Monday, March 18, 2024

Review and 1,000 Round Test of the Beretta 80x

The Firearm Blog has published their "TFB Review: 1,000 Rounds On The Beretta 80x" (Part 1) (Part 2).

    The Beretta 80x, as you might remember, is a modernized version of the Beretta 84 with the most significant differences being improved sights, that it has a slide cut to accept a pistol red dot, and it has an accessory rail to mount a laser and/or flashlight. There are some other modifications to the handgun, but it still shoots .380, it is still a DA/SA action, and it still retains a frame mounted safety/decocker (the decocker feature was added beginning with the F models with some improvements in the FS model). Although my understanding was that there were some modifications to the magazine, the magazine is still 13-rounds and the 80x can use the magazines for the older Beretta 84 handguns.

    Part 1 goes over the history of the new design, using the safety/decocker, and mounting the red dot, before addressing why someone might want a larger .380 pistol. (As I've noted before, although the 80 series pistols are smaller than duty sized 9mm handguns, the 80 series were duty sized .380 pistols intended to be carried by uniformed police and guards). And, the author contends, it comes down to felt recoil: unlike the small .380s which can be "snappy" the larger pistols like the 80x have both the weight and the larger grip that absorb and distribute recoil making them easier to use for the recoil shy. I would also add that the extra barrel length also allows you better performance from the cartridge than you get with the pocket sized .380 pistols. I hadn't shot much .380 before getting my Beretta 84bb, and I have to say that I've really come to like the .380 the more I have shot it. 

    Part 2 is the actual 1,000 round test as well as some comments on some of the different types/brands of ammo used in the test, what the author believes is the target demographic (women) and thoughts on concealed carry with this weapon. 

    First, just to get it out of the way, other than a single failure to lock back that the author associated with using an older 84bb magazine, and a couple user induced hang-ups, the weapon performed flawlessly. 

    The ballistic information on the ammunition showed that the Remington Ultimate Defense (Full Size) Golden Sabre using a 102 grain bullet was particularly close to performance to some standard 9mm loads. 

    As for carrying it concealed, the author writes:

Beretta was kind enough to provide an ANR Design IWB holster to use in the review. I carry every day and much of my time at my day job I dress in business casual. The 80x is very easy to carry. It’s not very heavy, and it doesn’t have any sharp edges or pointy bits that are annoying. It’s always disappointing when a new carry gun has an obtrusive feature that only makes itself known after three or four hours of a 14-hour day. Thankfully that did not happen with the 80x. 

Citizens As First Line Of Defense Against Terrorists Crossing Border

 Lee Williams, writing at The Truth About Guns, argues: "Be Afraid, But More Importantly Be Armed: Citizens Will Be Best First-Line Defense Against Terrorists Coming Across Border." Williams begins:

    FBI Director Christopher Wray must be frustrated. He issued one of the strongest terrorism warnings earlier this week, but few seemed to notice and even fewer seemed to care. ...

    Wray’s warning, however, was dire. He told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that known or suspected terrorists were infiltrating the country across the wide-open southern border using counterfeit documents. One of the smuggling networks, he said, has ties to ISIS. Add to this the thousands of unknown border crossers from countries that hate us, and the more than 80,000 military-age males from China, and you have a terrorist hellbroth just waiting to bubble over.

No one probably took much note of it because Wray, as usual, still indicated that "domestic terrorists"--e.g., parents showing up at school board meetings and Catholics that preferred the Latin Mass--were the number one threat.

    In any event, Williams points out:

In the 29 states that now offer some form of constitutional carry, when a terrorist rears their ugly head – be they a card-carrying ISIS member or a lone-wolf jihadist – Americans can take immediate action without waiting for First Responders to arrive, assess the situation, plan and then respond.

And, he observes:

One of the most important lessons learned after last year’s Hamas attacks is that terrorists are capable of much better planning than most thought possible, especially when paired with a state sponsor such as Iran. There is no reason not to believe a terrorist group would be even more prepared for an attack on American soil. Their target analysis will likely include the possibility of armed opposition. In other words, the terrorists are more likely to focus on a target where concealed carry is heavily regulated if not impossible, and civilians have no option other than to run, hide or fight.

Nevertheless, he urges that we take Wray's warning serious and become better prepared: training, practice, getting new defensive ammo, replacing batteries, getting extra magazines, and so on.

Biden Secretly Settling Tens Of Thousands Haitians Around Country

The Washington Examiner reports that "Thousands of Haitians dumped in US, but DHS won’t say where." From the lede:

    The Department of Homeland Security has guided over 130,000 illegal immigrants from gang-ravaged Haiti into dozens of unidentified American cities, but it won’t say where.

    Many of the 133,000 arrived in just one city that the Biden administration won’t identify, according to a federal report reviewed by the Center for Immigration Studies.

    The Washington-based CIS, which backs ending illegal immigration, said that many immigrants flew themselves to the unidentified cities, while others arrived through land ports only to be released to wherever they wanted to go.

    The report followed on another from a week ago that revealed how the administration let 320,000 “inadmissible” illegal immigrants into up to 43 unidentified cities. Some in Congress are now demanding to know where the immigrants ended up.

Maybe states should ship them to Washington D.C. and its environs. 

Hezbollah Terrorist Caught Crossing Southern Border

 Let's go Brandon! From the New York Post: "Illegal migrant from Lebanon caught at border admitted he’s a Hezbollah terrorist hoping ‘to make a bomb’ — and was headed for NY." An excerpt:

    A Lebanese migrant who was caught sneaking over the border admitted he’s a member of Hezbollah, he hoped to make a bomb, and his destination was New York, The Post can reveal.

    Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by the US Border Patrol on March 9 near El Paso, Texas. While in custody, he was asked what he was doing in the US, to which he replied, “I’m going to try to make a bomb,” according to a Border Patrol document exclusively obtained by The Post.

    But Ebbadi later claimed in an interview that he had been trying to flee Lebanon and Hezbollah because he “didn’t want to kill people” and said “once you’re in, you can never get out,” according to internal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) documents.

Also:

    Border agents recorded 98 encounters with terror watchlisted individuals at both the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2022, and almost twice as many, 172, in fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30.

    So far, in the first four months of 2024, 59 people have been apprehended, according to federal data. 

UNICEF Boss Warns Of Total Chaos In Haiti

From the Daily Mail: "UNICEF boss warns of absolute chaos in Haiti with residents suffering 'serious hunger and malnutrition' while gangs block roads and stop aid: 'Like a scene from Mad Max'." 

    The UN children's agency chief said the situation in Haiti is the 'worst in decades' as millions face famine amid a rise in gang violence and looting.

    Seven bodies were reportedly found in Petion Ville in the Ouest Department of Haiti on Monday after an overnight shooting.

    UNICEF said one of its containers holding 'essential items for maternal, neonatal, and child survival, including resuscitators and related equipment' was looted in the capital of Port-au-Prince's main port on Saturday.

    Looting and overall violence has further cut some of the country's most vulnerable from basic supplies, coming 'at a critical moment when children need them the most,' the agency said.

    That same day, the Guatemala's Foreign Ministry said the offices of its honorary consul in Haiti was ransacked, but didn't give any details of damage or thefts, nor did it say who was responsible.

    'It's like a scene out of Mad Max. Honestly, that's what it seems like. 

    'Gangs, vigilantes responding to the gangs,' UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told CBS News.

Also:

    'Haiti is facing a protractive and mass hunger,' Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti director for the United Nations' World Food Program, told The Associated Press.

    'We have supplies for weeks. I’m saying weeks, not months, that has me terrified.' 

And something that should worry Democrats and Neocons alike, a Haitian immigrant that just returned from Haiti after visiting family there had this to say:

    Passenger Avlot Quessa, who lives in Boston, traveled from the center of the country to board the charter flight after going to Haiti last month for was supposed to be a weeklong trip to visit his mother.

    'It's just terrible. The suffering, you can only imagine,' Quessa told The Miami Herald of the nearby Caribbean nation.

    'Haiti is my homeland and it's very stressful to see the homeland going through this act of violence, destruction ... and they are our neighbors.

    'I ended up staying 20-plus days' he said noting that it was 'good to be back.'

    However, Quessa said he also felt bad for the people he left behind: 'I also need to think about the people back home.

    'They are only miles away from Miami. We cannot turn our eyes back on Haiti.

    'Look at how much we invest in Ukraine and Israel. So no one is going to tell me that color doesn't matter.' 

We can turn our backs on Haiti. We are not the world's piggybank, although that is how we are treated. 

Diversity Is A Strength: Burglary Tourism

From the Daily Mail: "LA battles spate of 'burglary tourists' as marauding gangs from Chile, Ecuador Colombia and Peru jet in on 90-day visas and ransack millionaire mansions before fleeing back to South America." The article relates:

    Cunning criminals from Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru target wealthy neighborhoods in places with relaxed criminal justice laws to conduct home burglaries - before returning home with the loot while out on bail.

    The troubling trend of 'lanzas internacionales' - translated to 'international thieves' - dates back at least two years across America, while the problem has also reared its ugly head in the United Kingdom. 

One of the key differences between liberals and sane people is that liberals value criminals more than they do victims.  

 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Caves To Democrats/Globalists

The Daily Mail is reporting that Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is moving ahead with plans to hold a separate vote to address just the issue of military aid to Ukraine and Israel, apparently dropping the issue of increased border security on the U.S.'s southern border. As you probably know, House Republicans had been refusing to vote for aid to Ukraine and Israel absent some deal to secure the southern border--something vehemently opposed by Democrats and RINOs. And as we saw, Biden, the Democrats, and the RINOs indicted through their actions that they would rather see Ukraine fall to Russia than do anything to reduce the flow of illegals across the southern border. Johnson is now set to completely destroy the leverage that Republicans had to obtain concessions from the Democrats over border security. 

    According to the article, Johnson's excuse is his fear of Putin taking Europe:

'No one wants Vladimir Putin to prevail,' he went on. 'I'm of the opinion that he wouldn't stop in Ukraine. If he was allowed, he would go all the way through Europe.' 

That is ludicrous. Putin couldn't even take Ukraine before the U.S. and Europe busied themselves with providing military assistance and while Russia still had most of their modern tanks and other vehicles. Where does Johnson think that Putin is suddenly going to get back the equipment and manpower? From the magic military logistics genie? 

    Johnson is a fool to throw away our strongest leverage over the Democrats to get some real border security bill passed. 

    And even if fear of Putin was a valid excuse, why does the planned vote include assistance to Israel? Putin isn't invading Israel. I fear that AIPAC is behind this particular aspect of the deal. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Book Review: "Fitzpatrick's War" byTheodore Judson

 

Book: Fitzpatrick's War by Theodore Judson (Daw Books, 2004)


    I heard of this book on a Whatifalthist video discussing it as one of a few books imagining what the world might be like after a popular backlash against the elites.

    Probably because of it being referenced by Whatifalthist, copies of the book are difficult to find and those that are available are setting for well over $1,000. Fortunately, thanks to inter-library loan, I was able to borrow a copy to read. 

    I will use modern political terms and references to explain the backstory even though those terms are not used by the author (in fact, his book predates certain terms in our modern political lexicon). WARNING: There will be spoilers.

    There seems to be a couple main themes in this book. First, through the backstory or history, we get an idea of a possible future where the Left pushes too far prompting a backlash and return to conservative principles. In this regard, the author seems to draw heavily on the ideas of Oswald Spengler and other similar historical theories postulating that civilizations go through periods of vigorous and creative growth, but mature and eventually transform into corrupt, decadent cultures rules over by money interests until it finally collapses to start over again. The second theme is, assuming the cycle is correct, is there a way to arrest the cycle so that a civilization stays in the growth (or Springtime) stage? 

    The story takes place in the 25th Century, but gives a rough idea of the upheavals of the 21st Century to understand the world of the main characters. Although the book is described as post-apocalypse, it doesn't really fit into that genre. It takes place so long after the apocalypse, among a technological civilization, that it lacks the elements of survival, exploration and rediscovery of old technologies that I associate with a post-apocalypse story. It would be like describing a story set in Renaissance Italy as post-apocalypse because it took place after the fall of the Roman Empire. 

    Briefly, the background or history before the story begins starts in the 21st Century. At that time, the multicultural, woke, globalist blue states obtain near control over the people that Hillary Clinton termed "deplorables". Such is the contempt held for the farmers and other rural folks that they began to be derisively referred to as Yukons (in reference to that territory's remoteness from civilization)--a term that the "Yukons" take to describe themselves (similar to how Christian was originally a derogatory term but was adopted by the believers to which it referred). Although not detailed, the blue portion of the country are referenced as being in severe moral decline, ruled by the basest passions and perversions--much like today, I imagine. The people of the cities eventually elevate to power a group called the Yellow Jackets which seems to be a mixture of street gang and political party. Eventually, fighting breaks out between the Yukons and the Yellow Jackets, ending with a Yukon army taking Washington D.C. and killing the politicians and impaling the Yellow Jacket leader on a wooden stake (a la Vlad Dracula's favorite punishment for his political enemies). 

    This is not the end for there follows plagues and wars culminating in a Storm Times where special satellites operated by a secret society of Yukons called the Timermen are used to destroy all electricity and electrical devices.

    The end result of this is a white, racially homogeneous Yukon Confederacy ruling over the former United States and Canada in North America, Australia, and New Zealand and a few other territories. The Yukon Confederacy is very much a conservative society (K-select for those familiar with Anonymous Conservative's theories) focused around God and Country with a strong and vigorous military and semi-feudal in nature. And behind the Confederacy are the Timerman--still operating satellites that dominate near earth orbit and provide both surveillance and communication services for the Confederacy, as well as limited navigational aid to specially equipped ships and aircraft. Because of their ability to destroy any electrical or electronic apparatus, the whole world (Yukons and everyone else) is relegated to non-electric technology: steam engines and other steam technology, chemistry (including advanced polymers), and so on. Apparently medicine is particularly advanced, but the only references to this is that most diseases had been eradicated and people--at least the Yukons--seem to have somewhat longer lifespans. Thus, there is a strong steampunk feel to portions of the story.

    As would be expected extrapolating from current demographic trends, the Turks have formed a new Muslim Empire that has conquered all of Europe (although the Yukons are able to recapture and colonize the British Isles) as well as North Africa, and the Near and Middle East. It is not clear what happened to white Europeans--the book mentions the Slavs maintaining their Christianity, but indicating that England was bereft of people when the Yukon Confederacy captured it. 

    The Chinese also have an Empire that rules from Central Asia to the coasts of East Asia (including Japan). India appears to be the master of its subcontinent and most of Southeast Asia. Africa and Latin America are a collection of independent countries, with Africa seemingly reverting to its normal level of primitiveness.

    The main characters of the story are Isaac Prophet Fitzpatrick the son of the Confederacy's consul (leading political leader) and part of a very wealthy and powerful family, and Sir Robert Mayfair Bruce, a poor, landless knight. Fitzpatrick's character arc is very obviously based on the life and death of Alexander the Great. However, Fitzpatrick's story is told through Bruce, who narrates the story (in memoir form) from his perspective as a sometimes friend and confident of Fitzpatrick. He essentially acts as Fitzpatrick's conscience throughout the book.

    The story essentially begins when Bruce is invited into a close group of Fitzpatrick's friends when at the military academy, and having tied his fortunes to Fitzpatrick sees his star rise with Fitzpatrick's. As a very capable military engineer, Bruce finds himself involved in much of the action, although not as the leading general or strategist. But he is close to many of the key players and, therefore, is able to give his perspective on the key events. 

    The bulk of the story is about Fitzpatrick's rise to power (including assassinating his own father to become the new chancellor and virtual emperor) and the buildup to and actual war between the Confederacy and its ally, India, against the Chinese. The Chinese are handily defeated but with much devastation to China and India. Through this, Bruce becomes more and more a humanitarian. 

    The pace quickens (or the details drop off, however you want to view it) after this war as Fitzpatrick forms a worldwide empire, even going so far as to build a new capital city in central Asia. But like Alexander the Great, Fitzpatrick seems to take on a certain madness even as he tolerates more and more decadence among the wealthy elites. Since Bruce is one of the few people he trusts, he keeps Bruce close at hand. But this merely puts Bruce in the position to see the worst excesses of Fitzpatrick and the ruling elites. Bruce eventually agrees to participate in a successful plot to kill Fitzpatrick and much of his court. 

    After this, the book becomes more like a history book relating events that Bruce is distant from. Needless to say, an even more corrupt group takes control of the government, until economic decline and a new revolution drives them from power, returns their wealth and lands to the low level lords and essentially destroys the money class,  resulting in a reinvigorated Yukon Confederacy.

    And through this, Bruce finds his greatest love and satisfaction to be his wife, family, and humanity.

    And thus we have the answer to the second theme to the book: how to reinvigorate slipping into its Imperial/decay stage. And that answer is to foster and support those elements that make it dynamic--the K-select aspects as expressed through military service, working the land, strong families and religious ties based around an ethnic nation--while eliminating those elements that corrupt society--large, dehumanizing cities and industries, moral degeneracy, the cosmopolitan and effete monied elites with the concomitant globalization of production and extreme disparity of wealth. And keeping life from becoming too easy through technology. 

    While Judson's book is very interesting and entertaining, the one flaw in his theory is that it required a secret cabal of technologically advanced savants to carry it off. A group that was wholeheartedly devoted to its mission but without being corrupted by the power they wield. It is not realistic: such a group would eventually become corrupted because it is human nature. The group would naturally evolve from playing God to believing they were gods. 

Believe All Women

 A few articles that caught my attention yesterday:

Guess the Race: Haitian Migrant Rapes 15 Year Old Disabled Girl

This one might be too easy to guess. From the Daily Mail: "Haitian migrant, 26, who came to US via Biden's parole program is charged with raping disabled girl at Boston shelter."

Review and 1,000 Round Test of the Beretta 80x

The Firearm Blog has published their "TFB Review: 1,000 Rounds On The Beretta 80x" ( Part 1 ) ( Part 2 ).     The Beretta 80x, as ...