The Docent's Memo (Jan. 2, 2023)

    I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Each new year brings changes and a fresh start as reflected in the tradition of taking resolutions to improve ourselves or our situation. Certainly things seem more possible as the days are now noticeably beginning to lengthen. The failed New Year Resolution is a joke and cliche, from which thousands of fitness clubs and gyms will profit. But in my experience and watching those around me, the failures mostly spring from setting lofty, unachievable goals combined with poor planning or no planning on how to achieve those goals. Success generally comes from incrementally small changes and improvements, especially when time and resources are short. 

    Sometimes changes also come from cutting back or even abandoning things. The very act of repentance, for instance, involves abandoning the sin which itself may involve ridding ourselves of habits, changing lifestyles, or even letting go of bad friends and relationships. Some of our goals may also require us to cut back on other things. Our time is not infinite and so spending more time on one thing can result in having less time for another. 

    And that brings me to some changes to this blog going forward. As some of my readers already know, I have been struggling with the question of continuing with my weekly "Docent's Memo" post. It takes a substantial amount of time to put together and, because it is only a weekly posting, many of the stories or articles that I mention are already "old news". They also seem to be of minimal popularity among readers based on page views. And as a resource, these large posts seem to actually make it harder to find past articles and information. 

    I have been experimenting with making more numerous but shorter posts during the week and that seems more popular among readers simply based on the page views each post receives. Accordingly, this will be my last regular "Docent's Memo" post. This does not mean that I will be shutting down my blog. Although I took several days off this past week--mostly because I just didn't have the time to sit down at the computer (and I apologize to anyone that sent me an email because I haven't been checking emails either)--I intend on continuing with the smaller, more frequent posts.

    So, on to this week's Docent's Memo.

VIDEO: "How far is a .22 lethal?"--Garand Thumb (13 min.)

In this video, the gang at Garand Thumb decided to see at what range a .22 LR round fired from a rifle would lose enough energy that it bounce off the surface of a ballistic dummy. They finally had to give shooting the dummy after 400 yards because it was becoming impossible to connect on target. Nevertheless, the .22 LR still had good penetration at 400 yards. The takeaway was that .22 LR could be lethal at any range that you could actually connect with the target. 

Firearms & Self-Defense:

• "Smith & Wesson 329PD .44 Mag, Great Choice for Defense Against Bears"--Ammoland. The author, Tom Claycomb, has a lot of experience with hunting bear. While he prefers larger, more powerful weapons for hunting, he has observed that "when tracking a wounded bear but every bear that I’ve seen shot immediately heads into the super thick brush." For this task, a long arm of any type is just too slow and too likely to become entangled in brush so he relies on a handgun. He used to carry a .357 Magnum, but bumped it up to .44 Magnum after an experience where the .357 was ineffective (luckily the bear was charging past him, not at him). The problem, he describes, is that most .44 Magnum revolvers are simply too heavy for constant packing. (And, yes, he considered semi-auto pistols but, as he explains, he does not believe the semi-auto calibers are of sufficient power and doubts their reliability in the conditions in which he hunts). He finally found his solution in the 4-inch Smith & Wesson Model 329PD with the Scandium allow frame and titanium cylinder. It only weighs 25.2 ounces, which makes it painful to shoot, but light enough that he won't opt to leave it behind. 

    My guess is that Claycomb has another .44 revolver that he uses for practice. For someone that isn't an outdoor writer, cum professional hunter, and wants a revolver that is a trade-off between the heavier revolvers that are shootable but too heavy for carry, and the lightweight revolver that Claycomb uses, Smith & Wesson has periodically produced 629s in a "Mountain Gun" configuration featuring a 4-inch tapered, pencil barrel and a cylinder that has been shaved down a bit that is lighter than the standard 629 revolver while still being shootable. The Revolver Guy did an article on the history of the Mountain Gun earlier this year. Unfortunately, the last run of these was made in 2005. 

• "Review: FN Five-seveN Mk. 3 MRD"--Shooting Illustrated. FN is releasing an updated version of the Five-seveN with the primary difference being the addition of an optic mounting cut-out on the slide, suppressor height sights, and some changes to the shape of the frame which, to me at least, make it a much nicer looking pistol. 
• "The Ruger SFAR – An Almost Perfect Small Frame AR-10"--The Firearm Blog. Another review of this new .308 AR style rifle from Ruger.
• "Savage Arms Introduces Iconic 1911 Government Model Pistols"--Ammoland. Another article on Savage's new offering. I've seen a lot of comments on why Savage would dive into the crowded 1911 market instead of reprising a historical Savage pistol or trying something new. The answer is the same as that of other seemingly inexplicable decisions--such as why developers continue to build McMansions when there is such demand for "starter" homes--which is that the profit margin is so large. The 1911 is so well understood and copied that there is little R&D involved in the project and, with an MSRP ranging from $1,350 to $1,500, Savage will probably realize a much greater profit from the sale of a single 1911 than a company like Glock would see from the sale of dozens of its pistols. 
• "'Hoss' from Bonanza was a Real Life War Hero"--Guns American Digest. The role of Eric “Hoss” Cartwright in the Gunsmoke television series was played by actor Bobby Blocker. Blocker was a huge man whose promising football career was cut short by his being drafted 1951 and sent off to fight in the Korean War where he served with distinction, attaining the rank of Sergeant and earning the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with two bronze campaign stars, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal, the Korean War Service Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
• Another reason why civilians need to own AR15 style rifles with 30+ round magazines: "Terrifying moment illegal migrants try to smash their way into Texas ranch house 50 MILES over the border - as homeowner spends $13k upgrading security and locals teach their kids to use TASERS for 'self defense'"--Daily Mail. Per the article, the illegals were seen on video trying to kick down her door and pry open the windows before  using a piece of 2x4 as a battering ram. The woman, fortunately, had already spent $13,000 to upgrade her home's security which improvements were apparently enough to keep the illegals from breaking into the home. They were still free, however, to prey on other people--something that an AR15 could have remedied. 
• "In Manhattan, grand larcenies are up as thieves are confident they can get away with it." You'll like this part:

    Another group of thieves operating in New York City has been murdering people by putting fatal doses of drugs into their drinks before robbing them.

    Multiple people have been fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at New York City bars and nightclubs.

    The killings — at least five, according to police — stretch back months and appear to be the work of different crews, operating independently from each other but using similar tactics, police and prosecutors said Thursday.

    Men surreptitiously slip revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out, then take their wallets and phones, sometimes using their digital banking info to drain their accounts.

    Some of the victims of these attacks have survived so it’s possible the thieves don’t intend to murder people, they just don’t care whether they live or die. Here’s a local news report on one arrest that has been made in connection with these crimes. According to this report, Kenwood Allen has been arrested 17 times for theft related crimes. Nevertheless, his brother told ABC News “My brother has always taken care of his family, his mother and his sisters. He’s not in no gang. He’s not in some crew going around drugging and robbing people. That’s just not true, that’s ridiculous.” I guess we’ll see what the prosecutors can prove in court.

• "America's fentanyl scourge UNCOVERED: Mailed from China, mixed in Mexico, the strongest opioid yet exploded in the pandemic and now kills one person every seven minutes - and officials are powerless to stop it." If only someone could invent someway to keep people from crossing the border. A barrier of some sort that would allow air and sunlight to cross the border unabated, but stop other people--like smugglers--from being able to. Maybe something low-tech and made of metal or cement. If only there was something like that. Sigh.
• The Religion of Peace strikes again: "Suspected Islamic extremist, 19, stabs rookie NYPD cop in the head with a machete during NYE celebrations at Times Square - as footage shows dozens running for safety"--Daily Mail. Another officer was injured in the attack, and the terrorist was shot (but not killed) by a third officer.
• "Idaho murder suspect's mother slammed school shooters and called the death penalty 'state-sanctified murder' in chilling letters written after Uvalde massacre"--Daily Mail. As you have probably already read or heard, authorities arrested Bryan Kohberger for the brutal stabbing deaths of 4 college students attending the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University--about 10 miles away and just across the border in Pullman, Washington--where he studied criminology. I found it interesting that Kohberger was a vegan--so opposed to the killing of animals, in fact, that he wouldn't even eat food prepared in a pan or dish that had previously been used to prepare meat. Not too surprising: Hitler was also vegan and yet was a mass murderer. In fact, I've noted throughout my life that many of those that have an overweening concern for animal welfare have little regard for the welfare of humanity. It appears in this case that the apple does not fall far from the tree inasmuch as his mother apparently cares so little for humanity that she is opposed to permanently removing the most egregious and violent criminals from circulation. But at least her son took her lessons about gun violence to heart. 
• Speaking of those so indifferent to their fellow humans that they want to make them easy pray to criminals: "USA Today Pushes ‘Bullet Regulation’ to Stop High-Profile Shootings"--Breitbart. These aspiring tyrants want to make it more difficult and expensive to buy ammunition by tracking sales, licensing sellers, and even requiring background checks. 

VIDEO: "How Family Structure Drives Ideology"--Whatifalthist (49 min.)

The main point of the video is that ideology pretty much maps 1:1 with family structure when comparing countries around the world. Although not discussed in the article, I think it is obvious how this is yet another argument against allowing immigration into the West because the families we import will necessarily result in a change of political and economic structure, including those attributes that lead to societal success. It was also interesting to me that the societies that followed the family formation model in Genesis 2:24 generally were not only the most tyrannical but mostly the least wealthy and innovative.

News & Analysis:

• "The sudden decline in birth rates post-vaccination — and the shocking silence" by Daniel Horowitz, Conservative Review. From the lede:

In 2010, Bill Gates famously articulated a four-part equation to reducing the world’s carbon output. Seemingly bizarrely, his first component was reducing the population — through vaccination. “The world today has 6.8 billion people. That’s headed up to about nine billion,” bemoaned Gates in his now infamous TED Talk. “Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by, perhaps, 10% or 15%.” Until recently, I thought this must have been a gaffe. After all, how could vaccines reduce the world’s population? Well, enter the COVID jabs – if you even want to call them vaccines – and we might have our answer.

The article continues:

    Questions about fertility issues, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths began to be raised last winter when Scotland experienced a month of higher infant mortality than at any time over the past three decades. Then in the spring of 2022, roughly nine months after most young adults were jabbed with the COVID shots, COVID data analysists began noticing unusual drops in birth rates. The hope was that these numbers were just short-term aberrations due to some unknown transient cause. But months later, the evidence is growing too strong to ignore, suggesting a much longer-term problem, which bizarrely has garnered little concern from policymakers, governments, the medical establishment, or the media. It ranks alongside “died suddenly” both in terms of its magnitude to humanity and the shocking degree of silence in response.

    In fact, some media outlets were even celebrating the low birth rates without expressing any curiosity as to the sudden cause. While it’s impossible to prove definitively that the correlation equals causation, it’s stupefying that these shots are not under suspicion given that they are already tied to heart problems, blood clots, massive inflammatory syndromes, and menstrual irregularities and that the lipid nano particles are deposited largely in the ovaries and the testes.

    When you are dealing with 1-in-1,000-year anomalies, it takes a civilization-changing event to account for the anomaly. COVID itself cannot be a factor in the sudden drop, because the birth rates were not declining nine months after COVID hit or even in the first year and a half. The other culprit could have been lockdowns, which perhaps disrupted travel, relationships, and cohabitation. But if that were the case, by now we should be seeing a bounce-back effect. Instead, as my friend “Gato Malo” points out on his Substack, the numbers are getting worse.

    Sweden is a perfect country to study because it never locked down and should not have been affected socially by the lockdowns. Yet not only did the Swedes experience a sharp decline in births nine months after their vaccination program, the numbers are further deteriorating over time. According to Statistics Sweden, live births are down 8.1% for the year (8.7% per capita), but as Gato observes, the worst month was October 2022 (the most recent month with data), which saw a 13.2% per capita decline. What on earth could explain the fact that this trend is getting worse, other than … you know what? He collated the data from 25 years, and this data, which is in plain sight, raises the question of why there is no policy concern whatsoever.

Read the whole thing. One would hope that there would eventually be Nuremberg style trials, but Nuremberg was the result of Germany's unconditional surrender. It would take a comparable defeat of our elites to produce a similar result, which just isn't going to happen.

• "Sam Bankman-Fried had four White House meetings THIS YEAR: Bombshell report reveals disgraced crypto mogul met with top Biden aides as recently as September." Of course he did--the Democrats are corrupt, it was an election year and SBF was important to financing the Democratic Party. 
• "On Point: The Year Putin's Imperial Dream Became a Nightmare of Destruction" by Austin Bay, Strategy Page. Contra to Bay's points, I'm not so sure that Putin was trying to recreate the Russian Empire (or Soviet Union) as much as the fact that Russia is facing a demographic doomsday and needed an injection of a large population.
• Trust the science: "Nearly 50% of participants in 'Monkeypox in women' study were biological men." We have the most stupid and foolish elites of any point in history. 
• Speaking of stupid and foolish elites: "The New-Normaling of Blackouts" by Jon Sanders, American Institute for Economic Research. Rolling blackouts are a feature of "green" "renewable" energy; and, the author argues, we are being conditioned to accept rolling blackouts as normal, particular during inclement weather.
• Reminds me of a joke about Communism and electricity: "Facing an energy crisis, Germans stock up on candles"--NPR. 
• "Historians Confirm Karl Mark Was Employed By The Rothchilds"--The Irish Sentinel. The author contends that "[h]istorians have confirmed that Karl Marx was not only related to the Rothschilds, but was also employed as their agent in order to subvert democracy and corrupt the Socialist movement."
• This article is stupid: "We've Never Found Anything Like The Solar System. Is It a Freak in Space?" An excerpt:

    Since the landmark discovery in 1992 of two planets orbiting a star outside of our Solar System, thousands of new worlds have been added to a rapidly growing list of 'exoplanets' in the Milky Way galaxy.

    We've learnt many things from this vast catalogue of alien worlds orbiting alien stars. But one small detail stands out like a sore thumb. We've found nothing else out there like our own Solar System.

    This has led some to conclude that our home star and its brood could be outliers in some way – perhaps the only planetary system of its kind.

    By extension, this could mean life itself is an outlier; that the conditions that formed Earth and its veneer of self-replicating chemistry are difficult to replicate.

The reason this article is stupid is because astronomers cherry pick the stars they examine for extra-solar planets to make it easier to find those planets. There are two methods used to detect extra-solar planets. One method is to try and detect wobbles in a star caused by a planet orbiting it. As you can imagine, this method will only detect the largest planets. The more common method is to look for the periodic and regular occlusion of light from a star as a planet passes across the solar disk. Again, this method is going to favor larger planets close to small stars because that will create the most noticeable dip in the light. Moreover, because astronomers don't want to spend years looking for repeating dips in light, they favor looking at systems where the planets will orbit the host star in days or weeks rather the months or years taken by the majority of planets in our solar system.  

• Related: A video from Anton Petrov on "Exciting Exoplanet In The Habitable Zone Found Nearby, SPECULOOS 2c." 
• Nah, privilege isn't a thing when it comes to acting gigs, says Hollywood stars: "Kate Hudson on 'Nepo Babies' controversy: 'If you work hard and you kill it, it doesn't matter'." An excerpt:

    The controversy has generated criticism from other second-generation performers in entertainment, including Jamie Lee Curtis, 64, and Lily-Rose Depp, 23.

    Curtis said in an Instagram post, 'It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever.

    'I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work. I am not alone. There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist.'

Ironically, Curtis was hired for her breakout role in Halloween specifically because her mother, Janet Leigh (you may remember her from the movie Psycho), had been known as a horror icon. It probably didn't hurt that her father was Tony Curtis. She previously hypocritically crowed about how "white privilege gets a good comeuppance" in the film Knives Out.

• Glenn Reynolds explains that "Our bossy society is completely losing sight of the value of risky behavior." His commentary was inspired by Edward Slingerland's book Drunk. An excerpt:

    Most of today’s regulatory framework for alcohol traces back to the immediate post-Prohibition years. The basic assumption was that alcohol consumption is bad but unavoidable. The goal, then, was to regulate in ways that led people to drink less, via high taxes and inconveniences, without returning to the bootleggers and speakeasies of the disastrous Prohibition era.

    Though things have lightened up a bit since then, that’s still the basic philosophy today. Alcohol discussions tend to turn on things like liver damage, impaired driving, violence and so on.

    These negative consequences are real. But as Slingerland makes clear, they aren’t the whole story. There are a lot of less-heralded positives.

    It isn’t an exaggeration to say that civilization came from alcohol. Before agriculture was invented, hunter-gatherers brewed beer from wild grains. It’s more likely that agriculture came from a desire to have a steady supply of beer than from efforts to produce more bread.

The primary positive seems to be that it lubricates social interactions. 

• A word comes to mind: asinine. "Church cover-up! Mormon leaders are condemned for PHOTOSHOPPING 1650 painting of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus to cover her bust and shoulders and remove angels." Mary was censored because she is showing some cleavage in the painting, and the angels were removed because ... I can't think of a reason. In an image of another painting, the angels were left but their wings were Photoshopped out. I assume that this is because we in the LDS Church are taught that angels don't have wings. But the wings were never meant to be literal: they were a device to show the ability of angels to travel between heaven and earth and distinguish the angels from mortals, similar to the solar halo used in other paintings are to distinguish holy or heavenly beings from mere mortals.