Exploring practical methods for preparing for the end times, including analysis of end time scripture and prophecy, current events, prepping and self-defense.
I think you should defeat any manual safeties as soon as the pistol is pointed toward the target, because you might have to shoot from a compressed ready (close contact) position. Waiting to get the sights on target before defeating the safety is a bad idea. (Actually, he doesn't explicitly say when he has defeated the safety. I just figured it out from watching the video.)
I think jacking rounds out onto the ground is a bad idea. Ammunition in combat is extremely valuable. This may leave a training scar.
I think not watching what you're doing when holstering is a bad idea. Too many things can get stuck in your holster while holstering. If you feel you have to keep your head up and looking around, you should not be holstering your pistol in the first place.
I have yet to find two instructors who taught the same techniques. That's why it is so important to take classes from different instructors. Otherwise, you may have the misconception that there is no other reasonable way to execute that operation.
Also, be sure to scroll 2/3 or so down his post where he discusses his recommendations on selecting a holster and selecting a defensive handgun.
This was from a paper published in 2013 (abstract here). From the abstract:
Methods
A dummy test head attached to a breathing simulator was used to test the performance of surgical masks against a viral challenge. Several designs of surgical masks commonly used in the UK healthcare sector were evaluated by measuring levels of inert particles and live aerosolised influenza virus in the air, from in front of and behind each mask. Findings
Live influenza virus was measurable from the air behind all surgical masks tested. The data indicate that a surgical mask will reduce exposure to aerosolised infectious influenza virus; reductions ranged from 1.1- to 55-fold (average 6-fold), depending on the design of the mask.
There are good reasons to believe DIY masks would help a lot. Look at Hong Kong, Mongolia, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which have covid-19 largely under control. They are all near the original epicenter of the pandemic in mainland China, and they have economic ties to China. Yet none has resorted to a lockdown, such as in China’s Wuhan province. In all of these countries, all of which were hit hard by the SARS respiratory virus outbreak in 2002 and 2003, everyone is wearing masks in public. George Gao, director general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated, “Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.” My data-focused research institute, fast.ai, has found 34 scientific papers indicating basic masks can be effective in reducing virus transmission in public — and not a single paper that shows clear evidence that they cannot.
Studies have documented definitively that in controlled environments like airplanes, people with masks rarely infect others and rarely become infected themselves, while those without masks more easily infect others or become infected themselves. Masks don’t have to be complex to be effective. A 2013 paper tested a variety of household materials and found that something as simple as two layers of a cotton T-shirt is highly effective at blocking virus particles of a wide range of sizes. Oxford University found evidence this month for the effectiveness of simple fabric mouth and nose covers to be so compelling they now are officially acceptable for use in a hospital in many situations. Hospitals running short of N95-rated masks are turning to homemade cloth masks themselves; if it’s good enough to use in a hospital, it’s good enough for a walk to the store. The reasons the WHO cites for its anti-mask advice are based not on science but on three spurious policy arguments. First, there are not enough masks for hospital workers. Second, masks may themselves become contaminated and pass on an infection to the people wearing them. Third, masks could encourage people to engage in more risky behavior.
"A well-designed, well-fitted shoulder holster works exceedingly well for heavy handguns. In fact, in my opinion, they work better than hip-mounted holsters because they spread the weight of the gun over a larger area of the body."
"If you are one who appreciates long-barreled handguns, the shoulder holster may be your only option for concealed carry."
"When I took an Executive Protection course with the Tony Scotti School of High-Performance Driving, someone asked what was the best way to carry a handgun while driving. The driving instructor said simply, “A shoulder holster.” Our shooting instructor didn’t like that answer, but it’s true. A shoulder holster is not trapped by the seatbelt and it allows the defensive handgun to be available in a variety of circumstances. Only the counter-alternative ankle holster is as freely available while seated in a vehicle, but it is restricted to much smaller handguns."
"With a simple covering garment like a zippered-front hooded sweatshirt, I can use the shoulder holster when I work around machinery without catching the butt of the gun on levers, electrical lines, hydraulic lines, or even chains of various nature."
"When working with a rifle from the prone position while wearing a handgun, the shoulder holster versus the traditional hip-mounted holster makes it far easier to roll over or move about when flat on the deck than a hip-mounted holster allows."
"Should you have a 'bugout retreat'?"--Grant Cunningham. He discusses one of the problems that I've discussed before (and been documenting from various parts of the country), which is that locals don't really want outsiders showing up in their communities during an emergency. Cunningham writes:
The concept of the second home as a bugout retreat has been very popular in recent years. The idea is to buy a vacation home and visit it frequently. This allows for maintenance and rotation of the survival supplies kept there, but it also supposedly gets the neighbors used to seeing you. This, the proponents believe, will make you “one of the locals”, and in difficult times ensures that they’ll accept you as one of their own.
Being a rural dweller myself, I’ve never believed that to be true — any more than I believe locals would welcome people camping in their forests and poaching their deer. As it happens, my skepticism has been validated by the current coronavirus panic.
Reports are coming in from far away places like Scotland, and chatter from the coastal communities here in my own state of Oregon. People who own vacation homes have been encouraged (or, in some cases, ordered) to leave and go back where they came from.
The general feeling in these smaller municipalities is that rural areas — which are the most popular for retreat homes — have very few resources to take care of affected locals, let alone the tourists and vacation home owners who visit for a few weeks out of the year. When something bad happens, they want those scarce resources to be spent on the people who live there and make the community what it is.
When there isn’t enough to go around, rationing will happen, and people tend to want to see rations go to their friends and neighbors first.
Despite the predictions of retreat protagonists, the full-time residents of these areas most definitely do not consider part-time residents to be “their own kind”. In fact, the part-timers appear to be about as welcome as carpetbaggers in the postbellum South.
Whether you’re new to all of this or an old hand, don’t allow yourself to feel bad because you don’t have a bugout retreat. It’s really not a practical solution to a problem.
I can definitely attest to what Cunningham is saying. When I was young, my parents moved us into an old farm house that was a rental. We lived there for just over 5 years and still were not accepted as "locals" even in our church congregation.
"“Realistic” De-Escalation"--Force Science Institute. Although the article is directed at law enforcement, I think there are lessons for the rest of us: "... unless you’re using medicine, de-escalation is not something you do 'to' a person. Non-coercive de-escalation is recognizing, creating, and maintaining conditions that allow someone to de-escalate their own emotions. Realistic de-escalation recognizes that not everybody is able or willing to de-escalate." (Footnote omitted).
There is also a part 2 to the article, "Realistic De-Escalation: Balancing Risk." However, the risk considered in the second article is the risk of a riot or protest. As the author writes: "When officers make decisions believing crime reduction or officer safety are their top priorities, they may be shocked when legally justified shootings result in protests, riots, or calls for indictments." But for the private citizen, if there is such a result (or risk of it), I expect that you would be charged even if justified in your use of force because authorities will be looking for scapegoat.
By all accounts, there are a whole lot of new gun owners out there, as well as a lot of people that learned some hard lessons about the gun control laws that they voted (by proxy) to enact. Be kind to those that learned the hard lessons, and help those that are now part of the gun owning public. Two resources that I immediately want to highlight are Claude Werner’s efforts at his new Facebook page New Firearms Owner Information Page and John Correia’s new video project at Active Self Protection Extra. Please share these with new gun owners that you encounter. If you know of a new gun owner, offer to take them to the range. You don’t have to be an instructor to share knowledge and demonstrate safe gun handling. This is an unprecedented opportunity to fundamentally change how some view gun ownership. In many respects, we are witnessing the transition to a new normal.
If you share nothing else with new gun owners, take the time to explain the four cardinal rules of gun safety. Teach them to load and unload their guns, and impress upon them the importance of safe storage… even if it’s just a simple toolbox with a padlock.
Just one aside: I don't equate safe storage to locking up a gun: the two may overlap, but they are not the same. When someone is forcing their way into your house, a firearm locked in a safe wasn't very safe, was it? And a loaded and cocked gun bouncing around in a toolbox with other stuff isn't very safe either.
"M1 Garand Enbloc Clip Troubleshooting"--Garand Gear. As the author states, "[i]f the shooter is having difficulty loading a clip or other clip related malfunctions are occuring [sic], this article should provide an insight on the cause. This article will cover how to properly insert the enbloc clip and how to diagnose some of the more common problems the new shooter can experience. Most of the corrective actions we'll be discussing come from the Army's TM9-1275 manual." This is a detailed article, with many photographs, that examines both potential problems with the clip or problems with the firearm. It is always possible on these old rifles that the issue could be worn or broken parts in the magazine or follower, but the more likely reason will probably lie with the clip, which may be bent or distorted, not loaded correctly, or, if relatively unused, might just need some of the Parkerizing sanded down. On the latter issue, the author notes if a new clip is hard to insert:
New clips that haven't been used before sometimes can be difficult to insert, especially if the parkerizing is coarse on the guide rails. In the image below the rail on the clip is highlighted. If you're having difficulty with a clip try using a very fine stone or abrasive cloth and remove the parkerizing on both of the rails. Be sure to apply some grease to the guides in the receiver that accept the clip. If you're still having problems inserting the clip be sure to following the steps listed below.
The site also has other articles on cleaning and caring for the Garand, as well as downloadable copies of a couple of the relevant military manuals that you can read online (or you can request electronic copies from the author of the site).
Good lord. The one in your hands at the moment....but seriously, as my generic go-to-war rifle I would prefer a properly built AR15 carbine barring a mission that required a special applications rifle of some kind (see intel above). The caveat here being "properly built". As someone that has taught on a great many ranges over the years I can say that there are far too many cheap/poorly built/poorly maintained AR's out there. The best advice I can give here is seek out some armorer level training.....get to know your rifle inside and out. Learn how to diagnose strange rifle behavior....is your gun over-gassed? maybe under-gassed? Keep a log of how many rounds you have put through the rifle and the individual high-stress parts, such as the barrel, bolt and recoil spring. There are a few items that ALWAYS travel with my carbine:
1. Spare bolt w/firing pin (they do break from time to time folks)
2. GI steel cleaning rod (ever get a barrel full of mud at the worst possible time?)
3. Lube (duh)
4. Small ziplock with spare pins/springs
5. Sharpie pen (saves your finger when clearing nasty malfunctions)
I may carry much more than this, but never less.
"Sionyx Aurora Sport – Poor Man’s PVS-14"--Guns America. The product reviewed here is a color low-light/IR camera. The author begins his review by noting that:
I’ve logged thousands of hours under NVG’s. I’ve driven countless miles. I’ve done more dangerous stuff like slap-up breaching charges and be in actual firefights under NVGs than I can count. I’m going to say that for once, my opinion absolutely weighs more. Get me an Aurora Sport review from someone else that has fallen from 12,500 feet through a dark sky and we can have a rational debate. Until that time, I am going to ask you to trust me on this one.
With that out of the way, he was reviewing the lowest cost product from Aurora, the Sports model that has an MSRP of $400. He continues by noting that it is not a military-grade hardened and is a delicate device, and it only has a 2-hour run time before it needs recharging (or the battery pack swapped out). Also:
Performance-wise, the Sionyx comes with one huge caveat. In very low light conditions, it absolutely SUCKS without an Infrared ( IR) flashlight. I didn’t have a tube goggle to compare too, so I am going off of memory. Being fair, a real PVS-14 isn’t exactly awesome with very little ambient light. A night vision device is more properly called an image intensifier. As it intensifies any natural light ( stars, moon, IR whatever) to create an image. In true “complete darkness”, a PVS-14 wouldn’t work either. But, the Sionyx does a noticeably worse job in very low light conditions. Like moonless in the desert conditions. But, throw out an IR beam, and it is good to 200 meters. With proper support, I would say it allows you to see as well as a PVS-14, or very near it.
But with that caveat, "It is the best cheap night vision I have ever seen," he writes, "and you would be hard-pressed to find a better value for the job. This is one I highly recommend, and soon."
"Best 1-4x Scope Guide: Our Recommendations for Affordable Optics that Won’t Break the Bank"--Blue Sheepdog. The article is primarily looking at sub-$500 optics, but also considers "mid-range" and sub-$200 optic. I can't tell from the article if they are listing the scopes in the best-to-worst in each class or not, but here are the first one's listed for each of the three classes, respectively: Burris MTAC 1-4×24, Black Spider Optics 1-4×24, and Primary Arms 1-4×24 SFP. But, on the other hand, they do state that the best scope for the money is the Vortex Crossfire II 1-4x 24 scope.
"How I Learned To Love The End Of The World"--Wilder, Wealthy and Wise. Musings about hard times and prepping told in the author's typical amusing and wise way. An excerpt:
My parents were preppers before it even had a name beyond “being prudent.” It’s probably justifiable, especially on Ma Wilder’s part. She had seen her family make it through the Great Depression okay, but her family had also raised several children whose parents weren’t well off enough to feed them. I know that sounds crazy in the year 2020, but in the year 1930, sometimes parents couldn’t even figure out where to get enough money to feed a child.
Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said his Sandoz generics unit's malaria, lupus and arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine is the company's biggest hope against the coronavirus, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.
Novartis has pledged to donate 130 million doses and is supporting clinical trials needed before the medicine, which U.S. President Donald Trump also has been promoting, can be approved for use against the coronavirus.
Other companies including Bayer and Teva have also agreed to donate hydroxychloroquine or similar drugs, while Gilead Sciences [owned by George Soros, you might remember] is testing its experimental drug remdesivir against coronavirus.
China accounts for 95 percent of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91 percent of hydrocortisone, 70 percent of acetaminophen, 40 to 45 percent of penicillin, and 40 percent of heparin, according to Commerce Department data. In all, “80 percent of the U.S. supply of antibiotics are made” in China, warned Senator Chuck Grassley in an August 2019 letter to HHS and FDA officials. Grassley said that inspections on drugs imported from other countries needed to be stepped up.
“It was a blunder of epic proportions that we allowed the manufacture of penicillin to leave our shores,” said Rosemary Gibson, author of the 2018 book China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine. “Right now, we have virtually no capacity in the United States to make even basic drugs for treating coronavirus, or antibiotics for infections that may come with it, including bronchitis or pneumonia.”
“I think nations are going to question their dependence on one another through the global supply chain, and I think people are going to rethink whether it’s a good idea to be so reliant on a totalitarian China that blames everyone else in the world for their problems, and is not a responsible stakeholder or honest broker. One outcome of this is that the perception of China as a bad actor is going to be crystallized,” said Kazianis.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a sort of Cold War-like containment strategy towards China after this. I think that’s where Trump was going with trade before this happened, but I think now you’ll see a lot of other countries rethinking their reliance on China as well,” Kazianis added.
That’s especially true as the flow of bad news out of China continues unabated. We now know that the majority of rapid test coronavirus test kits supplied by China to Spain and the Czech Republic were faulty, and that if the Chinese government had been honest and supplied reliable data, there could have been 95 percent fewer coronavirus cases around the world. That’s the difference between a viral outbreak and a global pandemic.
By suppressing critical information about the virus in those early days, then doing very little to contain the virus by permitting public gatherings like the New Years celebration, the government of China has allowed the coronavirus to menace not just its own people but the entire world. Once COVID-19 is contained, they must face a reckoning.
This uncertainty [caused by China's concealment of the outbreak] has led to greater fear and animosity about the lethality of the Wuhan virus than was necessary. So far the virus seems to impact different populations in different ways. It’s not yet clear exactly what threat profile it presents to America as a whole. But the fact that we don’t know has led us to err on the side of caution and treat this virus like a 1918-level event. The consequence has been a shutdown of the largest economy in the world.
Without putting too fine a point on it, China seems to have taken the position that if they were to suffer the coronavirus, so too was the United States and the rest of the world. What else is to explain the continuation of flights from China to the United States at the rate of some 20,000 passengers a day, until President Trump wisely shut them down?
The Chinese economy was already suffering the consequences of President Trump’s America First policies. Not only had tough trade deals been struck, but serious efforts were underway by the Trump Administration to stop the trillions being stolen in U.S. intellectual property, the CCP’s aggressive industrial espionage, and their sophisticated political influence operations throughout the United States. From the CCP’s point of view, their fundamental business model was under attack.
Given the problems in the Chinese economy that arose as a result of the ongoing trade war with the United States and Donald Trump, the CCP and Xi Jinping appear to have made the calculation that a crisis caused by the virus would be preferable. A virus-induced crisis would include the added benefit of slowing down the U.S. economy and might reset American politics as well. However popular President Trump might be, it would be difficult in an election year to handle an economic crisis of this magnitude without suffering some political consequences. That this does not make economic sense for China in the short run is rather beside the point. They are playing a much longer game.
To benefit what Xi depicted as charitable actions by China, he demanded that “all G20 members take collective actions” that would benefit the Chinese Communist Party’s economy, such as “cutting tariffs, removing barriers, and facilitating the unfettered flow of trade.”
Xi also proposed a “global network of control and treatment,” also led by him, that would grant China full access to all medical data, presumably also including intellectual property related to the manufacture and development of medical technology.
“China has set up its online COVID-19 knowledge center that is open to all countries. It is imperative that countries pool their strengths and speed up research and development of drugs, vaccines and testing capabilities in the hope to achieve early breakthrough to the benefit of all,” Xi asserted.
Wuhan has a total of eight government-run funeral homes: seven have crematoriums, while the eighth is dedicated to serving Hui Muslims and conducts burials.
According to a March 26 report by Chinese financial magazine Caixin, the Hankou funeral home bought 5,000 urns within 24 hours.
Staff then took a photo of the facility’s stock room, showing 3,500 urns inside. We can thus assume that the facility distributed 1,500 urns in 24 hours (5,000 minus 3,500 equals 1,500).
Assuming that the Hankou funeral home distributed the same number of urns every day from March 23 until the Qingming Festival, there would be at least 18,000 bodies (1,500 multiplied by 12 days) in Hankou. In Wuchang, there would be 6,000 bodies (500 multiplied by 12 days).
The Yushunshan funeral home in Caidian district is about two-thirds the capacity of the Wuchang facility, according to a staff member at Yushunshan. Thus, we could estimate that Caidian burned the remains of two-thirds that of Wuchang, or 4,000 bodies.
The Jiangxia, Huangpi District, Xinzhou District, and Qingshan funeral homes each have a similar capacity, which is about half of Wuchang’s. Then we might estimate that they burned about 12,000 bodies (6,000 divided by 2, then multiplied by 4 equals 12,000).
We can estimate that the total number of urns distributed by all 7 facilities is roughly 40,000 (18,000 + 6,000 + 4,000 + 12,000).
In order to determine the number of deaths from the CCP virus, deaths from other causes must be accounted for. According to the latest statistics released by Hubei authorities, roughly 47,900 died in 2018. That means there was an average of 131 deaths per day.
The time between the city’s lockdown on Jan. 23 to when funeral homes reopened on March 23 is 60 days. Assuming that in a typical year, there are 131 non-virus-related deaths per day, then there were roughly 7,860 non-virus deaths in that period (131 multiplied by 60).
Thus, we can estimate that the death toll due to the virus is at least 32,140 (40,000 minus 7,860).
It's like yelling "fire" in a packed theater: "Pennsylvania Coughing ‘Prank’ Suspect Arrested After $35,000 in Groceries Lost"--Breitbart. Margaret Cirko has been charged with two felony counts of terrorist threats, one felony count of threats to use a ‘biological agent,’ one felony count of criminal mischief and misdemeanor counts of criminal attempt to commit retail theft and disorderly conduct. She reportedly coughed and spat on food in the market.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered the country’s 1.3 billion people to remain indoors until April 15, declaring such self-isolation was the only hope to stop the viral pandemic.
But the vast shutdown has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of poor migrant laborers fleeing Delhi and Mumbaieeking and heading to their homes hundreds of miles away in the countryside on foot after losing their jobs.
Footage from the incident taken in the Hyde Park area shows the group of around 40 revelers refusing to comply with social distancing rules.
Law enforcement were forced to call for back up as the crowd became 'agitated', a source said. The LAPD said no arrests were made.
More diversity news: "NHS Nurses Banned from Wearing Uniforms in Public After Abuse"--Breitbart. The "youths" are at it again, harassing nurses and stealing their ID's so they can take advantage of the special shopping hours designated for health care workers.
Federal rules require unemployed H-1B visa workers to leave the United States in 60 days after they lose their jobs. This 60-day rule was not a problem before the coronavirus, partly because fired H-1B workers could simply get new jobs from Indian-run outsourcing companies.
But the crash has caused so many job losses that many H-1B workers — most of whom are Indian — need more time to find jobs that will keep them in the United States. The job losses are also a crisis for many Indian-run contractors and subcontractors that take huge commissions from the H-1B contracts signed by Fortune 500 companies.
“We request the government to temporarily extend the 60-Day grace period to 180 days and protect the H1B workers under these difficult times. Thank you!,” says a White House petition signed by almost 20,000 people. ...
When this virus became a problem that we as a nation could see as an imminent threat, Utah, because of its culture of food storage and preparing for disaster events seemed to “get the memo” first. The week of March 8th grocery sales more than doubled in Utah, up 218%. Many states stayed the same with increases in some. Idaho seemed to “get the memo” about four days later. We were out of water and TP four days after Utah. Then we were out of food staples about four days later. Next was produce following a pattern set by Utah four days earlier.
The problem for us in Idaho was this. The stores in Utah were emptied out then refilled twice by the warehouses before it hit Idaho. Many of these Utah stores have trucks delivering daily. So when it did hit Idaho the warehouses had been severely taxed. We had a hard time filling our store back up even one time. We missed three scheduled trucks that week alone. Then orders finally came they were first 50% of the order and have dropped to 20%. In normal circumstances we receive 98% of our orders and no canceled trucks. Now three weeks later, the warehouses in the Western United States have all been taxed. In turn, those warehouses have been taxing the food manufacturers. These food companies have emptied their facilities to fill the warehouses of the Western United States. The East Coast hasn’t seemed to “get the memo” yet. When they do what food will be left to fill their warehouses and grocery stores?
Maybe it's different in other parts of Idaho, but I'm not seeing it here. Yes, shelves have been emptied (especially as the panic first took the country), but most everything has been restocked and its sometimes hard to move down store aisles because there are boxes stacked waiting the stockers to unpack and fill the shelves.
Among the social impacts of the coronavirus is its swift dismantling of the cult of celebrity. ... The #guillotine2020 hashtag is jumping. As grocery aisles turn bare, some have suggested that perhaps they ought to eat the rich.
So when Pharrell Williams asked his followers to donate to aid frontline responders, they virtually grabbed him by the pants and shook him upside-down, telling him to empty his own deep pockets. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been “outed” as landlords. As Ellen DeGeneres lounged on her sofa, video-chatting with famous friends, the comedian Kevin T. Porter solicited stories from service workers and Hollywood peons who had experienced run-ins with DeGeneres, whom he called “notoriously one of the meanest people alive.”
Astronomer Matthijs Burgmeijer said if it becomes as bright as the highest estimates it will be the most spectacular comet since records began.
'How bright will it get? the estimates are from a conservative magnitude +2 (visible to the naked eye) to a spectacular magnitude -11 which would make the comet the brightest comet since records began,' he said.
'We simply have to wait and see how it will develop over the coming weeks. Comets are notoriously unpredictable.
'Like Comet Ison some years ago that also had promising characteristics but disintegrated before it could give a good show.'
"Polar Wind & Magnetic Reversal, Tornado & Volcano | S0 News Mar.29.2020"--Suspicious Observers. I've set this video at the beginning of a brief discussion of how you could get flash freezing in northern climes during a solar event (e.g., the flash frozen mammoths that have been found)
Evolution in action: "Industrial alcohol coronavirus ‘cure’ kills hundreds of Iranians"--New York Daily News. I could understand this happening a hundred years ago, but there really is no excuse for any mentally competent adult to not know that methanol is poisonous.
After President Donald Trump touted an anti-malaria drug called chloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus, thousands of Nigerians started taking the medicine, some of them overdosing in a rush to "prevent" infection.
What we call "states" in the United States ceased to be "states" following the civil war, and merely became provinces or prefectures of the central government. So it is interesting to see states start acting like ones again:
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Expands Quarantine to Louisiana Travelers, Installing Checkpoints on Roads"--Breitbart. As you know, because New Orleans went ahead with Mardi Gras celebrations this year, Louisiana was one of the states hardest hit by the Wuhan virus. The article relates: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is requiring travelers from Louisiana to self-isolate for 14 days and said the Florida Highway Patrol will install checkpoints on major roads to screen travelers from that area, he announced on Friday."
New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN on Saturday that if President Donald Trump put a quarantine on New York to stop the spread of the coronavirus that it would be a “federal declaration of war” on the state.
“Look, if the president was considering this, I guarantee he would have called me. I mean, we talk about relatively trivial matters when it comes to dealing with this situation,” Cuomo said. This is a civil war kind of — this is civil war kind of discussion.”
“I don’t believe that he could be serious, that any federal administration could be serious about a physical lockdown of states or parts of states across this country,” Cuomo continued. “I don’t believe it is legal. I think it would be economic chaos. I don’t think the American people would stand for it. It’s just a question of time before you see the numbers growing in hot spots across the nation. So, I think it makes absolutely no sense and I don’t believe any serious governmental personality or professional would support it.”
“I’ve sued the federal government many times by the way over the past few years, we’ve had quite a number of policy decisions,” Cuomo later added. “I do not believe it’s going to come to that on this. Again, I have been speaking to the president. This would be a declaration of war on states, a federal declaration of war, and wouldn’t just be New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, next week it would be Louisiana with New Orleans, and week after that Detroit, Michigan, and it would run across the nation. I don’t think the president is looking to start a lot of wars with states just about now for a lot of reasons.”
The Hamptons are so over-run with wealthy New Yorkers panic-buying food and stretching medical supplies that local leaders are now asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to issue a travel ban from the city.
The move comes after Dr. Deborah Birx, of the White House coronavirus response team, said at a press conference this week with President Donald Trump that cases of the virus were spreading from New York City with people trying to flee the epicenter of the virus.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said, “A new trend is taking place that puts our residents at further risk — people seeking refuge from the metropolitan areas. It is simple math: the more people that come, the greater the spread and the greater the confirmed cases.”
Amid alarming scenes of empty shelves in Hamptons stores and people lining up at 6 a.m. to grab basic supplies as deliveries arrive, he said, “We have a limited number of stores trying to keep their shelves stocked and ration out supplies as best they can. Local residents are finding it difficult to meet even their most basic needs. Unnecessary hoarding and the recent, sudden expansion of the population by those who come are making it far worse.”
I am an ER MD in New Orleans. Class of 98. Every one of my colleagues have now seen several hundred Covid 19 patients and this is what I think I know.
Clinical course is predictable.
2-11 days after exposure (day 5 on average) flu-like symptoms start. Common are fever, headache, dry cough, myalgias(back pain), nausea without vomiting, abdominal discomfort with some diarrhea, loss of smell, anorexia, fatigue.
Day 5 of symptoms- increased SOB, and bilateral viral pneumonia from direct viral damage to lung parenchyma.
Day 10- Cytokine storm leading to acute ARDS and multiorgan failure. You can literally watch it happen in a matter of hours.
81% mild symptoms, 14% severe symptoms requiring hospitalization, 5% critical.
He/she goes on to briefly mention some of the other complications, including heart and pericardium issues.
“This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role —you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth,” the Chinese Center’s George Gao told the magazine.
“Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others,” he said.
KK Cheng, a public health expert at the University of Birmingham in the UK, put it bluntly:
“It’s not to protect yourself. It’s to protect people against the droplets coming out of your respiratory tract… I don’t want to frighten you, but when people speak and breathe and sing —you don’t have to sneeze or cough — these droplets are coming out,” he said.
Related: "Trump says this drug has 'tremendous promise,' but Fauci's not spending money on it"--CNN. The article reports: "Despite President Donald Trump's enthusiasm for the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus, the federal funding powerhouse led by Dr. Anthony Fauci isn't spending any money on it, and clinical trials for it are lagging behind other drug studies, according to a CNN investigation."
In Padua, the autoimmune medicine Tocilizumab has proven effective, but can only be used once it is established that no other viruses or bacteria are present in the patients’ bodies, he said. The hospital where he works has also seen positive results from the antiviral drug Remdesivir, he added.
He said medics have been forced to be creative, giving an example from the city of Parma where patients who couldn’t be put on a respirator using a tube were attached to it using a snorkeling mask, with a part that connects it to the machine being printed in a 3D printer.
* * *
One technique he said had yielded dramatic results was to have patients lie on their stomach instead of on their back while on a ventilator. “Suddenly the oxygen level in the blood jumped by hundreds of percents,” he said.
"1984 COMES TO BRITAIN"--Powerline. The author notes one town that has set up a website to make it easier for residents to turn in their neighbors breaking the quarantine by going for a walk. Another town is using drones to try and catch people on unauthorized walks. Here in Idaho, although the state issued an isolation order, it specifically permits people to leave their house to walk or engage in other outdoor activities, and the governor even encouraged such activities when he held a press conference announcing the order.
Open borders organizations like the George Soros-funded United We Dream, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the National Immigration Law Center — all of which represent the roughly 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the United States — are pleading with the federal government to cut federal checks to illegal aliens who have Individual Tax Identification Number (ITINs).
Currently, Trump’s coronavirus relief package includes $1,200 federal checks for American citizens with Social Security Numbers (SSN) or those considered “resident aliens,” like permanent lawful residents in the U.S. on green cards.
Illegal aliens, therefore, are excluded from receiving the federal checks, a provision that has outraged the open borders lobby.
Cities like New York pay a price for being both dense and cosmopolitan. As a new study from Heartland Forward reveals, the prime determinants of high rates of infection include such things as density, percentage of foreign residents, age, presence of global supply chains, and reliance on tourism and hospitality. Globally, the vast majority of cases occur in places that are both densely populated and connected to the global economy. Half of all COVID-19 cases in Spain, for example, have occurred in Madrid, while the Lombardy region in Italy, which includes the city of Milan, accounts for roughly half of all cases in the country and over 60% of the deaths.
A number of youths in southern Spain attacked a convoy of ambulances carrying elderly patients with coronavirus, throwing rocks at the vehicles.
The attack took place in the city of La LÃnea de la Concepción, which lies on the Spanish border with the British territory of Gibraltar, and saw the youths prevent the passage of the convoy of medical vehicles that were carrying 28 elderly infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.
Local police arrested two people — a 25-year-old and a 32-year-old — but said that a total of 50 young people were involved in the incident, which also saw officers attacked with two homemade explosive devices, according to Sud Ouest.
“Several youths gathered at the entrance to the town and threw stones at the ambulances as well as leaving a vehicle across the road to try to prevent it reaching its destination,” a police spokesman confirmed in comments reported by the Daily Mail.
“Officers arrested the two occupants of the vehicle, two men aged 32 and 35. Once the elderly people were taken into the home, police had to establish a security cordon around the residence as around 50 people outside threatened to cause problems,” they added.
Other acts of vandalism occurred later on in the town.
"Youths" is often used as a code-phrase for young (or youngish) Muslim or African criminals and gangs.
In a letter leaked to magazine Le Canard Enchaine, French Secretary of State to the Ministry of the Interior Laurent Nunez advises, “It is not a priority to enforce closings in certain neighborhoods and to stop gatherings.”
In a separate video conference call, Nunez told other officials that restricting movement and shutting down shops in France’s infamous banlieues risks igniting violent social disorder if enforced too rigorously.
A regional defense zone prefect who was in on the call agreed that businesses that had been closed down in other areas of France should remain open in poorer neighborhoods in order to help with “social mediation.”
The laws of economics in action: "Coronavirus pandemic drives up price of heroin, meth and fentanyl"--New York Post. "The coronavirus pandemic is driving up the price of heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl as Mexican cartels scramble to get their hands on Chinese-manufactured chemicals now in short supply."
"Trump Admin Names Gun Makers, Retailers Essential Businesses Nationwide"--Breitbart. The article reports: "President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security released updated guidelines naming gun manufacturers and retailers as essential on Saturday, which means they are to stay open and operational nationwide during a Chinese coronavirus shutdown."
Harrell rebuts some critics and, doing so, covers a lot of topics. A couple comments of mine on topics he discusses. One of the topics he discusses is the accuracy (or lack thereof) of autopsy and police reports. All I can say is that according to a police report of a motor vehicle accident in which I was involved, I died at the age of 18.
Since we are on the topic of rebuttals and pet peeves, one of mine has to do with the pronunciation of "Garand" as in the M1 Garand. Most people pronounce it /ɡəˈrænd/ (similar to the word "grand"), but there are some in the gun community that are pushing the pronunciation /ˈɡærənd/ (similar to "errand"). I understand that the latter pronunciation is how the inventor John Garand pronounced his name, but the former--sounding like "grand"--is how people (including the members of the military that used the rifles) actually referred to the rifle. And the common pronunciation is what matters and is the correct one when referring to the weapon. As an example, I live in the Boise, Idaho area. Boise as in an "s" sound (boy-see), but for some reason, outsiders generally pronounce it with a "z" sound (boy-zee). Which one is correct? The "s" because that is the historic pronunciation.
If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out this past weekend's "Weekend Knowledge Dump" from Active Response Training. Lots of good links and commentary as always, but a couple articles in particular you should check out: one on using a handheld flashlight and handgun at the same time; and an analysis of a family invasion--the Coker Family Incident. As to the latter, Greg Ellifritz comments:
The more of theses scenarios I read about and experience at work, the more I recognize the value of training to stay calm in absolutely chaotic situations. All the shooting training in the world wouldn’t prepare most people for this event. An attack like this requires adaptability and transcendence of chaos more than any single skill set.
Who knows how bad this could have been had an armed citizen not been around to stop the shooter before she actually hit anyone? Sadly, because she didn’t actually kill or injure anyone, this story isn’t of nearly as much interest to the media as it would be otherwise, and this story will get virtually no national news coverage because there wasn’t enough carnage inflicted. The media would much rather talk about lives lost than lives saved.
"Concealed Carry Corner: 3 Different Perspectives on Carrying"--The Firearm Blog. The author prefaces his article: "Over the past year, I’ve written all about different ways to carry handguns and the benefits of various setups. I thought it would be interesting to take three different concealed carrier’s gear and look at what they carry on a daily basis. These are various people I have either met at gun ranges or know personally who conceal carry daily."
"Unique, the Powder That Really Is"--A Tale of Two Thirties. I've long used Unique for most of my loading of handgun cartridges, but didn't know much about the history of it until coming across this article. Apparently the powder dates back to the early years of the 20th Century. For those not familiar with Unique, it is a shotgun and handgun powder that is actually very versatile--I've even read articles and forum posts from people that have used it for rifle ammunition. On this point, the author writes:
Unique can be used to boost pistol bullets, rifle bullets, or shot charges out the barrel of your chosen boomer. Sound versatile? Yes, Allliant calls Unique the most versatile of powders, and that is perhaps the ground of its uniqueness.
That is not to say it is a top performer in all of those applications. I believe most shooters consider it to have greatest applicability for handgun reloading, and I agree. It is my handgun projects that would suffer most if Unique were to disappear. It is, however, also very good for 1-1/8 and 1-1/4 oz. loads in the twelve gauge shotgun and it may be used with smaller gauges. With rifles, it must be confined to light charges with cast bullets. Such loads often give excellent accuracy for plinking and small game applications.
It is the moderate burning rate of Unique that gives it great success with handgun cartridges. You can use it to load the .32 S&W, and you can use it to load the .45 Long Colt, and you can use it to load everything in between those case capacity extremes. Now that is real versatility. With 3.5 grains you can push a 95-gr bullet at about 1000 fps from a 4-in .32 S&W Long. Regular and +P loads to 920 fps are possible in the .38 Special and.44 Special. Use 10 grains to kick a .45 Colt 255 grainer out at 950 fps, maybe a little more from the strong Ruger Bisley or Super Blackhawk. Eleven grains will give about 1200 fps of scoot with a 240-grainer in the .44 Magnum. These are all serious, effective loads for hunting or self defense, achieved with modest charge weights.
The author goes on to further discuss reloading and some of the characteristics of the powder.
Along with learning gun safety principles and procedures, new gunowners should begin to acquire an understanding of the Rules pertinent to defensive use of firearms. Periodically, long time gunowners should also review them. This is especially true for those who have programmed their Orient Phase with platitudes such as “Better tried by 12 than carried by six, I’ll shoot anyone I find in my home, Don’t draw your gun unless you’re going to shoot,” ad nauseum.
Read the whole thing.
"A Critical Look at the New York Reload"--Revolver Guy. The author discusses the great, the good, and the bad about carrying a second handgun, but the biggest reason for the New York Reload is generally the speed of getting back into action if your first gun runs out of ammunition. Remember that this was most popular back when most police used revolvers. In any event, the author tested it out and reports:
... Out of ten iterations the average was 2.744 seconds. The fastest time was 2.46 seconds, and the slowest was 3.13 (run #6). By comparison let’s look at the numbers from my speedloader comparison article. The average time with a 1911 was 2.13 seconds, and the average time with the fastest speedloader (the S.L. Variant) was 3.684 seconds. The New York Reload comes in somewhere between a good semi-auto reload time and an excellent speedloader reload time.
So there is some truth to this one. The New York reload can be faster than reloading a revolver. Still, I would have a hard time calling it the “fastest” reload. Keep in mind I was carrying the second revolver in the best possible position. Were I carrying it on an ankle, on my left side, or in a jacket pocket – or had I been sitting – my time would likely have been somewhat slower. ...
"So You Want to Load Your Own Ammo, But You’re Not Sure if It’s Worth It. Read This First"--The Truth About Guns. A critical look at reloading ammunition and the costs. As the author notes, "[t]he real value in reloading is eliminating the cost of the brass and the declining cost of the reloading equipment." To realize a savings, you have to reload a lot of ammunition to recoup the cost of equipment. In the example that the author uses, he had to reload 4,900 rounds to do so, but he shoots much more than that, so it was worth it to him.
The buffer has an important job. Along with the buffer spring, the buffer provides resistance to the action of the AR as it moves rearward after a shot has been fired. The buffer’s job is to help slow the BCG down so that it doesn’t damage the rifle (in this case, pistol) over time and to help the rifle/pistol feel like a soft shooter.
If the buffer is too light it can travel to quickly and batter the bolt carrier group and the buffer tube. If the buffer is too heavy, it can slow the BCG to the point where it doesn’t move enough to eject the fired round, scoop a new round from the mag, or press the bolt firmly into battery.
Also:
You have properly tuned your buffer when you observe the following while shooting the first few rounds of a full magazine:
Your AR15 cycles completely ejecting the spent casing, loading a fresh cartridge and locking fully into battery.
The spent brass landing between 3:00 and 5:00 if 12:00 is directly downrange.
Your BCG locks to the rear on empty.
The author then goes on to describe the actual process for tuning your buffer. But the basic process is to start heavy and then lighten the buffer. He recommends starting with an H3 buffer and then replace the buffer or the internal weights to lighten it if it doesn't work.
Redundancy, not capacity, is the foremost reason to own at least one coupled magazine set. The additional capacity is just a secondary benefit to coupled magazines. The real benefit is having a spare magazine on the rifle. There is no need to take the time to grab a bag or a chest rig… that spare mag is just there, attached to the first mag, ready to help deal with stoppages.
The likelihood that your average home defender will need to conduct a reload is quite small. I can’t give you statistics but I would say that experiencing a malfunction is more likely than needing to reload. Using a coupled magazine versus something like a drum or quad stack magazine addresses this reality while also providing additional capacity.
The above holds doubly true if you live in rural areas with acreage. Checking out that sound in the barn pulls you away from your home and cuts you off from your supplies. Having a spare magazine that comes with you no matter how hurriedly you run out the door could be clutch.
The Lord will return to the land that He made holy by His mission there in mortality. In triumph, He will come again to Jerusalem. In royal robes of red to symbolize His blood, which oozed from every pore, He shall return to the Holy City (see Doctrine and Covenants 133:46–48). There and elsewhere, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5; see also Doctrine and Covenants 101:23). His “name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He will govern from two world capitals: one in old Jerusalem (see Zechariah 14) and the other in the New Jerusalem “built upon the American continent” (Articles of Faith 1:10). From these centers He will direct the affairs of His Church and kingdom. Another temple will yet be built in Jerusalem. From that temple He shall reign forever as Lord of Lords. Water will issue from under the temple. Waters of the Dead Sea will be healed. (See Ezekiel 47:1–8.) In that day He will bear new titles and be surrounded by special Saints. He will be known as “Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that [will be] with him [will be those who] are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14) to their trust here in mortality. Then He “shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). The earth will be returned to its paradisiacal state and be made new. There will be a new heaven and a new earth (see Revelation 21:1; Ether 13:9; Doctrine and Covenants 29:23–24). It is our charge—it is our privilege—to help prepare the world for that day.
Toilet paper is actually a fairly recent invention. This short documentary looks at what people used before toilet paper, and process by which toilet paper slowly became accepted in the West.
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.
The calibers he recommends range from .243 on the small size, up through your standard dear hunting cartridges (e.g., .270, .308 and .30-06) and topping out at .375 Ruger. He gives specific recommendations as to bullet for each caliber.
Three armed intruders broke into the Cobb County home late Sunday night in what appeared to be an attempted burglary.
An unnamed teenager living in the home shot and killed one of the suspects, Machavellia Bagsby, 21. Another suspect, Taruss Miller, 21, was shot in the leg. Authorities later apprehended a third suspect, a 16-year-old.
Miller was caught on a home security camera begging for help after being shot. He and the unidentified 16-year-old were charged with murder, aggravated assault, attempted armed robbery, burglary, and possession of a firearm.
Police are still investigating the situation and do not plan to charge the 17-year-old with any crimes.
"Penetration of granular materials by small-arms bullets"--International Journal of Impact Engineering. Unfortunately, only the abstract is available. From the abstract: "In the experimental tests, five different types of granular material (0–2 mm wet sand, 0–2 mm dry sand, 2–8 mm gravel, 8–16 mm crushed stone and 16–22 mm crushed rock) were impacted by four different types of small-arms bullets (7.62 mm Ball with a soft lead core, 7.62 mm AP with a hard steel core, 12.7 mm Ball with a soft steel core and 12.7 mm AP with a tungsten carbide core)." Also, "[a]n important observation from this study is that the penetration depth is strongly influenced by deviation of the bullet from its original trajectory. Good agreement between the available experimental results and the numerical predictions is also in general obtained."
What we are looking for is comparing the properties of one bullet to another. I can find no good correlation between actual stopping power, killing power, blowing back power, or any effective gunfight power and how well a bullet blows up a block of gelatin. The same is true for other things you read about, like how it stretches the block, or creates stress cracks in the block. I can’t say there isn’t a relation, but nothing has been proven or demonstrated to date that matters one wit. When I was younger folks bought up big blocks of clay to shoot – how disappointed we were when our “magic” bullets did not blow up critters the same way.
As good as gelatin is, it gives a false sense of security when it comes to consistent performance. Harkening back to that load of excellent reputation, the .357 125gr JHP, it will produce (or at least in most brands) about 12-14” of penetration in 10% gel and will expand violently. I have seen that same load penetrate as little as 1” on a human being (a head shot on a hard headed subject) and I have all seen the same load shoot all the way through, because it didn’t hit anything solid. People and critters are not homogenous. One just never knows.
In animals and people I find that general class of load, which penetrates from 12 to 14 inches of 10% gelatin, will typically penetrate on average about 9 to 10 inches if the hit is in the chest cavity. Though it is not extremely rare to see one go 4” deep or again, go completely through. Why the difference? I do not know, other than that there is a lot of stuff in a human of varying consistency and resistance. The point is that we use mediums because they are consistent, not because they will tell us exactly what will happen. They give a rough idea and compare the characteristics of one bullet to another.
Victory is not always to the swift: "Pistol Access – Building Grip Minutia"--Growing Up Guns. The author examines a couple different techniques for grasping your handgun when you start the draw: the ‘downward draw’/Full Firing Grip where you get a firm grip on your pistol before drawing; and the "‘upward draw’/’claw’ draw. Using the three little fingers to initiate building the grip and finalize the grip either simultaneously or once the gun is moving up and out of the holster." The latter is faster, but less secure, which might be an issue when drawing from concealment or if an attacker makes a grab for your gun when you are drawing. Good article, and I recommend you read the whole thing.
"Ranks of Gun-owners Explodes"--Dispatches from Heck. The author surmises that the current gun and ammo rush is mostly driven by first time gun owners, who are getting a harsh lesson in the realities of how difficult it can be purchase a firearm, and disappointed in learning that firearms can't just be shipped to their door. After going through the many restrictions, the author concludes:
I don't know for certain, but I would bet a lot of money that many of those first-time buyers experiencing the roadblocks outlined above were, until a few days ago, hard-line supporters of 'reasonable restrictions on who can get a gun', and they are, also for the first time, beginning to understand why all those "pro-gun fanatics" were so upset over each new reasonable restriction. They're faced with a situation that does not treat lack of preparedness kindly and is especially cruel to those who weren't even aware that they weren't prepared.
... we’ve talked to a variety of retailers in different parts of the nation who tell us that because of the crush of local business that they’re struggling to take care of, they’ve stopped doing transfers for incoming guns from online sellers.
This is not a matter of dollars. They are so busy with the rush that it’s all they can do to take care of their local walk-in business. They simply don’t have the employees or the bandwidth to process transfers for online sales, too.
I've found a local guy that shares a store front with a couple other FFLs: he only charges $20 for transfers and because he is low volume, he is more than happy to take the 10 minutes or so for filling out the paperwork (Idaho doesn't require background checks for current CCL holders).
"Top 5 Beginner CCW Mistakes (That I Made)"--The Firearm Blog. As I've written about before, concealed carry is a series of ongoing refinements and lessons learned as to many things, including how you carry the firearm (e.g., AIWB, strong side, pocket, etc.), selection of firearm, holsters, etc. But some of them are simple things that you don't really think about, and the latter is what this article about. Lessons that the author learned are: stop adjusting your clothes or patting yourself down constantly to see if you are printing; you need a good quality gun belt; when it comes to holsters, you generally get what you pay for; you need to carry with a round in the chamber; practice drawing from concealment with the clothes you will actually be wearing (which a lot of people fail to do for warm weather).
On that point, I suspect that a lot of people really fail to consider and test how to carry a firearm when wearing a winter coat or gloves. Can you even fit your gloved finger into the trigger guard? After I started carrying concealed, I moved to much lighter gloves in the winter to avoid that problem. I also found that if you are carrying concealed, carrying a small revolver in the pocket of a coat was faster and easier to access than a larger gun on my waist.
"The Nine Worst Holsters"--Redhawk Firearm Training. The author discusses 9 features that you should avoid in a holster. The list are: (1) the holster that doesn’t cover the trigger guard, (2) the holster that doesn’t provide a full firing grip, (3) the holster that doesn’t retain the firearm even when off the belt, (4) the holster made of nylon, (5) the holster that has a long list of guns it works with or comes in generic sizes, (6) a hybrid holster (what the author refers to a "flip flop gun bucket"), (7) the Blackhawk SERPA, (8) anything with the words “Urban Carry” on it, and (9) a strong-side holster that also has a spare mag pouch attached to it. I generally agree with what the author says, but there are always certain exceptions and caveats:
The biggest caveat is the pocket holster. They generally come in certain stock sizes--even the better brands--and won't retain the gun if the holster is dumped upside down. But they prove an exception to the foregoing rules because they are designed to be carried in your pocket, which is, by extension, really part of the holster system.
Another caveat or exception is that regarding the hybrid holster. There are some hybrid inside-the-waistband (IWB) holsters that are reputed to be very good. They typically use a kydex shell to hold the firearm and leather backing to provide comfort to the user and protect the firearm from sweat. I have a good friend that uses such a holster manufactured from Gunfighters Inc. and he has nothing but praises for it.
And, finally, as to Nylon holsters, I would say it depends on the purpose. I have several inexpensive Uncle Mikes' Sidekick holsters that essentially only serve the purpose of holding my handgun and leaving my hands free while I am setting up targets or the such. They aren't for everyday carry and/or concealed carry, so I don't feel the need to pay the extra bucks for features or quality that I don't need.
The 6mm ARC is a rimless .243 caliber cartridge. Judging by the case head dimensions and the Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) of 52,000 psi, it is based on the .220 Russian case (like the 6.5 Grendel or 6mm PPC). At first glance, the 30-degree shoulder angle and the shoulder diameter of .4301″ may make you think that 6mm ARC is a necked down 6.5 Grendel, however, the length to shoulder is 1.1207″ which is shorter than 6.5 Grendel’s 1.1507″ (and longer than 6mm PPC’s 1.075″).
The maximum cartridge overall length of 2.26″ (57.4mm) is identical to the max COAL of .223 Remington which means 6mm ARC is designed to be an AR cartridge. The case length of 1.49″ results in a lot of bullet space (.77″ or 3.16 calibers) which will allow loading projectiles with very long ogives and great external ballistic performance. The SAAMI drawing states a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps for 108-grain bullets.
"YOU'VE STORED THE GRAIN--NOW IT'S TIME TO MAKE BREAD"--Guns Magazine. So you've decided to dig into that stockpile of wheat you have. What do you do? This article discusses the grinding of the wheat and different foods (including various types of bread) you can make with it.
The new 7.62x51mm Advanced Armor Piercing Round will replace the current M993 AP round in the M993-linked configuration to provide improve lethality compared to the current M80A1 and M993 cartridges. The round can be used in the Army’s M240 series of machine guns; the Mk 48 machine gun; and the M110 series, Mk 17, Mk 14, and M14 series rifles.
"Situational Assessment 2015"--Medium. Although the article is 5 years old, it raises some good points that are more valid than ever as to the economic and social problems we face. An excerpt:
... the total set of our social institutions are well past due. More importantly, the total set of the tools and concepts that we use to think about, assess and construct social institutions are well past due. My thinking here is derived from Carrol Quigley’s Evolution of Civilizations and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies.
In sum: social technologies work. They enable us to get what we need from the world and increase our population, standard of living or both. And we do. Until our success changes the context and the set of problems we need to solve.
Perhaps our population has gotten to the size that we can’t deal with our own waste (see London in the 17th Century). Perhaps our farming technique has reached its limits in being able to feed us and we are starting to see a decrease in crop yield (see Mayan Empire). Then we find we are in real trouble because we are married to our tools. We not only use them, we *think* with them. The only way we can figure out how to solve a problem is to use some tool from our “civilization toolkit”. So, when that toolkit itself is losing its edge, do we take the risk of leaving “what we know” or double down? Usually, almost always, the latter.
I call this “hypertrophication.” This approach gives us a temporary reprieve but at the cost of getting even more specialized and locked-in. This makes it harder for us to break out of the mould so we have to keep doubling down. Eventually something gives and . . . bad things happen.
A simple example is the response to the 2008 Financial Crisis. Rather than acknowledging that our entire approach to regulation (and, indeed to finance itself) is what is broken and needs to be thoroughly reinvented, we recoil from the magnitude of that level of consideration and, instead, try to solve the problem with “more of the same”. So our institutions get more complex, cost more time, energy and attention; and deliver, perhaps, a little bit of breathing room. Until the next crisis that they are entirely unprepared for.
We are there. From somewhere around the beginning of WWI, the major structures Western Civilization innovated after the Enlightenment started to collapse. After WWII, we engineered a deep retrofit with a whole set of new technologies (the welfare state, operational planning, mass production, scientific engineering, etc.) and this worked. Wonderfully. Population exploded, lifestyle transformed. We went to the moon.
But not all was well in the State of Denmark. Our late 20th Century innovations managed to carry us through to somewhere in the late 70's or early 80's. At this point we again started to see the edges of our “civilization toolkit” giving away and we made a fateful choice: stability in exchange for adaptive fitness. We doubled down. And since then, every time that the foundations started to shake, we’ve consistently chosen “more of the same.” The result is that we’ve been living in an increasingly delusional systemic environment.
At this point, it is increasingly evident that every single one of our social institutions are in what I call the “rococo stage” or the “root bound” stage: they are complex, heavy, ineffective, poorly designed and essentially impossible to change for the better. Education, healthcare, policing, legislative and regulatory decision making, wealth distribution, monetary system, etc, etc. You name it.
Now this entire category might be considered more of a “force multiplier” on other more fundamental challenges. e.g., a dysfunctional legislative and regulatory environment inhibits our ability to resolve the financial crisis. But, from another point of view, most if not all of our problems are a result of these powerful, delusional and hypertrophied tools.
a) A huge amount of our social energy is tied up in these increasingly destructive institutions. e.g., Consider how much human capital is being wasted in our education system; or how our food/health systems destroy both food and health while simultaneously generating massive negative ecological impact.
b) A huge amount of power is vested in these institutions and, in particular, in the elites who control them, who therefore have short term interests that are divergent from the rest of humanity. And the power to defend those interests (see hyper-surveillance).
c) The “cognitive monopoly” on ideas held by the old civilization toolkit inhibits the discovery and implementation of actually good ideas at the individual, group and social levels.
d) The resulting apathy, “false hopelessness,” or violent reaction that results when we can’t think our way out of our distress. Its one thing to face major problems. Its another thing when the tools, techniques and models that you’ve learned to solve problems with are themselves the problem. When you feel bad but also feel powerless to help yourself . . .
Estimate: could last a while. It took hundreds of years for Rome and Byzantium to collapse. Our current institutional malaise could drag on for a while of its own accord. The problem is that it accentuates each and every other challenge. Consider the downside consequences of our dysfunctional economic/financial/political institutions various “responses” to the financial crisis. They make the crisis worse, reduce faith in political institutions and drive more people into “apathy” or “violence”. If the rubicon is crossed, we can easily see a financial crisis cascade into a social revolution.
So, on a standalone basis, this challenge could drag on for decades. But each step of the way it becomes more and more brittle — allowing even the smallest perturbation to result in an avalanche.
A neo-Nazi in New Zealand who was recently arrested for planning an attack on power substation.
Four (4) neo-Nazis or white supremacists have discussed how easy it would be to target portions of the power grid.
Repairs to power-grids can be expensive, and damage can lead to black outs.
∴ neo-Nazis pose a significant threat to the power grid.
To be honest, I've seen better arguments presented on the television series Ancient Aliens. The poor reasoning is probably the result of the author's education at elite institutions, including Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Air Command & Staff College at the U.S. Air Force’s Air University, and his long experience working for the government in counter-terrorism. But he at least offers the helpful advice that a successful attack on power-substations would require taking out multiple transformers at multiple locations at the same time.
Have you ever wondered why there is such a lack of commonality in political discourse today? In America, you are either a Trump-supporter or not. There is absolutely no bridge or commonality between the two groups. It is almost as if there is one type of person who is composed of fire, and the other type of person is composed of water. Why is this?
Well, there is a theory that precisely explains this dichotomy of behavior. This theory is called the “r/K Selection Theory in Evolutionary Ecology”, and it is based on the observed survival behaviors of creatures.
This post is primarily concerned with the application of the r/k Selection Theory as it is applied to mass mob psychology in the United States today.
And:
Without labeling which political party is which, can you the reader, guess which political party is which?
The r-strategist rabbits want free food and a life of ease and abundant free sex. They want as many of their ilk as possible to share in the abundance. They want to produce as many offspring as possible, as fast as possible, without regard to offspring quality.
That’s right. The r-strategy fits the American Democrat party that is populated with Socialists, Progressives, and Liberals. Truthfully, Marxists are r-strategy rabbits in that they expect boundless support from the wealthy and successful.
The K-strategist wolves want order and defined limits on behavior. They want traditional two-parent families, and meaningful education and training for their young. They are competitive and protective of family, sexually selective and monogamous, imbued with regard for two parent family life, desirous that offspring wait until mature to mate, and loyal to in-group are designed to produce highly fit and competitive offspring, designed to compete in an environment of resource scarcity.
As you might have guessed, the K-strategy fits the American Republican party that is populated with Conservatives, Libertarians, and Neocons.
As an aside, the Anonymous Conservative goes into much more detail in his book The Evolutionary Psychology Behind Politicsand discusses how Libertarians don't really fit neatly in the r/K dynamic. In fact, probably the most reliable indicator of which group a person matches up with is their stance on immigration and borders as that is a measure of in-group loyalty.
"The Wuhan (Chinese) Coronavirus"--The Writer In Black. While news media has been focused on the number of hospital beds total, the author notes that as to the beds that matter--i.e., for critical care--the United States has more than any other country in the world on a per capita basis. "What was an overwhelming crisis in Italy will be 'a bit busy' in the US." After examining data in infection rates and death rates, the author concludes that "at worst case then, we’re talking about a total of 30 million cases in the US and 15,000 deaths. That’s somewhat worse than the 2009 H1N1 epidemic, but not much."
Wash your hands before touching your face. Soap and water not only removes the virus, but kills it. Disinfectant works, but is unnecessary.
The virus survives for a day or two on glass, steel (such a doorknobs) and plastic (such as supermarket wrappings) Windex spray kills and removes the virus. Clean everything that has been exposed to outsiders. Windex spray is more convenient than soap and water for doorknobs and such.
Sort of odd, but when I was at a Target this past weekend, all the cleaning supplies were gone, except for the Windex.
China’s economy was in deep trouble before it launched its viral pandemic upon the world. The trade war tariffs had diminished exports, and supply chains were moving out of China. But now the economic outlook appears weaker than it has in decades. This may be its worst quarter since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, with an actual contraction in GDP in Q1.
Of course, despite the pandemic, Beijing has insisted that it will meet its economic growth goals for 2020. But that’s not realistic. It’s not even clear that China is actually over the pandemic. People can still be seen lining up at hospitals and recent cellphone rolls on China Mobile show up to 21 million fewer users compared to three months ago near the start of the pandemic.
Of course, no economy was prepared for a global pandemic, and all nations will continue to be severely challenged by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak and its aftermath. But the inherent weakness in China’s economy makes it exceptionally vulnerable to both the pandemic downturn and the shift in global trade patterns away from China that’s underway. This dependency is made worse by cratering domestic demand.
What’s more, the Chinese Communist Party’s comprehensive oppression stifles efficiency and innovation in the economy. This will make it more difficult for the economy to adapt quickly to the challenges posed by this pandemic and the evolving global economy.
As a consequence, the pillars of China’s economy—consumer spending and real estate, as well as exports and direct foreign investment—are shaking, even crumbling, before Beijing’s eyes. The highly profitable pharmaceutical and medical supply industries, for example, will be repatriated to the United States as soon as possible.
On the other hand, China may see the current disarray caused by the Wuhan virus outbreak and decide now is the best time to realize its territorial ambitions: "Will The Dragon Lash Out?"--And Magazine. First, the author explains why China may see this as an opportune time:
When the only country that can stop China is in self-quarantine and its economy shuddering to a stop, and in political turmoil with a difficult election coming up – one might fairly say America is distracted.
So Beijing just might conclude the time is right.
Indeed, put yourself in Xi Jinping’s position and you might feel compelled to do something big.
First, COVID-19 hit China far harder than Beijing is letting on. And if the economy does not recover soon mass unrest is possible. Keep in mind that the PRC’s internal security budget is reportedly higher than its “regular” defense budget.
And that was before COVID-19 hit the country.
The CCP kept the virus outbreak under wraps – allowing it to brew up – and then bungled the response. Thousands died and more were sickened – and hundreds of millions forced into “lock-down.” That tends to create resentment against the Chinese leadership – even if it’s dangerous to say so.
Adding to the trouble, export markets are drying up as the virus spreads worldwide and demand for Chinese exports – evaporates.
But remember that Xi and the CCP already faced plenty of challenges to their self-image as all-powerful leaders of a regime destined for global supremacy.
For starters, Taiwan refused to bow to intense PRC pressure. Xi couldn’t even bring Taipei to heel. The island nation recently reelected – by a large majority – a President opposed to unification with the mainland. Even the opposition KMT realizes its “soft on PRC” platform is a loser with most of Taiwan’s electorate.
Taiwan’s effective COVID-19 virus response further humiliates Xi and the CCP.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government gradually increases its support for Taiwan – and does not hide the fact.
Hong Kong is still rebellious and stared down the CCP’s “front” government last year via massive pro-freedom protests. That must sting. And the United States and other countries enacted laws to punish Beijing if it cracks down on Hong Kong. That stings too.
U.S. trade pressure hurts, embarrasses, and infuriates Beijing as it exposes China’s economic dependencies. Washington’s efforts to take down Huawei, China’s flagship telecom company, add to Beijing’s resentment.
And China’s claims to the South China Sea (SCS) are not respected. The Americans, Australians, Japanese, Canadians, British, French and others challenge PRC ownership claims – and regularly conduct military operations in the SCS. The PLA orders foreign warships and planes to leave, but they still go about their business.
Moreover, the United States is bolstering it military position and alliances in the Asia/Pacific. And the U.S. is finally improving weaponry and tactics to counter Chinese advantages. The PLA is still excluded from the RIMPAC exercise.
So along comes COVID-19 – hammering the Chinese economy and the CCP’s reputation – and tarnishing the PRC’s image overseas.
Viewed from Xi’s perspective this is getting dangerous. And the U.S. just might appear as an existential threat to a CCP-run China – and requiring desperate measures.
The article then goes on to explain the "soft power" and "sharp power" techniques that the CCP is using, and possible "hard power" moves that might follow.
