April 4, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Never Let Them Take You to a Second Location"--Active Self Protection (4 min.)

• Grant Cunningham has a new Hump Day Reading List for your perusal. 
• Some basic information on ammunition: "Basic Bullet Guide: Sizes, Calibers, and Types"--Pew Pew Tactical. The author provides some basic information on common handgun and rifle calibers (at least those used for self-defense), as well as the nomenclature. If you are new to shooting, or are introducing someone to shooting, this would be a good article.
• "How Does Barrel Length on a Shotgun Affect Velocity?"--Box 'o Truth. The author shot birdshot, buckshot, and slugs from shotguns with 20-, 26-, and 36-inch length barrels. There was roughly a 50 to 60 feet per second difference between the 20- and 26-inch barrels on all loads, and a similar increase from the 26-inch to 36-inch barrels with the birdshot and buckshot loads. The slug loads had about a 70 feet per second gain in the 36-inch barrel over the 26-inch barrel.
• For those of you living in a state of tyranny: "Prudent Prepping: Making CA-compliant AR Rifles"--Blue Collar Prepping. If you want to build an AR and live in the California, this article links to various print and video resources to help you with understanding what requirements must be met and companies that offer products you may need.
• "After Action Report from Australia: 17 Lessons from Cyclone Marcus"--The Modern Survivalist. One of FerFal's readers gives some tips and lessons learned from going through a Cyclone Marcus. Of course, the primary issues were surviving the loss of power and water. Apparently, although the author still had water available from the tap, not everyone was so lucky; and the author was still concerned that the tap water was contaminated, so it had to be boiled (or filtered); and, with power being intermittent, it was better to have cash on hand than try to rely on a credit card. And, one important consideration:

A lot of people had drinking water stored up at home but absolutely no one I met have made any provision for flushing water in their toilet. You can shower at some neighbor or at a friend’s place or, worst comes to worst, go to the swimming pool (not as effective but better than nothing) but it is impractical to have to use somebody else’s toilet. Most people were shocked in realizing this oversight.

• A contributor at the Survival Blog has reviewed the Ghost Gunner automated milling system (Part 1) (Part 2). The author writes:

The only real test of the Ghost Gunner is whether or not a decent trigger control group fits in the receiver after that first lower is completed. I’m happy to report that, yes, it does. This receiver wasn’t as fulfilling to make as my first one on a milling machine (using a Tactical Machining lower and milling template), but it was sure a lot faster and easier. When you look at the finished product, you can see milling marks (lots of them) because the machine takes such small bites. However, all such marks are interior to the receiver. Furthermore, while cosmetically not pleasing, they make no difference to asthetics of the assembled firearm and do not impede the function. If you are a perfectionist, I suppose you could remove them with some careful filing, but I chose not to go to this extra, unnecessary effort.

The author successfully made 9 lower receivers; on the tenth, the spindle broke. However, he reported that Defense Distributed was willing to repair the machine, or send the part out with instructions on how to make the repair.

• Looks interesting: "Lyman Products: Pachmayr’s Competition Aluminum Speedloaders"--The Tactical Wire. The lineup includes speedloaders for popular snub-nose revolvers including the S&W J-frames and Ruger's LCR.

Headline: "Family left devastated after they are kicked off their dream Disney cruise by an armed guard because 22-year-old mother-of-two is PREGNANT"--Daily Mail.
Real News: Disney uses weapons of war (sarc.) to force family off cruise ship. 

• Some local (Boise, Idaho) news: Boise Gun Company, which has stores in Garden City and Nampa, has closed its doors and has filed for bankruptcy. Although the article indicates that the business is seeking a Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy, court records indicate that the business is asking the court to convert its Chapter 11 into a Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy. The article seems to suggest that there has been a general decline in gun sales that has led to the store's financial problems. I don't know about that, but I will give my own thoughts and impressions: I hardly ever thought about going to Boise Gun Company because the store in Garden City (the Nampa store is too far away to warrant a visit) has almost no parking (so it is difficult to access the store), and the pricing was, overall, very high, whether considering new firearms, used firearms, or other products. And not just in comparison to on-line prices, but other stores in the valley.  I had thought about using them as a local FFL and asked them what they would charge, but the transfers fee they quoted was, in my opinion, unreasonably high. 
• "Trump set new cap on refugees — and now Idaho won’t even hit that"--Idaho Statesman. From the article:

       Idaho has taken 113 refugees so far this fiscal year, which started in October. During the past five years, Idaho had already taken in between 337 and 435 refugees by this point in the fiscal year. 

        Whether it’s a stricter vetting process, the lack of refugees from certain countries or something else, Idaho and the U.S. are now nowhere near on track to resettle even the reduced number of refugees.

The author also complains:

Trump’s policies have left Bhutan and Congo as the largest contributors to the dwindling pool, accounting for 45 percent of U.S. arrivals since October. Meanwhile, the U.S. has accepted few from countries like Iraq. The mix is similar in Idaho, where Congolese refugees are the largest group so far this fiscal year, followed by those from Bhutan, Eritrea and Ukraine.

• "S.Africa hails Australia 'retraction' on offer to white farmers"--Yahoo News. The article quotes the South African Foreign Minister as saying:

"We must emphasise, as we have stated before, that no one is being persecuted in South Africa, including white farmers. We call upon all non-governmental organisations to desist from spreading untruths and misleading information."

She also has a bridge in Brooklyn she would like to sell.

• Finally, a military deployment that makes sense: "Trump to send military to Mexican border"--BBC News. Although the current horde of Hondurans that were heading north has finally been interdicted by Mexico and broken apart, I would suggest that the Battle of the Somme offers some guidance on how to deal with such invaders. And before you think that may be extreme, consider that Mexican Presidential candidate "Andres Obrado, a well-known Marxist who intends a government take-over of the Mexican energy sector, is holding a commanding 18-point lead" in current opinion polls. In other words, Mexico may soon elect its own version of Hugo Chavez, and Mexico may become another Venezuela in 5 or 10 years. And when that happens, where will all the locust people that voted for Obrado head?  
• The White Man's Burden, Part Deux: "The Progressive Project: Re-Colonizing Africa"--Those Who Can See. Africa has squandered any benefit it received from European colonization and is rapidly sinking back into barbarism. Thus the Report of the Commission on Africa suggests that the only way to reverse the trend is for developed countries to assist in the governance of African nations and to be placed in charge of their infrastructure and manage their economies, health care systems, and education ... and, of course, to import lots of them into the West. It is a long article, but worth the read. Frankly, I don't want the job, and I suspect that most Westerners don't want the job. However, China seems interested, so perhaps we should let China give it a go and see if they can do any better than Europe.
• Setting the stage for the Apocalypse: "Gas, pipeline dreams and gunboat diplomacy in Mediterranean"--Deutsche Welle. From the article:

        Since 2009, Israel, Egypt and Cyprus have made a series of large-scale gas discoveries in the Levant Basin, where the US Geological Survey estimated in 2010 that 122 trillion cubic feet (3.5 trillion cubic meters) of gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil lie under the seabed.

        The discoveries raised the prospect of regional integration of energy markets and the potential for gas to run to Europe. But, for the past decade, much gas development has been geared towards local markets and some deposits sat in the ground as energy players scrambled to find ways to export and create economies of scale.  

       In recent months there has been a flurry of deals and a major gas discovery, prompting Turkey to once again flex its muscles in the eastern Mediterranean. It has also shifted the balance toward Egypt becoming a major energy hub in the region.

So, even as Turkey is becoming more militarily aggressive against its neighbors, it looks like it will miss out on the large energy finds that may enrich some its neighbors. Probably not a good mix.