October 1, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Holosun 507C Review"--Sage Dynamics (18 min.)

Although the lens cracked on the first drop on the concrete, it still continued to work and retained zero--surviving three more drops to the concrete and other rough handling.

• "S&W Model 640 Pro Series – Review"--Guns America. The 640 Pro sports an all steel frame, fluted barrel, and Novak style tritium sights. It is rated for .357 Magnum, although, shooting magnum loads out of a small gun with a short barrel is loud and the recoil is painful.
• "Lessons from the Duel at the Dumpster (Part III)"--Tactical Professor. You may have seen or read news accounts of this incident where a father and son became embroiled in an argument with a neighbor over garbage, and ended up shooting the neighbor dead. This installment of the Tactical Professor's analysis focuses less on the legal or moral aspects, and instead focuses on some of the pre-attack indicators and tactical lessons. He notes, for instance:

        About 1:30 into the LiveLeak video, the son Deploys into a position where he can use his weapon. He still has his weapon across his shoulders. The Father and Son have at that point achieved a Position of Advantage because they can both use their weapons from where they are at but Orange Shirt can only get one of them before the other gets him. Prior to deploying to his right, the Son’s position wasn’t good because he is right handed and his Father was obliquely to his right. While this positioning isn’t exactly an L-shaped Field of Fire, it’s reasonably close considering the terrain. Being in the beaten zone of an L-shaped Field of Fire is not where you want to be when the loud noises start.

         Approximately 30 seconds later (2:07), the Son takes the shotgun off his shoulder and assumes a ready position with it. He is now Prepared for Combat. He has achieved a Position of Advantage and has his weapon in a position to use it quickly. Preparation for Combat doesn’t have to involve readying a weapon. The POlice often encounter criminals who take their shirts off at some point in an interview or confrontation. By doing so, the criminal has removed something that an Officer could use to restrain him or gain an Advantage. This is another example of Preparation for Combat.

        When one side Deploys and Prepares for Combat, that means the situation is going to go bad VERY SHORTLY. If you have any way to withdraw at that point, you need to take it immediately because the action WILL begin within a matter of seconds, ...

More at the link.

• "Alien Gear Holsters Guide To Glock Generations"--Alien Gear Blog. A quick overview of the different generations of Glock pistols and what distinguishes one from the other.
• "What’s a ‘Sporterized’ Rifle? – Guns for Beginners"--The Truth About Guns. Sometimes when you have been around firearms for a long time, it is easy to overlook that not everyone in the gun community will understand the meaning of terms. Basically, a "sporterized" rifle is a military rifle (generally the old bolt action rifles) that has had work done to it to make it more useful for sporting or hunting purposes. These include, but not necessarily all, reshaping or replacing the stock, shortening the barrel, adding scope mounts, removing the military sights, refinishing or polishing parts, etc. It used to be fairly common to take the then-plentiful surplus rifles and have them sporterized because it was less expensive than buying a hunting rifle. It also ruins their value to collectors. While you still might see or hear of people doing this--Mosin–Nagant rifles were subject to this indignity in the recent past--we often see what might be termed the opposite trend: bubba-fying a rifle, whereby a military surplus rifle is modified and outfitted with accessories in order to make it more "tactical."
• "RECOILtv Training Tuneups: Shooting Support Side from a Vehicle"--RECOILtv. For when you don't want to shoot through the windshield. The main advantage to using your support side (assuming you are right handed and in the driver's seat) is that you don't need to lean as far out the window to operate your weapon.
• "Cops: "Flier boy" thieves targeting victims in cars, restaurants, and on the street"--CWB Chicago. These men, ostensibly handing out fliers for charities, are often members of criminal gangs that use the flier to distract victims or cover up what the criminals are doing. For instance, "[i]n restaurants, the thieves are infamous for placing their flier on top of a cell phone that is on a diner’s table. When the thief picks up their handbill, they take the phone with them." Learn to wave people off before they get close--and don't automatically grasp or take anything pushed into your hands.
• "Interesting Picture"--Loose Rounds. The author posits that you can learn a lot about a person by looking at their weapon, and does so looking at an M-4 ostensibly outfitted by a special operations person.
• "The Mozambique Drill: A History and How To"--Shooting Illustrated. Two to the chest, assess, and one to the head if necessary. You will note that modern practice is to shoot until the target stops ... advancing, attacking, whatever. The Mozambique Drill (aka Failure Drill) is a holdover from a time when most everyone used a revolver for self-defense, with its limited ammunition capacity and slow reloads, compared to modern service pistols, and ammunition (adjusted for inflation) was more expensive, and thus there was a tendency to try and conserve ammunition. Also note the comment from Larry Mudgett near the bottom, who introduced the drill at Gunsight. He clarifies that he renamed the drill the Failure Drill because, otherwise, it would never have been approved by the LAPD.
• "Baer Solutions Standards Drill | Power Drills"--The Firearms Rack. The author describes the drill and then explains why he thinks it is helpful:

       The Baer Solutions Standards Drill does many things well. It makes you do a hard transition, from lightning fast, to a slower, deliberate rate of fire after the reload. ... With the difference in size from the rectangles to the circular target, you can’t maintain that same rate of fire. The reload is a good “breather moment”, and while you can’t slow down for it, it acts as a divider between the lightning phase, and the slower phase.

       The reload here needs to be on point. With a par time of nine seconds, a flubbed reload will kill a run. I find that people either spend not nearly enough time on reloads, or no time at all. With properly indexed mags, and a lot of dryfire repetitions, quick reloads will follow.

        This drill also does a good job of making you think about your height over bore. Height over bore is the difference between the point of aim, and the point of impact, caused by distance to the target, and difference between optic and bore of the gun. At the closer distances of the Baer Drill, you’ll absolutely need to account for height over bore, making you really think. The last three rounds are the hardest, not only because the target is smaller, but rather because you need to make sure that your close range hold over is spot on. It’s real easy to fudge your hold over, and have those last three rounds hit low.

"This is the END, Hungarian FRIEND"--Black Pigeon Speaks (10 min.). Hungary has passed laws to limit the power of Soros funded NGOs, and proclaimed that it will not obey orders from the European Union or EU courts to take in refugees. BPS argues that this defiance of Brussels will tear apart the EU. From my perspective, I have a hard time believing that Germany will so easily abandon its budding Empire.

• "Jeff Flake Isn’t A Truth-Seeker, He’s A Coward"--The Federalist. The vote for Kavanaugh was all set to advance to the Senate last week until Sen. Jeff Flake suddenly conditioned his vote on there being yet another delay to allow for yet another FBI investigation into Kavanaugh and the accusations made against him by Ford. Flake's precondition came after he was confronted on an elevator by two female Soros-owned drones, who made Flake cry. Perhaps his blubbering had something to do with his decision, but the author of the Federalist piece contends that "Flake’s desire to be accepted and loved by the left all too often ends with him knifing conservatives in the back," of which this is yet another case. To illustrate his case, the author relates an incident where he met with Flake in an attempt to obtain an endorsement for political office.

       We walked into Flake’s office at meeting time, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then I asked for his endorsement. He didn’t say “Yes.” He didn’t say “No.”. He didn’t ask my positions on taxes, abortion, immigration, or anything else. He didn’t ask about my religious beliefs or my family life. He didn’t laugh in my face and tell me to get out of his office.

      All of those things would have been perfectly acceptable and understandable. Instead, however, he said something I’ll never forget, and to this day it makes my stomach turn. He looked me right in the eye and said, “What did John McCain say?”

       That’s who Flake is. That’s who he was, and it’s who he’ll always be. He is wholly reliant on stronger men to make his decisions for him. McCain was once that man for him. It didn’t even occur to him to say yes or no when asked for an endorsement.

And, to top things off, The Daily Caller reports that "Flake admitted on Sunday that had he been running for re-election in Arizona, requesting the FBI to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Judge Brett Kavanaugh would have made him unelectable to the Senate." So he isn't even willing to honestly represent his state and his constituents. 

• "Scientist Offers Evidence That Men and Women Are Different, Gets Banned"--The Other McCain. A physicist was asked to give a presentation at a conference discussing women in STEM fields, but did the unthinkable when he pointed out that women enjoyed all sorts of preferential treatment. From the article:

Professor Strumia criticized the “mainstream” theory — i.e., that the lack of equality (“symmetry”) between men and women in the field of physics is due to sexist bias — calling it “cultural Marxism.” He cited evidence that, in attempting to create greater opportunities for women, the field has in recent years begun discriminating against male scientists. He cited research showing that apparently natural differences between men and women’s interests “play a critical role in gendered occupational choices and gender disparity in the STEM fields.”

His "mistake" was assuming that SJWs would listen to reason. Social Justice is a cult.

• Related: "Nobel Prize Committee Calls on Nominators to Give Up On Merits and Consider Diversity in Gender, Geography"--Gateway Pundit. Too many white men winning the science and economic prizes.

• "How To Spot A Sociopath (Post-America Edition)"--Chateaus Heartiste. 

       According to Martha Stout, the author of “The Sociopath Next Door”, the most reliable sign of a sociopath is their appeal to a normal’s person sympathy, despite their abusive, destructive, manipulative, and mendacious behavior.

       “If, instead, you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to 100 percent that you are dealing with a sociopath.”

• Related: "This Doesn’t Look Good: Business Was Listed Operating Out of Christine Ford’s Home – Would Explain Second Door"--Gateway Pundit. Ford talked about needing a second door for her home to allow an alternate escape route--except that it appears to be a door for an addition to the house, probably for a business or attached apartment.

• For China, the mid-term elections can't come fast enough. "China September factory growth grinds to a halt as export orders tumble: Caixin PMI"--Reuters. The decline is blamed on U.S. tariffs. China is fighting back, however. Not against the U.S. directly, but by cutting costs for its manufacturers. Specifically, China has reduced tariffs on textile products and metal, including steel.
• "Young Single People In Japan Aren't Having Sex And The Reason Is Proving Fatal"--The Feed. Japan has a demographic problem--young people aren't getting married and having children. The usual culprits abound: low wages, long hours, the gig economy, and lack of interest in the complexities and pitfalls of dating. Interestingly, hypergamy pops up to offer one solution: polygamy. "'It involves one excellent man and allows a number of women to bear his children,' she said." 
• Last week, I linked to a story about a Catholic priest being suspended from his position for burning a gay pride flag, and noted that the priest was going to be trundled off for a psychiatric evaluation. I wasn't joking or being sarcastic. An American Conservative article reports that "[a]fter Kalchik and fellow parishioners ritually disposed of the flag recently, the cardinal ordered him removed from the parish, and allegedly commanded him to go to St. Luke’s, a mental health treatment center best known for treating clerical pederasts." Kalchik has, instead, gone into hiding. This isn't some foreign country--it was here in the U.S.A.
• As I've noted before, you can't rest your faith on what others do or don't do; and if you have faith, you shouldn't allow anyone to force you to give up your faith, even if that person is an errant Church authority or member of your congregation that has offended or hurt you: "Why I Remain Catholic In Spite Of The Church’s Latest Scandal"--The Federalist. It's not the people in charge, but the religion. The author raises two points of doctrine, independent of church authorities, that keep him invested in his religion: First, "for Catholics, one does not primarily attend church to hear the word of God in scripture, but to adore and receive the Eucharist" (what in the LDS Church would be termed the Sacrament and is called the sacrament or communion in other churches). Second, is the concept of apostolic succession, i.e., "the uninterrupted transmission of spiritual authority from the Apostles through successive popes and bishops" (i.e., similar to the lines of priesthood authority in the LDS Church).
• "Forget Nature Versus Nurture. Nature Has Won"--Quillette. A review of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin. The reviewer writes:

Plomin makes the case that genetic differences cause most variation in psychological traits – things like personality and cognitive abilities. The way your parents raise you, the schools you attend – they don’t have much effect on those traits. Children are similar to their parents, but that similarity is due to shared genetics, rather than shared family environment.

Also:

Obviously the thoughts in your head, the facts you know, are not the same as your great-great-grand-father’s – we learn those things. But how easily you learn those facts, how well you remember them, how optimistic or pessimistic you are – those are largely set by your genes. 

The mounting research on the importance of inheritability has wide ranging implications for social policy. As the reviewer points out, for most of the 20th Century, it was assumed that psychological traits were determined by environment, and that by changing the environment, you could change the outcome. That's incorrect and it is going to really rock the boat in coming years.

• Related: "Nature 90, Nurture 10"--Michael Walsh at PJ Media.  Another article discussing Plomin's book and the controversy it has already started.

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Carnegie Mellon is Saving Old Software from Oblivion"--IEEE Spectrum. Several years ago, I was cleaning out some stuff in my closet and came across some old 5-1/4 inch floppy disks--definitely 20th Century technology. I'm sure that there were things on those disks that I would like to have accessed, but I no longer had any computers with a 5 inch drive. Today, I have a box with a bunch of 3-1/2 inch disks, but at least this time I have saved an old lap top that can still read those disks. However, even if you have the equipment to read old media, that doesn't mean that you can run the software. And that is where Carnegia Mellon University is stepping in. The University has developed the Olive archive system has been used to create 17 different virtual machines that run a variety of old software. The author (and one of the developers) writes:

Olive delivers over the Internet an experience that in every way matches what you would have obtained by running an application, operating system, and computer from the past. So once you install Olive, you can interact with some very old software as if it were brand new. Think of it as a Wayback Machine for executable content.

He also notes that "the Internet Archive is preserving thousands of old programs using an emulation of MS-DOS that runs in the user’s browser. And a project being mounted at Yale, called EaaSI (Emulation as a Service Infrastructure), hopes to make available thousands of emulated software environments from the past."