Exploring practical methods for preparing for the end times, including analysis of end time scripture and prophecy, current events, prepping and self-defense.
Among the pages published by the FBI, the attacker listed “advantages” of targeting The Covenant School, where she had attended for a few years. She noted that the school was a “predominantly white school (white pple I hate)” and that it was a “Christian school (hate religion).”
The writings also reveal that the attacker considered targeting a middle school in the Nashville area, but leaned against it because a higher percentage of black students were enrolled there.
She was a radical leftist doing what the "moderate" leftists only wish they could do.
Did World War I start because of a railway? That is what this video argues, noting that Germany had entered an agreement with the Ottoman Empire that would run a rail line from Berlin to Iraq that would have allowed Germany to bypass all the trade and choke points that Great Britain and France would throw up, and threatened the control over the Ottoman's exercised by British and French (read: Rothschild) banks. The video makes the obvious comparison between the situation then and the opposition to the Chinese Belt and Road projects.
From the Daily Mail: "Grandfather and his dog killed in front of wife during 'senseless' park confrontation with another pet owner." The article is rather lacking on facts, but this seems to be the basic story: The decedent, Terry Loden, and his wife were walking their dog in a park in Gainesville, GA, when it got into a fight with a dog owned by Todd Alexander Stalcup. Stalcup drew a firearm and shot Loden's dog and then shot Loden. Per the article: "'He was on top of her pulling her off and about that time, the man just shot my dog, and Terry stood up and said, "Man what are you doing?" And he just shot him,' Cheryle [Loden] recalled." Stalcup has been charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm used in a crime.
From the New York Post: "Oklahoma man hit with manslaughter charge after stray bullet from target practice kills woman sitting on porch on Christmas." The basic facts are that Cody Adams was testing out a new handgun he had purchased, shooting at a target on his property, when a round apparently ricocheted off some debris and subsequently struck a woman sitting on her porch. The distance is not mentioned in the article, but "[i]nvestigators determined the bullet entered Phelps’ upper right arm and traveled into her chest, consistent with a steep downward angle." He has been charged with first-degree manslaughter. Just a reminder to be aware of your target and what is beyond it, pick a place where the bullets will be stopped by a berm, hillside, or some other backstop, and avoid shooting at debris or rocks that could cause a ricochet.
Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:
"WHERE WE LIVE, WE CAN’T HAVE A GUN OR A KNIFE, SO WHY SHOULD I?"--Survival Centric. The question in the title should have actually ended with "... so why should I learn how to use them?" The answer being that even if citizens aren't permitted guns or knives, the criminals will have them; and if you successfully disarm an attacker, you might wind up with a firearm or knife in your hand and it probably would benefit you to know what to do with it.
"Alternative Ammo: 6x45 vs. .223 Remington"--American Hunter. 6x45mm is a wildcat cartridge that takes a standard .223 case necked up to accept a .243/6mm bullet. The advantages are faster velocities for the same bullet weight, better BC, and a greater variety of bullets--and it all still fits in the same magazine as .223.
"Handguns: Bullet Design 101"--Shooting Illustrated. The author notes that in the 1990s there was still debate over whether handgun bullets merely wounded by poking holes in things, and others that argued that an expanding bullet would "dump" energy into the target and incapacitate it. We know now that the "energy dump" was a myth, but the author goes onto to explain why we still use expanding ammunition like hollow points:
The simplest reason usually given is that, all things being equal, a bigger hole is better than a smaller one. While this is technically true, it’s a drastic oversimplification of things. Most experts today concede that where the hole is on the target matters way more than a couple hundredths of an inch in diameter.
Most vital structures in the human body don’t work any better with a .355-inch hole through them than they do with a .451-inch hole. Conversely, a 10 mm hole through a “love handle” of flab really isn’t any more disabling than a 6.35 mm one.
One thing that expanding bullets do, however, is change the nature of the hole. Hunters had long preferred flat meplats (that’s the nose of the bullet) due to the way they tended to cut a hole with their sharper shoulders as opposed to round-nose bullets that just kind of politely elbowed their way past vital structures with their rounded ogives. Think of using a hole punch and the little discs of paper it cuts out. When a hollow-point bullet expands, it now has a very large, flat frontal area with jagged edges that greatly increase its effectiveness.
"Optimal Alignment"--Shooting Illustrated. From the lede: "Shooters who want to hit a point-of-impact (POI) based on point-of-aim (POA) align the muzzle with the target—that is getting the barrel’s axis, sights/optic, and trajectory to the same place at the same time—can apply eight pro tips geared to optimize their alignment." The author goes on to cover the eight tips.
When you decide to dry practice or do maintenance on your revolver, get them before doing anything.
Take the live cartridges out.
Count and secure them in the twist knob Speedloader. If there are any empty holes left in the speedloader, the FBI calls that ‘a clue.’
Put the SafeSnap™ Training Disc in the revolver.
Do your dry practice or maintenance.
When finished, don’t reload the gun.
Do something else to occupy your mind and remove dry practice from your thoughts.
When you do reload, say “This gun is loaded” out loud three times.
"Fudd Friday: Does Fitz Equal Fudd?"--The Firearm Blog. Back in the 1920s before major manufacturers started offering snub-nosed versions of their duty pistols (there were plenty of pocket sized revolvers around in smaller calibers) John Henry Fitzgerald would modify revolvers into what were called "Fitz Specials" which included shortening the barrel (and attaching a new front sight), bobbing the hammer, and removing the front half of the trigger guard. His reasoning for the latter modification: "men with large hands (like himself) wearing gloves in winter needed unobstructed trigger reach." Also:
This wasn't just some guy with a Dremel and opinions. Fitzgerald wrote a book on defensive shooting in 1930, advocated for two-handed pistol technique before it was standard practice, and taught law enforcement agencies across the country. His influence on defensive handgunning is legit. Guys like Rex Applegate and Charles Askins - actual gunfighters, not Instagram operators - carried his modified revolvers and praised them publicly.
Anyone heard of TacHelmet? They are advertising Level IV helmets for inexpensive prices, including several for under $200.
"Cyelee WOLF0 Review: Is a $106 Pistol Red Dot Worth It?"--The Truth About Guns. Based on the review, it sounds like a bargain: a metal body, glass (not polymer) lens, and shake awake feature. It is IPX7 rated, and the author left if submerged in water for 1/2 hour and it still worked.
"Back to the days of the Remington Nylon 66"--Range Hot. "The Nylon 66 was produced from 1959 to 1987 and became Remington’s most popular selling .22 rifle ever," the author relates. It goes into the history and development of this rifle.
"Surefire Warden Blast Can: Great for the Range"--The Mag Life. This is what is commonly termed a linear compensator. The idea is to direct the gases and muzzle blast forward of the weapon while still giving you the benefits of a muzzle break. This particular one is stainless steel with a non-reflective black Cerakote finish and seems longer than most. The author relates, however:
The first thing you’ll notice when running the Warden is a significant reduction in the blast and flash from the muzzle. The traditional fireball you get with standard muzzle brakes is no more, which was a pleasant surprise. I haven’t tried using the Warden for low-light training yet, but I’d be willing to bet it’s a game-changer for home defense scenarios, as you wouldn’t be temporarily blinded by the flash. That’s the major complaint I have about traditional muzzle brakes. While they can certainly improve your accuracy potential and lighten the load on your shoulder a bit, they’re really more of a liability in home defense applications.
"No One Is Talking About The Direct Pipeline From Divorced Parents To School Shooters"--The Federalist. Given the well documented association between homes presided over by a single mother and negative outcomes for children, including increased propensity to be involved in violent crimes, the author argues that "the prevalence of divorce ensures we’ll have higher levels of violence than if we made obtaining divorces more difficult."
Bard’s attorneys say the family was moving their younger son out, with two armed campus police officers present, after withdrawing both sons from school because of “multiple armed, violent” incidents against them and other students in the days leading up to Dec. 9, some captured on security cameras.
When the family and an officer reached the dormitory entrance on the move-out day, the group of people in masks and hoods rushed out and began violently assaulting the family and others, including beating the son’s head against the pavement, the attorneys said.
According to the article there were between 20 and 30 attackers. Bard wound up having to shoot two of them, killing one and critically wounding another. It's a sad state of affairs that the prosecutor even bothered with taking this to a grand jury instead of ruling it justified in the first place.
"Review: My Favorite Headlamp | The SureFire Minimus"--The Truth About Guns. The author states: "Starting with probably the most important feature, the SureFire Minimus offers a sensible output range from 5 to 300 lumens, adjustable across 13 preset levels via a knurled control knob that can be turned and felt even with thick gloves on." It also employs a metal body, but it doesn't have a true red-light diode, but uses a red filter over the white light, which either must be snapped on to use, or carried in a pocket or something when not in use. For $269, it does seem underwhelming. The only real advantage I see to it is the ability to adjust it with a knob while using gloves.
The knife is 4 inches long closed and 6.75 inches opened. It has a flipper lever and dual thumb studs to enable ambidextrous, one-handed opening. The assisted-opening blade snaps decisively into place when deployed. The flipper works so effectively that the thumb studs are largely redundant, and could probably be eliminated. The rugged frame-lock holds the blade securely open when deployed.
And:
The 112A features what is called “assisted blade deployment”. (Some other knifemakers use the synonymous term “assisted opening”.) The user begins to open the blade using the flipper or thumb studs. At that point, a spring engages to rotate the blade into the fully opened and locked position. Assisted blade deployment is rapidly gaining popularity, here in the United States.
MSRP is about $60.
"How to Clean Hiking Boots: A Step-by-Step Guide"--SHTF Preparedness. As the author observes, "[k]eeping your hiking boots clean is essential for keeping them comfortable, supportive and long lasting." The article actually starts with some recommendations for selecting a pair of hiking boots before moving on to how to clean them and offering advice on storage, conditioning leather uppers, making minor repairs to the uppers, and other maintenance and cleaning tips.
"Basic Long-Term Food Storage"--Self-Reliance.com. As the author points out, "Long-term food storage plays a pivotal role in emergency preparedness. A
homestead pantry is not for hoarders, it is for smart, organized people
who want to keep their well-being intact in times of crisis." The article goes different categories of items to keep in long-term storage with comments on each. As an example, addressing eggs and milk, the author writes:
Dry milk is the most essential because milk provides many vitamins and nutrients which would be helpful to stay healthy during hard times. Not to mention, without a reliable source of dairy products many meals wouldn’t be possible. I’ve seen numerous survival sites list outrageous amounts of dry milk to keep on hand, and nothing is wrong with large quantity. We go through about a gallon each week with my family cooking heavily from scratch. It takes around four cups of dry milk to make a gallon of milk. This means that for a year’s supply we should have around 55 pounds of dry milk in storage. One of the cheapest ways to acquire dry milk is to get it in large boxes from stores like Walmart and then repackage it for long-term storage in glass jars. It should keep for several years this way, especially if you use an oxygen absorber. You can also buy it in #10 cans from emergency preparedness retailers. I like to keep several cans of canned milk on our pantry shelves for when I put together a quick casserole. They are usually found on sale during the holidays.
"What To Do If You’re Trapped In Your Car"--Urban Survival Guide. Some advice if you find yourself stuck in your car for a long period of time, such as getting stuck in a major traffic jam or caught in a blizzard that strands you on the road.
"21 Famous Survival Experts You Should Know"--Modern Survival Online. Some on the list are of historical interest because of their incredible survival stories, but most are (or should be familiar) because of their television series, YouTube channels, and/or books.
The article "If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? Turns out it’s just chance." from MIT Technology Review reports on research using modeling to figure why wealthy people can get so wealthy and others do not fare so well. It turns out, according to the study, that it has much more to do with luck than talent:
... When the team rank individuals [in their simulation] by wealth, the distribution is exactly like that seen in real-world societies. “The ‘80-20’ rule is respected, since 80 percent of the population owns only 20 percent of the total capital, while the remaining 20 percent owns 80 percent of the same capital,” report Pluchino and co.
That may not be surprising or unfair if the wealthiest 20 percent turn out to be the most talented. But that isn’t what happens. The wealthiest individuals are typically not the most talented or anywhere near it. “The maximum success never coincides with the maximum talent, and vice-versa,” say the researchers.
So if not talent, what other factor causes this skewed wealth distribution? “Our simulation clearly shows that such a factor is just pure luck,” say Pluchino and co.
The team shows this by ranking individuals according to the number of lucky and unlucky events they experience throughout their 40-year careers. “It is evident that the most successful individuals are also the luckiest ones,” they say. “And the less successful individuals are also the unluckiest ones.”
I suppose it starts with whether you were lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family.
I recently wrote about Rich Lowry--a political columnist at the New York Post--and his attempt to write off the Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty as nothing more than a conspiracy theory. I discussed the facts of the attack, but in "America First Is Not Hatred—It’s Stewardship", Virgil Walker discusses the larger significance of the attack for us today. Commenting about how the issue blew up at a Turning Point USA event. Walker writes:
The first serious challenge bypassed the personality drama
altogether and went straight to the core dispute. Shapiro was asked
about Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty—a moment that forces a question many try to forbid: Are American lives and American interests ever allowed to come first?
That
question was not accidental. It did not arise from gossip or internet
theatrics. It came from someone who understood the real conflict at
hand.
And before the predictable smear is deployed, let’s be
clear: this argument is not ethnic, and it is not religious. It is
civic. It is moral. It asks whether any foreign nation has the right to
demand American money, American silence, and American sacrifice without
question. Labeling that inquiry “antisemitism” is not a rebuttal. It is
an attempt to shut down debate.
That moment on stage was not a
detour. It was a signal. Beneath the noise, the movement has moved past
personality drama. It is now interrogating moral obligation.
He continues:
At the center of this divide are two competing frameworks.
One side holds to an America First position. It maintains that a government’s primary responsibility is to its own citizens, its own borders, its own cohesion, and its own future. This view does not deny alliances or shared interests. It simply insists that stewardship begins at home.
The other side treats certain foreign obligations as unquestionable. In practice, restraint is framed as betrayal. Prudence becomes moral failure. Even asking where the line exists is treated as suspect.
This is why the exchange felt so tense. This was not a policy disagreement. It was a collision between ordered responsibility and absolute obligation.
First up are a few articles on weapon mounted lights (WMLs). "Pistol Light Switchology" discusses some of the different switches offered by the top WML manufacturers. A second article, "Weapon Mounted Lights And Concealed Carry" examines the history of WMLs on handguns and that the shrinking size has made it inevitable that they will be more widely adopted on small concealed carry size handguns. But the author still maintains that "a handheld light is still the most useful light for most people." The third of the WML articles is "Weapon Light Tactics" which goes over using the light with either a handgun or long arm. If you only read one, I would suggest reading this last one.
An article from Armory Life on concealed carry at work. The author discusses the topic from the perspective of dressing in business casual (generally slacks and a polo style shirt or similar) and goes over a few methods he has used: pocket carry of a small .380, the PHLSter Enigma, and is now considering off body carry in a waist pack or sling bag.
A video going over some concealed carry options for people with large guts, a topic that seems to receive little discussion from gun writers. However, while the video has good tips for AIWB carry, it does not discuss other carry options.
A lengthy article on the history of the Fairbairn-Sykes and KA-BAR knifes, and the circumstances and philosophy behind both knives. If you like weapon history or combat knives, you will appreciate this article.
A couple articles on the pros and cons of DA/SA pistols:
The two primary objections that the authors have for the handguns are: (i) The long reach for the trigger on the first (double-action) shot which can make the firearms difficult to use for people with smaller hands/shorter forefingers; and (ii) that because of the different trigger weights between the DA and SA shots, most people simply "cheat" during practice or competition by not shooting the weapon DA. I like DA/SA pistols for several reasons, so I'm not sharing these articles in order to bash on the designs, but just that they might not be for everyone.
Spy thrillers and superhero movies alike rely on an endless stream of supervillains with grandiose schemes to kill off half the world (or half the universe, if you are Marvel). Something like this: "The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming" from Politico. This is seriously scary stuff: an Israeli company backed by some of the wealthiest people in the world want to release particles into the atmosphere that would block out sunlight to reduce global temperatures. And they have developed the technology to do it. What could go wrong? We don't have to guess because we have several historical accounts of volcanic explosions that forced enough gases or particles into the upper atmosphere to do the same thing, leading to widespread droughts in some areas and heavy rains in others, devastating drops in crop production, and outbreaks of deadly pandemics, things like cholera and aggressive forms of bubonic plague.
The Politico article begins:
Janos Pasztor was conflicted. Sitting in his home office in a village just outside Geneva, he stared into the screen of his computer, where a bizarre Zoom call was taking place. It was Jan. 31, 2024. The chief executive of an Israeli-U.S. startup, to whom Pasztor had only just been introduced, was telling him the company had developed a special reflective particle and the technology to release millions of tons of it high into the atmosphere. The intended effect: to dim the light of the sun across the world and throw global warming into reverse. The CEO wanted Pasztor, a former senior United Nations climate official, to help. The company called itself Stardust Solutions.
Pasztor, a deliberate and self-assured Hungarian with thick, arched eyebrows that give him the appearance of a mildly perturbed owl, was stunned by the seriousness of Stardust’s operation. He had long been expecting that some company would try this. But the emergence of a well-financed, highly credentialed group represented a shocking acceleration for a technology still largely confined to research papers, backyard debates and science fiction novels.
The Stardust CEO, Yanai Yedvab, was a nuclear physicist who was once deputy chief scientist at the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, and he jumped straight to the point. He wanted Pasztor to advise him on how to build public credibility, which would be necessary to land the government contracts for sunlight reflection that the company and its investors were banking on. The CEO appeared keenly aware that Stardust had the potential for the kind of public image problems normally reserved for James Bond villains. Those challenges were likely not made easier by picking a company name that echoed Star Wars’ “Project Stardust” — the codename the bad guys in the Galactic Empire used for the Death Star, a weapon designed to destroy entire worlds.
Pasztor initially helped the Company because he had drank the global warming Kool-Aid, but he is now troubled: "Apart from a link to his report on Stardust’s homepage, there was little public indication that they were taking his recommendations for transparency seriously. The company had not published a code of conduct it had agreed on with Pasztor and had told him it would release." The Company has secured tens of millions in funds from investors: Silicon Valley luminaries and an Italian industrial dynasty. But it remains secretive.
Here is what the article says about the project:
Stardust claims to have developed a system that can replicate and maintain the global cooling effects of a volcanic eruption, without all the lava and sulfur. The mechanics would be quite simple. Stardust envisages a fleet of around 100 planes — to begin with — flying into the stratosphere to deliver payloads of their particles, landing to reload, then immediately taking off again to repeat, continuously, every flight a tiny volcanic cough. Researchers, including Visioni, found last year that the most efficient way to achieve a steady, uniform decline in the global temperature would be to spread the particles from the regions just north and south of the tropics. That means launching from at least two places, for example Florida and southern Brazil. The particles would then spread around the globe producing a gradual, uniform decline in the global temperature, before eventually dropping out of the sky after around a year, according to Stardust, and needing to be replaced. The particles would reflect a very small proportion of sunlight back into space, but enough to cool the Earth.
The Politico article is not completely ignorant of what such a cooling project could entail. It relates:
In June 1783, a 16-mile volcanic fissure blew open the southern side of Iceland. “First the ground swelled up with tremendous howling, then suddenly a cry shattered it into pieces ... exposing [the Earth’s] guts, like an animal tearing apart its prey,” recalled Jón SteingrÃmsson, a local pastor. He survived the ordeal to write an account that was published long after his death. It remains one of his country’s earliest and most important autobiographical works.
For the next eight months, lava spewed from the earth. The sun was hidden by ash and smoke. One in five Icelanders died in the aftermath. SteingrÃmsson himself only escaped by good luck — or perhaps something more divine. One terrible day, a great wave of lava swept toward his church and village. The pastor gathered his congregation and delivered a sermon of such mighty power and devotion that, it was said, God himself diverted the course of the fire.
As the eruption went on, sunlight grew dimmer far beyond Iceland’s shores. The Laki eruption, as it would come to be known, had sent 122 million metric tons of sulfur into the sky. Much of it would reach the stratosphere, the placid layer of the atmosphere that begins between 4 and 12 miles above the Earth’s surface. Those particles drifted on barometric currents around the Northern Hemisphere, wreaking havoc on the world’s weather. China and Egypt were hit by drought, then famine. In North America and Europe, winter was exceptionally brutal. In February, the Mississippi River froze down to New Orleans. Ice floes were seen bobbing into the subtropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
But the Laki eruption is a best case scenario involving only the cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. What about global cooling? The 1815 Mount Tambora eruption, although in the Southern Hemisphere, caused extreme cooling in the Northern Hemisphere producing what was called "the year without a summer." I've written about the Tambora eruption before and its ecological consequences. Quoting from the Wikipedia article at the time:
The 1815 eruption released sulfur into the stratosphere, causing a global climate anomaly. Different methods have estimated the ejected sulfur mass during the eruption: the petrological method; an optical depth measurement based on anatomical observations; and the polar ice core sulfate concentration method, using cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The figures vary depending on the method, ranging from 10E6 to 120E6 tonnes (11,000,000 to 130,000,000 short tons).
In the spring and summer of 1815, a persistent dry fog was observed in the northeastern United States. The fog reddened and dimmed the sunlight, such that sunspots were visible to the naked eye. Neither wind nor rainfall dispersed the "fog". It was identified as a stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil. In summer 1816, countries in the Northern Hemisphere suffered extreme weather conditions, dubbed the Year Without a Summer. Average global temperatures decreased about 0.4–0.7 °C (0.7–1.3 °F), enough to cause significant agricultural problems around the globe. On 4 June 1816, frosts were reported in Connecticut, and by the following day, most of New England was gripped by the cold front. On 6 June 1816, snow fell in Albany, New York, and Dennysville, Maine. Such conditions occurred for at least three months and ruined most agricultural crops in North America. Canada experienced extreme cold during that summer. Snow 30 cm (12 in) deep accumulated near Quebec City from 6 to 10 June 1816.
1816 was the second coldest year in the northern hemisphere since 1400 CE, after 1601 following the 1600 Huaynaputina eruption in Peru. The 1810s are the coldest decade on record, a result of Tambora's 1815 eruption and other suspected eruptions somewhere between 1809 and 1810 (see sulfate concentration figure from ice core data). The surface temperature anomalies during the summer of 1816, 1817 and 1818 were −0.51 °C (−0.918 °F), −0.44 °C (−0.792 °F) and −0.29 °C (−0.522 °F), respectively. As well as a cooler summer, parts of Europe experienced a stormier winter.
This pattern of climate anomaly has been blamed for the severity of typhus epidemic in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean between 1816 and 1819. The climate changes disrupted Indian monsoons causing three failed harvests and famine contributing to worldwide spread of a new strain of cholera originating in Bengal in 1816. Much livestock died in New England during the winter of 1816–1817. Cool temperatures and heavy rains resulted in failed harvests in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Families in Wales traveled long distances as refugees, begging for food. Famine was prevalent in north and southwest Ireland, following the failure of wheat, oat and potato harvests. The crisis was severe in Germany, where food prices rose sharply. Due to the unknown cause of the problems, demonstrations in front of grain markets and bakeries, followed by riots, arson and looting, took place in many European cities. It was the worst famine of the 19th century.
In "The Deadliest Volcanic Eruption in History," the author mentions that roughly 100,000 people died in the immediate aftermath of the explosion--basically the people that were close enough to be directly impacted by the blast and ash fall. But the climatic impact killed millions more.
But far more died over the next several years, due to secondary effects that spread all over the globe, says Gillen D’Arcy Wood, author of Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World.
“What happened after Tambora is that there was three years of climate change,” he says. “The world got colder, and the weather systems changed completely for three years. And so you had widespread crop failure and starvation all from Asia to the United States to Europe.”
[snip]
It’s difficult to know how many people died because of starvation conditions, but “the death toll is probably about a million people, at least, in the years afterwards,” Wood says. “If you want to include the fact that Tambora unleashed a global pandemic of cholera … then the death toll goes into tens of millions.”
Cholera already existed before the eruption, but the colder temperatures caused by Tambora’s eruption led to the development of a new strain in the Bay of Bengal. Fewer people had immunity to this new strain of cholera, which then spread throughout the world.
Keep the disease aspect in mind, because we will see this as a recurrent theme.
What exactly did the first 18 months of darkness look like? The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that “the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year.” He also wrote that it seemed like the sun was constantly in eclipse; and that during this time, “men were free neither from war nor pestilence nor any other thing leading to death.”
Accounts like these weren’t taken very seriously until the 1990s, says Michael McCormick, a history professor at Harvard University and co-author of the Antiquity paper. That decade, researchers examined tree rings in Ireland and found that something weird did happen around 536. Summers in Europe and Asia became 35°F to 37°F colder, with China even reporting summer snow. This Late Antique Little Ice Age, as it’s known, came about when volcanic ash blocked out the sun.
“It was a pretty drastic change; it happened overnight,” McCormick says. “The ancient witnesses really were onto something. They were not being hysterical or imagining the end of the world.”
With this realization, accounts of 536 become newly horrifying. “We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon,” wrote Cassiodorus, a Roman politician. He also wrote that the sun had a “bluish” color, the moon had lost its luster and the “seasons seem to be all jumbled up together.”
The effects of the 536 eruption were compounded by eruptions in 540 and 547, and it took a long time for the Northern Hemisphere to recover. “The Late Antique Little Ice Age that began in the spring of 536 lasted in western Europe until about 660, and it lasted until about 680 in Central Asia,” McCormick says.
"It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," McCormick told Science.
This period of cold and starvation caused economic stagnation in Europe that intensified in 541 when the first bubonic plague broke out. The plague killed between one-third and one-half of the population in the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
If the Eruption of Krakatoa was in 535 AD, then the first ever appearance of the Bubonic Plague in Europe in 542 AD is believed to be directly related to it.
The Monk Evagrius wrote a chronicle of the occurrence in Constantinople of an awful, until then unknown disease which over a frighteningly short period of time killed over 250,000 of the city’s inhabitants, until alas one stopped counting the dead.
It was the arrival of a disease which should wreak havoc on Europe for centuries to come. Evagrius believed the illness to have come from Ethiopia. Modern scientists believe this a distinct possibility, as such illnesses incubate in the area of the great lakes of Africa.
The inclination to seek new sources for fresh blood of the flea which spreads the disease increase enormously once the temperature drops below a certain point (the flea’s gut gets blocked and it desperately seeks blood as its own intestines starve it to death).
It is therefore believed that once Krakatoa erupted, the Plague spread at phenomenal speed in the area of the great lakes in Africa.
The plague did not just stop with the Eastern Roman Empire but spread along all its trade routes including eventually to Western England where it devastated the Celts who were struggling against an Anglo-Saxon invasion.
There were other knock on effects. The tribal horse warriors known as the Avars dominated the steps of Mongolia. But the cooler weather reduced the food available to the horses on which they depended. Consequently, they Turkish peoples they had long dominated were able to deliver a resounding defeat against the Avars who fled westward toward Europe where they would eventually stop in Hungary and take up raids against the Byzantine Empire, including ruinous yearly tributes of gold to not carry their raids. And it is believed that the weakening of city states in southern Yemen set the stage for Medina to rise in power and influence and, ultimately, to spawn Islam. For a more detailed look at all of this, watch the video at the bottom of this post.
So when people like Stardust CEO, Yanai Yedvab, and his investors suggest lowering global temperature, keep in mind that they aren't just calling for declining temperature but also the devastating famines, diseases, social and political upheaval that will follow.
I saw this at the Independent this morning: "Netflix has a Stranger Things problem." And that problem is that with the series finale coming in a few days, one of the major draws offered by Netflix is going away. As the author so adeptly says: "For fans, it’s a sad farewell. For Netflix, it must be like staring down the length of a sheer cliff face."
Significantly, Stranger Things is also one of the few Netflix series to have actually increased its audience on a season-by-season basis. Recently, this is something the streamer has struggled with: the first seasons of shows such as the Korean thriller Squid Game or the Addams family adaptation Wednesday rank among the most widely seen TV programmes of the decade, but both experienced so-called “second season syndrome”, in which they saw a marked decline – in audience figures and overall enthusiasm – when they returned for seconds. Some of Netflix’s other big recent hits have essentially been one-and-dones: the British miniseries Adolescence and Baby Reindeer were hugely popular, but both were short and self-contained stories.
But the article emphasizes one of the problems that Netflix and other streamers have when it comes to programming: "It’s been over nine years since the first series of Stranger Things came out [in 2016], and an interminable three-and-a-half-year wait since the end of its fourth[.]" Nine years to produce 5 seasons with a 3-1/2 year gap between the 4th and 5th seasons. People are willing to wait a year from the start of one season to the next, but beyond that interest dies off. People forget about it. The actors age out of the roles. I'm not sure how Stranger Things bucked that trend, but it should be viewed as a anomaly: something audiences enjoyed enough that they were willing to wait long periods between seasons.
Other ways that Netflix fails have been from messing with what made the show or IP popular in the first place. Wednesday was supposed to be the titular character's adventures while away at a boarding school, but the second season brought the whole family along (besides the long gap between seasons). It was no longer Wednesday but The Adams Family rebooted. Cowboy BeBop could have been a hit--it was based on a popular Japanese animated scifi/western series and all they had to do was translate it to live action. But they instead decided to mess with the secret sauce in the name of diversity and just because they could, and ended up with a show that die hard fans hated. And with that kind of word-of-mouth advertising, it was doomed to failure.
Lockwood & Co. was a supernatural thriller based on a popular teen series, that was popular on Netflix. But as Leila Latif of The Guardian wrote: "Lockwood and Co is a delight, with a level of intelligence and respect for its source material, its characters and its audience." Thus, it was cancelled.
Wednesday, earlier this year, and Stranger Things, now, were the primary reason my family was hanging on to Netflix. But with Stranger Things ending and the second season of Wednesday being so disappointing, we plan on cancelling Netflix shortly.
The producer of this video has a monologue that starts off in Old English of approximately 450 AD and then changes slightly every couple sentences or so to transition slowly through the intervening years until reaching modern American English (although it still sounds a bit off because of the author's accent). I wonder if he decided to end with American English because it has had less drift in the past 200 years than British English.
The quiz is: when can you start to understand what is being said? The first word that I was pretty sure about was "chicken" in about 800 AD, and then I started picking out more words in the 1000 or 1100 period (which makes sense since that was the period of the Normal invasion); but, for me, it was really wasn't until about 1600 that I felt I could pretty much understand everything being said. He has the monologue without subtitles and translation at the beginning of the video, then has some discussion, and then the monologue again but with subtitles toward the end of the video. Give it shot and see how well you do.
Merry Christmas to everyone. To keep in the mood of celebrating the birth of Christ, here is a video that discusses the probable origin of the magi that came to see the young Christ and provide him with gifts.
For elements of the anti-Israel right, it’s a time when everything old is becoming new again.
So a half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War now has renewed currency.
[snip]
The fact is that the devastating Israeli attack on the Liberty, which killed 34 American service members and wounded 171, was a woeful case of mistaken identification.
On the morning of June 8th, the Liberty reached its position 13 miles off the shore of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. During this morning, multiple Israeli reconnaissance planes flew over the Liberty. The first of these flyovers occurred at approximately 6 AM when an Israeli naval pilot relayed to the Israeli naval command that he believed he spotted a “U.S. Navy cargo type ship” with a GRT-5 designation. Israeli Naval command would later confirm that this ship was indeed an American, and they would conduct seven more flyovers before the attack at approximately 1400.
And (footnotes omitted):
In 2006, the Chicago Tribune released an article discussing the recordings of an EC-121 spy plane that was over the Liberty during her attack. The EC-121 spy plane recorded multiple Israeli messages proving that Israeli pilots knew the Liberty’s nationality. Additionally, analysts aboard the EC-121 also overheard the Israeli torpedo boats mention an American flag. The recordings obtained on the EC-121 directly contradict Israeli claims that a flag was not present on Liberty. While the National Security Agency would release three of these tapes that occurred after the attack, officials and analysts aboard the plane believe that more tapes exist that were captured during the attack. Michael Prostinak, a Hebrew linguist aboard a U.S. Navy EC-121, spoke of these tapes and said, “I can tell you there were more tapes than just the three on the Internet.”
The Liberty was built off of a converted freighter and was unarmed but for four .50 caliber machine guns--it obviously was not a destroyer nor capable of shelling targets in the Sinai, the reason Israel later gave for targeting the ship. It was flying an American flag and in international waters. Identification letters and numbering were clearly visible as the account above relates.
Moreover, as the paper cited above relates (footnotes omitted):
Multiple senior government officials at the time of the attack would share the survivor’s sentiments of a deliberate Israeli attack, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, C.I.A. Director Richard Helms, and counsel to President Johnson Clark Clifford. All three would later state in their memoirs that they believed the attack was deliberate and details were left out of the official narratives.
While we do not know the motive for the attack, "[m]any of the survivors of the attack and officials, including Adm. Moorer, believe that Israel planned to sink the Liberty, blame Egypt, and draw the U.S. into the Six-Day War." Which would probably explain why the communication antennae were targeted first.
Just another reminder that you have to be aware of the people around you, especially if they do not "belong". Too many homeless suffer from mental illness and, for that reason, should be avoided. I don't know if there is much this woman could have done once the attack started, but if she had noticed him before he initiated the attack, she could have moved away from him, made ready to draw a weapon (if she had one), or even left the store.
Even besides the missing signatures, Cross found multiple other red flags in the records he reviewed. “We found identical protective counters across several different polling places, polls that were opened eight days late, polls closed at impossibly late hours, like 2:09 a.m. in the morning, and poll closing times that do not match the tapes,” he listed. “We found duplicated scanner serial numbers where the memory devices were removed from one scanner and printed on an alternate scanner.”
To these challenges, Ann Brumbaugh, attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, effectively pleaded “no contest.”
“I’ve not seen the tapes myself,” she responded, “but we do not dispute that the tapes were not signed. It was a violation of the rule. … We don’t dispute the allegation from the 2020 election.”
When Cross presented his findings to the SEB, even more irregularities came to light. “I tried to match it up, the opening and the closing [tapes] together, and I couldn’t find it,” said SEB Vice Chair Janice Johnston. “It’s not there. So, I go back to the report, and I read the report. And the investigator says, we asked for all of the opening and closing tapes, and the county reported back, ‘This is all they have,’ which is woefully incomplete.”
Georgia’s election regulations require each polling location to produce two transcription tapes, one before polls open and the other after they close. The first tape verifies that the polling machines started at a ballot count of zero (meaning any data from a previous election or sample data from a test had been erased). The second tape includes the final count of ballots cast, as well as the tally of the votes. Georgia requires each tape to be certified by the signatures of three poll workers.
I will admit that I'm interested in sling bags--the urban bags with a diagonal carry strap that go from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Many of the small ones are designed to carry the cargo compartment on the front of the body where it is more accessible for small items (wallets, key, phones) but providing more security than other types of bags (particularly, for women, better security than a purse).
My wife bought one several months ago to use on a trip where she was doing a lot of walking around but I think the particular model she picked wound up being too bulky for her tastes. It is large enough that it probably one that you would want to carry in a position where it was carried over your back instead of to your front. The bag incorporated a pocket for carrying a concealed weapon, in that it had zippers on both sides of the compartment so it was accessible no matter how you carried it, and it was lined with the loop fabric used in hook and loop fasteners systems. I tried to set it up for concealed carry, but the holster that came with it did not have enough coverage of the loop fasteners to (in my opinion) keep it sufficient secured. In addition, the retention strap was set up like a regular thumb break strap (but with Velcro) so it wasn't quick to use. The short take was that I wound up not using it--I think, at a minimum, I need a better holster than the one provided with the bag. But I'm still interested in the concept.
Option Gray has a couple articles on using sling bags for concealed carry and/or a basic get home bag:
"Urban Nomad: The Story of Survival with Sling Bags." This is a fictionalized article about "Alex" and why and how he uses a sling bag as an urban survival bag, explaining advantages over other types of bags, not the least being: "The sling bag’s versatile style was perfect. It avoided the tactical, military look that could attract suspicion. Instead, it whispered adaptability, allowing Alex to blend into any environment effortlessly." And, "[i]t contained a first aid kit, a multitool, and hidden compartments for valuables. Everyday carry items balanced functionality with discretion, including a water filter, compact flashlight, and small food supplies." The bulk of the article goes into the advantages of sling bags, recommendations as to types of materials and other features.
A sling bag is a little more specialized than your normal messenger
bag or backpack. First, it only has one strap. The advantages of this
will become apparent in a little bit. Second, they tend to be smaller
and therefore carry less gear. As you will use this bag for carrying
your firearm, you don’t want it loaded down. Your bug out bag (BOB) has a different purpose. Keep the two separate.
Since sling bags only have one strap, that shoulder supports the entire load. You will want this bag light. Pack it like your BOB and you’ll regret it quickly.
The single strap is also the source of its speed. With the dual
straps of a regular backpack, you end up in one of two scenarios. In the
first, you have shouldered both straps and you need to drop one (or
both) to access your gun. In the second, you have one strap, usually
over your strong shoulder and you have to drop the bag to access your
gun.
With a sling bag, you simply rotate the bag around your body and
bring it to bear over your chest. As there is one strap and it’s already
in position. You need only pull the base of the bag around to get it
into position.
After going over what to pack into a bag, the author also discusses a few sling bags he likes. I will note that these are larger than what you probably think of as a sling bag--they are essentially the size of small to medium size day packs--because they are sized to carry a laptop or notebook computer. One point that caught my attention, however, is that these bags allow you to carry the core essentials of a trauma kit, something that most standard concealed carry setups won't allow.
Sling bags are obviously popular for concealed carry. In trying to find some other articles on the topics, a basic Google search for "sling bangs for concealed carry" resulted in pages of results of bags being sold for concealed carry, but very little in way of articles. Most of the discussion seems limited to forums. However, I will point out this article from Premier Body Armor: "How Can a Sling Bag Enhance Your Concealed Carry Strategy?"
In 2019, when schools, corporations, politicians, and many others were partaking in their performative (and utterly embarrassing) “racial reckoning” overtures, the University of Washington adopted a policy recommending professors put a “land acknowledgment” on their course syllabi.
“Land acknowledgments” are meant to falsely state that, in actuality, Europeans did not build any of the United States of America, and that the land is still owned by the American Indian tribes that were once there.
The school even offered model language: “The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.”
[snip]
“I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington,” Reges’ 2022 version of the statement in his syllabus read.
Faculty, staff, and students went into a frenzy of despair over Reges’ statement, with some administrators calling it “offensive” and others whining on social media.
Besides, those tribes stole those lands from yet earlier, and undoubtedly more deserving, tribes. By their own logic, they are not the rightful owners of the land either.
Die Hard is one of the most popular Christmas movies made, so it is only fitting that a Christmas song be made in its honor. John Wilder presents us with "Die Ho Ho Ho - A Christmas Carol". Follow the link and play the song.
I tried finding this video on the appropriate streaming service as it was a favorite from when I was a kid, but it was not listed. If you don't remember, this pits Donald against his three nephews in an epic snow ball and snow fort fight. I was able to track it down on YouTube, so enjoy (while it is still up):
This video gives an overview of the history of the AR-16 and also does a field strip you can see how it works. It is another .308 rifle, like the AR-10 before it, but with changes due to Armalite having sold the rights to the direct impingement system used in the AR-10 and AR-15, and to make the weapon easier and less expensive for non-industrialized countries to produce. Just as the AR-10 was shrunk to become the AR-15, the AR-16 was shrunk to become the AR-18.
'For many children, the story of Santa Claus is as much a part of Christmas as gifts and Christmas dinner,' the post said.
'But the tale of a white, Western Santa who judges all children's behaviour has problems.'
Museum chiefs went further, questioning Santa's right to assess children across different cultures and traditions.
'As he visits each nation he determines if the children deserve presents based on being 'naughty' or 'nice',' the blog added.
'But who decided Santa should be the judge of children's behaviour in every community? How can he assess, for example, Indigenous children practising their own cultural traditions?
Detectives in Baltimore watched on security video last summer as an argument inside a convenience store spilled into the parking lot and gunshots erupted at a sedan speeding away. They quickly recognized one of the shooters: He had been shot himself two days earlier.
Officers soon found a handgun under his bed, one of them wrote in a court filing. Because the man was a felon, merely having the weapon could be a serious federal crime – precisely the sort of case federal authorities long made a staple in their efforts to combat violent crime in one of the United States’ most dangerous cities.
But federal authorities did not charge him. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore declined to comment on the case.
The article goes on to insinuate that the reason for a lack of a federal prosecution is that federal prosecutors are turning their attention to immigrant related crime. But so what? The federal government was never intended to exercise general police powers or handle local criminal matters. Besides, as the article points out in its last couple of paragraphs, Baltimore Police have significantly increased the number of arrests they have been making for felony possession of firearms. Perhaps the dimwits at Reuters should instead ask why the Maryland courts are letting violent criminals back onto the streets so quickly.
Also, a hint for the Reuters' dimwits: a drop of 10% in federal prosecutions of gun crimes is not "everything being swallowed up by immigration enforcement." Learn some basic arithmetic and be less credulous of Democrat hacks.
Occasionally in old Christmas songs and stories you get a hint that Christmas time was once a popular time for telling spooky ghost stories. This video goes over the history of this tradition--how it became a tradition and why it eventually faded away, with Halloween eventually replacing Christmas as the "spooky" holiday.
Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this article were purchased by myself. I did not receive free samples, evaluation models, or other compensation from any manufacturer or retailer. I have no formal relationship with any manufacturer or retailer mentioned in this article - I have only been an arms-length customer. All brand names and product names used in this review are the trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Further, this article reflects my unique circumstances and subjective opinions with regard to performance and other characteristics of the products discussed. Your mileage may vary.
The NexTool is the size of a credit card.
A few weeks ago, I saw a short YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRtjAwL1Upc) review of the NexTool (https://nextoolstore.com/) credit card sized multitool. It was described as a "Wallet Multi Tool." Folded, it was shown to be roughly the dimensions of a credit card, and in the video it appeared to be fairly thin.
I'm a sucker for an interesting multitool design, so I ordered one from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DN1HJ2SK). It cost $35 and shipped from Amazon, with delivery taking a couple of weeks.
Folded, the multitool is 51.7 millimeters (2.0 inches) wide and 85.1 millimeters (3.4 inches) long. It weights approximately 94 grams (3.3 ounces). And, it comes with a fake leather pouch in which to store the multitool if desired.
The NexTool on top of its pouch,unfolded to show the various tools.
The various tools in the multitool consist of:
Pliars
Wire cutter
Wire crimper (back side of the pliar jaws)
Straight and Phillips screw drivers
Hex nut wrenches in 3, 4, 5.5, 6, 7, and 8 millimeters
Bicycle spoke wrench
Bottle opener
Wire stripper
Box opener
Scraper
5 centimeter ruler
Knife
The knife looks like it has a tanto blade, but the kissaki (angled tip) of the blade is dull. It is already beveled and could be sharpened if desired. The knife edge itself arrived fairly dull. The blade does not lock in the open position.
The other blade, from which the spoke wrench, bottle opener, wire stripper, box cutter, scraper, and ruler is formed, uses a liner-lock style mechanism to lock it open.
The two screwdriver tips are formed on the corners of the members forming the handles when the multitool is closed. They are better than nothing, but are far less functional than the screwdrivers found on a traditional multitool.
The multitool ended up being thicker than anticipated, with the various hinges and pivots being the thickest elements of its construction. The main pivot for the plier jaws was 7 millimeters (0.28 inches) thick. The plier jaws themselves are 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) thick.
Conceptually, the Nextool multitool is a great idea, but poorly executed. I really wanted to like this multitool, but the thick hinges and pivots were a serious design deficiency for something that is supposed to be thin. The next significant deficiency was that the knife blade does not lock open. Another deficiency was the underwhelming screwdriver implementation.
It seems to me that this multitool is a niche product for those who may have specialized requirements for a small lightweight thin-ish multitool.
The NexTool multitool is definitely unique, but unless you have a specific need for a multitool like this, I'd give it a pass.
My youngest son is reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time, while I've been listening to an audio-book version during my work commutes. And our conversation this weekend drifted into discussing the books and then to the more specific question of what Tolkien meant by "orc" and whether it was synonymous with "goblin". I found an article, "Orcs Before Tolkien," that not only addresses possible origins of the word or term orc, but what I supposed is Tolkien's definitive statement of what he meant by the word:
In a note prefixed to later editions of The Hobbit, Tolkien clarified slightly (and confirmed that The Hobbit’s goblins and The Lord of the Rings’ Orcs were the same species):
“Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds). Orc is the hobbits’ form of the name given at that time to these creatures, and it is not connected at all with our orc, ork, applied to sea-animals of dolphin-kind.”
Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:
".223 Remington"--Terminal Ballistics Research. Terminal Ballistics Research has many articles that examine the efficacy of different calibers for hunting based on the author's real word experience. The article begins by going over the history of the cartridge, its performance as a hunting cartridge, and comments about factory loads and hand loads. An excerpt:
As a varmint or target shooting cartridge, the .223 is an outstanding performer, inexpensive and capable of great accuracy. As a medium game cartridge, the .223 is under powered if fast killing is to be expected with ordinary chest shots.
There are however some exceptions to this general rule, though each has its caveats. Some years ago, I discovered that certain heavy weight match bullets can produce relatively good results on some species of medium game. But not all match bullets are equal and one must be mindful of poor downrange energy, limiting the effective range to about 300 yards. One must also have a suitable twist rate to launch these projectiles. I also discovered, many years ago, that tumbling FMJ ammunition had the potential to change the performance of this cartridge on medium game.
A tumbling 55 grain bullet can produce violent, fast killing wounds on lighter medium game along with large exit wounds as wide as 3”. When full metal jacket ammunition tumbles, the bullet very gradually falls to pieces due to the unsealed base of the bullet allowing jacket core separation. Because the process is gradual, wounding occurs through vitals and bone, rather than on impact resulting in adequate penetration for all but tail on shots on medium game.
As with match loads, FMJ ammunition has its caveats. Such performance tends to be unpredictable. The twist rate also in this case, needs to be so slow that the bullet is near the point of poor accuracy. I cannot therefore recommend such a load as being ethical.
"Germany Selects the CZ P-10 C as Their New Service Pistol - the P13"--The Firearm Blog. "The P13 will replace the P8A1, the Heckler & Koch USP, which entered service in 1994," the article reports. If you are not familiar with the weapon--I wasn't--"[t]he P-10C is a striker-fired, short recoil, tilting barrel actioned service pistol, chambered in 9x19 with a standard magazine capacity of 15 rounds."
"Trigger Press Casualty"--Tactical
Professor. Commenting on an incident where a shooter accidentally shot
himself in the hand when clearing a Glock, the author writes:
When
clearing your pistol at the range, take a sight picture on some
particular target and observe what the sights do when you press the
trigger. When you have to press the trigger to disassemble the pistol,
aim at something that will involve the least amount of “damage to
property and/or injury to personnel.” Aim at a door frame or something
else solid that is more likely to stop a bullet than an interior wall
made of Sheetrock.
[snip]
Establishing
grip and taking a sight picture even when you don’t expect the pistol
to fire reinforces good marksmanship principles and mitigates safety
risks simultaneously. It’s a total WIN WIN.
"Rifles: Building a Rifle from a Kit"--Shooting Illustrated. The author puts a pretty positive spin on building a rifle from a parts kit. I have built several. Building an AR is pretty simple and does not require much in specialized tools. Others take more specialized tools and jigs to do a good job that can cost quit a bit on their own, although sometimes you can rent the equipment rather than having to buy it. If you are building an AK you will want to visit the AK-Builder website for tools and jigs and small parts (although they don't seem to be carrying any rivet jaws for bolt cutters). One thing I would caution you about though is the availability of receivers. Many times if you can find a good deal on a parts kit, it probably means that commercial receivers are not available for sale. Sometimes you can find receiver flats (the equivalent of an 80% receiver for rifles that use stamped steel receivers) but they will take a hydraulic press and jigs to properly fold them, and generally a bit of welding for rails or other bits. He also adds that "If we were to go strictly by the number of options on the market, we could conclude that the age of the kit rifle is at hand." That isn't really true. The age of the kit rifle was about 20 to 25 years ago when you could go to any gun show and pick up a Romanian AK kit for $70 or FAL parts kits for $200. AK kits now typically sell for several hundred dollars and FAL part kits are no where to be found. I'm not saying to not do it, but it has a steep learning curve, can be expensive if you have to buy the tools, and can be very frustrating.
"The Rimfire Report: Remington's "Ranch Hand" 40 gr CPRN"--The Firearm Blog. Short take: "For better or worse, Ranch Hand seems like it is basically just a Remington equivalent of CCI Mini-Mag 40 gr Round Nose, which we have yet to cover here on Rimfire Report." The author thought that the standard deviation in velocity was too large for the ammo to be considered "good". Also:
I was able to get some decent groups out of the ammo, but given its slightly wider standard deviation, this definitely isn’t a contender for a high velocity match ammo. Those outliers that make up the extreme spread are likely responsible for some of those fliers.
But he thought it good enough for hunting small game.
I wouldn’t necessarily run it in a bolt action, as I saw roughly equivalent accuracy out of my 11/22 takedown, even while using just a red dot. I think for its job description, it’ll probably find itself best suited to semi-automatic guns, possibly used by ranch hands.
"The Lion and the Risk-Takers"--Active Response Training. This is a guest post from Doug Deaton "a retired Texas police officer who now works as an expert witness in use of force court cases." He describes a dream of a lion being harassed by small mammals where the lion occasionally catches and eats one of the small animals without mercy or concern.
The lion in this dream is not evil or vindictive. It is not driven by anger or cruelty. It operates according to its nature. Overwhelming power that does not negotiate or reconsider once it is engaged.
For private citizens in the self-defense world, the lion represents the criminal justice system after a shooting or serious use of force incident draws its full attention. Jailers taking your book-in photo. Prosecutors building a case. Judges enforcing procedure. Juries forming their own narratives. An impersonal, methodical system that becomes largely indifferent to individual intent once momentum takes hold.
The lion does not care how articulate your explanation is, or how sorry you are.
And, the small mammals "represent armed citizens who take unnecessary risks. People who intervene in volatile situations that don’t involve them. People who knowingly enter environments where violence is probable. Those who willingly initiate conflicts with strangers."
At first glance the OMSsc (Open Mini Sight subcompact) stands out for two reasons: First, it has a translucent clear acrylic top, a feature that Shield Sights is quite proud of. Second, the OMSsc is one of the physically smallest open-emitter red-dot sights currently available. ...
[snip]
The OMSsc’s clear acrylic “roof” is its most eye-catching feature. Shield Sights' impetus behind this design choice is that it wanted to provide its end-users with the clearest sight picture possible, the idea being the acrylic’s clear qualities will not obstruct the view downrange, especially around the edges of the sight’s housing. I’ll admit that the OMSsc is the first time I’ve gone hands-on with any Shield Sights product despite the company’s longtime industry presence. But, the fact that it sells both the clear-top OMSsc alongside the more conventional RMSsc indicates how strongly the company feels about the split 6082-T6 aluminum and acrylic housing design.
"Too big of a toolbox ?"--StraightForward in a Crooked World. This 2009 article relates:
Over the summer I attended a morning conference on Church Security over in Illinois, after the murder of the Reverend Fred Winters back in March. The panel was made entirely of law enforcement officers which held a variety of opinions. Panel members where mainly small town police chiefs and most agreed that ultimately in a mass shooting that members of the church would be the first responders to the crisis. Given Illinois anti self-defense laws their were questions concerning what weapons could be legally carried and used.
One local police chief went against the grain of his fellow panel members and said
"you have to remember that this is a law enforcement matter and it is for the Police to respond to. I know you all want to carry a gun, but let me say this as a Chief of Police I don't even let my wife carry pepper spray nor do my teenage children. Any so called self-defense weapon can be taken from you and used against you and they simply aren't worth the risk."
It was an arrogant and disgusting statement.
For someone to say likewise that you can be over burden with to many tools is.....well absurd, because frankly I have yet to find in Sun Tsu's Art of War any quote that reads "stick with the basic levels of training and your campaign will go ok."
Fundamentals are important, but they are the building blocks to further our mindset. We all (myself very included) should always be striving to learn more, train more, think and out think the bad men of the world.
"Surveillance Detection"--Tactical Professor. If you have a confrontation with someone don't assume that when the parties separate that the confrontation or issue is over. In this article, Claude Warner writes:
I had an encounter yesterday with some unpleasant people while grocery shopping. When I got back to my car, they pulled up nearby at a somewhat odd angle in the parking lot. Since I wasn’t sure if they planned to initiate a confrontation, I quickly drove out of the lot.
After such an encounter, it’s prudent to take a Surveillance Detection Route that does not lead directly home afterward. Doing so isn’t particularly difficult but it does require a little thought at the time. You also need to use your rear view and side mirrors regularly during the process. And have a safe place to go if it turns out you are being followed.
First of all, turn out of the parking lot in the opposite direction that you would take to go home. As you drive, look for signalized intersections to turn onto non-arterial through streets. If possible, hit the red light. Sitting at the red light for a minute will allow you to scan the cars behind you without being an inattentive driver. Make at least three turns watching your mirrors after you turn. Contrary to popular opinion, they don’t all have to be Right Turns. Sitting in the Left Turn lane at a signal will frequently give you a better scan of the cars behind you by using your driver’s side mirror than you can get through the rear view mirror. You’ll also have a slightly longer view of the traffic behind you as they turn.
What you are looking for is vehicles that repeatedly make the same turns as you do. It doesn’t have to be the same vehicle that was involved in the initial encounter. Pairs of people often have two cars and the other vehicle might be the one following you.
If you think someone is following you, he advises that you don't go home, but go somewhere safe. Although most people think "police station," he actually suggests going someplace where you can be sure to find first responders: fire stations or emergency rooms at hospitals. Read the whole thing.
"Nitecore EDC27 Flashlight Review: EDC Pocket Light?"--Option Grey. A flat light which would probably be easier for everyday carry. It is rechargeable and produces up to 3,000 lumens (but only for 8 seconds--but that would probably be enough to disorient an attacker).
"How to Siphon Gas Out of a Car? Mastering Fuel Extraction"--SHTF Preparedness. He covers (i) the traditional siphoning method (assuming no anti-siphon valve), (ii) using a fuel transfer pump, and (iii) siphoning from a car with an anti-siphon valve (including an embedded video).
"Aqua Tainer 7 Gallon Water Jug With Spigot"--Modern Survival Blog. These come in 4 and 7 gallon sizes, can be stacked, and have spigots which make them easier to use. As for the spigot, "[i]t uniquely fits inside the cap for storage. This prevents it from becoming lost while also being protected from damage when in storage or transit." There were other features that the author liked.
"How To Clean Berkey Filters The Right Way"--Modern Survival Blog. He has other information like how to tell when it is time to clean the filter(s) and how to clean the filter housings. But as for the filters themselves:
Use cool or cold water.
“Never use warm or hot water or freeze the Black Berkeys as this will likely damage the integrity of the compressed carbon and proprietary impregnated media.” says Berkey.
Don’t use soap.
Simply let the water run over the filter while gently or firmly scrubbing the surface area. You might use a type of nail cleaning brush or a slightly abrasive pad like a Scotch-Brite pad.
He has lengthier instructions for cleaning them in a sink and cleaning them in a bucket.
"Dental Care After the End of the World"--Urban Survival Site. Discussing preventative care, recommendations for stockpiling dental hygiene items (toothpaste, brushes, etc.), some herbs to grow that can be used for dental care, how to make some toothpaste substitutes, and some tools and medicines for home emergency dental care.
"Tactical vs. Hiking Backpacks: What are the Differences?"--Modern Survival Blog. My first thought was in SHTF, one makes you look like a relatively harmless refugee and the other will get you shot. But what the author notes is that "the hiking backpack is made of lighter weight material," which makes the hiking backpack overall lighter weight. But the tactical backpack is (or should be) more durable:
This is because the materials they are made from are thicker, more abrasion resistant, more difficult to puncture and less likely to come undone when they are damaged.
Conversely, the thinner and more delicate the material that an average hiking backpack is made from can be easily damaged from a slash or scrape, and is highly likely to get worse quickly.
Of course, manufacturer procedures and quality control makes a big difference here: a top of the line hiking backpack will probably prove to be more durable overall than a “flea market special” tactical pack.
The reverse is also true, with very cheap hiking packs proving to be shockingly frail, and top of the line tactical packs being almost impervious to damage.
Another difference he notes is color differences with tactical backpacks using subdued colors or even camouflage patterns in order to avoid attention, whereas hiking backpacks are generally brighter or lighter colors and might be bright enough to draw attention and potential rescue (although I've noticed that hiking backpacks do seem to be more subdued than they were even 5 or 10 years ago). Other difference he notes are that tactical backpacks have more attachment points (e.g., MOLLE) and internal compartments while hiking backpacks tend to be more water resistant.
American cities are in a “Doom Loop.” Quality of life collapses, residents flee or stay home, and cities fall into economic decline. As the economy falters, even more locals flee, and the cycle repeats. Cities may stabilize into something like Detroit or St. Louis.
Crime is central to the decline, but newspaper headlines and statistics don’t capture it. Statistics may not even be credible, because crime can be “eliminated” by misclassifying it or not enforcing the law. Less obvious but more consequential in the long run, is fear of crime. ...
This fear, the author continues, can be due to large numbers of minorities, numerous homeless people and vagrants.
Compounding this dread is the ever-diminishing prospect of help from bystanders or even the police. High-profile incidents such as the arrest of would-be Good Samaritan Daniel Penny when he intervened to stop a likely felony-in-progress in the subway are a powerful deterrent, not to mention hesitant police officers in the post-George Floyd era. You’re on your own.
He concludes:
Reversing the Doom Loop is about defending civilization. The United States spends billions on exotic high-tech weapons to defend against foreign enemies but refuses to let police stop bands of “youths” headed to Nordstrom to steal Gucci handbags. We now have a Space Force, but elected leaders won’t let Walmart stop shoplifters. Stopping the Doom Loop is not about therapy for crazies or homes for winos; it is about therapy for those who refuse to defend their own civilization.
