. auris, the theory being that the vapor would scour each nook and cranny. They left the device going for a week. Then they put a “settle plate” in the middle of the room with a gel at the bottom that would serve as a place for any surviving microbes to grow, Dr. Rhodes said.

     Only one organism grew back. C. auris.

      It was spreading, but word of it was not. The hospital, a specialty lung and heart center that draws wealthy patients from the Middle East and around Europe, alerted the British government and told infected patients, but made no public announcement.

     “There was no need to put out a news release during the outbreak,” said Oliver Wilkinson, a spokesman for the hospital.

     This hushed panic is playing out in hospitals around the world. Individual institutions and national, state and local governments have been reluctant to publicize outbreaks of resistant infections, arguing there is no point in scaring patients — or prospective ones.

     Dr. Silke Schelenz, Royal Brompton’s infectious disease specialist, found the lack of urgency from the government and hospital in the early stages of the outbreak “very, very frustrating.”

     “They obviously didn’t want to lose reputation,” Dr. Schelenz said. “It hadn’t impacted our surgical outcomes.”

      By the end of June 2016, a scientific paper reported “an ongoing outbreak of 50 C. auris cases” at Royal Brompton, and the hospital took an extraordinary step: It shut down its I.C.U. for 11 days, moving intensive care patients to another floor, again with no announcement.

      Days later the hospital finally acknowledged to a newspaper that it had a problem. A headline in The Daily Telegraph warned, “Intensive Care Unit Closed After Deadly New Superbug Emerges in the U.K.” (Later research said there were eventually 72 total cases, though some patients were only carriers and were not infected by the fungus.)

     Yet the issue remained little known internationally, while an even bigger outbreak had begun in Valencia, Spain, at the 992-bed Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe. There, unbeknown to the public or unaffected patients, 372 people were colonized — meaning they had the germ on their body but were not sick with it — and 85 developed bloodstream infections. A paper in the journal Mycoses reported that 41 percent of the infected patients died within 30 days.

• "I.Q. – uh- What is it good for? Absolutely Everything. Say it again."--Wilder, Wealthy & Wise. The author explains: "Intelligence is the ability to process information quickly with sufficient working capacity to create useful connections with previous information.  Intelligence really is measurable by I.Q. tests, and, oddly, is predicted by reaction times – the smarter you are (in general) the quicker your reaction times.  It’s as if the brain pathways move faster for smarter people." Also, "[i]ntelligence in nations has been shown to be correlated strongly with lots of good things:  economic freedom, savings, self-employment, education, literacy, interpersonal trust, and long lives.  Low national I.Q. has been correlated with lots of things we don’t like:  corruption, murder, and big government."
• It's good to be the king: "‘Secret’ DMV office serving California lawmakers would be closed under GOP proposal"--Sacramento Bee. Key part: "There’s a secret DMV across from the state Capitol with streamlined service that’s only available to members of the Legislature and a select group of political insiders[.]"
• Diversity is our strength: "Report: Gang Stole BILLIONS from UK Taxpayers, Infiltrated Govt, Funded al-Qaeda and Labour"--Breitbart. From the article:

     A vast network of British Asian gang members linked to Abu Hamza and the 7/7 bombers infiltrated government agencies, defrauded taxpayers of billions of pounds, and funnelled tens of millions to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda over 20 years, an investigation claims to have found.

      The report suggests that, through a complex series of tactics, including exploitation of illegal immigration, benefits fraud, VAT fraud, and mortgage fraud, the gang managed to steal an astonishing £8 billion.

      These funds were allegedly used to provide lavish lifestyles for the gang’s members, including luxury cars and properties — but also helped bankroll Osama bin Laden’s notorious al-Qaeda network, claims a Sunday Times investigation.

The article also indicates that thousands of pounds were "donated" by the gang to the then governing Labour Party.

• What we are importing: "Tijuana Drug War Rages: 21 Murders in less than 48 Hours"--Breitbart. From the article: "A study released in March by the Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice (El Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal) listed Tijuana as the deadliest city in the world per capita, based on its 2018 registered homicide count. The bloodshed is generally related to turf wars involving Cártel Tijuana Nueva Generación (CTNG), aligned with El Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, against the Sinaloa Cartel."

• Related: "The Sinaloa Cartel is considered by the U.S. government to be one of the largest criminal organizations operating on both sides of the U.S.- Mexico Border. The most recent National Drug Threat Assessment claims the Sinaloa Cartel has established routes into Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago. The cartel’s drugs are primarily pushed across the Mexican border with California, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas."

• Related: "Encino Residents Threatened by Cartel Members"--KVEO.com. One resident related that “We no longer can go out without a gun, you can't go for a walk. My neighbor and his daughter were chased by men with masks. She was riding her wheeler down 281, they saw her they jumped the fence and started chasing her." She also said that a border wall is needed.

• "The movement of peoples"--Vox Popoli. Noting a report from Pew Research concluding that 20% of the world's migrants (i.e., 44.5 million) live in the United States, Vox Day points out that this number is only first generation migrants, and including second and third generation would probably push the number over 85 million. He adds: "That's why I said, on a recent Darkstream, that the level of violence that can be reasonably anticipated in a US-breakdown scenario is Cultural Revolution-magnitude, which would indicate fatalities in the 50M to 100M range."
• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Recovering Smartphone Typing from Microphone Sounds"--Schneier On Security. 

We present the first acoustic side-channel attack that recovers what users type on the virtual keyboard of their touch-screen smartphone or tablet. When a user taps the screen with a finger, the tap generates a sound wave that propagates on the screen surface and in the air. We found the device's microphone(s) can recover this wave and "hear" the finger's touch, and the wave's distortions are characteristic of the tap's location on the screen. Hence, by recording audio through the built-in microphone(s), a malicious app can infer text as the user enters it on their device.