October 5, 2016 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

Source: "New Trans-Siberian rail link would mean passengers could travel 6,000 miles from London to TOKYO"--Daily Mail. Coupled with the planned Chinese rail link that would run several hundreds of miles to the south, these  two links would vastly improve access to and from Central Asia.

Self-Defense/Firearms:

• "Marketing executive, 63, was accidentally shot dead by her lawyer husband with gun he'd put in his lap to drive through Atlanta because they feared Black Lives Matter protests"--Daily Mail. According to the article, the man was holding a revolver in his lap, which accidentally went off when his and his wife's vehicle hit a bump. Obviously he had his finger on the trigger. But that was either one helluva bump or he had also cocked the revolver prior to the incident.
• "5 Tips: How to (not) run over BLM protesters"--The Modern Survivalist. FerFal is a little concerned at the comments about running over protesters, and cautions against over reaction during a protest. The important thing, he notes, is to keep the car moving at a steady walking speed that allows protesters the opportunity to get out of the way, but not to get a good purchase on your vehicle. Note, however, that this is in regard to a protest (even if they are banging on your car), not a full-on riot.
• "DIY: Reinforcing a Residential Entry Door"--Security and Self Reliance. The author relates that "I’ve been to a few home invasion scenes and the two things that most of them had in common were a big tennis shoe print on the door and a broken door jamb. (Yep, it really does only take one good kick to bust out the door jamb on most homes)." Although you can't make your home impervious to someone determined to get in, you can slow them down and perhaps discourage them enough to move on. The rest of the article deals with how to reinforce the door jam.
• "What Is The Single Most Important Firearm Type For TEOTWAWKI: Reviewing Four Modern Semi-Automatic 22lr Caliber Rifles."--The Survivalist Blog. The author reviews the Marlin Model 795, Mossberg 702 Plinkster, Ruger 10/22, and Savage 64 F. His favorite of the four was the Mossberg. The one he had the most reservations about was the Ruger 10/22. He notes about it:

After spending two years helping out with local Appleseed shoots in Arizona, I witnessed two or three failures every shooting day of every Appleseed from the Ruger 10/22. Now, this does not mean you wont find solid shooting 10/22s, it just means that during that two year time, my Mossberg 702s never failed, not once, and the 10/22 in multiple configurations from factory basic through $2000 plus add on configured did.

My first .22 rifle was a Marlin M70 Papoose (a take down/survival version of the M70). I later added a 10/22. But several years later, when I needed to downsize my gun collection, I chose to part ways with the 10/22 and keep the Marlin Papoose. My reason was, after having put literally thousands of rounds through both, was that the Marlin was more reliable and a bit more accurate. The Ruger was a good rifle, but the Marlin was just a little better.

• "Carrying With A Disability" (Part 1) (Part 2)--The Truth About Guns. The author surveyed handicapped gun owners about concealed carry to get an idea of what they carried, how they carried it, and why the respective choices. The first part discusses some of the results of his survey. The second article discusses some additional points from the survey as well as presenting some recommendations concerning firearms, caliber selection, and holsters.
• "Texas Store Employee Uses AK-47 to Stop 4 Armed Robbers"--Breitbart. The four armed robbers, picked the wrong jewelry store to rob. According to the article, "[o]ne of the armed robbers opened fire and multiple employees returned fire, killing the suspect." More at The Truth About Guns.
• "Horrifying surveillance footage shows elderly man being attacked and robbed in his own garage after suspect followed him home from the bank"--Daily Mail. The man had just cashed his Social Security check at the bank and returned home when he was attacked by a large black man. Obviously the perpetrator had been surveilling the man prior to the attack. 
• "FK BRNO Announces Immediate Importation to the USA of the 7.5 Field Pistol"--The Firearms Blog. This pistol uses a proprietary 7.5 mm round with muzzle velocity of 2000 fps with 880 fp of energy.
  
• "Geissele Picatinny Bayonet Mount"--The Firearms Blog. This device (see photo to the right) allows you to mount a bayonet to a Picatinny rail for those of you with a free-floated barrel lacking a bayonet lug. (Update: I checked the Geissele site and can't find this for sale, so it may be a military only product or prototype).
• "Prvi Partizan Recalls All 6.5 Grendel Ammo, Brass"--The Firearms Blog. This recall is not for particular manufacturing lots, but applies to ALL of it.

Prepping:

• "Bug-Out-Bag Papers and Documents"--Modern Survival Blog. A comprehensive list of documents you want with you if you have to bug out. I would add to this list any diplomas or certifications, and professional/occupational licenses.
• "Kaito KA321 Shortwave Pocket Radio Review"--Security and Self-Reliance. This is a review of a small radio receiver that "receives shortwave freqs from 5.700 to 21.950 MHz. It also receives the AM broadcast band and the FM band from 64-108 MHZ. Yes, the FM reception has been extended down to 64 MHz instead of the usual 87 MHz." However, it does not feature single-side band capabilities.
• Hmm. "'The Problem From Hell': 'Doomsday' Passes Over America Several Times Almost Every Day - Experts Warn: 'There's Nothing We Can Do To Stop It'"--All News Pipeline. The gist of the article is that North Korea has two satellites in orbit and there is concern (or a theory) that the satellites are actually EMP weapons. According to the article, satellites are orbiting at a height of 300 km (186 miles). While an interesting theory (the altitude seems to be about right), the mass of the satellites (~100 kg) seems too little to contain the requisite sized nuclear weapons.

Other Stuff: 

• To dissolve the people and elect a new one: "Record rise in babies with foreign mothers in Germany"--DW. "One in five babies born in Germany in 2015 has a mother holding citizenship of another country."
• The wages of sin socialism: "Venezuela: Health Crisis Means Kid's Scraped Knee Can Be Life or Death."--NBC News. Hospitals there apparently do not even have antibiotics.
• "Obamacare Is Going Down"--Anonymous Conservative. The exchanges and insurers are in a vicious cycle where, because of the costs of the plans, healthy people are dropping out leaving them to have to pay out more for the sickly people left, but the premiums don't cover the costs, so they lose money. If they raise rates, then more healthy people drop out. In the end, "[t]hey cannot raise rates enough because as they raise them, even more healthy people will leave, and the pool will become even more sickly and costly to provide care for. They are at the point where no matter what they do, costs will always outpace revenues."
• Diversity: "Police shoot 'Arabic ex-soldier' in the leg after he stabs two officers in Belgium's 'hotbed of jihad' in suspected terror attack before Brussels train station is evacuated"--Daily Mail.
• The new normal: "Girls outperforming boys in high school"--Washington Examiner. The damning comment: "Don't expect to hear calls for helping boys perform better in school. Activists have focused so heavily on girls for years now that boys have gotten the message that they no longer matter."
• This must be the explanation for the Fermi Paradox: "Feminist PhD Candidate: Science Is Sexist Because It’s Not Subjective"--The Federalist. From the article:

College science classes are hostile to women and minorities because they use the scientific method, which assumes people can find reliable truths about the natural world through careful and sustained experimentation, concludes a recent dissertation by a doctoral candidate at the University of North Dakota.

It continues:

Throughout her dissertation, Parson assumes and asserts that women and minorities are uniquely challenged by the idea that science can provide objective information about the natural world. This is an unfair assumption, she says, because the concept of objectivity is too hard for women and minorities to understand. “[N]otions of absolute truth and a single reality” are “masculine,” she says, referring to poststructuralist feminist theory.

• After almost 8 years of smart diplomacy: "Baghdad bridles at Turkey's military presence, warns of 'regional war'"--Reuters. Iraq is fed up with the Turks sending troops into northern Iraq.
• "'We're living in an occupied country'"--DW. The article reports:

Thousands of people cross [the ranchers'] land every year. No one knows the exact figure. They leave behind tons of plastic rubbish. When cows eat it, they die a painful death. The people cut through the fence, causing further losses when the cows escape. "These days, one of my cowboys' main jobs is fixing fences," says Jim.

Above all, fewer and fewer of those who cross the border are people looking for work, hoping for a better life. Instead, they're drug smugglers controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most brutal criminal organizations in the world.