Thursday, January 11, 2018

January 11, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Prepared Defender Takes it to Attackers"--Active Self Protection (2-1/2 min.)
Some carjackers had to quickly decide whether the victim's car was worth their lives, when the victim opened up with his handgun.

  • "Concealed Carry: Inside the Waistband"--Loadout Room. This article by Destinee addresses some peculiarities of IWB carry for women and women's attire.
  • "Review: DFNDR Armor- We Shoot Up Their Body Armor & Backpack Armor"--The Firearms Blog. So they tested rifle armor (level III) and pistol armor (level III+). Here is the key point, however: the rifle caliber rated plate weighs only 2.875 lbs.; and the pistol plate only weighs 1.3125 lbs.
  • "Urban Camping"--Blue Collar Prepping. Tips on "camping" in an urban environment without having to shell out for a KOA Campground, including how to make sleeping in your car more comfortable, where to park your car or trailer (or set up a tent) so you aren't harassed by police or locals, etc.
  • "Choosing the right kit"--Loadout Room. A discussion of plate carriers and load bearing vests. One of the important points:
Plate carrier, chest rig, battle belt, load barring vest? This is where you have to really look at what the kit is going to be for. If my “shit hit the fan” plan is to bug out on foot or I’m part of a long-range reconnaissance patrol, a plate carrier with 12 magazines is not what I want or need. Conversely, if I plan to bunker up and wait out the apocalypse or if I’m going to take part in a direct action CQB raid, I’m definitely going to want some form of armor and not a chest rig. Everything is subjective and can primarily be categorized as covert or overt at their respective starting points. From there, we break everything down into sub categories and individual needs. Just remember that situation always dictates the specifics.
        If I call, I expect your ass to show up, sober, trained, professional. I expect you to wade in with me or in place of me, and drag a child out of a hole, or out from a burning room, or actually stand up and block bullets from hitting said child, because by the time you get there, I'll have already done all that. And there will be field dressings, chainsawed trees, buckets and empty brass scattered about.
            I don't want to hear some drunk and confused guy squirming on the ground playing "Simon Says" terrified you so much you had to blow him away.  I don't want to hear that some random guy 35 yards away who you had no actual information on "may have reached toward his waist band. Or that "the tree might fall any moment" or that "the smoke makes it hard to see."
              Near as I can tell, I don't hear the smokejumpers, or the firefighters, or the disaster rescue people say such things.
                But it's all I ever hear from the cops. If you and your five girlfriends in body armor, with rifles, are that terrified of actually risking your life for the theoretically dangerous job you volunteered for and can quit any time, then please do quit. 
                  You can get a job doing pest control and go home safe every night.
            In many states, cops aren’t statutorily designated as “law enforcement officers.”  They are more properly classified as “Peace Officers.”  We are charged with keeping the peace in the community and protecting our residents from both hazards and criminals.  We use the law as a tool to help us accomplish the goal of keeping the peace.  Cops who mindlessly “enforce the law” may or may not accomplish the goal of “keeping the peace.”  It’s a crap shoot.
              Read the whole thing.
              • "The Birth of the Professional Veteran"--Breach Bang Clear. The author discusses the rise of firearm and self-defense experts whose only qualification is that they served in the military, but lack the maturity and/or skill to teach. He notes, for instance:
                The assumption that every operator can teach is a huge misconception. Would every NFL player would make a good coach? Another thing to look at is the number of coaches who never actually played professionally. Being operational is merely a part of the resume that can help a good shooting instructor. I’ve seen guys who were powder burning, hard charging operators who could not teach a kid to tie his shoes. Everyone wants to learn from the pipe hitter, but you may end up spending more time listening to him sell himself to you rather than teaching you anything.
                • Related: "How Does Technology Affect Which Men Women Choose?"--Selonomics. Key point: "Given that women are primarily interested in status, which is a positional good, then any technology that amplifies [women's] ability to be noticed by high status men, will also increase mating inequality."
                • Interesting: "High doses of vitamin D rapidly reduce arterial stiffness"--MedicalXpress. The article reports: "Participants taking 4,000 international units - more than six times the daily 600 IUs the Institute of Medicine currently recommends for most adults and children - received the most benefit, says Dr. Anas Raed, research resident in the MCG Department of Medicine and the study's first author." The participants taking the 4,000 units had the greatest benefit, while there was still a benefit at 2,000 units. However, participants taking only 600 units actually saw their arterial stiffness increase slightly.
                • A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Israeli mastermind behind organ trafficking ring is arrested in Cyprus"--Deutsche Welle. From the article:
                           Police in Cyprus have arrested an Israeli man described as the ringleader of a world-wide organ trafficking network that operated out of the tiny Balkan country of Kosovo several years ago.
                              Moshe Harel is accused of luring donors from eastern Europe, Turkey and the former Soviet Union to Kosovo, promising to pay them €12,000 ($14,500) for a kidney. He then allegedly charged people (most of them Israelis) in need of a kidney as much as €100,000 for the implant.

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