September 22, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Shooting the Norinco QBZ/Type 97 NSR"--Forgotten Weapons (11 min.)

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• TGIF: Active Response Training's "Weekend Knowledge Dump" for this week. Links to a lot of good and useful articles, and one by your's truly (and my thank's to Mr. Ellifritz for the link). My article which is linked is "Is It Really That Hard To Kill? -- Thoughts on Marshall's Assertion That Only 25% Of WWII Soldiers Would Fire On The Enemy." I've come across a couple other sources since then that might interest the reader:

• "S.L.A. Marshall and the Ratio of Fire: History, Interpretation, and the Canadian Experience" (PDF) by Robert Engen published in the journal of Canadian Military History. This article takes a look at Marshall's conclusions and research from both the perspective that (1) he conducted his research and his numbers are valid, and (2) he did not conduct his research.

• SLAM: The Influence of S.L.A. Marshall on the United States Army by Major F.D.G. Williams (this is a book, so a large PDF). I haven't read this one yet, but based on the introduction, it appears to be a work praising Marshall and his work.

• "International Firearm Ownership and Homicide Rates"--Ammo Land. The author cites to a Guardian article comparing gun ownership and homicide rates (at least for countries where both data sets were available) seemingly shows no correlation. The author did his own statistical analysis and found that "[t]here was only a small negative correlation, of -.137. That is not a strong correlation. It shows that the homicide rate tends to fall a bit with higher firearms ownership.  It is not statistically significant."
• More hurricane news--this from Puerto Rico--and it doesn't look good:

• "Puerto Rico Dam Failing; Flash Flood Emergency Declared"--NBC News. The article reports: "Operators of the Guajataca Dam said it failed at 2:10 p.m. ET, prompting the NWS to issue a flash flood emergency warning for Isabela and Quebradillas municipalities, home to some 70,000 people, the agency said in three tweets."

• "Water world: Shocking drone footage shows Puerto Rico capital deluged with flood waters in aftermath of Hurricane Maria as island's Govenor confirms 13 dead"--Daily Mail.

• "As flooding continues across Puerto Rico, San Juan begins to pick up after Hurricane Maria"--Miami Herald.

• As of yesterday, the death toll in the earthquake in Mexico was 273, as searchers still are searching the ruins.
• "Sh!t Kit field toilet kit | Don’t get caught with your pants down"--Load Out Room. A review of a personal hygiene kit. Each kit contains toilet paper (about 4 feet), wet wipes, disposal bag (to leave zero trace), and hand sanitizer. The article indicates that single kits are only $2.50 or you can get a pack of 20 for $50. 

Other Stuff:

• I wasn't sure whether this article should be in this category or above, so I'm placing it here (at the top) as a compromise:  "Modulation of Solar Wind Energy Flux Input on Global Tropical Cyclone Activity" (PDF)--Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. From the abstract:

Here we investigate the possible modulation of the total energy flux input from the solar wind into the Earth’s magnetosphere on the global tropical cyclone activity during 1963–2012. From a global perspective, the accumulated cyclone energy increases gradually since 1963 and start to decrease after 1994. Compare to the previously frequently used parameters, e,g., the sunspot number, the total solar irradiation, the solar F10.7 irradiation, the tropical sea surface temperature, and the south oscillation index, the total solar wind energy flux input exhibits a better correlation with the global tropical cyclone activity. Furthermore, the tropical cyclones seem to be more intense with higher geomagnetic activities. A plausible modulation mechanism is thus proposed to link the terrestrial weather phenomenon to the seemly-unrelated solar wind energy input.

• Open borders in action: "Illegal immigrant, 32, 'breaks into New Jersey home and sexually assaults six-year-old girl in her bed'"--Daily Mail. 
• Ditto: "El Salvadorian illegal immigrant, 19, and his school friend, 17, 'acting on the orders' of a girl, 13, 'raped her classmate for hours' after kidnapping her, stuffing a rag in her mouth, and driving her to a nearby apartment'"--Daily Mail. The incident occurred in Frederick, Maryland, which earlier this year had been considering whether to become a sanctuary city.
• This makes Chicago look like Mayberry in comparison: "Tijuana BC: 105-110 Murders in 15 Days"--Borderland Beat. 
• "Teloloapan Guerrero: Mexican Troops Kill 8 After Being Ambushed"--Borderland Beat. From the article:

       At least nine people died including eight civilians and one soldier, which was the result of a clash between military personnel and members of the La Familia criminal group in the municipality of Teloloapan, located in La Tierra Caliente region in the  north of the state of Guerrero.

       Faced with the surprise attack, Mexican Army troops repelled the aggression and during the exchange of shots managed to shoot down 8 civilian criminals carrying large caliber weapons, while a military soldier by the name of Oscar Alexis "N", was wounded and later died while being attended to in the community hospital. 

• Texas Gang Threat Assessment --Texas Department of Public Safety (July 2017). From the summary: 

       The most significant gangs in Texas are Tango Blast and associated Tango cliques (estimated >19,000 members), Latin Kings (estimated >1,300 members), Texas Mexican Mafia (estimated >4,100 members), and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) (estimated >500 members).

        These Tier 1 gangs pose the greatest gang threat potential based on their cartel relationships, high levels of transnational criminal activity, level of committed violence, and overall statewide strength and presence.

• Related: "DPS gang assessment includes Tango Blast, MS-13 as top threats" and "What you need to know about Tango Blast, Houston's most dangerous gang"--Houston Chronicle.

• "A blast heard 1,200 miles away and 140billion tonnes of rock and ash: The horrifying history of the world’s deadliest volcano (and how you can see its spectacular crater for yourself)"--Daily Mail. I posted a detailed article about the 1815 Tambora eruption back in 2012.