A Quick Run Around the Web (1/30/020)

"How Should Boxers and Wrestlers Defend Kicks in MMA and Self Defense?"--Hard2Hurt (8 min.)

• Wuhan coronavirus news:

• "Single-cell RNA expression profiling of ACE2, the putative receptor of Wuhan 2019-nCov"--BioRxiv. The short of this paper is that Asians (particularly Asian men) are more susceptible to catching the Wuhan coronavirus.

• "13 Japanese show symptoms after evacuation from virus-hit Wuhan"--The Mainichi. The article relates that "[t]wo Japanese men were diagnosed with pneumonia Wednesday while 11 others are showing symptoms including a fever and cough after they were evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the center of a deadly virus outbreak, authorities said."

• "BREAKING NEWS: World Health Organization declares coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency as SIXTH case is confirmed in US after Chicago man is infected by his wife in first person-to-person spread in North America"--Daily Mail. 

• "Sick passenger on flight from China refused treatment, didn’t meet coronavirus criteria, Boston EMS says"--Boston 25 News.

• The WHO is warning that Coronavirus may be spread by touching contaminated surfaces.

• "Coronavirus Geometric Progression Suggests 100,000 Infections in a Week"--Mish Talk. Short take: "The growth in coronavirus infections has continued along a geometric progression for the last 12 days. Should it continue along this path, infection cases could approach 100,000 in a week." Check out the graph at the article.

• Another interesting graphic, this one from John Hopkins, showing information such as the location of the outbreaks, the number of infections, number of dead, etc.

• One of the things that you may notice if you see graphs of the number of deaths versus the number of infected is that the number of dead has barely crept up. There may be a nefarious reason for this: Zero Hedge reports that Chinese authorities have been covering up the number of dead. Although some deaths have probably been misdiagnosed as having occurred due to other causes, Zero Hedge indicates that "The East Asia Correspondent for DW cited reports in a tweet claiming that health officials have been secretly moving some bodies directly from the hospital to the crematorium" without the dead being identified or included in official tallies.

• Meanwhile, The Daily Mail reports that coronavirus infections have been confirmed in every single province in China, and that the Russian's are closing their eastern border with China.

• And the mayor of an Italian port city has quarantined a cruise ship because of two suspected cases of coronavirus on board, meaning that none of the 6,000 passengers or 1,000 crew can leave the ship.

• It has also been reported that China has shut down two stock exchanges in order to prevent a sell-off of stocks due to panic over the coronavirus.

• Some other disasters in the news:

• "‘This is huge’: Locust swarms in Africa are worst in decades"--PBS. From the article:

       The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. Those two countries have not had an infestation like this in a quarter-century, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger.

     “Even cows are wondering what is happening,” said Ndunda Makanga, who spent hours Friday trying to chase the locusts from his farm. “Corn, sorghum, cowpeas, they have eaten everything.”

     When rains arrive in March and bring new vegetation across much of the region, the numbers of the fast-breeding locusts could grow 500 times before drier weather in June curbs their spread, the United Nations says.

A map in this article shows the progress of the swarm and it looks like they came from Oman and Yemen over to East Africa. (See also this Al Jazeera article and this article from Zero Hedge).

• CNN reports that "[a]t least 44 people are dead and thousands more have been forced out of their homes following heavy rains in southeastern Brazil."

• "Kazakhstan Struck By Snowpocalypse"--Radio Free Europe. It reports:

      Authorities in the Kazakh capital declared a state of emergency after a winter storm pummeled the city with strong winds and heavy snowfall. Transportation links to and from Nur-Sultan were cut on January 27, while all schools in the capital were closed.

     A spokesman for Nur-Sultan International Airport, Zhenis Akhmetzhanov, told reporters that all flights had been postponed on January 27 for safety reasons.

      Dozens of highways across the Central Asian country were closed due to winter storms.

• "Bushfires, ash rain, dust storms and flash floods: two weeks in apocalyptic Australia"--The Guardian. 

      Last Wednesday, there were flash floods in Melbourne, while just 125 miles (200km) away, brutal fires tore through remote communities.

      The next day rain came to Sydney – the first significant rainfall the city and its scorched surrounds have seen all summer. ...

* * *

     Bushfire ash and sludge was washed into rivers and waterways and is estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of native fish. The fires had stripped the land of brush and undergrowth, meaning that when the rain fell it led to flash flooding. At one animal park north of Sydney the floods swelled the alligator enclosure to such a degree that zookeepers had to fight alligators off the banks, pushing them back into the water with brooms.

      And, just when people had recovered from the whiplash of the rain, came the next thing: mighty dust storms that charged across the flat, brown horizons of drought-stricken land in western New South Wales.

      That same day, in Melbourne, the hail arrived; huge chunks of ice, the size of golf balls, pounded the land. When the hailstorms reached Canberra the next day, the ice shredded trees, shattered windscreens and tragically – adding to the biodiversity loss – killed hundreds of bats. In the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where 80% of the world heritage forest has been destroyed by fire this season, there were storms that led to two people being hospitalised after they were injured by lightning.

       On Thursday, people awoke to find the Yarra River, which snakes through the centre of Melbourne, had turned brown. Brown rain fell across the city, filling bird baths and swimming pools with dirty sludge, a result of the rain collecting dust from the dust storms.

      As the week closes out, fires still rage across the east of the country. People continue to choke on suffocating particle-laden air. A heatwave building in Western Australia looks likely to spread to the burning east coast from next week causing concerns that conditions will worsen.

     The devastating, unthinkable summer continues, and the end is not yet in sight.

See also these articles from Al Jazeera and ABC News.

• I've actually been disappointed with Shot Show news this year, but here are some products that look interesting:

• "Serbu Firearms DIABOLUS Rifle"--The Firearm Blog. This is an improved version of the AR-18 system designed to use aluminum cast upper and lower receivers.

• "True Velocity and Sierra Bullets To Introduce Commercial Polymer-Cased Ammunition"--The Firearm Blog. It won't be reloadable, but it will be lighter and, in theory, should be less expensive than brass cased ammunition.

• "Compact without Compromise! NEW Springfield Armory SAINT Edge PDW"--The Firearm Blog. It's small and light ... and pricey.

• A couple shotguns coming in at just over $200 each, but from a company I've never heard of: "Hatsan Escort Slugger Pump-Action Shotguns"--Shooting Illustrated.

• For shooters that might have hand problems or be missing fingers: "Blackwater’s Iron Horse Thumb-Triggered AR Pattern Rifles"--The Truth About Guns. The thumb is used to actuate a trigger button at the back of the pistol grip. Of course, this requires different internals and a different lower than your standard AR.

• "SIG Sauer CROSS: Best New Hunting Rifle of SHOT 2020"--Range 365. A 6.5 lbs, folding stock chassis rifle.

• "Federal Premium HammerDown Lever Action Ammunition Line"--The Firearm Blog. Not just improved bullets, but the rim has been slightly chamfered to make them easier to load via a sidegate.

• Some new tactical lights from Streamlight for rifles, pistols and shotguns. And some combination light/laser for handguns. 

• "Brownells Announces New BRN-180 Lowers and BRN-180S Short Barrel Upper"--The Truth About Guns.

• "Armaspec – Rifter Linear Muzzle Brake"--The Firearm Blog. The purpose of the linear brakes are to direct sound forward of the firearm. This one uses some milled channels to redirect gases thus reducing recoil and reducing the noise perceived by the shooter or those to the sides of the shooter.

• "Crimson Trace CMR-209 Rail Master Universal Pistol Light"--Shooting Illustrated. Appears to be an adequate pistol light for a reasonable price.

• "Uberti USA 1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle"--American Rifleman. A reproduction of a lever-actuated falling block rifle. Pretty, but out of my price range.

• "Otis Expands Ripcord Offerings, Introduces Shooter’s Choice Universal Cleaning Kit"--American Rifleman.

• "10 of the Top Moose Cartridges and Bullets"--Outdoor Life. The author prefaces his list:

Moose are generally wimps. For most hunters in the Lower 48 traveling to hunt moose, their go-to deer rifle is a fine choice. Yes, moose are enormous, powerful animals—but they also have large and powerful circulatory and respiratory systems. A well-placed bullet through these vitals will kill a moose quickly. So, I tend to go with a rifle that is comfortable to shoot and very accurate. There may not be a lot of flash to this list, but I doubt there's a collection of cartridges that has put more moose meat in the freezer than this one.

With that in mind, the list includes not only the magnum rounds, but also .30-06, .308 Win., .270 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, and .243 Win., and he notes one hunter he knew that had taken multiple moose with .30-30.

• "A Guide to Precision-Rifle Shooting on a Budget"--American Rifleman. The author notes the expense of rifles and glass for precision writing, but notes that "we can all agree that none of us learned to drive in a Lamborghini, right?" By budget, he means both scope and rifle costing under $1,000 (although you may have to buy used).

"Astros to Cosmos | Space Scales"--Suspicious Observers (5 min.)

An overview of terminology to assist with an upcoming series of videos.

• The rapists behind the Rotherham sex trafficking of underage white girls were Pakistani so, of course, the Muslims try to recast themselves as the victims: "Rotherham Muslims launch ‘guardian’ group after far-right threats"--Guardian. Per the article, "Members of the Muslim community in Rotherham are launching a neighbourhood protection group with more than 100 volunteers after three mosques were targeted by the far-right." How were these Mosques "targeted" you ask. Well, it was truly horrible and you may be scarred for life by the account:

The far-right group Britain First has carried out what it described as a “major operation” in the South Yorkshire town over the past week, distributing leaflets and visiting mosques, taxi ranks and hotels to warn about grooming of young girls for sex.

Anonymous Conservative is right when he describes migrants as r-selected rabbits.

• A word from our moral superiors in Hollywood: "Aspiring actress was 'appalled' and 'burst into tears' after Harvey Weinstein 'demanded a threesome in exchange for film roles', her ex-fiance tells rape trial"--Daily Mail. 
• Brexit is upon us, and the Eurocrats are being petulant: "'Leave and take your flags with you': Furious EU parliament chair CUTS OFF Nigel Farage during his triumphant last speech to Brussels after 21 years - for waving the Union Flag"--Daily Mail. The article reports:

      Nigel Farage was cut off as he delivered his final speech in the European Parliament this afternoon because he and his Brexit Party MEPs started to wave Union flags.

     Parliament vice-president Mairead McGuinness switched off Mr Farage's microphone as he was finishing his address as she told the party's MEPs to 'put your flags away, you are leaving'. 

     The cheering Brexit Party contingent then proceeded to get up and walk out of the chamber.

     The stormy clash took place as MEPs rubberstamped the Brexit divorce deal - the final hurdle which needed to be cleared for the UK to leave the EU at 11pm on January 31. 

• The rise of the Fourth Reich: "Eurocrat: EU’s Lesson from Brexit Is to Take Away MORE National Sovereignty"--Breitbart. From the article:

      Senior Member of European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt has made the extraordinary assessment that the lessons to be learnt from Brexit is for Brussels to push for ‘More Europe’ and to take away even more democracy from nation-states.

      Speaking ahead of the European Parliament’s vote on the UK-EU withdrawal deal on Wednesday, Mr Verhofstadt rejected the notion that the lesson to be learnt from Brexit is to devolve power back to the nation-state but to give more power to Brussels.

     The former Belgian prime minister said: “This lesson, dear colleagues, is not to undo the union, as some are arguing. The lesson is to deeply reform the union. To make a real union in the coming years.

     “That means a union without opt-ins, opt-outs, rebates, exceptions, and above all without unanimity rules and veto rights.”

• When the weather warms up, I see a lot of people (particularly women) riding in cars with their feet up on the dashboard and/or hanging out the rolled down passenger window. Bayou Renaissance Man reminds us that it is not a good idea as this post crash x-ray shows: