March 14, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Revolver Velocity versus Barrel Length"--Lucky Gunner Ammo

A test of 8 different loads in 11 different guns.

• Another failed state to lay at the feet of Obama and Hillary: "Assad's Control Erodes as Warlords Gain Upper Hand"--Der Speigel. 

For months, Assad's army has been on the advance across Syria. But its military success has only been possible due to the significant assistance the president's troops have received from Iran and Russia -- and from local Syrian militias. Now, these [militia] fighters are taking over control in many areas, committing murder, looting and harassing civilians. And nobody can stop them, not even Assad himself. Indeed, the militias are now more powerful than even the country's leader and have become the real holders of power in Syria.

• And this won't help stability in the Middle-East: "Russia Warns of New Price War Due to U.S. Shale Gains as Kuwait Calls for Extension of OPEC Production Cuts"--Ship & Bunker. (H/t Instapundit). With OPEC cutting production, Russian firms have decided to increase production.
• "BREAKING: Russia will Adopt Both AK-12 and AEK-971 Assault Rifles"--The Firearms Blog. The AK-12 is cheaper and has enough benefits that Russia is apparently going to adopt it as the general service weapon, but will issue the AEK-971 to special units.
• The Deep State extends across borders: "Judge Napolitano: ‘Three Intel Sources’ Say Obama Looked to Brit Agency to Spy on Trump"--Breitbart. According to the article, "President Obama looked to British spy agency GCHQ to obtain transcripts of conversations involving President Donald Trump." So, was this to get around U.S. laws on domestic surveillance, or to avoid a paper trail that could be subsequently investigated by U.S. authorities, or both.
• "Black Hills 60-Gr. .380 Honey Badger"--Guns & Ammo. Video at the link. Not a hollow-point, but a copper bullet similar in design to the Polycase ARX bullet.
• "Here’s The Real Reason You Need to Clean Your Handgun on a Regular Basis"--The Truth About Guns. According to the author, the most important benefit is that it provides an opportunity to inspect parts for wear or damage.
• "Crashing "Post-Obama Era" Gun Sales Lead To Remington Mass Layoffs"--Zero Hedge. The article notes that "the Obama administration’s constant gun control threats did little more than flood American homes with more guns as people looked to stockpile weapons ahead of anticipated new regulations.  In fact, both of Obama's elections resulted in massive and unprecedented spikes in gun sales." However, with the threat of government restrictions waning, demand is not as steep as it was, resulting in some layoffs. The Remington layoffs mentioned, however, are at its New York facility, which probably means that it as much the result of Remington shifting production to the new North Carolina plants as much as market forces.
• "All We Could Do Was Scream"--Kim Du Toit. Discussing the defenselessness of German citizens during the recent ax attack.
• "Your Tactical Training Scenario…Look Out for Lookouts"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz discusses a recent robbery, where two men chased the robber down, tackled him, and then were shot by the robber's lookout whom they had not seen. It reminds me of the video I posted recently of the mugging in the Philippines where the victim struggled with the first robber and apparently did not see an accomplice, who came up and proceeded to stab the victim to death. An any event, Ellifritz writes:

       One common effect of the stress of combat or a criminal confrontation is the rapid onset of “tunnel vision”.  The brain can only process so much information at one time ... [and so] narrows our field of perception so that we can  maximally focus on the immediate threat.

       You may not see or hear anything else around you when this happens.

       Criminals are aware of this effect and use it to their advantage.

He goes on to describe some tips on dealing with tunnel vision and the overall adrenaline rush you will experience. Read the whole thing.

• "Does quantum theory explain human consciousness? New institute to probe one of life's greatest mysteries"--Daily Mail. There are some theories that our brain takes advantage of quantum effects and so, in essence, may be a quantum computer of sorts. The scientist that is the subject of this article believes it is so, and gives an example of a chess problem which solution, he claims, is easy for humans but too difficult for a computer. I don't know about that because it was so obvious to me that I thought I was missing something, and I'm terrible at chess. Anyway, there is a drawing of the chess board near the top of the article, but if you scroll to the bottom, there is a computer generated version of the board which is much easier to understand.
• "Scott Pruitt Is Absolutely Right About Carbon Dioxide"--The Federalist. I recently noted that water vapor was a far more significant green house gas than CO2. This article discusses that in more depth:

       But all of these people ought to know that this is not what Pruitt was asked, nor is it the central issue of the global warming controversy. The question is not whether carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. The question is whether it is the “primary control knob for the climate.” The question is whether it is the greenhouse gas, the one factor that dominates all other factors.

       There is good reason for skepticism. For one thing, just on the “basic science,” Pruitt is absolutely correct. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, but it is not the most powerful greenhouse gas, by a long shot. Water vapor is far more effective at trapping heat and releasing it back to the atmosphere, primarily because it absorbs a lot more radiation in the infrared spectrum, which is released as heat.

       That’s why all of the climate theories that project runaway global warming use water vapor to juice up the relatively small impact of carbon dioxide itself. They posit a “feedback loop” in which carbon dioxide increases temperatures, which increases the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, which increases temperatures even more. These models need a more powerful greenhouse gas to magnify the effect of carbon dioxide.

       But does it really work that way? By how much does water vapor magnify the impact of carbon dioxide? And is that effect dampened by other factors? Consider cloud formation: more water in the atmosphere means more clouds, which reflect sunlight back into space and have a cooling effect that counteracts the warming effect. But by how much?

       The answer is that nobody really knows. There are varying estimates for “climate sensitivity,” that is, how sensitive global temperatures are to increases in carbon dioxide. They range from a relatively trivial impact—less than one degree Celsius warming from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide—to more than five degrees.

Read the whole thing.