A Quick Run Around the Web (7/6/2020)

"Is Full Auto Useful for Home Defense?"--Lucky Gunner (17 min.)

It would be if submachine guns were easily and readily available to the public. As Timothy Mullin noted in his book, The Fighting Submachine Gun, Machine Pistol, and Shotgun: A Hands-on Evaluation, at self defense ranges, the submachine gun and machine pistol give you the multiple projectile effect of a shotgun, but with far more effective projectiles from a ballistic perspective.

• If you haven't already done so, be sure to visit Active Response Training for this past weekend's Weekend Knowledge Dump. Topics included in the links have to do with suturing wounds, escaping from common restraints, reasons why defensive tools should be carried in front of the hips, how to rack a slide with the weak hand, the psychology of deterring an attacker, and the many ways that you and your guns are on the grid. Ellifritz remarks, on this latter point: 

You are on a list.  Just visiting this site likely gets you put on a list.  In my mind, the answer isn’t going to be found in ensuring that you do not get put on the list.  Too late.  The solution is adding so many people to the list that the information becomes unusable.

And this quote from an article on defunding the police:

“Police have too much power, because politicians have too much power. There is little chance that the George Floyd protests and riots will reverse the criminalization of daily life. How many “Defund the Police” activists are also calling for a radical rollback of politicians’ prerogatives to punish almost any activity they disapprove? There will be some reforms and plenty of promises, but as long as cops have pretexts to harass and assail millions of peaceful Americans every day, the outrages will not end. Until protestors realize that the problem is Leviathan, not the local police chief, oppression will continue.”

• "7 Things Every AR-15 Owner Needs to Know How to Do"--The Truth About Guns. The list plus instructions on each of the items. The 7 things are: (1) know how to employ the low ready position; (2) be able to perform a combat reload; (3) know how to field strip your weapon; (4) know how to test and replace gas rings; (5) know how to clear malfunctions; (6) know how to mechanically zero your iron or backup sights; and (7) figure out your mechanical off-set (height of the sights over the bore) so that you can make accurate shots at short distances.
• "ON THE MOSSY OAK MILITIA"--American Partisan. The author writes:

      I use the term Mossy Oak Militia in the intro to Radio Contra. The guys who are going to save this nation ain’t wearing the latest and greatest gucci-cam. They’ll be wearing Mossy Oak, Realtree and whatever they get off the surplus store floor. They’re what you’d call the good ol boys, the ones you’d overlook in a Wal Mart, look past everywhere else, and pray they don’t get ticked off at the local tap room.

      These are the guys who can skin and eat any game animal and do it for fun. They’ve stood by silently and watched everything they held dear- God, Family, Country- be disrespected and desecrated over and over. These are the boys who have stood back and asked themselves “is it really worth me getting fired from my job and losing all I have?” when increasingly, over and over, that answer is becoming a resounding yes. The people I have coming to classes ain’t a bunch of wannabes. They’re men looking for skills in a dirty war. The war that’s coming. They’re not into posturing at some bullshit rally, because they know that’s pointless, and they’re ready to stand up and actually make it count.

     The Declaration of Independence was written by a people who had exhausted all other options. I contend that we are there now. Who controls a people’s history, controls their future. We will fight for it and we are everywhere.

• "TFB REVIEW: Primary Arms SLx Gen III 5X Prism Scope"--The Firearms Blog. It uses the ACSS Aurora reticle which gives you both drop and windage holdovers. Short take: "Despite its entry-level price, the SLx Gen III 5X Prism Scope does the job well. It hits the big three important points for me as far as scopes go in this order: Clarity, Accuracy, and Reliability. Some nice features to see added would be some finger adjustable turrets, but even higher-end scope manufacturers don’t always have this feature."
• "The New Ford F-150's Onboard Generator Can Power a Ridiculous Amount of Equipment"--Road & Track. Given the truck's popularity among contractors and outdoor enthusiasts, Ford has decided it is silly for the same to buy a separate generator when they have the vehicle's motor to use. Thus, they will have the option to include an on-board generator:

Three different onboard generator systems are available. F-150s with conventional non-hybrid drivetrains get a 2.0-kW system, while hybrid trucks get upgraded to 2.4 kW or, optionally, a massive 7.2 kW of power, made possible by the hybrid's 48-volt lithium-ion battery pack. Ford claims that the top-spec 7.2-kW system can power a plasma cutter, TiG welder, chop saw, air compressor, angle grinder, and work light, simultaneously. That mobile welding shop can run for 32 hours continuously on a full tank, making all-day, heavy-duty work possible. If you don't need that much wattage, Ford says the 2.4-kW system can run a jackhammer or a mobile theater setup complete with a projector, loudspeakers, and popcorn machine for up to 85 hours.

• "8 Places to Bug-Out You Have Never Thought Of"--Modern Survival Blog. The article has the list and commentary on each of the different types of locations. And, no, a large indoor mall is not one of those locations despite its popularity in the zombie genre. The eight are: (1) hunting camps (presumably because they are more remote than standard vacation cabins); (2) utility easements; (3) campgrounds; (4) a friend's property; (5) industrial installations (a la "The Colony" TV reality show); (6) commercial buildings; (7) ghost towns; and (8) state or federal parks. 
• "How to Survive With a Disability"--The Survivalist Blog. This is a detailed article with some general tips followed specific tips for common emergencies and natural disasters (building fire, earthquake, etc.), and discusses bugging in and bugging out. From the article:

      More often than not, people with disabilities are told to focus on what they can’t do. But, when it comes to survival in a true emergency, that sort of negative thinking isn’t going to get you very far.

     Sure, there are things that you might not be able to do because of your condition. However, you have strengths, just like everyone else, and these will be critical when a situation turns sour.

     So, take some time to think about what your personal strengths are. Whether it’s gardening, sewing, woodworking, pottery, or something else entirely, there are plenty of ways in which you can leverage your skills to survive.

    This is particularly true if you’re bugging in your home for an extended period of time without access to the supply chain. Bartering your skills for supplies or help from others can be critical in a long-term disaster situation.

Read the whole thing and print or download it.

• "A Visit To The Revolver Clinic"--The Revolver Guy. The author had a couple old revolvers, as well as a fairly new Kimber revolver, that he took into a gunsmith for some TLC. If you are into revolvers, it describes some problems that might pop up with revolvers and how--at least in his case--those problems were corrected.
• "TX2GUNS: WHY THE AVERAGE CIVILIAN SHOULD STUDY ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE"--American Partisan. The author says: "So in closing, the Modern Guerilla must know how to exploit and use technology, but never get too dependent on it to function. and survive. The guerilla must accept that the forthcoming battlefield will have a cyber element to it, without a doubt, but using the modern insurgencies of the time as a harbinger; the real battles will ultimately be one one bullet at a time and one bad PR news story (or Facebook Post) at a time, just like in our previous two examples showed. As I said, the Weapons (including technology) may change over time, but the Fundamentals of Guerilla Warfare never do."
• "Rural Defense Comms: TTPs Part II"--Lizard Farmer. The author begins: "In the last entry we discussed the basics of establishing our local area net.  I’ve identified one huge shortfall in our scheme – the lack of secure comms.  Continuing the comms theme in this entry I’m going to address that problem and begin to dig into some solutions." The rest of the article delves into basic considerations for OPSEC while using a radio and why you should keep your radio traffic to a minimum.
• "How to Build and Launch a Civil War-Style Mortar Soda Can Cannon"--Real World Survivor. Although you can build the tube, the author recommends purchasing one from blackpowder-cannons.com. However, you still need to build the base, which the author discusses, as well as his experiments with the device.
• "CHOKES ARE CHOKED OUT OF POLICE WORK!"--Force Necessary. A discussion of some choke and head restraint holds, the possible dangers, and a list of a few medical sources. Also this:

      Excited delirium is “broadly defined as a state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, aggression, and apparent immunity to pain, often associated with stimulant use and certain psychiatric disorders. “These folks, once arrested have a tendency to die later, in custody. Officers are immediately questioned about what horrible thing did they do to cause the death? “Did you dare choke him? Did you crush him at any point? Are the questions usually asked of the arresting officers.They are usually cleared by the autopsies.

     So, worth mentioning, drugs, alcohol, medical conditions, poor health, being overweight contribute to bad results combined with “choking,”  Officer Brett Gould reminds us that, “The issue is not just the vascular restraint. The 14 percent of the population that fight the police, thus composing a high percent of the prison population coincidentally, also has the highest rate of alcoholism, substance abuse, high blood pressure and diabetes.“

• "All About the 10 mm Auto Round"--Shooting Illustrated. Some history and discussion about the cartridge. An excerpt:

      The reality is, what you really get with the 10mm is near guaranteed terminal performance. For bullets to work—expand and penetrate—they need velocity. With the velocities the 10mm can generate, it’s rare for a bullet to not expand to about 1.5 times its original diameter and to not penetrate to at least the FBI’s minimum of 12 inches. There are very few defensive handgun cartridges that can make this claim. Sure, a 9mm can do it, a .40 S&W can do it, and so can a .45 ACP. But, none of these cartridges can do that every time with such varied styles and weights of bullets. They simply do not have the velocity. 

     Is the 10mm tremendously more effective at stopping a bad guy than a .45, .40, or 9? No. But what its power does—at least according to FBI parameters—is allow for it to deliver a more consistently reliable level of terminal performance. The thing to remember is that in exchange for this near impossible to quantify ballistic advantage, felt recoil is greatly enhanced. 

"Auburn Hills, Michigan Woman Does Just About Everything Wrong: Just Walk Away..."--Mrgunsngear B Channel (3 min.). 

• Above is the full video of the confrontation that resulted in Jillian and Eric Wuestenberg being arrested for felonious assault after the two were accosted by an angry black woman (Takelia Hill) and her daughter (Makayla), harassed, blocked in so they couldn't leave, and even had their car smacked by the black woman. The incident occurred outside a Chipotle's restaurant when the Wuestenbergs were leaving the restaurant and the Hills were entering. Makayla Hill alleged that Jillian had bumped into her, and both of the Hills concluded that the mishap--if it even occurred--was due to racism. The Hills started haranguing the Wuestenbergs who were just trying to leave, with the Hills issuing verbal threats and, as noted, blocking the Wuestenbergs' car from leaving and even hitting the car or one of the car windows. Jillian, who is pregnant, then sprang from the car, drew her weapon, and ordered the Hills to back away. 

       A lot of reporting and commentary on this matter indicate that the Wuestenbergs were in the wrong, both morally and legally. I think it is sad state of affairs that the right to self-defense has degraded to the point that you essentially have to be having your head bashed into the concrete before you can defend yourself, and even then could still be prosecuted for homicide. However, we have to deal with a criminal justice system that makes the presumption that if there is a confrontation like this, someone is going to jail.  So, your goal is to not be identified as the person that has to go to jail. That means that you cannot appear the aggressor and if you have to resort to self defense, including the display of a weapon, you had better be able to articulate why you believed that you were facing an imminent risk of bodily harm. 

      And another point: Given the number of similar news stories I've seen recently, I believe that this is a new tactic of BLM and Antifa: to try to cause a confrontation with the hope that it will escalate into something they can use to harass or doxx someone and/or have them fired. As I've noted before, the best thing is to not engage. If they are videoing and accuse you of something, I would recommend that you deny it (e.g., "I didn't bump into you"), but otherwise not engage with them and leave as quickly as possible if that is legal (most states have laws prohibiting you from leaving the scene of a crime or a motor vehicle accident). Logic is beyond the capabilities of people that live by their emotions so there is no point in trying to reason with them. If they threaten to call the police, encourage them to do so or, as probably should have happened in this case, call the police yourself. 

• “Civil War 2.0 Weather Report: A Year Down The Road”—Wilder Wealthy and Wise. Short take is that John has moved us up to 9–one step below open warfare—where the authorities permit violence based on ideology. As always, read the whole thing.
• A friend directed me to this article: "America Is in the Grips of a Fundamentalist Revival--But it’s not Christian" by David French writing at The Dispatch. French writes:

      Look, I know full-well that there is nothing original about observing that many Americans have transformed politics into a religion. The phrase “Great Awokening” is a direct callback to arguably the most significant Christian religious revival of our nation’s past. It’s not original, nor is it surprising. We’re hard-wired for a spiritual purpose. After all, Ecclesiastes 3:11 declares that “God put eternity” in the hearts of men. 

      The signs of political-religious fervor are incandescently clear. Here’s John McWhorter, writing in The Atlantic, describing the religious elements of what he calls “third-wave antiracism”:

[T]hird-wave antiracism is a profoundly religious movement in everything but terminology. The idea that whites are permanently stained by their white privilege, gaining moral absolution only by eternally attesting to it, is the third wave’s version of original sin. The idea of a someday when America will “come to terms with race” is as vaguely specified a guidepost as Judgment Day. Explorations as to whether an opinion is “problematic” are equivalent to explorations of that which may be blasphemous. The social mauling of the person with “problematic” thoughts parallels the excommunication of the heretic. What is called “virtue signaling,” then, channels the impulse that might lead a Christian to an aggressive display of her faith in Jesus. 

McWhorter was discussing anti-racism, but his analysis applies to elements of the intersectional left more broadly. Here’s Andrew Sullivan with a similar analysis:

[Intersectionality] is operating, in Orwell’s words, as a “smelly little orthodoxy,” and it manifests itself, it seems to me, almost as a religion. It posits a classic orthodoxy through which all of human experience is explained — and through which all speech must be filtered. Its version of original sin is the power of some identity groups over others. To overcome this sin, you need first to confess, i.e., “check your privilege,” and subsequently live your life and order your thoughts in a way that keeps this sin at bay. The sin goes so deep into your psyche, especially if you are white or male or straight, that a profound conversion is required.

• But another view: "The neoliberal counter-revolution" by Sohrab Ahmari at The Spectator. He writes:

      America is not in the middle of a revolution — it is a reactionary putsch. About four years ago, the sort of people who had acquired position and influence as a result of globalization were turfed out of power for the first time in decades. They watched in horror as voters across the world chose Brexit, Donald Trump and other populist and conservative-nationalist options.

     This deposition explains the storm of unrest battering American cities from coast to coast and making waves in Europe as well. The storm’s ferocity — the looting, the mobs, the mass lawlessness, the zealous iconoclasm, the deranged slogans like #DefundPolice — terrifies ordinary Americans. Many conservatives, especially, believe they are facing a revolution targeting the very foundations of American order.

     But when national institutions bow (or kneel) to the street fighters’ demands, it should tell us that something else is going on. We aren’t dealing with a Maoist or Marxist revolt, even if some protagonists spout hard-leftish rhetoric. Rather, what’s playing out is a counter-revolution of the neoliberal class — academe, media, large corporations, ‘experts’, Big Tech — against the nationalist revolution launched in 2016. The supposed insurgents and the elites are marching in the streets together, taking the knee together.

     They do not seek a radically new arrangement, but a return to the pre-Trump, pre-Brexit status quo ante which was working out very well for them. ...

• Frankly, these two stories make me even more suspicious that Covid-19 was engineered:

• "Coronavirus's closest ancestor 'was found SEVEN YEARS ago in a bat-infested mine in China' and a sample was brought back to a lab in Wuhan, investigation reveals"--Daily Mail. From the article:

      A virus 96 per cent identical to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was found in an abandoned mine in China seven years ago, according to an investigation.

      The bat-infested copper mine in Mojiang, western China, was home to a coronavirus that left six adult men sick with pneumonia and three of them dead.

      Scientists took samples from the bats' faeces, found on the cave floor, and stored them in a laboratory 1,000 miles away in Wuhan for years while studying them.

     And last December, Wuhan became the source of a global coronavirus pandemic which has now infected more than 11million people and killed 525,000.

      That virus, named RaBtCoV/4991 at the time, now appears to be the closest relative to SARS-Cov-2, which is causing Covid-19, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

      But Chinese researchers do not seem to have been forthcoming about the fact they found such a similar virus almost a decade ago in 2012, and especially not that it killed three men when it was discovered.

     The virus has reportedly featured in only one widely-available scientific paper and that didn't mention the fact it had caused fatal pneumonia in humans.

• "DNA Inherited From Neanderthals May Increase Risk of Covid-19"--New York Times. An excerpt from the NYT article:

       A stretch of DNA linked to Covid-19 was passed down from Neanderthals 60,000 years ago, according to a new study.

      Scientists don’t yet know why this particular segment increases the risk of severe illness from the coronavirus. But the new findings, which were posted online on Friday and have not yet been published in a scientific journal, show how some clues to modern health stem from ancient history.

     “This interbreeding effect that happened 60,000 years ago is still having an impact today,” said Joshua Akey, a geneticist at Princeton University who was not involved in the new study.

     This piece of the genome, which spans six genes on Chromosome 3, has had a puzzling journey through human history, the study found. The variant is now common in Bangladesh, where 63 percent of people carry at least one copy. Across all of South Asia, almost one-third of people have inherited the segment.

     Elsewhere, however, the segment is far less common. Only 8 percent of Europeans carry it, and just 4 percent have it in East Asia. It is almost completely absent in Africa.

     It’s not clear what evolutionary pattern produced this distribution over the past 60,000 years. “That’s the $10,000 question,” said Hugo Zeberg, a geneticist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who was one of the authors of the new study.

And:

      It’s possible that an immune response that worked against ancient viruses has ended up overreacting against the new coronavirus. People who develop severe cases of Covid-19 typically do so because their immune systems launch uncontrolled attacks that end up scarring their lungs and causing inflammation.

     Dr. Paabo said the DNA segment may account in part for why people of Bangladeshi descent are dying at a high rate of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom.

• "Stanford doctor: Coronavirus fatality rate for people under 45 'almost 0%'"--Washington Examiner. From the article:

      “There are already more than 50 studies that have presented results on how many people in different countries and locations have developed antibodies to the virus,” Dr. John Ioannidis said during a recent interview with Greek Reporter. “Of course, none of these studies are perfect, but cumulatively, they provide useful composite evidence. A very crude estimate might suggest that about 150-300 million or more people have already been infected around the world, far more than the 10 million documented cases.”

     Ioannidis pointed out the mortality rate is low among young people who have contracted the virus.

     “The death rate in a given country depends a lot on the age structure, who are the people infected, and how they are managed,” Ioannidis said. “For people younger than 45, the infection fatality rate is almost 0%. For 45 to 70, it is probably about 0.05%-0.3%. For those above 70, it escalates substantially.”

• They're just asking for more disasters: "China requiring churches to praise communist government, sing national anthem in order to reopen after lockdown"--Disrn. Per the article, the Chinese government allowed some churches to reopen last month, but only if church leaders raised the Chinese flag, declared stories of government success fighting the pandemic, and sang the national anthem. "The churches allowed to reopen are those run by the state, called Three-Self Churches. Government officials oversaw the ceremonies as the churches opened their doors again."
• "China Imposes Quarantine to Fight the Black Death as Bubonic Plague Reported in Inner Mongolia"--PJ Media. According to Chinese authorities, there have only been one confirmed case, a herdsman in Bayannur contracted bubonic plague, who contracted the disease after coming into contact with an infected marmot. The patient is in quarantine and in stable condition. Nevertheless, "Chinese officials issued a level-3 alert, forbidding the hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague and calling on the public to report suspected cases. The alert will last throughout the rest of 2020." The article goes on to state that there is little chance of this spreading any further, and suggests that the Chinese have overreacted to it because of the backlash received from how they mishandled the Wuhan virus.
• "China braces for more storms after floods leave 121 dead or missing this year"--Fox News. 

• More: "Wuhan raises flood alert level as rains batter China"--Reuters. "CMA officials told a briefing on Friday that rainfall in June was 13.5% higher than the seasonal norm. Occurrences of torrential rain and thunderstorms were 43% higher than the 2017-2019 average, they added."

• "New strain of flu found in China has potential to become a pandemic, scientists warn"--CNBC. 

     Scientists have identified a new strain of flu carried by pigs in China that they say has the potential to become a pandemic.

     The new strain is descended from the type of flu — known as “swine flu” — that emerged in 2009 causing the first global flu pandemic in 40 years.

     The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings in U.S. science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. They said the new strain of flu, which they called “G4 EA H1N1,” is a variation of swine flu, and includes the “G4″ genotype that has become predominant in swine populations since 2016.

     As with swine flu, the new strain has been identified as having “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.”

     The scientists, who studied flu viruses in pig populations between 2011 and 2018, noted that around 10% of swine industry workers they tested in China had already been exposed to the virus, which they described as “of concern.” That rate increased among younger workers, aged 18-35, “indicating that the predominant G4 EA H1N1 virus has acquired increased human infectivity.”

• "Predominantly Black armed protesters march through Confederate memorial park in Georgia"--Reuters. The park is one where Stone Mountain is located which bears a bass relief carved in it of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The article goes out of the way to say the protest was peaceful in a way it wouldn't have if it had been conservatives marching with weapons:

      Many of the protesters carried rifles, including military-type weapons, and some wore ammunition belts slung over their shoulders. Although African Americans appeared to account for the vast majority of the marchers, protesters of various races, men and women alike, were among the group.

     One video clip showed a leader of the demonstrators, who was not identified, shouting into a loudspeaker in a challenge to white supremacists who historically have used Stone Mountain as a rallying spot of their own.

     “I don’t see no white militia,” he declared. “We’re here. Where ... you at? We’re in your house. Let’s go.”

• "Washington Post opinions editor says white women are 'lucky' that black people are 'just calling them Karens and not calling for 'revenge'"--Daily Mail. The WaPo editor is Karen Attiah. Her parents and her immigrated from Ghana, and it would not surprise me if she had ancestors that participated in the slave trade, capturing and/or selling other Africans into slavery.
• "The Science is Settled"--The Anatomically Correct Banana. An irreverent comparison of the success of European nation building efforts compared to those of a certain different ethnicity. 
• "On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare"--Environmental Progress. The author begins:

     On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem. 

     I may seem like a strange person to be saying all of this. I have been a climate activist for 20 years and an environmentalist for 30. 

     But as an energy expert asked by Congress to provide objective expert testimony, and invited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to serve as Expert Reviewer of its next Assessment Report, I feel an obligation to apologize for how badly we environmentalists have misled the public.

     Here are some facts few people know:

• Humans are not causing a “sixth mass extinction” 

• The Amazon is not “the lungs of the world”

• Climate change is not making natural disasters worse

• Fires have declined 25% around the world since 2003

• The amount of land we use for meat — humankind’s biggest use of land — has declined by an area nearly as large as Alaska

• The build-up of wood fuel [due to poor forest and range management] and more houses near forests, not climate change, explain why there are more, and more dangerous, fires in Australia and California

• Carbon emissions are declining in most rich nations and have been declining in Britain, Germany, and France since the mid-1970s 

• Netherlands became rich not poor while adapting to life below sea level 

• We produce 25% more food than we need and food surpluses will continue to rise as the world gets hotter

• Habitat loss and the direct killing of wild animals are bigger threats to species than climate change

• Wood fuel is far worse for people and wildlife than fossil fuels

• Preventing future pandemics requires more not less “industrial” agriculture

I would also observe the global temperatures only look high if you restrict yourself to the last few hundred years.

• Because we don't have enough of your money: "Lloyd's calls for state-backed 'Black Swan' reinsurance"--Thompson-Reuters. From the article:

     Commercial insurance market Lloyd's has said insurers worldwide will pay out more than $100 billion in coronavirus-related claims this year.

     But many firms are frustrated that their business interruption policies do not cover the pandemic and some in Europe and the United States are in dispute with insurers.

     The Black Swan cover could be used to ensure payments after catastrophes such as a cyber attack or solar storm destroying critical infrastructure, as well as for pandemics, Lloyd's said in a report published on Wednesday.

    "Our concern is, you solve for pandemic and you don't solve for the next disaster," Lloyd's Chief Executive John Neal told Reuters.

    Insurers in Britain, France, Germany and the United States are seeking government-backed "Pandemic Re" cover for future pandemics, similar to existing pooled insurance schemes for damage due to terror attacks.

"Reinsurance" is, essentially, insurance for insurers, that kicks in after a claim reaches a certain amount set out in the policy in order to limit the insurer's exposure. Thus, Lloyds is suggesting that insurers sell a new insurance coverage (charging a premium for it, of course), and that governments (i.e., taxpayers) agree to kick in amounts beyond a certain point to cover damage to their (the insurance companies') customers. 

• This weekend saw an incident in Seattle where "Man drives into Black Lives Matter crowd, killing 24yo and seriously injuring another protester," as the Australian Broadcasting Company reported it. The protester killed in the accident was Summer Taylor, a white "non-binary" woman. The driver of the Jaguar that struck her and and another woman is "Dawit Kelete, a black man from Seattle who studied business and commerce at Washington State University between 2011 and 2017." Per the article, "[l]ocal officials were trying to determine the motive for the attack on the freeway, which has been shut for the last 19 days due to protests." Victoria Taft discusses the bizarre behavior of the Washington State Patrol in shutting down the freeway--the primary north-south route through Seattle--to allow the protesters to protest in safety, and I would suggest you take a look at her article. As she suggests, there is no reason to believe that Kelete acted for some nefarious purpose, but was simply taking advantage of what he probably believed would be a completely empty interstate highway in the early morning hours when the collision occurred.

      I thought about this and other events on the evening of July 4 as I stood in the drive to my house watching an unprecedented amount of illegal fireworks being set off all around me, bombs bursting in the air, the rockets' red, green, white and blue glare visible from blocks all around; and the combined smoke from the fireworks hanging heavy in the air (and still leaving a haze over the city even today). And this phenomena was not limited to my small corner of Idaho, but based on what I saw on social media apparently was happening in many cities all across the country.

      Looking at the bigger picture, this is nothing more than a sign of a general break-down of law and order. Our legal system is at its heart one that relies on the fact that laws will be enforced by the government, up to and including the use of force. But the riots and looting were facilitated by governments that simply didn't want to enforce the law. Police have stood by and rather than running off rioters or clearing freeways of protesters, allowed it to happen. The only citizens that need to be in fear of the police are those that dare to stand up to the protesters or, God forbid, try to protect themselves from the wrath of the mob.

     Failure to enforce the law leads to disrespect and, eventually, contempt for the law. If governments are going to allow left-wing protesters to literally run riot during pandemic lockdowns, why should the bulk of citizens obey what most people regard as frivolous laws on fireworks? And if police are blocking off large multi-lane highways that cost billions of dollars to construct just so a couple hundred protesters can play at being a revolutionary why should the average citizen obey the numberless petty laws that are imposed on him on a continual growing heap? If BLM and Antifa protesters have free reign to vandalize, why should those on the other side of the political spectrum refrain from doing likewise? You can see where this is headed.

     According to the FBI, in 2011, the rate of sworn officers was 2.4 per 1,000 inhabitants. I doubt that it is any better today. Yes, the omnipresent use of traffic cameras and other forms of monitoring are force multipliers, but only as long as the cameras aren't vandalized or monitoring neutralized. The reality is that the sheer size of our country both in land area and size of the populace is simply too big to be governed without the consent of the people. Lose that consent and lose control. 

• A reminder that we live in the 21st Century: "Solar sail spacecraft begins extended mission"--Space News. Per the article, researchers were able to change the spacecrafts orbit using the sail, but now they are going to focus on how long with judicious sailing they can keep in orbit.