June 1, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"We Wuzn’t Kangz, END of Germany & Canada + Honour Enrichment"--Black Pigeon Speaks (14 min.). 

       The Black Pigeon Speaks video is a round up of culturally enriching news from around the world. The title is in reference to a recent study that showed that ancient Egyptians (i.e., the Egyptians at the time of the height of Egyptian civilization) were not descended from sub-Saharan Africans, but "were most closely related to Neolithic Levantine, Anatolian and European populations," unlike modern Eyptians which show closer genetic ties to sub-Saharan Africa. (See also this article from The Smithsonian). The results are based on testing of DNA taken from mummies. Notably, these weren't the mummies of the aristocrats, but the everyday Egyptians of the time. In any event, it demonstrates that sub-Saharan Africans were not kings ("Kangz") in ancient Egypt.  

     Anyway, on to other things:

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping: 

• "The Dangers of Transitional Areas"--Active Response Training. The author describes "transitional areas" as "[t]hose are areas where one is transitioning from one status or activity to another." Examples would be leaving your house or place of work, and walking to your car. An attacker won't attack you in the building, nor wait for you to get into the car, but attack you as you are walking and, most likely, distracted with keys or other items. And that is the problem: as we transition from one activity to another, we often let our guard down.
• "ETS Group Releases Several Magazines for G42, G43 – Up to 12 Rounds"--The Firearms Blog. The smallest magazine--the one that fits flush--is 7 rounds, which is one more than on the standard factory magazine. Then there are 9 and 12 round magazines if you don't mind the magazine sticking out a bit. 
• "Army Admits M4 Round is Under-Powered; Plans for a 7.62mm Alternative"--Kit Up. (See also the author's related article here). The gist of both of these articles is that because 5.56 mm cannot penetrate level IV plate, the Army will be adopting the more powerful 7.62 NATO as a rifle cartridge. No and No. This represents a common misconception that "bigger is better". Level IV plate will also stop 7.62 NATO--in fact, it will stop even .30-06 armor piercing rounds. As I have noted over the past several days, what is being discussed is not a general switch back to 7.62 NATO, but adoption of new type of armor piercing round. Absent going to something extremely large with high kinetic energy (e.g., a cannon ball), it is speed and cross-sectional density that determines the ability to penetrate armor.  
• "Borax Uses and Multi-Purpose Cleaner"--Modern Survival Blog. One of the old time cleansers that has a lot of uses around the house and shop. The author lists some of its many uses.
• "Make Your Own Window Privacy Screen"--The Homestead Survival. The author links to this article at Thrift Diving on how to make a simple privacy screen with a simple wooden frame sized to fit your window and covered (much like canvas over a painting's frame) with a cloth. The article describes using lighter cloth or fabric which will block a view through your window, but still let in light. However, if a heavy cloth--such as duck cloth--were used, I imagine it would be effective as blackout screens to stop anyone from seeing lights through your windows.
• "Arsenal SLR-104FR (AKS-74) Review"--Modern Rifleman. The weapons discussed are Bulgarian made and imported into the United States. The author discusses how much he appreciates the quality craftsmanship, and the hammer-forged, chrome lined barrels. But it comes at a price, that being over $1,000. 

Other Stuff:

• The oligarchs meet to strategize: "Secretive group of global power brokers the Bilderberg Group set to gather in Virginia to mull Trump era including elder statesman Henry Kissinger and NATO secretary"--Daily Mail. I think it is a toss-up as to whether the Devos meetings or this one are more important. According the article, the 131 attendees "will discuss transatlantic relations, the future of the European Union and 'a progress report' on the Trump administration behind closed doors at the four-day meeting." The article contains a list of the attendees, in case you are interested in seeing who are the power-brokers.
• They probably won't be happy about this: "Trump: We are getting out of Paris climate deal"--The Hill. But I am. As the President correctly points out:

“The Paris climate accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers — who I love — and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production,” he said.

• Celebrating diversity: "Immigrants Attack British Truckers in Calais in ‘Extremely Violent’ Incidents"--Heat Street. From the article:

       A police source told the newspaper: “They set up roadblocks using dustbins, and then tried to stop lorries heading for England so they could get aboard. Two windscreens were smashed, while another lorry had its tyres punctured. One driver was taken to hospital with face injuries.”

       Although the Jungle camp was torn down six months ago, and its 8,000 inhabitants dispersed, immigrants have returned to the port town of Calais again in a bid to hide on a truck and make it to Britain undetected. 

• More cultural enrichment: "Mother-of-two MS-13 vixen, 20, is given 40 years in prison for using the promise of sex to lure a boy, 18, into an ambush where he was stabbed 153 TIMES by four gang assassins"--Daily Mail. Migrants may not look like they are carrying a lot when they scurry across the border, but they bring with them an extraordinary amount of cultural and social baggage. 
• Under socialism, the right to work has morphed into the duty to work--at least if you suffer from the "original sin" of being a white male: "Per Capita Taxes Have More Than Doubled Since JFK"--CNS News. The article explains:

       In 1961, the fiscal year Kennedy was elected, the federal government collected about $94.388 billion in taxes, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The population that year was about 183,691,481, according to the Census Bureau. That meant federal tax revenues equaled about $514 per capita — or $4,121 in 2016 dollars.

        By 1965, the fiscal year Lyndon Johnson beat Barry Goldwater, the federal government collected about $116.817 billion in taxes from a population of about 194,302,963. That year federal taxes equaled about $601 per capita — or $4,578 in 2016 dollars.

        In fiscal 2016, according to OMB, the federal government collected about $3.268 trillion in taxes. That equaled about $10,114 for each of the 323,127,513 people in the country.

        Per capita federal taxation in fiscal 2016 was 121 percent more than it was in 1965 and 145 percent more than it was in 1961.

• "Gravitational waves: Third detection of deep space warping"--BBC News. "The signals were picked up by the Advanced LIGO facilities in the US and are determined to have come from the merger of two huge black holes some three billion light-years from Earth."
• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "New Pentagon video shows dramatic missile intercept in Pacific"--CBS News.