May 31, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"IMI's Mk 262 Clone 77gr OTM gel test"--TFB Channel (5 min.)

The tester, Andrew of Chopping Block fame, used a 10.5-inch barrel AR, and got great penetration and expansion results. If you have a barrel twist rate that will handle it, these heavier open tip match (OTM) bullets seem to have good terminal ballistics. Andrew indicates that this is the best overall terminal performance he has seen of the heavy OTM bullets. I like the fact that Andrew is using a short barrel to test, as it will mimic shooting at a distance. Looking at one source, it appears that for a 77 grain bullet, you are loosing about 400 fps between a 20-inch barrel and a 10 to 11-inch barrel, which loss of velocity matches what you would see between 150 and 200 yards from a 20-inch barrel. 

• "Gun Review Follow-Up: Another Look at the SIG P365"--The Truth About Guns. It looks like the Military Gun Channel was the first major firearms media outlet to discuss problems with the SIG P365. Problems include trigger springs breaking, failures to go into battery, and broken strikers, barrel pinging, and excessive primer swipe. The author suggests that the people having these problems are the early adapters--i.e., those that bought firearms within the first 4 months of release when Sig made some changes. Although he downplays it a bit, the author admits that he is still suffering significant primer swipe, which could easily result in a broken firing pin. Short take, however, is that the author believes that a newly manufactured model is probably ready to go.
• "Beginners Guide To Reloading, Part 1: Required Equipment"--The Firearms Blog. TFB is partnering with Lyman on a series on hand loading ammunition. This is the first in the series, obviously. I lucked into a great deal which allowed me to begin at about half of the cost it would have otherwise been; and I was a poor college student, so the value of my time was not significant. Your cost/benefit analysis might vary.
• Same as it always was: "The American Medical Association vs. Americans"--The Truth About Guns. In line with past history, the AMA has decided to present some resolutions at its next meeting that would throw the organization's support behind gun control, including a new assault weapons ban (AWB). 
• "Stevens Model 320 Security Shotgun"--Survival Blog. "Stevens" is a Savage owned brand. Per the review, it seems this is a solid pump-action shotgun for a street price of under $200.
• A reminder as you head out into the woods: "Tick season: What you need to know about ticks, diseases they cause and how to remove them safely"--KTVB. 
• Paging Colin Flaherty: "Downtown: Overworked Cops Battling Mag Mile Fights, Mayhem Through Weekend"--CWB Chicago. No mayhem--at least in the technical sense of the word--but lots of violence and crime, including some looting. Of course, there was little media coverage of this violence, probably, as Peter Grant points suggests, because the perpetrators are minorities--mostly black. More at the Second City Cop blog.
• Refugees Welcome! "Gang of Somali Kids Attack Park Goers in Lewiston [Maine]"--Maine First Media. The article reports:

        It was an otherwise pleasant evening in Maine when two dozen Somali youth swarmed and attacked two local residents in Kennedy Park last Thursday evening.

         The Somali mob attacked around 7:45 pm, just as the sun was setting on this historic city park in the heart of Maine’s second largest city.

        A local mother recorded as a mob of teens and children, boys and girls as young as nine years old, brandishing wooden bats and other objects, along with fists, feet and sheer numbers to attack the two non-Somali defenders. At one point you can even here one of the hoodlums repeatedly daring the woman to, “stop me, b**ch.”

This is not the first incident of this type, and, allegedly, officers responding to the scene told parents to simply stop bringing their kids to the park. This was denied by a police spokesman. The article continues:

       While repeatedly stressing this is not just an issue with the Somali community in Lewiston, the Mayor does put at least a portion of the blame on the influx of immigration to the city over the past couple decades.

       “While what we are seeing in our inner city right now is partially an issue of 20 years of terrible immigration policy, these issues were happening in Kennedy Park before the new Mainers arrived,” Mayor Bouchard said. “Reversing that long of a span of poorly done immigration is going to take time.”

        On any given day, dozens if not hundreds of Somali youth can be found occupying Kennedy Park and the violence is nothing new. Local residents bearing the brunt of these violent mobs are growing frustrated. Maine First Media was told it took police at least 7-8 minutes to arrive on the scene — despite the police station being right across the street from the park.

Police have also told local residents that there is not much the police can do because most of the perpetrators are minors. 

• Some articles on tattooing and facial recognition: 

• "Facial Recognition Company Creates Tattoo Detecting Technology For Police"--Activist Post.

• "Tattoo Recognition"--part of a series called "Street Level Surveillance" at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

• "These Colorful Patterns Trick Computer Facial Recognition to Fight Surveillance"--Creators. A fabric with patterns designed to fool facial recognition software. This is going to become more difficult as AI is integrated into surveillance software.

• "Traditional facial tattoos disrupt face recognition processes."--Perception. This is just the abstract for the paper. This is from a 2010 paper, and, obviously, if surveillance programs can look for tattoos, the usefulness of tattoos to obscure identity will be nullified.

• "UV ink tattoos: Good or no good?"--Tattoo Do. I find the idea of invisible tattoos interesting. As facial recognition is more widely used, I would see people being willing to accept an "invisible" tattoo to speed recognition as part of a program similar to the TSA's Pre-Check.

• "Sears Is Closing More Stores as Sales Shrink For 26th Quarter in a Row"--The Wall Street Journal. This is how you strip a company of its most valuable assets. Sears decent toward bankruptcy has been overseen by its Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert. Lampert also operates a hedge-fund, ESL Investments Inc., which not only owns a controlling share of Sears, but it also its biggest creditor. Lampert has backed Sears selling off its most valuable brands in order to raise cash and service debt. According to the article, "Sears is currently weighing whether to divest its Kenmore appliance brand and other units." By happy coincidence, Lampert's hedge-fund is offering to purchase those assets.
• Especially if you are conservative: "Like Roseanne, all Americans are just one bad tweet away from being fired"--Market Watch. 
• Interesting: "There’s No Traffic or Road Rage and It’s Awful: Life in Caracas"--Bloomberg. The collapsing economy, hyper-inflation, and lack of cash, has made cars scarce in Caracas, Venezuela. People can't afford gasoline (even though it is the cheapest in the world) or to repair their vehicles. So, the city streets of the downtown are quiet, and commutes are easy for those still able to afford cars because there is hardly any traffic. The author remarks: "And as lovely as it is to walk down Francisco de Miranda Avenue in the morning and actually hear the wild parrots squawk, I’m nostalgic for the hair-pulling gridlock."
• "How Identity Politics Is Harming the Sciences: Universities and other institutions are watering down requirements in order to attract more women and minorities."--City Journal. The article begins:

Identity politics has engulfed the humanities and social sciences on American campuses; now it is taking over the hard sciences. The STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and math—are under attack for being insufficiently “diverse.” The pressure to increase the representation of females, blacks, and Hispanics comes from the federal government, university administrators, and scientific societies themselves. That pressure is changing how science is taught and how scientific qualifications are evaluated. The results will be disastrous for scientific innovation and for American competitiveness. (underline added).

I think that was the whole intent. Anyway, read the whole thing.

• And now for something completely different: "UFOs are suddenly a serious news story — you can thank the guy from Blink-182 for that"--Stars & Stripes. 

• Related: "US AIRCRAFT CARRIER WAS STALKED FOR DAYS BY UFO"-- Soren Dreier.

        Beginning around November 10, [2003] the USS Princeton, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, made multiple radar contacts with what the report calls an Anomalous Aerial Vehicle (AAV).

         The senior chief fire controlman on the Princeton, which was equipped with ultra-advanced AN/SPY-1 multifunctional phased-array radar, reported that the AAV appeared from above 60,000 feet – the radar’s scan ceiling – and descended ‘very rapidly’ to about 50 feet above the surface of the ocean.

        They would hover for a short time and then depart at high velocities and turn rates demonstrating advanced capabilities, the senior chief said.

        The senior chief, who had 17 years of experience in fire control on cruisers, said he never obtained an accurate track on the AAV, because they exhibited speed consistent with a ballistic missile, but the radar was set to air intercept mode rather than ballistic missile tracking mode.

        Then on November 14, the Princeton again detected an AAV around 11am and called it in two F/A-18 Hornets that happened to be returning to the USS Nimitz from a training exercise.

         An E-2C Hawkeye surveillance plane was also operating in the area and attempted a radar contact on the AAV, but made only intermittent contact as was unable to gain a track.