Gun & Prepping News #94

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Gun-toting granny chases off shoplifting suspect: ‘I want to shake her hand’"--New York Post. This is more of a cautionary tale. The "granny" apparently saw a shoplifter leave a Ross store in Tucson and decided to confront him with a drawn gun. The shoplifter wasn't impressed and left with his goods. But here is the thing to remember: whether you agree or not, in almost all jurisdictions, you cannot threaten to use or use deadly force to protect property. Thus, as the article mentions:

    Tucson criminal defense attorney Louis Fidel said there are circumstances under which a person can display or use a firearm to prevent certain crimes, but shoplifting isn’t one of them.

    “It really depends on the details, but there is a statute that authorizes people to display or use a firearm to prevent certain crimes,” Fidel told KOLD News 13. “Shoplifting is not one of those crimes.”

    Fidel warned that pointing a firearm during the confrontation could potentially result in an aggravated-assault charge involving a deadly weapon.

The article mentions that no arrests have been made and the Tucson police are still investigating the incident. The police aren't going to care about the shoplifter but they will care about an aggravated assault with a firearm, so undoubtedly the one they are going to try and nab is the elderly woman.

• "CMP to Sell 100K Military M14 Rifles: What We Know"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. So now we know that there will be a not-insignificant number of these rifles, the price will be "under $2,000" and they will be sold as they are checked and converted to semi-auto only. 
• "Is the Beretta 92 Still Relevant?"--Shooting Times. Most of the article is about the history and features of this iconic firearm. But the article eventually answers the question posed in the title about why it is still relevant:

The fixed barrel on the 92 offers inherent accuracy and makes it a smooth cycling, soft shooter. The magazine design is one of the best ever conceived. It takes to a suppressor well. The 92’s reputation was earned serving law enforcement and the military. The pistol is customizable and in a constant state of evolution, adapting to the new shooter needs. The Beretta 92 is and always will be relevant as long as there is a need for a proven, reliable, performance driven pistol.  

Even though they are larger and heavier than what you might want for everyday carry, they make excellent handguns for home defense--the "night stand gun" or something similar.  

• On the subject of home defense pistols: "Home Defense Basics: A Beginner's Guide"--Handguns Magazine. Richard Nance covers firearm selection, ammo, lights, safes (for storage of the firearm) and making a plan. He also provides detailed advice on clearing a house. On the latter point, Nance begins:

If you can’t account for everyone, your job will become far more difficult. Clearing a structure, even one you know as well as you know your own home, is extremely dangerous. But if a loved one is unaccounted for, you won’t have any choice but to make your way to them as quickly and safely as possible. Unfortunately, quickly and safely don’t always go hand in hand.

• "The Mummy's Revolvers: The Story of the French M1873"--Firearms News. A look at the revolver used by the character Rick O'Connell in the 1999 blockbuster The Mummy. The article notes:

Adopted by the French Army in 1873, the Chamelot-Delvigne revolver was France's first standard-issue double-action military revolver. It represented a significant step forward from earlier percussion and pinfire handguns and reflected France's position as one of the world's leading firearms innovators during the 19th century.

• "Tips on Shooting Uphill/Downhill Angles"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. 

    Over the last 40 years I have no idea how many words I’ve written on figuring the correct hold when shooting uphill or downhill. The concept is simple, and I’m sure we all know it: Uphill or down, the effect is the same, and as distance and angle increase, the strike will be higher in relation to your level-ground zero.

[snip]

     There is something else you need to consider as well, and it may be more important. Finding a steady position for uphill/downhill shots is much harder than on level ground.    

The author notes that he normally shoots off a pack, but at steeper angles a bipod helps. He discusses this in more detail.  

• "Carry Confidently: 5 Essential CCW Tips for Women"--Handguns Magazine. Although the article's author obviously intends to focus on women carriers--and there are some tips specific to women--most of the tips and suggestions are useful for men starting out concealed carry or still trying to figure out how it works. The author begins:

    Choosing to carry is not just buying a gun. It is building a system. That is where a lot of women get stuck.

    For years, women were treated like an afterthought: shrink the gun, paint it pink, and call it "for women." That advice is lazy.

    After working with new students, I hear the same question all the time: "I bought a gun... now what?" My answer is usually: now we figure out the setup.

    What works for your body, clothing, and lifestyle? What can you carry consistently? The best setup is not the one that looks good on paper. It is the one you can actually use.

She covers holster selection, how body shape and lifestyle impact your carry setup, making your wardrobe part of your carry system, carry position, and training. 

• "A Precision .22 LR Can Help You Shoot Better. Here’s How You Can Build One on a Budget"--Outdoor Life. 

    Using a 22 as a practice or training rifle provides two big benefits. First, the mild little cartridge that’s propelled by just a pinch of flakey gunpowder has minimal recoil. When we discuss recoil in the context of improving your shooting, we don’t mean it as a measure of how hard it kicks — because it doesn’t. We are talking about sight picture disruption and, while the .22 LR does produce some, it’s very little. The lack of that distraction can help you focus on improving fundamental skills like trigger control, but also gives you valuable practice staying in the scope and spotting impacts — something that will benefit you both in competition and hunting.

    The second big benefit is that the round’s affordability allows lots of real shooting practice, and actual shooting gives you downrange feedback that dry firing can’t. Quality, and I mean quality, .22 LR ammo is pretty expensive, but still cheaper than most centerfire stuff. My rifle shoots affordable ammo, like CCI Standard Velocity, well enough for practice. 

• "Carbine Drill: Fight to Your Feet"--Green Ops. A drill that starts with you laying on your back, then to sitting, then to kneeling, and, finally, to standing. 
• "Guest Post: UHDPE Ballistic Plates"--Blue Collar Prepping. When combined with a layer of ceramic, it can make relatively inexpensive Level IV plates, while being much lighter than steel along. The author adds:

If you can carry the extra weight, I’d also recommend a "training" or "fitness" metal plate (it doesn’t necessarily need to have a ballistic rating) to save your chest the pain of blunt trauma after being shot, and to keep you in the fight since backface deformation (how deformed the side of armor closest to your skin becomes after being struck by a bullet) allows for potentially lethal injuries. ...

• "Be Ready, But Be Careful About Scripting Your EDC Gear Too Tightly"--Shooting Wire. An excerpt:

    For instance, I recently watched a video put out by a large gun rights group where the presenter showed off the contents of his “get home bag.” The purpose of this bag, he said, was to help him get back home no matter what might happen.

    In the bag, he had a half-dozen AR-15 magazines, three smoke grenades and a tactical tomahawk. That’s it. No way of procuring water, nothing to create a shelter, just a bunch extra mags for his truck gun, some smoke grenades for concealment and evasion…and a tomahawk.

    Clearly he had scripted out a scenario in his head where the only dangers he’d face on the way back home would be man-made and not something more mundane like inclement weather. 

• "How Much Rice and Beans Per Person Per Day for Survival"--Modern Survival Blog. The author begins:

Quick Answer: For a basic survival calculation using a 2:1 ratio by dry weight, plan on about 0.8 pound of dry white rice and 0.4 pound of dry beans per person per day. Together, they provide roughly 2,000 calories.

The author provides a table showing the amount per day, for a 30 day period, and for a year for a single person when assuming that this is to provide 100% of your 2,000 calories diet. But there is also an interactive calculator where you can calculate the amounts for more people, for different lengths of time, and the percentage of the diet (e.g., perhaps you anticipate only using the beans and rice for half of your caloric intake). 

• "Vehicle Leak Identification"--Blue Collar Prepping. Some tips on identifying types of leaks and where the leaks are coming from. 
•  "How to Tie a Bowline Knot: The Most Useful Knot to Outdoorsmen"--Outdoor Life. Why learn this knot?

    A bowline can be tied in cord, line, or string of any diameter, though it was designed for use with thicker ropes. It’s a loop knot, and the beauty of it is that it can be tied in seconds. It won’t slip under heavy strain when tied correctly. Even after it’s subjected to high tension, it can easily be undone. The bowline also allows you to create a loop of any size, which makes its applications practically innumerable.

    You may need it to quickly secure your boat to a dock piling or stump when cleats aren’t available. You can use it in a pinch to drag an ATV stuck in the mud out with your truck. You may need it to help pull a buddy out of a ravine after a bad fall. Sound extreme? Of course it does, but the point is that the simple ability to create a loop in a length of rope that you can trust to bear a heavy load is something every outdoorsman should know. With fewer than 10 minutes of practice, you’ll be able to tie a bowline with your eyes closed. 

• "How to Tie a Slip Knot: The Incredibly Simple Knot That Every Outdoorsman Should Know"--Outdoor Life.
• "Learn How to Tie a Square Knot, the Fastest Way to Join Two Lengths of Rope"--Outdoor Life. 

Weekend Reading #69

Some longer or more involved reading:

•  Due to my delay in posting this week, I am able to include the latest Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter and compendium of links from Jon Low. A few highlights:
• Jon has collected quite a few videos and articles discussing the Twin Falls' In-N-Out Burger active shooter incident. And in that regard, he includes the following quote from Gabe Suarez:

      THE GOAL IS NOT TO SAVE LIVES, OR TO STOP THE KILLING,  OR GET ANYONE TO SAFETY.  THOSE THINGS MAY HAPPEN SUBSEQUENT TO YOUR MISSION SUCCESS, BUT THEY ARE NOT YOUR MISSION. 

      THERE IS ONLY ONE MISSION - LOCATE, IDENTIFY, AND TERMINATE THE SHOOTER.  

      EVERY PIECE OF GEAR YOU CARRY, EVERY TRAINING SESSION YOU EXECUTE, AND EVERY STEP AND ACTION YOU TAKE AT THAT EVENT MUST BE ORIENTED TO ACCOMPLISH THAT MISSION - LOCATE, IDENTIFY, AND TERMINATE THE SHOOTER.

But Suarez also is quite blunt that it is not something for the average concealed carrier. From another quote Jon includes:

     So rather than the underachiever’s “three rounds at three yards in three seconds”,  we train for an event like this.  Facing an active shooter or terrorist.  We carry fighting weapons, not convenient mini-pistols.  We train for accuracy, not to beat a timer’s beep.  And we train at extended distances as well as standard distances.  And time and again, these practices have been shown to be the deciding factor in events like this.   

On the other hand, you are more likely to be killed by lightening than be the victim of an active shooter; but, based on data from a 1987 report, you have an 83% chance of being the victim of a violent crime during your lifetime (it is slightly higher if you are a man, and slightly lower if a woman). So while Suarez may poo-poo those who don't carry combat pistols on a daily basis, the "convenient mini-pistols" are sufficient for the vast majority of self-defense situations most people will find themselves in; and, more importantly, the "convenient mini-pistols" will actually be carried while the heavy and/or bulky combat pistol will often be left at home. Unfortunately, it is difficult to collect information about civilians stopping active shooters which John Lott discusses in his paper, "Do Armed Civilians Stop Active Shooters More Effectively Than Uniformed Police?" let alone the weapons used. I agree that a combat pistol would be better than a pocket pistol or sub-compact pistol once you are using it, but the question for concealed carry is what is the largest will you be able and willing to carry on a regular basis. The better solution might be to learn how to use the "convenient mini-pistol" for longer shots. There is no reason why you shouldn't be practicing shots out to 25 yards with a handgun, or even longer if your range allows for it. Fortunately, unlike the situation even a decade ago, most of the small handguns produced today can be fitted with decent sights.  

• Speaking of accurate shooting, Jon has some guidance:

     A correct grip, surprise trigger break, and correct follow-through will allow you to achieve precision. 

      Once you are able to shoot a tight group, all bullets through the same hole at 3 yards or all bullet holes touching at 5 yards, you have demonstrated precision.  Now you are ready to move your sight to achieve accuracy, which means your point-of-impact matches your point-of-aim.   

     Move your sights to move your point of impact to match your point-of-aim.  Fixed iron rear sights in a beaver tail can be pushed left or right with a sight pusher.  Fixed iron front sights can be ground down if the point-of-impact is low or replaced with a taller front sight if the point-of-impact is high.   

     Correct zero is essential for confidence.  Confidence is the difference between taking the shot, and not to taking the shot because you're not sure you will hit your target, or because you fear that you will hit the hostage.   

     Cool calm confidence is achieved with training, practice, and a properly zeroed pistol.   

     If you are using an adjustable sight on your pistol, it's too fragile for combat.  Self-defense is combat.  Yes, I know it works in the pristine conditions of your training and practice.  But that is not combat.  All kinds of strange things happen in combat.  Murphy's Law is in full force in combat.       

    "The Marine Corps uses red dot optics."       

    Yes, I know.  But that doesn't mean it is best practice.  Remember, the Army used Blackhawk SERPA holsters, which was an act of criminal stupidity.  Institutions, no matter how reputable, do not necessarily follow best practices.  Rather, they suffer from institutional inertia, bureaucracy (not meritocracy), and lowest bidder contracting.   

• Speaking of holsters, Jon has a bit from Gabe Saurez about that recent video of the guy that shot himself in the testicle when drawing a Glock from an appendix holster. An excerpt:

     Striker fired pistols are the norm for much of the CCW and LE worlds now.  But I know that they also reduce your margin of error considerably.  They are great when you are at your best, but a liability when you are not.  Like the man said, “shit happens”.  I think it happens more easily with a striker fired pistol. 

      I had a very successful doctor student. This guy was not quite Elon Musk, but I would not be surprised if they had met at some point.  He always had a very nice tuned high end pistol in class.  But it was always a double action weapon.  It was initially a Sig P226 of some sort, and later an HK P30 series.  All with marvelous DA triggers and optics and everything you could ask for.  All the others, myself included, were using Glocks.  I asked him once why he chose that system.  He told me that he had been an ER Doctor for years and he had handled a plethora of self inflicted gunshot injuries.  And that these ranged from a neophyte that had little skill, to high level sport shooters, to legitimate police operators.  All of them without exception, involved striker fired pistols.   

I've argued for years that the double action trigger acts as an additional safety on a handgun, so I do feel somewhat vindicated reading this. 

• And an important safety tip:

     "Safety Tip:  If you are a concealed carry holder who engages an active threat inside a public business, your immediate post-shooting protocol is critical for your survival.  When police officers flood through the doors on an active shooter dispatch, they are looking for anyone holding a gun.  Keep your hands empty, raise them high with fingers spread, and clearly identify yourself as the reporting citizen who stopped the attacker."  

•  Next up is a Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump. Some of the articles that warrant your attention:
• Tips to avoid looking like a soft target for criminals (I would note that Jon links to a different article on the same topic in his newsletter).
• Dry fire practice protocols. As Greg notes, "Dry practice is one of the more dangerous things we do with firearms." And the reason is because (a) people don't double-check that the handguns are unloaded throughout the dry-fire session (this is really a situation of "trust but verify" even if the person you are trusting is yourself); and (b) failing to follow the rules of gun safety.
• A history of the duty pistols issued by the New York Police Department starting with the first--a .32 caliber revolver in 1896--up to today's Glock 17 Gen 4. 
• A piece entitled "The Cold Test: What 100 Runs Taught Me" which goes over the value of shooting a particular drill cold at the beginning of a shooting session which will give you a better picture of your actual skills/ability if you need to use a firearm in self-defense.
• For hunters and rifle shooters, an article on using a ruck or bag as a shooting rest.
• An article discussing the 50 versus 100 yard zero for the AR.  Greg comments: "For me, my red dot sighted rifles have 50 yard zeros.  My rifles with magnified optics get 100 yards zeros." Sounds like a good rule of thumb. 
• An article on the importance of bullet construction that warns about using varmint bullets for self-defense. The issue with varmint bullets is that they are designed to expand rapidly in smaller animals (dog sized or less), even at low velocities, to avoid overpenetration and potentially ruining a pelt. But that also means that these bullets will often not penetrate deeply into something larger--like a deer or a person. If you want an expanding bullet, you should make sure to use something suitable for at least deer hunting. 

• "Humanity May Soon Have the Technology To Reach Other Star Systems"--SciTech Daily.  An article looking at using a light sail driven by a laser beam to get small probes to other star systems. 
• The banality of evil: "Fauci was not a mad scientist, but a mere bureaucrat granted unlimited power"--The Dossier.  An excerpt:

 On Monday, Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul released the first text chain from what we hope are a series of communications recovered from Fauci’s government-issued iPhone, which HHS finally handed over on August 5 in response to Johnson’s request. His phone is said to hold more than 34,000 texts and 522 voicemails. Quite suspiciously, it only contains three saved contacts, which probably means that it was tampered with. I do hope that government officials can secure the data that was possibly deleted.

The senators released something of a bombshell that discusses January 2021 communications between Fauci, then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, and future Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. This was just days after former President Biden’s inauguration. The subject is pregnant women and the mRNA injections. In it, Fauci writes that the supposedly “safe and effective” shot “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”

One week later, Fauci went in front of cameras and said the vaccines had “no red flags” regarding pregnant women. He later said that there was “no indication whatsoever” of increased adverse events in pregnant women. By September, Walensky and her comrades in the Biden Government Health bureaucracy were strongly recommending vaccination before or during pregnancy.

Annals of Corruption: Doctors Transitioning Kids

For liberals, "helping" someone is just an excuse to make money. The New York Post reports: "Hospitals, doctors got rich through shady gender-care billing tactics — and taking advantage of kids: damning report." From the lede: "US hospitals and clinics have billed out nearly $120 million in gender-related medical treatments to minors since 2019, putting thousands of children on an expensive and irreversible treadmill requiring lifelong upkeep — with the blessing of doctors and lefty politicians."

    HHS points to “financial incentives” as one potential explanation for the explosion in gender-related care for minors — as hospitals sought a way to juice profits in pediatric departments, which typically bring in lower margins than other specialties.

    “Gender clinics changed that calculus by introducing a novel source of revenue: they promised a new stream of continuous revenue for pediatrics, endocrinology, and surgical specialties by taking physiologically healthy young people — who otherwise would not need to seek medical attention, and rendering them dependent for life on the medical system.”

    The report cited watchdog analyses that have found hospitals and clinics have billed almost $120 million in gender care treatments since 2019 — involving 5,500 surgical procedures and 8,500 courses of hormones or blockers.

    HHS accuses health care providers of willfully misusing diagnostic codes — diagnosing patients with endocrine disorder or precocious puberty — to get insurance to foot the bill or to protect a patient’s privacy. 

NFA Injunction Takes Effect

From The Truth About Guns: "DOJ Lets the Stay Expire — Silencer Shop’s NFA Injunction Takes Effect." From the article:

    At 12:01 a.m. Central on August 13, the seven-day stay on Judge James Wesley Hendrix’s ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF ran out — and the Department of Justice let it. No emergency motion to the Fifth Circuit. No request to extend the pause. Nothing.

    For the first time in more than 90 years, a federally licensed dealer legally transferred a suppressor to a private buyer with no tax stamp, no Form 4, and no entry in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

    Gun Owners of America, Silencer Shop, and two buyers; YouTuber turned congressional candidate Brandon “The AK Guy” Herrera and Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell closed the deal minutes after the stay lapsed.

    GOA called them the first unregistered suppressor purchases from Silencer Shop in the NFA era, and argued both men were covered twice over: as GOA members and as Silencer Shop customers. 

The article warns, however: "This is where readers need to slow down before doing anything stupid. The injunction is broad, but it is not nationwide amnesty." 

• The relief covers suppressors and AOWs bought through Silencer Shop or its dealers — not every gun store in America.
• It applies only in the 27 states without state laws mirroring the NFA. Fifteen states will still require ATF registration, and suppressors remain flat-out banned in others.
• SBRs and SBSs are covered by the ruling — but a separate law still stands. Hendrix’s order struck the NFA registration and approval requirements as applied to short-barreled rifles and shotguns too. The catch is the Gun Control Act: 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(4) independently bars a dealer from transferring an SBR or SBS without ATF sign-off, that provision sits outside the enjoined NFA sections, and an approved Form 4 is currently the only paperwork ATF offers to satisfy it. The tax is $0, and the NFA hook is gone, but a Form 4 is still required for short-barreled long guns, which is why Silencer Shop launched with suppressors and AOWs only.
• State and local law still remains regardless of this potential win.

There are more details in the article, so be sure to read the whole thing. The Mr. Guns 'n' Gear channel also goes into more detail:

VIDEO: "Breaking: The Biggest 2nd Amendment Win Ever - What You Need To Know"
Mrgunsngear Channel (26 min.)

Jelly Fish UAP On Mars?

 You may have seen images or video of a jelly-fish like UAP recorded flying over a military facility in Iraq in 2017 (if not, here is a link to a video on YouTube that has the footage). There is now being circulated a photograph taken NASA's Curiosity rover on August 20, 2023, that shows a jelly-fish like object seemingly hovering or walking over the Martian surface. "Fueling speculation that NASA’s rover had captured something moving across Mars, images taken of the same area less than a minute earlier showed no sign of the mysterious figure," the article relates, but the key photo was the last taken in that direction for that day. 

An enlarged portion of the original image. 

Islamification and the Dallas Fort Worth Airport

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will be installing Muslim foot washing stations inside its terminal bathrooms.  "The washing stations will provide a dedicated space in the public airport bathrooms for Muslims to wash their feet before prayer, an Islamic tradition known as Wadu," with the excuse given that it will keep Muslims from washing their feet in the bathroom sinks. It won't, and it seems suspiciously like a violation of the separation of church and state. Airports can install chapels or "meditation rooms" where they can be used by people of any religion (or none at all) for prayer or introspection, but not to promote a particular religion. In this case, though, there is no question but that the washing stations are to accommodate a religious practice specific to Muslims. 

Interesting: Fallout Season 2 Used Abandoned LA Mall For "New Vegas"

From the New York Post: "Abandoned California mall transformed into post-apocalyptic Las Vegas set for ‘Fallout’." The article relates that "[i]nstead of filming in the real Las Vegas, [Production designer Howard] Cummings used the long-abandoned Valley Plaza Mall, which opened in 1951 and has been dormant for over a decade, and turned it into the small screen New Vegas."

    The mall’s old Regal Theater building was rebranded as the Gomorrah Hotel and Casino, with the 27-foot Lucky 38 sign standing next to it, which was built by his team on set.

    “Most people think this is all CG and they just did a greenscreen,” Cummings said, insisting that these were all real practical sets, aside from digital Vegas backdrops.

    The prewar flashback scenes were filmed first, before the nuclear blast that turned Goggins’ Howard into The Ghoul, before Cummings and his team went back and “trashed” that set. 

    “All the palm trees look good at the beginning, and then they’re all dead. The brand-new cars [were] rusted and destroyed,”

    Cummings also shot the Freeside district of New Vegas in an Old West town in Santa Clarita, California, the same location where another show he worked on was shot, HBO’s “Westworld.”

    The production designer and his team had to re-face the buildings to match them to the buildings from the game, though there was some digital work as well.   

However, the Valley Plaza Mall is slated for demolition, so it won't be showing up in any subsequent seasons of the show.  

Annals of Corruption: Fauci's Pay-to-Play Scheme

The College Fix states that "Fauci’s ‘pay-to-play scheme’ both ‘unlawful’ and ‘unethical,’ Rutgers expert says." 

    New documents released by Senator Rand Paul detail Fauci’s “side hustle,” which include winning millions of dollars in cash prizes. Fauci would solicit his allies who also received federal funding from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to nominate him for prizes.

    Some of the solicitations occurred during the nationwide COVID lockdowns that were created at the prompting of Fauci.

    He also instructed federal staffers to work for him to find prizes and manage the application process, including one that netted him $900,000.

No wonder he needed a blanket pardon. 

Surviving An Earthquake

The Associated Press addresses the question of "After an earthquake, how long can trapped people survive?" As with most questions in life, the answer is "it depends."  The article explains that "[t]rapped victims are more likely to survive if they are in a debris-free pocket that prevents major injury while they await rescue, like under a sturdy desk...." Beyond that, survival depends on having food, water, and air. And this advice:

    The best practices for survival during an earthquake depend on where you are in the world. Building codes in regions with active fault lines are often designed to withstand earthquakes, but that doesn’t hold true everywhere.

    In many countries, including the United States, the best practices are to drop, seek cover and hang on unless you are close to a building exit. Seek shelter under a heavy table or near sturdy furniture that may yield a survivable pocket if the roof collapses. Cover your face with cloth or a mask to protect from dust and debris.

    If you are trapped in the rubble after an earthquake, save your energy and don’t overexert. Ration food and water, listen for rescue calls and search for something near you to make noise. If you have a phone with you, conserve its battery and try for help in short spurts each day.

As for time, the article notes that most survivors are rescued within 24 hours, but notes that in 2011, two people in Japan were found alive after being trapped for 9 days; and a survivor of a 2010 earthquake in Haiti was pulled from the rubble after 15 days.  

Is AOC The Democrats' Next Chosen One?

Those of you old enough to remember when Obama came on the scene probably remember how he quickly went from a complete unknown outside of Chicago to the head of the Democratic party ticket as though he had been chosen for the role. I'm seeing pundits make similar predictions about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Certainly she seems to be modifying her rhetoric to make her more palatable to the national electorate. Scott Pinsker has some thoughts about this in his piece, "The Cunning Genius of AOC’s ‘Woke’ Reboot." He warns:

    Tread carefully, Republicans: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is still America’s most dangerous Democrat — and still the odds-on favorite to win her party’s 2028 presidential nomination.

    And if she captures the nomination, there’s (roughly) a 50%-50% shot she’ll win the White House. Don’t underestimate her: She’s media-savvy, camera-friendly, photogenic, and her PR instincts are as sharp as Sardinian swords.

And his example of this is her recent comments attempting to downplay "wokeness":

    Consider how deftly she just rebooted the “woke” narrative.

    Because woke is a joke in 2026: Woke is cringe, woke is dead, woke is done. 

    Other than the fringiest of the fringe, nobody takes it seriously anymore. ...

[snip]

    The excesses of wokeism are legion. A lesser politician would’ve tried to relitigate this or recalibrate that. 

    But AOC knew better. 

    Instead of polishing a turd and pretending it’s chocolate, she acknowledged overreaching, killed the old narrative, and set the stage for the “new and improved” version 2.0.

    Remarkably, she did it in a single sentence.

Pinsker goes on to note that by this, AOC "signaled a willingness to learn, grow, adapt, and change," which will be critical on a national stage because she will come across as an open-minded pragmatist because of her ability to grow and change. 

    Dace Potas also poo-poos AOC's retreat from "Woke 1.0" in an op-ed at USA Today. He concludes:

The existence of "Woke 1" implies that a "Woke 2" is already in the works. From what I can tell, it isn't all that different in substance, just strategy and rhetoric. Progressive candidates will keep being haunted by Woke 1.0 for as long as they run for office, unless they explain – explicitly – why this time is different. Otherwise, voters will see right through it. 

And he explains:

    To anyone paying attention at the time, woke was a lot more than “a derogatory euphemism for civil rights & justice,” as AOC put it back in 2021, when she wanted those positions taken seriously.

    Among the excesses of Woke 1.0 was a movement aimed at defunding or abolishing the police, gender reassignment surgery for minors, the insistence that men can menstruate, justification of rioting, racial discrimination in hiring and much, much more. 

    Not every progressive held each of these positions, but as a collective, they were fine letting them enter the political mainstream. By her own admission, AOC described Woke 1.0 as an attempt to shift the Overton window, the range of ideas considered acceptable in mainstream political debate.

    “During this time, especially during COVID, there was a huge opening of the Overton window,” AOC said. “We were shut down. There was some of the highest unemployment rates that we have seen because of those shutdowns, and I think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place, and I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful.”

    But it was more than that. Progressives pushed corporate America into diversity, equity and inclusion mandates that indoctrinated employees and built a cancel culture that met dissent with job losses and charges of bigotry.

    Even progressives who didn't believe the most extreme positions were incentivized to promote them, since it made their own positions sound reasonable by comparison. Instead of "abolish the police," mainstream Democrats arrived at "defund." Instead of "abolish borders," many arrived at "abolish ICE."

    In any event, the pivot from "Woke 1.0" is all show. To the extent there is a "Woke 2.0" it will be far worse than anything we have seen so far; just as Obama's idea of "racial healing" was to stoke racial hatred against whites. Over at the Battleswarm Blog, Lawrence Person points out:

    There was no “Woke 1.0,” just a continuous racialist, anti-Western Civilization, anti-rational, anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, anti-Republican movement whose roots stretch back into the Comintern, Gramsci and the Frankfurt School, carried forward into the Port Huron Statement, the Weather Underground, the campus radicals of the 1960s and their long march through academia and other western institutions, special campus victimhood identity politics carve-out departments for blacks, Hispanics, radical feminists and “Queer Theory,” into the political correctness of the 1980s that blossomed into the poisonous flowers of social justice, radical transsexism, Palestinian- and Islamo-felia and anti-Israel animus that has turned into full-blown antisemitism, and a radical fringe in the Democrat Party that metastasized to its core under Obama and President Autopen. AOC’s Democratic Socialists of America and their fellow-travelers were all on-board with their lunacy every step of the way.    

[snip]

    And throughout it all, the SJW/DSA types were onboard with all of it, every step of the way. There was no “woke 1.0,” there was only the same madness taking on new forms.

    You didn’t regret it then and you don’t regret it now, you only regret getting caught. ...

[snip]

    You don’t regret any of the pain you inflicted on normies, you only regret not getting to inflict more of it. You still view yourself as the natural anointed rulers of those benighted rubes in JesusLand.

 Like other socialists before them, the DSA and its adherents truly believe "[e]verything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State". And they intend on controlling the State. Stalin blamed the Kulaks for the ills of society; Hitler blamed the Jews; and the modern Leftists blame white people. We've seen this play before and we know how it ends.