A Warning: "The collapse of South Africa"

Source: "'Worst civil unrest since 1994': How South Africa plunged into riots, looting and turmoil"--Money Control (2021).

 In his article at Hot Air entitled "The collapse of South Africa," Jazz Shaw holds up South Africa as a warning of what could happen to the United States. "The government and the police have almost disappeared, the energy grid has imploded, half of the people in the country are out of work and the nation’s infrastructure has crumbled," he reports. 

    Shaw notes that the country’s railway system has "all but ground to a halt" due to corruption and mismanagement of the Transnet company which owns and operates the railroads; the same company that also manages the ports and pipelines that connect South Africa to the outside world. And, he adds:

It’s not just the trains and the rest of the transportation infrastructure that has fallen apart. The country’s power grid has fallen well below the break-even point of energy generation and consumption. Rolling blackouts happen every day and much of the country is left without lights or heat. The roads are impassible in many areas and there is no money to repair them.

The lack properly funded and staffed police have resulted in looting and violence becoming commonplace. (Wikipedia observes that "[w]hen compared to other countries South Africa has notably high rates of violent crime and has a reputation for consistently having one of the highest murder rates in the world"). Stealing and gang violence is also widespread. In fact, according to a Twitter user cited in the article, the country is seeing "an increase in coordinated attacks on water, power and comms infrastructure," and "[l]ooting is no longer just a daily thing, but is also now becoming more structured with guerilla planning involved." The number of people relying on government grants and welfare to live is about to exceed the number of working people. And it sounds like inflation is out of control. 

    The situation is so bad that just two days ago--on Jan. 26--the U.S. embassy urged American citizens travelling to or living in South Africa to stockpile food and water amid the “ongoing power crisis” and warned of the potential for riots.

    And it will be getting worse: the Twitter user cited in the article points out that the South African government is about to implement its Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) program "where land is taken from rightful and legal land owners and given to the 'previously disadvantaged'" and will also be implementing an nationalized health care system. Land expropriation from white farmers to black communists is what led to the collapse of the economy and agriculture in Zimbabwe--once a breadbasket of Africa. And nationalized healthcare is only something the richest of nations can afford. 

    What is the cause of this? I suppose one could point all the way back to the end of Apartheid and devolution of power to black political parties, most especially the socialist/communist African National Congress (ANC). After all, we've seen how well black Democratic governance has worked in various cities in the United States. In such situations, government becomes organized crime. But the author instead focuses on a more recent development: "green" environmental policies. Shaw explains:

So how did all of this happen? There were a variety of factors involved, including government corruption and organized crime. But a couple of years ago, in order to stay in the good graces of the world banks and the global climate cabal, South Africa agreed to ambitiously reduce its carbon footprint. They used to mine a lot of coal and other desirable resources, but their output has plummeted. Don’t worry, though. They’ve blown some serious money on renewable energy. You can see how swimmingly that’s working out.

And he warns:

    Does any of this sound familiar? Do you recall when America’s supply chain buckled when our own transportation infrastructure tanked and cargo ships were lined up at the ports for weeks? We too have seen rolling blackouts in multiple parts of the country as we rush to forbid the use of fossil fuels and toss up endless numbers of solar and wind generation plants. And it’s not as if we haven’t seen our fair share of rioting.

    It really doesn’t take that much of a shove to cause a formerly muscular infrastructure to grind to a halt. South Africa is on the verge of societal failure. And if you think it couldn’t happen in the United States, you’re kidding yourself.

POTD: The Alps In 1890

 The following photograph is from a Daily Mail article, "Fascinating new book reveals stunning vintage pictures of the Alps, from a time when the first mountain climbers 'were considered mad' and glaciers were TWICE the size they are now." According to the article, the photograph is of the the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps and dates from around 1890. The quip in the headline about glaciers being "TWICE" the size as now made me laugh. Of course they were bigger then! The world was just coming out of the Little Ice Age.

Updated Tips for Surviving a Nuclear Blast

Obviously, if you are too close to ground zero, it just isn't going to matter: you will be killed by the heat or other radiation, or by the overpressure from the blast. But if you are farther out, you might survive the overpressure blast depending not only on the construction of the structure in which you find yourself, but also where you are in the structure when the blast arrives, according to this article from Business Insider: "Sheltering miles from a nuclear blast may not be enough to survive unless you know where to hide, new calculations show."

    As the article notes, "[w]hen a nuclear bomb detonates, it generates not only radiation in the form of a bright, blinding light and scorching heat, but also powerful shockwaves that can travel for tens of miles," and "[i]t's these shockwaves that are potentially lethal for people at a safe enough distance from the fireball." The researchers in this case ran a simulation of a nuclear explosion from a 750-kiloton atomic bomb (equivalent to one of the current Russian warheads). "A warhead of this magnitude would likely obliterate everything within 2.5 miles," the article states, "but people beyond that radius may stand a chance if they're sheltering in the right location of a sturdy structure."

    The team used fluid dynamics to determine "the right location" within the structure. 

    Using these models, they computed how the shockwave would move through buildings — including rooms, walls, corners, doors, corridors, windows, and doorways — at distances of 2.5 miles to 30 miles from the detonation site.

    They reported that narrow pockets inside buildings like doorways and hallways could act like a windtunnel, accelerating the shockwave to dangerous pressures of up to 18 times a human's body weight — easily enough to crush bones.

    "The most dangerous critical indoor locations to avoid are the windows, the corridors, and the doors," said co-author Ioannis William Kokkinakis.

    The best location is in the half of the building farthest from the blast, in a room with no windows. But, "even in the front room facing the explosion, one can be safe from the high airspeeds if positioned at the corners of the wall facing the blast," Kokkinakis told Insider.

    It's also worth noting that the building itself is important. You don't want to take cover in a log cabin, for example.

    "As the paper noted, if you're too close to the blast there's not much that can be done. However, at a distance building structures particularly stone or concrete or other stout, noncombustible materials can provide some degree of protection from the blast," said Kathryn Higley, a professor of radiation biology at Oregon State University who was not involved in the study.

Feral Hogs Expected to Spread South Into US From Canada

    The story is from The Truth About Guns and refers to them as "super pigs" because of their size and aggressiveness. The article notes that "in recent years, invasive pigs have started thriving in Canada and may spread into North Dakota, Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota." They apparently are larger than your run-of-the-mill feral hog because they need the extra size to survive the colder climate. The article also includes a couple of videos of people hunting the beasts.

    Perhaps more interesting are the score or more comments criticizing farmers and ranchers throughout the South that, if the comments are to be believed, are charging outrageous amounts for hunters to kill feral hogs in those states. The gist is that the commenters will believe that it is a serious problem when the farmers and ranchers treat it like a problem rather than a money-making venture.

Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 74 (Streamed Feb. 22, 2023)

VIDEO: "Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 74" (50 min.)

POTD: The Abandoned Outlaw House in Mobile County, Alabama

 

Outside view

Inside view

Source: "Inside abandoned mansions: 6 hauntingly beautiful sites across the US"--New York Post.

VIDEO: "Galactic Superwave Risk Just Got Real"

 Suspicious Observers makes note of recent scientific papers showing that the giant X7 cloud near the galactic core is distending and, based on observations, it appears that a collision is imminent that might produce a galactic superflare. Except, due to the lag from the speed of light, this collision has already occurred and we should start seeing the light from this collision soon (probably within the next decade). Suspicious Observers discusses the possible impact of this additional light from the galactic core: it may turn out to be nothing, or it may trigger a reaction from our sun. 

VIDEO: "Galactic Superwave Risk Just Got Real"--Suspicious Observers (4 min.)

POTD: Exploring An Abandoned Hospital

These videos don't relate where this hospital is located; only that it had been shut down several times and finally abandoned in 2001. Unfortunately, there are no exterior shots, so I wasn't able to get an impression as to the size of the facility. What makes this interesting is the amount of equipment and supplies still there, even though there had obviously been vandals through at least a portion of the building. But I've seen videos of other hospitals that where similarly closed with still significant amounts of equipment, furniture and so forth left behind. I can only assume that the advancement of technology and regulatory requirements make it impractical to sell or transfer the older equipment to a different facility. 

    Unlike other videos of abandoned buildings where everything has been removed, though, this video gives you an idea of what it might be like to go through a building post-TEOTWAWKI where you would expect that most everything would still be in the building.

    Although the videos are labeled as two-parts, the second is not a continuation of the first, but more of a "do-over" video. The first video, according to the YouTuber, was done by himself and somewhat impromptu, whereas the second was filmed with assistance from friends and appears more planned.

VIDEO: "Abandoned Hospital with EVERYTHING Left Behind PART 1...(Blood samples and needles found)"--BigBankz (11 min.)

VIDEO: "Found Blood Samples inside an Abandoned Hospital with Everything Left Behind | Part 2"--

BigBankz (22 min.)

POTD: Exploring An Abandoned Apartment Complex

VIDEO: "Exploring Deteriorating Abandoned Apartment Complex - No Floors!"

LordExplores (12 min.)

 Another video for your viewing pleasure. I'm not sure where this structure is located, but it appears to be a brick and concrete structure dating from the mid-20th Century and structurally in poor shape given the age. 

POTD: Abandoned House With Everything Still Inside And Intact

VIDEO: "ABANDONED House - Everything Left Behind (WITH POWER) - Old Clockmakers Family Home" -- Uncharted Travel (30 min.)

I've seen other videos and photo essays of abandoned houses still with furnishings and personal items. I suspect that most of those are buildings that for one reason or another are left in a legal limbo: a fight over the estate or that there were no survivors to begin a probate. In any event, the condition of buildings after TEOTWAWKI will depend on the nature and speed of the disaster. A disaster that results in the collapse of government and society but leaves a lot of people alive, initially at least, will probably see a great deal of looting and stockpiles of foodstuffs, goods, and fuel used up. On the other hand, a disaster that quickly kills off most of the population such as a rapidly spreading, deadly pandemic, will probably mean that most structures and their contents will largely be left intact until nature begins to take its toll. Most disasters--nuclear war, comet strike, massive solar flare/micro-nova, will cause wide-spread destruction coupled with large, but nowhere near complete, loss of life. In those cases, it more likely that looting and destruction will impact most settlements, but that there may be isolated instances of finding homes, stores, perhaps even whole towns, that were abandoned but survived the ensuing natural destruction and are largely untouched.

POTD: Abandoned Grain Silo - Georgia

 

Source: Reddit r/AbandonedPorn

Grain silos and grain elevators may well be important resources, or targets, post-TEOTWAWKI. John Wilder wrote a novella that took place after an EMP that you should check out. One of the chapters dealt with an attack to seize a grain silo outside of the protagonist's town that had been captured by raiders. Not an insignificant prize given that it would feed the whole town for over 4 years. Give his story a try.

Best Weapon/Ammo for Self-Defense In An Apartment?

VIDEO: "Here’s Why I Think Overpenetration Is Fudd Nonsense"

TFB TV (14  min.)

    My oldest son asked me what I thought would be the best firearm to use for self-defense in an apartment, concerned about penetration through a wall should he miss. 

    To be blunt, it is a pointless exercise to try and find a firearm/ammo combination that won't penetrate interior walls as you find inside an apartment or, in most cases, dividing one apartment from another. I lived in an apartment that had cinder block walls even between apartments, but the majority were just insulated interior walls: a couple sheets if gypsum board nailed to studs with a few inches of fiber glass insulation. All of the videos I've watched testing various types of ammunition have shown that anything that can penetrate deeply enough to be effective against a human attacker will easily punch through multiple interior walls or, even, exterior walls with siding or cladding. (See, e.g., this video testing various 12-gauge loads against simulated interior walls; this video testing penetration against various types of walls including a couple different type of shotgun loads against interior wall; this test of .22 LR from pistol and rifle; and this test of 9mm and .223 against drywall and then into ballistic gel). 

    The typical answer to this conundrum is to be careful of angles so that if you miss, the bullet will follow a safe (or safer) path: that is, following a path that is unlikely to hit an innocent, or striking structural features or furniture that will stop or significantly slow the bullet. But that answer does not really address the question of the ammunition or the weapon.

    What might be productive, however, would be to dismiss those weapons and ammunition that would overpenetrate a human target--i.e., cause a through and through wound--but still have enough power to go on an penetrate a wall or injure someone behind the attacker.  That would mean looking at weapon and ammo combinations that would not exceed the FBI recommended maximum penetration in ballistic gelatin of 18 inches, shot from short distances of less than 25 feet--about the maximum you find in an apartment.

    Frankly, that is going to eliminate most any rifle or ammunition intended for hunting medium to large game whether or not you are using ammunition designed to expand on hitting a target. (See e.g., this video comparing .223 and .30-06 in ballistic gel and this video comparing low velocity versus standard velocity .30-06 loads in ballistic gel). 

    Conversely, the 5.56/.223, even in FMJ, performs well in ballistic tests without excessive overpenetration (see, e.g., this video testing Lake City M855 "Green tip" ammunition). However, standard 50 or 55 grain will be much safer if you are concerned about minimizing overpenetration. (See, e.g., this test of 55 grain versus 62 grain "Green Tip" against Paul Harrell's meat target). And these videos are pretty consistent with what I've seen over several years and dozens of videos: the "Green Tip" is more likely to overpenetrate than the 55 grain loads. On the other hand, bullets designed to expand on impact may essentially explode at these short distances (and high velocity) and not have adequate penetration to reach vital organs. So, with the 5.56/.223, the FMJ is probably the best choice for using inside an apartment.

    Although medium caliber bullets out of a full powered rifle like a .308 or .30-06 might not be suitable, shorter barrels and/or less powerful rounds may be acceptable depending on the bullet used. For instance, in the Stockton California school shooting in 1989, the shooter used an AK rifle shooting standard FMJ 7.62x39 that mostly produced through-and-through wounding and delayed yaw with the result that the rounds were both less lethal and over-penetrated. From what I've read, standard lead tip hunting bullet designs from the 7.62x39 just don't have the velocity to consistently expand and often will act like a FMJ bullet when striking a target. But there are designs specific for 7.62x39 that can offer good expansion without overpenetration at short distances (see, e.g., this test of 7.62x39mm Winchester 123gr Extreme Point in ballistic gel at short range; see also this .300AAC 110gr V-Max gel test shot from an 8-inch barrel, and this 300 Blackout 110 gr V-MAX Hornady BLACK Gel Test out of an 8.5-inch barrel).

    Most standard pistol cartridges using full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition will also overpenetrate. (See, e.g., this video testing 115 grain and 124 grain FMJ 9x19mm ammo in bare gel; this video testing .45 ACP in ballistic gel and showing an old military training film showing penetration against wood blocks; and this video testing FMJ in 9mm, .38 Special, .40 S&W and .45 ACP). 

    Conversely, quality hollowpoint ammunition in pistol calibers will typically not overpenetrate. (See, e.g., this test of .45 ACP Gold Dot against bare and denim covered gel blocks; this comparison of 124 grain 9mm Gold Dot versus HST in bare gelatin; and this look at different hollow point bullets for 9mm and .45 ACP against Paul Harrell's meat targets). 

     Shotgun ammunition varies, but it appears that #4 Buck will not overpenetrate, and reduced power 00 Buckshot will not overpenetrate, but standard loads of 00 Buckshot may very well overpenetrate. (See, e.g., this test various shotgun loads and this video from Luckygunner on buckshot ammo). And, in fact, in the TFB TV video embedded at the top of the post, the 00 Buckshot not only blasted through the skinny perp and the interior wall, but also penetrated deeply into the ballistic block on the back of the interior wall.  

    Thus, if you are concerned about a danger to others in the same apartment or adjacent apartment through overpenetration, it appears that the best options are: FMJ 5.56/.223; an intermediate cartridge such as .300 BLK or 7.62x39 using thin walled, fast expanding bullets; standard defensive pistol rounds using a reliable hollow point bullet; or either a smaller, lightweight buckshot (such as #4) or reduced power loads of regular 00 Buckshot. 

VIDEO: "The Secret to Mastering the Handgun"

VIDEO: "The Secret to Mastering the Handgun (complete video)"

Silverado Shooting (25 min.)

 This video addresses the neuropsych issues of anticipating recoil and blast that throw us off target. Although the video is just over 25 minutes long, the portion relevant to the topic is the first 18 minutes; the remainder covers the separate topic if introducing teenage girls to shooting and why it is so important to the firearms movement.

POTD: Abandoned Doctor's Office in Tennessee

This picture-of-the-day is another video exploring an abandoned building. In this case, it was a doctors office abandoned, according to the video, in the late 1990s. The exterior of the structure looked to mostly be in pretty good shape, but the vandals had been inside and there is quite a bit of interior damage. Furniture and other equipment is all gone. Even though there were plenty of exterior windows, much of the interior was still pretty dark--and pay attention to how black the interior appeared when first entering the building through a rear door. This is probably pretty accurate to how your eyes would need to adjust upon entering an unlit building.

VIDEO: "Abandoned Doctor's Office"

Unknown Ventures (13 min.)

Blast from the Past: "Why Invent Mohammed?" by David P. Goldman

 Here is the link to the article, which is a review and commentary on Robert Spencer’s book Did Mohammed Exist? Goldman begins his article thusly:

    Some years ago I chided Spencer for giving the Koran too much credibility;  more important than the nasty things one finds in the Koran, I argued, are two questions: “1) Mohammed may never have existed, and 2) If he existed, he may have had nothing to do with the Koran, which well might be an 8th- or 9th-century compilation.” Spencer’s present book will be translated into major Muslim languages and published on the Internet, according to Daniel Pipes. That is an important and welcome development.

    This point was made eloquently last year by the Georgetown University political philosopher Fr. James Schall, who argued, “The fragility of Islam, as I see it, lies in a sudden realization of the ambiguity of the text of the Koran. Is it what it claims to be? Islam is weak militarily. It is strong in social cohesion, often using severe moral and physical sanctions. But the grounding and unity of its basic document are highly suspect. Once this becomes clear, Islam may be as fragile as communism.” Koranic criticism, I have argued since 2003, is Islam’s Achilles’ Heel.

He goes on to observe the evidence supporting the authenticity of the Jewish records (Goldman is Jewish) and notes that no one has suggested that Jesus was anything other than a real person. But, as he details, there is no such evidence for Mohammed. 

    He concludes:

    Why is theological clarity so important?

    For several reasons.

    First, the question of what Islam seeks to accomplish is of first importance. The definitive claim of the religion, if we follow Prof. Kalisch, is the Election of the Arabs to replace the Jews. Any manifest sign of Jewish election (for example, a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael) challenges the founding premise of Islam and constitutes an existential threat to the religion itself.

    Second, the mechanism by which the new religion recasts the figures of Moses and Jesus is Gnostic, that is, the belief that an esoteric knowledge enables the adepts to see past the surface: underneath the Hebrew Bible and Christian Gospels lies the “true” revelation of  Islam. But that is not a revelation at all, not, at least, in the sense that the giving of the Torah or the ministry of Jesus were understood to be revelations, namely, a human engagement with an infinite God. There really is no revelation at all, because Allah always remains infinitely remote and unrevealed: there is merely Gnosis, a new esoteric knowledge, a re-reading of earlier sources that transforms Moses and Jesus into Mohammed.

    This makes Islam far more fragile than Judaism or Christianity. If the West chose to exploit its fragility rather than attempt to appease, engage, or reform Islam, the outcome would surprise everyone.

Will this fragility make Muslims easy prey, so to speak, for the coming Anti-Christ?

POTD: Abandoned Oil Refinery

 

Source: "GAMXX Oil Refinery"--Abandoned America

There are a lot more photographs of the refinery at the link. The website, Abandoned America, has a ton more locations and categories as well. 

POTD: Abandoned Subdivision

Today's photo of the day is another video, this time of a group of people exploring an abandoned subdivision that apparently still under construction when the developer became insolvent. Nevertheless, construction appears to have been completed or nearly completed on many of the structures. Although I suspect that the houses would still be full of furniture and other items after TEOTWAWKI--even several years after--it does give an idea of what shape the buildings might be in several years after the fact--at least in this particular location. 

VIDEO: "Exploring an Abandoned Neighborhood"

The Proper People (12 min.)

Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 73 (Streamed Feb. 15, 2023)

VIDEO: "Bombs & Bants Ep. 73" (47 min.)

What Makes An Assault Weapon

    In the wake of the Michigan State University shooting, Joe Biden is renewing his calls to disarm law abiding citizens. The Detroit Free Press reports:

    Biden renewed his demand, which he made part of his State of the Union address last week, that Congress enact "commonsense gun law reforms," including background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing certain loopholes in the background check system and requiring guns to be stored safely.

    He also called on the U.S. House and Senate to make gun manufacturers financially liable if they "knowingly put weapons of war on our streets." 

The original assault weapon (Source)

This even though law enforcement has not released any details as to the weapon they recovered, and the firearms which the shooter purchased in 2021 were "a Taurus, and ... a Hi-Point 9 mm". Hardly "assault weapons" under any reasonable interpretation of the term.

    To be an assault weapon, the weapon must be one that is suitable for making assaults. An assault typically consists of one or more troops providing suppressive fire while one or more other troops maneuver to capture and/or destroy an enemy position.

    Most any type of ranged weapon can be used to provide suppressive fire provided you have enough men shooting the weapons to produce the requisite amount of suppressive fire. You might need a full platoon or even a company, but it could be done. But what set apart the "assault rifle" when it was introduced by the Germans was that a single soldier could now have a weapon suitable for providing suppressive fire. Well, let me back up a bit. World War I actually saw the introduction of such an assault weapon: the submachine gun. But the WWII Sturmgewehr gave the soldier a weapon with a much more effective cartridge so that assault weapons were no longer a specialist weapon: they could not only provide suppressive fire (and at longer distances), but could also be used as a general combat arm.

    If follows, then, that a weapon cannot be an "assault weapon" unless it is capable of providing suppressive fire during an assault. The basic characteristics of such weapons--that is, the minimum characteristics needed to provide individual suppressive fire--are (i) a (relatively) large ammunition capacity that can easily and quickly be replenished and (ii) being capable of full automatic fire. The absence of either means that it is no longer a weapon suitable for making assaults and, therefore, not an assault weapon. Thus, for instance, a semi-automatic rifle like the AR-15 may have the magazine capacity of an assault rifle, but the average person will not be able to generate anywhere near the rate of fire necessary for suppressive fire. Thus, it is not an assault rifle. Semi-auto handguns, even when sporting 15, 17, or more round magazines are right out: they have neither the ammunition capacity nor the rate of fire to provide the necessary suppressive fire for an assault.

    Now I know that I've oversimplified the tactic of the assault and modern tactics would still use multiple soldiers to provide suppressive fire (although far fewer than would have been used if the same soldiers were using bolt action rifles or a semi-auto like the Garand), but the point is that there are characteristics that the military select-fire rifle has that make it an "assault rifle" that no semi-auto rifle possesses no matter the size of its magazine or how scary it looks.

    This whole use of scare terms by politicians and gun grabbers is disgusting, of course, because it is intended to mislead and obscure the issues. As I've said before, Leftists were liars from the beginning, and the use of terms like "assault weapons" to describe semi-automatic weapons is part of their reflexive need to lie. "Weapons of war" is even a more nebulous (and easily twisted) term since everything from swords, spears, muskets, lever action rifles, revolvers, and more, have been used as weapons of war and issued by militaries. 

    Moreover, in United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174, 59 S. Ct. 816, 83 L. Ed. 1206 (1939), the issue of whether possession of a firearm was protected under the Second Amendment turned on whether it was a weapon of war, with the protection extending to a weapon suitable for military service. In that case, which involved whether the NFA violated the Second Amendment by taxing short barreled shotguns, the Court decided such weapons were not protected because they were not a weapon of war. Specifically, the Court wrote: "In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument." Id., 307 U.S. at 178, 59 S. Ct. at 818. There is only a single court--a district court in Colorado--which has suggested that the Miller decision has been abrogated by subsequent Supreme Court decisions. See, Colorado Outfitters Ass'n v. Hickenlooper, 24 F. Supp. 3d 1050, 1064 (D. Colo. 2014), vacated and remanded, 823 F.3d 537 (10th Cir. 2016). But it doesn't necessarily follow from Heller and subsequent cases that Miller is no longer valid, and certainly the Supreme Court hasn't indicated as such. Thus, a weapon's suitability for use in war should be, if not a determinative factor, at least be a supporting factor to it being protected under the Second Amendment. 

    The takeaway from all this should be that, as always, the Left is lying to you about firearms and crime, which should make you take pause to consider why they lie so much and so often about those subjects.

POTD: 1990's Abandoned K-Mart in Flint, Michigan

 My photo of the day today is actually a video filmed by someone who went into an abandoned K-Mart store and filmed what they found. Unfortunately, the exploration was done at night so you don't get an idea of how much natural light there would have been, but it is nevertheless interesting and informative and gives you an idea of what it would be like to search such a place by flashlight. The fixtures had been removed, as you would expect, which meant that you had large empty spaces on the main sales floor, but other areas (changing rooms, storage and employee areas) could be cramped.

VIDEO: "Creepy 1990's ABANDONED Kmart Store"--Bright Sun Films (12 min.)

POTD: Fire Destroyed Houses in St. Louis Neighborhood

 

Source: "On This St. Louis Block, the Houses Keep Burning"--Riverfront Times.

    The photograph above is from a neighborhood in St. Louis, MO, where arsonists are burning down abandoned properties. It reminds me that in a SHTF scenario, we will probably see a lot of burned out buildings, whether from riots and protests, fighting between groups, or, like above, a slow motion disaster that slowly swallows a city block-by-block. 

    But it raises another point which is that, burglary tourism aside, most crime will be committed by people living in or about the situs of the crime. And that brings me to the article, "Post-SHTF Local Circle Around Your Home," from Modern Survival Blog. The author suggests getting onto Google Earth, finding your home, and use the circle option on the ruler tool to draw a circle of 1 mile radius (i.e., within a 20 minute walk) from your home. This represents the resources, locations and people that you would likely be interacting with most regularly in a grid-down situation. He continues:

    Do you know any of them? Do you know what they do? Are any of them assets to the situation?

    While using Google Earth, it’s quite easy to zoom in on these locations. It will provide insight. For example it may reveal farming (big or small). Water sources. Congestion. Routes of travel. Those with more land than others. What’s in people’s yards. Buildings. All sorts of observations. It will also provide a pretty good representation of your local population density – which may surprise you…

POTD: Bombed Out Russian Tank

 

Source: "Ukraine has become a graveyard for Russians — and for modern weapons systems"--Salon

    The Ukrainian conflict in back in the news for all the wrong reasons. First up, if you haven't already come across it, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has published an article--"How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline"--that not only asserts that the United States planted the explosives that destroyed the pipelines, but delves into the planning and even how the defense/intelligence establishment justified not informing Congress of what it was doing. An excerpt:

    ... On February 7, less than three weeks before the seemingly inevitable Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden met in his White House office with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, after some wobbling, was now firmly on the American team. At the press briefing that followed, Biden defiantly said, “If Russia invades . . . there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.”

    Twenty days earlier, Undersecretary Nuland had delivered essentially the same message at a State Department briefing, with little press coverage. “I want to be very clear to you today,” she said in response to a question. “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”

    Several of those involved in planning the pipeline mission were dismayed by what they viewed as indirect references to the attack.

    “It was like putting an atomic bomb on the ground in Tokyo and telling the Japanese that we are going to detonate it,” the source said. “The plan was for the options to be executed post invasion and not advertised publicly. Biden simply didn’t get it or ignored it.”

    Biden’s and Nuland’s indiscretion, if that is what it was, might have frustrated some of the planners. But it also created an opportunity. According to the source, some of the senior officials of the CIA determined that blowing up the pipeline “no longer could be considered a covert option because the President just announced that we knew how to do it.”

    The plan to blow up Nord Stream 1 and 2 was suddenly downgraded from a covert operation requiring that Congress be informed to one that was deemed as a highly classified intelligence operation with U.S. military support. Under the law, the source explained, “There was no longer a legal requirement to report the operation to Congress. All they had to do now is just do it—but it still had to be secret. The Russians have superlative surveillance of the Baltic Sea.”

    The Agency working group members had no direct contact with the White House, and were eager to find out if the President meant what he’d said—that is, if the mission was now a go. The source recalled, “Bill Burns comes back and says, ‘Do it.’”

If Hersh is correct, Biden authorized a military attack against an ally--Germany--and dragged another ally--Norway--into the operation. Impeachable offenses, I would say. Be sure to read the whole thing.

    And, I would add, although Hersh's article has not been completely ignored by mainstream outlets, the response was certainly muted. Reuters begins its article with the White House's denial of the claims made in the article, but notes:

    Sweden and Denmark, in whose exclusive economic zones the blasts occurred, have both concluded the pipelines were blown up deliberately, but have not said who might be responsible.

    The United States and NATO have called the incident "an act of sabotage." Moscow has blamed the West for the unexplained explosions that caused the ruptures. Neither side has provided evidence.

The New York Post at least begins with Hersh's allegations, but ends its article with comments about Hersh's prior accusations that the killing of Osama bin Laden was “one big lie.”

    Next up, Ukraine is claiming that Russia is amassing 500,000 soldiers and 1,800 tanks for an offensive planned to begin in the next 10 days. 

    Russia is preparing to launch a powerful new offensive in 10 days’ time involving up to 500,000 conscripts and thousands of pieces of military equipment with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s military officials.

    Ukrainian officials and foreign analysts have been predicting for weeks that the Kremlin was gearing up for a decisive push to seize the battlefield initiative from Kyiv’s forces in the hope of scoring a major victory in time for the Feb. 24 first anniversary of the war.

    A Ukrainian military official speaking to Foreign Policy magazine on condition of anonymity said, “We expect in the next 10 days a new, huge invasion.”

    According to the official, Russia has already amassed an estimated 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armored vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 Soviet-era multiple rocket launch systems, 400 fighter jets and 300 helicopters.

There is speculation that the Russians are rushing the planned operation in order to be able to begin on the first anniversary of the beginning of the invasion. And, "[t]he Kremlin is in a race against time to turn the tide of war in its favor before the first battle tanks and long-range missiles pledged to Kyiv by the US and European countries begin arriving in Ukraine, which could be as early as March."

New Bombs & Bants (Streamed Feb. 8, 2023)

 

Video: Bombs & Bants Episode 72 (52 min.)

POTD: Abandoned Russian Ekranoplan

 

Source: "It’s a Boat, It’s a Plane, No, It’s an Abandoned Russian Sea Monster"--Autoevolution

Pictured above is the result of the Soviet Union's attempt to develop a  wing in ground effect (WIG) craft during the Cold War. A couple years ago it was being towed across the Caspian see when the tow line broke and it wound up stranded on a beach. Popular Mechanics relates:

    The Ekranoplan was the Soviet Union's attempt to build a craft capable of exploiting the wing in ground effect (WIG). As an aircraft flies closer to the ground, air pressure builds between the wing and the flat surface below. This creates a cushion of air beneath the plane. Meanwhile, the low altitude eliminates wingtip vortices, decreasing drag.

    During the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed large, turbojet-powered craft that used the WIG effect to “fly” above the wavetops. The Soviets designed the Lun-class WIG craft to use the effect to float just inches over the surface of a lake or ocean, adding eight forward-mounted turbojet engines to give them a top speed of 373 miles per hour.

    This super low altitude ensured they were below the radar horizon of enemy warships until the ships were within range of the Lun’s six SS-N-22 “Sunburn” missiles. A Mach 3 sea-skimming missile, the Sunburn had a range of 64 miles, flew from 16 to 32 feet above the surface of the water, and could pack a nuclear warhead. This made them capable of sinking the largest ships, including U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

    Today, the Ekranoplan–the only Lun ever built—lies stranded off a beach in the Caspian Sea. This summer, the craft was in the process of being towed from a nearby naval base to a museum when something appeared to have gone terribly wrong. Instead of making it to its new home, the Ekranoplan ended up stranded in shallow water, where it's drawing visitors.

It has since been successfully recovered.

    The Soviets abandoned the program because the plane flew so low that it was unable to be used in rough seas. However, the concept may not be completely dead. Earlier this week, it was reported that DARPA is funding two wing in ground effect craft. 

    Two teams — General Atomics working with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation and Aurora Flight Sciences working with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft — will develop designs for DARPA’s Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect full-scale demonstrator. The Liberty Lifter program aims to demonstrate a leap-ahead in operational capability by designing, building, floating, and flying a long-range, low-cost X-Plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical heavy lift.

    The planned Liberty Lifter demonstrator will be a large flying boat similar in size and capacity to the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft. Goals include takeoff and land in Sea State 4, sustained on-water operation up to Sea State 5, and extended flight close to the water in ground effect with the capability to fly out of ground effect at altitudes up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

Interesting.

POTD: The Rubble In Turkey

 

(Source)

    Unfortunately, the photograph above is not of abandoned ruins, but collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, following the devastating earthquakes of earlier today. The initial 7.8 magnitude quake struck  at 04:17 am local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 11 miles, according to the U.S. geological survey. It was centered north of Gaziantep, Turkey, about 60 miles from the Syrian border with a population of about 2 million in the region. The quake was strong enough to be felt as far away as Egypt and Cyprus. The initial quake lasted about a minute, but there were some 40 aftershocks felt in the hours after, including one measuring 6.5.

    Hours later, a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the same area, but near the city of Kahramanmaraş, adding to the devastation. 

    Casualty figures are changing, but the most recent reports indicate approximately 3,000 dead in both Turkey and Syria. As an article at PJ Media points out, however, "the death toll is sure to drastically rise with 'tens of thousands of citizens… waiting under the rubble' in Hatay alone."

    Terrible.

POTD: The Turkish ghost town of Kayakoy

 

Source: "The world’s most fascinating abandoned towns and cities"--CNN

The CNN article relates:

    Preserved as a museum and designated by UNESCO as a “world friendship and peace village,” Kayakoy has become something of a tourist mainstay for visitors to this southwestern corner of Turkey.

    However, its abandonment speaks of the bitter conflict in the wake of World War I, when Greece and Turkey fought for control of the wider region and a population exchange led to residents being unable to return to their ancestral homes.

POTD: Abandoned Home in Maryland

 

Source: "A photographer's haunting images of America's abandoned homes look like they're frozen in the past"--Insider.

POTD: Abandoned Oil Tanks

 

Source: "Feds to plug dozens of old, leaky oil wells in these havens for Louisiana wildlife"--NOLA

Some Firearm Articles

 

VIDEO: "Massad Ayoob: Castle Doctrine, The McCloskeys & Why You Should Remain Inside. Critical Mas EP51"--Wilson Combat (15 min.)

• First up, Jon Low has a new Defensive Pistolcraft post collecting links to articles and videos on firearms and self-defense related topics, and a few other things of note as well. For instance, he includes a good tip for those running pistols with red dot sights:

     William Hayes finds his red dot by pushing his pistol to the target with muzzle high, and then bringing the muzzle down onto the target / red dot down into the center of the window.  He never has to search for it, because he knows where it is, even if he can't see it in the window.  He knows that it is above the window and that lowering the muzzle will bring the red dot into the window.  

     He also uses a light gathering front sight attached to the front of the slide to aid in aligning his pistol to the target.  So he is never searching for his red dot.  

And, on the same issue of red dots, way down, under the "Gear" heading, Jon includes advice from  Gabe Suarez for those with an astigmatism and trying to use red dot sights on a pistol (and one of his pieces of advice is to switch to a green dot). Also, be sure to scroll down until you find the "Education" header and read the stuff Jon has about active shooter events and how to stop them. Finally, something I had never considered before although it makes a lot of sense: 

A neighbor in my apartment complex was complaining to me about how the realty company that owns our apartment complex was raising the rents.  I explained to her that they were doing it to stay ahead of what the welfare recipients could afford.  That's the only legal way they can keep the welfare recipients out.  Statistically speaking, all the crime, drug use, drug dealing, vandalism, theft, etc. is due to the multi-generational welfare recipients.  Everyone knows it.  It's just politically incorrect or racists to say it.  If they didn't raise the rents, we would have a lot of home invasions in our apartment complex.  

About a half mile from where I live are several apartment complexes one of which used to be almost exclusively Section 8 housing. When my wife and I first moved in, it was a nightly occurrence to see three or more police cars, lights flashing, parked at or just outside those apartment complexes. Several years later, the Section 8 apartment complex closed for remodeling, kicked out all the residents, gutted the buildings and then reopened, I presume to higher rents. After that, it has been rare to see the police there.

• It's Friday, which means a new Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. A few of the items he mentions I've previously linked to, so I won't cover those. But a few links/article that I would recommend in particular are: (i) why diagnostic pistol targets are a waste of time; (ii) a good article on cover; (iii) an article looking at what first aid skills--"street medicine"--we should know; (iv) and a doctor talking about the seriousness of empty hand attacks.
• "5 Hot New Airguns For 2023"--American Rifleman. I have a nephew that has a couple high power airguns, including some large caliber, and I was surprised at their performance.
• And less Gold Dot for the civilian shooter: "French Police Select Speer Ammunition"--Shooting Illustrated.
• "The Gas Pedal Drill"--Shooting Illustrated. The author describes the purpose of this drill:

Our drill this month trains you to put your mental foot down on that proverbial “go-fast” pedal to develop greater control in both acceleration and downshifting for those precise hits.

It uses three paper targets and two steel "A-Box" targets, though, so it may require more equipment than many people own. 

• "Maine Urban Rifle Qualification Course: Lobsters and Blasters"--The Mag Life. This sounds like a pretty good test for the typical gun owner: it requires a magazine loaded rifle (although the author believes it could easily be modified for using a lever-action) and only 36 rounds of ammunition. It starts at 100 yards and moves correspondingly closer through different stages to 15 yards.
• "The Hotheaded Hitman Preferred a Wheelgun!"--Guns America. A look at an Australian contract killer named Andrew "Benji" Veniamin. His career doesn't seem to have been affected in one whit by Australia's 1996 gun ban. As for the revolver part, the article relates that "Benji Veniamin was by now [early 2000s] a seasoned shooter. He told friends that he favored revolvers to autoloaders for wet work for their innate reliability." The weapon on him when he was finally gunned down was a four-inch barreled Smith & Wesson Model 10-5 in .38 (I presume .38 Special, although the article isn't clear about this). 
• "Feral Hogs in Canada (and the Northern U.S.)"--The Captain's Journal. Although most people probably think of this as being a problem limited to southern states, the animals are spreading in Canada and may even cross the border into northern U.S. states that haven't seen them before.
• More: "The Northwest is Bracing for a Hog Invasion"--The Captain's Journal. 
• Back to the standard Democrat response to a heinous crime--make the victims even more helpless: "Gavin Newsom Responds to Mass Shootings by Limiting Concealed Carry"--Breitbart. 
• "Fifth Circuit Holds People Can't Be Disarmed Just Based on Civil Restraining Order"--The Volokh Conspiracy. This is a long read, but probably fun for the legal nerds. Volokh's succinct summary, though: "The court rejected the view that, under Heller and Bruen, legislatures can disarm anyone who isn't a 'law-abiding, responsible citizen[]'." The statute in question is 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) which requires the forfeiture of a weapon after a civil proceeding "in which a court enters a protective order based on a finding of a 'credible threat' to another specific person ... in order to protect that person from 'domestic gun abuse.'"  

Article: "CCW in Public Restrooms: When You Gotta Go..."

    Here is a good article at Shooting Illustrated on how to handle the issue of what to do with your firearm when you have to use the stall in a public restroom. The two main problems that people have in the restroom have to do with removing the handgun from its holster and (discussed in this article) leaving the handgun behind or falling to the floor, or (not discussed in this article) accidently triggering the firearm. 

    The author's solution is to lower his trousers to just below his knee and then rebuckle his belt so the trousers do not fall to the floor. Obviously, the firearm remains in its holster the whole time.

    You might also want to check out this article--"Using the Bathroom While Carrying Concealed"--from Pew Pew Tactical or this one--"One Weird Trick That No One Teaches You About Concealed Carry"--from The Truth About Guns. And I have some thoughts on the matter in my post, "Number 2: Carrying a Handgun While Using the Toilet." 

POTD: "Rusted water tower in Panola County, Mississippi"

 

Source: Library of Congress

New Bombs & Bants!

 

VIDEO: "Bombs & Bants Episode 71" (46 min.)

Reminder: "Look up tonight! Incredibly rare green comet will zip past Earth"

The Daily Mail reminds us to "Look up tonight! Incredibly rare green comet will zip past Earth."

    An incredibly rare green comet will zip past Earth tonight for the first time since the age of the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago.

    Comet C/2022 E3 will fling past our planet at a distance of about 26.4 million miles (42.5 million km). 

    Stargazers will be able to tell the difference between the comet and surrounding stars as it will have a streaking trail of dust following it.

The article notes that "On Monday, the comet appeared between the Big Dipper and Polaris, the North Star. Today it will appear near the constellation Camelopardalis, bordered by Ursa Major, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper." It also notes that "[t]he comet is best viewed after midnight, when it reaches its highest point in the sky."

Some Firearms Related Articles and News

VIDEO: "New S&W M&P 5.7x28 Pistol Review :Tempo Rotating Barrel"

sootch00 (24 min.) 

• "SHOT Show 2023 Roundup"--Revolver Guy. While ARs and polymer framed, striker fired handguns remain hot items, the author picked up on a couple of other trends and hot items: (i) double-stack 1911 style pistols; (ii) lever actions; (iii) Turkish made firearms; and (iv) the Revolver Renaissance is alive and well. And on the latter topic, being the Revolver Guy, he then goes into various models announced or shown off at Shot Show. As a side note, he also mentions that Federal is promising to increase its production of revolver calibers including .32 H&R Magnum, .327 Federal Magnum, .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .44 Special. I've noticed that even though shelves have filled up with popular semi-auto handgun rounds like 9mm, .40S&W, .45 ACP and even some 10mm, there has been little or no revolver offerings.
• "What’s Up With Primer Production?"--The Captain's Journal. Herschel links to a video that purports to have some answers as to why primers are still expensive and rarer than a hen's tooth, and offers his own comments as to why some of the explanation is B.S. It appears, however, that the military and law enforcement are getting the lion's share of new primer production.
• "The AK-74: From Soviet Small Arm To Resistance Symbol"--American Rifleman. They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and the AK-74 was the Soviets' attempt to imitate the performance of the 5.56.
• "Myth Of M1 Carbine Penetration Failures in Korea" – Scattered Shots. The author decided to test some myths floating around that the M1 Carbine wasn't able to penetrate the thick winter uniforms worn by Chinese soldiers in the Korean War. He put up some padding, stuffed extra thick with old clothes, and found that M1 Carbine ball ammo had no problem penetrating the padding, wood used as part of the backstop, and several inches into soil--all at a distance of 200 yards. Closing thoughts from the author:

“When a  Soldier or Marine  is shot multiple times and tough it out to carry on the fight and prevails, he is a bad-ass napalm eating super soldier hero. When an enemy soldier  takes multiple hits from US troops and continues to fight beyond what is normally deemed possible, the issue gun sucks is underpowered and is lowest bidder garbage”.

• "Fact-Check: Mass Shootings Actually Increased During Federal ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban"--The Federalist. The article found two things. First, the research that indicated that the assault weapons ban reduced mass shootings during the AWB were intellectually dishonest in two ways: (a) they didn't use the AWB's definition of "assault weapon" to classify what weapons counted, and (b) they ignored the total number of mass shootings. Second, and more important, is that mass shootings had been trending upward over the decade prior to passage of the AWB, continued to climb during the AWB, and continued to climb after the sunset of the AWB. In other words, the AWB didn't make an iota of a difference on mass shootings.

POTD: Plane Wreckage

 

Source: "Hiker Finds Abandoned Plane Wreck" (video--3 min.)