A New Weekend Knowledge Dump ...

 ... Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training. Here are the points/articles that most jumped out to me:

• First, with the release of the Lipsey/S&W J-frame revolvers, there are both articles about the weapon and .32 caliber rounds since the Lipsey is being offered in .32 H&R Magnum. Ellifritz has included a few articles on these topics:

• Part 2 of the Revolver Guy's review of the Lipsey revolvers, including a long discussion of why use a .32 caliber. Part 1, if you remember, was the background on the Lipsey revolver. Part 2 discusses specific features of the Lipsey revolvers. The Revolver Guy promises a Part 3 in the near future going over what it is like to shoot the revolver.

• 6Greg also links to an article from the Safariland blog reviewing the .32 caliber Lipsey revolver.
•  Although not mentioned by Greg, I will throw in this link to a 2019 article from Lucky Gunner on why the .32 is the best cartridge for a snubby revolver.

• In a similar vein, Greg includes a couple articles singing the praises of a defensive/pocket pistol in .22 LR:

• "Why I’d Rather Carry a .22 LR Over a .380 ACP" from the Mag Life blog; and,
• "The .22 LR Pistol and You" from Straight Forward In A Crooked World blog.

The first article, from the Mag Life, essentially revolves on the difference in recoil in pocket pistols. There are two primary reasons for the kick from .380 in a pocket pistol: as the author mentions, the light weight of such weapons; and, not mentioned, that the majority of such weapons are a simple blowback design. The Sig P238 uses a tilt barrel, locking design similar to that of the Browning High Power, which tends to mitigate some of the snappiness of the recoil. 

The second article looks to other advantages of the .22 LR pocket pistol, particularly if (like the author) you are trying to go armed in other countries.

• Finally, Greg links to a couple articles on recognizing pre-attack indicators. One of the articles is from Women's Outdoor News; and the other is a piece that Greg published in 2020. The latter is, IMHO, the better of the two articles because it has greater detail and explanation, but the first is much shorter. 

10 Years To Replace Francis Scott Key Bridge

On the most recent podcast with John Wilder, I predicted that it would probably take a decade to replace the bridge owing to all the red tape. And I was correct according to Stephen Green at PJ Media: "The Key Bridge was built at a cost (adjusted for inflation) of about $200 million. Replacing it could take a decade and cost $400 million to $800 million dollars, according to experts in what has become a dismal field."

Treasure! The Spanish Galleon, San José, May Soon Be Raised

From the New York Post: "‘Holy Grail’ shipwreck worth $17B could be recovered soon — but it’s a ‘huge challenge’." The article explains:

    For the uninitiated, the San José galleon was the pride of Spain’s treasure fleet which was sunk off Baru Island, Cartagena in 1708 during the war of Spanish Succession, whereupon it lay undiscovered until 2015.

    It was notable for its record-breaking cache of emerald, gold and silver whose total value is estimated at a cool $17 billion.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ownership of the 131-foot vessel has been fiercely disputed with Spain, Colombia, Bolivian indigenous groups, and even the US laying claim to this holy grail of the high seas.

    Now, authorities claim that they’re setting politics aside and are planning to salvage the San José’s artifacts starting in April.

The hope isn't just to recover the treasure and other artifacts from the wreck, but to actually raise the ship itself so it can be displayed in a museum. Part of the challenge--and possibly the saving grace in keeping the ship intact enough to even considering raising it--is that sunk in approximately 2,000 feet of water. The plan is initially to use robots to retrieve artifacts and bring them to surface. After observing how those artifacts respond, then the decision can be made whether to go ahead and attempt to raise the wreck. 

New Defensive Pistolcraft Post

Jon Low has posted a new newsletter at this Defensive Pistolcraft blog. Lots of good information and links, but here are a few things in particular that I found interesting:

• Jon writes: 

     I was directing traffic and signaled a gentleman to move his car forward closer to the car in front of him, so we could fit 5 cars in the designated lane.  He couldn't.  He told me that the sensor on his Honda Accord Hybrid automatically applied the brakes and would not let him get any closer to the car in front of him.   

 

     Many cars have this safety "feature".  You won't be able to ram the non-engine side of the car blocking the road in front of you.  You'll just have to sit in your car until the mob burns you out with Molotov cocktails.   

 

     If you buy a stupid car, you're going to get tragic results.  

• Another comment from Jon: "If you're drawing portraits or cartoon characters, how do you make the character look stupid or inept?  Jutting upper lip and head jutting forward so that the ears are well in front of the shoulders.  Good posture has the ears over the shoulders, teeth together, mouth closed, lips meeting evenly.  Good posture make you look like a hard target.  Tuck your chin and pull your head back.  I know it's hard.  Your life time of slouching is a bad habit that must be broken." I would add that there is plenty of research out there indicating that criminals use posture and gait to pick targets.

• Stephen P. Wenger pointed Jon to an article about a shooting at a Walmart ("Man shot at Cordova Walmart speaks about what happened"). The victim was in the Walmart with his son when a man (the shooter) punched his (the shooter's) girlfriend. The victim turned to see what was going on and reportedly asked what was going on. For this, the victim also received a punch to the face followed by an fusillade of 15 shots, with the victim being struck 9 times. The victim was armed with a handgun, but wasn't able to employ it. Why? He explained that he was carrying without a round in the chamber:

“Yeah, I had a firearm on me, but I didn't have it engaged. I had just left home, didn't feel a need to have something in the head. And that's how he was able to shoot me. And I wasn't able to shoot back,” Grandberry said.

Wenger commented about this:

     I suspect that depictions on both big and small screens of police detectives racking slides to chamber a round before entering venues where they expect to encounter suspects have done more to promote empty-chamber carry in the US than have prior US military service or training by IDF (Israeli Defense Force) veterans. People who don't feel comfortable carrying a pistol with a round in the chamber may be better served with a double-action revolver.  

The loaded revolver also has a round (or, rather, rounds) in the chambers, so what I think Wenger is getting at is that there are people that don't feel comfortable using a single action or striker fired pistol with a loaded chamber because of fears of inadvertently discharging the weapon, but may be better off with the longer, heavier trigger on the double-action revolver. Or I would add, if that is the case, a DAO or DA/SA semi-auto with a decocker. 

• Jon excerpts 10 questions you should be able to answer if you carry a concealed handgun from an article by Mike Seeklander, "The Concealed Carry Trap – Are You Caught In It?" I won't copy the questions here because it is too long, but the point of the questions is to make you think about your ability or preparations for dealing with common occurrences when you are attacked by a criminal, e.g., having to draw from close quarters, being prepared against losing your weapon if you are thrown around or fall to the ground, having to quickly draw your weapon, etc.
• And another bit of wisdom:

     Dr. Ignatius Piazza says that live fire practice is only used to verify what you have learned in dry practice.  It is in dry practice, without the recoil and report of the pistol, that you perfect form and develop competence and speed.  You should be dry firing 10 shots for every live round you fire on the range.  This is also more cost effective than live fire practice.  (Eventually, you will be visualizing 10 repetitions of an action for every 1 that you dry practice, and 10 dry practiced for every live round fired.  That would be efficient practice.  Mindlessly shooting ammo at the range is not practice.  It's just a waste of time

and money.)  

I recently picked up a laser dry-fire cartridge to work on a trigger issue. I've notice a couple things with it. First, if you have your sights aligned correctly and don't jerk the trigger, you probably won't see the laser dot because it will be hidden behind the front sight post. Thus it helps with fine tuning your form over the iron sights alone. Second, it is far easier to spot wiggle from different causes (for instance, I've discovered that the striker springs on Glocks are strong enough to induce a jump when the trigger is pulled and the striker slams forward). 

 Anyway, a lot more there, including a collection of articles about the airport manager killed by the ATF, firearms and the Mexican Connection, and a couple articles on the correct way to mitigate against overpenetration in a home defense scenario, links to a free PDFs of books on chess, and a lot more. So be sure to check it out. 

Hand Grenades Of The Spanish Civil War

Karl Dahl has published an interesting article on "Commercial and Artisanal Hand Grenades of the Spanish Civil War." The "artisanal" refers to the fact that for much of the war, the combatants relied on hand grenades that were produced locally in small scale cottage industries. As a result, there were a number of designs, explosives and materials used throughout the war.  

    Dahl begins:

One fascinating aspect of the Spanish Civil War is the distinct manner in which the entirety of Spanish society, in both the Nationalist and Republican Zones, became organized around the war. This included a level of military industrialization rarely addressed in the few English-language sources about the war, as both sides lacked sufficient equipment needed for modern war as established during World War One, not to mention the new age of mobile warfare of which this war was a harbinger. A curious element of this militarization was the local and factional development of hand grenades, as some sides in the war already came to the fight with their own hand grenades, referred to in the Spanish as “artisanal,” which has the same definition as in modern-day English – boutique, small batch, locally-sourced, and hand-crafted with love by skilled artisans.

He goes on to discuss the difference between defensive and offensive grenades, some of the explosive mixtures used, different types of fuses employed on different models, and, finally, looks at some of the more widely used grenade designs. If the history of the Spanish Civil War and/or pyrotechnics interests you, you will probably find this article educational. The author has also published a few other articles over the past year on the Spanish Civil War.

Paul Joseph Watson: The Truth About The Baltimore Bridge Collapse

In this video, Paul Joseph Watson points out why some of the conspiracy theories concerning the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore are certainly wrong. The probable explanation is much more mundane and pernicious: "wokeness" and DEI. The ship, according to the video, was crewed by Indians; the company that operated the ship has been pushing its DEI creds; and the Port Authority which provided the pilot is run by people of whom some appear "didn't earn it".

VIDEO: "The Truth About the Baltimore Bridge Collapse"

Paul Joseph Watson (9 min.)

Bombs & Bants - Episode 122

 More fun and frolics (and a side trip into Canadian serial killers). 

VIDEO: "Episode 122" (49 min.)

Mason Dixon: The Use Of Shotguns

Some of you might have seen this already, but if not Mason Dixon Survivalist Association published an article on "Shotguns, Their Uses, And Efficiently Carrying Your Ammo" where JCD shared tips and lessons picked up from his experience using shotguns in the military and since, accessories and sights, carrying ammo, positioning the ammo pouches, and why it is a good weapon on which to mount a bayonet. As he wraps up his article, he points out:

    The shotgun has a niche in the world of the Survivalist. It is one of the best long guns to have in a close quarters fight....

    The shotgun can be loaded up or down in power and projectile to be able to kill anything on the planet, and can even be loaded not to kill, if need be, with non lethal projectiles.... Pistols and rifles don’t even come close to giving you the versatility of a shotgun, and for this reason, the pump shotgun should be considered for your gun rack.

    Being able to comfortably, and efficiently carry your ammo for that shotgun is just about as important as the shotgun’s versatility, especially if it is being used in a defensive role. ...

Be sure to read the whole thing. 

Declining Support for Israel's Actions in Gaza

The New York Post reports: "Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza new poll reveals as tensions rise between allies." The article states that "[a] Gallup survey released Wednesday found that 55% of US adults disapprove of the Jewish state’s actions in Gaza while just 36% approve — a dramatic turnaround from November, when 50% approved of Israeli action in Gaza while 45% disapproved in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack." Some other points:

• "Wednesday’s poll found that just 18% of self-identified Democrats approved of Israeli action in Gaza, down from 36% in November, while 75% disapproved."
• "Pro-Israel feeling has also waned among self-identified Republicans, with 64% approving of the military response (down from 71% in November) and 30% disapproving."
• "Fewer than three in 10 self-described independents approve of Israel’s actions, while 60% say they disapprove."

While support was higher among those people who claimed to be following the conflict closely (43% supporting Israel), it is still less than half. 

    The lack of support among Democrats is easy to explain as the result of decades of propaganda from liberals vilifying the West as racist and colonizers. It is very easy to take that narrative and replace Western settlement of North America and alleged maltreatment of American Indians with Jewish settlement of Palestine and maltreatment of the Palestinians; or Germany's quest for lebensraum in WWII with the present actions of Israel to conquer and settle more and more Palestinian lands. 

    The falling support among conservatives is a little harder to explain and may be for several reasons including, but not limited to, a growing dislike of foreign entanglements and providing financial support to other countries (something we see going on in relation to funding for Ukraine) and a growing indifference about the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts (i.e., "not our problem")--in other words, a resurgence of isolationism. Plus decades of Jewish disdain for Evangelical Christians (Israel's strongest supporters) might finally be taking its toll. 

A Few Videos On Defending Against A Hair Grab

Some different perspectives on this issue. The first video appears to be directed toward a male audience, while the other two are obviously directed toward a female audience.   

VIDEO: "How to Defend Against Hair Pulling In A Fight Or Kidnapping"

Budo Brothers (7 min.)

VIDEO: "HAIR PULL DEFENSE KRAV MAGA FOR WOMEN"

Nick Drossos Defensive Tactics (7 min.)

VIDEO: "Defense against Hair Pulling (Women Self Defense)"

CodeRedDefense.com (7 min.)

The Real "Lord of the Flies"

I'll admit up front that when I was forced to read William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies in high school I intensely disliked the book. Consequently, when I was required to write a book report on it, I mocked it by presenting my arguments why the character "Piggy" was a cannibal. At this distance in time it is difficult to remember exactly why I disliked the book other than the idea that a group of English school boys would so quickly descend into savagery repelled me. 

    So when I came across this article at The Guardian entitled "The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months," I was pleasantly surprised to find that the results were exactly the opposite of Golding's predictions. In June 1965, six boys--all pupils at a strict Catholic boarding school in Nuku‘alofa, Tonga, and between 13 and 16 in age--decided they had enough with school and hatched a plan to sail to Fiji, some 500 miles away. Unfortunately, their voyage turned out much like the journey of fictional Minnow in the show Gilligan's Island. Their sails were ripped apart in a storm and they had brought neither a map nor compass. 

    After 8 days at sea, they spotted an island--‘Ata. "Not a tropical paradise with waving palm trees and sandy beaches," the article relates, "but a hulking mass of rock, jutting up more than a thousand feet out of the ocean." The island was deserted, but had at one time been home to a small population--something that would be significant to the boys.

    By the time the boys were rescued, "the boys had set up a small commune with food garden, hollowed-out tree trunks to store rainwater, a gymnasium with curious weights, a badminton court, chicken pens and a permanent fire, all from handiwork, an old knife blade and much determination." They kept a fire going continuously.

    The kids agreed to work in teams of two, drawing up a strict roster for garden, kitchen and guard duty. Sometimes they quarrelled, but whenever that happened they solved it by imposing a time-out. Their days began and ended with song and prayer. Kolo fashioned a makeshift guitar from a piece of driftwood, half a coconut shell and six steel wires salvaged from their wrecked boat – an instrument Peter has kept all these years – and played it to help lift their spirits. And their spirits needed lifting. All summer long it hardly rained, driving the boys frantic with thirst. They tried constructing a raft in order to leave the island, but it fell apart in the crashing surf.

    Worst of all, Stephen slipped one day, fell off a cliff and broke his leg. The other boys picked their way down after him and then helped him back up to the top. They set his leg using sticks and leaves. “Don’t worry,” Sione joked. “We’ll do your work, while you lie there like King Taufa‘ahau Tupou himself!”

    They survived initially on fish, coconuts, tame birds (they drank the blood as well as eating the meat); seabird eggs were sucked dry. Later, when they got to the top of the island, they found an ancient volcanic crater, where people had lived a century before. There the boys discovered wild taro, bananas and chickens (which had been reproducing for the 100 years since the last Tongans had left).

They were rescued on September 11, 1966, when a ship passing near the island spotted patches of burned vegetation--something very unusual for islands in that part of the Pacific--and investigated further. The captain was initially skeptical of the boys' story, but after radioing Tonga, learned that the boys had indeed been missing--in fact, they were presumed dead and funerals had been held.

    The article has more detail so be sure to check it out. 

Diversity is a Strength: Incarceration/Conviction Rates of Foreigners in Belgium and Denmark

The RAIR Foundation reports that in "Belgium: 43% of Prisoners Are Foreigners." The article doesn't break down that figure, but does report that Belgium has been working on repatriating some of these prisoners, adding:

... There were 1,156 repatriations in 2020, 1,299 in 2021, 1,511 in 2022, and 1,428 last year, accounting for more than half of all repatriations. The repatriated detainees primarily consist of Albanians, Romanians, Dutch, Moroccans, Algerians, and French nationals.

The French and Dutch nationals were likely also mostly non-Europeans. 

    In related news, PJ Media reports on "The Discovery From Denmark's Crime Stats That the Left Doesn't Want You to See." The article contains a link to a graph breaking down convictions for violent crimes by the national origin of the perpetrator. Denmark is 42nd on the list. And of the 41 above it, 21 were Middle-Eastern or African countries. And of the top 10, 8 were from Middle-Eastern or North African nations, 1 was a country in a different part of Africa (Uganda), and 1 was from Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia).

Cultural Enrichment In California: Romanian Skimming Gang Arrested

The Daily Mail reports on a "Romanian gang busted for wiping out Californians' bank accounts after 'skimming' their debit cards at the cash register, as one perp billed as one of 'Romania's most wanted' faces up to 30 years in prison." The article relates:

    Orange County authorities busted 48 suspects connected to an organized crime ring using card skimming operations to steal from people on public assistance and ATM accounts at the end of last year.

    Florin Duduianu, one of Romania's most wanted criminals, was arrested in the operation and found guilty in January of two counts of aggravated identity theft.

But how could one of Romania's most wanted criminals get through the vaunted security provided by our Customs officers and TSA?

Many of the suspects have been determined to have entered the United States through illegal border crossings and a lack of accurate criminal history has made it difficult for prosecutors to argue for higher bail or no bail, according to the district attorney's office.

But it gets better:

The FBI said several of the suspects busted have connections to Florian Tudor, the alleged leader of the notorious and violent ATM skimming organization known as the Riviera Maya Gang based out of Cancun, Mexico. 

 The U.S. is just a big cash cow for the rest of the world to suck dry.  

VIDEO: The Red Heifer And Why It Could Start A War

It is not uncommon to come across references to Israeli Jews looking forward to a sacrifice of a worthy (pure) red heifers as a prelude and requirement to building a new temple in Jerusalem. A lot of Christians view the building of a new temple by the Jews as a necessary prelude to Armageddon and the Second Coming. Muslims are, of course, concerned about Israel attempting to build a new temple and possible destroying Muslim religious sites on the Temple Mount. The video below explains a bit about the red heifer and its significance to the Jews as well as the views of Christians and Muslims, while also explaining that the red heifer sacrifice was a type looking forward to the crucifixion of Christ. 

VIDEO: "Will a Red Heifer Cause Armageddon and what it means for Christians, Jews and Muslims - April 2024" -- Gospel Lessons (15 min.)

Thanks To Biden, We Can Expect Terror Attacks

I was reading this morning that the death toll from the Islamic State terror attacks in Moscow will probably exceed 360. Currently the casualties stand at 139 dead and 182 wounded, but authorities expect to discover dozens more dead under the rubble as the clean up continues. While Moscow is physically a long way from the United States, John A. Lucas writes that it should be warning of what may happen in the U.S. because of our porous borders: 

    The murderous ISIS attack on innocent music fans in Moscow is the canary in the coal mine. Like the canary that drops dead from unseen and undetected gases that nevertheless are deadly, it is a warning of what is to come. 

    The ISIS or other Islamic jihadist terrorists who doubtlessly have crossed the unprotected border into our country are like the deadly gas that kills the canary. As yet, they are mainly unseen and undetected (although increasing numbers on the terrorist watchlist have been apprehended). But, if we do not heed the warning of the Moscow canaries, then Americans are going to suffer the same fate. It is not a question of if, but of when.

    In the present perilous circumstances, the administration, aided and abetted by ill–motived collaborators such as the Senate Democrats, are like the unscrupulous coal mine owner. They are doing nothing to take the necessary steps to protect those whom they are legally and morally obligated to serve and protect.

    The Country is like the coal miners. Just as the miners depend on the mine owner to try to protect them from poisonous gases and other dangers, we depend on the government to secure our borders and to take reasonable steps to secure our safety from foreign threats. But, like the miners, if the canary dies, people here are on notice of the risk to their lives and need to take immediate action to protect themselves and their families.

    Anyone who thinks that ISIS and other Islamic jihadists are not doing everything in their power to infiltrate this country and kill as many Americans as they can, is a monumental fool. They have no business being anywhere near any government position of responsibility. These terrorists are the insidious poisonous gas that has already found its way into the country, even if undetected.

    We cannot predict exactly when, and where, another terrorist attack will occur here. It could be at another theater, perhaps a Broadway play or the Kennedy Center; it could be on a bright fall day at a football stadium in Michigan; it could be at your local church, synagogue, or kindergarten. But it will happen.

 And because the Democrats had abdicated their responsibility to protect the U.S. from an invasion, he explains, we are necessarily going to have to protect ourselves. While it is easy to say "stay away from large public gatherings," hiding ourselves away from life is probably more dangerous--something that the Covid lockdowns have revealed. But it doesn't mean we can't be prepared when we go out in public.

• When you go to a public venue, take note of the location of the exits and what path you would have to follow to get there. If practicable, sit near an exit. 
• Take note of potential cover and concealment. 
• Try and be aware of suspicious people, activities or movement. 
• Make sure you have a flashlight so you can find your way out of a darkened building. It doesn't have to be a powerful tactical light, but it should be better than what is on your cell phone. 
• Know what to do in the event of an explosion or bombing. 
• You probably still have face masks left over from Covid, so keep some with you to provide some (and I emphasize "some") protection against smoke and dust; they aren't perfect at keeping out dust, as I learned when using one when doing some work in my attic, but they can help. 
• Consider keeping one or two tourniquets on you. 
• If you can be armed, than be so. 

I look forward to the comments for other thoughts and suggestions. 

The Future Belongs To Those That Show Up: China Edition

 I watched a video recently that went over various financial trends that could be used to determine a rising or declining dominant economic and political power. The model accurately showed the rise and decline of France which was replaced by Britain which was replaced by the U.S. which will be replaced by China (according to current trends). The catch in all this is that France, Britain and the U.S. also had growing populations as they each succeeded the former. China is a different matter. Japan is a warning in this case as in the early 1980s economic trends indicated that it was on a track to equal or exceed the United States economically; and then it suddenly wasn't. 

    A recent article I came across concerning China's demographic problem is entitled "China's birth rate has fallen so much that many hospitals are simply giving up on delivering babies." The article, from the Business Insider, relates:

    People in China are having fewer babies — so much so that many hospitals in the country have stopped delivery services altogether, as the state-owned Chinese newspaper The Paper reported Monday.

    The trend appears to have started last year when some hospitals in China shut their obstetrics departments, with The Paper also reporting on the phenomenon in September.

    It's unclear exactly how many hospitals have shut their obstetrics departments or halted newborn-delivery services in the past year, but the closures are continuing into 2024.

The article also mentions:

    The number of maternity hospitals in China dropped from 807 in 2020 to 793 in 2021, according to the most recent available official data.

    The closures came as China's population — the world's second-largest — fell for a second straight year in 2023, a development that's set to have profound implications for the world's second-biggest economy.

Although the Chinese government has been offering incentives to get couples to have children, it isn't working: the birth rate fell from 6.77 per 1,000 in 2022 to 6.39 in 2023. And this is according to government statistics which often try to present a rosy picture. 

    I came across a link to a recent essay by James Pethokoukis of the Faster, Please! substack that discusses the coming demographic collapse (noting that by 2100 only 6 countries will be having children at replacement level or higher). He suggests that a way out of this trap--i.e., a method of encouraging people to have more children--can result from greater work productivity through technology combined with a societal shift away from a focus on working--that is, paying people enough money that they don't need to work as many hours or days coupled with a shift into accepting that they don't need to work as many hours. He believes that people in such circumstances (or at least enough people) will take that extra leisure time and invest it into families, including additional children. The basis for his thinking this is because in developed countries, extremely wealthy people and deeply religious people tend to have larger families than typical.

    I think Pethokoukis is wrong that this would lead to larger families. As an initial maatter, the reason for the deeply religious to have larger families is a matter of faith: faith in the future and belief that it is their obligation to have children and fill the earth. I suspect that billionaires are also happier and have greater faith in how their future will turn out that also would lead them to produce more children. 

    On the other hand, many European countries have cultures that eschew long work weeks and provide substantial time off, yet that increased leisure time has not translated to larger family sizes--quite the contrary, in fact. Europeans are less religious than other peoples,which also contributes to the small family sizes that are now the norm.

    Moreover, it is the belief that there is more to life than raising children that drive women away from having children. Just as religiosity is an accurate predictor of family size, so too is the education of women an accurate predictor of family size, but in the opposite direction. It isn't that educated women know more about birth control (although that probably is a factor) but that they have, and desire, different options than motherhood. Thus, as one young woman in the Business Insider article commented:

Two Chinese women told Business Insider's Kevin Tan last month that they were resistant to having kids because of the cost and commitment involved.

Pethokoukis' plan (or hope) might deal with the cost issue, but not the commitment issue.

The Great Replacement In Action: Rural Nebraska Edition

 We only just learned of Tyson Foods firing American citizens in favor of hiring illegals. Now we see the downstream impact of those intentions. From Daily Mail: "Tiny rural Nebraska town that banned non-citizens from renting is overwhelmed by a huge influx of migrants - as asylum seekers flock to fill jobs at meat processing plants."

    Fremont, a small town with a population of 27,000, is home to several meat processing plants including Costco's chicken factory and Wholestone Farms pork plant.

    Locals have said the town's natives are leaving for jobs elsewhere and migrants have come to take those vacant jobs at the slaughterhouses, reported NBC News. That is despite a decade-old law that prevents anyone who is not a citizen from living in the area. 

    The town, which was once nearly all white, now has a Latino population of 16 percent in 2022, according to U.S. census data.

    'We need these people. We need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world,' said Mark Jensen, president of the city council.

This exemplifies Paul's teaching that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). As illegals take the jobs, the few remaining locals won't be able to get jobs at these facilities even if they wanted because the businesses won't hire someone unless they are fluent in Spanish. 

    The increased use of foreign labor, illegal or not, also stifles innovation. As the following articles relate, historically as the agricultural labor market tightened and wages went up, producers increasingly turned to developing mechanized methods of harvesting (which was the subject of the articles).

• "Can U.S. Farm Workers Be Replaced by Machines?Mechanizing fruit and vegetable production" by Philip Martin, Center for Immigration Studies.
• "Fewer farm workers leads to more mechanization"--The Prairie Star.
• "From strawberries to apples, a wave of agriculture robotics may ease the farm labor crunch"--CNBC. 
• "Farmers Are Replacing Migrant Workers With Robots"--Popular Mechanics.
  

But each time labor markets tightened and efforts to mechanize and automate harvesting started, those efforts stalled because Congress would intervene to allow more migrants in or, in the case recently, the federal government simply encouraged illegal immigration and didn't enforce immigration laws, allowing the labor markets to loosen.

    Although there has been less effort to automate the meat industry, I did come across a number of articles that indicated that it too is possible. (See, e.g., "Robots: the future of meat processing?"--The Western Producer). 

    Although automation would likely save producers and processors money over the long run, the agricultural industry (including farmers) would rather encourage the invasion of our country by foreigners to avoid the capital investment that would be required. Of course, if we weren't funding so many wars, we could afford to offer grants or other financial assistance to agricultural producers to get them past the financial hurdles.

Cannabalism Comes To America

 The Blaze reports: "Horrifying video shows man walking off with severed leg after lethal train accident in California: 'He's eating that'":

     A shocking video captured the moment a California man walked off with a severed human leg after a train accident where a woman died, according to police.

    The video shows a disheveled man looking around while carrying a large, ragged object.

    The Kern County Sheriff's Office said that a train struck a woman at about 8:05 a.m. near G and 7th streets in the town of Wasco near Bakersfield.

    A witness told KGET-TV that they saw a man remove a severed leg from the scene near an Amtrak Station. 

    The video shows the man in a red hooded sweatshirt and black pants leaning over an object. He turns around and erratically laughs at the person recording the scene, then staggers away.

    A second scene in the video appears to show the police response and the man waving the leg at the officers.

    KGET published a censored version of the video with words bleeped out and the image of the leg blurred out.

    A voice can be heard on the video saying, "He's eating that s**t!" in English and then in Spanish.

    Some of the news videos edit out the portions where it looks like he might be eating the leg.

    The sheriff's office later confirmed that they had arrested the man and identified him as 27-year-old Resendo Tellez.

I have not been able to find any information on his immigration status. He's certainly dark enough to be from Haiti, but his name is Spanish not French.

Safety Tip: Don't Be Around Police Using Their Weapons

So some of you might have read about some excitement in Boise, Idaho, last week. A prisoner at the state prison south of town apparently had injured himself and been taken to one of the hospitals in town (St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center). As the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) officers were escorting his out of the hospital, a friend of the prisoner showed up, shots were exchanged, and the two were able to escape even after Boise police showed up and entered the fray. They were subsequently tracked down in a town in southern Idaho about 130 miles away. 

Prior articles had noted that 3 of the IDOC officers were injured. But this article added a detail I had not seen before (underline added):

The suspects, Skylar Meade, 31, and Nicholas Umphenour, 28, fled in a stolen Honda Civic after they coordinated an attack at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in the Boise Bench, authorities said. Umphenour fired at IDOC officers as Meade, an Idaho prisoner being treated for self-inflicted injuries, was being transported back to prison, Boise police previously said. A third officer was shot by police.

Keep in mind that the IDOC officers were in uniform and one of them was still mistakenly shot by police. You can imagine what would have happened to a regular citizen with a concealed weapon if he or she had attempted to assist.

A Test of 5 Methods/Tools To Locate Hidden Spy Cameras

This article is about the tiny spy cameras with pin-hole sized lenses that can be discretely hidden. The primary concern for most people would be the presence of such a camera (or more) in a hotel room or Airbnb. Sometimes these cameras are connected to a WiFi connection to broadcast the video to a remote computer; other can save the video to an SD card. 

    In any event, CNBC tested various methods/tools to locate such hidden cameras and reported the results in this piece: "How to find hidden cameras in hotels and house rentals: We tested five ways — and one’s the clear winner." There were 27 cameras hidden in a home but they were only able to find 17 cameras between all of the tested methods/tools. The methods/tools used were: 

1. Using the naked eye. They found only 1 camera hidden inside a clock--discovered because the clock was wrong).
2. Using a mobile phone app (Fing) designed to detect such cameras by scanning WiFi networks for cameras (it didn't detect any cameras).
3. Using a flashlight. Although the article counts this as part of method 2--using a cell phone because after the failure of Fing the tester turned to using the phone's flashlight mode--I have split it out.  They found 3 cameras with this technique.
4. Next was radio frequency detector. It had so many false alerts that they weren't able to use it locate a single camera. The article notes that it probably wouldn't be able to detect cameras that saved the data to an SD card anyway.
5. A basic (inexpensive) lens detector, which emits an infra-red light and detects the reflection from the lens. This device was able to find 2 cameras.
6. A more sophisticated (expensive) lens detector. Using this device, they found 11 cameras.
   

California's Environmentalism In Action--Forcing State Farm Insurance Out Of The Market

Because it is so hard for homeowners and utilities to clear brush away from homes and powerlines due to environmental regulations, California frequently had destructive wild fires. Well, California and federal wildlife officials may have saved a few mice, but it is finally causing State Farm, California's largest home insurer, to leave the California market. Just months after the company announced it was not going to be accepting new applications for homeowner's insurance, State Farm has announced that it will stop issuing insurance to 72,000 homes and apartments. The reasons it has given is "soaring costs, the increasing risk of catastrophes like wildfires and outdated regulations". The article explains that "[t]he move comes as California's elected insurance commissioner undertakes a yearlong overhaul of home insurance regulations aimed at calming the state's imploding market." The state's Department of Insurance has also promised to investigate State Farm's decision. 

    For more about the collapse of California, check out this article: "California Is Charging Residents Who Want to Leave the State With New Exit Tax." "The exit tax mechanism is designed to allow taxation for several years after a taxpayer leaves California, classifying them as a 'Wealth Tax Resident.'" As it is currently proposed, it will only apply to people with $50 million or more in assets. But the federal income tax was originally sold as only applying to very wealthy as well and now look at where we are. 

White-Hating Indian Threatens To Bring Down Airliner

Another heart warming story of immigration and cultural enrichment: "American Airlines passenger yelled about ‘blue-eyed white devils’ and threatened to ‘take this plane down’: affidavit"--New York Post. From the article:

    The hate-spewing American Airlines passenger seen in a viral video being put in a headlock and marched off a flight also drunkenly ranted about “blue-eyed white devils” — and threatened to “take this plane down with all you motherf–kers on it,” according to court documents.

    The passenger, identified as 29-year-old Florida man Shail Patel, had already been accused of hurling an antisemitic slur at a flight attendant during the wild scuffle on American Airlines Flight 2506 from his hometown of Tampa to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

    He had bloodshot eyes and reeked of alcohol — and yelled at other passengers, “F–k you blue-eyed white devils I’m gonna take this plane down with all you motherf–kers on it,” according to a criminal affidavit obtained by The Post Friday.

Another Tranny Killer

From the Daily Mail: "Transgender woman [sic], 18, is jailed for brutal gun murder of girl, 12, 'she'd [sic] had sexual relationship with': Video-called friend from blood-soaked room and asked for help disposing body." The article notes that "Cooper was initially charged as Joshua Cooper but began transitioning after her arrest, with her lawyer asking the court to call her Ash." I see that he is already angling to be put into a female prison. 

    According to court documents, Connors was found laying facedown with her pants around her ankles and a gunshot to the back.

    Her cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the neck and upper chest area.

    Police say they found evidence that someone had tried to clean up the crime scene. 

This reminds of a similar murder here in Idaho in 1996 where the murderer gave his motive or explanation for killing a young woman friend as being that he was bored. He too had called a buddy to help him clean up and dispose of the body. The murderer had also killed his own grandmother a short time (a few weeks if I remember correctly) prior to his murder of the young woman. 

Israel "Threatens" To Go It Alone In Gaza

I'm not sure how he thinks this is a threat, but whatever: "Netanyahu says he is going into Rafah with or without American support: Israeli PM tells Blinken he is going to 'finish Hamas' in and will 'do it alone' if he doesn't get U.S. backing in huge snub to Biden." Netanyahu announced today:

    'Today, I met with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. I conveyed my deep appreciation for our joint effort in combating Hamas for over five months,' Netanyahu said.

    'I emphasized our commitment to evacuating civilians from conflict zones and addressing humanitarian needs. However, I underscored the necessity of entering the Strip and neutralizing the remaining militias to defeat Hamas,' he added. 

    'While I expressed hope for U.S. support, I made it clear that if necessary, we would proceed independently.' 

Criminal Tactic: Charm

The other day I came across this article from the New York Post: "Brave NYC victim fights off sicko who faked injury in ruse to force her into sex act: cops." According to the article:

    Vertell Dunham, 25, distracted a 20-year-old woman by claiming he needed help for a cut on his finger – but then pushed his way into her apartment on East 9th Street near Avenue C in Alphabet City around 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, authorities and sources said.

    Dunham then grabbed the young woman by the throat, choked her, pulled down his pants and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him, cops said.

    But the plucky victim was able to shove her attacker out of the apartment – and it wasn’t long before authorities picked him up at Union Square, cops and sources said.

    Dunham – who has one prior bust for turnstile jumping last October – was charged with burglary and attempted sex act, police said. 

    “The victim in this incident was incredibly lucky they were able to escape,” a police source told The Post. “These criminals use ruses like this to prey on the good nature of people and it could have been ended so much worse. New Yorkers need to be careful. This city is not safe anymore.”

Keep that comment--"prey on the good nature of people"--in mind with this next story: "Florida woman fights off attacker inside apartment gym in terrifying video." Key point (underline added): 

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Nashali Alma, 24, was exercising alone at a gym before she let the suspect, identified as Xavier Thomas-Jones, 25, [who looks like he could be a brother of Dunham in the first article, above] inside on January 22. Alma allowed him in because she had seen him at the facility previously, according to authorities. 

 These articles related to a recent NRA Women article entitled "Criminal Strategy: Charm." The gist of the article is that there "are a number of crimes where the bad guy needs you to trust him so he can get you alone, get physically close to you, or get you to go along with some plan that’s going to lead you into danger," and one method they might use "being nice or being charming." "The bad guy needs to gain your trust, so he’s going to work hard at putting you at ease and making you comfortable."

    Now the article points out that most people (at least in the United States) are nice by nature, so just because someone is nice doesn't mean that they are a rapist or mugger. "But if a stranger approaches you when you’re somewhat isolated or in a transition zone, and he is weirdly going-out-of-his-way nice and charming, you should be in condition orange."

    The word “charm” is particularly useful if you think of it as a verb: “This guy is trying to charm me” hits your brain differently than “this guy is so charming.” And the way to defend against this strategy is the same as it is for many other strategies: Be direct and firm. Reject his offer for help clearly and precisely. Yes, you’ll probably come off as rude. But who cares? You don’t know this person.

    The longer you continue a conversation with a potentially bad actor, the more information he gathers about you, and the more invested you both become, at least subconsciously. You are in the middle of the interview with a “nice guy,” and the way to fail it is to see through the charm routine and explicitly turn him away. 

I think the article is a little misleading by focusing on the guy being "charming" like he is hitting on the putative female victim. But as the news articles above demonstrate, criminals often prey on someone's good nature by seeking help or assistance: asking what time it is, asking you to open a door, pretending that they have been injured or hurt and need your help (or, at least, to use your phone), are stranded and need to use your phone, etc. All of this is to distract you, get you to lower your guard, and allow them to move to within your personal space. Plus there is an added psychological effect: once you've assisted them with one thing, you are more likely to further help or trust them. For example, someone asking you the time, then asking for directions, then asking you to show them where they need to go (and getting you to move to less visible space).  

    And since the NRA won't say it, I will: be especially suspicious of someone of a different race approaching you for help. It is unusual for a person to cross racial lines to seek help or strike up a conversation unless there is some other strong commonality (e.g., both being businessmen in suits and ties in a sea of people dressed in jeans and t-shirts) or you are someone that people might naturally approach for assistance (e.g., a law enforcement officer, a security guard, a missionary or pastor, etc.). I'm not saying it won't legitimately happen, but that, like the person being overly "charming", it should put you on your guard (condition orange as the article calls it). 

You Can't Stop The Signal: Interesting 3-D Printed Pepperbox Revolvers from Sweden

Impro Guns reports: "'Mafia gunsmith' made 3D weapons in his kitchen (Sweden)." 

    “Already 20 years ago, Raimo Huolman, 55, was singled out as “the mafia’s gunsmith”. – I am like Bofors, he said then. Now he has – once again – been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for, among other things, extremely serious weapons offences. At home in the kitchen, he 3D-printed automatic weapons and revolvers to be sold to the Foxtrot network, according to prosecutors.”

    Several identical firearms have been seized in recent months and appear to be mostly 3D printed double-action pepper box type revolvers using a Webley-Fosbery type tracked cylinder arrangement. The cylinders (thankfully for anyone who shoots one) appear to be sleeved with lengths of steel tube and chamber .22 rimfire.

Photos at the link. I sort of like the purple one. 

Oh no! There Goes Tokyo! Go, go, immigration...

The Asahi Shimbun reports: "Japan expects 820,000 skilled foreign workers over next 5 years." An excerpt:

    Japan expects to take in 820,000 skilled workers from overseas over the coming five years, sharply expanding previous projections to address growing labor shortages, sources said.

    The figure is more than twice that for the five-year period through 2024 set in 2019 when the “specified skilled worker” visa was introduced.

    The government plan, presented March 18 to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for endorsement, adds four new sectors to the list of industry fields where visa holders can work.

    The Kishida Cabinet is expected to approve the plan before the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, the sources said.

    The visa was introduced in 2019 under a program to accept foreign workers in selected industries where efforts to improve productivity and secure a domestic work force do not alleviate labor shortages.

    At the time, the government estimated that a maximum of 345,150 foreign workers would arrive in Japan over five years through 2024 with the new status of residence.

    The latest projection for five years through 2029 represents a 2.4-fold increase from the previous plan.

Amazing how governments wanting to sell some distasteful program to the public always severely under estimate the impact. This will be followed by an increase in crime. Even when I was there in the late 1980s and foreign labor was mostly limited to construction and prostitution, those foreign workers were responsible for most of the violent crime.

Guess The Race: Family Beats Uber Driver Trying To Save Their Child

 The Daily Mail headline doesn't really do the story justice: "Texas toddler dies in the hospital after Uber driver accidentally runs her over: Heartbreaking video shows child walking in front of the car after her ride, as grief-stricken family react by pummeling man behind the wheel." So the basic facts are these:

• Black family takes an Uber home to their apartment complex. The Uber was driven by one Muhammad Khan.
• Black family piles out of car not caring one whit that their 1-year old daughter is wondering around the outside of the car unsupervised although the parent(s) have a legal duty to supervise their child. 
• As Khan starts to drive away, unable to see the 1-year old that the black family was ignoring, he strikes the child and runs over her with one of the vehicle's wheels.
• Khan immediately starts to work to free the girl and get her into his car to drive her to the hospital.
• The black family--consistent with their prior lack of concern for the child--immediately start beating Khan rather than attempting to help. A classic r-select behavior. 

It's Barbecue Time

In what might be a quite literal "eat the rich" moment, gangs in Haiti "gangs smashed down doors in the once prosperous neighborhoods of Pétion-Ville, Meyotte, Diègue and Métivier." And in a nod to why gun rights are so important, one resident said: "'If the neighborhood had mobilized, we could have destroyed them, but they were heavily armed, and there was nothing we could do,' said Pétion-Ville resident Samuel Orelus."

    'They were about 30 men with heavy weapons.

    'When I woke up to go to work, I found I could not leave because the neighborhood was in the hand of the bandits.'

    The neighborhood is home to around a dozen foreign embassies and upmarket hotels which have been targeted by notorious gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier.

    Thousands of residents have banded together in self-defense organizations known as the Bwa Kale movement in a bid to keep the gangs at bay, but they have also been accused of carrying out summary executions.

    Fifteen people were reported dead in the neighborhood on Wednesday and a Reuters reporter saw two suspected gang members killed, dismembered and set on fire before being dragged through the street.

And in an example that self-help is often the best help, the Daily Mail also reports: "Vigilantes set gang members on fire, drag them through the streets and hack off victim's hands as violence continues to spiral out of control in Haiti."

    Bodies were seen littering the streets in a series of shocking images this week, with journalists reporting they saw two suspected gang members, including a leader known as Makandal, killed and set on fire. 

    Other footage showed corpses dragged and left to rot in the street by furious vigilante movements, with one man having had his hands cut off. 

    The Caribbean island nation has long been wracked by gang violence, but this has spiralled out of control in recent days amid the absence of the state, while enraged citizens seek to hunt down gang members in an outburst of vigilante justice.

    Armed groups launched new attacks in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince early Wednesday, with heavy gunfire echoing across once-peaceful communities near the Haitian capital. 

    But several suspected gang members were killed during an attack on the Petion-Ville neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of the city by desperate locals seeking to protect their families and livelihoods.

    Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice organisation.

    Rights groups say such movements have been bolstered by members of Haiti's woefully under-resourced and underpowered police force who lost faith in the government's ability to crack down on gangs. 

    Earlier on Wednesday, Le Nouvelliste reported at least 15 people had been killed in attacks around Petion-Ville, home to several upscale hotels as well as around a dozen embassies.

    Residents there barricaded themselves inside their homes while armed men carried out fresh attacks east of the city with the violence forcing banks, schools and businesses to close. 

UN Advisor--Who Is Muslim--Calls For Revolutionary War Against Whites

It's never been about the climate. From Fox News: "UN secretary-general youth climate adviser calls for Whites to be stripped of power in 'revolutionary fights'." An excerpt:

    A United Nations youth climate adviser has a history of social media posts that call for the destruction of capitalism, claim "terrorism" is used as a Western smear to justify its imperialism and attack White people for purportedly fueling humanity's extinction vis-à-vis the climate crisis.  

    The United Nations' Secretary-General António Guterres personally selected Pakistani-American Ayisha Siddiqa as one of his advisers to help "accelerat[e] the implementation of his climate action agenda," a 2023 UN announcement stated. Siddiqa was a Time Woman of the Year in 2023 who has co-founded two youth climate activist organizations.

The article goes on to describe her Marxist beliefs and that she only became interested in climate change as a means of attacking white people, before continuing:

    Siddiqa attributes a simple cause to climate change – White people.

    In March 2021, she posted, "[T]he white man has brought life as we know it, to the verge of extinction."

    "The white man sits at the highest level of power in the world, the same way he has killed, looted and abused black and brown people for profit so has he the earth," she posted in May 2022. 

    The UN adviser also ranted about how she believes White people should take a step down from power in the climate movement, saying it belongs to people of color. 

    "We're allowing White people to have too much space," she said. "[W]hite people have absolutely no prerogative or authority to lead the movement."

    Other posts singled out "Arabs" and "Arab nations" for being supposedly racist and colluding with White people in contributing to the climate crisis. 

    "[W]hite men… collude with other violent systems of power (like the Arab gulf) who hurt poor, black and brown people the most," she said in a post about Saudi companies and "and other non-white ppl led mechanisms of destruction." 

    Another post railed against "Arabs" for supposedly being racist and participating in slavery "to the most disgusting extent."

    Stemming from her repeated criticisms of U.S. and Western foreign policy as it relates to the Middle East, in 2020, she called Biden a "war criminal" and said the British Royal family was "inequality, capitalism & White supremacy personified."

    Following the George Floyd riots of 2020, Siddiqa said, "America you looted every inch of this planet, raped and [pillaged] its brown and black people and now you are angry that your citizens are doing it to you."

    Around the same time period, she said, "racial harmony is fallacy."

    In addition to supporting "Abolish[ing] the police," Siddiqa also believes the BLM demonstrations were exemplary for climate activists of what it looks like to be "a credible threat to power."

    "When you are a credible threat to power, you don't get to… attain permits & permission to take to the streets… When you are really threatening systems of oppression you have to hide your identity, like many BLM protestors & BIPOC climate activists have had to do." 

    "Revolutionary fights… are battles born out of sheer necessity," she continued. 

Keep in mind that she has been chosen by the elites to become part of the elites. This is the type of person that will be ruling over you shortly. Do you really think that she will stop anywhere short of hauling you and your family off to a "carbon reduction" camp? 

Get Woke, Go Broke: Planet Fitness Edition

The headline from the Daily Mail pretty much says it all: "Planet Fitness sees $400MILLION wiped off its value in just five days after banning member who exposed 'trans woman' shaving in the female locker rooms." The article relates:

    Patricia Silva was barred from the gym in Alaska after she detailed an incident online - where she said she saw a transgender woman in her locker room.

    Following backlash against the ban, the company said although some members may feel uncomfortable sharing facilities, 'this discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender member.'

* * *

    Silva posted a video describing her experience at the gym on Facebook in early March. 

    She said she had just finished working out at Planet Fitness' Fairbanks location, when she saw the person, whom she called 'a man with a penis,' carrying out his routine in front of a 12-year-old girl.

    Silva, who has previously run for Fairbanks Borough Assembly, told the 'trans woman' they should really be using the male locker room. The trans woman replied that they were 'LGB.'

    Silva then took a picture of the person and shared it online and recounted her experience in a Facebook video: 'I just came out of Planet Fitness. 

    'There is a man shaving in the women's bathroom. I love him in Christ. He is a spiritual being having a human experience. 

    'He doesn't like his gender so he wants to be a woman, but I'm not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom. I just thought I'd say it out loud.'

    Silva - who has shared QAnon conspiracy theories on social media - also described the encounter in a written post online.

    'I went to planet fitness… Walked in the bathroom, and there stands a MAN shaving… I looked at him, said 'hey' … he looked up… and I said, 'You are a man shaving in the women's bathroom, and I am not OK with that.'

    'He replied… 'Well, I'm LGB…'

    'Whatever that is… nevertheless, I told him 'You're a MAN and you're invading my space!'

    'He wanted to argue to justify why he can be there… I walked away…

    'I stepped out of the locker room and loudly asked the front desk, 'Are you aware that there is a MAN shaving in the women's bathroom… I'm not OK with that ⁉️' The two men standing at the desk, put their heads down, and their tails between their legs! As I was walking out the door…at my back, a woman shouts 'it's a girl'… I shouted back 'it's a man!''

    'PF cancelled my membership and allowed the pedo to stay ‼️,' she stated.

    Planet Fitness revoked Silva's membership and filed a police report against her, citing her violation of gym policy by taking photos and/or videos in the locker room. 

Not A Real American

Ismail Mohamed delivered his victory speech for winning a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives in the Somali language. In one of his political ads, also in Somali:

    He also spoke about the growing number of Somali representatives in the US government. He called the group a 'tight knit organization' who even communicate via group chat.

    'Our aim as a united front is to lobby for Somalia,' he said, also referring to Ilhan Omar as the Somalis' representative at the state level, pushing for policies that prioritize their home country's interests.

The article also notes:

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the most prominent Somali lawmaker in the country, found herself in hot water earlier this year after delivering a speech in Somali during which she seemed to say she would prioritize Somalian interests above all else.

* * *

    In a leaked video of the speech Omar delivered on January 27, Omar says to a room of fellow Somalis:

    'Sleep in comfort knowing I am here to protect the interest of Somalia from inside the U.S. system,' according to a translated version of the video.

    'The US government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else.'

    'They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia. We Somalians must have the confidence in ourselves that we call the shots in the US'

    'Together we will protect the interests of Somalia,' she said.

Following the AIPAC playbook, I see. 

Black Teen Charged With Bashing Kaylee Gain's Head Into Pavement Claims She Is The Real Victim

From the Daily Mail: "Missouri teen charged with bashing Kaylee Gain's head into pavement is the 'real victim', an honor roll student who was 'defending herself' in the brawl, family says." She dindu nuttin. From the article:

The family of the teenage girl charged with violently assaulting Kaylee Gain says that she is the real victim who was 'harassed and bullied' before the viral incident – and are raising $150k for her legal defense, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The family of the attacker also "calls the incident 'one mistake made under duress', adding that the focus should 'be to pray for the healing and reconciliation of both parties'." If that is how the girl acts under duress, prison probably is the best place for her. 

    The Missouri AG is not buying the victim's crocodile tears:

    Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey previously warned the brutality was a result of an obsession with woke DEI policies and the soft-touch approach to justice under former St. Louis DA Kim Gardner and current Rep Cori Bush, a hardline progressive Democrat.

    He also called for the girl to be charged as an adult if Kaylee does not survive the attack, something which supporters of her attacker have lashed out at. 

Muslims Enrich French Cemeteries

From the Christian Post: "'Submit to Allah': French villagers horrified by vandalism of 58 graves, church with Islamist slogans." An excerpt:

    Villagers at a cemetery in Dordogne Department in southwest France were horrified that vandals painted Islamist slogans in French and Arabic on 58 graves, a church door, a World War I memorial and tomb art depicting the crucifixion.  

    The defacement happened overnight in Clermont d’Excideuil between March 10 and March 11. 

    A local church building near the cemetery had “Ramadan Mubarak” (“Blessed Ramadan”) daubed on its doors. Slogans within the cemetery included, “Submit yourselves to Allah,” “Happy Ramadan non-Muslims” and “Koufars,” meaning “unbelievers.” One of the grave slogans read, “France is already Allah’s,” according to British newspaper the Daily Mail.

    Clermont d’Excideuil Mayor Claude Eymery discovered the vandalism on the morning of March 11 and contacted police. He told FranceInfo that he thought such incidents “only happened elsewhere.” 

Oh to laugh. That's sort of like the hand complaining that it thought leprosy only happened to the feet or legs. Once the infection starts to spread, it will spread everywhere.

    The article also adds:

France has seen a rise in anti-Christian hate crimes with Islamist motives in recent years, according to Anja Hoffmann, executive director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDACE). She said similar graffiti was recently found in the Dordogne region, including, “Today this is the land of gwer [infidels]. Tomorrow this will be the land of Islam.”

    The article indicates that the French Gendarmerie have opened an investigation, but I can almost guarantee you that the incident will be treated as a case of vandalism instead of the terrorism it is. Terrorism doesn't just have to be about bombs or shootings. Most often it takes the form of intimidation, like this incident. 

    I would also point out that this would never have been tolerated in the past. In more civilized times, such terrorism would have been responded to with even greater terror to remind the aliens exactly in whose country they were being allowed to live. 

The Return of Cigarettes and Bundles of Sticks?

Twitchy is reporting that "GLAAD Declares the Term 'Homosexual' to Be Derogatory and Offensive." We are supposed to instead use the term "Same Gender Loving" apparently to not exclude the deviants that want to pretend they are women (if men) or men (if women) that are still sexually attracted to the opposite sex. When I was in high school, students used pithier terms. 

Another Video On How To Stop Shooting Low And To The Left

This is another video discussing what may be happening to cause you to shoot low and to the left (if right handed) or low and to the right (if left handed), focusing on sympathetic tightening of your other fingers when you actuate the trigger.

VIDEO: "How To Stop Shooting Low And Left For Righties OR Low and Right for Lefties"

Tactical Hyve (12 min.)

Bombs & Bants Episode 121 (Streamed 3/20/2024)

 

VIDEO: "Bombs & Bants Episode 121" (40 min.)

VIDEO: The Updated Holey Hiker Bidet

The Holey Hiker Bidet is essentially a perforated cap to put on a water bottle that allows you to squeeze the bottle to eject a shower of water to use as a bidet or a very quick shower to quickly wash off sweat and grim before diving into your sleeping bag. Intended for hikers or campers, I can see it also having use as an emergency prep, especially if toilet paper is in short supply. The original product was 3D printed by the inventor, but the new and improved version is manufactured using injection molded plastic which makes it both lighter and stronger according to the video. 

VIDEO: "Introducing the new Holey Hiker Bidet!"

Paul the Backpacker (10 min.)

Stossel: Don't Let The Covid Tyrants Off The Hook

 As I've said before, we need Nuremberg style trials and punishments.

VIDEO: "Covid: Don’t Let Them Off The Hook"

John Stossel (7 min.)

First Contact: What To Say and Do When Calling 911 And After

Jon Low is always adamant about not talking to police after a shooting incident; a topic he revisited in his March 15 newsletter. He is equally adamant that you should have some sort of insurance to pay for the lawyer. These same basic thoughts are shared by David Burnett, who has penned a couple articles at The Truth About Guns on what to say and do when you call 911 after a defensive encounter (this applies to more than just the shooting of a burglar inside your home) and what to do when the police show up:

• "First Contact Part I: An Armed Citizen’s Guide on What To Do When Calling 911."
• "First Contact Part II: An Armed Citizen’s Guide on What To Do When the Police Arrive After Calling 911."

The main point of the article is "silence is golden" so don't give the 911 operator or police any more information than you have to. In this regard, the author notes that 911 systems start recording as soon as you hit the second "1" even if the operator has not yet picked up, so don't say anything during that pause. He recommends given the 911 operator just the bare minimum of information such as: name; address (or nearest cross street); a short truthful statement of what happened; ask for help; and then tell the operator you are disconnecting. 

    The author suggests that your first call after an incident be to 911 and then second to your attorney (or self-defense insurance) as a delay in calling 911 will be viewed with suspicion and may be used by a prosecutor against you.

    He warns that the operator will try and get more information or may try calling back, but just hang up and do not answer any call backs. 

    As for the statement, the author writes:

    It may be tempting to describe yourself so police will know who you are, but knowledgable self-defense attorneys point out that 99 percent of the time, the descriptions police get while en route to a crime are of the suspect.

    “You may not want police arriving with an image of you in their minds,” says Richard Hayes, a program at­torney in Texas.

    The statement should be very short and focused on what happened, something like, “A crime has taken place,” or, “A person was attacked,” or, “Shots have been fired.” Avoid reporting your own actions (e.g., “I just killed somebody”) and avoid ex­pressions of guilt, remorse or fear of consequences that prosecutors could later use as the evidence of a guilty conscience.

    “Even the tone of your voice may betray emotion,” says Phillips. “It may be justified by circumstances, but it will still look bad, or at least require work to overcome.”

    Likewise, it’s best to avoid dispar­aging the perpetrator—such as one 911 caller who, when asked about the shot intruder, exclaimed “I don’t know if he’s alive or not, I don’t care!” In the courtroom calculus of a hostile prosecutor, that could look like callous disregard for life.

    You may want to avoid canned expressions like, “I feared for my life.” This is a common instruction in self-defense classes, but attorneys say at this point such phrases sound rehearsed, like that South Park episode where poachers shout, “He’s coming right for us!” to justify killing endan­gered animals.

    Ask 911 to send two ambulances if someone has indeed been shot or hurt–one for the person who attacked you and now lies wounded and one for you–you’ve just been what is likely the most traumatic event in your life. Cardiac issues and other health issues are not uncommon at such moments.

He says to avoid talking to anyone other than your attorney; and when talking to your attorney, make sure it is in a private location with no one else around in order to maintain attorney-client privilege and allow you to speak freely with your attorney.

    Once police are on scene, the author advises you to keep silent, listing several reasons including:

    Third, you know this from the crime shows, any statement you make can be used against you in court. That’s es­pecially true right after events happen since people in general, certainly ju­ries, assume you’re more truthful when you’ve had less time to concoct a story.

    “The only thing you can do is make the facts worse,” says Kilgo. “Silence will make them better. Don’t speak in a way that undermines your actions. The only person you should speak to is the person who has your best interests at heart—your lawyer.” Remember, your right to speak to an attorney and remain silent are not just for criminals. These rights are protected by the U.S. Constitution for everybody.

    Fourth, because you are likely to make a mistake, and even an honest mistake could spell trouble for your court case.

    “Adrenaline is not a truth serum,” Kilgo adds. “In the heat of the moment, humans experience tunnel vision, memory occlusion and elevated vital signs.” There’s virtually zero chance your perception, memory and recall will all be intact and functional after the most savage and excitable mo­ments of your life.

There is a lot more in each article, so please be sure to study them carefully. 

Related: A couple articles from Jon Low that are related:

• "Never Talk To The Police"--Defensive Pistolcraft.
• "Self Defense Insurance"--Defensive Pistolcraft.