August 24, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"EOTech review: The redemption of EOTech"--Garand Thumb (~ 13 min.)

A review of EOTech's "new" sight which is supposed to have corrected the problems with the earlier sight. The author discusses the prior problems and reviews the EOTech on certain criteria, comparing to other similarly priced sights, such as clarity, battery life, etc.

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• WARNING: "Texas facing catastrophic flooding as Harvey intensifies into a major hurricane that will bring life-threatening storm surge and up to 30 INCHES of rain when it makes landfall as a Category 3 storm"--Daily Mail. Based on the storm track, it looks like it will pass right over Corpus Christi. 
• "QuikClot Sponges Discontinued"--SkinnyMedic. This short (~ 3 min.) video explains that QuikClot is discontinuing their sponges. If you don't already have the sponges, or have to replace them, the author is recommending either the Z-Medica EMS rolled gauze or the Celox powder. 
• "The FDA cleared this syringe for quickly plugging gunshot wounds in the arms and legs"--Fast Company (H/t The Truth About Guns). From the article:

       The XStat 30, a sponge-filled syringe that can plug deep and narrow wounds from gunshots or stabbings in seconds, has received approval from the U.S. for use in the arm and leg.

       The FDA also gave RevMedx, the Oregon-based company that makes the device, approval to market a smaller version, the XStat 12, which is designed to treat smaller wounds from a stabbing or smaller caliber firearm. Andrew Barofsky, the CEO of manufacturer RevMedx, said the FDA’s decision would advance the company’s mission “to reduce death and disability from traumatic bleeding injuries caused by war, violence, or accidents.”

Unfortunately, the article indicates that the $100 devices will only be available via prescription.

• "OIS and Tourniquet Use by LVMPD – What Can We Learn?"--Breach Bang Clear. The author offers up a video showing two police officers shoot a suspect, and then provide first aid (including a tourniquet) for your learning and critiquing. 
• "San Antonio Pulls the Plug on ShotSpotter Gunfire Detection System, Hartford, CT Next?"--The Truth About Guns. Over a 15 month period, the system only led to 4 arrests for the minor crime of discharging a firearm at a total cost of $546,000 (or $136,500 per arrest). Two cities in Connecticut are reporting accuracy rates (i.e., distinguishing a gun shot from other noises) of between 8 and 10%.
• "Why the .308 Sucks – And the Military Knew It"--Abe's Gun Cave. The U.S. Army conducted studies and reviews in the 1920's and '30's indicating that the ideal bullet for a combat round would be between 6.5 and 7 mm; and research after WWII (both U.S. and British) confirmed that bullets of smaller diameter than .30 caliber were better at wounding. Despite this research, and experience with the .30-06 in multiple wars and conflicts (including WWI, WWII, and the Korean War), the U.S. forced NATO to adopt the .308--then promptly ditched it (at least for combat rifles) for the .223. I've also touched upon the inadequacies of the .308/7.62 NATO at typical combat distances in prior posts (see "Some Thoughts on a 'Battery' of Survival Arms--Part II--.22 versus .30 Caliber.") as have others (see "Assault Rifles and Their Ammunition").
• A couple interesting new products:

• "TFB Review: Armageddon Tactical AK47 Hinged Side Rail Mount"--The Firearms Blog. This is a scope mount designed for the AK series of rifles, that attaches to the scope rail on the left of the rifle. What makes this design unique is that it is hinged so that it can be unlatched to one side to provide access to the iron sights or to remove the rear dust cover, but locked back into place without losing the zero.

• "Gear Review: Huntego CleanShot Shoot-Thru Bore Cleaner Shells"--The Truth About Guns. This is a shotgun shell loaded with layers of scrubbers and patches designed to clean your shotgun barrel with one shot at the end of a range session. The author tested it and found that it worked as advertised. They should soon be offered for sale at Walmart for $2.50 apiece. For the savings in time and how well it work on the reviewers shotgun, it might well be worth the price.

• "Why an RV for Prepping?"--Blue Collar Prepping. The author sets out several reasons, but it basically comes down to (1) mobility and (2) comfort. An RV allows you to evacuate or move away from a problem (or to a better situation) while still having many of the conveniences of a home.
• "Car plows through trans lives matter protest: White male driver is arrested after injuring three 'when protesters began attacking his car' at vigil for trans woman who was killed by cops in St Louis"--Daily Mail. As is not uncommon for Daily Mail headlines, the actual story is a bit different. According to the article:

       Police spokeswoman Schron Jackson told the Riverfront Times: 'Tonight, a group of protesters marched from the Transgender Memorial to the intersection of Manchester and Sarah were they blocked traffic in all directions. 

        'A vehicle approached, stopped, honked its horn and attempted to drive around the protesters.

        'The protesters surrounded the vehicle and began striking it with their hands and a flag pole. Several protesters also kicked and jumped on top of the vehicle.'

       She said the driver of the vehicle - a white male - then drove away when two women and a man 'fell from the vehicle'.

        The three who were hit suffered minor injuries, but refused medical attention. 

         'Police attempted to stop driver of vehicle who initially refused to stop,' Jackson said. 'He stopped about a block away from the incident and was taken into custody for felony fleeing. The incident was captured on video.' 

So there you have it--you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't when it comes to trying to get through a crowd of protesters. Even if the charges are eventually dropped, this guy was arrested for a felony (which will remain in the system) and will incur legal expenses. Lesson is to stay away from protesters and if, by chance, your path crosses them, take a different path.

Other Stuff:

• "On Blood Moons and Babylonian Whores"--First Things. The author's main point seems not to get caught up in trying to use Revelation to predict disasters, but to remember that the book was intended to lift the spirits of the early Church. The author writes:

       Is John imparting a sense of urgency? No doubt. Jesus told his followers not to be caught sleeping when he returns, though he also told them not to worry themselves with interpreting signs (Mark 13). The urgency of Jesus and of John is not an exhortation to begin decoding the rest of the vision. It is an exhortation to be faithful between the Incarnation and the Second Coming. Jesus and John want believers to lift their eyes to the heavens and place their hope in the returning Savior. For what is about to take place is twofold: Jesus will enact eschatological war on Satan, sin, and death (Revelation 19–20); and the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, the tree of life reappear, and death disappear (Revelation 21–22).

        The prophecies of Revelation, then, are a counsel of hope and encouragement. ...

On a related note, I came across this article--"Did the Moon Appear as Blood on the Night of the Crucifixion?"--which reminds us that the miraculous signs in scripture will, indeed, be miraculous or unmistakable, not mundane. For instance: "To stand out as a sign (Genesis 1:14), the moon turning to blood must be remarkable. However, a lunar eclipse by itself, though interesting, is hardly remarkable."

• "Hundreds confess to eating human flesh"--News 24. The lead: "A community meeting following the arrest of four Estcourt men for allegedly killing a person and eating human flesh saw hundreds of residents allegedly confess to having eaten human body parts procured from one of the accused." Peter Grant gives some background on the superstitions and fetishes that lie behind this type of incident. But one of the important points to take away from Grant's explanation is that these beliefs and superstitions are not limited to the poor and uneducated, but are also held by the most educated and successful. I think this is a good reminder to Americans and Europeans that when we talk of "foreign" cultures, these cultures aren't just quaint overlays on a base "deep down everyone is the same" set of behavior, but their practices, beliefs and very way of viewing or thinking about the world is alien to ours. 
• Coming It has come to a town near you: A police officer arrested in Texas was provided with money by drug cartels to fund a couple political campaigns to be elected as a sheriff. 
• The UK's--shall we say, "unique"--solution to a shortage of general practitioners: "Revealed: Health chiefs plan to make it easier for failing trainees and foreign medics to become GPs"--The Telegraph. According to the article, "officials are drawing up plans which could allow trainee medics to become a GP even if they have to take their exams six times, and are considering relaxing checks on doctors who trained abroad." I would note that the U.S. is also facing a shortfall of general practitioners (especially in rural regions), so this isn't something unique to socialized medicine (although the reasons for the shortfalls may differ). I don't think it is necessarily an issue of too few doctors but too many specialists. The specialties pay so much better that there is little incentive to become a GP, but, on the other hand, to make the money as a specialist you need to be in a sufficiently large urban area. (Also, after spending 8+ years in academia, many doctors are too cosmopolitan to want to live in a small or medium sized town). And while you can, in theory, obtain better treatment from a specialist, the reality is that they, too, are subject to the "give a man a hammer and every problem looks like a nail" type thinking. The solution will likely be two-pronged: pushing the duties of GPs down to Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants (including being able to prescribe medications) while developing AI based diagnostic systems.
• "Most of the Recent Warming Could be Natural"--Jennifer Marohasy. The results of the author's research:

       In our just published paper in GeoResJ, we make the assumption that an artificial neural network (ANN) trained on proxy temperature data up until 1830, would be able to forecast the combined effect of natural climate cycles through the twentieth century.  

         We deconstructed six proxy series from different regions, with the Northern Hemisphere composite discussed here. This temperature series begins in 50 AD, ends in the year 2000, and is derived from studies of pollen, lake sediments, stalagmites and boreholes.  Typical of most such proxy temperature series, when charted this series zigzags up and down within a band of perhaps 0.4°C on a short time scale of perhaps 60-years. Over the longer nearly 2,000-year period of the record, it shows a rising trend which peaks in 1200AD before trending down to 1650AD, and then rising to about 1980 – then dipping to the year 2000: as shown in Figure 12 of our new paper in GeoResJ.

          The decline at the end of the record is typical of many such proxy-temperature reconstructions and is known within the technical literature as “the divergence problem”.  To be clear, while the thermometer and satellite-based temperature records generally show a temperature increase through the twentieth century, the proxy record, which is used to describe temperature change over the last 2,000 years – a period that predates thermometers and satellites – generally dips from 1980, at least for Northern Hemisphere locations, as shown in Figure 12.  This is particularly the case with tree ring records. Rather than address this issue, key climate scientists, have been known to graft instrumental temperature series onto the proxy record from 1980 to literally ‘hide the decline’[8].

          Using the proxy record from the Northern Hemisphere composite, decomposing this through signal analysis and then using the resulting component sine waves as input into an ANN, we generated a forecast for the period from 1830 to 2000.  

         Figure 13 from our new paper in GeoResJ shows the extent of the match between the proxy-temperature record (blue line) and our ANN forecast (orange dashed line) from 1880 to 2000.  Both the proxy record and also our ANN forecast (trained on data the predates the Industrial Revolution) show a general increase in temperatures to 1980, and then a decline.  

Read the whole thing.