Firearms & Self-Defense:
- Jon Law has up a new Defensive Pistolcraft post. He begins with some comments regarding the kidnapping and murder of Eliza Fletcher. He writes:
I became aware of this incident when members of my church fellowship group were discussing it at yesterday's (9/6/2022) meeting. Some of the members were from Memphis and knew her and her family.
Lessons learned: Don't go jogging by yourself. Don't go jogging at 04:00 (in the dark).Don't go anywhere unarmed. If you are a young female, NEVER go jogging by yourself at 4:00 AM, unarmed in Memphis, TN (Memphis is the murder capitol of the U.S.). The result is as predictable as stepping off the roof of a tall building.
"You're blaming the victim!"
So, it's funny when red neck guys do stupid things to get themselves killed and win the Darwin Award, but it's tragic when white women do stupid things to get themselves killed?
Oh, it's much worse than it appears. How did the bad guys know exactly where and when to set up the ambush for the kidnapping? The bad guys observed repeated behavior. Stupid behavior is bad. Repeated stupid behavior at the same time time everyday is fatal.
How did the bad guy get caught? The family offered a $50,000 reward.
For those of you who have sent a sample off for DNA testing (in the law enforcement context) you know how long it takes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is a law enforcement agency. There is a backlog of 2 years for rape kits awaiting DNA testing in large metropolitan cities. So the TBI getting an instant DNA result is . . . surprising.
There is a lot more there--analysis of an incident where a good guy with a gun safely shot three bad guys in a bank robbery by getting on a table to get above the panicked bank customers, you aren't required to let the bad guy strike or shoot you before responding, "there is no self-defense--there is only violence", how not to give bad facts to the police, and a lot more. One other item I specifically want to mention. Jon discusses an article from Mass Ayoob on "mirror shooting"--being able to shoot with either hand--and its importance, and, farther down his post, lists handguns that are truly ambidextrous as well as some that are mostly ambidextrous. If you are stuck looking at firearms in the mostly ambidextrous list, I think having an ambidextrous slide release is more important than an ambidextrous magazine release. It is easy to use your forefinger to actuate a magazine release, but more difficult to do the same to a slide release.
- "Backup Guns vs Hideout Guns." With more interest among the concealed carry crowd in carrying a second weapon, Greg Ellifritz decided to explain the difference between a backup gun (BUG) and a hideout gun, and how they are employed. He goes into much more detail and provides examples, but briefly it is this: the BUG is smaller than your main carry weapon but is carried in such a way that it is readily available and can be quickly accessed from various positions should, for some reason, you have lost or are unable to draw your main weapon; the hideout gun is harder and slower to access (generally tucked somewhere mostly inaccessible without some effort and generally can't be accessed by either hand) and serves as a weapon that might be passed over in the event of search, or with which you might arm yourself if your main weapon is lost/taken, or with which you might arm another person. In short, the BUG is something that you can still get to in a hurry if you find yourself being attacked, and the hideout is not. Greg does not consider pocket-carry to be suitable for a BUG and ankle carry to only marginally be so. The speed of pocket-carry, in my experience, depends on the size of the weapon, the size of the pocket opening, how tight are the pants, and the holster (some holster tend to stick to the gun). I have some cargo shorts, for instance, that have ample mouths to the pockets and it is very quick and easy for me to access a Sig 238 in a pocket holster.
Also, don't forget to check out Ellifritz's most recent Weekend Knowledge Dump for links to a bunch more articles.
- "What’s 'Enough' Gun?" by Jim Shepherd. Key part:
My perspective on “enough” has changed. Today, enough means “sufficient to allow me to withdraw from a situation” - unless there is simply no other option. In public places, that means a small handgun. Gun size, caliber and capacity increase the further I get from civilization.For extended distances a long gun (secured) is added. I hope I won’t need either, but the Scouts did a great of job of imprinting “be prepared” on me.At home, a daylight knock at the front door or a ring of the doorbell means a small handgun (discretely carried, then dropped in a pocket).A “bump in the night” requires something larger: a pump shotgun. More than sufficient to discourage marauding critters - of any type, especially with a light/laser combination. Letting any “critter” know it is unwelcome might avoid escalation. Looking for sights might take longer than prudent if a threat presents itself.My tools might change, but my goal never does: to avoid/discourage an encounter, not have a gunfight. Gunfights should never top anyone’s To-Do list.If intruders run away, I win. Apprehending miscreants is a job for the police.
As he notes, his attitude and selection of weapons would be different if he suspected something bad was coming to him.
- The Mag-Life blog is posting or re-posting articles on soft skills used in self-defense this month. A couple of them:
- "Escape Routes: Defensive Mindset." The author recommends that when you go to a location, be it a parking lot, restaurant, driving into a new neighborhood, or decide to involve yourself in a situation, that you look for possible exits and have at least two. He explains:
... You never know what is going to happen from moment to moment. Perhaps you remember learning in Driver’s Ed to always have an escape route, a way off the road, or at least out of the lane you’re driving in, should another driver suddenly swerve toward you, or a large bit of debris fall off the truck ahead of you.Furthermore, you never know when there might be a fire. We talk in terms of having guns for the same reason we have fire extinguishers. If a fire breaks out in the restaurant you’re eating in, do you know how to escape if the main door is blocked? This doesn’t just apply to defensive situations.But it does apply to self-defense preparation and planning. It’s all well and good to arm up and train with your weapon. You should be doing that. But this is one of the ancillary skills that go along with the training.The fact of the matter is, no matter how well-armed and well-trained with that weapon you might be, violence should be your last resort. This means you should exercise every other option to get or stay out of trouble before it starts.
- "The Tactical Advantage" by Steve Tarani. The author discusses the role of perception, preparation (both mental and physical) and position in winning a battle (or avoiding a conflict in the first place). He observes that:
Exploiting your perception and your preparedness affords you the opportunity to take up the most tactically sound physical position as a precursor to engaging in physical violence.The three most tactically advantageous positions are found at higher ground, away from the fatal funnel, and in keeping your ducks in a row [i.e., positioning yourself so you only have to deal with one attacker at a time].
- From the Captain's Journal: "A Shotgun Makes A Great Home Defense Weapon." He cites to an article about three criminals that attempted to break into a home and were met by a 17-year old teen with a shotgun. He killed two, but the third was able to get away. Money quote: "Wait a minute! You mean he was a 17 year old, not a paying graduate of tacti-school training with tacti-cool instructor former JSOC-operator/Ranger/SEAL/SWAT-cop ‘Tacti-dude’?"
- "Interview with Jim Bolen Green Beret, SOG 1-0 and Rhodesian War Vet"– Scattered Shots. An excerpt:
My secondary MOS was light and heavy weapons so I think I have fired just about everything. I have killed the enemy with 9mm, 45, 7.62 and 223 rounds and believe me the 223 is by far the best. It took me a few months in country to get my CAR 15 instead of using my M 16. As far a getting though the jungle and being able to maneuver again the CAR 15 is the best. It is light weight and you can easily carry 400 rounds of ammo.
Also, in the jungle environment where combat was up close and intense, Bolen preferred using tracer ammunition over standard ball rounds.
I remember my first 3 kills. My point man was crossing a small NVA trail and I went next, there was a slight bend in the trail, as soon as I stepped on the trail 3 NVA regulars rounded the bend, they were walking abreast to each other. We saw each other at the same time. While they were bringing up their weapons I fired from the hip on full auto. I could see just like a laser where the rounds were going. I put at least 3rounds in each man. Believe it or not I could see smoke coming out of the holes in their uniforms where the bullets went in, I will never forget that.
- The Revolver Guy writes about "The RevUp Action Hammer." He got a sneak peak at a new hammer for double-action revolvers (right now it is being developed for S&W K, L and N-frame revolvers) which not only reduces the weight of the trigger pull, but also moves the peak weight to the beginning of the trigger pull. The article explains:
In the traditional Smith & Wesson action, the weight of the trigger pull sharply increases as the trigger is drawn to the rear, until a peak is achieved, then levels off for a while. As the trigger pull continues, the weight of pull increases again for the second stage, then decreases a bit (like hitting a “speed bump” in the road), just before sear release.In this system, the trigger nears its peak weight of pull after moving only about 10% of its rearward travel distance, and peaks at around 60% of its rearward travel distance.
The inventor intended this for competition shooting where, with this hammer and some changes to springs, the double-action pull can be reduced to something like 5 pounds. But what about in a defensive revolver with no change to springs?
The Model of 1917 revolver had a double action pull weight of 14-15 pounds with the OEM hammer and springs installed.
* * *
When the RevUp Action hammer was substituted in the Model of 1917, the peak double action pull weight dropped to just over 10 pounds! Remember, because of the unique quality of the RevUp Action hammer, this is where the double action pull started on the gun, and as the trigger was pulled further to the rear, the pull weight decreased to approximately 5 – 6 pounds, just before sear release.
Also:
Dean noted that the 10.5-pound RevUp Action pull weight is perfect for duty use, when coupled with the OEM rebound slide spring and strain screw. The pull weight is heavy enough to provide some protection against a stress-induced negligent discharge, but is light enough that it won’t be a detriment to trigger control. Furthermore, since the pull weight decreases as you stroke the trigger, the shooter should be able to achieve higher degrees of precision with the more easily-managed trigger.
Right now it is available for K, L and N frames. It only works for those using a firing pin mounted in the frame. And it is only available in a double-action only configuration. Prices are $240 for a kit which includes the hammer and springs. The inventor has 75 orders but needs 100 to get into production.
- "Springfield SA-35: A Modernized Classic." A detailed review of this pistol with lots of accompanying pictures. It is not just a review of how this handgun performed, but also goes into the subtle differences between this and the original Browning Hi-Power. MSRP is $699 according to the article.
- Banning old guns and loose ammo from firearms classes. In "Firearm Trainers: 4 Dangerous Pitfalls to Avoid," Heidi Lyn Roa explains why she bans certain types of firearms and loose ammunition from her firearms classes and suggests the same to the budding firearms instructors she teaches. By "loose ammunition" she means ammunition that is not in its original factory packaging as well reloaded or handloaded ammunition. The three types of firearms she bans are antique firearms, sporterized rifles (military rifles--typically World War I or World War II era) that typically have had the stocks and/or barrels modified to make them more suitable for hunting than the battlefield), and shotguns sporting barrels with fixed chokes.
While one can argue against her ban of sporterized rifles, I suppose there is some merit to it. The ban on shotguns with fixed chokes, however, is completely off base. She forbids shotguns using barrels that use a fixed choke rather than interchangeable chokes. She explains: "Choked shotgun barrels are barrels that have their choke already built into the end of the barrel. By the late 1980s, choked barrels were replaced with modern shotgun barrels that have screw-in chokes." Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most any defensive shotgun still made comes with a fixed choke shotgun barrel (even if it may be fixed at open choke or cylinder bore, although I picked up a new Winchester 1300 Defender in the late 1990s that used a barrel with a fixed improved choke).
Her reasoning is that such shotguns may not handle steel shot: "Nontoxic shot does not compress like lead, so it can blow the end out of a choked barrel." She doesn't explain how a screw in choke, conversely, does not compress steel shot. In any event, she advises that if you are an instructor using a gun range that does not allow lead shot, you should not allow choked barrel shotguns.
The problem is that her answer is too simplistic and, therefore, doesn't address that the same issues can show up in barrels with screw-in chokes. In fact, in a different article, Roa shows examples of barrels destroyed by using too constrictive a choke with steel shot and at least one of them is a barrel using a screw in choke which just serves to show that her rule provides a false sense of security.
She seems to be conflating two concepts. First is that firing steel shot (or the hard tungsten shot for that matter) through older (pre-1980s barrels) can damage the barrel because in most cases the steel is too soft for the steel shot. However, this doesn't mean that you can't shoot steel shot through these shotguns, as I will discuss below. It does mean, however, that the barrel will get scratched and gouged, and with too tight of a choke, you could end up with barrel deformation, which is why you don't want to use steel shot through these barrels.
The second, but independent concept, is that because steel shot doesn't compress like lead shot, you need to use more open chokes when shooting steel shot, and this is true even if using a newer shotgun with a screw in choke. If you are using an older shotgun not proofed for steel shot, you can still use steel shot but you want to make sure to use no more than a Medium (Half or Modified) choke and no larger than #5 shot--and never use a full choke. A tighter choke and/or larger shot can result in the appearance of a "doughnut" forming just behind where the barrel chokes down and, in the worse case, might result in a blown out barrel. But you can get a blown out barrel with a new shotgun barrel and too tight of choke (in fact, some manufacturers will specify tight chokes as being "lead only"). In either case--the older shotgun or a new one--you risk damage to the shotgun if you try to cram steel shot through too small of a choke.
None of this means that someone with an older shotgun or too tight of a choke can't shoot non-toxic shot, but that you need to use different material for the shot. Manufacturers have developed shot made from bismuth that is non-toxic but soft enough that it can be used in older shotguns. So, in short, the real issue isn't the age of the barrel or the type of choke, but how constrictive is the choke; and the safer rule when shooting at ranges only allowing non-toxic shot would be to restrict students to bismuth loads.
- Although Peachy Keenan's article, "Say Her Name" is ostensibly about the hypocrisy of sanctifying the deaths of blacks at the hands of white police officers while ignoring the many more whites brutally murdered by black criminals, the real lesson is to listen to your gut ("The Gift of Fear") even if what it is telling you sounds racist. An excerpt:
Last year, I arrived at a public park to retrieve one of my children from sports practice. As I pulled into the lot, I noticed a group of men hanging around a parked car. My inner systemic racist noticed that they were young, black, dressed like gangbangers, and smoking weed. My inner white privilege told me I should find a different place to park, immediately.But I convinced myself that there was no way anything bad could happen here, in full daylight, in view of a playground full of kids, so I dismissed my inner “racist” and pulled into the lot.I called my husband and told him, “I think I just interrupted a gang meetup. These guys look like they have guns.”He told me to ignore my inner racist. “It’s broad daylight, you’ll be fine.”Thirty seconds after hanging up with him, I heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire close by. At first I thought I was dreaming. How could my inner racist have been so right? And then I thought, oh no, I was correct in my assumption that these guys were sketchy, and now I’m going to die a “racist.”The shots were very loud, because they were being fired three feet behind my car. The shooter was crouched down and aiming at the guys who had been standing around the parking lot and were now running for their lives. I watched him shoot one man in the stomach. The victim clutched his guts, screaming, and fell to the ground.I tried to make myself as small as I could. I learned that you can’t get down very far when you’re stuck in the front seat of a minivan. The shooter kept blasting away, and I called my husband back, this time to say goodbye. He was an hour away, totally unable to help me, and I just managed to tell him what was happening. Then I braced myself in case a stray bullet came through my car, and like the racist that I am, I prayed and waited for death.When the shooting stopped, there was absolute silence. That was the moment I was most afraid, since I assumed the shooter would be searching for a getaway car, and I was the perfect carjacking prospect, since I’d been the only other person dumb enough to park in the lot. Take another car, I silently begged. Please don’t take this one, with the toddler car seats in it. Do you know how expensive those are?I heard sirens in the distance. I waited on the floor of my car until a cop tapped on my window. As he took my witness statement he told me, “This parking lot is a gang hangout for the Bloods. What in the world are you doing here?” “Trying not to be racist!” I almost said.Ah, the Bloods, of course. That would explain why the guys running away had been wearing red, and why the shooter wore a blue baseball cap. (The Bloods are one of the two big L.A. gangs; the other is the Crips. In the 1980s, even white kids from the westside couldn’t go out wearing red or blue, since the Bloods wear red, and Crips wear blue. It is as stupid as it sounds, and if you don’t believe me, go watch the Sean Penn movie Colors.)My “racism” had tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. The cop then beckoned for me to get out and look at something behind my car. There were bullet casings all around my car, inches from my tires. “Your car is in the crime scene so we can’t let you leave,” he told me, as another cop strung yellow investigation tape around my parking spot.My son emerged from the gym with his team. I stared at him and realized that if they had walked out five minutes earlier, it might have been a bloodbath. Rounds had gone through at least two nearby cars, including one containing the parent of a boy on the team, but by some miracle no other innocent people were hurt.The cop, a Latino guy, advised me to stay away from the park, since it’s near the projects that “the gang controls.” He was telling me to listen to my inner racist! What if I’d pulled up to the parking lot, taken a look at the group of men, and decided not to go in? Would that have been the right thing to do—or the racist thing to do?As the police officer talked to me, furious people from the neighborhood stood on the other side of the police tape and yelled things like, “Fuck you! Get the fuck out, this is our neighborhood!” Looking back, I probably should have apologized to the polite young man who screamed “white bitch,” since my “racism” is certainly what drew the police to his park that afternoon—it may have even instigated the shooting.
- "After Shunning Good Guy Gun Owners, Retailers Now Hiring Them For Armed Security." Another retail chain starts hiring armed guards to deal with increased
diversity, equity and inclusioncrime.
Prepping & Survival:
- "Urban Survival: How to Survive City Riots and Emergencies." The author explains:
Urban survival is the ability to survive an extended disaster in a city by using the necessary skills and tactics. It is the ability to survive on your own means in an urban environment which is densely populated, without getting any help from the authorities.Believe it or not, but it may be harder to survive in an urban and dense environment than in the wilderness on your own. You see, if a crisis or an emergency occurs, and there are various threats coming at you from all over, every person in the city would fight to gain valuable resources, so you won’t be fighting alone there.You all will be fighting for food, water and shelter, which are the basic needs for survival. If you’re ready and trained, then your chances of survival increase greatly. Once the emergency strikes, there usually won’t be enough resources for everyone, so you have to know how to reach them first and obtain for yourself and your family.
Lots of good ideas on blending in, finding shelter, foraging or scavenging for food, purifying water, dealing with waste, useful skills, and so on. He also has embedded videos on certain topics, so there is a lot of information here. That is, it is an information dense article, so be sure to bookmark it.
While I like the article, it paints a picture of surviving a worst case scenario. And perhaps the ethnic mix in most American cities ensures a worse case scenario. But in looking at historical events, the picture is not necessarily so bleak. I was recently reading about a family's experience in post-WWI Vienna as the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell apart and inflation struck. The mother of the family was dealt a very poor hand as her husband became ill and died and her adult male children had been severely injured due to wartime service. The only thing going for her was that she had come from a well-to-do family so she had some investments that provided income (at least for a time) and had items that she could trade or sell. The part that struck me was that she had been warned early on by her banker to exchange her money for foreign currency, but because it was illegal at the time to do so, had held off. And she paid for it as massive inflation rendered her savings and investment income almost worthless.
The lesson was that in a severe economic crises, you will need to work with black and grey markets in order to survive whether that is protecting assets by, for instance, illegal currency exchanges, or purchasing food or other hard to get items (which supply may be further reduced due to government price controls) or perhaps as a source of income. In her case--and I've read similar during Germany's hyperinflation--she ultimately traded directly with farmers that grew the food outside the city. Most of this trade was through valuable items she had. For instance, her husband apparently had a large supply of high quality cigars which she made use of; as well, a farmer delivering food to her house saw her piano and promised her several months of food in exchange for it.
One of the things going for these European countries, or even the United States, during the various economic troubles of the 1920s and 1930s was a sufficient homogeneity of the population and culture that meant that the social order did not completely break down. I noticed with also with my readings on the the Black Plague: even though millions of people were dying all around, the social order never seemed to break down. I'm not so confident of that in the United States because of the diversity. Researcher Robert D. Putnam has shown that what he terms social capital--"connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them"--declines with greater ethnic and cultural diversity. Without that social capital to draw upon, I question whether social order could be maintained in many cities and regions of the country in the event of an economic emergency or widespread disaster.
- "Gallons Of Rainwater Collection From A Tarp (How-to Calculate)" The author has calculated how much water you can collect from various sized tarps (dimensions in feet: 5×7, 6×8, 9×12, 10×14, 12×16, and 14×20) for given amounts of rainfall (in inches: 1/10, 1/4, and 1. He also has some information on collecting water off a root and the formula for calculating the amount of water. Note that even at 1/10 inches of rain, you can collect a substantial amount of water once you get up to the 12x16 and 14x20 sizes.
- "Why ARE you always tired? From being a secret snorer to not eating enough red meat, all the medical reasons that may explain your constant fatigue." This is looking at why you may regularly feel fatigued even if you otherwise get enough sleep. The reasons covered in the article are sleep apnea, drinking caffeine too close to bedtime, dehydration, undiagnosed diabetes, not eating enough red meat or other foods rich in iron, or hypothyroidism. As Dr. Joseph Alton points out in his book, The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide, "[i]n a survival situation, an ounce of prevention is worth not a pound but a tone of cure. Start off healthy, and you'll have the best chance to stay that way."
- "First Aid Kits for Preppers" by Freedom Preppers. The author recommends a home kit (the largest), a kit for a vehicle, and a personal first aid kit (essentially an augmented IFAK) for carrying while hunting, target shooting, etc. The article has links to products as well as a link to a PDF with a list of supplies for a prepper group of 10 to 20 people. The author writes:
... Naturally, I added some extra items to all of my kits, customizing them to their anticipated roles. Our home based kit is the most heavily augmented first aid kit. Along with the enormous inventory of the First Aid Kit listed in our free pdf download, I added the following items:
- Activated Charcoal (in case of poisoning)
- Quikclot Clotting Sponge
- Combat Application Tourniquet, CAT
- SAM Splint
- Israeli Bandage
- HALO Chest Seal
- Steri Strip Skin Closures
- Ammonia Inhalants
- Oral Airway Kit
- Blood Pressure Monitor
- Mylar Thermal Blankets
- N95 Respirator with Valve
- Medical Bandage Scissors
- Dental Medic Kit
The all purpose First Aid Kit I keep in the car is pretty well outfitted just as it comes, but I went ahead and added the above items to it along with some sunscreen, insect repellent, a flashlight, permanent marker, Para-Cord, duct tape, super glue, respirator, tampons, and an assortment of OTC drugs including a antihistamines and ibuprofen.While most of these kits are heavily outfitted with gauze and bandages, I always add more. Gauze is one thing it seems that you can never have enough of. It is used to treat almost every type of bleeding wound, and so runs out quickly.Other items you may want to add to any first aid kit include an extra set of shears and a tourniquet (if the kit does not already have one). ...
- "36 Delicious Dutch Oven Skillet Recipes" by Jeanie Beales. As Beales observes, "[a] Dutch Oven is a must-have for a prepper because providing it’s a plain cast iron one versus the enameled version, you can cook over campfires, on gas stoves, and even in electric ovens." But you have to know how to use the Dutch Oven, including recipes. Check it out.
- "How the elite will see out the apocalypse: Swiss firm creates huge fortified underground bunkers for 'the most powerful individuals in the world'."
Applying technology from NASA, store rooms contain stocks of long-lasting and nutritious food, sufficient for months or even years. The separate medical room has its own secure storage for essential medical supplies.Access to the spacious underground garage, known as the Parc Fermé and guarded by an internal security gate, is via a hydraulically actuated ramp set into the ground so as to be almost invisible.Oppidum's main entrance is an airlock, fully equipped as a decontamination chamber. It is enclosed by two sets of custom-made Oppidum blast doors.The outer door is controlled by a multi-biometric reader that simultaneously scans face, iris, palm and fingerprints.The inner blast door leads to a magnificent entrance hall laid with fine-grained solid wood flooring.Belying the fact that it is underground, the ceiling soars almost 17ft overhead and is decorated with opulent hand-crafted glass chandeliers. All furniture is custom made.The opaque safety glass wall becomes transparent upon pressing a single button, making the private art gallery visible.The gallery is constructed to the same anti-intrusion standards as commercial bank vaults, complying with insurance company criteria.Fire protection, ventilation, temperature and humidity control systems preserve the collection, the company said.The bunker includes an inner garden mimicking the outdoors, with flowers and plants sustained by automatic irrigation.Through full-light spectrum simulation, the sun rises and sets and the seasons change via the skylight overhead.
Sounds nice. Prices start at $10 million, but the model described (and illustrated) in the article appears to be the $100 million model. So, do you have a plan on how to crack one of these?
- Or, if you are a more modest budget: "‘Change is coming’: Meet the Englishman prepping for climate apocalypse in an old German barracks."
Ben Green doesn’t have to worry that Vladimir Putin might cut off Europe’s gas this winter, fret about a seasonal revival of Covid-19, or panic about a looming global food crisis.
Green weaned himself off gas when he purchased the five-hectare (12-acre) grounds of a derelict East German army barracks three years ago: the previous owner, who used it as an outdoor museum for vintage tanks, had gutted the building of water and gas pipes. Green patched up the roof of the refectory and insulated the windows so that temperatures inside don’t drop below 5C at night. He bathes by pouring a bucket of cold water over his head and cooks on a wood-burning stove.
A 49-year-old Englishman with a greying ginger beard and the word “Vegan!” tattooed on his left upper arm, Green is unaffected by fraying supply chains because he lives almost entirely off the vegetables and fruit he grows on his land. If, as Green hopes, friends give him an oil press for his 50th birthday, he will soon be able to cut out the occasional four-mile cycle to the nearest village for cooking oil.
On those trips he does stock up on tea, coffee and chocolate, but they are luxuries he could dispense with in the case of a systemic breakdown of supply chains. The fact his food miles are still measurable at all is due to the bottomless appetite of Fat Tony, Brunhilde Demagogue and Marilyn Monroe, his three Mangalica pigs.
Coronavirus is not a cause for concern – partly because Green is twice vaccinated, in spite of one what one may assume from his enthusiasm for herbal remedies, but mainly because he lives on his own in the middle of a remote spruce forest in Saxony, whose exact coordinates he keeps secret, and rarely receives visitors.
Green does worry about this year’s extreme heat and drought, which is endangering his race to fill his cellar with 100 pots of tomato stew, 180kg of potatoes and 22kg of dried beans in order to survive the winter.
But this summer’s soaring temperatures may also lead more people to recognise Green’s experiment in self-sufficiency as a model to emulate in preparation for a climate catastrophe. A catastrophe, Green believes, which is inevitable and imminent.
- "Ukraine Pulled Off a Masterstroke" by Phillips Payson O’Brien. A long excerpt:
What happens on the battlefield is rarely the thing that decides a war. Normally, the preparations beforehand determine what happens when the fighting begins—and these preparations are what settle the outcome of the war itself. This truth is playing out along the roads and in the towns of Kharkiv Oblast, the province that includes Ukraine’s second-largest city. The stunningly swift advance of Ukrainian forces, which started around September 1 and sped up soon after, has easily been the most dramatic—and for Ukraine and its supporters, the most uplifting—episode of the war since the current Russian invasion began on February 24. In a few days the Ukrainians liberated about as much territory as Russia had captured in a few months, while causing the disintegration of Russian forces around Izium, Kupyansk, and other logistically vital cities. From the outside, Ukraine appears to have changed the whole complexion of the war.This stunning Ukrainian advance was anything but sudden. It resulted from a patient military buildup, excellent operational security, and, maybe most important, the diversion of some of the Russian army’s most powerful units from Kharkiv Oblast itself. The overall planning by the Ukrainian government and armed forces worked well on so many levels that it produced one of the greatest military-strategy successes since 1945.Only a week ago, the most important engagement for Ukraine appeared to be the battle for Kherson. For months, President Volodymyr Zelensky, his senior aides, and other Ukrainian sources had publicly proclaimed the goal of liberating the politically and strategically important southern city and the rest of the Russian-controlled territory on the west bank of the Dnipro River. Not only did the Ukrainians discuss the upcoming campaign, but they took all the necessary preparatory steps. They used their most effective long-range weaponry, including the American-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, to destroy bridges, ammunition depots, and other targets up and down the Russian lines near Kherson. These logistical attacks suggested that the Ukrainians would focus on this area for the rest of the summer.In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin—who seemed to agree that the city was the highest priority—did exactly what the Ukrainians hoped: He rushed forces to the area. Evidence exists that some well-armed Russian units were redeployed there from the Russian-occupied Donbas in the east.By some criteria, Kherson was a much better place than the Donbas or Kharkiv Oblast for the Ukrainians to engage the Russians. The southern city is deeper into Ukraine and farther from the sources of Russian supplies. Supply lines into Kherson depend on only a few crossings over the Dnipro. Ukrainian strategists who want to keep wearing down the Russian army would rather see its most powerful parts in Kherson than the Donbas, which is much easier for Russia to protect by air.On August 29, the Ukrainians stepped up their attacks around Kherson. Though they made some incremental advances at first, the battle seemed to be only a somewhat accelerated version of the attritional warfare that has been under way since April. Stories started circulating that the Ukrainians were being cautious in their plans and that U.S. officials had dissuaded them from bolder maneuvers.Ukraine’s restraint in Kherson now looks like a tactical decision. As Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov admitted Saturday, Ukraine’s generals had been planning to launch two campaigns simultaneously. If the Kherson offensive was designed to grind down Russian forces by drawing them in and then confronting them head-on, the Kharkiv Oblast offensive had greater territorial ambitions. Ukraine hoped to retake the city of Kupyansk. The Russians were using this road-and-rail hub to get supplies to Izium, a base for their operations in the Donbas.In retrospect, both offensives were possible only because of a ghastly summer of attritional warfare in that region. Since April the Ukrainians have suffered horrifying losses in that region but have inflicted even larger ones on the enemy. So the Russian army has been trying to hold a large and geographically unwieldy slice of Ukraine even as its own numbers decline. Ukraine, which has been conscripting soldiers since Putin started this war, has amassed an army larger than the Russian invasion force. Russian officials, meanwhile, are terrified of upsetting their populace and have avoided conscription—to the point of deploying mercenaries and sourcing soldiers from prisons and mental hospitals. So when Putin took the Ukrainians’ bait in Kherson, a shrinking Russian army moved forces away from the area that Ukraine wanted to attack and toward an area where Ukraine was waging a war of attrition.The Ukrainians wrote a script, and the Russians played their assigned role. Unlike Kherson, where the invaders had massed forces and set up a multilayered defense, Kharkiv Oblast was thinly protected by the Russian forces. The Ukrainians were thus easily able to break Russian lines, which seem to have been held by poorly motivated and trained forces, and streak deep behind them. To give their forces the best chance to succeed, the Ukrainians also seem to have built up a substantial, fast-moving strike force. Without allowing details of their preparations to leak out—Ukrainian sources have disclosed little if any information valuable to Russia—they seem to have constructed a number of specialized combat brigades with lighter, faster wheeled vehicles. This has allowed them a crucial mobility advantage over their enemy.
The Russians also had lighter, faster wheeled vehicles at the start of the conflict, but had used cheap Chinese tires and failed to rotate the tires resulting in heavy losses of vehicles after they were immobilized by the tires rupturing or got stuck in traffic jams on highways.
What are the lessons for us? The easy lesson from the Ukrainian victory in this one battle is that it represents an intelligence victory for Ukraine (and the West) and an intelligence failure for the Russians. The Russians appear to have been completely unaware of this counter-offensive. Although, like with Operation Barbarossa in World War II, I suspect that it will turn out that the Russians had plenty of intelligence warning of the attack but failed to act on it because they did not believe what they were being told. The bigger lesson is, once again, logistics. That is, the Russian defeat is largely because they have not (or cannot) interdict the shipment of advanced arms and munitions going to Ukraine.
- Liberals like to bloviate about their moral superiority so it was fun watching their reactions to small numbers of illegal aliens being dropped into their sanctuary cities. To give this some perspective, just one town--Eagle Pass, Texas--has had over 376,000 "encounters" with illegal aliens since October 2021. "Encounters" mean that the Border Patrol had some sort of contact. The real number flowing across the border through just this one town is probably much higher. Similarly, the Border Patrol reports a total of just over 1.9 million "encounters" along the southern border so far this year. How many were not "encountered"? Who knows. But because liberals aren't taking it seriously, certain governors have decided to spread the joy a bit by shipping a very small number of illegals to blue cities and states with the consequence that liberals have screwed their panties into a wad.
Texas has bussed some 11,000 illegal aliens to New York City prompting New York City Mayor Eric Adams to complain that his city has reached a "breaking point" without enough space to house all of them. 11,000. Eagle Pass, Texas, had over 376,000. New York City doesn't want them, so its answer is to the issue is to ship the illegals to Florida.
In the wealthy enclave of Martha's Vineyard many residents had virtue signaled by posting signs that read, in part, "We stand with immigrants, with refugees, with indigenous peoples, and with people of all faiths. ... All Are Welcome Here." Florida Gov. DeSantis took them at their word and flew 50 illegals up there for them to welcome. A local paper quoted one of the, um, immigrants:
“We’re immigrants,” Eliase, who said he was from Venezuela, told the Gazette. “We came here because of the situation in our country, for the economy, for work, for lots of things. I came here walking. We went through 10 different countries until we got to Texas. There a refugee association put us in a plane and told us there would be work and housing here. I feel good, despite everything. We spent four days in Texas so it’s good to be here."
So there you go: an immigrant, a refugee and an indigenous person all wrapped into one. Locals must have been so thrilled to welcome them. But no. The same article noted that a state senator "said Gov. Charlie Baker had activated state emergency management resources and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating was in contact with the Department of Homeland Security." Lisa Belcastro, who I believe is a homeless coordinator, later told reporters: "We don't have the services to take care of 50 immigrants, and we certainly don't have housing. We can't house everyone here that lives here and works here." (This is a lie: there were plenty of hotel rooms and sufficient excess money in local budgets to house the illegals). I think you know where this is going. Approximately 24 hours after landing in Martha's Vineyard, the illegals were rounded up onto busses and moved to a national guard base. Not The Bee sums it up pretty well:
Seriously, let's put this in perspective.
Border towns in Texas and Arizona have been dealing with THOUSANDS of new immigrants every month, for DECADES. Florida has hundreds of secret flights into their state to "distribute" illegal aliens and this goes on for months.
Martha's Vineyard has 50(!!!) illegal aliens for 24 hours, freaks out, and gets rid of them immediately.
ALL OVER 50 PEOPLE! Not 50,000. Not 5,000. 50 people.
The rhetoric is over the top with documentary film-maker Ken Burns comparing sending the illegals to Martha's Vineyard to the Holocaust and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are guilty of crimes against humanity by sending illegals to blue enclaves.
Funny as is all of this, it is a very public rejoinder to the Democrats strategy of flooding Texas and Florida with illegals in order to flip the states from red to blue. It also appears to be creating a real conflict between certain of the states with retaliatory criminal investigations being threatened. Consider this yet another waypoint on the road to civil war. Well, Texas may soon have some additional illegals to send to the big blue cities: "Venezuela Empties Prisons, Sends Violent Criminals to U.S. Border, Says DHS Report."
Some conservative pundits have argued that it is wrong of DeSantis and Abbott to send illegals to blue states and cities because it merely exacerbates the problem of illegal immigration. That misses the whole point of the exercise. Yes, it would be good to have actual border control and actively deport illegals that make it past the borders, but the country lacks the political will to do so. Much of the reason for the lack of political will is due to the fact that the more populous (and liberal) parts of the country are largely insulated from the results of their virtue signaling. But even worms respond to pain, so if DeSantis and Abbott can make it painful enough for the blue cities and states, the worm will turn, so to speak, and politicians will suddenly find it expeditious to control illegal immigration.
- "China’s economy is slowing, its population aging. That could make it dangerous." by Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times. This is a topic that has been raised on this blog many times before in relation to many different countries. Basically, population decline is so great among the industrialized countries--even the newly industrialized--that we are within a few decades (if that) of seeing a general worldwide decline in population with concomitant declines in gross domestic production: fewer working age people mean that fewer goods can be produced. The author indicates estimates from the U.N. showing that China will lose 40% of its population by the century's end, and that by 2050 more than a quarter of its population will be 65 or older. As the article also notes, this comes at a time that China's economy is already hurting due to COVID. The author notes that the projected increase in China's GDP is only 3%, missing the government's goals by 5.5%. Unemployment among young Chinese workers stands at 20%. Fuel prices have risen due to the war in Ukraine. And the housing industry in China is, the author says, "teetering." The article continues:
China-watchers agree on those doleful forecasts. They disagree, though, on what that means for the country’s future and for U.S. policy. How does a rising superpower react when the foundations of its strength appear to be eroding?
Two foreign policy scholars, Hal Brands of Johns Hopkins and Michael Beckley of Tufts, have offered a frightening thesis: China’s leaders know their power is about to diminish, and that will make them more likely to take risks in the short run — to invade Taiwan, for example.
China “is losing confidence that time is on its side,” they write in a recent book, “Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict With China.”
“China will have strong incentives to use force against its neighbors … even at risk of war with the United States,” they warn. The “moment of maximum danger,” they suggest, is this decade: the 2020s.
The author goes on to present arguments from naysayers: those that suggest that a slowing economy and population decline will make China less aggressive. Well, they are correct if China runs out of time to militarily exert itself. But there is nothing in China's stance vis-à-vis Taiwan or its other neighbors to suggest that China will turn it's back on its nationalistic asperations. Just because Japan and Europeans appear to have forsworn military aggression and seemingly accepted their decline does not mean that China will act the same way.
The lesson for preppers: I've compared our current situation to the Late Bronze Age Collapse where several civilizations collapsed in tandem. The major economies are so tied today that the collapse of one will severely damage or bring down others. We saw this in the wave of economic depressions that swept the world in the 1930s and will see it again.
- More: "China’s Property Sector Continues To Stumble." These are incredible numbers:
In the January-August period, China’s property investment extended a 6.4% decline from January to July, falling a total of 7.4% over the full 8-month period, according to new data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, released Friday.There was a 23% decline in property sales by floor-area, from the first eight months one year prior, after dropping 23.1% in the first seven months, off increasingly fragile demand.New construction starts measured by floor-area dropped an annualized 37.2% in January-August, following a 36.1% drop in the January-July period.China’s property developers saw a 25% drop in funds raised from the same period one year prior, following a 25.4% drop seen in January-July.
This is similar to the housing crash we saw in 2006. In January 2006, housing starts were nearly 2.3 million. By December 2006, housing starts had fallen to just over 1.6 million, a 30% decline. As we know, that decline continued for another two years reaching a low of just over 500,000 new starts in December 2008 after the market crash was recognized for what it was.
Things aren't so rosy in the United States either. Forbes reported in mid-August that "[n]ew home sales plunged at a 61% annualized rate in the second quarter, as mortgage rates hit 6%, some 2.5 percentage points higher than one year prior." While we have already seen house prices starting to be cut in what had been some of the hottest housing markets the last couple of years (including Boise, Idaho, where I live), some economists are predicting a large drop in house values, perhaps as much as 25% in the coming years.
- Speaking of aging populations. Those of you of a certain age may remember when Japan stood in nearly the same position as China today. In the 1980s, Japan had the second largest economy in the world and was growing fast. There were worries that Japan was going to overtake the United States. And then it didn't. Of course part of what happened is that the Japanese real estate market collapsed. Tokyo, at one time, was worth more than all the land in the United States put together (which was itself a ridiculous notion) and then suddenly it wasn't. But part of Japan's decline has to do with demographics and a rapidly aging population. DW recently published an article on "Why are young Japanese rejecting marriage?" The article relates that "[a]ccording to the Cabinet Office's 2022 gender report, 25.4% of women in their 30s and 26.5% of men in the same age group say they do not want to get married. Slightly more than 19% of men in their 20s and 14% of women similarly have no plans to wed." The report "coincided with the release of statistics by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that showed that 811,604 babies were born in 2021 — nearly 30,000 fewer than in the previous year." So what is going on?
The report points out that 514,000 marriages were registered in Japan in 2021, marking the lowest annual figure since the end of World War II in 1945 and a sharp decline from the 1.029 million weddings in 1970.Women taking part in the survey said they are shying away from marriage because they enjoy their freedom, have fulfilling careers and do not want the burdens of the traditional housewife, such as household chores, raising children and looking after elderly parents.Men said they also enjoy personal freedoms, but many additionally said other motivators for remaining single included concerns over job insecurity and not being able to earn enough money to sustain a family.That resonates with Sho, who lives in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, and is reluctant to reveal his last name."I'm happy," he said. "I can do the things that I want to, when I want to and I don't have to think about anyone else. I can stay up late playing computer games or see any film at the theater that I want, or I can meet my friends. I like that," he added."Some of my friends have gotten married, of course, but they have changed and I do not see them so much any more," Sho told DW."That is good for them, but having a girlfriend or being married just seems to be mendokusai," he said, using the Japanese term that translates as "troublesome."In its conclusion, the Cabinet Office report said, "The idea behind the Japanese family has changed and marriage is no longer seen as a safety net to guarantee a stable life."
Roughly a quarter of Japanese people between 20 and 49 are single, according to government data.
And while people of this age routinely express a wish to get married, outdated social attitudes and increasing economic pressure is making tying the knot more and more difficult, experts say.
But, later, the same article related:
Shigeki Matsuda, a sociology professor at Chukyo University in central Japan, blames the country's falling marriage rate on a phenomenon known as "hypergamy"."Japanese women tend to seek men with stable employment and education levels" higher than them, he explained.Anecdotal evidence from the match-making party seemed to bear this out, a small queue of women forming to exchange contact details with one of the men who, it emerged, had the highest income of the group."The high ratio of unmarried men and women won't change unless more women accept the idea of marrying a man with an income lower than herself," said Yamada.
You may be thinking to yourself that this is interesting but so what? Well, as a June 2022 article from Bloomberg (and republished in The Washington Post) observes, "The Fertility Crisis Started in Japan, But It Won’t Stay There."
Japan first took serious notice of its declining births in 1989, in an event known as the “1.57 Shock” — the total fertility rate (TFR) that was recorded that year, less even than the 1.58 of 1966, when couples avoided having kids due to superstition over an inauspicious event(1) in the Chinese Zodiac.
Despite three decades of task forces, government support programs and ministers in charge of the issue, little has changed. While the decline in the birth rate has been arrested, Japan has been able to do almost nothing to significantly raise it. A record low of 1.26 was recorded in 2005, which has risen to 1.3 in 2021 — and while that’s impacted by the pandemic, it hasn’t been above 1.5 in more than three decades.
Japan is often convinced that its economic malaise since the 1980s is the root of its ills, but that link seems less than clear. Births dropped all through the 1970s and 80s, with the “1.57 Shock” coming at the peak of its economic might. If anything there seems to be an inverse relationship between wealth and fertility: Okinawa, the country’s poorest region, consistently has the highest rate, with wealthy Tokyo the lowest. The experience of other countries also indicates differently, with rich Singapore at an even lower rate than Japan. Almost every country in Europe lies below the 2.1 level needed to maintain the population, with countries including Croatia, Portugal and Greece all set to lose similar levels to Japan over the next three decades.
The author examines factors that might be contributing to low fertility but discards each. Whether the author just didn't delve into the topic or was afraid to discuss what demographers have pinpointed is up for debate. But the two primary factors driving lower fertility rates are female empowerment (as marked by increased education and job opportunities outside the home) and declining religiosity. I'm not sure the two are unrelated.
Students at North American universities risk disenrollment due to third dose COVID-19 vaccine mandates. We present a risk-benefit assessment of boosters in this age group and provide five ethical arguments against mandates. We estimate that 22,000 - 30,000 previously uninfected adults aged 18-29 must be boosted with an mRNA vaccine to prevent one COVID-19 hospitalisation. Using CDC and sponsor-reported adverse event data, we find that booster mandates may cause a net expected harm: per COVID-19 hospitalisation prevented in previously uninfected young adults, we anticipate 18 to 98 serious adverse events, including 1.7 to 3.0 booster-associated myocarditis cases in males, and 1,373 to 3,234 cases of grade ≥3 reactogenicity which interferes with daily activities. Given the high prevalence of post-infection immunity, this risk-benefit profile is even less favourable. University booster mandates are unethical because: 1) no formal risk-benefit assessment exists for this age group; 2) vaccine mandates may result in a net expected harm to individual young people; 3) mandates are not proportionate: expected harms are not outweighed by public health benefits given the modest and transient effectiveness of vaccines against transmission; 4) US mandates violate the reciprocity principle because rare serious vaccine-related harms will not be reliably compensated due to gaps in current vaccine injury schemes; and 5) mandates create wider social harms. ...
- Related: "CDC now says covid jabs causing myocarditis isn't 'misinformation' after all, after YEARS of Big Tech censorship for those who said it first."
- Related: "The New Normal: Kids Myocarditis Awareness Commercial Running in New York State."
- "California’s Grid Is a Window Into the Future … And It’s Okay, Actually." This article from The Atlantic tries to paint a rosy picture of California's energy future based on renewables like solar, but I'm not buying it. No matter how the author portrays the situation, you can't get past this paragraph in the article:
In other words, solar has almost entirely dropped off the grid by 7 or 8 o’clock at night. But that’s exactly when electricity demand peaks—especially on a very hot day. That creates a painful window, lasting from roughly 6 to 9 p.m., when it’s still hot outside, so people still have their air-conditioning on high, but when solar is no longer keeping the grid afloat. Engineers have to fill in the missing supply with any other source of power. This week, nearly all of California’s crunch times have come during this late-evening period.
The author regales the reader with the uplifting story that when California recently faced a blackout, a cell-phone alert went out asking electricity users to reduce their power usage. "Within 45 minutes of the alert going out, the state had cut more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity, roughly as much energy as it normally takes to power more than 1.5 million homes. And the grid was fine." But what is not mentioned is that California only weathered the storm because it had non-renewable sources on which to fall back--power plants which California is phasing out.
- The othering of white people continues: "Trailer for Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid gets 1.5 MILLION DISLIKES on YouTube in just two days - after Ariel actress Halle Bailey faced racist backlash over her casting." YouTube removed the dislikes so you couldn't see how unpopular is its race swapping a black actress into a Danish tale. Another example that racism only flows one direction, because you know that if someone used a white cast to portray a Nigerian folk tale, you would hear screams of "cultural appropriation" and "colonialism" ascending to the heavens. There are some YouTube movie critics discussing whether Disney and other companies do this to generate free advertising for a film ("fan baiting"), especially one that they know will otherwise do poorly. I don't believe so. I think Disney's officers really are in it in order to destroy Western civilization and oppress those of European descent.
And fans were quick to hit back at the troll for the 'racist' alteration.One user said: 'I'm not racist, I just "fixed" a kid's movie by changing the main character's race. Totally not racist.'
- Related: "Christianity is set to become a MINORITY faith as soon as 2060 as millions embrace secularism, study shows." Per the article, "[t]he decline is due to Christians switching to ‘nones’ — a secular mishmash of atheists, agnostics and those with no religious identity — which is set to grow from about 30 percent nowadays to as much as 52 percent by 2070." Even if you are not Christian you should be concerned about this because it is a sign of the decay of social cohesion and social capital.
- Related: "University of Oregon apologizes for fans' 'offensive and disgraceful' 'f*** the Mormons' chants at Brigham Young University supporters during college football game." Unlike the fake news that a racist slur was shouted by a Brigham Young University volleyball fan at a black player from Duke, which was widely reported in the media, "Media largely ignores anti-Mormon chant at Oregon-BYU game."
- You can't even get away from diversity, equity and inclusion on a cruise: "Carnival Bruised! Shocking video shows man brutally pummel woman during mass brawl on Carnival Cruise ship as security rushes to break up fight."
- Last week I had quoted from a Borderland Beat article on fentanyl where one of the drug smugglers was excited about new products that would be different and more fun. And it begins: "What to Know About 'Rainbow Fentanyl' and Its Risks for Kids." From the lede:
In late August, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning to the public to look out for an “alarming emerging trend”: colorful pill and powder versions of the potent opioid fentanyl, known as “rainbow fentanyl.” “This trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people,” the agency said.While fentanyl does threaten young people’s lives—especially if they’re not aware they’re taking it—some drug experts caution that focusing just on the rainbow version may obscure other equally dangerous types of the drug. Here’s what to know about rainbow fentanyl, and how to protect yourself and your children.
- "OP-ED: 'The Woman King' glorifies African slave-trading kingdom." Another example of Hollywood aggrandizing a brutal culture just because said culture once stood up to Western Civilization. The article relates:
Viola Davis’ latest action film, “The Woman King,” glorifies the Agojie, the female fighting force of the west African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century.Although presented in the film as an underdog, the real-world version of the kingdom is notable for its vast contributions to the Atlantic slave trade, and its brutality toward its captives from its subjugated neighbors.
And:
As detailed by the Encyclopedia Brittanica and Wikipedia, which cite numerous historical texts, the growth of the Dahomey coincided with the Atlantic slave trade, developing a reputation as a slave trading hub and a major supplier of slaves for European slave traders. The nation’s entire economy was built on the conquest of its neighbors and on the backs of slaves, who contributed to its immense growth.Slaves were forced to toil on Dahomey plantations and were routinely mass executed in large-scale human sacrifices during celebrations known as the “Annual Customs of Dahomey.”The decline of the Kingdom came with British pressure to abolish the slave trade, which included a total naval blockade with anti-slavery patrols surrounding the nation’s coast, as detailed by the Journal of African History.The Dahomey would later engage in territorial warfare with the French in the 1890s, which resulted in resounding French victories and ultimately the fall of the kingdom, which was annexed by the French as a colony.Those undoubtedly familiar with Dahomey’s history have panned the film as a whitewashing of Dahomey’s significant contributions to the vile practice of slavery throughout the 19th century, and its glorification of a slave empire that abused its subjects, its neighbors, and profited off of human misery.
It reminds me of this 2013 article about the then-new cinematic version of The Lone Ranger: "The truth Johnny Depp wants to hide about the real-life Tontos: How Comanche Indians butchered babies, roasted enemies alive and would ride 1,000 miles to wipe out one family." An excerpt:
The 16-year-old girl’s once-beautiful face was grotesque.
She had been disfigured beyond all recognition in the 18 months she had been held captive by the Comanche Indians.
Now, she was being offered back to the Texan authorities by Indian chiefs as part of a peace negotiation.
To gasps of horror from the watching crowds, the Indians presented her at the Council House in the ranching town of San Antonio in 1840, the year Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.
‘Her head, arms and face were full of bruises and sores,’ wrote one witness, Mary Maverick. ‘And her nose was actually burnt off to the bone. Both nostrils were wide open and denuded of flesh.’
Once handed over, Matilda Lockhart broke down as she described the horrors she had endured — the rape, the relentless sexual humiliation and the way Comanche women had tortured her with fire. It wasn’t just her nose, her thin body was hideously scarred all over with burns.
When she mentioned she thought there were 15 other white captives at the Indians’ camp, all of them being subjected to a similar fate, the Texan lawmakers and officials said they were detaining the Comanche chiefs while they rescued the others.
It was a decision that prompted one of the most brutal slaughters in the history of the Wild West — and showed just how bloodthirsty the Comanche could be in revenge.
Today, Lockhart would be characterized as the aggressor or colonizer because of her "white privilege" and the Comanche would have been hailed as saints. But back then, Western Civilization was still strong, so the negotiators attempted to detain the Comanches in order to arrange for the return of the other captives:
When that Indian delegation to San Antonio realised they were to be detained, they tried to fight their way out with bows and arrows and knives — killing any Texan they could get at. In turn, Texan soldiers opened fire, slaughtering 35 Comanche, injuring many more and taking 29 prisoner.
But the Comanche tribe’s furious response knew no bounds. When the Texans suggested they swap the Comanche prisoners for their captives, the Indians tortured every one of those captives to death instead.
‘One by one, the children and young women were pegged out naked beside the camp fire,’ according to a contemporary account. ‘They were skinned, sliced, and horribly mutilated, and finally burned alive by vengeful women determined to wring the last shriek and convulsion from their agonised bodies. Matilda Lockhart’s six-year-old sister was among these unfortunates who died screaming under the high plains moon.’
As the article describes, this was not something out of the ordinary, but their standard operating procedure when dealing with enemies, whether whites or fellow Native Americans.
- "Utah is America's worst state for road rage drivers, survey reveals - with North Dakota home to the nation's calmest drivers." Probably because Utahans are some of the worst drivers in the nation (although California has to be giving it a run for its money).
- "China discovers new mineral – and a possible energy source – on the Moon." China's Chang'E-5 robotic Moon mission has discovered a new mineral, a transparent crystal named Changesite-(Y), as well as confirming the presence of Helium-3 which has potential as a fusion fuel source.
- Interesting: "Cattle Drive Positions: Cattle drives require a team of cowboys, each with a specific role." by Lauren Feldma, American Cowboy.
- Ok, normally I wouldn't include anything like this, but when I saw this headline--"Is YOUR partner a sex pest? Tracey Cox reveals why so many women are complaining about 'gropey' husbands – and how to stop him hassling you for good"--it immediately reminded me of the Red Pill axiom: "Alpha f**ks, beta bucks." Which is short hand for the concept that women reserve sex (or, at the least, their best sex) for certain men (the so-called alpha male) while only doing the minimum to keep a provider male (the so-called beta male) around. In other words, the role of the beta provider is to shut up and pay the bills. Or as one of my colleagues once described it, husbands are just paychecks with legs.
Huh, wonder why I never read that Comanche story before . . .
ReplyDeleteProbably because it cuts against "the noble savage" theory we were brainwashed with as kids and, therefore, has been suppressed.
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