March 7, 2016 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"RS3 Overview HD"--RifleSlinger (5 min.)

This is a video by Rifle Craft explaining how to use a loop sling

 it designed and sells. The designer is the author of the Art of the Rifle blog.

The Rifle Craft web site is here. 

Firearms/Self-Defense:

• "A Navy SEAL explains what to do if someone tries to mug you"--Business Insider UK via Yahoo News. Just some basic pointers: 

If he’s going for a weapon and you can confirm that you should always follow the mantra: run, hide, fight. Run, increase distance from the threat will increase survivability every time. Move away rapidly, if you can’t than fight. The most important thing if you find yourself face-to-face [with] an adversary with a weapon is gaining control of the weapon. As long as that weapon is free you are in danger. So, gain control of the weapon. You try to trap it, you try to strip it, and then immediately start beating the guy with it.

• "How to Focus on Your Front Sight: Guns for Beginners"--The Truth About Guns. The author discusses several sighting errors, including the following:

       Many assume that a shooter who isn’t looking at their sights is looking at the target. I’ve found the most likely focal point is someplace in between. I call this concept “ghosting.”

       The most common reason students “ghost” is that they’re trying to confirm that their sights are on target. They will quickly look downrange to the target, then back to their sights, repeating the process several times to fire a single round.

       It’s a crisis of faith. The shooter must have faith that when they properly align their sights the front sight post will be positioned on the target and generate a hit. It takes time to build this trust. The bad habits in the meantime can haunt a student for years to come.

• "Primary Machine Launches New Glock Stealth Comp"--The Firearms Blog. The article is about a recoil compensator intended to be attached to a threaded barrel. However, the photograph that accompanies me bothers me, from an aesthetic point of view. The Glock slide is finished in one of those "distressed" patterns making it look like it has spent its last 30 years carried by soldiers who didn't give a damn about maintenance and upkeep. To me, it doesn't send the message of "cool" or "elite," but that it is a worn out POS.
• "Secure On-Body Carry: Tips for Safely Carrying your Handgun"--Concealed Carry Nation. One key take away is that one of the "retention" features of a concealed weapon is that it is concealed so people don't know you have it.
• "NRA: Top 5 Books for Everday Gun Owners"--The Truth About Guns. The books are: (1) American Gunmaker by John M. Browning; (2) Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self Defense by Massad Ayoob; (3)  Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson; (4) Serious Social Shotguns by John Mattera; and (5) Moss, Mallards and, Mules by Bob Brister. Unfortunately, there is no information on how this was compiled or by whom. 

I have (1) and (3), and essentially have (2) because I have a couple of older titles by Massad Ayoob on the same topic. My nominations would include American Rifle: A Biography by Alexander Rose, which details the evolution of service rifles in the United States from the earliest muzzle-loaders to the M4 carbine. For self defense shooters, I would add something like Stress Fire by Massad Ayoob, The Tactical Advantage: A Definitive Study of Personal Small-Arms Tactics by Gabe Suarez, or some other well known book on self-defense or tactical shooting. And for hunters, a good book or two on the particular type of hunting you do, and a memoir or collection of hunting tales by a well-known author detailing the types of hunting you enjoy or would like to enjoy (I have vicariously been on some hunts for tigers and lions in India and Africa through a couple great books). If you shoot the AR, a must have is Green Eyes, Black Rifles by Kyle Lamb. Marine Sniper is a great book, but if you can't find it, One Shot One Kill: One Shot One Kill by Charles W. Sasser also has stories of various snipers from World War I through Beirut in the 1980's, including several involving Carlos Hathcock. Or you could try Trigger Men by Hans Halberstadt for something more modern (Iraq and Afghanistan). 

Other Stuff:

• A new Woodpile Report is out.
• "WikiLeaks claims to release thousands of CIA documents"--CBS News. According to the article, "[t]he more than 8,000 documents cover a host of technical topics, including what appears to be a discussion about how to compromise smart televisions and turn them into improvised surveillance devices. WikiLeaks said the data also include details on the agency’s efforts to subvert American software products and smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft Windows."
• "Gangs Reap Guns from Trains in Violent Chicago Neighborhoods"--Law Newz. Chicago gangs are obtaining weapons (including rifles) through the expedient method of breaking into freight cars shipping firearms. Chicago, as you may know, is the railway nexus for the United States.
• God, He's a really smart guy: "Casual Sex Is Bad For Mental Health"--Anonymous Conservative. "This study provides evidence that poor mental health can lead to casual sex, but also that casual sex leads to additional declines in mental health.”
• Perhaps they should invite them to stay in their own homes: "Trouble in Venice: can this trendy LA enclave reconcile a deep divide?"--The Guardian. All the Silicon Valley types that are remaking the city suddenly have realized that they don't like having homeless people ruin their majestic views of the sea or otherwise appear within their sight. These being, of course, the same people that believe that other Americans should have to put up with "immigrants" and "refugees" from poor countries. Being liberal seems to be synonymous with being a hypocrite.
• Well, all I can say is that they better get used to seeing lots of homeless: "The Disrupters: Silicon Valley elites’ vision of the future"--City Journal. The tech elites not only see an increasing disparity of income and wealth, but believe it is a good thing.

[According to the majority of respondents] 50 percent or more of all income would go to the top 10 percent. This worldview is exceedingly common in Silicon Valley. Tech executives often praise so-called 10xer engineers—an elite class of worker ten times more productive than average workers. That is, tech is obsessed with the highest performers within an already-selective class. The phrase is so common that in my old neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco, Red Bull advertises that its caffeine-laden beverage turned “10xers” into “100xers.”

• "Historical Grape Harvest Dates Show Modern Temperatures No Warmer Now Than Most Of The Last 1,000 Years"--No Tricks Zone. Inspired by fake scientist Bill Nye's comment that global warming allows grapes to now grow in England, the author of this article compiled evidence that grapes grew much farther north in England during the late Medieval Warming Period. Also:

       Considering how very sensitive grapes are to climate conditions, and that grapes can only be harvested successfully after ripening in climates that average a specified number of warm days per year, the use of grape harvest dating as a proxy for temperature has long been thought to be both promising and reliable.

       Unfortunately for Bill Nye and those who believe modern warmth is exceptional, or that the climate has changed at a catastrophically fast pace since 1750, scientists who use grape harvest dates to reconstruct historical temperatures have not found that modern warmth is either unusual or unprecedented.  In fact, grape harvest date evidence suggests the opposite conclusion reached by Bill Nye is more accurate: there is nothing unusual about the modern climate and its “well-suitedness” to grape harvesting.  In fact, there were several periods of greater warmth than today (and thus better suitability for grape harvesting) during the multi-centennial (~1400-1900 A.D.) Little Ice Age — which had the coldest temperatures of the last 10,000 years.

       In other words, there is nothing unusual, unprecedented, or remarkable — let alone “catastrophically fast” — about either the pace or degree of warmth in the modern climate.

He has the data to back up his claim as well, if you are interested.

• A new wave of colonization is sweeping through Africa: "An incredible image shows how powerful countries are buying up much of the world’s land"--The Washington Post (2015).

• Related: "Ethiopia: Thousands driven out in land grab"--UPI (2012).

• Related: "China looks abroad for greener pastures"--Los Angeles Times (2014).

• Related: "China, Africa and Food Security"--International Policy Digest (2015).

• Related: "The food rush: Rising demand in China and west sparks African land grab"--The Guardian (2009).

• "NASA Releases Software Catalog For Free"--IBT via Yahoo News. From the article:

       Some of NASA's most impressive technology is now available to the masses. The space agency released its 2017-2018 catalog of software to the public free of charge Wednesday, sans royalty charges or copyright fees.

       “The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today’s top aerospace professions to entrepreneurs, small businesses, academia and industry,” Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs, earn revenue and save lives.”

       The catalog was made available both online to download and in hard copy. The released software comes from a variety of different areas: business, data processing, operations, propulsion and aeronautics. While some of the codes have restrictions, many advanced technologies were made available, and NASA said it hoped they’d be used in a variety of different sectors.