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Friday, December 12, 2025

Notes From The Coming War

    These 'Ghost Armadas'—clandestine fleets shared by Iran, Russia, and Venezuela—are no longer distant threats; they are at America's doorstep - navigating waters dangerously close to the US.

    Shelley told the Daily Mail that the seizure of the Skipper is just the tip of the iceberg, revealing new data on the massive revenue these ships generate.

    'At UANI, we have acquired data showing that there are at least 10 additional dark fleet vessels in the Caribbean with a similar history of transporting illicit Iranian oil,' Shelley said. 'In total, these 10 vessels have in the past carried over 29 million barrels of Iranian crude, generating approximately $1.8 billion for the Iranian regime.'
   

  • "They Droned Back"--Digital Digging. The article relates: "Seven German journalism students tracked Russian-crewed freighters lurking off the Dutch and German coast—and connected them to drone swarms over military bases."
  • "Communist China Still Infiltrating Texas"--Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog. News of a Chinese AI chip smuggling ring, and Texas A&M’s associate head of graduate studies of chemistry, who had access to federally funded research, abruptly heads back home to China. 

Epstein Photo Release

Before the official release of Epstein documents, which might be ruinous for the Democrats, they are trying to spin the narrative by releasing over a dozen new photographs of  Epstein "parading around" with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, among others. I am reminded of this piece from Dr. Naomi Wolf back in July, entitled: "'The Network" in the Worlds of the Elites." Wolf was trying to explain why Trump was so reluctant to release the Epstein files because Epstein, by the nature of his activities, was going to be seen as having not just associated with powerful deviants, but also many people that were innocent of participating in Espstein's honey trap. She explains:

    I think that it is likely that multiple people who are critical to this administration’s success — my guess is, that these are mostly guys from the Silicon Valley community, who have been the ones to put the fuel of their billions and their technical and media support into President Trump’s campaign and administration’s engines — whether they are innocent or guilty, are in the Epstein files. (Remember why Mrs Gates broke up with Mr Gates?) And I think this nation’s most important scientists, innocent or guilty, are in the files. And my guess is that the funders have confronted President Trump.

    Why do I think this? There are several clues.

    One is the interview of the late Epstein’s former lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, with Chris Cuomo. Remember, Dershowitz used to represent President Trump as well. Dershowitz confirmed that there is a redacted list of people accused of improper conduct, stressed that no one who is a public figure who is in office currently (you get it) is on the list, and called on AG Pam Bondi to ask the New York Courts, who have custody of this list, to release it.

    If you read the hieroglyphics here correctly, what you should see (this is why it is useful to have been a political consultant; you can read the code, which often involves triangulation or “deniability”) that A/ President Trump is not on this list. B/ President Trump does not wish the horrific baggage of being the one to infuriate all the powerful people who are on this list, by releasing it himself via his AG. C/ They — the Trump administration — want it released by others, ie, the New York courts, so that they themselves don’t receive the appalling blowback.

    I also believe that there are make-or-break tech bro Trump supporters on the list, because of a moving interview given by Eric Weinstein on July 14, 2025— interestingly, in the midst of the Bondi furor — to Steven Bartlett, on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast. 
 

She continues:

    On the podcast, he stated that “[s]ex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a "product of one or more elements of the intelligence community." Weinstein, who said he had met Epstein, described him as "certainly was not a financier in any standard sense. That was a cover story."‘

    “British entrepreneur Bartlett asks about Weinstein having met Epstein, and he says, "He wasn't a financier the day I met him." Weinstein goes on to describe Epstein as a "weird guy," who "didn't seem to know a lot about currency trading."

    Weinstein also describes Epstein as a "construct"‘.

    This interview has been seen by 2.4 million people. It is riveting. I felt a deep sense of recognition when Weinstein was speaking. My sense is that Weinstein was speaking extremely carefully; that his goal, among others, was to establish that one could be enmeshed in documentation around the Epstein community and “lists”, without being a pedophile — indeed, one could be enmeshed in those documents simply for being a cutting-edge scientist; and that one intention of his was to put this situation on the record. 

 What did he mean by "construct"?

    Weinstein argues that the Epstein “construct” was what the military calls “dual use” --that is, that Epstein had multiple missions running concurrently.

    One mission, of course, was that of running a grotesque sexual honeypot, exploiting minors, for purposes of blackmail.

    But another, Weinstein argues, is the management and direction of Western science itself. Weinstein notes that Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, the late publishing magnate/reputed intelligence asset Robert Maxwell, founded the scientific imprint Pergamon Press, the Oxford-based imprint that published medical books and journals, which was bought by Elsevier, which is the main scientific publishing imprint (and the advance guard scientifically for the COVID/vaccine narrative; indeed, Elsevier created a “resource hub” about COVID for “librarians, campuses and health professionals”, an oddly activist offering from what is supposed to be a neutral scientific platform).

    Weinstein notes that Epstein funded a number of important scientists, and that he had an office at Harvard. Weinstein says in the podcast, with what looks like suppressed rage, that he wants to know why Epstein was aware of his, Weinstein’s, work, and why Epstein was embedded in the Harvard mathematics department. 

 And he directed and managed the direction of science, or at least certain fields, by bringing together scientists with the wealthy, powerful, and influential in finance and technology and other fields. She expounds on this a bit more:

We are also looking at a “construct” that seduced and lured scientists; that was institutionally set up to seduce and lure scientists; and that may have created conditions that look compromising on paper, whether the scientists did anything wrong or not. We are also looking at a machine constructed to entrap and perhaps pressure, whether they are innocent or guilty, a generation of the most important scientists of our time.

Why? Perhaps, as Weinstein is suggesting, to steer science itself. 

Unfortunately, she does not know the purpose of this steerage of science and the large tech companies, although she alludes to the idea of trans-humanism. I will add that while the concept of trans-humanism can be rather benign and pedestrian--improving humans through genetics and cybernetics to get rid of diseases or enable us to live in environments in which we otherwise would be unable to survive--it can also be seen as a means to achieve a kind of godhood: extreme intelligence, immortality, physical capabilities beyond anything possible today. And since the common person will never be able to enjoy these extreme benefits, the elites will truly be godlike, lording over a lessor humanity. 

    But back to Trump: 

    What you need to understand, taking this all back to what I believe is President Trump’s dilemma, is that that calculation about the power of “the network,” and the scary losses sustained by crossing “the network”, let alone losing its protection and resources, are not restricted to the Edge Foundation.

    All of liberal elite society works in this exact same way.

    It is all kind of like the mafia — you may not agree with the capo or some of the dons around you, but you know very well that crossing them means certain destruction for yourself.

    So: everyone aligns.

    I think this is what President Trump is also trying to explain, though of course he cannot state all this overtly.

    Understand, too, what Weinstein and Dershowitz are separately trying to tell you. The Epstein files probably contain many innocent people as well as many guilty ones; but again, they are very likely to contain, innocent and guilty, some of the most powerful of President Trump’s current supporters; and some of the greatest of scientists and some of the most influential technologists of our time.

    And even someone as powerful as the American President, in my calculation, can’t cross that most powerful of all powerful “networks.” 

 Her piece is lengthy--well beyond what I've quoted--so I would encourage you to read the whole thing.

FEMA Ordered To Washington To Deal With Flooding

"Trump orders FEMA aid to Washington as residents cling to car roofs in catastrophic state flooding"--Daily Mail.  From the lede:

    Washington is under a state of emergency after days of torrential rain unleashed historic floods, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving residents stranded on rooftops of cars and houses.

    Governor Bob Ferguson announced Thursday that President Trump had ordered emergency FEMA aid for the state, saying on X that he 'expressed my thanks to Secretary Noem on behalf of the people of Washington during this extremely challenging time.'

    Flood warnings in the western part of the state have put 100,000 residents in Skagit and Snohomish counties under Level 3 evacuation orders, meaning they were told to 'leave now.' 

Taking The Long Shot With A Handgun

In his article, "Long-Distance Handgun Shooting: How and Why to Take a Long Shot" at Handguns Magazine, Richard Nance discusses long distance (for a handgun) shooting. An excerpt:

    While the odds of having to make a long-distance shot with your handgun may be low, the stakes are unquestionably high, which is reason enough to add this important skill to your training regimen. But tactical relevance aside, developing the ability to fire your handgun accurately at distance is bound to make you a better shooter at more probable shooting distances.

    As a case in point, I reflect on my days as a karate student. Despite training in a traditional style of karate that emphasized kicking no higher than waist level, I spent countless hours working on high kicks. I could easily kick over my head with accuracy and power.

    In a real fight, the chances of delivering a kick to an attacker’s head in a fight are minimal, while at the same time leaving you vulnerable to having your kicking leg caught or having your support leg swept out from under you. However, high kicks helped me develop the flexibility, balance and technique that made me a much better all-around kicker.

    This logic can be applied to long- distance shooting. Being able to hit a target at distance will invariably make hitting a closer target that much easier. But there are some nuances specific to shooting a handgun at longer distances.

    When it comes to shooting, the more stable you are, the more accurate you will be. As such, when a long-distance handgun shot is required, taking a low kneeling or even a prone position is advantageous. Of course, any sort of available rest works as well.
  

More:

Broken PC Toolkit

I am no longer as knowledgeable about computer issues as when I was in college, but I thought those readers that are techies might find this useful.  In "My 'break glass' USB drive has everything to rescue a broken PC" the author describes how he put together a "kit" of software on a flashdrive that allows him to troubleshoot and fix PCs that have suffered catastrophic failures due to hardware failures or malware infections. It starts with loading Ubuntu and Ventoy ("an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files") onto a flash drive (the author recommends one with at least 64GB of space). He also lists and discusses some other software he uses for diagnostics, recovery, and restoring data. 

Fed Mulls Elimination of Paper Checks

The Daily Mail reports that the Federal Reserve, which runs the national system that processes and clears paper checks between banks, "is considering ‘winding down’ the check services it provides to banks. The notice, posted quietly on its website, sYeahignals a possible long-term retreat from paper-based payments.

The Fed said it now faces rising fraud, falling usage and soaring infrastructure costs tied to paper checks. It is weighing whether to invest heavily to keep the system running — or slowly let it fade.

But while checks "account for only about 5 percent of transactions, they represent 21 percent of the total value of all payments," and are heavily relied upon by small businesses and low income households. It seems just another way to force everyone to use digital payment transactions (and the huge fees it generates for banks). 

VIDEO: Before You Buy An M14/M1A

Following up on a couple prior posts regarding the M14 and M1A, I came across this video that discusses the rifles, but also notes that not all M14 clones are equal. The author shoots an accurized M14 and has apparently tried different models. He indicates that he has owned three Springfield M1As and gives them a hard pass because of "serious" accuracy, quality control, and durability issues. (Although I would note that 9-Holes Review did one of their "practical accuracy to 500 yards" videos of the M1A several years ago and its seemed to do pretty good). Another one that he recommends against are those from BULA Defense Systems because of QC issues on the model he had reviewed. He instead recommends the ones produced by LRB Arms, claiming that they are the only mil-spec models on the market. However, they look like they start at about $3,500.  

VIDEO: "M1A / M14 - Before You Buy"
ParaBella (14 min.)

You Know What They Say About Men With Big Feet...

From Smithsonian Magazine: "Archaeologists Keep Finding Massive Shoes at an Ancient Roman Fort—and They Have No Idea Why They’re So Big."

    The supersized footwear comes from a Roman-era fort called Magna, which is located along Hadrian’s Wall, the 73-mile stone fortification built beginning in 122 C.E. that marked the northwest boundary of the Roman Empire. Also known as Carvoran, the fort was operational from 85 C.E. to 122 C.E., according to the Roman Army Museum.

    Since May, archaeologists working at Magna have unearthed eight massive leather shoes that each measure more than 11.8 inches long. The extra-large specimens now make up roughly a quarter of all the shoes found at the site so far.

The article indicates that the longest shoe found at the site measures 12.8 inches long.

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Tehran May Run Out Of Water, Be Evacuated

Reports are that "Tehran may be evacuated as taps run dry due to water crisis."

    In early November, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian warned: “If it doesn’t rain in Tehran by late November, we’ll have to ration water. And if it still doesn’t rain, we’ll have to evacuate Tehran.”

    Typically, rain should start falling in Iran in autumn, following Iran’s hot summer. But the September to November period just gone is the driest the country has seen in half a century, the National Weather Forecasting Centre has reported. Rainfall has been 89 per cent below the long-term average. 

    Mr Pezeshkian described the situation as “extremely critical”, citing reports that Tehran’s dam reservoirs have fallen to their lowest level in 60 years, some as low as 10 per cent of capacity. Officials say that in the east of Tehran, the Latyan Dam – one of five key reservoirs – is only about 9 per cent full. The Karaj dam, which supplies a quarter of Tehran’s drinking water, is 8 per cent full.  

And if they are like U.S. cities, that remaining water is for important things like golf courses. 

Bovine Fart Meds Have Unintended Consequences

 From Legal Insurrection: "Norway Pauses Use of Fart-Reducing Cattle Feed in Wake of Danish Cow-Tastrophe." Europe is under some delusion that (a) there is man made global warming and (b) it is caused by flatulent cows. (If animals farts could have caused global warming there would have never been ice ages). Authorities have tried various measures to reduce cow farts, including getting rid of farmers and their cattle. But apparently their latest effort was to force farmers to use feed containing a methane-reducing additive called Bovaer. But in Denmark, where the feed is mandated, "[s]ome farmers claim their cattle experienced severe symptoms after eating the additive-infused feed, including collapse, lethargy, reduced feed intake, fever, diarrhea, miscarriages, and significant drops in milk production." The issues have caused farmers in Norway to stop using the additive. And Danish farmers "who have stopped using the additive-infused feed have noticed an improvement in their animals."

Original "Star Wars" Slated For Theaters In 2017

Gizmodo reports that Disney has officially stated it is rereleasing the original version of Star Wars in theaters for the film's 50th anniversary. "It’ll happen on February 17, 2027, and io9 has confirmed with Lucasfilm that it is, in fact, the original theatrical cut of the movie," Gizmodo states. My question, which isn't even addressed in the article, is whether Disney will release it on DVD and/or Blu-ray. 

Anti-Racism In Practice: DOJ Suing Minneapolis School District For Discriminatory Employment Practices

The Daily Mail reports: "Trump sues Minneapolis public schools for 'racist' practice of giving black teachers first dibs on jobs and shielding them from layoffs." 

    Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that the city's teachers' union prefers 'underrepresented population' members for 'certain employment benefits, terms and conditions.'

[snip]

    The DOJ alleges that the district and teachers' collective bargaining agreement classifies teachers by race when determining layoffs, reinstatements and transfers.  

    MPS is also accused of giving an outside group called 'Black Men Teach Fellows' similar employment benefits.  

    'Employers may not provide more favorable terms and conditions of employment based on an employee's race and sex,' said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
  

 When liberals say they are "anti-racist" what they really mean is that they support discrimination against white people and, especially, white men. 

DOJ Investigating Federal Contractors That Won't Hire Americans

Per the article, "In Wake of Free Beacon Report, Trump Administration To Investigate Federal Contractors That Say They Won’t Hire US Citizens" from the Washington Free Beacon, the contractors were ... wait for it ... all IT firms. 

    The Free Beacon reported last week that the IT staffing firms LanceSoft and Tekgence had posted job advertisements indicating that "USC," or U.S. citizens, were not eligible for certain roles. Both companies have contracts with federal agencies, according to the GSA’s database of active technology vendors.

    Though the GSA does not list the value of either contract, another IT firm, ARK Solutions, has received more than $11 million in government subcontracts since 2023, according to the analytics firm Higher Gov. ARK Solutions has posted multiple job ads that say "No USC," including one for a project in the state of Georgia.

    The federal government will be reviewing its relationships with all three companies, as well as a fourth, InfiCare, where a recruiter stated in February that a programming job was open to "H1b only," a reference to H-1B visa holders. Those visas are granted to immigrants in specialized fields such as tech and medicine. 

It seems to me that the H1B program is really a program designed to freeze Americans out of certain fields.  

Restraunt Chain Forced To Close 7 Of Its 9 Restaurants After ICE Raids

From the Daily Mail: "Taco chain forced to shut seven restaurants after workers are detained by ICE." From the headline, you might think that ICE raided the restaurants, but that is not what happened. Rather, the 46 workers were caught in a raid on just two (!) homes where they lived. It's just coincidence (wink, wink) that the 46 all lived in those two residences. The owners of the restaurants claim they didn't know the workers were illegals. They are under investigation by the IRS for paying workers in cash, "under the table".  But, Cesar Rodriguez, director of operations for chain, assures us that accusations that the chain was involved in drug smuggling and child trafficking is "just ridiculous". 

VIDEO: M14 Teething Problems

Since I mentioned some of the issues that arose with the M14 in my post yesterday, I thought I would add this video from Forgotten Weapons where Ian goes over the problems that showed up with the M14 after it was adopted, most of which came down to poor quality control.

 VIDEO: "M14: America’s Worst Service Rifle - What Went Wrong?"
Forgotten Weapons (36 min.)

TTAG: A Look At The Springfield M1A

From "Springfield Armory’s M1A: The M14 Reborn (Almost…)" by Mike Hardesty, a look at the history of the M14, the differences and features of the M1A versus the M14, photographs of the author's M1A, and some of his thoughts. As most of you probably already know, the M14 wound up competing against the FAL and AR10 in U.S. weapon trials (although the results were pretty much a foregone conclusion). Hardesty mentions some reasons that the M14 was selected over the FAL:

 The reasons that the M14 was adopted include: 

  • Its design incorporated fewer parts 
  • It was lighter 
  • It had a self-compensating gas system
  • Supposedly, it could be manufactured on the same machinery in place that had made the M1 Garand. They later found out that this was not the case, but they went ahead with the M14, anyway. 

It is, nevertheless, telling that the FAL was widely adopted among our allies and a number of third world countries in South America and Africa earning the nickname the "right arm of the free world", while the M14 only saw adoption in Taiwan after we sold all of our tooling to them and was, itself, quickly replace in the U.S. arsenal by the AR10's little brother, the M-16. It didn't help that the weapon was plagued by production issues early on after it adoption, as Forgotten Weapons notes:

Production of the M14 was plagued by problems, largely due to quality control lapses. Early in production there were heat treatment problems that led to sheared looking [sic] lugs and broken receivers. Once those were addressed, the main problem because one of accuracy, with a shocking number of M14s failing to meet the 5.6 MOA minimum accuracy standard. Ultimately production ended in 1963 with 1.38 million M14s produced, and the M16 took over as the new American service rifle.

 And that is an understatement as "The M14, Not Much For Fighting (A Case Against The M14 Legend)" at Loose Rounds describes. For instance, a study of the rifle (the Hitch Report) noted that it was inferior to even its predecessor, the M1 Garand. There were numerous manufacturing problems that contributed to the poor accuracy of the weapon. "An M14 Rifle Cost Analysis report that gave rounds used and overhaul schedules from rounds fired states M14 annual usage is 3,500 rounds to overhaul and 599rds MRTF." It proved just as problematic as a sniper or DMR rifle, as the article details. The Loose Rounds article concludes:

The M14/M1A will be around for as long as people will continue to buy them. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with owning them liking them and using them. By no means is it useless or ineffective. But its legendary reputation is something that needs to be taken with a grain of salt and careful study of the system if you intend to have one for a use your like [sic: life] may depend on. 

And the foregoing article does not even discuss the problems with an open receiver design when exposed to mud and blowing sand

How Laws Get Made

Older readers probably remember the School House Rock videos that had brief lessons in grammar, math, and social studies, including one on how a bill becomes a law. But there are other ways laws are made, and one of them are "sue and settle" schemes. As Mark Tapscott relates in his article, "Law Firms, Enviro Groups Got $20 Million in ‘Sue and Settle’ Schemes with EPA." He explains:

    “Sue-and-Settle” litigation has been around for decades, but the tactic became a national political issue during President Barack Obama’s Oval Office tenure. The practice was then increasingly employed by the political and career government officials who shared the advocacy positions of the activist groups.

    After the suit is filed, agency officials agree to take a certain action in return for the withdrawal of the litigation. The government also agrees to pay the activist group’s legal fees. The action required in the settlement agreement changes official policy by court decree rather than congressional law-making.

Its not just the federal government that does this, but also state and local governments and even utility companies. 

Leftists Losing Jobs As Impact Of USAID Closure Spreads

Forbes magazine recently published a piece entitled: "The Invisible Job Crisis: America's Third-Largest Employer Is Hemorrhaging Talent," which relates:

    Nonprofit organizations and the social sector at-large is America’s third-largest employer at 10% of the workforce, comprising 5.2% of GDP and contributing $1.4 trillion to the economy. Nearly a year into federal budget cuts eliminating social safety net programs, closure of USAID and the downstream impact of philanthropy quietly pulling back funding – the sector faces a gathering storm.

    A survey and conversations with long-term unemployed social sector workers highlights an employment crisis that threatens not just individual livelihoods, but the sector's foundational capacity to serve communities.  
  

What types of communities?  The article states (bold added):

    Leaders at organizations operating in the current environment are struggling to strike a balance between survival and stated values and mission, as the federal government has taken a stance against missions aligned with equity, inclusion and justice

    "We stopped advertising programming for houseless youth and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We still do the programming, although we ensure there isn’t public advertising," noted one respondent, showing how organizations are having to hide their work to survive.

    "We’ve had to significantly invest in physical security due to death threats and beef up our digital security due to cybersecurity threats”, shared one respondent whose organization experienced reputational attacks alongside funding losses that lead to layoffs.

    "As a long-standing nonprofit in Texas that has a social justice advocacy history, we are alarmed by the aggressive stance Texas is taking. We feel at risk of losing funding if our positions are not aligned with the state leadership," reported another respondent, reflecting how political polarization compounds financial instability. 

In other words, those at the forefront of the war against traditional Americans and who publicly push hatred and discrimination of white men. The following comment in the article, suggesting that the large NGOs and billionaires need to step up and fill the shortfall in taxpayer funding, is also revealing:

Rather than retreating during polarization - as 47% of organizations with a stance on DEI, immigrant rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and expressions of support for Palestinian rights anticipate - large funders must provide countercyclical support. This means multi-year general operating grants that allow organizations to maintain workforce capacity during political and economic turbulence, funding for organizational resilience infrastructure (legal support, security, communications capacity), and explicit commitments to continue funding organizations facing political backlash for mission-aligned work.  

The problem they face, however, is that the wealthy don't become wealthy by spending their own money--the whole purpose of these NGOs was to carry out the wishes of the wealthy but using taxpayer funds to do it.  

Breitbart: Somali Migration Greatest Refugee Fraud In Modern Times

Somalian immigrants have been fraudsters since the start, according to "Former ICE Official: Somali Migration to U.S. Marked ‘Greatest Refugee Fraud Crisis in Modern Times’" at Breitbart. From the article:

    The P-3 refugee pipeline, created by the Refugee Act of 1980, allows refugees to apply for their spouses, unmarried children, and parents to also receive refugee status in the U.S. From 2003 through 2008, Africans, including Somalis, represented more than 95 percent of the refugees who arrived in the U.S. through the P-3 program.

    In March 2008, after some 36,000 mostly Africans had entered the U.S. as P-3 refugees — the majority of whom resettled in Minnesota — the program was halted by then-President George W. Bush after the State Department unveiled mass fraud.

    The State Department published a report in November 2008 detailing how the agency had started requiring P-3 refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Liberia to take DNA tests to prove they were blood relatives to the U.S.-bound refugees sponsoring them for such status.

    The DNA tests ultimately revealed the State Department was “only able to confirm all claimed biological relationships in fewer than 20% of cases (family units),” ....

 [snip]

    “Thousands of fraudulent P-3 refugees (most using false identities) streamed into the United States for years before the suspension,” Fillinger wrote. “When 25 percent of the U.S. workforce was unemployed in the 1930s, it was called the ‘Great Depression.’ With near 100 percent fraud levels in the failed P-3 program, it is accurate to call it the greatest refugee fraud crisis in modern times.” 

 Related: "Second Dem-run state hit by accusations of widespread Somali fraud... with woke lawmaker giving vile answer to voter who asked him about it"--The Daily Mail. Allegations are now surfacing of widespread Medicare fraud by Somali immigrants in Maine, including that the money was being used to buy weapons and munitions in Somalia. Councilor Wes Pelletier, who represents Portland's District 2 in Maine, addressed the issues by accusing those bringing up the fraud of being racist and telling at least one concerned citizen to "shut the f**k up. please". 

A Jewish Family Learns That Diversity Is A Strength

PJ Media reports that an Algerian Muslim woman, who had been hired as a nanny by a Jewish family, is now on trial for trying to poison them and "spewing antisemitic hatred". The nanny, identified only as Leïla Y., "used falsified documents to obtain her nanny job, but eventually became dissatisfied with her salary." In this case, it does not appear that the effort to save money by hiring an illegal alien paid off for the Jewish family--seriously, why did they even consider hiring someone that was Muslim? 

American Citizens But Not Americans

Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores, have been arrested for "threatening to torture, hang and kill Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin." 

    Social media posts allegedly published on their accounts call to 'torture' and 'kill' McLaughlin.

    They also threatened Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents by calling for people to, 'Sh00t ICE on sight,' in two separate posts that DHS said were published by the brothers. 

The article emphasizes that the two are American citizens. But the fact they support the invasion of the U.S., even willing to stoop to terrorism, proves they are not Americans. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Detailed Glock Gen 6 Review From Outdoor Life

The review from Outdoor Life, "We Range Tested the New Glock Gen 6 Everyone Is Talking About," has both an embedded video review as well as a lengthy written review. There are also numerous photographs that give you a better look at the pistol than you can get from videos, including close ups of some of the new features of the frame and slide. 

    One point that I had not seen from other reviews--which all simply stated that the pistol was optic ready--was that it will apparently be offered in two different mounting systems: the Optics Ready System (ORS) which most reviews discuss and will mount most handgun sized optics; and the A-Cut system for the Aimpoint COA, but that models "[w]on’t be offered with the COA optics cut until later in 2026". Also:

    The extractor system on the Gen 6 has been shortened. So the holes drilled in the slide for mounting red dots no longer go all the way through the slide. These holes could allow thread locking material fluid — like Lok-tite — to get into the pistol and cause malfunctions. This shorter system eliminates that.

    We’ve grown used to seeing dual-stage recoil springs on many semi-autos. They were born of the necessity to deal with higher-pressure rounds like the .40 S&W.

    Glock’s testing with the Gen 6 shows that extra measure isn’t required with these new pistols. So they’ve gone back to a single-stage recoil system. One spring is less likely to go sideways than two, so they feel it augments the pistol’s overall reliability.

In other words, don't expect a Gen 6 in .40 S&W or .357 Sig. Also, the author adds, "the Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 models will be discontinued except for some military and L.E. orders. So you’ll need to look to the used market at some point if you want one." The MSRP for the Gen 6 is $745 according to the review. 

    I doubt I will be buying one, though. I like what I see, but not enough to spend the money to replace what I already have (plus purchase any new holsters I would need). What about you, though. Are you planning on buying one?  

Alaska's "Little People" Legends

Over 100 years ago, a book was published called The Golden Bough that tied together legends and beliefs across multiple peoples and times. The book kept expanding with subsequent editions until it documented similar beliefs and legends from around the world. The article "The Mysterious 'Little People' of Northwest Alaska Are Just One Example of the Supernatural in Arctic Wilderness" from Outdoor Life seems to be another example of similar beliefs. The article recounts:

One common story in Alaska communities is that of the little people. These stories are most common in western Alaska, particularly the Brooks Range, the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta, and the surrounding regions. Some believe the little people live underground; others say they live in a different dimension altogether. But all accounts, from the Arctic to Bristol Bay, say that the little people have incredible strength and often possess supernatural and shamanistic powers. While they’re not necessarily evil, they are dangerous — not something to interact with. Talking about the little people can summon them, and if summoned, they will mess with you. Stories across the North state that at one time little people lived in plain sight but became estranged after some sort of violent conflict. 

The commonality with European legends concerning the "fair folk" (fairies) is striking. (See, e.g., "The Fae Folk: Your ULTIMATE Guide to Fairies" and the Wikipedia article on "Fairy").

When Governments Virtue Signal

The article "Hard to Read: Lesbian Couple Facing 1st Degree Murder Charge After Foster Son Found Dying in Horrific State - Their Nickname for Him Was Evil" from the Western Journal has the quote of the day: 

The state doesn’t need to be fulfilling the fantasies of homosexual couples having children as their playthings to abuse and neglect.   

December 8 Solar Storm Caused Radio Blackout In Australia

Space.com reports:

    The sun erupted with a powerful X1.1-class solar flare in the early hours of this morning (Dec. 8), briefly knocking out radio communications across Australia and parts of southeast Asia.

    The impulsive eruption, which peaked at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT), came from sunspot region AR4298 as it makes its way towards the sun's western limb. It will rotate out of view in the next couple of days.

    A coronal mass ejection (CME) — a plume of plasma and magnetic field — was hurled into space alongside the eruption. However, early analyses of satellite coronagraph imagery suggest this CME is not Earth-directed. 
  

 This follows a similar incident on November 30

Afghan Teens Culturally Enrich the UK

The Daily Mail reports on the "Chilling moment Afghan asylum seekers drag 15-year-old girl into the bushes before raping her: Pair jailed over 'horrific' attack." Per the article, "[s]mall boat migrants," i.e., invaders, "Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, were on Monday jailed for sexually assaulting the 15-year-old in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on May 10." Because it is England, the Daily Mail had to file a lawsuit in order to name the two animals. Also, "[s]eparate footage captured by the victim on her phone was so appalling that one of the boy's own barristers warned it would lead to rioting if the public were to see it." Well, if that is what it takes to see some justice done, then release the video. 

Spooky: The Giants of Kandahar

From Soldier of Fortune: "The Deadly Giants of Afghanistan: Mystery Tales From the GWOT." An excerpt:

    In 2002, the story goes, a Special Forces ODA was searching for a missing U.S. patrol in the mountains outside Kandahar. Working their way up the trail they came across pieces of kit and fired weapons casings scattered along the trail. Continuing the mission, the ODA came upon the entrance of a large cave with more kit and piles of bones lying about. 

    Approaching the entrance, a soldier named “Dan” was about to enter the cave. A loud cry was heard as a spear pierced Dan lifting him off the ground, killing him. A 13-foot-tall humanoid with flaming red hair and a beard stepped out and attacked the remaining soldiers. They engaged the giant with their weapons. They killed it after 30 seconds of sustained gunfire.

    Upon closer inspection of the remains, it was discovered the giant had six fingers and toes and a double row of teeth. A Chinook was dispatched to collect the KIA and the giant. The missing patrol was never found, and the ODA was sworn to secrecy being forced to sign NDA’s. A man who said he was one of the Chinook pilots told the story in 2008 during an interview on George Noory’s radio show.

The author could not find any records to support the story. But he does mention other sightings of "giants" which he attributes to fatigue, problems with thermal devices, and the like. And yet, the author admits that he used thermals in Iraq and "I never had a problem with a thermal showing something bigger than what it was." 

Arrogant Philly Teens Charged With Felony Shoplifting in Florida

The Daily Mail reports that eight black teens from Philadelphia have been charged with felonies after robbing a Dick's Sporting Goods store while in Florida for a football tournament. What makes this case unusual is that the Sheriff in Florida has released their names and photographs. The teens, all 14 or 15 years of age, are: Daimon Johnson; Elijah Myers; Ibm-Mahdee Abdul-Haqq; Jacob Smith; Marcus Hudgens; Mark Bryan; Tymir Smith and Tymir Speller. Per the article:

    Judd said that when the teenagers were arrested at the store, their football coach raced to the scene to try and convince officers not to take them into custody. 

    The sheriff said deputies were not impressed that the coach tried to 'beg them out of it instead of holding them accountable.' 

    'They were not taking bubble gum, one piece to chew. They stole over $2,000 worth of products, over 47 different products,' he added. 

    The championship game was held hours after the arrests.  

Their team lost 26-6.  

Monday, December 8, 2025

New Civil War 2.0 Weather Report From John Wilder

John has a new Civil War 2.0 Weather Report up at his Wilder Wealthy & Wise blog.  It is based on various stats and numbers from November 2025. He writes:

I have maintained the Clock O’Doom at 9. [opposing sides develop governing/war structures, just in case], given the open support of assassination and criminality by the GloboLeft and the increase in violence as well as direct interference with ICE and the insertion of the military into law enforcement.  Beware: the number can climb quickly.   

Because John is such a big fan of the metric system his clock only goes to 10, and that is "Open War". I would note that for the longest time he kept the clock at 7 or 8. It's only gone to 9 recently as the Left has gotten more supportive of political violence. 

The Realist: Ozark Trails Stocking-Stuffer Knives

This is a guest post by The Realist:

 "Ozark Trails Stocking-Stuffer Knives" by The Realist: 

Ozark Trail knife and multitool display at my local Walmart.

 Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this article were purchased by myself. I did not receive samples, evaluation models, or other compensation from any manufacturer or retailer. I have no formal relationship with any manufacturer or retailer mentioned in this article - I have only been an arms-length customer. All brand names and product names used in this review are the trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. This article reflects my unique circumstances and subjective opinions with regard to performance and other characteristics of the products being discussed. Your mileage may vary.


    My local Walmart finally got around to putting out their seasonal cardboard display loaded with inexpensive stocking-stuffer knives and multitools. I have been watching for several weeks for this display to be put out, and it finally appeared in their sporting goods department.

    However, these knives and multitools are no longer five dollars, they are now seven dollars ($6.97). And, they are now made in Vietnam, not China.

    The display has several varieties of pocket knives, including folding and fixed blade knives. Surprisingly, all of the knives have a plain edge - no partially serrated blades. There is only the one style of 12-in-1 multitool, looking very similar to prior years' offerings, with various paint treatments to the handles.

 Ozark Trail #6123 (top) and #6128 (bottom) pocket knives.

    I like simple locking blade pocket knives with a plain edge. My attention focused on two models in the display. First, the Ozark Trails #6123 whose packaging stated it had a "ball bearing open" for its pivot and a "rubberized handle." And second, the Ozark Trails #6128 whose blade style I liked better, and whose packaging also stated it had a "ball bearing open" for its pivot.

    Years ago, I purchased a CRKT knife with a ball bearing pivot. It opened smoothly with very little effort - perfect for one hand opening. The ball bearing pivot is the reason I was interested in these two Ozark Trails knives. Their ball bearing pivot is not as good as the one in the CRKT knife, but they open easier than a pocket knife without one.

    The blade is made of stainless steel, but there is no mention of the type or formulation. The blades come with a tolerable edge, but they could use some touching up. Both knives utilize a liner lock to lock the blade open while in use. Both knives come with an attached pocket clip, and it appears the pocket clip can be reversed on the #6128, but not the #6123. Both knives are 7.5 inches long when opened, and both knives have a 3.25 inch blade. The blades can be opened with one hand.

    The "rubberized handle" of the #6123 knife is indeed rubberized, with it being a thin sprayed-on rubbery coating like that found on many products. It should remain rubbery for several years before the coating deteriorates and becomes sticky.

    The fit and finish of both knives are good, but not perfect - much better than what I would normally expect for seven dollars. There are no burrs that could hang on clothing or cause injury while handling the knife. For both knives, when the blade is opened and locked, there is no wiggling - no side-to-side wiggle, and no looseness in the locking mechanism.

    For the past few years, I have been adding some of these inexpensive pocket knives to my backup and barter inventory. These knives are good enough in quality that I would not be worried about using one myself, putting one in a 72-hour kit, or giving one to someone else. These knives do not feel cheap - their look and feel is on par with the appearance and feel of more costly mass-market knives. In contrast, the Ozark Trails multitool also for sale in this seasonal knife display looks and feels cheap.

VIDEO: Removing A Broken Key From A Lock

 A video that shows a technique to remove a broken key from a tubular lock.  

 VIDEO: "99% of people don’t know how easy it is to remove a broken key from a lock!"
Mr. Hacker (4 min.)

You'll Own Nothing And Be Happy: Wall Street Betting On Rentals

This article is from about a year ago, and seems to explain why our money overlords are so convinced that we (commoners) will own nothing and be happy. The article is "Wall Street Is Betting Billions on Rental Homes as Ownership Slips Out of Reach." It begins by relating the story of a woman who was happy that, even though she couldn't afford a house, was able to rent a nice home. The article then goes on:

     AvalonBay is part of a rush of institutional investors and private-equity firms pouring into the build-to-rent market, a subsector where developers construct neighborhoods of single-family homes for the sole purpose of leasing them to tenants, rather than selling them to prospective homeowners.

    They are aiming to capitalize on a growing cohort of people who felt they would become homeowners as they move to the next stage of life and start a family but are increasingly viewing renting as a more affordable long-term option.

    From 2021 to 2023, the share of build-to-rent housing starts doubled to 10% of overall single-family housing, according to the National Association of Realtors’ analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

    Blackstone, Invitation Homes and Pretium Partners are among the big Wall Street firms expanding their build-to-rent portfolios as demand for rental housing balloons.

     For the first time in more than two years, the growth of the U.S. renter pool has outpaced that of homeowner households for the past four quarters, according to a Redfin analysis of U.S. census data. In the third quarter, the formation of renter households increased 2.7%, three times faster than homeowner households and the second fastest rate for renters since 2015.

    The rapidly expanding renter pool is a direct response to the widening gap between how expensive it is to rent versus own a home in the U.S., especially as mortgage rates stay heated at nearly 7% with no immediate signs of cooling.

[snip]

    But some economists say that the build-to-rent movement is shifting developers’ attention away from the home-buying market where more supply is needed to normalize prices.

    In the Sunbelt, for example, instead of new housing supply “coming onto the open market,” it is “being diverted” for build-to-rent activities, Moody’s director of economic research Ermengarde Jabir said.

[snip]

     Birenbaum of AvalonBay said build-to-rent developments don’t come at the cost of for-sale supply because the firm isn’t acquiring rentals that an individual homeowner would have otherwise purchased.

    “We are not competing with individuals trying to buy individual homes in the private market,” he said.

That is a disingenuous statement. They may not be purchasing homes that were on the open market, but they are diverting contractors and suppliers away from building homes that would have gone on to the open market and instead are building homes for these investment firms. Thus, it lowers the supply of homes further driving up the prices.  

VIDEO: KazTac Wrapid Loader Tutorial

The KazTac Wrapid Loader is a revolver speed loader that can be flattened out to fit into a carrier (and thus easier to carry concealed, like a speed strip) but rolls up under spring pressure when withdrawn allowing it to be used like a speed loader. I have one of these that I tried and was worried that I might have damaged because it would often seem to stick on the last round. For that reason, I just stuck it away and haven't done anything with it for months. But this tutorial seems to indicate that this can be normal and is the result of being too careful with it--it needs to be briskly pulled to release all the cartridges.

 VIDEO: "KazTac Wrapid Loader Tutorial"
EDC Gear Guy (8 min.)

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Pre-Columbian Syphilis Confirmed

From Science Alert: "Study Confirms: Syphilis Was Active in The Americas Long Before Columbus." An excerpt:

    It seems syphilis became more virulent at some point before Columbus arrived – and then at the end of the 15th century, as settlers started returning to Europe, it set off the so-called Great Pox explosion of the disease that swept across the continent and left widespread death and disfigurement in its wake.

    "The data clearly support a root in the Americas for syphilis and its known relatives, and their introduction to Europe starting in the late 15th century is most consistent with the data," says Bos.

    Together with the related yaws, pinta, and bejel, syphilis is in a small group of conditions known as treponemal diseases. This research backs up the idea that these diseases are the modern-day results of ancient pathogens circulating in the Americas.

Flashback: Why Police States Are Bad For Cybersecurity

"This Week In Security: National Backdoors, Web3 Backdoors, And Nearest Neighbor WiFi"--Hackaday (12/6/2024).  The article begins:

     Maybe those backdoors weren’t such a great idea. Several US Telecom networks have been compromised by a foreign actor, likely China’s Salt Typhoon, and it looks like one of the vectors of compromise is the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) systems that allow for automatic wiretapping at government request.

    [Jeff Greene], a government official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has advised that end-user encryption is the way to maintain safe communications. This moment should forever be the touchstone we call upon when discussing ideas like mandated encryption backdoors and even the entire idea of automated wiretapping systems like CALEA. He went on to make a rather startling statement:

    I think it would be impossible for us to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full eviction

    There are obviously lots of unanswered questions, but with statements like this from CISA, this seems to be an extremely serious compromise. CALEA has been extended to Internet data, and earlier reports suggest that attackers have access to Internet traffic as a result. This leaves the US telecom infrastructure in a precarious position where any given telephone call, text message, or data packet may be intercepted by an overseas attacker. And the FCC isn’t exactly inspiring us with confidence as to its “decisive steps” to fix things.

Gun & Prepping News #58

 Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:  

  • James Reeves at The Firearm Blog has posted a video (16 min.) going over the Glock Gen 6 pistols. At this point it appears that there are three models: the G47 (the replacement for the G17), the G19, and the G45. The reason for the replacement for the G17 is that it will use the shorter recoil rod and spring of the G19. Also, Glock is going back to a single recoil spring rather than the dual captured spring system. All three models appeared to have optic cuts in the slide, which optic cuts are designed to accept various models of optics. Other mechanical changes include changes to the extractor to eliminate potential interference with someone using too long of a screw to mount an optic; and, of course, it is incorporating the changes from the V models which for a day or two prevented someone adding a Glock switch to the weapons. There are substantial changes to the grips, as well, which now are more rounded--they have palm swells--a higher cut behind the slide to allow a higher hold on the weapon, different texturing, and some other changes. 
  • "Weaponizing Fire"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz takes a look at incidents where criminals have set victims on fire or tried to do so. He also has some tips on responding to such attacks.
  • "Gun Grab Attempt Washington SRO Deputy"--Tactical Professor. The author begins: "Every time a POlice [sic] officer is attacked in a gun grab, it’s a reminder that Open Carry is not necessarily a deterrent. It may be to a rational criminal but many folks are irrational." In fact, he points out, in this case the openly carried gun was seen by the criminal as an opportunity. 
  • "Holster Selection"--SP Wenger's Defensive Use of Firearms.  This is undoubtedly the most detailed discussion of this topic I've ever seen.
  • "Squib Loads: What Are They?"--Tactical Hyve. From the article:

    A squib load, also known as squib rounds or just a squib, is when there is insufficient force behind a bullet to exit a barrel.

    This type of malfunction can happen for many reasons, such as fouling in the barrel, loading with too light of a charge, i.e., low powder load, or an improperly seated projectile. The most common causes are improper primer ignition or lack of gunpowder.

    A squib round is extremely dangerous. It can cause severe injury to a shooter and catastrophic failure of one’s firearm, so it is important to learn about them. 

  • "The Side-by-Side Shotgun"--Guns Magazine.  A history of the side-by-side shotgun--its development, explosion in popularity, and subsequent decline after inexpensive pump-action rifles were introduced. The author writes:

    ... to my knowledge, currently the only production American-made side-by-side shotgun is by Connecticut Shotgun Co. If you want one of their least expensive Christian Hunter 20-gauge with 28” barrels and screw-in chokes, be ready to write a check for about $13,000 plus tax.

    However, if you just want a good quality SxS without worrying about its country of origin, there are a number of currently available SxS from manufacturers such as Weatherby (Orion), CZ (Sharptail, Bobwhite, and others), Tristar (Bristol & Phoenix), and Stoeger (Uplander and Coach Gun). Stoeger also makes the Double Defense “tactical” SxS, which I covet in the worst way. It might not be as practical as my 870 or Mossberg 590 for home intruders, but I’m sure John Wayne would approve. 

  • "Fudd Friday: Parker Hale Classic Hunting Rifles"--The Firearm Blog. Back in the day when England still manufactured firearms, Parker Hale was a major producer and exporter of Mauser style bolt action rifles to the United States, even producing them for sale to department stores like J.C. Penny. The article goes over the history of the company, how they got into producing rifles after World War II, the author's experience with hunting rifles from the company. An excerpt:

    Parker Hale’s post-war exports were based on two main product lines: remanufactured military rifles and new-manufacture Mauser-pattern rifles.

    The military rifles were mostly Lee-Enfields, since that’s what the Brits used in the war, although Parker Hale also remanufactured P14 rifles and even used reconditioned Mauser actions as the basis of early sporter builds. They shipped these rifles under various names, and in various grades of refinement, all over the world but particularly to Commonwealth countries like Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

[snip]

     ... While it’s probably best-known for its Lee-Enfield conversions, Parker Hale sold a lot of Mauser-action rifles (built off surplus actions, and then new actions from Zastava or Santa Barbara). These rifles were chambered in then-new .243 and .308 short-action rounds, as well as .30-06, .270 and other long-action calibers. They had options in .300 Magnum, 7mm Magnum and .308 Norma Magnum; they even offered rifles in .375 H&H Magnum, .404 Jeffery and .458 Win Mag for the safari market.

  • "Everything You Need to Know About Gun Protection Accessories"--The Range 702. A look at hearing and eye protection. 
  • "Testing Gideon Optics: Affordable Glass That Performs"--The Truth About Guns. I've started seeing favorable reviews of Chinese optics. Reminds me of when Holosun first came out--good products for a low price because most shooters assumed they would be junk. Not the case anymore. Perhaps these telescopic sights will take the same course. 
  • "Beretta 20X vs 21A Bobcat: The Tip Up Showdown"--Guns America. As you may know, the 21A Bobcat was a DA/SA pocket .22 pistol produced by Beretta for ages. But like a lot of other Beretta designs dating back to the 1970s and '80s, Beretta has updated this design--a firearm they are calling the 20X. This article compares the two against each other. While the 20X has better sights and was more reliable than the older model, it is also larger (thicker). Making a pocket pistol larger is a bold strategy--we'll see if it pays off. 
  • "Reloading the .223 Rem.: Great .223 Handloads for Bolt and Gas Guns"--Shooting Times. A long discussion about the cartridge--the history, twist rates and bullet weights, primers, different bullets for different uses, etc.--and then some tables with different loading data. I use Accurate 2230 powder, but strangely did not see it listed. However, Hodgdon, which manufactures the powder, has an online "Reloading Center" with reloading data for their powders. I wish the author had gone a bit into case preparation. I will note that the two biggest things to note with .223/5.56 is to make sure about your case length as the neck seems to be longer on 5.56 than on .223; and check for cracks at the base of the neck. 
  • "Shooting Practice: How to Train for Hunting"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. We are all generally familiar with practical shooting for handguns and tactical shooting, but this article discusses tips on practical training/practice for hunting. This is particularly important for hunters in the West that involve a lot of stalking (some states--Idaho for instance--ban any type of feeding to lure in deer or using blinds). 

... Western hunters are more accustomed to moving, glassing and stalking. Out there, shots at game are often dictated by terrain, so it’s essential to be versatile. You make do with what you have, from natural rests to carry-along shooting aids to the good old basic NRA shooting positions.

  • "Tactical First Aid Skills Every Armed Citizen Needs"--Gun Digest. Lessons from a tactical first aid class taught by Greg Ellifritz. It discusses the MARCH protocol and five things to keep in your trauma kit. The "M" stands for "massive bleeding." The article explains:

 Why begin with bleeding? Battlefield data reveals that hemorrhage from extremity wounds causes 60 percent of preventable deaths, far more than airway issues. Blood loss kills faster than almost anything else.

  • This is the type of thing that will lead to vigilantism: "Portland jury clears black man of assault because white man he stabbed had said the n-word"--The Daily Mail. The leftist fetishizing of blacks goes to a whole new level. In this case, a black homeless man knifed a white guy and then claimed he did so out of "self-defense" because the victim supposedly used the "n-word"--not before the attack, but after the attack! Not only does calling someone a name not justify using lethal force, but the alleged slur wasn't even the motivation for the knifing coming, as it did, after the attack. 
  • "SELCO: The Truth About SNIPERS and How to Survive Them"--The Organic Prepper. He's not talking about the military sniper looking to take out a high value target, but harassing fire at civilians for the purpose of causing fear and hopelessness. An excerpt:

 Untrained people got shot from snipers mostly because :

  •  They failed to understand how urban environment works in the fields of vision for snipers
  •  They failed to understand how urban environment CHANGED because of SHTF
  •  They failed to appreciate the difference between cover and concealment.

The best knife sharpening angle depends on the knife’s purpose, but most blades fall between 15° and 22° per side (DPS).

  • 15–16° DPS → razor-sharp, thinner edges (Asian kitchen knives, fillet knives)
  • 18–20° DPS → balanced sharpness and durability (most pocket and everyday carry knives)
  • 20–22° DPS → stronger working edges (hunting, outdoor, and Western kitchen knives)
  • 25–30° DPS → heavy-duty or tactical blades that prioritize toughness over razor sharpness

If you’re unsure of your knife’s factory angle, match the existing bevel. Maintaining the original geometry gives the best combination of sharpness, durability, and edge life.   

VIDEO: How Japan Ended Violent Crime

 This video should really be titled "how Democrats enable violent crime in the U.S." Long time readers know that I lived in Japan for a couple years when I was younger as a missionary for my church. From my observations there, I concluded that the primary reason that there was a low crime rate in Japan was because of the extreme cultural and racial homogeneity. The producer of the video below, however, believes it is because the Japanese are very good at identifying and locking up the 1% or so of the people that are responsible for 50% of the violent crime, and making prison very tough and unpleasant. This in comparison with the U.S. where liberal laws and policies pushed by Democrats make it hard to obtain and use confessions and take the side of the criminals over that of victims or the public at large.  

 VIDEO: "How Japan Ended Violent Crime"
Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (4 min.)

Saturday, December 6, 2025

VIDEO: Why The M7 Is A Bad Idea

 Ian from Forgotten Weapons discusses why the M7 is a bad idea. Not just from the perspective of the equipment, but the whole philosophy of its deployment, ignoring nearly a century's worth of experience (including the current Russian-Ukraine War) showing that the majority of engagements are at less than 300 yards (and, in fact, most of the time a soldier would not even be able to see an enemy combatant at 300 yards). Moreover, he raises a couple good points that point to the M7 already being obsolete. First, one of the main reasons for adopting the weapon was to allow troops to engage an enemy firing from long distances, but this is already better handled through explosive drones. Second, the ability to penetrate body armor--the second excuse for this system--can be accomplished by different bullet designs and materials without needing a large cartridge and high barrel pressures. My oldest son, who follows these things, notes that there are YouTubers who have demonstrated that brass bullets (not even something exotic) can easily penetrate body armor. 

    What the M7 does is prove that the old saying about generals always prepare to fight the last war still runs true. I rather suspect, myself, that the purpose of the program isn't so much to give soldiers better rifles as it is to churn and burn through money with the knowledge that the whole thing will have to be scrapped in the end and billions more spent on a replacement. There just isn't enough money to be made in supporting the established M16/M4 family and a large stockpile of ammunition already sitting in ammunition dumps.

 VIDEO: "Why the M7 and 6.8x51mm are Bad Ideas: Welcome to my TED Talk"
Forgotten Weapons (20 min.)

VIDEO: Fast And Easy Way To Disassemble A 1911

 The Military Arms Channel has a short video showing a quick and easy way to disassemble and reassemble a 1911 pistol. One of the better how-to videos I've seen on the topic.

 VIDEO: "Fast and easy way to disassemble and reassemble a 1911"
Military Arms Channel (3 min.)

A New Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training

  •  Greg Ellifritz has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump at Active Response Training. Those of you that keep a shotgun for home defense or are thinking about it should check out the links he has relating to using shotguns for home defense--"The Old Ways" (discussing running a shotgun and has some advice on running one in dim light) and "How to Set Up a Defensive Shotgun". Greg comments: 

Unlike the author of the first piece, I do not think a light, sling, or spare ammo is absolutely needed on a home defense shotgun.  You will definitely need all of it if you are going to a gun school shotgun class.  With that said, optimal class performance isn’t the exact same mission as home defense proficiency. 

I'm sure that someone could come up with a use for a sling inside a building, but I see slings as field equipment. I had a self-defense shotgun to which I had attached a sling--and it was handy when out practicing with the shotgun--but it just seemed to get caught up on things trying to get the shotgun out of a cabinet or moving around inside the house. The same with rifles. If a sling is easily removable, I like to just take the slings off long arms I intend on using for self-defense. 

    Anyway, some other articles that caught my attention: 

  •  A warning from an ammo company that is closing its doors due to powder shortages and such shortages will be driving up ammo prices.
  • Gun fighting stats from cop killers. As always, certain demographics are over represented relative to their percentage of the population. But pay attention to some of the other statistics, including that the number who had committed murders before was fairly low, but prior robberies, thefts, and weapon charges were very high. 
  • Another statistical article is one that draws on a military analysis of 133 gunfights, including both those where carbines were used and handguns. Interestingly, 43% of gunfights with carbines was at short ranges (less than 50 m); and apparently none of the gun fight analyzed involved targets being engaged at long range.  There do appear to be some discrepancies, however, as the percentages at short, medium, and long range do not add up to l00. 
  • Mountain Medical discusses 5 things that every trauma kit should have. 
  • Tamara Keel thinks that medium frame, double-action revolvers are dead.  As I read her article, I thought she meant from the perspective of being the primary side arm for law enforcement or as the favorite choice of civilians, and from that perspective I would agree: the medium frame double-action revolver has certainly taken a back seat to higher capacity, lighter weight semi-auto pistols. But then I read this in her article: "Medium-frame revolvers still exist to this day, largely as rimfire, small-game-hunting wheelguns or niche gamer pieces...." Really? Almost every .357 Magnum offered today is built on a medium frame. S&W even offers a medium frame .44 Magnum (the Model 69). 
  • An article advocating a different scoring system for police qualifications that rewards those who hit their targets but do so faster than someone taking their time and focusing on a bullseye. The idea is that there is a difference between combat accuracy and bulls eye competition accuracy. 
  • And a link to article discussing the fit of a handgun (that is, does it fit your hand?). One of the points mentioned in the article is that of trigger reach. Interestingly, this comes up in another article that Greg links to by someone who does not like DA/SA pistols.  

What Is The Ideal Sword Length?

Skallagram looks at some historical sources for their opinions on what is the ideal sword length, and provides some analysis. Like most things, though, the answer is "it depends." On factors like the type of sword, the size and strength of the person wielding it, what you are using it for (e.g., in war, for dueling, for self-defense), whether it will be used in confined spaces such as cramped streets and alleys or in more open fields and roads, and so on. And, as the second video below illustrates, it might even depend on how you travel or transport the weapon.

VIDEO: "What is the Perfect Sword Length?"
Skallagrim (8 min.)

    In the second video, below, a group of people--who I presume who enjoy fantasy roleplaying games--try carrying various swords through the types of terrain that fictional characters in a TTRPG or fantasy novel might traverse in their adventures and learn some important lessons about sword length. As you might have already guessed, if you are having to push through undergrowth or move along a narrow forest path, longer weapons (great swords, long swords, rapiers, and so on) are problematic, while shorter swords will be easier to carry and move around with. You will note that the guy with the katana (the shortest sword of the bunch) had the easiest time of it. In other words, the longer swords might be fine on maintained roads and streets, or if you are riding a horse, but are probably not the best for someone slogging through a forest or jungle. 

 VIDEO: "What is the BEST SWORD for adventuring?"
Apperceptive_Swordsman (15 min.) 

Friday, December 5, 2025

Study Shows Soybean Oil Fueling Weight Gains

This meme is probably more true than you might think:


 From SciTech Daily: "Scientists Warn This Popular Cooking Oil May Be Quietly Fueling Weight Gain." An excerpt:

    Soybean oil is the most commonly used cooking oil in the United States and a frequent ingredient in processed foods, and research suggests it plays a role in promoting obesity in mice. Scientists are beginning to uncover the biological reasons behind this effect.

    In a UC Riverside study, most mice fed a high-fat diet containing large amounts of soybean oil experienced notable weight gain. A separate group of genetically engineered mice did not. These modified mice produced a slightly different version of a liver protein that regulates hundreds of genes involved in fat metabolism. This altered protein also seems to affect how the body handles linoleic acid, the primary fatty acid found in soybean oil.

    “This may be the first step toward understanding why some people gain weight more easily than others on a diet high in soybean oil,” said Sonia Deol, a UCR biomedical scientist and corresponding author of the study published in the Journal of Lipid Research

And just like that, a conspiracy theory became a fact.  

The Religion Of Peace In The News

 Islam is always in the news--and not in good ways. Here is a sampling of some recent stories:

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem today announced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested Jaan Shah Safi, an Afghan national who entered the United States under Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome,” who provided support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K). He also provided weapons to his father who is a commander of a militia group in Afghanistan. This terrorist was arrested in Waynesboro, Virginia.

    Safi is an illegal alien terrorist who entered the U.S. on September 8, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome.  He applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) but his application was terminated once Secretary Noem ended TPS for Afghans. On December 3, 2025, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE arrested Safi.

 Somewhere, a deeply disappointed Biden is eating his ice cream.

     A University of Delaware student and immigrant from Pakistan was arrested with a cache of guns, ammunition and body armor, and a manifesto allegedly explaining plans to “kill all” and achieve “martyrdom” with a mass shooting on the school’s campus.

    Luqmaan Khan, 25, was arrested just before midnight on Nov. 24 after cops found him in his pickup truck in a park after hours, and decided to search the car when he began acting suspiciously.

Among his "cache of arms" was a Glock switch allowing his handgun to shoot full auto. As of now, Khan has been charged with possession of a machine gun, a felony

  • "Court Eases Sentence For Afghan Who 'Showed Restraint' After 'Only' Stabbing Teacher Six Times"--Zero Hedge.  The article relates that a "29-year-old Afghan migrant has been sentenced to six years in prison for stabbing a 27-year-old teacher at random on the street, in the middle of the day, in the German city of Kirchheim unter Teck." Basically, the Afghan migrant started repeatably stabbing the woman until she screamed for help, at which time he ran off, undoubtedly out of fear of being caught. But the dummkopf judge decided that because the migrant had stopped stabbing her when she screamed, he had abandoned his intent to kill her, and so dropped the charge of attempted murder. It doesn't work that way. Once he formed his intent and took a substantial step toward committing the crime the attempt was completed. That he failed in his attempt does not change the fact that he made the attempt. Apparently German judges are not required to understand basic legal principles?

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall ...

The premise in Snow White that the wicked queen would try and kill her step-daughter out of jealousy of Snow White's beauty is not unrealistic: "Jealous aunt drowns niece, 6, at wedding because child ‘looked prettier than her,’ admits to murdering 3 other relatives"--New York Post.

    Poonam allegedly saw the child climbing the stairs before following her to the terrace and making conversation with her.

    “After having her placed in a plastic tub filled with water outside the storeroom, she drowned the child in the tub, then bolted the door from the outside, and came down,” Superintendent Singh said.

    “During interrogation, the accused woman told the police that she was irritated by beautiful girls.”

    Poonan also reportedly confessed to previously murdering another three children, including another niece and her own son, whom she also drowned.
 

These petty jealousies play out all the time, although generally not leading to murder. Such as when a jealous girl convinces a prettier female friend to get a septum piercing, tattoo, cut her hair short, etc., in order to sabotage that friend.