January 31, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around The Web

"Squad Movement Formations & Techniques"--OE TSC G&V 

Survival/Prepping:

• "3 Ways to Get Water From a Modern Well if the Grid Goes Down"--Outdoor Life. (1) Generator (to power the pump); (2) hand-pump; or (3) sleeve bucket.
• "Build a Live Trap"--Sensible Survival. For live trapping an animal. Note: the instructions are for making one out of wood, so it is a trap you would want to check often so an animal can gnaw or scratch its way out.
• "Original:Yeasts for Baking"--Appropedia. This a reprint of an article from Bittersweet, Volume VI, No. 3, Spring 1979. It explains how to make yeast using hops, or making your own "everlasting" yeast starter.
• "Hornady 10th Edition Handbook of Cartridge Reloading Available as eBook"--Ammo Land. It is $20 for the Kindle version.
• "Red Bandana"--North American Hunter. Larry Weishuhn explains why he always wears a bandana, and it is because of everything it can be used for: protecting his neck from the sun; keeping his neck warm; pulled over his face to protect from dust; pulled over his face to conceal his white beard from deer; as a sweat band; tied around his head to keep his ears warm; and so on.
• "Defense – Obstacles Part I: Introduction"--The Lizard Farmer. This is the first part of a multi-series sets of articles on using obstacles are part of the defenses for a retreat. As an introduction, the author briefly covers some topics covered in more detail in later articles and gives an overview of the topic. He notes that there are three types of obstacles: natural (e.g., a stream or a ravine), man-improved (a natural obstacle that has been modified in some way, but not necessarily made better), and man-made obstacles (e.g. barbed wire entanglements). I would note that obstacles don't necessarily need to deny access, but can be used to canalize movement or redirect enemy movement.
• "How to Use Lemon Juice Powder in Cooking"--Preparedness Mama. I hadn't heard of this product before reading this article. Essentially, it is powdered lemon juice and can be used where you might otherwise use lemon juice or lemon zest.
• Something for my UK readers: "Minecraft Geology"--The Knowledge. "The British Geological Survey has recreated several of their geological maps as 3D landscapes within the MineCraft game." Link to the BGS here.
• "The nuclear bunkers designed for luxury living"--BBC News. The BBC tours a bunker facility built using old ICBM silos. I see several issues with these bunkers. First, and foremost, I don't believe that the caretakers of these facilities will actually let the purchasers in when SHTF. Second, I don't know if I would want to be riding out an international crises in a facility that might still be a target for a ground-burst nuclear warhead.

Other Stuff:

• "Malaria drugs fail for first time on patients in UK"--BBC. According to the article, treatment of four patients with artemether-lumefantrine failed. These incidents were between October 2015 and February 2016. This is taken as an early sign that the malaria parasite is developing drug resistance. Europe had been declared malaria free in 2015, but I would note that the U.S. became malaria free in 1951, but has since returned (albeit, in very limited numbers). Most cases are from travelers becoming infected in tropical countries and returning to Europe or the United States. However, as Europe welcomes more African refugees, I would expect malaria to return to Europe in the near future.
• Indulging the mentally ill: "Boy Scouts of America announces that it will allow transgender youth in boys-only program"--Deseret News. Admitting girls that "feel" they are boys. As Glenn Reynolds likes to point out, “The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.” There was a lot of reluctance among conservatives to support the BSA following its allowing homosexual leaders in 2015; this may be the stake through the heart.
• "Pentagon believes attack on Saudi frigate meant for US warship"--Fox News. The suicide boat bomb attack was carried out by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.  
• "Could we have LIMITLESS energy in 13 years? Doughnut-shaped device to 'put fusion power into the grid' by 2030"--Daily Mail. This would be more impressive if we hadn't been told this for the last 30 years.
• Your grandmother wasn't just being persnickety: "Standing up straight could help symptoms of depression - study"--Telegraph. Sitting or standing upright improves mood and self-esteem in healthy people, but it can also help people suffering from depression. From the article:

       Study co-author Elizabeth Broadent said: "Compared to sitting in a slumped position, sitting upright can make you feel more proud after a success, increase your persistence at an unsolvable task, and make you feel more confident in your thoughts.

      "Research also suggests that sitting upright can make you feel more alert and enthusiastic, feel less fearful, and have higher self-esteem after a stressful task.”

• "Keeping Immigration In Perspective"--The Captain's Journal. He notes that missing from the debate (at least in the MSM) is concern for working Americans:

       ... Roofers, siding installers, brick layers, lawn services, janitorial services and other such services routinely beat out competition from American workers.  Builders have to hire Mexicans or go out of business because the home buyers are only going to pay so much for homes.

       So hire they do.  And then these same workers are paid in cash – and only cash – in order to live in a cash-based system of life separate from the tax paying workers in America who foot the bill for everything from national defense to the very SNAP payments, welfare and other services used by Mexicans.  Those people who come across the border for “love” sure do love their families, but not America.

       The largest cost by far is health care.  For those who make the unfortunate trip to the hospital, they sit in the ER waiting room with hundreds of Hispanics and Latinos who cannot be refused service, and so the Nurse Practitioners in ERs become their primary care physician. They don’t go without medical services.  We all pay.  Since we all pay, the government passed the so-called affordable health care act, which makes it affordable for just about no one and certainly not people who make a wage just above the poverty line.  So in order to get medical care, Americans sustain thousands of dollars in penalties if they cannot afford insurance, and are thrown into the same pool as those who live in the cash-based society and pay no taxes at all.

He goes on to discuss the negative impact on skilled and white-collar workers. Read the whole thing.

• "The Real Motivation Behind the Left’s 'Niceness'"--Acculturated. From the article:

Niceness isn’t really a virtue, Lawler says. It’s more of a cop-out, a moral shrug. “A nice person won’t fight for you,” he points out. “A nice person isn’t animated by love or honor or God. Niceness, if you think about it, is the most selfish of virtues, one, as Tocqueville noticed, rooted in a deep indifference to the well-being of others.” Trump’s lack of niceness, so horrifying to Clinton voters, registered to his acolytes as a willingness to fight for what’s good, particularly American jobs and American culture.