Wilder: "Diversity + Proximity Still Equals War"

John Wilder's latest piece takes a look at the inevitable Balkanization of Western nations due to mass immigration. As he notes, the most fecund peoples currently are in sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan and, until very recently, India. They are also the most mentally challenged people in the world. And they will be coming to a country near you. 

More On The Proposed Restrictions On Air Rifles

The Truth About Guns has more about the proposed restrictions on air rifles: "California Congressman Introduces Federal Bill To Redefine Many Air Guns As ‘Firearms’." The legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-California (of course!) would classify almost all air rifles as "firearms" and subject to the same regulations. The so-called "lethal air gun" in the proposed law include those that would shoot:

A .177 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 800 feet per second; a .22 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 500 feet per second; a .25 caliber pellet expelled at a muzzle velocity of not less than 450 feet per second; and any metallic pellet above .25 caliber.  

The bill is being called, for now, Garrett’s Law, "named for one of his constituents’ late sons who committed suicide with an air gun," while struggling with mental health issues during the pandemic--i.e., someone who had mental health issues because he was forced into de facto house arrest by the same idiots now proposing this bill. And to take the stupidity even further, Mullin suggests that if Garrett hadn't been able to order the air rifle online, he would not have committed suicide. As if all the other multitude of ways that people kill themselves wouldn't have been available. But now we are all supposed to be punished because one person misused a product?

    Not unsurprisingly, the legislation is being supported by GIFFORDS and March For Our Lives Foundation (another gun control group). Because the greatest fear of liberals is that somewhere, someone is doing something fun and wholesome. 

Hopefully This Means That Gas Prices Will Be Going Down

It looks like Trump won another game of "can't stump the Trump". From the National Review:

The news out of the Strait of Hormuz is pretty straightforward: The Islamic Republic of Iran has all but lost whatever control it once had over the maritime traffic flowing through that contested choke point. “Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Shipments via Hormuz and bypass routes were delivering just under 80% of their prewar regional flows as of last week, according to tracker Kpler.”   

I still question the value of the war, but its hard to argue with success. There is also this:

Iran is in a terrible position. Its currency is valueless. Its trade relationships are being severed. Its citizens and political officials cannot fly in or out of the country. Its political class is in a state of semipermanent revolt against the informal leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Protests are once again breaking out in Iran’s universities, despite the explicit threat represented by the hated Basij. And there are now credible reports of insurrectionary activity in outlying provinces such as Baluchistan, where at least one IRGC commander was killed in the fighting. 

In fact, the war is going so poorly for Iran that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is now urging American voters to vote for the Democrats this fall. To parody the message that Princess Leia left for Kenobi in R2D2, the IRGC's letter to Americans might as well read: "Help us Democrats, you're our only hope." 

    The war also gave the U.S. opportunities to try out new laser weapons against drones and cruise missiles. Conversely, it highlighted the failure of Chinese weapon systems. As Seoul Economic Daily noted back in March:

    Questions are mounting over the combat effectiveness of Chinese-made air defense systems deployed in Iran after they failed to intercept large-scale airstrikes by the United States and Israel. Analysts say the credibility of Chinese weapons systems will inevitably suffer, given that similar failures occurred in Venezuela. 

    According to Taiwan's Newtalk and Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on the 3rd, Iran deployed China's fourth-generation mobile radar YLC-8B alongside Russian air defense networks at key locations including the capital Tehran. China first unveiled the equipment at the 2016 Zhuhai Airshow, claiming it could detect U.S. F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters from 250 kilometers away.

    The Chinese-made long-range surface-to-air missile HQ-9B operated by Iran also failed to prove its capabilities. China has stated that this missile, with a range of 250 kilometers, features active radar guidance and infrared seekers capable of intercepting stealth aircraft even in electronic warfare environments. China also provided Iran with its indigenously developed Beidou satellite navigation system to replace U.S. GPS.

    However, combat results told a different story. While Israel scrambled some 200 fighter jets and the U.S. struck more than 1,000 targets with B-2 stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles, Iran failed to shoot down a single aircraft. Taiwan's FTV reported, citing experts, that despite Iran pouring enormous costs into Chinese radar systems, they failed to function properly during both last year's nuclear facility attack and this year's large-scale airstrikes.

    India's Times of India reported that analysts are investigating whether the Chinese air defense systems have technical defects or were simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the U.S.-Israeli coalition's offensive. Observers note that having failed to defend critical facilities, the systems will inevitably lose competitiveness in export markets.

    This is not the first combat failure for Chinese radar. In January this year, China's JY-27A radar in Venezuela also failed to detect U.S. military aircraft. China had emphasized the radar's stealth target detection capabilities and jamming resistance, but it failed to track aircraft deployed for the operation to arrest former President Nicolás Maduro. 

The performance of the Chinese systems were so bad that, according to an April 1 report from the Washington Times, China purged some of its defense officials:

    High-profile failures of Chinese weapons and military equipment in Iran and elsewhere have resulted in the disappearance — and likely purge — of several key military developers.

    Former State Department policymaker Miles Yu said Chinese military systems that were promoted as capable of detecting and deterring high-end threats, such as stealth aircraft, were ineffective against recent U.S. military operations.

    “These failures did more than undermine specific platforms, as they exposed the gap between China’s claims and its actual capabilities,” said Mr. Yu, a Washington Times columnist.

    Perhaps the most glaring shortfall involved China’s highly touted HQ-9B long-range air defense system that Tehran purchased in mid-2025, reportedly as part of an oil-for-weapons deal.

    The missiles and radar were deployed at key nuclear sites and other high-value military sites in Iran. They were part of a layered integrated air defense that included domestic defenses and the Russian Pansir-S1.

    The HQ-9B was supposed to be able to knock out aircraft and missiles, but it proved unsuccessful when U.S. and Israeli airstrikes wiped them out before attacking other major targets.

    The system’s JY-27A long-range, VHF-band 3D active phased array radar was built for early warning and purportedly capable of tracking stealth aircraft. 

    But when the first missiles and bombs were fired, the Chinese system proved ineffective. Its destruction was so successful that the U.S. military is now flying older B-52 bombers unthreatened in the Iranian skies despite those aircraft having a very large radar cross-section.   

Flying The Friendly Skies

The religion of peace strikes again. The New York Post reports: "Pilot arrested for attempting to crash plane in ‘jihadist terrorist attack’ thwarted by brave passenger: Israeli officials." The plane was scheduled to fly into Tel Aviv. From the article:

    The copilot who stabbed his colleague piloting a flydubai jet Wednesday has been arrested for trying to crash the packed passenger plane in “a jihadist terrorist attack,” Israeli leaders said.

    The suspect, reportedly of Omani descent, stabbed the pilot and plotted to bring down the Boeing 737 Max jet with 174 people on board, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement.

    “According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” he said. 

The plane dropped from 33,000 feet to 15,400 feet in two minutes. Passengers were able to force their way into the cabin and subdue the copilot. "Two off-duty pilots seated at the back of the aircraft who were scheduled to captain another flight later that day rushed to the cockpit to take control, one passenger told the BBC," and landed it safely in Saudi Arabia, where the copilot was taken into custody by authorities. Israel is treating it as a terrorist attack. 

Supplements For The Backcountry

 Diana Helmuth, writing at Outdoor Life, discusses "How to Eat in the Backcountry — Without Blowing Up Your Stomach." She offers some tips (and warnings) on supplements she has used while backpacking: vitamin B12; caffeine and tea crystals; creatine; Glutamine and Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) which apparently can work wonders for muscle recovery when on backpacking trips; and protein powder. She also has some suggestions for high protein and high fat foods to use while hiking: oatmeal with trailmix; mashed potato soup; whole cheese; and freeze dried coconut milk (for those who don't tolerate dairy milk). And she offers this point about proteins and fats:

I thought protein was only something men had to care about. While I do think our society has a tendency to act like protein is the second coming, turns out, lining your stomach with protein actually does smooth your blood sugar and help you feel full longer. The outdoors is a place to indulge in as many carbs as you want, sure, but in my experience what you really want in the backcountry is the exact opposite of what everyone tells you to eat at home: fat, and tons of it. It sticks to you longer, has the most calories per gram of weight, and doesn’t make you crash. ... 

A Tale Of Two Spacecraft Companies In Two Headlines

• "Starship Just Became a Money Making Machine"--PJ Media.
• "Boeing's Starliner won't launch astronauts until 2028 (and may need a new rocket), NASA says"--Space.com.

TTAG Looks At The New Sig P385

The Truth About Guns takes a first look at Sig's new pistol in its article, "The SIG P385 Is Here — But Would You Buy One Yet?" Sig says that the P385 is not replacement for the P320--which they would have to say given any pending lawsuits or claims of injury from allegedly defective P320 pistols. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and accept that this is a response to both the Gen 6 Glocks and the Ruger RXM. But it is compatible with P320 magazines and, per the article, uses a different trigger design from the P320 featuring "a patented flush-faced trigger safety that neither the P320 nor the P365 currently has." Sig is also introducing a modular grip system that allows for better tuning of the grips to fit the hand (this article at Guns.com has much more detail on the modularity). 

    But what made me laugh was the author's sarcastic comments about past Sig problems:

• "SIG also gave the P385 what it calls a 'redundant drop safety mechanism' — the kind of feature they probably wish they’d built into the P320 back in 2014."
• "But the P320’s history is well known: the 2017 drop-safety issue TTAG’s own testing helped surface, the 'Voluntary Upgrade Program' that followed, and a string of uncommanded-discharge reports along with the lawsuits that came with them."
• "SIG’s initial QC record on striker-fired guns has been spotty. Early P365s showed striker tip breakage, primer drag, and dead-trigger problems from a trigger return spring issue."

It is a credit to Sig's reputation and market power that these problems did not kill the product, as it would have to a lesser company (e.g., the reaction to the Remington R51). And this go to the heart of the question raised in the title of the article--would you buy one yet. As the author puts it:

That’s the honest read on SIG’s new-product track record: the platforms get sorted out, but sometimes not until the second or third production cycle. And the P385 has a lot of “new” in it — new FCU, new trigger safety, new SRDS recoil system, new grip module system. That’s a lot of first-generation engineering to bet on right out of the gate.   

More:

• "SIG Sauer P385: New FCU, Recoil System, MagStrap Grip and Five Models"--Guns America.
• "SIG Sauer Launches the New P385 Pistol Family"--The Firearm Blog.  
• "New Product Highlight: Sig Sauer P385"--Pew Pew Tactical. 

Dems Going After Air Rifles

The Mr. Gunsngear channel is reporting that Dems have introduced a bill in Congress that would regulate air rifles and other similar items using a gas to discharge a pellet or slug. It appears to be aiming for those large enough to be used to hunt anything larger than a squirrel. Similar bills have also popped up in some state legislatures. Not sure how this passes the Heller test since pneumatic rifles have been around and used since the 16th Century.  

VIDEO: "New Law Introduced To Ban Pellet Guns - Seriously 👀"
Mrgunsngear Channel (7 min.)

VIDEO: "Top 10 Wilderness Survival Items In The 18th Century"

Townsends discusses the must-have equipment that 18th Century wilderness explorers and adventurers carried with them, including a good belt knife, musket or rifle, small ax, fire making tools and materials, emergency food, appropriate clothing, blanket, cooking pot, canteen, and rope or other cordage. He notes that most of their food would have come from land such as hunting or fishing; and the areas being explored in what is now the eastern United States was generally well watered, so a quart canteen would generally suffice for carrying water. 

VIDEO: "Top 10 Wilderness Survival Items In The 18th Century"
Townsends (16 min.)

John Wilder Has Memes

 "The Weekend Ate My Homework."

Death In Paradise: 4 Dead In Mass Shooting In St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Apparently these types of shootings do happen in other countries. From the New York Post:

    A shooting near the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines left four people dead and four others wounded Friday night, prompting an intensified police response in the Caribbean island nation as authorities search for those responsible.

    Gunfire erupted shortly before 10:30 p.m. in the Green Hill community near Kingstown, according to Acting Commissioner of Police Trevor Bailey, who addressed the killings during a Saturday news conference. 

    Officers responding to the scene found two bodies on a public road, while a woman was found dead inside a vehicle parked nearby, Bailey said. 

    A fourth victim was discovered on an adjacent piece of land. All four appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds.

Four other people were wounded.  The police are investigating whether this shooting was related to one on Saturday at a different part of the island. The article continues:

    The killings come as authorities grapple with gun and gang violence across the small island nation. Smith said 37 murders have been recorded in St. Vincent and the Grenadines so far this year.

    Bailey acknowledged that police have seen instances of retaliatory violence involving rival groups but did not link the Green Hill killings to gang activity. Asked whether criminal groups could be connected to the latest violence, police said the investigation had not reached a point where they could make such a determination. 

Bomb Plot Against UK Airbase Foiled By Observant Farmer

Sunday saw the arrest of five terrorists suspected of attempting to carry out a bombing at Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire, Southwest England, used by the US Air Force for its strikes on Iran. Three vans filled with chemicals and possible explosive devices were found. 

    The five suspects are being held on suspicion of possessing explosives, with MI5 assisting counter-terror police.

    Iranian agents are likely to have been directly involved in the suspected plot themselves, rather than operating through proxies, sources familiar with the investigation told the Telegraph.

 But there may have been more than just the five. From the Daily Mail:

     A hero farmer has revealed how she came face to face with five suspected terrorists and helped foil a major terror attack on an RAF base in the dead of night.

    Driving home from a party in the early hours of yesterday morning, she was shocked to see three large white vans blocking a road close to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

    Her arrival reportedly sent a group of men in balaclavas fleeing into nearby trees and across fields surrounding the base, which was recently used by US aircraft involved in strikes on Iran.

[snip]

    The farmer, who has not been named, called 999 and within 25 minutes the five suspects had been rounded up and arrested by armed counter-terrorism officers who are now probing whether the plot is linked to Iran.

    The 'Middle Eastern-looking, masked' men were later filmed shirtless amid reports they may have been on a suicide mission armed with explosive vests aimed at destroying a fleet of US B-1 Lancer bombers based at Fairford.

    Worryingly, the farmer claimed she had seen more suspects than the five arrested at the scene.

    'They probably thought we were the police and panicked,' she said last night. 

 The farmers suspicions were first aroused because the logos and phone numbers on the trucks were fake. The vans were intended to mimic those of a company whose logo was "Fuel2U" with an arrow, in green and blue lettering, but the terrorists' van said "Fuel 2You" with red lettering and no arrow. Also, the formatting of the numbers in the telephone numbers on the sides of the van were also wrong: 

    The UK uses a 533 or 56 format for mobile numbers (five numbers followed by a gap then six numbers, or a group of five followed by two groups of three), which would make the number read 07424 182 599 or 07424 182599. In any event, the number is out of service.

    Some observers also spotted that the phone number underneath the fake name – 0742 418 2599 – was spaced in 434 format, which is predominantly used in Iran.   

Perhaps the terrorists were educated at the Quality Learing Center.  

Gun & Prepping News #100

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Mexico’s Government Funds Gun Grabbing Group"--Battleswarm Blog. Noting that "[t]he organization, Global Action on Gun Violence, has documented connections to Democratic lawmakers. It featured Rep. Dan Goldman in a gun-trafficking discussion⁠ promoted in its May and June 2025 newsletters and endorsed legislation backed by prominent Senate Democrats."
• "Evaluation of Defense Shooting Skills"--The Tactical Wire.  Rich Grassi explains:

    If your only assessment is the state qual course and you do that 1-to-4 times a year, does that really make you qualified? It does check a box, but it’s a minimum standard. The scoring area is vastly larger than it should be, the time you’re allowed is too long and, on the whole, judgement and discretion are never evaluated. 

    So how would a different shooting course help? 

    It’s an attempt to measure basic needed skills with a time constraint as well as allowing the instructor to evaluate gun handling – a critical aspect of the job. 

    The 5x5 classifier can be downloaded as a pdf here. It doesn’t have to be the IDPA 5x5 classifier, that’s just an example. 

• "Practice on the Indoor Range"--The Shooting Wire. The author goes over what he did when he wasn't able to use his regular outdoor range:

    The first trip saw use of the Ruger Mark IV Target; 5.5” bull barrel, metallic sights, the rear adjustable for elevation and windage. The gun has Hogue, Inc. “G-Mascus Green” G10 stocks in place of the factory stocks. Otherwise, there are no modifications.

    The ammunition I selected, based on concerns about indoor ranges and lead ammunition, was CCI CLEAN-22.  While it’s geared more to prevent barrel fouling and making a suppressor easier to clean, I reasoned that it could be a bit more healthy than uncoated lead projectiles. 

    I’m still careful to make use of hand cleaning wipes that are made to remove contamination of this sort. 

    Using a B-8 repair center for each segment, I’d shoot a pair of stages right-handed, replace the target and shoot a pair left-handed. 

    When trying to learn a physical skill like shooting, it’s good to work “mirror image” to get back to being a complete duffer and to iron out bad habits. 

• "The 'Lost' Art of Revolver Reloading"--Guns Magazine. Brent Wheat not only gives detailed instructions on how to do speed reloads for revolvers, but also explains why to use the left hand to hold the revolver when doing so. The article also covers the different between speed reloads (i.e., when speed matters like in combat or competition and using speed loaders), tactical reloads (i.e., removing spent cartridges and replacing them from speed strips or loose rounds), and an administrative reload (when time is not a concern). Explaining why to use the left hand to hold the revolver:

    A revolver cylinder is a floppy thing when it isn’t locked into the frame. On a square range, with your feet planted and your hands working exactly as you command, it’s not much of a problem. But a defensive reload may happen while you’re moving, running, fighting or ‘merely’ trying to keep your balance on a loose, slippery or uneven surface. I can also guarantee you’ll be dealing with an adrenaline dump that might leave your hands shaking like a toy poodle on meth. Now you’ve got to line up a half-dozen fresh cartridges with a cylinder that is moving around at the end of your arm.

     You might be able to get a finger into the cylinder opening to stabilize it — or you might not, because keeping a semblance of a firing grip makes it awkward. Worse, the cylinder could even relatch itself while you’re trying to get everything lined up.

    This is also why the support-side reload was traditionally taught to police officers back in those days when we rode dinosaurs on patrol. It wasn’t because somebody decided it was the fashionable way to reload a revolver; instead, hard-won trial and error proved the technique provided a more stable platform for manipulating the gun under less-than-ideal circumstances.

• "Minimizing Defensive Shotgun Recoil"--Shoot-On.  The tips include (i) using reduced recoil rounds (although the author specifically recommends against using mini-shells); (ii) using a stock that properly fits you and has a recoil pad; (iii) use a gas-operated shotgun; and (iv) adding a recoil reduction system to your stock.
• Going from something with heavy recoil with something quite a bit less: "The Defensive .32 ACP – The Ammo"--The Truth About Guns. A couple tips. First, the author advises avoiding hollow-point ammunition for a couple reasons: (i) if the bullet expands, it will slow it down enough that you lose too much penetration; and (ii) the shorter overall length makes it more likely you will experience "rim lock". Second, he recommends sticking to European ammunition, explaining:

    The American SAAMI standard for .32 ACP specifies a maximum average pressure of 20,500 PSI. The European CIP standard is higher, at roughly 23,200 PSI. That doesn’t mean every European load is automatically hotter, but it does give European manufacturers more room to load the cartridge toward that higher pressure limit.

    If you’re using a European pistol designed for European .32 ACP, it might malfunction with the weaker American stuff. With that said, my various European-designed surplus .32s haven’t had any problems with American-spec .32 ACP from Remington or Aguila.  

    There is another reason I like the European-loaded .32 ACP. It has a much more aggressive bevel near the rim and a deep groove for the extractor. The aggressive bevel acts more like a ramp, helping prevent rimlock and improving extraction. 

• "The Shaw .350 Legend: A Custom AR With a Hometown Touch"--The Truth About Guns. An interesting build for an AR intended for deer hunting, including some product recommendations and using a wood butt stock and pistol grip.  
• "5.11 Tactical Double Pistol Case Review: Protecting Your Investment"--Gat Daily.  The author relates:

    ... It’s designed to carry two handguns along with spare magazines and accessories. The case is 8.75 inches high, 11 inches long, and 3.5 inches deep, which makes it big enough for full sized service pistols. It’s still relatively compact though and would fit inside a patrol bag, ruck or larger range bag. The case is made from 1050D nylon and is fully padded to help protect your firearms during transport.

    Each pistol has its own zippered compartment, and there are three elastic magazine loops on the outside of each compartment. 5.11 uses lockable YKK zippers that open on three sides so the case lays flat on the shooting bench, making it easy to get to your gear. Reinforced grab handles are provided for carry There’s also a name tape panel on the outside, although its a smooth strip so I don’t really know how that works. Maybe write on it with a paint pen? The double pistol case is available in gray or black and has an MSRP of only $40. It’s on sale for $30 on 5.11’s site at the time I’m writing this. 

• "How to Disappear | Modern Escape & Evasion"--Bone Tactical.  He has fifteen (15) rules or tips for disappearing. The first two of these:

    First, assess your situation. Who are you getting away from—and why? Is it an abusive ex, online harassment, a business rebrand, or you just need a hard reset? Rank the threat: capability, reach, motivation, resources, and timeline. If it’s criminal danger, consider involving an attorney and—where appropriate—law enforcement or a victims’ advocate group. If it’s reputational heat, you’re playing a different game. Hopefully you won’t have multiple governments and organized crime after you like I did but stay tuned for the full playbook either way. Step one is to identify the problem before you try to solve it.

    Second, assess your resources and skills. Disappearing means transition, and transitions incur costs. Cash buys time. Skills buy options. Can you work with your hands? Build? Fix? Cook? Drive? Speak another language? The more value you can offer quietly and locally, the less you need to advertise yourself to survive. If money is tight, lean on skills. If skills are thin, learn fast.

He also has some warnings of how people mess this up, including:

Let’s talk about mistakes that get people burned. Breaking routine to chase fun in high-signal places. Oversharing because loneliness bites. Letting anger write checks your freedom can’t cash. Reconnecting with the same crowd that caused the problem. Slipping back into old usernames, old numbers, old patterns. The little compromises add up. Don’t feed the trail. 

• "How Long Can You Store Water? The Ultimate Safety Guide"--SHTF Preparedness. According to the author, "[c]ommercially bottled water, when sealed and kept in a cool, dark place, can remain safe almost indefinitely, while stored tap water is typically recommended to be rotated every 6 to 12 months." But the type of material for the storage container, the environment that the water is stored in, and handling (or mishandling) can effect how long it can be stored. For instance, if a water container is opened, there is always the risk of introducing contaminants which might encourage bacterial or algae growth. 
• "How to Stay Warm Indoors When the Power’s Out (& It’s Freezing Outside)"--More Than Just Surviving. Obviously, if you have alternate methods of heating, you will have an easier time than someone with more limited options. For instance, I have both a large kerosene heater and a carousel fireplace in a relatively small house, so I know from experience that I can keep my home comfortable even in the coldest of weather if, for some reason, the central heating fails. But what if you don't have these advantages? The primary point from the article is forget about trying to heat your entire residence, but instead focus on keeping a small area warm:

    If everybody’s in one room with the door closed and that room has got as many blankets, jackets, coats, pets, and whatever else you have at home to keep y’all as warm as possible, you’re going to have a lot easier of a time trying to stay warm by comparison to trying to heat multiple rooms.

    When it comes to sleeping, you don’t need to share a bed if you don’t want to, but if it’s not something you mind, why not? If you’re not into sharing a bed, drag extra mattresses or sofa cushions into your room of choice and have everyone sleep separately, but by being in the same room, you’re making sure none of your individual bodies’ heat production is going to waste – it’s helping to keep the room warm.

And if you don't have alternative heating methods, the author recommends that you go further and set up a tent in your "warm room" to further make it easier to keep an area warm. He also recommends staying in sub-zero rated sleeping bags and lining your tent with Mylar emergency blankets. He has some other tips, so be sure to read the whole thing. 

• Civilizational collapse: "You Don’t Realize How Far L.A. Has Fallen Until You Come Back"--PJ Media. An excerpt:

    I wrote in January about how, after moving out of L.A., where I lived for the first 30 years of my life, I've been able to see the city's decline more clearly whenever I go back for family visits or appointments every few months. I noted that "just as friends who haven’t seen your kids for a while recognize how much they’ve grown — much more than you, who are with them every day — whenever I drive into Los Angeles once every couple of months, the deterioration of the city is more evident. Many parts truly feel third-world."

    In that article, I focused on L.A.'s homelessness crisis, which can be seen under freeway underpasses, in city parks, and even in reports of homeless people getting into strangers' cars to sleep. This is not only visually disturbing but also anxiety-inducing. You never know how dangerous a homeless person might be, whether high on meth or suffering from severe mental illness. 

[snip]

    Comedian Bridget Phetasy, who recently returned to Los Angeles after years away, described a similar sensation to the one I feel upon returning: "It's like when you see someone and they've, you know, lost a lot of weight and they don't see it because they see themself every day and you see them and you're like, whoa. Right. That's how it feels."

    Phetasy used the word "unsettling" to describe "how much commercial real estate is empty." And she chose as an example a place where I spent many a happy day in both my childhood and young adulthood: Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. The three pedestrian-only blocks were a favorite destination for so many in the '90s who wanted to catch a movie, grab dinner, shop, or watch street performers. 

    A California Post report earlier this year noted that the Promenade’s vacancy rate is now 25% and that the popularity of the destination began to decline because of the homelessness crisis, then fell further during COVID and the looting inspired by the “Summer of Love” following George Floyd’s death. 

The 5th Generation Invasion Of Europe

Matt Bracken (h/t Vox Day) discusses "The 5th Generation Warfare Invasion of Europe." He begins by noting how the West is still fighting its enemies primarily using traditional mass warfare which rely on bases and supply points that are vulnerable to attacks from missiles and drones. But he suggests that Islam is doing something quite different:

    On the other hand, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are being invaded by entire “divisions” of fighting-age men from hostile nations, many being driven and motivated by a religion based on violent conquest. (~10,000 troops = one division.)

    But they are not assembling the way Western military thinkers are accustomed to seeing. There are no bases full of armed men in uniforms, marching with weapons and maneuvering in military vehicles, getting ready to board ships in North Africa or the Middle East. 

    No, the foreign future fighters are being infiltrated into Europe 10 or 100 at a time, “flying below the radar” of conventional military doctrine. Unseen and apparently unnoticed by European leaders. While Macron and Bernham discuss sending their own conventional military forces to Saudi Arabia, their own nations are being invaded.

    The most difficult part of this 5th Gen invasion is transporting entire future brigades and divisions of men, without rousing local fear and anger to the boiling point. Not only must the invasion force be transported across Europe to the English Channel, then provided with dinghies so they can be “rescued” by the traitorous RNLI, they must be continuously fed and housed in former hotels and on military bases. This “troop deployment” is being done in plain sight, finally raising considerable local resentment and resistance.

    But make no mistake, when the time is right, probably when nationalist anger results in politicians being elected who are serious about forced “remigration” on a massive scale, then their guns will come out. Compared to transporting, housing and feeding tens of thousands of fighting-age men, arming them will trivial. 2,000 AK-47s will fit in a 20-foot container that can roll down any street on a tip-off truck to be delivered and stored anywhere. Unlike 2,000 men, these containers can sit patiently for years.

    When the time comes, the men won’t need military training. Many already have combat experiences in their own wars, and in any event, a man with an IQ above 80 can be shown how to load and fire an AK-47 in a matter of minutes. Their accuracy won’t matter, not at close range against helpless unarmed victims.

    Bands armed with such weapons, in nations with unarmed populations, will rampage like rabid wolves among tame sheep. Local police and even militaries will be overwhelmed. These armed bands will be able to commandeer cars and buses at will for transportation. Who will stop them?

When that day arrives, it will be bloody, but it may not be as clear cut as Bracken suggests. 

    In 2012, J.D. Tuccille published an article at Reason Magazine entitled, "Gun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets." The point of the article was how ridiculous, yet ineffectual, were New York's restrictions on people legally obtaining firearms. But he also noted this:

In fact, New York City's situation with guns is mirrored in Europe, where countries with tight restrictions also find themselves awash in illegal firearms without any clear parallels for the relatively liberal laws of Virginia or South Carolina to blame. According to the Small Arms Survey (PDF) at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland:

Contrary to widely-accepted national myths, public gun ownership is commonplace in most European states. It may appear to some outside observers—especially Americans—that Europeans have blindly surrendered their gun rights (Heston, 2002). The reality is that the citizens of most European countries are better armed than they realize. …

Regulations tightly control gun ownership in only a few European countries like the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom. In much of the rest of the continent, public officials readily admit that unlicensed owners and unregistered guns greatly outnumber legal ones. …

"Greatly outnumber?" Just how greatly?

Well, says the Small Arms Survey, a research outfit established by the Swiss government, the United Kingdom, with just shy of 1.8 million legal firearms, has about four million illegal guns. Belgium, with about 458,000 legal firearms, has roughly two million illegal guns. In Germany, the number is 7.2 million legal guns and between 17 and 20 million off-the-books examples of things that go "bang" (a figure with which the German Police Union very publicly agrees). France, says the Survey, has 15-17 million unlawful firearms in a nation where 2.8 million weapons are held in compliance with the law.

Even those numbers may understate the case. While the 2003 Small Arms Survey report put the number of legal guns in Greece at 805,000 and illegal guns at 350,000, just two years later, the Greek government itself nudged those figures up, just a tad, to one million legal guns and 1.5 million illegal ones.

So New Yorkers aren't alone in being armed to the teeth outside the law.

It's not that governments haven't tried to grab those guns. One government after another has implemented schemes for registration, licensing, and even confiscation. But those programs have met with … less than universal respect.

In a white paper on the results of gun control efforts around the world, Gun Control and the Reduction of the Number of Arms, Franz Csaszar, a professor of criminology at the University of Vienna, Austria, wrote, "non-compliance with harsher gun laws is a common event."

Dr. Csaszar estimates compliance with Australia's 1996 ban on self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns at 20 percent.

And even that underwhelming estimate gives the authorities the benefit of the doubt. Three years after Australia's controversial ban was implemented, when 643,000 weapons had been surrendered, Inspector John McCoomb, the head of the state of Queensland's Weapons Licensing Branch, told The Sunday Mail, "About 800,000 (semi-automatic and automatic) SKK and SKS weapons came in from China back in the 1980s as part of a trade deal between the Australian and Chinese governments. And it was estimated that there were 1.2 million semi-automatic Ruger 10/22s in the country. That's about 2 million firearms of just two types in the country."

Do the math. Two million illegal firearms of just two types, and only 643,000 guns of all types were surrendered …

Tolkien wrote that "evil will oft evil mar" and it may prove the case here. Right now, the Muslims are on track to replace the Europeans by dint of out reproducing them. But if the Muslims were to actually take up arms as suggested by Bracken, that would result in an immediate and probably violent backlash--a type of "The Beginnings," for those familiar with Kipling's poem. The powers that be don't want that because it would upset their grift. But it is likely necessary for the European peoples to survive. 

RPG Saturday: Beginning Adventures for Call of Cthulhu

Seth Skorkowsky has reviewed a lot of Call of Cthulhu adventures over the years, but in this video he finally gives a brief run down of what he considers to be the best published adventures for new players and/or referees, plus a couple runner-ups. That is, these are not necessarily the best Call of Cthulhu adventures overall, but are ones that he considers good ones for introducing players to the game and setting. As you might expect, a few of these have shown up as introductory adventures in the rule books or starter sets over the years.  

As a spoiler, though, his #1 pick is an adventure entitled "The Dare" which uses a rules-lite system apparently intended for kids (which rules are included in the adventure booklet). The adventure, itself, is set in the 1980s, with the players taking on the roles of kids that are dared to stay overnight in a haunted house. The adventure was first published in 1996--and that appears to be the version that Skorkowsky discusses--but there is an updated version based on the latest edition of Call of Cthulhu (the 7th edition) available on Drive-Thru RPG either as a PDF or print-on-demand (which you can currently purchase as a bundle with the PDF for no extra cost over just buying the physical copy). I also see that there is a similar adventure set in the same series entitled "The Horror" which takes place at a kid's summer camp. "The Horror" is available individually as a PDF through Drive-Thru RPG or as a PDF bundle with "The Dare". 

The main advantage to these is likely the simpler character creation and limited skills--the characters are just kids so it's not like they are going to have a detailed background or huge list of available skills--which will make it easier for the players to figure out what to do without being overwhelmed with all the options in the full rule set. My oldest son runs a gaming group and, as a change from the normal D&D, had tried a Call of Cthulhu adventure; and he commented to me that the players seemed to struggle with the busy character sheet and all the options they needed to track on top of it being a different game system. Thus, it seems to make sense to have one or two adventures using a rules-lite system as an introduction to both the genre and the rules. 

That said, the core rule books (for whatever edition) generally include one or two very short, but simple adventures, and the starter set generally includes a longer introductory adventure.  

VIDEO: "Top 5 Beginner-Friendly Adventures - Call of Cthulhu"
Seth Skorkowsky (19 min.) 

More Winning As Trump Removes Funding To Help Illegal Aliens

The New York Post reports that "Trump cancels nearly $1B in funding for illegal immigrants and race-focused programs in new ‘pocket’ rescission," when he ordered the cancellation of $810 million in congressionally appropriated funding which was unspent and deemed unneeded. The article indicates that this is only the second pocket rescission in the past 49 years. Among the items cut:

• $567 million appropriated for HHS to provide social services to illegal aliens, including through grants to non-government organizations.
• $70 million allocated to fellowships and grants for foreign academics and students in the US. 
• $56 million earmarked for a Department of Housing and Urban Development program for outside organizations that provide housing counseling, "which instead allegedly fueled 'DEI-centric' agendas of Democrat-linked racial advocacy groups such as UnidosUS and the National Urban League."
• $25 million allocated to a Department of Education migrant students initiative, "which funded organizations that allegedly encouraged participants to avoid law enforcement."
• $15 million from a DHS program that subsidized cultural orientation, healthcare and legal advice for illegal aliens and asylum seekers, along with $10 million from a separate DHS program funding legal services for illegal aliens. 

This will likely spawn lawsuits from various traitors and grifters.  

Another Leftist Lie About Guns Debunked

A persistent lie from the Left is that 99% of women with guns will be disarmed and the firearm used against them. But in "The '99 Percent' Myth About Women and Their Guns," the author digs into the statistics. The most relevant portion:

    The best place to look for this kind of question is the National Crime Victimization Survey, or NCVS. It’s the country’s main source for how often people get hit by crime, paid for by the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department of Justice and run by the Census Bureau. The survey doesn’t just count crimes reported to police. Researchers gather accounts straight from those who were victimized, covering incidents whether or not police ever heard about them, plus facts such as the victim’s gender, any weapons that came into play, and whether the person was hurt.

    A study in the Journal of Criminal Justice by Lawrence Southwick — “Self-defense with guns: The consequences” — analyzed that NCVS data to see what happened when crime victims tried to defend themselves. Southwick’s core finding on women is that women who resisted an attack without a gun were about four times more likely to be seriously injured than women who resisted with a gun. Slone’s own read of the Southwick data goes a step further: among women who used a firearm defensively, she calculates that 98.75 percent were not injured, for an injury rate of just 1.25 percent.  

So, as usual, the Left have inverted the facts: it being that 99% of women who use a gun defensively will not be injured.  

The Male Pelvis Is Especially Adapted To Bipedal Locomotion

The article, "The Wonders of the Male Human Pelvis," discusses research analyzing and comparing 91 modern human pelvises (both men and women) and two Neanderthal pelvises, noting that the modern male pelvis has some unique features from the Neanderthal or female pelvises:

    Walking has been described as a series of controlled falls. When you walk, you destabilize your center of gravity, then interrupt an embarrassing trip to the ground by swinging your leg forward to catch yourself, and so on. During these controlled falls, your body drops downward, which both stresses your joints and requires energy to recover from. 

    Per the team, the unique architecture of the human male pelvis means we do a better job of dealing with both of these issues. Because our legs are positioned slightly more forward, our quads both absorb the shock of stepping and spring our bodies back upward. This more energy efficient gait may give men an advantage over long distances. Because they were constrained by the demands of childbirth, women’s pelvises weren’t able to develop these modifications, researchers say. 

VIDEO: Houses In Ancient Egypt

An interesting video describing three common types of houses found in ancient Egypt (and remaining relatively unchanged up to the Roman period). The three are: (i) small row houses built for workers and craftsman; (ii) a town house; and (iii) a rural or suburban home for the wealthy. 

VIDEO: "ANCIENT EGYPT HOUSING: How a house revealed your place in society"
The Order of Architecture (11 min.)

Weekend Reading #74

Some longer or more involved reading:

• For those interested in gun and self-defense topics, Greg Ellifritz has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump available. Some of the links that caught my attention in particular:
• First up, it looks like Trump has come through again with the DOJ now taking the position that the ban on the sales of handguns to 18-20 year olds being unconstitutional. This is a great start to nibbling away at the Gun Control Act of 1968.
• A piece from SWAT Magazine on lubricating the AR.
• A video from Spyderco with advice for left handed people (some 10% of the population) about selecting and making use of folding knives with, obviously, an emphasis on Spyderco products. 
• Just because I have posted about this topic in the past, a Q&A with Giles Stock about the Scout Rifle and what Cooper intended. Interestingly, he recommends against anyone trying to custom build one today "as the Steyr Scout does it better out of the box."
• A great article from Guns Magazine on the use and practicality of using a strobing flashlight, including the history of the strobing technique. Notably, the original technique was not built around a strobing light; rather, it was two or more officers taking turns to quickly turn on and off a flashlight to distract a suspect while allowing the other officer to move. 
• A video with tips on hardening your doors.
• A couple articles on the importance of concealed carry guns needing to be truly concealed--i.e., no printing or inadvertently peeking out at times. 
• Attaining combat accuracy, with "a good standard to aim for; 4" group at 25 yds with a pistol and 4 MOA at either 100 or 200 yds. with your carbine."
• And an article that argues that locked classroom doors don't have any effect on reducing the number of victims killed in school shootings and may actually make things worse, with the author noting:

    During the two high fatality school shootings of the past decade, lockdowns and locked doors made the situation worse. In Parkland, students were trapped in the hallways with the gunman because they couldn’t get back into their classrooms after the doors locked behind them.

    In Uvalde, students and staff who were following lockdown procedures instead of evacuating from the campus were hit by bullets that went through the walls and doors. Just the idea that the classroom door was locked cause police officers to wait outside for more than an hour. 

There's more, so be sure to read the whole thing. Also, Greg has a recent post linking to some free (at the time, at least) Kindle e-books from Amazon.  

• "Cheap Prosperity Or A Logistics Trick? Time Will Tell."--Wilder, Wealthy & Wise.  A look at supply chains and fragility. For instance, John points out:

Right now, gasoline and diesel demand are dropping because their costs are going up in a painful way.  This is impacting the cost of every physical good, from water to steak, and not in the good way.  There are only two results from this situation:

1.     Recession, or,
2.     Inflation.

We have gone far beyond the time when politicians will allow a recession.  At any sign of those, the money printer goes brrrrrrrrr.  The result?  Huge inflation in things like wheat in poor countries, which leads to revolutions and uprisings.  People can’t eat, governments can’t govern.  

• A brand new report from Pew Research: "Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S." An excerpt:

    Several of Pew Research Center’s surveys dating back to 2007 have found that Latter-day Saints are, on average, among the most religious adults in America.

    For example, about seven-in-ten Latter-day Saints surveyed in the Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) say that religion is very important in their lives. This is roughly on par with evangelical Protestants and members of historically Black Protestant churches – and far higher than the shares of U.S. Catholics (44%), Jews (27%) and Buddhists (21%) who say religion is very important to them.

    Latter-day Saints also have remained overwhelmingly attached to the Republican Party over the past several decades. About three-quarters of the church’s members identify as Republican or lean toward the Republican Party, as of 2023-24.1 Previous Center surveys conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2014 also found that Latter-day Saints were, on the whole, among the country’s most politically conservative groups when asked about their ideology.

    Amid these signs of stability, however, are indications of change within the church. ...

Some of the areas of change noted in the article is that the Church--in the U.S.--is becoming more ethnically diverse, slightly less religious, and "modestly" more liberal. However, some of the declines stopped over the past 5 years. 

VIDEO: Old School Street Fighting Techniques

Techniques of distraction, deception, and surprise--things to look for, or perhaps even use.  

 VIDEO: "7 OLD-SCHOOL Street Fight Tricks That Still Work"
Fight SCIENCE (6 min.)

Canada's Cost Cutting Measures

"Assisted suicides now makes up more than 1 in 10 deaths in parts of Canada — and rates are rising," reports the New York Post. In some areas, it is even higher: "Lanaudière — a mountainous region of Quebec just north of Montreal — had 13.4% of its deaths come from Canada’s medical assistance in dying program (MAID) in 2025, official records showed." 

This Is The Future If Dems Win The Mid-Terms

Being a bar that caters to mentally unhinged, woke leftists is not a good business model per this New York Post article, “Massachusetts lesbian bar nearly bullied out of town after lifting mask mandate — for one night a week." The gist of the story is that a lesbian bar--The Last Ditch--has been struggling financially, with the owners in debt and having difficulty paying themselves or their employees. So, in order to try and boost business, the bar--which up to now still required patrons to wear the stupid Covid face masks--announced it would go mask-optional one evening per week. The patrons went berserk:

    Some critics dramatically likened the decision to a “mass disabling event,” a “eugenicist” attack and a host of other hot-button terms that escalated to threats of violence.

    “I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists [sic],” one commenter wrote on the western Massachusetts bar’s post announcing the change, the Boston Globe reported.

    “People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,” wrote another, while a third said, “Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with.”

There's more, but you get the drift. On top of this, a group of patrons organized a boycott of the business.  

    The business soon found its divey barroom bare on what used to be busy nights, as irate customers banded together to boycott.

    Sales had already been slumping due to the bar’s floundering business model that includes rules like, “Nobody will be barred from entry due to lack of funds,” and “Poor and unhoused people are welcome in the space.”

 [snip]

    Metallian [one of the owners] has fallen behind on rent, and the bar’s landlord was demanding $3,900 by the end of September.

    And the fateful mask-optional Saturday nights haven’t helped, with the barroom all but empty each weekend despite drink deals and DJs that used to attract dozens of customers. 

 So, soon, the disaffected will have no where to go when the bar shuts down and the space becomes filled with another vape shop or pay-day loan business. But consequences don't matter to liberals. 

     The problem for normal people is that the people destroying this bar are cast from the same mold as those increasingly running the show for the Democrats. Which is why a poll from the Center for Strategic Politics recently conducted a poll showing that 59% of Democrats support a military coup against Trump,  68% believe we need “more immigrants”, and 69% want the Democrats to pack the Supreme Court. But they won't be just going after Trump, as the author continues:

     All of these are proxies for you personally, Dear Reader. When they say they want to see Trump die on television, when their rank and file celebrates the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s brutal livestream assassination, it’s just a proxy for Republicans more generally. Given the opportunity, they’ll fill the gulags with Wrong Thinkers like you and me, take our wealth, and give it to an army of third world immigrants.

    I don’t think Curtis Yarvin was even slightly exaggerating when he forecasted what a 2028 loss to Democrats would look like during a recent appearance on the Michael Malice podcast.

    “Number one, they’re going to do a full January 6 assembly-line prosecution of everyone. There will be some random bullshit charge,” he said. “Everyone they can find, just massive, massive prosecutions.”

    “And then you’re going to see mass migration,” he continued. “8 figures and up. Per year. Very very easy to work the system so they’re allowing 20 million third worlders in every year.”

    “Of course they won’t be citizens right away, but then the Democrats are going to be doing everything possible to facilitate ballot stuffing and all of their favorite little, undiscoverable things.”

• Related: "Leftists’ masks are coming all the way off — revealing the ugly truth"--New York Post.

Article: "Your Qualification Score Doesn't Predict Gunfight Performance"

In its article "Your Qualification Score Doesn't Predict Gunfight Performance," Tactical Science digs into the statistics showing the qualification scores don't measure whatever it is that makes you effective in a gunfight. The reason? According to the article:

    The data here and in other places suggest that firearms qualification does not relate to performance in the field. In science terms, firearms qualification is not a valid measure of field shooting performance.

    This is not surprising given that this is a case of far transfer. Meaning that we are practicing something very different from the thing people are expected to do in the field. The research here is very clear and consistent. Far transfer essentially does not exist. Some of my firearms trainer audience is already grumbling, but let me explain.

    In the field, an officer must interact with people, use movement and spacing to keep a tactical advantage, attempt to de-escalate, decide that force is needed, implement that force in a way that is effective and legal, assess the outcome, alter course if needed, and then deal with the aftermath.

    On the range, a trainee hears a timer beep or sees a target turn, and then fires a set number of shots at a piece of paper, which often only vaguely looks like a person, in a certain amount of time. Then they have to swivel their head because maybe the instructor is walking behind them holding up a random number of fingers.

    You should be able to see that while a gun is used in both environments, the perceptual cues that control the use of that gun and the actions surrounding that use are very different. As I have discussed in depth here before, perception and action are so intimately linked that if you change the perceptual cues, you automatically change the action. This means if you are not practicing with cues that are close to the real thing, then the actions you practiced will not show up in the field. 

Although the article is aimed at law enforcement, the conclusions should apply to civilian defenders as well. I don't take the article as saying that you don't need to train or practice on a square range--obviously you need to learn how to handle and use your firearm--but that you also need other training or practice.  

More On Possible Threat To Estonia

Another article from PJ Media on Estonia and Russia: "Will the U.S. Send Troops to Die for Estonia? Putin Doesn't Think So." A few points from the article:

    It's eerie how Putin appears to be rerunning Adolf Hitler's playbook of bombast, bluff, probe, and testing the adversary before unleashing his armies. Like Hitler, he has spent years conducting a "shadow war" or hybrid/gray-zone warfare to weaken NATO's resolve. This has included directing arson attacks against warehouses, defense production plants, and logistics hubs servicing supply chains to Ukraine across Poland, Germany, Britain, and the Baltics, as well as the physical disruption, arson, and signal tampering along critical transport corridors, such as Polish rail lines transporting aid and civilian traffic. Russia is also suspected of severing undersea cables and sabotaging underwater pipelines.

    There have been Russian airspace violations of Poland, Lithuania, and Romania. There have been strategic overflights, "accidental" missile or drone crashes near border areas, and fighter jet incursions testing NATO air-defense response times. NATO's feeble responses have emboldened Putin to the point that he now appears ready to stage the ultimate test in the alliance's 80 years.

    Putin now has 100,000 troops massed on Estonia's border and will attempt to call up another 300,000 reservists. Putin has manufactured a crisis about "ethnic Russians" being oppressed in the border city of Narva. He wants Estonia "to grant regional autonomy to the “Narva People’s Republic” — a breakaway statelet purportedly declared by Estonia’s Russian minority, but which in reality has been invented by the Kremlin, then mercilessly promoted on social media," writes UnHerd's Michael Kranz.

[snip]

    Like any good performer, Vladimir Putin has read the room and already knows NATO's response. Donald Trump is not going to ask American boys to die for Estonia, no more than he asked American boys to die for Ukraine. He will not send troops to defend Poland, Lithuania, Romania, or any European country, seeing the defense of Europe as a European matter. 

Although the U.S. is looking at pulling 25,000 troops from Western Europe, I suspect that Putin may have misread the room. It is notable that Lithuinia is receiving a new rotation of American troops--an armored battalion, so not a huge number--but not nothing. Nevertheless, the Russian threat is likely more nuanced than a full-out invasion of the whole country. Rather, as Stars & Stripes, reports, "Russia could test NATO’s bedrock collective defense pledge by sending a small number of troops to seize a sliver of Estonia, forcing allies to decide whether they want to risk taking it back, a new assessment says."

     The aim would be “breaking the alliance by causing it to fail to activate and act appropriately on its Article 5 commitments,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis published Monday. 

    According to NATO’s founding charter, an attack on one member country is considered an attack on all of them. Invoking Article 5 is designed to trigger a collective military response by the other 31 countries in the bloc on behalf of the one under attack. 

    “A number of NATO states will likely be very hesitant to invoke Article 5 over a limited incursion, fearing the consequences of appearing to launch the alliance into a full-scale war with Russia,” the report said. 

    Such an operation around the Estonian border city of Narva could unfold without the major buildup that NATO might expect before an invasion, according to the Washington-based think tank. 

    Instead, Russia could position drone units inside its own territory while operatives seized key locations in Narva and declared a breakaway enclave.

I Can Believe This

Yesterday's Anonymous Conservative news brief linked to this Daily Mail article: "I investigated 700 UFO abductions. I started believing in God after survivors claimed two words saved them from 'demonic' entities." Key part: "Jordan told the Daily Mail he has investigated roughly 700 abduction cases, finding that those who called out to either Jesus or God claimed the supernatural incident immediately ended without further harm."

    I used to have a great deal of interest in UFOs and the like until I read a book that went into more detail on abduction cases than most accounts, and I realized that almost all of the accounts made some reference to the "abducted" person having involvement or interest in the occult. Sometime thereafter, I happened to pick up a book collecting myths of fairies and dwarfs and I noted a lot of similarity between the stories of people that encountered fairies and close encounters with UFOs, but with the odd recurrent mention that fairies could not abide the name of Christ nor being reminded that they did not have souls that could be saved. Thus, if UFO abductions are the modern versions of fairy stories, then it makes sense that mentioning God and Jesus would be just as upsetting to the "aliens".  

Immigration As War

As you may know already, an ICE agent shot and wounded an illegal alien in Austin, TX, on Sunday after a vehicle chase. Although Austin police said the shooting took place after a foot pursuit, that does not appear to be correct. The illegal was identified as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan, who entered the country illegally during the Biden Administration and was still here despite an order of removal.

    Interestingly, although there are references to protests following the shooting, the reporting has been rather muted as though the media knows it will reflect badly on the liberal narrative. However, a local ABC affiliate--KVUE--relates:

    What began with a handful of people gathered across the street from the scene grew into a much larger crowd over the course of several hours.

    People held signs, chanted and called for answers about what led to the shooting. Many also demanded that local authorities have a role in the investigation.

    “As someone who lives in the neighborhood, this is a violation of our human rights and our constitutional rights," Austin resident Ben Suddaby said. "The clear demands that I'm hearing from everyone in English and Spanish is for a local investigation. There's no confidence in the federal government to investigate itself. We are demanding that our local resources be used to protect our local residents." 

[snip]

    As the crowd grew Sunday evening, the scene began to change.

    KVUE crews saw water bottles being thrown at law enforcement as people crossed the street and moved closer to police tape. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers began putting on gas masks, while Austin police officers lined up nearby in what appeared to be riot gear.

    Law enforcement then used chemical agents to push the crowd back.

    Later, law enforcement pulled back from the immediate area, and the crowd moved into the street, blocking traffic as the protest continued.

    At one point, KVUE crews saw some people throw rocks at a car that was trying to drive through the area.

    As the night continued, the protest also expanded beyond the shooting itself, with people speaking out against ICE and immigration enforcement actions across the country.

The Texan has this about the protests:

The shooting prompted protests Sunday night at the scene in north Austin near the intersection of Anderson Square and Highway 183, and in other locations around the city. Some protesters waved Mexican and Guatemalan flags, while throwing rocks at law enforcement in some instances. Austin police officers deployed pepper balls to disperse the crowd from the street and investigation area.  

Rep. Greg Casar, whose district does not even include where the shooting took place, as reportedly described immigration enforcement as "war" and called for ending immigration enforcement. It is a war because the mass immigration is an invasion which has and will result in population displacement and replacement. Just look at at what happened in southern California. 

A Good Example Why A Red Dot Is A Bad Idea For Concealed Carry

The other day I started watching the video, below, which was showing the difference in speed between drawing and shooting a handgun with a round chambered versus drawing and shooting a handgun with no round chambered, requiring you to have to rack the slide as part of the draw ("Israeli carry"). But the concealed handgun being used sported a closed emitter red dot sight, and during the test, it became caught up in the tester's t-shirt on the draw at least twice that they showed in the video. Something to think about if you are using a red dot on a concealed carry pistol.  

VIDEO: "Israeli Draw | The Worst Way to Carry"
Charlie Coks (15 min.)

World War III?

With Russia's conflict in Ukraine still dragging on with no end in sight, there are signs that Russia might consider taking parts of Estonia soon. From "Who Had 'World War III Starting in Estonia' on Their 2026 Bingo Card?" at PJ Media:

    Which brings us to today's news and Estonia, nicely summarized on X by Eric S. Raymond.

    "There are intelligence reports that Russia has been building hospital facilities" on the Estonia border, while "Russian border guards have been spotted shoring up the banks of the Narva River in exactly the way you would expect if you thought they were going to throw expedient military bridges across it."

    "Russian border guards have also removed a set of buoys in the river marking the Russian-Estonian border, sparking a formal protest from the Estonian government," Eric added, literally muddying the waters between the two countries.

    But here's where it gets truly disturbing: "The city of Narva, Estonia, sits at the Russian border, on the Narva river, opposite the zone where the Russians have declared a curfew for its inhabitants and a no-go zone for people who don't already live there."

    Narva is 87% ethnic Russian, a result of Russian colonization efforts in the Baltics, both during the Czarist and Soviet era. "Putin has claimed the right to intervene militarily to protect 'oppressed' ethnic Russians in the near abroad," Eric posted. "The invasion and annexation of Crimea [in 2014] was justified on these grounds."

I don't believe Putin would be doing this unless he believes that the U.S. blew its wad, so to speak, on Iran and would not be in a position to defend Estonia--which is a member of NATO--and is convinced that Europe would be incapable of defending or retaking Estonia. A paper from the Atlantic Council in February 2026, "Putin’s next move? Five Russian attack scenarios Europe must prepare for," similarly observes (footnotes omitted):

    The accession of Sweden and Finland as NATO’s newest members has fundamentally altered Russia’s security calculations in the Baltic and Nordic region. Should the war in Ukraine evolve into a prolonged frozen conflict, Russia will rearm its military in pursuit of Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions. He will seek opportunities to rebuild Russian prestige and recover former or disputed territories, improve Russia’s strategic posture, and test NATO’s resolve in Article 5 scenarios in which he assesses the chance of a robust Alliance response is low, or the chances of success at acceptable cost are high. As one expert notes, “Russia wants to expand its military and political opportunities in the face of the West and considers a direct clash with the West highly probable, if not unavoidable.”

    The potential rewards for continued and successful Russian aggression in Europe include enhanced prestige for Putin’s regime, an improved geostrategic position along Russia’s periphery, delivery of a damaging and perhaps fatal blow to NATO, and the severing of the transatlantic link—all of which are powerful incentives. .... 

In the case of most European countries, Putin's assessment is probably correct. In fact, a lot of British men are saying they would not even be willing to fight to defend the U.K. (watch this Asmongold TV video), echoing what a 100 year old British WWII veteran said last year when he stated on British national TV that the sacrifice of him and his comrades and WWII was not worth it. That is the consequence when you import so many third world invaders that social capital collapses. 

    The country that should give Putin pause is Poland. Not only does Poland have greater military capabilities than Ukraine, but considerable public support for protecting Baltic allies--78% of Poles would support military action to protect the Baltic states from Russia according to a recent poll. 

VIDEO: Can A Steel Bow As Described By Tolkien Work Against Orc Armor?

The host focuses on a line from one of Tolkien's unfinished tales describing the men of Númenor using hollow steel bows.  Steel bows have occasionally been tried through history (as late, apparently, as the early 20th Century) but there are reasons they have never caught on including their propensity to break, which is discussed in the first part of the video. The rest of the video tests arrows roughly the size described in the text against soft steel armor (to stand in for the iron armor used by Orcs).  

 VIDEO: "Can A 'Steel Bow' As Described by Tolkien Actually Work?"
Dash Rendar (18 min.) 

VIDEO: The Biblical Origin of Feminism

This explains so much. Funny enough, this meaning of God's curse on Eve is common, but I've never heard it taught this way in my church. 

 VIDEO: "The Curse of Eve: The Biblical Origins of Feminism"
Basic Logic (5 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #99

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Sling Manipulation for Home Defense: Making Slings Work Around Corners"--Ammo Land. The author begins: 

    A rifle sling is often treated as little more than a carrying strap. For a gun owner relying on a rifle, shotgun or pistol caliber carbine for home defense, that is a mistake.

    A properly set-up sling helps retain the rifle, frees a hand when necessary, and gives the shooter more control in hallways, doorways, and other confined spaces. A poorly adjusted sling can bind the rifle, slow a shoulder transition, or leave the gun swinging around when the shooter needs both hands.

    In a recent training video, Travis Haley of Haley Strategic demonstrates how sling configuration affects shoulder transitions, body exposure around corners, and the shooter’s ability to keep a rifle in action after an injury. Haley discusses those techniques primarily through the lens of close-quarters operations, but several of the underlying lessons have direct value for civilian gun owners who keep a carbine for home defense.

• "Close Encounters of the Revolver Kind"--Revolver Guy.  A look at concealed carry in the Old West with an emphasis on revolvers, including what some famous (or infamous) gunfighters used. An excerpt:

    All the same, most 19th century Westerners weren’t pistoleros by circumstance or experience and didn’t have the need or ability to tote large hog-legs for personal protection. Even so, the Western society of that era expected men to defend themselves against nutjobs and violent bullies. Thus, it was common for many Westerners, including some women, to be discreetly armed. Added to this was the dominant Western belief that a man’s personal honor and safety should be backed up by lethal force. 5

    Among the first to take advantage of these concealable arms were gunfighters on both sides of the law who wanted compact firepower in addition to their full-sized revolvers made by Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington and other companies as backup heaters. Moreover, some boomtowns’ politicians forbade carrying firearms, especially open carrying such hardware. Therefore, many folks who worked in higher risk jobs carried small hidden firearms for self-defense. In those bygone days such weapons were known as hideout guns, cutdowns, pocket guns, vest pocket pistols, and bicycle guns. Today, our modern versions are called belly guns, snub-nosed revolvers, snubbies, micro pistols, backup guns and so forth. 

    So, a lot of Westerners who worked in mercantile stores, banking, gambling, bar tending, prostitution and stage coach transportation sought small equalizers that could be inconspicuously carried or stashed nearby. Quite a few manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, recognized a lucrative market and produced an assortment of small revolvers, some well-made and others clearly substandard. 

And you might find this note about the homicide rates interesting:

 In current-day America, 35 murders per 100,000 people is considered extremely high. Yet those figures pale in comparison to homicide rates in the Wild West. Adjusting for population densities, boomtowns Bodie, California, and the five main cattle Kansas cattle towns sported murder tallies that ran from 116 to 317 per 100,000 inhabitants. As bad as these statistics are, in the early 1850s the Pueblo of Los Angeles’s murder rate was 1,250 per 100,000 people. Historian John Bosessenecker believes that was by “far and away the highest homicide rate in American history.” Volunteers formed the Los Angeles Rangers to subdue the criminality.

• And some more firearms history: "The Beretta M1935: A Classic .32 Caliber Pistol"--The Shooting Wire. The author relates:

    The Beretta M1935 isn’t a fancy gun by any means. It’s a direct descendant of the Beretta M1934. The M1934 was a 9mm Corto (.380 ACP) Italian service pistol that served with the Royal Italian Army. The difference between the two is the caliber. 

    The M1935 is a direct-blowback .32 ACP pistol that feeds from a single-stack magazine. Like most guns of the era, it’s a hammer-fired, single-action-only pistol with a manual safety and heel-mounted magazine release.  

    The magazine holds eight rounds, which is one more than the M1934. The Italian Army already had the M1934, but the Navy and Air Force chose the .32 caliber M1935. The .380 had a bit more bite and nearly twice the free recoil of .32 ACP, so I imagine forces less focused on ground warfare wanted a little less oomph. 

    Beretta probably also had an eye on sales to police and external military forces. The .32 ACP was a popular cartridge amongst European police and military forces, and offering both made a lot of sense. Finland, Japan, and Nazi Germany all fielded the M1935. You didn’t have to redesign the gun to swap from .380 to .32. 

• And on to something more modern: "Meet the HK VP9CC: The New Micro-Compact With a Familiar Family Name"--The Truth About Guns. One thing that HK does now (not so much in the past) is get the ergonomics down (unlike another company whose name rhymes with "lock"). The author notes:

    Heckler & Koch did not skimp on the total package for the new pistol. The custom H&K-branded pistol bag includes six interchangeable backstraps, more than most other handguns on the market, to ensure you can get the exact grip you want on the VP9CC. The backstrap plays an important role in how you grip any handgun. If the backstrap is too elongated, it can prevent smaller-handed shooters from reaching the trigger.

    If the backstrap is too thin, it can give you “too much” trigger finger, where you’re having to curl your trigger finger uncomfortably outward to make a proper trigger pull. If shooting fundamentals have taught me anything, it is that building a good grip is the foundation of pistol shooting. If the backstrap makes or breaks a good grip, then you need the right one for your hand size.   

And look at the arch to the backstrap. You shouldn't be shooting low and left with this weapon.  

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Keys to Success"--The Firearm Blog. The first point the author raises is to know your limitations. He explains:

    One of the biggest issues I’ve seen with people in the concealed carry space is the concept of forcing a handgun to work no matter their body type or carry style. Some people are hell-bent on carrying a specific handgun, whether it's a full-size 1911 or even something larger like a Desert Eagle. There was an individual I met in the Detroit area who carried a Desert Eagle in 50 AE by having it in an OWB leather holster. I saw him walk into an indoor range where he proceeded to almost miss the target, hitting the D Zone 5 out of the 7 shots he fired. 

    If a firearm's too heavy to easily carry all day long and you can't shoot it accurately under pressure, why are you carrying it? ... 

• Think twice before getting involved: "Good Samaritan, 21, trying to stop robbery is shot three times before staggering down bloodied Seattle street where passersby refused to call 911 and FILMED him instead"--Daily Mail. From the lede:

    A 21-year-old man was shot three times while trying to stop a robbery in Seattle, and was left staggering through the streets as heartless passersby filmed his ordeal and his friend was left dying on the street.

    Matthew Lanske had just finished dinner with his friends in the city's Belltown neighborhood on September 6, when they witnessed an illegal street takeover, his family said.

    When Lanske and his friends then crossed the street near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Clay Street, a man and two women tried to rob his friend, Isaac Elijah Rios, 20, at gunpoint. 

    Lanske immediately jumped in to help, bravely trying to grab the gun from the man, when he was shot three times – twice in the stomach while the third shattered his pelvis and struck a major artery, his sister Rebecca Garberding said. 

• "Why Boomers Grew Up Loving Guns"--The Truth About Guns. The author posits:

    The world these children grew up in was saturated with firearms long before any toy Colt reached their hands. World War II left behind enormous quantities of military arms and industrial capacity. As veterans returned home and factories shifted back to civilian production, the American firearm market absorbed both the surplus and the influence of wartime design. Affordable surplus rifles and handguns introduced many civilians to firearms, while Winchester, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Ruger, and Savage repositioned themselves for a peacetime market built on hunting, target shooting, home defense, and outdoor recreation.

    Popular culture reinforced the connection without needing to invent it. The number of American households with televisions jumped from a handful to more than nine in ten between 1946 and 1964. Westerns filled those living rooms with images of Colts, Winchesters, lawmen, and frontier justice. Even when the stories were fictional, they tied firearms to history and identity in the minds of the audience. So a Boomer child grew up with a father who may have carried a rifle in the war, a household that owned a hunting shotgun, and a television that ran cowboy dramas after dinner. The replica toy was a small part of a far larger picture.

The author also theorizes that the Cold War had its own impact on the Boomers. But the culture is an impact: I do not believe anyone could deny the impact that video games and GWOT had on Gun Culture 2.0.

• A different type of boomer: "Big boomer guns"--Backwoods Magazine. Massad Ayoob discusses the large magnum or express rifles, handguns and shotguns. An excerpt:

    I never did go after elephant intentionally, but being in elephant territory and knowing horror stories of humans crushed to doll rags by the giant mammals, it was reassuring to have a .375 and a .458 along. I later acquired a .416 Rigby caliber Ruger Model 77 Express rifle.

    Machismo value? About 9 out of 10. Practical value if you live in the “lower 48” United States and don’t have to worry about humongous bears of the Polar and Grizzly variety? Well, probably close to zero. But the ability to shoot these monstrously hard-kicking guns fast and straight? Well, in Macho Guy Terms, the value is probably incalculable.

    You’ll see alongside this article my friend Justin Schortmann shooting his brother-in-law Caleb Gunter’s .470 Express double barrel elephant rifle. Watch the muzzle rise. Watch the body rock backward. I can only say—YEE-HAW!

    If you aren’t in elephant country, do you need an elephant rifle? Well, heck, if you’re in a country with a 70 mile an hour speed limit, do you need a car that can race at over a hundred miles an hour? In a free country, it’s about what you want, not just what you need. Me, I kinda go with a point that Ross Seyfried first made when he was a professional hunter in Africa. I’ve owned .375, .416, and/or .458 caliber elephant rifles when I lived in New Hampshire, and when I lived in Florida.

    During all that time, no elephant has ever attacked me or my neighbors. One can only conclude that there is a deterrent effect at work here. You’d think my Yuppie neighbors in the New England suburbs would have appreciated more than they did, the fact that I, alone, obviously kept herds of elephants from trampling their Volvos into their rock gardens.

• A good argument for not allowing Flock cameras or similar automatic monitoring systems: "FBI’s Secret NICS Monitoring Tracked Lawful Gun Buyers"--The Truth About Guns.  From the article:

    For years, the FBI ran a program that let federal agencies watch what guns you buy — even when you’re perfectly legal to buy them. It’s called NICS Monitoring, and on September 15, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed it exists.

    The confirmation came during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. Sen. Ted Cruz laid it out plainly. Gun Owners of America, he said, “discovered a secret FBI program called NICS Monitoring, used to track firearm purchases of Americans who were legally eligible to buy a gun but were suspected of a crime. Is that right?” Patel’s answer: “Yes.”

    That one word ended a five-year fight. GOA has been suing the ATF over the program since a 2021 FOIA request first surfaced records the government has tried to bury under redactions and gag orders ever since. 

• Speaking of a police state: "Texas police department shut down for failing to provide ‘public benefit’ after arresting mom over dirty water Facebook post"--New York Post.  The woman was arrested because she made a post critical of the city's mishandling of the municipal water system. Apparently the State of Texas can shut down local law enforcement agencies, and did so in this case.
• The Conference of Catholic Bishops urge the Supreme Court to leave Americans helpless in the face of violent crime. One of the key groups that aided and abetted the invasion of the United States under Biden now urges the Supreme Court to uphold local and state AR15 bans. 
• "Unconventionality Reigns Supreme with the CRKT Mah-chete"--Gat Daily. So this is one of those blades that tries to provide the utility of a machete with a smaller blade--in this case, a 12 inch blade--giving you something big enough to chop, but small enough to serve other knife roles. The author reviews the tool and ends with this:

Not only does the CRKT Mah-chete perform like a true powerhouse outdoors, but it also offers a coolness factor that cannot be denied. Its untraditional design allows it to perform like a traditional machete, while accomplishing a lot more. It can slice and dice for meal prep, split wood like an ax, and puncture like a spear. The Mah-chete retails for only $80.00 and when weighing quality versus price, it’s no contest. The Mah-chete pays for itself with its unrelentless performance in the field. 

The blade shape and curve is very much like that of a parang, except with a more pronounced point; and the handle is slightly offset above the line of the blade which would, IMHO, increase the power of the cutting stroke.  Very similar to the now discontinued K-Bar Swabbie or Schrade's Decimate Parang. I have a Schrade Bush Sword (now called the Decimate Brush Sword) which is a similar concept (albeit with a longer blade) which I have found very useful around my yard. 

• If the grid goes down in the winter, you might not be able to do your business in a heated bathroom. "Pooping In The Cold"--Blue Collar Prepping. The author links to a video on YouTube. As the author notes, "While this video is about using outhouses in cold weather, the same principle applies in the woods; just find a log to sit on." And one of the comments notes: "Replace the toilet seat with a piece of rigid foam insulation with an appropriate hole. You will think the seat is heated!"
• "The Potato Hole"--Backwoods Magazine. A mini-root celler, if you will:

    We had talked of putting in a regular root cellar, but digging one by hand on our property would have been a daunting task. Just below the meager layer of topsoil which grew wonderful vegetables was a gigantic layer of solid concrete-like clay. So we got by with storing potatoes with the canned goods in the basement where the temperature hovered in the 50s. Unfortunately, sprouts were plentiful by spring.

    But one day a few years back, we decided we had had enough of a 15-foot chokecherry bush that was sending suckers into the garden several yards away, so my husband cut it down then dug the roots out — a task that required the pickax, saw, and shovel. The resulting hole looked like it wouldn’t take much to make it big enough to sink the 2 foot by 30 inch (inside diameter) concrete riser we had on hand. “Then,” I said, “we could store potatoes in it.”