Bombs & Bants (Streamed 5/25/2022)

 

VIDEO: "Bombs & Bants Ep. 37" (51 min.)

The Docent's Memo (May 23, 2022)

 

VIDEO: "The US Army’s new Service Rifle - The SIG SPEAR / NGSW XM5"--Garand Thumb (25 min.). He likes the rifle, very much, but toward the end of the video does complain of the heavy loadout and reduced amount of ammo that will be carried. Interestingly, as I've argued in private about, he suggests that maybe the military needs two service rifles: one for mountainous or open terrain (the XM5), and one for the rest of the world (the M4).

Firearms, Shooting & Self-Defense:

• Be sure to check out the latest Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. Greg has some articles and content dealing with, no surprise, surviving mass shootings/active shootings. Also, be sure to read through the article "25 Gunfighting Stats Learned From Convicted Cop Killers," and the one on how a full beard can save your jaw in a fist fight. 
• "The Great Shooting Stance Feud." Sheriff Jim Wilson offers a tongue-in-cheek account of the feud over Weaver and Isosceles stances. 
• "Concealed Carry Around the Clock: Understanding Waistband Positions." We often throw out terms like carrying a handgun at a 3 o'clock position, 5 o'clock position, and so on, but for someone new to guns, the terms might be confusing, I guess. Anyway, this article has a good explanation of what each is (for both right and left hand shooters) and a helpful diagram.
• "Gunfighting and Neuroscience: Why Using Your Front Sight Might Kill You." The theory, backed up by research, is that when in a gunfight how well you see is more important than how well you shoot. Key to this success is what the author calls "the quiet eye." That is:

    ... the final fixation on a location that is within 3ᵒ of visual angle for a minimum of 100ms’ (Vickers, 1996). In simpler terms this is a fixed spot that your gaze lingers on prior to executing a task. It could be staring at the rim of a basketball hoop prior to a free throw, or looking at a suspect’s elbow prior to him presenting a firearm.

    The quiet eye phenomenon has been associated with expert ability for many years. No matter the area of sporting expertise, they find that the highest performers always exhibit longer and more consistent quiet eye duration. ...

He continues by discussing the phenomena in a shoot/no shoot situation:

    SWAT officers consistently gazed at areas where a weapon would appear. This allowed them to fixate on the object in the person’s hands for longer periods. This comparatively small difference gave their brain vital hundredths of seconds to determine if the scenario was shoot or no shoot.

    When researchers examined rookie officers they found they spent an inordinate amount of time looking at areas that tell you nothing. They looked at the assailant’s face, around the room, and amazingly, they closed their eyes completely before firing in half of the scenarios!

Turning back to the subject that is the title of the article, the author notes that prior to taking a shot, rookies looked at their sights 84% of the time compared to less than 25% of the time by SWAT team members. He explains:

    Remember that sights do not make you shoot accurately. They are mechanical devices that allow you to point a weapon with more precision. You can shoot accurately without sights! Cue angry boomer screeching.

    I want you to understand that I’m not telling you to avoid using sights. I’m trying to impart some nuance to this discussion. Sights allow you to verify your point of aim. Anyone with significant practice can point a firearm precisely, without focusing on sights. Check out this quick video from National Champion shooter Ben Stoeger.

    Ben is shooting a very hard partial target at 25 yards, while not focusing on his front sight. He is doing this because it is faster than looking at the target, looking at the front sight, looking at the rear sight, and then pressing the trigger. He is able to do this because he has millions of rounds and tens of thousands of hours of pistol practice under his belt. New shooters cannot and should not attempt this.

In other words, he is describing what old timers would probably term "point shooting" or "instinctive shooting." These methods were largely abandoned after the wide adoption of Jeff Cooper's "Modern Technique" which emphasized using both hands to hold the gun and using a "flash sight" method. 

• "Guest Shot: EDC -Not Only About Fighting." Dave Spaulding writes:
  

I’ve been involved in a number of situations off-duty that had nothing to do with fighting and I had the proper state of mind to act instead of dither. I’ve helped traffic crash victims, found lost senior citizens, directed traffic until additional patrol units could arrive, pulled a drowning child from a pool, did CPR on a heart attack victim, treated a severe wound, talked to a suicidal subject and even cut away the trouser leg of a child whose pants got caught in an escalator. Yet with all of these situations, I never thought about my EDC carry gear being appropriate for anything other than armed conflict. A situation not too long ago, reaffirmed the need for everyone to be a potential first responder, to be ready for a wide variety of situations, whether cop or citizen, during the course of our everyday routine.

That situation was described in an news account he'd read about the rescue by passersby of three children stuck in a submerged vehicle. Cutting to the chase, Spaulding recommends the following minimum kit for EDC: a handgun (which was fired to break the window glass, although a glass breaker might be a safer choice for that particular task), flashlight, knife (or some other cutting tool), and a cell phone. 

• "40 S&W: Dead Cartridge or Useful Round?" Much of the article is about the history of the cartridge, with the majority of that being a summary of the 1986 Miami shootout which led to the FBI's adoption of the 10mm which was subsequently modified to become the .40 S&W. I don't know about the dead part and neither does the author because she doesn't present any statistics on the extent of its current use and popularity, such as relative sales figures for ammunition and firearms in that caliber as compared to others. We can get somewhat of an idea of this from whether manufacturers continue to offer models in .40 S&W or release new models in .40 S&W. Just going through Shooting Illustrated's recent article on new handguns for 2022, and focusing on the semi-auto handguns, the vast majority of them are 9mm with .45 ACP coming second, and only two being offered in .40 S&W. Both of those are handguns more intended for the competition market than self-defense. I don't know if that is representative, but it is a data point. 

    The author indicates that the cartridge will probably remain popular with competitive pistol shooters and hunters. I know that .40 S&W is popular among those competitors shooting steel plate. I really haven't come across anything on-line or in person suggesting that hunters like the .40 S&W, although perhaps it is regional. I've long maintained, and still do, that the .40 S&W owed its popularity more to the 10-round magazine ban that was part of the 1994 AWB than any other factor, and that it was doomed as soon as the AWB expired. That's not to say that the cartridge will disappear, but that the number of manufacturers supporting the firearm will decline, and even among those that continue manufacturing .40 S&W pistols, new models will be rare.

• "Did You Know That Bridging Optics Is Bad?" The topic concerns mounting optics on an AR where one end is fastened to the rail on the top of the upper receiver, and the other end is attached to the rail on the front handguard. The problem is that the handguard is not going to be stable and is more susceptible to shift than the receiver, obviously, thus throwing off your zero.
• "Here’s Everything We Now Know About The Army’s New Squad Rifles." Collects a lot of the information we have together into one place, except for the information on the expected carry load and its weight. Fortunately, Military.com was able to put that together for us. 

    The XM5 weighs 8.38 pounds, or 9.84 pounds with the suppressor, much heavier than the 6.34-pound M4. That new rifle will also use 20-round magazines, smaller than the 30-round magazines troops currently use. A soldier's basic combat load will be seven of those 20-round magazines, a total of 140 rounds, weighing 9.8 pounds altogether.

    The M4's combat load, also seven magazines for a total of 210 rounds, is 7.4 pounds. In total, a rifleman with the XM5 will carry roughly four pounds more than today's M4 rifleman [but carry 70 rounds less].

• Would gun control have saved these people? "Wisconsin couple are attacked by mama bear after it charged through a window and bit both of them - before they shot it dead while their children slept." The couple had spotted the bear by a bird feeder in their backyard and it apparently became irate when they yelled at it to try and get it to leave. "Both the husband and wife were injured before stabbing the bear with a kitchen knife. Eventually, the man was able to grab a firearm and kill the animal." 
• C'mon people, we can do better: "Manufacture of Firearms Up 300% Since 2000."
• "3D printed .22lr 1911 (with printed slide)." The article also points out that the "[t]he barrel is also printed with a steel tube lining and will eventually include a printed magazine."
• "New York officials prepare for worst as Supreme Court gun ruling looms." Per the article, "Officials are warning of dire consequences if the court rules against New York’s concealed carry law, which requires that you demonstrate a special need for self-protection in order to obtain a permit." The dire consequences are that more people will be carrying firearms. But don't worry, "State leaders are preparing for the worst, and say they’ll craft new legislation that goes as far as possible in restricting concealed carry while still conforming to the court’s ruling." That is, they plan on subverting the Court's decision as soon as it is made. Since nearly a century of gun control in NYC has been a failure, I don't see how letting New Yorkers who can't afford the bribes, costs and attorney's fees to get a CCL could possibly make things worse.
• "Whites Responsible for Less Than 3% of All Mass Shootings In 2022 So Far—But Black Attacks Skyrocket." Rebutting The Violence Project's assertion that "white men are disproportionately responsible for mass shootings more than any other group," Enzo Porter dug into the numbers and discovered that:
  

At this writing, a review of 2022’s 143 mass shootings at the Gun Violence Archive proves that whites were only responsible for four, or about 2.8 percent of them [Mass Shootings In 2022] As with previous years, the data show, again, that black men are wildly overrepresented as mass shooting suspects, with Mexican and Central American suspects making up the rest. 

 

VIDEO: "May in China, the floods are back/Bamboo blossom and have fruits...More strange phenomena"--China Insights (17 min.). The strange phenomena is the sky turning blood red over several cities, which unfortunately is a sign in Chinese culture of severe famine or warfare. 

Prepping & Survival:

• SHTF News worries that "Mass shootings just one sign of the systemic collapse of western society… more hunger, violence, debt and destruction yet to come." The author, Mike Adams, begins:

    The realization is hitting home for many people that the crises now hitting the United States are not simply one-off events. The infant formula outage, rising fuel prices, supply chain collapse, authoritarian censorship and now a wave of mass shootings over the weekend — they all point to the systemic collapse of western society as a whole.

    We are watching the downfall of western civilization as we know it.

    Having reached the age where gun store salesmen probably refer to me as an OFWG behind my back, I've become somewhat blasé about all of this. Part of it is because I'm old enough to remember the latter half of 1970s early 80s when the U.S. was beset with stagflation, gas and energy shortages, high crime rates, real domestic terrorists running around and blowing stuff up (all leftists, of course), international terrorism (of the communist kind--this was before Israel had strengthened jihadist groups in an effort to weaken the PLO), manufacturing being shifted offshore to countries like Japan and South Korea, a lousy president (you pick which one: Nixon, Ford, or Carter), and the humiliation of the Iranian hostage crises, ending with one of the worst recessions in American history (the result of the Fed having to raise interest rates to get inflation under control). Yet it was followed by what I believe is still the longest peace time economic expansions.

    So, just because things are getting worse right now does not necessarily mean that it will continue that way. On the other hand, I do believe that Western Civilization has been collapsing for at least the past 100 years, and the United States reached its zenith no later than 1968. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if we are in a civilizational collapse, it does not mean that it will be a steady, slow decline, but that there will be peaks when things get a bit better.

    It also isn't impossible to reverse the trend. Augustus reversed the declines that had set in at the end of the Roman Republic by, in large part, re-establishing Roman religions and traditions. Classical civilization, tempered by Christianity, was recovering after the collapse of Western Roman Empire when the Islamic invasions snuffed it out. Europe recovered from the decline caused by the end of the Medieval Warming Period and the Black Plague and became a dynamic, assertive civilization.  

    Of course, it is not just Western Civilization in decline. The war between Russia and Ukraine shows us that the disintegration of the Soviet Empire continues. One would think that the British Empire had reached bottom, but the recent trip of Prince William through the Caribbean and the desire of several of the island nations to leave the Commonwealth shows that it, too, is still disintegrating. And, of course, China is about to hurtle off a cliff economically and politically. Our times more resemble the Bronze Age Collapse than the fall of the Roman Empire. But I would remind you that the Bronze Age Collapse, rapid as it was from a historic perspective, still played out over a 75 to 100 year period. 

• "Could It Happen Here? 200 Dead, as Sri Lanka Literally Runs Out of Gas." But on the bright side, the government is committed to green energy reforms and saving the planet.
• More: "Crisis-Hit Sri Lanka Defaults On Debt As It Runs Out Of Fuel."
• More: "Food Riots In Sri Lanka Turn Deadly As Protesters Beat Up Police, Burn Down Politicians' Houses." The food shortage in Sri Lanka is mostly due to government reforms that had forced farmers to use organic and sustainable farming techniques.
• "Back to the land: Family farms flourish amid food uncertainty." About a small family farm in Pennsylvania that started offering home delivery during the pandemic for customers that would have otherwise come to the farm to buy produce and/or meat.
• "How gardening really CAN make you happier: Pottering among greenery and tending plants boosts wellbeing, survey shows."
• "Why Every Prepper Needs a Recurve Bow." James Clark at Alpha Survivalist raises three main points: recurve bows are available everywhere (and generally much less expensive than compound bows, I would add), they are quiet, and you can make your own arrows. I would note on the latter point that the reason why states are allowing lower poundage bows for hunting is because of the greater velocity that comes with modern, lightweight arrows; so, if you are planning or thinking about making your own arrows, you will also need a bow with a higher draw weight. Also, start to learn how to do it now and get the equipment you will need because you can just smooth out a stick and glue some feathers to it and have it work.

VIDOE: "A Study of Decadence(When Societies Commit Suicide)"--Whatifallthis (30 min.)

News & Headlines:

• The whole excuse for the vast administrative state is that experts will do a better job of running the country than politicians and the rubes that vote for them. So, of course, we read this: "Biden Admin Quietly Admits Math Error Is Causing Massive Oil, Gas Permitting Delays." 

Richard Spinrad, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said a subagency “discovered a miscalculation” that has caused a massive backlog in permitting, in the April 29 letter obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Spinrad acknowledged the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) — the subagency tasked with analyzing the impact of offshore drilling projects on wildlife — has used faulty modeling on such impacts and, as a result, overestimated wildlife effects, delaying permitting on existing leases.

Although after the crap modeling we've seen in everything from climate science to the Covid-19 pandemic, it should not be surprising. 

• "Energy Officials Issue 'Sobering' Warning About Widespread Summer Blackouts Triggered by Closure of Fossil Fuel Plants." The warning comes from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is some sort of international NGO responsible for overseeing grid safety. They are warning that blackouts could hit much of America’s Midwest and West this summer. They blame it on utilities shutting down fossil fuel electricity plants without ensuring sufficient capacity from alternatives. 
• The burned hand reaches once more toward the fire: "Wuhan Lab Publishes Study Manipulating H7N9 Virus To Be More Lethal." 
• Dr. Robert Malone has a good overview of monkey pox for the layman. The important point to remember is that this particular outbreak is spreading through sexual contact--i.e., it is an STD. Moreover, it appears to be mostly limited to gay sexual encounters, which is why are seeing reports tying the outbreak to an adult sauna (i.e., Turkish bathhouse) and a pride festival in Gran Canaria, both in Spain, a fetish festival in Antwerp, and gay bars and saunas (Turkish bathhouses) in Britain (which makes you wonder how a child wound up with the disease in Britain--but don't worry, the Rotherham police will be right on it). Reminiscent of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, which was also almost entirely limited to homosexual men in the United States and Europe, current health officials are pushing the panic button in order to avoid public stigmatization of gay men. Thus--and keep in mind that this is an STD that appears to be mostly limited to gay men--"EU health chiefs tell nations to prepare vaccination strategies amid scramble to contain virus - as Denmark becomes 16th country to be struck down and Boris Johnson reveals No10 is 'keeping an eye' on outbreak." As part of this new strategy, according to the article, will be the development of another vaccine and a vaccination campaign.  
• Completely, totally unrelated: "Wuhan Lab was Experimenting with Monkeypox Last Year – Published Research Report in International Journal in February."
• Do I even have to comment about this? "Investigation Underway Following Mysterious Surge in Deaths of Newborn Babies in Scotland."
• News from Wakanda:
• "Prof calls diversity of thought ‘white supremacist b******t’." 
• "Mass shooting: 9 shot, 2 fatally, at State and Chicago on Near North Side, CPD says." More: "PICTURED: Two gunmen, 20 and 21, who face charges for shootout near Chicago's popular Magnificent Mile shopping district that killed two, injured seven and scattered crowd of frightened tourists."
• "Ex-college hoopster found shot and burned was innocent bystander in deadly NYC gang war: sources."
• "Students trash South Carolina high school; administrators decline to press charges."
• "Philadelphia businesses 'closing left and right' over increase in shoplifting: 'Very dangerous'."
• "Brown University Students Extract Groveling Apology From Working-Class Watering Hole." A black student got kicked out of a bar for fighting and troublemaking, and turned the full force of Brown University and its useful idiots against the bar owner based on allegations that the bar was unfriendly toward blacks and LGBT. And that is the way the Left shows it to "the man".
• "University drops sonnets because they are ‘products of white western culture'."
• "Princeton president demands tenured professor is FIRED after he opposed giving black colleagues more sabbatical time and higher salaries than white staff in wake of BLM movement."
• Even though it is pro-abortion advocates on the Left that are threatening to storm the Supreme Court building, burn it down and murder the Justices should Roe v. Wade be overturned, the Department of Homeland Security wants everyone to know that they are preparing for right-wing violence should the decision be tossed out. 
• For years, supporters of the great replacement have (falsely) told us that illegal immigrants are a net gain for the economy because that is all that matters (notwithstanding some famous person once having said that money was the root of all evil): "New York Taxpayers To Pay $220 Million Next Year For Illegal Migrants’ Health Care." 
• Related: "Migrants Tire of Waiting for Title 42’s End, Surge Across Border into Texas."
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine in a nutshell: "Russia 'has lost as many men in its three-month Ukrainian invasion as it did during entire NINE-YEAR war in Afghanistan due to poor tactics and leadership'."
• I don't know whether to laugh or laugh while rolling on the floor: "China Preparing for “D-Day” INVASION of the Continental United States, With Forces to Land on the Beaches of California, as Biden and Newsom Serve as China’s Accomplices: Sources." I mean, I can easily imagine China actually coming up with such a plan and having the hubris to believe that they could pull it off. I just can't see it succeeding. Even giving them the benefit of the doubt that their troops are more like a tiger than a step-on dog, such an invasion would be like that tiger falling into a river thick with hungry Parana. 
• Food shortage updates:
• "World has 10-week supply of wheat, expert tells UN Security Council: ‘This is seismic’."
• "Ukraine sows crops on over 80% of planned lands - ministry."
• "U.S. aims to arm Ukraine with advanced anti-ship missiles to fight Russian blockade."
• "Italy's Salvini Warns Food Shortages Could Cause 20 Million African Migrants To Enter Europe." He's being optimistic. Especially because the food shortages will probably become a regular feature as the world turns to the renewable energy and sustainable farming techniques championed by the Left. The European governments should have sunk the boats early on to discourage illegal migrations, but they didn't, and as a result they will have to kill far more in the future to avoid being completely swamped by illegal aliens.
• The Democratic Party--so popular it has to cheat to win: "Arizona Sheriff's Office Investigating Active Organized Voter Fraud in Yuma County." This is an investigation into this years (2022) elections apparently as a result of its investigation into the 2020 election showing evidence of ongoing fraud.
• Related: "We Know for Sure: The Media, the Democrats, and Joe Biden LIED About EVERYTHING Concerning Hunter."
• Related: "DNC lawyers met with FBI on Russia allegations before surveillance warrant." I think it safe to say that the FBI, as an organization, has become an enemy of the State. 

Other enemies of the State are the "51 former intelligence officials" who signed a letter declaring the Hunter laptop to be a hoax. Those persons are: Jim Clapper, Mike Hayden, Leon Panetta, John Brennan, Thomas Finger, Rick Ledgett, John McLaughlin, Michael Morell, Mike Vickers, Doug Wise, Nick Rasmussen, Russ Travers, Andy Liepman, John Moseman, Larry Pfeiffer, Jeremy Bash, Rodney Snyder, Glenn Gerstell, David B. Buckley, Nada Bakos, Patty Brandmaier, James B. Bruce, David Cariens, Janice Cariens, Paul Kolbe, Peter Corsell, Brett Davis, Roger Zane George, Steven L. Hall, Kent Harrington, Don Hepburn, Timothy D. Kilbourn, Ron Marks, Jonna Hiestand Mendez, Emile Nakhleh, Gerald A. O’Shea, David Priess, Pam Purcilly, Marc Polymeropoulos, Chris Savos, Nick Shapiro, John Sipher, Stephen Slick, Cynthia Strand, Greg Tarbell, David

Terry, Greg Treverton, John Tullius, David A. Vanell, Winston Wiley, and Kristin Wood. 

• The Democrats are preparing for the inevitable civil war: "Senate Democrats propose DOJ license requirement for gun purchases." FYI: "The bill was introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)."
• Wow. And I was just reading how grooming by teachers is a myth: "At least 135 teachers, aides charged with child sex crimes this year alone." Imagine the outrage from the MSM and the Left if this many priests and church workers had been charged with child sex crimes over a 5 month period. But since it is teachers, who are reliable supporters of the Democrats, it is pretty much crickets. 
• Related: "Female Virginia science teacher, 28, is charged with possession of child pornography after cops 'find photos and videos of sex abuse on Snapchat'." The 21st Century witch in action.
• Related: "School Board Member to Host 'Open Mic Night' For LGBTQ Kids - At Her Sex Shop."
• Related: "Loudoun County School Board Moves to Block Investigation of Sexual Assaults it Covered Up."
• Related: "School district invites Philadelphia teachers to attend 'Kink, Trans Sex and BDSM' workshop to 'learn more about trans community' where they were told there is 'no age limit for gender journey', how to use sex toys and what 'puppy fetishes' are."
• At least we have Disney, a company devoted to preserving the innocence of childhood: "Disney Unveils New 2022 ‘Pride’ Clothing Line for LGBTQ Children."
• Considering that American woman under 30 have had, on average, 19 sexual partners, this seems appropriate: "Brides are ditching white gowns for ‘dramatic’ black dresses."
• How churches die: "Berlin archbishop asks forgiveness for homophobia in the Church."
• While we are on the topic of fake Christians, I actually had to laugh at AOC's leftist interpretation of the incident where Christ shamed the Jews from stoning an adulterer, one of the most famous incidents recorded in the New Testament. At least I think that was what she was discussing because almost every detail was wrong:

    'As someone who grew up in in a Christian household I've been thinking a lot about a parable of Christ and if you are would indulge me for those who may not be Christian and familiar with the story... it's a story that is relevant in general.

    'The parable is of a woman... a lot of people may have heard the phrase "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone," in that story there is a woman who was not allowed to be granted a divorce from her husband and so for all intents in purposes they were not really together. There were also the pharisees, strong religious and political leaders. Many of them were in a physical relationship with this woman...' AOC started, before heading off at a tangent.

    'At one point one of the pharisees is caught with the woman and she is immediately marched out into the town square before she is able to get dressed. Everyone surrounds her and try to figure out if they should punish her. 

    'Lets be really clear about the power dynamic here when you have several powerful people doing this. It frankly really blurs the lines of consent because what choice would she have when they hold so much power?,' AOC continued.

    'Christ takes an interest and call him over for advice. He draws something in the sand and people come out to see 'Let he who is without sin throw the first stone.'

    'I think there is deeper meaning to that story,' Ocasio-Cortez said as she entered an analytical phrase. 

    'Christ does not condemn her. The people who did something wrong there were those who were abusing her power. There are a lot of those kinds of types around today, trying to abuse women and take their autonomy away. All in the name of a book that they haven't really studied that closely.  

 She obviously isn't Christian because it is one of the most famous stories from the Bible and she horribly mangled it. First, it wasn't a parable, but an actual event. Second, the account contains nothing about the woman's--the adulterer's--background other than that she was caught in adultery. All the details that AOC is adding are completely made up--that the woman was not allowed to divorce, that she was involved in physical relationships with many of the Pharisees, that she was caught in adultery with a Pharisee, that she was marched into the town square before she could get dressed--it's not in the Bible. It is feminist claptrap that has been added to suggest that the woman had done nothing wrong. Third, Christ may not have condemned the woman, but he also did not tolerate her adultery because his last words to her were to "sin no more." 

• "Why is Canada euthanising the poor?" Basically, as the article explains, it comes down to saving money. 
• "AI Can Predict People's Race From X-Ray Images, And Scientists Are Concerned." Supposedly the concern is that racial bias could be unintentionally applied by computer software when studying images. The unstated concern is that it undermines the narrative of race being a social construct and, therefor, could get the researchers blackballed. The article reports that accuracy was as high as 90% with some groups of images. 

    Right now the scientists aren't sure why the AI system is so good at identifying race from images that don't contain such information, at least not on the surface. Even when limited information is provided, by removing clues on bone density for instance or focussing on a small part of the body, the models still performed surprisingly well at guessing the race reported in the file.

    It's possible that the system is finding signs of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, that are as yet unknown to science.

    "Our finding that AI can accurately predict self-reported race, even from corrupted, cropped, and noised medical images, often when clinical experts cannot, creates an enormous risk for all model deployments in medical imaging," write the researchers.

    The research adds to a growing pile of evidence that AI systems can often reflect the biases and prejudices of human beings, whether that's racism, sexism, or something else. Skewed training data can lead to skewed results, making them much less useful.

Yes, we have reached the point where merely identifying someone as being of a particular race is racist, even when done by a machine. 

• Someone enjoyed reading the Goosebumps books as a kid: "Scientists Gene Hack Hamsters Into Hyper-Aggressive Monsters." 
• Health and longevity researchers should be jumping all over this: "New Jersey Voter Rolls Have 2.4K Registrants 105 Years Old or Older." Track these people down and find out the secret of their long lives!
• A good time to be a mouse: "Scientists REVERSE memory loss in mice by injecting them with brain fluid of younger rodents in potential dementia breakthrough."
• After $5.1 billion and years behind Space-X, Boeing's Starliner finally reached orbit last Friday and successfully docked with the international space station. Cost plus contracting may be expensive, but it sure is slow.
• "Voyager 1 mystery: Sending random data." According to the article, although the Voyager 1 antenna remains pointed at Earth and the probe hasn't gone into a protective fault mode, the telemetry data they are receiving appears to be "randomly generated, or does not reflect any possible state the AACS could be in." Another article, "Something strange is up with 45-year-old spacecraft Voyager 1," reports:

Voyager 1’s altitude articulation and control system (AACS) is sending back some strange readings, and engineers are puzzled as the craft is still operating normally. The AACS is responsible for keeping Voyager in the right orientation and making sure that its antenna is pointing toward Earth so that the spacecraft can transmit data. But now, the AACS is sending back data that doesn’t make any sense — the data looks like it could be scrambled, for example, or suggests that the system is in an impossible state — even though the antenna is still pointing the right way and transmitting just fine.

It has been a long while since I took my class in state machines, but since the craft is beyond the heliosphere--i.e., in interstellar space--with the high radiation exposure that would bring, I would guess that radiation is inducing the failures by flipping bits here and there. Since the AACS is still working, it also suggests something is wrong between where the data leaves the AACS and it being broadcast rather than something wrong with the AACS itself. 

Latest Bombs & Bants (streamed 5/18/2022)

 

VIDEO: "Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 36" (43 min.)

Bombs & Bants (Streamed May 11, 2022)

 

VIDEO: Bombs & Bants Episode 35 (43 min.)

Docent's Memo (May 16, 2022)

VIDEO: "S&W J Frame Trigger Spring Kit Install" (10 min.)

If you want to lighten the trigger pull on a J-frame, this video shows you how.

Firearms, Shooting & Self-Defense:

• Be sure to check out the most recent Defensive Pistolcraft post from Jon Low. Typically I will highlight a few stories, points or advice in his post, but given what is coming, I thought this was maybe the most important comment Jon included in this most recent post (paraphrasing from Andrew Branca on self-defense against rioters, looters and arsonists--note that the non-italicized comments in brackets are my own additions):
  

      Every person participating in the riot is responsible for the worst behavior of the rioters.  The peaceful protesters are not responsible for the behavior of the rioters.  Will you be able to tell the difference?   

 

     Every person in your organized defensive group is responsible for the worst behavior

of someone in your group exercising poor judgment.  Not everyone is trained as you are.  

 

     Don't be there.  You win!   

 

     If you wait for the riot to come to you, or go to the riot, you have a greater than zero

chance of dying and a greater than zero chance of spending the rest of your life in prison.  

 

     Peaceful protesters, obstructive protesters, violent protesters (rioters).  

Can you distinguish?  Do you know how to handle each category?  

 

     Persons saying "all lives matter" have been killed by Black Lives Matter mobs.  

So don't talk to them, LEAVE!  

 

     If your car automatically unlocks your doors when you shift gears to park, you need

to fix this design error.  You need to be able to keep your doors locked in a riot.  If your

mechanic can't fix this, change cars.  Participating in your own murder is an act of

criminal stupidity.  Keep your windows rolled up.  Force the bad guys to break something

to get in.  That eliminates any ambiguity.  Now you know they mean to kill or seriously

injure you, so you are justified in using lethal force.  Having your doors unlocked and your

windows rolled down is an act of criminal stupidity.   

 

     Your vehicle is a more effective weapon than your pistol.  [I would add that this is at lower speeds; at high speeds ... well, you've probably seen what happens when a car or pickup strikes a deer at highway speeds]. 

 

     If the rioters are around your home, stay in your home.  If they are threatening projecting

force into your home (shooting at you, throwing Molotov cocktails), you are justified in

using lethal force.  They don't have to breach your home.  They don't have to do violence.  

Self-defense is the use of force to prevent the violence.  

 

     Andrew gives many questions that you need to think about and answer before you are

confronted with the threat, because they are not easy to answer, and trying to figure them

out under the stress of the threat is going to be impossible.  They are moral questions,

not legal questions.   

 

     Make your tactical decisions and trigger points ahead of time.  You actions may be

reactive, but your decision making should be proactive.  Example, if a rioter displays a

Molotov cocktail, I will immediately shoot him.  If you don't make the decision ahead

of time, you won't act decisively, immediately; and your car will be on fire with your

spouse and kids attempting to bail out into the mob (if they are not buckled into their

car seats, hard for a 4 month old to unbuckle her straps and get out of the car seat,

much less the car).   

 

     "Oh, that's horrible.  I don't want to think about such things."   

 

     If you choose to neglect thinking about such things, you are participating in your

own murder.   

 

     "I wouldn't shoot a person just because he's holding a bottle with a rag hanging out of it." 

 

     When your car is on fire, you won't be able to go back in time to shoot him to prevent

him from throwing the Molotov cocktail at your car.  You and your passengers are going to

suffocate or burn to death.  

• Be sure to check out Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump for May 13, 2022. A few of the articles to which he links which caught my attention had to do with dealing with squib loads in a revolver, a look at what anti-poaching units in Africa carry in way of equipment (and why), and a video testing saps and blackjacks.
• By now you have undoubtedly heard about the shooting at a Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets store this past weekend that left 10 dead. I have some comments about the shooting further below that deal with the social and political aspects of the shooting, but for purposes of this portion of my weekly memo, I want to focus on the fact that the shooter was wearing some sort of body armor as well as a tactical helmet. I haven't been able to find any specific information on the body armor such as whether it a Kevlar vest or rifle plates, or confirmation that the helmet was Kevlar. Nevertheless, this is another incident where we need to consider alternatives to shooting to the center of mass, and whether your chosen defensive weapon has the requisite power and accuracy to disable an attacker so armored up. 

    My personal belief--and I will readily acknowledge having no experience in this matter--is that a shot to any exposed area is worth it because experience has shown that mass shooters will typically give up when confronted by an armed defender and/or shot; and even if it doesn't make the shooter give up, it will degrade his or her ability to continue the attack. Just remember that the defender must move after taking his or her shot.

    But if the opportunity presents itself, alternate shot locations would be to the face in the T made by the eyes and nose, or just slightly above the ear canal if shooting from the side. These, as you know, are target areas that can immediately stop an attack because a strike there--if the bullet has sufficient penetration--will strike the brain stem and cause flaccid paralysis. Fortunately, the latest models of tactical helmets leave those areas exposed; but the older PASGT helmets will protect against the side shot. 

    Other areas to shoot include the neck and pelvis girdle. A neck shot through the esophagus can immediately impair the attacker's breathing and cause panic; or strike the spine causing shock. Shots to the pelvis must either strike the pelvis in a location and with sufficient power that the pelvis is broken, or to the hip joint to shatter or break one of those joints. Unfortunately, the majority of handguns lack the power to break the pelvis but will simply punch a hole. But even if you have a rifle or other weapon sufficient powerful to break the pelvis, such shots should be thought of as having the purpose to anchor the target, much like a hunter shooting an animal in the shoulder, but allowing the defender to escape or move into a position to take a better shot. A couple articles on that topic are here and here.

• "Snubnose Revolver Ballistic Gelatin Tests"--Active Response Training. Further support for selecting wad-cutters for a defensive round out of the small .38 snub-nosed revolvers.
• With another summer of riots likely, Greg Ellifritz has this timely advice: "Your Tactical Training Scenario- Dealing with Molotov Cocktails and Fire Bombs." He writes:

Obviously, the best course of action here is to maintain good situational awareness and drive away as soon as you notice the attack underway.  Even if your vehicle is hit by a fire bomb, keep driving.  The car’s movement will allow the burning liquid to drip off of your car and any additional distance you can create between you and your attackers creates a more favorable outcome for you.

But if your vehicle catches fire, he recommends exiting the vehicle and running away as fast as you can. And when he says "as fast as you can," he means that you won't have time to grab supplies from the glove box or the trunk/cargo area; which means that you had better have a plan on getting children out quickly that are in car seats or booster seats (if you are a parent of a young child, you should already have some sort of plan in the event of a car accident).

    I suspect Ellifritz is basing his advice on auto fires he has dealt with as a police officer. Having been involved in a matter where a woman burned to death in a car fire, I can tell you that you should not be blasé about such fires. The matter I dealt with was a woman that crushed a portion of her exhaust pipe up against the underbody of the car going over a hump in the road and the heat eventually got the carpet to smolder and catch on fire. As best as could be determined, the toxic fumes released from the smoldering carpet overwhelmed her before she was even able to stop the car and get the door full opened. And the car was fully engulfed in flames before passersby (she was next to a busy road) could even reach her to pull her the rest of the way from the car.   

    Ellfritz also asks:

When is the last time you’ve sprinted? Could you run away fast enough to avoid the flying flaming bottles? Some of you need to be doing more sprinting and less surfing gun channels on YouTube.

I know that I fall into that category.

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Top Maintenance Items For Concealed Carry"--The Firearm Blog. A discussion of the importance of maintenance for your EDC carry gear as that is the stuff that will be exposed to dust and lint, sweat and oil, and so on. Of course, as the article relates in greater detail, you need to regularly clean and oil your handgun, make sure to replace batteries (even if they seem fine) and switch out your carry ammo (i.e., shoot up the old stuff you've been carrying around--it gives you some practice with your defensive ammo and makes sure that you load a fresh magazine). The part I don't really agree with is the authors suggestion to also switch to different magazines (he mentions yearly moving his magazines from his carry gun rotation to his set he uses for practice and training). Quality magazines are not going to wear out sitting in your firearm or a magazine pouch; the idea of springs setting and compromising performance has been shown to be a myth when a manufacturer is using good quality springs. The magazines most likely to "wear out" or be damaged are the magazines that you regularly use for practice and are dropping to the floor or ground as you practice reloads, as they are the most likely to get bent or broken feed lips; and, for that reason, you should keep your training magazines separate from those that you use for EDC carry. As for the carry magazines, they just need a periodic disassembly and cleaning and checking the spring for rust. And if you are worried about your spring, you can typically purchase replacement springs (at least for the more popular models of pistols).
• Greg Ellifritz included this in his most recent Weekend Knowledge Dump, but I had also come across it: "How to Find The Best Concealed Carry Holster"--Shooting Illustrated. It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is the picture:

• Have you ever wanted a pistol that shoots the 5.7mm cartridge but have been dissuaded by the high cost of the FN and Ruger pistols? PSA has you covered. "Now Available: The Palmetto State Armory 5.7 Rock Pistol"--The Firearm Blog. MSRP is $499. It ships with two 23-round magazines. If the price doesn't concern you, but you need something with more than 23 rounds in the magazine, then there is always the "KelTec P50 Blowback Semiauto 5.7x28mm Pistol" (but its MSRP is $995).
• "What Is the Striker Control Device?"--Shooting Illustrated.  Many of you are probably familiar with the Striker Control Device (aka, Glock Gadget), but if not, this article is all about what is the device and how and why to use it. The device was originally manufactured by Tau Development Group (which is when I procured one as part of their kickstarting campaign), but is now being manufactured by Langdon Tactical. 
• "Rifle Is Not Fine! New Clawgear AK47 Slick M-LOK Handguards"--The Firearm Blog. M-LOK handguards for the AK that don't require you to cut off the forward sling attachment point.
• "5 Ways To Ruin A Good Handload"--American Rifleman. So you have worked up a good handload for your handgun or rifle. How can you then screw it up to the detriment of accuracy, or maybe even make it dangerous to shoot?

1. Change the bullet manufacturer. Sure, it's the same weight so what could go wrong? 
2. Change a powder manufacturer. E.g., IMR-4064 is not the same powder as AA-4064. This isn't a matter of just slightly different burn rates, but sometimes wildly different burn rates. On the other hand, you do have some oddities such as H110 and W296 being the exact same powder although ostensibly from different companies.
3. Change a primer manufacturer. Again, changing components from what you used to get the perfect load is going to mess with its consistency (accuracy) because there might be slight differences in burn rates. The author doesn't mention this, but the same can apply even from the same manufacturer. For instance, even ignoring the difference between magnum and standard primers, manufacturers may make different varieties of primers each with slightly different characteristics. For instance, CCI makes a line of BR (bench rest) primers that are supposed to be basically the same as the standard (small or large) rifle primers, just more consistent. But the metal is slightly thicker on the BR primers, in order to handle higher pressures, and the dimensions are slightly different. CCI also sells military primers intended for specific calibers. So, for instance, CCI's No. 41 primers are small rifle primers, but manufactured specifically for the 5.56. Are they the same as the CCI's No. 400 primers (the standard small rifle primer)? Don't know. Something I would want to check.
4. A change in brass. This one could have a greater impact on accuracy than any of the others except, maybe, a change in bullet manufacturers. And this is simply because the wall thickness could vary greatly between manufacturers; and it quite definitely differs between military brass for the 7.62x51 and the civilian .308. This means that you will see different internal volumes and, therefore, resulting variances in pressure if everything else is held the same.
5. A change in dies. Again, slight differences in tolerances--particularly with re-sizing--can result in degraded accuracy with a particular load.

• "Souvenir Self Defense -- Can you use a classic, original-style 1911 in .45 ACP for self defense?"--Shooting Illustrated. It seems a silly question since the 1911 served in two world wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars as well as numerous other wars and actions. The sights are not the best in the world, and you definitely want to examine and test the weapon to make sure it is safe to use and actually functions. The only real factor to keep in mind is that many of the older semi-auto designs including the 1911 were designed around using a FMJ bullet and won't reliably cycle most hollow-point ammunition. 

VIDEO: "The Fall of China" (20 min.)

Prepping & Survival:

• "Are You As Safe in the Country As You Think?" by J.G. Martinez D, Organic Prepper. The author begins:

    While it is not my intention to portray my homeland as one where terror and fear reign supreme, there are a few lessons about safety farmers have learned here that American farmers would be prudent to learn as well. We live in relative tranquility in a small rural town at a decent distance from the capital city. Venezuela is abundant in haciendas. Corn and rice production has increased, against all prognostics.

    However, living in the countryside is a risky business. 

 

    There are gangs that, from time to time, can spread fear and havoc. Isolated, secluded farms seem to be the these gangs’ favorite targets. While isolated farms make for great survival retreats, one should be aware of the difficulties of asking for help when bad people show up.

    How to manage this problem is not easy. Usually, people in the nearby towns are so poor that they will hide these gang members and will lie about those stealing from the farms to protect them from the law. Hiring someone from these towns is like playing Russian roulette. A huge percentage of these robberies (even at gunpoint) are committed by thugs that previously managed to get hired on the farms so that they could secretly collect all the intel they needed on how to best rob the place.

    How many laborers, windows, rooms, safes, valuables, vehicles, guard dogs, and guards are all common bits of information these hired hands will find out for their buddies. While I don’t portray my country as a land of outright violence, the existence of huge gangs with names like “The Train of Aragua” is a fact that can’t be ignored. These are almost paramilitary organizations, rivaling in cruelty and as dangerous as the Maras from El Salvador.

    They seem to be interested in larger haciendas with vast commercial operations rather than small mom and pop farms. However, predators tend to choose easy prey.

Read the whole thing.

• I've subscribed to a Grey Zone Dispatch from Forward Observer which gives little nuggets of information here and there, including this warning of riots coming this summer:

     I'm seeing some of the same indicators now as we saw in the days and weeks leading up to the worst of the George Floyd riots of 2020.

 

    The same popular social media accounts active in the summer two years ago are active now -- some of them reactivating after many months of inactivity.

     They're sharing the same types of best practices on organizing and joining affinity groups, as well as general advice for direct action demonstrations, tactics for overcoming a police presence, providing first aid, practicing digital and physical security, and overall movement strategy.

     These accounts are also sharing memes that call for violence, while agitating against law enforcement, anti-abortion groups, and conservatives.

• "Are Food Riots Coming to the U.S.?"--Organic Prepper. This article is mostly a run down of recent events concerning food shortages around the world. I would not be surprised if we did see riots. I have theorized that the real reason for the 1934 National Firearms Act was due to the numerous food riots that broke out across the nation in 1931 and 1932 due to a mixture of drought and the onset of the Great Depression as well as other civil unrest in the early 1930s. In that post, I noted the the 1931 Food Riot in England, Arkansas, as well as the February 1931 Minneapolis food riot, subsequently food riots that broke out in San Francisco, Oklahoma City, St. Paul, Van Dyke, and many other cities; as well as the Ford Hunger March, sometimes called the Ford Massacre, which was a demonstration of unemployed workers that took place on March 7, 1932, in Dearborn, Mich, which resulted in the deaths of five marchers after police and Ford security guards opened fire. 
• "Power-up bag"--Backwoods Home Magazine. The author observes that in an emergency a smart phone can be one of your most important assets, especially when outfitted with apps allowing you to monitor news, use maps and get directions, offering a digital compass, and access to first aid or other instruction. Thus, a key prep may be figuring out how to power your cell phone (or other small device). The author describes putting together a small bag or case to hold a battery pack and few charger cables will easily fit into a vehicle’s glove box, or a slightly large bag or case for 12-volt DC and 5-volt USB adapters, LED flashlight, portable radio, fold-up solar module, power inverter, and extra battery power packs.
• "Small engine maintenance for women" by Michelle Richards, Backwoods Home Magazine. Small engine maintenance doesn't discriminate between men and women: this is a great article for anyone on the difference between small two- and four-cycle engines, as well as basic use and maintenance tips. 

VIDEO: "Bro v Wade" (3 min.)

News & Headlines:

• "India, second-largest wheat producer, bans exports amid food supply concerns"--Fox Business. 

    India, the second-largest producer of wheat, has banned exports of the commodity, due to a risk to its food security. 

    A Friday notice in the government gazette signed by Santosh Kumar Sarangi, the Director General of Foreign Trade, said that a "sudden spike" in the global prices of wheat was putting India, neighboring and other vulnerable countries at risk. 

    The export of wheat will be allowed in case of shipments where an Irrevocable Letter of Credit (ICLC) had been issued on or before the date of the notice and "on the basis of permission granted by the Government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their governments." 

Just because I had to look it up, I thought some of you might also not know exactly what is an ICLC. "An irrevocable letter of credit (ILOC) is a guarantee for payment issued by a bank for goods and services purchased, which cannot be cancelled during some specified time period." The Fox Business article goes on to note that although India is the second largest producer of wheat in the world, it also consumes almost all of what it produces. "The nation had set a goal of exporting 10 million tons from 2022 to 2023, much of which would have gone to other developing countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand," and still may if those countries can cough up enough cash. As I've been saying, food will follow the money, which has the effect of draining food out of poorer countries to richer countries (or, even in the same country, from poorer provinces to richer provinces). India's actions is a recognition of this means that they are intending on heading off the civil unrest that would follow a shortage of basic foodstuffs. The G20-Insights noted in 2020:

During the last two decades agricultural trade has increased substantially. One consequence of this is that almost 20 percent of all calories consumed worldwide are provided by traded food. A number of emerging economies and newly developed countries are now main actors in world trade. Some countries like China, Korea and Saudi Arabia have become large net importers as a consequence of the rapid increase of consumption resulting from economic growth and a growing middle class. Others like Brazil, Argentina and Thailand have modernized their agricultures, improved the use of their ample natural resources, increased exponentially their production and are now main net exporters. The end result of these processes is that five countries (China, Korea, Japan, Russia and Saudi Arabia) are responsible for about 40% of food net imports and seven countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand and USA) account for about 55% of total food net exports.  

Or, as they sum up, "Trade is a central element for global food security." So, if countries begin limiting food exporters limit their international sales of food, it decreases food security in other nations, particularly the major net importers.

    China obviously had intelligence or other information that forewarned them of a coming food crises because the CCP began substantially increasing food reserves (what the MSM calls "hoarding") sometime last year. I don't know when, but it was early enough that people began noticing at the beginning of the year. In fact, in a January 4 op-ed in Bloomberg, the author attempted to blame China's "hoarding" for the inflated food prices in the United States. But here is the interesting part from the article: "By mid-2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China will hold 69% of the world’s corn reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat." Also, "[i]n November, after a vaguely worded government missive about potential shortfalls this winter caused nationwide panic, agricultural officials announced that China had enough wheat stockpiled to last 18 months."

    Perhaps China was already aware of Putin's plans to invade the Ukraine, knew that it would disrupt Ukraine's ability to produce and export grain, and strongly believed that the Biden Administration would react by imposing sanctions on Russia thereby disrupting Russia's ability to export grain? Perhaps the stockpiling is in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan and the economic sanctions and blockade that would follow? Perhaps it was with an eye on the disruptions to supply chains caused by the overreaction to the Covid-19 pandemic? Perhaps it was all of these, or some combination? Or something that I can't think of? 

    Unfortunately, it won't work for China because, being China and being Communists, corruption will gum up any method of distribution of the food to its population. We see this already in the distribution of food to those in lockdown in China due, supposedly, to contain Covid outbreaks. Party officials and petty bureaucrats are stealing the best for themselves, selling off a sizable portion of the remainder, and letting much of the rest of it to rot. I doubt that Chinese grain storage facilities actually hold anywhere near as much grain in actuality as they do on paper due to corruption. Arthur Hubber explained in The Fate of Empires how Communism relies on pure reason to work. He believed it was possible. I don't. Nature won't allow it because it is easier to directly work on satisfying your self-interest than to work for the good of society and benefit indirectly from something that benefits everyone. Especially in an amoral society, as Communism always constructs, where neither the rule of law or the markets acts as a restraint. 

    But I had an even darker thought the other day when considering the sheer volume of wokeisms that had been inserted and interwoven into the latest Disney/Marvel movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. By the mid-20th Century, most of the signs and symptoms of societal collapse had been documented. Some were understood much earlier. While I have tried to use the works of these scholars to gain some insight to what we can expect, one could just as easily use the information to lay out a rough road map on how to destroy a society. A group could have decided to do so for their own purposes, perhaps purposes that they deem to ultimately be the best for mankind, such as reducing the population to 500 million as set out on the Georgia Guidestones. Perhaps to remake society into something else. Perhaps for revenge.  Obviously something that I will need to further consider.

• New York's vaunted gun control laws once again show their worth with the report this weekend of a gunman that opened fire on shoppers in and around a Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets store, killing 10 people, most or all of which were black. The shooter was armed with a rifle that the media is describing as an assault-style rifle illegally modified when the shooter used illegal "high capacity magazines" in the weapon. The weapon appears to have been an AR-15 on which the shooter had written various messages including the name of the Virginia Sorenson, a white woman who was run over at a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last year by a black terrorist. The victims were unarmed, of course, because New York has a public policy of making sure that victims are unarmed.

Obviously not a fan of BLM and Black Nationalists.

    Anonymous Conservative believes that the shooter was an MK-Ultra wind-up toy released to kill in order to generate sympathy for gun control or some other Leftist cause. Certainly the usual suspects are already calling for more gun control and ... wait for it ... more control over social media. The reasoning behind the latter apparently is because the shooter published a manifesto on 4Chan and briefly streamed his shooting to Twitchy. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said, according to The Hill, that "social media platforms must be held responsible for allowing Gendron to publish the manifesto online, arguing hateful ideas were 'spreading through social media platforms that need to be monitored and shut down the second these words are espoused.'" So maybe the shooting had more to do with the impending purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk than gun control. 

    But on to motive. The shooter has admitted he was targeting the black community. Even if we are simply dealing with a disturbed person (if he was a favored minority he would be described as a "child" or "teen"), this didn't come out of nowhere. I haven't read the shooter's manifesto, but based on the few media reports I've read discussing his motivation and what is on his rifle, that his radicalization or madness or whatever you want to call it went in its particular direction is at least as much a consequence of the BLM/Antifa protests and the coddling of those groups by the media and Soros-owned prosecutors as any other factor. 

• More: "Buffalo shooter, 18, who killed ten disguised himself as a HOMELESS person to perform reconnaissance on supermarket the day before he carried out massacre - as DA says he's considering domestic terrorism charges"--Daily Mail.  
• More: "Buffalo shooter, 18, planned attack for MONTHS before driving three hours to gun down 10 in supermarket ambush motivated by his hatred of black people: Cops interview his parents as seven victims named and suspect placed on suicide watch"--Daily Mail. 
• More: "Sister of victim of Buffalo gunman calls for 'killer' to be locked up for 80 years with a black cell mate 'for murdering 72-year-old and nine others in his racism supermarket killing spree'"--Daily Mail. If the races were reversed--a black gunman killing white victims--and the sister of a white victim had called for the shooter to be housed with a white cell mate, the sister would have been vilified as a racist.
• Related: "BLM Privilege: Federal Prosecutors Seek Lenient Sentences for Molotov Cocktail Lawyers"--Legal Insurrection. The article reports that the federal prosecutors of two black lawyers accused of throwing a Molotov Cocktail at a police car during the George Floyd riots are only asking for 18- to 24-month sentences. 

    That’s down from the government’s previous plan to see a 10-year sentence with terrorism enhancement, discussed in an October 2021 Brooklyn federal court hearing during which Mattis and Rahman each previously pleaded guilty to one count of possessing and making a destructive device.

    The original indictment included a 40-year mandatory minimum count and Mattis and Rahman risked a punishment of life imprisonment, according to N.Y. Daily News. The duo spent weeks in jail following their initial arrest on May 30, 2020, but have been on home confinement for most of the past two years.

In other words, the prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence that, if the home confinement is considered part of their time served, would allow the two terrorist to walk free after the sentence is handed down. Compare this against the harsh sentences being imposed on people that just walked through the Capital Building on Jan. 6, 2021. The rule of law is collapsing before our eyes.

• Meanwhile, a day later and on the other side of the country in Laguna Woods, California, an Asian male in his 60s went into a Presbyterian church with a mostly Taiwanese congregation with the intent to commit a mass shooting. He shot 6 people, one of whom died, before being overpowered by members of the congregation. He reportedly was armed with two handguns, although the article doesn't mention if the man's weapons were illegal under California's highly praised gun control laws. Per the article, "[t]he incident occurred in an area with a cluster of houses of worship, including Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist churches and a Jewish synagogue." The congregation was apparently unarmed, but as I tell my kids, almost anything can be used as a weapon, and in this case, it has been reported that Pastor Billy Chang hit the gunman over the head with a chair while the elderly churchgoers hogtied him. Police say that the shooter's motive was unknown and he was not a member of the congregation nor did he live nearby; but given the target and the anger over the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, I have to wonder if the shooter was "pro-choice". 
• Related: "Pro-abortion activist group Ruth Sent Us that targeted SCOTUS justices' homes is BANNED from TikTok after post calling Catholic church 'an institution for the enslavement of women'"--Daily Mail. 
• Related: "Who’s Paying Protesters to Harass Justices and Churches?"--Front Page Magazine. From the article:

    Who is behind Ruth Sent Us?

    It certainly isn't Ruth Bader Ginsburg, after whom the group is named, who would have been disgusted by the harassment of her colleagues. Ginsburg had been a good friend of the late Antonin Scalia and had been critical of Roe v. Wade's unsustainable expansiveness. Alito’s leaked draft even quotes her. While Ruth Sent Us falsely claims that Gingsberg believed that, "black lives matter", the former justice was actually harshly critical of anthem protests.

    She would have been even less fond of harassing justices in their homes.

    Ruth Sent Us is meant to appear grassroots. In reality, it’s interlinked with a much larger network of leftist organizations. The site was registered by Sam Spiegel, the director of digital media at an anti-Trump PAC known as Unseat whose email contact is listed as Vigil for Democracy.

    Unseat and Vigil for Democracy also appear to share a post office box in Palo Alto, California.

    Vigil for Democracy, another anti-Trump group, had organized previous Supreme Court rallies.

    Ruth Sent Us promotes activism through something called Strike for Choice which its Twitter account describes as "one of the national strikes under the Vigil For Democracy umbrella."

    Strike for Choice solicits donations to pay protesters, asking potential donors "would you commit to donating $58 [$7.25], $80 [$10] or $120 [$15] to support a person giving up paid work?"

    The protest fundraising is being conducted through Open Collective, a leftist financial sponsor, which had previously partnered with the Digital Infrastructure Fund backed by $605,000 from the Ford Foundation, $50,000 from leftist Persian billionaire Pierre Omidyar, and $100,000 from George Soros' Open Society Foundation.

    Most early Vigil for Democracy events took place in San Francisco and the group still appears to be centered around the Bay Area. Vigil appears to be obsessed with "desegregating Foothills Park", also the particular fixation of Vara Ramakrishnan, a tech CEO's wife and a member of Raging Grannies who had organized previous protests, and has been described as a Vigil for Democracy “volunteer”. While her husband only made a single political donation to Kamala Harris, Vara is a frequent donor to Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Obama.

•  Some recent news from Wakanda: 
• "Shocking moment four brazen thieves use a SLEDGEHAMMER to smash into New York jewelry store and make off with $100,000 in goods in broad daylight."
• "NYPD hunt a gang of scooter-riding thugs racing up to pedestrians before ripping thousands of dollars worth of gold chains from their necks in spate of robberies in New York City"
• "Author's essay about why she plagiarized chunks of her debut novel about a young, black pregnant woman is pulled after it's found she copied that AS WELL."
• "Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is slammed for 'inciting an insurrection' by warning LGBTQ community 'to fight' because SCOTUS 'will target them next' after Roe v Wade abortion ban leak - as DOJ is criticized for failing to stop protests outside judges' homes."
• "Shocking moment two gunmen dressed in black and armed with assault rifles ambush and kill another man at a Philadelphia gas station in brazen broad daylight attack."
• "'Downtown is in absolute chaos': Hundreds of teens storm Chicago streets for impromptu spring party featuring drinking, boxing matches and twerking contests."
• "Horrifying moment a 79-year-old man with a walking stick is punched to the ground and kicked in the head by Bronx attacker who tried to rob him."
• "Moment ‘drunk’ British Lamborghini owner screams ‘black b***ards’ as LA cops and girlfriend try to calm him down after couple were robbed of two watches, including $19,000 Rolex, by gang who fled in Rolls Royce."
• "Moment brazen smash and grab robbers ransack glasses store in Virginia and steal more than $20,000 in merchandise." 
• "Black Lives Matter is blamed for 32% spike in murders of African-Americans in wake of George Floyd's killing as experts claim protests scared-off cops and worsened crime spiral."
• Clown World News:
• "The Democrats’ War On Children." Money quote: "From abortion to school shutdowns to runaway inflation to baby-food shortages, seemingly everything the Dems do these days has an adverse effect on children. After all, they control Congress and the White House." Also:

    Democrat-allied unions and ultra-woke school administrators used the disruption of normal education schedules to further impose far-left propaganda on students. This would include a divisive, decidedly unscientific and anti-parent LGBTQ agenda that has children questioning their sexual identities, and the tragedy of teachers foisting anti-American ideas such as Critical Race Theory on school kids, further dividing American children by race, class and identity.

    The goal, of course, is to turn them into good little cadres for the social revolution that the progressive, far-left wing of the Democratic Party (now the majority) is desperately trying to shove down America’s collective throat.

    This is nothing new on the left. For the left, propaganda in the schools is everything. As Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin reportedly observed, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have planted will never be uprooted.”

• "Arby's manager 'took a selfie of himself urinating in milkshake mix at fast food eatery for his own sexual gratification'." The manager is also being investigated for possession of child porn.
• "Fury as Colorado teacher invites schoolgirl, 12, to after-school arts club that was actually a meeting about trans and queer identity: Kids were asked who they were sexually attracted to and told that it's ok to LIE to your parents." I think "fury" is a little strong. After all, the teacher hasn't been tarred and feathered.
• "Elementary school teachers brag about ignoring parents' requests to refer to their children by their given names and pronouns in virtual panel."
• "Florida school yearbook on hold over student protest photos." Proving that even worms can learn when exposed to painful stimuli:

    Yearbooks at a central Florida high school won't be distributed until images of students holding rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign while protesting the state's so-called “Don't Say Gay” law can be covered up.

    District officials said they don't want anyone thinking that the school supported the students' walkout.

• "Prominent Transgender Activist Touted by New York Times Arrested and Charged with 16 Felonies for Rape and Sexual Abuse of a Boy."
• "Pedophile apologist hired by Johns Hopkins child abuse center." Allyn Walker, PhD, is joining the center as a postdoctoral fellow.
• "Fisher Price Offers RuPaul Drag Queen Set for Littles."
• "Pennsylvania high school is forced to apologize after an LGBT club staged a drag show on school property: Veteran French teacher is placed on leave for helping organize the event."
• "Missouri AG will investigate school district for giving students as young as four surveys that quiz them on race, sexual orientation and their parents' political beliefs."
• "The teenager set to be Marvel's next big star! How first 'queer Latina superhero' role was rewritten for Xóchitl Gomez, 16, after she wowed casting directors (but it did get her banned from TikTok!)." The role being referenced is as America Chavez in the latest Dr. Strange movie.