A Good Story For Around The Fire: "Mysteries in the Mountains A real-life Twilight Zone may exist in Southeastern Arizona near the Mexican border"

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah (Source)

The Tucson Weekly published the aforementioned story in May 2003. It had been written by Ron Quinn, a treasure hunter, and submitted to a sister publication some years earlier before falling into the then-current editor's hands. The Weekly was unable to confirm any of the details, so published it as a series of interesting anecdotes, and nothing more. Basically, however, the story is Quinn's description of a stone gateway or arch in a remote area of Southern Arizona (on tribal lands, of course) that apparently could occasionally transport someone through time. Quinn first learned of the gateway in the late 1950s from "John," an Indian living in that area. 

     Later, John told us about a mysterious stone archway. Roy told him we came across such a formation south of camp. John's first words were, "Did you walk through its opening?" 

     Walt answered, "No. We noticed it while descending a slope, but paid little attention to the oddity." 

     John told us around the 1800s, three Indians were hunting and upon returning to their village, discovered a stone archway. Being in a jubilant mood, they began chasing one another through the opening in a playful manner. 

     Moments later, one jumped through but never emerged from the opposite side. Fearing they had entered some sacred ground of the gods, the remaining two fled the scene. Arriving at the village, they told the medicine man how their friend had vanished before their eyes. 

     As the story spread, others journeyed to the high plateau to gaze upon the stone structure. Rocks and other items were tossed through, but nothing occurred--until an elderly woman approached. Tossing in a live rabbit, it suddenly vanished. The Indians backed off in fear and spread the story of this "Doorway to the Gods," as it came to be known. 

     John himself has been to the site on many occasions. The only time he witnessed anything strange was around 1948. A big storm had blown in, and the sky was filled with dark clouds in all directions. As he rode past the archway, he noticed the sky through its opening was blue--no clouds were visible. Dismounting, he walked cautiously toward the formation and peered through. The mountains on the other side hadn't changed, but the sky was clear. Looking around the corner of the structure, the sky was once again covered with dark clouds. Fear gripped him and he rode off.

The rest of the story has to do with Quinn's other journeys into that area investigating the arch.

Of course, similar tales are extant in many areas of the world. I remember having a Lost in Space comic book that had a similar plot device: they had landed on a desert world, but found a natural stone archway through which it was possible to travel back through time to when that particular planet was still green and full of life.

In any event, if you like these types of supernatural/treasure hunting stories, check it out.

January 12, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"What is a Brush Gun?"--Iraqveteran8888. The author of this video first discusses what traditionally constitutes a "brush gun"--a large bore rifle firing a heavy, flat or round-nose bullet--and then tests a few different calibers by firing through about 15 yards of heavy brush toward a steel plate set about 50 yards in the distance. The result seemed to prove the concept of a brush gun: light bullets, such as from .22 LR and 5.56 NATO were deflected or started tumbling as they struck brush, resulting in some misses; the same for a .308 he fired; but the heavier calibers such a .444 Marlin and .45-70 actually cut through sizable branches to still strike the target pretty much where aimed. For a brush gun, heavy and slow seems to be the key.

Firearms/Self-Defense:

• Some more on using shotguns for self-defense and/or combat:

• "The Role and Mission of the Combat Shotgun" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Gabe Suarez. He notes, in the beginning to Part 1:

     The shotgun has been around the world of gunfighting for hundreds of years.  Its conceptual use was well known by those who founded this nation as well as by those who tamed the west. 

     ... It is best used in close range conflicts where, either alone or together, the speed of the event, the number of  adversaries, or the lighting conditions present, would preclude the use of traditional marksmanship based methods.

     The best gunfighters in history knew this, accepted it, and did very well with the shotgun.

     In recent times, there have been those who sought to extent [sic] the shotgun’s role outside of this close range envelope and attempt to force it into other roles. 

     ...  I think the Modern Technique desire to turn the shotgun into a rifle is ill-advised. I think trying to turn a special-situation weapon into a weapon for all-seasons will detract from the special-situation utility, yet fail to meet the versatility that [is] provided by other weapons, such as a true assault rifle.

• An even more specialized shotgun: "Pistol Grip Shotguns - The Alternative PDW"--Gabe Suarez. For real close, little time to react, fighting.

• Magpul has announced they will be soon selling a 30-round P-Mag specifically for .300 Blackout.
• "Gun Review: Wilkinson Arms Linda 9mm Carbine"--The Truth About Guns. An old firearm, reborn.
• "The Legend of Super Vel Ammo"--Handguns Magazine. Although Super Vel hasn't been produced for decades, the author happened across a couple boxes, some of which he tested for velocity and gelatin tests, and the rest was sent to Blackhills Ammunition for pressure testing. Super Vel lived up to its reputation.
• "The 'Center Mass' Myth and Ending a Gunfight"--Throwing Lead. The basic point of the article is that a center of mass hit--even multiple such hits--may not stop an attacker. The author offers some anecdotes, including: 

I have accumulated confirmed incidents in which people have been shot “center mass” up to 55 times with 9mm JHP ammunition (the subject was hit 106 times, but 55 of those hits were ruled by the coroner to be each lethal in and of themselves) before he went down. During training at the FBI Academy, we were told of a case in which agents shot a bank robber 65 times with 9mm, .223 and 00 buckshot - he survived! These are not rare cases. They happen quite often.

He also adds:

If a gunfight ever comes your way, your attacker may fall to a hit to the liver, and he may not. He may fall to two or three hits to the kidneys, intestines or spleen, but he may not. He will certainly be in bad health. He likely will not survive, but what he does for the next several seconds to a few minutes is not guaranteed because you hit him “center mass.”

Read the whole thing as it is a lengthy article, and the author discusses, at length, some techniques and such to practice.

Other Stuff:

• Trump promised to drain the swamp, and the swamp is fighting back:

• "The Deep State Goes to War with President-Elect, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer"--Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept.

• "Hours Before Trump's Press Conference CNN And BuzzFeed Hit 'Fake News' Bottom"--The Daily Wire.

• "Schumer: Intelligence Community May ‘Get Back At’ Trump For Tweet [VIDEO]"--Daily Caller.

• "'I did what any citizen should do': Sworn Trump enemy John McCain admits HE handed smear dossier to FBI - because he had no idea if it was credible"--Daily Mail.

• "Trump was NEVER briefed on dirty dossier and NEVER shown it by intelligence chiefs: Officials reveal FBI and CIA have found 'no link' between president-elect and Kremlin as he furiously denies 'fake news' "--Daily Mail.

• "Buzzfeed’s Trump report takes ‘fake news’ to a new level"--New York Post.

• "Crucial error in Trump dirty dossier revealed: Man named as his ‘lawyer’ is not even American – and the real one denies he has ever been to city where he ‘met Kremlin agents’"--Daily Mail.

• "Despite Weak Stream of Proof, 4chan Claims It Invented the Trump Golden Showers Story"--The Daily Beast.

• "Kremlin DENIES claims it kept a blackmail dossier on Trump saying reports of compromising files are 'no more than fiction'"--Daily Mail.

• And there will be consequences:

• "BuzzFeed undermines all journalists with Trump 'dossier'"--Baltimore Sun.

• "Time for Heads to Roll at the CIA"--Powerline. From the article:

     What is going on here is blindingly obvious. Intelligence agencies–again, I think this means the CIA, although the NSA could also be involved–are creating “news” in order to discredit the incoming Trump administration. Just as the report on Russian hacking that they delivered last week was 100% politics and 0% security, the attachment to that report that created today’s news stories had no purpose other than to legitimize the spreading of unsourced, and almost certainly false, slanders against the president-elect.

     Many people do not realize that the CIA has been a liberal organization, generally associated with the Democratic Party, since its founding. For the agency to intervene in this manner to try to discredit a nascent Republican administration is shocking, but not entirely surprising.

• Glenn Reynolds comments: "This is good news for Trump, sort of, but overall it’s really bad news, since it means that both journalism and the intelligence community are both more politicized, and less competent, than even I thought. Sweet Jesus, these people are terrible."

• I wonder what the DNC didn't want the FBI to find? "Comey: FBI denied repeated requests to access DNC servers, Podesta’s device"--Fox News.
• "FBI Caught Using Best Buy Geek Squad As Paid Informers"--Anonymous Conservative. He writes:

He accidentally located it with expensive forensics software. So basically the Best Buy guy was either running expensive forensics software given to him by the government on every computer he encountered, or he was told to do it to this one specifically, which immediately makes me wonder if the computer problem that sent the computer to the repair center to begin with was engineered as part of a much larger operation to take this guy out. 

• And the Islamic connection to the Ft. Lauderdale shooter is solidified: "Airport Shooter Converted to Islam, Identified as Aashiq Hammad Years Before Joining Army"--Judicial Watch. Another confirmed instance of Islamic terrorism in the United States.
• Some more Muslim outreach: "TERROR IN SPAIN: Gunman screaming 'Allahu Akbar' opens fire in supermarket"--Daily Express. He also had a bomb vest.
• Yet, somehow, the Germans don't get it: "Most Germans feel safe despite terrorism"--DW.
• Well, maybe I shouldn't say all: "Hundreds of neo-Nazis in Germany have gone underground"--DW. What is interesting to me is that there is a known threat from ISIS and other jihadists in Germany, and there has been massive increases of crime (including sexual assaults and rapes) due to Muslim immigration, but German law enforcement is focused on a theoretical threat by a relatively few number of neo-Nazis.
• The priest that arranged this should be publicly defrocked and excommunicated: "Koran Verse Denying Jesus Was Son of God Sung in Scottish Cathedral"--Breitbart.
• The conversation about race is going to happen no matter how much government and the media want to cover it up:

• "Chicago Homicides Even Higher Than Reported"--Newswire. 50 more homicides than had been reported.

• "Police Investigating Possible Bias-Related Assault At Shopping Center"--CBS Denver. According to the article, "[e]arly Friday morning, two African-American men sexually assaulted the woman outside the shopping center. Police say the victim, who is white, didn’t know the attackers. During the assault, the men yelled racial slurs at the woman before fleeing the scene."

• "Why Not A Movie About Jack Crenshaw?—The White Man Who Actually Did What HIDDEN FIGURES Credits To Black Women"--V Dare. More fake Hollywood history.

• "Georgetown Professor Calls for ‘Individual Reparation Accounts’ for White People"--Washington Free Beacon. I think whites have paid more than enough.

• None dare say its name: "Facebook Live torture video: Four people charged with hate crime for abusing mentally disabled teenager"--The Independent. The article makes no mention anywhere of the race of the kidnappers or the victim. If it weren't for the photographs released by the police, you would never know.

• Another fake hate-crime: "Police Charge Student For Threat Made At Arundel High School"--CBS Baltimore. An alleged KKK tweet threatening blacks was actually from a 14 year old black girl.

• "The Great Mexican Gas Price War Exposes Core Mexican Problems"--Strategy Page. 

     Demonstrations have occurred in 28 of Mexico's 32 states. Numerous gasoline stations have gone up in flames. So far, six people have died in protest-related violence. Some 1,500 have been arrested for various crimes, to include rioting and looting.

     A Mexican retail group reported that 350 businesses in 10 states had been "sacked" by thieves. Several thousand other businesses have closed, fearing assault by protestors.

• "No drama, King Obama"--Aeon Magazine. An article that much of Obama's behavior can be explained by his Javanese background and how their kings were expected to act.
• "2016: A hard rain"--The Fifth Wave. 2016 was a turning point for the West as the elite lost control of the narrative and lost the public's trust. The author writes:

     ... Governing elites have lost control of the information sphere, and stand naked before the public. In fear and loathing, under the pretext of managing utopian programs, they have withdrawn ever higher into hierarchies they have made ever steeper. In a very real sense, the public isn’t alienated from government: it’s the other way around. Once this move is made, politicians are hostage to real-world outcomes – and having promised “solutions” to intractable social and economic conditions, they can only deliver failure.

     Elite failure sets the agenda for an informed public. Officeholders, bureaucrats, elections, the whole creaking machinery of democratic governance, bleed out authority. At length a tipping-point arrives, and the storm breaks.

     We can watch this dynamic at work on the potent issue of illegal immigration. At street level, where the elites rarely show, immigration is experienced as a failure of border control. Possibly a million undocumented persons enter the US each year. Refugees are pouring into Europe in ever larger numbers. Much of the public feels that the migrant tide threatens their jobs, safety, and culture. They expect the government to intervene and stop the influx. 

     But on this question government has ascended an astronomical distance away from the governed. Ruling elites absolve themselves of any responsibility for border control, and treat illegal immigration as a test of moral purity. Angela Merkel invited a million predominantly Muslim refugees into Germany and, by extension, the EU. Embracing immigration was a “humanitarian duty,” she asserted. Opposition was judged by its most immoderate voices, those of “rightwing extremists and neo-Nazis.” It was from similar moral heights that Hillary Clinton famously dismissed “half” of Trump supporters as “a basket of deplorables…racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it.” 

     Even to entertain a second point of view was considered abhorrent. The subject was taboo, and governments sometimes invoked “hate speech” laws to silence wayward opinions. In December 2016, Gert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Dutch Freedom Party, was convicted of inciting “discrimination and group offense.” Wilders had asked his audience whether they wanted “fewer Moroccans.”

     From the perspective of a mutinous public, government could not stop the immigrant flood and would not speak to its profound concerns about the consequences. It was distance and failure all around. The sense of abandonment generated powerful political energies, motivating many to strike at the elites with whatever weapons were at hand. Trump and Brexit, opposed by every established institution, were two such weapons. Marine Le Pen and the National Front may soon serve a similar function in France. As for Gert Wilders, his conviction made him the most popular politician in the Netherlands – where he may well become the next prime minister. 

     For the political and media elites, this was beyond astounding. They thought they had imposed a silence, where the crash of thunder was deafening. Distance had sustained the illusion that they – the guardian class, perched high on the power pyramid – were still in command of the information sphere.

 Read the whole thing.

January 10, 2017--A Quick Run Around the Web

I'm feeling somewhat melancholy today, so today's video pick is "The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 2" by The Alan Parsons Project. This is from their Turn of A Friendly Card album, the first Alan Parsons album I ever heard (one of my older brothers had a copy, which I would sometimes borrow when he wasn't around) and still one of my favorite. 

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• During the past few days I've been citing to various articles and videos concerning the use of a shotgun for home-defense applications. I should add a disclaimer that I am somewhat biased against shotguns since I'm better with the handling and shooting of rifles. But I stand by my comments. Here are some more articles addressing the use of the shotgun:

• "Bird Shot for Self Defense and Some Stopping Power Statistics"--Active Response Training.  Consistent with what I had mentioned the other day, bird shot does not have the necessary penetration to reliably stop a threat.

• "Your Tactical Training Scenario- Racking a Shotgun"--Active Response Training. It might work, but probably not. Ellifritz explains: 

A motivated attacker isn’t going to be deterred by anything less than using more force against him than he is willing to experience.  Rape whistles, yelling the word “no”, or racking a pump shotgun WILL NOT deter a motivated attacker.  For that job, ruthless violence is the only solution.

• "Shotgun Tips from John Motil"--Active Response Training. Some various tips on shotguns generally, as well as particularly. One item, different from my comments, is that the author recommends a rear ghost ring sight and front high visibility sight, although I would add that if going that route, make sure the comb of your stock will be such to put your head in the proper position for using those types of sights.

• "Reflections on Weapon Cool -- Reprise"--Diplomad. An interesting anecdote about a certain Colonel in an unnamed Central American country who insisted on the .45 Colt because it was more manly of gun than the Beretta M-9; and a discussion of what makes a weapon "cool." 
• "Rheinmetall and Steyr Mannlicher unveil RS556 assault rifle"--Jane's. From the article:

     Rheinmetall and Steyr Mannlicher have partnered to offer the RS556 assault rifle in 5.56 x 45 mm to the Bundeswehr as a potential replacement for the service's G36 standard issue rifle.

     The RS556 (RS stands for Rheinmetall Steyr in 5.56 mm calibre) is a derivative of the AR-15 and a variant of Steyr's STM556 rifle....

     The RS556 uses a short-stroke gas piston system, driving an operating rod to force the bolt carrier to the rear, and is locked by a rotating bolt.

     The upper and lower receivers are made from aluminum, strengthened with steel bolt carrier guides to prevent the bolt tilting. The fire selector, magazine catch, and bolt catch are located on both sides of the weapon to support right and left handed shooters. The RS556 is equipped with a seven-position telescopic polymer butt-stock.

Photograph at the link.

• "Useful information for knife novices"--Bayou Renaissance Man. The article begins by discussing the overall usefulness of a short (12-inch or so) bladed machete. But he goes on:

Also, the nature of blades - their steel, their shape and their maintenance - is something of a religion in America, whereas in Africa (at least in my experience) it was much more hit-or-miss.  Need to sharpen your blade?  Over there, you picked up a suitable stone from a stream or river bed and went at it.  Fancy operators used proper sharpening stones, but they were heavy to carry through the African bush for any length of time, particularly if you carried everything you needed on your back.  However, outside that continent, if I offered to sharpen a high-quality blade such as a Randall, Fallkniven or Boker using a river stone, I'd probably be excommunicated from the knife fraternity on the spot - and possibly physically assaulted by the knife's owner, too!

Interestingly, the standard practice in Africa was apparently to buy a cheap Mora knife, use it until dull, then toss it out and buy another.

• The one that works for you? "What’s the Best Slide Serration Technique?"--Patrick Sweeney at Guns & Ammo. Sweeney discusses the different ways to grab and operate the slide on a semi-automatic pistol: "sling-shot" style; over the top; and (if using forward serrations) the forward hand. For me it depends: if I'm just target shooting or plinking, I use the the "sling-shot" style because it gives me the greatest purchase on the slide and allows me to clearly view the chamber. If I'm firing under speed, however, and have the slide locked back, I use the "over the top" method to unlock the slide.

Other Stuff:

• A new Woodpile Report.
• What should be America's relationship with Israel? Pat Buchanan doesn't answer this question in "Israel First or America First?" at the American Conservative, but warns that an Israel first policy will inevitably collide with an American first policy. He suggests that, yes, Israel is an ally, but it is not our only ally and it does need to understand who is in charge in the relationship. 
• "Israel's military investigating why its soldiers RAN AWAY from truck driver terrorist who killed four people, leaving a hero tour guide to shoot the attacker dead"--Daily Mail. Being in the military does not, in and of itself, make one brave or a hero.
• "Pravda: ‘Scientists Now Warn Of A New Ice Age’ As Temperature Plummets to – 80°F In Russia"--Climate Depot. Russian scientist dispute that the threat is a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation but, rather, the decrease in solar activity.
• "White-on-black homicides are much rarer than black-on-white homicides."--PJ Media. Looking at 2012 statistics, blacks committed 85% of the interracial crimes between blacks and whites, even though they are only 13 percent of the population. Those statistics are from the National Crime Victimization Survey. The Justice Department stopped making public interracial crime statistics in 2008 after Obama came into office.

• Related: "The Crime Of The Hour"--Liberty's Torch. Another article on the kidnapping/torture of a mentally handicapped white teen by four blacks in Chicago. He also declares that "The peaceful majority [of blacks] are irrelevant. It’s a greater tragedy than anything in history that didn’t result in a world war or a Communist revolution. Yet there it is...and there’s nothing we can do about it but part company."

• "Trail of slaughter in prisons shocks Brazilians as gang war explodes"--The Guardian. From the article:

     The men on the prison roof laughed as they raised a hand-painted flag emblazoned with the initials of two of Brazil’s most dangerous drug gangs. In the yard below, other gang-members hacked the heads off prisoners from a rival mafia faction and lined them up in a row.

     The horrific scenes were filmed on a mobile phone during a jail riot on 1 January in which 56 prisoners were butchered near the Amazon city of Manaus – the first in a string of violent incidents in Brazilian prisons this year.

     The next day, four more inmates were killed at another prison in Manaus. Five days later, 33 prisoners died at a prison outside Boa Vista, in Roraima state in the far north of Brazil. Then, early on Sunday morning, four more prisoners were killed in another Manaus jail which had been reopened to accommodate prisoners transferred after the 1 January massacre.

     In a country long used to violent crime, the savagery has appalled Brazilians: local media reports have included footage of of dismembered corpses, and messages scrawled in human blood.

     Police and prosecutors have warned that a war between rival gangs to control Brazil’s lucrative drug trade has escalated to a new level of brutality – and there are signs that the battle has already moved from the country’s overwhelmed prison system to Rio de Janeiro, where it threatens to destabilise a city already reeling from a rise in violent crime.

• The swamp fights back: "The Intelligence Community versus Donald Trump"--American Thinker. A discussion of the possibility that the leaders of the American intelligence community are attempting to discredit Trump through their unsupported accusations of the Russian hack of the DNC. 

• Related: "Federal workers worry about their jobs under Trump"--MSN.

• Related: "Someone is trying to take down the Drudge Report, and it's a mystery who's behind it"--Business Insider. According to the article, Matt Drudge doesn't think it is a mystery: he is pointing his finger at the United States government. The Anonymous Conservative gives some additional thoughts:

     A lot goes on in government that would be unbelievable these days. Clearly Obama is not pulling people aside and asking them to crash Drudge’s servers. But I will bet most of the top domestic intel positions are now manned by Obama’s people – who do not need to talk to Obama to get word of what the party wants them to do. 

     Additionally, there might be another reason Drudge suspects government involvement. Drudge is probably bumping up against the surveillance state, and he may be bucking against their pressures periodically in ways they don’t like. It wouldn’t surprise me if he saw correlations with things he is doing to piss off his own watchers, and the onset of his DDOS attacks. These attacks could be ways to bring him to heel, by costing him advertising revenue when he pisses them off.

• "Obama leaves with the world in flames"--George F. Will at the New York Post. In his polite way, Will calls Obama a simpleton that has left the world worse than when he came to office. He writes:

Many progressives believe in humanity’s natural sociability. This disposes them to believe that peace among nations is natural and spontaneous, or it would be if other nations would cleanse their minds of the superstitions that prevent them from recognizing the universal validity and demonstrable utility of American principles.

In not so many words, progressives are conflict-averse rabbits that are too stupid to comprehend the real world.

• "No Spouse, No Kids, No Caregiver: How to Prepare to Age Alone"--U.S. News & World Report. This 2015 article notes that women that decided to go it alone--sans husband or children--are now afraid that they are going to "go it alone" through their declining years. I'm sure the proposed solution will be some government subsidy, since that is how feminists roll.
• Another benefit of illegal aliens: "The Great California Earthquake of 2018: First State To Default"--American Thinker. From the article:

     ... Employers who utilize labor pay into the FUTA, or the federal unemployment tax, at a rate of 6% and are credited back an offset of 5.4% that they previously paid the state, leaving a small federal liability of only 0.6%.  

     However, if the state-run U.I. [unemployment insurance] trust gets overdrawn, as it did in California for going on its third year now, it automatically pulls an emergency loan out from the federal government to service the underfunded account.  And if that is not repaid by November 10, and it defaults, then the government forces employers to pay it.

     They just defaulted.  Our company received a mystery bill in the mail two weeks ago, explaining our new $15,000 owed. ...

The author explains: "California's U.I. trust is being kneecapped because of arms-wide-open amnesty that is removing jobs from those born here, and thus sending the U.I. rate ever higher." Read the whole thing.

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Scientists are recreating extinct mega-cows"--The Week. The species they are recreating are aurochs, an elephant sized bovine, the last of which was apparently killed in the 17th Century in Poland.

Power from the Muzzle of a Gun--Venezuelan Military Sells Food on the Black Market

This isn't the first instance of this in a collapsing country (much of the food aid sent to Third World countries never reaches its intended recipients), and won't be the last, but it is an interesting development as we watch Venezuela collapse. NPR reports:

     In Venezuela, food has become so scarce it's now being sold on the black market. One person tells the Associated Press, "it's a better business than drugs." 

     And the food traffickers are the very people sworn to protect Venezuela: The nation's military. 

     Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave the military complete control of the food supply last summer, after people began protesting in the streets over food rationing. Shortages had become so bad that people were even ransacking groceries – though many were largely empty. 

     These days, hunger remains widespread. But if you venture into the black markets, you'll find foods that aren't available in the state-run supermarkets, "where people would prefer to shop because it's a lot cheaper," says Joshua Goodman, the AP's news director for the Andes. He was part of the AP team that investigated the food trafficking situation.

     "These goods are only getting into the country because the military is importing them," Goodman tells NPR's Audie Cornish. "And when you see the food sold at these makeshift markets, there's usually military people standing by with weapons, watching over it all, if not actually selling the food directly." 

     And the military isn't just running these black markets – it's getting rich off them, Goodman says.

January 8, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"End of days: A last look at the crumbling trains and eerie rides inside the largest abandoned theme park in the world - now set for demolition"--Daily Mail.

Firearms/Prepping:

• Let's talk shotguns for self-defense--a couple articles/videos:

• "7 Accessories You Don't Want on Your Defensive Shotgun"--Shooting Illustrated. The sets out his arguments as to why certain accessories are undesirable on a shotgun intended for home defense. His list is: pistol grip stock, collapsible stock, optics, plastic fiber-optic front sight, ghost ring sights, saw tooth tactical choke tubes, sling. Most of his argument on each is that since you will be maneuvering a rather lengthy weapon in the close confines of a residential building, you want to minimize anything that might get caught up on clothing, furniture, etc. You might disagree: for instance, Robert Farago at The Truth About Guns questions the advice against ghost ring sights. 

Frankly, I agree with keeping it simple on a defensive shotgun, including avoiding the ghost ring sights. Shotguns, when shooting pellets of any short, are pointed, not aimed. However, given that your defensive shotgun will most likely be used in dim or dark conditions, a reflex sight might have some use, and/or a flashlight with the beam aligned to correspond to where the shot will strike.

• "Exclusive: An Over/Under and Birdshot for Self Defense?"--Guns Magazine. The article links to a couple videos by Roy Huntington, the first of which discusses using an over-under hunting shotgun for home-defense, and the second of which discusses using bird-shot for home defense. 

I don't have much to say about the use of an over-under shotgun for home-defense, other than it sucks. There is a reason that even the most gun hostile governments allow citizens to own double-barrel shotguns for hunting. That reason is that with a 26 or 28 inch barrel, it is unwieldy, to say the least, inside the confines of a home. The second is that with only two-shots and a slow reload, it may not be the best weapon for engaging multiple attackers. However, if that is all you have, then you make do.

The bird-shot issue, however, is a different matter all-together. Huntington argues in his video that it may be a valid consideration for someone concerned about over-penetration through the walls of a home. He also, incorrectly, contends that because the coverage with bird-shot (i.e., the area of impact on a target) is about the same between buckshot and bird-shot, the bird-shot is just as effective. This is false. 

If you are shooting pellets that won't defeat a layer or two of sheet-rock, it is not going to have sufficient penetration to stop a human-sized attacker--especially one that may be young, muscular, and/or wearing heavy clothing. (See, e.g., Dick Cheney's hunting accident where he shot a fellow quail hunter in the face, causing minor injuries to the other hunter).

There is a basic issue of physics involved. Assuming the same powder charge and same weight of shot, the sum of the kinetic energy or momentum of all the pellets in a buckshot load and a bird-shot load will be the same, but when looking at the individual pellets, the kinetic-energy and momentum of an individual bird pellet is much less than a single pellet of the buckshot. Since momentum is going to be one of the critical factors for penetration against an animal or human target (remembering that it has to penetrate skin, soft tissue, muscle, and bone--all of varying densities, elasticity, and other mechanical characteristics), a single light weight pellet of bird-shot lacks the momentum to provide the necessary penetration. Huntington's example is even more egregious because he was comparing a light game load (such as you might use for dove, quail or shooting clays) which lacks even the powder charge (and, therefore, combined kinetic energy) of the express loads used for buckshot. 

Now I'll admit that at close ranges even birdshot can blow impressive holes in things. I've shot loads suitable for goose hunting at 1/4 inch plywood at distances of 10 to 15 feet, and I have to admit that it makes a much more impressive hole than buckshot at the same distance. However, we are talking about much heavier shot backed by an express or magnum charge; not the low power loads that Huntington was demonstrating. These heavy bird-shot loads may be effective at short ranges against a human sized target, but it certainly also has the ability of penetrating interior walls, negating the argument for using bird-shot in the first instance. 

• "Razor Wire Perimeter Security – Are We Going Mad Max? – Prepping 101"--Guns America. The article discusses the different types of razor wire and some factors for determining how much you will need for a given amount of space. There are several points that are ignored or overlooked, however. First is the legal aspects of having razor wire. There may be local ordinances or state law restricting the use of razor wire. For instance, it may be prohibited, or you may need a special permit, or you may only be able to install it a certain number of feet above the ground. Second, there is the operational security issue: razor wire around a residence practically screams "I'm a prepper and have valuable supplies or goods that I'm trying to protect." Third, razor wire is a passive defense: it can be overcome with simple tools and planning, and it does nothing to protect you from gun fire, pyrotechnic devices, and so on. Fourth, where wire plays a better role is on the ground where it can trip up the enemy, wrap around wheels and axles, and so forth. However, this requires space; space which may be lacking on a residential lot.
• "Gemtech’s GMT-300BLK Suppressor for 300 Blackout Rifles – Full Review"--Guns America. The article has a photograph of the guts of the suppressor, which is clearly based on the Tesla valve.
• You can't stop the signal: "Chinese ‘Gun Violence’ Revealed"--The Truth About Guns. Rising gun violence in China exacerbated by the black market importation and manufacture of firearms. 
• "When Boring is Good: A Gun Snob Tests Kel-Tec’s Reliable and Cheap PF-9 9mm—Full Review."--Guns America. According to the review, the pistol may not be pretty, but it works.

Other Stuff:

• You have more than likely heard or seen plenty of coverage of the shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, airport. The gunman, Esteban Santiago, 26, was what could be described as a known-wolf since he had approached or been questioned by the FBI barely two months ago where he claimed he was being forced to fight for ISIS by the CIA, after which he was sent for a psychiatric evaluation. However, that may not be the least of it. Gates of Vienna notes that the gunman's social media account has him making the raised finger sign associated with ISIS. Although the MSM outlets originally ignored or did not pick up on this, they have, for a change, started reporting the possible connection with Islam; although there is some indication that CNN, by using a black and white photograph of the shooter, was attempting to make it appear that he was Caucasian. 
• The Praetorian Guard: "Schumer Slips And Says Who Is Really In Control"--Anonymous Conservative. Senator Chuck Schumer recently stated in an interview, concerning Donald Trump:

     “Let me tell you: You take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer…

     “So, even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this,” he added.

In the Roman Empire, the military and, in particular, the Preatorian Guard which was posted inside Rome, became so powerful that it could select a new Emperor or depose a sitting Emperor. Thus, those wanting to be (or remain) Emperor spent an increasing amount of resources and effort in appeasing the Preatorian Guardsmen in order to obtain and keep their position. Who's to say we are not like Rome in this respect? 

• Related: "Obama calls Trump 'engaging and gregarious' though suggests the two leaders are 'sort of opposites'"--Daily Mail. According to the article, Obama also indicated that Trump needs to trust the intelligence community.

• "Riots, Looting in Mexico Over Spiking Gas Prices"--Breitbart. Higher gasoline prices have also spurred cartels to increase their theft of gasoline because they can resell it for half the price on the black market.
• The religion of peace strikes again: 

• "Horrifying moment a truck driver mows down soldiers in Jerusalem - and REVERSES over them - killing four and injuring 15 before being shot dead at the wheel, as Israeli PM blames attack on ISIS"--Daily Mail. The truck driver was a Palestinian. 

• "At Least 20 Killed In Baghdad Suicide Bombings"--Huffington Post.

• "'State of panic' grips Northern California as atmospheric river approaches the Sierra Nevada"--Los Angeles Times. According to the article, the "Pineapple Express" will bring "[u]p to 12 inches of rain ... below 8,500 feet, and massive amounts of snow — up to 6 feet — above that elevation across the Sierra Nevada. A colder storm two days behind will drop yet more heavy snow." Of course, it is not just California that will be affected. As the storm moves inland, it will bring rain and snow to other states, including my corner of Idaho which is expecting rain and snow on top of already record amounts of snow. At least the temperature is supposed to be above freezing. We've been experiencing lows going onto the negative territory (Fahrenheit) the last couple of weeks, which is unusually cold for this area. 
• Global warming in action:As you all probably know, much the United States has experienced unusually cold temperatures this past week due to an Arctic air mass that moved south. Besides below freezing weather, it has resulted in significant snowfalls in many areas of the nation. But North America is not alone in this: Europe has also been hit with freezing weather and snow storms.
• The clash of civilizations--in this case, the Christian West facing off against the Orthodox Christian East: "US armor brigade unloads in Europe to deter Russia"--DW. Unloading in Bremerhaven, Germany before heading to Poland. The article explains:

Bremerhaven is a central logistic point from where the equipment will be brought to staging areas and headquarters in Poland. In the beginning of February, the units will be distributed from Poland across the region, including the Baltic countries, Romania and Bulgaria.  One armor regiment will also be based in Grafenwöhr, Germany, for training and maintenance.

• Your brain on liberalism: "Dr Drew says he feels SORRY for Facebook live torturers - saying he thinks 'we failed them'"--Daily Mail. He compares the acting out of the black perpetrators to an abused dog acting violently. So he is comparing them to an unthinking animal? 
• A sign in the heavens? "Spectacular collision of suns will create new star in night sky in 2022"--The Telegraph. From the article:

     At the beginning of the 3rd century civil war raged in Britain as the Roman emperor Septimius Severus sought to quell unrest in the north.

     But unknown to the fighting cohorts and Caledonian tribes, high above their heads two stars were coming together in a huge cataclysmic explosion.

     Now 1800 years later the light from that collision will finally arrive on Earth creating a new star in the night sky - dubbed the ‘Boom Star - in an incredibly rare event which is usually only spotted through telescopes.

     Before their meeting the two stars were too dim to be seen by the naked eye, but in 2022, the newly formed Red Nova will burn so brightly in the constellation Cygnus that everyone will be able to to see it.

     “For the first time in history, parents will be able to point to a dark spot in the sky and say, ‘Watch, kids, there’s a star hiding in there, but soon it’s going to light up,” said Dr Matt Walhout, dean for research and scholarship at Calvin College, Michigan, where the prediction was made.

See also this article at the International Business Times.

• Christianity was not intended to be a suicide pact: "Christians Need To Stop Being So Naive About Muslim Immigration"--The Federalist. The author argues:

     ... Multiculturalism long ago began to muscle its way into mainline Protestant churches but is now running amok in conservative churches, too, with many Christians fearful of being called a bigot for criticizing other traditions and beliefs.

     While those in mainline churches tout diversity in a way that differs little from those outside the church, more devout Christians have adopted multiculturalism as a way to better evangelize. Emotion and sentiment have taken over reason, leaving people without the resources to sufficiently analyze threats to our culture and safety, and in some cases, even a diminished interest in doing so. The more pious shame others for their concerns, saying sacrifice and saving souls should come way before worries about ensuring America’s survival as a strong nation.

She goes on to describe some of the fallacies held about Muslim immigration, including statements to the effect that "we will not be ruled by fear, but by love," and that immigration is a good thing because it brings Muslims into environments where they can be proselytized. Speaking of this latter point, the author writes:

However, this turns previous concepts of missionary work on their heads. Missions used to be primarily about assuming risks for yourself and perhaps your family as you ventured into unsafe terrain. By endorsing growing rates of Muslim immigration into the United States, Christians are insisting that their neighbors here assume the risks too, all for the convenience of their evangelism programs.

Read the whole thing.

• We don't actually need illegal aliens: "Trump's deportation vow spurs California farmers into action"--Associated Press. Spurred by the threat of losing their cheap, illegal alien workers, California farmers are finally investing in farm equipment for harvesting. One example noted at the top of the article:

Days after Donald Trump won the White House vowing to deport millions of people in the country illegally and fortify the Mexican border, California farmer Kevin Herman ordered nearly $600,000 in new equipment, cutting the number of workers he'll need starting with the next harvest.

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Kids Will Soon Be Able to Write Code With Lego"--Fortune. From the article:

     The Danish-based toy maker on Wednesday debuted a new toy called Lego Boost, a hybrid building and coding set that the company says combines the play experience of a traditional Lego set with an app-based coding play experience. Lego Boost, developed for children aged 7 or older, will hit retail shelves in the second half of the year and will be priced at $159.99. Lego debuted the set at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

     The hope is that Lego Boost can help kids learn to code using a downloadable app and the physical toy set. Lego Boost comes with building instructions and coding commands to create five possible Lego creations, including a robot and a cat. The app also includes more than 60 activities related to building and coding. The bricks also come with built-in sensors that can detect color.

Seen on Social Media

January 6, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

Some music for your enjoyment: "Nocturne" by Secret Garden.

Firearms/Prepping/Self-Defense:

• TGIF: The Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. A good selection of articles, as always, including a few technical articles on firearms, some advice on when and when NOT to confront an intruder (including some information on room clearing), training, first aid, and more. And this thought from Greg Ellifritz: 

Despite what some firearms instructors state, concealment is a better option than cover.  People rarely shoot what they can’t see.  If you can immediately get to concealment in a fight, that may be a better option than taking several seconds to get to solid cover.

• "A Revolver Year?"--The Shooting Wire. This article discusses the sudden surge in new models of revolvers, and it doesn't even consider Colt's new offering.
• "Gear Review: Apex Tactical M&P Barrel"--The Truth About Guns. The author sent his M&P pistol off to Apex Tactical for installation of a match grade barrel and had significant improvement in accuracy.
• "Is the .45-70 Gov't. Cartridge Still Relevant?"--American Rifleman. Apparently, since several manufacturers continue to offer the rifle. In any event, the bulk of the article is about some of the different offerings in cartridges from various ammo manufacturers. 

• Related: "A High-Tech .45-70"--Buckmasters. An article about the .458 SOCOM, which uses .45-70 bullets, but is a caliber intended to be used with AR-15 style rifles.

• Related: For those of you who like to roll your own, so to speak: ".45-70 Pile-Driver"--Beartooth Bullets. This company manufactures a 525 grain flat-nosed lead bullet, and has all the reloading data at the link. The loads are for modern lever-action rifles and Ruger single-shot No. 1 and No. 3 rifles. Heavy, wide and flat meplat--what's not to like?

• My recent link to an article on keeping predators out of your chicken coop made me think of traps, which made me think of snares. So, a selection of articles on making snares:

• "Building a Feral Hog Snare" (PDF)--Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

• "Build a groundhog snare"--Backwoods Home Magazine.

• "The Rabbit Snare: How to build, Use and Set Snare Traps"--How To Hunt Rabbit.

• "Squirrel Pole: Build a Squirrel Pole Snare in Three Easy Steps"--Survivalist 101.

• "How to Build a Small Game Survival Snare"--The Art of Manliness. Unlike the other articles listed, this one is primarily on making snares out of improvised materials such as if you were stranded in the wilderness.

• I'm sure there are other sources for supplies for making snares, but one I came across is Wildlife Control Supplies.

Other Stuff:

• Well, this would explain the National Intelligence Director's recent Congressional testimony that the Russians were behind the hacks of the DNC: "Donald Trump Plans Revamp of Top U.S. Spy Agency"--Wall Street Journal. Of course, you have to wonder about the whole thing since The Hill reports that the "FBI never examined hacked DNC servers itself." Instead, they are relying on the opinions of the computer forensics company hired by the DNC.
• The MSM has recently been trumpeting about a new study (actually, new statistical review would be more accurate) indicating that there really was no global warming pause. Watts Up With That discusses the problems with the study including that how the researchers cherry picked their data, didn't take into account statistical error ranges, and didn't consider data from 2016.
• "New evidence suggests there was something very wrong with the Titanic before the iceberg"--Science Alert. I did not know this previously, but the Titanic began its voyage with a fire in its coal stores. In any event, this new theory is that the fire was hot enough to weaken the hull metal where the ship struck the iceberg. It is based on examination of old photographs showing black spots on the hull of the ship corresponding to the location of the fire. 
• "Doctor Discovers Mysterious Chicken Virus That May Cause Obesity"--PJ Media. It is interesting to me over the last several years the number of studies that seem to indicate that the causes of obesity are apparently more complicated than generally believed. See also "Genes May Dictate How Much You Like To Exercise"--Web MD; "How Gut Bacteria Help Make Us Fat and Thin"--Scientific American.
• If it weren't for double-standards, the left wouldn't have any standards at all: "Now Obama's building a wall! Workers put the finishing touches to a brick barrier around $5million DC mansion where Barack, Michelle and Sasha will live after leaving the White House"--Daily Mail. 
• "Documenting the Global Extent of the Medieval Warm Period"--Watts Up With That. The Medieval Warm Period was not just limited to the North Atlantic, but appears to have been global. Moreover, current temperature data matches with the temperatures from that time period.
• "Shut Down America’s Refugee Programs Before They Turn Us Into Germany"--The Federalist. The author observes:

     ... the outgoing Obama administration is literally importing terrorists through our nation’s refugee programs. Because private contractors are paid by the head to resettle refugees and other needy populations, the resettlement program has built-in incentives for uncontrolled growth. This harmonizes with the Left’s open borders agenda, which seeks to swell the rolls of new Democrat voters while weakening the influence of traditional (read conservative) America.

     Big business shares this agenda in seeking cheap, subsidized labor. The resulting bipartisan alliance has long subsidized a resettlement industry that is expensive, secretive, duplicitous, and unconcerned about the Americans who pay for it with hard-earned tax dollars.  ...

He also notes that it costs 12 times as much to resettle a refugee than to assist them in place in their home country.

January 5, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around The Web

"Anti-surveillance clothing aims to hide wearers from facial recognition"--Guardian. According to the article, the Hyperface project involves printing patterns on to clothing or textiles that computers interpret as a face, for the purpose of overwhelming facial scanning systems.

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• "How to Tie Basic Knots and How to Build a Backpacker Stove"--Security and Self-Reliance. A couple instructibles, including a graphic showing how to tie forty different knots, and instructions on building a small wood burning stove for camping or packing.
• "Kenya Moore Stands By Her Decision to Pull Gun on Home Intruders"--Yahoo News. From the article:

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore made headlines when on Saturday when she pulled a gun on three intruders who had climbed over her security gates and proceeded to knock on her front door — and she’d do it again too! 

• "Night Vision Considerations for Prepping"--On Point Preparedness. Discussion on the different generations of night vision equipment, mounting options, the importance of having a head mount and an infra-red laser for use with weapons and when patrolling. The author also lists what equipment he uses. Although the monocular that he uses is a Gen 2+ system, it is still basically $1,500 for the scope and easily another $500 for the mounts and laser.
• "Field Test: Henry .45-70 lever action rifle"--Bayou Renaissance Man. Short story: he liked it. The only problem he noted is that as a Henry rifle, it lacks a side-loading gate which would make topping off the magazine or reloading very slow. However, the recourse in that situation is to treat the rifle as a single shot rifle: open up the action, dump a round into the action and close it and you are ready to fire again.
• I had cited to a short article recently discussing Colt's soon to be released Cobra--the first double-action revolver that Colt has produced in quite some time. Colt has information on its web-site, including an MSRP of $699, which is on the low end of what I had predicted. So, rather than competing against Kimber, it appears they are going after Ruger and S&W's market. I find it interesting the resurgence of the revolver: first Kimber producing a small defensive revolver, the continued expansion of the revolver lines from both S&W and Ruger, and now Colt reentering the business.

Other Stuff:

• Fake news: "Look at our handiwork! After months of aerial bombardment, Russian army publishes harrowing photos of the utter devastation caused in Aleppo"--Daily Mail. The Russian ministry of defense apparently released photographs of mine-clearing operations in Allepo, which the Daily Mail promptly reinterpreted as examples of continued Russian "brutality." Unfortunately, I didn't get a screen shot of the original article, because it has been toned down. For instance, one photograph was originally captioned as being about a Russian soldier painting graffiti on a wall has now been changed to describing the soldier as writing "no mines" on the wall. Nevertheless, the general tone of the article is still one of blaming Russia for the damage to Allepo.
• ISIS continues its terror attacks against Turkey: "Dramatic footage shows terrorists shooting at two Turkish policemen in the street after detonating a huge fatal car bomb - hours after 20 ISIS suspects were seized in hunt for Istanbul killer"--Daily Mail. Hold your sympathy for Turkey, though, as this is their foreign policy coming back to bite them. Numerous articles over the past few years have made it clear that Turkey was a major source of arms for ISIS (see, e.g., Global Research, Reuters, Al Monitor, and the Financial Times).
• "Why Once-Welcoming Countries in Scandinavia Closed Their Borders to Refugees"--World Politics Review. From the article:

     For decades, Swedes have taken pride in providing a safe haven to the world’s huddled masses. Their country took in 163,000 refugees in 2015 alone. That equaled about 1.6 percent of Sweden’s population, an intake of refugees far higher than most of Europe, both in absolute terms and per capita. But times have changed.

     Unlike new arrivals who were often previously awarded permanent residency, the vast majority of asylum-seekers who have arrived since November 2015 are only eligible for a temporary permit to stay in Sweden. The government stated at the time of this policy shift that it aimed “to temporarily adjust the asylum regulations to the minimum level in the EU so that more people choose to seek asylum in other EU countries.” As a result, bringing families of migrants and refugees into Sweden has become much harder. 

• No good deed goes unpunished: "Italian refugee centre set ablaze and 25 staff barricaded inside a building after the death of a young Ivory Coast woman at cramped base designed for 15 migrants which holds 1,500"--Daily Mail. The woman had died of natural causes, according to the article.
• More black on white violence: "Shocking moment Chicago teen gang - including two girls - 'kidnap and torture' special-needs man while streaming entire ordeal live on Facebook and screaming racist and anti-Trump remarks"--Daily Mail. The four black teens were shouting "F*** Donald Trump" and "F*** whites" while torturing the white teen over a period of two days, but the police aren't sure if it was a racially motivated crime. 
• "5 Amazing Things The Hero of ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ Did That Aren’t In the Movie"--The Federalist. According to the article, the film makers thought it would be too incredible to the audience if they had included everything.
• "F-35 pilot: Here's what people don't understand about dogfighting, and how the F-35 excels at it"--International Business Times.
• An inconvenient truth: "Greenland Enters 2017 Adding Extraordinary Amounts Of Ice And Snow"--Daily Caller. The article reports:

Greenland’s “surface mass budget” for winter 2016-2017 is already more than two standard deviations higher than the northern ice sheet’s mean snow and ice accumulation over the last 24 years. DMI data shows the ice sheet added 8 gigatons of ice and snow Jan. 1, well above the standard deviation for that day.

• Revelation 3:16 alert: "Liberal churches are dying. But conservative churches are thriving"--The Washington Post. From the article:

     ... It was almost 20 years ago that John Shelby Spong, a U.S. bishop in the Episcopalian Church, published his book “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” It was presented as an antidote to the crisis of decline in mainline churches. Spong, a theological liberal, said congregations would grow if they abandoned their literal interpretation of the Bible and transformed along with changing times.

* * *

     But the liberal turn in mainline churches doesn’t appear to have solved their problem of decline.

* * *

     Over the last five years, my colleagues and I conducted a study of 22 mainline congregations in the province of Ontario. We compared those in the sample that were growing mainline congregations to those that were declining. After statistically analyzing the survey responses of over 2,200 congregants and the clergy members who serve them, we came to a counterintuitive discovery: Conservative Protestant theology, with its more literal view of the Bible, is a significant predictor of church growth while liberal theology leads to decline. The results were published this month in the peer-reviewed journal, Review of Religious Research.

     We also found that for all measures, growing church clergy members were most conservative theologically, followed by their congregants, who were themselves followed by the congregants of the declining churches and then the declining church clergy members. In other words, growing church clergy members are the most theologically conservative, while declining church clergy members are the least. Their congregations meet more in the middle.

     For example, we found 93 percent of clergy members and 83 percent of worshipers from growing churches agreed with the statement “Jesus rose from the dead with a real flesh-and-blood body leaving behind an empty tomb.” This compared with 67 percent of worshipers and 56 percent of clergy members from declining churches. Furthermore, all growing church clergy members and 90 percent of their worshipers agreed that “God performs miracles in answer to prayers,” compared with 80 percent of worshipers and a mere 44 percent of clergy members from declining churches.

* * *

     For example, because of their conservative outlook, the growing church clergy members in our study took Jesus’ command to “Go make disciples” literally. Thus, they all held the conviction it’s “very important to encourage non-Christians to become Christians,” and thus likely put effort into converting non-Christians. Conversely, because of their liberal leanings, half the clergy members at the declining churches held the opposite conviction, believing it is not desirable to convert non-Christians. Some of them felt, for instance, that peddling their religion outside of their immediate faith community is culturally insensitive.

     It should be obvious which of these two convictions is more likely to generate church growth.

     While our research helps explains the dwindling ranks of liberal mainline congregations, it isn’t likely to bring much “joy to the world” of mainliners, especially those on the theological left. But, if it’s any consolation, when it comes to growth in mainline churches, Spong and other liberals are right to claim that Christianity must change or die. They just get the direction of the change wrong.

Liberalism is anathema to Christianity, and destruction will fall upon any church or congregation that does not purge itself of liberalism. I understand that a church is a "hospital for sinners," but it still needs to be separated from the world so as to not become a "den of thieves."

Japan And The Third Way

"Why Japan Refuses Immigration and Multiculturalism"--Black Pigeon Speaks 

The video embedded above is a brief explanation of why Japan has refused to jump on the bandwagon of immigration and multiculturalism. My experience with living in Japan is from many years ago. At that time (late 1980s), Japan was still smitten with the idea of being "Western" in a cosmopolitan sense, but there were still strong undercurrents of Japan fulfilling its manifest destiny and the superiority of Japanese ways. At that time, Japan was still at the top of its economic game with many even predicting it would eclipse the United States economically. But there was no shame or embarrassment of Japan's success; rather, the Japanese gloried in their economic successes and believed that they were the best of the best racially, nationally and culturally. And they viewed the rest of the world in a racial/cultural hierarchy as well.

According to the Black Pigeon video, the Japanese are still very proud of their culture and race. More significantly, however, they are avoiding immigration and the dilution or loss of their way of life, believing that technology (robotics and artificial intelligence) will allow them to escape the Malthusian trap into which the rest of the developed world has fallen.

The trap awaiting the rest of the developed world is the ponzi scheme of pay-as-you-go social retirement plans such as the United States' Social Security program. As you know, workers and their employers pay payroll taxes for Social Security that is supposed to fund the payments for current retirees (an additional amount goes into a disability insurance program) with no real provision for investing or accruing funds for future retirees. When the Social Security program was first initiated, there were approximately 10 workers paying into the system for each retiree drawing from the system. It is my understanding that currently there are 3 workers paying into the system for every person drawing from it, and this ratio is expected to decline further.

The theory among the progressives, on the left and right, is that the only way to prevent the collapse of these types of social welfare systems is to get more people to pay into the system--basically increase the number of workers. But because of low fertility rates, industrial countries simply lack the number of new workers coming into the system. Thus, according to this view, the only solution is to import workers from less developed countries--the Third World. In Europe, this traditionally was Turkey for the Germans, former African colonies for the French, and former British colonies for the British. The U.S., of course, has drawn heavily from Latin America and East Asia in recent decades. Absent allowing mass immigration, these social welfare systems will be unsustainable. Implicit in all of this, however, is the assumption that workers are fungible: a British or French or German worker is the same as a Nigerian or Syrian or Pakistani worker. This, of course, is a lie.

The original Malthusian trap was population growth versus agricultural production. At the close of the 18th Century, Malthus predicted that population growth would soon outstrip agricultural production, and would lead to mass starvation. He was proven wrong as the agricultural revolution, industrial revolution and other technological advances allowed industrialized nations to produce more food with less resources. Combined with the eventual declines in the rate of population growth, the industrialized countries have escaped the trap.

Japan believes there is a third way: that technology also offers the way to escape the trap by, as Black Pigeon explains, focusing on per capita GDP growth rather than overall GDP growth. That is, standards of living can be maintained and even advanced by making industry more productive without adding workers--through automation and artificial intelligence. At this point, only time will tell who is correct. However, it seems to be working for Japan so far, and it is likely the route that China--which is even more hostile to immigration than Japan--will also follow.

Aren't you glad that you are the lab rats in the greatest social experiment ever conducted?

McCain Pushes Harder for War

McCain is the quintessential RHINO (Republican in name only) and a hard-line "neo-conservative" when it comes to foreign policy (i.e., a progressive). He is now grunting out a call for war against Russia because of the alleged Russian hacks of John Podesta's emails. The Daily Mail reports: "McCain rebukes Trump and blasts Wikileaks boss for publishing names of U.S. spies as America's spy chief says successful election hacking might constitute an 'act of war'." We've had plenty of hacks before of actual government computers, including a Chinese hack of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) where personnel records of over 21 million people were stolen. None of those warranted anything but the dreaded sternly worded letter. But Russia, supposedly, gives us a glimpse of the sordid underbelly of the Democratic elites and it is act of war?

Reading the questions and answers from McCain to intelligence officials during a Congressional committee meeting, it is obvious that the questions and answers were crafted beforehand to say just what McCain and/or the officials wanted to be said. So what other mischief are they up to?