June 21, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Has Trump Just Launched an ALL-OUT Trade War with China?"--China Uncensored (10 min.)

China's rapid growth over the last few decades is largely the result of offshoring of manufacturing and China's theft of intellectual property, including high technology. China as in place a policy designed to give China the lead in several important hi-tech fields by 2025. The first salvo of tariffs that have been imposed is designed to disrupt China's plans by discouraging companies from manufacturing certain hi-tech items in China, and will remain in effect until China makes reforms so that American companies don't have to give up intellectual property to Chinese "partners." Although China has responded with tariffs against certain American products--mostly agricultural--China has limited options because it just doesn't import that much from the United States. China could be severely hurt by a trade war with the United States, while the United States might hardly notice it.

• "Do You Need a Muzzle Stand-Off Device?"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz discusses the perceived benefits of such devices (they prevent your pistol from going out of battery if pressed against something), but also takes the position that such devices will probably lead to poor training and execution of pistol techniques; you are much better to shoot from a good retention position. The only purpose I see for such a device would be if you were literally pressed up against an attacker and couldn't create space, such as in a crowd or as part of a ground-fighting. But that is such a rare occurrence in private self-defense.
• "Q May Be About To Begin"--Anonymous Conservative. A discussion of some of the most recent posts by Q-Anon. "WWG1WGA" Better learn what it means because I think we will be seeing more of it.
• "The core flaw in the IG Report is its pretense that bias is meaningless"--Bookworm Room. He writes:

       Horowitz blandly dismisses any FBI actual wrongdoing affecting the outcome of the Hillary investigation, but lays out facts that ought to send all of the FBI’s upper management for 100 years. The only exception to that bland dismissal on those ugly facts is . . . Comey. There’s irony for you.

       Thus, the IG Report fails for the same reason that the Comey report did, which is that there’s a gaping chasm between facts and conclusion. Only the media and Democrat party operatives (but I repeat myself) could look at that chasm and pronounce that it’s nothing more than a tiny hole in a smooth, coherent narrative.

He adds:

I applaud Horowitz for honestly reporting the facts; I consider him a coward and a failure for refusing to reach the obvious conclusion to be derived from those facts: the Clinton investigation was completely, irreparably, and possibly criminally compromised by agents whose biases went to the heart of the case.

• "God & Eugene: A Succinct Explanation Of The AR-15 Reload"--The Firearm Blog. Use your thumb to actuate the bolt-release. It includes a video by Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch:

Clint has a simple and easy way of remembering how to orient your hand when reloading an AR-15: “Point your thumb at Jesus.” Clint goes on to explain that “God designed your hand as a cup. Not a beat on the side of the gun device.” He then solidifies the point home with “Quit f*cking with God & Eugene.”

• "In defense of self-defense"--Washington Times.The author writes:

        As the saying goes, it takes a good man with a gun to take out a bad man with a gun. Even the very best police departments take minutes to respond to a crime scene, so in case after case, legally armed citizens have defended themselves and others in those precious minutes against an armed criminal.

       But this thinking is lost on those who continue to believe that guns, and not the criminals and mentally unstable people who wield them, are the cause of all of our violent incidents. The knee-jerk reaction to every criminal shooting is a call to control or ban firearms,

       And yet, as we have seen in incidents around the world, criminals, madmen and terrorists use the means at hand, rather than a firearm, to commit acts of violence. A British comedian in his car with his 10-year-old son was attacked by a gang of thieves armed with hammers who stole his Rolex watch.

       This past April a man in Toronto used his van to murder 10 people and injury 14. Earlier this month, a man inspired by ISIS used a knife to kill one person and injure seven others in a vicious street attack in Paris. Someone obsessed with committing murder, mass or otherwise, clearly does need a firearm to do so when various edged weapons, poison, explosives, arson and other choices are readily available.

He then goes on to describe incidents that illustrate the failure of gun control at stopping crime in the UK.

• "ILLEGAL ALIENS FATALLY SEPARATE AMERICAN PARENTS AND CHILDREN"--Front Page Magazine. Daniel Greenfield reminds his readers that illegal aliens, through murder and motor vehicle collisions, separate kids from their families all of the time--and permanently.

• Related: "7 Truths Liberals Will Never Acknowledge About Illegal Immigration"--PJ Media. They are: 1. Any sort of legalization or amnesty encourages more illegal aliens to come here; 2. A wall would make a major difference; 3. Illegal aliens hurt the poorest American workers; 4. Illegal immigration is almost entirely about votes for liberals; 5. There are no jobs “Americans won’t do"; 6. The crime committed by illegal aliens is a big problem; and 7. If you’re not willing to deport people today, you won’t be willing to deport them tomorrow.

• "Beginners Guide To Reloading, Part 3: Repriming, Case Expansion, and Powder!"--The Firearm Blog. 
• "Training with Air Guns: Shoot at Home with High Quality Repetitions and Low Cost"--Guns America Blog. The author notes: "While training at home can never completely replace range time, shooting an air gun can be the vital addition to help you get the trigger time you need. Air guns can mirror your real guns and let you train tasks at home which might not be allowed on your range like drawing from the holster, shooting on the move and using cover."
• ".224 Valkyrie vs. 6.5 Grendel: The Ultimate Battle of 1,000 Yard AR-15s"--Ammo Land. The article concludes that the .224 Valkyrie is probably a better choice for long range shooting, but the 6.5 Grendel is probably the better choice for someone interested in hunting. I would note that from what I read in other sources, .224 Valkyrie ammo is more easily found than 6.5 Grendel. 
• "Back To The Future: Clinton Deep Stater Paul Virtue Resurfaces To Defend His Sabotage Of Immigration Law"--V-Dare Magazine. In 1996 Bill Clinton signed into law a bill that was "an attempt to clamp down on immigrant welfare use, visa violators and illegal immigration."

New rules would punish illegal aliens who entered the United States using a nonimmigrant visa, meaning a temporary visitor’s visa, and violated its terms with forbidden activities or overstaying the period of admission. The bill also created expedited removal, meaning immediate deportation without a hearing in the immigration courts.

Enter Paul Virtue who issued a memorandum to be followed by federal immigration officials and prosecutors that decided that misuse of a temporary visa wasn't actually misuse until it was adjudicated to be so by setting up a false dichotomy between "violating status" and "being unlawfully present in the United States." 

• Related: "US becomes top global destination for asylum seekers, overtaking Germany after numbers crossing the Mediterranean to settle in Europe slowed dramatically"--Daily Mail.

• Related: "Americans are depressed and suicidal because something is wrong with our culture"--USA Today.

• As Glenn Reynolds like to say: "Go woke, go broke": "Future ‘A Star Wars Story’ Spinoffs on Hold at Lucasfilm"--Collider. The abysmal performance of  "Solo: A Star Wars Story" has made Disney/Lucas Film reconsider future films. Those will now be on hold while the studio focuses on the next film in the current trilogy.
• "Too little, too late"--Vox Popoli. He reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned two prior cases holding that on-line retailers do not need to collect sales tax unless they had a physical presence in that particular state. Under the new ruling, retailers will be required to collect sales tax. This is going to be messy, because one of the arguments against collecting said taxes is that there is such a multitude of taxes, it is difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to calculate those taxes and to whom they would be owed. The result of this ruling will probably be to drive many small sellers out of business unless their sales are processed by what will be a small number of companies that will calculate and collect the tax on their behalf. In other words, it is going to drive more sellers to have to go through Amazon or similar, and probably knock the smallest sellers out of business.