November 27, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Paiute Deadfall Trap Verses the Figure 4 Deadfall Trap"--Fowler's Makery and Mischief (22 min.). The author demonstrates how to make an improved Figure 4 trigger/trap.

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• "How to ride out the apocalypse in a big city"--The Week. The author writes:

        Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are no realistic scenarios that would require a sudden, mass evacuation of an entire city.

        Nuclear attack? I hate to break it to you, but nuclear-tipped ICBMs travel far too quickly to give anyone time to flee before all are incinerated in hellfire. Dirty bomb? Conventional explosives combined with radioactive material would not release enough radiation to kill anyone or cause severe illness.

        Even most natural disasters wouldn't require a sudden evacuation. Hurricanes are slow-moving and their paths can be predicted while earthquakes happen without warning.

        "A lot of what drives big evacuations is often mass hysteria," said John Renne, director of the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University.

       So while you may not need to head for the hills when disaster strikes, you still need to be prepared. The key is to think more realistically about disasters, evacuation plans, and what you actually need to stock up on (fewer nail-studded bats, more bottled water).

       ... During some types of disasters — a chemical attack, for instance — it's safer to shelter inside rather than evacuate. Even during the largest terrorist attack in history — Sept. 11 — only a small section of New York City needed to be evacuated.

        The author goes on to suggest that those of you in major cities should plan on bugging in (but still have a bug out bag in case you do need to evacuate, such as in face of a fire, or in the wake of an earthquake), stock up on bottled water and non-perishable food (the article says 3 days, but I think 1 week is probably a bare minimum for those bugging in), and learn your surroundings so that if you do need to evacuate, you will have a clear idea of what routes (or back-up routes) to take.

        I've seen some criticism of this article, but these mostly deal what to do in the event of riots. In my mind, the Jakarta riots where Indonesians specifically targeted ethnic Chinese for violence particularly stands out because of how the violence was targeted. An analysis of the rioting showed that riots tended to break out in areas with concentrations of ethnic Chinese and commercial business areas with businesses operated by ethnic Chinese.  The riots lasted 3 days, with most of the riots beginning on the second day. One article described as follows:

        Eight-year-old Hindra Martono was watching an afternoon news segment on the riots erupting in Jakarta when the mob came. Amid the din of fists banging on the door, Martono’s father rushed his family into the attic to hide. What if the crowd decided to burn down the house? Martono’s mother told him to pray to God, so he fingered the maid’s Islamic prayer beads. His sister broke down in tears.

        Then the looters scaled his house and shattered the window. They swarmed inside, grabbing food, money, electronics, furniture — everything. Martono recognized his father’s employees, who had often played with him. “I really hated them at that time,” he said. “I felt like I was betrayed.”

         Eventually they found the Martonos in the attic. Luckily, they escaped to a relative’s house, but Martono doesn’t remember how — only the sound of his mother screaming over and over, “You can take it all!” When they finally returned home, they found their house and grocery store — the one Martono’s father had built 20 years ago from the ground up — completely destroyed.

This suggests that evacuation may be the best response to large ethnic riots. On the other hand, the Rodney King riots, where South Korean businessmen organized to fight off rioters and looters, and similar behavior in the London riots by the Sikh community indicate that evacuation is not required in every case. That is, evacuation is probably the better option unless you and your neighbors have the time to organize a violent defense.

• "Bali's Mount Agung volcano erupts, prompting mass evacuation order"--Deutsche Welle. 100,000 ordered to evacuate.
• "Can You Still Use a Scope That Has Been Shot? VORTEX Knows the Answer!"--The Firearms Blog. Vortex's testing indicated that, yes, you can ... although it is not going to be water resistant or fog proof.
• I know this is not an issue for most people, but interesting nontheless: "Watch Marines Demo the Right Time for Full vs. Semi Auto"--Kit Up! From the article/video:

“Here’s the point: There are some times when fully automatic fire is appropriate and effective — up close, personal, very extremely violent engagements,” Wade explains. “But at some point when you gain fire superiority, you might want to transition back over to an aggressive, semiautomatic.”

I think I've noted before that full auto from an individual weapon has two purposes: suppressive fire or, at short range, to emulating a shotgun (multiple hits on the same target).

• "Treading Lightly: SLIDEFIRE is Selling Stocks Once Again"--The Firearms Blog.
• "President Trump Will Permit Citizens to Buy Military Surplus 1911 Pistols"--Breitbart. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act contains an amendment that would transfer surplus 1911 pistols to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), where they can be sold to the public. The President hasn't yet signed the Act, but is expected to do so shortly. 
• I thought the UK was a crime free utopia because of its strict gun laws: "U.K. Begins Another Gun Surrender Initiative Amid Increase in Gun Crime"--The Washington Free Beacon. The article indicates: "The Office for National Statistics found a 27 percent increase in crimes involving firearms during its most recent review of crime data. Despite a near ban on the civilian ownership of handguns the review found crimes committed with handguns increased by 25 percent and accounted for the majority of gun crimes. The agency said the increases in 2016 were part of a multiyear trend."

          Conversely, Idaho has no restrictions (beyond those in federal law) on the purchase of firearms, and allows any citizen 21 years of age or over, and who is otherwise permitted to possess a firearm, to carry one concealed without a license. It must be a hot-bed of violent crime ... or maybe not: "Boise named one of the top 10 safest cities in the world by MSN"--KBOI News.

• "Cold Weather Boot Socks Are Not Enough"--Modern Survival Blog. Fit is just or more important: if circulation is restricted, your feet will be cold. The article has tips on determining whether your boots are too tight.
• "After The SHTF, What Will Be Your Role?"--Survival Blog. In the event of a major civilizational or economic collapse, how will you make a living--particularly if you are, due to age or health, unable to do heavy labor. The author, an older woman, is looking at operating a mobile shower. Traditionally, older women often made money by taking in tenants and/or washing laundry. Although I can't find the article now, I had read about an entrepreneur in an African country that had set up a business using bicycle powered clothes washers that people could hire to launder their clothes.

Other Stuff:

• Lenin was correct when he said that “[t]he Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” The Mercury News reports that "California business leaders call on Congress to pass Dreamer legislation." Although this has little or nothing to do with DACA, the article notes that "57 out of every 100 jobs in Silicon Valley requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher are filled by someone who wasn’t born in the U.S."
• Missing the point: Fred Reed generally writes some pretty good stuff, but lately he is obsessed with attempting to prove that Mexico and its inhabitants are the intellectual equals of white Americans, notwithstanding differences in reported I.Q. scores. One of his latest pieces is "Mexico, as It Is and Wasn’t: Some Stuff Wroth [sic] Knowing." His basic argument is that Mexico graduates and employees lots of STEM majors and has really taken off economically, and Americans should, therefore, welcome them with open arms. But that argument misses the point. First, it is not the STEM graduates that are sneaking across the border; and, second, irregardless of how valuable of employees they may represent, Mexico is home to a very different culture from that of the United States (especially, pre-1964). He notes in his article the endemic crime and corruption in Mexico as though it is some fact that floats in the air, without an attachment or grounding in Mexico's history, culture or world-view, and which will be left behind if and when Mexicans move across the border. 
• They really do hate you: "Nurse Loses Job Over Post Saying Sons Of White Women Should Be ‘Sacrificed’"--Weasel Zippers. And by "sacrificed," she meant killed.
• More false flag attacks: "Cancel Those Hate Crimes: Black Man Arrested for Vandalizing Five Black NJ Churches"--Jamie Wearing Fool. 
• "Researchers Publish Bombshell Report That Suggests Sugar Industry Conspiracy"--The Daily Beast. "In 1965, research funded by the Sugar Research Foundation found sucrose was linked to heart disease. That research was never published."
• An inconvenient truth for those who like to paint Christians as uneducated hicks: "Why Educated Christians Are Sticking With Church"--The Atlantic. The article begins by noting the commonly held belief that the more educated a person is, the less religious he or she will be. However, that is not really the case:

While Americans with college experience are overall less likely to attend services, pray on a regular basis, and say religion is very important to them, that’s not true within many faith groups. In fact, Catholic, Mormon, and Protestant college grads are all more likely to attend church on a weekly basis than their less educated peers. This was not the trend among religious minorities like Muslims and Jews, or among people who don’t affiliate with any religion at all, suggesting that education has a distinctive effect on religiosity within the world of Christianity.  

• "The big layoff in China"--Axios. Per the article, "[b]y the end of the year, some 1.8 million Chinese coal and steel workers will lose their jobs, victims of the government's shift to cleaner industries and a shutdown of small enterprises." This is not a surprise: I saw articles several months ago discussing this subject. Now the layoffs are nigh. China is attempting to manage this, however, by offering social-welfare programs--including early retirement packages.
• It will be interesting to see how this goes: "Report: Israel Vows To Destroy Iranian Positions Within 40 Km Of Syrian Border"--Weasel Zippers.