February 25, 2019 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"UFC Fighter w/ Knife vs Gun Fighter"--Warrior Poet Society (15 min.)

This video starts with the combatants in a position faced by George Zimmerman: good guy on the ground and the bad guy on top. The bad guy in the video has access to a knife; the good guy has a gun in an AIWB carry. As you would expect, the fight is over control of the weapons, especially the gun. The scenario was run three times: the bad guy won the first, the second was draw (both would have mortally wounded the other) and the third was a win for good guy (who got hold of the bad guy's knife). In the first iteration, the good guy could not draw his pistol because it got tangled up in his clothing--although this obviously could happen with any weapon, a weapon using a hammer (especially a spur hammer) would be especially problematic. Because of the possibility of a gun fight becoming a fight for the gun, Greg Ellifritz has recommended against certain holsters and certain types of safeties. While I wasn't so sure about Ellifritz's advise against weapons with grip safeties because of possible fatigue issues, I was wrong. You can see in this video how a fight could drag on leaving you very fatigued, and possibly having to shoot from some odd angles. If this subject interests you, you might want to check out the book Gunfight! by Richard Nance (I have a review here).

• "To Permit Murder When One Could Have Prevented It Is Morally Wrong"--The Captain's Journal. Quote: "Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally."
• The other day, I linked to an article talking about Evil (versus the more pedestrian evil that most of us will ever experience). Marcus Wynne has written about this in his response to a review of his novel, Warrior in the Shadows (btw, I've read this novel and would recommend it):

       The struggle between the dark and the light in people is a theme that occurs repeatedly in my work (as you'll see when you read the other books). I'm obsessed by human duality, especially in those who must deal with the dark and the light in their professional lives: soldiers, special operators, police, criminals, terrorists, murderers, assassins; The roots of that obsession go back to my teens in the late sixties and early seventies in the California Bay Area. 

        During those years, a serial killer murdered my priest in the church confessional; my friends found a murder victim beside a mountain trail; my girlfriend found the dismembered body parts of a woman strewn through her yard. I saw brutal drug rip offs as the outlaw biker gangs asserted their control over the gentle hippy dope growers and designer drug manufacturers. I met a man who raped women and tape recorded the rapes and played them for his amusement at parties. I stood in the dark woods one night, under a full moon, and watched a witch coven comprised of wealthy professionals conduct their dark Sabbath. Having witnessed those things at an early age, I knew evil as a tangible, dark presence in the world. What I discovered that was so fascinating about truly evil people was that they weren't, at least at first glance, overtly evil. They were interesting, funny, charming, intelligent, until their malevolence shone through. I wanted to protect people from what I had seen. 

He also noted that "[v]illains don't think of themselves as villains, and even the most reprehensible has, to someone, somewhere, some redeeming quality." Read the whole thing.

• "Dangerous Inanimate Objects?"--Active Response Training. An excerpt:

      It is those with a very strong anti-gun bias that would assert leaps of logic to support their accusations that a gun is at fault for an incident, joining forces that have long worked to disarm the populace. Throughout world history, wherever genocide has occurred, the populace had first been disarmed. Those that might imagine that it could not happen today, have a problem believing that evil exists. Down through world history, governments have disarmed their citizens only to tyrannize those citizens once they were disarmed.

       Take a look at the Gun Control & Genocide page by Fr. John Peck. See the chart (copied below) documenting just a few examples from recent history where “gun control” laws were immediately followed by tyrannical government abuses. “Gun control” laws and government genocide campaigns have helped slaughter over 56 million people worldwide.

• God--He's a really smart guy: "Post-Grid Hygiene Considerations"--Mountain Guerrilla. A discussion of using the hygiene principles outlined in the Mosaic Law to prevent the spread of disease in an extended grid-down situation.
• "How to use a Rifle Sling"--Lucky Gunner Lounge. A short primer on why slings are useful to carry a rifle, or added stability when shooting, as well as discussing using single-point, two-point and three-point slings.
• "The Temple Index – Real World vs the Range"--Monderno. Sometimes called the "high vertical ready," "high ready" or (with a rifle) "high port". It isn't the optimal way of holding a firearm since a bullet that goes up must also come down. The author notes, however, that this technique is useful for specific situations. For instance:

... it was for use maneuvering inside a vehicle for Personal Security Detail purposes.  It was used to safely pivot in a seat without muzzling other passengers to engage a threat inside or outside of the cabin.  ...  Being able to maneuver in a seat with weapon drawn, be it with your family, fellow officers, soldiers, detail members or general passengers is tricky business with few physical techniques.

It can also be used "as a safe method to avoid muzzling unknowns as you exit a vehicle, especially in crowded areas," or, if you are maneuvering with a rifle, it can used when moving "through deep snow/brush and to navigate tight spaces or move quickly when running with a barrel-down would lead to a lot of barrel/leg contact."

• Mass shooters may be crazy, but they're not stupid: "97.8% of Mass Shootings Happen in So-Called ‘Gun-Free’ Zones"--The Truth About Guns. 
• The Pax Americana: "The world HAS become more peaceful"--Apollon. According to researches at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), "The wars before the Korean War killed four times as many people as the wars that followed." 
• "The Era of Urban Warfare is Already Here"--Foreign Policy Research Institute. While I commend the attention being given to urban conflict, the truth is that urban warfare has been a major issue for the United States since at least World War II. Reading about The Battle of Monte Cassino, one of the major battles of the Italian campaign, saw significant fighting within towns and villages, with extensive use of grenades for taking and clearing structures.
• "6.8 SPC vs. 300 BLK – Which Way to Go in an AR Platform Rifle?"--The Truth About Guns. One of the allures of the AR platform is (in theory) the ability to switch between uppers offering different calibers and/or capabilities. This is often easier said than done. For instance, as the author notes in this case, the .300 Blackout uses common magazines and a common bolt and bolt-carrier group, whereas the 6.8 SPC requires a different bolt and magazines. 

• Related: "Why Subsonic .300 BLK has Better ‘Trajectory’ than 6.8 SPC"--Ammo Land. The "trajectory" in the title refers to the greater popularity of the .300 BLK.

• "Weaponlights: Do They Belong on a CCW Gun?"--Shooting Illustrated.  Tamara Keel explains why she thinks weapons lights are great for a home defense pistol, or a police officer's duty pistol, but not on a CCL pistol. However, if you have only pistol, and it mounts a light, she believes that it is better to simply have the light on it all of the time. The remainder of the article discusses some concealed holsters that accommodate weapon lights.
• "TAFFIN: WHAT I CARRY AND HOW AND WHY"--Guns Magazine. John Taffin explains why his concealed carry choices are a S&W Model 340 J-Frame .357 Magnum (using .38 Special +P) and a NAA mini-revolver as backup.
• "Why You Should Choose a .380 ACP Semiauto for Self-Defense"--Shooting Times. There is still a size and weight advantage to .380 ACP over 9 mm, although that gap has closed significantly over the last several years. The author also discusses some of the carry ammo options that are available. 
• "Shocking moment a crazed man plunges a knife into the back of a 63-year-old THREE times during random attack at a LA donut store leaving the victim in critical condition"--The Daily Mail. The video shows how fast a knife attack can occur. Fortunately, the victim was only stabbed in the upper back, and survived the attack.
• Another reason to always carry a weapon, even if its a knife: "Owner of dog who attacked Detroit mail carrier ticketed, animal taken"--Fox2 Detroit. People tried hitting the dog with a broomstick, a trash container (the big ones that you leave on the curb), then a spatula and even a club steering wheel lock, all to no avail.

• Related: "Dealing With Attack Dogs: Techniques and Options"--Loadout Room. This is a lengthy article providing tips for avoiding a dog attack, and what to do (or not do) if you are attacked. It also includes a training drill that you can use to practice shooting at an attacking dog using a 2-liter soda bottle being pulled by a cord to represent the dog. And to sum up:

When stopping an Attacking Dog:

• Lower your center of gravity by bending your knees.

• Yell at the dog.

• Spray it with OC.

• If you can do it safely, shoot the dog before it bites you.

• When you can’t shoot the dog before it bites, control the attack by making the dog bite your weak arm.

• Do everything you can to stay on your feet.

• Shoot the dog in the chest or shoulder until it releases you.

• "Are We On The Road To Civilisation Collapse?"--BBC Future. 

      Great civilisations are not murdered. Instead, they take their own lives.

       So concluded the historian Arnold Toynbee in his 12-volume magnum opus A Study of History. It was an exploration of the rise and fall of 28 different civilisations.

        He was right in some respects: civilisations are often responsible for their own decline. However, their self-destruction is usually assisted.  

       The Roman Empire, for example, was the victim of many ills including overexpansion, climatic change, environmental degradation and poor leadership. But it was also brought to its knees when Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455.

Yet not a single word in the article about the migrant crises facing both Europe (from the Middle-East and Africa) or the United States (from Latin America).

• Germany demonstrates civilizational exhaustion: "Germany’s soldiers of misfortune"--Politico.  German's military suffers shortages of everything from underwear to flight capable jet fighters. And Germans are increasingly hostile to its primary protector, the United States. As the author of this piece notes, "Once one of the fiercest (and most brutal) fighting forces on earth, today’s German army increasingly looks more like a volunteer fire department[.]"

• Related: "Anti-Americanism: As German as Apple Strudel"--PJ Media. The author discusses both personal experiences and statistics showing that Germans don't particularly like Americans. He puts this down to cultural differences, and this:

Of course, Germans also hate America because it’s a superpower -- a superpower, moreover, just to rub it in, that, being isolationist at heart, never really set out to be a superpower, and that has accepted that role only out of concern for the preservation of international order and freedom. Germany, on the contrary, has been aching to be a superpower from the git-go. It has longed to rule. Back in the middle of the last century it went all in on the effort to control the world and failed disastrously -- and America alone, through the Marshall Plan, helped it to get back on its feet, repaying genocidal megalomania with magnanimous generosity. Who could ever forgive that?

• Related: "Germany's German Problem -- and Ours"--Michael Walsh at PJ Media. Another article discussing the disastrous problem facing German's military, and Germany's lackadaisical attitude toward it combined with their moral preening. The author notes, for instance:

        After the war, tamed and domesticated, and despite (or perhaps because of?) being bisected into capitalist and communist states, the Germans developed a cohesive civil society that abjured aggressive warfare and, shielded by the American nuclear umbrella and some 50,000 U.S. troops, turned into a pacifist state, especially after the fall of the Wall in 1989 and reunification. So... yay, right?

       Not so fast. Today, under the worst German chancellor since you-know-who, the Germans are once again part of the problem instead of the solution. Having had the starch beaten out of them by the Russians, the British, and the Americans during the war, and still bearing the enormous burden of their war crimes during the National Socialist period, the Germans have turned passive-aggressive, bullying the European Union while at the same time destabilizing the Continent with Angela Merkel's disastrous and inexplicable decision to throw open her country's -- and thus Europe's -- borders to more than a million mostly Muslim "refugees" and "asylum seekers," a move that will have deadly consequences in the future as a childless Europe moves toward senescence.

• "CEO Of U.S. Gun-Maker Faces Jail In Germany"--NPR. The company is Sig-Sauer and the CEO is Ron Cohen. The sale that has caused the problem was the sale of handguns to the Columbian National Police. Apparently, Columbia is on a list of "countries in conflict" to which Germany prohibits exports (and I thought they sold to anyone, but maybe its only to enemies of the US). Unfortunately, the end-user certificates for the pistols, manufactured in Germany, indicated that the pistols would be sold in the United States. However, after the pistols arrived in the United States, Sig USA then transferred them to Columbia. Interestingly, the article indicates that Sig only employees 73 people in Germany, while its New Hampshire facility has about 1,400 employees. 

"How Is 'Reasonableness' Defined?"--Active Self Protection (13 min.)

If you have to defend yourself, the standard against you will be measured is whether you acted "reasonably," used "reasonable" force, or "reasonably" were in fear of your life. This video discusses what is meant by "reasonable."

• This is a very big deal: "Navy files for patent on room-temperature superconductor"--Phys.org. Per the article:

"This concept enables the transmission of electrical power without any losses and exhibits optimal thermal management (no heat dissipation)," according to the patent document, "which leads to the design and development of novel energy generation and harvesting devices with enormous benefits to civilization."

Here is an article discussing just a few benefits to room-temperature superconductors.

• A flashback to 1989. At that time, the AP reported: "A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000." (H/t Instapundit).

• Related: "The growing season has not ended, and 2019 Arctic sea-ice extent is already higher than the previous four years and six out of the last 14 years."

• Related: "First measurable snow in Las Vegas since 1937." My father-in-law remembers the 1937 storm from when he was very young; he didn't even know what was snow, and asked his mother why someone had poured sugar all over the ground.

• Related: "Ice Tsunami Forces Residents To Evacuate Along Lake Erie"--CBS Pittsburgh.

• "Weak Solar Cycle: Cosmic rays increase 4th year in a row"--Watts Up With That. FYI: cosmic rays are linked to cloud formation, so in increase in cosmic rays should see more clouds.
• "The Obama FBI-DOJ Covered Up Clinton Foundation – AGT Crimes — KILLED INVESTIGATION BEFORE 2016 ELECTION"--Gateway Pundit. From the article:

       A 2016 DOJ criminal investigation was suppressed and buried by the DOJ/FBI that involved a major NY Democratic power broker and the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation.

      The investigation revolved around the illegal sale of controlled US homeland security technology to Russia and China in the years before the 2016 election.

      The DOJ terminated its internal investigation in 2016 despite clear and irrefutable evidence of criminal activity and hid it from the public!

• "No church can serve two masters"--Vox Popoli. The African Methodists reject same-sex marriage, ordination of homosexual ministers, at the risk of losing funding from the United Methodists. 
• But do they all have the same first name? "DETROIT WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO HER 14TH CHILD FROM 14 DIFFERENT FATHERS"--World News Daily Report. And for added laughs: "Anita Sullivan says she’s been unlucky with relationships in the past, but she believes that this time she may have found the man of her life."

• Related: "Why Accepting The West’s Deluge Of Unmarried Child-Bearing Entrenches Injustice"--The Federalist. The article notes, for instance: "Specifically Child Trends reports that 42 percent of children living in single-mother families are impoverished, compared with 8 percent of children living in married-couple families. The same pattern holds for white, black, Hispanic, and Asian children. Forty-six percent of black and 48 percent of Hispanic children with an unmarried mother are living below the federal poverty line. Only 11 and 17 percent respectively are doing so that live with married parents."

• What's good for the goose is good for the gander (or vice versa in this case): "Women may have to register for the draft as federal judge in Texas declares the all-male military draft to be unconstitutional"--Daily Mail. 

        A federal judge in Texas has declared the all-male military draft to be unconstitutional ruling that 'the time has passed' for a debate on whether women belong in the military.


        U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late on Friday that although historical restrictions on women serving in combat 'may have justified past discrimination,' men and women are now equally able to fight. 


      Restrictions for women in military service were lifted by the Pentagon in 2015. 


       The ruling could see and end to the Selective Service System which was upheld in the Supreme Court in 1981

• An interesting tale: "‘OUR BOSS WILL CALL YOUR BOSS:' FIVE AMERICANS ON 'GOVERNMENT MISSION' ARRESTED IN HAITI"--Newsweek. From the article:

       Five American men are among a group of heavily-armed foreign nationals arrested in Haiti amid ongoing anti-government protests in the poor Caribbean country.

       A group of eight people traveling in two cars were detained in the capital city of Port-au-Prince on Sunday, according to the BBC. The U.S. State Department has confirmed that American citizens are among those detained, while local media reports indicate there is also a Serbian, a Russian and a Haitian, Reuters reported.

      Haiti Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond confirmed to CNN that five of the eight prisoners are American citizens, though their identities have not yet been confirmed.

       Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste explained that police discovered automatic rifles, pistols, drones and satellite phones in two vehicles, which were reportedly traveling without number plates.

       The men were arrested at a police checkpoint close to the central bank, Joel Casseus, the head of the Port-au-Prince police station, told The Miami Herald. He said the men refused to show identification or explain why they were so heavily armed, claiming they were on a government mission.

      A search of the vehicles also uncovered a telescope, backpacks, gun vests and documents, including a list of names, a police source told the Herald. When police asked the men what their intentions were, they replied that “they were on a mission, and they didn’t have to speak to us,” Casseus said. “They said they were on a government mission.”

        The men refused to specify what mission they were on, but one of the men told officers “their boss would would call our boss.” At one point, another vehicle arrived carrying a man speaking French, who was also arrested.

• The Yellow Vest protesters are still at it, but may have made a tactical mistake by punching right: "Thousands of yellow vest protesters take to the streets across France for a 15th weekend running as they try to re-invigorate supporters while trying to stamp out violence and anti-Semitism in the movement's ranks"--Daily Mail. 
• Build the wall: "Fentanyl deaths from 'Mexican oxy' pills hit Arizona hard"--ABC15.
• Big Brother is everywhere: "Cops caught making ‘racist’ and ‘homophobic’ comments on secret cameras at police HQ"--The Sun.
• The more I've studied World War II, the more unbelievable become the alternate history stories where Germany wins the war: "The Axis Was Outmatched from the Start" by Victor Davis Hanson at The National Review. 
• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "The REAL-LIFE BIONIC girl: Once, prosthetic limbs tried to look human... now that's all changing thanks to pioneers like Tilly Lockey, whose state-of-the-art robot arms look exactly those seen in fantasy movies"--Daily Mail. From the story:

       The schoolgirl, who lost her hands and forearms to meningitis as a baby, is one of a small but growing group to sport HeroArms – technically advanced prosthetics with hands and wrists that move and grip like the real thing.

     Astonishingly, the user simply has to think about a desired movement and the HeroArm’s fingers spring into life.

      Highly specialised sensors in the device pick up subtle muscular contractions in the upper arm, which get translated into electrical messages that power the robotic limb.

And they don't cost $6 million either, but run a very reasonable £5,000.