November 29, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Concealed Carry: Is .32 ACP Enough?"--Paul Harrell (22 min.)

Mr. Harrell compares the performance of the .32 ACP versus its "near peer" competitors: .22 LR, .25 ACP, and .380. He also discusses why he believes .32 was a popular cartridge in the early 20th Century and why it has fallen out of disfavor. And, basically, it comes down to improvements in materials and designs that allow much smaller .380 pistols. In its heyday, very small .25 "vest pocket" pistols were available, but .380 pistols were quite large by today's standard; the .32 offered a compromise in size (and thus, power and accuracy) between the small .25 pistols and the larger .380's. 

Firearms/Self-Defense/Prepping:

• "How to Perform the Fireman’s Carry"--The Art of Manliness. Instructions and a diagram.
• I guess I don't watch the right YouTube channels, so I missed the war of words from last month (October 2017) between The Gun Collective ("TCG") and certain of its guests, and The Yankee Marshall. The two relevant videos are: "Gun Rights, the NRA, and More - TGC Round Table" (1 hr. 44 min.) which included a mix of producers of YouTube gun videos and some people involved in the firearms industry. The primary topic of discussion was what response, if any, should there be to the Mandalay Bay shooting and, due to the NRA's press releases on the subject, positions vis-a-vis the NRA and how to affect change within the NRA. However, several of the participants struck a conciliatory tone toward gun control (with one industry guy actually praising the fact that gun control had made the industry a lot of money), which upset The Yankee Marshall, who released his aptly named video response, "F#@k Iraqveteran8888, TGC, & the NRA (& F#@K MAC 4 Different Reasons)" (16 min.) (language warning). As the Yankee Marshall notes, Tim of the Military Arms Channel was the most strident in opposing any further "compromise" of our rights, and should be supported for his stance.
• "What’s the deal with pistol heel magazine releases?"--The Firearm Blog. This is a video and some notes on a presentation by the Bloke on the Range author. The issue is: why heel magazine releases on pistols? The answer is two-fold. First, and most importantly, the designs of both pistols and holsters at the time meant that a magazine release set on the side of the pistol could be actuated while in the holster or pocket, resulting in the magazine popping out. Second, at that time, magazines were relatively expensive, and self-defense was oriented toward stopping one or two attackers, and so tactics did not involve dropping your very expensive magazine on the ground to obtain a quick reload. Thus, people wanted to catch or have hold of their magazines as they were withdrawn. Anyway, the video shows some interesting pistols and is worth the watch.
• "Jeff Gonzales: When it Comes to Pocket Carry, Keep it Simple"--The Truth About Guns. He discusses the pros and cons of pocket carry, including why his preference for carrying in a rear pocket over a front pocket, which basically comes down to ease of access when sitting. I, on the other hand, prefer the control I have over the weapon when it is in a front pocket. Rear pocket carry just seems to be a good way to donate a firearm to a pickpocket. Also, I use front pocket carry when I don't want to wear a cover garment, which you have to do with the rear pocket. If I have to wear a cover garment, I probably would go with a different carry method.
• "Inside the secret Cold War bunker hidden deep within a mountain and frozen in time after being abandoned by Swedish spies 25 years ago"--Daily Mail. A group has posted photographs and video of an abandoned bomb shelter it located in a remote area of Sweden. 
• Anonymous Conservative has posted a number of articles recently on the different entities that are or could spy on you when you use your computers and other electronic devices. I was torn about whether to include the following articles in this section or below. But given the privacy concerns that most preppers have, I thought it best to leave them here:

• "Android Collects Location Data Even When Location Is Turned Off"." By "turned off" he means when the location feature is turned off.

• "Your Favorite Team May Be Spying On You".

• "Websites Trigger Keystroke Logger When You Visit." The threat here is that if you have their website open and use another website or other program/application, it will record keystrokes that you used for the other site or program, including confidential messages, credit card information, etc.

Other Stuff:

• The Fifth Wave hits Germany: "'It’s Ok to Be German' Signs Popping Up Everywhere Around Germany"--Squawker. 
• Global warming alert: "Parts of Siberia are Colder Than Minus 60 Degrees Fahrenheit, and It's Only November"--The Weather Channel.
• "Did Rep. Conyers Tacitly Admit Dems Are Hiding Assault Allegations?"--PJ Media. Part of the fallout from the #metoo campaign is the revelation that Congress has paid out more than $17 million to settle sexual harassment claims against its members, which money was apparently from an unaccountable slush fund. Of more potential interest, however, is whether or not members of Congress have been blackmailed into voting (or not voting) in certain ways to avoid disclosure, something that Stefan Molyneux raises in this very short (3 min.) video.
• The Book of Q (PDF). Someone claiming to be a Washington insider has been posting some accurate predictions on 4Chan. This PDF attempts to collect and summarize those posts.
• "Tampa 'serial killer' is arrested: McDonald's employee, 24, is charged with FOUR counts of first degree murder after he 'asked his manager to hold a 9mm handgun for him'"--Daily Mail. The perp is black, so don't expect this to get much air time in the media.
• "African migrants being sold as slaves by Libyan human traffickers 'have their organs harvested, bodies mutilated and roasted like kebabs' claims Nigerian ex-minister"--Daily Mail. I could believe this out of some areas of sub-Saharan Africa, but this (at least the cannibalism part) seems a little over the top for Libya. 
• "Is Chief Justice Roberts A Secret Liberal?"--FiveThirtyEight. A look at how certain justices, expected to be conservative, have veered left after taking the bench, including Roberts apparent defection. This is an area where I believe r/K theory could be useful in explaining the shift.
• "Mysterious Indus Valley Civilisation managed to thrive without a river to provide flowing water 5,300 years ago"--Daily Mail. It has long been believed that the Indus Valley Civilization, like other hydraulic civilizations, formed around a river that provided the necessary water. However, a recent study shows that the river in the Indus Valley had dried up long before the settlement of the area. Rather, the inhabitants likely relied on Monsoon rains to provide water.
• The further collapse of the dark matter paradigm: "First proper motions measured for stars in a small galaxy outside Milky Way"--University of Groningen. 

By combining data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia mission, University of Groningen astronomers have been able to measure the proper motion for fifteen stars in the Sculptor galaxy, the first such measurement for stars in a small galaxy outside the Milky Way. The results show an unexpected preference in the direction of the movement, which suggests that the standard theoretical model s used to describe the motion of stars and dark matter halo’s in other galaxies might be invalid. 

• "r vs K In Religion"--Anonymous Conservative. An excerpt:

        You can see elements of r/K all throughout Christianity. What was the temptation that Adam succumbed to? The Apple – a form of food, or resources, which elicited dopamine. What encouraged the fall? The woman’s advice to forego hardship, and partake of pleasure and the man’s acquiescence to the woman’s advice, just like how in r-selection the females become dominant and aggressive, and the males become submissive. What was the solution? Christ came down and lived the example, and then endured the most agonizing punishment he could endure, accepting death, for the good of those he loved. Christianity is basically a master class in being K.

* * *

        Christianity is an inherently K-environment, filled with inherently K-people. Christians tend to be Christians because they see the errors of the hedonistic rabbitry in society, and they have some desire to lead virtuous lives of personal sacrifice for greater good. Those are really K-lives, since in humans K is the root of most virtues and the willingness to sacrifice. Drop r/K Theory into Christianity, convince them that God created a K-world because he values K, and watch as the majority of Christians embrace the broader concept of K as God’s desire for the universe.

         Introduce r/K into the Church, and all of a sudden the women/lesbians/transgenders/feminized-men who are the Churchians begin to look like the serpent offering their congregations the apple of reduced conflict, reduced aggression, reduced adherence to the Lord’s word, reduced reverence for traditional family, increased tolerance for sin, and increased goodfeelz in violation of the Lord’s will.  

        If all of that is seen in the light of r/K, and it is made clear God created a K-world, and values K-ideals and K-virtues, because he wants man to be K, the Churchian SJWs will have a rougher time of converging the Churches.

Update: corrected some typos.