February 24, 2017--A Quick Run Around the Web (Updated)

"Suicide Bombings and Islam: An Apologist's Guide"

Sargon of Akkad (21 min.). A debate on whether Islam

 and suicide bombings are related.

Firearms/Self-Defense/Firearms:

• TGIF: This week's Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. Lot's of good articles, but one in particular I would mention is "Massad Ayoob: Busting Some Myths about Home Defense."
• "An Introduction to Revolver Reloads"--The Revolver Guy. Although the author links to a video showing the basic mechanics of reloading a revolver, the article, itself, is on some pointers and tips concerning the revolver reload.
• "PJF – Prepper Priorities"--Everyday Carry Solutions. The author comments about a video from Viking Preparedness discussing the difference between serious preppers and hobbyists, and those who focus too much on weapons or survival doodads. He writes:

If SHTF, there are going to be a lot of people with guns and no food.  That’s not a good recipe as PJF has already stated.  Me thinks if emergency services are unable to respond in the event of disaster, there will be a lot of “preppers” turned marauder.

Well, I don't know about "a lot," but it is axiomatic to beware the prepper with lots of guns and ammunition, but no food storage.

• "You Draw Your Firearm In Self-Defense But Don’t Fire A Shot. Do You Call Police To Report The Incident?"--Concealed Nation. The author contends that you should always call the police after every firearm related incident, even if the firearm is not discharged, but not necessarily immediately. He warns that, above everything else, make sure you are in a safe place before calling police. There are also other circumstances (such as if your actions were witnessed by other people) where you may want to speak with an attorney first. 

The correct answer to most legal questions is: it depends. Thus, I am automatically suspect of anyone saying that you should always do this or that. Realize that if you call the police, you will also be the subject of an investigation, and could be charged with a crime such as brandishing or aggravated assault. It will likely also be an effort in futility: with little or no evidence, it is unlikely that the suspect will be identified, let alone caught.

• "XS Sights Big Dot Xpress Tritium Set | Review"--Loadout Room. This system uses a large front dot over a line on the rear sight which is a shallow V. The author of this review really liked it, both for daytime shooting and at night.
• "The Value of Adjustable Sights"--Priority Performance. The author changed defensive rounds to a lighter, higher velocity offering and had to adjust his sights.
• "Encryption Update ** UPDATED **"--Combat Studies Group. The NSA recently released guidance on minimum encryption required for transmitting secret information. The author discussed the guidance and recommendations for updating your encryption, if you use it.
• "Shoot the Terrorist Gun Game"--The Box of Truth. A drill for rifle shooters, including a target, times and scoring.
• "Smokeless Powders: Cordite"--Firearms History, Technology and Development. The invention of cordite--the UK's first smokeless powder.
• "Proposed Executive Order Designating Certain Rifles for ‘Militia Purposes’"--The Truth About Guns. Due to the recent 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding a ban in AR rifles and their standard magazines, the Trump Administration is looking at issuing an executive order designating ARs, M-1As, and M-1 Garand rifles with their ammunition and magazines as suitable for militia purposes. A copy of the proposed order is included in the article.

Other Stuff:

• True colors: "University of Michigan students demand a non-whites-only space for 'social justice' work and the removal of 'symbols of white supremacy' on campus"--Daily Mail.
• To explain: "The Confluence"--Z Man.

       ... Unlike Europe, the American Left has never been about economic equality. It was always about spiritual equality. The radicals on the Continent were always obsessed with busting up the class structure. The radicals in American have always been focused on saving the immortal soul of the nation. Economic equality was never anything more than a a political tool for the reformers to use as a way to get control of the culture in order to impose their moral vision on the nation.

       In order for this to work, the Left has always needed victims and oppressors, saints and sinners. In the 20th century, they could champion black civil rights and women’s issues. Then it was onto gays and now foreigners. ...

• "Anti-Trump Hysteria: What is the Establishment Afraid Of?"--Emmet Scott at Gates of Vienna. Scott begins my noting that "most of the opposition to Trump has nothing whatsoever to do with traditional left-wing concerns, such as working-class poverty, and is almost entirely driven by sexual and sex-related issues. His opponents fear losing the culture-war gains they made under Obama." He continues, though:

       ... However, I would suggest that many members of the establishment have, in addition, something very personal to fear from the Trump administration: For it would appear that some of America’s most powerful people have been involved in activities which if brought into the public forum would utterly destroy them, not only professionally, but also personally.

        For many years now rumors about a massive pedophile ring operating among the upper echelons of the Hollywood elite have been rife. That such a network does exist has been confirmed by several of the world’s most respected child (or former child) actors. The televised testimony of Corey Feldman, for one, can be viewed by anyone on YouTube; whilst similar statements have been made by Elijah Wood and several others, and it is fairly clear that sexual abuse of children in Hollywood has been a problem for many years — one that has been continually brushed under the carpet by an extremely powerful elite. Only occasionally have perpetrators been accused in public — as was Roman Polanski in 1977 — and even less commonly have such persons been brought to justice.

       But the Hollywood elite, it would seem, are only one part of the establishment up to their necks in this kind of behavior. We know that Bill Clinton made twenty-six journeys on Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious ‘Lolita Express’ — the aircraft which brought Epstein’s guests to parties on his Caribbean island and other destinations where underage girls were regularly on the menu. Recent revelations about Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Hillary Clinton’s personal assistant Huma Abedin, point in the same direction. Then of course we have the leaked Podesta emails and the whole ‘Pizzagate’ affair. If there is any truth at all in the idea that the coded language used in these emails refers to the sexual abuse of underage children, then it would appear that a substantial segment of the Democratic Party (as well apparently as some members of the Republican Party) are active pedophiles.

• "Church, State, and Melania Trump"--American Thinker. The author discusses the Left's fury over Melania Trump's recent recitation of the Lord's Prayer at Pres. Trump's recent rally in Florida. Of course, the Left reflexively cites to the First Amendment and its supposed "separation of church and state." However, this modern view is diametrically opposed to the actual history and intent of the First Amendment. Yes, the Founders wished to prevent a State sponsored religion, but, no, they did not intend to create a purely secular state let alone drive religion from the public square. The author of this piece observes that "[t]he Constitution mandates government’s neutrality to religion, but its alleged desire to avoid any endorsement of religion has mutated into an unmistakable hostility." That is, the government has ceased being neutral and now is antagonistic against religion and its practice:

       ... People are no longer free to apply their religious beliefs to their businesses, as the vendetta against Hobby Lobby demonstrates. The Obama administration went to court to force the Little Sister of the Poor to provide contraceptive coverage to their workers. Bakers were forced to bake cakes for gay weddings in violation of their religious beliefs. 

       As the late Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, former head of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, once observed, President Obama’s idea of religious liberty, an idea shared by many liberals, differs little from Josef Stalin’s:

       Freedom of worship was guaranteed in the Constitution of the former Soviet Union," Chicago's Francis Cardinal George recently wrote.

       "You could go to church, if you could find one. The church, however, could do nothing except conduct religious rites in places of worship -- no schools, religious publications, health care institutions, organized charity, ministry for justice and works of mercy that flow naturally from a living faith. We fought a long Cold War to defeat that vision of society."

As I've noted before, this is rooted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964: once you agree that the government can require you to associate with and labor for someone you do not want to associate with or labor for because of that person's skin color, national origin, gender, and so on, it is but a short step to forcing you to associate with or labor for people in violation of your religious consciousness. That is, once you allow the government to force people to associate or labor for another for any reason, it is thereafter merely an issue of drawing the line on how far the government will exercise its authority. 

• "Devout Christian mom is BANNED from Facebook because she quoted Bible verses about homosexuality"--Daily Mail. Strangely, although the Civil Rights Act purports to protect people as to their religious beliefs, the courts have been very reluctant to enforce those provisions--at least when the plaintiffs are Christians.
• Letting the mask slip: "Brzezinski: 'Our Job' Is To Control ‘Exactly What People Think’"--Grabien News. An MSNBC "journalist" was outraged by Trump's use of social media, claiming that it allowed him to control exactly what people think, and adding that that was "our [the media's] job."
• The collapse of complex societies: "Study sees U.S. life expectancy falling further behind other countries"--CBS News. From the article:

       Life expectancy in the United States is already much lower than most other high-income countries and is expected to fall even further behind by 2030, new research published today predicts.

       According to the most recent government figures, life expectancy at birth in the United States is 76.3 years for men and 81.2 years for women.

       Using a number of forecasting models, researchers from the U.K. predict life expectancy in the U.S. will improve to 83.3 years for women and 79.5 years for men by the year 2030.

       But despite these modest gains, the United States is still lagging behind other developed countries.

• Why would he think this? "Illegal fundraiser for the Clintons made secret tape because he feared being ASSASSINATED over what he knew - and used it to reveal Democrats' bid to silence him"--Daily Mail. It's just a coincidence that so many witnesses to the Clintons' illegal activities conveniently commit suicide. From the article:

       A Chinese-American businessman at the center of a Clinton campaign finance scandal secretly filmed a tell-all video as an 'insurance policy' - because he feared being murdered.

       In footage provided exclusively to DailyMail.com, Johnny Chung spills details on how he illegally funneled money from Chinese officials to Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election bid.

       The Chinese-American Clinton fundraiser recorded the 'elaborate videotaped testimony' while in hiding in 2000.

       He smuggled it to trusted friends and family with instructions to release it to the media in the event of his untimely death because he believed he was at risk of being assassinated. 

       Chung is believed to still be alive and living in China. 

Unlike the fake Russian influence of the latest election, the 1996 illegal campaign money from China was a real example of a foreign power attempting to influence American elections.

• "Savages of Stockholm"--Sultan Knish. He writes:

 Europe has many fine traditions. Its newest tradition is the burning car. Why burn cars? Because, as George Mallory once said of mountains, they're there. There are lots of cars around and if you're a member of a perpetually unemployed tribe that wandered up north and forages on social services, you might as well do something to pass the time.

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Kids Will Soon Be Able to Write Code With Lego"--Fortune. "The Danish-based toy maker ... 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." The story continues:

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.

 Update: Corrected typo.