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Friday, June 2, 2017

June 2, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

The video above (3 min.) is a trailer for a documentary called "Is Genesis History?" I watched the full documentary last night--it is available via Netflix--and found it very interesting, although a little basic for those that have read up on creationist theories. Essentially, however, the documentary asks the question whether we can take Genesis (particularly the first 14 or so chapters) as literal history, and attempts to answer that question by talking to scientists about evidence that supports a young earth, creation, a flood, etc., which, necessarily, has to look at flaws or gaps in current theories (although they don't mention my favorite one, which is that it is statistically impossible for life to have evolved, let alone reached its current complexity, within the accepted lifespan of the universe).


Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:
  • TGIF: Active Response Training's Weekend Knowledge Dump for this week. Topics this week are a little broader than normal. Beyond the self-defense and firearms links, there are also links to articles on how to avoid burnout with your job, addiction, safely traveling to foreign countries, and survival tips for teaching your children. Not to worry, however. He also has links and comments on articles about firearms training and performance, developing situational awareness, how to prevent a home invasion, and others. Check it out.
  • "Coonan Compact .357 Magnum: Carries Small, Packs a Big Punch"--Personal Defense World. A little pricey at $1,700, but it gives you 6+1 rounds of .357 Magnum in a compact, 1911-style semi-auto, package.
  • "How To Build Your Own Chicken Coop for Less Than $20"--Real World Survival. It has rough plans for a chicken coop. The low price mostly comes from using scrap plywood. This is an elevated design that takes advantage of the fact by fencing in the area under the coop and allowing the chickens to access that area, which is, obviously, mostly shaded and can be protected to a certain extent from inclement weather.
  • "10 Steps to Building a Glock Using a Polymer80 PF940 Frame Kit"--Tactical Life. An overview, presented in a slide-show format, of building a "ghost gun" Glock.
  • "Are Your Instincts Putting Your Child in Danger?"--Active Response Training. Our natural instinct--developed for dealing with natural predators--is to typically physically shield a child or spouse from attack. However, when facing a predator armed with a gun, Greg Ellifritz suggests that it may unwittingly place the child in greater danger by keeping them in the zone of fire should shots be exchanged. He suggests, instead, teaching them to flee or get away from you should you need to use your firearm. On the other hand, if your wife is a trained sniper, you might want to keep her close by.
  • "Berdan to Boxer conversion kits"--Something Wicked Comes. The author describes the kits available from Russian Reloads that allows you to convert steel cased Berden primed cases so that they will accept Boxer primers (and, thus, allow you to reload them using standard reloading components). There appear to be caliber specific, and only for Russian calibers. The only questions is, at $160 to $200 dollars per kit, is it worth it? The only caliber for which you can't get reloadable brass is the 5.45x39mm.
  • "A Different Approach To Handgun Recoil Management"--The Firearms Blog. A somewhat different technique to managing recoil while shooting a handgun using both hands. It is explained via an embedded video.

Other Stuff:
  • Stuff the politicians and immigration supporters aren't telling you:
Some of these "children" are attending schools with actual children. However, it will probably be deemed "racist" or "insensitive" to expel them from the schools, let alone whatever European country they are in.
  • "The UK's Libyan Jihadist Problem"--Sultan Knish. Daniel Greenfield discusses the strong links between Libyan immigrants in Manchester and jihadists in Libya, primarily under the auspices of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which is associated with terrorists, but has also had a history of support from Western governments. Thus, Greenfield argues, "[t]he old manufacturing city had become a safe space for Libyan Islamic terrorists with the knowledge and complicity of British authorities." 
  • Diversity is our strength: "I Scream for Ice Cream"--Gates of Vienna. Reporting that a man was stabbed to death on the streets of Oldenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany, for eating ice cream during Ramadan, which is a Muslim celebration that requires Muslims to fast. As the author points out, "the murderers were executing a religiously-sanctioned judgment under sharia law, which Muslims are required to enforce against Muslims and non-Muslims alike."
  • A liberal's inclusiveness only goes so far: "Desired for their labor, rejected as neighbors. Farmworkers in California face hostile communities"--Los Angeles Times
           Increasingly fond of locally grown produce, Californians are far less enthusiastic about locally housed farmworkers. They have deployed lawsuits, hastily written regulations — and, apparently, the torch — to segregate thousands of seasonal workers to seedy roadside hotels and crowded housing in cities where affordable shelter is already limited.
             “They love the strawberries, but they don’t like the farmworkers,” said Lucas Zucker, policy and communication director for Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy, a labor advocacy group in Ventura.
      Although a few growers are willing to provide housing for their "guest workers," the majority want affordable housing to come from the public coffer (thereby, subsidizing their business); and, of course, schooling and other costs are going to be borne by the tax payers.
              Professor Ignacio Garcia of Brigham Young University told NBC News that the Mormon Church is not growing in Europe or among white Americans as it once did.
                 "The growth of the LDS church, other than from natural births, comes from people of color: Asians, Africans, and Latinos," said Garcia. "One day, this will be a church for people of color. And once the tipping point arrives, it will be a freefall."
                   According to the Pew Research Center, seven percent of U.S. Mormons are Latino. However, Latinos are the fastest-growing group in the Church. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of Spanish-language wards (congregations) more than doubled, while Latin America has the highest rate of growth of Mormons worldwide. Mormons are active in every Latin American country except Cuba.
                     "The white population around the world is not converting - so the LDS Church, like other churches, is counting on immigrants to fill the pews," he said. "I don't think there is anyone in the church hierarchy - who can see anything but a church of color in the next 25 years."
                       Garcia believes that the customs and leadership of the church will eventually have to reflect this reality. He terms the number of Latino baptisms "staggering."
                  It concludes:
                           "One of Mormonism's great challenges is that it emphasizes the church's founding on the American landscape," said García. "So right now Mormonism from the top looks very white, with a very stable sense of cultural unity. But right below, you see a bubbling energy that will reformat much of Mormon culture - and Latinos will be central to that transformation."

                    2 comments:

                    1. The recoil management video was interesting. I believe that is thw same technique used by Bob Vogel, although I haven't seen sticks used to demonstrate it before.

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                      Replies
                      1. Thank you. I found a video where Vogel explains the steps to drawing the handgun (http://www.tactical-life.com/tactics/video-pistol-draw-bob-vogel/), and noticed that he seems to use the technique. I've probably seen this technique before, but never had it explained. Or, since I use a Weaver stance, generally, and this is for the Isosceles, perhaps it was explained and I didn't give it the attention it deserves....

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